Imbued with leadership qualities and political wizardry, taciturn Governor Aminu Bello Masari is no doubt an asset to not only Katsina state, the northwest and the northern region, but to Nigeria as a whole.
Through a humble but well-crafted political journey that saw him emerge as a Speaker of the House of Representatives and subsequently two-term governor of Katsina state, Governor Masari has never left any doubt of his leadership skills and political acumen.
His leadership of the lower chambers of the national assembly is a study in maturity, respect for colleagues and clear appreciation of the fact that he was one among equals. Masari, though a high-ranking member of the then ruling PDP, aligned himself with national consideration to vehemently opposed then President Olusegun Obasanjo’s infamous third term bid.
At every point of his national life, Governor Aminu Bello Masari, the Dallatun Katsina, has demonstrated uncanny commitment to delivering quality leadership and displaying unalloyed patriotism.
If his exploits as Speaker of the lower chambers of the National Assembly were commendable, his stewardship as governor of Katsina state is no less so.
Upon assumption of office on May 29 2015, Governor Aminu Bello Masari whose administration met enormous challenges including decaying infrastructures in all the critical sectors including general insecurity in Katsina state, was quick to admit the fact that being in a position of leadership is not a Tea Party.
As should be expected, he rolled up his sleeves and it was while grappling to overcome these challenges that Governor Masari had to also contend with other economic threats like the dwindling revenue and the challenges occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic. Of course, these challenges slowed down the process of economic development in the state.
But Governor Masari soldiered on with a studied focus on the implementation of his administration’s Restoration Agenda which seeks to restore the lost glory of Katsina state after some years of bad leadership focused the state into grappling with decay in education, health care delivery, security and even social-orientation.
It was in a bid to tackle the decay in the education sector for instance, that Governor Masari embarked on the massive rehabilitation of primary schools through which 442 schools were rehabilitated and provided facelift that included the provision of toilets and procurement of classroom furniture.
Aside from diligently rehabilitating schools, the administration also addressed some of the pressing demands of teachers including clearing the backlog of promotion and in so doing, boosted the morale of the teachers for enhanced productivity.
To address the poor performance of students in the national public examinations, the administration introduced the qualifier mock examination. This initiative has yielded positive results as 80 to 90 per cent of the students presented for such examinations passed with flying colors.
Essentially, one other area where Governor Masari made impressive impact is environmental protection through well-thought erosion control programmes and policies including the construction of massive water channels consequent upon which while many states contend with the menace of flooding during the last rainy season, Katsina state recorded a near disaster free incident as far as flooding is concerned.
Indeed, one other critical sector that got a major boost is the area of water supply. As a seasoned technocrat with years of experience in the water sector, Governor Masari accorded deserved attention to this critical area as a result of which the major point of water distribution to Katsina metropolis and its environs which is Ajiwa Dam has been fully renovated. The dam that has suffered years of neglect is now wearing a new look. Multi-billion-naira generators, water supply pumping machines and new pumping stations were erected in the plant. Rehabilitation works were also done in both the Funtua, Malumfashi,Daura, Dutsin-ma and other urban and semi-urban water supply schemes.
Relatedly, the government did remarkably well in the area of health care delivery where general hospitals across the state were rehabilitated while other health centres were upgraded to full-fledged general hospitals. There was also the massive recruitment of health personnel. Drugs were also procured and distributed to hospitals and clinics across the state.
To further boost the manpower base of the state health sector, Governor Masari facilitated the takeoff of the faculty of Medicine of the Umaru Musa Yar’adua University, Katsina.
Without being repetitive, one other area where the Governor Aminu Bello Masari administration recorded a giant leap is in the area of urban renewal. Under a well-crafted initiative that seeks to ease flow of traffic while adding to the aesthetic of the Katsina metropolis, the administration constructed three underpass bridges all of which have helped greatly in beautifying the ancient city of Katsina.
Even his arch-political rivals can attest to the fact that the governor has through his foresight, ensured the prudent and transparent management of the state resources.
It was not surprising therefore, seeing Katsina citizens lauding the administration. Only recently, the Katsina State Elders’ Forum, after a careful review of Governor Masari’s performance in the past eight years, concluded that his record of achievements may remain unbeaten for a long time.
Chairman of the elders and Maradin Katsina, Alhaji Ahmadu Kurfi, speaking through the forum’s scribe, Alhaji Aliyu Sani Mohammed, said Masari’s administration deserves commendation for leadership, untiring human and infrastructure development as well as anti – insecurity efforts.
“No doubt, you have left an indelible record which would be difficult to wipe out and a vacuum that cannot be filled. We pray you get a higher responsibility at the federal level to enable you to continue serving your people,” Kurfi said.
Come May 29, Governor Masari, like all his colleagues who have finished serving their second and final term of office, will hand over power to his successor. Without sounding immodest, it is pertinent to state that Governor Masari’s focused leadership and political sagacity resulted into APC’s massive victory in the Katsina state during the 2023 polls.
In spite of treachery by some insiders, the APC came out very strong in Katsina state during the 2023 polls where even though the PDP scored 489,041 and APC scored 482,283 in the presidential election, APC swept all the three senatorial seats and nine out of the 15 House of Representatives seats in the state.
Masari’s leadership worked tirelessly and, in the end, delivered the APC’s gubernatorial ticket, with the party’s flagbearer, Dikko Umar Radda, polling 859,892 votes to beat Senator Yakubu Lado of the PDP who came a distant second with 486,620.
In the governorship poll, there was a wide margin of 373,272 votes, perhaps the widest margin of victory in the 2023 governorship elections across Nigeria.
Interestingly, APC also won 31 of the 34 seats in the Katsina State House of Assembly, with clear prospects of clinching the remaining three seats scheduled for a rerun.
To say Katsina’s Governor Masari is an asset to both the state and the ruling APC is an understatement. It is on the basis of this that we are passionately calling on him to make himself available to serve in the incoming administration of President-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu (BAT).
Good enough, Governor Masari has been an ardent believer in the ability of BAT to provide the sort of leadership Nigeria desires and has played significant roles in rallying his governor colleagues and other critical stakeholders to support power shift to the south and more specifically, to work towards actualizing BAT’s ambition. It’s Tinubu’s luck that he’s surrounded by people like Masari whose rich résumé will go a long way in assisting him to captain the Nigerian ship.
– Bature Sani K/Kaura writes from Kofar Kaura Layout, Katsina.
