On assumption of office on May 29, 2023, the governor of Sokoto state, Dr. Ahmed Aliyu Sokoto, set a 9-point agenda for his administration. Top on the blueprint/template was the problem of insecurity and the attendant exacerbating poverty among the citizens of the state.
He acknowledged the efforts of his boss and former governor of Sokoto state, His Excellency Senator Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko, to restore law and order with a promise to consolidate the gains therefrom. In fact, the governor began his first 100 days in office with the inauguration of multimillion projects in the Security, Transportation, Health, and Road Networking sectors, expressing high optimism about improved security in the state from May 2023 to November 2023.
He said: “Security is important and necessary for meaningful development and growth of the society. My administration will give security uppermost preference and priority.” Governor Ahmed Aliyu, aside recognising the strategic place of security in the promotion of socio-economic growth, development and prosperity, was not under any illusion about the herculean task ahead. Thus, he promised to collaborate with other security agencies, vigilante groups and hunters to up the ante in the war against bandits who have continued to do colossal damage to the state.
To show that he meant business, Ahmed Aliyu adopted a multi-faceted approach in the battle to save the state from the fangs of the deadly bandits group, as well as other blood thirsty organisations. One of the strategies designed to quell the savagery was the provision of vital logistics to support and boost the fighting spirit and morale of troops at the theatre of war.
Such support came very early in the life of the Ahmed Aliyu administration with the release of surveillance vehicles to security agencies and volunteers fighting the insurgents. A similar logistic support followed with the donation of over 40 new Bufallo Hilux vans to the military and security outfits for surveillance operations, just as he inaugurated a Community Security Guards.
His Excellency Ahmed Aliyu once said, “I have said a number of times that this administration will not hesitate to take any measure or make any sacrifice in order to ensure peace and security returns to our state. As the chief security officer of Sokoto state, it is my constitutional and moral responsibility to do whatever I possibly can in trying to secure the lives of citizens. And doing that is the whole essence of government, in the first place,” This is to tell you how passionate Governor Ahmed Aliyu is in ending insecurity in the state.
Beyond the physical level, Ahmed Aliyu took to the spiritual realm in his determination to guarantee the safety of lives and property so as to pave the way for good governance in his domain. He made an arrangement with Muslim clerics in the state to offer prayers against the insurgents. He believes the state needs these prayers more than ever before, because he is handling our problem from different approaches. Prayer is key in everything that we seek. He continues to seek prayers from many fronts.
In keeping to his administration’s commitment to forging partnerships with security agencies in order to tackle current and emerging security threats in Sokoto state, Governor Ahmed Aliyu has held separate meetings with the Chief of Defence Staff, Major General Christopher Musa; Chief of Army Staff, Major General Taoreed Lagbaja, and Chief of the Air Staff, Air Vice Marshal Hassan Abubakar, all in closed door sessions.
In these meetings, they always had robust discussions on the security challenges confronting Sokoto state and the way out. Although, now successes have been recorded in the fight against insecurity in Sokoto state, Governor Ahmed Aliyu has always reminded the service chiefs on the need to consolidate on the successes.
Today, there is one governor in the whole of North-west region that became a parameter of accessing successes in the security sector by other governors of Nigeria. He is the governor of Sokoto state. It is also important to state that the same Governor Ahmed Aliyu bemoaned the current situation in his state and called on stakeholders to fashion a holistic approach to tackle the ugly situation.
Now that Governor Ahmed Aliyu has provided enough support to the security agencies in the state with state-of-the-art equipment and has thus become a game changer on the seat, there are no hiding place for terrorists and bandits. Our people deserve a new lease of life where they can sleep with their two eyes closed and that’s what Ahmed Aliyu is doing. Our military personnel have lived up to expectations and our security forces are doing their best since they have gotten enough support from the governor and we are getting favourable results.
In Sokoto state today, the Nigerian Army is giving the government the desired cooperation, the police, the paramilitary as well as the Airforce and all other components of the Nigerian military are supporting the government of Ahmed Aliyu to end insecurity. Likewise, the full operative measures taken by the Ahmed Aliyu administration are yielding positive results that involve the release of about 51 captives from the bandits’ enclave.
Nasiru writes from Sokoto
