Dankwambo: The Architect of the Modern Gombe State -By Abdussalam Abubakar Bello

May 29th, 2019 can never be forgotten in the, history of Gombe state, the memories left by this day will ever remain fresh in the minds of patriotic citizens of Gombe. Anyone who visits Gombe between 2011 to date cannot but to be a witness that Gombe is fast, moving from the wood cabin to the white house, Gombe is proving itself to be the Jewel in the Savannah. Within this period, Gombe state had witnessed numerous considerable developments in nearly all aspect of human endeavours from education to economic growth, infrastructural development to youth empowerment. Indeed, Dankwambo is not only the architect but also the mason.

It is a well-known fact that need no citation that Gombe always top the list from bottom of the index of states with highest literacy level ,Gombe state is one of the poorest states and top the list of poverty-ravaged states, with more than 90% of its citizens living below the poverty level. Whoever visits Gombe cannot deny the fact of the number of jobless youth roaming the streets, Committing crimes has become the order of the day and part of life of Gombe youth , the state had nearly became inhabitable due to kalare menace. Mysteriously, this trend had long ago gone into extinction or to say at least it had gone into hibernation. The solution Dankwambo applied is still a mystery.

Governor Dankwambo’s vast knowledge play considerably in steering the affairs of the state through hard times, he defied all odds despite receiving one of the lowest allocation from the federal government to build infrastructures never comparable to any state with the same size or monetary allocation. The source of these funds still remain a mystery which can only be unravelled by time. But this can never be far from Dankwambo’s Economically-literate policies and vast experience in monetary management. Dankwambo’s abracadabra did not stop there, Since his coming in 2011, he declare a state of emergency on education, he gave the greatest priority to the development of people’s grey matter. In each of his budgets ,education has the lions share. As he is stepping, the mighty Dankwambo can proudly boast that all the primary and secondary schools in Gombe are all in good shape and equipped with modern teaching facilities. Dankwambo has also establish four more higher institutions all in his quest to eradicate this enemy of progress- illiteracy.

Under Dankwambo, Gombe state has turned into a mini-heaven, from the entrance of Gombe to the inner heart of the city, roads thousands of kilometres were constructed. solar-powered street lights and traffic lights which we once know only on American films are now in our vicinity to see and make use of. Dankwambo’s administration had trained and empowered thousands of youth since its inception, All these coupled with provision of other social amenities like potable water, housing etc. is the brain behind Dankwambo’s survival from Buhari’s 2015 “tsunami”.

Dankwambo will not only be a role model for future leaders of Gombe state on accountability and transparency but also on his politics without bitterness, he proves to be playing a healthy politics. It can be seen from his projects that he left no sentiment irrespective of their political inclination.

All the best Dankwambo. May God bless the good people of Gombe state.

Abdussalam Abubakar Bello is a 100 Level Medical Student from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.