For so long a time, precisely 20 years or more, Alhaji Sule Lamido, the governor of Jigawa State, had lived side by side, with one fundamental expectation, going by his understanding of his own competence. For some inexplicable reasons, this yearning had remained suspended in the air and had rioted in vain.
However, this tall dream, nurtured on behalf of the people of Jigawa State , finally ruptured in a blaze of glory, on May 29th, 2007.
On that day, the Superintendent of the Talakawa brand of political tendency, finally took his oath of office, in the tradition of western democracy, as the third civilian governor of Jigawa State, , with a firm promise to fight poverty, raise the standard of governance, bring back accountability, transparency and due process as well as restore the hope of thousands and millions of his people.
The celebration of May 29th in the state was indeed elaborate and evocative of several dimensions of the contract between the governed and the government. It actually kicked off on the brightest of note, in a fashion and style that is simply Sule’s. Precise in timing, exact in arrangement, colorful in expression, with a mild music in the air, the day woke up at the Kanselem Parade ground, Dutse, with police officers in their traditional ceremonial outfits, already set for action.
Dignitaries started trooping in from within the state and far beyond, right from the break of dawn. The few hotels in the state were filled to the last rooms.
Being a man of the people, being a comrade of the leflist character, being a pillar of the Peoples Democratic Party in Nigeria and also a one time Foreign Affairs Minister, his guests were as many as they were of diverse backgrounds. Some expatriates were in attendance;the young were there and the old also came. The sick, the weak, all surged for space with the strong and the healthy ones.
The traditional rulers, led the chairman of the council of chief and Emir of Hadejia, Alhaji Majia Haruna, were there. Others include traditional rulers from Dutse, Kazaure, Gumel and Ringim; they all arrived in dignified strode.
Sule’s guests also included a special crowd of the old radical family notable among them were Alhaji Amani Inuwa, Alhaji Musa Musawa, Alhaji Lili Gambari and Comrade Wada Waziri, Alhaji Aliko Koki. Others were Alhaji Yusuf Beita, Alhaji Abdulkadir Dantata as well as an eight member special delegation from the indomitable Alhaji Balarabe Musa.
Sule Lamido together with his deputy, Alhaji Ahmed Mahmoud Gumel was the last to drive in to the already surging venue of the ceremony. They arrived without the former governor, Alhaji Ibrahim Turaki and his deputy, Alhaji Hassan Hadejia, who were absent from the event.
The colour of day was not missed. Draped in stainless white Babariga, Lamido stood head above the bar as he took salute to the national anthem. Next was the oath taking ceremony, which was performed and presided over by the State Chief Judge, Justice Tijjani Abubakar, first to the governor and next, to the deputy, to the admiration of an ever restlessly cheerful crowd of well-wishers and celebrants of the new face of democracy.
Lamido’s speech was indeed a clear departure from the traditional remarks akin to swearing in ceremonies. It rented a unique ideological underpinning as the tenet of its operational vision. In a clime, where political parties are devoid of ideology and politicians are mostly empty headed pretenders, Lamido preferred to be identified with an ideological class.
In his first policy statement, he stood very stoutly and demanded to be remembered as setting the pace for the emancipation of the ordinary, forgotten folks of the land, the deprived category, the physically challenged, the silent but several thousand indigenes of the state, who have lived at the receiving edge of the storm.
In this sudden stroke, Lamido revisited the flames of the old tradition and all of a sudden, stirred up the images of the heroes of the struggle for the freedom of the people, which at last, has come. When Sule spoke, thousands of people, many of whom had no account of the history of the ideologues, saw the images of late Mallam Aminu Kano and the ghost of the defunct National Element Progressive Union (NEPU) as well as the characters that shaped the trend of the radical politics of that era.
Lamido, in one brief moment of language, returned yesteryears to the present and evoked the unseen spirits of the pioneers, among which include Mudi Sipikins, Yusuf Bala Usman, Asabe Razor, Bola Ogunbo, Abubakar Rimi, Abdukadir Balarabe Musa, Lekan Balogun, Sa’ad Zungar, Laawl Dambazau, Gambo Sawaba, Bello Ijimu among others.
