Late President Yar’adua, a transformation leader, says Darma

By Abbas Bamalli

Dr Muttaqa Rabe-Darma, the President of Umaru Musa Yar’adua Human Development Centre, has described the late president and former Katsina State Governor as an excellent transformation leader.

He disclosed this on Sunday in Katsina during the 13th  Umaru Musa Yar’adua day memorial lecture, organised by the ‘Katsina State First Youth’, Fix Under Grassroots Aids Initiative.

He said the late president exhibited as the governor of Katsina, commitment and dedication towards transforming the state, and also had plans to move Nigeria to a greater level.

He explained that Musa-Yar’adua left legacies in the state that would never be forgotten in the history of Kataina, saying that he was a leader worth being emulated.

Rabe-Darma said the Islamic principle of governance is the best system and model that would make the state governing system workable and curb its multiple challenges.

He acknowledged the need for a new leader-follower model based on Islamic principles of leadership to be embraced by the incoming government to succeed.

According to him, functional governmental systems require a trustworthy leader who exploits an all-inclusive government, considering all stakeholders as part of the decision-making body.

It also required appreciating people’s functionality and ability, irrespective of whether they acquired knowledge and skills formally or distinctly.

“Therefore, governments took a large chunk of responsibility for societal decay. Unlike what Islam teaches, leadership is no longer based on trust.

“The leaders and those they led no longer trust one another; Islamic provisions on leadership emphasised that leaders should be trustworthy, transparent and accountable.

“One way to ensure the trust of followers in leaders is to appreciate that leadership comes with self-responsibility, responsibility to the general public and importantly, to Allah (SWA),” he said.

Earlier, the 5th Wazirin Kataina in Sullubawa dynasty, Prof Sani Abubakar-Lugga, disclosed that he had more respect for the late president, especially in the area of education, compared to other governors produced in the state.

According to Lugga, Musa-Yar’adua’s passion for the advancement of education was  unrivalled, noting that he was responsible for the establishment of the first Islamic University in Nigeria and also Katsina State University.

Abubakar-Lugga recalled how the late president, as governor, glorified primary and secondary school structure in the state to compete with those of tertiary institutions in some other states.

Lugga who chaired the occasion, also admonished youths in the state to learn to deal fairly in all matters and pursue knowledge wholeheartedly.

“So, I urge you to pursue knowledge vigorously so that you will be able to apply it for the benefit of mankind.

“I will like to remind you to ensure you deal fairly in all your dealings as God will ask you to account for every responsibility committed to your trust,” Lugga said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the theme of the lecture was “Leadership and Good Governance”, with a topic: Transforming Governance in Developing Countries, design for workable Katsina.

(NAN)