Plateau 2019- Why Gov Simon Lalong stands out tall 

By Golok Nanmwa

Governor Simon Lalong is  popularly referred to as  Gov Bank Alert by civil servants in Plateau state because of his administrations  prompt payment of civil servant’s salaries and pensions of retirees; which in the past, was a nightmare .

Governor Simon Lalong,  is also a one time speaker of the state Assembly during the political hit moment in Plateau, where a sitting governor was illegally suspended from office, but the legislature under the Lalong led leadership remained resolute by defending democracy .

Born on the 5th of May in Shendam local government council of  Plateau State, the governor has proven his worth in the political arena.

Lalong is a Nigerian lawyer and politician.

Education

After his elementary and secondary schools education in Shendam Local Government Area he proceeded to the School of Preliminary Studies (S.P.S) Keffi, passing out in 1986. He then continued to Ahmadu Bello University ,

Zaria , graduating in 1990 with a bachelor’s degree in Law. This was immediately followed by the Law School in Lagos , where he was also called to Bar. He later obtained a master’s degree in Law from the University of Jos , in 1996.

Professional career

Lalong’s professional career as an attorney lasted between 1992, the year following his graduation from law school, and 1998, the dawn of Nigeria’s new democracy. During this period he worked with a few law firms, one of which he co-owned. Between 1992 and 1994 he was the Deputy Scribe of the Nigerian Bar Association in Plateau State. After a political stint that lasted seven years he again returned to legal practice as the Principal Partner of Simon B Lalong and Co, until 2015. 

Political life

Simon Lalong temporarily discarded legal practice to join the political bandwagon in 1998. Under the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) he successfully contested the seat of the member of the Plateau State House of Assembly representing his native Shendam Constituency. In October 2000 he became the speaker of the assembly, occupying that position till the year 2006, following a political storm within the House. The seven years he served as the Speaker of that assembly made him the longest serving speaker of the House in the history of Plateau State. During that period he was two times (2001-2002) elected as the Chairman of the Conference of Speakers of 

 Lalong contested the governorship elections in April 2015  This time, he did so under the All Progressive Congress (APC) and won and  was  sworn in as  Governor of Plateau State on May 29, 2015.

Governor Simon Lalong  recently yielded to pressure to declare his intention to contest the 2019 Governorship election.

The declaration which attracted a standing ovation was made recently  at the APC Stakeholders meeting held in Jos, Plateau State. 

Plateau state governor Simon Lalong recently  bagged a Doctorate degree in law from the Achiever’s university, Owo  , he has also won several awards which includes ,Business Day  awards for his efforts in promoting peace ,

Gov Lalong also recently bagged an award of excellence from Ahmadu Bello University ABU law class of 1990 ,

Other awards bagged by the Gov Lalong includes Fellowship of the institute of chartered mediators and conciliators ICME ,and recently nominated for a special award by the Nation newspaper in recognition of his gaint strides in the area of food and agricultural development .

The governor has done well in completing of projects he inherited scattered in the 17 local government councils of the state and initiated so many projects in the state .

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Lalong was also recently  appointed  the life vice President of Professional golfer’s association of Nigeria PGAN for his contribution in promoting the game of golf in the country and has produced Over Five professional golfers in the state and one from another state .

He is a devoted Catholic  and is married to his wife Regina Lalong 

It could be recalled that  President Muhammadu Buhari in Jos commended Plateau governor Simon Lalong for completing projects started by his predecessors.

Buhari, who was   on a two-day visit to the state, gave the commendation at a town hall meeting with Plateau stakeholders after inaugurating some of the projects inherited and completed by the Lalong administration.

Among the inaugurated projects were the Mararaba Jamaa–Secretariat –British American Way, the Miango-Rafiki road, and the Secretariat junction flyover bridge

The three projects were started by Lalong’s predecessor, Sen Jonah Jang.

Buhari, who lauded Lalong for completing the projects, said that his spirit of continuity was worthy of emulation by all leaders.

“By completing projects you inherited, you have saved Plateau from massive waste and the menace of abandoned projects,’’ he said.

Lalong advised leaders to complete and put to use, projects that had the potential to improve the living standards of the people irrespective e of those who initiated them.

Buhari called on Plateau people to embrace the spirit of love, tolerance and kindness to all, urging them to accommodate each other.

He commended Lalong for paying salaries and entitlements of workers and pensioners promptly, and attributed the return of peace in Plateau to such kindness by the governor.

The President challenged other governors to emulate such gesture, and described governors not paying salaries as leaders without conscience.

“Honestly, I wonder how governors, who do not pay salaries, are able to sleep knowing very well that the workers are helpless, hungry and angry,’’ he said.

