Fixing Nigeria one nut at a time: Jigawa model

The Kukah Centre, whose focus is faith, leadership and public policy, chose Fashola an APC, and Lamido of the PDP arguably based on their excellent track records of their performance and their impact on governance issues in both states in the last eight years. While Fashola is credited with transforming the megapolis of Lagos, Lamido […]

The Kukah Centre, whose focus is faith, leadership and public policy, chose Fashola an APC, and Lamido of the PDP arguably based on their excellent track records of their performance and their impact on governance issues in both states in the last eight years. While Fashola is credited with transforming the megapolis of Lagos, Lamido is credited with transforming a rural state into a modern one.  The turnout was impressive, with the cavernous hall of the International Conference Centre, Abuja, filled to capacity.  Sule Lamido’s response to question that Bishop Kukah threw at him reflected his experience as a politician and public servant of many decades’ standing.
On the issue of insecurity for instance, Lamido noted that it was a collective problem that required collective efforts to solve. The current insecurity problem bedevilling the country is not limited to the north-east, since it has other facets such as kidnapping, vandalism, baby factories and the selling of human parts that prevail in other parts of the country as well, in his view. The problem must not be seen in isolation, he remarked. Lamido touched on the subject of leadership and good governance, noting that there was a serious disconnect over the years between the leaders and the people such that the people have lost confidence in governance as a whole. Recalling his experiences as governor, Lamido said he inherited a state that was metaphorically below sea level in terms of economic, educational and health care facilities.  Much like from third rate to first. He told his audience that the first thing he did upon taking office was to assemble indigenes of Jigawa, home and ‘abroad’, to discuss how best to confront the multiple challenges facing the state. In the years that followed, he has been able to follow up on all the proposals made at the forum to fruition.
This was the secret to the state’s transformation, he said. Lamido also said the problem of Nigeria is leaders ‘appropriating public wealth to themselves, their associates and their cronies at the expense of the people they are supposed to serve. For Nigeria to develop, he said a leader must focus on building strong institutions rather than rely on the good luck of having strong leaders. He also said we must avoid the practice of converting public institutions to private estates that serve individual interests to the detriments of the public good. His administration, Alhaji Sule said, focused on the building of strong institutions that would anchor the state’s development agenda, not enriching relations and cronies.   During the first three months, he recalled, he experienced received abuses and insults thrown his way; but later on, out of over 300 hundred text messages he now received on daily basis, 90% of them are positive of the direction of his administration. Lamido spoke at some length about his administration’s approach to poverty alleviation which kicked off with the convening of the Talakawa Summit, which he said was revealing to him; it propelled his desire to confront poverty head-on, he said. It thought him that those at leadership level in Nigeria must be ready to be accountable to the people; while the people in turn should not shy away from demanding their rights from leaders.
Asked about the economy, Lamido lamented the poor patronage of Made in Nigeria products. He said unless Nigerians abandoned that attitude, it would be difficult for the economy to advance. He cited as examples of dwindling industries of hides and skins, textiles and cotton, groundnuts and cocoa, which he attributed to the poor patronage of products made from these sources. On President Jonathan’s meeting with state governors that was being planned at the time, Lamido said Dr Goodluck Jonathon was PDP-sponsored presidential candidate; if he triumphed at the forthcoming election, he automatically becomes the Nigerian president, he added. As such, he said, he would continue to give him advice just like any other governor in Nigeria.  On the whole, the discussion at the Kukah Centre was an important contribution to national discourse, and one hopes it would be a continuous process to enhance better understanding among Nigerians, be a source of enlightening the people and updating the citizens about the happenings in the society and a platform for interaction to seek solution to the challenges of our times.

Adamu, media adviser to the Jigawa State governor, wrote from Dutse