History Maker: The Sule Lamido Regime, Radical Populism, and Governance in Jigawa State

By Chinedum Igbokwe

History Maker presents the story of Lamidos political journey as told by different authors. It captures his origins, struggles, achievements, and travails. The book attempts to bring out the salient virtues of consistency, determination, belief in individual abilities, faith in God, and resolve to endure hardship to fulfil a personal dream, which are the hallmarks of Lamidospolitical life. It provides a guide to the attitude and disposition of Lamido to life and politics.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Apr 6, 2017
• ISBN: 9781524531768

Chinedum Igbokwe

Alhaji Sule Lamido is one of the most prominent politicians in contemporary Nigeria. A dogged believer in political and economic freedom, he has faced trials and torments on his way to prominence. But he knows how to rise above all vicissitude to keep his career on an upward trajectory. History Maker presents the story of Lamido’s political journey as told by different authors. It captures his origins, struggles, achievements, and travails. The book attempts to bring out the salient virtues of consistency, determination, belief in individual abilities, faith in God, and resolve to endure hardship to fulfi l a personal dream, which are the hallmarks of Lamido’s political life. It provides a guide to the attitude and disposition of Lamido to life and politics.

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Copyright © 2017 by Chinedum Igbokwe.

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CONTENTS

11. In the People’s Words

12. Scorecard

13. Splendid Landmarks of Sule Lamido as Foreign Minister

14. The Political Travails of Sule Lamido

15. Towards 2015 Presidency

16. Sule Lamido: The Principled Party Man

Epilogue

Acknowledgments

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Sule Lamido

CHAPTER 11

In the People’s Words

Prominent Nigerians Rate Lamido

Sule Lamido is the one politician in Nigeria who can be positively addressed as A Man of the People, to borrow the title of Chinua Achebe’s classic novel published in 1966. Lamido always gets deserved praise from the high and mighty as well as the poor and lowly. He bestrides the political spectrum like a colossus and wows the polity with an uncommon common touch. He has allies from all over the country. The testimonials from major political actors from all the geo-political zones of Nigeria attest to the fact that Lamido is a pan-Nigerian leader deserving of the highest pedestal of leadership in the country.

According to the great Canadian-born American, John Kenneth Galbraith, author of The Great Crash of 1929, All of the great leaders have had one characteristic in common: it was the willingness to confront unequivocally the major anxiety of their people in their time. This, and not much else, is the essence of leadership. Sule Lamido has in the course of his stewardship confronted the anxiety of poverty bedeviling the common people. He has always been there in the frontline, leading through personal example. The people have of course stood by him as can be seen in the words of all who had borne witness to his splendid leadership.

The highly respected Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’ad Abubakar III bears ample testimony that Lamdo’s works have indeed been phenomenal, advising other administrators to copy him. Former Nigerian president Chief Olusegun Obasanjo is as ever full of praise for Lamido’s dynamism, passion and courage. In the remarkable words of Nigeria’s only military President General Ibrahim Babangida, Lamido is the Sheik of Politics. Former vice-president Alhaji Atiku Abubakar describes Sule Lamido as a wonder-worker who transformed the fortunes of Jigawa State.

The unique essence of the man Sule Lamido can be gleaned from the testimony of Nigeria’s former President Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan who said: Sule Lamido is a man of his word. The ex-President then praised the pivotal role played by Lamido towards the winning of the 2011 presidential elections thus: I assessed my governors then on how many scores I got during the primaries because if a governor means well for you, even if he is unable to control the total number of votes during the general elections, in the primaries which are party issues, which the governors have a control of about 70 percent, the governor controls what happens.

To appreciate why Sule Lamido appeals to all, across ethnic groups and even races, it is crucial to understand what he says of himself in the interview with Ibanga Isene of Premium Times: I have never believed in being a European, American, Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo, Ibibio, Anang etc. I have always believed in humanity. It was that single consideration that defined my political belief – what I felt about human beings, what I saw in their lives, their social status and their comfort, misery and agony. I have always been concerned about how human beings are agonized by deprivation. These have defined my political belief – humanity. An irrepressible champion of humanity, Sule Lamido has a formidable cast of supporters. Newspaper columnists and critics alike are somewhat united in their casting of Sule Lamido as one Nigerian politician who takes Nigeria seriously.

Writing in the Leadership of April 14, 2016, Kingsley Musa averred: It is crystal clear that whenever the annals of the Nigerian political configurations is chronicled, it will certainly be incomplete without devoting some crucial chapters of history to the rise and triumph of Dr Sule Lamido, a political gladiator who cut his teeth under the influential tutelage of the late Aminu Kano, progenitor of the Talakawa brand of revolutionary politics. Lamido as a grassroots-oriented leader did not waste time in moving swiftly towards delivering crucial democratic dividends to the people. Various contracts were awarded and executed by the state government for the construction of roads, schools, hospitals, dams, airport, water boreholes and what have you. In fact, Jigawa State from 2007 to 2015 resembled a giant construction site with a lot of landmark projects being executed for the welfare of the people and the state was envied and had remained a model to his contemporary governors. The construction of the epochal Dutse International Airport by the Lamido government with the limited resources at its disposal will go down in history as one of the most enduring feats of any state governor in our present democratic continuum. Lamido has been ranked as one of the most transparent and exemplary state governors by Transparency International, a global anti-corruption watchdog. As they say, the voice of the people is the voice of God. It is indeed ordained on high that Sule Lamido is the leader modern-day Nigeria needs for her fundamental and total transformation.

The Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’ad Abubakar III

The Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’ad Abubakar III, speaking on 19 December 2009, during his fourth visit to Dutse since 29 May 2007, when Governor Lamido assumed office, described as phenomenal the performance of the Jigawa State governor. The Sultan further declared, What the governor has been doing in the last two and a half years is something so phenomenal that I am sure so many administrators should be copying from him.

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo

OBJ: When OBJ got up to speak, he started by saying that the last time he was in Jigawa State, he knew that the state capital lacked many things. What I didn’t know at that time was that to move the state forward, you need somebody who knew the needs of people and who will be dynamic enough to provide those needs. So, we must thank God for giving us this governor that we have today. Confessing that he did not know Sule Lamido very well ‘except by reputation that he is a socialist’. Obasanjo said it was either he didn’t know him well or Lamido had gotten wider knowledge because I can see that he has transformed from being a socialist to a traditionalist. While in the car on our way here, said the former president, Lamido told him a number of things and one of them was about paying a courtesy call on the Emir and I was surprised because some traditional rulers were apprehensive that Sule would become governor. Until you see somebody very well, don’t judge him, Obasanjo cautioned, emphasising that he did not see how anyone from North-Western and South-Western Nigeria could trample on traditional rulers. Obasanjo declared that everything Lamido had said about him was true. In 1999, he said Nigeria was not looking for a president who would provide roads and water, but also hold Nigeria together. According to him, what he had to give was leadership. His verdict now is that, Sule was close to me in giving that leadership, internally and externally."

Turning to Lamido, the former president said while trying to hold Nigeria together at home the external work had to be done. In this, Sule Lamido was the arrow head for that exercise. Sule is tough and soft. But he has a way of dealing with people that makes him loved. When I travel now people ask me, how is that your foreign minister?’ If it is men who asked me I tell them. If it is women who asked me, I say Umh (a reference to Lamido’s aloofness from extra-marital relationships), Describing Lamido as a man who had both passion and courage, Obasanjo said the governor was, indeed, his true son, saying those were the core attributes of success and leadership."

—Reproduced from Sule Lamido, OBJ and the Jigawa Visit (Daily Sun, May 1, 2009, pg.2)

IBB

At any point in time, I always want to be where Sule Lamido is. I always wish to meet him because I am an amateur in terms of politics, but I know Governor Lamido. Before, we used to call him Ladan of Politics. But now he has passed the level of ladan to that of Imam and now I crown him the Sheik of Politics. In whatever form I meet him, I always learn one or two things from him because he is a man of the people. Alhamdulillahi, when I came here, my first question to him was where he got money to execute all these projects. He has a friend in our team who first broke the story to me that Lamido had done a marvelous job in Jigawa. I replied him, ‘Please, tell me the truth, I hope you are not commending him because he is your friend’. He said no. What I have seen along with my entourage now has confirmed what the friend told me long before now. So I want to seize this opportunity to commend you and to ask you to continue with this good job and, secondly, to ask Jigawa people to support you.

—General Ibrahim Babangida during the sympathy visit to Jigawa over the flood emergency in October 2010

Atiku Abubakar

As we moved around both now and my last visit here on May 29th, I have seen wonders. We are really surprised about the performance. I asked him what magic he did because it is as if a spirit came to do the job, not a human being. If you were in Jigawa today and you came tomorrow, you will see differences. I want to seize this opportunity to commend the governor and the people.

—Former vice president Atiku Abubakar, speaking in Dutse last October during a sympathy visit over the last Jigawa flood

Aliyu Gusau

According to Gusau, Lamido’s protocol officers had taken him to a number of places in Dutse after receiving him at Jigawa’s border with Kano. And what he had seen in the course of the tour is one of the wonders of the world, not just of Nigeria. Going specific, Gusau said he had seen things in Dutse which he had not seen in any state in Nigeria. ‘I have seen a hospital which is equipped to compare to anywhere in the world. And I can assure you that I have been to many parts of the world, 122 countries in fact’.

To this he added the township road network, the rebuilding of schools and the electrification of the town in such a way that eliminates the difference between day and night. He did not expect anything less from this PRP man, Gusau said.

Bukola Saraki

I was moved by what I saw at the specialist hospital. As a doctor I am in a better position to appreciate what I saw. What I saw there can match any in any part of the world.

—Kwara State governor speaking in Dutse during a sympathy visit over the Jigawa flood disaster last October

Alhaji Abba Dabo

On the issue of the Sule Lamido he knows, Dabo’s testimony is that Lamido is summarised by simplicity, frankness—sometimes to a fault—and charisma. He described Sule as domineering and cantankerous, someone who does not fear himself and fears no one else.

His clincher is that if Jigawa is going to change and if Nigeria is going anywhere in this dispensation, it is people like Lamido who would spearhead the attainment of that feat.

—Former chief press secretary to President Shehu Shagari, speaking at the reception for Governor Sule Lamido on 8 July 2007 (reproduced from Cicero pages of ThisDay, 15 July 2007)

Chief Emeka Ejiofor

The little known biographer of late Aminu Kano associated himself with Sule Bello’s analysis, listing so many examples of Mallam Aminu Kano’s sacrifices and extreme acts of self-abnegation. He couldn’t help urging Lamido to go for the presidency, saying, You are not too old.

—From the report of the proceedings of Where is the Missing Link? Symposium in Dutse, 20 May 2010

Amina Ibrahim

While responding to the above question on NTA’s Tuesday Night Live on November 11, 2008, the presidential assistant said, among other things, the Jigawa, leadership under Lamido was not only thinking ahead development-wise but also operating a due process that is even stricter than could have been imagined.

—Amina Ibrahim, SSA to the president on MDGs

The NEWS JANUARY 24, 2011

Even If You Stage A Revolution Today, You Will Still Need The Sule Lamidos.

