RE: YUGUDA: BUSINESS UNUSUAL

INTRODUCTION

Our grandfathers may not have been sophisticated in the modern sense but their mastery of the art of social dynamics is baffling. Having gone through the University of Life, they garnered experiences never to be gleaned from books. It was they who likened human character to the oil in akara – no matter how careful and crafty one wraps balls of akara in a newsprint, given ample time, it will surely manifest itself.

THE MAN: DR. ALIYU TILDE

This parable aptly captures the personality of Dr. Aliyu Tilde which he portrayed in his recent piece captioned ‘Business More Than Usual’ in which he spewed scathing, albeit ridiculous and fictitious claims against Malam Isa Yuguda, the executive governor of Bauchi state where he futilely attempted to vilify the amenable and amiable Yuguda. In his characteristic self-acclaimed omniscience Tilde used spurious claims and figures to portray Yuguda and his administration as corrupt and inept.

Before I delve into the substance (if at all there is any) of his tirade against Yuguda, it is interesting to know who Tilde really is.

At the inception of Ahmed Adamu Mu’azu’s administration, (Tilde’s mentor), he (Tilde) played the critic through writing virulent articles in his column in the Daily Trust. Each time he wrote his vituperative article his mentor got intimidated and found one favour or the other for Tilde, such as influencing the appointment of Tilde’s brother as the General Manager of Bauchi federal FM Radio station. With his pen, Tilde succeeded in rattling mentor so much that he made him a contractor on retainership with the Bauchi State Environmental Protection Agency (BASEPA) where he was awarded landscaping job for beautifying Bauchi metropolis. As a horticulturalist, his mentor felt that would make the ‘virulent critic’ happy and keep him busy taking money from government coffers for jobs he never executed. But Tilde had grander ambition and having found the weak spot in his mentor rather coarse disposition he aimed for a higher stake. He got Tilde’s message loud and clear: give me a good offer and spare yourself the wrath of my pen. He decided to silence the critic once and for all. He made Tilde an offer of Special Adviser on education, an appointment he gladly grabbed despite the fact that he was a Personal Assistant to General Muhammadu Buhari and a card-carrying member of the ANPP. Not even Buhari’s warning could deter him from grabbing the carrot Muazu dangled in his face because of his insatiable greed. And Buhari was proven right. On a number of occasions Tilde was overheard lamenting his decision to work under his mentor’s government.

With the power of his destructive pen, he added for himself a juicier portfolio of Chairman of ‘Special Schools’ Board to which staggering sums of money were allocated for the maintenance of such schools. We all know the state of decay and dilapidation the previous administration left schools in Bauchi state at the end of its eight-year tenure. Tilde owes the people of Bauchi an explanation on where these monies went to because it is on record that he was the one personally executing contracts for the renovation and maintenance of the special schools. No wonder he had squabbles with his Board members whom he refused a slice of the cake and who accused him of self aggrandizement. As a Special Adviser and Board Chairman, Tilde was an itinerant appointee because he hardly stayed in Bauchi and hardly attended executive council meetings, a fact any member of the previous cabinet can testify.

It was this trick Tilde employed to open the door to his mentor’s inner chambers that he attempts to replicate on Yuguda. Unknown to him, it is now business unusual.

A few weeks after Yuguda assumed office, Tilde wrote a piece advising him on the challenges he would face as governor of Bauchi state, thinking that this would endear him to the governor, trying to pave ground for consideration in political appointments. Having received a cold shoulder he is now resorting to his stock-in-trade which is cheap blackmail for relevance as he did under his boss.

An incident infuriated Tilde the more, having met stone wall at the end of every overture he made to secure appointment and personal favours from Yuguda. A few months ago Tilde secured N3 million (Three million naira only) horticulture contract from Kano state government. With no money to execute the contract he wrote a letter to Bauchi state government urging it to pay his severance allowance which his boss was not keen in paying before he handed over to Yuguda. The government did not oblige him because it was busy trying to settle the backlog of pension arrears first. Consequently he approached a commissioner under Yuguda for N3 million (Three million naira only) loan, a request the commissioner refused. He now resorted to the ‘Muazu Therapy’ as the last option. He found a willing sponsor in his boss. It is a perfect scenario of killing two birds with a stone; blackmailing Yuguda for favours and receiving pay from his mentor.

