A Northern youth advocacy group has raised the alarm over what it describes as the sharp decline in governance and development under Governor Dauda Lawal of Zamfara State, accusing the administration of reversing the modest gains recorded in the last administration.
In a statement issued in Gusau on Sunday, the Arewa Youths for Democracy and Development (AYDD) said Zamfara is “far worse off today than it was before Lawal assumed office” in May 2023.
The group said the current administration has failed across key sectors, including security, education, healthcare, infrastructure, and youth empowerment.
Comrade Ibrahim Danladi Gwaska, president of the group, said the optimism that trailed Lawal’s emergence has quickly turned into disillusionment.
“Zamfara has effectively gone six years backward under Governor Dauda Lawal. What we see is not governance, but a tragic abdication of responsibility. There is no vision, no urgency, no coordination,” Gwaska said.
According to him, the administration’s most glaring failure is in its inability to improve the state’s worsening security crisis.
Gwaska noted that bandits continue to attack communities in Maru, Zurmi, Anka, Shinkafi and parts of Tsafe with little or no response from the government.
“Governor Lawal promised to end the bloodshed, but our people are still being killed, kidnapped and displaced daily. There is no clear strategy. Instead, the government has retreated into silence while rural Zamfara burns,” he said.
The group also criticised the deteriorating state of education, lamenting that basic infrastructure across public schools has collapsed while students and teachers are left in appalling conditions.
“Primary and secondary schools across Bakura and Bungudu lack chairs, roofs and even chalk. Teachers are unpaid, and children sit on bare floors. Yet the government goes about giving speeches at international conferences on education,” Gwaska said.
He also accused the Lawal administration of allowing the state’s healthcare system to rot, saying general hospitals and rural clinics lack drugs, electricity, and qualified personnel.
“There are hospitals where women in labour are told to bring their own water and fuel. The health system has collapsed, but the governor prefers to fly abroad for check-ups. That is an insult to the poor people he swore to protect,” Gwaska said.
The Arewa group further expressed disappointment over the lack of any meaningful youth empowerment initiatives, despite the governor’s campaign promises to create jobs and innovation hubs.
“There is no programme in place for youth training, no small business support scheme, and no employment drive. Unemployment and substance abuse are increasing, yet the government appears indifferent,” Gwaska stated.
He added that the government’s poor handling of infrastructure projects has worsened the people’s suffering, citing the abandonment of key roads projects.
“These are not new roads. The previous government started them. But instead of completing them, this administration abandoned them. Now, farmers and traders are cut off, and transportation costs have doubled,” he said.
The group also questioned the transparency of the Lawal government, alleging a lack of openness in budget implementation, security spending, and contract awards.
“Governor Lawal came into office branding himself as a World Bank technocrat who would fix Zamfara’s finances. But nothing has changed. Internally generated revenue is still low, and contracts are awarded without public scrutiny,” Gwaska said.
AYDD called on the Zamfara State House of Assembly, traditional rulers and civil society organisations to intervene and demand accountability.
“Zamfara people are not asking for miracles. We just want a government that listens, acts, and delivers. If Governor Lawal cannot do the job, he should admit it. This state cannot afford another lost decade,” Gwaska warned.
The group said it would soon launch a grassroots mobilisation campaign across Zamfara to raise civic awareness and build a broad-based movement aimed at voting Governor Lawal out of office in the 2027 elections.
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