State Broadcast by His Excellency, Malam Umar A. Namadi, FCA, Executive, Governor of Jigawa State on the Occasion of 34th Anniversary of the Creation of Jigawa State
Wednesday, 27th August 2025
A’udhu Billahi Sami’ul Alim,
MinaShaythanir Rajim,
Bismillahi Rahmani Rahim,
Wassalatu-Wassalamu Ala Rasulullah.
Fellow Citizens of Jigawa State
2. It is with deep gratitude to Allah SWT that I address you this morning to commemorate the 34th Anniversary of the Creation of our beloved dear State. We most profoundly thank Allah SWT, by Whose benevolence we are witnessing this anniversary 34 Years since the official declaration of the “States Creation and Transitional Provisions Decree No. 37 of 1991 which created Jigawa State, along with eight others on Tuesday 27th August 1991.
3. Though thirty-four years is still a relatively short period of time on the scale of journey to statehood, in many respects, I truly believe Jigawa State has come of age. Starting from an almost a bereft situation, lacking in almost all the requisite governance institutions and development infrastructure, successive administrations in the State have taken turns to spearhead the transformation of the State in various ways and to different extents. Over the 34 years of its existence, the State has witnessed four Military Administrations and five democratically elected Civilian Governments. Each of these has, in one way or another significantly contributed to the making of Jigawa State and where it stands for today. Indeed, passing through several phases of socioeconomic and political developments, withering storms and surmounting obstacles, the State has gradually evolved to become first among equals having been a reference point in various aspects of governance and development endeavour. This gives us every reason to be thankful to our Creator, to celebrate and to rejoice.
4. Let me therefore express our utmost gratitude to Allah, the Most Beneficent and Most Merciful for all His blessings to our dear State. On behalf of the People of Jigawa State, wherever they may be residing across the globe, we profoundly thank You Oh Allah for all Your favours and blessings on our dear State. You art Al-Wahhab, the Bestower, Al-Razzaq, the Provider, As-Salam, the Savior, Source of Peace and Safety. We pray that Allah, the All-Seeing and All-Hearing continue to guide us in doing what is right for the progress and development of our and its People. We are most grateful to Allah SWT for His guidance and the abundance blessing bestowed on our State.
5. As we appreciate the bounties of our Creator to our State, it is always imperative in times like these to remember, recognise and appreciate the contributions of our Elders Statesmen who have made sacrifices and contributed to the development of the State. Accordingly, I will first and foremost recognise our Elder Statemen, Mallam Inuwa Dutse of blessed memory, the quintessential gentleman who successfully led the movement for the creation Jigawa State. We salute their sacrifices and exemplary leadership in building the initial foundation for our Jigawa of today. We pray that Allah forgives and gives eternal rest to those who are deceased and grants good health to those still alive.
6. I also most sincerely express the gratitude of the Government and People of Jigawa State to all the past leaders that governed the State comprising the Four Military Administrations of General Olayinka Sule, Brigadier General Ibrahim Aliyu, Colonel Rashid Shekoni and Lieutenant Colonel Abubakar Maimalari as well as the Four Democratically Elected Governors, their Excellencies Barrister Ali Sa’ad Birnin Kudu, Alh. Ibrahim Saminu Turaki, Alhaji Sule Lamido, CON and Alh Muhammed Badaru Abubakar, MON, mni. For the two Military Governors that have passed away, General Olayinka Sule and Brigadier General Ibrahim Aliyu, we pray that Allah accepts their good works, forgive their shortcomings and grants them eternal rest. We, the People of Jigawa State recognise and profoundly appreciate all these past leaders for their positive contributions to the making of Jigawa State. Whatever our Government is doing through our 12-Point Agenda in the making of Greater Jigawa, we are building on the foundations and legacies of all these previous administrations.
7. Let me at also recognise and appreciate all the previous and current members of the Jigawa State Council of Chiefs comprising of their Royal Highnesses the Emirs of Hadejia, Kazaure, Gumel, Ringim and Dutse. The traditional leadership have throughout the existence of Jigawa State served as social capital contributing to social cohesion, peace and unity across the entire length and breadth of our State. The fatherly advice and guidance they have continued to provide to the State Leadership have in no small way, contributed to the great transformations we have continued to witness till today.
8. Other critical stakeholders whose contributions to the making of Jigawa State must be recognised are the Religious Leaders, the past and current members of the the State Council of Ulamas, Jigawa Elders’ Forum, Civil Society Organizations in the State, the Organized Private Sector, Our Development Partners, the Association of Physically-Challenged, Youths and Women Groups, Civil Servants and Public Officers – particularly those that served in the formative years of the State and many other critical Stakeholders too numerous to be mentioned. While we appreciate all of these, the Government and People of Jigawa State will continue to count on your positive contributions to the progress and development of the State.
9. There is no doubt, over the last 34 years, the physical and socioeconomic landscape of Jigawa State has witnessed great transformations giving us a cause to rejoice today. As acknowledged, virtually all the eight successive administrations that previously governed Jigawa State have contributed to the making of Jigawa State. While still evolving and aspiring to attain greater heights in several fields of human endeavour, today, we rejoice in the fact that our State has come of age in many respects.
10. From the bereft situation when the State was created lacking in most of the requisite governance institutions and development infrastructure, today we take pride in:
having one of the most extensive networks of roads traversing all the nooks and crannies of the State,
having one of the most outstanding edifices among the 36 States in Nigeria in the 3-Arm Zone serving State Civil Service, the Judiciary and the State Legislature.
having seven tertiary functional and well-performing educational institutions including two state-owned universities.
having at least one secondary health facilities across all the 27-Local Governments in the State with three health training institutions and…
by the special grace of Allah, being one of the most peaceful States in Nigeria.
