By Dahiru Hassan Kera
In any system of governance, there are bound to be two sides; those that serve and the served ones. While the former denotes those who genuinely view leadership as an avenue of serving the society or the led, the latter sees leadership as self-serving and money-making venture.
It’s apparent that, those that tore the line of purposeful leadership were the successful ones and were equally being celebrated by the advocates of good stewardship and its sustainability. The media had remained the vital tool for good governance and democratic sustainability; Democracy is healthier when the public is informed about the activities of the captain of industry and the chieftains of public office, according to Melvin Mencher. Therefore, the Vanguard Newspaper’s Best Governor of the Year 2015 award to Gombe State Governor, Dr. Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo (Talban Gombe) is indeed a fitting testimony to the perseverance, hardwork, patriotic zeal and steadfastness of one of the most action-oriented governors in the country. It is a celebration of good governance.
Dankwambo, a seasoned accountant, had a stint as the account general of Gombe State and later accountant general of the federation before he was called upon by the good people of Gombe State to vie for governor in the state, a contest which he overwhelmingly won from primary to the general elections in 2011 on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) becoming the third executive governor of Gombe state. Dankwambo has been hailed and described by media pundits and social commentators as the ‘last man standing’ during the 2015 general elections on account of the unassailable fact that he was at a particular point the only incumbent PDP governor that retained his seat in the entire North.
In the build up to the 2015 general elections and what many termed as doomsday for PDP, some party leaders and faithful jumped ostensibly leaving the action-oriented ‘Talban Gombe’ to his fate which they perceived as a looming and lopsided defeat at the hands of the resurgent All Progressives Congress (APC). However, those that were engaged in anti-party activities and the peddling of wild doomsday scenario seemed not to have a proper grasp of the psychological, moralistic and philosophic make-up of Dankwambo. He is made of sterner stuff and as impregnable as the legendary Rock of Gilberta, which implies that he is ensconced in the time-tested virtues of loyalty, steadfastness, principle, resilience and tenacity to the extent that no matter what occurs, he is largely unmoved once he stood on the right side of history and his much-beloved people.
So, rather than being distracted by the panicky decamping of some key erstwhile loyalists, Dankwambo continued to campaign for the victory of his party in the remaining governorship and house of assembly elections resolute in the belief that political jobbers and media charlatans would be proved wrong at the end of the day in their wild and pessimistic predictions.
Dankwambo is synonymous with success and accomplishments. Another factor that was working in his favour was his monumental transformation of Gombe State, the Jewel of the Savannah, for the better in all critical sectors. These include health, education, road, rural development, agriculture, power, water, manpower development, security and youths and women empowerment.
In all these pivotal areas, a dynamic Dankwambo had left his bold imprints indelibly etched for even generations unborn to witness and behold. On assuming office on May 29, 2011, after the submission of report by the 11-sector based committee, a determined and purposeful Talba had summoned all his top aides, commissioners, parastatal heads and other top government officials and intimated them of his visionary blueprint for the rapid development, industrialization and holistic transformation of Gombe state in order to make it the economic hub of the entire Northeastern Nigeria. He implored all those present to key into his revolutionary blueprint in order take the Jewel of the Savannah to the El-Dorado, Promised Land. However, he asked those that felt that they could not key into this visionary agenda to either shape up or ship out. In other words, you either measure up to the daunting task at hand or disengage honourably. Dankwambo also made it clear that he will not hesitate to wield the big stick to deal decisively with any saboteur or fifth columnist intent on derailing the policy thrust of his nascent administration.
Indeed, from that moment Dankwambo swung into action by initiating thousands of projects for the construction and renovation of schools, hospitals, construction of bridges, earth dams, water boreholes, roads, culverts, etc to the extent that a foreign investor described Gombe state as a fast growing economic state. In boosting agriculture as alternative measure to boost internally generated revenue, millions of bags of fertilizers were made available to farmers at a much-subsidized rate together with the provision of tractors, women and youths were trained in various artisan and self-employment scheme in order to boost their employment opportunities.
Projects like the International Conference Centre, Major Car Park, Trailers Parking Bay, Collage of Education Billiri, College for Arabic and Islamic Studies Nafada, State Polytechnic Bajoga and the upgrading of the School of Nursing and Midwifery and many other projects, clearly distinguished the stewardship of the Talban Gombe from the other hit and run politicians that viewed leadership in a different mirror.
In summary, Dankwambo deserves the Vanguard award and many others that have been bestowed upon him. The award will serve as an impetus to do more and a challenge to his contemporaries and other politically dormant leaders. Indeed, concern, conscience and hardwork are the virtues that keep Dankwambo moving amidst his dewy-eyed antagonists
Kera wrote from Abuja.