Politics

Abubakar Kabir: another early bird

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<p><&excl;-- BEGIN THEIA POST SLIDER --><&sol;p>&NewLine;<&excl;-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v&period; 2&period;0&period;98 -->&NewLine;<div class&equals;"quads-location quads-ad4" id&equals;"quads-ad4" style&equals;"float&colon;none&semi;margin&colon;0px&semi;">&NewLine;&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p><div class&equals;"eoqSyt2i" style&equals;"clear&colon;both&semi;float&colon;left&semi;width&colon;100&percnt;&semi;margin&colon;0 0 20px 0&semi;"><script async src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;pagead2&period;googlesyndication&period;com&sol;pagead&sol;js&sol;adsbygoogle&period;js"><&sol;script> &NewLine;<&excl;-- TV --> &NewLine;<ins class&equals;"adsbygoogle" &NewLine; style&equals;"display&colon;block" &NewLine; data-ad-client&equals;"ca-pub-4403533287178375" &NewLine; data-ad-slot&equals;"4399361195" &NewLine; data-ad-format&equals;"auto" &NewLine; data-full-width-responsive&equals;"true"><&sol;ins> &NewLine;<script> &NewLine; &lpar;adsbygoogle &equals; window&period;adsbygoogle &vert;&vert; &lbrack;&rsqb;&rpar;&period;push&lpar;&lbrace;&rcub;&rpar;&semi; &NewLine;<&sol;script><&sol;div>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p><div class&equals;"SqC8PSG8" style&equals;"clear&colon;both&semi;float&colon;left&semi;width&colon;100&percnt;&semi;margin&colon;0 0 20px 0&semi;"><script async src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;pagead2&period;googlesyndication&period;com&sol;pagead&sol;js&sol;adsbygoogle&period;js"><&sol;script> &NewLine;<&excl;-- TV --> &NewLine;<ins class&equals;"adsbygoogle" &NewLine; style&equals;"display&colon;block" &NewLine; data-ad-client&equals;"ca-pub-4403533287178375" &NewLine; data-ad-slot&equals;"4399361195" &NewLine; data-ad-format&equals;"auto" &NewLine; data-full-width-responsive&equals;"true"><&sol;ins> &NewLine;<script> &NewLine; &lpar;adsbygoogle &equals; window&period;adsbygoogle &vert;&vert; &lbrack;&rsqb;&rpar;&period;push&lpar;&lbrace;&rcub;&rpar;&semi; &NewLine;<&sol;script><&sol;div>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong>By Abdulyassar Abdulhamid<&sol;strong><&sol;p><div class&equals;"nvTYpt2H" style&equals;"clear&colon;both&semi;float&colon;left&semi;width&colon;100&percnt;&semi;margin&colon;0 0 20px 0&semi;"><script async src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;pagead2&period;googlesyndication&period;com&sol;pagead&sol;js&sol;adsbygoogle&period;js"><&sol;script> &NewLine;<ins class&equals;"adsbygoogle" &NewLine; style&equals;"display&colon;block&semi; text-align&colon;center&semi;" &NewLine; data-ad-layout&equals;"in-article" &NewLine; data-ad-format&equals;"fluid" &NewLine; data-ad-client&equals;"ca-pub-4403533287178375" &NewLine; data-ad-slot&equals;"6550225277"><&sol;ins> &NewLine;<script> &NewLine; &lpar;adsbygoogle &equals; window&period;adsbygoogle &vert;&vert; &lbrack;&rsqb;&rpar;&period;push&lpar;&lbrace;&rcub;&rpar;&semi; &NewLine;<&sol;script><&sol;div>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Abubakar Kabir Abubakar&comma; There is a clear indication that Nigeria&comma; <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;en&period;wikipedia&period;org&sol;wiki&sol;List&lowbar;of&lowbar;African&lowbar;countries&lowbar;by&lowbar;population">the most populous black nation on earth<&sol;a>&comma; can only be put on the path of growth through good political representation&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Sometimes ago&comma; I wrote an appreciation article in response to a legislator&&num;8217&semi;s compelling performance in terms of good representation he had demonstrated&period; And I argued&colon;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8220&semi;One of the determinants of growth and development in any democratic government is a good and committed representation&period; Nigerians have continued to suffer from the lack of both&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8220&semi;Whether in the north&comma; south&comma; or east&comma; Nigerians need an ideal representation to survive the torturing bad governance they have been experiencing for decades&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<&excl;-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v&period; 2&period;0&period;98 -->&NewLine;<div class&equals;"quads-location quads-ad4" id&equals;"quads-ad4" style&equals;"float&colon;none&semi;margin&colon;0px&semi;">&NewLine;&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8220&semi;Show me a Nigerian&comma; I will show you a man or a woman&comma; who has survived a constant forging of the anvil and the hammer of poor representation&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Many Nigerians have been reduced to eternal mourners of a sort&period; No thanks to bad representation and its agents&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The argument is borne out of my belief that Nigeria has been caught in the whirlwind of political uncertainty more than ever before&period; And the global pandemic of Coronavirus is exacerbating the problem&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>First&comma; there is a relative underrepresentation of the preferences of the masses both by political parties and by governments&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Good