…Engage more youths in governance

By Marie-Therese Nanlong

As the Plateau State Governor-elect, Barr. Caleb Mutfwang gets set to assume office on May, 29th, 2023, he has been urged to stay focused and not be carried away by any kind of praise-singing and sycophancy which would derail his vision for the people.

Mr. Chris Iyama, the Convener, Citizens Observers Hub in an open letter to the Governor-elect tagged:
“Now that you have won,” called on him to source for the best brains into the right offices to facilitate the delivery of the expectations of the Plateau people.

His words, “I wish to congratulate you on your victory. Your victory is a reflection of the trust and confidence the people of Plateau State have in you. Now that the elections are over and you will be sworn in, it is pertinent to bring to your attention certain important issues. We all rejoice with the photos and news of persons pouring into your residence to congratulate you on your victory.

“However, you must be mindful of the fact that most of those visiting at this point may just be praise singers and sycophants who harbour future requests and favours. We urge you to be blind to praise singers, and deaf to sycophants while sourcing the best brains into the right offices in your cabinet to facilitate the delivery of the expectations of the Plateau people… We implore you to hit the ground running without delay to save time and sustain the goodwill of the electorate.

“This proposition is drawn from the failures of previous administrations arising from delays in the constitution of a cabinet and other key executive and administrative positions and thus, wasted time on internal politicking on who gets what, where the person came from, and the office to be occupied.
Resultantly, it took months before the administration took off fully while the electorate waited in near-dwindling hopes.”

Iyama added, “Time is of the essence, hence you must begin implementing your blueprints for Plateau State from the first day you assume office to ensure that Plateau people do not experience the pains and frustrations the outgoing administration brought on the State for eight years. It is important to look at those critical projects like the National Library – Abattoir Connecting Bridge and road networks which the outgoing administration refused to complete throughout the eight years in office.

“This project, when completed, will ease traffic and make navigation easy for Plateau people within Jos Metropolis. We wish to also bring to your attention the dilapidated state of the most used in-road into Plateau State, the Kuru-Riyom road linking Plateau State to Kaduna State. We kindly request that you use your influence to enable the repair and/or dualization of the road while considering other funding options and raw materials in road construction.

“As contained in your Policy Thrust, there is a need to immediately revamp the state security outfit, the ‘Operation Rainbow’ to quickly dominate trouble spots, flash points, and security risk areas in our rural communities. This is important to ensure that lives and property are protected proactively and not reactionary responses after the damage has been done. There is a ready army of young people who can be integrated to protect lives and property.

“There is an urgent need for massive employment into the Civil Service upon your assumption into office. The youth who came out to defend your mandate is mostly unemployed, hence the need to engage them in fruitful ventures for the overall security and economic prosperity of Plateau State… May I bring to your attention the need to re-visit the Greater Jos Master Plan to open up other areas of Jos through massive road infrastructure to bring more development and urbanization…”