We have said it time and time again that one of the problem of this government of Bello Matawalle is that it has employed many incompetent people and assigned them a delegated responsibility.
When the former Commissioner for Science in Zamfara Ahmad Abubakar Maradun was making reference to these assertions in his various programmes “there is incompetency in the political administration of Bello Matawalle” people like us thought he was saying this for political reasons.
Today we have begun to come in tandem with the reality that this assertion is becoming visibly true especially with the attitude of some political actors within the government.
This morning a friend of mind forwarded me a rejoinder written by one Ashiru Muhammad Mafara a public relations officer of the ministry of Housing and Urban Development referring to our editorial on the “Ongoing reconstruction of Gusau Lalan-Lalan” as malicious publication.
For us, the rejoinder is not only laughable but too disgracing that “someone will be replying something that was not addressed to him”.
Our editorial is directed to the Federal Controller of Works in Zamfara and his inability to enforce compliance with the provision of the Federal government gazette as it relates to ” right of way” and reservation of the approved (45.72) meter from the center line as personal property of the Federal government.
And there is nowhere in our editorial we have referred to the ongoing work as something that is not needed by the state in facts if the writer is alive to what is going on in the state he should know in our various programmes we had been making clarion calls for the government to fix Gusau the state capital.
We can even refer the writer to our interview with Dauda Lawal and the response it has generated from the Governor himself the video is on YouTube he can watch it again.
We think the claim that the state Ministry of Housing and Town Planning has written to the federal controller of work is a figment of imagination because the writer should have developed the courage to provide to the public the record of the acknowledged copy of that letter so that we can hold the controller of Works liable for failing to do the right thing.
Now back to the crises of “incompetency” as initially raised. We are sure the ongoing construction started without the approval of the federal ministry of Works and this is why the whole condition of the job has been turned upside-down. The writer of the rejoinder said:
The ministry went ahead to wrote to the Honorable minister of works on 3rd December 2021 requesting for take over of the road by the state government in leu of which the Federal Government is requested to compensate the state by construction a new bypass to be a new Trunk A Federal road. The request is currently being processing by FMW”
If this statement is true,, how do you start a job that is not approved for you? Is this not a demonstration of political incompetency as always claimed by Ahmad Maradun?
The writer of the rejoinder went further to state that:
“It is important to note that on taking over the project by the instruction of His Excellency the Executive Governor the ministry immediately swung into action by first, informing the federal controller of works and inviting him for a joint meeting with the contractor and our Engineers including Representatives from BPP, to discuss on the design on 2nd December 2021.the controller was invited for another meeting on the 4th December 2021, which he both declined to attend”.
“Instruction of His Excellency the Governor not the Minister of Works, then why do you write to the Minister of Works again? When His Excellency the Governor has the power to instruct you to take over a federal road?? (Contradiction)
We ask this critical question, why shall the federal controller came for the meeting when the ministry of Housing and Town Planning has taken the lead of taking over what does not belong to it and without waiting for the official approval of his Minister? Is he incompetent?
If he has made the mistake of attending the meeting we would have recommended with stronger term that Fashola the Minister of Works shall remove him because he is also an “incompetent person”.
It also sounds disrespectful for the state Ministry of Housing and Urban development to be inviting federal controller of Works in December when that project had started since October meaning he is coming to join a meeting of “incompetent people”.
We salute the courage of the federal controller of Works for demonstrating his vast experience and for not attending the meeting by simply placing a “stop work notice”.
The writer also said in his rejoinder to Thunder Blowers that:
“The ministry had severally reached out to the federal controller of works and had expected that such communication link be sustained to create synergy and avoid problems that might be arisen. To our utmost dismay, the Federal controller acted unilaterally without informing the ministry”.
How would a federal ministry of Works sustains communication link with a ministry that does not understand that government work are done based on executive approval? Imagine what the writer is saying?
The writer of the rejoinder also said:
“The Honourable commissioner not satisfied with the initial design upon which the rehabilitation work started had stopped the work on 2nd December 2021 when he led the ministry on-site inspection and ordered the contractor to redesign the work based on federal ministry of works standard on construction federal highways”.
Where is the evidence of “stop work notice” placed by the state Ministry of Housing and Town Planning just like the way the federal ministry of Works has done? Up to this morning there is no such sign of “stop work” placed at any location of that road by the state ministry of Housing and Town Planning.
And another question to ask, are you saying you are not satisfied with the designs of the road you have done because you claimed that in the paragraph above. You are stopping yourself as ministry from what you have agreed to do initially? Does it not sound contradictory?
It’s your project, you do the design and you are asking yourself to stop doing what you are doing???
The writer also said:
“It is thus, very mischievous and unprofessional on the side of Thunder Blowers to posit that the work is being done without the consent of Federal ministry of works and to make such conclusion without consulting the client ministry for a balance report which is a major requirement for objective journalism”.
The assertion by Thunder Blowers that the ongoing construction of Lalan-Lalan road is without the approval of the federal ministry of Works is confirmed to be true because the federal ministry of Works has instructed that the work be stopped meaning it has not approved it and if it is not true, please go and continue with the work.
Using the word malicious to describe our editorial we believe it is an illiteracy of the highest order. Our reason for such description is simple “are the pictures attached to our editorial is not true reflection of the condition of that road”?
We want to remind the state ministry of Housing and Town Planning that, there is an existing Federal Executive Council Resolution which banned states from developing federal highways without the express approval of the federal government.
We advised the decision makers of the state ministry of Housing and Town Planning to respect the rule of law and apply for approval so that professional engineers from the federal ministry of Works can come on board to assist you in doing the right things in the overall interest of the people of the state.
And please if a certain request is not addressed to you don’t bother yourself trying to defend what is not address to you, it would just expose your incompetency.
Again we are very optimistic the federal controller of Works has heard your allegations right and clear, and he is expected