It is striking to observe that the first person he emailed his ‘Business More Than Usual’ article, after Media Trust refused to publish it for the gibberish therein and its worthlessness, was Aisha Laraba a close Muazu ally and now ambassador designate, suggesting that he was trying to prove to his clients that he had done the job he was contracted to do despite its non-publication. This could have been excused as a coincidence but for the inclusion in the mailing list of Shuaibu Ahmed, the then Secretary to the State Government (SSG) and Jawad Mustapha the Special Adviser to the former SSG.

The rejection of the article by Media Trust where Tilde is a columnist clearly shows the inherent lies, ill-motive and distortions replete in the article which Media Trust, being a professionally-manned media outfit, is quick to discern at a glance. Tilde had crossed the condition under which Media Trust agreed to re-engage him as a columnist after the government he served under disgracefully bowed out. The condition: Tilde should not use his column in the Daily Trust newspaper as an avenue to settle personal or political scores.

Tilde was quick to bring Adamu Adamu’s incisive criticism of his mentor’s government and Mohammed Haruna as well as Muhammad Al-Gazali’s virulent columns on the government of Abdulkadir Kure of Niger state, ignoring that Adamu, Haruna and Gazali had not served in the governments of the two states in question and therefore had no axe to grind against the governors they wrote about.

THE RUMANA INCIDENT

I will however respond to the venomous accusations Tilde raised in his article against Yuguda and his administration, ridiculous and spurious as they are.

Tilde began by accusing some officials in the government of Isa Yuguda of slashing 7, 860, 500 (seven million eight hundred and sixty thousand five hundred) naira out of the eight (8) million relief to the people of Rumana village affected by flood. Tilde is only regurgitating a rumour conceived by his benefactors which he is peddling as gospel truth. Not inclined to acting on impulse Yuguda set up a committee to investigate this allegation. The committee did a thorough investigation and found it to be untrue. How could Yuguda unjustly punish his aides for a crime they did not commit on mere accusation that was proved to be unfounded. Perhaps confronted with this tittle-tattle Tide’s impetuous boss would have done the opposite. To Tilde, this display of maturity is unthinkable. It is therefore an unusual business to him.

The self righteous Tilde made reference to a petition written to EFCC against Yuguda by no other person but his benefactors two months after assuming office. It is now six months since the petition was filed. Has EFCC found Yuguda guilty of the accusations raised in the petition? Besides where on earth does mere allegation become an evidence of guilt? EFCC is not a motor park where every gossip is accepted without scrutiny. Tilde claims to be an intellectual but he sounds pedestrian, at least in this case. Let’s look at the allegations raised in the purported petition that Tilde bandies about.

ASSET DECLARATION

According to Tilde, Yuguda declared N40 billion (Forty billion naira only) as his asset to the Code of Conduct Bureau on assumption of office. Where Tilde got that figure? The same pedestrian talk hatched by his benefactors. Yuguda has repeatedly challenged those spreading this crass lie to buttress their claim with empirical proof. His asset declaration is with Code of Conduct Bureau and Tilde ought to have spared some time and energy to go and verify this motor-park story before spewing it around. Common sense and fairness demand nothing but that.

TRANSFER OF ACCOUNT TO FIRST INLAND BANK FROM GTB

As Tilde alluded in his article, it is true Yuguda ordered the transfer of Bauchi state account with Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB) to First Inland Bank. I wish Tilde would be brave and broad-hearted enough to tell the circumstances leading to that decision. At least in his pedestrian way. 

It is a fact that GTB was the main Bauchi state government banker and at the time Yuguda took over from Muazu as governor there was not a penny in the GTB account. To made matters worse GTB allowed itself to be used by Muazu to perpetrate shady financial deals. Such deals included the bank’s financing of Muazu’s fraudulent purchase of aircraft by giving money indirectly to a mere savings and loans bank called Yankari, owned by the state, whose statutory function was just a mortgage institution with a share capital not exceeding fifty (50) million naira.

