Gombe State

By Adamu Umar Kumo

Gombe Geographic Information Systems (GOGIS) is an agency under Gombe State Ministry of Lands and Survey saddled with the responsibility of modernizing land administration in Gombe State in accordance with international urban planning standards and practices to pave the way for infrastructural development in Gombe State.

To ensure a solid foundation has been laid for successful takeoff and smooth running of the agency, His Excellency, Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya appointed a competent personality and Contemporary Town Planner with more than a decade of experience in the profession, Dr Kabiru Usman Hassan to pilot the affairs of the Agency.

GOGIS, under the leadership of Dr Kabiru Usman Hassan, has modernised the process of issuing land titles and other related documents using state-of-the-art facilities. The transition and integration of land information into a unified geographic database has given the agency easy access to information about any piece of land or landed property with a click of a finger. This has drastically reduced duplication and other forms of malpractices and corruption in land administration.

With the approval of adequate funds for aerial mapping that will cover the whole Gombe State (both inhabited and uninhabited areas) using high resolution remote sensing facilities, GOGIS will soon be partaking in the exploration of resources in the state. This will go a long way in wooing investors to Gombe state and eventually boost our economy.

As GOGIS continue to undertake “Operation Show Your Land Title Documents”, the operation aimed at sensitizing people on their duty as law-abiding citizens to pay their ground rent and other related taxes, the agency has succeeded in many fronts by mobilizing industries, banks, fuel stations and other commercial institutions to pay their dues. To lead by example, most at times this kind of operation is done by a team of professionals under the leadership of the DG himself. This singular task has helped Gombe State Government in broadening its revenue base to cope with the current economic realities.

The establishment of the Gombe State Special Development Zone has been one of the focal projects of Governor Inuwa Yahaya’s administration aimed at providing a well-planned layout with adequate social amenities for the establishment of institutions to consolidate investments in the state. GOGIS has been at the forefront in carrying out this task. From mapping, census of the existing structures to sensitization, the agency has been playing a pivotal role in making the project a reality.

Settling disputes is another aspect where GOGIS deserves recommendation. GOGIS corporate office receives numerous complaints on a daily basis regarding distortions of layouts and indiscriminate erection of structures. With prompt intervention from GOGIS, many community clashes and individual disputes have been averted.

With GOGIS under this workaholic Director-General, Dr Kabiru Usman Hassan, Gombe State is in sha Allah set to be the most convenient state to live in the country.

Adamu Umar Kumo writes from Gombe State.

By Muhammad Rabiu Jibrin (Mr. J)

Before his election victory in 2019, Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya and his team garnered at hand the nitty-gritty of the development needs and priorities of the masses across the state. This necessitated the conduction of a needs assessment study to evaluate the availability, functionality of basic infrastructure and services across the 114 wards of the state. The assessment outcome made the state government consider health, education, security, agriculture, and rural development as its core priority sectors. However, despite its strides that yielded remarkable developmental projects, some stones remain unturned at Komi village of Funakaye North constituency of Gombe State. Hence, the community people cry for the government’s intervention. 

The  Komi maternity health care has been in a state of despair. This will lead to an increase in the maternal mortality rate if it has not been addressed. The refurbishment of the maternity will surely ease the health-related hardship that stroke the community. Moreover, it will help towards the actualisation of goal three (3) of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that aspires to “ensure health and well-being for all”, seeing to the possibility of bringing to end tuberculosis, epidemics of AIDS, malaria and other infectious diseases etcetera by 2030.

Education remains the pillar upon which every roof of socioeconomic mobility of any nation rests. It is an exit from abject poverty. Any country that wants to prosper in it, it must invest. This includes the provision of a suitable atmosphere for learning, qualified teachers and infrastructural materials. 

With the current situation of the “Komi Primary School”, the “Quality Education” as the goal four (4) of the SDGs is not attainable. Learning is no longer possible. The zincs are no longer there, and the floor turned to carpet grass. As such, the government’s failure to rehabilitate the dilapidated building could be seen as a denial of education to the pupils, which is a form of “social Injustice” as Ibrahim Sulaiman once said: “A nation is unjust and tyrannical if it closes the door of academic and moral development to some children because their parents are poor and of no consequence. Denial of education to a child is perhaps the gravest and far-reaching of social injustices.”

