As campaigns for next year’s general elections gather monstrous
momentum, it becomes the more imperative to put into proper
perspectives the characters of those seeking the mandate of Nigerians
and in the process, defining the shape of political discourse in a
season replete with typical intrigues. Upon a curious observation, one
would agree that the politics of the 2023 elections seems to be defined by the performance of now lame-ducked presidency being currently administered on the platform of the All Progressives
Congress (APC) and the need to salvage whatever is left of the nation’s patrimony after the storm.
Interestingly, the paramount issues of the moment- if the welfare of
Nigerians improved or deteriorated in the last seven year of APC at the
corridors of national power, how did the incumbent administration
(mis)manage the groundswell of goodwill that brought them to power at
the centre and across states of the federation, or if there is hope in
the days to come to douse the palpable tension in the land brought
upon by a stark decline in the welfare of majority of Nigerians
across the respective states?
While the skewed federalism of Nigeria puts enormous power at the federal level, states are veritable partners in Nigeria’s development strides.
It is on the premise that states play equally strategic roles in their
own might that adequate scrutiny should be accorded those who seek to
govern them. For the purpose of this intervention, Jiwaga state comes
into focus with the aspiration of Mustapha Sule Lamido to bring youthful verve into the governance project on the platform of the
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). For a state that hitherto was a model
in how to transform a largely rural society to meet the challenges of
modern times, Jigawa has had her share of leadership.
During the administration of Saminu Turaki as governor between 1999 and 2007, the major preoccupation was to make the state a doyen of digital economy and commensurate achievements were recorded in this direction through the Galaxy Information Technology and
Telecommunication (GITT) and the Jigawa Broadband Network Program
aimed at exposing the state to the benefits of the innovations in
communication management. The British Department for International
Development (DFID) recognised this particular position of government and went into partnership with the state. stressing its strategic importance in nation building.
Turaki, who is now PDP senatorial candidate for Jigawa North-West Senatorial District in the forthcoming election, and who is playing a major role in the campaigns of the PDP candidate in the state, championed the development of ICT as governor.
When Sule Lamido became governor of Jigawa state in May 2007, the
stage was set for the development trajectory of the state to break
phenomenal frontiers. Prior to becoming governor, Lamido had earned
national reckoning having risen from the Aminu Kano’s ‘radical’
politics of putting the people first to becoming a member of the House
of Representatives, a pro-democracy activist against military misrule to becoming a founding member of PDP and later as minister of foreign affairs in the administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo.
It is worth pointing out that Lamido’s political exposures prepared him to meet popular expectations of Nigerians and for him to perform spectacularly. This reporter’s journalistic instincts prompted him to embark on a fact finding tour of the state at the discomfort of his personal
expenses to ascertain the level of development in Jigawa under
Governor Lamido. Apart from the transformation of Dutse, a hitherto
nondescript town that serves as state capital, Lamido’s landmarks dots
every nook and cranny of the state and this gave his political brand significant following.
In Dutse, the building of a befitting permanent orientation camp for the National Youths Service Corp (NYSC), the
Aminu Kano Triangle that embodied governance functiond and several
other physical infrastructure were indelible footprints that endeared
the people to their leader.
Lamido’s characteristic love for education saw to the remodelling of
primary and secondary schools across the local government areas in the
state, the establishment of the Bamaina Gifted Children Academy that
has produced prize-winning pupils, the establishment of the Sule
Lamido University in Kafin-Hausa and several other polytechnics and technical colleges across the state.
Within the first six months of his administration, Lamido judiciously committed a whooping N2 billion to education and went ahead to make Jigawa an educational model to other state.
His numerous other giant strides in the other important sectors like
agriculture where he made Jigawa a major hub of animal husbandry and
crop cultivation, the health sector that saw to the building of School
of Nursing and Midwifery in Birnin Kudu and Hadeijia and establishment
of several Model Ckinics across most communities made the indigines
give him the title of ‘’father of modern Jigawa.’’
The intervening period after Lamido left office as governor saw the
emergence of Abubakar Badauru at the helm of state affairs in Jigawa
with many of the indigenes interviewed by this reporter for the purpose of this article describing the administration as lacklustre. ‘’Badauru has not shown any commitment to governance as we witnessed
under Sule Lamido and Jigawa state cannot claim to have done well
under this government,’’ Liman Gumel, a farmer told this writer in
Dutse recently.
With Mustapha , the scion of the Sule Lamido school of political thoughts aspiring to govern Jigawa as candidate of PDP in the forthcoming guber elections, there are growing expectations that he
would bring his wealth of knowledge tutored by the revered political
legend to bear. The candidate, with his running mate, Babandi Ibrahim
Gumel, has promised to restore Jigawa to the path of development and
bring needed innovation into governance. The duo are intellectual
giants on their own records with Mustapha graduating from the University of Abuja and proceeding to the prestigious Ahmadu Bello University for his post-graduate studies while his running mate has a
doctoral degree from California Southern University, USA.
In a 10-point Agenda, Lamido has pointed out that he intends to brighten the fortunes of the good people of Jiwawa through ensuring a united and sustainable Jigawa, insitutional reforms, provision of quality education, a guarantee of lives and properties, accessible and affordable health delivery, revolutionalised agric sector and other strategic areas. It behoves on the good people of Jigawa to take their collective destinies in their hands by doing the needful.
Abonu writes from Asokoro, Abuja.