The EFCC had issued a directive to all banks not to lend money to state governments at the last days of their tenure but GTB granted an overdraft facility to the previous government to the tune of 1.2 billion naira (one billion two hundred million naira) at the interest rate of 19%. Since banking has to do with mutual trust and confidence, Bauchi state government under Yuguda decided to transfer its account somewhere with no such dubious record. Tilde should get his facts correct before venturing to write. First Inland Bank is not substantially owned by Yuguda as he claims. FIB is a Public Limited Company with its major share holders from the southern part of the country. It has recently gone to the capital market to raise more funds from investors. Tilde is at liberty to own its shares. Furthermore Bauchi state government holds shares in FIB which until recently it partly owned. By transferring the account to FIB the state benefits directly from whatever benefits the bank derives from Bauchi state’s deposits. It is also true that Yuguda was former managing Director of Inland Bank which metamorphosed into FIB following the recapitalization programme which forced it to form a merger to raise the 25 billion naira capital base stipulated by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). For the avoidance of doubt Tilde should note that Yuguda is not a major investor in FIB. I challenge Tilde to prove otherwise. The claim that Bauchi state receives overdraft from FIB exists in Tilde’s imagination.

The previous administration and GTB committed illegality in striking the N1.2 billion (One billion, two hundred million naira only) overdraft deal despite EFCC directive. When GTB accosted the Yuguda administration for the repayment of the N1.2 billion (One billion, two hundred million naira only) overdrafts taken by the previous government two weeks to the end of its tenure despite EFCC’s prohibition the government felt it was under no obligation to pay the money and therefore petitioned EFCC as the financial watchdog of the nation. EFCC was angry with GTB for flaunting its directive. The issue became a matter between the EFCC and GTB, and since Bauchi state government’s complain not to repay the overdraft had been taken care of it felt it was an exercise in futility to continue with the petition. It therefore withdrew and allowed EFCC to punish GTB for its transgression.

LEASE OF 31 NO. CRV HONDA CARS

I’m ashamed of Tilde for not knowing the difference between lease and outright purchase. I believe the Honda CRV cars Tilde is referring to are the 31 (and not 50) CRV cars financed through a leasing facility by FIB to the 31 members of the Bauchi state House of Assembly under the Lease Purchase Agreement with the state government. The state government entered into the lease agreement on behalf of the House of Assembly through an approval the House gave to the government on November 30, 2007. Tilde should check the records with the clerk of the state’s legislature. If FIB leased cars directly I don’t know which contractor made away with 250 million naira. The cars the government purchased were the ones given to commissioners under the monetization policy where the commissioners gradually pay from their salaries. I don’t know when implementing monetization policy of the Nigerian government by a state became a crime. It is common knowledge that the Government under which Tilde served had this obsession of dashing cars to girl friends and big men in Nigeria who in Tilde’s mentor’s miscalculation were those that would endorse his failed presidential ambition.

BOREHOLES

In his vituperative article Tilde claims that the Bauchi state government under Yuguda awarded N1.3 billion (One billion three hundred million naira only) contract for the drilling of 47 motorized boreholes and 38 hand pumps without specification, claiming that due process was not followed and that the costs were grossly inflated. This baseless allegation has unmasked Tilde as a pathological liar.

Concerned with the water shortage the people of Bauchi state, especially those at the countryside, are facing despite what the previous government claimed to have spent on provision of water in eight-years, Yuguda decided to seriously and quickly tackle the problem. With no executive council in place two months into his tenure, Yuguda gave an anticipatory approval on July 18, 2007 for the award of N1.353 billion (One billion, three hundred and fifty three million naira only) contract to a Chinese firm, MSS Zhonghao Nigeria Limited. Barely a month later the then newly constituted executive council ratified the transaction on August 12, 2007. Tilde claimed that no due process was followed in awarding the contract to the Chinese firm. Initially three companies bid; Mssrs CATIC – I & E which quoted N1.834 billion (One billion, eight hundred and thirty four million naira only) for the contract, Mssrs Zhonghao Nigeria Limited which offered to do the contract at N1.603 billion (One billion, six hundred and three million naira only) while Mssrs Dekay Services bid the contract at N1.703 billion (One billion, seven hundred and three million naira only). Having offered to execute the contract at the lowest sum, Mssrs Zhonghao emerged winner of the contract. Despite offering to do the contract at the lowest price the state’s water resources ministry stuck to its base estimate of N1.353 billion (One billion, three hundred and fifty three million naira only) and Zhonghao agreed to execute the contract at the base estimate, thereby saving the state some N300 million (Three hundred million naira only). What due process is Tilde talking about? And Tilde’s claim that the contract involved the construction of 47 motorized boreholes and 38 hand pumps at the alleged unit cost of N24,780,598.97 (Twenty four million seven hundred and eighty thousand, five hundred and ninety eight naira nine seven kobo only) and N4,956,119.75 (Four million, nine hundred and fifty six thousand, one hundred and nineteen naira seventy five kobo only) shows that he is only working on conjecture. The contract included 77 motorized boreholes at the cost of N12.773,000.00 (Twelve million seven hundred and seventy three naira only ) each, with the exclusion of the one at Darazo, and 54 hand pumps each costing N1.473.00 (One million four hundred and seventy three naira only). The boreholes are accompanied with components which include overhead tanks (40,000 and 27,000 litre-capacity each 10-kilometre reticulation in Kari, Gololo, Bogoro and Lago towns. In addition, each of the 77 motorized boreholes has a power generator and generator shelter, borehole room, security room as well as operator room. The boreholes are community-managed to forestall vandalism. 