Adagbo Onoja, Special Adviser on Media Affairs to the Governor, spoke to General Editor, ADEMOLA ADEGBAMIGBE, on what makes Sule Lamido tick.

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Q: Many people found it somehow surprising that Governor Lamido proclaimed Goodluck Jonathan even before the PDP Convention.

How many people are surprised?

Many people, including you because that is what you wrote in your advertorial on Lamido and 2011.

No, no. That is not what I wrote. I said it was shocking that Lamido refused to join the presidential race himself.

But we feel the people’s pulse and we know what they feelAnd you found many people were surprised, eh?

Yes, we did

I don’t think so. If anything, I think many were relieved when the Governor made the statement that Goodluck would be the candidate of the party. And let me correct you. He was not campaigning for Goodluck or any individual. He was advancing the position of his own tendency. So, it is not about Sule Lamido or Goodluck or any individual. It is about position taken.

Q: Given his pedigree, why did it have to be him?

What is that pedigree and what does his pedigree say about abiding by or carrying out group or party decision?

His pedigree is about radical politics that can take the country out of poverty, crisis.

Is it because Sule Lamido is campaigning for Goodluck that the country is in crisis? Will the crisis end if he stops campaigning for one candidate or another? Of course there is crisis in Nigeria, a very serious one at that, and one aspect of which is poor leadership. But I think the issue about Gov Lamido campaigning for the President is about obedience to party principles than personal or private solidarity.

Q: If there is a revolution today, where will people like Lamido be?

He will still be around. You see, even if you stage a revolution in Nigeria today, you will still need people like Sule Lamido. It is one thing to do a revolution, it is another to consolidate power and run a government. We have the dialectics, the logic and the analysis which are what we need anyway but there are other skills you also need the day after the revolution. Are you thinking of staging a revolution?

Don’t you think we have to get out of what you called the pressure cooker in your piece?

Certainly, Nigeria is overdue for a revolution in that sense but the problem with Nigeria is this lack of the subjective forces that can transcend the incoherence of Nigerian pluralism and provide a vanguard. So, instead of revolutionaries and a revolution, you have warlords, ethno-racial chauvinists, political pimps and revolutionary lumpens. And these are the people you guys celebrate in the media.

Q: But why can’t people like Sule Lamido leave the establishment?

Do you know what will happen if people like Sule Lamido are not there in the system? In a country like Nigeria which has no conscience, do you know what will happen if there are no Sule Lamidos in the system?

That is why I asked you. What do you think is the way forward?

I am operating at a very small level here and what I say would not matter about the way forward in this country the way things are now. But what I was telling my sister, Hajiya Sadautu Mahdi when she came here last week for an INEC function is this. Why can’t the civil society governance groups or desks coalesce into a single issue campaign, a massive campaign to compel the various levels of government in this country to abide by Chapter Two of the Nigerian constitution? That is the revolution that is overdue in Nigeria. An editor was telling me what Professor Eskor Toyo said on this and how apt it is. Eskor is reported to have wondered what sort of ruling class is the Nigerian ruling class that cannot even obey its own constitution. The constitution says there are certain fundamental objectives and directive principles of state policy. Yet, the governments are behaving as if there are no such provisions.

But they are not justiciable

The civil society governance coalition will make it justiciable. The constitution did not need to make it justiciable. The people who put it there knew that any government which is not doing all those things in that chapter is shooting itself in the foot. Unfortunately, you have many governors, ministers, advisers, LGC chairmen who have not read the chapter, much less care to implement it at their various levels of power. They should be made to do that.

Has your Governor read the chapter?

Let me tell you that Lamido can say and do whatever he says or does simply because he has not only read but fully implemented Chapter 2. That is the basis of his enormous self- confidence or what you people like to call arrogance. Jigawa of 2007 to date is in the image of Chapter TWO of the constitution, ranging from social justice to social provisioning to the infrastructural intervention to the guided statism. When the Governor talks about Jigawa having the smoothest road network in the counttry or about where access to safe drinking water is the best in the country, these are all about that Chapter 2.

These things you are saying, will the Government accept independent assessors?

Were you not among the journalists who did an assessment of the six Skills Acquisition Centres in Jigawa previously? Were you put under any pressure from anybody to write or not to write your story differently from what you saw?

I have never told any journalist to cover up anything because the Governor said, let them write. If what they write is true, government will go and correct it. If what they write is not true, the people will laugh at them. So, bring all your independent assessors if there can be more independent assessors than your team, the World Bank, DFID and so on. If you click Lamido or Jigawa in Google now, you will find all the commendations there. But bring whatever independent assessors you want. We are here.

I am saying this because most political office holders are known to be hostile to criticism. And your man is said to be very combative too.

Governor may be combative but he is not hostile to criticism. The problem is that if you don’t have verbal advantage, then I am sorry because you may not even open your mouth before he overwhelms you. But this is just the politician’s power game trick. It doesn’t extend to public policy. In governmental affairs, you can even text him and he will reply you.

That is not the same as when you take him on

Okay, were you here the day the Peer Review Team from the

Nigerian Governors’ Forum came? That day, many critical things were said. The Governor even had to pull his pen and start jotting down some points by himself. Those were very vibrant technocratic chaps. Most of them, especially the Northerners, would start by saying how they grew up admiring Lamido’s courage in politics and all that and then go ahead to pose their public policy critique in the most forthright manner. Even though they scored him an A, they really spoke truth to Jigawa public

policy that day. And the Governor sat through it all. So, people do take him on.

