By Fred Itua
Governor Mohammad Inuwa Yahaya of Gombe State was born on the October 9, 1961, in Gombe Local Government Area of the state. He was educated at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, where he obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting.
He has had an eventful career in the private and public sectors, serving as principal accountant at the Bauchi State Investment Company; managing director of A.Y.U. Civil Engineering Company Limited and Commissioner for Finance and Economic Development in Gombe State.
As governor of Gombe State for almost five years, he has brought his experience to bear, making giant strides in infrastructure and socio-economic development.
In the education sector, his administration initiated and executed the construction of over 234 new classroom blocks across 80 schools in the state to enhance enrolment. He also renovated 190 classroom blocks across 47 schools to ensure that there are conducive learning environments in the state, among others.
In the health sector, maternal and infant mortality rates in Gombe State have reduced as a result of Governor Yahaya’s policy of training over 500 midwives to take charge of child deliveries and providing the requisite equipment. His government has upgraded the Specialist Hospital in Gombe to a modern tertiary health facility with state-of-the-art equipment and well-trained and highly professional medical personnel.
The Yahaya government has equipped a 12-bed capacity Intensive Care Unit in the Specialist Hospital, as well as revitalised one Primary Health Facility in each of the 114 wards in order to provide 24-hour medical services to the people. The administration also completed the internship quarters at the specialist hospital, which was abandoned for over 20 years, as well as built Cottage Hospitals at Mallam Sidi and Bojude, in addition to a General Hospital in Nafada. Under Yahaya’s watch, Gombe State’s road network has been vastly improved upon and modernised with the construction and rehabilitation of thousands of kilometers of roads under his policy of at least constructing 100 kilometers of roads in each of the 11 Local Government Areas of the state.
The governor gave priority to the agricultural sector by subsidizing the cost of fertilizer to the tune of N5, 000 per bag, coupled with relatively low price of farm seedlings, provision of pesticides, tractors, harvesters, planters and other critical agricultural tools and equipment.
To ensure that residents of Gombe State do not feel the pains of high cost of transportation, the Gombe State government purchased over 100 Toyota buses for the state owned Gombe Line and rehabilitated several other broken down buses inherited from the previous administration.
The power sector has been revived with his government’s resuscitation of the previous moribund Dadin-Kowa Hydro-Electric Dam, which was abandoned by past administrations at state and federal levels. The Dam now has the capacity to generate 4,000 megawatts of electricity, which is beyond the energy needs of the state.
By establishing a 100-hectare industrial park at Dadin Kowa, Governor Yahaya has taken a bold step towards creating jobs for over 100, 000 people in the state. The people of Gombe State now enjoy potable pipe-borne water in the urban and rural areas, a situation that never existed in the state.
For his visionary and purposeful leadership, Governor Yahaya wins The Sun Governor of the Year Award.