By
Sani Ahmed Sambo.
Press Secretary/Mc Government House Zamfara State.
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Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach him how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime is a popular adage which succinctly encapsulates the new model adopted by Governor Dauda Lawal of Zamfara state in his governance strategy which holds DUE PROCESS as a key to delivering the desired purposeful and result-oriented leadership in Zamfara State.
This new model of governance in Zamfara state emanates from a morally sensitive Governor, Dr Dauda Lawal who is always mindful of his covenant with the generality of the people of Zamfara as he considers the weight of his oath of office and above all reckons with the day of resurrection on which he will stand before his Creator to give full account of his stewardship as Governor of Zamfara State.
He seems to think of this chain of bond with the passage of every fraction of second since he assumed duty on May 29th 2023.
To be candid, every Zamfara citizen of goodwill, especially those with a very functional thinking cap and unbiased mind, know that the new Model of Dr Dauda Lawal is the surely the best option to lift the state and its citizens out of an inherent predicament of poverty, ignorance, dependency syndrome and therefore mitigate their combined effects of fuelling the spate of crime in the state.
By virtue of his position, Governor Dauda Lawal has the constitutional and moral responsibility of channelling all resources of the state to the right projects and the right people under a transperant and accountable and democratic pattern of governance
This kind of reform has never been an easy, smooth or straight process anywhere in the world let alone in a state where people were given a very wrong orientation and impression on the task of governance to the effect that they can see the right process as a wrong one and vise vasa. It is a reform that requires a man with a heart. A leader with the courage, willpower and readiness to drive change vehicle even on a rough, dusty terrain with zigzagging corners and bumps and indeed all sorts of obstacles in order take Zamfara State to its desired destination of sustainable development.
In the course of this, Dr Dauda Lawal will undoubtedly step on toes of certain categories of people whose comfort zone and way of life in the past hinged on public resources rather than their hard earned treasures. A kind of people who constitute themselves as liability to the government rather than assets.
I am not sure if I am correct but in my own opinion these categories of people might include those waiting to get free rams during festivities even though they have the financial means to buy more than fifty rams for their poor neighbors and family members. They might also be those who want to get free Hajj seats from the coffers of the government even though they have the money to pay for 10 members of the their families and friends and have gone for same pilgrimage continuously for 20 years non-stop! It might also be those who just want to get free money from the state treasury for not doing anything at all.
These were the practices in the past. They called it “WELLFARE” but Left to me, rather than welfare I will call it ”WARFARE” that was used against our common treasury and other resources of the state to deny us basic social amenities like good roads water supply, education and other basic necessities of life. Where such were provided, they were in low quantity and quality as they perish or become dilapidated before the end of their tenure.
It was ‘WARFARE’ that made the rich, richer while the poor became poorer by the day and sustainable development for the next generation was put at stake.
It was ‘WARFARE’ that was used as a cover by some leaders to recklessly squander our money, clean all traces of misappropriation and disorient any auditing mechanism for check and balances.
I am a not a financial expert but as an English Teacher I have course to read whatever comes to me including texts on Governance and financial management. With that little knowledge of wider reading I thus, know it will be difficult for any auditing process to trace the authenticity of financial spendings of billions of Naira in Zamfara in the name of welfare to the people without any tangeable development indicator or project for sustainable development of our state.
This is the reason why I keep on saying, without apology to anyone, that this state called Zamfara has not been developed at all but we hope it will be this time around.
Zamfara people were given an orientation of a deceptive and retrospective practice of giving us some token as “wellfare package” at the expense of capital projects or implementation of other policies and programmes that will translate to sustainable development of the state, its citizens and future generations.This must change.
It is most likely that some people will have their long throat strangulated and eventually cut with the sharpness of the new of model of due process which tries to ensure a corresponding value for public finances entrenched by DLD.
Such people with to their egocentric instinct may therefore go to any length to fight back by sponsoring social media scavengers to fill the space with empty bickering in a fruitful effort to paint the a dark picture of the new government.
But who is afraid of their evil machinations and campaign of culumny? Certainly not Dauda Lawal because in his repeated statements, he re-echoed his belief in the Might of Allah who gives power and takes it at will.
Dr Dauda also reaffirmed his determination ”to do right to all manner of people without fear or favour affection or ill-will” as contained in his oath of office while hanging the Holy Qur’an on his right hand shoulder on May 29 2023.
So he is constantly aware that he is on oath and won’t joke with that sacred process. He recently said.
I repeat: Due process is the way to go in order to bring the state to its rightful position in the comity of states in Nigeria.
However, we cannot rule out the possibility or underestimate the influence of poor orientation of our people in the state based on the deceptive leadership of the past. Some people might easily be temporarily misguided by Sentimental critics who are hell-bent faulting every step of the three-month old government of Dauda Lawal.
I beg to ask the critics: please, is it wrong for DLD to pay the baglog on unpaid salary and pensions? Is it wrong to restore water supply in Gusau and environs and work toward doing same in other parts of the state?
What is wrong with the three-month old government inaugurating many committees and tribunals to address many other important sectors that will ensure justice fairness and development?
Please tell me. What offence has Dr Dauda Lawal committed by embarking on urban renewal project that has commenced with the reconstruction of township roads in Gusau the state capital.
Note too, that the new government appointed commissioners and set to assess them with the right Key performance indicators as it restructured Ministries to reduce the cost of governance and block leakages to stabilize the state.
Lest we forget that based on his well known level of commitment and sence of responsibility, The three-month old Government of Dr Dauda Lawal has reconnected the state with high level global investors and development partners like Billgate and Melinder foundation, the Dangote Group, the DFID, Unicef, worldbank, Islamic Bank and Tetfund among others.
In fact, some of these development partners are the ones coming to knock at our doors to support us in Zamfara because of their renewed hope and confidence in the new government of DAUDA LAWAL and not the past that sent them away out of poor leadership and lack of clear direction or sincerity of purpose.
This is a rare privilege for which the new Governor DAUDA Lawal should be appreciated while his new model and approach in governing Zamfara state should be applauded in Zamfara, replicated in other states and supported with a sustained goodwill and prayer by all and sundry.
Is his offence achieving alot with just three month? This he will continue to do. Da ikon Allah!
Pls Let us allow him focus on rebuilding the state and placing it on the right track. No obstruction please!
Your Excellency sir! we are with you on your renewed commitment and determination. We passionately call on all well-meaning zamfara citizens particularly the elites to support Governor Dauda Lawals ”DUE PROCESS MODEL” and prudent management of our resources for the generality of the people and not selected few. We should do this in the open and shouldn’t sit on the fence when we know and believe that that our leaders is doing the right thing what others failed to do deliberately. This is the only way way we can save and rescues our state from the clutches of previous retrogressive tradition and its elements in Zamfara State. Remember we are in the 21st century and here is Dr DAUDA LAWAL the Governor of Zamfara State. We can’t afford to miss it this time around. Come rain come shine we must strive to support good governance!
Mai girma Gwamna ayi ta zabga Aiki da ikon Allah Zamfara ta kubuta!
Peace be upon peace makers!