The Darazo borehole along Dukku Road gulped 40 million naira given its peculiarity in the sense that the company had to dig more than 500 metres deep to reach the water table and had to break the tarred road to bury large pipes of a length over 5 kilometers and mend the road.

HAJJ

Hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam which every Muslim with the means is required to perform at least once in a life time. A number of Muslims cannot fulfill this religious duty that each and every Muslim covet. The Bauchi state government and the 20 local governments in the state mutually agreed to pull money together on 50-50 basis and sponsor pilgrims of limited means to discharge this sublime religious duty. The state government contributed N118 million while the 20 local governments put together N118 million (One hundred and eighteen million naira only). I wonder where Tilde got N110 million (One hundred and ten million naira only) as the local government counter-funding. It is good to note that the local governments benefited more than the state government because most of those sponsored pilgrims are from the local government areas, none of them is Yuguda’s son or daughter. They were from the 20 local governments. Can this compare with the pilfering strategy perfected by the Government Tilde served not less than two billion naira was siphoned by using his cronies to transfer money to Saudi immediately after hajj ostensibly to secure accommodation for the state’s pilgrims against next year. Once their acolytes redeemed the transfer in Saudi the money was laundered.

STUDENTS SCHOLARSHIP

In his usual characteristic of making unsubstantiated accusations, Tilde alleged the theft of 250 million scholarship fund. For the avoidance of doubt no payment was made at all regarding this fund not to even think of perpetration of fraud. What happened was that Yuguda’s Special Assistant on Scholarship presented to him a list of students compiled by the previous administration. Typical of governor Yuguda he granted anticipatory approval subject to verification, the verification unearth inflation of number of students. The government refused to pay. Perhaps Tilde is angry for being denied a chance to grab last minute loot from the coffers of Bauchi state.

RENOVATION OF GOVERNMENT HOUSE

Does Tilde think Yuguda is of similar propensity like his boss to approve 860 million naira for the renovation of government’s guest houses? To put the facts in perspective no contract was given for renovation of Government guest house. The state government approved N83,000,000.00 (Eighty three million naira only), and not 860 million naira as claimed by Tilde for the renovation of the governor’s main lodge and his office, project office, press centre and SSG’s residence. The contract was awarded when there was no executive council in place but the request was approved by the House of Assembly as contained in the government’s supplementary budget. 

Furthermore, it is preposterous for Tilde to accuse Yuguda or his government for the alleged squander of N100 million (One hundred million naira only) by the inauguration committee. This is sheer injustice. Simple logic will tell Tilde that his former mentor’s Government gave the money to the inauguration committee because Yuguda was to be sworn-in, while then, had no access to government funds, not to talk of giving approvals. This is a classical case of intellectual dishonesty on the part of Tilde. How will Tilde justify this before Allah (SWT)? 

Another spurious accusation is that one Muntari Mangas was used as a front to clear Yuguda’s personal goods from Dubai at the cost of N14 million (Fourteen million naira only) taken from government account. Interestingly, when confronted Magas swore with the Quran that he has never been to Dubai in his life not to talk of clearing Yuguda’s luggage. Tilde would have given details of the type of goods, the aircraft or ship that brought the goods etc.

