Opinion

Bauchi at Fifty: A State That Learned to Become

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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&period;1 -->&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;"IBdTsBgR" 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>By&colon; Lamara Garba Azare<&sol;p><div class&equals;"I2qmmN0X" 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>Bauchi was not born in silence&period; On the third day of February 1976&comma; it arrived with the quiet dignity of history unfolding&comma; carved out of the old North Eastern State&comma; not merely as a political entity but as a promise&period; A promise that people mattered&period; A promise that governance could be closer to the heartbeat of the land&period; A promise that a place shaped by savannah winds&comma; ancient footsteps&comma; and resilient souls deserved its own name and destiny&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>In those earliest days&comma; the founding leaders stood before an unformed canvas&period; There were no clear roads&comma; only directions&period; No settled institutions&comma; only intentions&period; Men like Mohammed Bello Kaliel and the first set of military administrators did not inherit comfort&period; They inherited responsibility&period; With discipline and restraint&comma; they laid the skeletal frame of a state yet to find its voice&period; Ministries were formed&comma; public service took its first breath&comma; and order was introduced where uncertainty once loomed&period; Their service was not loud&comma; but it was consequential&period; They held Bauchi together when it was most fragile&comma; and history must remember them not for what was absent&comma; but for what they preserved&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Then came the gentle dawn of civilian rule and with it the reassuring presence of Abubakar Tatari Ali&period; His leadership spoke directly to the soul of the people&period; Roads stretched outward as symbols of connection&comma; farms rose as declarations of self belief&comma; industries emerged as statements of confidence&comma; and Bauchi began to imagine itself beyond survival&period; He governed with faith in possibility and left behind a lesson that development is not only measured in concrete and steel&comma; but in hope restored and dignity affirmed&period;<&sol;p><div class&equals;"mjd6lcU5" 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>The years that followed were long and demanding&period; Military administrators came and went&comma; each carrying the weight of stewardship in difficult times&period; Mohammed Sani Sami&comma; Chris Abutu Garuba&comma; Joshua Madaki&comma; Abu Ali&comma; Wing Commander James Yana Kalau&comma; Rasheed Adisa Raji&comma; Theophilus Bamigboye and Abdul Adamu Mshelia each&comma; in their own seasons&comma; kept the machinery of governance alive&period; These were years of holding the centre&comma; of completing water projects so thirst would not rule&comma; of strengthening hospitals so life could be preserved&comma; of nurturing sports and social cohesion so the human spirit would not be crushed&period; Bauchi learned patience in those years&period; It learned that progress does not always arrive with celebration&comma; but often with quiet persistence&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<&excl;-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v&period; 2&period;0&period;98&period;1 -->&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;<&excl;-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v&period; 2&period;0&period;98&period;1 -->&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;<p>The brief return of democracy in the early nineties under Dahiru Mohammed rekindled hope&comma; only for it to be interrupted again&period; Yet the idea of civilian choice never died&period; It waited patiently in the consciousness of the people&period; And when it returned in 1999&comma; it returned with purpose&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Ahmadu Adamu Muazu’s era marked a turning point that still echoes across the state&period; Schools multiplied&comma; classrooms filled&comma; enrolment soared&comma; and Bauchi found itself counted among Nigeria’s strongest performers in education&period; Roads stitched communities together&comma; water flowed where scarcity once reigned&comma; electricity reached villages long forgotten by the grid&comma; and healthcare gained renewed attention&period; His leadership proved that when people are placed at the centre of policy&comma; development responds naturally&period; Many families still live inside the outcomes of those years&comma; sometimes without knowing the names of the policies that made them possible&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Isa Yuguda and Mohammed Abdullahi Abubakar governed in times shaped by complexity&period; Economic pressure&comma; national uncertainty&comma; and rising security concerns tested the limits of leadership&period; Yet governance continued&period; Roads were maintained&comma; institutions sustained&comma; and the state was kept standing when the ground beneath Nigeria often felt unsteady&period; Their stewardship reminded the people that leadership is not always about expansion&comma; but about preservation&comma; about ensuring that the house does not collapse while waiting for renovation&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Today&comma; under Bala Mohammed&comma; Bauchi speaks again in the language of renewal&period; Roads are being rebuilt not just as infrastructure but as arteries of opportunity&period; Schools are being restored&comma; health facilities revived&comma; urban spaces reimagined&comma; and economic empowerment extended to women and youths who for too long stood at the margins&period; Investment summits invite the world to see Bauchi differently&comma; not as an afterthought&comma; but as a land of promise&period; His leadership reflects a belief that governance must listen&comma; that peace must be cultivated&comma; and that development must feel human&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>As Bauchi marks fifty years&comma; this is not merely a roll call of leaders&period; It is a collective tribute&period; To those who laid foundations when there was little applause&period; To those who governed in difficult seasons without surrender&period; To those who expanded opportunity and those who protected stability&period; To civil servants who kept institutions alive&comma; teachers who shaped minds in overcrowded classrooms&comma; farmers who planted hope in stubborn soil&comma; and communities who believed that this state belonged to them&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>As Bauchi steps into the future&comma; it does so with memory in its hands and hope in its eyes&period; The past has spoken through sacrifice&comma; the present breathes through responsibility&comma; and the future waits for courage&period; What remains certain is this&colon; Bauchi has never been defined by the ease of its journey&comma; but by the strength of its will&period; From those who laid the first stones to those who now carry the torch&comma; the story continues not as an echo of yesterday&comma; but as a call to tomorrow&period; And as long as its people believe in the dignity of service&comma; the power of unity&comma; and the promise of becoming better than before&comma; Bauchi will not merely endure&period; It will rise&comma; again and again&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Lamara Garba Azare&comma; a veteran journalist&comma; writes from Kano<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><&excl;-- END THEIA POST SLIDER -->&NewLine;<&excl;-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v&period; 2&period;0&period;98&period;1 -->&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&period;1 -->&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;

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