Among the governors that bagged awards at the Leadership Newspapers annual award, Wamakko somehow stole the day with a quiet but richly attended lunch in his honour at the Zuma Grill of the Transcorp Hilton.
That lunch for the governor who would be exhausting his final tenure in office in may next year, was hosted by a son of the state, Hon. Aminu Tambuwal, Speaker of the House of Representatives. His official presence with his full entourage added colour to the gathering that was rich and sumptuous.
Beyond the fanfare, Wamakko who said he had facts to show for his stewardship sounded excited about the award in an exclusive chat with Abuja Metro at the Sokoto Governor’s Lodge, Asokoro.
Asked about what he thinks would endure after next year when he would be out of office, he said: “I remain proud of the fact that I have entrenched the rule of order and openness to my people through governance.
“I have used the resources of the state judiciously, and I have no doubt that that has become entrenched culture in the state my successor would not sideline. And because of the tradition of openness and democratic process I made a culture even in the deployment of the resources of the state, I am not afraid of my shadows when I must have left office. I am sure my records are clean and would be commendable because while in power, I never forgot that one day, I would be accountable to the people, to God and to history on how I manage the opportunity given me.
“In addition, I completed and delivered to the people of Sokoto State, my promise of a state university that is now operational. I started and completed it and from that, education among the people became a popular industry where from the 700 candidates of the state that enrolled in the JAMB exams in 2007, this year, the state made a leap to 15,500 candidates in the same JAMB. You can see the amazing difference. I completed the state power and water plants and ensured manpower development through education, and the shoring of the morale of the workers at all levels.”
Wamakko’s award came for his role in engendering true democracy entrenched on viable opposition. According to Leadership Newspapers that gave him the award alongside the other former PDP governors that defected to the APC, he took a vital step and bold decision to damn the consequences of possibly losing his office to step over to the opposition party when they felt things were not actually working according to expectations in their former party.
The news media said that the decision has been a positive development to the deepening of democracy in the nation with virile and viable opposition and therefore the award of the Politician of the Year to him and the other governors.
Also at the lunch, Hon. Tambuwal praised the leadership qualities of Wamakko whom he described as open minded, fair and humane.
He said: “None of us from the state in the National Assembly has any reason not to align with the governor or have any grudges against him. He a fair person, he does not work against anyone’s interest and I hold him in very high esteem as a true leader, and that is why I think it is just proper to associate with him on this outstanding honour and recognition.”
I feel honoured
After receiving the award, Wamakko in his acceptance speech said he felt it was a great honour to pick the award which came unsolicited for.
He recalled: “I feel highly honoured to be here as part of this distinguished gathering of well-meaning Nigerians convened by the Leadership Newspapers to celebrate the country’s democratic experience. I am also profoundly grateful to the organisers for giving me the opportunity to rub minds with highly distinguished personalities and stakeholders in the nation’s democratic processes. There is no doubt that our democracy has witnessed series of upheavals and yet we are trudging on with vigour because of our belief in democracy as best form of Government that gives citizens the right to participate in how they are governed. Indeed, Nigeria’s democracy has come of age despite the current travails occasioned by the PDP Led Central Government.
I must state that democracy provides alternatives and a motley of choice to the people, it becomes more attractive and most appealing to the people. As we quite know, it readily offers avenue for replacement of a government that is not performing due to poor leadership and insensitivity to the wishes of the citizenry; i.e. the Ballot Box. Leadership is about being responsible and responsive to those being governed. Any leader that turns deaf ears to the governed is not only excluding them from the scheme of things but callously reneging on the principles of accountability and good governance. Such leaders are truly not worthy of their positions and deserved to be disgraced from office.
“I wish to state in all modesty that, we have consistently made efforts in my state to ensure that we operate a government with listening ears where the wishes and aspirations of the people form the basis of policies formulation and implementation. In Sokoto State, people hold the aces because they are involved in the running of the affairs of government. We leave our doors open not only for suggestions but also for the people to interface with us as their servant-leaders. We listen to their opinions on policies; siting of projects and in fact, even the direction they want us to follow.”
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