By Lawal Jet Kaugama
The 2023 general election is around the corner, so political intrigues and horse-trading is commonplace among politicians of various aspirations. Now, all over the 36 states of the federation, there are governors who are about to complete their eight-year tenures and are now shopping for their successors.
The executive governor of Jigawa state, Alhaji Mohammed Abubakar Badaru, like all state executives at the end of their tenures, is definitely shopping for the right man to climb the leadership saddle in order to safeguard his legacies; the man who will be in a position
to carry on with the noble policies and programmes of the Badaru-led government so that Jigawa people will continue to reap the benefits of sustainability.
As the Badaru administration is keenly shopping for a successor, it is imperative that the people of Jigawa state give their inputs in the search for the right candidate for the number one job in the state. Thus, searching for the right successor should be a business for all
Jigawa people.
The Jigawa people would like to see Badaru’s successor as someone who has the feeling of the people at heart; who will work for the people of Jigawa state and carry on with the pro-people policies of the Badaru administration.
To safeguard the people’s aspiration, the people want a successor-governor who will hit the ground running. They don’t want someone who will be on the job-training. By these criteria, the deputy governor of Jigawa state, Alh. Umar Namadi fits like a glove.
He is somebody who understands Badaru’s policies and programmes and their impacts on the people. He is the right man with the shrewd understanding of political developments currently going on in Jigawa state. Therefore, APC should let Namadi fly its flag, but not to be
sidelined for an inexperienced man who will spend his tenure on
the-job-training.
As a concerned citizen of jigawa, I advise that for the All Progressives Congress (APC) to retain power in the state, the lot should fall on the deputy governor, Namadi. He is loved by Jigawa people and compatriots outside the state. He has the education and
charisma and experience to pilot Jigawa state to the promised land.
Therefore, bypassing him will spell doom for APC in the state. In 2019, Governor Badaru chose Namadi as his running mate, since then he has been a loyal deputy and close friend to him. Namadi had also served as commissioner of finance in Jigawa state and knows what it takes to manage the state. He is the founder of Namadi Umar & Co Chartered Accountants firm based in Kano. From 1993 he was an Associate member of the Nigeria Institute of Management, Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, Chartered Institute of Taxation until 2010 when he became a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria.
Namadi was also engaged in research works, on Sources and Application of Funds, Auditing a Computerized Information System and Community Banking.
Also before his appointment as deputy governor, Namadi was a member of the state committee on verification and validation of contracts as well as that of staff audit.
Jigawa state governor, Abubakar Badaru, is one of the outstanding state executives in the country. Even though he is not one public officeholder who blows his own trumpet, the Jigawa people found that it is necessary to tell their compatriots in other states and Nigeria
what their governor has achieved in the few years he assumed office.
Since assumption of office, Badaru’s attention has been focused on the aspects of the economy that have direct bearing on his people in terms of welfare and social uplift, not forgetting their viability and economic worth. The welfare and future of Jigawa people always remains his focal point.
He completes projects initiated by his predecessor who was elected on the platform of another party, a digression from the norm in the Nigerian political space. His major concern is to execute projects that hold promise to the growth of the state and welfare of the people. He doesn’t care who takes the glory after completion.
Badaru needs someone who will sustain his programmes on water supply, the solution to perennial water shortage in the state. Under Badaru, the state government has also fast-tracked the development of solar energy.
He has further galvanised Jigawa youths into the agricultural value chain and ensures that they not only participate but make a living from it. What Jigawa grows at present on its farms is even bigger than what a couple of states or more grow. Jigawa needs more of the likes of Badaru in her polity, and the best bet his deputy, Namadi, who has been with Badaru all along.
Jigawa needs more shrewd businessmen and managers of finance in her democratic setting. Above all, she needs more of God-fearing administrators in the polity.
In all, as Governor Badaru has justified his election and the confidence the people reposed in him, his deputy, Namadi, stands out like a moon in its full circle at night, achieve the same feat, or even more.
Therefore, let Namadi succeed Badaru in 2023, especially if Badaru holds his policies and programmes in the state dear. Namadi will ensure the sustainability of his policies and programmes for the good of the Jigawa people.
Lawal Jet Kaugama writes from Dutse, Jigawa state.
