Kauran Gwandu And His New Kebbi Agenda (1)
By: Dr. Ibrahim Na-Iro
It’s a known fact that Kebbi state was craving for an aggressive and purposeful leadership to take the State out of the woods before the coming of His Excellency, Dr. Nasiru Idris (Kauran Gwandu). Today, not far into the journey, and justifying the mandate entrusted to him by the good people of the state, the administration resetting all the sectors of the state’s economy for the well again.
Kauran Gwandu’s tenacity and single-mindedness has since inception restored confidence and hope of the people of the state who were hitherto living in despair and despondency begging for a liberator who’ll salvage the comatose conditions in education, road infrastructure, agriculture, heaths, and other critical drivers of the state’s economy.
In fact, one of the cardinal principles of democratic leadership is the sacredness of the social contract entered into between the people and their leaders. Any desecration of this contract of trust comes with heavy, even deadly consequences. Among the parties to this pact, the people almost always hold their own side of the contract by voting for leaders to emerge through the polls after which it becomes the turn of the leaders to uphold their end of the contract. This usually manifests in the form of fulfilled promises leading to the massive delivery of what is termed “the dividends of democracy”. This is the ideal situation. Unfortunately, too, this is the point where things go south, and the people are left rueing their missed chances.
It was perhaps in furtherance of the two-way pact that must exist in a democracy that Albert Moravia, a famous Italian novelist and journalist declared that “Dictatorships are one-way streets. Democracy boasts two-way traffic.” Unfortunately, Nigeria’s democracy has been characterised by aborted promises and widespread breach of contract with the people always at the bitter end of this recurring breach of agreement.
The manifestation of this reality is the widening gap of insecurity and ungoverned spaces, poverty, poor or near absence of critical infrastructure to drive the economy, high cost of living etcetera. The only way out of this quagmire is to do as Chinua Achebe suggests, to ensure our democracy strives to meet the basic requirements of a functioning and robust democracy which he highlighted as “… a healthy, educated, participatory followership, and an educated, morally grounded leadership”.
This may be the driving force of Gov. Idris Nasiru, Kauran Gwandu’s conduct since inauguration. His has been a careful yet assured walk backwards through all the promises he has made in a bid to check them off his to-do list one after the other. This is after battling to first navigate the delicate situation following the unceremonious but necessary removal of the fuel subsidy and the attendant hardship that befell the people of Kebbi state in particular and the rest of Nigeria. Without making it too obvious, this phase demonstrated the governor’s morally grounded leadership driven by his experience and education.
Almost six months since his inauguration, the governor of Kebbi state is making conscious and informed efforts to keep his own end of the contract with the people of the state. And although he appears to be taking on all the focal areas of his manifesto all at once, his particular focus on some sectors, like road rehabilitation and construction has been simply remarkable.
A look at Gov. Idris’ head long joust with poor roads, a most critical infrastructure for the people of the state, one which he made very clear promises to tackle, has brought joy to the faces of our people. Take for instance, the contract for rehabilitation and reconstruction of city centre roads in Birnin Kebbi on July 25 worth N9 billion. This was done in fulfilment of the governor’s campaign promise, a public declaration made in the run-up to the 2023 elections.
The contract for the constitution and rehabilitation of many roads have since followed. These include the contract for the rehabilitation of Yauri township roads, which will cover the rehabilitation and reconstruction of four roads namely: local government Dawanau junction, market round about – Tashar Garkuwa, Garkan Dudu- Liberia junction and police station – Union Bank. The total cost stands at N3.8 billion. The contract will cover a distance of about 5.2 kilometers total area when completed. It’s also noteworthy that the contractors have been given 18 months with which to deliver a quality job.
Following hot on the heels of the contract for the construction of roads in Yauri LGA, is the contract for the rehabilitation of Warra township roads in Ngaski Local Government Area worth N1.8 billion. This is a most sensitive undertaken from a leader consciously pursuing equitable distribution of development all over the state. This is because, of all the local government areas of the state, Warra roads have been the most neglected by successive leaders in the past.
The governor has also declared rather emphatically that roads in Zuru Emirate would be next in line of rehabilitation even as he disclosed that negotiations were being finalised between the state government and the Federal Government for the completion of Koko/Dabai road and construction of Malando- Warra- Kainji road.
It gladdens the heart to learn that Governor Idris is considering taking over the construction of these roads following his recent assessment that the company handling the project is incompetent. It speaks volume of the man’s passion to ask the federal government to revoke the contract and hand it over to the state government for proper construction.
A recent press release from the governor’s office committing to the renovation of roads in Argungu as well as all Local governments of the state has definitely brought joy to our bossom. Public statements such as this assures the people that rehabilitation and construction of roads would be a continuous process under the governor’s administration and this no doubt raises the level of confidence among the people.
No wonder our tireless governor has been receiving national and global recognition for his steady feet since his swearing in. As an indigene of Kebbi state, my joy knew no bounds when I read that my governor has been honoured in faraway Malaysia with the prestigious award of “2023 IBR Borneo Award” in Malaysia in recognition of his outstanding leadership legacies in socio-economic development. Equally comforting is the governor’s modesty in crediting this award to the people of Kebbi state.
Indeed, it may seem forever, but once a people finally find the right leader, all the inertia of past leaders seems to dissipate into thin air. Our people appear to have written off their bitter memories of the past and are openly revelling in the beauty of the present and promise of a bright future as written and in the process of being directed by the current governor. And as our governor weaves through all the challenges of the state, the least we can do is give him the needed support.
Na-Iro writes from Kebbi
