Nasarawa@20: Time for sober reflection

By Ali Abare Abubakar

Since its creation in 1996 by the late military Head of State, General Sani Abacha, Nasarawa State has been blessed by leaders that have contributed their best towards developing the state. Right from inception, with the late Wing Commander Abdullahi Ibrahim as its pioneer military administrator, through the eight-year rule of the first democratically elected governor of the state, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, to the moment when former Governor Aliyu Akwe Doma held sway, to the incumbent Governor Umaru Tanko Al-Makura in charge, Nasarawa State has undergone tremendous transformation through the efforts of these leaders who gave their best and are still doing so to take the state to the next level.
Each preceding administration has within limited time and resources at its disposal, contributed towards the growth of the state and its people, both in terms of infrastructural development, social welfare, human capital development, healthcare delivery, education among several other development indices.
With the history of nations and likewise states being the biography of individuals,  magnified, projected and thrown on the screen of the past, it’s not too difficult to realize that they journey that began 20 years ago has not been an easy one. It has been a journey replete with triumphs, challenges, victories, loses and near capitulation.

Like a newborn baby that has to first learn how to crawl, walk and eventually run, Nasarawa State could not fail to pass through this phase as the years roll by, with each administration’s constraint and forced to grapple with emerging challenges associated with growth. Throughout the years, the state and indeed preceding administrations have contended with and are still confronting challenges that abound, be it communal/ethno religious conflicts, epidemics, outbreak of diseases, rise in crime rate, inflation, dwindling economic fortunes among others. Just like the baby that has to surmount several challenges on the path to maturity and growth, Nasarawa State cannot be an exception in this natural process of development.
What this implies therefore is that these challenges associated with growth and developments exist independent of the entity called Nasarawa State, meaning that not minding who’s leading the state at any particular time, these challenges exist, waiting to be addressed. Leaders will come and go, Nasarawa State will continue to grapple with its development challenges in the bid to attain maturity and growth.

Of course, leadership plays significant role towards addressing some of these challenges as according to John Kenneth Galbraith, a leading proponent of 20th-century American liberalism, “All of the great leaders have had one characteristic in common: it was the willingness to confront unequivocally the major anxiety of their people in their time. This, and not much else, is the essence of leadership.”
When Alhaji Al-Makura was elected governor of Nasarawa State back in 2011, the “major anxiety” of the people was the yearning for good governance. At a point in time, the people of the state were hopeless and desperately sought to depart from the years of profligacy, gross mismanagement and apparent lack of direction as demonstrated by the locust years when the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) held sway.
Governor Al-Makura rode into power with a vision to instill sanity into governance. He came with a mission to demystify governance which previously remained almost like an occult that admits only its membership. He came with the agenda to enshrine accountability, responsibility and people-oriented leadership. Al-Makura came with the mission to eliminate waste, cut down on the cost of governance and to direct the excess towards providing critical infrastructure for which the campaign slogan for the 2015 election, “Seeing is Believing” was not only apt but a true manifestation of what the All Progressives Congress (APC) administration has so far done.

Agreed, the journey so far has not been rosy, particularly at this trying moment occasioned by the downfall in revenue leading to an economic recession. But as already said, this is part of the challenges associated with growth, that at this particular moment, whether it’s Al-Makura that is in power or not, Nasarawa State would have to contain with the consequences of the downfall in revenues.
Therefore, at this juncture, it’s critical for the people, particularly politicians to try to identify with the governor as he confronts the numerous challenges bedeviling the state. It will serve no one any good for individuals to constitute themselves into artificial stumbling blocks while the governor is trying his best to tackle genuine issues bordering on the growth and development of the state.
Since it is clear that Governor Al-Makura is not seeking another re-election, it’s only pertinent if contenders wait for 2019 which is by the corner, rather than needlessly overheating the polity and attempting to distract the governor from carrying out his responsibility to take the state to the next level.
As Gary Wills, an American historian and author, rightly observes in his ‘Certain Trumpets: The Call of Leaders,’ “The leader is one who mobilizes others toward a goal shared by leaders and followers. … Leaders, followers and goals make up the three equally necessary supports for leadership.” Governor Al-Makura and the people of the state have a goal to attend and the followers must first give Al-Makura the necessary support.

Abubakar wrote from Keffi and could be reached at [email protected]