GAWUNA: The Governor In Waiting
By Abdullahi Yusuf
AREWA AGENDA – One of the things that make governance more beneficial and impactful is continuity.
Governments globally, cherish situations, arrangements or opportunities which enable the continuity of their policies and programmes, especially if such schemes have been impacting positively on the lives of their people.
And continuity becomes more impactful in a democratic setting in which the people elect candidates based on promises about how to improve their lives. If such candidates so elected, form Governments and perform creditably, chances are that they will be re-elected to continue to provide more dividends of democracy to the people.
That was exactly what happened between His Excellency, the Governor, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, in 2015 when the people of the State gave him the mandate to govern them, and when they got satisfied with his performance, they re-elected him in 2019 to continue with the good work he had started.
Constitutionally, the Ganduje Administration will come to a glorious end on May 29, 2023, thus paving way for another opportunity for the people of the state to experience continuity of the good policies and programmes of the incumbent Government.
Such programmes include unprecedented infrastructure development, free education, quality healthcare services, agriculture development, as well as achievement of peace and harmony among the residents of the state, all of which have stimulated growth and development in the last seven years of the administration.
The most qualified person to continue with and sustain the quality policies and programmes of the Ganduje Administration is His Excellency, the Deputy Governor, Dr Nasiru Yusuf Gawuna, who has spent more than half of the seven years of the Government learning the ropes from his Principal, Dr Abdullahi Ganduje.
Which explains why Gawuna had a smooth emergence as the APC Governorship candidate in the state for the 2023 general elections.
In the primary election which was held in May, the Deputy Governor came out victorious, garnering 2,289 votes to beat the then Sha’aban Ibrahim Sharada who placed a remote third with a paltry 30 votes.
While thanking Governor Ganduje for piloting the process that ensured his smooth election as the APC Governorship candidate, and other members of the ruling party for their support, Gawuna right there at the event pledged his continued loyalty to Ganduje, one hundred per cent, and also undertook to continue with the good work the Governor had been doing.
Then, to make the Governorship Ticket complete and solid, the state chapter of the APC under the leadership of Governor Ganduje, selected another good hand, Alhaji Murtala Sule Garo, as the running mate of Dr Gawuna.
The winning ticket is, therefore, manned by two illustrious persons who have proved themselves both in the various public positions they have held so far and in their respective private lives as well.
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Gawuna had served the people of the state meritoriously as Chairman of Nasarawa Local Government, Commissioner of Agriculture in a previous Administration and the present Government, and Deputy Governor in the same Administration, and still serving.
In all the positions he had held and the current post he is occupying, Gawuna had been adjudged to have remained loyal to His Excellency and performed commendably, discharging his statutory functions to the best of his ability.
In his private life as well, Gawuna is confirmed to have done well in his dealings and interactions with people, according to them due respect with humility and extending generosity.
The co-holder of the Winning Ticket, Garo, also possesses an impressive pedigree, having competently served as Chairman of Kabo Local Government and until recently, the State Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs.
His accessibility, humility and generosity among other things, have, over the years, endeared him and the Ganduje Administration to the hearts of the people of the state.
Now, to effectively market the winning ticket, a seasoned Journalist of international repute, Comrade Muhammad Garba, was brought on board as the Spokesman of the Gawuna/Garo Campaign Council.
Malam Muhammad Garba, who has been serving as the State Commissioner for Information from 2015 to date(at one time the portfolio included Youths, Sports and Culture), will bring to bear his experience in disseminating and managing information about the laudable policies and programmes of the Ganduje Administration, to promote the Winning Team.
Also, Comrade Garba’s pedigree as a two-term President of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) as well as former President of the Federation of African Journalists (FAJ) and two-term President of the West African Association of Journalists (WAJA), plus one-time Press Secretary to the Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives and former Press Secretary to the Deputy Governor of Kano State have further solidified his ability to market the Governorship ticket to victory.
To deputize for him is Malam Garba Yusuf Abubakar, the present State Commissioner for Water Resources, who had variously served as Commissioner in the ministries of Information, Land and Physical Planning, Environment, and Finance, as well as a Director Publicity, Shekarau 2003/2007 in the defunct Shekarau Administration.
Abubakar will also deploy his experience in assisting Comrade Muhammad Garba to sell the Gawuna/Garo Governorship to the good people of Kano State.
The ban on campaigns for Governorship and State Assembly elections will be lifted in less than two weeks from now, which will enable the Gawuna/Garo Campaign Train to formally hit the ground running and refresh the minds of the people of the state on the laudable achievements of the APC Administration in the state.
The impressive credentials of Gawuna and Garo have catapulted them to stand tall among other Governorship candidates in the state, thereby dwarfing the opponents till the election day when the APC flag bearers will coast to a resounding victory.
That day, Dr Nasiru Yusuf Gawuna will In Sha Allah,be confirmed as the Successor of His Excellency,the Executive Governor of Kano State, Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje.
Abdullahi Yusuf is a Senior Special Assistant (SSA) on Information to the Governor of Kano State. He can be reached on: [email protected]
