Sokoto, Lagos, and Rivers score well in Reporter HENRY ODUAH’s assessment of some states, North and South, since new governors came on board and others began a second term on May 29, 2015.
Sokoto
On assumption of office, Governor Aminu Tambuwal declared a state of emergency in education. Over 500 new teachers were enrolled.
“When the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Director General, Brigadier General Sule Kazaure, visited the state, [Tambuwal] requested that more corps members who studied mathematics and English language be posted to the state,” recalled Barry Dakan, an NYSC member serving in Sokoto.
Also on the table is a skill acquisition programme which beneficiaries would undergo for a maximum of two years. Over 25,000 youths are projected to benefit.
More than N2.6 billion gratuities owed retired civil servants between 2011 and August 2015 were paid.
Tambuwal, former House of Representatives speaker, shifted his focus to healthcare and closed down the state-owned Murtala Muhammed Specialist Hospital, Sokoto said to have structures unsuitable for public health.
He pvromised an upgrade would begin immediately, and on completion, the hospital would be converted into a renal and cardiac centre.
Kaduna
Nasir el-Rufai, the most controversial governor since he was elected last year, has dealt with issues ranging from the clash between Shiite Muslims and the Army to curtailing street begging.
His handling of a very delicate case as the Shiite’s, which would have degenerated into a major conflict, gives him credit.
However, the former Federal Capital Territory (FCT) minister raised dust among the common men when he approved a bill to ban street begging and hawking. He drew further criticism with his move to regulate religious preaching.
Although the bill affects Christians as well as Muslims, clerics from both the Christian orthodox wing and protestant column are more vocal about their disapproval of what they interpret as an attempt to curtail religious freedom.
And with the latest completion of Romi-Karatudu Bridge started by the late Governor Patrick Yakowa, a considerable number of Kaduna residents do not seem to stand by El-Rufai.
Part of the explanation for that is the irregular payment of civil servants’ salary thrown into the mix of his penchant for controversy.
Lagos
Governor Akinwunmi Ambode has led Nigeria’s biggest commercial centre to significant growth.
Many thought the man singlehandedly picked by kingmaker Bola Tinubu would not fill the big shoes left by his predecessor, Babatunde Fashola.
Lagos gets the highest internally generated revenue (IGR) of any state, and it raked in N101 billion in the first quarter (Q1) of 2016.
Add to it a N4.85 billion revenue surplus, against expected deficit of N29.92 billion.
Lagos realised N97.28 billion in Q1 2015, N4.4 billion less than the figure for Q1 2016.
Residents went agog last week when Ambode, an accountant, announced that Nigeria’s beloved state has joined the league of oil producers to make even more money.
Initially, insecurity and traffic gridlock threatened his administration, raising doubt of his competence.
The Economist described Ambode as “less competent, weak and full of excuses” in November 2015, and that became his wake up call.
He immediately put his feet on the ground. Arming the police with patrol vehicles, speed motorbikes, and ammunition brought the megacity and its outlying regions back under control.
Road and drainage construction, and street lighting in all parts of the state, have also formed the crux of his policy.
Last week, Ambode announced that he will complete the Fourth Mainland Bridge, to the aplause of Lagosians. The bridge will cost a fortune, but he said he is up to the task.
However, his dismal handling of the demand for wage rise by Lagos State Water Corporation (LSWC) workers dents his reawakened but fragile image.
The workers have been on strike for two weeks running.
Ebonyi
In the state described as the Salt of the Nation, Governor David Umahi has not fared badly in the eyes of the people.
He is popular for the ongoing construction of a flyover at a roundabout known simply as Presco in Abakaliki. Residents say he has given the state capital a new look with street lights and road construction.
One of them, Onuchukwu Michael, said Umahi “is really concerned about education, that is why he constructed a pedestrian way at the permanent site of Ebonyi State University.
“I wouldn’t say he has outdone his predecessor, but for his first year in office, he has been excellent.”
Abia
Governor Okezie Ikpeazu, anointed by former Governor Theodore Orji, faced heavy opposition from Aba residents at the beginning of his administration.
They claimed that their public antagonism to him was because they were displeased with Orji.
However, the tide is beginning to turn in Ikpeazu’s favour as he gets cracking with infrastructure development.
A resident of Aba, John Anyanwu, narrated that Ikpeazu “is gradually restructuring the Aba market that used to be in a shambles. He has moved the abattoir to a better place where people’s health would not be endangered.
“More important are his road and drainage construction works in Abiriba and on Aba-Owerri Road.”
Anyanwu cited unpaid workers’ salaries for four months as a minus, but stressed that it is a national crisis involving many other states.
Abia’s inability to generate substantial funds internally also constitutes a problem. The main revenue stream is levies on traders, barely enough to run the state.
Rivers
Governor Nyesom Wike spent the beginning of his maiden year in office swerving political swords with All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate, Dakuku Peterside, and criticising the legacies of his predecessor, Rotimi Amaechi.
His order to sack 344 employees of the state’s polytechnic in June last year did not go down well with the people.
But he was lauded for granting financial independence to the judiciary days after he was inaugurated, and he paid the salaries Amaechi owed civil servants.
Sportsmen also got their pay packets as Wike paid all debts owed state-run Dolphins and Sharks Football Clubs.
Road construction is equally part of his achievements in the past one year.
