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The Second Coming of Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau By Dr. Aminu Magashi
According to a News Story in Leadership Newspaper of Sunday, 13th May 2007 titled; Shekarau Dissolves Exco , it was reported that “Governor Ibrahim Shekarau of Kano State yesterday dissolved the state executive council. The sacked commissioners were directed to hand-over of affairs in their respective ministries to their permanent secretaries on or before Tuesday. Also relieved of their official positions with immediate effect are the Special Advisers, Special Assistants and Personal Assistants to the governor.” That singular action has made Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau the first executive governor to dissolve his cabinet in Nigeria and to many people in the state , it was an indication of the seriousness he attaches to the second mandate given to him by the electorates . For those who followed events closely before the election would agree with me that the journey for Shekarau was a tough one. There were a lot of uncertainties as to whether he would contest the election or not. When I met at the instance of British Council Headquarters, four visiting senior policy makers of Kano in London on 2nd March 2007 , before we got down to the essence of the meeting , that was the first question I asked them “Whether Mallam was contesting or not” . I was worried then, because I strongly believed that EFCC were not fair to him, so also his traducers about the purported houses and bank accounts he was allegedly holding in England. Present in the meeting were the Former Commissioner of Information and Former Governor’s Adviser on Youths in persons of Alhaji Ibrahim Garba and Mallam Gambo Ado respectively. At some point in our interaction, we visited CITI Bank where the purported accounts were lodge, the accounts did not only exist, but their codes did not tally with what the bank operates. So also the check on the purported houses he owns, no such addresses or streets exit in London. While our long meeting lasted, I was quick to point out to the visiting policy makers that I was not happy with many policies of their administration; I will come to that later.
Shekarau not only suffered the attack from EFCC, but also the gang up of his estranged god fathers who supported his candidature in 2003 election. The generals in Kano withdrew their backing , many political heavy weights in his party moved to other opposition parties , so also members of The Buhari Organisation ( TBO ) who publicly did all their best to insinuate that the General was not behind Mallam this time around . For the fact that throughout the ordeal of Shekarau in the hands of EFCC and Federal Administrative Panel , General Buhari did not publicly show solidarity and also did not come to Kano for his presidential campaign and to publicly canvass support for Mallam as an ANPP candidate , many people including this writer were of the belief that Shekarau was on his own in the battle to secure second term . The biggest opposition for Shekarau was the “KwanKwaso Phenomenon”, a very strong hurricane bent on embarrassing the governor out of office. Former Governor and Former Defence Minister, Engineer Rabiu KwanKwaso with all the PDP might behind him had sworn to defeat the governor at the poll. His anointed PDP Gubernatorial Candidate Alhaji Ahmad Garba Bichi was just around 50, 000 votes behind the governor , by the time shekarau was declared winner of the 2007 election .
The attack by EFCC, his traducers both in TBO, ANPP and other opposition parties and the “KwanKwaso Phenomenon were what made Shekarau won the election. The people of Kano were convinced that he was victimised not because he has failed the electorates, but because he has failed to appease his traducers and based on that they sided with him and vowed to vote and protect their votes at all cost. That sympathy was his ticket. To cap it all Shekarau did not get second term based on achievements or performance, No, there is nothing spectacular about his first four years.
One need to delve deeper to understand that he has little to show for his stewardship of Four years. A cursory analysis would reveal that he has created over 40,000 jobs , increased school enrolment in Kano by over 60%, abolished girl child school fees , provided Free Maternal and Child Services , ensured sanitation ,societal reorientation , reconstruction of urban and rural roads, built Water treatment plan at Tamburawa , settled all financial liabilities the state owed pensioners . These are among his achievements a lot of my many friends that are serving in his administration tell me any time a discussion of this nature comes up.
