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Known for his commitment to improving the quality of lives of the people through various initiatives, Governor Umar Namadi’s experience as a teacher, chartered accountant, businessman and consummate public servant manifest in his performance as the Governor of Jigawa State.
He has continued to shape the state’s economic and financial policies by ensuring prudence and accountability.
As governor, he has prioritised infrastructure development, education reforms, healthcare improvement, agriculture, and massive job creation. His 12-point agenda aims to create an enabling environment for economic growth and improve standard of living for the people.
In the area of agriculture, his administration has made policies that are capable of strengthening the state’s position as one of the food baskets of the country. The sector is already witnessing massive transformation because essential farm inputs like fertilizers, improved seeds and farm implements are made available at subsidised rate with the aim of boosting food production and self-reliance.
His government also procured thousands of tractors for the 27 Local Government Areas in the state with the aim of empowering local farmers, facilitating farming activities, and boosting commercial farming. He has also empowered thousands of indigenes through cash grants and business capital; and launched major wheat irrigation initiatives to improve national food security.
As a result of his commitment to education advancement, Governor Namadi assembled an inspiring team of educationists. With many Ph.D holders in the cabinet and as heads of critical agencies in the sector, he set the pace for a complete overhaul and reform of the education sector in Jigawa.
He went further to increase by 100 per cent, scholarships for students of tertiary institutions, in addition to employment and conversion of 3,000 J-Teach teachers to permanent and pensionable teachers, as well as engagement of another 3,000 J-Teach teachers to address the teacher-student ratio gap in the state.
Other landmark achievements of his administration include the splitting of the Ministry of Education into two for improved services across the education sector – Ministry of Basic Education and Ministry of Secondary and Higher Education; increasing the actual feeding cost by up to 40 per cent across boarding schools in the state; and approval of the deployment of 1,973 graduates from the Ministry of Basic Education to Ministry of Higher Education.
His administration also embarked on construction of 156 new classrooms, renovated 221 classrooms, construction of 40 blocks of four cubicle toilets, 68 hand-pump boreholes and procurement of 14,016 sets of classroom furniture. He sponsored 130 medical students to study in Cyprus, and created the Tsangaya Education Board to combat out-of-school menace.
In the health sector, his government has recruited over 1,000 medical professionals, established five free dialysis centres, and enrolled 145,000 vulnerable citizens into the state’s health insurance scheme as well as reducing maternal mortality by 25 per cent.
As part of efforts to enhance employment and empowerment, the government of Jigawa State under his watch established the Jigawa State Youth Employment and Empowerment Agency, empowering 1,000 women, with each of them receiving a start-up capital of N50, 000.
The governor also empowered 1,500 youths, with each of them getting N50, 000 as take-off grant to improve their businesses. Several others were trained in different skills with start-up kits and resuscitation of skills acquisition centres across the state. About 1,000 Small and Medium Enterprises under the J-Cares Programme were also empowered with financial assistance of N100, 000, to boost their operations and growth prospects.
Under his leadership, Jigawa has maintained its status as one of Nigeria’s least indebted states. This is due largely to his Open Governance Partnership which aims to increase public accountability and financial transparency.
For his unwavering commitment to the common good of the people of Jigawa State, Governor Umar Namadi is winner of the 2026 Governor of the Year Award.
