SPEECH BY HIS EXCELLENCY, SEN BALA A. MOHAMMED, CON, ( KAURAN DAULAR USMANIYA )THE EXECUTIVE GOVERNOR OF BAUCHI STATE, ON THE OCCASION OF THE COMMISSIONING OF THE RE-MODELLED BAUCHI STATE GOVERNMENT HOUSE COMPLEX ON SATURDAY 18TH MAY, 2024

Your Excellency,

The Vice President,

Your Excellencies, My Colleague 

The Executive Governors of Adamawa, Borno,

Gombe, Taraba and Yobe States,

Your Excellency, the Deputy Governor,

Members of the National Assembly here Present

The Honourable Speaker, Bauchi State House of Assembly,

My Lords, the Chief Judge and Grand Khadi of Bauchi State,

Honourable Members of the Bauchi State House of Assembly,

Members of the State Executive Council,

The Secretary to the State Government,

The Head of Civil Service,

The Chief of Staff, Government House,

Permanent Secretaries,

Their Royal Highnesses,

Heads of Security Agencies

Chief Executives of Parastatals and Heads of Extra–Ministerial Departments,

Members of the Press Corps,

Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen.

All praise and gratitude be to Allah (SWT) the Most Beneficent, Most Compassionate, Most Merciful for making it possible for us to be here today, for the commissioning of the re-modelled Bauchi State Government House Complex.

2.​ It is a thing of great joy to witness the excitement exhibited by our compatriots who have left other pressing engagements to mark this milestone with the Administration.

3.​ I want to especially thank His Excellency, Senator Kashim Shetima, GCON, Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, for honouring us with his presence and to commission the project. He has shown himself as a patriot who prioritizes the broader and nobler demands of national unity and progress over narrow and destructive partisan interests that dot the shifting quick sands of our political landscape.

4.​ Your Excellency, it is therefore with utmost humility and profound respect that I, on behalf of myself, my family, and the Government and good people of Bauchi State, welcome you to this historic occasion.

5.​ Let me also extend very warm welcome to my brother Governors, my colleagues from the North East states, all the dignitaries and our compatriots who have come from far and wide to identify with our modest milestone, in the service of our dear state.

6.​ Your Excellencies, it would be recalled that at the inception of this administration during my first term in 2019, we had enunciated a clear policy thrust, under the My Bauchi Project agenda, aimed at improving the welfare of our people, orchestrating a robust and diversified economy and upscaling both the social sector and infrastructure in all ramifications.

7.​ The remodeling of the dilapidated, badly run down and inadequate Government House fell under our infrastructure remediation programme, even as we also identified it as a strategic cornerstone of our ambitious urban renewal agenda.

8.​ Your Excellency, I want to say without equivocation that even before I contemplated running for the office of Governor, I had always considered the previous Government House as an affront to the state, a disservice to the men and women who, due to the tedium of governmental administration, were compelled to spend long hours in the hardly conducive environment. And what about our visitors, those guests, our development partners who have been privileged to interact with other nations and sub-national entities?

9.​ My tenancy of the Government House, from 2019, provided instant and compelling justification for my earlier feeling and indeed brought to the fore the urgency of holistically resetting the architectural and psychological milieu of the Bauchi Government House.

10.​ Characterized by inadequate office space for the critical staff of the Government House, lack of meeting rooms, vulnerability to security breaches, an unconducive residential environment and the ever present risk of de-branding the state, I needed no further conviction that th question of re-modelling the Government House had been overtaken by whether it should be done. The pertinent question had become: when, indeed, how soon?

That I kept it on hold was borne out of the dictum that what concerns us comes last, that as the pilot of our dream reconstruction effort, I and my family could afford to suffer personal inconvenience if that was what was needed to achieve the ambitious vision espoused in the My Bauchi Project document.

11.​ But it was a delicate balancing act between, on the one hand self-denial and on the hand, operational efficiency, minimum convenience, the image of the state and the security of both the Governor and all those working in the Government House, due to rampant incidents of security breaches.

We decided to act.

What you see today is the outcome of that ACTION!

12.​ Standing on this hallowed turf of our Government House, where generations of patriots, living and dead, diligently served the state, Your Excellency, I feel a sense of fulfilment, not just because we dared but that we dared in a big way.

13.​ Let me quickly say that, over the years, I have developed the paradigm of “big thinking” in Government. Big thinking allows us to envision the future, to deploy today’s resources in a manner that anticipates the needs of our great grandchildren and not just our children. With big thinking, we avoid the innocent mistakes that limited the vision of our highly patriotic progenitors who built narrow bridges, constructed single lane roads and captured electricity to take care of a limited number of consumers, domestic and corporate. Nigeria and Nigerians are still suffering the consequences of those actions that were taken, obviously, with the best of intentions.

