Uba Sani’s 100 Days of Multi-Pronged, People-Oriented Policies in Kaduna State

As he marks his 100^th day in office, Kaduna State Governor Uba Sani has proven to be a leader with the interest of the masses at heart. The governor has taken great strides to ensure that the people of Kaduna State feel the impact of government.

His first 100 days in office has so far been marked by commissioning of numerous projects targeted at ensuring the wellbeing of the citizens of Kaduna.

The governor is using inclusive government as a highly effective tool to combat extreme poverty, banditry, and overall insecurity. Sani is unapologetic about his administration’s determination to have a direct influence on the vast majority of Kaduna State residents and citizens.

He deliberately distributes both political patronage and infrastructure development evenly throughout all of Kaduna State’s local government areas.

Even more significant, Governor Sani, who believes in recognizing and maximizing human potential, openly acknowledges that underdevelopment, poverty, and a lack of inclusion are the primary causes of the apparently insurmountable security issues Kaduna has faced over the years.

He plans to change the unfavourable narrative and current situation by bringing government to the state’s underserved, vulnerable, and impoverished youth and women population.

Sani, while speaking to the media recently said, “Our vision is to make Kaduna the Leading Economic Hub in the North. We want to create a business cluster that will drive competition in the Northern Region. Kaduna State is rich in natural and human resources.

“It is the gateway to many parts of Nigeria. It is a transportation hub. The immediate past government worked assiduously to upgrade the infrastructure in the state. We are determined to build on that legacy to fast-track the economic development of the state.”

EDUCATION (50% Reduction In Tertiary Fees, Construction Of 62 State Schools)

Since he got into power, Sani has made the education of children and those pursuing tertiary education a top priority, and as such, he has provided opportunities to make education accessible to those who need it.

Governor Sani has launched the construction of 62 new Junior Secondary Schools (JSS) and Senior Secondary Schools (SSS) in the state. He said the groundbreaking signaled the beginning of the building of 62 schools across the state in an effort to guarantee that “every child goes to school” as he laid the foundation for a senior secondary school in Nasarawa Rigachikun, Igabi local government area. The Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment (AGILE) project of the World Bank provided funding for this initiative in all 23 LGAs.

In addition, in a bid to ease the stress for university students in the state, Sani announced during a press conference, “In response to the public outcry over the current fees being charged by tertiary institutions in Kaduna State and its effect on school enrolment and retention, I have approved the downward review of school fees for tertiary institutions in the state.”

The institutions that had their fees reduced are as follows; Kaduna State University (KASU) – current fee: N150,000, reduced by 30% to N105,000; Nuhu Bamalli Polytechnic, current fee: N100,000, reduced by 50% to N50,000; College of Education, Gidan Waya, current fee: N75,000, reduced by 50% to N37,500; Shehu Idris College of Health Sciences & Technology, Makarfi – HND courses- current fee: N100,000 reduced by 30% to N70,000, ND Courses, current fee: N75,000 reduced by 30% to N52,000; and Kaduna State College of Nursing, current fee: N100,000 reduced by 30% to N70,000.

PALLIATIVES, EMPOWERMENT FOR LESS PRIVILEGED (Palliative Distribution, Housing Project For Vulnerable Families, Executive Order For Financial Inclusion Signed, Women Shelter Project)

Sani has shown himself to be passionate in alleviating poverty in the state. With this passion, Sani has commissioned projects and provided palliatives for the less privileged in order to uplift those who need help.

In order to do this, the Kaduna State Government has started a megacity with a housing project that would help 500,000 of the state’s impoverished and vulnerable residents. Under the Qatari-owned Sanabil Project, the Economic City project will be developed in collaboration with Qatar Construction Company.

Other empowerment initiatives from the Qatar Charity that will help the underprivileged and vulnerable in Kaduna State include scholarships for orphans and vulnerable children, distribution of sewing and welding equipment, irrigation pumping equipment, salon kits, and drilling hundreds of boreholes throughout the state’s 23 local governments.

