Tambuwal@56: Celebrating a deserving national patriot
By Ogaga Ariemu
It is indeed true that the last six years of Governor Aminu Tambuwal administration in Sokoto State have been filled with astonishing speed, however one enduring constant in the passing period has been his bold, firm, determined and unwavering commitment to selfless and patriotic service to the state and Nigeria.
Despite the challenge of dwindling revenue, the governor who marks his 56th birthday on 10th of January has continued to impact positively on the state through people-oriented projects.
Without much ado, there is no gainsaying that governor Tambuwal’s achievements have indeed qualified him for higher responsibilities in the country.
Governor Tambuwal hit the ground running from the first day he assumed office in 2015, fixing roads and bridges, re-organising institutions and establishments for the betterment of the people
A dispassionate summary of Governor Tambuwal administration will confirm that virtually every sector in the state has been positively impacted since May 29, 2015 showcasing a definitive testimony of his dedicated, visionary and progressive leadership.
This unprecedented development coming at a time most leaders both in the country and globally used the COVID-19 pandemic as excuse for non performance, has become well referenced in the developmental narrative of the country.
With a year and few months to the end of his tenure, Governor Tambuwal will go down in history as a man who transformed Sokoto to a modern state in terms of infrastructural development, citizen empowerment, security, healthcare, education and agriculture.
One of the landmark achievements of the governor is in the area of education. Upon assumption of office as the sixth executive governor of Sokoto state, Tambuwal’s revolutionary imprints was first noticed in the state’s education sector when it first prioritised the sector through the allocation of highest budgetary. The governor has maintained that feat.
With budget proposal of N188.5billion for the 2022 fiscal year, the sectoral allocation shows that Education has the highest vote of N37billion which is 20 per cent of the entire budget , followed by Health with N28billion, representing 15 per cent.
The governor’s prioritisation of the education sector is evident in the reduction in the rate of the out-of-school children in the state.
Also, the Educational Trust Fund, under the able care of His Eminence Dr. Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar III, Sultan of Sokoto was launched.
The scheme which has been adjudged as first in history of the state now allows a monthly contributions of token by individuals in a proportional form to develop the education sector. It has also recorded tremendous success.
Tambuwal’s magic touch has also had to bear on the state’s health sector. A testimony to this is the construction of a N3.2 billion state of the art Sokoto State Advanced Medical Diagnostic Center (SOSAMEDIC).
The facility, with state-of-the art medical equipment, has a Radiology Unit, Laboratory Unit, Out-patient Clinics, Dental Unit, and ENT Unit. It will offer a variety of services, including Medical Investigations, Radiological Investigations, and Laboratory Investigations.
It also has provision for ECG, Stress ECG, Echocardiography, and Vascular Doppler, Gastrology, Endoscopy, Neurology, and EEG.
In addition to this, the facility has extensive capacity for MRI, CT scan, Fluoroscopy, Digital X-ray, Mammography, Chemical Pathology, Histopathology, Microbiology, and Hematology.
The Tambuwal’s administration is also striving to address the challenges of maternal and child mortality, as well as other healthcare issues affecting the general wellbeing of the people of the state.
With the state having about 600 primary healthcare centres and dispensaries, over 230 PHCs in the state are currently under renovation.
The government is also developing tertiary medical facilities such as a new teaching hospital with 950-bed capacity and three premier hospitals in all the three senatorial zones. This is in addition to general hospitals that are efficiently running in all the local government headquarters in the state.
On economy, since 2015, among concerns of engaging the local workforce, as well as swelling the state’s internally generated revenue, the Tambuwal led administration had entered into strategic partnership with many companies including the Cement Company of Northern Nigeria the BUA Group and Dangote Group.
One of the positive results of these partnership is the Trading under the brand name, Sokoto Cement.
This has led to the commissioning of the new 3Mt/yr production Line 3 at BUA Cement’s Sokoto cement plant at Kalambania in Sokoto state
With an existing 1.5 million MTPA Line 1 already in operation, and the 500,000 MTPA Sokoto Cement Plant, the boost to the local economy value chain can only be imagined.
For the Dangote partnerhip is the 25 hectares Rice Outgrowers Scheme located around Goronyo, Nigeria’s second largest dam, and the Dangote Rice Mill sited in Runji village, Kware LGA.
While about 5,000 outgrowers of rice have already been engaged, the Mill on the other hand is designed to process 32 metric tonnes of rice per hour, and a combined capacity to process 250,000 metric tonnes per year.
Other similar initiatives include the partnership with Pan African Entreprise, a British company, to establish a Tannery and Shoe factory in Sokoto; the Goronyo Sugar Factory, for which the first and second seed multiplication farms have been completed and machinery currently been awaited from India; and several local investors who continue to receive support from Governor Tambuwal.
Essentially the grand design, besides seeking to reflate the local economy, is to ultimately create more and more jobs, thereby creating wealth for both individuals, corporate concerns and the state.
What of water projects? The Governor Tambuwal-led administration has been able to provide over 700 towns and villages with potable drinking water across the 23 local government areas.
This is in addition to 1.5 million litres per day of water projects provided in all the headquarters of the 23 local government areas.
On agriculture, huge incentives including loans have been extended to farmers who have enjoyed thousands of tonnes of fertilizer bought at subsidized rates by the government and sold to them.
Infrastructural development is another area Gov. Tambuwal has performed excellently well. Even with meagre allocations received by his administration from the federation account, the governor has been able to turn Sokoto into a construction site.
For instance, during the commission of a N3.4 billion nine-span Flyover Bridge in Sokoto metropolis last year April, Former President, Olusegun Obasanjo described Gov. Tambuwal as a dynamic, talented visionary leader with a constructive mind of ensuring transformation.
The former president said he was amazed by the giant strides recorded by Gov. Tambuwal administration in the areas of infrastructure development and uplifting the lives of citizens.
“In spite of the present situation with simultaneous and non performing economy, security challenges and effect of COVID-19 pandemic, Tambuwal is still making things go on and good, even with the low state IGR. I still insist that he is a performing governor not only in the state but within the northwest especially in handling issues of insecurity. He is wonderfully doing well even among his colleagues and for his party,” Obasanjo said.
In the area of Information Communication Technology (ICT), the governor has also done tremendously well. He has seen to the institutionalization of ICT across the MDAs and 23 LGAs in Sokoto State, including making ICT as an Integral player in the State Civil Service.
Apart from establishment and Commissioning of first All Mackintosh ICT Resource Center, he is the first Governor to appoint a Director General ICT in Sokoto State
Furthermore, while he also saw the increased budgetary allocation to ICT by State Government from N80million to N1billion, about 23,000 civil servants on ICT in Sokoto State.
It was these achievments that earned the governor the Silverbird Man of the Year in 2019.
The organisers said the governor’s achievements in the areas of education, infrastructure development and job creation won him the award.
Previous winners include Aliko Dangote, Late Dora Akunyili, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Peter Obi, Babatunde Fashola, and several others.
No doubt, Governor Tambuwal will be leaving Sokoto better than he met it in eight years. His legacy is beyond the infrastructural development in the state and in fair proportion to the various segments and stakeholders of the state.
Legacy is not what is left for people but what is left in people. Indeed, the governor started and has so far maintained a cause that will outlive him.