N1.5 BILLION LOAN FROM GTB

Similarly Tilde accused Bauchi state government of securing a loan of N1.5 billion (One billion, five hundred million naira only) from GTB which it squandered as soon as the money was released. How could a bank give loan to a customer who closed his account with that bank? Is Tilde really sure? I can’t understand how GTB could lend the whooping sum of N1.5 billion (One billion, five hundred million naira only) after the state government had suspended transactions with the bank. I have difficulty reconciling these two scenarios. Could Tilde help me out please?

SEVERANCE ALLOWANCE

With the same gusto ‘Mr. Clean’ accused Yuguda of blocking the severance allowance checks of former political office holders and diverting them somewhere. The truth is that, the cheques raised were stopped to allow government verify the claims before settling those allowances. Tilde has tried to cajole, pester and blackmail the state government into giving him preferential treatment and settle his severance allowance without minding his other colleagues. When the government of Isa Yuguda came on board it was faced with two financial burdens; paying pension arrears for retired civil servants and severance allowance of political aides. The government weighed the two options and opted for paying pension arrears to pensioners who required more attention, given their dire financial means. To that effect the government settled 600 million (six hundred million) naira pension arrears while working to settle political appointees later.

I find Tilde’s arithmetic quite funny. Throughout his piece he never got one figure correct. This is too bad for a man with a doctorate in horticulture; a field of science which I believe requires some bits of calculation.

RENOVATION OF HOSPITALS

As against his claim that the government of Isa Yuguda gave a contract worth N586.98 million (Five hundred and eighty six million, ninety eight thousand naira only) for the construction of new Tafawa Balewa General Hospital without provision for water, roads or medical equipment as well as two others at Zaki and Kafin Madaki at the cost of N170 million (One hundred and seventy million naira only) each, alleging fraud. Tilde, you got it wrong- deliberately or ignorantly. The Bauchi state government awarded contract for the construction of almost brand new general hospital at Tafawa Balewa and construction of a new prototype 110 bed general hospital, Kafin Madaki at the cost of N461 million (Four hundred and sixty one million naira only). Apart from the main buildings, the construction includes external works, drainages, landscape, car parks, Out-Patient Department (OPD), mortuary, theatre rooms and VIP toilets. No contract was awarded for Zaki General Hospital at the time of this write up. I therefore do not know where Tilde got his information from. Unlike the former regime’s renovation works at Misau and Ningi General Hospitals at the cost of N420 million (Four hundred and twenty million naira only) which were never executed, Yuguda’s are brand new hospitals. There is therefore no basis for comparison.

GUBI DAM GENERATORS

As soon as Malam Isa Yuguda assumed office he resolved to end the incessant water shortage holding the people of Bauchi metropolis to ransom. He decided to reinvigorate Gubi Dam, the major water source to the people of the city. He placed orders for customized generators through a contractor JME, to be designed and manufactured to specification to meet the power need of the Dam. As it would take at least three months to manufacture and ship the generators to Nigeria, the contractors had to provide temporary generators pending the arrival of the customized ones. It is these generators that Tilde referred to as 1,250 KVA supplied instead of 1,500 KVA specified. Where Tilde got these specifications, only he can say. Thank God the customized generator has arrived Nigeria’s port awaiting clearing for onward transportation to Bauchi.

Tilde claims he saw four refurbished generators being transported to their destinations through his village. I didn’t know Tilde is good enough an auto technician that can discern a refurbished generator from a new one by a mere glimpse from a truck that was just passing-by. Besides, Tilde owes himself and the people the generators are meant for a duty to go and verify if the generators are working or not instead of just offering prayer that he hopes they work.

REVENUE FROM FEDERATION ALLOCATION

As usual, Tilde tried to bowdlerize the revenues that have accrued to the state from the federation account by claiming that Yuguda administration received over 32 billion naira from the federation account between May and November 2007, six months into its inception. For the avoidance of doubt, Bauchi state government, excluding local governments, received a total of N15,984,907,133.75 (Fifteen billion, nine hundred and eighty four million, nine hundred and seven thousand, one hundred and thirty three naira, seventy five kobo only) from the federation account, against his claim. The Federal ministry of finance till date publishes monthly federation allocation to all the states of the federation in the national dailies and its website. Tilde ought to have verified from the publications. 

Now let’s put the government of Tilde’s mentor on the scale and see how it faired vis-à-vis good governance, corruption and embezzlement. Let’s beam the searchlight on some specifics to show Tilde, who was an insider in the government the hardship they wrought on the good people of Bauchi state for eight years at a stretch.

