Governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri of Adamawa State reels out midterm score card

The past two weeks have seen us crisscrossing the State in a manner that suggests the proverbial season of harvest. From the commissioning of the urban roads in 𝑵𝒖𝒎𝒂𝒏 and 𝑴𝒊𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒌𝒂; to the 𝑻𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒈𝒐 𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒋𝒆𝒄𝒕, we resumed this early week with the commission of urban roads in 𝒀𝒐𝒍𝒂-𝑺𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒉, and 𝒀𝒐𝒍𝒂 𝑵𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒉. The crown of the activities was the colorful commissioning of the 𝑳𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒅𝒐 𝑨𝒍𝒊𝒚𝒖 𝑴𝒖𝒔𝒅𝒂𝒇𝒂 𝑩𝒓𝒊𝒅𝒈𝒆 which was done by our 𝐅𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫, 𝐌𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐬, 𝐀𝐭𝐢𝐤𝐮 𝐀𝐛𝐮𝐛𝐚𝐤𝐚𝐫, 𝐆𝐂𝐎𝐍, 𝐖𝐚𝐳𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧 𝐀𝐝𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐰𝐚 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐕𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐑𝐞𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐨𝐟 𝐍𝐢𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚.

The last two weeks have indeed been extensively loaded and exhaustive. I therefore feel that there is no better way to cool it down than a dinner like this. This will give me an opportunity to thank everyone who has been on the commissioning train from the beginning to the end; the invited special guests, who demonstrated their friendship to us and Adamawa State by honouring us with their presence to commission these life changing projects; the 𝑳𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑 𝒐𝒇 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝑮𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕 𝑷𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒚 – 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑷𝑫𝑷 in Adamawa State led by our Chairman 𝘽𝙖𝙧𝙧, 𝘼𝙏 𝙎𝙝𝙚𝙝𝙪; the State Assembly under the able leadership of the Honourable Speaker, 𝑹𝒕. 𝑯𝒐𝒏. 𝑨𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒖 𝑰𝒚𝒂 𝑨𝒃𝒃𝒂𝒔, my Council of dedicated and modest 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬, 𝐀𝐝𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐀𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐬; 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥-𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬 of the administration and above all, the 𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐝𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐰𝐚 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞. Words are indeed not good enough to express my appreciations to all.

Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen, today, our administration is 2 years old. 2 years is half the lifespan of a single tenure in our constitutional democracy. It is equally an age ripe enough to give an account of a mandate and support freely and willingly given. It is my modest thought that while we descend on our meal, it is equally important to present to you our Scorecard as an appetizer. This is in line with our democratic tradition which is always rooted in citizens’ engagement.

On May 29, 2019, we constitutionally took the oath of office to serve the State for the next 4 years. Since then, we went boots-on to the business of governance and service to the people as dictated by the sacred lines of our oaths. We met a State that was virtually devastated in all ramifications, requiring more than ordinary ingenuity to patch and revamp. Conscious of the task at hand, we went all out, dared distractions and subdued impossibilities.

Today, the ugly narrative is fast reversing, Adamawa State is changing and our people are happier. For me, beside any other achievement that might be credited to this administration, the one that stands out is the fact that we have been able to draw a line between politics and governance. We have in the last 2 years pulled the State out of election mood and placed her on the pedestal of good governance.

We have carefully and deliberately guarded our status as constitutional leaders of the State and resisted all the provocative temptations that could reduce us to bigotry. This has freed the State from unnecessary political tension that retards development.

It is our fervent belief that we stand to benefit more when political scuffles are off our table.

Differences during elections are divine requirement during elections, but once elections are won and lost; the players need to dissolve or at best suspend those differences for the greater good. This is our philosophy where 𝐧𝐨 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐞𝐟𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐞𝐟𝐭 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝. It is working well for us and the State is the greatest beneficiary.

𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐨 𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐭 𝐌𝐚𝐲 𝟐𝟗, 𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟗

𝟏. 𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲

We inherited a socially destabilized society with a disenchanted citizenry who live in constant fear of losing their lives, livelihood and properties. While general loss of trust, attendant upon by ethnic and religious suspicions and intolerance was brewing among our plural nationalities. Absence of justice and fairness has instituted a culture of identity politics which was negatively taking its toll on our people. Perennial farmer herder conflicts, was claiming lives, herds, farm produce and even settlements of our people.

The situation was so bad that no community in Adamawa State can claim freedom from it. Kidnapping and unrestrained urban crime such as the activities of ‘Shila-Boys cult went on brazenly as if there were no constituted authority to contain them. The Northern Zone which was just recuperating from the attacks of the dreaded Boko haram insurgents were practically abandoned to their faith with most of them converting the emergency IDP camps into a permanent abode with no hope of return to their ancestral homes. The State was sliding into anarchy with no demonstrated authoritative commitment to sanity and control.

𝟐. 𝐈𝐧𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐃𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐭

We inherited poor infrastructure. Despite the relative commitment of our predecessors in constructing urban roads within the State capital and a few other places, such effort was only good enough to place Adamawa State at its lowest ranking of 33 out of 36 States in the federation. Rural infrastructure has remained a rarity, as our access to our rural communities remain a herculean task, if not impossible. This is not to talk of other basic infrastructures such as electricity which was seen as prized impossibilities.

𝟑. 𝐁𝐥𝐨𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈𝐥𝐥-𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐂𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐥 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞

We inherited a civil service which was deliberately bloated by our predecessors out of brazen mischief. While the service was stuffed by a lot of workers who were hurriedly recruited without due process, the machinery of service was not oiled to provide the right results with the level of indolence we met in the service. There were Backlog of salary arrears and general uncertainty on wage dates and accumulated pension areas of retired workers and senior citizens.

𝟒. 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐂𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐅𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞

In 2018, the annual IGR of Adamawa State was about 6 Billion. This was considered paltry in this age where every State is deploying all its arsenal to transit to self-reliance and sustainability. We inherited a Suffocating 140-Billion-Naira debt burden which we had to service every month from the Federal Allocation. As if this was not bad enough, there was standing monthly overdraft line to pay salaries provided by commercial banks that chocks. This has led to budget indiscipline and non-compliance with extant appropriation laws.

𝟓. 𝐃𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐄𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐒𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦

Our Education system was in a deplorable state. With Dilapidated schools’ infrastructure; Ill-motivated teachers; insufficient instructional materials in our schools; abdication of feeding in our Boarding Schools; inability to pay counterpart funding for UBEC projects in the State (since 2015); refusal to lift the burden of sponsorship for school fees and registration of national examinations such as WAEC and NECO, off the shoulders of our already impoverished parents, etc., our education system was reduced to a dreadful ebb.

𝟔. 𝐏𝐨𝐨𝐫 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡 𝐒𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦

With tiresome access to secondary health facilities; crumbling and inadequate infrastructure in existing secondary health facilities across the State; poor state of hospital equipment and general lack of sufficient medical consumables in our hospitals; insufficient staff in both Primary Health Care Centers and Secondary Health facilities; lack of State health and social insurance to support the poor and the vulnerable Our health system was among the worst in terms of access, service and delivery;

Distinguished Stakeholders, I have taken the pain to take us through some of these gloomy indicators so that you can have a mental picture of the situation at hand when took over. I am not lamenting. Far from it. I do know, these are pitiably extraordinary problems created by the wrong people in leadership. And your collective anger that you require a true leader to turn the fortunes of the State for the better was the result that brought me on board. The sure way to thank you for this decision is to periodically give you a detailed breakdown of what we are doing to reverse the ugly narrative.

𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐍𝐨𝐰

Upon assumption of office in 2019, we were aware of the daunting task ahead. So, we were clear on the energy and intellect required to surmount it. We reeled out our 11 Point Agenda which is now the compass of the administration. The first task was to unbundle the financial crunch and restore fiscal discipline. This is the most important, though intangible, part of our reform. Unfortunately, it is the most unappreciated by outsiders because it is not a physical project that can be touched and commissioned.

Sometimes, I sit down and wonder, where the State would have been by now, if we had not done what we did in this sector? We deployed all our ingenuity and re-engineered the financial mesh of the State. This financial reengineering was able to lessen the weight of the debt burden on our shoulders and provided us with the required oxygen to breath and unleash our energy on other sectors. We went on to key reform drivers such as:

• 𝐑𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐠𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭
• 𝐏𝐫𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐬
• 𝐄𝐧𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐮𝐞 𝐎𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐒𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦
• 𝐌𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐕𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝
• 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐏𝐚𝐲𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐥 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐬𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐬

While instituting a culture of discipline around these key drivers, to engender transparency and accountability, we submitted completely to the Treasury Single Account System (TSA) to manage Revenue Collection and Accounting Processes, Capital and Recurrent Expenditure Payments. This helped us to record all government inflows of revenues from IGR, FAAC and other sources.

We removed the chocking standing overdraft line provided by commercial Banks. This removal returned sanity to the compliance with budgetary provisions, expenditure pattern and government ability to pay salaries as at when due.

We achieved discipline in our budgetary process and implementation. This led to the budget size of N244Billion earlier approved by our predecessors to be reduced to N143 Billion for 2020 which was considered more realistic for 2019. Subsequently, in 2021 the budget size was N140 Billion. In view of the global COVID-19 Pandemic, this is necessitated by the amount of revenue generation internally, Federation accounts, Capital receipts, grants and other sources. The desire of this administration is to have a realistic Budget where expenditures are matched against revenue.

We equally achieved prompt payment of Salaries and Pension of workers and retirees. We have been faithful to our commitment to pay the wages and pensions of our workers on the 23rd or 24th of the month; 𝑤𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐹𝑖𝑟𝑠𝑡 𝑆𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑢𝑝𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑒𝑤 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑚 𝑤𝑎𝑔𝑒𝑠 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑐ℎ 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑝𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑡 𝑁30,0000.00. We not only implemented the minimum wage as approved by the Federal Government, but 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐦𝐮𝐦 𝐰𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐍𝟑𝟐,𝟎𝟎𝟎.𝟎𝟎 𝐭𝐨 𝐂𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐥 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐆𝐋 𝟏 – 𝟔 and also agreed on the consequential adjustments to those on GL 7 and above to civil servants of the State.

With the relative success in unbundling the financial crunch, we took on a multisectoral approach to development.

We invested heavily in the peace and security of our people. We launched an aggressive campaign for peaceful coexistence and made justice and fair play the watch word of our administration. We reclaimed the trust and good will in government, which our predecessors wasted.

This reduced the heated tension among and between our ethnic nationalities and identity groupings. We hosted a security summit and redesigned the Security architecture of the State to accommodate local intelligence and incorporated vigilantes and local hunters in the frontlines; we procured and donated 60 𝑻𝒐𝒚𝒐𝒕𝒂 𝑯𝒊𝒍𝒖𝒙 𝑻𝒓𝒖𝒄𝒌𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 50 𝑴𝒐𝒕𝒐𝒄𝒚𝒄𝒍𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝑶𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝑭𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒂; 𝑨𝒄𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒅 10 𝑻𝒐𝒚𝒐𝒕𝒂 𝑳𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒓𝒖𝒊𝒔𝒆𝒓 𝑻𝒓𝒖𝒄𝒌𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝑶𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝑳𝒂𝒇𝒊𝒚𝒂 𝑫𝒐𝒍𝒆; Procured 30 operational Trucks from Local Manufacturer IVM to support Vigilantes and Local hunters in 21 LGAs of the State; paid monthly stipends to Vigilantes and Local hunters in the State; organized a Joint Taskforce raid on mini Sambisa which is the den of the dreaded urban miscreants known as Shila boys in the State Capital.

