After reviewing his activities, Tambuwal was described by the stakeholders as one of the poster boys of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
This was contained in a report titled ‘Tambuwal: Making Giant Strides in the seat of the caliphate’ and made available to newsmen in the commemoration of the aforesaid occasion.
“Since Tambuwal was sworn in on May 29, 2019, for the second term, he has left no one in doubt that he was committed to a broader policy direction for the next four years but also consolidating the gains recorded during his first tenure between 2015 and 2019.” The report said.
The report partially reads, “Tambuwal’s scorecard not just in three years but seven could be seen in all sectors, but more appropriately premised around three critical spheres: Education, Economy and Infrastructure. And instructively, the remarkable improvements in all sectors since he took over as Governor of Sokoto State in 2015 are testaments to his careful policy choices and diligent implementation.
“When he mounted the saddle in 2015, Tambuwal saw deplorable education indices across the state. He saw that the decay in the educational sector had almost engulfed the state. Thus, he was determined to arrest the ugly situation.
“Barely six months after he assumed office he declared a State of Emergency on Education sector in December 2015. Early in the following year, the Right to Education Bill 2016 was signed into law. The new law made education a justiciable right and made it illegal for children to be out of school by the actions of their parents.
“For proper implementation of the new order, the fledgling administration embarked on massive school renovation and building of special schools. These were promptly handed over to the Local Government Councils to manage while the State provided fund.
“Tambuwal’s transformation in the education sector since 2015 is legendary in Sokoto State. A bird’s eye view:
· Between 2016 and 2019, two Junior Secondary Schools were built in each of the 23 Local Government Areas in the state while four Junior Secondary Schools were built in the State Capital.
· Renovation of 1500 Primary Schools and 180 Junior Secondary Schools are currently ongoing and have reached over 70% completion.
· The administration has consistently provided not below 26% of yearly budget for education. This is above UNESCO’s benchmark of between 15% and 20% for education.
· Over 600,000 children have been enrolled in school since 2016 with a consistent rise in the number of children getting back to school. Most importantly Tambuwal’s government has focused on getting more girls into school, improving the lives and chances of women within the state.
· Between 2016 and 2017, there was a 4.4% increase in the number of enrolment of girls into primary schools.
· The administration created an Agency for Girl Child Education which focuses on getting more girls into school by engaging with their parents and communities on the importance of educating the girl child. Following a combination of community enlightenment and cash backed incentives, there has been a massive increase in the number of enrolment of girls into schools across the state.
· The government achieved remarkable increase in enrolment of girls into school with the government constructing more girls only schools across the 23 local government areas.
· Government Science Senior Secondary School has been built in grand style across the three senatorial districts which would allow direct entry for girls who had finished from the junior secondary schools within the state.
· Barely a year after he took over, the number of girls enrolled at junior secondary schools within the state stood at 71,132 in 2016 compared to 22,021 in 2012.
· Enrolment into senior secondary had also increased from 22,755 in 2014 to 27,004 in 2017.
· Recognising that early marriage is a setback to girls’ school enrolment, in November 2021, 18 years after the passage of the Child Rights Act 2003, the Sokoto State Government joined the rest of Nigeria in domesticating the Child Rights Act. Tambuwal achieved this after nearly six years of painstaking engagement with stakeholders. This is considered a great feat in the most conservative part of Northern Nigeria, the seat of the Caliphate.
In the past six years, the Tambuwal Administration has frontally confronted the infrastructure deficit in his State. Before his emergence on the scene, Sokoto and Kebbi States had the lowest levels of access to potable water at 38 percent and 39 percent respectively. But Aminu Tambuwal is deftly tackling the problem.
Other notable projects include the construction of drainage gutter at Goronyo Dam and construction of earth dam and afforestation activities to mitigate erosion menace in Ungushi District of Kebbe LGA.
Such deft managerial acumen has ensured that Sokoto is one of the few states where health workers have never for once embarked on either warning or total strike, even for a day since the coming of Tambuwal.
It is therefore not surprising that Aminu Waziri Tambuwal’s outstanding strides in the development of Sokoto State have earned him accolades and awards from many quarters. Among these are the Tribune Platinum Torch Bearer, Silverbird Television Man of the Year, etc.
AON