TILDE’S MENTOR’S PROJECTS

Roads construction has been the area Tilde’s mentor is most vociferous. He tells everyone that cares to listen that he spent over N22 billion naira (Twenty two billion naira) in constructing roads in the state in eight years. Apart from Bauchi metropolitan roads and the two-kilometre stretch of tarred roads in each of the 14 local government areas, where else did the government under which Tilde served spent the remaining part of the over N22 billion (Twenty two billion naira only)?

 From the records, the Phase IV B of the rehabilitation of 23.7 kilometre Bauchi township roads gulped N4.383 billion naira (Four billion, three hundred and eighty three million naira), which translates into N184.934 million naira (One hundred and eighty four million, nine hundred and thirty four thousand naira) for every one kilometre. I might not be good in arithmetic, could Tilde clear the numerical confusion in my head before it triggers dementia? Ironically, Tilde’s mentor’s 28 kilometre roads, two per each of the 14 local governments, guzzled N1.697 billion (One billion, six hundred and ninety seven million naira). Even then from Local Government Accounts. If it cost Tilde’s mentor N1.697 billion (One billion, six hundred and ninety seven million naira only) to construct new 28 kilometre road, how come he spent N4.383 billion (Four billion, three hundred and eighty three million naira only) in just rehabilitating 23.7 kilometres of road? Can Tilde reconcile this stupefying disparity?

 Let us turn to rural electrification, another area Tilde’s Mentor claimed to have performed wonders. This project cost the people of Bauchi over N15 billion naira (Fifteen billion naira), which was enough to provide a thermal power plant that can generate electricity not only for Bauchi state but can feed neighbouring Jigawa, Yobe and Bauchi states.. A recent audit report by a committee set up by the state government discovered that between 2002 and 2007 the sum of seven billion naira was sunk in providing electricity to villages in Bauchi state. What you have is nothing but uncompleted jobs; broken poles, abandoned low quality cables, missing transformers etc.

 Despite the acute water shortage beleaguering Bauchi state, the previous administration claimed to have spent well over N10 billion naira (Ten billion naira) for the provision of this most basic necessity of life to the good people of Bauchi state. Kano, which is four times the population of Bauchi, has spent only N5.4 billion (Five billion, four hundred million naira only).

 To add salt to injury, the boreholes sunk in some local governments never provided water. Worse still, no boreholes were dug in some places where the then government claimed to have provided same.

 Education, it is said, is the spice and aroma of life. Deprived any man of it, and you had rather take his life. Tilde’s mentor claims to have invested more than N16 billion naira (Sixteen billion naira) in resuscitating the educational sector of the state that was on the precipice, about to plunge into the abyss of collapse. He boasted of having turned around the educational fortunes of Bauchi. They claimed, at his inception of office in 1999 there were only four students with four credits in their WAEC examinations throughout the state but by the time he left office there were 13,000 students with six credits and above. No claim can be more fallacious.

 A tour of secondary schools in the state will certainly break the strongest heart as long as it has not lost its primordial sense of compassion and sympathy. Contrary to their claim what he bequeathed to the people of Bauchi state is nothing but completely collapsed educational system with decayed learning facilities. This is all that was there despite the fact that Tilde was special Adviser on Education and later Chairman Special Schools. As the sacred saying goes “every fruit is known by the tree that bears it”, the sorry state of the schools in Bauchi is a clear indication of the kind of students they produce. Zebra begets zebra and cheetah begets cheetah. It is a matter of spots for spots and stripes for stripes. No magic can change this law of nature.

I advise Tilde to go round schools in Bauchi state, the sector, he served as adviser and see the ongoing projects being carried out by Yuguda and not to seclude himself in Tilde and play the doubting Thomas that nothing good is happening in Bauchi state.

 Let us turn to health, the gasoline that powers the human engine. According to records left by the previous administration, the then government spent over N10 billion naira (Ten billion naira) in reinvigorating the health sector to make it more responsive to the needs of the people of Bauchi state. It bogs my imagination that such a huge amount was expended on health and yet, recently the current state government had to close down three public hospitals and transfer the in-patients to other not-so-good ones because of their dilapidated condition.

When you talk of fraud, Tilde’s mentor is a master of the game. The following example will certainly leave nobody in doubt.

