Applauding Masari’s governance approach
Since assumption of office as the fourth democraticallyelected Governor of Katsina state, Rt. Hon. Aminu Bello Masari has brought about a novel approach to governance whereby all stakeholders in the state are involved in policy decision-making processes unlike the previous government which ruled the state with executive fiat without recourse to public opinion or citizen involvement and participation in the governance process.
It is instructive to note that since coming to power nearly two years ago, the Governor has been interfacing with important stakeholders comprising elder statesmen like the former IGP, Ibrahim Ahmadu Coomasie, Alh. Lawal Kaita, Alh.Saidu Barda amongst a few others, traditional and religious leaders, the organized labour, civil societies, student leaders, youths leaders, professionals and the mass media. This regular interaction is to afford stakeholders the opportunity to make input into governance and for the Government to get the feedback of the indigenes on how they are governed.
Thus, Masari’s leadership style given his pedigree as a former Speaker of Federal Parliament, a seasoned technocrat and a grassroots politician with a cross-over appeal easily resonate with the masses in the state who see in him an emancipator, a reformer and performer who desires their support and encouragement to bring about sustainable development that would enhance their socioeconomic living conditions.
As a technocrat who started his working career as a Technical Assistant in the old Kaduna State Water Board where he rose to the rank of Executive Director in his native home of Katsina then newly-carved out of old Kaduna state and his later years as Commissioner of Works, Masari has a firm grasp of the state’s peculiar developmental challenges.
As a former Speaker of the Federal Parliament, the Governor also has ample knowledge of the state’s resources and the quantum of funds that accrued from the state’s Internally Generated Revenue and allocations from the Federation Account in the eight years that Shema held sway. So when the Governor opened the books and accused the former administration of Ibrahim Shehu Shema of misappropriation of funds, he knows what he was talking about as he who wears the shoe knows where it pinches.
Even when the Investigating Committee set up by the Governor to probe his predecessor invited Shema to appear before it, the former Governor consistently refused to do so on the pretext that it was a mere witch hunt. Thankfully, the EFCC as an impartial arbiter and investigating authority is already handling the issue at the courts where the accused are expected to prove their innocence. Therefore the insinuation of persecution coming from Shema’s camp is mere balderdash.
Ibrahim Mohammed, Abuja.