By Ibrahim Dan-Halilu
The emergence of Mallam Dikko Umar Radda as the Executive governor of Katsina State took many stalwarts of the ruling party and observers alike by surprise partly because he was not on the list of the frontline aspirants up until two or three months to the governorship election.
At the time other aspirants were making maneuvers and consultations with leading party stalwarts at the state and national levels, Mallam Dikko Radda was busy managing the portfolio of Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency in Abuja.
All eyes were on Governor Aminu Bello Masari expecting him to anoint his deputy as successor. But as fate would have it, Mallam Dikko was God’s choice for the coveted seat. The choice has proved to eb the best for the people of Katsina State so far.
Since his assumption into office more than eight month ago, Mallam Dikko Umar Radda has proved to be a man of courage, conviction, and vision. He has come to office fully prepared to provide the needed leadership to confront the numerous challenges facing the state.
In keeping with his campaign promises, Radda has been focused in addressing the state security challenges, fighting corruption, and reviving the education and health sectors
The first major challenge is security which has become insurmountable for more than ten years now. The activities of bandits and terrorists have reduced the state to a mere shadow of itself as farming which is the main stay of the people has become difficult to practice for fear of abduction.
Many communities in the state have abandoned their homes and become refugees in other places due to the incessant attacks by bandits who kill, maim, rape and destroy or loot property of their victims. About nine local government areas in the state have being ransacked by bandits who imposed taxes on residents.
In its attempt to stem the tide of banditry in the state, the Aminu Bello Masari administration signed peace accord with the bandits to stop attacking communities in return for government’s palliatives. But the truce did not last long as some of the bandits sustained their attacks on communities.
With this background of effrontery and broken promises by bandits at his fingertips, Governor Radda declared in no uncertain terms that he would not negotiate with the bandits but was ready to grant amnesty to those willing to drop their guns and repent from their evil ways.
He pledged his readiness to protect the people of the state with the last drop of his blood. Shortly after this declaration, Radda convened security meeting with stake holders in the 34 local government areas of the state where he pledged to support them with logistics to defend their people against bandits and other criminals.
He went ahead to establish the community watch corps, a security outfit tasked with the responsibility of conducting surveillance and gathering intelligence to provide other security agencies with authentic information on the movement of bandits and other criminals.
The Radda administration has procured fighting gadgets including armored vehicles, pick up vans, motorcycles, communication gadgets, and other logistics worth over 7 billion Naira for the new security outfit.
To ensure closer monitoring of people living within communities, the administration has formed security committees at the local government, towns, wards, and village levels whose duty is to verify the identities of landlords who have homes to rent and those who reside in their houses. The slogan “Know Your Neighbour” has become the watchword of every resident in the 34 local government areas of the state.
Governor Radda’s security blueprint has bridged the gaps created by the lack of state police which as given criminals the leverage to organise attacks on local population.
Still not comfortable with the security arrangement in the Nigerian constitution, Governor Dikko Umar Radda has been among the frontline governors calling for the amendment of the constitution to allow states create their own police who can bear arms without any restriction.
Just recently, the governor led an advocacy for the federal government to allow citizens bear arms to protect themselves against bandits if the state security cannot fulfill the mandate given them by the constitution. He made the call recently in Abuja after series of attacks on communities and the abduction of students of Federal University Dutsin-Ma.
The governor also criticized the federal government for not doing enough to address the security challenges facing his state, lamenting over the helpless situation in which the governors have found themselves as chief security officers without authority to command the security agencies that are under federal government control. .
In his bid to tame corruption and promote transparency and accountability in running the affairs of the state, Radda has introduced the Treasury Single Account policy to fast track all state revenues and deploy it for public good. The policy has been effective in checking corrupt practices and promoting prudent management of resources.
His administration has given priority to maternal and child health with an allocation of N200milllion counterpart funding for the control malnutrition among under five children. This is in keeping with the World Health Organisations and UNICEF’s commitment to eradicate malnutrition in Nigeria.
Education too has received a boost with the recent approval of 2.7billion Naira for the building of release of 75 new junior secondary schools across the 34 local government areas in the state. The gesture will no doubt improve school enrolment and engage children in productive learning activities.
With these intimidating records of achievement, the people of Katina State have every reason to support the administration of Governor Radda to achieve more in the areas of road infrastructure, agriculture, and solid minerals development in which the state has competitive advantage.
The state has huge deposits of gold, uranium, kaolin, nickel, chromite, silica and sand, iron oxide, gold, mica, gemstone, precious stones, and asbestos etc. that have not been tapped. It’s imperative that the Radda administration brings to limelight the existence of these high demand resources so that foreign and local investors can mobilize funding to exploit them for export.
The state is surrounded by huge water resources that have remained underutilized for decades. The five major dams scattered in different locations, which include Zobe Dam, Jibiya Dam, Sabke Dam, Ajiwa Dam, and Mairuwa Dam have great potential for both agricultural production and domestic use.
If utilized optimally, they can transform the state into a truly agrarian where all season farming can be practiced to produce both cash and food crops. The cash crops such as potatoes, onions, tomatoes, carrots, cucumber, wheat, and groundnut can be cultivated, processed and packaged for exports. This will create wealth for entrepreneurs and job opportunities for the teeming young population that has been left to waste.
The state government should empanel a committee of experts to produce a blueprint for green revolution in Katsina State which can have a time frame of 20 years to achieve. The blue print should streamline what should be done to achieve the goal. It can create cluster local governments for the production of different crops.
That Katsina state shares borders with Niger Republic is another opportunity for international trade and exchange of social and cultural values with Nigeriens. But this can only be achieved through creative and sustainable development strategy that link the border towns to Niger by rail transport which has capacity for haulage of food and other farm products across our borders.
The state government should explore the establishment of an international market at the border towns like Jibia, Kwangalan, and Mai Adua where traders and merchants from the two countries can converge to trade on goods. The potential for revenue generation and socio-cultural exchanges is enormous.
Another area worth exploring by the Radda administration is tourism. The state has many historical sites that can be upgraded and publicized on the internet to attract foreign tourists who love cultural monuments. The Bayajidda Well in Daura, the Katsina Museum, and Durbin Ta-Kusheyi in Mani have a lot of cultural treasures of the Habe and Fulani rulers that can be showcased to international visitors.
As a transformational and visionary leader, Governor Dikko Umar Radda has blazed the trail of Katsina State politics as the youngest most promising governor in the last three decades. The people of Katsina State should be proud to have him as their leader.
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