But you call him Emperor

No. No. No. It is not me who called him Emperor. It is Professor Jubril Aminu. That was when he was Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Prof came to the house to see him and we were at breakfast with a visiting journalist. When Prof Aminu came in and saw the table, he said, ‘Oh, this is like an emperor’s breakfast.’ So, Lamido protested, saying how could anybody compare a breakfast of akara, fried yam and fura to an emperor’s breakfast. And they would laugh and start speaking Fulfulde. But the journalist and I already crafted our own mischief out of the joke and started calling him Emperor, but only at his back.

And he didn’t punish you?

How can he punish us when he doesn’t know. Before now, it was only two of us who called him emperor. So, if he agrees to grant you this interview and you go there and call him emperor, you are on your own.

ThisDay.jpg

ThisDay, Newspaper Monday, March 3, 2008

LG Poll: Did Jigawa Get It Right?

Jigawa State recently conducted its local government election through the State Independent Electoral Commission’s (JSIEC). The election, which was boycotted by a section of the opposition, took place under a peaceful atmosphere. Taiwo Olawale in this report reviews the exercise and asks whether the state got it right.

There was so much apprehension ahead of the recent Jigawa State’s local council elections. The apprehension was fuelled partly by past experiences in the country in general and in the state in particular. During last April general elections, the state had witnessed pockets of violence. In fact, elections in some local government areas had to be postponed because of violence. Before importantly however, the neighbouring Kano’s experience during and after the LG polls in November had sent the wrong signals. The situation was so bad that soldiers had to be deployed to stop bloodbath that followed the Kano council elections.

Then, the Jigawa State Independent Electoral Commission’s (JSIEC) preparations for the elections became a big source of worry. The commission made several false starts during the run up to the elections. Election dates were fixed and postponed three times, this eroded the commission’s credibility so badly that stakeholders expected a poorly organised election.

‘The signals were so dreadful that opposition parties started complaining. They expressed misgivings over the preparations as well as that they alleged were plans to manipulate the process to favour the ruling PDP. In fact, some opposition parties concluded that nothing good would come out of the process. On its part, the ANPP went round to advice supporters to shun violence no matter what. They also invoked the Holy Qur’an against would-be riggers.

The Nigeria Police also caused a major scare on the eve of the election when it announced that it had intelligence reports that some politicians planned to cause trouble by importing thugs and other mercenaries from neighbouring Kano State. To checkmate the so ailed trouble makers bent on scuttling the peaceful conduct of the council elections, the state command placed restrictions on movement before and during the elections.

According to a statement issued by the command, the restriction inter-local council movements came into effect midnight Friday and was to end at 6pm Saturday when elections would be concluded. The statement issued by the command’s PPRO. Abdu Jinjiri stated that the restriction was informed by intelligence reports which indicated that some politicians were recruiting mercenaries and known trouble makers from Gezawa in Kano with the aim of using them to foment trouble, before, during and after the elections in the state.

The command further explained that there were other reports suggesting plans to import people from neighbouring states on the eve of the elections with the sole intention of compromising the elections. It warned that the command would not tolerate any action or actions that would threaten the peaceful conduct of the elections. It explained that the restriction of movement from midnight Friday to the end of elections was part of strategies by the command to checkmate any would-be trouble maker.

The only silver lining in the rather dark sky ahead of the council poll was Governor Sule Lamido’s insistence that the elections must be transparent and credible. He seized every opportunity to assure all stakeholders that nobody would be short-changed. In spite of these assurances however, stakeholders within and outside the state still expected trouble on Election Day. The only thing was no one knew where the trouble would come from.

Against all these scepticism, d-day came as a pleasant surprise. Fears of violence and other forms of electoral malpractices were mostly proven misplaced as voters went to the polls to elect local council officials. Voters had started turning out in large numbers as early as 8am for the polls in many areas visited by THISDAY. And in all the areas visited, voting proceeded peacefully as male and female voters queued separately and waited patiently for their turn.

Voting was however delayed in many centres as materials and JIGSIEC officials arrived late. In Sabon Garin Yaya, voting commenced at 10.15 a.m. instead of the 8am envisaged by voters. This led to a slight confusion as the crowd at the centres overwhelmed the electoral officials. In Askandu Ward of Kaugama local government area, the story was same. The crowd at the centre also overwhelmed electoral officials as some of them complained that a single polling station was too small for them.

Mallam Kabira Shuai’bu, one of the elders at the station told journalists that stakeholder in the ward had complained to JIGSIEC that the station was too small but the commission failed to respond to their complaint. There are four villages in this ward and the registered voters are in excess of one thousand. We told the commission that one polling station would not suffice but they failed to take any action. Now, we are so many they can hardly attend to us, he said.

Collation of results went on through the night. On the morning of Sunday, February 17th, JIGSIEC announced the results at a world press conference. Up to the time the results were announced, everything seemed to have worked like clock. Neither reports of violence nor allegations of rigging had turned up yet. And according to the results announced by the chairman of the commission, Alhaji Alili Galadima, the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) posted a one hundred per cent rout of opposition parties.

In fact, he reported that in two of the twenty-seven local government areas of the state where elections were conducted, only the PDP presented candidates for the elections as candidates of all the other parties were said to have withdrawn in favour of the PDP candidates on the eve of the polls. So, all the candidates of the PDP in Guri and Gwiwa local government areas were returned unopposed as a result of the withdrawal of opposition candidates.

With Action Congress (AC) boycotting the elections, only the PDP and the ANPP presented candidates for all the chairmanship and councillorship elections in most of the remaining twenty-five local government areas. Galadima announced that the PDP won the chairmanship seat in all the twenty-seven local governments of the state. The chairman also provided a summary of the councillorship elections which showed that the PDP won 283 out of the 286 councilorship seats up for grabs. The remaining three were won by the ANPP. After announcing the results, the chairman cleared the air on rumours that the commission had disqualified some candidates and cancelled elections in some areas on the eve of the elections.

