As Babangida Aliyu, Nigeria’s Best Governor Leaves Government House

Book on Governor Babangida Aliyu

 

In my book “ Servant Leadership: How Dr Muazu Babangida Aliyu is Transforming Niger State”, I traced the philosophical underpinning of servant leadership as a leadership model and how Dr Aliyu the greatest exponent of this style of leadership in Nigeria has used this model to transform Niger State making it better than he met it when he answered the clarion call of Nigerlites to rescue the state in 2007.

The man who inspired the book and the chief servant and governor of Niger State, Dr Muazu Babangida Aliyu in less than 24 hours would be bowing out as the landlord of Government House, Minna alongside one of his most trusted aide and former secretary to Niger State government, Professor Yahaya Kuta Mohammed.

The outgoing chairman Northern Governors Forum is leaving office with his head held high. He is not owing a dime to Niger State civil servants even in the midst of several state governments and outgoing governors owing the workers up to eight months’ salaries. This is a Niger State government that receives the least allocation from federation account and the state is the largest state in Nigeria in terms of landmass. It is a miracle that Aliyu is not owing the workers a dime which is a clear indication that he is a good manager of men and resources. In fact in Niger State it is a given that civil servants receive their alerts on the 25^th of every month. And where the 25^th fall on a Saturday they must receive their alert on Friday the 24^th. There is a harmonious relationship between labour and chief servant’s government and strike seems alien to the workers.

For a state where the government hardly budgets up to N90billion annually it is amazing that Aliyu was able to have some money left after paying civil servants to construct roads, housing, improve on agriculture where Niger State is the nation’s largest producer of rice among others. His ward development strategy which brings development to all the wards in the 25 local governments of state have been hailed by international development agencies who have recommended it for other states in the country to ensure that development gets to the grassroots. On top of that Niger State children enjoy free education from primary to secondary schools and WAEC and NECO fees paid by the state government irrespective of state of origin.

He is one of the most detribalised Nigerians that I know. Discrimination on the line of religion and ethnicity is alien to him. He abolished the practice where non-indigenes in the state civil service are given appointments on contract and offered such Nigerians permanent and pensionable appointments like the rest of Nigerlites, this was at a time when some governors including my state governor, Theodore Orji, were busy sacking non-indigenes in their civil service.

At the Three Arms Zone in Minna, being developed by the chief servant, he ensured that there are provisions for Mosque and Church side-by-side, using such gesture to promote religious harmony in Niger State and to show example of religious tolerance to other leaders who use religion to put a wedge between the different peoples of Nigeria.

Sometime I marvel what Babangida Aliyu would have achieved if he was privileged to receive the kind of mouth-watering allocations received by states like Akwa Ibom, Rivers, Kano and Lagos among others. He would have turned Niger State to another Dubai. Already he has laid solid foundation for Niger State to become an oil producing state with the discovery of huge quantity of oil reserve at Bida Basin through his singular determination to improve on the economy of the state.

In the health sector he provided free medical care for pregnant women and for children from 0-5years. For a state with such meagre allocation the government’s investment in the health sector is at the root of the total eradication of polio in Niger State. And if you want to see a state where the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) made the greatest impact in Nigeria, look no further from Niger State.

No matter what the critics might say the fact remains that there is no sector that was not improved upon in the state using his array of technocrats who brought their knowledge to bear on these sectors. He is easily the best governor to govern Niger State and undisputedly the best in Nigeria given the meagre amount he worked with.