https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmBnrSIWCaI&feature=related

No wonder during the Yaradua debacle, OBJ was rooting for this soft spoken progressive Governor as a possible VP to Jonathan. The man is doing wonders with the meagre amount he gets from the federal Goverment.

Can the same be said of some states in the South, especially Bayelsa and Delta, I am afraid No. Rivers b4 Amechi was cesspit of obsene corruption, but thank God they seem to have found a gem in Amechi although I am yet to be impress and convinced by his antics consdering the amount he gets from the Feds.

But Jigawa, this Lamido guy is just too much.

[size=16pt]Sule Lamido: Replicating Abuja in Dutse?
By Zainab Suleiman-Okino
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Ordinarily and in an ideal society, provision of basic infrastructure such as potable water, electricity, roads etc by those entrusted with leadership, are guaranteed rights of the citizens; but in Nigeria they are celebrated as achievements.

What is governance anyway if such are negotiable? Imagine a governor advertising a self-serving routine work like the renovation of Government House in newspapers. It is a mark of the level of our degeneration to cheer the provision of such amenities as landmark legacies. However, if you are abreast with the Nigerian situation where elected governors steal their states dry, turn states’ treasuries into personal purses and live in splendid opulence, you should have a reason to appreciate little efforts, even if it’s a drop in the ocean.

This is even more poignant for Jigawa state that was constantly classified (by all development indices) as the poorest state on account of zero-development tangibles. That appears to be changing. And for leaders who know the weight of their office, leadership is a responsibility that should not be frittered away. That, probably is the kind of responsibility that Alhaji Sule Lamido, the Governor of Jigawa has chosen to opt for.

Between Wednesday 28th- Friday 30th of October 2009, last week Dutse the Jigawa state capital was abuzz with activities. It was on the occasion of the one-year anniversary of the Talakawa Summit, a peculiar programme designed to tackle poverty in a way different from any of its kind in Nigeria. The main activity where beneficiaries of the programme relieved their experiences of the last few months, when they began to receive grants from government was held on Thursday 29th October.

On the eve of the programme itself the Governor’s media adviser, Adagbo Onoja led editors on hand to some parts of the town that have witnessed government’s impact and the experience was revealing. While going through the newly constructed roads, one of the editors had remarked something to the effect that what Sule Lamido is doing in Jigawa is like replicating Abuja in Dutse. A new city has, in all ramifications emerged. For example, the three arms-zones: Judiciary, the bureaucracy and civil service all located within the same district competes favourably with Abuja’s three- arms zone.

The district is paved with good road network and streetlights. Flowers in their infancy are sprouting up and of course Aminu Kano Arena is within the area. The Rasheed Shekoni Hospital was started in 1996 by the then military Administrator. It was taken over by the Saminu Turaki Administration and abandoned midway. Now the Hospital is completed and Vamed-powered to last beyond the next 50 years.

Among the many housing estates in Dutse, the one that marveled the editors, and which they interrogated scurrilously is the 280 unit locally developed brick houses where ordinary people offered their labour. The cost is projected within affordable range. The snag there is whether ordinary people can afford it but I do hope Sule Lamido has a practical answer to that. The paradox of the tour is our ride through the half tarred, pretentiously dualised narrow Kiyawa road. According to our guide, the road is a reminder of the relics of the past rot.

Planned or inadvertent, the effect of this tour on us was profound. Whether it is the road revolution, the new look Dutse Hospital and schools the Sule Lamido administration is gradually restoring hope and rekindling the people’s trust in participatory democracy.

However, is this “rescue” effort convincing enough? Is everybody really on board this ship? I have my doubts. Many may have dismissed these efforts with a wave of the hands. People also wonder whether hands out in terms of tokenisms like N7, 000 for each disabled person, under the social security legislation of the state and giving money for start-up businesses is enough. Or even, whether people believe in Sule Lamido is genuine or not?

The effects may not be overwhelming but in a poor agrarian society like Jigawa where poverty bites hard, any attempt to change for good, no matter how minimal should not be despised. What is however important is the commitment and pragmatism brought into governance by the current administration. On doubts about the success and sustainability of his idealistic project the Governor told our group that he would not be deterred by the possibility of failure. “You cannot be a prisoner of anticipated failure, so you have to try and do away with conventional ways of thinking, of resorting to statistics and figures all of which had failed us in the past”, he said.

For me or anybody for that matter who was in Dutse about three years ago to witness the state capital’s backwardness and lack of infrastructure in contrast with the physical changes now evident, I think Lamido is on a sure footing. This may not be enough for him to win a re-election or awards, the ruling elite might fight back (that’s obvious), the governor himself might find power too addictive to be ready to negotiate on unfavourable term. Whatever happens, he should be inwardly gratified and fulfilled with his proudly thoughtful projects.

This negativity should not surprise anyone. As Dan Brown said in one of his best selling novels, Deception Point, “dishonest politicians hurt all politicians”, and are so tarred by the same brush. But for the Jigawa people whose total despair almost resulted into total loss a Lamido who came to judgment may have to go the extra mile before the people can repose trust in him.

So the journey has just begun. The challenges ahead are enormous and are now more daunting, but ultimately the greatest arbiter of all human actions is not man, not Jigawa people nor the insatiable elite. The greatest umpire is inevitably, posterity

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJeACJ8p0kc&feature=related

Massive Reforestation Exercise by the Governor to stop the scourge of desert encroachment which have devastated most of the states bordering Niger Republic and Chad.