Let me use this opportunity to inform the citizens of the state that elections were held in all LGs in the state. No candidate was disqualified and no elections were cancelled. What we did was to simply advise some patties by drawing their attention to the deficiencies of some of their candidates. We did not disqualify anybody, he said.

Speaking with newsmen after the announcement, the Chairman of the Jigawa State Chapter of Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP), Alhaji Inuwa Sakwaya noted that JISIEC did a good job and the elections were free and fair. It is true that we are in the opposition, but we are not going to lie just because we are in the opposition. The elections were peaceful, orderly, free and fair and we are grateful to Allah that there was no problem at all, he said. Sakwaya then called on other states of the federation to learn from the Jigawa experience so that the country can continue to witness peaceful, free and fair elections.

With the peaceful and orderly manner in which the elections were conducted and the testimony from the CNPP chairman, it is almost safe to conclude that Jigawa State got it right. But did Jigawa get it right? The elections were largely peaceful and orderly. Even Alhaji Abdu Ningi, the State Commissioner of Police confirmed this after the elections. He said there were no reports of violence and nobody was arrested. According to him, this is unprecedented in the history of elections in the country . . .

Immediate past chairman of the state PDP, Alhaji Usman Alto Roni, described the elections as a huge success. He praised what he described as a demonstration of political maturity by all stakeholders in the state. The turnout was surprisingly large and impressive. Voters conducted themselves in an orderly manner. Reports across the state indicated that in some areas, elections were won and lost long before the commencement of the exercise following the last minute step down by some candidates to pave way for what they termed as more credible candidates who happen to be in the PDP, he said.

Alhaji Nasiru Garba Dantiye, an ANPP chieftain in the state however disagreed with the party chieftain as well as the Police Commissioner and the electoral commission. According to Dantiye who is also a former House of Representatives member from Garki/Babura constituency, the whole process was manipulated right from the beginning until results were announced on Sunday.

He accused the PDP and the state government of using intimidation and outright connivance with state and federal agencies to deny the people the right to choose their leaders. What was announced by JIGSIEC was simply a list of candidates selected by the state government long before Saturday. What happened on election day was a mockery of the electoral process and the people of the state, he said.

First, JIGSIEC kept changing dates to give PDP enough room to manoeuvre. Then, the state government intimidated some of our candidates with arrests as well as verbal and physical abuse. And a few hours to the elections proper, the electoral commission disqualified some of our candidates in spite of existing court judgments which specify that nobody except courts can disqualify candidates, he explained.

He further explained that there was no violence in spite of the manipulations because the ANPP specifically advised its supporters to avoid violence at all cost no matter what happened. Asked what the party would do to challenge the alleged manipulations, Dantiye explained that ANPP would not write petitions or go to court because the party does not have faith in the government or its agencies.

For us, politics is not just about winning elections. It is about responsibilities. We are committed to our people and they know what is happening. They know no matter how fast a lie travels, the truth, will catch up with it one day, he said.

The state government however made a move many felt was aimed at drowning the voices of people like Dantiye when it organised a one of a kind swearing in ceremony for elected chairmen and their deputies on Wednesday, February 20th; just four days after the elections. The crowd at the Kam Salem venue of the swearing in was unprecedented. There were at least two hundred thousand people at the venue. And everybody who is who in the state was at the venue. If it was meant to show the whole world that everybody was satisfied with the elections, then it was a runaway success.

Speaking in a reconciliatory tone. Governor Sule Lamido declared that Jigawa State,, and not any party or person was the winner of the local council elections. He noted that the conduct and outcome of the election is a victory for the citizens of the state. There is no winner or loser; the people of the state are the collective winners, he declared.

According to the Governor, With last Saturday’s elections, Jigawa State has become a beacon of hope for the nation’s democracy. The orderly and peaceful manner in which the elections were conducted is a testimony that democracy has come to stay in Nigeria and Jigawa is in the vanguard of the new move."

He however advised the new council chiefs to see their election as a trust reposed in them by the people. This is not a time for celebration; it is a time for sober reflection. You should remember that those who contested the positions with you are also citizens of the state; they love Jigawa just as much as you do and they have ideas just like you. Your victory is the will of God and you must govern with the fear of God, he advised them.

The Governor also advised the council chiefs to reach out to members of the opposition in their areas with a view to tapping their ideas and experiences "for the good of the people of the state.’ He reminded them that people would always reward politicians with their votes if the politicians bring positive changes to the people’s lives and told them that serving the people diligently is the only way they can continue to win.

So, did Jigawa get it right? The ruling party and the government of the day say they got it right. The peaceful and orderly manner in which the elections were conducted as well as the turn out at the swearing in ceremony may corroborate this claim. But the opposition ANPP say the process was manipulated to look so. The problem though is that it may be difficult to prove allegations of manipulation if the opposition does not challenge any of the results in court. The ANPP has so far declared that it would not challenge the results. If this does not happen, then we may never be able to prove that the state did not get it right. And if Jigawa State got it right, then it is probably because there was, and has been no violence so far. With the cries of manipulation, the state could have been thrown into chaos if the opposition had decided to fight for their rights on the streets. They did not; so, they contributed heavily to the peaceful conduct of the polls. Unless the opposition goes beyond allegations and goes on to challenge the results, it may be difficult to prove that the state did not get the council polls right

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Daily Independent, March 9, 2009.

Lamido Is Doing Very Well in Jigawa—Udi

Recently, the House passed a motion to investigate the activities of thee agencies of government from 1999 to 2007. Do we take it as the beginning of probing the former government of Saminu Turaki?

