There is an Igbo African proverb that says, “A tree cannot make a forest.” At its core, the saying speaks to the importance of collective effort in the pursuit of a shared communal goal. Yet history has repeatedly shown that extraordinary individuals can become the spark that ignites transformative change.
A single tree may not literally make a forest, but one exceptional tree can provide the shade, direction and foundation around which a forest grows.
That is the story unfolding in Zamfara State under Governor Dauda Lawal.
Perhaps nowhere is the impact of an exceptional individual more vividly demonstrated than on a football pitch. Lionel Messi plays alongside 10 teammates, a coach and substitutes, yet his extraordinary ability can change the course of an entire match. He can turn impending defeat into victory through vision, determination and sheer brilliance.
In many respects, Governor Lawal has approached the daunting assignment he inherited in Zamfara with a similar determination.
He did not inherit an easy state. He inherited a state confronted by insecurity, institutional weaknesses, poor infrastructure, a battered education system, a distressed healthcare sector and a development deficit that had accumulated over years.
Yet rather than use the enormity of the challenges as an excuse for inaction, Lawal has confronted them head-on.
The story of Zamfara under Lawal is therefore increasingly becoming the story of a determined leader providing direction, restoring confidence and convincing citizens that the state can be rebuilt.
A State in Distress
To appreciate the significance of what is happening in Zamfara today, one must first understand the condition of the state before Lawal assumed office in 2023.
For years, Zamfara made headlines for largely negative reasons.
Beyond the controversies surrounding the implementation of Sharia, the state struggled with deep-rooted deficiencies in education, healthcare, infrastructure and public administration.
Schools were poorly equipped. Learning environments deteriorated. Teachers and other public servants faced prolonged challenges over their welfare and entitlements. Industrial actions became recurring features of the state’s public sector.
The healthcare system was similarly distressed, with dilapidated facilities, inadequate equipment and shortages of personnel.
Then came the dark years of banditry, kidnapping and terrorism.
Communities were displaced. Farmers abandoned their fields. Businesses suffered. Families lived in fear. Economic activities were disrupted, while the confidence of citizens in the ability of government to protect lives and property was badly eroded.
The cumulative effect was devastating.
The people were not simply confronting insecurity; they were confronting the collapse of confidence in the capacity of government to provide the most basic foundations of a functioning society.
It was into this difficult environment that Governor Lawal stepped.
The Anger That Became a Mission
There is an interesting but rarely discussed dimension to leadership: the place of anger in governance.
Can righteous anger, disciplined by vision, competence and determination, become an instrument of transformation?
In Zamfara, Lawal’s administration suggests that it can.
The governor’s frustration with the condition of his state has been evident from the beginning. But rather than allowing that anger to become mere political rhetoric, he appears to have channelled it into a determination to change the fundamentals of governance.
Like the gamji tree after which he is named—deep-rooted, resilient and capable of enduring harsh conditions—Lawal has presented himself as a leader determined to withstand the difficult terrain and rebuild.
His challenge was never going to be solved by isolated interventions.
He understood that security, infrastructure, education, healthcare and economic development are interconnected. A farmer cannot return to his farm if the road is unsafe. A child cannot consistently attend school if the community is under attack. A hospital cannot function effectively without power, personnel and access roads.
The rescue mission therefore had to be holistic.
Security Beyond the Battlefield
For Lawal, security is not simply about the number of terrorists arrested or neutralised.
It is about whether a displaced farmer can return to his farm.
It is about whether children can return to school.
It is about whether markets can reopen.
It is about whether communities can hold their social and religious activities without fear.
This philosophy informed the establishment of the Community Protection Guards as a community-based security structure designed to complement conventional security agencies, particularly in difficult-to-reach areas.
The state government has also continued to provide logistics and other support to security agencies engaged in the fight against terrorists.
Most importantly, Lawal has maintained a firm position against negotiating with terrorists.
The ultimate measure of victory, however, remains the restoration of normal life.
When farmers return to their fields, when traders reopen their shops, when children walk to school without fear and when communities sleep peacefully, then security has begun to deliver its true dividend.
Gusau Gets a New Face
Security alone cannot rebuild Zamfara.
Once people reclaim their communities, they need roads, schools, hospitals, markets and economic opportunities.
This is where infrastructure has become a major component of the administration’s transformation agenda.
For years, the condition of Gusau, the state capital, reflected the broader story of neglect. In many respects, it looked more like a glorified local government headquarters than the capital of a state.
That picture is changing.
Road construction and rehabilitation projects have altered the urban landscape, while provisions for pedestrian walkways and internet connectivity point to an attempt to build infrastructure with modern urban needs in mind.
