Markus Gundiri, a veteran civil servant at both the federal and state levels who ventured into politics and contested the Adamawa State governorship seat in 2011 under the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), reportedly alleged in an interview with The Sun that the ongoing insecurity in Northern Nigeria was created by politicians from the region.
When he was asked to assess the performance of Governor Umaru Fintiri, the governor of Adamawa State in the last six years of his administration, Gundiri said, “You know we are in two different political parties- I am in All Progressives Congress, and he is a Peoples Democratic Party member- but I can tell you that there’s nobody who can match what this young man has done so far in Adamawa State.
“You know people didn’t know him much before he became governor but he proved himself as an intelligent, diligent, committed and straightforward young man and has made changes so much that people do not believe that it is him that is making these changes.”
He gave an example of a World Bank survey conducted a few years ago on the number of out-of-school children in Adamawa State, noting that at that time, there were several hundreds of such children.
However, he said that a recent report, released about two months ago, indicated that the number had dropped to around 50,000, which he described as an impressive achievement.
He pointed out that progress in education could be linked to the quality of leadership in place. According to him, there was a time in Adamawa State, particularly when he contested the governorship seat, when insecurity and social vices were rampant, as many young people were involved in drug abuse, alcoholism, and thuggery.
He explained that most of those youths were out-of-school children, largely because schools lacked basic facilities such as roofs, seats, and conducive learning environments.
He stated that the situation changed when Governor Fintiri assumed office, as he took steps to transform the education sector by recruiting qualified teachers, including some from other states, improving infrastructure in classrooms and laboratories, and providing a clean and supportive atmosphere for learning.
(The sun Newspaper)
