A classical Nigerian actor and comedian of blessed memory, Sam Loco Efe, once said, “Come and see American wonders”. Years after am saying; “Come and see Fintiri wonders” in developing Adamawa State to a modern city for all. We the people of Adamawa are extremely blessed to have His Excellency, Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri as our Governor. FINTIRI is a true, agile, excellent and exemplary leader. He sees the bigger picture before taking any decision. He ensures the peoples’ interest is adequately considered and taken care of before any approval is given to any proposal. FINTIRI is a great leader that does not only tell you what to do, but shows you how it is done. In His words “We have come to build Adamawa of tomorrow; we are not only building Adamawa of today”.
His Excellency, Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri took over the mantle of leadership of Adamawa State at a time the state was waist-deep into indebtedness to the tune of one hundred and fifteen billion (N15b) without any capital projects or investment to show for it, decayed or non-existence of infrastructure, bastardized civil service occasioned by massive last minute employment of hundreds by the previous administration, unpaid contracts and high rate of insecurity with its attendant high number of displaced persons. Education and health were nothing to write home about.
It was to say the least, a state in coma. There was serious need for the declaration of state of emergency in all facets of the life of the state. This meant huge investment to be made in those sectors and yet the resources were far -fetched.
It is pathetic to state that in the two years of the administration of Governor Fintiri, the country as a whole has experienced two economic recessions and a pandemic (covid 19). These are uncommon occurrences in any economy as very few people still alive can claim having seen a pandemic of this magnitude. The implication is that the allocation accruing to the state from the Federation Account (FAAC) dropped to its lowest ebb while Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) became a thing of huge worry to the state. That was when the prudent nature of Governor Fintiri showed us.
How Governor Fintiri was able to meet his obligation to the workforce of the state and still execute all the projects and enforce security in the state still baffles even his worst critics. That the state against all odds has not gone bankrupt but still churns out developmental and people oriented projects only attracts him applause.
Governor Fintiri has been able to evenly distribute projects to all the twenty-one local government areas of the state. The massive projects in the LGAs which are either ongoing or completed cover a wide range of areas including roads, education, health etc. The livestock market hitherto abandoned is about to be raised to international standards by the governor as a strategy to boost the IGR of the state.
It is amazing to state that on May 29, the state will witness the commissioning of the first flyover ever constructed in the North East Region of Nigeria. The first ever road interchange in the region located in Yola, the state capital is 75% completed.
Political appointments made by the governor are across religious and tribal lines, not like the past administration where you have cases of 1 to 8, 2 to 20, 1 to 10 ratio. Governor Ahmadu Umuru Fintiri is a ‘Promise Keeper’. He is like ‘Fidelity, he keeps his words. Even if it takes him years, he makes good his promises. The people of Toungo LGA would relate well to this. When Governor Fintiri visited Toungo LGA during his campaign rally in 2019, he promised them electricity. When everyone seemed to have lost hope, he fulfilled that promise. Today, Toungo LGA has been connected to the national grid after 25 years of creation as Local Government. Michika Local Government is one among the worst hit local government areas by Boko Haram have also had their light restored.
Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State was invited to the state to commission roads in Michika LGA few days back. Besides Governor Bala Mohammed, the Hon Minister of FCT Mohammed Musa Bello, Senator Bello Tukur has also taken turns to commission projects in the state. Worthy of mention is the fact that there are chains of project commissioning activities with more prominent Nigerians billed to feature, some of whom include; Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal of Sokoto, His Excellency, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, former Vice President of Nigeria and Indeed in Adamawa State, is in a season of project commissioning.
One really wonders who would have done it better than Governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri, given the times and season we are, in the history of the country.
Credit must really go to the ‘Wonder man’, Governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri!!!
Happy 731 days in office !!!
Written by David Simon Dzalla.