At a One Day Seminar organised by Ministry for Budget and Planning and DFID on 21st July 2005 for Senior Policy Makers of Kano at the State Library, I presented a paper “Kano State and the attainment of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs ) ”. That paper summarises what I meant by “delving deeper in understanding whether Shekarau has much or little to show for his 4 years of stewardship.” In that seminar were Six Commissioners of Health, Women Affairs, Education, Local Governments, Water Resources and Budget and Planning with their permanent secretaries and directors. I took time then to highlight to the august participants how and what to look out for in measuring and tracking progress with respect to achieving MDGs.
For example, “Education”, while he has increased enrolment by 60%, abolished girl child school fees, employed more teachers. These are all inputs to ensure quality education. He should evaluate the process and come up with the outcomes of what was invested. What is the percentage of the students that sit for NECO and WAEC with 5 credits and above yearly, how many of them can read, write and speak English, the official language of Nigeria? Are the teachers he employed motivated to work base on good remuneration, available facilities and instructional materials? Has the creation of Teachers Board reduces bureaucracy and ensures efficiency in the sector or not. Up till now in Kano, there are many schools that pupils learn by squatting on the floor with a lot of congestion per class.
His Free Maternal and Child Health Services is not addressing the plight of women and children in a manner that will ensure equity and quality in distribution of resources between urban and rural areas . No one in his administration would be able to tell at what level the programme is contributing in reducing Kano’s High Maternal and Under Five Mortality rates , which are among the highest in Nigeria . The programme suffers political interference, inadequate funding, lack of effective implementation, monitoring and supervision. There is a total disconnection between Primary Health Centres which have collapsed anyway and the programme in Secondary Health Centres to ensure good referral and continuity in management of patients . Despite the much talked about the programme, pregnant women under emergency conditions have to be scanned in Private Clinics and Laboratories to confirm diagnosis. Government Hospitals do not have the required Ultra Scanning Machines to do that, in many government hospitals, one can hardly find Blood Pressure Measuring Equipments in Antenatal Clinics, not to talk of the regular routine drugs . A visit to Paediatric Department of any Secondary Health Centre, will reveal to any doubting Thomas whether services are free and qualitative or not .
The government has created over 40, 000 jobs over 4 years, I have no doubt on that, but one would be interested to know what kind of jobs are they. What is the percentage of skilled and unskilled ones among the 40, 000? How many among the employed can survive one month with out government salary? What is the percentage of those jobs that can create wealth and ensure sustainability? The huge investment in Tamburawa Water Treatment plant is also an input to ensure majority of Kano people have access to clean and adequate water . At the end of Shekarau’s Second Coming, we will ask him whether majority of the populace have access to water or not. For now, we will give him the benefit of doubt that the process is on- going.
He need to ask the people managing his pet project of societal reorientation “A Daidaita Sahu” , how much was spent in the last four years, what were the projects embarked upon , how those projects were arrived at and what impact so far they have made in reorienting Kano People to be more God fearing and relate with one another in an honest and transparent manner . My personal comment is that, so much money was wasted with very little result.
I will conclude this Essay with the following recommendations 1. I expect the administration to set up an independent team to evaluate its performance over the last four years taken into cognisance how much was spent in each sector and what have been achieved base on Bench marks and Targets . 2. To establish an Independent Committee to draft and advice the government on the directions to take in reforming Health and Educational Sectors taken local factors and opportunities that are available into cognisance. 3. Trimming the army of political advisers , aides and jobbers , many are redundant and empower Project Monitoring Bureau with funding and Human Resources to ensure all government projects are properly supervised and monitored . 4. Ensure wise choice of Commissioners especially Education and Health. As I am not an advocate that a Commissioner of Health or Education must be a Medical Doctor or a University Don respectively, I expect Mallam to equally shop for them in any related disciplines. What to look out for are “Honesty, Managerial Skills and Commitment to the common man.” 5. Challenge Ministries and Parastatals to be more transparent in their affairs by publishing quarterly narrative and financial reports, that way electorates will know what is happening and make input in the management of state resources.
While I wish Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau all the best in his renew tenure, I pray he will ponder about some of the issues raised in this Essay and always remember that
Dr Magashi is a Masters Student (Public Health) at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. He can be reached at gamagashi@gmail.com
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