By Olukayode Michael, Maiduguri
The senator representing Southern Borno senatorial district, Senator Ali Ndume has identified running of government on ad-hoc basis as the bane of underdevelopment in the country.
He said good governance will continue to be a mirage until government begins to be run on well-articulated and focused plan with measurable outcomes.
Ndume, one of the contenders
for Senate President of the yet to the inaugurated 9th assembly spoke
on Thursday in Maiduguri.
He equally asked that the present situation of the country requires that
topmost priority should be given to security.
He said government could be forgiven if all it has to offer is security and
perhaps nothing more.
He said without security every other thing is on a standstill as people would
even be afraid to leave there home to source for living.
Speaking to journalists on what should be the priority of newly sworn-in
political leaders across the country, Ndume said: “It is obvious security is
the top notch.”
On his expectations from the governor of his home state, Borno, Prof. Babagana
Umara, the lawmaker said: “My first advice to Governor Zulum is that he should
have a master plan that he wants to achieve in the first four years which will
serve as his blueprint for action.
He also advised that the governor should embrace the Maslow’s hierarchy of
needs, insisting that right now in Borno, what the people need first is
security.
He asked the new governor to cooperate with the security agencies in order to
encourage them in doing more in securing the lives and property of the people.
He said that this will bring in economic fortune with the expansion of territories
to which the people can have access to farmlands and other economic activities.
Ndume said: “My advice to him is to run government not on adhoc
basis. Government should be run with plan . For instance, this year , I am
going to achieve A, B and C , and you know where the resources
should be coming from. So when you do that you know that you have
finished with A , then B , followed by C.
“You know that when government is run on adhoc and somebody comes in the
morning and say let’s do this, and you will move to another local government,
they will say we don’t have borehole and you go and do that. When
government started operating on adhoc basis without planning, it is not going
to work.
“The first thing I told Professor (Babagana Umara) is that he should have
a masterplan that of what to achieve within these four years and that will
serve as his blueprint for action, it is very important.
“Also, concentration should be on hierarchy of needs . Right now in Borno,
what we need is security . So he has to cooperate with security agencies to do
more to secure our people, and not only that to expand the territories to which
our people can have access to.”
He called on the governor to introduce massive agricultural policies that will
make food available to the citizens in addition to provision of farm implements
to farmers especially in areas that peace has returned for farming.