Governor Dauda Lawal’s Zamfara state

On May 29, 2023, Governor Dauda Lawal of Zamfara State and Pastor Umo Eno, Governor of Akwa Ibom State, were sworn in for their first term in office. Both took on the responsibility of governing their respective states, but the starting points were radically different. In Akwa Ibom, the incoming administration inherited a State with a considerably stronger fiscal base, including Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of about 43.18 billion naira in 2023 and a net FAAC allocation of about 380.1 billion naira. Zamfara, in comparison, only generated about N22.16 billion in IGR in 2023 and received about N119.17 billion in net FAAC allocations.

This distinction is important because there are some states in Nigeria where governance is largely focused on maintaining what already exists: supporting revenue, maintaining roads and schools, keeping hospitals running, and ensuring that public institutions provide reasonably stable services. Zamfara state has never had this luxury.

Governor Lawal, unlike his Akwa Ibom counterpart, inherited a dysfunctional state; a state that, in all honesty, was in the intensive care unit. His problems went beyond his poor financial situation. There were arrears of salaries and pensions, unpaid exam fees, dilapidated hospitals, neglected infrastructure, a failing education system and, above all, a challenge of insecurity that had disrupted economic activity for years.

This is the prism through which Governor Dauda Lawal’s journey should be assessed: how effectively has he addressed his main challenge: creating order out of chaos, restoring trust in government and creating the conditions for development to take root? And, ultimately, does his record justify another term?

The most important achievement of the Lawal administration, therefore, is not the roads, hospitals or schools it has built or rehabilitated, but the restoration of the functionality of the government itself. For a state emerging from institutional paralysis, making government work again – and making its actions more predictable – was an essential first step towards sustainable development.

This effort is reflected in the administration’s emphasis on planning, rule of law, budgeting, fiscal priority, and collective executive decision-making. By December 2025, Governor Lawal had presided over 58 meetings of the State Executive Council, with critical decisions regarding education, healthcare, infrastructure, security and economic development. The coherence of a functional government is important. It suggests a return to a more structured system of governance, in which major decisions are subject to deliberation and decisions do not depend on the whims and whims of the governor.

Restoring government functionality was, however, only the beginning. The benefits of a government that had begun to function became evident in how the administration allocated scarce resources.

The 2026 budget provides the clearest evidence of this difference. Of the proposed $861.3 billion, approximately 83% was allocated to capital expenditures, with significant allocations for education, health, agriculture, security, environmental protection and social protection. The point is not simply that the budget was large, but that it is intended to lay a solid foundation for the state.

In this sense, the budget represented a transition from the old practice of government not working for citizens to a more defined effort to make it work for them – an approach that is perhaps unsurprising given Governor Lawal’s background as a banker at First Bank, where he rose to the position of executive director before retiring. As a banker, he is used to setting goals, measuring performance and demanding value for money.

Through strategic planning and prudent resource management, the administration has successfully financed its projects without incurring commercial bank debt. The governor’s commitment to continued fiscal discipline will continue to strengthen the administration’s long-term financial stability.

Given that security concerns extend beyond Zamfara State and extend to virtually every state, Governor Lawal’s actions deserve scrutiny. Although security is included in the Exclusive Legislative List and Section 214 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) which makes national security a federal mandate, the governor’s local efforts are even more notable.

The state, like many other states in the North West, remains one of the most challenging theaters in Nigeria where terrorists have risen. His administration has rejected normalization of negotiations with criminal gangs and provided logistical and operational support to federal security agencies, while establishing Zamfara State Community Protection Guards in the 14 local government areas of the state. The logic is simple: community personnel possess local knowledge that can complement conventional security operations.

The administration also created a security trust fund to mobilize additional resources to wage war against terrorists.

While persistent attacks indicate that the security crisis is not yet resolved, Governor Lawal’s intervention goes beyond the provision of military hardware and logistical assistance. It established a coordinated statewide response to a long-standing challenge that once seemed routine.

This framework reflects the understanding that banditry is not just a security challenge, but is fueled by the intersection of poverty, unemployment, institutional weakness and economic vulnerability. For the governor, security measures must therefore be fully integrated with development initiatives.

