Let me first and foremost congratulate the Kaduna state governor-elect, Malam Uba Sani, for his victory in the March 18, gubernatorial election. On 29th May, like other governors-elect across the country, he will take an oath of office as Kaduna state governor. Malam Uba Sani will find a big shoe to fill. His predecessor, Governor Nasir El-Rufai, who spent eight years in power, has been in either bad or good news during his tenure.
Some of his policies such as retrenchment or rightsizing have generated mixed feelings in the state. It can be recalled that his first term witnessed the laying off of over 50,000 workers drawn from different ministries, departments and parastatals. Worst hit are the education sector and local governments which had the bulk of the casualties. While the El-Rufai administration has been able to construct many township roads in Kaduna, Zaria and Kafanchan under the urban renewal projects, it is believed that rural communities under his watch have suffered great neglect.
During a debate organised by British Broadcasting Commission (BBC), Hausa Service in preparation for the gubernatorial polls, three major contenders who were eyeing Sir Kashim Ibrahim House from the All Progressives Congress, APC, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and the New Nigeria People’s Party, NNPP bared their minds on what they would do if given the mandate by the electorate.
For instance, Uba Sani of the ruling APC, who wanted to succeed El-Rufai, did not see anything wrong in the retrenchment of primary school teachers who were considered incompetent and unfit for the jobs. He commended El-Rufai’s investment in education which resulted in excellent performances of the state in WAEC and NECO in the last five years. Uba Sani, now the governor-elect, backed his arguments with relevant statistics to convince his opponents and the general public.
However, both Isa Ashiru of the PDP and Suleiman Hunkuyi of the NNPP held different opinions. The duo chided the APC government for killing the education sector and promised to reverse the retrenchment policy. They vowed to review the policy and reinstate the teachers, if they come to power.
Despite the fact that, Malam Uba Sani supported Governor El-Rufai’s policies and programmes throughout the period in which the debate lasted, he admitted that El-Rufai was also a human being who could make mistakes. UBA Sani assured the good people of Kaduna state that, if elected, he would look into some of the governor’s policies with a view to discarding the wrong ones and sustaining the good ones.
With his victory in the election, the governor-elect, should strive to keep his promises after inauguration. The reforms carried out in primary education should be urgently reviewed. Many schools are still bedeviled by the dearth of teachers. The teachers who were recruited to replace the sacked ones seem grossly inadequate. This has seriously affected the development of education in the state. The governor-elect should scale up massive recruitment of teachers to augment or bridge the shortage of teachers in the state.
There is no gainsaying the fact that our major cities are wearing good looks through the urban renewal projects implemented by the Governor El-Rufai administration. The governor-elect should, this time around, prioritise rural development. The presence of government in the rural areas is not much feel or very minimal. The new government should ensure a paradigm shift from urban to rural renewal projects. This gesture will open up our rural communities and alleviate poverty among the rural dwellers.
Ibrahim Mustapha,
Pambegua,
Kaduna state
08169056963.