Tinubu’s Engagement With The North -By Ibrahim Mustapha Pambegua

The Ahmadu Bello memorial foundation organised 2 day interactive session on government-citizens engagement with the theme: Assessing electoral promises fostering government-citizens engagement for national unity.

With President Tinubu two years into his administration, the session is aimed to evaluate the progress made on those electoral promises, deepen government-citizen engagement, and promote a clearer understanding of the administration’s policies and programmes. The engagement is a critical litmus test for measuring the federal government’s responsiveness to the region’s socioeconomic and security challenges. The interactive session which was held in Kaduna and lasted for two day, featured various stakeholders, including civil society organisations, religious leaders and socio-cultural groups. The northern region appointees were visibly presence and presented the truth picture of the government policies direction, entertained questions and assured the participants of more government policies and programmes geared towards the development of northern Nigeria and the country at large.

Let me first and foremost commend the organisers of the interactive and very educative session for drawing the attention of government on the myriad of problem affecting the northern region and engaging government officials on what government is doing to tackle the challenges. Indeed,the organisers deserve a pat on their back. While various stakeholders meetings were organised by the Sardauna memorial foundation in the past, leading to the discussion of wide range of challenges bedevil the northern region,the recent two days event seemed to be unique. The interactive session,for the first time in our democratic journey, has drawn government appointees to actively engage citizens about government performances, particularly in the past two years. Though, it is too early to assess the performance of this administration which barely spends two years in power, Mr president has submitted himself to nigerians for a fair assessment. This is the beauty of democracy which gives room for accountability. No wonder, the just concluded interactive session afforded the Tinubu’s appointees who are from northern extraction the opportunity to reel out data on various projects or programmes iniated and implemented by the Tinubu ‘s administration.

Although, the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Alhaji Bashir M. Dalhatu, expressed deep concerns over what he described as growing marginalisation of Northern Nigeria under the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. He cited critical areas of neglect including insecurity, agriculture, transport infrastructure, power supply, education, healthcare, and the abandonment of strategic projects like the Ajaokuta Steel Plant and Kolmani oil exploration. However, Alhaji Bashir Dalhatu, called for improved communication between the federal government and the North, recommending that the interactive session evolve into a standing ACF-FGN Contact Committee as earlier suggested by President Tinubu. The host governor, Uba Sani, has declared that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has remained committed to fulfilling his electoral promises to Northern Nigeria, especially in the areas of security, education, health, infrastructure, and economic inclusion.Governor Sani highlighted massive strides under the Tinubu administration, including support in tackling Kaduna’s security crisis, revitalisation of healthcare and education, and major infrastructure projects like the Sokoto–Badagry Superhighway and Kaduna–Kano rail line among many others programmes.

Moreover,the National Security Adviser (NSA), Malam Nuhu Ribadu said at the event, that the successes recorded in the fight against insecurity is as a result of President Tinubu’s directive to security agencies on a unified security approach. Attacks, banditry, and communal conflicts in the northern region have reduced drastically in the last two years of President Tinubu’s administration, compared to what the situation was in the last administration. Many speakers have spoken and highlighted the significant strides recorded by Tinubu administration. They appealed for patience as government strives to roll out more policies and programmes for the development of the region and the country in general. The Ahmadu Bello memorial’s interactive session has opened up more floor of government-citizens engagements. Government should encourage more interactive sessions with relevant stakeholders. This will help it to provide detailed information about its policies and programmes, get feedback from citizens and above all establish mutual trust.

Ibrahim Mustapha Pambegua, Kaduna State. 08169056963.