The President warned leaders against abusing the trust and confidence of the people, and urged those in authority to always keep it in mind that they would give account of their actions before their creator.

Also because of his efforts at revamping the state  a group  Plateau Regeneration Group PRG  recently appealed to people of the state to support Gov Simon Lalong,s second term bid stressing that he has done excellently well since assumption of office and deserves to continue the good work he is doing in Plateau.

President of the group Barrister Katlong Danbaba, made this known in a statement made available to newsmen in Jos .

It reads ” Gov Lalong has done well in his three years in office and  deserves a smooth sail   in the 2019 general elections due to prompt payment of worker’s salaries and pension that have strengthened the economic fortunes of the state.

He said  consistent payment of salary by the Lalong’s rescue government has strengthened the economy of the state. Whenever salaries are paid, the economic activities in the state is heightened and by so doing people feel the positive impact while each time there is no salary for one to three months, everything virtually come to a standstill that was why the government decided to make payment of salaries a priority as well as  infrastructural development .

” Out side payment of salaries the Lalong led administration has done well in completing inherited projects and also initiating projects that have direct bearing on citizens of the state in virtually all the 17 local government councils ,Lalong is doing excellently well in the education sector by recently employing teachers and also revamping the Plateau state university in Bokkos ,”Our Gov has also done well in the health sectors ,as well as reviving moribund companies in Plateau ,go to the Bokkos fertilizer blending plant ,the highland bottling company and hill station hotel and see the beautiful work our governor has done .

Lalong has also done well in carrying all tribes along in governance .

As a group  Governor, Simon Lalong, is making us proud

Governor Simon Lalong is a humble and honest leader.

“He has restored peace in our dear state and institutionalised peace building and reconciliation through the establishment of a peace building agency,” he said.

I call on the people of the state to support the governor because of the good work he is doing .

“We are impressed with the ongoing construction road works  in most of the local government in the state and as  a group we are positive that Lalong would do more for the people of the state if re elected ,Lalong has been tested and can be trusted ,he added .

“Lalong is a friend of the Youths as well as the downtrodden in the state ,I appeal to citizens of the state to continue to support him at all times ”

State Chairman of the  All Progressive Congress APC in  Plateau state Hon Latep Dabang has  said the party would continue to promote internal Democracy  in the state .

He also said the Party is confident of victory in the forthcoming governorship and Presidential election in 2019 .

 Dabang, told journalists after a stakeholders  meeting in Jos that the state Governor Simon  Lalong’s declaration “does not foreclose any other chieftain of the party from contesting because there would be party primaries.

It could be recalled that  Plateau State governor, Simon Lalong, had declared his intention to seek re-election in the 2019 general election under the platform of the APC at the weekend

Latep said ” the declaration by the governor was coincidental as it was not part of the agenda of the meeting.

The governor was said to have made the declaration during the stakeholders’ meeting of the APC held in Jos.

The meeting had in attendance, the entire APC leadership in the state, Deputy Governor, Prof. Sonni Tyoden and members of the State Executive Council, Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Peter Azi, members of the Parliament as well as members of the National Assembly.

Dabang said, “Governor Lalong has formally declared his intention to contest the 2019 governorship election on the platform of the APC. 

“We are democrats and can’t stop anybody from contesting. However, the governor won’t get automatic ticket because we will surely conduct primaries. But for now, governor Simon  Lalong is the one that has publicly declared that he would contest this election come 2019 on the platform of the APC. If there are others, we cannot stop them from contesting.

“The declaration of the governor was not part of the agenda. But at the end of the meeting, there were motions by party faithfuls requesting the governor to clear the air on whether he would contest the 2019 elections or not. And the governor took time to also inform the gathering that as a matter of fact, there has been that pressure from all sectors, including some from the political setting and the Plateau State Youth Council and quite a number of spirited party faithfuls who have have been drumming support for him to seek a second term in office.

Latep also appealed to people of the state to continue to support the party at all times ll

Also recently Yakubu Dati ,the  commissioner of information and commutation said Gov  Simon Bako Lalong of Plateau State is clearly approaching the act of governance with a sense of responsibility and the seriousness it deserves. 

In a well written statement  he made available to newsmen when the Governor clocked two years in office a year ago , before  Dati got appointed as commissioner ,he said Even though the two-year anniversary coincided with his birthday, Lalong gave an advance warning against any fanfare but rather rededicated himself to a solemn appraisal of the rescue administration.

