Gombe State Governor, Muhammadu Yahaya, has urged political leaders, traditional rulers, religious leaders and residents to prioritise peace and unity ahead of the 2027 general elections.

He warned against allowing political ambitions to undermine the state’s development.

Yahaya made the appeal on Wednesday during the celebration of the 30th anniversary of the state at the International Conference Centre, Gombe.

He said the state’s forthcoming political transition should be guided by responsibility, peaceful coexistence and a collective commitment to sustaining development beyond individual administrations.

“As my administration approaches the end of its eight-year mandate, my paramount concern is that the foundations we have strengthened should endure, and that the progress we have recorded should be consolidated and advanced by those who come after us.

“The future of Gombe State must always be greater than the ambitions of any individual or political party”, the governor said.

Gombe State was created on October 1, 1996, by the military administration of the late General Sani Abacha, following years of agitation for greater political representation, inclusion and accelerated development.

Reflecting on the state’s three decades of existence, Yahaya described the anniversary as an opportunity to assess its achievements, acknowledge the contributions of successive administrations and chart a sustainable development path for future generations.

He said, “What we celebrate today is not simply the passage of thirty years. It is the story of a people who dared to dream, who struggled to turn that dream into reality, and who have spent three decades building upon its promise.”

The governor, whose administration began in May 2019, said Gombe’s development was the cumulative outcome of contributions by successive military and civilian administrations, urging residents to avoid attributing the state’s progress to any single leader or political party.

He acknowledged the contributions of former military administrators, Group Captain Joseph Orji and Lieutenant Colonel Mohammed Inuwa Bawa, as well as former civilian governors Abubakar Habu Hashidu, Senator Mohammed Danjuma Goje and Senator Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo.

“Each administration governed under different circumstances, faced different challenges and pursued different priorities.

“Yet, each made contributions to the Gombe we know today. We must therefore resist the temptation to view development as the achievement of one individual, one government or one political party”, he said.

Yahaya said his administration had pursued reforms and investments guided by the state’s 10-year development agenda, known as DEVAGOM, with emphasis on education, healthcare, infrastructure, agriculture, electricity, environmental protection and institutional development.

On education, the governor said his administration had constructed or renovated more than 2,000 classrooms across over 400 schools, built four mega colleges and recruited 1,000 teachers.

He added that the government had supported efforts to address out-of-school children through the Better Education Service Delivery for All programme, under which 350,000 children were reached.

At the tertiary level, Yahaya said his administration had established two additional faculties at Gombe State University, increased funding to tertiary institutions and enacted the Gombe State Education Trust Fund Law to provide sustainable financing for the sector.

“Education is not simply another sector of government expenditure. It is the foundation upon which the future prosperity, competitiveness and social progress of Gombe must be built,” he said.

In the health sector, the governor said 228 primary healthcare centres had been constructed or renovated to provide two functional facilities in each of the state’s 114 political wards.

He also cited the renovation of general hospitals in Bajoga and Kaltungo, the upgrading of the Gombe State Specialist Hospital and the conversion of the General Hospital in Kumo into a Federal Medical Centre.

According to him, the state’s contributory healthcare scheme, GoHealth, now covers more than 400,000 beneficiaries, including approximately 100,000 poor and vulnerable residents.

Yahaya added that his administration had recruited 440 healthcare professionals and implemented the CONMESS and CONHESS salary structures to improve the welfare of health workers.

On infrastructure, he said the government had constructed and rehabilitated more than 1,000 kilometres of roads under the Network 11-100 initiative, alongside the construction of the City Centre Underpass and Gombe Northern Bypass.

He also highlighted the development of a Three-Arms Zone comprising the State House of Assembly Complex, State High Court Complex and State Secretariat, as well as the construction of 550 housing units through Family Homes Funds and another 500 units in partnership with the North-East Development Commission.

The governor said the Muhammadu Buhari Industrial Park, spanning 1,000 hectares, was expected to support manufacturing, enterprise development and job creation.

He also cited the ongoing Renewed Hope Agro-Industrial Hub, which comprises an international livestock market, modern grains market, abattoir, animal feeds market and inland dry port.

According to him, the projects are designed to position Gombe as a major centre for agricultural trading, processing and logistics in the North-East.

In the electricity sector, Yahaya said his administration had established the Gombe State Electricity Regulatory Commission and Gombe Electricity Company following the opportunities created by the Electricity Act 2023.

He said the government had delivered a one-megawatt mini-grid in Talasse, while similar projects in Filiya and Gelengu had reached 90 per cent completion.

He added that new mini-grid projects had been flagged off in Akko, Dukku, Funakaye and Kaltungo as part of plans to connect 80 communities to an interconnected mini-grid network.

On workers’ welfare, Yahaya said the government had implemented the N70,000 minimum wage for state and local government employees, undertaken promotions and appointments across the civil service, and paid more than N44bn in pension and gratuity obligations.

He said the amount included N21bn inherited from the previous administration. The governor also disclosed that his administration had created 13 Local Council Development Areas to bring governance closer to rural communities and improve grassroots development.

On security, Yahaya said the government had strengthened collaboration with security agencies, traditional institutions and local communities, while supporting calls for the establishment of state police as part of efforts to reform Nigeria’s security architecture.

He, however, acknowledged that challenges remained despite the reported achievements. “We do not claim that every problem has been solved or that every aspiration has been fulfilled. Much remains to be done. But we are confident that we have strengthened the foundations upon which the next phase of Gombe’s development can be built.”

Looking ahead, Yahaya said his vision was to leave behind a state that was economically competitive, socially inclusive, environmentally resilient and supported by strong institutions.

He said achieving that objective would require continuity in governance, long-term planning, investment in human capital, technological advancement and stronger private-sector partnerships.

The governor also unveiled the significance of a commemorative publication titled Gombe State: Thirty Years of Promise and Progress, 1996–2026, describing it as an effort to preserve the state’s history and document the contributions of successive administrations.

He said the publication would serve as a resource for future research, policymaking and public understanding of the state’s political and socioeconomic development.

Yahaya urged residents to sustain the unity that informed the agitation for the state’s creation, stressing that the next three decades should focus on translating the promise of statehood into greater prosperity.

“The greatest tribute we can pay to them is not merely to remember their sacrifices. It is to ensure that the State they struggled to create continues to fulfil the promise that inspired their struggle. The next thirty years must be about fulfilling that promise, strengthening those foundations, and building a future worthy of the sacrifices of our founding fathers and the aspirations of generations yet unborn”, he said.

He congratulated residents at home and in the diaspora on the anniversary and called for collective commitment to the state’s continued progress.