The question just captured what I saw in a media report last week or so. I think it was a misrepresentation of facts by journalists on the issue on ground. I would use this opportunity to enjoin journalists to crosscheck their facts before going to press, it will save a lot of bad blood among parties. What transpired wasn’t a probe of Saminu Turaki and his government, it was the discharging of our constitutional responsibilities; it’s part of our duties actually. The House deliberated extensively and agreed to review the activities of some parastatals. This came as a result of our knowledge that the last administration did so much in those areas, but we still feel that since the present government also has plan to do more through the agencies, there was need to get a clear picture of what transpired to enable us advise the executive adequately. The account we are talking about here is what the Auditor-General of the state had worked on and even forwarded the report to us. Right now that report is with the public account committee (PAC) of the house. It was this fact that filtered to journalists, and rather than finding out the true position of things, they went to the press with it. I can assure you that the government of Saminu Turaki is not under probe at all.

What is the level of cooperation between the executive and the legislature?

The governor and the leadership of the House are working in perfect harmony towards early presentation of the budget. The Speaker meets regularly with the governor in this regard. We know what he brings to the House is for the good of all, after all, we all participated in the budgets preparation and that is why it will get easy passage when it comes, because we are in the know of everything. You know the governor captures the various needs of our constituencies, so there is no need to prolong the exercise. We have perfect working relationship with the executive for the good of Jigawa State.

There is a belief that the Governor’s international clout intimidates members of the House as a former minister and somebody who had held other high profile offices before now, because of this members of the House are not emboldened to square up to the Governor. Don’t you think this may affect good governance?

You have asked this question before, and you cannot get a different answer now. It is not true that he intimidates us. We are happy that he is all you have said he is and the state is reaping from his experiences. Those experiences have broadened his vision and you need to see what he had put in place. Look at the talakawa summit for the downtrodden popularly called the talakawa, and the kind of attendance the event witnessed. When the issue of that summit was brought forward, I presided over the house that day, after everything I thanked God that I did not kill that noble idea. The event gave opportunity to this group of people to air their views, which is part of the input in the policy of the government already. Most programmes of the government are decisions based on the outcome of that summit. You know as a former minister and board member of very many organizations, I see nothing wrong in viewing him as my father. This is a man who started politics in the NEPU era when I was not even born, so why not? He is my father; he is our father. So do you want me to be fighting with my father when he is doing the right thing? We cannot in the name of politics or separation of powers go into baseless antagonism. Such action will derail the good work of the government, which is aimed at uplifting the standard of living of our people. Anybody who calls us a rubberstamp or sons or godsons, we agree, at least, we are children of a good father. We support him 100 per cent all the time and our support for him is for good causes.

This is your second term in the House, after serving as deputy speaker, what is your plan for the future?

My entrance into politics is an act of God. I never planned to venture into it, as we had a thriving family business even though I am the son of a one-time politician. My entrance into politics was an answer to the call from the people, those in my constituency. I had to seek the blessings of my father, who gave me his blessings after three months with a warning that I should not forget the family business. I am striving hard to balance the two in line with my father’s advice. But that doesn’t mean I would allow somebody to trample on my political interest. You know we have started and we are going to remain in it for as long as Allah wishes. However, what is uppermost in my political agenda is to help the less-privileged. I am grateful for the support of my constituency and that of my late father.

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Daily Sun, Thursday, February 18, 2010, Page 23

Benchmarking Jigawa: A People’s Verdict

In conclusion of the sun Summit report last week of Governor Sule Lamido’s Bench marking and democratic humanism policy, Daily Sun sought the views of a cross section of Jigawa and non-Jigawa elite on the new dawn in the state. The result is a mixed grill of knocks and kudos Excerpts.

Barrister Zanna Mustapha

It depends on what you understand as developmentally serious, I am fairly familiar with what is happening in Jigawa and I know a lot of the people there are excited with the massive infrastructure intervention and construction works going on everywhere, but I won’t rate a government or a leadership based on infrastructure provisioning alone although I can understand why everybody is focusing on that if you are talking of Jigawa. It is just because they have never had it.

But to answer your question, one must take a more serious view of that term. Development and leadership are more than infrastructure and new buildings and new roads and things like that.

From my own encounter, I think Alhaji Sule Lamido is doing something I consider more important than those physical projects, which are what you hear many people talking about more than leadership and development. I would tell you a personal experience and you judge whether it answers your questions.

Alhaji Mamman (Alhaji Mamman is understood to be a long standing friend of the governor of Jigawa State) took me to see the governor sometime in March last year. Because many people have travelled for weekend, we were alone with the governor for a long time. While we were there, a political appointee came in with a young man and an elderly to be his father.

They were brought in to the governor and he began to ask the young man as soon as they were seated. He read a text message to the young man and asked him whether he wrote the text. The governor asked whether he would send such a text to his own father.

The young man said no, he was asked why he wrote the text in such an abusive way. The young man murmured something like an apology but the governor said it was not time to apologize yet. He wanted to know what was on his mind when he wrote the text, which was in Hausa.

And this painful dialogue went on and on like that until it was succeeded by a totally humbling sermon. I heard the governor saying to the chap that he (governor) could punish him severely by either handing over to the police or taking him to court but that such was not the objective. He was concerned with finding out what could propel a young person of about 22 years old have the mind to think and to execute writing a text to abuse a governor. So, he was asking him to reveal what was on his mind, why sending personal abuses to someone who is older than his own father, even if the person is not a governor.

Alhaji Sule was saying something to him like, I have to come to your level otherwise I cannot be your leader because your own text is not like that of the other people who write to solicit or provide information or notify or complain or whatever. Your text shows that something else is wrong with you and I have to find out what it is.

