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Architect Mohammed Namadi Sambo, PDP flag bearer for the coming governorship elections in Kaduna state, has probably never been subjected to as much scrutiny as in the last three months. So much has been said about the man since last December when he picked the PDP ticket, with quite a few of the commentators being very critical of his candidature. However, a little attempt at reportorial enterprise easily compels one to review most, if not all, the negative perception one has of the man. Talk to Namadi’s friends, neighbors, colleagues, political associates as well as the staff of his various companies about him. The responses you are most likely to get are such that paint the picture of an easy going, kind hearted philanthropist who is pained by the glaring poverty around him. However, you must have noticed the sharp contrast between the personality of the man and the initial reaction to his candidature. If you have, then the reason (s) for the contradiction won’t be difficult to discern. It is no secrete that the PDP flag bearer enjoys tremendous support from the out going chief executive of the state. This support no doubt served Namadi well during the PDP primaries. Unfortunately, in the current build-up to the general elections, his Excellency’s open support is more of a liability, both to the party and to its candidate, than an asset. It is no exaggeration to say that the current Kaduna state government has, in the last eight years, used the media very effectively to blow its trumpet. So much has been reported about “unprecedented development projects” that any attempt to criticize is dismissed simply as mischief or politics. To be fair to the government though, one must admit that it has positively touched the lives of especially some rural areas of the state. However, as the government prepares to retire, people are beginning to show interest in more objective assessment of its performance, beyond the publicity stunt. Such an analysis will very obviously show that one of the most glaring deficiencies of the Makarfi administration is its pre-occupation with developing artifacts at the expense of the most important resource-the human resource. By its own admission, this government has spent over #40billion on the construction of roads and bridges so far. Unfortunately, it has so underpaid its work force to the extent that no civil servant has been able to save enough, from his legitimate earning to buy a car in the last eight years. This scenario is replicated in all sectors of life. Nearly #7billion was spent on constructions in the educational sector (excluding over #1b for Science & Technology) while spending less than a billion on bursary/scholarship awards in the same period. This is in a state where several candidates drop out of school due to financial constraints even as performance of pupils at secondary level continues to drop. While a whopping #13billion has been spent on Agriculture, there is no corresponding improvement in the living standards of the rural farmers. If anything, their conditions have worsened as a result of the politicization of the sale of fertilizer. What was supposed to have been subsidized by government for the benefit of the hapless farmers was actually allocated to politicians who then sold to marketers. As a result, the poor farmer who had to buy a bag of fertilizer at #3500 in the market is today forced to sale a bag of maize at #2000 or less! Many of the doctors, nurses and other specialized staff in the health sector, inherited from the military government have since left the services of Kaduna state, due largely to very poor remuneration, and without replacements. Yet the government has expended nearly #4billion on constructions in the health sector as at September, 2006. While the government claims to have spent over a billion naira on procurement of equipment and chemicals for the state water board, in addition to what was spent on the water resources ministry, the water supply system in the state has been progressively retrogressing since 1999. Similarly, over #300million was spent on the completion of the water board headquarters at a time when staffs and their families suffer due to erratic payments of salaries and allowances. The state television station, KSTV which hitherto covered a lot of ground, seemed to shrank, perhaps in protest of the over half a billion naira spent on the ministry of information. I can’t seem to remember the last time I picked its signals in Zaria. Security is one area in which so much money is being expended that the government is not disclosing. It will of course be unfair to ignore the government’s efforts at curtailing the ethno-religious crises that rocked the state earlier in the life of this administration. However, it is nauseating to note how the government keeps beating its chest over this achievement while ignoring rising cases of armed robbery, assassinations, ritual murders, political thuggery and other forms of lawlessness that daily threaten the lives and property of the ordinary citizen. One could go on and on boring readers with the tale of woes. But in summary, this government has wasted so much resource constructing artifacts that may not benefit the bulk of the citizenry which has been deliberately pauperized. Several industries, notably the textiles, which provided employment and, by extension, means of livelihood to many families have folded up and the government does not feel any responsibility. Before you shout ‘private concerns’, remember the state government owned Zazzau Pharmaceutical Company. This company which, as at 1999, supplied most of the hospitals in Kaduna state with syringe and needles, in addition to employment for many, today only provides habitation for dangerous reptiles and Hemp smokers. These and several other grey areas just becoming clear to the people are responsible for the growing resentment towards the government. It is only when one views the Namadi phenomenon against this background that one will understand the people’s reaction. People are worried about the possibility of continuing a system of ‘leadership’ in which one man has a monopoly of knowledge and thus equates development with the construction of classrooms without libraries, laboratories and properly motivated teachers. A style that provides beautifully designed hospitals without theatre/laboratory equipments or qualified doctors. Fortunately, Namadi Sambo appears to have caught on, easily to the challenges facing him in the build up to the coming elections and is making some bold statements. He told the crowd that welcomed him to Makarfi town that he would establish a sugar industry for them, if elected. At Giwa and Kudan, he promised to build a dam. The deepening applause that greeted those promises is enough testimony that the people desire a change in the way things are being done. But it was in Anchau that Namadi actually came clean. He told the people that the last eight years were spent raya karkara da birane and so he will, if elected; spend the next four years to raya mutane.
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