I want to express my views on the impact of democracy on the rural communities in my state Katsina, specifically the zone where I and our current Governor Aminu Bello Masari hail from. I am the indigene of Malumfashi local government area of Katsina state. My ancestral village is Burdugau G’, ‘G’ means Galadima District while Kafur LGA where my amiable governor hails from was carved out of Malumfashi 25 years ago.
It is established that the main concept of democracy is simply “government of the people, by the people, and for the people”.
This concept implies that democracy is a system of government elected by the majority the people, as representatives to govern them and provide basic necessities of life described as dividends of democracy. These include but are not limited to security, education, healthcare, youth empowerment, virile economy, among others.
Unfortunately, in my state of Katsina, particularly in my ancestral village (Burdugau G’), the situation is deplorable, because successive administrations including those who ruled the state for 16 good years as well as our current Governor Bello Masari have ignored our area without showcasing a single project that could touch the lives of the people of the area as if we are not part of the state.
I was opportune to have a warm handshake with Governor Masari at the Nigerian Army Day celebration in Dansadau Forest of Maru LGA in Zamfara state in 2016. I had appealed to him to come to our aide by constructing our road which starts from Marabar Kankara to Burdugau and Kakumi-Guga road. I also appealed to him to complete our primary health care centre which was started by the state government and MDGs now SDGs but has been abandoned for over 12 years. But all my appeals are being “kept in view” by the governor since then.
The hospital when completed will accommodate 60 patients at the same time and the problem of child and maternal mortality rates will be reduced to the barest minimum among people of the area. Unfortunately, since 2008 to date, we don’t know why the project has been abandoned talk-less of knowing the contractor handling the project.
I appeal to Governor Aminu Bello Masari to look inward and help our community with basic necessities of life, especially good road network, healthcare delivery, secondary school for us to also enjoy the dividend of democracy.
I will not end this piece without continuing appealing to the governor to go back to the drawing board and develop various neglected communities with adequate social amenities in order to reduce the hardship they are facing at the grassroots as 90 per cent of our rural areas lack basic amenities in our Katsina state.
Sanusi Muhammad,
Burdugau G’, Malumfashi LGA,
Katsina state
