Would history be kind to Lamido?

For Governor Sule Lamido who is in the waning weeks of his second and last lap of his two-term at the helm of affairs of Jigawa State, the impact of his leadership on the people cannot be denied, even by his most ardent critics. Political differences should not stop us from admitting the obvious, which […]

For Governor Sule Lamido who is in the waning weeks of his second and last lap of his two-term at the helm of affairs of Jigawa State, the impact of his leadership on the people cannot be denied, even by his most ardent critics. Political differences should not stop us from admitting the obvious, which is that his name would be written in gold in the annals of Jigawa State in particular and Nigeria in general.
From the offensive pejorative of a “glorified rural state”, Lamido has transformed Jigawa to a more prosperous one in a remarkable short period.
In a few days, he will become another Jigawa’s former chief executive. But that’s not the end of the road for his politics and influence. Some of Jigawa’s past chief executives have already gone into oblivion but in his own case, history would no doubt remember him as an outstanding leader the state ever had, a benchmark for his successors.
 Take a look at some of his outstanding contributions to the state and his attempt to document history. The recent construction of seven metropolitan roads named after the G-7 PDP governors, which comprised of five former PDP governors that defected to the now ruling APC, himself and Dr Babangida Aliyu of Niger State; the G9 Housing units named after the founding fathers of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP); the Aminu Kano Triangle and the Sawaba Square among several others; all point to his sense of writing history, since any nation or community that lost its history loses everything.
Since its creation, Jigawa state has a record of persistent underdevelopment. But that trend has been reversed, particularly as the state has now found lasting solutions to its various challenges, thanks to Lamido.  The in-coming APC administration under Muhammadu Badaru Abubakar has a lot to tap from the administration it is succeeding on May 29, 2015: the versatile experience, leadership style and vision which he brought to bear on the state, thereby successfully taken leadership beyond the ordinary way, and making the state a role model among its peers. The experience is equally revealing in the area of jobs creation, intervention programs and standard services, provision of state of the art infrastructure and efficient corps of workers, which the in-coming administration can utilise to achieve success. What would continue to give Lamido an edge in his political life is his range of personal attributes – empathy, standing up for his beliefs, and especially, his basic likeability. Like every human, he has his faults; but these have been overshadowed by the real picture of success that is Jigawa State today.  For his good deeds, posterity and history will shine a golden ambience on him.
 Muhammad Abdullahi Mago, Commissioner for Economic Empowerment, Jigawa State.