North Not Maximising Cattle Market Potential –Dr Yahuza: A technocrat and specialist in veterinary medicine, Dr Mohammed Lawan Yahuza who hails from Yobe State, recently retired as director of administration, Federal Ministry of Health. In this interview with STANLEY NKWOCHA, he speaks on the market potential of cattle for the North as well as the need to re-galvanise the education and health sectors. He further discusses life as a civil servant as well as the insurgency in the Northeast region You just retired from the Federal Civil Service. Share with us your experience and how it feels to be retired? I must say that the civil service has taken more than half of my life having served for more than 35 years without any blemish. I retired in August this year and it was a rewarding experience. I started in Yobe and then served as a commissioner before transferring my services to the Federal Ministry of Agriculture where I was posted to a World Bank project in Kaduna. I was there for 15 years before I again transferred my services to administration. In administration, I served in the ministries of Commerce, agriculture, health, interior and then the office of the secretary to the government of the federation. All in all, I can say that I really enjoyed myself and gained a lot of experience. I also met a lot of people. As I will always say, the civil service and the military are the two institutions that are really national where you get to make friends from across the country. I can say categorically that there’s no part of the country that I’ll go to and not find friends and for that I must say that I am grateful for the opportunity. And how has life been since retirement? I retired only three months ago and life has been good. There’s always this initial stage of trying to get used to life outside the office after being used to taking your bath early in the morning to go to the office for 35 years. And suddenly you wake up and there’s no clue as to where to go in the mornings. It used to be a little bit disturbing but I’ve gotten used to it now so to say. I’ve strengthened my part, I’m focused and I want to start something outside the service. Will you say that there are any regrets? Not at all. I believe that it’s a privilege for one to get the opportunity to serve their country for 35 years. But you didn’t make it to the position of head of service. Isn’t that a wish not met? Yes! That is the desire and aspiration of any civil servant. I retired as a director but would have loved to retire as a permanent secretary but no problem at all. I think I’ve worked very well. All those that I worked with will testify that am an above average civil servant so I’m very happy for that. You are from Yobe State, tell us what it was like coming from there and being in the civil service at the federal level. And what will be your advice to others coming after you since not much of Yobe people are in the cadre which you attained? I think there is this misinformation that Yobe State is not adequately represented at the Federal Civil Service but it’s not so. I remember when we were going for the permanent secretary exams there were either 19 or 21 directors from Yobe State that went for that exam. And 6 of us were called for the interview. I think that we are fairly represented at the federal level and though I don’t know how it happened, you find also that at the top, you find a lot of citizens from the state. When you look at statistics of even schools you find that out, even with WAEC and NECO results. Though there are challenges, the state will have to improve. So I think that there are areas where the government needs to focus and do better like in schools, health and in infrastructure development. I think the government should invest hugely in primary and secondary education. Those are the areas that we are far behind when you compare us with most of the schools from the states. I believe that is something this government will do something about. I’ve seen it in Governor Ibrahim Geidam that in spite of the challenges of insecurity that we are facing, he is bent on bringing the desired change. Under health too, I was in Damaturu recently and I was very impressed with the hospital that is being built and expanded. Obviously there are challenges of staffing. I retired as a director of administration in the federal ministry of health so I know the challenges of hospital staffing especially those in the rural areas. It’s not usually easy for civil servants to attain the level you attained without being tempted to join politics. How were you able to resist that? I was a very committed civil servant. All those I worked with will testify to this. I’ve never known life outside the civil service. And I must say that I was one of the civil servants who never had life outside the civil service. I was actually doing what I really enjoyed and so there’s nothing indeed that got me distracted from my job. Were there no instances where your were beckoned on to come and play politics? That is always there but one has resisted. In fact, as far back as 1981, since my NYSC days, I remember a delegation was dispatched to see me and another colleague of mine, Ambassador Bukar who’s now late and who was serving in Ibadan while I was in Shagamu. We were asked to be taken for a meeting in Lagos to persuade us to join politics. Bukar accepted the invitation but even at that time I said no, I’m not interested, I want to be a civil servant and I remained so until August this year. Now that you are retired if you are called upon to serve, you would surely be deposed to that not so? Yes! I think that after serving the federal government for 35 years it is time to go back home and serve my people directly. I don’t have any political ambition but if my people request that I go in and serve in any capacity politically, I am willing to do so. I believe that I owe them this duty to pay them for what they have done for me. The state has been very good to me since the time of bringing scholarship to old Borno State which comprised of present day Yobe then. So it is only fair when one gives back to society from what they’ve given him or her. What do you make of Governor Geidam’s administration in the face of insurgency? The insurgency thing is very sad and unfortunate and there’s no way you can have that kind of security challenge and express your potential. The potential for the state to develop is there in all aspect of human endeavour. But then you have to have a very conducive environment to have a good plan and implement it so that you can better the lives of your people. So I honestly understand that the governments of Yobe, Borno and now Adamawa and from all indications Gombe is on the way, there’s no way the governments in that kind of situation can really bring out the potential of their states. But what I have seen from my