Dati said  “It is well known fact that Gov. Simon Lalong inherited a state in crisis ,He knew that without peace and security, nothing tangible would be achieved in the state. Working in tandem with all arms of security apparatus, he applied his brinkmanship by initiating series of town hall meetings with all stakeholders on issue based policies sensitization and held consultative fora with the Berom and Fulani communities amongst others. These significant steps resolved some of the crises that bedeviled the state by entrenching peace, unity and security of lives and property. He institutionalized peace building by creating a proactive agency known as the Plateau Peace Building Agency – a significant shift from the reactionary pattern.

 Following the restoration of peace, the urgent need to address the demoralized civil servants became so apparent. With an inherited debt toll of over 220 billion naira, and a civil service in dire straits, Lalong assembled a whiz team of financial gurus with a clear mandate to think outside the box. This first reward was the first and second tranches of the salary bailout, which Lalong used to offset the backlog of civil servants unpaid salaries, pension/gratuity. This courageously deployment of about 20 billion naira ignited the local economy and the reverberations were felt all over the state. This set the stage for a highly motivated civil service to keyed into the administration’s 5-point Policy Thrust formulated to turn around the state.

Dati also said Simon Lalong rolled up his sleeves to face the education sector, despite the stench oozing from years of neglect. The performance of Plateau State at the WAEC examination was a disaster – 36 out of 37 States in the federation. Never known to shy away from the frontlines, Governor Lalong took the bull by the horns and changed the landscape through employment and training of teachers, construction of new classrooms, and massive injection of funds. Recently over 4000 teaching personnel were recruited on adhoc basis, while infrastructural deficit is being tackled through construction and renovation of more classrooms. More than 500 classrooms have been built and renovated in the past 2 years alone! The Plateau State University, Bokkos has been given a new lease of life with the reconstitution of the Governing Council under the leadership of the respected Prof. Attahiru Jega as Pro-Chancellor. So far, all its 17 programmes are being accredited which in turn facilitated the mobilization of 2 sets of graduands for the NYSC scheme earlier this year, the first since its establishment. Other state tertiary institutions are also receiving the desired attention.

Lalong is also paying attention to agriculture, which is the mainstay of most of the Plateau people. About 800 trailers laden with 24 thousand metric tons of fertilizer are being offloaded to farmers at subsidized rate. The resuscitation of the Panyam Fish Farm, Bokkos Fertilizer Blending Plant, accreditation of Garkawa College of Education and the provision of soft loans to farmers have restored Plateau to its pride of place in agriculture.

In line with the yearnings for community leadership, vacant stools of traditional institutions in the state are being filled based on laid down law and gazettes. So far, more than fifty communities cutting across all the local government areas have benefit ranging from the 1st class status Chiefs to district heads. The creation Districts and Development Areas are at its final stage of implementation, to bring development to the grassroots.

The state is also reviving and revamping its moribund industries including the Jos International breweries (JIB), Highland Bottling Company and the Jos Main Market. The reacquisition of the BARC Farms is being pursued vigorously.

Another area the state government is looking at to boost IGR is the mineral sector, which the state has in abundance. Lalong visited mining sites across the state, which gave birth to The Mining Blueprint Committee to articulate synergy between the state and the Organised Private Sector (OPS). The state has commenced a deliberate process of opening up its frontiers to attract both local and foreign investors. Today series of MOUs have been signed for the exploration and exploitation of mineral deposits along the value chain to boost the state economy and in line with the stipulated federal government policies.

Critical infrastructures like roads inherited from the last administration have been completed as new ones are being unveiled.

The land administration has been revolutionized through the relaunched of the abandoned PLAGIS. The lifting of the embargo placed on the issuance of Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) and the reduction of its cost by 50 percent has engendered inclusiveness. As a result of the speedy processing of title documents, more than 800 Certificate of Occupancy have been issued with the concurrent increase in revenue generation from 96 million naira in 2014 to 500 million in 2016.

The dominance of the Plateau United Football Club on top of the premier league table is as a result of deliberate and conscious strategies deployed to boost sports and youth development. The participation of Plateau athletes in virtually all sporting events in and outside the state has resulted in bountiful laurels for the state. 

Similarly the director of Press and Public affairs to Gov Lalong Mr Emmanuel Nanle recently told our correspondent that Lalong is a man that has the interest of Plateau at heart , he said Lalong has done well since assumption of office .

He said Lalong is determined to better the lives of citizens of the state and calls for the support of Plateau citizens .

Our governor is a friend  of the youths,downtrodden ,women and Lalong is determined to carry all tribes along in governance .

Lalong has proven that he has what it takes to take Plateau higher ,he added .

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Plateau 2019 – Why Gov Simon Lalong stands out tall