Dauda Lawal is Zamfara State Governor. In this interview monitored on Arise Television, he speaks on several development projects in security, education, healthcare, infrastructure and economic empowerment being undertaken by his administration since May 29, 2023, among other issues, ANAYO EZUGWU writes

Nigeria’s budget benchmark is $75 per barrel. You’ve presented a budget of over N500 billion. With President Donald Trump’s assault on the global market, which has seen crude oil prices at $60 per barrel, don’t you think that will affect your over N500 billion budget and what are you going to do about that?

I guess budget is a process, and we’ve gone through it. We have analysed everything, and of course, along the line, there may be one issue or the other.

But let me say this: We’re ready to face those challenges because there’s always an alternative in terms of budgetary process as well as execution of that budget because inflation is a factor as price stabilization, like you mentioned about the crude oil, because we’re purely dependent on oil as a country.

That is where the major source of revenue comes from. But of course, diversification is key. Agriculture is there, mining is there, and this is what’s we specialised in Zamfara State.

I’m sure you know our motto is ‘Farming is our pride’ even as we’re trying to make mining formal to attract investors. If we’re able to do that successfully, which we’ve already started the process, I don’t think that should be an issue for us in Zamfara State.

How quickly can you harness it and attract investors because you’ve got security challenges?

I think things are changing for the better. Like you rightly pointed out, Zamfara faced serious security challenges in the past, but things have changed.

Remember, it’s something that we’ve had for over a decade. And part of what we’re doing is to make ourselves conscious of what to do to make sure we reduce it to the minimum level.

Thats one of the reasons why when I came to power, I had to set up a security outfit, and they’re doing very well. I’m sure you’re following the news.

In the past, you would hear that 100 people are being killed daily. But now, you hardly hear that. Yes, there was an incident, but I don’t think it’s up to 60 people that were abducted.

What are your sources on the ground telling you as regards to the number?

I have all the security forces, and I also have my internal arrangement through which I can get information. But what I was told is not up to the number of people that were abducted. In fact, most of these guys were set free because there was a kind of quick response when that incident happened.

Remember, about two weeks ago, we succeeded in neutralising one of the major bandits in one of the local governments called Yusuf Yellow. Of course, we expected that kind of retaliatory attack and that was what happened. But I can assure you, we are on ground. So, coming back to the issue, we’re tackling security head-on.

Recently, we had a very interesting investor, who went round our local governments where there was already a factory, but because of the mining ban, it wasn’t functioning. But, maybe by the end of this month, it will start functioning. And when that starts, it will to the benefit of Zamfara State.

Based on the security situation in the state, you had a disagreement with the current Minister of State for Defence. Has that been sorted out now?

Like I always say, there’s always a political issue when it comes to insecurity in Zamfara State. Like you rightly pointed out, the immediate past governor of Zamfara State, Bello Matawalle, happens to be the current Minister of State for Defence.

Has that made any significant changes as far as security is concerned in Zamfara State?

The answer is no because he’s not doing anything to take care of the security situation. There have been so many attacks in his local government; what has he done? I have never been the problem.

You saw me when I visited the National Security Adviser. You saw me when I visited the Chief of Army Staff, the Chief of Air Staff, the Chief of Naval Staff, and all the security agencies. Even the Minister of Defence, I was in his office to discuss the security challenges in Zamfara State.

I took over a dysfunctional system where nothing exists. No process; no planning and no budgeting. There was financial indiscipline and everything was negative

I was at the Ministry of Defence to see the Minister of Defence, and I saw Mohammed Badaru. He is the senior minister, so whatever I would discuss, I believe, is about defence.

It doesn’t matter whether Matawalle was there or not. But he knew I was going there anyway. So, why was he not there?

Is it that both of you don’t see eye to eye, and you don’t speak?

I don’t have any problem with him, and I’ll be the happiest person if there’s peace in Zamfara State because I am the governor.

So, whatever happens, good or bad, I take responsibility. What I always say is that there’s need for collaboration, not just with the Minister of Defence.

Anybody who can help bring peace to Zamfara State, I’m ready to work with that person. So, it is not about the Minister of Defence. If you have anything to offer, I will work with you.

Are you’re extending the olive branch to Matawalle?

Absolutely, he is ever welcome. Honestly, we hardly speak. But like I said, if he extends that hand of friendship, Zamfara is his state, he has no other state than Zamfara.

So, whatever he can do, I don’t even need to know. As far as security is concerned, he is the current Minister of State for Defence.

Zamfara has one of the highest numbers of child labour and it’s a very big problem. Can you speak about these human development indices and also the healthcare sector?