These proactive measures and many others which will remain covert, were enough to send the message to the underworld that there is a serious government in place. The result is the relative peace we now enjoy. Interestingly most of our IDPs camps are being closed and our people from the northern zone are gradually returning to their ancestral abode. The perennial farmer-herders conflict has been reduced to the barest minimum.

In the Education and Human Capital development sector, we lessened the economic burden of impoverished parents by introducing a tuition-free education in our public schools and paid for WAEC and NECO fees for our final year students in the public schools; we reintroduced the school feeding system with balanced diet in our boarding schools. We awarded 𝙁𝙤𝙧𝙚𝙞𝙜𝙣 𝙎𝙘𝙝𝙤𝙡𝙖𝙧𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙥 𝙩𝙤 𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧 120 𝙎𝙩𝙪𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙨 𝙘𝙪𝙧𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙡𝙮 𝙨𝙩𝙪𝙙𝙮𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙢𝙚𝙙𝙞𝙘𝙞𝙣𝙚, 𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙘𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙄𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙖; we equally reintroduce annual bursaries to indigent students studying in the various tertiary institutions within the country. With support from UNICEF and KFW- German Partners, we are constructing and rehabilitating over 80 𝙎𝙘𝙝𝙤𝙤𝙡𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙁𝙪𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚 and 𝙂𝙪𝙮𝙪𝙠.

We are equipping the schools and distributing instructional material, sporting facilities to the public schools. We have Paid outstanding UBE counterpart funds from 2015 – 2020. This has enabled us access the required funding for the construction of over 5000 class rooms in basic education schools across the State. We have completed selected internal roads with storm water drainage totaling 5.3km in Adamawa State University (ADSU) and convocated graduands of the School, an event last conducted in 2013.

In the health sector, in order to ensure equitable access to secondary health care services across the State, we are constructing 5 𝒏𝒆𝒘 60 𝒄𝒐𝒕𝒕𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝑮𝒐𝒎𝒃𝒊, 𝑮𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒊, 𝑳𝒂𝒎𝒖𝒓𝒅𝒆, 𝑺𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒈 and 𝑫𝒆𝒎𝒔𝒂 and 𝒖𝒑𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝑭𝒖𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑱𝒂𝒅𝒂. We are also renovating and upgrading facilities in the 𝑮𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒍 𝑯𝒐𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒔 located in 𝑮𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒆, 𝑵𝒖𝒎𝒂𝒏 and 𝑴𝒖𝒃𝒊. We have provided a modern Infectious Diseases Center (IDC) to manage and contain epidemics generally.

This has been put to use in the containment of COVID -19 Pandemic. To improve the quality of service delivery in our Primary Health Centers, we have recruited over 1,200 personnel into the Primary Health care system; constructed 22 Primary Health Care Facilities and renovated over 20 existing facilities across the State with support from our partners.

Working hard to bridge the infrastructure gap, we have embarked on aggressive urban renewal programme. Our signature projects in the State Capital under this Programme are the 𝑳𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒅𝒐 𝑨𝒍𝒊𝒚𝒖 𝑴𝒖𝒔𝒅𝒂𝒇𝒂 𝑩𝒓𝒊𝒅𝒈𝒆 and the 𝑮𝒓𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝑰𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆 with an 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒑𝒂𝒔𝒔 at 𝑻𝒐𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝑱𝒖𝒏𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 and 𝑷𝒐𝒍𝒊𝒄𝒆 𝑹𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 respectively.

