As Governor Masari sieves the grain from the chaff

For a man whose defining hallmarks include converting to an art, the act of putting a smile on the faces of especially the indigent, Honourable Aminu Bello Masari’s assumption of office as Governor of Katsina State was yet another opportunity to give hope to the hopeless and take life a notch higher for millions of his people.

That must have informed why as soon as he assumed office as governor, Masari, decided that one of his cardinal objectives in government is moving as many Katsinawas as possible from the bondage of poverty and disease. His predecessor had made a show of bequeathing billions of naira in the state treasury. And life for Masari as governor was all set to be rosy - or so it appeared.

No sooner had the new governor assumed office however, than he realised that the claim about billions in the kitty was an expensive joke clearly aimed at setting him against the people. Promissory notes, shares in some shaky companies and perhaps the new worth of the claimant all added up to the outrageous figure mentioned.

One of the major things that would have made Masari’s objective of enriching his people and moving them out of poverty easier was the seeming availability of especially road infrastructure that he met in place. But the main story about this can only be told some other day, as the matter is in court and therefore subjudice. Suffice it to say however, that what appeared as assets were soon turning to liability, as those infrastructures were mostly built on a foundation of sand; the maintenance of which is even more expensive than starting new projects altogether.

And since there are no better witnesses to these acts of misdemeanour than the people of Katsina themselves, Masari could simply have chosen to fold his arms, overwhelmed by the deep mess he inherited. And the people will hardly have blamed him for so doing.

But we are talking about someone who had risen to as far as Nigeria’s Number Four Citizen. He was in government to help make the needed difference, and knew that it was not going to be easy at all. But then, he was not known to be a quitter. And even as private citizen, he was well known for helping his people within the limits of his ability. The governor therefore wasted no time in embarking on the journey that will in eight years’ time culminate in Katsina resuming its pride of place among Nigeria’s frontline states.

In sane climes, when you breach your covenant with your people as the former administration did, the decent thing to do was to keep quiet, if you are not going to apologise and seek forgiveness. But these people are brazen. For eight years, they took and treated the Katsina people as fools, riding roughshod over them, and embarking on relentless propaganda to make a show of delivering the goods.

Being an experienced and committed administrator, Masari decided not to allow himself to be distracted by these individuals. In their dictionary, the word shame is alien, and their antics are clearly aimed at making him fail, as they did. So in partnership with the Amalgamated Traders Association, the governor trained, in the first instance, 5000 youths in entrepreneurship; a training that was literally about squeezing water out of stone. In concert with the Central Bank of Nigeria, those youths are being empowered to impact on the economy of the state in particular and contribute to the GDP of Nigeria by recording big success in their respective businesses and becoming employers of labour.

But then, Governor Masari realised that the best legacy he should bequeath to his people is education. Sadly, that is like a bottomless pit that could corner all the resources of the state and still ask for more. Instead of painting schools to a particular colour to make a show of performing, Masari decided to turn these schools around by subjecting them to holistic rehabilitation. Thus far, over two hundred of such schools have been rehabilitated and furnished, and the nagging issue of unqualified teachers is being addressed frontally. A leader that wants to deceive his people will not place education on the front burner, as it is the easiest thing to manipulate the illiterate.

Only visionary governors know that the future globally lies in IT. Already, Governor Masari has gone far in seeking partnership with CompTIA, the umbrella body of over two hundred of the biggest IT companies in the world, based in the United States, and sooner than later, Katsina is going to be one of the biggest IT hubs in this part of the world, and the thousands of youths that will benefit could well be the solution to Nigeria’s economic malaise.

A Nigerian, named Chinedu Echeruo, who benefitted from the CompTIA kind of training planned by Masari developed software that he sold to Apple Incorporation at one billion American dollars.

One of the most credible non-governmental institutions in Nigeria, the Nigerian Medical Association, recently bestowed in Governor Masari its biggest award, for his unprecedented efforts in transforming the health sector in Katsina, inspite of all odds. Apart from prompt payment of salaries and pensions, the governor’s astute management of human and material resources has seen him embarking on an ambitious exercise that will place Katsina among the very best societies in healthcare by 2021.

Doctors, who a few years ago were left with no option than to run away from Katsina for greener pastures, after being deceived by the previous system, are now returning in droves, courtesy of this major drive by Masari. Predicate lay however, resources are about getting stretched, as people from neighbouring states now go to Katsina to benefit from its fast developing healthcare delivery. The Ajiya water project has also seen to a drastic reduction of waterborne diseases by more than a half. And other important projects in that direction will only get better.

Katsina farmers will also smile soon, as the governor is planning to launch a commodity exchange in another ambitious project to be called e-agric.

Given the long time it took Masari to cleanse the Augean stable and restore sanity to the system, there is no way he could achieve all he sets out to do in just four years as governor. Never again shall Katsina allow itself to be ruled by adventurers, who had the audacity to appropriate only to themselves our collective patrimony and illegitimately amass property worth eighty six billion naira, leaving the people wallowing in abject poverty and disease.

These are people who have taken Katsina many years back. The people of the state will therefore do well to encourage him to vie for another term of office and turnaround the whole society, to the collective benefit of all Nigerians. This is all the more so as Nigeria ponders a future beyond oil, which requires astute managers of human and arterial resources and nothing less.

Adam, a public affairs analyst, wrote this piece from Abuja.