Hope Arising from Ashes in Zamfara -By Usman Ibrahim

On 27 December 2018, Abdul’aziz Abubakar Yari, the immediate past governor of Zamfara State, in order to address the security situation in the state, openly supported the declaration of a state of emergency by the President in the state, which would have made him quit his job. Both the State and Federal Governments were overwhelmed with the spate of killing, kidnapping, banditry, cattle rustling, and the general state of insecurity. Nobody was safe. Earlier, hundreds had died from an outbreak of meningitis, with nothing to do about it. All the then-governor had to say was that it was as a result of sinning. Such was the state of hopelessness and helplessness the found Itself in, until things began to change a year ago today.

On May 29, 2019, Muhammad Bello Matawalle was sworn in as the 5th civilian governor of Zamfara State. He had become the governor by divine intervention. This fearless man went straight to work leaving no stone unturned in correcting the ills that held the state down for 2 decades. There were no sacred cows, as nobody was spared, whoever they were. Many of the issues were well known, but it was unthinkable to act on them.

To tackle insecurity, it was important to first free up grazing land for livestock. The problem was that most of the grazing reserves had been allocated to individuals including past governors, Emirs, and other VIPs. He immediately revoked all land titles and Certificates of Occupancy (C’s of O) issued from as far back as 1999 in order to make the grazing reserves available. States constructed Ruga settlements for the livestock herders.

An Emir and a District Head were dethroned and immediately replaced, for their hand in the insecurity and banditry ravaging the state, with 5 other Emirs and 10 soldiers undergoing probe for the same offence.

He revoked a N25 billion contract awarded to Alliance Trading Company, owned by Senator Adamu Aliero, a former governor of Kebbi State, and another contract of N27b to China Zhonghao, both for abandoning the projects and/or improper execution. Both were demanded to immediately refund the state or face prosecution.

Not only that, but 2 Directors, a Deputy Director, and 8 others in the state civil service were also suspended for their role in ‘recruitment racketeering’ leading to the state losing N216 million. Usually, the governments in Nigeria, at all levels, only complain about ghost workers and the effect on the state wage bill, with nobody brought to justice. Not this time, not in Zamfara State. In fact, not impressed with how the Local Government system was run in the state, he sacked all 14 Secretaries of the Local Government in one day and replaced them all.

In another landmark decision, he got the state legislature, the Zamfara State House of Assembly, to cancel allowances for past political office holders including governors, deputy governors, and others, costing the state several hundred million naira every year. Governor Matawalle considered it wickedness, especially in the light of the fact that pensioners who had served the government in their State and Local Government careers and retired were owed N10 billion in benefits and entitlements over the years. It was therefore unfair to pay politicians pensions whilst neglecting those who put in decades of their most productive part of life in the service.

The no-nonsense governor did not only stop the wrong things that had been going on for years and taking the state back to the condition it was up to just over a year ago, but he has also taken proactive steps in building a new Zamfara State, taking her out of the ashes. For instance, on 28 July 2019, barely 2 months into office, he signed a $1 billion investment agreement with the Africa Export-Import Bank (AFREXIMBANK) to revive key economic sectors in the state.

A pension commission was created to handle State and Local Government pensions and end the mistreatment. Free medical treatment for women and children was established immediately on the resumption of office, as 37,000 citizens displaced from their homes and communities as a result of banditry, kidnapping, cattle rustling, and killing returned home including the 12,000 who took cover in other states. Two hundred beneficiaries have also received undergraduate scholarships.

Zamfara was known as a Sharia state, but the governor reached out to Christians last Christmas to give them assure them that Zamfara State was home for all, and they are to feel free to practice their faith freely, as he gave them millions of naira worth of gifts both in cash and kind.

Aisha Bello Matawalle, the First Lady of the state, one of the young First Ladies in the country, addressed the media on 3 June, less than a week after the governor’s inauguration stating that her priorities were girl-child education, women empowerment, and other issues pertaining particularly to women, and has kept her promise.

She proposed and is promoting castration as punishment for rapists. Within 4 months, 6000 women had accessed N20,000 each to promote their small businesses. During this Eid el Fitr Sallah celebration, 10,000 women across the 14 Local Government Areas had gotten packages each containing wrappers, face masks, hand gloves, soap, and hand sanitizers. This is separate from the 5,000 women who each got COVID-19 palliative packages containing rice, millet, wheat, maize, macaroni, spaghetti, and sugar.

As recent as slightly over 1 year ago, Zamfara State was Nigeria’s saddest and most depressing places in Nigeria. In the past 12 months, however, it has been on the rise and fast becoming one of Nigeria’s inspiring turn-around stories, rising from ashes to greatness. Zamfara State is certainly a state to watch in the coming years.

Usman Ibrahim is a social commentator

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