Ahmed Usman Ododo: Real Breath of Fresh Air By Babajide Obafemi
Kogi State seems to be enjoying a breath of fresh air through the administration of the present governor, Ahmed Usman Ododo. My research and enquiries have pointed in certain directions: positive energy, sincerity of purpose, clarity, actualization and follow ups.
The fact remains that a leader committed inexorably to success will apply these aforementioned PR tools and he/she is assured of success, Pronto! Another distinguishing factor that is bringing this yield of success is the uncommon humility of the man at the helm of affairs. When a leader is humane and wants less chaos, it becomes an unwritten law for the followers to follow suit even if it is not originally in their DNA.
This piece is not in any way intended to cast aspersions on the former occupants of the state’s highest office, from the retired Brigadier General Danladi Zakari who was the first military administrator of Kogi at creation, to Governor Yahaya Bello, the immediate past predecessor of Usman Ododo, developments were recorded. The argument may now be the level, quality and quantity of development achieved by successive administration.
In the last few years, Kogi has always popped up in the news, some trending, some not but most times for the wrong reasons. And when the state trends for the wrong reasons, some of us sit back and sulk. But all that seems to be fizzling away now, there is calmness, not an uneasy one, calmness for the right reasons, calmness about the ease of doing things, calmness because round pegs are beginning to be put in round holes, calmness because contracts are awarded and accomplished with ease, calmness because leaders and elders are respected and consulted as and when due, calmness because salaries are being paid on time; calmness because projects are well planned and spread evenly. Calmness because the new sheriff in town has a listening ear and he is swift, calmness because the governor has surrounded himself with deep thinkers who will not be emotionally hoodwinked or railroaded to taking hasty ill-conceived decisions.
Lets us start by looking into the agelong local government salary structure. My quick findings showed that percentage payment to local government staff dated back to two or three past administrations if not all. It was so bad that local government staff were not sure of what their take home per month was. The local government, which is supposed to be the point of contact with the grassroots, by the federal and state government is grossly cheated and left unattended to.
But right at the beginning of Governor Ododo’s takeover of power, he promised to look into the payment of local government workers salary and true to his word, he did, albeit positively and perfectly. As of today, after starting with the payment of seventy percent salaries to the Local Government staff, he was able to move the payment to eighty percent, ninety percent and now full payment of hundred percent.
You may argue all you can that payment of salaries is not an achievement but I will also argue that because it had not happened before or because the right to full payments of salary to local government staffs by past administrations had not been respected, then it becomes a big deal.
The hallmark of a good administration is continuity, continuity in the area of projects uncompleted by the past administrations. It is pertinent to say that government and governance is a continuum. Our politicians in this part of the world would rather abandon other administrations projects to start a fresh one which they feel will carry their name.
This I believe is a waste of tax payers’ money and the hard earned resources of the state. Ododo in his quiet can-do attitude, has identified uncompleted projects [most especially road projects] of his predecessors and is going about completing them to his credit. A good example is the Zone 8 Crusher roads, which had been under construction for years by up to three administrations.
Another one is the Okaito-Obangede-Ogaminana road which is now being reconstructed and gradually approaching completion stage. The Governor has also not left the construction and reconstruction of bridges, culverts and drainages out of his plans because he knows that they will give the newly constructed roads a longer life span. Recently, the Governor also awarded a contract for ten kilometers of connecting township roads in every Local Government of the state. All these constructions and rehabilitations are done without any noise. This is plausible and laudable if you ask me.
On agriculture and food security, Governor Ododo approved and supported rice, cassava, groundnut and maize farming for commercial farmers across the 21 Local Governments of the state. I took a tour with my boss to places where these farms are, and what I saw was mind blowing. I confirmed that seventy six farm clusters were spread across all the Local Governments of the state, I also confirmed that the government provided seedlings .
I confirmed that the farmers are also encouraged with tractors and farm implements to till their soil and got chemicals and fertilizers to increase yields. I was in a few of these locations where I saw sprouting rice farms amongst others. Farmers in places like, Geregu, Ibaji, Bassa, Ejiba, Odo-Ape, Osara, Giriyan and other clusters are raring for bumper harvest which will not only feed the people but boost economic activities of the state.
One fantastic move the Governor has made is the recovery of state and local government tractors that had been sold or rented away to as far as Enugu and other states in Nigeria. My findings showed that two hundred and fifty tractors were recovered, while one hundred and fifty has been refurbished and put to use, my findings also showed that in some places, only carcasses of those tractors were recovered and moved back to the state.
This recovery led to the refurbishing of over two hundred and fifty recovered tractors, putting them back into use immediately instead of negotiating for and importing new ones. This brilliant move did not only save time and energy, it saved cost. You need to see how these tractors look after being refurbished.
As a shrewd accountant and auditor, the Governor has put his knowledge of finance to use by monthly increasing the internally generated revenue of the state from the one billion he met it to over two billion and still counting. This is further testament to his readiness to work and improve the fortunes of the state. A thinking Governor like Ododo will know that it is not gratifying to always go cap in hand monthly to only receive the monthly federal allocation without raising his own IGR. Pray, tell me, what can the federal allocation do for a poor state like Kogi with a humongous wage bill, if the administrators do not look to generate funds internally? How will an administration perform without generating something reasonable within her state to fund earmarked projects?
Another interesting news that broke out recently is about the Governor’s decision to not only match the FG/Labour agreed minimum wage structure for workers, but the performing Governor after wide consultation and good calculation of what is tenable, agreed to a payment structure of seventy-two thousand, five hundred naira instead of the FG’s agreed seventy thousand naira. Civil servants may constitute a little percentage of the nation’s population but Kogi state has a large number of civil servants and that’s the reason it was dubbed a civil servants’ state.
All these developments plus different interventions in the area of sharing food palliatives in the state, at intervals cannot be overemphasized. Kogi state is enjoying an usual peace and the needed calm, thoroughly deserved. At the moment, the voters who chose Governor Ahmed Usman Ododo over other candidates at the last governorship poll in Kogi state chose well because the rewards of voting a competent leader is being felt across the state.
The reign of Governor Ododo, is certainly a real breath of fresh air in the state, I hope the Governor does not rest on his laurels because the state deserves these progressive movements that her indigenes and residents currently enjoy.
Babajide is the Political Editor of Lagos Indicator Magazine.
