How to tackle the abject penury that is the lot of millions of people in the North has been the major concern of the 19 state governors lately.
In their various meetings in Kaduna, they have examined how to minimise the menace which CBN Governor Chukwuma Soludo recently said was ‘’unacceptable’’.
But while the governors and other stakeholders seek a way out, observers are eager to see how fast the governors will act.
One governor often mentioned in that respect is Aliyu Wamakko of Sokoto State.
Being a retired civil servant, observers are not surprised that the first area he has turned to in the bid to reduce poverty is the civil service.
An aide, who prefers anonymity, says that the governor has made the civil service a priority because of the conviction that one civil servant caters to the needs of at least 10 people.
He adds that the governor also wants to reposition the civil service as the ‘’engine room’’ of government.
With that in mind, the first thing Wamakko did on assumption of office was to reverse the three steps demotion in the civil service by his predecessor and pay the seven years arrears.
The former administration had demoted every civil servant in the state by three steps to save costs.
According to Wamakko, more than N1.5 billion was spent in that refund that saw some people receiving as much as N300,000, while the most junior worker got N70,000.
Besides a general improvement in staff conditions, government has also begun a housing programme expected to provide 1,000 houses which will be allocated on an owner-occupier basis.
According to a top official, government quarters will also be sold out to their occupiers if government’s move in that direction is affirmed by the state House of Assembly.
Government has also harmonised the pension scheme with a 142 per cent increase, while 13 months arrears have been paid to the pensioners.
Speaking on this recently, Alhaji Ahmed Mohammed, the Chairman, Sokoto State chapter of the Nigeria Union of Pensioners, said he was ‘’very happy’’ that the governor had fulfilled a promise he made to them.
‘’I must say that we are happily surprised at the development. Being a former civil servant, we were sure he would be worker-friendly, but he has surpassed our expectations.
‘’I am not saying that we have been fully provided with all that we need to prosper, but looking at where we are coming from, we are truly pleased with the way we have been treated,’’ he said.
With the lack of good drinking water compounding the poverty level and making cholera and other water-borne diseases a common trend, government has also received kudos for paying special attention to water supply.
According to Alhaji Abdullahi Yabo, the General Manager of the Sokoto State Water
Board, the government demonstrated its quest for safe water supply when it released
N150 million to the board last year.
The money, he said, went into the repair of some equipment, while some were replaced.
‘’Some were installed in the 1980s and had become obsolete when we came in last year, so we had to remove them,’’ he said.
Yabo said that the board was also connected to the 33 kV power line to boost power supply, while two 1,500 kVA generating sets were also purchased to ease the pumping of water.
He said the board’s underground reservoir and clarifiers were also repaired, as well as 14 filter units.
To reduce pressure on the water board, 30 boreholes were reactivated in the Sokoto metropolis, while mobile phones were bought for the board’s workers.
‘’We now work 24 hours a day. Our target is to provide 42 million gallons of water everyday,’’ Yabo told journalists recently.
Alhaji Umar Mohammed, the Commissioner for Water Resources, says that he is happy that government has fulfilled its promise of ending water shortage in both the urban and rural areas.
For Malam Sirajo Yusuf, a teacher, good water supply will minimise poverty as money spent to buy water and treat water-borne diseases will be sunk into other areas.
But perhaps the most potent poverty alleviation measures of the state government are the various schemes under its Poverty Reduction Programme.
Chaired by Alhaji Abdullahi Wamakko, the programme has ensured the training in various skills of 23,000 people who have been given soft loans and equipment to start their own businesses.
Among such skills are carpentry, tailoring, welding and automobile repairs.
Under the scheme, government has also purchased 1,000 motorcycles, while each of the 23 local governments also bought 100 motorcycles which were distributed to youths for commercial transport purposes.
Government has also purchased 1,000 tricycles, popularly known as Keke NAPEP, to ease transportation, especially among women who suffer the inconvenience of riding on motorcycles being the only means of transportation.
Records also show that government spent N2 billion on interest-free loans to entrepreneurs to enable them to establish industries that will employ youths many of whom are idle.
Another scheme under the poverty reduction programme is the registration of under-privileged persons who are paid a monthly stipend equivalent to the nation’s minimum wage.
The Sokoto State Transport Authority has also been revived with new buses plying routes in the 23 local council areas.
‘’Besides cheap transportation, many drivers and operators are employed for the buses and carts,’’ Wamakko explains.
On the poverty reduction programme, an ANPP stalwart in Shagari, Alhaji Manir Dauda, says he is particularly impressed that there are no political considerations in deciding who should benefit.
‘’The beneficiaries cut across all political parties and I think that is very good for the governor,’’ he says.
The education sector has not been left out.
Since he became governor, Wamakko has abolished the payment of school fees by non-indigenes in the state’s secondary schools.
He also encouraged higher school enrolment, especially for the girl-child, by initiating policies make parents to send their children to school.
In doing that, Wamakko blames the high level of poverty on illiteracy and promises to minimise it.
‘’Without education, there is no hope for your children,’’ he had told parents and traditional rulers at a meeting last year.
To afford the youth the opportunity to further their education, the state government in August inaugurated a committee to work out modalities for the establishment of a state university.
The committee, chaired by Prof. Ahmed Shehu, is expected to recommend a technology-based university to absorb students seeking to study engineering courses.
According to Wamakko, the state university is necessary because Usmanu Danfodiyo
University, a federal institution, does not run such courses.
Though the governor is rated as a high performer, observers, however, advise him to remain focused, especially in the area of housing.
Malam Yahaya Isa, a medical doctor, advises government to build more houses and sell them to civil servants and the public on an owner-occupier basis.
‘’If the state government does that, it will be emulating other states such as Zamfara, Kebbi, Kano, Kaduna and Katsina,’’ he says.
Analysts agree with Isa, saying that a civil servant who owns a house is less likely to be corrupt.
‘’Many of them (civil servants) steal to build houses, but once that area is settled, the desperation is lessened and they can turn their resources to the purchase of shares preparatory to retirement,’’ he says.
Another observer, Salmanu Aminu, a teacher, advises the government to decentralise its fiscal policy so that commissioners and special assistants can tackle some emergencies without waiting for bureaucracy.
Alhaji Ali Akilu, a businessman and politician, wants the government to attract more investors to the state so that more jobs are provided to the people.
‘’The government must initiate investor friendly policies so as to attract local and foreign investors to Sokoto,’’ he says.
With more than three years left of his tenure after his success in the re-run election, analysts advise Wamakko to continue to justify the trust reposed in him by improving the lives of the populace.
They say that it is only when that is done that the people will enjoy the dividends of democracy.
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