By Suzan Edeh

Mr. Ishola Micheal Adeyemi, is the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Isa Yuguda of Bauchi state. In this interview, he articulates issues that will dominate Governor Isa Yuguda’s administration during his second term in office. Excerpts:

With the re-election of Governor Isa Yuguda in the state for a second term in office, can you mention the plans the Governor has for Bauchi State?

If I will quote the Governor correctly, the focus of his administration is that all on- going projects that have been embarked upon in the state in the last four years must be completed and he put them in three categories. He said there are some that will be completed in the next three months,   that is the first one hundred days in office of his second tenure. Some will be completed by the end of this year, while all on-going projects will be completed in the next one year. After the completion of all on-going projects, then the administration will now embark on new projects that have direct bearing on the lives of the people and the new projects will be completed in the last round of the administration.

Much is being talked about the Zaki-Kafi dam and the Yankari power project, how optimistic are you that these projects will be completed before the lapse of the Governor’s second term?

Kafi- Zaki dam project has been there for a very long time. It has remained a controversy among border states like Yobe, Borno and Plateau, but with the situation now, everybody now understands the essence of having the Kafi-Zaki dam completed and this is because of the effort of the Bauchi State Governor, Isa Yuguda.

He has been able to talk to all the relevant agencies involved. Feasibility studies have been completed and environmental studies have been carried out and what remains now, is for the actual project to commence. Don’t forget that this is a project that has been abandoned for many years and hopefully the Yuguda administration is going to start and complete it, with the support of the federal government and other states that are going to benefit from it.

What is the relationship between the executive and the State House of Assembly?
As partners in the same government, the executive and the legislature must work together, because there is nothing that the executive can do alone without the legislature coming in, particularly in the area of capital projects Capital projects are normally approved by the Assembly. Where there is rift or fracas, nothing will move. For the caliber of people we have in the House, I am confident that our working partnership will be very cordial.

Security is a sensitive national issue in the country, what is your advice to security agents in the country and members of the public, since security is now everybody’s business?

I am glad you are aware that security is everybody’s business, so everybody must be security conscious. Members of the public must be vigilant and watch out for strange movement or character. Any suspicious movement must be reported to the nearest security authority. The security agents alone cannot protect the entire community, but if there is a collaborative effort by members of the public and the security agents, crime will be reduced to the barest minimum in the society.