political representation is the art of making citizens’ voices&comma; opinions&comma; and perspectives heard in public policy-making processes&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Sadly&comma; a political actor that speaks&comma; advocates&comma; symbolizes&comma; and acts on behalf of his people in a given political arena&comma; is very difficult to come by simply because that noble act of putting the country first before anything else has more or less faded away&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Oftentimes good representation involves putting up stiff resistance against any perceived injustice meted out against one’s constituents especially in a fledgling democracy like ours&comma; which is bedeviled with growing economic inequality and its attendant negative effects&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Nothing exemplifies good political representation of recent&comma; the most&comma; then the political temperament is shown by the chairman House Committee on Works&comma; the member representing Bichi Federal Constituency&comma; Engineer Abubakar Kabir Abubakar&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>At the time when newspaper reports are mocking some legislators for their sheer inactivity at the Senate for a period of two years&comma; Engineer Abubakar Kabir has been as active as quicksilver&period; His mantra is &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;I will give everything to see this country attain a working architecture of governance&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>In line with the primary responsibility of a legislator&comma; he is so preoccupied with issues of public interest&semi; representing the interest of his constituents and Kano State in general&period; Querying Julius Berger and the Federal Ministry of Works for the slow pace of the Kano-Kaduna-Abuja Road project is one of them&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Abubakar Kabir Abubakar&&num;8217&semi;s last function I witnessed was when he led the members of the House Committee on Works and the management of the Federal Ministry of Works on a tour to Kano State as part of the committee’s oversight functions to assess and inspect the Federal government road projects in the state&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The lawmaker has renewed his concern&period; The first determined attempt to call the contractor&comma; Julius Berger&comma; to order was by the Senate Committee on Works&period; But the contractor is so defiant even as the road has turned into a whirlpool of the sort that engulfs people every day&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<&excl;-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v&period; 2&period;0&period;98 -->&NewLine;<div class&equals;"quads-location quads-ad1" id&equals;"quads-ad1" style&equals;"float&colon;none&semi;margin&colon;0px&semi;">&NewLine;&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Whether it is an act of sabotage or clandestine move to jeopardize the lives of Nigerians&comma; Engineer Abubakar Kabir said the house would not accept it and has given the works ministry a seven-day ultimatum to come up with immediate measures to address the challenge&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Prior to that&comma; I have observed how instrumental Abubakar Kabir was in the establishment of the Bichi Power Sub-Station&comma; which is a catalyst for economic recovery not only in the target area but also for Kano State in general&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Engineer Abubakar Kabir had kept both Kano State Government and the management of the Transmission Company of Nigeria &lpar;TCN&rpar; on their toes&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><a class&equals;"LinkSuggestion&lowbar;&lowbar;Link-sc-1mdih4x-2 dcwLhi" href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;nigeriantracker&period;com&sol;2020&sol;06&sol;17&sol;its-a-lie-we-provide-electricity-kedco-replies-kano-water-board-on-electricity-shortage&sol;" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener noreferrer">’It’s a lie &comma;we provide electricity&comma; KEDCO replies Kano water board on electricity shortage<&sol;a><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The project&comma; when completed&comma; will facilitate a steady power supply to seven local government areas in the vicinity of Bichi emirate&comma; thereby reviving economic activities in the state&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The federal government had&comma; through the Ministry of Power&comma; authorized the installation of a 30 MVA&comma; 132&sol;133 KV Mobitra transformer at the local government area&period; What was needed was someone to constantly prod the authorities concerned and Engineer Bichi filled in the gap&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Water&comma; they say&comma; is life&semi; and lack of it is capable of pushing any community&comma; no matter how developed&comma; to the brink of collapse&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Communities in Bichi Local Government Area have suffered from acute water scarcity for over 40 years&period; People walk miles every day to fetch water&period; Part of the solution to this nagging problem of water scarcity was to achieve a constant power