UMAR ABDULLAHI 
Sokoto State Governor, Alhaji Ahmad Aliyu, recently granted interviews to journalists in the state on the occasion of his first year in office. In the grueling session that saw the governor reeling out some of his accomplishments, he regretted the state was almost comatose when he took office as the systems were not functioning, saying his nine-point smart and innovative agenda has transformed the state. Saturday Telegraph’s UMAR ABDULLAHI was there. Excerpts:
What were the challenges that you met on ground when you were sworn in as Governor of Sokoto State?
My stewardship of Sokoto State in the last one year has been very hectic. I took the mantle of leadership without any working document. What I mean by a working document is, there was no handover note to guide me. I just drew a line and started afresh. When we came in, the state was in a mess. Many things were in bad condition. No portable water in the state and the only place with running taps that you would see were places where we were only getting raw water which was not treated. In fact, it was not good enough for human consumption. No electricity throughout the state, including the Government House. Township roads were not motorable because they were neglected. The state was very dirty. Our major roads were almost taken over by refuse which constituted an eyesore. Refuse were not being evacuated for years. Workers’ salary was not paid as at when due, they were paid between 10th and 15th of the following months. These were some of the ugly situations we have inherited.
What steps (in terms of policies and programmes) did you take in addressing the challenges you met in the state?
Before we even won our election, we were monitoring the situation of the state under the then government. The system was not working at all. It was a bad system. Nothing was workng. That was what gave birth to my 9-point Smart and Innovative Agenda which touched all the sectors of development, including, security, pro- motion of Islamic affairs, education, agriculture, healthcare service delivery, youth and women empowerment, economy, local government autonomy and water supply. If you look at these items critically, you would see these are the major areas of development. I am happy to inform you that the people of the state have started feeling the impacts of our policies because they have started seeing development, improvement in all the sectors of the economy.
Tell us what your government has done with regards to addressing banditry and other security related challenges affecting the state?
For us, security is everyone’s business. Nothing meaningful can be achieved in any society without security. That is why I made it my number one priority. My government is committed to ensuring that the security of life and property in the state is given adequate priority. To that effect, I have been convening regular security meetings with all stakeholders in the state. I also consult with the heads of security agencies who brief me from time to time on the prevailing security situation in the state. Security issues should not be made public, especially some of the measures we have taken to curtail the menace. Our intervention in this area is yielding positive results. Security agencies in the state are working in synergy and we have been sufficiently supporting them to carry out their operations effectively. We have also established the state security outfit which we named Sokoto Community Guard Corps. Members of the corps were recruited from all the 13 local government areas worst hit by insecurity. They are well equipped and well trained. Their work is to complement the efforts of the conventional security outfits operating in the state. And we have started seeing the positive result of this collaboration.
What have been your government’s efforts so far in the education sector, particularly in terms of mopping up out of school children from the streets?
Education plays a key role in the developmental efforts of any society. So, my government attaches great importance to education as a sector capable of driving the development of the state. Some of the achievements we have made so far in the sector are numerous. We have offset all the outstanding registration fees of our students studying at Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto and other tertiary institutions across the country. We have so far spent a billion naira on paying registration fees for our students in tertiary institutions. Even yesterday, I approved N540m for the payment of this year’s registration fees. We have equally settled the salaries of teachers on sabbatical leave in our institutions of higher learning from June, 2023 to date. We have renovated quite a number of schools and equipped them. We have also restored feeding in our boarding schools which was abandoned by my predecessor. Let me hit you directly at your question. When we are talking about out-of-school children, we are talking about children who attained the official school age but are not enrolled. But mind you, we can only understand whether our children are out-of-school or not when we look at the peculiarity of each and every state and also look at the factors or yardsticks used in making this assessment. As you know, Sokoto State is almost 100 percent Islamic state. Our children are being enrolled in Islamic schools at a very tender age. So, in this context, we cannot call all of them out-of-school children because they are attending Islamiyya schools. What we are doing now is integrating the two together, Islamic and Western knowledge so that our children will learn both at the same time irrespective of which school they are attending, whether it is Islamiyya school or conventional school. And we have employed more teachers to that effect. However, there are factors responsible for out-of-school children. Look at early marriage; look at conflicts like religious, tribal and even banditry as well as cultural norms. But like I said, we are working towards solving this problem.
As the country battles with economic challenges, what short and long term measures has your government put in place to help citizens in Sokoto State?
Alhamdulillah! Sokoto is one of the few states in the country blessed with natural resources. We have gold, oil and lime stone. We are in discussion with investors to come to the state, so that we can work together and see how best we can harness our mineral deposits. At the same time, we are looking at how we can provide interest-free loans to our traders so that we can boost trade and commercial activities in the state. We are also planning to revive our ailing industries. Sokoto State used to have a ceramic and leather processing industry before which have all gone down now. So we can see how we can revive them. We are also trying to see how best we can empower our teeming youth. I mean youths that are mostly found idled, to make them self-relying and productive. So far, so good, we have trained thousands of them on differ- ent skills and trades. And just two days ago, we provided 1000 motorcycles and 500 tricycles to our youth, all in our attempt to make our people gainfully employed. We have so far started preparation to see how we can renovate our Lugu dam in Wurno Local Government area for irrigation activities, so that we can boost rice production. Not only a Lugu Dam and other irrigation sites too so as to en- sure food sufficiency in the state. We are also trying to see how best to carry our farmers along. Just five months ago they were given fertilizer free of charge. And now, we are trying to see how we can also provide them with farm implements and cash assistance to boost their morale.
Your Excellency, Ko Kudi ko aiki is a slogan that you have adopted, meaning you either work or return our money, has been the trademark of your government. Can you elaborate on this?
Absolutely that is the slogan, Ko Kudi ko aiki. The reason for this slo- gan is very clear. When we took over the affairs of this state we discovered a lot of scams all over. The immediate past administration claimed to have executed many capital projects and to our surprise the money had been released but in the real sense no work was done. So what we say is simple, we either see the work or the public money should be returned, that is all. Ko Kudi ko aiki.
Sokoto State has been experiencing water scarcity, what is being done by your government to tackle this… (Cuts in)
You will agree with me, water is life. When we came in, the water situation in the state was so bad. A jerry can of water was sold for between N150 and N200. This is unacceptable, that was why when I assumed office, I immediately declared a state-of-emergency on water supply in the state. We renovated and replaced some equipment in the main water intake and treatment plant. At the same time we renovated some number of boreholes and are currently building new boreholes across the state, all in our efforts to provide portable and uninterrupted water supply to the people of the state. Not only that, we are trying to complete the wa- ter projects awarded during former Governor Aliyu Wamakko’s admin- istration, which include that of Gagi, that of Mana, Tamaje and Old Airport. I am optimistic that after completing these projects, Sokoto and its environs will be getting 24 hours water supply. The project I am talking about now was awarded to the tune of N14.1bn.
Based on your plans and projections, where do you see Sokoto State in the next four years of your administration?
Yes! I mentioned that, during my campaigns. I want to see Sokoto as a state which can guarantee quality education, portable drinking water, effective health service delivery, township roads and agricultural mechanisation to its citizens. I want to see a totally transformed Sokoto State which can be the envy of other states. I want it to be a role model for other states.
