I have been a follower of the Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir El Rufai.
Endowed with uncommon native intelligence, he has proven on every assignment he handles the ability to turn difficult situations around .
Abuja, a city of commotion then at war with herself, was turned around when he was Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister.
Kaduna, whose development has been postrate for decades, has suddenly woken up to take her rightful place as a focal point of the North politically and in development.
The voice of the occupant of Kaduna Government House now counts not only in Northern Nigeria and Nigeria but also across the globe.
After surmounting the initial hurdles of the first lap of four years of his administration by those who placed higher premium on politics as a thriller game rather than a means to meeting the critical needs of those they are elected to serve, he settled in the second lap to offer purposeful leadership he promised the electorate.
In the process, Kaduna rapidly overtook Kano and Bauchi with a well-laid road network brushing them aside, adding BRT and light rail spiced with two malls in well-appointed locations to race to a finishing line topping in infrastructural upgrade and human capacity development.
To achieve this, ethnic origin and religion play no part; only capacity to deliver does.
No wonder he assembled an exco from virtually every nook and cranny of Nigeria with a common identity of competence and performance
His role in changing the narrative in some quarters in the South that the North is determined to hold on to power in perpetuity which is largely embraced.
His report on constitutional review on devolution of power has positively calmed and shaped political architecture across the nation with a reassured sense of equity for all.
His distinguishing trait is his courage to take tough decisions in the interest of the common good.
When he found quality of teachers on ground really appalling, he never ran away from taking similar tough decisions which had earlier cost another governor elsewhere his seat by asking the teachers to take basic aptitude test of competence to retrain them where appropriate and injecting capable hands
Working all odds amid localised security challenge, though not peculiar to Kaduna, he attracted unbelievable foreign investment to such communities with Olam, the Nigeria and SubSahara Africa largest hatchery/animal feed mill leading the pack of other investors buoyed by his state World Bank leading top rating on ease of doing business ahead of other states in homogeneous serene environment.
El Rufai is, undoubtedly, one to watch as he shares the unique character of a meteor that appears only for a purpose in a wide space of time leaving a trail of impact on the landscape.
My valentine wish for this great Nigerian in this season of love is many more years of sacrificial service to our fatherland
*Titus Ajimobi writes from Lagos.