Michael Auta:Govt Must Address Neglect of Southern Kaduna

Michael Ayuba Auta, an engineer and Chairman of KYC Group of Companies is the Labour Party’s Senatorial candidate for Southern Kaduna. He believes his people in Southern Kaduna have consistently been marginalised by successive governments at state and federal levels, in the allocation of resources and projects. He bares his mind to THISDAY on the situation, his chances of victory and what his mission will be if he wins

Many people know you as a supporter of the All Progressives Congress. What led to your joining Labour Party and seeking the position of Senator?

Over the years, I have been supporting candidates for election in Kaduna State, especially in Southern Kaduna in both the PDP and the APC. But like many people, I am so disillusioned by the marginalization of my people in the Southern Kaduna. It is the people that came to me and insisted that this time around, I have to be the one standing for the contest. They said if really we desire change, we must be the change we desire.

 So, what are the key issues in this contest and what are your chances of winning?

The key issues in this contest are the continued marginalization of Southern Kaduna. It is not something personal. Over the years, governments at state and federal levels have marginalized the people of Southern Kaduna and we must do much more than armchair complaints. There is no sub-group in Northern Nigeria that have been neglected like the predominantly Christian population in Southern Kaduna. To make matters worse, the area has continued to witness unprecedented insecurity which is largely sponsored because of the rich mineral deposits. To say that the people face existential threat is to state the obvious.

Away from the general term, in what specific ways has Southern Kaduna been neglected?

The marginalization of the Area is so obvious and it has persisted due to a combination of factors: structural and systemic. It is structural in the sense that, in spite of our large area and large population, we have a disproportionate number of representation in both the State House of Assembly and the National Assembly. Out of the 12 local government areas in Southern Kaduna, only Zango Kataf has more than one Assembly member. Jemaa for instance is the size of about three local government areas, same with Sanga, Kagarko, Kachia and Kaura, but in spite of their large sizes, they have one Assembly member each. Of course, this affects their allocation and representation. This is a far cry from what obtains in other parts of the state. Beyond that, successive governments at both federal and state levels appear to have connived to ensure the Southern Kaduna area and its people are permanently held down. That’s what I mean by systemic marginalization and those are what I will fight against if elected as Senator.

You used to be close to Governor Nasir El-Rufai. Why have the leaders of the zone not intervened?

Governor El-Rufai is someone I used to respect so much but I am so disappointed in the lopsided manner in which he has been siting his projects. When he came in, based on his promises, many of us expected that he would depart from the old system and govern with fairness but he did not. He has done well in provision of infrastructure but he has been lopsided so much that about 80% of his projects are sited in the two other zones, leaving the Southern Kaduna to its fate. There is no single project that he has completed in Southern Kaduna.

Sometime ago, the President commissioned a major road which we understand was running across the state

That’s the road dualization project leading from Ungwar Rimi junction to the centre of Kafanchan. He brought the President to commission that project but as I speak to you now, that road has still not been completed. Many believe it has been abandoned. That’s unlike the road projects in Zaria, Kaduna city and other parts of the state that are promptly completed.

The complaints have been consistent for some time and one would expect that your people in government should be voicing out these concerns. What is the position?

We have been doing our best but our representatives in government have been timid in voicing our concerns or dancing to the tunes of the people in power. El-Rufai has used our own people to work against the interests of Southern Kaduna. The most pathetic is that those we elected to represent us have all suddenly lost their voices or have been sucked into the system.

What are your chances considering that Labour Party has not featured in past electoral victories in this state?

 Well, let us not dwell in the past. The dynamics of politics in this state and across the entire country have changed substantially so much that many see the APC in Kaduna and at the federal level as opposition-in-waiting. The people are disappointed with the sub-human level under which they live today and the cloud of insecurity that hangs over every inch of the country. Talking specifically of Southern Kaduna, all the indices point to a paradigm shift in our electoral pattern. We have tested the two major political parties and found them to be two sides of same coin. Only the Labour Party and its presidential candidate Mallam Peter Obi promises something refreshing. To answer your question, Labour Party will do well in Kaduna State and I will be elected Senator for Zone III.

