Today, against the backdrop of multiplicity of controversies, including on handling or otherwise of our national security, as well as the two main dominant political parties failing to learn any lesson of history through their continued acts of commission and/or ommission, this column has chosen to remember Dr. Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo, without doubt the best governor Gombe State has ever had.
I have argued on these pages and elsewhere that this great man of destiny is the best President this country has not yet had, and it will be a terrible day if we, as a nation in very urgent need for salvation, end up missing his services.
No nation has ever reached its manifest destiny without its true leaders making huge sacrifices. Though humility has since become his defining feature, Dankwambo knows he has the best plans to reposition Nigeria, especially at this critical time when it has been pushed to the edge of the precipice. Yet, he has not thrown his hat into the presidential ring, obviously because of the zoning controversy that has continued to dog the PDP. That’s what sacrifice is all about.
A major problem bedevilling this country is prioritization of premordial sentiments in our national menu. The nation has largely been dividied along ethnic and religious lines. Who then does Nigeria need as its future leader than a man who governed Gombe, a component part of Nigeria with more ethnic nationalities than any other state of the federation, and ended up managing its huge diversities excellently well?
Let’s remember also that Dankwambo’s Gombe is heavily multi-religious. Yet, throughout his eight years stint as governor of that state, Dankwambo gave its citizens the right mix of excellent leadership, so much so that the people largely saw themselves as brothers and sisters created by God to coexist peacefully and help develop their society, without misapplying religion to create chaos or hatred for one another.
About 10 kilometres after leaving Gombe Airport, on the way to the city, the first major landmark that tells you serious governance has taken place in Gombe State is a sprawling edifice that looks every inch like a five star hotel. It is the International Conference Centre built by the immediate past government in the state, and it is an integral part of former Governor Dankwambo’s strategy to take Gombe to the world and bring the world to the state by making it the conference headquarters of this part of the globe.
As a journalist and member of the World Editors’ Forum, I know that one of the major requirements for acquiring hosting rights of the annual gathering of global editors is a befitting hall that comfortably sits at least a thousand people. Many cities that vied to host the annual fiesta have missed out on that score alone. The next requirement is frequency of flights and availability of good hotels. On the second and third scores, too, Gombe, courtesy of Dankwambo, has been far ahead of its peers, with at least two major airlines operating to the city throughout the week when he was the governor, and with quality hotels dotting the state capital.
But one thing not many will probably realise is that the frequency of flights to Gombe was also occasioned by Dankwambo’s ability to provide first class infrastructure throughout the state. A core desire of the then governor was to lift as many of his people as possible out of poverty, and his strategy towards ensuring that was making sure that trade and commerce were taken a notch higher in Gombe, in spite of the pervading recession that had taken a heavy toll on the finances of Nigerians and significantly weakened their spending power.
In the Nigeria of today, not many can afford air travel just for the heck of it. The fact that Gombe has been made attractive for trade and commerce to flourish was the reason things could only get better, as more airlines were also getting set to start operating the Gombe route, because more and more people were desirous of travelling to Gombe, or making it their home.
Dankwambo was not born when the 33rd American President Harry S. Truman became U.S. President on April 12, 1945, taking the office upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt. But he was one American President who promoted the thesis that leaders make or mar the societies they lead, depending on their style of governance. In one of his famous quotes, he said, “Men make history and not the other way around. In periods where there is no leadership, society stands still. Progress occurs when courageous, skilful leaders seize the opportunity to change things for the better.”
Another popular quote of President Truman that comes very true and relevant to Gombe is that “it is amazing what you can accomplish if you don’t care who gets the credit.”
In the typical Nigerian and indeed Third World concept, continuity is an anathema. Most leaders abandon projects or programmes started by their predecessors because they don’t want to ascribe any credit to them. When all you do is to complete a project, however the depth of your investment into it, people most likely only remember the person that started it.
This has for ages remained one of the major factors informing the underdevelopment of our society. Leaders will in most cases start new projects to make sure they alone take the credit. At the end of the day, either owing to poor planning or the usual paucity of resources, the new project would be abandoned, and resources thereby severely wasted. An analyst said recently that the monetary value of abandoned projects across the country accounts for about a third of our GDP. Just imagine!
