Senator Lawal Adamu Usman’s political sojourn is laden with trajectories by some dark forces who ganged up against him during and after the primary election that produced him as the Kaduna Central senatorial candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in 2022.
Adamu’s victory at the primary was challenged in court by Usman Ibrahim (Sardaunan Badarawa) leading to a fierce legal battle which Lawal Adamu won. Senator Lawal Adamu Usman won the February 25, 2023, National Assembly election to represent the good people of Kaduna Central Senatorial District, Kaduna state.
He defeated the former Chief of Staff to the then Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna state, Muhammad Sani Dattijo, of the All Progressives Congress, APC. He defeated Dattijo with over 42,000 vote margin. Lawal Adamu Usman’s victory at the poll was also met with another legal battle.
His main rival, Dattijo, who suffered humiliating defeat, resorted to fictitious and false allegations against the distinguished senator. Sadly, Dattijo’s resort to media trial, which he capitalised on to unseat Lawal Adamu Usman, collapsed like a pack of cards.
Seven months after the inauguration of the 10th National Assembly, let us peep into how Senator Lawal Adamu Usman has fared in his legislative duties for the development of not only Kaduna central senatorial zone and Kaduna state but also the country at large.
Disturbed by the snail speed of Abuja-Kaduna road construction project awarded by the immediate-past President Muhammadu Buhari administration, Senator Lawal Adamu Usman moved a motion for the urgent need to expeditiously complete the ongoing construction of the 166-kilometer Abuja-Kaduna expressway and to increase the presence of security surveillance through deployment of more personnel and use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) such as drones, radars and scanners on and around the highway.
The motion attracted the attention of the Minister of Works, Engineer David Umahi, who visited the site and gave contractors marching order to return to work. The contractors have since returned to site, kudos to Senator Lawal Adamu Usman for his quick intervention.
On February 2, 2023, the National Eye Centre Act (Amendment) Bill, 2023 (SB 83) was sponsored by Senator Lawal Adamu Usman and passed its first reading. When passed into law, the bill will put the National Eye Centre in Kaduna into a better position to attend to the ever increasing demand for better eye care service delivery.
Another Bill worthy of mentioning is the Federal University of Medicine and Medical Sciences, Kaduna State (Establishment) Bill, 2023 (SB. 237). The Bill has passed its first reading on the floor of the Senate.
Amidst growing concern over the dearth of medical doctors in the country, the establishment of the Federal University of Medicine and Medical Science Kaduna will go a long way towards providing trained and qualitative medical doctors in the country.
Senator Lawal Adamu Usman has also sponsored another motion on the increasing insecurity in Birnin-Gwari local government area of Kaduna state. The motion for urgent national attention followed the frequent attacks on farming communities by rapacious bandits in the area.
Senator Lawal Adamu Usman’s leadership qualities further manifested in the recent unfortunate bomb mishap in Tudun-Biri, Igabi local government area of Kaduna state, killing over 100 people. The erudite law maker stood by the people throughout the period the sad tragedy lasted. Beside personally donating N5 million, Senator Lawal Adamu Usman also promised to sponsor the education of many orphans who lost their loved ones.
The senator assured the community of more policy and programme interventions towards alleviating their sufferings. In a bid to encourage educational development in his constituency, Senator Lawal Adamu Usman has earmarked N100 million scholarship to be disbursed to students of tertiary institutions this year. The gesture is to lessen the financial burden on the less-privileged students.
Despite being in the red chamber, Senator Lawal Adamu Usman has remained accessable to his constituents. His house has become a Mecca of sorts whenever he is in Kaduna. People troop in their thousands to present their problems to him. He is a listening leader who ensures every person’s problem is attended to.
Looking at his sterling performance within the period of seven months of his stewardship at upper legislative chamber of the National Assembly, Lawal Adamu Usman, who is the chairman senate committee on education, and deputy chairman senate committee on banking and finance, is an achiever par excellence.
The good people of Kaduna Central should expect more democracy dividends, courtesy of good and robust representation.
Mustapha writes from Pambegua, Kaduna state via 08169056963.