supply&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Unfortunately&comma; Nigeria does not have a constant power supply&period; In the absence of this&comma; the procurement of a mega power generator to power the Bagwai&sol;Watari Water Treatment Plant was the perfect solution&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>This is what Abubakar Kabir Abubakar did&comma; He was so concerned about the hardship his constituents went through to get water&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Abubakar Kabir Abubakr donated a 500 KVA generator worth N32 million to Bagwai&sol;Watari Water Treatment Plant&period; There were sources of water springing up to the utmost joy of the people&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Presenting the generator to the State Water Board&comma; the lawmaker said he was moved by the difficulties his constituents were experiencing to get water&period; It is as simple as that&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The most giant stride the lawmaker has taken recently was his move to save Nigerians&&num;8217&semi; lives and taxpayers’ money&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Kano-Kaduna-Abuja Road that has been under construction for the last three years or so has turned into the proverbial forest of horror&comma; where the sight of mangled bodies is the &&num;8220&semi;new normal&&num;8221&semi;&period; Only God the Almighty knows how many families in the last three years this very road has bereaved&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The N155 billion road project that was awarded in 2017 is moving at a snail&&num;8217&semi;s pace&period; 26 months since the commencement of the project&comma; only less than 10 percent of the work has been completed&period;‎<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The contractors&comma; Julius Berger&comma; has collected N70 billion from the Federal government out of the N155 billion total sum of the contract&comma; but unfortunately&comma; the work done has not tallied with the funding&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Believing that if this menace is left unchecked it would lead to a permanent scenario&comma; Engineer Abubakar Kabir Abubakar canvassed for the support of his colleagues and led them on a fact-checking mission to Kano State&comma; with the intention of settling the matter once and for all&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>As part of their oversight functions&comma; the team was at the Government House&comma; Kano on 28 August 2020&comma; to meet the Governor&comma; Dr&period; Abdullahi Umar Ganduje&comma; and brief him on their findings&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Mr&period; Abubakar Kabir Abubakr Bichi could not hide his dissatisfaction over the delay in the execution of the project by the Contractor&comma; Julius Berger PLC&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>In a matter-of-fact tone&comma; he said&colon; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;The House will not accept any extension of the completion date or a variation of the project&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8220&semi;As a result of the delay in the completion of the project&comma; several lives have been lost on the road&comma; and we cannot continue to lose lives on this road&period; Nigerians’ lives take precedence over any other consideration&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>When one looks at the political temperament of this early bird&comma; Engineer Abubakar Bala&comma; one cannot help but believe that the future of this country lies in its youth&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The youth may seem to fail to command the respect&comma; or lack the skills and experience&comma; needed to steer the affairs of this country&semi; but the truth is that Engineer Abubakar Kabir is changing the narrative for the better&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Abdulhamid wrote via abdullahiyassar2013&commat;gmail&period;com<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><&excl;-- END THEIA POST SLIDER -->&NewLine;<&excl;-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v&period; 2&period;0&period;98 -->&NewLine;<div class&equals;"quads-location quads-ad3" id&equals;"quads-ad3" style&equals;"float&colon;none&semi;margin&colon;0px&semi;">&NewLine;&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<script async src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;pagead2&period;googlesyndication&period;com&sol;pagead&sol;js&sol;adsbygoogle&period;js"><&sol;script> &NewLine;<ins class&equals;"adsbygoogle" &NewLine; style&equals;"display&colon;block" &NewLine; data-ad-format&equals;"autorelaxed" &NewLine; data-ad-client&equals;"ca-pub-4403533287178375" &NewLine; data-ad-slot&equals;"1004305389"><&sol;ins> &NewLine;<script> &NewLine; &lpar;adsbygoogle &equals; window&period;adsbygoogle &vert;&vert; &lbrack;&rsqb;&rpar;&period;push&lpar;&lbrace;&rcub;&rpar;&semi; &NewLine;<&sol;script>&NewLine;<&excl;-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v&period; 2&period;0&period;98 -->&NewLine;<div class&equals;"quads-location quads-ad5" id&equals;"quads-ad5" style&equals;"float&colon;none&semi;margin&colon;0px&semi;">&NewLine;&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&NewLine;

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