Investing Elsewhere, Seeking Mandate at Home: Lessons from Jigawa Northeast Zone
By: Musa Ibrahim
Jigawa State has long been blessed with a rich pool of distinguished journalists and seasoned broadcasters across senior, intermediate and executive levels. Over the years, these professionals have built reputations anchored on integrity, competence and dedication to the craft. This enduring legacy has shaped public discourse within the state and positioned Jigawa as a respected contributor to Nigeria’s media landscape.
It is therefore not surprising that visionary sons of the state who ventured into media ownership carried this culture of excellence along with them.
When the late AVM Mouktar Mohammed established one of the early private radio stations in Kano, he did not forget his roots. Though the station was sited outside Jigawa, he appointed the late Umar Mohammed Dutse of Radio Jigawa as pioneer General Manager while majority line and supporting staff were his home state indigens, a deliberate affirmation of confidence in indigenous competence. He later consolidated that commitment by establishing Freedom Radio Dutse in the Jigawa capital, further strengthening local broadcasting capacity.
Similarly, Nura Mohammed demonstrated faith in homegrown talent when he founded Sawaba FM in his hometown of Hadejia. In a clear vote of confidence in Jigawa professionals, he entrusted its leadership to Ja’afar Ja’afar, an indigene with proven media credentials.
Yet, perhaps the most striking contemporary example of investing at home while serving at the national level is that of Ahmed Abdulhamid Malam Madori, representing Jigawa North East in the Senate.
Senator Ahmed Malam Madori has demonstrated that political leadership and community development must go hand in hand. Rather than channel his resources elsewhere, he chose to establish Fa’ida Radio in his hometown of Malam Madori.
This decision goes beyond business calculation. It reflects loyalty, foresight and a deep sense of responsibility to his immediate constituency.
By siting Fa’ida Radio in Malam Madori, the senator has expanded access to information, created employment opportunities and strengthened local civic engagement. The station provides a platform for community voices, promotes cultural identity and supports grassroots participation in governance.
In a state where radio remains the most accessible medium of communication, such investment carries profound social and political impact.
True to the tradition of empowering local expertise, Senator Malam Madori appointed a seasoned indigenous broadcaster, Bashir F. Danladi a former staff of Jigawa state radio corporation as the pioneer General Manager.
This deliberate choice underscores Malam Ahmad Malam Madori’s confidence in Jigawa’s human capital and reinforces the principle that development must include people, not just infrastructure.
However, in contrast to these examples of patriotic investment, concerns have emerged regarding the actions of another indigene of Jigawa State, whom while intending to make his investment on media, chose to locate the stations outside the State rather than in Jigawa.
More strikingly, when making appointments, he selected a candidates from outside instead of drawing from the vast reservoir of qualified and experienced media professionals in the state that is renowned nationwide for producing accomplished journalists.
For many observers within the pioneers group, this sequence of actions indicated a sign of lack of commitments and concern to ones immediate locality, an action that may not be acceptable to locals in this political era, where individual’s love for his people is measured by his deeds and actions .
It is believed that the capacity and commitment of any political figure, is now measured not merely by ambition, but by consistency and demonstrated commitment. True loyalty to one’s people is revealed in tangible investments that empower communities, create opportunities, and build sustainable institutions.
The lesson here is clear: genuine commitment begins at home.
While investment outside one’s state is not inherently wrong, leadership aspirations demand consistency between words and actions. In today’s political climate, citizens increasingly assess public figures not merely by promises, but by verifiable contributions to their communities.
Tangible investments that create jobs, strengthen institutions and empower local professionals speak louder than campaign rhetoric.
As Jigawa continues to evolve politically and socially, its people deserve leaders whose records already reflect dedication to their homeland like Senator Ahmed Abdulhamid Malam Madori. Senator Ahmed Malam Madori’s establishment of Fa’ida Radio stands as a practical demonstration that public service is most credible when it is rooted in community development.
For Jigawa’s broadcasting pioneers and emerging political actors alike, the message is enduring and powerful: build at home, empower your people, and let your actions define your mandate.
It is time for people in every society and community to look critically at the track records of their elites. Leadership should not be a reward for status or wealth, but for care, commitment, concern, and visible contributions to human, economic, and infrastructural development.
Those who have had opportunities whether in public service or private enterprise and have positively impacted their communities deserve to be welcomed when they seek political mandates. Such individuals demonstrate that they stand for the people, not merely for themselves.
However, where an individual has used every opportunity solely for personal gain, enriching only himself and his immediate family while channeling investments outside his community and state—depriving his own people of growth and development—such a person has little moral ground to seek leadership at home. Leadership is about service and shared progress, not selective generosity.
If someone abandoned his community in its time of need and chose to build elsewhere, then the people are within their rights to question his intentions and even reject his ambition. Perhaps he should return to those he invested in and favoured, for leadership must be earned through loyalty and sacrifice.
Communities must be wise. They must reward genuine commitment and reject opportunism.
If you know, you know.
Be wise. Act wisely.
Musa Ibrahim writes from Dutse, Jigawa State
Jigawa state @musaibrahim131300@gmail.com
