NSGF: Governor Yahaya’s Big Task

It is not yet known how exactly the Governor of Gombe State, Alhaji Inuwa Yahaya, has intended to discharge his responsibilities as the new Chairman of the Northern States Governors Forum (NSGF). Since his emergence as the Forum’s Head late last month, a lot of questions about his capacity and readiness for real delivery are continuously flying around.

The experiences of Northerners with the Forum have necessitated a reflection on its past activities in the basic areas of security, peace and development in the region. Even with the appreciation of the fundamental fact that collaboration among the governors of the Northern States is the only strategy that can guarantee collective growth, the real and perceived failures of the Forum to address the numerous challenges in some or all of the Northern States have been the major issue of concern.

Having come after an unfavourable judgement has already been passed on the Forum as a result of his predecessors’ established records of low performances, Governor Yahaya must have to be prepared for a harsh prejudgement. Until he proves otherwise, the new NSGF Chair will be simply dismissed as another one whose tenure will not be any less disappointing.

In other words, he completely needs to show sufficient understanding of all the past and existing realities about the North as a way of effectively creating the impression that he is genuinely set to make a clear difference. As a leader of the biggest Northern political umbrella, he is justifiably expected to have an abundant knowledge of all those events and situations that not only defined the region in the past but have, even now, become its major features.

Interestingly, there has been the recognition of the fact that the North is only geographically or, more appropriately, structurally fragmented, but not exactly so in any other way. All the 19 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja that have made up the North are there for the purpose of convenience only; convenience in terms of administration, exploitation/exploration and management of resources as well as the delivery of services to the people.

Even with the geographical vastness and the heterogeneity that are its major features, the North has maintained some bold identities that have continued to re-enforce its traditional unity, nay oneness. Neither the creation of states nor the resultant emergence of political leaders in each of those units has eroded the significance of the North as a colossal geo-political expression to which, on account of its history, endowments, demographic structure and contributions to nation-building, the other parts of the country have continued to defer.

There are, in fact, more realities that have depicted the commonality among the Northerners than those that portray divisions. The indigenous communities across the North, as noticeably diverse as they are, have a lot of shared identities that are clearly products of a common history from which they have continued to derive their pride and strength.

All these are facts that should have made both the design and implementation of a common agenda by the Northern States Governors quite possible. The NSGF is somehow a replacement of the defunct Interim Common Services Agency (ICSA), which functioned in a true manner of a provider of critical services to the various geo-political units in the North.

In fact, the governors of the 19 Northern States, irrespective of the political parties to which they individually belong should not fail to realize the setbacks that the region has suffered over the years as a result of poor approach to issues. Much stronger concert and better co-ordination or even harmonization of the activities of the state governments in the areas of common interest facilitated by the Forum would definitely have produced the desired results.

Governor Yahaya, in particular, should realize that he has assumed the leadership of the NSGF at a time of severe test for the North, considering the various forms of violence that have permeated several states and to which unimaginable quantity of lives and wealth have terribly been lost. This should make him to consider the argument that the only way in which he can inspire confidence in the Northerners and, by extension, Nigerians is a show of both concern and determination towards not only the speedy de-escalation, but also the reduction of all the prevailing crises.

The shift of presidency, which had remained in the North for eight years, to the Southern part of the country is no less a challenge that the NSGF must have to tackle as it is a development that calls for adjustment. There should be a highly robust plan for the systematic mitigation of all the possible harsh effects of the recent transfer of the presidency or, more broadly, power to the South in order to ensure that no injury is inflicted on the North as a result of the change.

Although most Northerners have appeared to have lost faith in the Forum in particular and the entire political leadership in the North in general, the new NSGF Chairman can take the necessary steps towards restoration of public confidence in the body. The kind of seriousness and sincerity with which he  approaches the job will eventually determine the quantity of the achievements he will record.

It is absolutely true that, though he is the Forum’s leader, he is still only a little more powerful than the other members. The limit of his powers is such that makes it impossible for him to significantly initiate and drive a process of decision-making or agenda implementation without the full backing of the members who are more his equals than subordinates.

Yet, it is firmly believed that a continuous provision of sound leadership that freely allows for the proper engagement of all the members and even relevant external groups of stakeholders is a good strategy that can readily guarantee effective performance of the Forum. The assurance he gave after he took over the NSGF chairmanship from the immediate past Governor of Plateau State, Simon Lalong, that it would “work hard to ensure that we catch up with the rest of the country, possibly the developed parts of the world, so that our people will feel the impact of good governance” is both a lamentation of the current ugly situation in the North and an expression of a strong determination to turn it around.