By Adam Muhammad Gusau
The Zamfara state chapter of the All Progressives Congress APC was left in wonderment over a media briefing hastily put together by the Zamfara Commissioner of Information, Mannir Muazu Haidara which had the input of the ministry’s directors who tried tooth and nail to save the Dauda Lawal Dare’s administration’s first hundred days monumental failure after the governor boasted several times that an overwhelming turn around would be achieved under his watch especially in the area of security in his first hundred days in office.
Delving into such forsaken achievements, Mr. Dauda has certainly recorded a world record of killings and kidnappings and other crimes like no government ever witnessed in Zamfara with more people displaced, lives and livelihoods destroyed including people in the state capital, Gusau as verifiable in Damba, Mareri, Tsauni and Saminaka areas of the state capital where the residents have either completely fled their homes and businesses or they don’t sleep in their houses for fear of being killed or kidnapped by the now more fearless criminal gangs.
But the Information commissioner did his ministry’s responsibility by telling the world of how the government has obstructed movement for weeks via its snail speed road project being executed by friends of the governor from outside the state while poverty continues to bite harder on the people.
Significant of all of these is Dauda’s refusal to rise to the challenge posed by insecurity but busies himself with resultless visits to Abuja as against how his predecessor, Bello Matawalle’s invitation of the security chiefs to come over, see the gravity of the situation for themselves and take immediate action.
It was that Matawalle’s initiative that led to the decimation of banditry in the state opening Kaura- Zurmi-Gidan Jaja- Gurbin Bore, Kaura-Moriki- Shinkafi, Mafara-Birnin Tudu-Rini- Faru-Boko, Gusau-Magami-Dansadau Kotorkoshi-Mada-Wonaka- Ruwan Bore roads as well as Tsafe, Kasuwar Daji, Shinkafi, Mada, Dansadau, Magami, Jangebe, Wuya, Bingi, Dangulbi, Wanke, Bagega and Nasarawa Burkullu Markets which provided easy and safe travel corridors for the Dauda’s to campaign, making promises he is yet to fulfill.
Again, Matawalle involved all critical stakeholders to discuss and find workable ways of fighting criminality but the present governor who has made himself a wisenheimer arrogantly refuses to sit and discuss this for the sake of the people and the state, and now, things have gotten out of proportion.
In order to castigate his predecessor, Mr. Dauda used his offsetting of workers salary which was recorded as a result of change of government where the Dauda team directed banks not to honor transaction by the outgoing administration to cast a blame on Matawalle in another failed move by the commissioner who has remained in that ignorance box because Zamfara workers never had it better than Matawalle’s time.
Presently, ministries including that of information, are not given their constitutional responsibilities because everything is decided by the governor and his select few people not directly linked to state mechanism or not even indigenes but governor’s friends brought in to cut their own for being his fellas. Even the ministry of Finance and its commissioner only wait for directives from the governor’s friend, who is the special adviser finance or de-facfor governor of Zamfara for implementation.
Even though Matawalle installed CCTV cameras during his time to monitor movement and check crimes which were destroyed by PDP thugs while celebrating Dauda’s election victory, the return of Matawalle as Honourable Minister of Defence has already started addressing the security challenges in the state as soldiers are now located in strategic places that were usually the bandits’ routes throughout the state and beyond with travellers now moving safely and unhindered.
The effort was put in place by the President Tinubu led administration through the Ministry of Defence to deploy soldiers in all bandit routes starting from Abuja to kaduna, Kaduna to Zaria, Zaria to Funtua, Funtua to Gusau, Gusau to Sokoto and all other affected areas but I read a very disgracing release from the Zamfara State government trying to claim the credit without thinking of the other states of Kaduna and Katsina who are equally enjoying same from the Ministry of Defence forgetting that soldiers are not under the payroll of Zamfara State government as they ignorantly went ahead in blunder to claim the redeployment.
It’s evidently clear that Matawalle during his stewardship as Executive Governor provided 200 units of operational vehicles to security operatives working in the state and 6 vehicles were donated to Maradi Region in Niger Republic to enhance their operational performance;
Similarly, he initiated and approved the recruitment of 12,000 Community Protection Guards to complement the efforts of conventional security agencies working in the State, even when Dauda copied this gigantic move by announcing he will recruit 300 of such youths from the local government areas, he refused to see reason on the need to consider those recruited and trained at the 42 Mobile Police Squadro, Gusau by his predecessor with a view to utilizing their skills, rather he wants to throw them away not minding their future nor the resources spent on them.
Aside from these, Matawalle also provided 20 operational vehicles and over 1500 motorcycles to community protection guards, established an emergency call centre – 112 for the general public to provide credible intelligence to security agencies for proactive measures.
Also of prominent mention is the establishment of the RUGA settlement spread strategically in three locations in the state providing all necessary social amenities from grazing sites to markets, to schools, hospitals, police station to improved grass for animals and modern diaries to the Fulanis all aimed to keep the nomads in one place and stop clashes between herders and farmers.
The extension of cooperation beyond Nigeria’s borders to Niger Republic in seeking to revive bilateral arrangement in blocking all porous border to stop infiltration of light weapons, ammunition and all forms of illicit drugs and human trafficking into the State was fully facilitated while four Committees were formed and inaugurated in the State to coordinate and strategise the Security architecture. The committees were; State Security Standing Committee, Management Committee on Operations of Community Protection Guards (CPG), State Committee on Prosecution of Banditry Related Offences and Special Committee on Intelligence Gathering on Banditry Activities, all needed literature on these are with the state government yet, the administration failed to use them in curbing insecurity due to the governor’s nonchalance and political despair.
On the issue of water supply in Gusau the state Capital, it’s on record that the immediate past administration of Bello Mohammed Matawalle played a very significant role in the supply of constant water to the inhabitants of Gusau and awarded the contract for the dredging of Gusau water barrage, desalting of the Dam and supply of Stand by generators and water chemicals, thus for a government to claim doing something on the Gusau water problem during rainy season is quite deceptive, they should wait until during the dry season before they can boast about what they did in the area of water supply but now, there’s nothing to show.
While on the roads construction within the state capital, 11 different road stretches were constructed within the first hundred days of Matawalle’s administration as follows: Rabia Jumaat Mosque Junction-Motogage-Mallaha residence, Kasuwar Danjuma- Tashar Mailaina, Emir’s Palace Road, Obasanjo drive, Jb Yakubu roundabout- Yankatako, Murtala Jangebe residence- old Yardole Jumaat Mosque, Tudun Wada Tanki Ruwa- Fira da Kwadi- Chochin Kwano, Byepass- Yandorayi, Sony fast food – Gamzaki road among others were all completed within the first hundred days apart from the ongoing roads construction of Lalan to Lalan that was awarded to Mothercat which Dauda’s government is now trying to claim the credit
Something of major concern is the inhuman nature of governor Dauda Lawal especially in the fight against poverty and hunger threatening the embers of Zamfara citizens and in sprite of the federal government’s N5 billion released to each state as palliatives, Zamfara’s may have most likely been diverted living people of the state to languish perpetually in serious hardship
What we expect from the information commissioner is to apologise to the people of Zamfara State over their government’s failure and tell the people the whereabout of the state palliatives which distribution was paltry given only to a segment of people in Gusau metropolis.
Yusuf Idris Gusau
APC Publicity Secretary
Zamfara State
12th September, 2023