Sani also announced the distribution of palliatives to 1,050,000 people, making 210,000 households, in order to cushion the effect of petrol subsidy removal for the vulnerable people in the state. He said, “We have agreed and decided collectively, with the support of all the unions, to buy 43,000 bags of 50kg rice at N1.935 million. The balance of N65 million will be used to support the logistics of PWDs, the widows and Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) that live in the camps in Kaduna.”

Sani then went on to sign an executive order for financial inclusion in the state to address the exclusion of about 2.1 million poor, underserved and vulnerable citizens in the rural areas from financial services in Kaduna State and to ensure they benefit from the State’s and Federal Government’s Social Intervention Programmes.

In addition to these, the governor also inaugurated the Women and Children Shelter, located at Katuru Road in Kaduna metropolis to provide accommodation and other services to victims of Gender Based Violence (GBV) and other abuses.

TRANSPORTATION AND ROAD CONSTRUCTION (Construction Project Of 32 Roads Covering 406km, Resuscitation Of Kaduna-Zaria Train)

Governor Sani has announced the construction of 32 roads in Kaduna State which will cover 406 kilometres so as to bring about easier movement in the state.

In the Igabi local government area, the governor has signaled the start of building of the 25-kilometer Rigachikun-Tami-Birnin-Yero rural road. He said that in the next days, he would begin breaking ground for the building of 31 more roads inside rural communities of all the local governments, saying that the road, once finished, would assist the transfer of agricultural goods from rural communities to metropolitan regions.

Additionally, he presided over the 21.7 km Anchau-Gadas-Palla route groundbreaking ceremony in the State’s Kubau and Ikara Local Government regions, stating that the route will link 32 communities in the two local government regions.

The governor has also revealed plans to resuscitate the locomotive train from Zaria to Kaduna in a bid to make for more affordable means of transportation. He said, “We shall make efforts to resuscitate the Locomotive Train from Zaria to Kaduna, and from Sabon Tasha to Kafanchan. The aim is to provide citizens with affordable means of transportation. To this end, the General Manager, Kaduna Line has been mandated to seek partnership with the Nigeria Railway Corporation through the Federal Ministry of Transport.”

HEALTH SERVICES (Provision Of Medical Mobile Trucks For The Vulnerable, Distribution Of Medical Equipment)

In order to serve communities that are hard to access, Senator Uba Sani has unveiled five medical mobile trucks that are outfitted with cutting-edge amenities. According to Sani, the mobile medical trucks would improve healthcare services and the survival and well-being of the populace.

Sani has also begun distributing medical supplies to 290 Primary Healthcare Centers in an effort to increase efficiency. The governor clarified that the initiative’s effects go beyond the provision of medical equipment and reaffirmed the administration’s commitment to making significant investments in the training of the healthcare personnel and the creation of environments that foster professional competence.

Sani also gave his approval for the Association of Resident Doctors employed by the Kaduna State Ministry of Health to fully adopt the 2014 Consolidated Medical Salary Scale (CONMESS). In order to fill the personnel shortage discovered in 2017, he also said that authorisation had been given for the continuation of the recruitment of 89 medical doctors.

INSECURITY (Recruitment Of 7,000 Vigilantes To Combat Vandals)

Sani has visited the service chiefs of the nation’s armed forces since his assumption of office to assure them of Kaduna State’s complete assistance in the battle against bandits and criminals there. He said, “My administration shall work very closely with the nation’s military and other security agencies in our collective efforts to rid the State of bandits and criminals. We are even prepared to fund some of their operations in our state within the little resources available to us.”

Governor Uba Sani has stated that his administration decided to recruit 7,000 personnel into the State Vigilante Service (KADVS) in order to make up for the lack of personnel needed to combat the threat of banditry and other criminal activities in Kaduna State. As a result, bandits would no longer have a safe haven in the state. The number of employees working for the Service increased from 2,000 to 9,000 as a result of this recruiting.

Ozioma Samuel-Ugwuezi