Arewa Youth Council for Peace Welcomes UK GGRI Report on Zamfara
…asks Gov Lawal to apologise to citizens over poor governance
The Arewa Youth Council for Peace (AYCP) has thrown its full weight behind the Good Governance Rating Index (GGRI) midterm report, which branded Zamfara State, under Governor Dauda Lawal, as Nigeria’s most deplorable governance failure from 2023 to 2025.
The UK-based organisation’s scathing assessment exposed Lawal’s administration as a catastrophic betrayal of Zamfara’s people, ranking it dead last in health, education, infrastructure, security, and transparency.
The AYCP calls this report a “long-overdue indictment of a governor who has turned Zamfara into a living nightmare.”
The GGRI report laid bare the apocalyptic state of Zamfara, where armed banditry and mass kidnappings have surged under Lawal’s watch, despite billions siphoned off as security votes.
Over 60% of rural children are denied education, rotting in crumbling schools, while health facilities—starved of funds—have made Zamfara a death trap for mothers and infants, with maternal mortality rates among Nigeria’s worst.
The report accuses Lawal of squandering public trust on a cesspool of corruption, political cronyism, and zero developmental vision, leaving roads impassable, workers unpaid, and poverty skyrocketing.
In a statement signed by Comrade Usman Yusuf, AYCP condemned Lawal’s leadership as a “monumental disgrace,” noting that his 2023 campaign promises of security and prosperity were nothing but hollow lies.
The GGRI’s findings, backed by audits, citizen feedback, and field surveys, reveal a state in freefall, where government agents are complicit in fueling insecurity and public funds vanish into the governor’s patronage networks.
This governance collapse, the AYCP warns, is a ticking time bomb for Nigeria’s stability, with Zamfara’s misery threatening to destabilise the entire North-West.
Yusuf added: “Dauda Lawal is a calamity in human form, a governor who has plundered Zamfara’s hopes and left its people to drown in poverty and bloodshed.
“He must fall on his knees, beg for forgiveness, and resign immediately for plunging our state into this abyss of despair. His corrupt, incompetent regime is a stain on Zamfara’s soul—bandits rule our lands, children beg instead of learn, and mothers die needlessly because of his greed and failure.
“Come 2027, Lawal will face the wrath of Zamfara’s youth at the polls. We will drag his name through the mud of his own making, ensuring he is remembered as the architect of our suffering.
“The GGRI report is our battle cry—Lawal’s days are numbered, and we will hound him out of office for his crimes against our people.
The GGRI reports also revealed that security budgets are shrouded in secrecy, with no accountability for funds meant to curb banditry, has deepened public fury.
Reports of government agents colluding with criminals have only added fuel to the fire, with citizens accusing Lawal of turning Zamfara into a “bandit’s paradise” while ordinary families live in fear.
The AYCP President stated: “Dauda Lawal is not just a failed governor—he is a thief of Zamfara’s dreams, a coward hiding behind empty promises while our people bleed.
“His resignation is not negotiable; he must quit now or be chased out in disgrace. Every crumbling school, every dying mother, every kidnapped child is a mark of his shame.
“We will make sure Zamfara rejects him in 2027, burying his political career in the rubble of his own failures.” ”
“We demand transparency, accountability, and justice. Lawal will face the people’s judgment—no amount of political maneuvering will save him from the storm coming his way.
“We stand with every Zamfaran suffering under Lawal’s tyranny. The GGRI report has unmasked him as a fraud, and we will rally our people to demand justice.
“From Gusau to the smallest village, we will fight until Lawal is gone, his cronies exposed, and Zamfara is free from his chokehold. This is our pledge: Lawal will fall, and we will rise!”
