Kaduna State Governor, Uba Sani has disclosed that his administration has been succeeding in building human capital and bridging the infrastructural deficit in the State because he runs an open government.
The Governor also said that he promised to deepen citizen engagement by reaching out to all the relevant stakeholders in Kaduna State, when he assumed office.
He made this known when members of the Kaduna Elders Forum, led by Co-Chairman Alhaji Abubakar Mustapha, paid him a sallah homage at Sir Kashim Ibrahim House on Sunday .
Governor Uba Sani thanked members for their support, noting that ‘’you have not failed us since when we called on you to work with our government, by giving us advice and making inputs, because of your vast experiences.’’
Describing the forum as one of the most important groups that has been supporting his administration, the Governor thanked the members, especially the Co-Chairmen, Alhaji Abubakar Mustapha and retired General Zamani Lekwot.
According to him, the members of the forum comprise retired civil servants, people who have worked in the security service, former diplomats, personalities who have held political appointments at state and federal levels.
The Governor noted that his administration is leveraging ‘’these experiences to move our state forward,’’ adding that ‘’without your support, we wouldn’t have addressed the issue of insecurity as easy as we have done.’’
‘’Apart from that, we have invested so much in agriculture, infrastructural development, in healthcare and education as well as social intervention, we also believe in expanding our area of support, particularly in the area of social intervention,’’ he added.
The Governor recalled that ‘’when we came in, there was a huge infrastructural deficit, particularly in the gap between the rural and urban local governments.
‘’That is why out of the 79 road projects that we flagged off, today I am proud that we have completed 26 roads in Kaduna State, 60% of which are the rural local governments,’’ he disclosed.
Governor Uba Sani also said that ‘’out of the 32 General Hospitals that we have, only two were functioning up to standard when we came in. The rest were completely dilapidated. They lacked equipment.
‘’ But today, I am happy to say that we have embarked on renovating, equipping and remoldeling 15 out of 32 of them. And only last week, we were able to commission five out of the 15 and in the next two to three weeks, by the Grace of God, we will complete at least nine more,’’ he promised.
The Governor said that his administration wants people to have access to good healthcare, adding that ‘’healthcare is a fundamental human right and not a privilege, particularly for the downtrodden, the vulnerable and the under served.’’
‘’That is why I am proud to say that as of today, only Kaduna State has lifted its PHCs from Level 1 to Level 2, numbering about 250. That is why three months ago, Kaduna State Government was able to win the award as the best state in the North West in Primary Health Care, we got about $500,000 reward by the Federal Ministry of Health,’’ he added.
The Governor also said that his Government has given Agriculture priority in the last two years because it contributes 43% of the state’s Gross Domestic Product(GDP) and employs 60% of its workforce
‘’When we came in as a state, we realised that in the previous budget, only about N1.4 billion was budgeted for agriculture. We decided that it is urgent and critical for us to increase the budget.
‘’ As we are speaking, we have reached the Malabo Declaration of ensuring that at least 10% of the total budget is earmarked for agriculture. Today in Kaduna state, we have budgeted over N84 billion in agriculture, meeting the Malabo benchmark,’’ he added.
On education, Governor Uba Sani noted that it is the ‘’ key to the development of our state because it is a leveller. The children of the poor must be well educated in order to compete with everyone. ‘’
‘’In two years, we built additional 62 secondary schools. We built over 2,340 primary school classes. We have recruited more teachers, trained them and ensured that our schools are supplied with basic facilities,’’ he added.
Speaking earlier, the Co-Chairman of the Forum, Alhaji Abubakar Mustapha commended Governor Uba Sani for ‘’making Kaduna State a shining example of ethno-religious harmony.’’
He noted that Kaduna State is now experiencing real democracy as against dictatorship of the past, due to the Governor’s style of leadership and personality.
According to the Co-Chairman, the Forum supports Governor Uba Sani because he is a leader who achieves whatever he is focused on, adding that he has touched the lives of the people in the area of education, agriculture, healthcare and infrastructural development.
Other members of the Kaduna Elders Forum delegation included Ambassador Sule Buba, Dr Yusuf Bature Aliyu and Bawa Sani, Yariman Marwa. Others are Alhaji Abubakar Musa Soba, Chief Peter Buba, Hon Danbaba Chiroman Kwasam and Alhaji Rabiu Bako. The rest are Mr Habila Dogo and Prof Matoh Dogara.

THE SUN NEWSPAPER