Kaduna State government

By Mubarak Usman

“The sign of a good Friday can be determined by a promising Wednesday.” – Hausa adage

It has been over one year since Senator Uba Sani was sworn in as the governor of Kaduna State. The honeymoon days are over, and it is time to start interrogating Governor Uba Sani’s policies, decisions, actions or inactions.

Spin doctors, sycophants, party members, and admirers are all at work trying to outdo one another in celebrating Governor Sani, which is the best thing to have happened to Kaduna state since the invention of sliced bread. Strategic locations within the Kaduna metropolis are not left behind, with erected billboards showcasing real and ‘audio’ projects or achievements.

In his acceptance speech after being declared as the winner of the 2023 gubernatorial election of Kaduna state, Senator Uba Sani thanked the people of Kaduna for voting him into power and promised to “get straight to work on sustaining and strengthening the development path that our beloved leader Malam Nasir El-Rufai has so brilliantly opened for Kaduna State. I thank Malam Nasir El-Rufai and his executive team for their collective efforts since 2015 to build the foundations for a new Kaduna State. Power is sweet, but it comes with responsibilities!

When people expect Governor Uba Sani to hit the ground running, his lacklustre approach to governance begins to manifest. He is just absent. He could not just sit to spearhead the State Executive Council meetings regularly. In his defence, his spin doctors claimed that the government does not revolve around him alone. Bello Galadanchi, the skit creator, made a witty skit about this absentism.

The governor called for a stakeholders’ engagement meeting to explain the state of affairs. He complained about the debt profile left behind by the previous administration and how it has been hindering his progress or performance. This is a ruse!

Governor Uba Sani did not explain how he contributed to the state’s massive debt profile. Politicians like him would think the populace is suffering from amnesia, so the collective intelligence of the good people of Kaduna state can be insulted.

First, the former governor of Kaduna state, Nasir el-Rufai, sought foreign loans to finance projects in the state. The loan was denied courtesy of the three (3) senators from Kaduna state during the 8th National Assembly. El-Rufai deployed all his arsenals to ensure none of the three senators returned to the 9th Assembly. And only Senator Danjuma Laah survived El-Rufai’s political onslaught.

Senator Uba Sani was drafted into the 9th Assembly to secure the now problematic loan. Responding to questions thrown at him during an interview, he said: “I am extremely happy and proud of the role some of us played in securing this loan for Kaduna State.” He did not stop there!

He said, “I, Senator Uba Sani, be held liable if the Governor [El-Rufai] fails or disappoints.” Will he now claim he did not know who El-Rufai was when entrusted with public funds? What is his share of the blame in the quagmire Kaduna? When Governors were praising the floating of the Naira by President Tinubu, did Governor Sani realise the implications of such a policy on the loans he helped secure? It is a classic case of shooting oneself on foot, double standards and hypocrisy characterised by politicians.

Secondly, a government complaining about a huge debt profile should not be seen engaging in non-priority projects like building a banquet hall in Sir Kashim Ibrahim House. The Government House has a council chamber for its functions, and so does the deputy governor’s office. Where the chamber isn’t enough for a state function due to population, the Umaru Musa Yar’adua Hall in Murtala Mohammed Square can serve the purpose in whatever capacity. This is not to mention the hall domiciled in General Hassan Usman Katsina House.

This new banquet hall is being built while many abandoned road projects in Zaria and Kaduna metropolis yearn for serious attention. These roads have caused untoward discomfort, accidents, and health hazards to commuters. Keen observers are still in the dark regarding the bidding or procurement processes leading to the award of such a misplaced project. Where is the transparency and accountability? Are we now experiencing the birth of another version of the now scandalous Ronchess and CCECC?

Despite the many mistakes of the previous administration, the Kaduna State Geographical Information Services (KADGIS) was more effective and efficient in handling customers’ queries or problems. Receiving certificates of occupancy (CofO) wasn’t a difficult task. Under the current administration in one year, people are becoming hopeless as hushed and loud voices or conversations within and without the agency have it that the governor is globetrotting and doesn’t have enough time to append his signature on certificates. One shudder to think how a government crying about debt profiles will take the affairs of such a revenue-generating agency lightly. There is more.