11. In the last few years, Jigawa State has been independently rated as being in the forefront in transparency and accountability under the Annual ICAN-Accountability Index Assessments and Budget Transparency Index Assessment and in the Ease of Doing Business where Jigawa was rated second in the Federation. Severally, Jigawa State was home to learning visits by its peers on various aspects of governance from public expenditure and financial management reforms, public service management, to pension reforms and social protection initiatives. Jigawa State also was rated second in access to safe drinking water in Nigeria and first to attain the ODF status. Thanks to our dogged pursuit of Agricultural Transformation Agenda, Jigawa State is today a major contributor to national food security and the diversification of the national economy being in the forefront of major producers of wheat, sesame, rice, hibiscus and many other crops including livestock.
12. Notwithstanding, there is no doubt, even as of today, the State is still grappling with several development challenges. For instance, despite huge investments in the educational sector, demographics have continued to slow down progress, leaving us with a huge number of out-of-school children which we are now addressing headlong. Until recently, our Agricultural Sector has largely been subsistence-based, locked in decades-old modes of production with vast potentials of our huge arable lands remaining largely untapped. Similarly untapped is the huge potentials of our highly youthful population, necessitating the need for new approaches to youth empowerment. The role of the organized private sector in spearheading the much-needed industrialization of the State is still a challenge we are still grappling with. Yes, while we have witnessed significant progress and development in many respects, however, these and many other challenges still persist.
13. As we mark this 34th Anniversary, I would reaffirm our commitment to the pursuit of our development agenda and dealing with all the persisting challenges. As I pledged during my inauguration on the 29th of May 2023, even as we will continue to build on the success stories of previous administrations, we will also open a new chapter in the governance history of our State which we promised will be transformative in taking the State to greater heights. Over two years since then, it is very evident that our 12-Point Agenda is indeed an Agenda for Greater Jigawa with focus on sustained improvements in the socioeconomic wellbeing of our people.
14. Many would recall that when we assumed the mantle of leadership as the 5th democratically elected Government, I emphatically stated that we hold the mandate given to us by the People of Jigawa State as sacred trust and a compact between the Government and People which pledged to deliver in the most responsive manner. We undertook to govern with transparency and accountability and with the fear of Allah to Whom we will all ultimately be held accountable. As we are marking this 34th Anniversary, I am delighted to inform citizens of Jigawa State that we have not only remained faithful to our pledge, but that we are also fully on course with our Agenda of Greater Jigawa largely anchored on the 12-Point Agenda.
15. Ever mindful of this pledge, we have remained focused over the last two years on producing the promised results of our agenda. At the core of these is delivering an inclusive and human-centered economic growth and development covering areas such as agriculture, critical infrastructure, human development services, targeted youths and women empowerment, social protection interventions, environmental sustainability, as well as governance and institutional reforms. I believe the modest achievements we have recorded in all these areas within a spate of just two years stand as a great testimony of greater things ahead in line with our vision of Greater Jigawa.
16. Our Agricultural Transformation Agenda is gradually unleashing decades of untapped agricultural potentials with improved competitive advantage. From policy renewal and cultivated partnership with local and international organizations, to input supply, agricultural mechanization and improved extension systems, the Agricultural Sector is being truly transformed. Just yesterday, I signed the Law establishing the Jigawa Agricultural Transformation Agency which will henceforth, comprehensively spearhead the implementation of our Agricultural Transformation Agenda informed by desire to modernize the agricultural sector of the State to ensure sustainable improvements in productivity, profitability, and competitiveness. I have also yesterday signed the Executive Order which established a new Ministry for Livestock Development as a critical component of the Agricultural Transformation Agenda. This would ensure that this very important sector is accorded with the attention it rightly deserves.
17. Progress towards the fulfilment of our promise of great improvements in the delivery of critical infrastructure, particularly roads, is unprecedented. To date, we have completed 26 inherited ongoing road projects covering a distance of over 300 kilometres and within the same period, commenced additional 45 road projects covering a distance of over 800 kilometres. In the realm of Youth Empowerment and Employment Initiatives, we have also in a little over two years, implemented over 60 empowerment and job-creation programmes with over 300,000 beneficiaries mostly youths & women. I am also pleased with our progress in the delivery of our Human Development Programmes focused on ensuring sustainability and expansion of access to functional and qualitative education at all levels; qualitative and affordable healthcare services for all; and expanded coverage of social protection and welfare program especially for the vulnerable population. Our success stories in delivering our Mass Housing Projects are also very evident across various urban towns in the State.
18. Fellow citizens of Jigawa State, these few achievements that I have mentioned is only to buttress the facts of our progress including being firmly on track to deliver our commitments to the people in line with our vision for Greater Jigawa State. In virtually all sectors, we are entrenching legacies that would go into the annals of Jigawa History as great contributors to the socioeconomic wellbeing of our people.
19. Finally, as we commemorate this 34th Anniversary of our dear State, I passionately urge and implore on all of us to continue to be patriotic and committed to the development of Jigawa State. Everybody is a critical stakeholder in the development of the State.
We shall all continue to pray for peace, progress and development of the State. We must all recognize that each and every one of us has an obligation and active role to play in one way or the other, in making Jigawa State great, to make it the pride of the present and future generations. As we say in Hausa, “Kowa Ya Gyra Ya Sani, Kowa Ya Bata Ya Sani”. Kuma “Kowa Ya yi da Kyau, Zai Ga Da Kyau”. May Allah continue to guide, protect and bless us all. May Allah continue to bless our State and give us everlasting peace as to continue to witness progress and prosperity for the People.
20. Long Live Jigawa State, Long Live the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Wassalamu Alaikum.