Like you rightly pointed out, when I took over as a governor, Zamfara State was in a mess in every aspect of life. Be it security at the highest level, education was at the bottom, healthcare was at the bottom, human development capacity was almost non-existent.

And it’s one reason why I had to declare a state of emergency in education as well as healthcare. Remember, when I took over, there was nothing in our treasury.

So many debts, and I only inherited N4 million. The records are there, with all sorts of liabilities, ranging from a backlog of salaries, four and a half months.

The judiciary was owed N1.6 billion, WAEC N1.6 billion, NECO N1.4 billion and so many other challenges, which I had to face head-on. The first thing I did was to clear the backlog of those salaries. I had to make sure I went in some kind of agreement with WAEC as well as NECO, so that our children can sit for WAEC and NECO.

And not only that, to also be able to get some of those certificates, the ones they wrote in the past, that they were not able to collect because of non-payments. There was not a single drop of water for five months in Zamfara State when I took over.

And we were able to solve that in just three days. So, the liabilities are unbelievable. But as a leader, I had to find a way to be able to take care of that. Let me remind you, when I took over, the salary of a civil servant in Zamfara State was N7,000. Just N7,000 across the state and local governments.

I had to quickly do what I had to do to jack it up to the minimum wage of N30,000. Not only that, since 2011, pensioners were not paid to the tune of N16.5 billion, which I was able to settle everybody as at last. That has been cleared. Every civil servant from 2011, their pension, was cleared.

And we’re now paying the N70,000 minimum wage. Now, let’s go back to education. When I declared an emergency in education, it had to be holistic.

If you look at the condition of our schools at the time, it’s unbelievable. So, as we speak now, we’re able to turn things around. We have renovated over 400 schools, fully renovated, furnished, across all 14 local governments of the state.

We’ve settled NECO; we’ve settled WAEC and other liabilities like scholarships. We’re able to settle our students in Sudan. We’re able to settle students in India. And we’re now in the process of finalizing with Cyprus. This is what we’re doing in education.

You’ve declared a state of emergency in education, how about teachers and infrastructure and why do you need an airport in Zamfara?

It’s a combination of so many things we’re doing. The priority was, of course, on education because without education, you’ll not be able to do anything. And you’re putting the future of our children in danger.

So, that was the first thing we did. That was when we were able to rehabilitate all the schools. As we speak, after rehabilitating those schools, we’re employing 500 teachers.

I haven’t realised, also, there’s a gap there because it’s a different thing to have the buildings. It’s another thing to have the right set of people who will be able to teach in the building. So, the process is on.

We’re recruiting 500 teachers now in specialised fields like sciences, mathematics, IT, because these are basic things that you need. Now, coming back to the airport, with all these issues of volatility and oil price and everything that you’re talking about, we need to have solid industries in Zamfara State.

There is no meaningful investor that will drive from Abuja, for example, all the way to Zamfara by road, spending seven hours on the road. And that’s what I do whenever I come to Abuja or go back to Zamfara.

You think it is something that any investor will do with all the challenges of insecurity? Of course, you need to open up the state. And opening up the state means you need to have an airport.

I’m happy to tell you that the airport is near completion. Within the next three to four months, you’ll be able to fly into Zamfara State.

And that is the beginning of good things for Zamfara State because the state is now accessible. All this, you have insecurity here and there, people travelling by road, fear of being attacked, it will become history.

Coming back to infrastructure, you cannot travel 200 meters in Gusau capital on a good road. Whenever it rains, everywhere is flooded. Go and see now what we have done in that regard. And that also creates employment because it brings about business activities.

You’re paying salaries as at when from N7,000 to N30,000, N30,000 to N70,000. You have cleared N16.6 billion of pension since 2011 to date. I mean, that is something.

When I took over, the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of Zamfara State was N90 million, and out of that N90 million, 90 per cent was payee. But now, we’re talking about N2 billion plus from N90 million.

We’re able to do a lot of checkups here and there, making sure all the leakages are being blocked, so the actual revenue will come to the government. And it’s on an incremental basis, on a month-by-month basis.

Despite this success story, some of your critics have accused you of blaming your predecessor, neglecting rural areas, frequent absences from the state, slow policy implementation and inability to curb banditry. What do you have to say about these?

How many times have you had about any attacks in Zamfara State within the last two years? You can count the numbers. So, for anybody to talk about not being serious in terms of insecurity, that’s just a political statement.

That is one. Two, stakeholders’ engagement, let me tell you, when I took over, you won’t believe we had 49 commissioners, 52 permanent secretaries.

Not even the Federal Government has that number of permanent secretaries. So, we had to do a lot of shakeups to trim the administration to a manageable number. I can tell you that we only have 16 commissioners and 20 permanent secretaries.

