I have always had a special interest in Gombe State since its creation by General Sani Abacha. My interest in the state was deepened when I was in graduate school, as a History and Civilizational Studies student. I devoted quality time to read about the history of Gombe Emirate, which was founded by Abubakar Buba Yaro, Amir al-Jaish, one of the students of Uthman Dan Fodio. I was fascinated by the resistance, heroics, politics, internal contradictions, and the military and diplomatic intrigues in the historiography of the conquest of Gombe by the British colonialist.
Despite reading copiously about Gombe, I was left with many unanswered questions. This includes how the people of Gombe perceive the British Royal Niger Company, which later transformed to Unilever. I also wanted to explore the unknown motivations for the revolt of Buba, the Galadima of Akko against Emir Umar. I also wanted to know more about how Gombe has been harnessing her diversity, her unique location in the heart of the Savannah, as well as her agricultural and tourism potentials to create an economic and development that serves the needs of all, especially the poor.
For the above and other reasons, I have always longed to meet and engage with the people from Gombe. Among those that I came across, Mal. Muhammad Gambo Magaji (MGM) stands out. We met on an enormously intellectually endowed platform called Good Governance, put together by a group with loyalty to Baba Ahmed Joda, the Chairman of President Muhammadu Buhari’s Transition Committee in the year 2015. During my stint with the group, I was particularly impressed by the cultured personality, intellectual nimbleness and experiential depth of MGM. I was captivated by how much MGM knows about economic and development ideas. MGM exuded a unique and in-depth understanding of the practical encumbrances that affect budget and development financing, budget performance as well as budgeting for better and sustainable livelihoods, for all. I, therefore, was not surprised that MGM was appointed and inaugurated the Commissioner of Finance and Economic Development, on November 9, 2019, by Governor Muhammad Inuwa-Yayha.
With a strong background in economics and more than a decade of top-level work experience at PowerPoint Consulting Firm Limited, Access Bank Plc, Intercontinental Bank Plc, City Express Bank Plc, among others, Mal. MGM has acquired the managerial and experiential wherewithal so required to re-engineer the economy of Gombe State such that it will be repositioned to enhance the livelihood and livability conditions of its people. As a grassroots man who lived within his people and understands how the economic development programs and plans of the previous governments failed them, Mal. MGM, you now have the opportunity to work with Governor Muhammad Inuwa-Yayha and other members of his cabinet to develop economic and development vision for Gombe that will make a qualitative difference. You will be held accountable to performance metrics, assessing, how the government under which you are a Commissioner of Finance and Economic Development fared, sustainably improving the economic and overall wellness condition of the people of Gombe State.
As you may be aware, the economy that will speak to the needs and concerns of the people must be planned with the people and for the people. Doing this will require that you work with the people of Gombe to develop economic programs and policies that are people-centered. You need to be mindful of proposal merchants, who patronize men in power, deceiving them that they have the blueprints that will banish poverty. There is little to nothing to establish the veracity of their claims, given that governments and those who patronized their blueprints never made any known qualitative progress addressing poverty and enhancing the livelihood conditions of their people.
You also need to be mindful of the economic ideas and programs often sold to the people in power in Nigeria by international development agencies, whose continued survival in business is because of the poverty conditions in developing countries. Their projects and ideas are often disconnected from on-the-ground realities of the people you are appointed to serve. They usually come with their funds, projects, and programs, which times and again are known to be driven by the political economy that not only perpetuates poverty but also keeps them in business. Learn from why those who preceded you failed so that your story serving the people of Gombe under Governor Inuwa-Yayha will be different from those who left economic footprints, which harmed the poor, made them helpless and miserable.
May I advise you to continue with your culture of undiluted loyalty to the cause that you believe will best serve the interest of the people. I remember the reason you did not abandon your political party, APC, when you lost the 2019 Dukku/Nafada Federal Constituency primary election to what I adjudged a questionable process. You said to the best of your understanding and judgment, APC was the best-suited political party for effecting positive changes to the livelihoods of the people of Gombe. You let go of your losses and campaigned heavily for all your party’s candidates during the 2019 general elections, including for Hon. Aishatu Dukku, who is representing your Federal Constituency in the lower house.
Keeping your attitude to let go of personal losses and grievances for the benefits of the collective will contribute to your success as a Commissioner. People will offend, accuse and malign you, rightly and wrongly. In all of that, be your usual forgiving and loving person, and always remember the following words of Caliph Ali: “They are of two kinds… They will commit slips and encounter mistakes. They may act wrongly, wilfully or by neglect. So, extend to them your forgiveness and pardon, in the same way as you would like Allah to extend His forgiveness and pardon to you”.
And be mindful of the sycophants and evil peddlers around the corridors and margins of power, for as the Caliph further noted, “the one among the people under you who is furthest from you and the worst of them in your view should be he who is the most inquisitive of the shortcomings of the people, because people do have shortcomings and the ruler is the most appropriate person to cover them”.
Remember to be just to everyone working under you. Give them the credits and honor that they deserve at all times. Here again, you will find wisdom in one of the pieces of advice of Caliph Ali to Malik al-Ashtar: “Appreciate the performance of every one of them; do not attribute the performance of one to the other and do not minimize their reward below the level of their performance. The high position of a man should not lead you to regard his small deeds as big, nor should the low position of a man make you regard his big deeds as small”.
On a final note, Mal. MGM, I leave you to ponder on the following words of Caliph Umar: “If a mule were to trip on the banks of the Euphrates, I would have feared that Umar would be questioned for it [by Allah] as to why he didn’t pave the road for it.” If a soul should die in Gombe, be mindful that our Lord may question you about it. I congratulate the people of Gombe for having you as their Commissioner of Finance and Economic Development. I congratulate Governor Inuwa-Yayha for having a well-educated, loyal and people-mindful person in his cabinet. And Mal. MGM, you will only be congratulated after you have dutifully served your people with evidence that their lives changed qualitatively under your watch of their economy.
