By Rayyanu Bala

Senator Ahmed Wadada Aliyu, in the last three weeks, has engaged meaningfully in discussions with Nigerian businessmen such as Aliko Dangote, Abdulsamad Isyaku Rabiu, Wale Adenuga, and several others, both within and outside the country, all in a bid to reach out to people who matter in the business world for the interest of Nasarawa State.
Immediately upon his return to Nigeria, he also travelled to Minna yesterday, where he visited the Hilltop residence of former President Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida. There, they held a fruitful discussion on politics and development.
Wadada’s efforts to reach out to people who matter in Nigeria are the kind of efforts we want to see in anyone who aspires to govern Nasarawa State. We need a person with the ability, capacity, and capability to reach out; a person with a cosmopolitan outlook. Wadada possesses the qualities of the kind of leader the citizens of the state want in 2027, and we make bold to say that Nasarawa citizens will not regret voting for him.
In 2027, we do not want a leader who is always indoors, a leader who stays away from people and has limited outreach.
Leadership is not about sitting at home and issuing directives through third parties. It is about stepping out, building relationships, listening to people, and creating connections that can eventually translate into opportunities for the people you hope to serve.
This is why Senator Ahmed Wadada Aliyu’s recent engagements with some of Nigeria’s prominent business figures deserve all the praise. In the last three weeks, as I said earlier, Wadada held discussions with business leaders such as Aliko Dangote, Abdulsamad Isyaku Rabiu, Wale Adenuga, and others. Whether one agrees with Wadada’s style of politics or not, there is something important about a prospective leader deliberately reaching out to people who have influence, resources, and experience in the business world.
The question Nasarawa residents should be asking is simple: What can these relationships eventually bring to the state?
Nasarawa needs a governor who understands that attracting investment, creating jobs, and opening up economic opportunities require more than government alone. The state needs someone who can walk into rooms where important decisions are being made, engage investors, present Nasarawa’s potential, and persuade people to take a serious look at what the state has to offer.
Wadada’s meeting with former President Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida at his Hilltop residence in Minna also fits into this broader picture of how we want our 2027 governor to look: someone capable of discussing politics and development with a former Head of State. Wadada’s discussion with IBB may not immediately produce a road project or a factory, but leadership is also built through conversations, relationships, and the ability to learn from people who have occupied important positions in the country.
For Nasarawa, this kind of outward-looking leadership demonstrated by Wadada is worth considering and appreciating.
Nasarawa State does not need a governor whose world ends at the walls of his room. It needs someone who can connect with business leaders, political stakeholders, traditional institutions, professionals, development partners, and ordinary citizens. In today’s Nigeria, the ability to reach out to people who matter in the country is a sign of capability and capacity.
Wadada has the ability to translate his networks and engagements into investments, employment, infrastructure, partnerships, and broader economic opportunities for Nasarawa. Since Wadada is ready to bring this approach to his leadership, it could become a genuine advantage for the state.
The 2027 election should be less about songs and slogans. Nasarawa voters should look carefully at the qualities they want in the person who will govern them. Those qualities include competence, accessibility, vision, capacity, humility, and, importantly, the ability to reach people who matter beyond Nasarawa State.
Wadada is the kind of leader with a cosmopolitan outlook who is willing to engage people beyond Nasarawa in the interest of Nasarawa.
Nasarawa needs a governor who is connected to the wider world, not one who is isolated from it. A governor who can reach people who matter, build bridges, and turn relationships into opportunities for the people of the state.