Education key to addressing all insecurity challenges – Tambuwal

The Chairman Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governors Forum, Sokoto state governor, Rt Hon Aminu Waziri Tambuwal in an interview with journalists who were in the state to inspect his legacy projects bares his mind on the economy, education, succession, the PDP and his ambition. ABDULRAHMAN ZAKARIYAU was there.

We’ve seen so many projects, how are you able to fund these capital intensive projects?

Here in Sokoto, as bad as the situation was till now, we don’t owe any worker any salary to the best of my knowledge. We pay our salaries as at when due and we pay our pensioners. We manage to stagger payments of even gratuities. We set aside every month either N100 million, N50 million to attend to gratuities, that’s apart from salaries and pensions of retired workers, we make that as a priority.

So the money from the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) that we get is very well known, it is public knowledge, not until recently, Sokoto has never been able to hit N1 billion in terms of Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) monthly, not until recently when we worked on board of internal revenue services, then the IGR is beginning to pick up. So it is all about planning and financial management, fiscal responsibility.

We don’t waste money on frivolities, on things that are not necessary, that will not bring about any impact on the lives of the people. We have very robust social schemes in the country, and we still pay monthly stipends to several indigent people in Sokoto state, education is free whether you are from any part of Nigeria, once you attend public school in Sokoto, the books, either exercise books or reading books that an indigene uses, is what any other Nigeria child use in Sokoto is free of charge. Added to that, as we pay for WAEC to indigenes of Sokoto and NECO, we also pay for all of the other students of Nigeria that are in our public schools. We don’t discriminate against any of them.So you can see that we carry all of these burdens, but we’re still moving ahead.

So it’s about strategic expenditure planning and, of course, we took some loans that are targeted at projects and loans that are for capital expenditure. We don’t take loans for recurrent and we apply them as agreed in terms and conditions of obtaining those funds from either the banks or bond. So generally, is about discipline, prudence, and effective management of scarce resources. It’s all about managing scarce resources and being disciplined and knowing your areas of priority.

The country is talking about Nigeria getting ready for the non-oil economy, how ready is Sokoto state?

Sokoto is largely an agrarian state. About 85% of our populace are farmers, we do everything to support them generally. In the areas of extension services, we employed more extension workers that are helping them with skills and knowledge in terms of more modern knowledge and skills. They also help them in terms of guiding them on the right seeds to use on their farmland whenever it is time for them to plant. So we’re moving them from where they were to a knowledge-based agric business.

And we support them with fertilizers and insecticide and all of that. I don’t think the states are many that subsidised fertilizer the way we do here in Sokoto state to the farmers and I can tell you that in terms of subsidies Sokoto beats any state. We have the figures in terms of giving farmer subsidies; be that subsidy on farm implements, like handheld tractors, even procurement of fertilizer during the dry season farming and the normal wet season farming and all of the inputs we give them some free, some of the seedlings free in most cases and some of the inputs, at a heavily subsidised rate.
So we heavily support our farmers by giving them modern technology, modern knowledge, skills, supporting them with knowledge and experience and all of that through extension workers and subsidies.

That has also motivated them to do more on their farms. So I believe that we have achieved a lot in that and that is about collaboration and the farmers accepting new ways of doing things and cooperating with the government.

What motivated you in this massive investment in the education sector?

When we came in, I commissioned some of our experts, both local and a very few that are outside Sokoto to understudy our health sector, our education sector, and agric sector, to advise the government because I have identified this three as my priority.

Education is important, if you educate people, if they are educated, they’re healthy, they have what to do on their farms, what else are you looking for from the government? So we deliberately set out to change the narratives in education because whenever you’re counting states, that are backward in western education, with emphasis, on Western education, you will count Sokoto as one of those states.

It is about getting the right infrastructure, getting the right instructional materials, and getting the right teachers and personnel.

So we decided to commission that study on the needs assessment of the education sector of Sokoto state. and we identified all the problems. So based on that report, we begin to work towards implementation and ensuring that we improve the education sector of the state. Because if you educate these young men and girls, and prepare them for the future, what else are you looking for as a father? Any father desires to see his child educated. Figuratively, the governor of the state is like the father of all of these children. So why don’t you sit down and look, reflect and see how best that you can educate them that is not only quantitative, not only providing them with many schools but quality education, to prepare better for their future.

That was why we said look we must take interest in it. Now, you can see, for example, the bandits that we have in the Northwest, the insurgents in the Northeast, when you check it out, these are young people who are not educated either in the Western education sense or even religious sense. So education is key to addressing all of those challenges of insecurity or poverty and raising the standard of living of the people, educate them and let them go and find something to do.

Why much interest in girl-child education?

About the girl child education, the figure has not been good and if you want to address the issue of a girl wanting to go to school; but there is a problem back home because she wanted to hawk for her mother, you must find something that will support that concern that is with the family. So we mede a programme that has to do with cash transfer that is conditional cash transfer.

If a mother agrees to send her daughter to school, instead of her to be hawking you give her N5,000; if she has two daughters N10,000, three daughters that is N15,000 we have sustained it up to today and improves on it.

And we’ve been very deliberate by creating an agency mandated to take charge of girl child education. In addition to the law we passed in the state for compulsory education, which is the first of its kind in Nigeria. So all of these go to show that we have identified the gaps, we have identified the problems and the issues. And then we decided to be deliberate in seeing how best we can now change the narrative positively and have these children educated in it and then reduce the number of out of school children, and all of that.

With about a year to the end of your tenure, do you have a successor who may sustain what you have put in place?

Well, you see, it is natural unless you are not planning to succeed. If you fail to plan it means you are planning to fail. So before now, I’ve been working with a number of my lieutenants and I have been understudying a number of them to see who can serve the people of Sokoto state and do better than me in whatever achievements I might have recorded as governor of the state. But it is not about who will succeed me, who will be loyal to me. It is about who will be loyal to the people of Sokoto state. That’s, that’s my interest. I have come across many of them, many of them are qualified to succeed me and they will be loyal to the people of Sokoto state.

Recently you began consultation over your 2023 Presidential ambition, how far has the consultation gone?

Well, it is going on well, we’re still doing that and when we conclude, when finish going around, we will sit down and appraise it. After that, we will then come out with a position on 2023.

Is there any division in the PDP governors’ forum over zoning?

No, we are united and determined to rescue and rebuild Nigeria. PDP is the party to beat.