INVESTIGATION: No Official Emails, Active Facebook Pages…Inside Nigerians’ Struggle To Reach Lawmakers

For greater than three years, residents of Bani within the Kaiama Local Government Area of Kwara State have endured the results of unlawful lithium mining. According to group members, these operations have destroyed farmland, disrupted livelihoods, and heightened fears of violence.

As the disaster deepened, residents confronted one other impediment: they struggled to succeed in their elected representatives within the State House of Assembly to boost their considerations and search pressing authorities intervention.

Community members informed DUBAWA that they repeatedly sought intervention from Ahmed Saidu Baba, who represents their constituency within the Kwara State House of Assembly, however couldn’t attain him.

Official portrait of Hon. Ahmed Saidu Baba — Source: Kwara State House of Assembly

They stated they submitted petitions to his constituency workplace and made a number of different makes an attempt to attract his consideration to the worsening scenario. Their efforts to contact him by means of an official digital channel supplied by the Kwara State House of Assembly additionally failed.

The official e-mail deal with listed for Baba on the Assembly’s portal, [email protected], was non-functional when residents tried to make use of it.

Describing the impression of unlawful lithium mining and what he stated was the federal government’s failure to intervene, one resident, Jamal Olamilekan, stated the actions had devastated farmlands and heightened insecurity in the neighborhood.

“Illegal lithium mining has destroyed our farmlands, brought armed violence into our town and nearby villages, and left us living in constant fear,” Olamilekan stated.

He added that residents had repeatedly tried to attract the federal government’s consideration to the issue, however their efforts had yielded little response.

“We have tried to speak to the government about this problem, but they seem not to be bothered about it, and this is making this illegal business continue to grow,” he stated.

“Our honourable (Ahmed Saidu Baba) is the only person who can take this issue up for us and present it as a motion in the House of Assembly, but he cannot be reached. Only his political loyalists can reach him,” he added.

DUBAWA’s expertise trying to contact Saidu Baba corroborated his constituents’ claims that his listed e-mail deal with was not purposeful. The solely contact info supplied on the State House of Assembly’s web site was an e-mail deal with that returned an error saying it couldn’t be discovered or couldn’t obtain messages.

Screenshot exhibiting Hon. Ahmed’s official e-mail deal with not working

‘A Community Struggles To Reach Its Lawmaker’

What occurred in Bani is way from remoted.

In Gidan Yaro, a group in Wamakko Local Government Area of Sokoto State, residents are fighting poor college amenities and say they’ve been unable to succeed in their elected consultant for assist.

Machido Abubakar, a neighborhood youth chief, described the situation of the group’s solely major college. “Our education situation is very bad,” he informed DUBAWA. “The school has just one block of two classrooms, with no desks or chairs for the pupils.”

He stated the poor situations had affected college enrolment, whereas repeated appeals for presidency intervention had yielded little response.

Gidan Yaro Community — Credit: Abdulwasiu Olokooba

Gidan Yaro Primary School — Credit: Abdulwasiu Olokooba

The group’s hopes for intervention grew in 2025, when residents heard that the Sokoto State Government was figuring out underserved communities for instructional help.

“After Eid-il-Fitr in 2025, word was going around town that the governor wanted a comprehensive list of communities in serious need of educational investment,” Abubakar stated.

Residents needed to contact their consultant on the State House of Assembly, Lamido Abubakar, to make sure their group was thought-about, however they may not discover a cellphone quantity or e-mail deal with by means of which to succeed in him, based on Abubakar.

Machido stated the group consequently missed out on a state authorities N8.3billion intervention introduced in August 2025.

Fallen ceiling at Gidan Yaro Primary — Credit: Abdulwasiu Olokooba