It was then that chap began to sing. The text was actually written by somebody else whose real relationship with the uneducated and unemployed youths in his area is his control of the drug business in that part. This information turned out to be the basis of the subsequent swoop on the said drug base, somewhere near Hadejia LGA, led by the government, the SSG and other top government officials.

The whole experience has remained my own take about him whenever I am looking at what they are doing in Jigawa. It is so inspiring that the governor had the time to get to the level of fishing out the author of a text like that, have the patience to interrogate him in a re-assuring manner, thereby inducing him so well as for the chap to confess the truth which led to a major onslaught on the heart of the social problem in the north. Everybody knows drug addiction is at the heart of the crisis in the North, whether you are talking of violent conflict, rape or even religious upheavals.

I was not surprised when I came to learn that much, much earlier in 2008, the government actually started with a stakeholder’s forum on the problems of the youths, especially drug addiction. I was also not surprised when this same issue was the major issue in the local council electioneering campaign tour. Every time I listened to them on Radio Jigawa, it was always the issue that the major speakers harped upon, the issue of reforming the youth away from social vice fuelled by drug addiction.

If I am to rate the governor, this is the area my mind would be going, I cannot give him an A or a B as your text required because my friend in this Chamber here thinks his talakawa summit is the greatest achievement because he said he never saw where the leading lights of the traditional authority, the elite and the commoners in the history of Northern Nigeria until the coming of the talakawa summit.

So, generally, everyone has his own score criteria but mine is what I have said, I don’t know if I have answered your questions. If you want me to clarify anything further, let me know.

Lamido is a dictator (Barr. Garin Gabbas)

I am Barrister Garin Gabbas, as executive of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) in Jigawa State. But I won’t speak to you as an NBA official lest it would be mistaken for the position of the NBA. Rather, I will speak to you as a politician, an opposition politician, with sympathy for the newly formed CPC (Congress for Progressive Change).

My assessment of the Sule Lamido administration is that in terms of infrastructure and physical development of Jigawa, he has done tremendously well. He has done much better than even the administration of the last governor (Saminu Turaki) who I served as commissioner. He has done better than any other governor in the history of Jigawa; on that score I cannot fault him, I have no regret.

However, in terms of human rights and adherence to democratic principles, in terms of allowing people to freely participate in the governance of their state, by way of making useful suggestions, Sule Lamido is the worst dictator ever. He does not allow people to air their views. He’s vastly unpopular, People call Lamido bad names, he is the worst dictator ever. He’s worse than Hitler. He’s not military; he should allow people to air their views.

In fact, when you go deep, deep into Jigawa you will find out that he is called Colonel Sule in some quarters.

Sule Lamido left open one of his telephone lines and made it available to members of the public to call him, send SMS and suggestion on how best to run the state, but every time people send him text that he does not like, he would send for the writer to be arrested and brought to him. He would have them beaten up, locked, and sometimes charged to court.

He traces you and apprehends you like a thief. Subsequently, you are then arrested, beaten, charged to court, and locked up.

I will give you a real example. There was a case of a boy who called to air his views about the administration. The governor in turn invited the boy to his house. On getting there, he saw his father (the boy’s father) already there and already manhandled by Lamido’s security men.

Lamido then ordered him to begin to insult his own father the same he insulted the governor on phone. And when the boy could not, they had both he and his father beaten up by the security people.

Apart from the human right record, I also have a problem with Lamido on the way contracts are awarded in the state. The contracts are usually inflated, with the governor’s children believed to be nominating contractors.

He can arrest me if he likes, but I have told him that he is shielding his children. The people may turn against them when he has gone.

One of his children is now a traditional ruler. I have no problem with that. What I have problems with is a chap would be elevated from village head to district head. I have a problem with using hundreds of millions of naira of Jigawa’s money to build a house for him. I have a problem with pouring hundreds of millions of naira of our people’s money into their Bamaina village, which is just a polling booth not even up to a ward.

In all, I think Lamido has succeeded in further disuniting Jigawa. He does not have to alienate say the people of Hadejia, Maitankari, or Gumel or any other people for whatever reason.

Prof. Haruna Wakili

My rating of the performance of the current government of Jigawa State is high. The reasons for this are many. The pro-poor policies of the government such as the Social Security Policy, which provides N7,000 monthly allowances to disable persons, the talakawa summit and its impact in the process of poverty eradication policy formulation and indeed its infrastructural development. For instance, road construction and housing and impressive record in the education sector.

Finally, the open nature of the government as demonstrated by the way Governor Lamido made his call phone number open and accessible to all. In short, I am proud and happy with what is going on in Jigawa State today.

Dr. Nurudeed Muhammad, Hadejia, Jigawa State.

Rating-very good. Reasons those of us from Jigawa, who appreciated the phenomenal decay in the State before 2007, look up to Lamido as a miracle performer. The truth is, unlike any governor, Lamido met a failed State, which he is fast turning into a model: massive educational and health infrastructures, some of the best road network in the country, Purposeful and disciplined leadership, then above all accessibility by all at anytime through his only mobile phone, just to mention but a few. Sounds ordinary though, but one needs a tour of the state to concur!

Rafsanjani

Basically, there has been progress, seriousness and commitment to ethnic and development of the mind, with less compared to what obtained during the previous administration as Saminu Turaki.

However, the problem of poverty, child education, maternal mortality and economic devastation still linger and would have to be addressed.

In all, there appears to be a lot of focus in the Lamido administration.

Dr. Junaidu Mohammed

As you know, I am not from Jigawa but I have seen a lot from the standpoint of a person very conversant with the state.

