Join me in building a new Adamawa; Fintiri admonishes Adamawa political elite.

Governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri of Adamawa state admonish Adamawa political elites to join him in building a new Adamawa state that generation yet unborn will be proud of.

Speaking in an independence day speech at Ribadu square to mark Nigeria’s 61st Independence Anniversary on Friday in Yola, the Adamawa political leader vowed to continue to ensure the welfare and security of life and property of all citizens in line with the Country’s Constitution.

The Governor advised all kidnappers, Shila boys, to turn a new leaf saying his Government will continue to make the State unbearable for deviants.

“In line with our campaign promises, the security and welfare of Adamawa residents continue to be the prime focus on which programmes and projects of our Government revolve.

“Therefore, as a Government, we are ready to arrest and prosecute all persons inciting violence and making life unbearable for others in Adamawa.

“I will therefore take this opportunity, on this special day that symbolises the unity and oneness of our great nation, to ask all Adamawa political class to join me as we transformed the State.

Fellow Citizens:

Today marks the 61st Anniversary of our Country’s Independence as a sovereign Nation. The first two years in office of my administration were marked by triumphs and tribulations, benefits and burdens, opportunities and challenges. We made some far reaching advances in building a strong, united and prosperous Adamawa State.

We also overcame the forces of disunity that culminated in a debilitating civil insecurity. We have also renewed our faith in one another and in our Country and proven that we are truly a resilient Nation. In my address to the Adamawa people last year, I did emphasised that we were in a sober moment in our Country.

We are still in that mood in spite of the many accomplishments of our administration. Our sombreness has to do with the crises of insecurity occasioned by the activities of terrorist elements, which have done the unimaginable to challenge our unity as a people. On an occasion like this, it is important that we remember all the precious souls that have been lost in the unprecedented war on terror, kidnapping and the menace of Shila Boys and Farmers/Herdsmen crisis before the advent of this administration by individuals who wanted to compel us to live our lives their way.

They will not succeed!

In their mission, they have maimed. They have killed men, women and children, rendering many children orphans and several women widows. They have made violence their ideology and are bent on destroying the peace of the people.

Fellow Sons and Daughters of Adamawa State, we will not allow them. Night after night, day after day, our Security Forces continue to engage the terrorists in battle under my watch as Governor and Chief Security Officer of Adamawa State. My gratitude goes out to the men and women of our armed forces whose will has been greatly challenged by this insurgency at more than any other time, since the Civil War.

Yet, they have remained undaunted and unwearied in the face of constant challenge and mortal danger. Driven by patriotic zeal, they are turning the tide by their prowess and determination. As Governor, I will continue to do all it takes to support Security Agencies in Adamawa State to keep on inflicting devastating blows at the heart of terror.

Fellow Citizens, it is our collective duty as patriots to avail our men and women in uniform of all the support they need to fight and win this insecurity ravaging the Country. This Administration is also committed to making Adamawa safe for all Nigerians, irrespective of our places of birth, how we worship God and our political persuasion.

The administration’s strategy to end the Herdsmen and Farmer’s crisis has yielded positive result since the last two years. To all those engaging in kidnapping, Shila against our State, I ask that you embrace peace and turn a new leaf. I urge every Son and Daughter of Adamawa State to put aside Political, Sectional or other parochial considerations, and support whole-heartedly, the efforts of the Government in checking this evil. It should now be clear to anyone who was ever in doubt that those terrorising the people through the guise of kidnapping and Shila Boys or Cattle Rustling do not mean well for anyone, of whatever Religion or Dispensation.

Their persistent choice of the weakest and most vulnerable in society, for gruesome attack, provides an insight into their abnormal mind-set. We will continue to deploy our resources in the fight against insecurity, recognising the great toll the conflict is taking on our people. This is why, to assist the afflicted, we have made critical investments in Human Capital Development to aggressively support our people and provide them with sustainable means of livelihood. In partnership with our Development Partners, we have also introduced the Safe Schools Initiative which is aimed at promoting safe environments for education state-wide, starting with the Deboarding of students where security is not guarantee within the State.

