How Gov Bagudu sustains people’s confidence in Kebbi

In Kebbi state, Governor Atiku Abubakar Bagudu ensures that he maintains the people’s confidence by making every member of his party to remain focused as he provides democracy dividends, KABIRU DOGON DAJI reports.

Since assuming office in 2015, Senator Abubakar Bagudu has been able to return to the fold some politicians from the opposition side who admire his style of leadership.

These were politicians who were left with no options than to join his administration for the overrall development of the state.

Similarly political uprising and misdeeds that were used to be reported in some states are no longee akin to Kebbi as a result of purposeful leadership.

For instance, the era of area godfatherism and other related vices that usually overheat the polity are over as the youths causing disharmony have returned to farming through the Anchor Borrowers Programme, a Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) programme that facilitates soft landing loans to people with the youth on top of the list so that they can be useful to themselves. They were mostly engaged in rice farming thereby making Kebbi the rice hub of the nation.

It is no gain saying that kebbi has achieved wonderfully in the last few years in the area of agricultural production. But for the calamity of floading that washed away a considerable number of farm lands, the state would have taken lead as the major producer of rice in the country.

The Lake Rice, for instance, is a partinership project jointly organised by the state and Lagos state government to produce perboiled home rice from kebbi to Lagos at an affordable prices.

A visit to Ambursa, Zauro, Argungu and Birnin kebbi along the River Rima bank showed that farmers expressed happiness for the year 2021 cropping season and steadfast rain.
Alhaji Murtala Ambursa a rice farmer said, “You see, I didn’t want to talk on this administration for simple reason that I am of the opposition and you know we politicians we sometimes tend not to see anything good from our opponents, but since you forced me to talk, I would tell you that this administration has done well in the past five years. I can site example of the Anchor Borrower loan programme which assisted us in no small measure to developed our selves.


“I was virtually having nothing when I applied for this loan and I secured it and annually, I cultivate over 80 bags of paddy rice and that is what is keeping me to date. I am planning to increase the size of my farm to produce more. What interests me is that officials of the programme know me very well to have been from the other political party, yet I was given the opportunity, so I attest that the Anchor Borrower loan was shared devoid of political inclination. That is why the governor was able to win the love from people and that is why his party members (APC) in this situation would not run away from him,” he said.

In addition to that, government has given politicians opportunity to participate in the execution of contracts awarded by the state government.


Example is the awards of constituency projects to every member of the state assembly. The new innovation by the administration is to give opportunity to every member to identify needs and wants of their constituencies.
According to a political annalyst, Comrade Aliyu Mohammed he said, “Yes, this has helped greatly in ensuring that governance is felt in every part of the state because I believe every member would be under watch and close-marked by respective constituents to ensure such projects are done according to specifications.

He added further that, “Unlike previous times when such contracts were awarded to politicians to enrich them at the expense of the poor majority, the narrative has changed in Kebbi state.


“I want to assure you that at least 99 percent of such contracts executed under the supervision of state assembly members mainly water supply, rural electrification, renovation of health facilities, rural roads were perfectly done and beneficiaries had been enjoying them”
Blueprint investigation reveals that despite the crisis that rocked the party months back, no single member decamped to any other political party.