By Imam Imam
\nOne bright January morning, then Speaker of the House of Representatives,
\nAminu Waziri Tambuwal, was immersed in his private library at his home
\nwhen I walked in, uninvited. At the door, I was informed he had been in
\nthe library for at least four hours. Seeing him alone with his thoughts
\nand books, I considered moving away in order not to disturb. Quickly
\nreading my intentions, he motioned me to sit down.
\nSpread on his reading table was four books: Ngozi Okonjo Iweala\u2019s
\nReforming the Unreformable: Lessons from Nigeria, Hernando do Soto\u2019s The
\nMystery of Capital, Rashid Al Maktoum\u2019s My Vision and Muhammad Yunus\u2019s
\nBanker to the Poor. It took the next six hours of total concentration,
\nsilence and absorbtion, before he finally closed his books, turned over to
\nme with a smile, and said \u2018good day Malam Imam.\u2019
\nThat particular day was January 10, Tambuwal\u2019s birthday. I recall vividly
\nasking him why he had to spend 10 hours on his birthday reading books
\nabout leadership and development. And his answer was succinct: \u201cWe were
\nelected to lead. Every day, birthdays inclusive, we will lead. I subscribe
\nto Albert Pike\u2019s assertion that \u2018what we have done for ourselves alone
\ndies with us; what we have done for others and the world remains and is
\nimmortal.\u2019\u201d
\nI don\u2019t know what Tambuwal, Governor of Sokoto State since May 29, 2015,
\nwill be doing today, seeing that it is a day he achieved the milestone of
\nwitnessing his 50th birthday, but having worked closely with him in the
\nlast six years, one thing is for sure, he will busy himself, through hard
\nwork, dedication and commitment, on providing the needed leadership that
\nwill deliver on his change agenda.
\nTambuwal, like all good leaders, are social revolutionaries. They are
\npeople who dare to dream big and seemingly unrealisable dreams. They are
\nthe precursors of a new and better world. They are the visionaries of
\ntheir time. They are change agents, harbingers of hope and heralds of
\nfreedom. They are people totally dedicated to the struggle for a better
\nfuture. They have redefined the unpalatable narratives of dearth of
\nquality governance in our country \u2013 an existential reality even in global
\npolitical discourse.<\/p>\n
A journey of 50 years has no doubt shaped Tambuwal\u2019s life. Even though
\nborn into a royal household, he remains a simple, humble and self-effacing
\nleader whose politics is defined by passion for discovery and service.
\nEndowed naturally with knowledge and sense of perception, closely
\nobserving Tambuwal at work leaves one with impression of a man who refused
\nto be encumbered by the nation\u2019s fault lines. Just as prophets refuse to
\nbe defiled by the iniquities of the moment; Tambuwal has risen above the
\nbitterness and acrimony of ethnic, tribal and religious divide.
\nBeing born into an aristocratic family on January 10, 1966 shaped his
\npassage into adulthood without airs and graces. For Tambuwal, nobility of
\nbirth in a predominantly peasant milieu was more of a challenge than the
\ncomfort it provided. In fact, it was this outlook that formed the canvass
\non which his life and leadership style has remained oiled. In Sokoto
\ntoday, the citizens are rightly rich in huge expectation from the Tambuwal
\nadministration. This, in all honesty, is not unfounded because of his
\npedigree and passion for service. The people\u2019s prayers for his success are
\nrooted in their belief that his emergence is not only beyond accident of
\nhistory but a well-timed epiphany.
\nFor Tambuwal, there is an element of freshness about him even at the
\nGolden Age of 50. Freshness of spirit, freshness of ideas, freshness of
\nvision and mission for him as a person, as a leader and for the state he
\nhas superintended in the last eight months. He has unarguably, run a
\ndazzling race of his life as a politician, an administrator and a leader.
\nDespite the howling success he has made of all of his endavours, he
\nexudes, yet a seeming urgency to reach the finish line in his chase to get
\nhis faithful citizen-colleagues to the Promised Land.
\nEight months ago, he set the momentum going by building on his
\npredecessor\u2019s developmental framework. Methodically, he set about adding
\nto the foundation the necessary ingredients for Sokoto State to attain its
\npotential. As an astute husbandry of resources, Tambuwal sees plenty, even
\nin the face of paucity. It is his rare determination to make the most out
\nof nothing that he has been able to put in place all that is needed to
\nensure Sokoto grows in leaps and bounds and eventually raise the bar by
\nsetting standard for others. That Sokoto has become a template and a
\nreference point for most of the states today is not owed to Tambuwal\u2019s
\ncomplacency or passivity in governance but more to his conscientiousness
\nand forthrightness.
\nAllied to these is the enthronement of calm and consensus building in the
\npolitical spectrum. Through consensus, thorny political issues have
\nbecome free of tumult, acrimony and bad blood. This was made possible by
\nTambuwal\u2019s calm persona on a very volatile system. By entrenching core
\nvalues of selflessness and integrity, he has effectively earned the
\nconfidence and trust of his friend and foes alike. He has re-defined the
\nconcept of leadership and effective governance by effectively
\nre-orientating the mindset of the political class to see politics as a
\ncall to service.
\nAs he clocks 50 years today, his high-octane performance in governance
\nand in the leadership of his state sure sets him apart as a selfless and
\npassionate leader who burns to put his state on the world developmental
\nmap.
\nHappy birthday our amiable governor!
\n*Imam is Governor Tambuwal’s spokesman. Follow me on twitter: @imamdimam<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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