When Tilde’s mentor squandered N10 billion (Ten billion naira only) an anonymous petition was written to the ICPC and its operatives visited Bauchi in March 2006. Incidentally Tilde’s mentor and his cronies got the wind of it and hurriedly drew up a supplementary appropriation bill to bury the theft by spreading the amount in question under different sub-heads, giving the deal a cover of legitimacy. The spurious supplementary law put up on March 24, 2006 was backdated to December 21. In that supplementary budget, sub-head 413/001 the sum of N1,250,000,000 (One billion, two hundred fifty million) naira was purportedly expended on official hospitality and security. This is despite the fact that only 690 million naira was budgeted for security budget in 2005. Sub-section 417/001 7 (VII) said 80 million naira was spent to insure motorcycles. Which motorcycles? May be Tilde knows. Under the same sub-head 9 (VII) N150,000,000 (one hundred and fifty million) naira was used as financial aid to other organizations. Which organizations? Nobody knows. Under sub-head 457 B (1788) 1,500,000,000 (one billion five hundred million) naira was said to have been spent on so call Urban roads. The most ridiculous of all was the purported purchase of landed property worth N130,000,000 (One hundred and thirty million) naira which turned out to be the former women development centre just close to federal low cost. Incidentally this edifice was the defunct National Republican Convention (NRC) office, one of the structures built during the military regime of Ibrahim Babangida across the country as political party offices. Perhaps Tilde knows the person his mentor bought the property from. Additionally, in sub-head 418/001 12 (VII) their government claimed to have spent N125,000,000 (One hundred and twenty five million) naira as medical expenses overseas. Can Tilde do me the favour of telling me how many people they helped in seeking medical treatment abroad? This is just a few items on the so called supplementary appropriation bill.

The ICPC staff took the bait hook, line and sinker. They were outsmarted by Tilde’s mentor. When they were offered a neatly covered copy of the purported supplementary appropriation bill they did not raise any questions thinking the document was genuine. However, a can of worms was opened soon after wards when members of the state house of assembly came to know what happened because the purported bill did not pass through the house. It later became the scandal of the year when house members turned against their speaker for collecting N250,000,000 (Two hundred and fifty million) naira from Tilde’s mentor to coerce the then clerk of the house into signing the law overnight. Tilde cannot claim ignorance of this scandal which almost ripped Bauchi apart with screaming headlines on the national dailies, except if he is suffering from amnesia.

CONCLUSION

Tilde, do you remember what Confucius, the renowned Chinese philosopher of yore, said on the habit of attacking others? “Do not complain about the snow on your neighbour’s roof top while your doorstep is dirty.”

Tilde accused Yuguda of spending eight (8) million on image laundering. Life is all about public relations. As no man is an island, to borrow the words of Jimmy Cliff. Every human, needs to reach out to fellow humans, either individually or as a corporate entity to make them understand who you really are for mutual understanding and better inter-relationships. In this modern world you need the media to achieve that especially as a government or a corporation. It is an accepted norm the world over, which is why you have PR units in virtually all organisations, be they public or corporate. The presidency, all state governors’ offices, ministries and parastatals all have PR departments with budgeted allocations to conduct their duties. What is Yuguda’s crime if he used eight million (if Tilde’s claim is to go by) on public relations in six months against the over one billion naira the previous government spent in eight years. In fact, the audit investigation committee set up by the state government found that a certain media consultant to Tilde’s mentor was paid well over N500 million (Five hundred million naira only) through the local government department. This is apart from other media consultants he engaged to launder his image during his failed presidential ambition. If Yuguda were to spend eight million every six months he would spend N64 million (Sixty four Million naira only) in eight years against Tilde’s mentor’s over one billion naira. Is there basis for comparison Dr. Tilde? Indeed it is business unusual under Yuguda and I can now understand your desperation.

Tilde’s vituperations against Yuguda’s media team belie the real intent of his virulent attack on the governor. The phrase ‘mine is the real voice; theirs is echo’ he used at the tail end of his ranting gave himself away as telling Yuguda he is the right man for the PR job and is open to offer. It is unfortunate that you have chosen the wrong approach. Remember, Tilde, now it is business unusual in Bauchi.

END

THIS MESSAGE SHOULD BE REPLIED TO

KABIRU NATA-ALA

SPECIAL ADVISOR TO THE GOVERNOR ON RESEARCH

Email: mohkabir@yahoo.com