UBA SANI’S EXEMPLARY LEADERSHIP

The Kaduna State governor urges the north to stand up and be counted, writes  ADAMU ALIYU

Over a year as executive governor of Kaduna State, Uba Sani, perhaps faced the most difficult and daunting challenge of his administration – the #EndBadGovernance protest that started peacefully but ended in tears. Last Thursday, sour losers and fifth columnists infiltrated the protest and incited young children of impressionable age to attack

public infrastructure and law-abiding citizens of the state. A comrade who stoutly fought to restore democracy alongside other gallant pro-democracy campaigners, he understands the sanctity of protest as one of the key democratic tenets in a civil society. Sensing dangers and sinister plans of government detractors and disgruntled politicians, he appealed to the people of the state not to join the motley mob in derailing the peace the state has been enjoying in recent times.

Like a boy scout that is ever ready, the governor displayed unparalleled emotional intelligence and human empathy in the management of the skirmishes that erupted, and were promptly quelled by the security agencies. The governor saw beyond the misguided act of minors that were misled to attack law enforcement officers that were chaperoning the protesters and also to ensure that the peaceful exercise was not hijacked by thugs. Governor Sani frontally accused the sponsors of the youths and minors as the albatross of peace in Kaduna State. He said, “The protest was not the normal protest I expected. I led protests in Nigeria many times. The children that came out don’t even demand anything other than to break offices and attack police.

“I give a lot of credit to the police in Kaduna; they escorted the protesters, but unfortunately, it was hijacked.

“Some miscreants hijacked the protest, and as a result, a police officer was shot. The police were able to recover some live ammunition from the protesters.. After investigation, the report I received is that most of these miscreants that hijacked the protest used children between the ages of 15 and 17.

The governor while responding to questions on the Arise Prime Time News recently, looked at the remote causes of the problems that are plaguing northern Nigeria. He blamed the leadership of the north, including himself, in the last 15 years. Only a few leaders of northern extraction can be bold enough to speak truth to power, at a great political risk . He lamented the human, material and natural resources of the north,vis-a-vis the appalling human capital development indicators and the alarming poverty and under-development.

“If you look at the developmental indices, I made it clear to everyone that as far back as 2016 in the northwest part of Nigeria, there was nothing but kidnappings and banditry. It all started in 2017. We have found ourselves in this problem because of the lack of seriousness of the leaders, including myself.”

That is why, if you look at the protest today, most of the states that participated are from northern Nigeria. It is not because the north is against Tinubu and the

government but because those that hide to sponsor these gullible children.”

An attempt to heap the cause of misery of the

people on President Tinubu was resisted by the governor. He put the blame squarely on the failure of leadership at subnational level. He maintained that “the leaders in northern Nigeria must sit down to hold a series of human capital development summits.”

This position reiterated the highpoints of his engagements in a series of town hall and stakeholder meetings involving critical segments of the Kaduna stakeholders, including youths, women, traditional leaders, students, and artisans.

On what he has been doing to stem the pangs of hunger in the state, the governor said, “We signed an executive order to ensure we bring back about 2.5 million poor people in Kaduna State to financial services. As we speak, all of them are benefiting from government programmes and activities, and we are changing their lives. In the last year, we have reduced the deficits and improved the economic activities of people in the northern area.”

On the financial burden he inherited from the previous administration, Governor Sani admitted that servicing the huge debt has been a major challenge to development. He said, “Every year Kaduna State is paying N4.7 billion monthly as debt we inherited.. The first thing we did was cut the cost of governance. As we speak, no commissioner in Kaduna has gotten a new car, and even myself as governor. We have also built 62 secondary schools and 2,312 primary classrooms in Kaduna.”

Even when the protests turned violent, he maintained his calm and leadership while the security agencies clamped down on looters and arsonists who went on the rampage, torching government’s properties, private enterprises and public infrastructure. The ugly wave of seemingly insurrection was urgently tamed by the proactiveness of the governor who imposed curfew as the security agencies arrested enemies of the state who were clamouring for military takeover and purportedly pledging allegiance to Russia.

Throughout, the politically-motivated violent protest, the governor proved that indeed, he is a stabilising force in Kaduna State.

Aliyu writes from Kaduna