To compliment these monuments and ensure a coordinated traffic management and guarantee free vehicular movement within the metropolis, about 20 km road network have either been provided or rehabilitated. Over 15 Km out of these roads have so far been completed and commissioned within the week; also completed in the urban renewal campaign are the projects in 𝑵𝒖𝒎𝒂𝒏, 𝑯𝒐𝒏𝒈, and 𝑻𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒈𝒐; 𝑱𝒂𝒅𝒂 𝑻𝒐𝒘𝒏𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑 𝑹𝒐𝒂𝒅𝒔 is also ongoing. We are also completing works started by our predecessors: Resumption of work on 37.5 𝒌𝒎 𝑲𝒊𝒓𝒊 – 𝑺𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒈 𝑹𝒐𝒂𝒅, 𝑪𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒇 7 𝒌𝒎 𝑩𝒖𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒂𝒍 – 𝑺𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒂𝒔𝒖𝒎𝒊 𝑹𝒐𝒂𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝑮𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒆, resumption of work on 40 𝒌𝒎 𝑷𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒂 – 𝑴𝒂𝒊𝒉𝒂 𝑹𝒐𝒂𝒅 and Completion of 5.3 𝒌𝒎 𝑰𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝑹𝒐𝒂𝒅𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝑨𝑫𝑺𝑼 among others. It is gratifying to note that most of these projects have been completed, commissioned and put to use for our people.

To open up our rural areas for access, we have leveraged on our partnership with the Rural Access and Mobility Programme (RAMP II) supported by world Bank to construct 347 km of Rural roads across the State. Key among them are: 𝒀𝒐𝒍𝒅𝒆 𝑷𝒂𝒕𝒆- 𝑷𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒀𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒎 (27.91 𝒌𝒎), 𝑷𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒂 𝑴𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒂 – 𝑭𝒖𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆 (18.09 𝒌𝒎), 𝑲𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒂𝒏 𝒚𝒂𝒋𝒊 – 𝑨𝒎𝒅𝒖𝒓 (15.58 𝒌𝒎), 𝑳𝒐𝒏𝒈𝒂 𝑬𝒘𝒂 – 𝑾/𝒀𝒐𝒎𝒃𝒆 (19.71 𝒌𝒎), 𝑯𝒐𝒏𝒈 – 𝑴𝒖𝒋𝒊𝒍𝒊 – 𝑲𝒖𝒗𝒂 𝑮𝒂𝒚𝒂 (25.58 𝒌𝒎), 𝑴𝒂𝒚𝒐 𝒈𝒖𝒍𝒊 – 𝑴𝒂𝒏𝒋𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒏 – 𝑺𝒂𝒍𝒎𝒂 (10.90 𝒌𝒎), 𝑵𝒖𝒎𝒂𝒏 – 𝑩𝒂𝒓𝒆 (7.42 𝒌𝒎), 𝑺𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒈 – 𝑩𝒂𝒌𝒕𝒂(16.93 𝒌𝒎), 𝑻𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒈𝒐 – 𝑲𝒊𝒓𝒊 (11.47 𝒌𝒎), 𝑷𝒐𝒍𝒘𝒆𝒘𝒊𝒓𝒆 – 𝑵𝒅𝒊𝒌𝒐𝒏 (13.14 𝒌𝒎), 𝑵𝒈𝒖𝒓𝒐𝒓𝒆 – 𝑴𝒂𝒚𝒐𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒘𝒂 – 𝑮𝒐𝒏𝒈𝒐𝒔𝒉𝒊 (9.3 𝒌𝒎). Again, all the rural roads have been completed and put to use by our hardworking rural dwellers.

The rural electrification project has equally reconnected communities of Michika and Madagali LGAs to the National grid after five years of destruction by Boko Haram Insurgents. We have also connected Tahau in Demsa LGA, and made the history of connecting Toungo LGA to the National Grid. I continue to draw joy and pride in the Toungo electricity project. Not only because of its landmark status but more because of my ability to fulfil an electoral promise I have always carried as a burden. It is indeed a huge relief.

