NASARAWA: Inside the Gov Sule good governance template
…How he endears himself to Tinubu, the people
By Soni Daniel, Northern Region Editor
Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State is a man who has already written his name on gold, but he may not know. He has also created impact by what he has done in the state.
Nobody saw it coming but his accomplishments are obvious. Through the monument he is building, Sule, has stamped his footprint on history and rewritten the story of Nasarawa and himself. The construction of two gigantic flyover bridges that stretch from Karu-Mararaba along the busy Abuja-Keffi Road is a step that no governor of Nasarawa State has ever taken since the state was created on October 1, 1996. The absence of a flyover bridge along that trading post, left many motorists in endless chaos and frustration for many decades until Governor Sule decided to step in and end the sorrow.
But Governor Sule has taken concrete action to put an end to the traffic snarl that had become the lot on that spot. He has by so doing, disrupted the avoidable disorder. But he did not do it immediately he came on board. He took his time to study the best way to design and dislodge the inconvenience that has affected travelers on the road even before the state was created 30 years ago.
Even before the work is completed, many road users have begun chanting songs of praise for the governor and the federal government for their decision to fix a problem that appeared insurmountable before Gov Sule came on board.
The flyover bridge, which spans about 2.6 kilometres and is costing the state about N44 billion, is a primed to remove the gridlock on the road and significantly cut travel time between Abuja and Lafia, the Nasarawa State capital. The flyover also boasts of five pedestrian bridges designed to address persistent traffic congestion and safety challenges along the busy Abuja-Keffi corridor.
As expected, the construction of the bridge is causing motorists serious delay on both ends but the road users are happy with the work that is being done by the state on the federal highway to remove their burden once and for all. They seem to understand the joy that the bridge will bring when it is completed shortly. When the road is done, no motorist will have any need to interface with the roadside users in Mararaba but will continuously drive through to their preferred destinations with ease. Governor Abdullahi Sule has by the construction of the bridge, broken the jinx that had been holding the people of Nigeria back for decades without ringing a bell in the process.
The Managing Director of the Nasarawa State Urban Development Agency, Mohammed Wada, explained that Governor Sule conceived the Mararaba Flyover as a permanent solution to the congestion and safety problems in the area after many failed attempts to proffer a lasting solution to the mayhem in the place.
The MD spoke when the state hosted members of the Presidential Media Team/Renewed Hope Ambassadors in Lafia, who were led by the Special Adviser on Media and Strategy to the President, Chief Bayo Onanuga, to inspect federal and state projects in Nasarawa.
Wada said the Mararaba project was conceived as a permanent solution to the congestion and safety problems in the area, after previous attempts to address the challenges failed to provide a lasting solution.
Wada said: “What is in Mararaba is a final solution to an attempt that divides so many approaches. We attempted to solve the problem in Mararaba severally, but at the end of the day, the governor came up with the final solution, and that is to provide a continuous flyover of 2.6 kilometre long that will fly over the challenging area without tampering with the business activities of the location”.
Governor Sule is also showcasing another key state project on the federal highway with the building of a crucial flyover in Keffi, a major infrastructure intended to address fatal crashes and traffic challenges on the Abuja-Keffi highway.
It is said that there had been uncountable deadly accidents on that spot which warranted the attention of the governor to arrest the ugly trend. In one of the most troubling accidents in recent times on that spot no fewer than 25 persons are reported to have died when a car crashed around there.
Ibrahim Addra, Chief Press Secretary to the Nasarawa State Governor, described the Keffi flyover as one of Governor Abdullahi Sule’s legacy projects necessitated by the frequency of fatal accidents along the section of the federal highway.
“This is one of the legacy projects of Eng. Abdullahi Sule. “As you can see, it is an overhead bridge that has been constructed on a federal highway,” Addra said.
“It is our sincere hope and belief that when this is completed, it will ease all of these crashes in this place. It will open up Keffi for business and it will enhance, of course, the beauty,” Addra said.
The MD of the Nasarawa Urban Development Board, Mr. Mohammed Wada said: “This is Keffi and this is Total Flyover. It is a necessary flyover because since the dualisation of Abuja and Keffi road, this place has consumed many lives and destroyed a lot of properties because of the alignment of the location,” he said.
“The most recent was the consumption of 25 lives at once. And the governor said, as an engineer who has a lot of experience there must be an end to this challenge,” the MD recalled.
Beyond this, the Nasarawa State government has taken on additional scope of work to ease the movement of people and goods on another federal highway: the Keffi-Akwanga-Lafia-Makurdi Highway. The state keyed into the road by adding a bypass so as to improve transportation and reduce traffic problems in the state for motorists and commuters.
The governor took advantage of the award of the contract in 2021 by the federal government for the expansion and dualization of Keffi-Akwanga-Lafia-Makurdi road and added a bypass, which now stands as a testament to his vision and resourcefulness. The governor’s ingenuity has effectively removed the burden of road users and connected two critical federal highways with a strategic underpass through Akwanga town and this has added extra safety and comfort for travelers through the highway.
