Kwara born politician, Alhaji Zakari Muhammed, has sure had his dreams come true. Zakari a graduate of the University of Ilorin was for years a familiar voice on air at the Kwara State owned Radio Kwara from where he ventured into politics in 2002. Following the victory of the PDP at the polls in Kwara State in 2003, Zakari emerged a member of the board of the Kwara United Football Club and later got appointed the Special Assistant to Governor Bukola Saraki on Sports three months later. Zakari was elevated to commissionership status in 2007 and put in charge of affairs at the state Ministry of Sports.  His profile witnessed a meteoric rise following his appointment as the Supervising Commissioner in charge of the Ministry of Energy and he ran the two ministries for a good period of nine months before being reassigned fully to the Ministry of Energy. Zakari also secured visa for political relevance in the current dispensation when he got the nods of stakeholders and won a House of Representatives seat in the state.  Zakari is at present the representative of Baruten/Kaiama federal constituency in the House of Representatives where he chairs the House Committee on Media. ABIODUN ADEWALE recently met with him. 

You are one of the vibrant members of the House of Representatives, would you say your background as a journalist provided good foundation for the tapping of your potentials? 

Yeah, actually you cannot take a man's calling away from what he does. If I say my calling as a journalist has not assisted me, that would be a lie because journalism is a noble profession that makes you a master of all because you have knowledge about almost everything. Also  going for me is experience in the public sector, level of exposure, trainings, adding all these together makes one to have  a  good ground when topical issues is being discussed. I believe the support and prayer from my people have also eased things for me. I want to equally acknowledge the roles played by our leader, Senator Bukola Saraki for identifying us early enough and nurturing us to this level. The mentorship he has given us is such that has imbued certain qualities in us which has translated into positive things for Kwarans.

Being the spokesperson of the house would be quite challenging how has it been?

Yeah you are right, there could be challenges here and there but I give Glory to God who has eased things for me. My experience and background has also made things easy. I practiced journalism for more than a decade before going into the public sector where I also functioned in various capacities at the state level before graduating to the national level as a member of the House of Representatives.    

Baruba people are renowned for being expertise in traditional herbal healings what are your plans to bring innovations into it and make it more refined? 

Baruten and Kaiama are extraction of the old Borgu Kingdom and our people were warriors by nature which made them had the herbal bias. I believe what we should do is to bring the herbal practitioners to the fore and moderate their operations.  It is affordable, available and cheap and we can have healthy citizenry through monitoring and moderation of their operations. The tablets we take are sourced from herbs and I am a believer in that kind of treatment and I don't pretend about it. I know that at a time in our history, there were traditional maternity and bone settings homes. I belief the herbal medical practitioners should be brought to the fore and given sense of belonging and also have their operations modified because the danger in not doing that is that people would patronize them and there wont be standardization but when they are recognized I am sure we would be better for it.

What are the things unique about Baruba people? 

We are farmers, we are not hypocrites and we are straightforward people. Of course, a typical Baruba man would never betray you. When he is loyal, he does that to a fault, loyal in friendship, loyal in whatever the pact might be but one thing an average Baruba man would not do is to joke with his land or wife. Baruba man does not need to know you before offering you food when you go as a visitor or to give you a space to sleep. As long as you do not go beyond your boundaries as regards their wives and land, you would never see their opposite mood. 

We learnt you distributed bags of fertilizer to the people of your constituency recently what is the rationale behind the action? 

My people are generally agrarian, the Baruten/Kaiama federal constituency is the food basket of Kwara and other neighbouring states as regards sourcing for yam flour and some other agricultural products. Being agrarian communities I believe that we should take steps to have positive impacts and add values to what they do; that was why I bought 252 bags of fertilizers and distributed it free to people in all the 21 wards in my constituency. I am sure my people appreciated it and I have assured them that it is going to be an annual thing. I just believe we should appreciate the overwhelming support and solidarity we enjoyed during the campaign and it is simply a way of making them get dividends of democracy.   

It is a common thing for political office holders to limit the list of beneficiaries of such gestures to people in their political parties what was the parameter used in distributing yours? 

For me I know that I am the representative of the entire people of Baruten/Kaiama federal constituency irrespective of political or tribal affiliations for the next four years by the grace of God. I see the people in the area as my own I am their representative in the hallow chamber, election has come and gone we have put politics behind and we are moving forward we must show politics of maturity and therefore we ensured the fertilizers got to the real farmers that need it irrespective of their political parties. I believe it is those ideals that would attract others to our party and make them see us as honourable men. 

We also learnt plans are at advanced stage to embark on another project that would launch positive impact on the lives of the people of your constituency? 

Yeah, I have a wellness programme for my constituency that is coming up very soon we would have had it but we had to shift it due to certain circumstances beyond our control.  I believe many teething problems would be solved when you have healthy citizenry and my office in conjunction with an NGO in the United States of America, Health Right Institute would soon offer free medical treatments to the Baruten /Kaiama constituency. The head of the institute is still around in Nigeria she has even gone on courtesy calls to traditional rulers in my constituency and other stakeholders to create awareness about their coming in the few weeks time. We are expecting about twenty doctors, nurses and other auxiliary staffs; I also pray that the free medical treatment project would be an annual thing too. 

These are my own little ways of ensuring my people get dividends of democracy; I am not a politician that abandons his constituency when election is over. I have a vision in politics which is to change the fortunes of my people for better; I know that if I don't do it well, posterity would judge me. A good politician should ensure strengthening of cords with people at the grassroots level; it is not open to debate, it is an important thing for political office holders. One should ensure constant touch with those at home and make them enjoy dividends of democracy. I urge all Nigerians to be law abiding and let us work in unison for the sustenance of the nation's unity.

Your late father was a school principal and such category of people were known to be very strict in those days what were the values you learnt from him? 

My father was a teacher and many advantages came with being the son of a teacher. We learnt values in a hard way in terms of taking corrections you know teachers of those days were perfectionist and were disciplinarians. Therefore, for me I was able to tap from him, any virtues known with me were definitely acquired from my parents. 
You are known to be a powerful dresser who picks your choice of outfits? 
I don't have strict attachment to any designer but my wife is someone who plays with colours very well and mirrors me before I go out. I think I partly owe it to her. I like creativity, what ever you see; I might not see it the way you see it. I just ensure I appear neat and nice because you are what you wear.