The well water and earth dam were the only two sources that the Komi community rely on for survival. They only taste the taste of pure water (if it is) during the rainy season. Over decades, lack of drinking water has been a significant catastrophe bedevilling the area. As law-abiding subsistent farmers, they virtually sell off their farm produce during the dry season to buy water. A 25-litre jerrican costs them N70 to N100.

People from afar migrated to the area due to its fertile land for farming, but lack of drinking water forced them to leave. The wells dry up annually in early February, and they all shift to the earth dams for a month and some weeks before it goes off. The earth dams no longer hold water due to colluvium. In trying to solve their problems, they put all hands on deck and dug an earth dam using hoes, shelves, diggers, among others, at few steps out of the southern part of the village.

This has been the life circle of the Komi community. The pathetic thing is that they no longer look for boreholes and so on to see how neglected they have been. Instead, they clamour only for the government to desilt their earth dams to use them before the rainy season.  When should these people be rescued? When would their earth dams hold water throughout the dry season?

 Muhammad Rabiu Jibrin (Mr J) writes from Gombe. He can be reached via muhammadrabiujibrin@gmail.com.

By Tajuddeen Ahmad Tijjani

Let me give due credit to a deserving personality. In contemporary Africa, it’s rare to find a man like Dr Jamilu Gwamna, who works behind the curtain to upgrade the living condition of other people. 

Jamilu Gwamna is a household name in Gombe State for obvious reasons. However, personalities are remembered for two reasons, either good or bad. For this particular person, the former is the case, not just for anything, but his vision and sacrifices on his people.

One of the gratifying achievements one can ever be proud of is investing in the life of others, knowing fully well that a bright future awaits his community and his state. You bring honour and dignity to them. Indeed, you’re an invaluable asset to the people by investing your wealth in the youths, who are the nation’s backbone.

Someone that uses his wealth to develop the minds and inculcate the spirit of youths deserves to be praised and encouraged by all and sundry. This extraordinary gentleman uses everything at his disposal to develop, direct and move Nigerian youth forward. Jamilu’s fashion for educating youth irrespective of their religion and tribe was borne out of the idea to prepare experienced young minds, retrain them, and upscale their skills to become the desired human capital for the greater good of their country.

Jamilu Gwamna is a kind-hearted, altruist and chummy gentleman that everyone wants to associate with. His gesture cannot be easily forgotten, especially in the eyes and minds of the less privileged. Indeed, he has given hope where it’s needed most. He belongs to the minority class who believes this temporary world isn’t where to lay your hands and stay, a believer of the rewards of the hereafter and leaving a legacy that benefits yet unborn generation.

This amiable patriotic Nigerian has paid his dues as a true son of Gombe soil; he deserves a standing ovation by his philanthropist work. Every human being is at liberty to spend his wealth on himself and immediate relatives, but, Jamilu chooses to give free scholarships to children in every nooks and crannies of his state, and the most beautiful aspect of it is that he doesn’t discriminate, both Muslim and Christian are beneficiaries of his gesture. The majority of sons and daughters of Gombe State are happy and delighted with his tireless effort. Contributing his quoter to the development of the people.

He shows his compassion towards uplifting the people to attend their full potentials; if not for a kind hearted gentleman who has the wherewithal to send young folks abroad, with his own money to study in different fields? He belongs to a school of thought that believes the best you can do to the youth is invest positively in their lives to stand on their feats.

I was highly impressed by his careful selection and intelligence in handling people, a sound understanding of ideas and facts. But, it’s only a tenacious, dogged somebody who has the ability of positive thinking for future generations, with the expectation of nothing in return.

Sir! You gave shoulder to cry for those that needed it. Not only that, being in contact with those people while making sure they lack nothing that would stabilise their psyche is the highest form of generosity. 

History will certainly be kind to you, as you endeared yourself to the people and won their respect. Indeed, you will be remembered for many years as someone who builds the future for yet unborn generation and one of the most honourable philanthropists who has made a difference in standing up for positive virtues.

Never in the history of Gombe had anyone done the kind of work that this extraordinary gentleman is doing. Therefore, may God, who knows the wishes and aspirations of his servants, fulfil all your heart desires, both in this world and hereafter, amin.

Tajuddeen Ahmad Tijjani writes from Galadima Mahmoud Street, Kasuwar Kaji, Azare, Bauchi State. He can be reached via sen.taju@gmail.com.