Nigeria is a country that is blessed with human and natural resources, but poor leadership among its civil and military class has been identified as the bane of the country. This poor leadership problem is the main reason (s) why there is no nationally accepted hero up till now. It is also the major reason why political parties since independence have not been able to throw up quality persons as leaders that would have helped salvage the country from its numerous woes.
At the dusk of Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s life in 1987, the late chief made this pathetic statement: “Although my desire to serve has not been fully realized, my accomplishments in this regard are a source of eternal joy to me.” This was after he had tried all what was humanly possible, to clinch the presidency of Nigeria to no avail. We have since realised as a country that the calculated plots to deny Chief Awolowo Nigeria’s presidency was never his personal loss but that of Nigeria. These form part of the reasons why we are still where we are as a country, not making any visible or tangible progress.
Four of the greatest nationalists of the pre-independence and the immediate post-independence era in Nigeria were clearly Nnamdi Azikiwe, Obafemi Awolowo, Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto and Aminu Kano. In my candid opinion, they deserve national appreciation for their service to Nigeria, but this has not been possible, because of Nigeria’s heterogeneous profile and ethnic polarization. As we speak today, it is difficult to agree on a single national hero.
The British still idolized Winston Churchill and Lloyd George, their two great wartime Prime Ministers of the last century. Ghanaians worship Kwame Nkrumah and J.J. Rawlings, whom they tagged (Junior Jesus). Indians are still sentimental about Mahatma Ghandi, even though he never held a public office. Singaporeans still revere their founding father and first premier, Lee Kwan Yew and pore over his feat in taking the country from “Third World to First World” within three decades. The same goes for Malaysia; anyone who denigrates Kemal Attaturk, founder of modern Turkey risks jail in that country. Americans adore George Washington and Abraham Lincoln and have declared annual national holidays in their honour. South Africa’s Nelson Mandela, imprisoned by his white adversaries for 27 years and later became the country’s first black president for four years after his release. Until his death recently, he was still a national and international hero and even now.
Now that most of our first republic leaders are gone, the new generation of leaders that have shown promise, should be encouraged to take over the mantle of leadership, so that Nigeria, can work and move forward. This is why I think, the outgoing Governor of Jigawa State, Sule Lamido, should be encouraged irrespective of the political party he belongs, to take over the mantle of leadership in Nigeria.
The reasons for my position on this matter, are not far to seek. I was among the journalists that toured Nigeria in 2001, in company of the then Minister of Information and National Orientation, Professor Jerry Gana. During the National Media Tour, we visited Jigawa. Although Dutse had been the state capital, the Duste of 2001, was more like a rural setting, as there was little or no infrastructural development in the place. The road network, in Duste and the environs then, were nothing to write home about. The story of the interior towns of the state, we also visited were not better. In 2007, when Governor Sule Lamido just assumed office for his first term, I again visited Jigawa. Some few weeks back, I had course to return to that state, in the course of my job as a Media Consultant. What I saw on ground in terms of modern infrastructure, road network and schools just to mention a few, was an eye opener and instructive. For some days, I could not believe my eyes that I was in Dutse. I found it very difficult to believe that I was in Jigawa State because I kept asking myself, what was the magic wand that Governor Lamido conjured to develop Jigawa State so fast, in such a short period of time?
I, therefore, needed an answer, before leaving the state. The journalist in me fired my zeal to carry out some independent investigations. I needed to know, how and what Governor Lamido did, to produce these phenomenal and unquantifiable infrastructural developments in the state just between seven years and some months since my last visit to the state. I also wanted to know if these developments were only concentrated in Dutse, the state capital. I took my friend’s car and decided to tour the interior of the state to have a firsthand assessment of the state and also interviewed the ordinary people of Jigawa, without having any contact whatsoever with any of the state government officials.
Almost all the people I spoke with in Birnin Kudu, Hadejia, Gumel, Agangaro village, Gujungu and Rasheed Shekoni Specialist Hosptial, commended Governor Lamido, for being a true disciple of the late Aminu Kano, whose focus, throughout, his political struggle, was the upliftment of the downtrodden. In Jigawa, children that are supposed to be in school are in school free of charge. Infrastructure has been provided by the state government in all sectors of the economy and they are working. The number of banks with branches in Dutse, the capital of Jigawa today, are comparable to the number you have in Lagos and Abuja. The problem of accountability of public funds, which has become a recurring decimal, both at the Federal and state levels of governance is a non-issue in Jigawa, because of the high level of integrity exhibited, by Governor Lamido and his cabinet. The governor’s enthronement of a culture of accountability, transparency, due process and diligence in the award of contracts and execution of jobs has produced immense results, which is today visible.
While most states in Northern Nigeria are today apprehensive of the security problems in the North, Jigawa is so peaceful that one is forced to begin to wonder whether or not Jigawa is still part of Northern Nigeria. My question, therefore, what is Governor Sule Lamido doing to make Jigawa work, which other state governors in Nigeria, have failed to emulate? I was therefore, not surprised that Jigawa has become one of investors’ destinations in the country. Jigawa in spite of this massive development is one of the least indebted states in the country. As we again approach the 2015 general election in Nigeria, it is about time, we put on our thinking caps as a nation, and vote quality and tested people into power, without bothering about ethnic and other primordial considerations, which have always guided the selection of leaders by political parties and the general voting pattern of our people. Governor Sule Lamido, deserves to be given a chance at the center to prove his worth. Nigeria deserves nothing but the best of leadership at this point of our national development. This is my concern. Enough of this one step forward and 10 steps backward!
Gabriel Omonhinmin, a media consultant wrote through [email protected]
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