This approach explains the administration’s strong focus on education, health, agriculture, roads and rural development. By investing in these areas, the state aims to dismantle the socioeconomic conditions that sustain insecurity.

This philosophy is particularly evident in the administration’s emergency intervention in the education sector, which saw the liquidation of ₦3.2 billion in inherited WAEC and NECO liabilities to unlock student access and exam results. Complementing this debt settlement is a vast, system-wide infrastructure campaign that has already rebuilt, renovated and equipped hundreds of schools across Zamfara’s 14 local government areas, establishing educational renewal as a central driver of long-term stability.

Even more significantly, the Dauda Lawal administration began to move from physical intervention to institutional reform. In April 2026, the State Executive Council approved a 120-day rapid response plan that includes payroll audits, school mapping and infrastructure assessments.

This represents an important evolution. It’s one thing to build a school; it’s another to know whether teachers are present and learning is taking place. For Zamfara, this is the beginning of education governance.

Healthcare is another pillar of the rescue mission. The administration declared a state of emergency in the healthcare sector, as it did in the education sector.

In addition to physical infrastructure, Governor Lawal’s administration has systematically strengthened Zamfara’s healthcare sector by allocating record funding to modernize key secondary and primary facilities in Talata Mafara, Gummi and Gusau, while transforming the Yariman Bakura Specialist Hospital into a comprehensive teaching hospital. To ensure these centers operate effectively, the state has invested billions in modern diagnostic tools and medical supplies, expanded rural primary health centers to expand prenatal and emergency care, and boosted long-term staff capacity through major facility expansions at the College of Health Technology in Tsafe and the School of Nursing and Midwifery in Zurmi.

The State emerged as the best performing state in the North West in the Primary Health Care Leadership Challenge, an achievement linked to its interventions in primary health care.

The administration’s approach to governance is rooted in a fundamental principle: that public servants are vital partners in turning the government’s vision into reality. Recognizing that a state cannot demand efficiency from a workforce burdened by wage instability and neglected retirement benefits, Governor Lawal initiated a major overhaul of the social contract between the state and its workers. To restore their dignity and build a motivated workforce, the administration increased the minimum wage to ₦70,000 and introduced a 13-month productivity allowance along with other performance-based incentives.

This commitment to public administration goes beyond immediate payroll reforms and addresses long-standing liabilities. The administration has allocated approximately ₦13.94 billion to settle inherited tip arrears, providing long-overdue relief to 8,657 retired state and local employees. Removing these obligations constitutes a crucial governance intervention designed to rebuild morale, build trust between the state and its employees, and restore trust in public institutions.

Instead of viewing road construction as a stand-alone achievement, Governor Lawal views physical development as a unified framework for state renewal. Visible in Gusau and consistently disseminated throughout every local government area, his vision blends public buildings, improved health centers and modern educational facilities into a cohesive plan for growth.

The state’s international airport is not simply a symbolic landmark; it is an economic engine built to propel the state’s future. Its true significance lies in creating seamless connectivity that enables the export of agricultural products, expands trade and attracts critical private sector investments. The airport has undoubtedly opened the state to global trade and tourism, converting an ambitious infrastructure project into long-term economic prosperity.

At the heart of Governor Lawal’s vision is a deliberate strategy to prepare Zamfara for the economic realities of tomorrow. In an era where global growth is driven by the knowledge economy, the new Zamfara Institute of Information Technology serves as a key driver for human capital development. The institute offers hands-on pathways for young people to train in specialized fields such as software development, cybersecurity, data analytics and artificial intelligence.

Zamfara state has long been synonymous with crisis: widespread banditry, poverty, decaying infrastructure and failing institutions. Under Governor Lawal, this narrative has fundamentally changed. Rather than headlines of systemic failure, Zamfara’s story is increasingly one of progress: improved student academic performance, fully functioning hospitals and modern road networks.

The strength of Governor Lawal’s administration is not based on a single major achievement; lies in synergy: security, healthcare, human capital and infrastructure reinforcing each other to drive systemic reform. This integrated vision is what makes the ongoing transformation in Dauda Lawal’s Zamfara State a story worth telling.

…Achi, a former associate editor of Thisday Newspaper, is a governance trends analyst.