When you came into office, you announced a 12-point agenda. Can you share with us how you have pursued this agenda?
We assumed office with a mission and vision to move Jigawa State forward. Our target is to build a greater Jigawa. On that basis, we came up with a 12-point agenda, covering almost all sectors, including education, health, youth empowerment, agriculture, social security, revenue generation, urban renewal and rural infrastructure. I may not be the best person to say whether or not we have achieved all we set out to do. The people of Jigawa would be in the best position to assess us. But from our assessment as a government, I think we have achieved so much and we are proud of what we have achieved. We thank God for giving us the opportunity to do what we have done.
We designed a citizens’ engagement programme. I am sure we are the only state government in Nigeria that undertakes that kind of citizen engagement. We designed it in such a way that we go to a local government and hold stakeholders’ town hall meetings with people from all the wards every Sunday. We tell them, as a government, what we have done within the last two years. They can approve or disapprove. For every sector, the commissioner will talk to the people about what we have done. The local government chairman will also tell the people what he has done. Since we run a federal system, we ask the senator and the member of the House of Representatives to tell the people what the federal government has done for the people through them.
As of today, we have done this in about eight local governments, and by next Sunday, we will be in the ninth one. We will be doing that up to November so that we will complete the 27 local governments. So far, it has been praised for its success in all the local governments we have gone to. I think we have done well on the 12-point agenda but like I said the people of Jigawa will be in the best position to say so.
Talking about specifics, you have committed 30 percent of the budget to education while the girl-child education, ICT and agriculture have also been accorded priority. Why did you choose these sectors?
Jigawa is an agrarian state. About 85 to 90 percent of our people are farmers. Any government that wants to improve the economy of Jigawa and the people’s livelihood must pay attention to agriculture. Agriculture accounts for 46 percent of our GDP. I am happy to say that what we are doing has really revamped the economy of Jigawa State. It has really improved the livelihood of our people. In fact, it has drastically reduced the rural-urban migration in the state. The youths have now accepted agriculture as a business and not as subsistence farming alone. That is why we have given priority to agriculture.
Education is the lifewire of the development of any society in the world, not only in Jigawa State. So, we felt the need to educate our people, knowing that once we educate them, especially the youths, they will be the leaders of tomorrow. That is why we give priority to education. We have many educational programmes. At the higher level, we implemented an all- inclusive IT programme that will not just impart knowledge to the people but also help us address absenteeism of teachers. It has also helped us train teachers. As of today, I think we have trained more than 12,000 teachers under this scheme.
Again, we introduced a system to reduce the number of out-of-school children and that is why we created the Tsangaya Board, an agency that has taken off. What we are doing is to ensure that all children in Jigawa State, who are out-of-school, are brought back to school. We have succeeded in doing that. The Tsangaya School has agreed with all the stakeholders that we will teach three things: numeracy and literacy for two days, Islamic education for another three days and then vocational education for one day. The Tsangaya School will equip them with all the tools that are necessary to provide vocational and technical education to equip the people.
The third arm we are taking is technological and vocational education. Recently, we learnt, in one of the schools we opened for technical and vocational education, the first in-take of 200 students were already there. This school, we are going to provide it with all the equipment. We have upgraded the hostels, we have additional classrooms and we are going to train all the teachers, and very soon the equipment will arrive. In that school alone, we are going to commit about N5 billion. That is one of the eight centres of excellence we have created for technical and vocational education.
Among the northern states, particularly in the North West, Jigawa has been relatively peaceful in terms of security. What are you doing that other states can borrow?
First of all, we need to give the glory to Allah ‘SWT’ for giving us peace and keeping the state peaceful. It is not our making. It is not because we are better than anybody that it has happened. God decides what He wants to do so, we thank Allah for that. By and large, we adopt the bottom-top approach in Jigawa State. I could remember that for 25 years, two local governments in Jigawa State did not have peace. Farmers could not go to farm, people would be killed because of clashes between farmers and herders. But when we came in by the grace of Allah, we were able to restore peace in that place.
