A call to Jigawa governor

By: Adamu Muhd Usman Political campaigns and elections have come and gone. What remains now is the governance. Jigawa governor, Malam Umar Namadi a.k.a Dan Modi, is planning to constitute his new cabinet anytime from now for his first tenure in office, In-Sha-Allah.   Cabinet formation is one of the factors that make or mar administration, […]

By: Adamu Muhd Usman

Political campaigns and elections have come and gone. What remains now is the governance. Jigawa governor, Malam Umar Namadi a.k.a Dan Modi, is planning to constitute his new cabinet anytime from now for his first tenure in office, In-Sha-Allah.  

Cabinet formation is one of the factors that make or mar administration, especially in states like Jigawa – where people’s expectations are high. 

The agitations and expectations of Jigawa citizens are to see that Jigawa progresses to a new level – improvement on the existing development and commencement of new ones. 

Governor Dan Modi’s first term success depends on his new cabinet (commissioners, appointees and other aides). About 13 commissioners are expected to be appointed, and probably some of Badaru’s commissioners maybe reappointed into Umar’s new cabinet.  

Some of us have reservations on the reappointment of some of the Badaru’s commissioners into Umar’s cabinet, if the governor is thinking in that direction, though such decisions are exclusively his rights being the chief executive of the state. But suggestions and advice are sometimes essential for a new government. 

Your Excellency, you need to always remember that life needs careful planning and strategy. And strategy sometimes complements planning. 

Sir, you were the Jigawa Commissioner of Finance (2015-2019) and the immediate past deputy governor of the state (2019-2023), so I hope and pray you will make a sober reflection and do your best to meet people expectations. I am not saying you can perform miracles overnight. A person that has never made a mistake has not tried new things. No doubt you will make mistakes but the important thing is to learn from such mistakes. Remember that it is by mistakes we learn; mankind mostly learns from mistakes, not from examples. You should always learn from the attitude and behaviour of the people, as the world itself is an institution of learning.  

Your Excellency, leaders learn by leading and they learn best by leading in the face of obstacles. As weather shapes mountains, problems shape leaders, your experiences in private and public positions will guide you to do the right thing at the right time and for the right purpose. Yes, good leaders are mostly always great simplifiers, who can cut through argument, debate and doubt to offer solutions everyone can understand.  

Sir, as you took over the mantle of leadership as Jigawa governor May 29, 20223; I pray to Allah to       guide you and give you wisdom in order to think of so many issues bothering the state but especially the workplace. There are areas that need serious attention. There is a great need to accelerate the level of development in areas like: education, health, economy, security and human development, etc. And this solely depends on the competent and dedicated team you will chose to be able to assist you in this onerous task. 

Your Excellency, to this regard, there are some heads of ministries, agencies and parastatals who do not deserve to be in this administration because they have performed below average in the past.  

Jigawa is lagging behind and in some other sectors it is stagnant because of incompetent people. Some places were left vacant, and some for long without replacement and promotion based on merit, and these made many things undone, uncompleted, unnoticed, uncelebrated and unappreciated by the general public. 

So, you need to get and assemble a robust team of young, educated, competent, experienced, honest, talented, and committed people who have the state at their hearts. You need people who can turn things around positively and those who have the passion, interest and love for the well-being and progress of the people and the state at large so that you can succeed and leave good legacies behind, In-Sha-Allah. 

Your Excellency, you should bear in mind that all ministries are important but some are more important than others. So, more priority should be given to the more important ones. 

To succeed, you must give honest, dedicated, transparent, selfless and genuine leadership. Since the creation of Jigawa in 1993, the state has assembled an encompassing leadership at all the sectors of the socioeconomic life of the state, one that has committed itself to uplifting the standard of living of the downtrodden like some previous administrations tried to do. Please, politics aside!  So, I hope Governor Umar will as well write his name in gold in the history of Jigawa State. 

Lastly, His Excellency, should realise that the state can never make progress until the citizens have a sense of belonging. I wish you Allah’s guidance. May God continue to help and promote Jigawa to live secured, peaceful and move to the great height. 

Adamu Muhd Usman wrote from Kafin-Hausa, Jigawa State [email protected]