THE Governor of Zamfara State, Dr. Bello Mohammed (Matawallen Maradun), took the seat of power in a blaze of populism after benefiting from the misfortunes of his opponents who had defeated him at the 2018 governorship election.

He had contested the governorship seat on the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, platform and lost to the All Progressives Congress, APC, candidate, Mukhtar Shehu Idris. However, the Supreme Court voided the votes of the APC due to non-compliance with the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC’s, guidelines.

On assuming office, Matawalle took the populist step of abolishing the humongous pension packages which the House of Assembly had prepared for past governors and their deputies.

Those who applauded the move (which includes Vanguard in an editorial) felt that the move would help free up more funds to tackle the myriads of developmental challenges facing the state.

Zamfara is one of the poorest states in Nigeria, according to the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (2021). 

Over 70 per cent of its population fall below the poverty line. Its candidates enjoy one of the lowest cut-off points in national entrance examinations. It is the main epicentre of bandit terrorism, being one of the states with the most ungoverned spaces which attract armed criminals and terrorists.

One of Zamfara State’s greatest headaches is the perennial penchant of its political leaders to pursue the shadows of religion rather than the welfare of the people. It was from here that its first elected governor, Ahmad Sani(Yerima Bakura), launched full Sharia law in October 1999.

The immediate past governor, Abdullaziz Yari, spent most of his tenure in Abuja. At a point he offered to resign his position as the state’s chief security officer while holding on to the governorship due to his inability to tackle insecurity which saw bandits killing people, destroying communities, kidnapping highway travellers and collecting taxes from citizens. Matawalle appears to have also joined this pantheon of leaders of Zamfara with his sudden rush of wasteful spending of public resources.

Earlier this month, he shocked well-meaning members of the public when he unveiled 260 expensive cars, including Cadillac Escalades which he procured as gifts to traditional rulers in a state under severe terrorist attacks.

Apart from building an ultra-modern headquarters for the Council of Ulamas, he also sponsored over 70 Islamic clerics to Saudi Arabia for the Umrah lesser Hajj to “pray for the return of peace” in Zamfara.

Matawalle, who had since defected to the APC, is obviously playing religious politics to consolidate his position towards his 2023 re-election bid.Valuable funds that should go into giving the people good governance and tackling insecurity are being wasted.

Until Zamfara gets leaders who will leave religion to individuals and focus on the people’s welfare, it may remain backward.

Vanguard News Nigeria