Linus Oota, Lafia
Retired American business executive and chemical engineer Jack Welch had the story of Senator Umaru Tanko Al-Makura in mind when he said “Great leaders create a vision, articulate the vision, passionately own the vision, and relentlessly drive it to completion.”
Senator Umaru Tanko Al-Makura relentlessly drove Nasarawa state project for 8 years (2011-2019) as Governor to the admiration of even his critics. His administration made great strides in virtually all sectors in line with his campaign promises.
The major pillars of his eight- year administration include infrastructures, wealth creation, Agriculture, job creation, health, education among others. From a once rural sleepy town and settlements carved out of the Plateau and Benue states 22 years ago, Senator Al-Makura changed the narratives in Nasarawa state, which was defined by can-do-spirit of a leader who believes that whatsoever the mind conceives can be achieved.
In 2011, Umaru Tanko Al-Makura entered the race to become Governor as a person living with disability of deafness in both ears. He contested on the platform of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), a political party newly formed by Mohammadu Buhari, which was barely four months old at the time of the 2011 elections. The CPC had no template for electoral victory since it had never ruled before yet Umaru Tanko Al-Makura defeated the incumbent Governor at that time and was re-elected in 2015 under the All Progressive Congress (APC) as the only disabled governor in Nigeria.
Based on his unprecedented legacy achievements in all the sectors, the good people of Nasarawa South senatorial district on February 23rd during the 2019 National Assembly elections rewarded him with a senatorial seat to represent them in the 9th Senate. When he was popularly elected a senator in 2019, many that knew Senator Umaru Tanko Al-Makura’s antecedents were sure the good people of Nasarawa South senatorial district are in for effective representation.
Doubts were however expressed that serving as executive governor is entirely different from the business of lawmaking, that he may find the Upper Chamber challenging in effectively representing the people of Nasarawa south.
The doubts were further reinforced by the costly distraction of an election petition by the PDP and its candidate that went right up to the final appeal before his popular mandate was further judicially validated. With 10 months in office as representatives of the people of Nasarawa south senatorial districts, Al-Makura can only look back in fulfillment as he pushes on with the task of effective representation, interestingly, Al-Makura appears to have it all covered. His eight- year stints as Governor where he made his name as architect of modern Nasarawa state is believed to have prepared him for his present task.
Not only is he good at managing human resources, Al-Makura is also reputed as having resounding human relations such that everyone, who has come across him often tells of his large heart and generosity. Within 10 months of his stay in the National Assembly, Senator Al-Makura has introduced empowerment programmes that have direct bearing on the lives of not only the youths but the elderly in the constituency. He has also included several projects from the senatorial districts in the 2020 federal government budget for which implementation would soon commence.
For example, on December 29th 2019, Senator Al-Makura in his wisdom distributed 105 items to the vulnerable members of his constituency, including grinding machines and power generators sets, among other economic enhancement tools.
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The beneficiaries were drawn from Lafia, Doma, ObI, Keana and Awe local government areas that make up the Nasarawa south senatorial districts.
Speaking to Journalists shortly after the distribution, Senator Al-Makura said the best form of empowerment is not cash and food but providing them with items that would enable them earn a living “the grinding mills would go a long way to help the women beneficiaries while the generating sets would help the youths in the areas of their specialisation such as barbing and trades.”
He explained further that he would roll-out various empowerment programmes with direct bearing on indigent members in the senatorial district to tackle poverty and restiveness “I don’t know how to lie to people and make false promises; what I have done now is in line with my campaign promises to my people. We would continue to build capacities and create the necessary platforms for people to develop themselves because I know how they worked for my election.”
He said that the second intervention would be the renovation of
classroom blocks in Kwandare and Kanje and boreholes in different communities of the senatorial zone.
Also on Saturday, March 1st 2020, the senator made the third tranche of power generating sets to 120 second and third class chiefs in the zone to improve their respective domains. He maintained that as part of his achievements in nine months, he empowered 105 vulnerable persons, 120 second and third class traditional rulers, including those that got scholarships in various ways.
He noted that his achievements so far were evident of what the zone stands to gain by electing him to represent the zone, even as he promised to continue to provide qualitative representation which he said is borne out of a deep and passionate consideration directed at cushioning the challenges of inadequate power supply to the traditional rulers.
According to him: “You know too well what role our traditional rulers play in areas of security, peace and stability including information dissemination. I feel that appreciating them should not be done only during campaign period, but we can appreciate them at a time like this when there are no serious political activities.”
During the global pandemic of COVID-19, Senator Al-Makura distributed 3,000 bags of rice to his constituency to cushion the effect of the lockdown. Speaking while distributing the items, the former governor explained: “our country and indeed the world over is being bewildered by a very unusual pandemic called coronavirus and virtually all countries of the world are in a kind of state of confusion where a lot of things have stopped.
“A lot of measures has been put in place to halt the spread of the
pandemic and by so doing, certain categories of people came under certain pressure, where to get what and how to survive, and in line with the most laudable efforts of the federal government and indeed public spirited individuals, I feel as a senator representing Nasarawa south senatorial district, I should also extend my support by way of relief and palliatives to the people of my constituency.
“No matter how little, we feel we should get this palliative and relief to all the nukes and crannics of the constituency, like you know, the Ramadam fasting is on, the challenges that the people are facing now will be on the increase, that is why I feel this is the
most opportune time to distribute this relief to support the people of my constituency down to the unit level so that they will be able to have some support to reduce the challenges,” Al-Makura said
In a similar vein, the former governor also distributed palliatives to the disabled in his senatorial zone. Speaking while distributing rice, cash and other food items to the disabled, he said: “This is my constituency, they are people with disability that I cherished so much. They are so dear to my heart. That is why I make a priority to share these items to them” he said
Furthermore, Al-Makura also facilitated the disbursement of micro- loans of N10, 000 each to 2,000 beneficiaries in Nasarawa south senatorial districts which is made up of Doma, Awe, Keana, Lafia and Obi local government areas of the state.
Speaking during the disbursement recently in Lafia, Senator Al-Makura said the support will go a long way in alleviating the plight of the less privileged, adding that the disbursement was apt in time owning to the challenges bedeviling the country and the world at large, that was occasioned by the outbreak of COVID-19.
According to him: “I believe these support will go a long way to alleviating the hardship and suffering of our people who are less privileged to have the way withal in boosting their small businesses, one may consider N10,000 to be too small, but when you think of the shoe shiners, the vulcanisers, the woman who fried kulikuli and Akara, you will realise how much these can go in boosting their efforts.”
With just 11 months in office as senator representing Nasarawa south senatorial districts, Al-Makura’s scorecard, which was released recently sums it all up in terms of effective and efficient representation with record-breaking achievements in practically all the boxes of expectations flung his way.
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