When appointing the head of the agency, KADGIS, the governor bucked the KADGIS Law and employed someone who did not meet the requirements as provided by the Law. This cluelessness was also exhibited in the appointment of other agencies. One would wonder where the state House of Assembly members are in all these. Are they the typical rubber stamp legislators? Your guess is as good as mine.

Loans upon loans. The Kaduna state government targets loans of about N150 billion in the 2024 state budget. I hope the State House of Assembly will diligently carry out its oversight functions as the governor moves to the rural areas. We have been witnessing groundbreaking ceremonies here and there, but the procurement processes, from advertisement to contract awarding, are unclear. The State House of Assembly should save the state, the next legislature, and the Kaduna people the stress of probing this current administration some years from now by carrying out their oversight functions. Can they? Time will tell.

Furthermore, running tap water is still a luxury in the state. Many in the metropolis now roam the streets searching for water to drink or bath, not to mention more people living outside the metropolis. Clairvoyant analysts suggest that some of these monies expended in the name of palliative should have been channelled to Kaduna State Water Corporation to make tap water available in people’s homes. Therefore, the House of Assembly should also shed light on these issues and the N11.4 billion disbursed in the name of palliative interventions. Who were the beneficiaries? What are the expected outcomes? How many people were lifted out of poverty caused by inflation and the APC-led government policies?

Again, Kaduna state has the lowest-paid medical doctors and health practitioners and a difficult and depressing working environment. These conditions have made these professionals quit their jobs for better offers in neighbouring states. Junketing out of the state at the slightest opportunity and under the guise of wooing foreign and local investors will not change these stark realities. This media show should end with the governor’s predecessor and now estranged boss.

The problems highlighted above are just a dot in the circle of nagging issues disturbing the good people of Kaduna state. Obviously, the governor only gets to meet praise singers, so he is not popular beyond sycophants, his appointees, and hungry rented crowds. There are more reasons why discerning citizens should write more articles about Kaduna state to remind them of the public perception of his government.

Finally, Governor Sani has the opportunity to sit up, evaluate his current team, and make adjustments before he and his team find themselves in a web of scandals after his administration. The good people of Kaduna need responsible and purpose-driven leadership, not excuses and the hazy governance that has characterised his 365 days in office.

Mubarak Usman writes from Unguwar Muazu, Kaduna.

By Ahmad Deedat Zakari

The Governor of Kaduna State, Uba Sani, has reduced the school fees of higher institutions in the state.

The Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Muhammad Shehu Molash, made the development known in a press release on Monday.

According to the CPS, the governor has announced the downward review of the current fees in state-owned tertiary institutions .

The spokesperson cited welfarism and the interest of the populace as the reason for the governor’s decision.

The administration of the former Governor of the State, Mal. Nasir El-rufai, had hiked school feels of state-owned institutions.

The new administration of Governor Uba Sani has decreased the school feels by 30%.

Below is the new school fees of higher institutions in the state:

a) Kaduna State University – Current Fee: N150,000 – Reduction (%): 30% – New Fee: N105,000

b) Nuhu Bamalli Polytechnic – Current Fee: N100,000 – Reduction (%): 50% – New Fee: N50,000

c) College of Education, Gidan Waya – Current Fee: N75,000 – Reduction (%): 50% – New Fee: N37,500

d) Shehu Idris College of Health Sciences & Technology, Makarfi •HND Courses – Current Fee: N100,000 – Reduction (%): 30% -New Fee: N70.000 •ND Courses – Current Fee: N75,000 – Reduction (%): 30% – New Fee: N52,000

e) Kaduna State College of Nursing – Current Fee: N100,000 – Reduction (%): 30% – New Fee: N70,000

By Maryam Shehu

I write with a heavy heart and bleeding eyes to the extent that my sights are closed, and I can’t catch a glimpse of the words that percolate through my pen.

Zaria is known as the heartbeat of its state, moving from its social amenities and the acuity of its residents and advocates. It won the best award for breeding leaders and world scientists with excellent records of surveillance and stateliness.

