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Senator Muhammad (Bindow) Umar Jibrilla, Governor of Adamawa State, Northeast Nigeria, has deployed his experience in management, his ability to form partnerships and his vast social and professional networks to launch his Government in Adamawa State.
    
With barely three months since his inauguration on 29th May, 2015, he has shown the citizens of Adamawa State and indeed Nigerians that he is a “People's Governor”; and that he means business. Already, the Governor has launched his “Train of Change” in the state.

To give the administration a sense of direction, he has commissioned a local team of experts to draft an Adamawa State development blueprint for the next 15 years. In his words, “this draft document will evolve into the working document for an economic summit with invitations extended to all professional sons and daughters of Adamawa State to participate. The resulting document will become the Industrialising Adamawa foresight document.”

While this is ongoing, Governor Jibrilla has recognised the need to complete and improve existing priority projects that were unfinished from the previous administrations in the State. He has so far commissioned contractors to return to site on 20 township roads in major towns of Yola, Jimeta, Ganye, Numan and Mubi.

With at least three commercial flights per day coming into Yola from Lagos, with connections from Abuja, and Kano, the entrepreneurial Governor recognised the role that classy hotels will play in encouraging tourist visitors and investors to come to the State.  He has got the contractors to return to the Yola International Hotel site to complete the 5-star hotel project.

He also noted that Adamawa State is probably the only State in the Federation without a befitting sports facility. He, therefore, has mobilized the contractors of the Yola Sports Complex and Stadium to return to site. He said that “with such facility functioning, we will engage our youth in developing our sports as an industry and also encourage the rest of the country and indeed those outside of Nigeria to come and hold their competitions and tournaments in Adamawa State. The project will modernise our life and also create jobs for our citizens.”

Also within the first three months of his administration, Governor Bindow has mounted a drive to lift the healthcare sector by launching projects to refurbish, modernise and re-equip existing key hospitals in the State. Contractors have already been mobilised to site in Yola, Numan, Ganye and Mubi Hospitals. Indeed, the Adamawa State Primary Health Care system has received a major boost under the administration, so far.

In demonstration of his connectivity to the Organised Private Sector, Governor Bindow has commenced several projects under his Public Private Partnership (PPP) initiatives. One of the key projects is the partnership between the Adamawa State Government, KD Properties and Estate Limited, and Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) to establish, in the first instance, a 300 housing estate, code named “The Bindow Housing Estate” in Yola.

This project has already taken off with all the prototype samples being constructed on site. The well-attended flagging-off ceremony for the Estate took place on Wednesday, 19th August, 2015. The estate project will allocate about 10% of the houses directly to civil servants of the State, under an owner-occupier sub-programme. Furthermore, during this flagging off ceremony, both the Managing Director of KD Properties, Hajiya Hadiza Mohammed, and the Managing Director of Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria, Gimba Ya'u Kumo, OON, made pronouncements for more estates that would be developed all around Adamawa State, including a special housing package for returnee Boko Haram Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs). Mr. Kumo, who was the Guest Speaker at the ceremony, said Adamawa State is one of the leading contributors of the National Housing Fund. Accordingly, the Bank, he said, was ready to support the NHF contributors in the state to acquire the houses.

Governor Bindow has seen the need to be creative in gradually overcoming the ravages of Boko Haram. With the progress recorded as a result of the national security response, Governor Bindow has taken steps to push for the return of normalcy in the seven Local Government Areas of Adamawa State that immensely suffered from the insurgency. Bindow regularly visits all the centres hosting the IDPs in the State to motivate the people and monitor their welfare. He has also facilitated many partnerships with international development partners and the corporate world to support him in providing and delivering relief materials.

Governor Bindow is strengthening connectivity with the micro, small and medium-scale Enterprises (MSME), and generally, the informal sector of the economy. He has launched a N500 million credit package for small and informal entrepreneurs. A total of 9,000 first-line jobs will be created on this revolving loans project. It will lead to the creation of additional 40 entrepreneurs, each taking at least N30,000 credit in each of the 226 political wards in the State.

Agriculture is the main socio-economic activity of the people of Adamawa State. To provide support for this critical sector that provides employment for the people, Governor Bindow has already launched a N3.5 billion fertiliser acquisition and supply programme. The programme was designed to ensure that the farming input reaches every ward in the State. So far, a supplier has been engaged for the delivery of N1 billion worth of fertilizer.

As for the dilapidated residences and offices of both the Governor and the Deputy Governor as at May 2015, Governor Bindow has commissioned contractors to refurbish and furnish these facilities. So far, over 50% of the assignment has been completed.

The Administration has also facilitated access to a combined N6 billion CBN (Central Bank of Nigeria) credit packages for Women Cooperative Societies, MSMEs and also for Agricultural loans in the State. These packages are all strengthening the Governor's resolve to generate employment while creating wealth among the citizens of Adamawa State.

Governor Bindow has also commissioned several PPP committees to reform the socio-economic system, especially regarding improvement in Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), and the effective utilisation of resources.

Governor Bindow has also launched an innovative and unique management structure coded, “Public Traditional Partnership PTP”, specially aimed at creating stronger synergy between the political leadership and the traditional leadership to effectively design, implement, monitor and manage all grassroots projects in the State.

The Governor has appointed 23 Commissioners and planned a Management Retreat for all senior Government Officials in August 2015, to ensure that a “Dream Team” is forged to effectively manage and take Adamawa to higher levels of performance and modernisation.

The following are also among the many projects lined up for implementation in 2015:
1.    Reactivating the water treatment plants in Yola and Mubi;
2.    Establishment of a large scale rice production and processing company in Fufore;
3.    Total refurbishment of the State Secretariat in Yola;
4.    Re-functionalising the abandoned Technical Skills Acquisition Centres in the State;
5.    Partnership with NigCommSAT to train and install VSAT systems to provide internet connectivity for use in the provision of quality Education and Healthcare all over the State;
6.    Partnership with Friesland Campina Wamco to commence the development of a viable Dairy Development Programme in the State.
    
Literally, the past three months of this Administration has been quite inspiring, and has led the citizens of Adamawa State to brand Governor Bindow with the sobriquet: “Bindow for Social Change (BSC).”

Umar B. Bindir PhD, an engineer by profession, is Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Adamawa State.