Governor Fintiri’s Scorecard: The Adamawa Story
by Solomon Kumangar
It all began three years into his first term as the executive Governor of Adamawa state; the masses of Adamawa called upon Governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri to come to Adamawa state on a rescue mission.
Adamawa was in a dire strait at this auspicious call; staff was owed months’ salary in arrears. As a result, they were demoralised.
In addition, billions of naira bank debt were hanging on the neck of the state with a whopping monthly interest deduction of millions of naira.
Most critical state departments had degraded abysmally as most primary and secondary schools and hospitals were typical of a market square.
Worst of all, the morale of the students and staff was at its lowest ebb. Desirous of remedying the situation, Adamawa electorates voted massively for Governor Fintiri and quickly sought the intervention of the Governor to rescue the state.
Undaunted by the apparent debilitated state of the school, hospital roads and other basic infrastructure, The Governor accepted the clarion call with poise and immediately took up governance’s reins with an uncommon sense of duty.
As soon as Governor Fintiri assumed the state’s Governor, he swung into action. First, he activated some measures to restore the staff and students’ dignity.
That was made possible because he regularly interacted with the civil servants and heads of parastatals. He further requested a thorough reassessment of the state’s debt exposure and financial profile.
His findings revealed evidence of mismanagement of the loan portfolio. A query to the bank would result in restructuring the credit facility, followed by some reprieve that lessened the burden of the loan repayment.
Notwithstanding, the loan exposure with its daunting prospects remained baffling. Governor Fintiri’s deft moves ushered in a new dawn in Adamawa state.
With a firm commitment to sustaining positive developments, Governor Fintiri designed some programs to block cash leakages.
This proactive measure would enable him to shore up the state’s revenue and consequently help offset the backlog of salaries and other necessities associated with running the state.
But Governor Fintiri would not settle for spasmodic solutions; he needed sustained windfall so that salaries and wages would come regularly.
Against this backdrop, Governor Fintiri set up the online portal system, ensuring minimal human interface for payments and revenue collection.
The result was that the states’ IGR increased while reducing the chances of possible fraud and misappropriation.
Efforts to defray several months’ salary arrears must not be mere wishful but strategic and pragmatic. Therefore, Fintiri designed what he called “a pro-rata” payment pattern; “the civil servant must not go home and sleep on empty stomach”, he said.
Governor Fintiri’s pragmatic approach to redeeming a rather precarious situation paid off, as he could clear the month’s salary arrears and pay salaries on the 25th of every month.
Payment of salaries and liquidation of the billions of naira indebtedness was not only the achievement of the Fintiri-led administration in Adamawa.
He equally saw the rehabilitation of dilapidated infrastructure, mainstreamed environmental recovery, and aesthetic landmarks still visible in schools to date.
For instance, the school campuses were transformed, which was below par.
His tenure at Adamawa saw the construction and asphalting of the major road, the two giant flyovers in the state capital.
The cottage hospitals spread across the 21 local councils were visible to a blind man. Generally, the aesthetic touches seen in the hospitals, schools, and roads were usually done during Fintiri’s fourteen months stint at Adamawa state.
Fintiri engendered a functional and conducive learning environment from elementary schools to tertiary institutions in the state.
He was as concerned with the pursuit of academic excellence as he was with character formation. He uplifted students’ lot through prompt payments of scholarships.
Explaining the logicality of the Governor s approach to governance, an Adamawa resident Nichodemus Mikailu was unmistakable.
“Fintiri was able to change the orientation of voters in the state. He used to supervise projects most time; it was so habitual. He doesn’t sit around in the office.
How Governor Fintiri overturned the forces impeding developments in Adamawa is better left for subsequent epistles, but let’s crown it by noting that Fintiri came, saw, and conquered. No wonder the Adamawa electorates demonstrated their desire to have him return as Governor in 2023.
Indeed, Governor Umaru Fintiri is a trailblazer and game-changer whose tendency to turn bad situations into good is unarguably unique and contagious.