Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed Abdulkadir, in a goodwill message to mark the 2023 Democracy Day celebrations on Monday, said there is no better alternative to democracy as a form of government than giving people the right to choose who to govern them and how they want to be governed.
The Governor stated that it is this democratic right of choice that puts elected governments at both the national and state levels on their toes so as not to incur the wrath of the electorate by being voted out of power during periodic elections.
“That we are today celebrating the 24th Democracy Day is a testimony to the fact that democratic governance has not only been firmly rooted but has also come to stay in Nigeria,” he said.
According to the Governor: “As you all know, following my recent re-election as the Governor of the State, I was sworn-in on 29th of May, 2023 to serve in this capacity for another four years.
READ ALSO: I Have Forgiven Them – Gov Mohammed Tells Adamu Mu’azu, Others After Re-Election
“Without wanting to sound immodest, I make bold to say that my re-election is a testimony of the confidence reposed in our Administration by the good people of Bauchi State as a result of the execution of various developmental projects for their social-economic well being.”
Continuing, the Governor noted that “Having been re-elected to serve the state for another four years, I wish to extend my hand of friendship to my co-contestants for the office of the Governor of Bauchi State to, in the spirit of sportsmanship, join me in the task of taking our dear State to greater height.
“Bauchi is the only State we can call ours. We must therefore forget about whatever happened during the electioneering campaigns and come together to collectively work for its economic, social and political development. We owe the current and future generations the duty of making Bauchi State a better place to live in. We cannot afford to do otherwise, as posterity will not forgive us.”
Bala Muhammad stressed that the “new mandate given to me by the good people of Bauchi State to preside over the governance of the State for another four years, is a challenge to me to prove that my performance during the last four years was not a fluke.
“We would, during the next four years, by the grace of God, prove that we have a plan to continue to work for the betterment of the socio-economic condition of the people of Bauchi State. Indeed, our intention is to positively make a difference in the lives and livelihood of our compatriots, and at the end of it all to leave the State a much better place than we found it.
“With all sense of humility, I want to state that during the last four years, we performed creditably in various spheres of human endeavour, ranging from construction of roads in both urban and rural areas, construction and rehabilitation of schools and health facilities, water supply, supply of agricultural inputs and machineries, human capital development through economic empowerment, among many other initiatives under our Greater Bauchi Project.”
READ ALSO: Governor Bala Pardons 153 Inmates In Bauchi State
According to him, “The various projects we executed in the last four years were in line with a blueprint we had developed even before our election in 2019. The blueprint which is called “My Bauchi Project” was produced after painstakingly studying the myriad of challenges that have held the State backwards over the years.”
The Governor said that successive administrations in the state had done what they could to move the State forward since its creation in 1976 saying, “However, their best was not good enough to take Bauchi State where it ought to be when compared with its contemporaries.”
He said that in order to improve on the performance during the last four years, a technical committee was constituted to review the blueprint on “My Bauchi Project” with a view to assessing the level of delivery of dividends of democracy and recommend how to address any grey areas and the way forward.
He further assured that with the review of the blueprint, the second tenure would witness aggressive execution of life touching projects across the state.
He also assured that all on-going projects would be completed and new ones would be embarked upon stressing that infrastructural development in the areas of road construction, construction and rehabilitation of educational and health facilities, water supply, agricultural inputs and machineries would continue to receive the desired attention.