The Ahmadu Bello Memorial Foundation organised two-day interactive session on government-citizens engagement with the theme: Assessing electoral promises, fostering government-citizens engagement for national unity.
Two years into the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration, the session aimed to evaluate the progress made on the president’s electoral promises, deepen government-citizen engagement, and promote a clearer understanding of the administration’s policies and programmes.
The engagement was a litmus test for measuring the federal government’s responsiveness to the Northern region’s socio-economic and security challenges. The interactive session, which was held at the Arewa House Kaduna, featured various stakeholders, including civil society organisations, religious leaders and socio-cultural groups.
Federal officeholders of northern extraction were present and presented the true picture of the government’s policy direction. They fielded questions and assured the participants of more government’s policies and programmes geared towards the development of Northern Nigeria and the country at large.
Let me first and foremost commend the organisers of the interactive and very educative session for drawing the attention of government on the myriad of problems affecting the Northern region and engaging government officials on what government is doing to tackle the challenges.
Indeed, the organisers deserve a pat on the back. While various stakeholders’ meetings had organised by the Sardauna Memorial Foundation in the past, leading to the discussion of a wide range of challenges bedeviling the North, the recent event was unique.
The interactive session, for the first time in our democratic journey, attracted top government officials to actively engage citizens about government’s performances, particularly in the last two years.
Though, it is too early to assess the performance of this administration which is barely two years in power, President Tinubu has submitted himself to Nigerians for a fair assessment. This is the beauty of democracy which gives room for accountability.
No wonder, the just-concluded interactive session afforded Tinubu’s appointees who hail from the North the opportunity to reel out data on various projects and programmes initiated and implemented by the Tinubu administration.
However, the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Alhaji Bashir M. Dalhatu, expressed deep concerns over what he described as growing the marginalisation of Northern Nigeria under the Tinubu administration.
He cited critical areas of neglect such as insecurity, agriculture, transport infrastructure, power supply, education, healthcare, and the abandonment of strategic projects like the Ajaokuta Steel plant and Kolmani oil exploration.
Dalhatu called for improved communication between the federal government and the North, recommending that the interactive session should evolve into a standing ACF-FGN Contact Committee as earlier suggested by President Tinubu.
The host governor, Uba Sani, declared that Tinubu has remained committed to fulfilling his electoral promises to the North, especially in the areas of security, education, health, infrastructure, and economic inclusion.
Governor Sani highlighted massive strides under the Tinubu administration, including support in tackling Kaduna’s security crisis, revitalisation of healthcare and education, and major infrastructure projects like the Sokoto–Badagry Superhighway and Kaduna–Kano rail line among many others.
On his part, the National Security Adviser (NSA), Malam Nuhu Ribadu, attributed the successes recorded in the fight against insecurity to President Tinubu’s directive to security agencies on a unified security approach. Banditry and communal conflicts in the North have reduced drastically in the last two years of the Tinubu administration, compared to what the situation previously.
Many speakers highlighted the significant strides of the Tinubu administration. They appealed for patience as government strives to roll out more policies and programmes for the development of the region and the country in general.
The interactive session has opened up government-citizens engagements. Government should encourage more interactive sessions with relevant stakeholders. This will help provide detailed information about its policies and programmes, get feedbacks from citizens and above all establish mutual trust.