By Chuks Oyema-Aziken
Zamfara State Commissioner for Budget and Planning, Abdulmalik Gajam, has lauded the State Governor, Dauda Lawal for not toying with the security challenges in the state.
In an interview with Sunday PUNCH, he said the present administration met Zamfara State in an insecurity crisis.
“That was the peg of our campaign. We saw that there was a lack of commitment from the previous government, in the area of education, and there was no investment in healthcare. We had over 3.9m hectares of land but we are not producing any agricultural produce.
“The legacy that the past governor left is that he bought Hilux vehicles and dashed them to bandits. We have evidence. He granted asylum at the Government House to bandits. Even in the barbaric era, there has never been a time when an emir or a king granted asylum to somebody who killed other people without hesitation, kidnapped them for ransom and raped their girls. Are these people to sit on the tables with?
“When Matawalle came to office, the Federal Government bought some vehicles and gave them to the state. Most of them were bulletproof tankers. When we came into the office, we met them with flat tyres. This means they were not serviced at all. But, all these were provided for and removed from the state purse. It is in our government that we have said we would pay the police and army their earned allowances and service their vehicles so we would be able to protect our people. That was what we met. That is Zamfara State as we speak.
“We met a system where bandits were the kings. The government had to go to them to negotiate and dialogue. The same bandits are children who were neglected by the government. As they have taken to arms, they are now being visited regularly by the government. That is why we need to keep hammering on this. We can change the narratives but we must hold Matawalle’s government into account.
“We have to keep hitting on the people who killed Zamfara and are still extorting from Zamfara people.
of these characters. When you see them shining, claiming they are representing us, you might be deceived. As it is now, Zamfara people have chased them out of the state.”