The new government, he stated, "is firmly anchored on the antecedent of democratic humanism as defined and epitomized by its chief exponent, Malam Aminu Kano". He expressed his optimism in this choice, by stating that, "that is the only ideological framework by which this government can satisfy the yearnings of the vast majority of our people whom poverty and misery have reduced to conditions unworthy of human beings".
To back words with action, the governor announced an automatic monthly survival allowance of N7,000.00 for every physically challenged indigene of State, adding that a draft bill to effect this policy would soon be forwarded to the State House of Assembly.
But on the interim, Lamido reasoned that "an immediate stock taking of those who fall within this social category will also commence and be concluded this week". The exercise, he said would be supervised by the traditional authorities, the State Council of Ulamas and the leaders of the various physically challenged groups including the Lepers, the Crippled and the Blind. He expressed the hope that by this time next year, there would be no beggars in Jigawa State.
The governor also set up the Jigawa State Development Delivery and Intervention Corps (JIDDIL) a volunteers’ scheme which would serve as one of the vehicles to reposition the poorer members of the state to become producers of products for sale at the international market at a price advantageous to them. The scheme would be directly under the supervision of the governor himself.
He also identified four areas of quick and life saving intervention. These areas which he tagged the irreducible minimum, include the deliberate and urgent mobilization of the critical sections of the society namely children and women against certain negative attitudes towards their personal and environmental hygiene, maternal and child health care, girl-child-education and agricultural productivity; the introduction of a mobile medical emergency services for immunization, for maternal and child care, and against afflictions like TB, blindness etc.
Also included in the emergency list is a comprehensive rehabilitation of schools in the state, primary and secondary, including the traditional Islamic schools as well as a massive reforestation and tree planting campaign aimed at the restoration of the nature of Jigawa State.
The real challenge, in the short run is to transform the economy of the state into a modern one, said the governor. This, he noted, can be realized through a growth in the index of operating industries in the State, which means bringing in more investors, as the state remains an unmatched goldmine in the area of great farming, leather production, salt mining, gum Arabic and diaries.
He expressed the hope that the setting up of these industries would process these goods and thus, expand the employment market, create income stability, increase foreign exchange earnings, add value to food and human security, all at once.
Lamido thus, extended calls to all investors, local and foreign to come to his state and declared his government’s intention to grant them special concession.
Specially noted among these classes are investors in mass housing units and those in the hospitality industry. For him, Dutse, the state capital and other emerging towns in the state remain a natural tourist’s attraction, with a world of spectacular scenery.
But the imperative of the new Lamido magic hangs on the edge. His chances of success is heavily mediated by the unsavory news from his predecessor, Alhaji Ibrahim Saminu Turaki. Turak’s regime exited last Tuesday, with a huge debt burden on the neck of the new regime.
In his hand over note, Turaki stated that, "the government of Jigawa State , under my stewardship leaves behind contractual obligations and contingent liabilities of about N28.5Billion, internal loan of about N2 billion, external debt of US$15.8 million and a credit balance of N1.1bilion." The former governor however explained that all the external debts were guaranteed by the Federal Government, noting that government is a continuous process.
Many indigenes of Jigawa State , including some independent analysts believe that the months ahead would be challenging and would signpost the shape of the new government and the direction the government is to be reckoned with by the family of critics, who are only waiting for time and the right excuse.
Baba Umaru Jahun, a blind beggar in the State, thinks the new government policy for the physically challenged persons is the best thing to happen to his life. He told Saturday Sun that "it means one day I would leave this sun and live like a normal human being".
Other indigenes rather preferred to wait and watch. Ibrahim Kiyawa, an indigene of the state and a lecturer by profession said that, "By his standards as a virile critic of the Turaki’s administration, he has raised the bar of what to expect from him’. He noted that most people would be watching to see the marks of difference he would bring to the system and many more, especially loyalists of the Turaki administration would nail him for every fault.
Alhaji Duniya Bahutu, the Chairman of the party in the state however noted that the people of the State can go and celebrate democracy because Lamido has no reason to renege on the promises of salvation he has offered on the day of his oath taking."Every word he said, he said it with conviction, he meant it to the very last and all we need do is to support him to realize his dreams of being the Talawaka governor of his choice and the best governor in the whole of Africa
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