Leaders do have wisdom and also take sound decisions; however, they sometimes appreciate advice and suggestions from their followers, especially those who genuinely want them to succeed. I want to use this medium to appeal to Jigawa state governor, Malam Umar Namadi (FCA), a.k.a. Dan Modi, on certain issues that need his attention. Your Excellency, as it has been known and believed by many, the rainy season is one season most people look forward to, perhaps because of its use and benefit to the existence and survival of plants and animals, and even humans are not left behind.
Year in and year out, people make a lot of preparations for the coming of the rainy season annually, especially at this critical and crucial moment or time in Nigerians lives and survival. The reader knows what I mean, ranging from the clearance of land (farms) for planting, manure application, renovation of structures, clearing of culverts, and construction of houses and drainage, etc. It is also a time when everybody in the society, especially here in Jigawa State, has a fear of flooding.
The rainy season is a blessing to many, as water, which is very complex for many people to get, is provided in abundance by nature. But on the other hand, instead of excitement and joy, it is becoming frightening and sorrowful for almost everyone in the state as the rains come with unexpected and excessive flooding, which used to bring about loss of lives, rendered many homeless, and sometimes hopeless. Destruction of houses and other valuables by flood has become a rampant affair in Jigawa State.
I eulogize the efforts of the current governor, Malam Umar, on the issue of tackling or reducing the gravity and activities of flooding, especially in the year 2024. Because some mechanisms were put in place then and also at the moment I saw it myself in the second week of this January 2025, some works are ongoing at the Kafin-Hausa riverbank.
The issue of erosion and desertification shouldn’t be swept under the carpet because it is also a great and serious threat to the state. That angle too should be looked into to put good and strong measures to halt or reduce the threat. The planting of trees should be encouraged, and the cutting down of trees should be desisted and cautioned against.
So, I still want to appeal to the governor to continue putting some measures in place to halt or reduce the rampaging destruction from flooding in the state.
Another appeal to the Jigawa governor is on the farmers/herdsmen conflict in the state. As the farmers/herdsmen uprisings had now become a national phenomenon, we urged the Jigawa state government to address this menace for a lasting solution to manifest/stay. Since these causes were man-made and critically examined and fished out for the interest of peace, unity, stability, togetherness, and for economic and political benefits. Such are (1) encroachment of grazing land, (2) animal routes encroachment and blockage, and (3) denial of animals access to drinking water, which are the major causes of these farmers/herdsmen conflicts. Also, there is a need to be organizing workshops and seminars for the teeming Fulani youths across the state, either at joint hamlets or villages or ward by ward or at the local government level for awareness on drug abuse and taking the law at hand, etc.
As the month of Ramadan is knocking at the door, last year we witnessed the palliative program that took place, and there were some benefits; it yielded a fruitful result. Though there were some hitches attached to last year’s exercise, like the delay of the takeoff of the exercise on time on day one (1) till almost a week after some places nine to ten (9-10) days after. There was a kind of chuwa-chuwa, which led to the suspension of a commissioner and a few others, but at this point, we want his excellency to remember those lapses and take measures, as the state government has increased the feeding allowance from last year’s about or over two billion (#2b) naira to now (this year’s own) over four billion naira (#4b); This is something great and serious and shouldn’t be taken lightly. There is suppose to be faithfulness, commitment, punctuality and accountability etc.
As the 2025 Hajj activities have started, we appeal the state government to intimate the state pilgrims welfare board as they have collaborating with the State Council of Ulama to commence the train of trainers workshops to the selected Ulamas for training the Islamic scholars who will give an orientation to the intending 2025 pilgrims at home before their departure to the holy land and this educating and enlightening exercise is very paramount, useful and beneficial in many respects here and there in the holy land and it has been helping the Jigawa indigenes very well and used to make Jigawa state and it’s pilgrims an exceptional, examplenary and emulating Muhajirins among the other pilgrims nationwide and even beyond. These kinds of things used to promote the state in many aspects of religious rites and devotions, such as pilgrimage rites, Salat, mu’amalat, and other Islamic religious moralities and virtues.
At this present administration of Malam Umar, the monthly allowances for the physically challenged persons introduced by Sule Lamido’s tenure have increased from seven thousand naira (#7,000) to ten thousand naira (#10,000), and the beneficiaries are two hundred (200) persons in each local government area of the state, and those who died were replaced with the living. As it is, we appeal to the governor to revisit or restructure the Skills Acquisition Centres for the people with disabilities, especially the blind. As the saying goes, in every disability there is ability in it.
These Skills Acquisition Centres would facilitate their challenge so that they would help themselves and be useful to their communities and society in general. We want Jigawans to be decent, law-abiding, responsible, and useful to him or herself and to the society at large.
An American guitarist, songwriter, and singer, Jimi Hendrix (1942-1970), once said, “Knowledge speaks, but wisdom listens.”.
Adamu writes from Kafin-Hausa, Jigawa State.
