ADDRESS BY HIS EXCELLENCY, THE EXECUTIVE GOVERNOR OF ZAMFARA STATE, HONOURABLE ABDUL’AZIZ YARI ABUBAKAR, SHATTIMAN MAFARA, MADE AT THE ANNUAL NATIONAL CONFERENCE OF DANDALIN SIYASA ONLINE FORUM, ON FRIDAY 7TH DECEMBER, 2013

ADDRESS BY HIS EXCELLENCY, THE EXECUTIVE GOVERNOR OF ZAMFARA STATE, HONOURABLE ABDUL’AZIZ YARI ABUBAKAR, SHATTIMAN MAFARA, MADE AT THE ANNUAL NATIONAL CONFERENCE OF DANDALIN SIYASA ONLINE FORUM, ON FRIDAY 7TH DECEMBER, 2013 It is a source of pleasure for me to address this gathering of members of the online discussion group of Dandalin Siyasa who are here in Zamfara State for the 2013 annual conference of the group. 2. I understand that this is the 5th conference since the creation of this forum. Over the years, Dandalin Siyasa has provided an invaluable platform for evaluation of public policies and appraisal of day to day operations of governments in Nigeria. It has gained prominence for debating issues of concern to the northern part of the country, where it draws most of its membership, and the country as a whole. 3. I believe this group is driven by the passionate desire of its members for strengthening our democracy and building a prosperous Nigeria which will occupy its proper place on the continent and on the global arena. Gladly, the online activities of forums such as yours have begun to bear fruitful results. Today, more than any other time, our people have embraced the online social media as a means of drawing the attention of governments and policy makers to issues that will strengthen democratic governance and speed up development. I must therefore commend the foresight of the founding fathers of this group, Malam Shehu Mustapha Chaji along with his committed friends, which led to the formation of the group. It is my hope that it will continue to inspire leaders at different levels to be more committed to issues of development and inject in the youths who are expected to assume greater leadership responsibilities in the future skills that will help them develop a clear vision for their communities and the country. 4. I would like to call on the group to concentrate more efforts in propagating those values that would facilitate the reawakening of the north so as to regain its lost glory. There is no better time for this than now, considering the clamour from various quarters for re-evaluation of our federal system. We in the north cannot and will not play a second fiddle in the Nigerian federation. If we are to restore the glory of the region we must have a united front on crucial issues like the proposed National Conference irrespective of party, ethnic and religious differences. 5. We in Zamfara State are of the opinion that the proposed National Conference is not a panacea to the myriad of problems bedevilling our polity. We don’t need a National Conference to address the problem of acute shortage of electricity; We don’t need such conference to address the lingering crisis in our education sector. We don’t need the conference to address the nagging issue of security across the federation. A conference need not be held before we could tackle the issue of corruption in this country. We also don’t need a conference to address the issue of organised oil theft. We in fact don’t need a conference before we realise the need to be fair and transparent in sharing the revenues accruing to the Federation Account. We already have a democratic constitution and democratically elected leaders in place. 6. All we need in this country is for the leadership to be purposeful and fully alive to its responsibilities. All we need is to abide by the rules of the game; respect the provisions of the constitution and always be mindful of the fact that we are servants of our people and not their overlords. 7. As you are holding this event here in Zamfara State, it will not be out of place for me to recount to you some of the modest achievements recorded by our administration within the past two and a half years. The reason for our emphasis on provision of infrastructure is the fact that Zamfara State is basically a rural state which needs to be opened up for wider development opportunities through the provision of infrastructure. In addition to the colossal investment made by the government in roads construction, modest achievements have equally been recorded in education, health, water supply and agriculture: Zamfara State is the only state throughout the federation that sells fertilizers at a heavily subsidised rate of N1000 per bag. This policy started from the inception of our administration and we intend to sustain it throughout our tenure; Every year, the State Government spends over N400 million for payment of NECO and WAEC examination fees for all final year secondary school students of the state; In addition to completion of construction of hostels and classrooms which we inherited from the immediate past administration, our administration has rehabilitated all boarding secondary schools under the Ministry of Education and provided beds, chairs and mattresses for the students; The State Government spends an average of 188 million naira monthly for feeding of pupils and students across the state. This is in addition to provision of an average of ten thousand bags of assorted grains every month for schools; We have completed the construction of the multi million naira Yariman Bakura Specialist Hospital, Gusau; We have upgraded some Primary Health Centres across the state to the status of General Hospitals. This is in addition to construction of additional structures for the hospitals at Maru, Talata Mafara and Bakura; Our administration has rehabilitated some federal roads stretching over 222.5 kilometres across the state within the past 2 years. These roads are: Mayanchi- Anka- Daki Takwas- Gummi to Sokoto border; Gusau- Kasuwar Daji- Kaura Namoda- Dauran- Zurmi- Gidan Jaja We have constructed a number of road networks across the state: 75.9 kilometre Wanke- Danjibga- Kucheri road; 128 kilometre Magami- Dan Gulbi- Dan Kurmi- Sabon Birni- Bagega- Anka road; 75 kilometre Talata Mafara- Rini- Janbako- Boko road; 42 kilometre Tashar Awwali- Kagara- Garbadu- Sauna- Talata Mafara road; 11 Kilometre, Yandoto- Shemori- Mada road; 14.5 Gummi -Fass road; 33.5 Gummi- Gyalange- Bardoki- Gayari; Equally, under the State and Local Governments Joint Account we have embarked upon the construction of township roads across all the 14 Local Government Areas of the state. A minimum of 20 kilometres would be constructed in each Local Government. This is in addition to the urban roads already executed in Gusau and Talata Mafara. 8. Before I conclude, I would like to call on you to remain committed to your mission of bringing about social change through online activities. You should use this conference as a platform to further cement your solidarity and renew your commitment to carry on with this all important social calling. I would also like to assure you of the support of Zamfara State Government in the pursuance of your objective of promoting good governance at all times. 9. It is now my pleasure to declare this 5th National Annual Conference of Dandalin Siyasa online forum open. I wish you successful deliberations and God’s guidance throughout. 10. Thank you and wassalamu Alaikum. December 7, 2013 i