PDP governorship candidate in Jigawa State, Dr Mustapha Sule Lamido
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In few weeks time, opportunities would have beckoned for electorate to decide their own fate as they file out to cast their votes in order to decide who govern them for the next four years in line with electoral laws. The election this time will be strategic as well as it will be a paradigm shift from the past into a reality for good or bad.
Jigawa State in the North west Nigeria was created on Tuesday August 27, 1991 with 27 Local governments and for the past 32 years of its creation, history has been fair to the people in terms of governance. Today, the State which is predominantly agrarian could compete with its contemporaries with lofty achievements in terms of infrastructure, socio-economic development, etc.
As it were, development in any forms is a product of thinking of a deep thinker. Suffice to say, that Dr. Mustapha Sule Lamido by all standards fitting for the office of a governor is an opportunity waiting to happen. This should be understood by electorate across the 27 Local Governments of the State. Unarguably, he is the standard flagbearer of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, governorship candidate in Jigawa, but looking at his persona who has grasp of local politics; who is well versed in the art and science of the need to move the state forward from where it is now into a progressive future, the people need not look at the cacophony of lies of any other governorship candidate, but settle for sincerity, commitment and patriotism that could be found in the PDP governorship candidate.
I have perused through his series of write-ups, “My Vision for Jigawa”, and one could realise that Dr Lamido (jnr) is much ready for the job and the people of Jigawa could leverage on this and elect him so that he could convert the vision into a mission vis-à-vis infrastructural and human capital development.
Thus far, his leadership sagacity has led to massive defection of other party supporters and members to the Peoples Democratic Party in Jigawa State. The PDP in Jigawa State has been reinforced given the calibre of strong and popular politicians that are joining the party across the Local Governments such that the development has sent jitters down the spine of other political parties.
He personally acknowledged the fact that PDP in Jigawa has bounced back and is heading to the government house, when he wrote:
“The massive crowd that turns up to welcome us at each rally is a testimony of the level of support for PDP by the Jigawa State people. We are not going to take it for granted. With just about 6 to 7 weeks left before the general election.
Dr Lamido advised electorate, saying: “I urge everyone to collect their PVC s before the deadline and ensure they don’t trade their votes for anything.”
As succinctly captured in his vision, he stressed on the need for unity of Jigawa people as well as the people deserve ‘good governance’, promising that he would offer his all if voted as governor of the State in February, 2023.
Without doubt, Dr Lamido (jnr) is highly celebral, humble, humane and not just being quintessential tough guy, strong silent and self-contained who is highly respected and respect elders, traditional rulers and that occasioned why he’s lauded in every political outing in the State. A home boy who is at peace with the youths, adults, women and the less privilege.
He is never a diaspora person, but was born and raised in the culture of his fathers in his homeland, hence, he knows what to do per time having vowed to assemble the best brains and tested hands to run an all inclusive government if voted into power.
These were reflected, when he further wrote: “We will work tirelessly to guarantee the security of lives and properties Insha Allah. That Jigawa is believed to be one of the safest and most peaceful states in Nigeria will not be a license for complacency.
“Our aim is to sustain the peace and make it even more peaceful. If elected, we will come up with a security masterplan that is comprehensive, intensive and proactive. We will achieve this through traditional rulers engagement, complementing federal security operatives, empowering community security and vigilante groups and emphasizing on surveillance and intelligence gathering.
“Other measures include sustainable solutions to farmers-herders crisis, partnership with neighbouring states, effective border patrol and strong legislation against crimes.
“On the economy, we will start by appraising all the realities when we win the elections. We will subsequently fine tune our economic plan to take care of short, medium and long-term requirements.
“We will work to build a diversified economy that will create jobs and lift people out of poverty as well as generating revenue for the state. This will be achieved through visionary budgeting process for IGR Growth, strengthening our local markets, industrialization through raw materials utilization, mineral exploitation and tourism.
We will Insha Allah partner with the Federal government for a better utilization of the Dutse Airport. With the right efforts and partnerships, the Dutse International Airport can be utilized as a cargo terminal which will serve the entire North-Western Nigeria.
“We can persuade the Federal Government to decongest other places and divert some cargoes to Dutse. This will in turn transform Jigawa State into a massive economic hub with job and investment opportunities.
“If elected, we will declare a state of emergency against unemployment, youth restiveness and women underdevelopment. We will emphasize on skill-based education, expansion and modernization of the agricultural sector, development of information and communication technology, reviving the sports and entertainment industries.
“We will create a database of all Jigawa State graduates for linkage to employment opportunities. We will introduce Graduates Internship Programme for university and college students after NYSC. The programme will post them to different government ministries on a 6-month internship.”
It is in light of this, that Jigawa people expect the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC in the State to be neutral to allow the choice of electorate to prevail and in particular, the security agents and other stakeholders must remain bi-partisan in the course of elections. The INEC has vowed to ensure a free, fair and credible election, hence, Nigerians look forward to seeing the electoral umpire work the talk using BIVAS and other electronic devices to power the election.
Atekojo Samson Usman, a journalist and public commentator writes from Abuja and can be reached through: ateko2007@mail.com