Considering the alleged neglect of the zone, what will the Labour Party do that present and previous governments did not do?

One thing you cannot take away from Mallam Peter Obi and his Vice-Presidential candidate is their sincerity. They are not deceptive. Besides, Datti Babba-Ahmed is from Kaduna State so he is quite conversant with our plight. He understands for instance, that Kafanchan which is the only major city in Southern Kaduna deserves urban renewal. That’s a city that is reputed as the centre of Nigeria where the major rail lines from the two Southern parts of Nigeria cross. There is no single government presence in the area; the State College of Education in Kafanchan is a glorified Secondary School and that is the major post-Secondary institution in the entire Southern kaduna.

There are other higher institutions…

Well, there is the School of Nursing which is also nothing to write home about, and we are talking of Kaduna State that has concentrated all the big centres of learning in the Northern part of the state. And we are all paying our taxes like the other zones; that’s not fair. The present flag bearer of APC in Kaduna, Uba Sani as Chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking and Finance in the 9th Senate secured a massive loan which Gov. El-Rufai deployed for infrastructural development of the other zones, to the exclusion of Southern Kaduna. Again, there was a N5 billion grant from the Central Bank Nigeria for upgrade of the Faculty of Science of the state’s University. Now because that Faculty was moved to Kafanchan by the late Governor, Patrick Yakowa, that money was never used for that Faculty, but diverted to other areas. Which kind of injustice is that? Now the same Uba Sani is the governorship candidate of the APC and he is asking us to vote for him.

Prior to aspiring for the Senate, what has you’re your antecedents as it concerns empowerment of the less privileged?

Since I started making money as a businessman, I have been involved in activities that alleviate the poverty in the area. Don’t forget a large population in the Southern Kaduna are either civil servants, farmers or retired civil servants with only a few involved in commercial or business activities. I connect with the people and I do my best and this is not because I am contesting for the Senate. Giving, especially to the women and the less privileged, has been my way of life long before politics. As at today, I have dozens of my constituents on my scholarship program and more will start soon. In the area of agriculture, I have bought 100 tractors for the rural farmers, not the big tractors but the manual one that costs about 2000 dollars. We are trying to lift our people.

Aside your disappointment with Governor El-Rufai, what is your assessment of the federal government’s presence in the area?

Southern Kaduna doesn’t have federal presence in whatever form. The only federal agency here is the Federal School of Statistics here in Kafanchan. One of my most important assignments when I get to the Senate will be to get the Federal Government to turn one of the institutions into a Federal University. As I speak, we don’t have a Federal Medical Centre that other areas as big as we are, take for granted. The Federal Medical Centre approved for us was moved to Rigasa, outside of Southern Kaduna. In case of big medical cases and emergencies, our people are on their own. I will insist that these diversions and neglect of Southern Kaduna be addressed.

Who is your role model in politics? Which one man or woman do you admire his sense of public service?

 I don’t have a godfather or political mentor, but I admire the courage of Senator Eyinnaya Abaribe. Politics to me is about service and the courage to ask for justice for the people you represent.  When the South-east as a whole was excluded from the list of projects to be executed with the loan that President Buhari was asking the Nigerian Senate to approve, Abaribe had the singlular courage to ask for justice for his people. At a time other Senators from the South-east lost their voice, he single handedly got the Federal Government to include the South East in that list. That courage I admire and it will underline my stay in the Senate because I will seek justice for all Nigerians and effectively represent my people in the Red Chamber

How realistic is the concept on Northern unity and how much of that do you agree with?

Northern unity has over the years been a rallying point for the Northerners, but it hardly holds anymore. The Middle Belt is increasingly pulling apart, same with the North East and the reason is because in that so-called Northern unity, there is inequity in both the allocation of resources and the access to political power. That is why the sermon by my leader, Mallam Peter Obi is catching on. People should choose their leaders on the basis of conviction and competence, not the deceptive mantra of so-called regional unity.