14.​ Your Excellency, this big project is not an isolated case. Whether we are talking about the dualized airport road or the ongoing dualisation of the major roads linking the headquarters of the five other emirates of the state, our goal is to establish legacy projects capable of sustaining the ambitious developmental needs of our people across time and space.

15.​ Our vision is to replicate and if possible, improve on those assets that attract our people to Europe, the Middle East and the Americas so that with time, the financial hemorrhage that attends foreign expeditions will abate and Nigeria, nay Bauchi State will enjoy the benefits of internal tourism where indeed, we excel. We believe we can do it, and, to the glory of God, the re-modelled Government House complex is evidence that, where there is the will, and with prudent management of resources, there will be a way!

16.​ Your Excellency, our highly respected Vice President, my dear colleagues, Ladies and Gentlemen, the scope of the project comprises the New Governor’s Office Complex, the Dr. Rilwanu Suleiman Grand Stand, the  International Conference Centre, a Standard Banquet Hall, Expansion of Existing Governor’s Residence, and New Senior Staff Residences. Others are the Govt House Clinic, a Mosque, Fire House, Vehicles’ Maintenance Unit, Central kitchen, Shop & Canteen, Power House, Water House, Fuel Service Area, Six (6) no. Entrance Gate Houses with Armoury, two (2) no. Pedestrian Gates, an Animal House, Abattoir, Stores, Mini Banquet Hall, External works, Roads and Drainages.

17.​ Your Excellency, the Vice President, as we undertake today’s commissioning, permit me to place on record that this is simply a continuation of the infrastructure milestones that litter various nooks and crannies of the state, to the benefit of our people. These include roads, water, electricity projects, schools, hospitals and the palaces of our traditional rulers.

18.​ We have either built new health facilities in some places or renovated already existing primary healthcare centres in others. The package includes supply of the needed medical equipment, and employment of health professionals. Others include construction of numerous roads and heavy bridges linking key towns and villages to facilitate agricultural activities, assist rural dwellers to have easier access to health and other facilities in the urban areas, reduce rural-urban migration, and generally solve the logistical challenges faced by our rural dwellers.

19.​ My speech will not be complete if I did not mention the giant strides our administration has recorded so far in her primary mandate of providing decent and affordable housing to the less privileged Citizens of the State. Shortly after my inauguration in 2019, our administration had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Family Homes Funds Ltd for the provision of 2,500 Affordable Housing units. The work which is almost completed has now been implemented in all the six (6) Emirates headquarters namely Bauchi, Azare, Misau, Jama’are, Ningi and Dass. This singular act will no doubt alleviate the housing needs of the State Civil Servants and the general Citizenry.

20.​ Looking at the edifice that would be unveiled shortly, Your Excellency the Vice President, I cannot but indulge in some self-adulation that we awarded the contract to the indigenous firm of Messrs. Architectronix Nigeria Limited. I am proud that the firm has acquitted itself creditably. In addition to the diligence and expertise displayed, our Monitoring and Evaluation team turned in encouraging reports about the deliberate deployment of Bauchi’s internal assets -skilled and unskilled manpower, building materials and logistical support - while delivering on key benchmarks of the project. I therefore wish to congratulate the firm of Messrs. Architectronix Ltd for this laudable effort with the firm assurance that there would be no let in my frequent pressures until the remaining segments of the project especially the iconic International Conference Centre are signed, sealed and delivered.

21.​ Before I conclude, once again let me thank His Excellency, the Vice President for sparing his time to visit our dear state and to witness the dividends of democracy that our administration is offering to the people. I must also thank Members of the State Executive Council especially the Commissioner of Housing & Environment and his entire Staff for their support, resilience and dedication to duty, without which we could not have achieved this milestone. I also wish to acknowledge the profound contributions and prayers of our highly respected royal fathers towards the realization of this project. Their consistent support, fatherly advice and varying interventions continue to serve as reminders that despite the attraction of modern forms of government, it is incumbent on us to always cherish those fundamentals of our culture that have promoted social stability, inter group harmony and good governance.  

22.​ Lastly, to our compatriots who will have the privilege of working in this trail-blazing edifice even after I have left, I say congratulations. You have more than paid your dues in the years that you endured the deficits in our previous office. It is now time to redouble our effort in the service of our state, realizing that to whom much is given, much is expected. Above all, we must resolve to maintain this asset with utmost decency and pride and never to drop the ball.

23.​ It is now my distinct honour and privilege, with all due courtesy and respect, to yield the microphone to His Excellency, the Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Senator Kashim Shetima, GCON, as he delivers his remarks and thereafter, to commission the re-modelled and upgraded Bauchi State Government House Complex.

To God be the glory.

Thank you and God bless.

SIGNED 

Office of the Adviser Media and Publicity to the Governor .

18th May, 2024.