By Pharm. Mustapha M Umar
Rigasa is a ward in Igabi local government in Kaduna State endowed with people. It has an estimated population of 3 million people. Politically, Rigasa as a ward provides the largest number of votes, even higher than some local governments, in the state. The people of Rigasa are zealous about any development, which gives birth to different community-based organisations working tirelessly to move the community forward. Rigasa Action and Awareness Forum (RAAF) is among those organisations regarded as the most collaborative and active pressure group in Rigasa.
Elections are won and lost due to voters’ choices. There are no voters without voter cards. Every person who got a new voter’s card or transferred from anywhere to the Rigasa ward did that through the RAAF effort.
After the conclusion of the initial phase of Continuous Voters Registration (CVR) on 21st September 2021, RAAF observed poor awareness in the Rigasa community. With the new polling units added to Rigasa from 23 to 153 and the big dream of having an LGA or constituency one day, we realised that we must come together and mobilise to ensure all new polling units have the required number of voters to avoid cancelling any polling unit.
To achieve this, RAAF constituted and inaugurated a CVR committee in October 2021. This committee works day and night. It enters all the nooks and crannies in Rigasa. Single-handedly, RAAF’s CVR committee members registered and transferred more than 11000 voters, the highest in the nation as a ward.
The committee worked from October 2021 up to July 2022. To ensure the new and transferred voters collected their cards, RAAF extended the period of the committee work to help mobilise and ensure the Rigasa community had collected their cards. It was a successful job, and about 90% collected their cards.
The presidential election came with poor voters turning out, which was the same nationwide. For our efforts not to be in vain, a voter’s mobilisation committee was inaugurated to ensure people come out in mass during the governorship and state house of assembly election.
One of the issues observed as the cause of the poor voters turning out is the voters’ migration, which affected many people unaware of where to vote.
The committee members worked tirelessly by printing signs to help people locate their new polling units. Then, immediately, it stationed its members at every main polling unit to check and direct voters to where they are to vote using the INEC website. It was fantastic to work that significantly increased the number of votes cast.
Every single time, energy and resource spent by the members of the RAAF with little or no help from anyone are for the betterment of the community. We thank the Almighty that our effort has yielded a result.
The best ladies and gentlemen always volunteer to develop the Rigasa community, not for personal gain. We are game-changers.
The winner of the Igabi West State assembly seat, the speaker, Hon Yusuf Zailani, got almost half of his winning votes from the mighty Rigasa ward, which is 46.28% of the total votes. The remaining six wards combined gave him 53.72%. With this, Rigasa cannot be ignored for any reason.
Rigasa gave the governor-elect, Hon. Uba Sani, 32.06% of the total votes from Igabi LGA, the second LGA with the highest vote for his victory. No single ward in Kaduna gave the governor-elect this percentage of votes.
We have done our part of the bargain. The winners must do their part. Our community needs to get representatives in this government, structural and human development, and adequate government support equal to the effort we put together toward your victory.
Always remember those that help you when you are in need. There will be another time when you will need them again. What you did today to reward their efforts determines what will happen next time you need them. Four years is just around the corner. Time and history will always judge us.
His Excellency Governor Nasir El-Rufai needs all the gratitude from the winners of this election because we couldn’t have convinced people if he had not done all he did for Rigasa. May Allah bless and protect you, sir, as you hand over to the next governor, which we are hopeful will make Rigasa Community proud as they made them proud.
Pharm. Mustapha M Umar wrote from Rigasa Kaduna and can be contacted via mustaphau03@gmail.com.