Good roads are not merely aesthetic projects.
They reduce travel time, improve access to schools and hospitals, facilitate the movement of agricultural produce and connect rural communities with urban centres.
Infrastructure is therefore an economic enabler.
And Lawal’s approach appears to recognise that public infrastructure can be both functional and visually appealing.
The emerging transformation of Gusau is consequently more than road construction. It is part of a broader attempt to give Zamfara a capital city that reflects the aspirations of its people.
Education: Fighting for the Next Generation
Perhaps no sector better illustrates the scale of the challenge inherited by the administration than education.
Lawal declared a state of emergency in the sector, confronting problems ranging from inadequate infrastructure and teacher shortages to the large population of out-of-school children.
The security crisis had compounded these problems.
The danger was obvious: Zamfara risked losing an entire generation.
The administration’s response has included the renovation of schools, efforts to address teacher shortages and the payment of outstanding WAEC and NECO fees.
The significance of such interventions goes beyond the immediate financial relief.
For a struggling family, the inability to pay examination fees can abruptly end a child’s educational journey. Removing that barrier can therefore mean the difference between a young person entering the next stage of education and being pushed permanently out of the system.
Education is ultimately about opportunity.
And in an increasingly knowledge-driven economy, denying young people education is equivalent to denying the state a future.
Healthcare That Reaches the People
The same philosophy has been applied to healthcare.
Across Zamfara, the administration has invested in the rehabilitation and upgrading of healthcare facilities, including general hospitals and primary healthcare centres.
The installation of solar power systems in healthcare facilities is particularly significant in a state where unreliable electricity has historically undermined service delivery.
For a pregnant woman in a rural community, a functional health centre closer to home can be the difference between a safe delivery and a dangerous journey in search of medical attention.
Healthcare infrastructure therefore has a human dimension that statistics often fail to capture.
Every renovated clinic represents a potential life saved. Every functional hospital represents improved access. Every healthcare worker who can operate in a better-equipped facility represents a stronger health system.
The objective is ultimately straightforward: healthcare should reach the people where they live.
Restoring Dignity to Public Servants
Governance also depends on the people who operate the machinery of government.
Public servants may not always feature prominently in narratives about development, but they are the engine through which policies become programmes and programmes become results.
An administration cannot expect an efficient public service when workers are demoralised by prolonged salary arrears and unpaid entitlements.
Lawal’s regular payment of salaries and efforts to clear outstanding gratuities and other obligations have therefore had significance beyond the individual beneficiaries.
A public servant who receives his salary on time can meet family obligations, pay school fees, support local businesses and contribute to the wider economy.
The impact of salary payments consequently travels far beyond government offices.
It reaches households, markets and communities.
Reviving Zamfara’s Economic Backbone
For Zamfara, agriculture is not simply another sector of the economy.
It is a way of life.
Years of banditry disrupted farming activities and forced thousands of farmers away from their fields. Yet agriculture remains central to food production, employment and rural livelihoods.
The administration’s efforts to provide farmers with inputs, equipment and other forms of support are therefore critical to the broader recovery of the state.
The message is clear: terrorists cannot be allowed to destroy the economic foundations of Zamfara.
If security allows farmers to return to their fields and government provides them with the support required to produce, the result will extend beyond individual farmers.
It will strengthen food security, increase household incomes, revive rural markets and stimulate economic activity.
Rebuilding agriculture is therefore inseparable from rebuilding Zamfara.
The Work Is Not Finished
None of this means that Zamfara’s problems have disappeared.
Far from it.
The scale of the challenges remains enormous, and Governor Lawal himself would probably be the first to acknowledge that much more work lies ahead.
But leadership should not be judged only by the destination. It should also be judged by the direction of travel.
And the direction in Zamfara appears increasingly clear.
As Chinua Achebe reminds us, “the morning shows the day.”
The emerging picture is that of a state attempting to move away from years of insecurity, institutional weakness and infrastructural neglect towards renewal and reconstruction.
The question before Zamfara, particularly as Governor Lawal seeks a second term, is therefore no longer simply whether his administration has made a difference.
The more important question is whether the progress achieved can be consolidated, institutionalised and sustained.
Can the roads, schools, hospitals, security structures and agricultural interventions become durable institutions rather than temporary political projects?
Can the confidence now being rebuilt among citizens become permanent?
Can the gains of the past three years become the foundation for a stronger, safer and more prosperous Zamfara?
Those are the questions that will ultimately determine the legacy of Dauda Lawal.
For now, however, one thing is becoming increasingly difficult to dispute: the tree has begun to grow.
And around it, a new Zamfara is taking shape.
