Dear Sir, we wish to once again congratulate you on your election as the executive governor of Jigawa state. This is a testimony of your universal acceptance by all and sundry in the state. We are convinced that your rise from the scratch of professional accounting practice culminating in your election as deputy governor has prepared you well enough to pilot the affairs of our dear state. Throughout all this you have left a mark of astuteness, humility and doggedness. Needless to say, these outstanding qualities have endeared you to all and attested by the overwhelming votes you garnered at the polls.
Gwaram local government area has traditionally been the home of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, in Jigawa state. A lot of development projects have been executed by the previous administrations of which you were a prominent member. It is our conviction that with your emergence as the state governor, these achievements will be consolidated and improved upon.
Our people trooped out en masse and voted for you, facts and figures will attest to this statement. However, to our greatest dismay, none of our nominees was considered for appointment into the State Executive Council, SEC. This is a serious oversight, considering our population and commitment to the ideals of the APC. Based on the above, we wish to appeal to you to review your appointment and consider Gwaram local government area.
Your Excellency Sir, the good people of Gwaram local government area, as noted earlier, stood behind your candidature and massively voted for you and therefore gave a fair share in the emergence of this administration. If you can vividly recall, the government that preceded this did not deem it fit to consider Gwaram local government area worthy of getting any shot in the executive council for its entire eight years. It is actually nerve-breaking, psychologically devastating and politically upsetting to have this kind of scenario.
Agreed, there are also other local government areas that do not have commissioners in the recent appointment, it should be noted that, that of Gwaram local government is a double tragedy, for having been outsmarted in the previous regime for eight years without active representation in the executive council. In spite of the fact that Gwaram produces the highest votes in Jigawa state during elections, and the recent one was not an exception.
It is against this backdrop, Your Excellency, that we earnestly wish to draw your attention to this serious lacuna so that necessary and expedient action should be taken so much that the people of Gwaram should feel at ease and therefore, consider themselves as part of this government. Once again, we salute you for your courage for even coming up with a team that will salvage Jigawa state, but these serious considerations we have pin-pointed should be done so that justice is tampered with mercy. Of course power is transient and democracy is a game of numbers, therefore, this piece should serve as a clarion call in which all elements of misdeeds should be redressed.
Thanks and may Almighty God bless you and guide you right in all of your stewardship to the people of Jigawa state. May He also guide you with the ability to carry everybody along for the total development of Jigawa state so that it will stand shoulder to shoulder with other states in Nigeria.
Long live Jigawa state. Long live His Excellency, the Executive Governor of Jigawa state. Long live Gwaram local government area.
For and on behalf of concerned citizens of Gwaram local government area.
Dr. Safiyanu Shuaibu Sara writes from
Department of Educational Foundations, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi, Bauchi state.
