By Bashir Aliyu Limanci
Since he came to power, Dauda Lawal Dare of Zamfara State has been trying hard to push the narrative that he is opening a new frontier for infrastructure and inclusive leadership which despite his relentless efforts to pin the endemic problems that he has failed to solve on the former Governor of Zamfara and now a Minister of State for Defense, Dr. Bello Matawalle, Dare has so far failed to present any tangible programs or policy to alleviate the suffering of Zamfara citizens. While this may sound a bit far fetched, taking a cursory glance at the unprecedented hardship in Zamfara especially the remote local governments where insecurity is worsening, Governor Dauda Lawal is making things worse in Zamfara.
While Matawalle’s policy of encouraging local volunteers to help defend vulnerable towns from marauding terrorists, the initiative had since led to a dramatic fall on attacks on defenseless villages, forcing bandits to change tactics and zones of operations, accusing Dr Matawalle of creating a legacy that is worsening the current insecurity in Zamfara is a campaign that is targeted to tarnish his image and turn people against him. As a senior figure at the national defense council, Matawalle has been instrumental in making sure the federal government took a decisive step to engage in non-kinetic approach in dealing with the insecurity by granting total autonomy to the local governments which would the local authorities to invest in healthcare system, social security programmes and job opportunities thereby boosting the local economy and reducing the risk of youth inducement by the criminal networks.
The Federal Government is already taking various measures to boost local economies and productivity in all parts of Nigeria. These policies include Student Loan Fund, youth support funds and various social security initiatives that can help our jobless youths secure bright future.
The fact that Dauda Lawal Dare proclaims to have done more in building new roads and infrastructure in Gusau, he should note that concentrating massive projects in the capital, while neglecting education, healthcare sector, youth empowerment and human development, the governor is getting obsessed with misplaced priorities.
Zamfara remains one of the poorest states in Nigeria. There has not been a single program by the governor to make a dent in this scary reality. Zamfara is facing the toughest phase of insecurity situation with terrorists roaming freely and scaring the hell out of villagers with threats of kidnapping, violence and extortion. The Federal Government has already cracking down on the terrorists, but to ensure people live in peace in the long run, Governor Dare should have focused on creating a long term strategy to rejig local economy and incentivize parents to enroll their kids in school. The number of out of school children in Zamfara is still very high.
If Dauda continues to pay no need to the pressing problems that haunt Zamfara by refusing to alleviate the suffering of Zamfara residents especially villagers and people living the remotest parts of Zamfara, he will go down in history as one of the worst governor in Zamfara ever. Blaming Matawalle or Federal Government for the issues that are within his domain to tackle is a strategic blunder, and Dauda Dare needs to wake up to reality.