last two visits is that the government has done very well in the area of road infrastructure. There are pockets of things that still need to be done but I believe that they’ve done very well. And in terms of education, they recently opened a branch of the Open University (NOUN) and the institution is doing very well with fantastic infrastructure. I, however, believe that more has to be done in the primary and secondary education because these are the areas where solid foundations have to be laid. And in terms of agriculture too, you know half of the state has only three months of rainy season and agriculture employs over 80 per cent of the state population, that means that the population is engaged for only three months of the year. So anything that can be done to increase agricultural activities beyond those three months will impact positively on the lives of those people. And infrastructural development in irrigation should be accelerated so that people can have something to do beyond the three months of the rainy period. In the area of health, I think there’s a hospital I saw in Damaturu and a new one that is being built but there needs to be improvement in the primary health care system because that is the one that is very close to the people. There is also the issue of staffing like I said earlier. Getting the staff locally to man those facilities and then to stay, has been a serious challenge to the state government and I believe that from what I’ve seen, the governor is focused and determined to make a difference and I’m happy and think that any body who is interested in the development of the state should give him the support that is required. There’s no denying that insurgency has hurt the economy of these states. In your opinion, how can it be tamed? People have expressed all kinds of opinion on this matter to the extent that now there’s so much politics in it. But one thing is certain, if you go to these states you’ll find out that 70 per cent of the population are people under the age of 25. Now, with that kind of population that turns out to be unemployed, they’ll have to find something to do. We hear all sorts of rumours about Boko Haram and the peanuts that is given to these people to join and conclude that that can only happen where these people are not gainfully employed. On the short term, the government has to sit up and confront this matter militarily, but in the long term, the local governments where this insurgency predominates will have to find innovative ways of engaging these people to be self-reliant. Nobody can be self-sufficient but you can be self-reliant and one way to lay a foundation for that is through education. You have to give people education. And primary schools have to be built in such a way that the children can be fed at least twice a day. Poverty, believe me, is one of the reason some people do not allow their children to go to school. So, if the state can invest in education, especially primary and secondary, the rest is just a matter of time. And I believe that some of us who have had experiences over time should assist the state government to plan programmes that will address these issues and I am optimistic that in the long run, this will provide the solution to insurgency. What is so passionate to you at the moment? My training is in veterinary medicine and with my experience working with different World Bank projects on livestock and all, am now looking at farming . In fact am doing a paper on that. You may not know but we have over 14 million heads of cattle in Nigeria and these cattle are valued at over N3 trillion. They produce over half a million tons of meat every year. The contribution of this livestock to national economy every year is so huge that you can not just look away. That is one area that the government at all levels should look at and invest in. I don’t believe in this transformation thing. You know, when you change something in form and character you’ve transformed it. But when you move one ton of fertilizer from one point to another and you say you’ve transformed it, you’ve not done anything. Agriculture contributes 40 per cent of the country’s GDP and livestock contributes 17 per cent of that. That is why I am focusing on that area. In fact when I finish the paper I am writing, I’ll give it to you people to publish so that people can know what am talking about. Talking about livestock, Yobe is very rich in it but like every other state, has not maximised it’s utility, what is your advice on how to harness this potential? Yobe, from the last livestock census conducted, is one of the states that farms the livestock that is marketed in Nigeria. I believe that the whole plan of livestock development has to change. You know that most of the people who control the livestock are semi nomadic, moving from region to region depending on which area is favourable at the time. In the process of these movements, that’s where these conflicts that we hear about come from, particularly the one in the rainy season because in the dry season they can do it quietly except with those farmers who have left their harvest on their farms. But in the rainy season, it’s inevitable that livestock will stray into farms and of course there will be conflict. But I believe that the state will now have to focus on grazing reserve development and connecting stock and partner in movement where you can have an arrangement and provide water in the dry season. When you do that and there’s market particularly for milk, then you are on course. Under the World Bank project, we have tried milk collection in Kaduna State to promote milk products. That kind of scheme can help. We have seen and confirmed that the milk from a pastoral herd or a family is the one that sustains the family. It’s from the proceeds of the milk that the woman who sells it will buy grains and ingredients with which she would cook for the family. So the more the income from milk, the higher the quality of the food they eat. So these are areas that states like Yobe, Kebbi and Borno should really focus on because it affects the lives of the people and has multiple effects on the economy. Imagine having a central milk collecting centre and plant in Damaturu that collects milk from different sources where other people are employed to produce yogurt and other milk produce like is being done in Kaduna in their diary plant that was donated by the state government. You sure must be having more time and fun with your family now, not so? O yes! We now travel alot and I spend plenty time at home also. Now one has time to do complete oversight in the family and you get more detailed in every issue. Am relishing the time I am having with them now. Original link Read More goo.gl/sse6JP (y) ✍comment ☏share
Posted on: Sat, 08 Nov 2014 21:29:46 +0000
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