In the Hausa hierarchy of traditional rulership, the ward head is the lowest in rank.
He rules the Ungwa (ward) which is under the supervision of the Dagachi (Village Head), who is also under the Hakimi (District Head).
Traditionally, they all operate under the Emir, who is the spiritual and political head of the emirate usually seen as a kingdom.
The Emir is seen as a Head of State.
Conscious of the closeness of the ward heads to the people, the Bauchi Local Government in Bauchi State has formed an association of ward heads charged with promoting development at the grassroots.
The 92-member association is headed by 44-year-old Malam Yusuf Yerima, who is the Ward Head of Tudun Yerima.
Overall, Bauchi Local Government has three districts — Nabordo, Bauchi and Kangyare — headed by District Heads appointed by the Emir of Bauchi, Alhaji Sulaiman Adamu.
The ward heads’ association, code named “Garu Core Leaders Association” and set up in 2005, is saddled with coordinating and streamlining the participation of ward heads in the development programmes of their respective communities.
“It is the first initiative of its kind in the history of traditional rulers in northern part of Nigeria.
‘’It brings all the ward heads together to work as a team for the overall development of their people,’’ says Yerima.
He says that the ward heads, being the closest to the masses, are expected to ensure that their people are proactive on issues affecting them.
Yerima, who has a postgraduate diploma in Financial Management, adds that the traditional rulers are expected to combine traditional, conservative styles of leadership with democratic principles in tackling issues.
To discharge its mandate, Yerima says that the association is collaborating with the state government and local councils, NGOs and donor agencies to address the numerous problems facing the rural dwellers.
A key worry for the people, says Alhaji Gawu Ibrahim, another ward head, is health care delivery.
To tackle that effectively, the association last year set up a committee.
Other committees have been set up to handle education, security and poverty eradication programmes.
“Our principal mandate is to support government and ensure that the people are well enlightened to support and participate in whatever is being done to better their lot,’’ Ibrahim says.
According to him, the best way to achieve massive participation in governance is to mobilise the people through the traditional rulers.
On health care, Yerima says that a six-man committee has been set up in each ward toward minimising infant and maternal mortality rates.
He says that the committees are also charged with mounting awareness programmes on HIV and AIDS, as well as malaria and tuberculosis.
Other diseases include polio, measles, meningitis and other child killer diseases.
In addition, there are committees that take care of hygiene and sanitation services.
To reduce maternal mortality and enhance access to health care services by women and children, the association, in collaboration with the Bauchi State School of Midwifery, has embarked on the training of Community Birth Attendants (CBAs).
Under that arrangement, each of the 92 wards has provided one female candidate who is being trained as a CBA.
The trainees, on the completion of their one-year training, are expected to work in their respective wards.
Mrs. Zainab Voh, the Principal of the school, told newsmen recently that the school had so far trained 12 CBAs who had been posted to various maternity clinics in Shira, Gamawa, Dambam, Jama’are and Itas villages.
Voh expressed optimism that the CBAs would replace the Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs) and reduce morbidity rates.
Another concern for the wards is the inherent youth restiveness, especially with the activities of political thugs operating under gangs such as the ‘’Sara-Suka’’.
Reports indicate that the gangs specialise in unleashing terror on the residents of the state and its environs.
The reports also show that hundreds of armed youths groups have sprung up everywhere in the metropolis, with each struggling to outdo the other in the bid to be in control.
To tackle the security situation, Malam Ahmadu Dandada, one of the patrons of the association, says that the security committee in each of the wards is expected to report any suspicious moves to the authorities.
They are also expected to work together with the police to ensure that no community harbours criminals.
Yerima says that the association is also assisting the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency to track down drug barons operating in the state.
Malam Ahmadu Alti, a retired soldier, blames the spate of youth restiveness on drug abuse as well as widespread poverty.
He lauds efforts made so far by the ward heads to identify youths who foment trouble.
On poverty eradication, Dandada says that the association is assisting youths to acquire various skills through a vocational training programme initiated by the state government.
Records show that more than 10,000 such youths have so far benefited from the economic empowerment and education intervention programme initiated by the Bauchi State Agency of Youth and Women Rehabilitation.
To ensure effective implementation of the Girl-Child Education Programme, the association has also set up School Monitoring Committees.
The committees ensure effective supervision and utilisation of school structures and teaching facilities provided in their respective wards.
Yerima says that the association has taken measures to ensure that from now, only ward heads are appointed as chairmen of the Parent-Teacher Association in each of the schools in their areas.
To be more effective, analysts say that the traditional rulers deserve specific roles in the nation’s statute books.
‘’The traditional rulers have been doing a lot and deserve all the legal encouragement,’’ Malam Sabi’u Adamu, a school teacher says.
The Emir of Dass, Alhaji Bilyaminu Othman, agrees.
‘’Nigeria must encourage traditional institutions by tasking them with specific roles.
‘’The traditional institutions must also break away from their conservative role by encouraging women to take chieftaincy titles to enable them to contribute to the development of their societies,’’ he says.
Bauchi Emir Sulaiman Adamu, while lauding the achievements of the ward heads’ association, says that such unions should be encouraged to facilitate societal growth.
Adamu says that the natural rulers should be supported to play ‘’very crucial roles’’ as Nigeria strives to become one of the world’s top 20 economies by the year 2020.
He opines that effective mobilisation of the people is only possible if the traditional rulers, who feel their pulse daily, are part of such efforts.
In same vein, Mr. Abubakar Ismaila, a social analyst, blames the incidence of social ills and oral decadence on the failure of the nation’s political structure to recognise the role and contributions of traditional institutions in national development.
‘’It is the closest institution to the people at the lowest level whose importance we cannot afford to ignore,’’ he says.
He suggests a constitutional review that will prescribe roles for traditional rulers.
‘’They (traditional rulers) used to have constitutional roles in the 1960s; the 1979 Constitution gave them representation in the National Council of State, but the 1999 Constitution does not mention them at all,’’ he observes.
But if remarks by Senate President David Mark are anything to go by, the traditional rulers will smile soon.
Mark said recently that the Senate would support the review of the constitution to favour he royal fathers whom he referred to as ‘’agents of unity, peace and progress’’.
As traditional heads await this development, analysts are unanimous that the nation must tap from their experience, as most of them have distinguished themselves in various
fields of endeavour. (NAN Features)
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