For a state with 14 local governments and with no stable means of income aside from the federal allocation, analysts say having 26 ministries is wasteful.
To defeat an incumbent governor is no mean feat in Nigeria. To defeat an incumbent governor who was backed by three other former governors, three former deputy governors, former and serving senators, House of Representatives members, and a retinue of political bigwigs is almost impossible.
By defeating the incumbent governor, Bello Matawalle, the candidate of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dauda Lawal, achieved a feat many believed was unattainable.
Mr Lawal scored 377,726 votes while Mr Matawalle of the All Progressives Congress (APC) scored 311,976 votes. The candidate of the National Rescue Movement (NRM), Aliyu Dansadau, came a distant third with 2,416 votes while Ahmed Yahuza of the Labour Party got 573.
But his electoral victory is nothing compared to the challenges that wait for him when he is sworn in as executive governor on 29 May.
"Looking at the serious challenges facing Zamfara State, I do not envy the incoming administration because to even begin to clean up the mess is going to take a lot of political will," said Habib Gajam, a resident and entrepreneur.
In this analysis, PREMIUM TIMES looks at the pressing challenges ahead of Mr Lawal as he attempts to raise the fortune of a state that sits comfortably at the lowest of Nigeria's developmental scale.
Multi-dimensional poverty
Zamfara is perhaps the most underdeveloped state in the country. According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), 78 per cent of the residents of the state are poor.
Zamfara is an agrarian state with more than 80 per cent of residents engaged in agriculture. The state was one of the top producers of grains, cotton, and tobacco in the country. It wears its agrarian badge on its chest. Its motto is "Farming is Our Pride". But that pride seems stale.
Due to rising insecurity, many farming communities have been deserted and their inhabitants displaced. A 2021 report by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Society said an estimated 2.53 million people in the North-west (mainly in Zamfara, Katsina and Sokoto) would face acute food scarcity due to the activities of terrorists.
A state-by-state analysis of economic development (estimated economy) by Budgit, a data-driven civic tech organisation, ranked Zamfara 32 out of 36 states of the federation with N1.73 trillion. The analysis also noted that the state had no capital importation between 2019 and 2021.
There is more. The Presidential Enabling Business Council ranked the state the least among the 36 states of the federation in the ease of doing business index. Whichever way one looks at it, Zamfara is an economic backwater, and the governor-elect is expected to bring the grit that saw him triumphing during the election despite the groundswell of opposition against him in solving the economic problems of the state.
With his banking background, Mr Lawal is expected to attract more investment in the state, which will in turn create more jobs for residents.
In other to spur economic activities, the governor-elect also needs to look at the markets in the state, which are in deplorable states. Apart from the Central Market in Gusau, the capital of the state, other markets in the state desperately need facelifts.
Insecurity
Apart from multi-dimensional poverty, the state is also dealing with one of the worst instances of insecurity in the history of the country. Gangs of terrorists, locally called bandits, have set up kidnap-for-ransom franchises across the state; targeting travellers, students, and rural communities.
Agriculture is the mainstay of the state's economy, but these terrorists have imposed protection levies that farmers are mandated to pay before being allowed to cultivate farmlands or harvest ripe crops.
These gangs have been blamed for causing one of the worst internal displacements of people in the country.
They have also been blamed for the killing of thousands of people across the North-west region of the country.
A state government report claimed 3,672 people were abducted from 2011-2019, and over N3 billion was paid as ransom in the state.
The committee, headed by a retired inspector general of police, Muhammad Abubakar, also said 4,983 women were widowed, 25,050 children were orphaned, and 190,340 persons were displaced by banditry over the period.
Mr Matawalle, the outgoing governor, was criticised for his less than impressive handling of the security challenges in the state, especially his granting of amnesty to some terror gangs. But those peace deals were never steadfast as the criminal groups were soon back to their old habit of sacking rural communities or waylaying and abducting travellers and students.
In fact, having sacked most rural communities leaving them deserted, the terrorists have started attacking urban centres such as Gusau, Kaura Namoda and Talata Mafara.Mr Lawal must devise ways to minimize the incessant attacks. He must also show the people of the state he is in charge and not relinquish control of parts of the state to these terror gangs.
"The incoming administration may have to share power with non-state actors especially now that it's the beginning of the rainy season which is the peak of the activities of these terrorists," said Yusuf Anka, a security analyst.
Mr Anka said the incoming administration must take care of the internally displaced persons loitering in cities with no shelter and food, and design policies to make them self-reliant among other issues.
He said Mr Lawal must also strive to make peace between warring Hausa and Fulani communities.
