Calling Buhari a Failure Is Unfair
With an unusual candour, the Nasarawa State Governor, Abdulahi Sule, spoke on the state of the nation particularly the growing insecurity, Nigeria’s unity, agitation for zoning and restructuring, plan to build an hydro-power station and the need to promot
Ayear after becoming governor, how would you describe the journey? My ascension to the post of a governor came from the urge to contribute my quota to the development of my state. Nasarawa State is one of the newest states, although its over twenty years now. When it was created in 1996, I wasn’t in the country. I was outside Nigeria. So, I feel I didn’t participate in the struggle for the creation of my state, and so there was some emptiness in me.
I felt the only way to meaningfully contribute to the development of the state would be by being at the helms of affairs. My exposure, working life and blessings God has bestowed on me, having attained the pinnacle of my career in the corporate world, has inspired me to see what I can contribute to my state. Coming to power, I brought to bare my experience, contacts and exposure to develop my state.
My experience from the private sector blended with the experiences of the civil servants, traditional rulers, youths, community and religious leaders and all those whom I’ve met in the process of rising to this position, have been merged alongside a strong team that has provided support and guidance in charting the way to go.
Before I came in, we developed a blueprint called the Nasarawa Economic Strategy, and since I assumed office, we’ve been on the trajectory of the economic plan. I came in on the backbone of my predecessor, Senator Umaru Tanko Al’makura, who has supported me very strongly.
During the handover process, I spent a month working and understudying him closely. In that process, we travelled to most parts of the state and I saw first hand all the projects he had done. I used the opportunity to learn and pick-up from there. So, I’ll say the experience has been very interesting, fascinating and encouraging, and I don’t feel any regrets whatsoever for seeking public office.
Coming from the private sector, you must have experienced some culture shock in the civil service. How have you dealt with the public service?
The private sector is performance and profit-driven but with government, it’s mostly service-driven, and so that’s where the shock comes in for someone like me who’s been in the private sector. But, luckily for me, even whilst in the private sector, I’d mingled with lots of politicians and lived with them. I understand a thing or two about politics and politicians. That has helped in preparing me for the realities of public service and a state like mine, where government is the industry and biggest employer of labour.
What is your government’s main economic strategy?
Coming into power, we looked at the prospect of my state and ways to make it independent. Before I came in, the state was generating very negligible revenue, being the 31st on the revenue generation list. The Internally Generated Revenue was nothing to write home about. Therefore, we depend on federal government allocation. We seek to break away from the culture of depending on the federal government.
Nasarawa is one of the richest states in Nigeria, but all its wealth is in prospects. It’s called the home of solid minerals and we have all the major minerals. We have one of the best and purest barite in the oil and Gas industry. When I used to work in the oil and gas industry in Port Harcourt, we used to see trucks of barite from Nasarawa State being brought into Trans-Amadi, to be taken to oil fields in Onne. But it was abandoned, and instead, they were importing barite and tantalite into the country.
In addition, we have gemstones unexplored. In most cases, they are explored and mined by illegal miners. We saw the opportunities in Karu local government, which is like Ogun State to Lagos State. The housing industry and land opportunities are not explored.
But the biggest of them all is Agriculture. We are blessed by having river Benue coming through Nasarawa State. With the river and huge virgin land measuring over 27,000km, yet a population of only about two million. We are blessed with the best soils to grow any crops. And so we’ve been pursuing these areas.