For the last two years, nobody has been killed and farmers are doing their normal businesses on their farms. You can go to the farm at 2am, you can go anytime you want. In fact, it is a very successful operation. But we give glory to Allah because He guided us to do what we did. So, what we did as I said is bottom-top approach. We called all the people, and sought to know what was happening. The Fulanis would accuse the farmers, the farmers would accuse the Fulanis, and then both the Fulanis and farmers would accuse the traditional institutions. So, when we got that information, we called the farmers and Fulanis to explain what was happening. They accused one another of causing the problem.
On the basis of that interface, we were able to understand the real problem. The meetings were always held with all the security agencies in attendance. Since we had identified the problem, how do you get the solution? So, we set up a committee made up of the Fulanis, farmers and the traditional institution.
We urged His Royal Highness, the Emir of Hadeija, which is the traditional institution in Jigawa, to give us a traditional ruler who will be part of this committee. So, in his magnanimity, he gave us the Sarkin Fulani of Hadeija, who chairs the committee. All members of the committee took an oath to do their best to solve the problem. I gave clear terms that I will hold them responsible for any problem in that area again. So, they all agreed and they went to work and by Allah’s grace, today it is history.
How has the state been collaborating with the federal government in trying to bring lasting peace to Jigawa State?
Whenever the committee is meeting, everybody is there. The Commissioner of Police, the Brigade Commander is there, the Civil Defence Commandant is there, Customs – all the security agencies, which are federal government parastatals were part and parcel of the process. They were all there. In fact, the synergy among security agencies in Jigawa State is fantastic.
Recently, northern leaders, including traditional rulers and governors, met in Kaduna and called for the creation of state police. What is your take on this, considering the concerns that governors might abuse it? So, how are you preparing your state for state policing?
I don’t think any responsible governor will abuse state police by using it for his personal interest. It is a fraction of the entire population in your state. I have 7.4 million people in Jigawa State. For the state police, the highest we will take is 300,000 or 500,000, which is a fraction of 7.4 million. Why will I use this for my own personal interest? I should use it for the benefit of 7.4 million people. After all, the state police will work in synergy with the federal police.
Those who have these fears point to what they see happening to the local government system where some governors are overbearing; they don’t allow these institutions to work. I think that is where some of these fears are coming from. You don’t think they are valid?
No, you don’t generalise everything and say they are valid or not valid. People are different. I don’t think all the governors are overbearing on local government. After all, local governments are autonomous. Before my time, Jigawa local governments were autonomous. They take their money and do disbursement on their own. I can beat my chest and tell you I don’t take a single kobo from the local government. Apart from what we all agreed on a joint project account, and even the joint project account, each local government will send its own contribution directly. We don’t take it at source.
But there is also concern that governors might use it to suppress the opposition at elections.
I don’t think so. The issue is even rigging elections; you can do it when you have the majority. If you don’t have the majority, you cannot rig, people will revolt. Let me tell you, Nigerian voters are now wiser. So, you think you will use the police to coerce people to vote for you or you will use the police to do what? After all, this is an election and there are so many people that are part and parcel of it. We have independent observers, we have the voters, we have everybody there. So, whatever you do which is bad, people will be there to testify.
Your party, the APC has recorded a lot of defections into its fold to the point where there are concerns of a one-party system. Is it part of the party’s agenda to consolidate power?
No, I think the people who are saying that are not being fair to Mr President, who by his history, is a known democrat. He has even put his life at stake for democracy to reign in this country. He has been on exile, he has been in prison, he has been everywhere for democracy to survive. I don’t think Mr President will like a one-party system. Even if he wants a one-party system, he wouldn’t fight to the extent of risking his life. So, the issue of a one-party system is not there. This is simple, people are convinced that the government is in the right state, and is taking them to the promised land. The government policies are in their own interest and they don’t want to be left behind. That is why they also want to come back, participate and be part of the success story. I think that is what is happening. That does not mean we are moving to a one-party system. The parties are still in existence and they still have some followers.
