Re: Letter to Governor Ganduje

One Inusa Ahmed Kabo, a resident of Zaria, wrote an “Open letter to Governor Ganduje,” which was published recently. In his letter, he reminded Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje of the ongoing construction of Janguza-Durum-Kabo-Karaye road. Inusa misinformed the public that the road project was awarded by the Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso administration. He also claimed that the road which was mentioned in the 2017 budget has been lying abandoned despite the money approved for the award of the contract. I am, however, surprised that Inusa cannot differentiate between abandoned project and ongoing project, because currently, contractors are on site working on the project.
Inusa, an indigene of Kano state and a Nigerian citizen, has every right to draw the attention of Governor Ganduje to issues such as this, especially, when it concerns to the welfare of the people which the governor has sworn to protect at all times. But Inusa’s letter on the road project is not correct. If Inusa is not being mischievous, he might have been flying the kite of one big man whose concern is to misinform the public through misrepresentation of facts, with the sole aim of discrediting the good work Governor Ganduje is doing in Kano state.
To put the records straight, the road project in question is an eight-kilometre road awarded in March, 2009, by the Governor Ibrahim Shekarau administration. In fact, Kwankwaso refused to complete the road project when he assumed office in 2011. Kwankwaso, in his usual manner, abandoned that project. It is on record that Kwankwaso, in his eight years as governor of Kano state, did not touch any inherited uncompleted project, right from the era of the first military governor of Kano state, Audu Bako.
Records also show that the number of projects awarded and abandoned by Engr. Kwankwaso are far greater than the number of projects he completed in his two-term as governor of Kano state. It might interest Inusa if I recall a number of abandoned and uncompleted projects by Kwankwaso such as Yahaya Gusau road, Wuju-Wuju road, Dakata Bella road, New Road (phase one) in Sabon Gari, Murtala Mohammed Way Fly-Over, Kabuga Fly-Over, Prince Abubakar Audu Fly-Over, to mention but a few. Most of these projects have been completed by Governor Ganduje.
There is also a major project he initiated with so much hype, but abandoned-the five-kilometre roads in each of the 44 local government areas with minimum contract cost of over N1.2 billion. The Ganduje administration has so far, completed the five-kilometre roads in over 15 local government areas.
Governor Ganduje remains an astute administrator who has demonstrated commitment in delivering democratic dividends to the people without personalising his achievements. This explains why in his inaugural speech in 2015, Ganduje made it clear to the good people of Kano state that he has stepped in to run a government of continuity.
He promised to fine-tune certain policies and come up with innovations in the system of governance-and this he has been doing to the betterment of the good people of Kano state.
If Inusa’s intention of writing the letter to Governor Ganduje is genuine, one wonders why he could assume that the project which contractors are currently working on is abandoned! The very road project, currently being handled by Tec Engineering (Nig) Ltd with AG & Partners as consultant, has been expanded by Governor Ganduje, with three additional bridges, including provision of piling, precast parapet walls, concrete walkaway, drain pipe, and provision of approach roads. The scope of work also includes construction of pipe culverts, construction of box culverts and replacement of surface dressing on carriageway with asphalt concrete wearing course, among other modifications.
In view of the compelling need to upgrade the project to a befitting status, it was subsequently revised at the beginning of Ganduje administration, replacing the two-coat surface dressing with asphaltic concrete wearing course. Considering the importance of the road to the socio-economic activities of Rogo, Karaye, Kabo, Rimin Gado and Gwarzo local government areas, Ganduje has continued to show concern on the project. In fact, he has ensured that the contractors are fully mobilized and work is ongoing, as the contractors have promised to meet completion timeline.
So, for people like Inusa and his paymasters to deceive the public that the road has been abandoned attests to the fact that Governor Ganduje has been performing so well that his detractors no longer have any issue to hold against him. On this note, I advise Inusa to cross-check his facts. He is free at any time to visit the site and assess the level of work going on there.

Malam Muhammad Garba,
Commissioner for Information,
Youths and Culture, Kano state

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