By Ugonna Anejionu:
President Ahmed Bola Tinubu had promised ,during his campaign for President that he will hit the ground running, in matter of weeks , if voted into office . So far , he has kept to his promise . To date ,he has made critical appointments, positioning his men to the offices of SGF, COS, Special Assistants and Special Advisers .
In all he chose men and women endowed with capacity to deliver , not just dividends of democracy in his first tenure but also in helping the APC consolidate gains of the 2023 election and in retaining power in 2027.
Expectations are high that Tinubu’ s next move is to announce nominees for position of Ministers who will be picked from every state of the federation . The nominations are expected to be made in the next one or two weeks .
Political watchers have , while waiting for the new nominees to be made public ,emphasised the need to pay special attention to states where APC was shocked to have been announced as losers of the march 2023 governorship election . The choice of credible personalities who were questionably announced as losers , as minister designates for the states they lost ,will be a good compensation strategy for the ministers to take early advantage to position themselves ahead of 2027.
The proposed scenario fits Emmanuel Bacha in Taraba state . There are others like him in states like Adamawa for instance. From investigations, Taraba people are eagerly waiting for him to be announced and it will honestly be one sure way to appease the state chapter of the APC.
As at the moment, A vast majority of Tarabians still wish Emmanuel Bwacha was declared the governor of the state after the last governorship election in the state. Many believe Bwacha won that election but was rigged out by powerful powers that have held and controlled the state since it’s creation. They wish for nothing more than an opportunity for the man to be in a stronger and more strategic position of power and authority to enable him replicate his wonders when he was at the senate. That is the main reason why Tarabians supported his governorship ambition in the first instance.
Emmanuel Bwacha, a seasoned lawyer and experienced politician has not only projected the All Progressives Congress, APC in Taraba but has also engraved the party on the minds of all Tarabians thereby positioning the party at a very vintage position in the state. This was proved during the last elections in the state where he gave the People’s Democratic Party, PDP a stiff battle during the election to the extent of nearly winning the Governorship. Never had the APC or any other party come that close to winning the governorship in Taraba. Taraba from inception is core PDP which draws it’s strength from the overlapping influence and personality of Rtd Gen T.Y Danjuma. Despite this, Emmanuel Bwacha, a first time Governorship contender collapsed the PDP in so many local government areas of the state for APC. As a matter of fact, that was first time the APC did that well in the state. Worthy of mention is the fact that Bwacha was even a late entrant into the APC having come from the PDP that was reluctant to give him the governorship ticket because of his posture and dirty proof pedigree. They didn’t want a man with integrity neither did they want a man that will say no to the old norm or business as usual. They rather preferred a manipulatable candidate that will be perpetually tied to their apron strings. Ofcourse, Bwacha is not carved out for that so he was denied the ticket thereby forcing him out of the PDP and into the waiting arms of the APC shortly before the primary elections.
For fear of his emergence at the long run, it was alleged and rumoured that the PDP instigated and financed a lot of court cases against him after he emerged the APC governorship flag bearer in the state. To them, he must be stopped before the elections. These cases dragged up to the supreme court that ruled in his favour barely a month to the main election. Despite these, he displayed strength, doggedness, bravery, brilliance, mastery of the game and capacity. His performance at the election despite the influence of the powers that be in the state confirmed the fears and anxiety of power brokers in the state who fought with everything they had to stop him. His name alone sends jitters down the spine of political jobbers in the state. This is a known fact and that is why majority of Tarabians see him as a modern messiah and the face of APC in Taraba state. He is infact the APC point man in Taraba.
Emmanuel Bwacha has done so well for his people in all the offices he had occupied especially the senate where he still remains the longest serving senator in Taraba state having served in the senate for three consecutive terms and holding very strategic offices while in the senate. He was the senate deputy minority leader and later the senate committee chairman on procurement. While in this offices, he overlapped in sharing the dividends of democracy in all the flanks of Taraba. His presence was felt all over the state. First, he has sustained an annual 15 million Naira scholarship to Taraba undergraduates for eleven years now and has also given over a thousand plum federal jobs to his constituents and other Taraba indegenes. There is hardly no community in the state that did not benefit from this largesse. These jobs were in the federal civil service, immigration, customs, armed forces, the national assembly etc while others were empowered by way of contracts. Bwacha constructed a 45 kilometer stretch of road linking Donga and Mararraba and another one kilometer road linking Takum and Usaa.
Including10 roads in Mararaba town. These roads are ashpalt coated. He built a modern laboratory in the federal university, Wukari and renovated the Nigerian television authority, NTA station in Takum local government area. He sank over 15 solar powered boreholes across his senatorial district, constructed town halls in Wukari, Raffingada, Suntai Donga, and in Mararraba town. This is in addition to renovating the Gara palace in Donga local government area.
Bwacha constructed 3 solar powered classrooms and offices in Sondi and Raffingada in Wukari and also in Mararraba in addition to sharing over 2000 motorcycles to his constituents since 2011 in a bid to improve transportation in his constituency.
Bwacha has shared over 500 cars including SUVs, over 500 sewing machines and over 500 grinding machines to his constituents since 2011.
He provided over 1000 hand pump boreholes that are scattered across his senatorial district and also constructed 3 classrooms in Jibu ward, Wukari.
He constructed a mobile police, MOPOL barrack in Akwanga ward Wukari and also constructed feeder roads with culverts in Kumbo ward and Donga. Bwacha in addition constructed a staff school in the federal university Wukari and donated 10 cars to the university. The list of his legacies as a senator is too long. However, these achievements are stunning landmarks that have defined the promises which the man holds for Taraba.
By these mega achievements, it has been proven that he holds the magic wand and his kind are needed for the overall development of the still developing Taraba.
Beyond that, he has the capacity and sagacity to further engrave the APC in the state as he did during the last elections.
As a matter of fact, he should be encouraged to win Taraba for his beloved party, the APC. Already, he has shown he has the might as he ensured that President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu won in his Taraba south zone and other very sacred areas while adding a senatorial seat and federal House of representative seats for his party in the state. Other acclaimed APC leaders in the state failed woefully in this regards and people have taken note of this.
The Taraba south zone has not produced any minister in the past 10 years or so while the Taraba North has been producing all the ministers from Taraba within this time frame. The fact that the current Governor of the state, Rtd Col Idris is from Taraba south should not be a yardstick to deny the distinguished senator, man of his people and on the ground Bwacha his right and glory of a ministerial appointment because he has proved himself and therefore deserves it. On the other hand, it is traditional and natural for flag bearers to be encouraged with appointments from where they will still see their dreams and visions for their people come through to a large extent.
At the moment, Emmanuel Bwacha is defined in Taraba as a leader with capacity, goal getter and the APC ambassador in the state. He is the party leader at the moment in the state and has most convincingly worked very hard for his party in the state.
Tarabians will love the APC and also the Tinubu regime the more if their beloved Bwacha is allowed to hold a federal government ministerial appointment as they believe he will definitely in his usual manner leave more landmarks in Taraba state.
