A compass, in its simplest sense, is an instrument that never loses its bearing. No matter how violently the wind blows or how thick the fog sits, a compass holds its truth, pointing steadily to what is right, what is not, what is home. It does not panic. It does not waver. It simply orients.
Turbulent times, on the other hand, are seasons when the ordinary order of things is upended, when danger lurks where safety once lived, when uncertainty becomes the only certainty, and when lesser men lose their nerve. In such seasons, the difference between a leader and a mere occupier of office becomes as clear as day.
When Dikko Umaru Radda took the oath of office as Executive Governor of Katsina State, he did not walk into a garden of roses. He walked into a storm. Banditry had turned farmlands into no-go areas. Communities lived under the shadow of fear, and the state’s very heartbeat—agriculture, commerce, education, healthcare, was gasping under the weight of insecurity. It was, in every sense of the word, a turbulent time. And Katsina needed, more than anything else, a compass.
As someone who has known Radda for years, I can say without equivocation that he does not shy away from reality, and he certainly does not run from responsibility, no matter how thorny the path. He is a man who stands firm and insists that every peg finds its rightful hole, however long it takes to hammer it in. Ask anyone who has worked with him, and they will tell you the same story, without prompting, without rehearsal.
One of the clearest proofs of Radda’s compass-like leadership is how he confronted the menacing security situation he inherited head-on, rather than tiptoeing around it. He has left no stone unturned in ensuring that Katsina beats the odds, and Alhamdulillah, the tide is turning. Today, we are all witnesses to communities that once knew only gunfire now celebrating peace. Jibia stands as a living testimony, a community where normal life has returned, where markets hum with commerce once again, and where farmers have gone back to the soil that had for too long lain fallow out of fear.
Yet, as overwhelming as the security challenge has been, it has not been enough to derail Radda from delivering on his Building Your Future agenda, promises he made to the people of Katsina even before he took the oath of office. That is the mark of a man who does not put all his eggs in one basket; while fighting insecurity with one hand, he has continued building with the other.
Our frontline local governments have borne the heaviest burden of this insecurity, no doubt. But progress in these very areas has allowed our farmers to return to their fields and raise productivity once more. Criminality may still rear its head in pockets here and there, but it will not stop us from reaching our objectives. We will keep working to ensure Katsina State remains a vibrant and attractive destination for investment.
In education, our people have not hidden their concerns, inadequate staffing and a shortage of learning materials remain real challenges. But Radda sees this as a generational investment, not a burden, and he’s working assiduously to close a deficit that insecurity had deepened over the years. Not less than 10,000 had been employed. 41 medical students were sponsored to Egypt. 67 students were sponsored to China to study Artificial Intelligence and other advanced disciplines.
On healthcare, malaria, child malnutrition, maternal health complications and water-borne diseases were major concerns in Katsina. Gracias! The Radda-led government is tackling all of them simultaneously rather than picking and choosing. The administration has expanded local drug production and continued recruiting the personnel the state’s health facilities desperately need. In that line, Radda constructed 268 primary healthcare centres, a quiet but powerful revolution in grassroots healthcare delivery.
On the political front, Radda has once again proven himself a shrewd manager of human relationships. While some states across the nation are entangled in bitter inter-party crises, Radda has kept Katsina’s intra-party house in order, stable, coordinated, and largely devoid of the backstabbing that plagues politics elsewhere. As the nation inches toward the general elections in a matter of months, elections that have brought their fair share of back-and-forth in several states, the people of Katsina have continued to reaffirm, without ambiguity, that they have one trusted party, the All Progressives Congress, and one preferred candidate to steer the ship for another four years of impactful service: Dikko Radda.
What, then, could be a more befitting birthday gift than watching turbulent times steadily give way to growth, development and a more peaceful society? That is Radda’s story in a nutshell, and that is the gift of a leader who possesses the right compass to lead, to grow, and to develop his state, even when the winds refused to be still.
Happy birthday, Your Excellency. May your compass continue to point Katsina toward brighter, calmer horizons.
- Ibrahim Kaula Mohammed is the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor of Katsina State.
