Indigenes of Argungu Emirate continue to rue the day they contributed to the election of Senator Adamu Aliero, representing Kebbi Central Senatorial District, as fresh allegations emerged that he serially sabotaged several landmark developments that could have transformed the lives of the people.
In 2006, former President Olusegun Obasanjo, impressed with the potential of the Argungu International Fishing Festival, allotted a whopping N10 billion for the upgrade of the arena. The funds were also meant for the construction of a hotel and sports complex. To date, not a single block had been added and Aliero has not accounted to anyone.
The Zauro Polder Irrigation Scheme for the canalisation of waters from the Goronyo Dam was also allegedly sabotaged. This project was designed around the potential of Argungu being one of the most productive rice producers in the country.
Expected to generate much-needed employment opportunities, increase the country’s food production, generate revenue and help conserve the country’s scarce foreign exchange, the scheme was initiated by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) in 1969. The FAO study identified the Sokoto-Rima River Basin as an area with tremendous irrigation potential.
After signing an MOU with the federal government for the co-financing of the project, the Aliero administration set aside over N4 billion in the 2006 budget and appropriated the money without so much as conducting the necessary surveys. Subsequently, the Governor Saidu Dakingari government voted an average of over N3 billion annually even as the project never took off.
Added to his well-documented shenanigans with the Anchor Borrowers Programme of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Senator Aliero’s supposed sins against the Argungu Emirate and its people seem to be mounting by the day.
The irritating irony is that he never bothers to attempt to assuage the feelings of his constituents until elections are around the corner. However, the writing on the wall is that this tactic will no longer work.
In their millions, the people of Argungu are counting the days to the 2023 general elections when they will eject the stumbling block to the peace and progress of their historic Emirate. Stripped of the symbolic immunity conferred on him by the Senate seat, Adamu Aliero seems set to face justice soon.
Alhaji Dangana writes from Koko-Besse local government area, Kebbi state