2023: The Prayers of Kaduna People

Mohammed Abdullahi

I came to live and work in Kaduna State in 2013, a little over two years after completing my postgraduate degree. Since then, I have lived in almost all the major cities of the State, including Zaria, Kafanchan and the capital, Kaduna. I have also lived in more than five of the state’s 23 local government areas, spending at least two years in each. I therefore consider myself fairly competent to offer commentary and perspective about the governance of Kaduna, if not its politics.

I must confess that the first time I arrived Kaduna, nothing in its entire structure and make-up gave a hint of its expected glory as the former capital of northern Nigeria. There were no impressive road networks or any beauty for that matter that offered a compelling sight to first time visitors like myself. Kaduna, as at 2013, was just there, a famous city with nothing extraordinary about it.

Since leadership is not the same as governance, it is important to acknowledge that successive administrations in the state tried their best to deliver governance as best as they could. But 2015 marked the turning point, for a man appeared on the scene to deliver leadership and show Kaduna people the wonders an effective government could accomplish. That man is Mallam Nasir Ahmed El-rufai.

Having won election as governor of Kaduna State on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), and armed with his trademark inclination for results, coupled with his incredible courage and infectious foresight, El-rufai quickly mobilised his team to begin the task of delivering what is today the eye-grabbing development being witnessed across Kaduna.

From infrastructure to health, from education to rural development, El-rufai embarked on aggressive reforms tailored at turning around the fortunes of Kaduna State for good. In road infrastructure especially, even someone like me who had lived in Kaduna for close to a decade now experience difficulty finding my way around the city, all due to the expansive road re-engineering and restructuring all over.

Knowing how to spend money in government is the beautiful part of a long story for many governors, the other not so alluring part is knowing how to make money. El-rufai clearly understands both parts. Within a space of six years, the man initiated a deliberate policy around investment drive, established the Kaduna Investment Promotion Agency (KADIPA) to attract and coordinate investments in the State; with the result being an astronomical increase in foreign investment and the consequent improvement in internally generated revenue of the State from a little over N10 billion in 2015 to a whopping sum of N50.7 billion by 2021.

With all his verifiable and jaw dropping  achievements, the grateful people of Kaduna, who at every point never ceased to praise the reform mindset and innovation that El-rufai has brought to governance, have now begin to worry about the all-important issue of sustainability. As the 2023 elections gradually gather steam, the attention of the people has now shifted to the question of who will succeed El-rufai, with many praying that the next governor of the state would have the energy and mental capacity to build on the progress El-rufai has initiated in the state.

Already, El-rufai himself recently expressed the hope that he would be succeeded by a member of his present cabinet who understands the thinking behind every major government decisions in the last seven years. But without prejudice to all other fine brains who have supported El-rufai to implement his policies and vision for Kaduna since coming to power in 2015, one outstanding individual that I believe will do a wonderful job of entrenching the legacy and performance of El-rufai, and equally build on the present level of development in the state, is Mallam Muhammad Sani Abdullahi (Dattijo).

A former Chief of Staff to the governor and presently the Commissioner for budget and planning, Dattijo embodies the traits of a modern leader – smart, intelligent, educated, courageous and cosmopolitan, all attributes that no doubt assisted his principal, El-rufai, himself to make a mark in government. And with his education and work experience, Dattijo no doubt came highly prepared for the job.

Educated at the University of Manchester, United Kingdom, where he bagged a degree in development economics and policy, after which he obtained another degree in international affairs and diplomacy from the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria; Dattijo, who is also an alumnus of London School of Economics with a degree in public finance, had an impressive career before joining the public service as a government appointee in 2015.

He had served variously as Deputy National Programme Manager for the Millennium Development Goals at the Nigerian Presidency; Economic Adviser of the Nigeria Governor’s Forum and as a policy adviser at the Executive Office of United Nation’s Secretary General. The achievements and career success of Dattijo, who is just a little over 42 years, no doubt read like a fairytale, and it was all due to his penchant for excellence, coupled with an insatiable appetite for results.

He has exhibited these traits since joining government in 2015. As Commissioner for Budget and Planning, a position he occupied for the entire duration of El-rufai’s first term, Dattijo ensured that Kaduna state consistently presented and delivered budgets ahead of time, a tradition that earned Kaduna great  reputation as the first to present budget to state legislature year in, year out. It must have been his impressive performance in this role that recommended his return to man the same budget and planning ministry of the State after a little over two years as Chief of Staff to the governor.

Indeed, having been in charge of the planning and budget for key government interventions under the El-rufai government for a significant part of the life of the administration; it won’t be out of place to describe Dattijo as the repository of all the ideas and thoughts that predated every major government policies. This advantage confers on him the opportunity to seamlessly sustain all the reforms and achievements of the El-rufai administration and provides an answer to the prayers of Kaduna people who yearn for sustainability, with a man who understands what it means to provide deliberate leadership taking over the mantle in 2023.

Again, as Kaduna people pray for a worthy successor after Mallam, and without prejudice to all the other aspirants; I reiterate my convictions and those of many others that I have spoken to across the State that Mohammed Sani Abdullahi can do the job.

– Abdullahi writes from Kaduna.