From John Bassey, Gusau
On Sunday, May 4, 2025, the Emir of Kaura Namoda, HRH Major Dr Sanusi Mohammed Ahmad Asha, Khadimul Qur’an, marked his fifth anniversary as Sarkin Kiyawa. He urged royal fathers across Nigeria to lead with transparency and efficiency.
The event took place at the Ahmad Asha Auditorium Hall, Federal Polytechnic, Kaura Namoda, Zamfara State.
Zamfara State Governor Dr Dauda Lawal, represented by Head of Civil Service Malam Yakubu Haidara, attended the ceremony. Haidara noted the state government’s commitment to Kaura Namoda’s progress and recognised the significant contributions of its indigenes to state and national development.
He praised the emir’s five-year reign for its achievements and noted Lawal’s administration, which, in under two years, has improved healthcare, built roads, reformed education, empowered youths, and addressed security in Kaura Namoda.
The emir commended Governor Lawal’s development efforts and expressed his aim to foster mutual respect between royal fathers and their communities. The anniversary included a seminar, “The Role of Traditional Rulers in Community Development.” Dr Hussaini Yakubu Anka, Executive Secretary of Zamfara State Primary Healthcare Agency, delivered a keynote on traditional rulers’ roles in healthcare. Other speakers addressed their contributions to culture, religion, and security.
Dr Anka outlined healthcare roles, saying the roles of traditional leaders include:
- Sensitising members of their communities about the vaccination campaign,
- Encouraging caregivers to bring their children for vaccination through community engagement meetings,
- Sensitising caregivers on the importance of the vaccination through exhortation at gatherings or in mosques and churches,
- Ensuring their ward/village/district heads supported the campaign by identifying house-to-house community mobilisers who tracked and line-listed all eligible children and provided detailed feedback before the implementation of the vaccination exercise,
- Mobilising traditional and religious leaders in the wards/settlements to participate in the micro-planning processes and other preparatory activities before implementation,
- Supervising the vaccination process and ensuring orderliness during the vaccination process,
- Assisting with advocacy to the state governors to release their state counterpart funds which was necessary for activities not funded by the partners such as logistics for extra teams, additional mop-up advocacy/sensitisation meetings with traditional leaders at various levels before the commencement of the campaign.
He concluded that the impact of traditional leaders is evident at each level of decision-making, and they are capable of driving positive change in Nigeria.
Kaura Namoda LGA Chairman Comrade Manir Haidara praised Lawal’s focus on development and invited attendees to the second celebration event on Tuesday, May 6, 2025.