Prior to May 2019 when Bello Matawalle assumed office as governor of Zamfara State, the northwestern state was under a seemingly endless siege. The state was a typical killing field, a boiling cauldron of bloodthirsty bandits and notorious kidnappers. Cattle rustlers and dare-devil miscreants were ruling over swathes of land with security forces battling tooth and nail to stop them. But since Matawalle took the seat of power in the state capital Gusau, the state has steadily experienced a new lease of life. A territory that was once awash with…