TAMBUWAL: RISING TO THE OCCASION

AK Agbor contends that the Sokoto governor lives up to expectations in tackling the recent crisis in his state

Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, Governor of Sokoto State, is in a storm he never bargained for. Northern Nigeria for so many years has been known for skirmishes over religious beliefs. But Sokoto, being the seat of the Caliphate has a semblance of peace and calm beyond the cut-throat religious views found in Kano, Borno and elsewhere in the North. Even in the midst of relative peace, a serene state like Sokoto could be the centre of global attention for religious views and acts. Thus, there is a tendency to rub in political elite in the North in most of these religious-induced crises as being culpable, sometimes unnecessarily.

The case of the gruesome murder of Deborah Samuel Yakubu, a Home Economics Student of Shehu Shagari College of Education, Sokoto by irate youths has precipitated a volatile situation, fanning the flames of division across Nigeria’s ethno-religious divide. The killing and immolation of Deborah is condemnable in all ramifications; there is no rationale for such barbaric act in a secular state like Nigeria. The best the government can do is to rigorously prosecute the culprits involved. 

In an election season, where Tambuwal is likewise eyeing the 2023 Presidency, efforts have been made to placate him with guilt in the colouration of the crisis with politics. Some have argued that given the precarious nature of his state, Aminu Tambuwal should be held accountable, even innocently as he is. But rather than dwell on the antics of partisan lots, what we need to ask is whether Tambuwal has risen to the occasion. Has Tambuwal proven the good qualities of a leader in a national crisis? Has he deployed state apparatus and institutions of state to maintain law and order? Has the governor lived up to the billing of a chief security officer in these trying and turbulent times? These are the salient and critical questions if we are to painstakingly diagnose the present crisis, and the imperative of a leader rising up to a national crisis of this magnitude. 

On the killing of Deborah Yakubu, Tambuwal swiftly swung into action, summoning all the Ulamas in Sokoto, and handing them a note of warning against inflaming the crisis further in any form. The governor’s parley with Islamic clerics in Sokoto was seen as a strategic peace building mechanism needed in times of ethnic polarization to calm nerves down. Given the vexation among the youths over the incident and the palpable tension in the state, Tambuwal quickly declared a 24-hour curfew within Sokoto metropolis to drastically reduce any form of skirmishes in the state capital. In times like this, the urgency of showing leadership and taking the lead in ensuring peace and harmony goes a long way to reposition the nation in a better mood. 

In addressing this crisis, Tambuwal has also not shied away from the toxic effects of poor education and misinterpretation of religious beliefs. He has rather sidestepped public hallucination for a more discreet state intervention, in which the state is ready to ensure that the culprits face the wrath of the law, in order to forestall future recurrence. Instead of focusing on window dressing for the sake of public applause, Tambuwal is interested in reforming state institutions that will be able to rise to the occasion and prevent such acts of savagery in the state, or elsewhere. That is how to show profound leadership.

It is the combination of all these strategic leadership interventions that Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Most Rev Matthew Hassan Kukah has taken time to commend Tambuwal’s efforts in stemming the tide of violence as a result of Deborah’s gruesome death. According to Kukah, by “acting promptly and declaring a 24-hour curfew” the governor was able to take full control of the impending danger that would have escalated the crisis and worsened the killing of Deborah to a large extent.

But beyond these short-term measures, the governor is concerned with setting enabling environment where peace and unity among the different segments of the society reigns supreme. Those institutions begin with a sincere dialogue about various tribes, religious groups, and setting a template for melting out punitive measures against those who cross the red line. Tambuwal understands that the killing of Deborah will not just be swept under the carpet with rhetoric. The state must go further to ensure that justice is done. But it is pertinent that the solution does not just lie on mere punishment, but taking concrete steps to educate and refine the mind that is fast to resort to violence on the basis of religious beliefs. 

Going by his antics and antecedents, Tambuwal appears to have fully grasped these contradictions between beliefs and the existential nature of the 21st century Nigeria that crave for modernity, innovation, creativity and development. To redirect these energies among the youths in Sokoto State, Tambuwal wasted no time in recentering its policy and governance architecture, largely focusing on education. He is one of the few governors in Nigeria that allocates 35 percent of annual budget to education. His conceptualization of the girl-child educational policy has been phenomenal going by the commendations of the state by the UN and UNICEF. 

The killing of Deborah might have jagged nerves across the nation, but it’s also an opportunity for self-introspection among Nigerian leaders. Like Winston Churchill observed, “never allow a crisis go to waste,” may be this is an opportunity for Tambuwal and others to reposition themselves, by using this crisis to showcase capacity in a way and manner that will count on how to manage our troubling fault lines. Deborah’s killing over alleged blasphemy compels the retooling of our national conversation about the role of the state, religion and human rights in the right perspective, and direction. That way, we can effectively locate and situate Nigeria properly as a secular state. 

Agbor, a policy analyst, writes from Abuja