As a new administration takes over the reins of power in Plateau State, residents of the states are waiting for the unfolding of the policy and programmes of the new governor, Caleb Muftwang, writes ISAAC SHOBAYO.
On May 29, the Plateau State governor-elect on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mr Caleb Muftwang, will commence his tenure as governor of the state. The baton of leadership will change hands from one political party to another for the second time since the beginning of the Fourth Republic in 1999.
Muftwang’s emergence as the sixth executive governor has opened up another political chapter in the history of Plateau State and placed huge demands on his shoulders.
The victory of his party in the governorship election was widely celebrated, even though the runner-up in the election, All Progressive Congress candidate (APC) candidate, Nentawe Yiltwada, has approached the Election Petition Tribunal, alleging foul play. Despite this, the election is deemed by many people in the state to have been lost and won.
The euphoria that heralded the victory is gradually simmering down. It is all down to the task of governance. The once-acclaimed home of peace and tourism no doubt needs rejuvenation to reclaim its rightful place in the country.
The people of Plateau are standing at bay, watching what Muftwang will do with the mandate given to him. Majority of the citizens and residents of the state believe a good leader does not make excuses for failure but finds reasons to succeed.
Considering the tasks ahead, those who have been watching the trend of events on the Plateau think that this is not the time for an infuriating blame game, but to look straight at the crystal ball to find solutions to the myriad of problems besetting the state.
Ahead of his inauguration, the gentlemanly-looking and self-effacing Muftwang, last week, set up a ten-member transition committee and made his first appointments to show that he is set to hit the ground running after his inauguration and is ready to face the querulous issues confronting the state.
From all indications, residents of Plateau State are full of expectations and his record of performance is expected to surpass the expectations of the people.
While inaugurating the transition committee, the governor-elect, who is equally aware of the challenges ahead, said the first expectation is to give good governance to the people of the state. “We have become the trustees of the people’s mandate and the commonwealth of the people is in our care. So, we have to perform to meet the people’s expectations,” he said.
A cross-section of interest groups and opinion leaders, who spoke to Sunday Tribune about their expectations, identified insecurity as one of the major challenges confronting the state. Though other issues such as infrastructural decay and the poor sanitary condition of the state capital were mentioned, insecurity seems to be their major concern.
Since the beginning of this dispensation in 1999, Plateau State has been having ceaseless crises occasioned by constant clashes between the headers and the natives, who are predominantly farmers. The national president of the Berom Youth Moulders Association, Solomon Dalyop, who is a lawyer and doubles as the coordinator of the Emancipation Centre for Crisis Victims in Nigeria, said the major concern on the Plateau is senseless killings, which have assumed a dangerous dimension.
According to him, most farmers could not access their farms for fear of being attacked and communities were sacked and occupied by terrorists. He added that, as a result, farming is at a low ebb, while inhabitants of places like Bokkos, Mangu, Jos South, Bassa, Riyom, and Barakin-Ladi local government areas are in constant fear of attack.
He posited that the general expectation of the people and why they gave the PDP their votes was the belief that the governor-elect will give insecurity attention, adding that if insecurity is pursued and peace is achieved, developing other sectors will not be a problem.
“I want you to believe that the incoming governor understands the yearning of people in this regard. The expectation is that his government will pay attention to the security situation on the ground. Apart from giving attention to stopping the carnage, the victims of the attacks who have been displaced must be resettled. Many of their children are out of school.
“We expect the incoming government to give adequate attention to the yearning of the people. Also, the government should give attention to Operation Rainbows as a state security outfit. The vigilante and hunter associations should be given recognition in this regard to curb insecurity.
“The incident of open grazing should be addressed so that the incident of mischievous grazing can be tackled. Our farmers in these troubled areas can no longer access their farms for fear of being attacked.”
In the same vein, the state chairman of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN), Alhaji Nura Mohammad, said security should be the priority of the incoming administration, saying that Plateau has suffered a series of crises hindering its development and growth.
Mohammad enjoined the governor-elect to bring religious leaders, community leaders, traditional rulers, and other stakeholders together to propose a lasting solution to the issue of incessant killings in the state.
Apart from the insecurity, residents of the state charged the governor-elect to focus on the sanitary state of Jos, the state capital. At the moment, heaps of refuse dot every nook and cranny, especially within the city centre with an offensive smell oozing out from such horrible sites.
According to them, the city centre, which was once a cynosure of all eyes and the pride of residents of the city, has been defaced by the indiscriminate display of wares by traders along the major roads.
Quite a lot of traders, especially those selling second-hand clothes, have abandoned their shops to sell in the middle of the roads, thus constituting a nuisance to both pedestrians and motorists. An environmentalist, Mr Dauda Ibrahim, likened the city centre to a flower that has fallen prey to an insidious infestation and consequently lost its attraction.
Mr Ibrahim, who said Jos, the state capital, has since lost its beauty, described the once-organised city as the most disorganised in the country. The environmentalists charged the incoming administration to take the bull by the horns and inject sanity into the city centre.
“Apart from this, the state capital seems to have the highest number of unauthorized motor parks in the country; virtually every available space along major roads has been turned into motor parks. So, the beautification of Jos City should be one of Muftwang’s priorities. It will be difficult to sell Plateau to the world in this chaotic situation. All these, among others, have made Plateau lose its place as one of the tourist destinations in the country,” he said.
There are cases of abandoned projects with huge potential to generate revenue that has been lying prostrate for more than three decades, such as Zaria Road Station and the abandoned hotel at Lamingo, among others, which have become relics. From all indications, most of these abandoned projects deserve attention.
However, the expectations are high, but the resources are limited. Checks revealed that the state has, for quite some time, been bolted down on a shoestring with heavy debt while the internally generated revenue is shrinking. Yet the task before Muftwang is to fulfill his campaign promises and attend to the yearnings and expectations of the citizenry.
A staunch member of the PDP who craved anonymity declared that the governor-elect applied for the job and got it based on the credentials he presented to the people of the state. Therefore, he has no excuse but to deliver, saying that with the precarious situation the state found itself in, the governor-elect must process the requisite magic wand for a quick turnaround within a short period to alleviate the suffering of the people.
“I want to believe he knows the enormity of the work ahead; he asked for the mountain like his biblical namesake Caleb, and he has been given the mountain and therefore must make the mountain habitable by eliminating the fears and worries of the inhabitants. Also, the giants threatening the peace of the land must be sent packing.
“From all indications, these are not easy tasks, but they are surmountable with a sense of patriotism. Above all, he has to devise a means of boosting the IGR without much burden on the citizenry,” he said.
He added that all the governor-elect needs to do after the inauguration as interim is laid a solid foundation centered on the selection of a solid team of players made up of technocrats, not the usual patronage of politicians selected on a quota basis without formal experience, while the usual paraphernalia of office with the extraordinarily long convoy of vehicles associated with Nigerian governors should be reduced to the barest minimum.
Based on his experience and background, there are reasons to believe that the governor-elect possesses good public leadership qualities that can make him a good utility player and run a rancor-free house for four years. Aside from this, he must break away from the shadow of some political godfathers and create his own identity. He must search his mind and be willing and ready to stand by his people when the need arises. He must also think of areas where the people of Plateau will be happy to see changes.
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