Engineer Sule’s three year’s stewardship and why he should be re-elected (1)

By Ali Abare

Though it may not be possible to write in detail every possible achievement recorded by the administration in the past three and a half years, it suffice to say that the Engineer Abdullahi Sule administration came purposely with a vision to embark on sustainable development strategy that will further consolidate on the successes recorded by previous administrations.

Having came into office precisely on May 29, 2019, Engineer Abdullahi Sule, having been duly elected as the fourth democratically elected governor of Nasarawa State, brought onboard his acclaimed experience derived from an exceptional private sector career that saw him reached the pinnacle of the sector when he became the group managing director of the Dangote Group.

Since coming onboard, Engineer Sule has left no one in doubt, as to the mission, vision and objectives of his administration, which generally centres around exploiting the God given potentials of the state, leveraging on Nasarawa State’s comparative advantages in the areas of agriculture and solid minerals, population and proximity to the seat of power at the federal level, to place the state on a pedestal to will ensure sustainable development through investments and industrialization, human capital development and re-enginered and reinvigorated civil service.

With the country moving closer to another election year, it has become imperative to highlight key factors that single out the three and a half years under the stewardship of Engineer Abdullahi Sule as not only being spectacular but outstanding. This is even more so, as other citizens of the state, pick on the opportunity provided by the constitution of the country, as well as the new electoral act, to vie for the number seat of the state.

Already, Hon David Ombugadu of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Abdullahi Yakubu Maidoya of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), have both made known their intentions to challenge Engineer Sule during the forthcoming general elections in 2023. While Ombugadu is contesting against the incumbent for the second time, having lost to Engineer Sule in 2019, Maidoya and his NNPP are newbies testing the political waters of the state.

In politics and in life generally, nothing is to be taken for granted. Those seeking to challenge Engineer Sule have their reasons and also their followers and supporters. The electorates in Nasarawa State however hold the aces and it’s for this reason and more that it has become necessary to explain why Engineer Sule remains the best and only option for Nasarawa State come 2023.

Indeed, Rome was not built in a day. The journey to a beautiful Nasarawa State of our collective dream may take time but without a concrete foundation, a blueprint or even a map to show the direction of the journey, the travellers, that is Nasarawa State citizens, may have embarked on a wild goose chase.

Reaching the required destination entails knowing where we started, where we are presently and our envisioned destination.

The Engineer Sule administration unfolded the Nasarawa Economic Development Strategy (NEDs), a blueprint that is practicable and leads the way to the Nasarawa State of our dream, where poverty, unemployment and backwardness are reduced to the nearest minimum, with wealth, health, entrepreneurship, skills acquisition and industry, prevailing and dominating and thereby uplifting the standards of living of the people.

Even before being elected as governor, Engineer Sule saw the need to conscript the services of world renowned economic experts and captains of industry, under the leadership of no less a person like Professor Konyisola Ajayi, whose expertise spans the disparate yet connected fields of litigation and transactional work and has over 39 years’ experience in banking, project finance, capital markets, power, infrastructure, M&A, energy and natural resources, privatisation and dispute resolution, to lead other illustrious Nigerians, as members of the economic advisory council to the administration.

As part of the commitment of the administration to transform the state’s into a high pedestal of development, Engineer Sule saw the need to constitute and inaugurate the 14-member Nasarawa State Investment and Economic Advisory Council, charged with the responsibility of appraising the state economic potentials, including sources of revenue generation and advice the administration on appropriate policies and framework that will enhance investment opportunities and economic development of the state.

Three and a half years down the lane, the impact of the economic advisory council, an entire neww innovation in governance in the political history of Nasarawa State, has continued to bring good tidings for the people of the state.

Investors such as the Nigeria Flour Mills Plc, were attracted to come to Nasarawa State through the activities of the council. The company is investing close to USD 300m to establish a sugar factory in Toto Local Government Area.

Group Managing Director (GMD) of the company, Mr. Omoboyede Olusanya, while signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the state government, assured faithful implementation of its programme as soon as land survey and compensations are completed.

Just to mention but a few gains from the activities of the economic advisory council, the recently held Nasarawa Inaugural Investment Summit themed “Diamond in the Rough, The Making of a New Investment Frontier,” that brought together world class business leaders and captains of industry, who brainstormed on how to achieve the state’s vision to become Nigeria’s top investment hub, was also the brainchild of the council.

Yes, pundits may want to observe a thing or two about the much talked about investment drive of the Engineer Sule administration. Some may even voice out their frustrations by claiming nothing tangible has come out of it. However, in concrete terms, nothing could be further than the truth. Industrialization like the one earnestly being pursued by Engineer Sule takes time but the fruits will be enjoyed by generations of the state yet unborn.

A case that readily comes to mind, is the Dangote Sugar factory in Tunga, Awe Local Government Area. Because of the incubation process, which to some interested parties, may appear too long, some people are spreading falsehood about the entire project. The landmass acquired for the project is 68, 000 hectares, the size of land equal to the size of Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory.

This is a virgin land that has not been used in the production of sugarcane before. The investors have to spend millions of naira experimenting with the soil, seeking to find out which among the hundreds species of sugarcane will grow better on which part of the land. It took the Dangote Group three years and hundreds of millions of naira down the drain, for the company to realize its objectives.

Recently, engineers from the headquarters of the Dangote Group visited the state to announce the good news. That they have found enough reason to establish a sugar factory in Tunga because they have found out that the land is good enough to produce enough sugar that will require setting up a factory.

This is indeed, great news for Nasarawa State and its people. A sugar plantation side by side a sugar refinery, has tremendous potentials for the economic development of the state. (To be continued)

Abare is the Special Assistant on Media to the Nasarawa State Governor