By Hashim Abdallah
As a play on language or just to lure wide readership, an online news outlet headline that reads ‘government declares Friday a public holiday’ pops on the locked screen of my phone from the top. None of the readers can predict what the real news can give except us from Jigawa, especially the civil servants until they click-open the news for HE Governor Badaru’s picture accompanies the headline. Then they would deduce it might be the Jigawa government that declares the day work-free day for the headline used the word government as indefinite as though the central government declared. We celebrate Jigawa State creation 30 years anniversary.
The name, ‘Jigawa,’ etymologically a Hausa word which means, hills and or landmarks which is indeed the feature of our physical the terrain. The ‘Dutse’ also, as the state capital city, the historic title is also another Hausa word, meaning rock, hence ‘rock city’ is surrounded by spectacular rocks. In Kiri Kasamma, the newly Federal Government recognised Baturiya Birds’ Game Reserve and Natural Beauty with its natural beauty is a lucrative for the state by attracting tourists.
According to National Population Commission, NPC, 2016, Jigawa has been among the sufficiently moderately populated state with over 4million population with youth as the majority.
Concerning the proudly popular African heritage before colonialism, Jigawa has five emirate zones, viz, Dutse, Gumel ,Hadejia, Kazaure and Ringim whom almost all are the receivers of the DanFodio revival and reformation Islamic flags still flying in their respective palaces’ entrances high above the dooms and or minarets.
Jigawa is among the best farming state that contributions constitutes 2.1 million tonnes of rice produced in the country apart from the fishery we constitute a wonderful quarter to the country. Only Jigawa State has adequate tributaries and a productive river with the resources traversed from boundary to boundary as from Dabi of Ringim Local Government through more than 10 local governments down to Kiri Kasamma.
Jigawa people have regained confidence unlike in the past where they felt like hiding themselves (if I can borrow from a phrase of a former governor while described the former pathetic condition of the state) among others when prosperity, education and development were discussed, but they did not hide in reality but just felt like because Jigawa people have been proud of their state since inception. Everybody is happy hence proud of his state in Jigawa. The indigenous people of Jigawa believe their state is an emerging best state, no sooner or later if not now. They are confirmed their own state is developing more than its contemporaries covering all facets of life.
The top secret of Jigawa has been stable peaceful coexistence, though I opted to take education to celebrate our attainment of it as the source of our happiness and bringer of the said peace in the write-up.
Free girl child education has been declared all over for more than a decade. The women compete in education. Discovering the workforce as a wheel of development, workers are paid on 25th of every month in the State. Where 25th perceived to fall within the weekend, workers receive salaries before 25th of a month which is not limited to education sector.
So far, Jigawa State recorded high educational institutions, cuz, Federal Universty Dutse, Sule Lamido University, K/Hausa, Khadija University Majia (a standard university starting with Medicine), Hussaini Adamu Federal Polytechnic Kazaure, Jigawa State Polytechnic Dutse, Binyaminu Usman Polytechnic Hadejia, School of Nursing B/Kudu and Hadejia states. There are about five or more private schools of nursing in Ringim, Hadejia, Gumel, Kazaure and Dutse.
Apart from Kazaure Federal Polytechnic, Jigawa recorded 2 more Polytechnics in Dutse and Hadejia, which is rare in the north. There are 3 or more private schools of nursing, midwifery in Birnin Kudu, Hadejia and Babura, 2 schools of Remedial in Kafin Hausa and Babura.
Nothing exists in vacuum, in Jigawa we have been going with the best education commissioners whom are too intellectual to fail the system, people attained highest careers, like professors in education, doctors, etc.
The present education commissioner in person of Dr Lawan Yunusa Danzomo, an astute academic, is doing well. He is known to be workaholic and too patriotic to fail the system and or neglect it.
Apart from the best secondary students’ government scholarship sponsorship for abroad further studies, in Bamaina, a school of gifted and talented is located for students with outstanding performance in search of gifted/talented and genius students, which indeed incubated leading and excelling students in the JAMB for half a decade.
There are three specialist hospitals in Gumel, Kazaure and Hadejia under construction.
Jigawa, among her contemporaries, even amidst older states attained historical milestone and made (an) epoch(s) for we surpassed them since after reaching their positions.
Apart from electrification, all the 27 local governments have been Illuminated including the currently ongoing solar energy illumination projects to the remaining rural areas.
Jigawa has modern international airport located in Dutse.
Jigawa was created, as curved out from Kano State, on 27th August, 1991 among other 8 states under General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida under the provision of the constitution. We also neighbour Bauchi, Yobe, Katsina and even Niger Republic.
A tired traveler passing through Jigawa discovers a place to rest even to fall asleep in their journey when they reach Jigawa, just because of the good road networks covering all routes within the state. This government rehabilitated and constructed more roads and some road works are still ongoing.
Jigawa has among the best state secretariat in Nigeria if not the best one. It has beautiful structures of buildings and that of the streets.
There are more than 10 most important markets including international ones in Jigawa, viz, Maigatari international market, Gujungu National Market, Hadejia, Mallam-maduri, Sara, Kafin Hausa, etc. where grains, food items and livestocks are in abundance for haulage and exportation as the merchants visit either daily or weekly.
I Had a dream, Jigawa people and state are the most admired people and place respectively in Nigeria surpassing both Lagos and Abuja.
Hashim Abdallah is a creative writer. He teaches in Binyaminu Usman Polytechnic Hadejia, Jigawa State.
