Omololu Ogunmade
8 July 2009
interview
Lagos — Sokoto State Governor, Alhaji Aliyu Wamakko, is one of the only two former deputy governors who eventually became governors in the current tenure. While his counterpart in Zamfara and name-sake, Alhaji Aliyu Shinkafi became governor on a platter of gold, his was a rough adventure, as he had to move to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), to run against the candidate of his former boss. Four journalists had an encounter with the governor in Sokoto recently, where he spoke on his performance so far, electoral reform, the Harvard debacle, state creation, the judiciary among other issues of national interest. Omololu Ogunmade who was in the team presents excerpts of the interview
So far, how will you describe the task of governance?
To start with, I have been in the system in the last 37 years. I was in government, in the civil service. I was a permanent secretary; then politician, deputy governor and governor. That has given me some advantages to know the real concerns of this state. So, when I came in, I did not have much trouble to prepare my blue-print for the state in terms of education, poverty alleviation, health care delivery, economic empowerment, commerce and other sectors that will lead to economic development of the state.
Having prepared our blue-print, we went into action to address these areas of education, poverty eradication, agriculture and youth empowerment. We have addressed and still addressing all these.
What impact has your administration made so far in education?
We address the sector from the grassroots, the mid-level and the high level. What I mean is that any attempt to address education, you must start from the fundamentals, that is, primary education. When we came in, there was a low morale in teachers. Students could not pay school fees. There was lack of facilities. So, we ban payment of school fees in the primary and secondary schools. This gave a boost to the enrolment as students walked to school without any hindrance.
We boosted the morale of teachers through salary increase. We purchased motorcycles and other facilities and gave them to the teachers through loans. We also encouraged re-training of the teachers.
We equally addressed the problems in the secondary schools. We increased feeding allowance of the pupils by a hundred per cent.
We spent N2 billion to renovate and rehabilitate our schools. Equally, we have increased bursary allowance for both local and foreign students. We also have special bursary allowance for Law students, medical students and so on. We increased the allowances of those in teachers' training colleges or colleges of education by hundred per cent. All the levels of education have been affected positively. Today, the enrolment level in the primary, secondary and tertiary level has increased, from about 23 to 29 per cent.
Girl-child enrolment has also increased by over 30 per cent in the last two years. At the tertiary level, we have been able to increase enrolment by over 29 per cent. Policies and programmes are put in place to raise the quality of students, teachers and the environment, to foster living.
We have also gone ahead to mobilise the community because they have a role to play. We mobilised the Parent Teachers' Association to assist us so that we can get the desired result. Thank God, the involvement of parents is very encouraging.
Do your educational programmes also cover the university education?
Last year, only about one third of qualified candidates got admission into the university. So, we worked towards having our own state university. The paper works have been done. We are about to get approval for take-off from the National University Commission. This month, we will lay the foundation of the university. We are getting a temporary site to start-off before the permanent campus can be put in place.
Is it being sited in Sokoto?
It is about 10 kilometres from Sokoto. If we put everything in the capital, it means we are neglecting the rural areas of the state. I don't believe in that. I saw what happened abroad when I was in the United States. Many universities are not in the big towns. They are in the small towns. Through that, there will be roads and many facilities. The environment is conducive. We have finished all the necessary grounds and in few days time, we will inaugurate the committee for the take-off of the university. The ceremony will be attended by numerous personalities, including the Senate President and members of Senate Committee on Education.
Is it necessary to establish a new university when we already have a proliferation of universities in the country?
There are so many universities, but where are they? Not in Sokoto. You may wish to know that in Nigeria, Sokoto is one of the few states that do not have universities of their own. Our people are not getting admitted adequately into the existing universities in the country. So, the yearnings of our young people who want to go to the university in this country are not being met. It is part of our obligations as a government. Sokoto is an educationally backward state.
In view of the global economic meltdown and the dwindling revenue from the federation account, how have you been coping with the funding of some of your projects in the state?
I have been in government for sometime now. I am conscious of the fact that we cannot continue to get the sweet oil money everyday. There can be decline sometimes. So, by planning, programming and exploring new avenues, we can make progress. We do not try to spend everything we get, with the hope of getting another one every month.
We continue to execute our projects without being affected. In Sokoto State, we make payments for our projects as at when due and still maintain some reasonable savings. I had been part of government before. So, I use the experience I have gained over the years to plan well, so that we will not fall into such a trap and midway, we are confronted with lack of funds and be unable to continue with programmes and projects.
There was a controversy recently that the 36 state governors signed an agreement with the Harvard University. Being one of them, what is the true account of the story?
I am not sure that I can address that question.
Why?
Because I wouldn't know what transpired. I know It was mentioned in our meeting that there was the need for some kind of trainings on terminal short courses for governors, the kind that takes place at the federal and state levels and that Harvard is associated with quality. I am not sure, but I think the Chairman of Governors Forum should be able to tell you more about it.
One of the governors said he was not in support of the programme. Were you in support of it?
I am not competent to answer some of these questions.
Doesn't this imply that the rank of the governors are divided over the programme?
No. I am not competent to speak on it.
In some states, the legislative and executive arms are usually at war. What is responsible for the cordial relationship between you and the House of Assembly?
If you look at history, Sokoto is one of the most peaceful states in the country. Sokoto has been a seat of leadership of this country, since the days of Obafemi Awolowo and Ahmadu Bello. Alhaji Shehu Shagari (former president) is also from this place. We do try to ensure that Sokoto continues to be the seat of leadership and the most peaceful place in the country.
Secondly, in governance, the key word is mutual respect, transparency. If there is transparency and there is mutual respect between the two arms, there is no need for quarrel. Whenever there is quarrel, it may be that there is no transparency and there is no mutual respect. Both arms should work hand in hand to achieve a common goal of developing the state under their care.
What is your position on the proposed electoral reforms?
I have spoken about electoral reforms. The reform we need is that we should reform our own attitudes as Nigerians. We have very good laws in Nigeria. The attitude of the politicians and stakeholders is the challenge. Unless we rededicate ourselves, unless we respect the laws of the land and do things according to the law governing us and we start behaving the way we should behave, there is no reform we need to change our attitude. Laws don't work on their own. It is the people that will make the law work. No amount of law will change us, unless we change ourselves. That is my opinion.
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