In Gombe, former Governor Dankwambo has ensured that virtually all projects started by his predecessors were perfectly completed. A lot of people would think Gombe was an oil-producing state that received derivation funds in billions, when realising that the Dankwambo administration was paying salaries and pensions promptly, and almost every sector of the state’s economy was receiving good attention. Yet, Gombe was one of the least paid states throughout the Nigerian federation. And even though trade and commerce have continued to pick up, the internally generated revenue of the state was rather poor, as the people often see government as free service, to which they do not need to contribute a dime.
In a region, the North-East, that is seen as the most volatile in the whole of Nigeria, owing to the dastardly activities of the terrorist group, Boko Haram, one other crucial commodity that was in good supply in Gombe when Dankwambo held sway was peace. The people love and trust Dankwambo. Those of them that opposed him are in most cases regretting their action. He was a person who spared no efforts in ensuring only the best for them. It is a partnership that is still working, with the state as the biggest beneficiary.
Until Dankwambo assumed the mantle of leadership of Gombe, even passers by to neighbouring states were almost always afraid of the state capital, owing to the dastardly activities of the Sara-suka cult that reportedly dispatched many innocent souls to the great beyond. As soon as Dankwambo assumed office as governor however, this was promptly brought under control.
Dankwambo is indeed the best President Nigeria has not yet had. He answered the clarion calls of Nigerians from all books and crannies to contest for the presidential election that took place in 2019. Sadly, however, he could not muster enough resources to win the primary election of his party, an exercise that was reported to be a sort of bazaar, where only the highest bidder could be assured of victory.
Dankwambo could have chosen to use the resources meant for developing Gombe to beat all the other aspirants by purchasing victory and emerging as presidential candidate of the PDP, but he chose not to tread that dangerous path. He then did what only a true democrat could do: supporting his opponent, the winner all through.
Back to Gombe, the people asked him to vie for the post of senator. He did. But rather than hearken to the counsels of many of his friends and political associates, Dankwambo insisted in allowing a free and fair election throughout Gombe State. That was how an opposition party snatched victory from Dankwambo’s PDP to produce the Governor, a person who could rightly be described as his arch political enemy.
Two weeks earlier, Dankwambo himself allowed himself to be defeated at the senatorial polls in his senatorial constituency. I used the word “allowed” because he could have chosen to tow the same line that his colleagues in many other states have done, which is the hiring of deadly thugs and arming them to frighten the opposition and snatch ballot boxes to ensure victory. Today, there are governors and legislators who are in office courtesy of that direct affront on our democracy. Some of them have even managed to have their “election” affirmed by the highest courts of the land.
Many governors who have attained half of what Dr. Ibrahim Dankwambo did will have seen a senate seat as their birthright. Dankwambo did none of that, even when he could do otherwise. By that action, and for developing Gombe to heights hitherto unknown, Dr. Dankwambo has earned the respect of democrats in Nigeria and globally, and his political future is definitely assured.
In 2018, at a dinner organised to honour visiting leaders of Kano PDP in Gombe, the then chairman Senator Mas’ud Doguwa strongly advised PDP members in Gombe to close ranks, put aside their political differences and ensure victory for the party. He told them about the pains of losing power, and the difficulty of regaining it. Sadly, only a few saw any meaning in what he said. Many of them carried on with desperate, divisive tendencies, and that was how, inspite of Dankwambo’s unprecedented achievements, his party lost the election in a state he practically rebuilt from the scratch.
Four years down the line, the PDP, this time at the national level, is toeng that inglorious path. Its aspirants have been busy deepening that kind of division. Almost everyday, we hear of one presidential aspirant or the other casting aspersion on another, forgetting that the APC is watching everything and will use those things being said against whoever it is that might emerge as the candidate of the party.
God so kind, Dankwambo is still young, healthy and agile. His ideas remain fresh and strong. So if he could not vie for the presidency this time around, surely time is in his favour. God’s time is always the best.
But I have a word of advice for whoever it is that might emerge as Nigeria’s next President. The mess he will meet is deep, and the best hands will be needed to cleanse the augean stable.
Whether from PDP, APC or any other political party, the next president could have things easy only if he integrates proven patriots like Dr. Dankwambo and make them integral parts of the next federal administration.