Those are some of the challenges, and those are things that must be done, and it takes political will to do that. For anybody to say that I don’t stay in Zamfara State is also a big lie. It is a political statement. If there’s any governor today in Nigeria who stays in his capital, I think I’m number one.

With all the challenges of insecurity, infrastructure, education, healthcare, and so on, and with the budget, if I just sit down in Zamfara State or Gusau, what will i be doing? I have to go out to look for other sources to be able to do what we’re doing.

With the quantum of infrastructure development in Zamfara State, where do you think we’re getting the money from? With the renovation and upliftment of over 400 schools across the state, where do we get the money?

With the payment of all this backlog of salaries, pensions, where do you think we’re getting the money from?

We are not borrowing. We did not borrow a dime up to today, but we’re financially okay as a state. You have to go and look for other sources.

I think things are changing for the better. Zamfara faced serious security challenges in the past, but things have changed. Remember, it’s something that we’ve had for over a decade

There are development partners in the area of education. The World Bank is there. UNICEF is there. UNDP is there. And to get something from these organisations, you need to go there.

If you sit down and say they should come to Zamfara; you think they’ll just drive and come to Zamfara. You have to do the networking. The networking is what matters and you cannot sit in your comfort zone and think all these will come to you.

What about the neglect of rural areas?

That is not true. Let me tell you, I’m extending a special invitation to you, and I’ll take you around all 14 local governments.

There is no local government in Zamfara State that would not have a project of about N5 billion. We do a bottom-top budgeting process by going to those local governments to understand what they need.

What people are saying is we’re building roads in Gusau, and we have to, because Gusau is the capital of Zamfara State, for goodness’ sake. So, you need to make sure the state is befitting. First impression can be a lot.

If I take you to Zamfara today, and then you see the kind of roads and infrastructure that we have, what would be your impression about the state as a whole? I’m sure it would be negative.

Now, coming back to the local government, there are local governments in Zamfara State that have a very good road network. Guess what they do? It’s only animals that fly those roads. So, they don’t need roads, but they need hospitals. They need schools.

They need water. That’s what we’re doing. Go to every local government in Zamfara State. There is no local government that does not feel the presence of government. There’s water in all the local governments. There’s a hospital with medicine and doctors. Go there and see. Let me tell you what we’ve done.

Out of the 14 local governments in the state, Nasarawa was the first fully functional, renovated hospital with state-of-theart technology. Go there and see. Go to Maradu, the local government of my predecessor. They have a new hospital there with state-of-theart equipment. Go to Maru. That’s another local government.

They have a new hospital there with stateof-the-art equipment with doctors. Go to Karanamuda, there’s a new hospital with state-of-the-art equipment. We’re doing Gusau now.

The specialist hospital as well as the general hospital in Gusau, and we’re going to commission that in May, next month, with the latest technology.

Go to the Safi, there is a new hospital. Apart from the primary healthcare centres, we have so far renovated over 70 primary healthcare centres in Zamfara State.

So, for anybody to say we’re not there at the local level is just a political statement. Seeing is believing, and I challenge you to go there.

Governors are jittery with what happened in Rivers State. What do you have to say as regards the declaration of a state of emergency in the state?

I’m against it and I didn’t hide it. I’m one of those governors that went to court to challenge that process because it’s wrong.

It is an aberration and unconstitutional because the facts are there. Well, it’s a combination of so many factors but we’ll get to the end of it.

Do you fear that at some point, your fight with Matawalle can be settled with a state of emergency with the way it is going?

I’m not the president.

Let’s talk about unemployment in your state…

I took over a dysfunctional system where nothing exists. No process; no planning and no budgeting. There was financial indiscipline and everything was negative. These are facts, and it’s not about blame. Blame is when things don’t exist. These are facts. We’re not making up stories.

Is it not true that we inherited a five month liability of salaries? When I took over, everywhere was disconnected by KEDCO. All government offices, including the government house, because of non-payment of electricity bills.

I had to pay KEDCO N1.6 billion for terrestrial electricity in Zamfara State, especially government offices. Was I the one who created it? Was I the one who refused to pay salaries?

Was I the one who refused to pay pensioners? These are questions. So, who did it? It’s like blame game. If things were okay, what is my own with Matawalle? I’ve moved on.

What are you doing to address hunger and poverty in the state?

The problems are multidimensional as far as that is concerned, so you have to prioritise. The first thing, like I said is security because without security, there won’t be anything.

The second fundamental is education. You’re aware now, Zamfara is at the top. There was a gifted child who participated nationally. Zamfara came second after Anambra.

Go and look at our results now. In WAEC and NECO, we’re at the top. That is to tell you that things are working. The declaration of emergency has worked, and we’re on it, and we’ll continue to get it right.