Posted by ThisDay Online on
Gbenga Daniel
While the legal arguments continue as to the credibility of the conduct of the last presidential/gubernatorial elections in Ogun State, one thing we should not take away from Otunba Gbenga Daniel is that he is improving the lot of the State with fresh ideas.
Daniel came to office with a desire to take advantage of the enormous potentials in his state as well as its strategic location which places it close to Lagos, the commercial nerve centre without having to share the burden of the city.
While his Ogun State Road Maintenance Management Authority (OGROMA) has been building the network of roads in his state through direct labour, which is in itself a job creation mechanism, Daniel has focused on the larger picture. He has gone into agriculture and several other schemes.
For tourism, he is relying on the potentials of Olumo Rock, which was largely abandoned before he came, while to ginger the economy, he is investing in a cargo airport to take advantage of the huge volume of freight that comes into the country.
Some of these ideas, we must note, do not germinate immediate dividends. But they nonetheless display forward thinking by a man concerned about the development of his people. That is what, in our estimation, stands Gbenga Daniel out in the South West as nominee for Governor of the Year.
Donald Duke
In terms of available resources, Cross River is the poor cousin among the Niger Delta States in that it receives, alongside Edo, paltry sums off money. But Governor Donald Duke, like the Biblical servant with two talents has been faithful to its management of what it has.
What set Duke apart are his ideas to tap into the huge potentials in Cross River, rather than rely on statutory allocations from Abuja, to generate additional revenue for the socio-economic transformation of his state.
That explains why, right from the beginning of his administration, he had a vision of pursuing agriculture and tourism as the centrepiece of his programme of developing Cross River State and the seed seems to have germinated with the prospect of bearing good fruits.
Today, there is the Tinapa project in Calabar, the Ranch Resort Project in Obudu, the Nkarassi Monoliths as well as the State National Parks. Each of these projects is expected to generate revenues that would drive the economy of the state. The agricultural project completes the picture.
Duke is no doubt a man of ideas and this can easily be seen with the strides he has taken in Cross River State, which has become a tourist haven in Nigeria both for the citizens and foreigners. For these not-so-giant, (but commendable) strides, Duke is nominated from the South South region as Governor of the Year.
Sam Egwu
Education, according to George Washington Carver, is the key to unlock the golden door of freedom and no governor has understood this as much as Dr. Sam Egwu of Ebonyi. Perhaps because he comes from the University system, Egwu has placed education above all other things in his state in his human development philosophy and this investment cannot but ultimately yield good results.
Just three months ago in October 2004, Egwu said, "in our 2005 budget, I have directed that education carries the highest percentage" and like he has been doing every year, his wish has become the norm.
Not only has this set the state apart, international multilateral agencies have identified his efforts in this direction and have been providing assistance by way off aids and grants. The Universal Basic Education that the Federal Government could not do successfully is working in Ebonyi in confirmation of the saying that once there is a will, there is a way.
Like some of his colleagues, especially in the South East, Egwu has done a couple of other things like roads, hospitals etc but what stands him out are his efforts in the area of education for which he earned this nomination for Governor of the Year award.
Danjuma Goje
Alhaji Danjuma Goje was one of the Ministers in the cabinet of President Olusegun Obasanjo's first term who did not make much impact. But as Governor of Gombe, touted as "the jewel in the Savannah", Goje is quietly making a difference in the lives of his people.
Goje indeed rose to public acclamation with the way he rose to the occasion of last September flood disaster that claimed about 25 lives and rendered about 500 families homeless in his state.
While the rains were still wreaking havoc, Goje moved in to cushion the hardship of the affected people by creating a relief emergency committee, which provided a temporary shelter for the displaced. He visited the grieving after which he went to Abuja with the study already in place for a long-term solution to the problem that would not go away.
Gombe, according to Goje, is in the valley and since it earns little revenue from the federation account, the federal government would have to come to his aid.
Education is also top on the agenda for Goje. To encourage people to go to school, direct feeding has been reintroduced in secondary schools with the government picking the bills while he has established a State University for which he employed Professor Abdullahi Mahdi, the immediate past Ahmadu Bello University Vice Chancellor as the man to take charge.
For all these, Goje has been nominated as one of the candidates for Governor of the Year award.
Bukola Saraki
Before his joining politics, the fad is for common people to gather in his father's Ile Loke mansion to collect handouts which the Oloye Abubakar Olusola Saraki gives out of his generosity. But Bukola, however believes, society is better served if people are encouraged to be engaged in productive exercise to earn their own living. And that philosophy is what has made him a respected governor in Kwara State where he is steadily growing out of his father's shadow as his own man. The first test of this idea was by engaging the men and women who usually queue at his father's residence for doles to help keep the state capital clean. That way they work and earn their money with respect and dignity. From that little earning many of these men and women now engage in petty businesses of their own.
Less than two years in office, Bukola Saraki has indeed laid the foundation for his administration in Kwara State with agriculture and industrialisation being the bedrock of his economic empowerment thrust.
Towards this end, Zimbabwean farmers who were driven from the Southern African country for political reasons, are encouraged to build farms in the state under an arrangement that would yield returns for everyone. This will not only boost the revenue base of the state but would increase the capacity of the largely agrarian people.
Also, he has invited many industrialists to either take over government's owned moribund businesses or start a new one. This is another way of empowering the masses through gainful employment. He has also commissioned two housing projects as well as lay emphasis on reviving the education sector in the state. Just last month, his government held an economic summit aimed at preparing an economic blueprint which successive administration can follow.
While so much still needed to be done, there can be little doubt as to the direction Saraki is headed in Kwara hence this nomination for the Governor of the Year award.
Umar Yar'Adua
Katsina State governor, Alhaji Umar Yar'Adua, is hardly in the news and not many people may even be aware anything is happening in his State. But without making any bone about it, he did something which no other public official in Nigeria has dared to emulate: he declared his asset publicly.
In a nation where election or appointment into public office is seen as 'farewell to poverty' and where public officials even do anticipatory declaration of assets they plan to 'acquire' while in office, Yar'Adua has set a good example as to how to wage the war on corruption.
While the level of performance in his state may not meet the expectation of his political opponents, it cannot be on account of funds diversion as it happens in many states of the federation. A rather austere man in appearance and disposition, Yar'Adua, on the strength of his anti-corruption stance alone, is nominated from the North West as one of the contenders for the Governor of the Year award.