PHOTO: Former President Goodluck Jonathan shaking the Emir of Bauchi, Alhaji Rilwan Suleiman Adamu.
ARMSTRONG ALLAHMAGANI, Bauchi-
Former President Goodluck Jonathan, has commended Bauchi State Governor, Senator Bala Mohammed, for the giant strides he has recorded in less than two years of being in office, saying he was marveled.
He stated this in his speech at the Palace of the Emir of Bauchi, Alhaji Rilwan Suleiman Adamu, as part of his one day working visit to the state to commission projects executed by Governor Mohammed led administration in the state.
Ex-President Jonathan expressed gratitude to the people of Bauchi for supporting their governor, noting that it would have been difficult for him to win the election without their support.
“Within this period that he has been governor, I’ve been asking questions and I learnt that he has done quite a number of projects that people wonder where the money comes from”.
“Before coming, I tried to get a list of some of the key projects he has done and when I looked through, I was marveled because these days that the economic environment is not that friendly, it’s not easy for a governor to raise money to do such infrastructural projects”.
“I have to thank Bala Mohammed, the Governor of the State, The Deputy Governor and his cabinet and others who are working day and night to keep the flag of the state flying, and the citizens of this state for cooperating and working with them,” he said.
He added that: “No matter how a governor is committed, if the citizens create a hostile environment for you, you cannot succeed because whatever you are doing, is for the people not for yourself. So if the people you want to do these things for are hostile and not receptive, you cannot go anywhere”.
“The information before me is that the citizens, traditional institutions are a working with Bala Mohammed as the governor of the state. He is a nice and calm person, someone who has acquired a reasonable experience and somebody we’re looking up to as official leader of this country,” he stated.
Ex-President Jonathan described Gov. Mohammed as a good younger brother and a good son saying that when he was a Minister, he worked with commitment “and I gave him the free hand to run the FCT.”
According to him, he didn’t know Mohammed when he appointed him the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory.
He however stated that the practice in the country is quite different.
He said: “In Nigeria, we have this tradition that there are some Ministries that are big that you have to know someone before you are appointed but that was not my own way of doing things.”
Speaking to the Emir, he said: “I want you to join my family and friends to thank your own son and your subject for immortalizing my name by naming that road after me. When a road or infrastructure is named after you, it is something you cannot value because even if you die, people will get to know that there was such a person.”
In his speech, Governor Mohammed, said that today history is being made and he is the happiest person because someone who was instrumental to his coming to limelight in Nigeria is in the state.
“He’s coming from Bayelsa, somebody I have never had anything in common with other than the nationalism and Nigerianness. He made me a Minister of the FCT without knowing me or coming from the same party”.
“He has impacted so much on me and other youths in Nigeria by giving me responsibility and by doing that, he gave me a burden to carry his name on my head all the time like a tuga and I must perform anywhere I go because he did not give me that position by my own inkling or anybody seeking for it on my behalf”.
“He has shown democracy and when we lost, he continued to be my father and my inspiration,” he stated.
Governor Mohammed added that: “The way and manner he (Jonathan) left government and creating impression globally in terms of democracy makes me proud that I have a father and a mentor who is the face of democracy in Africa and today, he’s in Bauchi. He is here to commission a project.”
In his response, the Emir of Bauchi, Alhaji Rilwan Suleiman Adamu, appreciated the former President for the love he has for Bala Mohammed which made him appoint him FCT Minister and he became the longest serving FCT Minister.
He commended Governor Mohammed for constructing and completing over 10 projects within less than two years of being in office.
The Royal father also commended Mohammed for his constant call for peace among citizens of the state.
NATIONAL ACCORD reports that the Emir of Bauchi, Rilwan Suleiman Adamu gave the former President the traditional title of “Jigon Bauchi” which means a Pilar of Bauchi.