Its leaders have incentives for every eclipse and malady, but I am yet to have a vision of the sad situation of its library. Does that spell another prestige or a paralyzing facet of its artistry and reading culture? Only God knows how much a lack of a library plays in the eruption of the educational sector and traditions.

 ‘Mostly students within Zaria from the 1980s used the Public Library, but now it remains only the building’; this was what I saw as a description of a group named ZARIA PUBLIC LIBRARY FRIENDS on Facebook… A very disheartening description, indeed! Does that mean education ended in Zaria after those days, or is it only for those in the 1980s? Oops, I can’t uphold the irritation!

Everyone that often visits the place is a bystander to how barren and malodorous the place is, the books are outdated, and the shelves are scanty and scattered to the magnitude that one can not confidently point to a visitor or a person who has been reading about or watching notable libraries.

I write for the government or any other personnel responsible for the library to reminisce, if forgotten, about the virtues and diamonds behind refurbishing the library and its roles in developing a state/LG with few ravines of mine. These are:

First, it supports the educational sector: Education is the bedrock of every progressive state. It soothes every rough wall for governance. Whenever/ wherever a state owns a gear of education and capitalize its residents with the necessities, that administration is said to have grappled with every hole of unemployment, insurgency, and other suppressed deed that might lead to the tumult of any governance. It can contribute to nation-building and reconciliation. As said by Nelson Mandela, “Education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world”.

Second, it preserves the cultural heritage of the society: A rich cultural heritage defends how the residents maintain its distinctiveness and sets it as a mirror to look at by young ones. We have different skin colours, languages, and marks, and our clans mingle with others (good/bad), but the pictures we sow in their hearts and books are those that could reflect and defend their susceptibilities. The library is the only place where those scrapbooks and photographs could be carefully salvaged.

Third is the provision of useful textual materials: The availability of a standard and substantial library provides advantageous scripts and materials for self-development and implementation of a basic constitution… It helps especially those from underprivileged backgrounds.

Fourth, it also provides an avenue for recreation and relaxation. Libraries are one of the most significant factors that lead to the development of arts and crafts; they create seats for all crawling and professional clubs and carve stages. It composes words for artists and other microphones partners.

Furthermore, it also provides and enhances reading culture. As the slogan says, ‘Readers are leaders’; likewise, writers and other mellow people, we succeed by reading from the served letters of our antecedents. And many people strive to be voracious readers but the lack of money to buy books drag their necks back and turn their faces from the papers by furnishing the library; that surely could be a buzzer to the sleeping readers.

With the above few ravines of mine, I hope the government and other related personnel are persuaded and forecast how much renovation of the public library could make their governance suitable and memorable and how lack of it will keep draining the administration. We hope you listen to our dried throats and reconstruct our shattered floors.

Maryam Shehu wrote from Zaria via maryamshehu6354@gmail.com.

By Uzair Adam Imam

Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State has explained the reasons behind the removal of his Chief of Staff, Muhammed Sani Abdullahi, and also denied Sunusi Lamido Sunusi’s involvement in his administration.

Recalled that the Kaduna State Chief of Staff had been removed from his position month ago and transferred to the Ministry of Budget and Planning Commission as a commissioner.

El-Rufa’i said that the ministry had been having challenges in preparing budgets two years since Abdullahi left the ministry.

He made the disclosure in a radio program in the state where he was quoted saying: “The removal of the chief of staff had nothing to do with addressing Khalifa Muhammadu Sanusi (II) as former Emir of Kano at an event in the state, recently.

“The transpired between the former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (Sanusi) and Abdullahi is a historical joke between Zaria and Kano people in which Zaria considered Kano people as their slaves,” he said

The governor further stated that the he mainly received advice from Sanusi, bu he has nothing to do with how he runs his government.

“He is the vice-chancellor of our state university because he is a professional in that aspect. Secondly, he is the deputy chairman of KADIPA.

“These are the two areas he is assisting us with advice and again everybody knows Muhammadu Sanusi is a qualified economist and so I only seek his advice on this aspect.

“But not on how I run my government or who will work with me. I don’t seek advice from anybody outside my colleagues in the government and we usually sit together to discuss,” El-Rufa’i concluded.