From Sa’adatu Maina, Damaturu
Remarks by His Excellency Governor Mai Mala Buni at the Opening of the First State Executive Council Meeting at the Council Chamber, Government House Damaturu on Tuesday 31st December 2019
Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim
Wa Sallallahu Ala Nabiyul Karim
- Your Excellency, Honourable Idi Barde Gubana, Wazirin Fune, the Deputy Governor
- Honourable Commissioners and Members of the State Executive Council
- The Acting SSG and Acting Head of Service
- Ladies and Gentlemen
As-Salamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullah
I want to begin by welcoming members of the State Executive Council to this first cabinet meeting.
And by the way, let me once again congratulate the honourable commissioners for joining the team and for the historic opportunity to make a real difference in the lives of our people.
During my interaction with you at your retreat in Kano on 26th November 2019 and during your swearing-in ceremony on 6th
December 2019, I have reviewed where we stood since our administration started on May 29th, 2019 and the enormous tasks that lie ahead of us.
I said that this administration is anchored on ‘Continuity, Consolidation, and Innovation’. This is a three-track approach that carries on with the pro-people programmes of the previous administration, consolidates on the progress that Yobe has made by doing even more to expand opportunity, and adopts novel and scientific approaches to governance by leveraging on best practices to deliver quality services to our people.
Consequently, over the last six months, we have continued with the Yobe International Cargo Airport Project and a number of road projects we met on the ground, and we have gone ahead to break new grounds in service delivery to our people, including the construction of new township roads in Buni-Yadi, Babbangida, Damagum, and Jajimaji towns. We have resuscitated government-owned industries whose doors were closed for many years, such as the Yobe Flour and Feed Mills, Yobe Aluminium Company and the Woven Sacks Factory. And we have made significant progress in the construction of the first Ultra-Modern Market in Damaturu.
As some of you here may have noticed, we have also worked to improve our contacts and partnerships across sectors and domains, including with the federal government and with our development partners. As a result, we are seeing increased levels of interest and participation from the federal government and many UN and non-governmental agencies in our developmental efforts.
Although it is still a work-in-progress, our security situation has also improved thanks to our continuing partnership with the security agencies and the support and participation of people across the state.
So, across the board, we have made appreciable progress over the last six months. And now as we look to the tasks that lie ahead and the challenges we must meet together as a team, let me say that I am proud of the quality of talent in this cabinet and the knowledge and experience you will bring to shape our policies and programmes. We must, therefore, make this government as efficient as possible.
Let us always remember the weight of public expectation on our shoulders and the sacred obligation we have to serve with dignity and honour. Going forward, using the budget we just signed into law yesterday as your roadmap, I expect all members of the State Executive Council to hit the ground running with the kind of service delivery that will make our people proud. To ensure that cabinet members are always on their toes and delivering on their respective mandates, I have instituted monitoring mechanisms that would track progress across all the 20 ministries and all commissioners will be assessed accordingly.
I want to urge you to be team players in your respective ministries and to lead by example because in today’s world when the public business must be conducted in the light of day, your moral leadership is equally as important.
That said, let’s now get into the agenda of the meeting.
Thank you so much.