Education and health
Again, Zamfara is one of the least achieving states in the provision of healthcare and basic education for its residents. The rate of infant and maternal mortality in the state is among the worst in the country.
A 2020 report revealed that Zamfara has the second-highest rate of maternal mortality. The state recorded 576 deaths in 100,000 births. The national average is 197 deaths in 100,000 births.
Also, the national average of infant mortality is 69 deaths per 1,000 live births while Zamfara recorded 104 deaths per 1,000 liver births.
Hospitals and other healthcare centres in the state are in dilapidated states devoid of essential equipment.
In 2021, the state chairman of the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA), Mannir Bature, said one medical doctor treats 50,000 people. This is even as health centres in the state are witnessing structural decay.
"The level of decay is disheartening. Only the General Hospital in Gusau has the facilities required for a decent health facility. In the remaining 13 local government areas, General Hospitals don't even have facilities for neonatal care.....We have a total of 350 Medical Doctors and 1,300 Nurses in the state in both State and Federal health facilities taking care of over five million people," Mr Bature said during a stakeholders' meeting in Gusau.
The state is not doing better in education. Zamfara is among the five states with the highest number of out-of-school children, according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO). With a total of 883,952 children out of school, the state is second only to Bauchi with 1,239,759. UNESCO said Nigeria had a total of 20 million out-of-school children in 2022.
Farid Ibrahim, the founder of Smart Aid, an educational organization in the state, said the rot in the sector has gone from bad to worse, proposing that only a state of emergency could tackle the issues.
"The incoming administration should consider declaring a state of emergency in the education sector," Mr Ibrahim said.
Widespread insecurity has also forced teachers and other education officials in vulnerable rural communities to flee.
Loans & debts
Zamfara is the 17th most indebted state in the country. According to the Debt Management Office (DMO), as of December 2022, the state has a total internal debt of N112,197,059,996.
The external debt status of the state as of December 2022 stands at N28,861,053, according to the DMO.
A financial analyst who is also the founder of ZamTraka, an organization that analyses financial and economic issues in Zamfara state, Fauzadeen Mahmoud, said the state's debt profile is alarming especially because the money generated by the state is being used to pay debts instead of undertaking capital projects.
"In 2022, 45.9 per cent of what the state spent went into debt servicing. The remaining 54.1 per cent was used to pay salaries, settle pensioners, run offices and undertake projects. It's risky," Mr Mahmoud said.
He said Mr Lawal needs to properly structure the fiscal policy of the state.
"If you don't have money, you don't have to live flamboyantly. We're not Kaduna or Kano for God's sake, how can we have ministries that we don't need....," Mr Mahmoud said.
The Zamfara government owes both the National Examination Council (NECO) and the West African Examination Council (WAEC) the sum of N1.3 billion naira. Mr Lawal must look for a way to pay the debt for students' examination results to be released.
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In 2022, Zamfara was one of the two states that failed to present candidates for the WASSCE examination due to the debt profile of the state.
Over-bloated civil service
For a state with 14 local governments and with no stable means of income aside from the federal allocation, analysts say having 26 ministries is wasteful.
With its mounting debt burden, Mr Lawal must find a way of streamlining the civil service and making it more productive.
"In Zamfara State if you ask me, I'll say the civil service is practically dysfunctional... You know civil servants are the ones who drive politicians' manifestos. Public service reform is key to the meaningful development of society and the focus of the administration. This would come with political backlash but needs to be a priority for Dauda Lawal," Mr Gajam noted.
Mr Gajam said the incoming administration needs to prioritize training, recruitment and the right posting of government officials to revamp the civil service in the state.
Mr Lawal must also defeat the urge to appoint a retinue of aides as done by the incumbent governor.The current Zamfara governor has 56 cabinet-level special advisers aside from the 26 commissioners. This is in addition to the seemingly endless list of director generals, senior special assistants and special assistants.
Zamfara has several ministries with overlapping functions. Some of these ministries are the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning. Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Forestry and Livestock, the Ministry for Wealth Creation, Empowerment and Employment Generation, as well as the Ministry of Sports and Youth Development. Other ministries with overlapping functions include the Ministry for Local Government Affairs, the Ministry of Social and Community Development and the Ministry of Rural Development and Co-operatives.
To save costs, Mr Lawal should consider merging some of these ministries.
The state has a Ministry for Arts and Culture and a separate Ministry for Tourism and Hotel Management.
Local government councils are filled with hundreds of ghost workers while there are thousands of workers collecting salaries but doing nothing. Some of them allegedly do not reside in the state and have jobs in the private sector and elsewhere but are still being paid monthly.