However, to determine whether or not the state is developing we have to take into cognizance all the yardsticks an indices of development as laid out by such bodies as the UNDP—like population, infant and maternal mortality, education and so on.

It is also difficult to compare Jigawa to what is happening in, like say, Lagos. For one, Jigawa is much bigger than Lagos. While Lagos is about 80 per cent urban.

But in judging the progress that has been made in Jigawa under Sule Lamido, we must not lose track of tangible things like peace—no major uprising, no stoning anywhere of the governor or his visitors.

However, the Jigawa of today is absolutely is better than what we had before. Dutse of today is 100 times better than Dutse Lamido inherited.

The other governor (Turaki) spent eight years doing nothing—spending much of it outside the country.

Today, the revolutionary infrastructural development is unmistakable. The better roads can’t hide even if we choose to deny it. Water used to be a big problem, but now that is no longer the case, especially in the capital, Dutse. There’s water everywhere.

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The Guardian, Thursday, July 8, 2010

Jigawa PDP Has Come Out of a Deep Rot Says Bahutu

Chairman of Jigawa Chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Alhaji Isah Ahmed Duniya Bahutu spoke with JOY AKUBO in Dutse.

Excerpts.

WHAT are the challenges you face in Jigawa PDP?

The unpleasant condition we met in Jigawa when the PDP Government took over in 2007 is obvious to everyone.

Everybody was affected but we called ourselves together to put Jigawa in a good shape. We made mistakes, but the truth is that nobody will repair Jigawa for us except us the people. We have started doing the things that are needed if the state has to grow. There were no structures; the Institutions had collapsed that is why we have come to put things together. This is the agenda we have set for ourselves and we are executing it. We are only hoping for continuity and on the people to support the PDP.

How do you view that argument that the nation has not really fared better under the PDP despite the fact that the party has been in power at the centre since 1999?

The PDP is the only party that has done things which other parties have not been able to achieve. In the last 25 years to 40 years no other party has done what the PDP has done in Nigeria. For example the PDP government has managed the wealth of the nation and all the state governments can attest to that. The onus now rests on the particular governments to put the money to judicious use for the benefit of the people. From the administration of former president, Olusegun Obasanjo an end was put to the practice where money meant for councils were pushed to the traditional institutions that treated councils like part of the households. The mismanagement of funds at that level stopped and some councils were not getting as much as N100 million. The PDP government has invested so much in security and the welfare of the police has been improved. We know that there are no other problems. Concerning the 7-point agenda of the late President Yar’Adua, President Goodluck Jonathan has promised to carry on with power and security and he is not going to dismantle what Yar’Adua has erected. He is going to continue with the projects until they are completed. PDP is concerned about the people and it is not different with us in Jigawa. We hope to make a difference.

We are calling on the people to continue to support PDP and the government, PDP is not out to bring suffering to the people; no leader will like his own people to suffer.

Now we are talking about education and women empowerment for self-reliance in Jigawa. The value of the good work PDP has done cannot be used to force people to vote for it but it can only be determined by for the people’s voting power.

Every leader in Jigawa harps on the principles of the Sawaba declaration. What does it actually mean?

Democracy is a system that allows you to choose those who will lead you, an opportunity to exercise the right to choose and be chosen. On August 8, 1948 eight people gathered in Kano and unfolded the Sawaba Declaration. Some of the people were Abba Malkwaru, Mudi Spikin, Bello Ijumu, Baballiya Manaja, Magaji Dambatta, and Abdulkadir Danjaji. They challenged the then political system, which the Emirs ran.

They challenged what we call the franchise; the right to stand for elections, to vote and be voted for which then was based on privilege. You became a councilor or minister on the basis of family background. What we call the human right was missing. Today, the efforts and struggles made by these men over 60 years ago are being threatened. We want to make the present operators aware of the sacrifices, which were made to bring about a government for the people. Our effort today is to pay tribute to these heroes, recognize their roles and celebrate them. We are erecting one monument, which we call Sawaba Monument that will capture the history of the struggle.

We intend to create a link between people who now occupy various positions, which 30 years or 50 years ago they wouldn’t have dared to aspire to.

We are inviting people who have sacrificed their lives over 50 years ago to achieve the Sawaba Declaration. They were not even interested in contesting elections; all they wanted was the Sawaba declaration, which was aimed at putting an end to domination of the people by the emirs. Some of them were driven away to Ghana, Sierra Leone, Jos, Enugu, Lagos and Ibadan, and so on.

When we talk of the major cities where there are Hausa settlement today, they are the people that were driven away and they went on exile. There is the Hausari in Maiduguri, Hausawa in Lagos. In Ibadan they call them Sabo Ibadan. Those that did not go on exile were severely punished and tortured. Many of them died. Those still alive are the ones we invited to see some the fruits of their labour.

It is the ordinary people that determine what happens now and it is over 50 years that these set of people fought for our liberation. The key figures are Alhaji Tanko Yakasai, Alhaji Magaji Dambatta and Alhaji Mudi Spikin. We called these people for the sake of history but some politicians thought that we were using them to canvass for votes for 2011 election. It is just to pay tribute to history that Governor Lamido brought about this initiative, to popularize their heroism of our ancestors and for our children to learn.

What do you make of the attacks on Lamido by a faction of the Kano PDP?

Nine people initiated the idea that led to the formation of the PDP. Three of them are dead, and of the six still living, three are active in the PDP while the other three are outside the party and they have not made up their minds on what to do. Among the three that are strong PDP members is the governor of Jigawa Alhaji Sule Lamido, which means he was among the foundation members. He has the knowledge and capability to interfere wherever there is any issue about the PDP. I don’t even know the problem whether they are blaming the governor