Re: Gov Kefas spent 2.6 billion on office furniture and zero on health, Hospitals
Haba, Sahara reporters.
That platform characteristically recently swooped on Governor Agbu Kefas of Taraba state in a scathing report. Not caring about journalistic ethics as usual, the now notorious medium flashed a headline tailored to cause disaffection and anger against the people’s governor.
Judging by the headline alone, you could leave with the impression that this captures the achievements of Dr Agbu Kefas in the last months. But, as they say, the devil is in the details, and this rushed up, cooked up report did not have the time for accuracy or even the decency to fact check as usual.
As you read the report, you fail to get the answers that you seek: which office was furnished with such an amount? How much does the dear state get each month? How is the governor able to pay for free education? How have we kept our obligations to servicing loans and debts of the past? What financial sagacity has helped us through the national economic downturn imposed by a pernicious inflation? How did the governor approve the payments of gratuities and pensions never serviced in the last 13 years? How indeed has the governor ensured the once dangerous state is now safe for residents and investors alike?
Talk is cheap. But then, the hard work of reporting is in digging deeper and examining all the variables. A news item must be anchored on the backstory and the entirety of the issue. But taking small aspects of the tale and retelling it for sensationalism is cheap. And unprofessional.
Therefore, if we are really interested in examining the last one year and months, we must remember that Governor Kefas has against all odds
1. Introduced free and compulsory education in both primary and secondary schools. He has also slashed tertiary tuition fees by half.
2. Paid backlog of pensions and gratuities that have been neglected for years.
3. Remodeled the dilapidated government house to meet modern standards. Also remodeled are the House of Assembly; the Palliatives Market, etc
4. Revived the rebuilding and equipping of Takum, Ussa General Hospitals. Under his watch, the General Hospital Wukari is now a full-fledged Federal Teaching Hospital.
5. Got delivery of hundreds of tractors from the Czech Republic for revolutionized agriculture.
All of these in a short while. A new budget is afoot right now, and it already shows signs of more transformations in the coming months ahead.
Emmanuel Bello
Special Adviser Media and Digital Communications
