Interview, I do not support Almajiri, it breeds ignorance , poverty – Hon. Mohammed Shamsudeen Bello Dambazau

I lived outside my state I wasn’t born in Kano. Growing up I took interest in my culture because the rate at which most of us are going in Nigeria we are losing our culture since the culture is what makes an individual, since I was living the western kind of life. I immersed myself back into my culture. I stopped listening to western music and started listening to classic Hausa songs my mother use to play. Started watching Hausa movies , and going to the village frequently. While there ,I got to know a lot of my relatives. I made friends and I also witnessed first hand the kind of lack and squalor our people were living in. From my interactions a group of people suggested I lead them in the capacity of the local Government Chairman. To me it was exciting and new , and I saw it as an opportunity to be of service. I sought my father’s advice and after consultation I decided to give it a shot. I ran for the position and lost in 2017 . I ended up as a councillour. I saw it as having a smaller area of concentration  and I also became a majority leader of my local Government council. Through that I became active in politics.

We have five hospitals in my ward, there were no drugs I decided to allocate my salary towards providing anti malaria drugs and mosquito nets and ante – natal drugs to be available through out my tenure as a councillor free.

We also fixed boreholes , paid school fees and touched lives in my own little ways.

The same people asked me to run for House of representatives and I refused because of the betrayal of the first election. But after several persistent pressure I agreed contested the election and won and here I am.

My Father though regimented, also has a liberal mind and I think he understands life ; that you do not impose upon your children. He also knows the kind of man I am and he trusts my decisions. I have been in many dark places in my life and I have been able to crawl out of those places to emerge as a better person today and for that,I have earned his respect and he trusts my decisions and is proud of what I have accomplished. So far no one in my family is in the military.

Well I put God first and he will never be second in my life. So whatever I do I allow God to guide what I do. I don’t sit down and over think and over plan. I just know what I want to do and I just believe that God is going to guide me and put me in the right place.

I have a motto;  that I have always used”be prepared”  If you are prepared and able to anticipate, things would not catch you unawares and if they do you are easily able to regroup.hence,iam always prepared. I have a strong team here to work closely with and another back home comprising of people I trust. There are about two hundred of them, because I’m representing two local Government councils, hundred in each local Government of people I trust and I know are with me hundred percent.

The business of being a parliamentarian goes beyond just your constituency. For me, my constituency is Nigeria. I am the voice of the people in Nigeria. I have a wider scope on the way I see things,and the motions and bills I hope to push in the future once I’m settled which I have already thought about and i have them written down, mostly are in National scope and will affect lives of Nigerians. Then of my constituents if emergency and urgent matters arise we will knock it down as they come.

I do not support the system of Almajiri in the way it is been applied now. I believe it should be regulated if it is going to survive, because it breeds more ignorance,it breeds poverty , it breeds crime and morals get depleted, because of the things the boys have to go through to get food they become predators and destroy society.

No I do not agree , if you go back in history when the colonizers came we had over six hundred years of civilized system of government. When they came they were shocked we were already reading and writing even though we were using Arabic alphabets. But we were reading and writing Hausa , we had alphabets , keeping records and had tax collectors. There were kings and the system was in place.

I won’t say we are the most backward I would say we are like that child the family placed everything on a platter for, but still choose to live an unproductive life. Regardless of the attributes of the family he comes, from he’s still useless. We have a lot of manpower, we just need good leadership at the moment.

I do not know anything like that. People can make allegations as much as they want but if you do not have proof, it is baseless.

Two people actively ran, Speaker Femi  and Umoru Mohammed Bagwo. Speaker Femi worked , did any of his opponent work the way he did?Did any of them call a meeting of the old and new members and supportive members? We are about 183 new members that actively endorsed the speaker for speakership. There’s nothing to dispute here, he won his votes fair and square.

In Kano State, security is not the issue but poverty . The youth in Kano are very enterprising. There’s no other state in Nigeria except in Kano that you will see young boys in the streets selling all manner of wares. The will is there we just need direction and to focus more on education and electricity and enlightening both the urban and rural areas.