“You are good. But it is not enough just to be good. You must be good for something. You must contribute good to the world. The world must be a better place for your presence. And the good that is in you must be spread to others....”
― Gordon B. Hinckley

Youths are said to be the mirror of every nation’s or state’s development indicator; a well catered for, well planned for youths signifies a positively promising future. For eight years youths in Katsina state have witnessed one of the tremendous achievements in the history of Katsina as a state. The youth will not stop in thanking Katsina state government for a job well done. However, no matter how big our dreams are, sometimes it's just that we are saddled with the responsibility of deciding for ourselves what is best; which means the youths sometimes need to look inside for motivation and inspiration or they can find personal inspiration from someone who has been there, done that and done it well.

For eight years we have experienced a very articulate government under the stewardship of Governor Ibrahim Shehu Shema whom we can all vividly recall his statement when he said “You don’t have to be a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for your child to enjoy free education in Katsina State. You don’t have to lobby anybody for your child to be sent abroad to study medicine, pharmacy, nursing or environmental engineering, or indeed get free medicare for yourself and family in government hospitals”.

Similarly, during his inauguration for a second term in office Governor Shema reaffirmed that government services shall not be dispensed on the basis of whether you belong to the ruling PDP in the state or the opposition. These unique attributes exhibited by Governor Shema has made him stand tall among his peers and counterparts and has accorded him the zeal to succeed in positively transforming Katsina state to what it is today.

Some of his achievements are –

- Giving monetary allowance to parents who send the girl-child to school. Many girls’ schools have been built across the 34 local government areas of Katsina to make this a reality.

- The Almajiris – child-beggars – are also being educated and they get monetary allowance to encourage them to stay in school.

- Shema’s investment in primary and secondary education is said to have shot up school enrolment at the primary school level from about one million in 2005 to close to 2million in 2014– about 100 percent increase.

- He gave out more than N1bilion (including land, school buildings and hostels) to the new federal university in Dutsinma, as part of State government’s contribution to its successful take off.

- In the health sector. Shema constructed a multi-million Naira 250-bed orthopedic hospital, rehabilitation of general hospitals across the state and construction of six comprehensive health centres in addition to the renovation and upgrading of nine healthcare centers to comprehensive health centers among others.

No matter how the youths of Katsina state hate to admit the fact that nothing lasts forever, the Youths in Katsina state believe that what they want is someone who will inspire them to be what they hope to be and know they could be. To them, the greatest leader is not necessarily the one who does the greatest things. He is the one who gets the people to do the greatest things for themselves, and that need on the part of Katsina youths has triggered an intense search for a worthy successor to Governor Shema who will continue with the good works initiated by his government.

Thus, when the name Engr. Musa Nashuni - a notable Mining Engineer was announced as the successor to Governor Shema, the youths of Katsina state felt that they have never had it so good like this time around.
They have realized that, It will not be an exaggeration, judging from the fact that Nashuni’s carrier has indicated that he is an achiever right from 1980 when he rose from the position of Assistant Project Manager, Mining Processing in charge of all mineral processing aspects of the Corporation to the exalted position of Executive Director of the Nigerian Mining Corporation 1991 to 1999.

It is also on record that at this meaningful Position, Engr. Musa Nashuni was responsible for the supervision of all the mining Corporations Companies under the Nigerian Mining Corporation, and indeed this position is only reserved by the Federal Government of Nigeria to people with exceptional integrity, honesty, sincerity and professionalism these are some of the salient attributes of Nashuni that has made him more suitable for the assignment of a successor to Governor Shema of Katsina state in 2015.

Immediately, the youths of Katsina threw in their support in total acceptance to the choice of Nashuni, within no time the campaign slogan in Katsina state has changed to ‘Nashuni Ba Matsala’. The people of Katsina have given their all in submission to a well thought for choice. His popularity stems from what he believes and what he terms as politics without bitterness. Gradually it became pronounced to all that Nashuni believes in the saying “Power isn’t control at all — power is strength, and giving that strength to others. A leader isn’t someone who forces others to make him stronger; a leader is someone willing to give his strength to others that they may have the strength to stand on their own,”

Hence, we have seen the light at the end of the tunnel, we have agreed to support continuity and we have agreed to uphold the brighter future of Katsina state. We have seen a leader in Nashuni a man that will lead us to prosperous Katsina state as his predecessor did. We have seen a miner whose ability to live a single stone unturned has endeared him to all Katsina people.

Comrade Adamu Kabir Matazu
Coordinator, Nashuni Students Network