Gov Bala’s Life As He Clocks 62
Sulaiman Maijama’a
INFOMEDIA – Few days after the Federation of Nigeria celebrated her 60th independence anniversary, governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State is celebrating his sixty two (62) years on earth. Our beloved prophet (peace be upon him) said in a hadith that the best among human beings is the one whose life is elongated and his deeds are good, and the worst on the other hand is the one who is privileged to live long but his works are bad. Just like Nigeria’s history was/is traced along with its achievements over the years, so I shall be tracing governor Bala’s journey in life from the very time he came into world. Read below:
Bala Mohammed was born on October 5th, 1958 in Duguri to the royal family of District Head of Duguri in Alkaleri Local Government Area of Bauchi State. Little Bala Mohammed was enrolled in Qur’an school after which he had his primary education in Alkaleri from 1965 to 1971 and started his secondary School in 1972 to 1976.
Bala Mohammed attended the prestigious University of Maiduguri in 1979 to 1982, where he received a bachelors degree in English. In 1983. he was a Journalist and had worked with The Democrat as a reporter and New Agency of Nigeria (NAN) up till the time he rose to the Pinnacle of journalism as Editor of “the mirage” News paper.
Mohammed later quit journalism and joined the civil service as an administrative officer from 1984 to 2000.
He worked in several Federal Ministries including: Internal Affairs, Solid Minerals, Power and Steel and Transportation and Aviation. He retired as Director of Administration in the Nigerian Meteorological Agency. He then served as a senior special assistant to Governor Isa Yuguda from 2000 to 2005. He was Director of Administration at the Nigerian Railway Corporation from 2005 to 2007.
Following his selflessness in serving humanity, devotion to duty and sense of sociability and generosity, Bala Mohammed was pressured by people to step into the active political arena.
Mohammed began partisan politics in 2007 when he was elected to the Senate representing Bauchi South Senatorial District under the All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP). As a law maker, he was among the pre-eminently vibrant who stood firm to ensuring that positive policies and programmes were made in the best interest of their constituents. He sponsored a number of bills among which included the controversial doctrine of necessity, which appointed then Vice President Goodluck Jonathan as acting president to replace late Umaru Yar’Adua.
Following his bold steps, giant stride and extraordinary track record in the Senate Chamber, the then President Goodluck Jonathan saw him fit and appointed him minister of the Federal Capital Territory in 2010, despite being a member of the ANPP.
Without squandering of time, Bala Mohammed hit the ground running and brought extensive reforms to the FCT. He sanitized the land administration of the FCT and expanded the airport roads of Abuja. He built many roads including the KUBWA expressway expansion. He also built the rail track from Abuja to kaduna, built Idu rail station from the $500m dollars loan that the Nigerian government secured from China. He introduced the land swap policy that used land as a resource to fast track infrastructural development in the FCT.
In 2018, despite orchestrations and political ploy by political gladiators to hit him on the ground, Senator Bala Mohammed emerged as the Peoples Democratic Party governorship candidate for Bauchi State. On 26 March 2019, Bala Mohammed received 515,113 votes defeating the incumbent Governor Mohammed Abdullahi Abubakar who received 500,625 votes.
On 29 May 2019, he was sworn in as Governor of Bauchi State at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Stadium in Bauchi. His election was later upheld by the Supreme Court.
Ever since he came on board as the Executive Governor of Bauchi State, the state has been undergoing an amazing and unprecedented metamorphosis in terms of infrastructural development, health, education, agriculture among other sectors. Like a downpour coming from the sky, the infrastructural transition Bauchi State has witnessed within the first one year of Bala Mohammed’s led administration could have taken others forever to complete. This is excluding the recently awarded huge projects across the state which require a fortune. To say I will itemize in detail his capital projects so far, my pen will be short of ink and my energy will be exhausted; Obviously it’s not unconnected with why in my open letter to the Governor last week I asked him if there was anyone bankrolling these projects.
It’s no longer news that Governor Bala in his impeccable efforts to revitalise the economy of his State, has created an enabling environment for private sector organizations to take advantage that exists on the global market for both unprocessed and semi-processed agricultural products abound in the State. And many people across the country and beyond have shown commitment and willingness, in view of the efforts of the Governor’s readiness to provide them with all necessary assistance to make them more resilient to boost the economy of the state to eventually become competitive globally.
In July 2020, Bauchi State, under the leadership of Governor Bala Mohammed became the first and only state in the North Eastern region of Nigeria to domesticate the VAPP Act since it was enacted. The VAPP Act is the single law in place that transcends the criminal and penal code in guaranteeing justice and protecting the rights and properties of victims of sexual and gender-based violence across the country.
The VAPP Act expands the definition of rape, domestic offences, incest and several forms of violence. It also ensures justice and protection of victims in a way that guarantees freedom, compensation and respect to human rights.
In Education, Governor Bala Mohammed, within his first year in office, constructed 270 new classrooms and renovated another 405 across the state. These projects were expanded into hard-to-reach areas of the state to ensure that quality education isn’t the prerogative of only urban dwellers.
Governor Bala’s administration deployed a radical approach against the issues of ghost workers in the state—an illegal scheme which the governor described as “a pre-existing corrupt salary regime.” With the aid of recruited financial consultants, Bauchi State under Governor Bala Mohammed identified and removed over 1,000 ghost workers and instituted an investigation of another 41,000 civil servants who currently do not possess the mandatory Bank Verification Number (BVN). So far, this move against ghost workers has in terms of revenue, freed resources for the state within the range of close to a million US dollars. Recently his
Dear Governor Bala Mohammed as you clock 62 I’m not congratulating and celebrating with you for the age per session, but the rare opportunity the Almighty granted you to serve humanity through out your life. Without doubt, life is to you a journey of privilege and your name will one day be written with gold to make you immotal long after you are laid to rest.
Maijama’a, Faculty of Communication, BUK
