Adamawa State has of recent been in the news for the very wrong reasons: serial failed governance. During the immediate past dispensation, then governor, Murtala Nyako, a retired Navy General ruled with an iron fist, like a dictatorial regime, even as nepotism became the in-thing. The regime recorded series of ridiculous appointments he offered unilaterally to his immediate family members.

Murtala Nyako appointed four of his wives to take charge of different governmental mandates, just as each of them was assigned particular area of jurisdiction. One of his wives (a judge of the Federal High Court) took charge of the Federal Capital Territory. Towards the twilight of his second four year tenure, he was impeached by the Adamawa State House of Assembly. And fearing that he may be picked up by former President Goodluck Jonathan for treason, given his allegation that the president was instrumental to the spate of killings by the terrorists, he fled to God-knows where, but resurfaced after the exit of the administration. He reportedly presented himself to the anti graft agency where series of petitions alleging large scale thefts of Adamawa State's money were piled up, but was set free after few hours of interrogation. In the interim, both the former House Speaker and Nyako’s deputy, who took turns to preside over the state as acting governors following judicial pronouncements, were serially accused of large scale heist of government money.

On March 28, 2015, the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) defeated the state under the watch of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP); whereby a formidable candidate, in the person of Malam Nuhu Ribadu featured as the standard-bearer. And the man who achieved this monumental political feat is no other person than a serving senator, Mohammed Jibrila Bindow, who was born on April 15, 1956 in Mubi, Adamawa State. Mubi is a widely-known commercial town which is rated the commercial nerve- centre of Adamawa. Bindow was educated both locally and in the United Kingdom. He bagged series of professional and academic qualifications and veered off into business, to practice what he read within the four walls of the university. He is widely travelled and, as a lover of his people, he has been bestowed with a prestigious title of Sardauna Mubi. Sardauna is a revered traditional title which even the most notable northerner to ever live, Sir Ahmadu Bello, held in his Sokoto caliphate during the present and immediate post-Nigerian independence.

Bindow was sworn in on May 29, 2015 and he has indeed hit the ground running, with a revolutionary decision not to receive half of his legal salaries while he served his people. To him, election as the state governor is not an opportunity for personal or self-aggrandisement, but rather a period of soul-searching and extensive sacrifices for the uplifting of his people. To him, politics is nothing but the activities tailored towards lifting his people to their better selves. He was reported as saying that his time as the governor of Adamawa State would be phenomenal and that he would use the period to ensure that the citizens of the state participate actively in governance of the state, in compliance with the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. He believes that full participation of the ordinary people will lift the state to the status of a well-developed and advanced democracy. The governor needs all the supports he can get to rebuild and reconstruct the fatally destroyed infrastructures of the state and introduce reconciliation agenda to bring about peace and progress in a community devastated by the devilish activities of terrorists of the armed Islamist Boko Haram.

Members of the organised human rights community expect him to also prioritise respect for the fundamental human rights of his citizens, as the most strategic component of his agenda in government. He must elevate the education of his people, especially the women and children and also get the health infrastructures to optimal functions, so the living conditions of the people could be improved radically. These can best be achieved only in an atmosphere whereby corruption is fought to a standstill, and the administration put in place checks and balances to stop the massive stealing of the people’s funds. Alhaji Ali Bukar, an Abuja-based business executive, told this writer that he believes in the integrity of Governor Bindow to deliver democracy gains to his people.

The Adamawa State Assembly must also live up the bidding expected of them by the people who elected them. Let the governor emphasise the issue of vocational and skill training for the thousands of youths, so as to keep them away from being recruited into terrorism.

•RIGHTSVIEW appears on Wednesdays and Saturdays, in addition to special appearances. The Columnist, popular activist Emmanuel Onwubiko, is a former Federal Commissioner of Nigeria’s National Human Rights Commission and presently National Coordinator of Human Rights Writers’ Association of Nigeria (HURIWA).

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