Abdul’aziz Yari: Touching lives

By Vincent Nwogu

Abdul’aziz Abubakar Yari, the senator representing Zamfara West in Nigeria’s 10th Senate, is a man of many parts. You can describe him as compassionate, a bridge-builder, philanthropist and, above all, an advocate for national unity. In whatever way you choose to describe him, one thing is clear- Senator Yari is an influential person not just in the politics of northern Nigeria, but that of the entire country.

To truly understand and appreciate the essential Abdul’aziz Yari, it is important to underline the fact that he is a compassionate being. He is naturally imbued with a spirit that reaches out and cares for his fellow human beings. Unlike many wealthy Nigerians who are detached from the problems of those around them, Senator Yari is made of a compassionate stuff. He deploys his wealth not in the service of his ego. Instead, he uses it in the service of the people. For some people, the man belongs to the utilitarian school of the English philosopher and jurist, Jeremy Bentham, who advocated the greatest good for the greatest number. For Yari, devotion to the welfare of the majority of the people is his consuming preoccupation in public life.

As governor of Zamfara State, for instance, he aggressively expanded solar-powered borehole projects in Zamfara, and also made welfare packages readily available to the people. As a public-spirited politician who knows and feels the pain of the people, he ensures that the less privileged are ministered to at all times. Thus, in his governorship years, Yari understood the fact that governance is not just about building roads or constructing beautiful edifices. He recognized instead that while providing these facilities, he equally ensured that the people they are meant for do not starve. They must be sure of their daily bread to be able to fit into the comfort that infrastructural facilities provide. Yari always knows where the shoe pinches and does not ignore that to chase shadows. He usually puts his hand where his mouth is.

As Senator, Yari has continued along that welfarist line. As chairman of the senate committee on Water Resources and Sanitation, he is focused on ensuring that water supply and sanitation infrastructure reach communities nationwide. When this is the case, the people will rejoice. When the people rejoice, it can conveniently be said that government is carrying out one of its primary responsibilities , that of ensuring the welfare and wellbeing of the people for whom government exists.

Just as in his governorship years when he regularly distributed farm inputs such as fertilizer to the teeming population of Zamfara farmers, Senator Yari has continued along that line. He is recognized for using his resources to support his constituents and the broader population of Zamfara state. He does this across party and religious lines . He has been facilitating the distribution of highly subsidized fertilizer to farmers and provides welfare packages during festive seasons. He did not stop there. He has been providing aid in form of rice, millet, sugar, beans, semovita, semolina, sorghum, maize, grains, wheat, etc. to his constituents and beyond. In fact, as has earlier been underlined, Senator Yari understands that a hungry populace will care nothing about expensive infrastructure that cannot put food on their table.

As a people-centred politician, Senator Yari does not stop at anything to ensure that the people are taken care of. In this regard , the youth occupy a pride of place in his drive for welfarism in governance. He is known to have taken the issue of youth unemployment as a priority, and he has been addressing it frontally. As a senator, he is known to have been facilitating job placements for Zamfara youths in particular and others in general. Only recently, he successfully sponsored dozens of youths from the six local government areas of his senatorial district for enlistment into the Nigerian Army. This has earned him much respect and accolades not just from the youth population but the entire citizenry of the state. Senator Yari does this in recognition of the fact that an idle mind is the devil’s workshop. In today’s Nigeria where banditry and other forms of criminal indulgences have become the major business of youths, Yari, through his welfarist interventions, is taking many out of the devil’s workshop. Rather than allow them to roam away into danger, Yari has decided to engage them in productive ventures. This is the true stuff that governance is made of. Its impact must be felt by the people.

It is interesting to note that Yari’s devotion to the people has not, in any way, taken his attention away from national politics. He has a huge national political stature that has continued to solidify. He is, unarguably, a central and powerful figure in national politics. He is credited with building bridges along regional lines. In the process, he has positioned himself as as a key advocate for national unity and peace. He is a major power broker and highly influential in national politics. This advocacy for national unity is a plus to the politics of Senator Yari. In a country whose constituent units view one another with distrust, Yari’s uncommon interest in uniting the people is commendable.

In the Senate, Yari is a force to reckon with. Even though his bid for the Senate Presidency failed because President Tinubu ceded the office to the South of the country, Yari has continued to maintain a strong and cordial relationship with the president. In fact, he is an ardent supporter of the Tinubu administration. Ironically, his close relationship with the Tinubu presidency has earned him jealousy in some quarters. Those who do not wish him well are not comfortable with it at all. But Yari is winning in this regard because he is not a sycophant. He is supporting the president genuinely. He is also not a push over. As a politician who works closely with the people, Yari has the capacity to make things happen. He has the capacity to mobilize grassroots support that can win votes. This is one of his selling points that cannot be wished away even by his most virulent critics.

As another election approaches, those who know Yari as a grassroots politician believe strongly that he will be re-elected into the senate. The calculation within and outside the senate is that Yari will remain the top choice for the office of the senate president. This makes him an all-round politician. Indeed, only a few Nigerian politicians can be as highly rated as Senator Yari, the man who puts the people first.

• Nwogu, a public affairs analyst, writes from Lagos.