Popular comedian and satirist, Dan Bello Galadanci, has criticised the Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed, of prioritising personal projects over urgently needed reforms in education and healthcare.
In a series of viral videos seen, Galadanci alleged that while the governor boasts of infrastructural achievements, the state’s schools and hospitals remain in bad condition, with funds allegedly diverted to fund the governor’s own residence and other non-essential projects.
Galadanci also vowed to continue his campaign, challenging corruption and neglect in Bauchi and across Northern Nigeria.
In one of the three different videos he posted on TikTok, Dan Bello satirically revealed how Governor Mohammed aspires to become Nigeria’s president despite his poor performance in healthcare delivery and education.
In another video, the satirist vowed to take the challenge to “Next Level” if the state government did not tender an apology for calling him a “liar who was trying to make a name.”
According to him, the scourge is not peculiar to Bauchi alone.
“It is all of Northern Nigeria and we cannot continue this way,” he said in Hausa, declaring a “war on corruption in terms of education and healthcare in all Northern Nigeria.”
The satirist said he had combed through the state budget performance documents between 2021 and 2024, adding “The embezzlement is astonishing.”
The satirist said the governor thought, “We are not aware of how the government house construction doubled” from N6 billion to N13 billion.
According to him, the price was inflated to simultaneously build the governor’s mansion.
“I don’t think Bauchi people understand the staggering quantity of this money,” he continued.
“One billion naira is N1 million in 1,000 ways and this money can be used to renovate 1,000 classes for N6 million per classroom.”
Further, Dan Bello presented pictorial evidence of various dilapidated general hospitals and schools in Bauchi, asking the governor if he was not aware of how many people have died in the state as a result of the negligence of healthcare by his administration.
However, the Ministry of Education government dismissed Galadanci’s accusations, claiming he is only trying to boost his public profile by making false statements.
The Commissioner of Education, Jamila Dahiru, described him as “a liar trying to make a name for himself.”
Also a statement issued by the Ministry’s public relations officer, Mr. Jalaludeen Usman attributed the unprecedented feat recorded in the sector to the dynamic leadership of Governor Bala Mohammed.
Reeling out some of the achievements of the Ministry, Usman stated that Governor Bala Mohammed has in demonstration to the state’s commitment to global best practices, initiated the adoption of National Girl Child Education Policy, Inclusive Education Policy and Safe School Policy.
He mentioned that in addition, the administration has sponsored the WAEC, NECO, and JAMB registrations for over 14,000 students.
The Ministry recalled that Dan Bello in a recent inaccurate viral video of one minute and 30 seconds tendered in Hausa, detailed images of dilapidated school infrastructure from some selected insular locations within the state.
“With over 500, 000 children brought back into the educational system, Bauchi state is a leading light in data-driven effective education planning and management, with a consistent Annual Schools Census (ASC) from 2020 till date to guide the delivery of the strategic roadmap”.
Other practicable initiatives, the PRO further outlined, included National Gender Policy in Education And Child Rights Act, among other policy and legal/institutional frameworks, ”this putting Bauchi today as one of six selected states receiving support through the System Transformation Grant from the Global Partnership for Education (GPE), in furtherance of enhancing educational opportunities in the region.”
“The recognition is an acknowledgement of the new dawn in the sector as a focal priority of His Excellency, Sen. Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed. It requires equal acknowledgement, support and encouragement of those in search of exemplary conversations to elevate and (or) emulate”, the statement said.
Jalaludeen explained that after the Education Summit convened to chart a roadmap for the sector, Governor Bala Mohammed increased the budget allocation to the sector from 12% to 16%, the highest in recent years.
“Mindful of the inadequacy of budgetary allocation in addressing the state of decay and dilapidation, the governor has never looked back or Relented since 2019, with massive renovation and remodeling of about 5,000 various
interventions targeting schools’ infrastructure”.
‘Some of the most recent among these are 784 Junior secondary schools and 219 senior secondary schools across the state, through the World Bank-assisted AGILE project set for takeoff soon. The project equally covers construction of 21 new junior secondary schools and 22 in the senior secondary category”.
“Through secured matching grants, additional 387 one-block classrooms have been renovated. An endless list of new projects has complemented these facelifts across the state.
“Some of them are, the construction of three ECCDE Model Schools in Bauchi, Toro, and Shira, construction of 12 Blocks of 4 high rise classrooms and a number of temporary shades through the BESDA project- Construction of 880 blocks of temporary Shades for IQE and additional 18,000 IQE temporary Shade seats, also through the BESDA Project.” the statement reads further.