Alhaji Shehu Alagbe, owner of Total Filling Station by Keffi Flyover, who had operated the station at the spot for over 40 years, praised the Nasarawa and the federal government for taking a concrete step to provide the flyover bridge to remove the incessant deadly accidents that had been occurring there.
Alhaji Alagbe said, “I’ve been here for over 40 years. The filling station started on where the flyover is. Initially, we had a single road. There have been numerous accidents that have claimed many lives in the past. But with God’s grace, and the effort of federal and state governments, this flyover is coming. I will pray and hope that the accident will go away”.
Yet, on another federal road, the government has built the Nasarawa State ultra-modern secretariat that now accommodates all the ministries and parastatals. The Secretary to the Nasarawa State Government, Shuaibu Labaran, boasted that the new secretariat is powered by a one-megawatt solar-power station that provides steady energy for the transaction of government activities with delight and security. Labaran said the state government was contemplating extending the power to nearby communities given the success it had recorded since its completion.
Labran said that with the solar-powered facility, Nasarawa State had broken the jinx that afflicts states due to poor and unreliable power supply and would continue to explore other solutions for effective work delivery.
Just beyond that project is the Shendam Road, which was once in a deplorable shape but has now been dualized and reconstructed by the Governor Sule administration to provide unhindered access for the users. The state is deliberately putting together a road network there to ease the movement of workers and others.
Yet, on another federal highway, the governor has built the prestigious Wing Commander Abdullahi Wing Commander Abdullah Ibrahim Vocational and Technical Institute, which officials described as being closest to his heart because of the prospects it portends for the state and its people.
Sule established the institute with the sole aim of training skilled technicians to be able to run Nigeria’s key projects without resorting to foreign countries as was the case when Dangote needed certified technicians for its refinery but could not get within Nigeria and had to source them from India. That experience does not sit well with Governor Sule, who was working with the Dangote Group at the time.
Dr. Daniel Ewuga Asele, the executive Director of the Wing Commander Abdullah Ibrahim Professional Technology Institute, Lafia, boasted that the institute had so far trained no fewer than 10,000 certified artisans out of which 40 percent are from other parts of Nigeria. The institute is happy that its products are now making progress in at least 40 skills areas nationwide and they are happy with what they have been able to accomplish all because of the establishment of the agency by Governor Sule.
Sule is also spreading his tentacles into the medical arena with the establishment of the Dalhatu Araf Specialist Hospital in Akwanga still on another federal highway. Although that hospital in Akwanga replaces the one that the federal government took over for the establishment of the Federal University Teaching Hospital in Lafia, the state is putting it up as a masterpiece for others to emulate. It is primed to provide the best in medicare and be able to ultimately attract foreign medical tourists to the state.
The Chief Medical Director of the Dalhatu Araf Specialist Hospital, Dr. Esla Abene, explained that the state had already sunk in money for the acquisition of vital equipment that would make the hospital to stand out as a model in health care delivery in the Northcentral in particular and Nigeria as a whole.
The Nasarawa Governor is not relaxing. It is working with foreign investors who have also established two factories for the processing of lithium, which is in abundance in the state and waxing stronger in the development of rice and other minerals that are commonly found in the state.
Thus, combining its quest for more industries, infrastructure and opportunities for its people with the effort which the federal government is deliberately putting in Nasarawa to ease its burden, it has become easier for the agrarian state to make steady, measurable and effective progress than its contemporaries that are at variance with the federal government. It is interesting how the Nasarawa State Governor has teamed up with the federal government to undertake the construction of major road infrastructure that would not have been possible without an understanding between the federal and state governments. This synergy has consequently enhanced the chances of President Bola Tinubu and Governor Abdullahi Suly to win the 2027 elections. By spreading his projects to many hitherto unreached communities, Governor Sule has effortlessly endeared himself and President Tinubu to the people, who appear excited and ready to reward them with their votes in the 2027 polls.
The governor himself is happy with the support the Tinubu administration has extended to him to be able to deliver the dividends of democracy to the people and the state with ease.
Governor Sule said he actively supported the president to withdraw fuel subsidy, which has now made more money available to states, including Nasarawa to undertake critical projects for the overall benefits of the people.
According to the governor, Nasarawa State now receives between N14 and N16 billion monthly since the removal of fuel subsidy and has been able to undertake many people-oriented projects without taking any loan from the bank.
The Special Adviser on Media and Strategy to the President, Chief Bayo Onanuga, said there was no doubt that the president got it right when he removed fuel subsidy and paid more money to state government to serve Nigerians better.
Onanuga said state governors were now happy with the fuel subsidy removal by Mr. President, and that the decision had brought about more projects and programmes across Nigeria and asked Nigerians to continue to trust and support President Tinubu.
Tunde Rahman, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Special Duties, said the projects inspected in Nasarawa were evidence of the gains of the administration’s economic reforms.
Rahman, who is also Director of Media and Publicity of the Renewed Hope Ambassadors, said, “When those reforms were initiated, people were complaining about initial difficulty, but those difficulties have given way to the benefits that we are seeing today”.
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