Jaji Eyes House Speakership Seat

Juliet Akoje reports that a returning member of the House of Representatives, Hon Aminu Sani Jaji, has signified interest in the Speakership of the 10th House of Representatives

As the atmosphere gets tensed with aspirants from different geo-political zones in Nigeria declaring their intentions for the Speakership position of the 10th House of Representatives, lawmakers that will be part of the 10th Assembly are already pitching their tent as secret meetings with the newly elected members of the 10th Assembly are currently ongoing.

Although the All Progressives Congress (APC) is yet to formally announce the zoning of the speakership position and other presiding and principal offices for the incoming national assembly, lobbying has commenced in earnest.

One of the  contenders who has been described as one with the needed inner andvpersonal qualities that constitute effective leadership is Hon Aminu Sani Jaji.

He is known for integrity, insight and inclusiveness, which are the essentials of leadership and good representation.

In the words of former US President Ronald Reagan, “the greatest leader is not necessarily the one that does the greatest things, he is the one that gets the people to do the greatest things”.

Former US General Collins Powell also said: “Greatest leaders are almost great simplifiers who can cut through arguments, debate to offer solutions everybody can understand”.

The above quotes by great men best describe Hon Sani Jaji, APC member-elect  for Kaura Namoda/Birnin Magaji federal constituency of Zamfara State.

Making his second appearance in the House, 49-year-old  Jaji, the Garkuwan Matasan Arewa represented the Kaura Namoda/Birnin Magaji federal constituency of Zamfara State on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the Eighth Assembly (2015-2019) and served as chairman of the House Committee on National Security, Intelligence and Public Safety. 

While in the House, he was said to have given a good account of himself serving on several committees and sponsoring many bills, among others.

A former gubernatorial aspirant in the 2019 elections, he is  the most visible young politician in Zamfara state. Jaji is a serious contender for the position of the speaker and if it is zoned to the North West, he will be the lawmaker to beat. 

Jaji  is said to be close to president-elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and has served as the Director of Contact and Mobilisation, Tinubu and Shettima Presidential Campaign Organisation. He was also a collation agent for Tinubu at the International Conference Centre, Abuja.

The governor of Zamfara state, Hon, Mohammed Matawalle, is also said to be solidly behind his aspiration.

A well-heeled young man, Jaji is presently the National Coordinator of the renowned group, Baba For All, a group, which has traversed the length and breadth of the country reaching out to the needy and distressed people irrespective of religion, political affiliation, or ethnicity. With branches and presence in all 36 states of the federation including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

Jaji, who is a well educated lawmaker attended Birnin Magaji Model Primary School between 1987-1992, Government Secondary School, Kaura Namoda in 1992 where he graduated in 1998.

He obtained a National Diploma in Community Health (CHEW) at the Sultan Abdulrahman School of Health Technology, Gwadabawa, as well as an HND in Microbiology/Virology and National Certificate on Community Health Extension Worker.

In addition, Jaji has a B. Sc in Microbiology and a Postgraduate Diploma (PGD) in Public Health from the Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi (ATBU).

The lawmaker’s academic qualifications include four master’s degrees: M.Sc in Health Economics at the Bayero University, Kano (BUK) in 2013, MSc in Public Health at the Maryam Abacha American University of Niger (MAAUN) in 2017, M.Sc in Environmental Management (BUK) and M.Sc in Criminal Law (ABU).

He is currently a Ph.D. candidate at Walden University in America and also studied Leadership and Management in Health at Washington University.

Before delving into politics in 2008, Jaji worked with the Primary Health Care Department, Birnin Magaji as a Health Assistant between 1998 and 2000. In 2008, he emerged as the Chairman of the defunct All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) in Birnin Magaji Local Government Area.

By 2012, he shot into the limelight as the Chairman of Birnin Magaji Local Government Area in Zamfara State and concurrently the Secretary of the All Local Government Association of Nigeria (ALGON) in Zamfara State.

Jaji is a thoroughbred grassroots politician and a renowned philanthropist who has impacted positively on the lives and well-being of his constituents building schools, mosques, hospitals and other infrastructure and social amenities across the length and breadth of the state.

The National Unity Group (NUG) had recently called on the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the president-elect, Bola Tinubu, to zone the positions of Senate President to the South-east and that of the Speaker of the House of Representatives to the North-west zones of the country.

The National Chairman of the group, Dr. Omotayo Gbadebo, had noted that the zoning arrangement would heal the mounting high political tension, end killings, kidnapping for ransom across the nation, entrench peace, reconciliation and stability in the nation’s polity.