A recent visit to Jigawa State by this reporter provided a unique insight into the issue of good leadership in the north and the prospects for halting and reversing the descent of the region from potential prosperity to abject poverty. Driving past the landmark agricultural project initiated by Governor Audu Bako almost half a century ago at Kadawa and seeing how it had taken on a bounteous life of its own, still bestowing thousands of peasant families with an evergreen source of livelihood and prosperity, the relevance of good leadership to the development of people was crystal clear. It was perplexing to observe that such a lasting legacy of good leadership which continues to sustain the masses long after its initiator’s demise is a rarity in the north, hence the tragedy of stagnation and decadence besieging the region. This was also a redeeming reflection on the popular but erroneous notion that the north has been bereft of good leadership since the days of the great Premier and Sardauna of Sokoto, Ahmadu Bello.
Arriving Dutse and beholding the emergence of a modern capital city in the heart of a hitherto desolate hinterland of Nigeria was ecstatic. Asphalted dual carriage-ways, gleaming government buildings, street lights and the frenzy of on-going urban infrastructure and renewal projects captured the attention of the reporter whose last visit to Dutse was in the “ancient” eighties, when only its rocky landscape was remarkable in the Sahelian environment. But, for a 21 year old state there was something strange about the newness of the roads and buildings that bogged the mind. By the time one had compiled an inventory of the development projects after a gruelling tour round the rapidly expanding capital city, the mystery transformed into a miracle of good leadership, recalling the Audu Bako/Ahmadu Bello reminiscences earlier mentioned.
Prominent projects that project the dynamic development profile of the Jigawa State capital include the Three Arms Zone, a modern integrated complex of imposing buildings exclusively structured to accommodate the tripartite institutional arms of democratic government comprising the new secretariat, the House of Assembly and the High Court and their full complement of supporting facilities strategically sited in the vicinity. Its completion has greatly boosted the morale of Jigawa’s civil servants who had been disenchanted with the policy of locating ministries across local governments. No less awe-inspiring is the iconic Aminu Kano Triangle, an architectural symbolic memorabilia in honour of the trail-blazing political leadership and awakening of the Talakawa by the great Malam Aminu Kano and the historic pronouncement of the Sawaba Declaration by its eight NEPU founders on 8/8/1948. Not even Kano can boast of a Sawaba Monument of this magnitude! A similar edifice is the G9 Quarters in Dutse dedicated to the pioneering stages of PDP formation.
Housing, road and other infrastructure developments are taking place all over Dutse. An array of official and private residences of all top Jigawa State government functionaries who are encouraged by government to build their personal homes in the city are complemented by the sprawling Dutse and other housing estates. Township road construction projects in progress soon lead to the transformed Rasheed Shekoni Hospital and the bustling Manpower Development Institute. The image of a rapidly developing capital city is unmistakable. The Yakubu Gowon NYSC and Sports Centre is a fully-facilitated haven for orientation of corps members with year-round functionality. Dutse’s development index is soon to be further elevated on completion of the Dutse Airport scheduled to handle this year’s Hajj.
Amazingly, these are all foundation-laying projects everyone would expect a 21 year old state to have in place in its formative few years but alas, they are virtually all projects that have been executed only in the last six years since the Sule Lamido Administration was elected, raising eyebrows about Jigawa’s first 15 years. Considering Jigawa State’s lowly ranking in allocation of federal revenue it is head-shrinking to imagine what must be going on in supposedly older and richer states, especially bearing in mind the zero-loan policy of the Jigawa government. Yet this is actually taking place in the remote fringes of the “hopeless” North, supposedly synonymous with corruption and bad leadership.
The only logical explanation for the awesome achievements of Governor Sule Lamido with so little and in so short a time, is the effective deployment of genuine commitment to human development, prudent management of available public resources and selfless determination to build a legacy of good leadership which, the governor insists, is the basic responsibility of all good leaders. His marvellous actions speak even louder than his humble words of inspiration. Fellow northerners and all Nigerians to note!