Youths development and empowerment have been elevated to an institutional level by creating the Ministry of Entrepreneurship Development and an Agency of Poverty Alleviation and Wealth Creation to provide the right skills for our teaming youths and prepare them for selfreliance. This will also stimulate the development of Micro-small and Medium Enterprises in the State.

Our agriculture and livestock masterplan development is on course. With the establishment of the State Livestock Transformation Office (SLTO).

We have commenced the Cocoa Rehabilitation and Regeneration Programme in Toungo and Ganye LGAs, consistently procured and supplied fertilizers and other farm inputs to our local farmers at subsidized price, completed the ultra-modern Jimeta Abattoir as well as well ongoing rehabilitation of selected Abattoirs in the State. We have also engaged a consultant on an endto-end Agribusiness Development which would empower our farmers to unlock the relegated economic base of the State. A preliminary analysis, reveals that the State IGR will grow by over 90% in a Span of 10 years from the agribusiness alone.

𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐝

Fellow Citizens, above are our modest achievements even in the face of glaring impossibilities by the time we took over. This is further worsened by the hard effect of the COVID – 19 Pandemic on the economy.

As an administration, with the right forecast, when COVID-19 started early last year, we foresaw that the effect of the global economic shut down, will bite harder and tougher in the second half of this year (2021). For the State, just as it is for other entities across the world, this is one of the toughest moments for survival.

As a responsible government, we deployed adequate resources into the design of an economic response stimuli for the State. While admitting that the situation is tough, it can only be tougher for those who refuse to act at the right time. Our window for economic survival is unlocking our potentials that is secretly hidden in Agriculture and its value chain. It is against this background that we are set to launch the 𝐀𝐃𝐀𝐌𝐀𝐖𝐀 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐓𝐄 𝐀𝐆𝐑𝐈𝐁𝐔𝐒𝐈𝐍𝐄𝐒𝐒 𝐒𝐔𝐏𝐏𝐎𝐑𝐓 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐌𝐌𝐄 (𝐀𝐃𝐀𝐒) and I hereby call on all our citizens to explore the programme and prepare to exploit the vast opportunities that abound therein. It is necessary to reveal that the successful implementation of the ADAS Programme will create 750,000 direct jobs with a corresponding 1,500,000 indirect ones. It will grow our GDP from its current level of 1.7 Trillion to 7.8 Trillion Naira. Above all, it will raise our IGR from 8.3 Billion in 2020 to 52 Billion Naira in 10 years’ time.

Our vision is to have an Adamawa State that is financially self-sufficient; where cost of governance (both recurrent and capital) can conveniently be defrayed from the streams of revenues invented within. The guiding philosophy is to ensure that 𝑵𝒐 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒍𝒆𝒇𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒔 𝒍𝒆𝒇𝒕 𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒐𝒖𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒅.

𝗚𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱, 𝘄𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗼:

• Build institutions for sustainability and unleash the required sectoral reforms that can drive development and entrench a culture of patriotism and progress.

• Set a tall standard of good governance where accountability and people centered policies and programmes are key.

• Shrink the infrastructural gap by completing all projects initiated and even the ones abandoned by our predecessors.

• Empower the youths and women through carefully crafted entrepreneurial programmes.

• Make Adamawa State a preferred destination of choice for investment.

• In the next two years, introduce a sustainable social intervention program that can cushion the effect of the current economic reality, fight poverty and create a minimum safety net for the poor and the vulnerable.

• Continue to reduce political tension within the polity and sensitize Adamawa elites around the knowledge that the State is greater than each of us individually.

Distinguished Stakeholders, this is our Scorecard. Today we submit ourselves to the temple of popular mandate which is the hallmark of democracy. As we move into the other half of the constitutional mandate, I want to reemphasize that this is our Government. The people’s Government in Adamawa State. We are opened to all forms of constructive counsel for the unity and progress of Adamawa State.

Once more, thank you and God bless.