There are as many as four or five different Governors' Forums in Nigeria, depending on the perspective one may choose to view things from: Nigeria Governors' Forum, Northern Governors' Forum, North-West Governors' Forum, Progressives Governors' Forum, and the APC Governors' Forum. My aim is to give some advice to my Gov. Dikko regarding his relationship with the forums listed above, as they may serve as a springboard for launching Katsina State into tremendous growth and development.
The idea and formation of the Nigeria Governors' Forum in the early days of President Obasanjo were conceived following the success of its precursor, the Northern Governors' Forum, which had held sway in keeping together the disparate but united North since the military era. However, the North's success in forging a common front in the fight against the sale and consumption of camel meat, the almajiri palaver, desertification, the status of Kaduna Polytechnic, stemming the tide of poliomyelitis, addressing out-of-school children, promoting girl-child education, the capitalization of Bank of the North, revitalization of Northern Nigeria Development (NNDC), and its subsidiaries like Arewa Hotels, Arewa Textiles, the status of immovable assets of the then newly created states, and so on, has made it the envy of other regions; hence the formation of the Nigeria Governors' Forum. Its successes could be assessed against the backdrop of what is being achieved nowadays, if anything.
Now, Dr. Dikko could attempt to reclaim what remains of Katsina State from the debris of the Forum, since it has been reduced to holding annual lectures in memory of the late Sardaunan Sokoto, whose mission was to catapult the region into a strong, united, and prosperous polity in the context of greater Nigeria. Remember that the funds from the various provinces of Northern Nigeria were used to develop the tin mines on the plateau, the Kainji Dam, the Bauchi-Jos railway extension in 1964, the Oloibiri oil discovery, the Jebba and Carter bridges in the North and Lagos, the Kabba campus of ABU, and other strides. It was only President Umaru Musa Yaradua who attempted to turn around the North's educational fortunes when he re-established the School of Basic Studies in Funtua in 2001 after exacting a strong commitment from other Northern Governors, which was never fulfilled financially. Though situated in Katsina State, the SBS reached its current level due to Yaradua's avowed commitment. Dikko should claim from the other Northern Governors what additional funds Katsina has expended, as it serves the region in general.
In an attempt not to re-enact the spectacle of Gov. Gbenga Daniel and his successor Gov. Ibikunle Amosun in Ogun State, which led to the seizure of a presidential plane elsewhere—the memory of which is still fresh—Dr. Dikko Radda should scrutinize all agreements, multilateral or otherwise, entered into by either the Northern Governors' Forum or the Nigeria Governors' Forum, or even (without prejudice to) his predecessor. I know of one, Intelligent Digital, that aims at house numbering and street naming throughout Nigeria, entered into at the level of NGF. Where financial commitments are made, they should be assessed against the standpoint of our limited resources and in appreciation of the benefits that could accrue to Katsina State.
Now that you're back from China, what remains is for you to avoid the Mahindra-Mahindra footfalls, from which nothing is heard. The concluding part of my letter dwells on the role you are to play in the North-West Governors' Forum, where we stand to reap benefits given our contiguity and homogeneity. Isn't it time for us to emerge from the shell called Nigeria and (not suggesting felony) begin to think beyond? Looking at the bodies of surface waters in the seven states in the region, we have no business with poverty, hunger, and unemployment. In Katsina, with over 7 dams containing billions of cubic liters of water, what does it take to form cooperatives for our youths to engage in production? Virtually nothing. All the farm produce from the state could either be sold in Nigeria or outside Nigeria for food or raw materials.
In just over 100 kilometers, Katsina has two major dams, and each could be channeled eastward or southward through canals to make a landmark difference in attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) to take advantage of the Ease of Doing Business posture of your administration. With Katsina in the lead, Kano and Jigawa, with the same bodies of surface water, would follow suit, while the Sokoto axis, despite all its security challenges, would factor in.
In the absence of cooperatives, the army of youths would be transformed into real-time and all-season farmers capable of sustainably supporting the armed forces in subduing armed bandits. The IGR from this alone would surpass what the Federation Accounts allocate to the state.
Sadis Bara'u writes from Kankiya.
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