Turaki Gears Up to Return to Senate

Ejike Umunnabuike and Nazir Galadanchi writes on ambition of former Governor of Jigawa State, Senator Saminu Turaki, as he prepares his winning streak for a comeback to Senate to represent Jigawa North-West on the ticket of Peoples Democratic Party

Senator Ibrahim Saminu Turaki is the candidate of the PDP for Jigawa North-West Senatorial District in the forthcoming elections. Turaki, was a former Governor of Jigawa State between May 29, 1999 and May 29, 2017, and later elected Senator from (2007-2011).

Turaki who’s set to return to the red chamber can best be described as a living human puzzle. As a man of few words, he has a knack for details, besides being gifted with the high extra sensory perceptive cognitive capacities, emotional and investigative intelligence.

Perhaps, the Almighty Most High God Allah SWT, also imbued him with exceptional brilliance, intelligence and long memory-span with a tendency to always show calmness in the mid of emerging political, social, cultural, traditional and allied emotive appeals that have huge tendencies to stir public hysteria.

For the most part Senator Ibrahim, who is often careful about his choice of words in his public speech-making processes, is currently presenting himself as a puzzle in the build to the February 25  &  March 15, 2023 general election.

He has began to showcase the unique  and uncommon creativity potentials that singled him out as a super  genius who brought E-Governance culture to national limelight even as most uninformed minds who could not keep up to his brain-waves, stoutly criticized him due to crass ignorance and lack of knowledge.

Ahead of the 2023 polls,  Senator Ibrahim and former civilian Governor of Jigawa State is a man of many parts. His deft political interests-  aggregation moves and growing grassroots acceptance, is not surprising.

For instance, this reality principle can be attested to by the fact that since he left office as Governor at the successful completion of his two-term tenure, he had maintained the strong cordial relationship that he built with the grassroots, the middle-class,  the elite-class as well as the complex  political sub populations across populations- sizes , populations- patterns and populations- distributions  in the three senatorial zones that make up Jigawa State.

Surprisingly, Senator Ibrahim, does not believe in the common-place social concept of a political leadership figure, having imagined, perceived or real enemies.

His responses to the often negative social stimuli which encourages some political personalities, bearing grudges against certain political associates or followers, is one that baffles even a growing child in the remotest part of Hadeija, Dutse, Gumel or Kazaure Emirates of Jigawa State. He has no perceived political enemies.

A highly cerebral personality, who uses the wee period  of the night and the early hours of the morning to carry out his reading routines, ICT engagements and electronic supervision of his  business concerns, interests as well as political consultations, is a puzzle for special studies. Calm, calculated and fast-thinking, he takes his time in espousing his thoughts in his carefully worded speech.

Any independent view you seek in Jigawa State, even from among those, who may not share the same political persuations with him, they will tell you that the man, Senator Ibrahim SaminuTuraki, has a good rapport with the voting electorate, besides having very brilliant ideological concepts aimed at building strong political affiliations.

The people of Jigawa State are gradually re -awakening the same political consciousness that  SenatorTuraki , introduced when he became Governor of the State, when he was barely 32 years old.  Though his Jigawa kinsmen and women see him as a man of simplicity and unparelled generosity to the less privileged, his endorsement of young Alhaji Mustapha SuleLamidoJr, whose father,  AlhajiSuleLamido, at some point in his political career waged a ferocious political war against Turaki is beginning to alter and positively influence the sociology of voting behavior of the Jigawa State electorate  towards massively throwing their support for the Governorship candidature of SuleLamidoJr, as the next  Governor of Jigawa State.                                

PDP Rally in December in Gumel District

It was at this epoch making grand breaking political rally that the youthful and equally brilliantly intelligent son of AlhajiSuleLamido, Alhaji Mustapha SuleLamidoJr, the PDP Governorship candidate and his running mate, AlhajiBabandi Ibrahim-Gumel, were presented to the enlightened voting electorate , who volitionally pledged to plough in their electoral investments in the duo of SuleLamidoJr and Ibrahim-Gumel, as the pair that will restore the declining and somewhat lost glory of Jigawa State.

The mega rally was essentially issue-based and by coincidence, such concerns of development administration that had  agitated and still agitate  the minds of the electorate  as stable economy, overhauling the revenue generating platforms through increased Internally Generated Revenue [IGR] need for the exploration, exploitation and generation of untapped solid mineral resources, the exponential growth in the unemployment rate of Jigawa State, curbing youth restiveness, education of the girl-child as well as the often neglected empowerment of the women, development of the various local market hubs, converson of the current Dutse International Airport to a cargo terminal to cater for the entire north-west region and revamping the moribund tourism potentials that Jigawa state, is endowed with, among other issues of growth and development.

Considering that Jigawa State, is a land-locked state , the the novel ideas initiated by the Senator  Turaki-led administration between 1999 and 2007, such as the Maitagari Export Processing  Free Zone, which will be driven by the strengthening of the short, medium and long term economic modules, ably supported by the resuscitation and revitalization of the local markets and sources of raw materials to create paid employments for the youth sub-populations in Jigawa State, will vigorously be pursued if the Jigawa State  electorate, massively and decisively vote in the Alhaji Mustapha SuleLamidoJr&AlhajiBabandi Ibrahim-Gumel, as Governor & Deputy Governor -Elect – accordingly. 

In all the campaign rallies of the People’s Democratic Party  championed the great grassroots’ mobilizer , Senator Turaki, the TURAKIN KAZAURE, such pertinent matters that had been ignored after his exit from gubernatorial leadership more than 20  years ago , came up for mention and reintroduction.

For instance , it is on national record that it was in the tenure of Senator Turaki, that the idea of harnessing the exportable agrarian,  solid mineral  and human resources potentials of Jigawa State, were first mooted and introduced.

Then, it was a very strange economic  concept to the people, who saw him as a weird Sir Albert Einstein, whose superior intellectual property ideas  and ideals, the people were not ripe for its experimentation and  implementation.

Again, the concept of E-Governance  introduced by Senator Turaki, that linked all the Emirate Councils, the Government  Ministries, Departments & Agencies, was the first of its kind in Africa, even as the former President, OlusegunObasanjo, acknowledged the success story of the concept.

At the time of introducing the Information Communication Technology [ICT] in Jigawa State primary & secondary schools on  pilot scheme basis, Jigawa State schools  made history nationwide.

At least, if and when the PDP by the calculations of the party chieftains, the duo of  SuleLamidoJr and  Ibrahim-Gumel, are sworn in as Governor and Deputy Governor, respectively, disturbing social and security problems bordering on Herders-Farmers crisis, Effective Border Patrol Interventionist Solutions, Strong legislative Bills against crime and commission of crime, effective collaborative synergies between the Jigawa State Government and the Federal Government, will be addressed.

Basic matters concerning, good governance culture, education, agriculture, commerce, the formation of a Jigawa State Graduate Database for all graduates of Jigawa State origin, tackling the animated ecological problem of flash-flood experiences, drought control mechanisms, waste management control, management of desertification and an aggressive malaria – mosquito control campaign, among others.

Like it is the current practice in most Nigerian states such as Imo, Lagos, Kaduna, Kano as well as Abuja, the pair of SuleLamidoJr and Ibrahim-Gumel, if elected into office, would want to add Jigawa State to the growing list of states that have automated the complex processes of land administration, allocation and control in their development administrative scheme of affairs.

-Umunnabuike and Galadanchi write from Dutse