Our overall objective is to do all we possibly can, to sustain the gain of Civil Service Reforms, Infrastructure/Urban Renewal, mass Housing for Adamawa Civil Servants and the momentum of Economic advancement, which is on-going in the 21 Local Government of the State despite the financial constraints orchestrated by the Corona Virus. There have been tough periods, but the Nigerian spirit and the unflagging resilience of our people have seen us through and we will continue to march forward to greater heights.

Fellow Adamawa electorate, we had taken cognisance of the suggestion over the years by well-meaning Nigerians on the need to focus attention on building Adamawa that generations yet unborn will be proud of. It was in that regard that we commence the Giants Infrastructure Projects that litter the nooks and cranny of the State.

We have successfully delivered on that promise as we are the first State to build and commission a Fly-over in the North East.

Our administration has made a commitment to ensure that we build and sustain a democratic infrastructure anchored on free and fair elections, especially on Local Government elections. Observers have attested to the positive evolution of electoral credibility of the last council election in Adamawa and we cannot afford to relent.

We will continue to ensure that the will of the electorate prevail so that political leaders would be reminded at all times that there is a day of reckoning when they have to go back to the people at the polls.

Election days must not be days of violence and death. We must remain vigilant to ensure that our electoral process is characterised by peace, security and transparency .As we inch towards another council election in Adamawa State, desperate moves to overheat the polity are becoming a regular occurrence.

Our political leaders in particular must know that the contest for power should not translate to the destruction of the polity.The contest for the leadership of our council must yield good governance, and not ungovernable spaces. The love of State and Country should rank higher than our individual ambitions.

We must remain committed to a united and indivisible State within democratic parameters. I enjoin the Adamawa State Independent Electoral Commission (ADSIEC) all Security Agencies, Politicians and the Electorate to work conscientiously and peacefully, together, to consolidate on the gains of the recent elections.

Free and fair elections have come to stay; nothing else will be acceptable to our people.My dear residence, occasions such as this present an opportunity to thank God for our State and Country and to report to you, on our Journey so Far.

We are making giant strides in the Agricultural sector which we are re-positioning through Adamawa Agro-Business Support Programme to diversify our economy. We will continue to upgrade our Infrastructure to make life easier for all and create an enabling environment for enterprise to flourish.
In demonstration of our Administration’s commitment to addressing Nigeria’s Housing deficit, we have commenced the building of 1000 Housing units for our Civil Servants.

It is expected that, in addition to creating additional Housing units across the State, this initiative also represents a huge job creation opportunity. On Infrastructure, we are building Roads, Bridges, to make it easier to traverse the State and increase the integration of our people and our ability to do business with each other.

The result of this Infrastructural drive is that two and a half million informal jobs have been created over the past two years. This is a record, which we are committed to improve upon to continue to provide jobs for our Youth.

Fellow Adamawa residents, the goals we set to achieve for our State involve expanding the frontiers of economic freedom. Let us therefore unite with one heart and one mind. All our people must have access to the good things of life. All our people must be empowered to pursue the gift of life with happiness. This is our State; we must build it for our common posterity.

The protection of individual rights, liberty, equality before the law, freedom of thought, and a progressive pursuit of a sound economy must be our goal.I cannot end this address without commenting on the deadly Corona Virus Disease (CVD) which was sadly brought into our State recently.

My directives to the State Ministry of Health saw the Ministry leading the charge in curtailing the spread of this deadly scourge and managing its impact. This is how it should be: swift, effective and comprehensive action in defence of Citizens. It must be pointed out that the Corona Virus battle is still raging elsewhere in our sub-region. I therefore enjoin all our Citizens to continue to adhere strictly to all the guidelines that have been given by our Health officials to keep COVID 19 out of our State and Country.I thank all the members of the Adamawa State COVID 19 committee for working together to prevent what could have become a major disaster. I particularly thank the medical personnel, some of whom made the ultimate sacrifice.

This is the spirit which we must demonstrate at all times as we face up to our challenges as a state and nation: one people, united by a common resolve, in the pursuit of one common national interest.As we look forward to another year in our life, I am more than confident that our tomorrow will be better than our yesterday and today. Adamawa Sons and Daughters have got the human and material resources to excel and we shall lead the way in that journey to our manifest destiny.

Fellow residents of the State, brothers and sisters, in all our plans, and in all our words and our actions, we must stand together in love and unity, as one people under God.God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria. God bless Adamawa State.