But they are being emasculated…?
Who is emasculating them? Are the ‘talakawas’ emasculating them? Because people are convinced with the programmes of Mr President, they feel that what the President is doing as an APC President is right. He is doing the right thing, so, they don’t want to be left out. They want to join the train to be be part of the success story. So, nobody is emasculating them. Did anybody ask you to come and join APC?
You do not think the claim by the opposition that people are running to APC because they are afraid of either losing re-election or they are looking for protection or cover is cogent?
I don’t think so. If you are bad, you are bad. If you are good, you are good. If you are good to your people in any party you are in, they will vote for you. If you are bad, no matter where you come from, people will not vote for you. That is the truth. It is not because people are looking for cover, no. This is conviction. Nigerian voters are now becoming more sophisticated than we think. They can decide to say yes, if they mean yes and then no, if they mean no. So, the issue is that the voters are now becoming sophisticated.
…As cover from the EFCC?
Anybody who is doing that does not know who President Bola Tinubu is. The president we know will never give you a cover for doing bad, because you are coming to his own party. He will never do that, so anybody who is moving to APC because he has done something bad and he feels if he comes to the APC he will get a cover, is making a big mistake.
Recently, there was an exchange of words between one of your predecessors, former Governor Sule Lamido and the APC national chairman, Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje. While Lamido said people like Ganduje will soon come back to the PDP, Ganduje fired back that the PDP is dead and they will soon receive Lamido into the APC. You were at Lamido’s recent book launch. Could that be part of the process of bringing him back to the APC?
No, not at all. Lamido is a former governor of Jigawa State and I am the current governor of the state. That governorship seat is so important. As the governor, he served the people of Jigawa State. Now that I am governor from a different party, it does not mean I will not relate with him. That does not mean if he is doing something and he invites me, I will not be there. That office is prestigious enough and devoid of politics.
Of course, I am an APC man and he is a PDP man, but it has nothing to do with that. For the fact that he is a former governor, I will give him that honour. You can see that it was not only me that was there, all the former governors that serve Jigawa State were there.
Will you want him (Lamido) to come back to APC?
If he so wishes, why not? As a party, one person is very important to us.
Talking about Jigawa and former governors, you have been two years in office and unlike the other states where you find out that those who supported them into power; their predecessors, they are now on the warpath. What is your secret, how do you relate with your predecessor?
We relate very well. I see the former governor as my boss. He doesn’t put pressure on me. If there is anything that he wants to advise us, he will call us and do so. If there is anything that we need to consult him on, we call him and he will advise us appropriately. So, the question of having friction with anybody doesn’t arise. After all, we are in the same party, so what problem should we have? We work together. This is the person I served as a commissioner for finance and after that, I served as his deputy governor. Why should I have a problem with him?
There is an ongoing discussion about a coalition to dislodge APC in 2027. What is your reaction to this?
Well, you see, this is a free democracy and there is also freedom of association. So, if people feel that they can have an opinion, they want to form a coalition, yes, the Nigerian people are the judges, not President Bola Tinubu, not anybody. Nigerian people will judge whether the coalition will succeed or not. We are not here to judge. No! They said they wanted to form it and maybe they have their reasons. So, let’s see what will happen; the Nigerian people will judge at the end of the day.
So, it does not give you sleepless nights?
Not at all. Not at all.
What about insinuations in some quarters that the president might be losing popularity in the North and likely some states?
I don’t think so. At our citizens engagement programme, you will always see the pictures of the president and my pictures, and nobody has complained. People are hailing the president and sending their greetings in any ward I go to.
The people are extremely happy because it is the first of its kind. After being elected we are coming back to them. We don’t want to wait until another round of elections comes.
So, we are still going to the people and they are looking at our scorecard. In all these, people are happy with Mr President, the state government, and their representatives. So, the issue of the president having a problem in the North is not an issue. It’s some people who choose to see it that way. But we are not seeing it because we are there at the grassroots, we are with the people and we know their feelings. So, that is not an issue.
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