UBA SANI THE WORKAHOLIC GOVERNOR

 Uba Sani: Positioning Kaduna as agro-industrial giant

the workaholic Governor of Kaduna State takes his mission of restoring Kaduna State’s status as the political, economic and industrial mainstay of northern Nigeria very seriously. In fact, the Governor is taking this task several notches higher: he is working assiduously to position Kaduna as Nigeria’s agro-industrial giant.

The rise, or better still, the return of Kaduna State under Governor Uba Sani has been meteoric. By May 2023, when he assumed office, the state was a leader’s nightmare – fraught with problems that stem largely from insecurity, divisiveness among its peculiar ethno-religious mix, dilapidated public infrastructure including roads, schools, hospitals to name but a few. Kaduna was also in the throes of huge local and foreign debts and the resultant effects showed in the litany of abandoned projects, unmet commitments to contractors and labour unions.

But Governor Uba Sani, a renowned activist, has since proven to be a methodical administrator. His dexterity at managing and surmounting the complexities he inherited in Kaduna, in such a short period, remains confounding. Like a scientist, Uba Sani literally took Kaduna State to the laboratory and meticulously titrated and dissected the state’s problems. First, he audaciously took on the big elephant in the room, which was insecurity across the state.

Conscious of the fact that not much progress would be made in the great task of retooling and rebooting Kaduna, if the state remained notorious for banditry, kidnapping, ethno-religious tension and other forms of criminality, very early in his administration, Governor Uba Sani declared an all-out war against insecurity. Interestingly, the Governor adopted a multifaceted approach that deftly combined kinetic and non-kinetic approaches in rescuing Kaduna. Working very closely with the Office of the National Security Adviser, the Chief of Defence Staff and the leadership of the nation’s Armed Forces, the Police and other security agencies, all the 23 local government areas of the State quickly came into full radar and the requisite platforms and personnel were deployed to mitigate the activities of bandits, kidnappers and other criminal elements in the state.

But by far, the biggest weapon Governor Uba Sani deployed against insecurity in Kaduna State was inclusive, open and transparent governance. Being a true servant-leader, the energetic Governor found the need to directly and regularly relate with several strata of leaderships across the entire local government areas of the state. At regular stakeholders’ meetings he listened to the people and effectively communicated his vision and mission to them. He never failed to act decisively on feedbacks from these stakeholders’ meetings. For the first time, perhaps in a long while, citizens and residents of the state felt truly part of government. They were dealing with a Governor who was not barking orders at them or making unnecessary threats or generally grandstanding. They were dealing with a leader who saw himself as just one of them, a victim as well, hence the need to collectively talk things through. Governor Uba Sani, unlike previous Governors of the State, placed himself on the side of the people and viewed the state’s problems from the collective lens.

Having speedily earned the trust and buy-in of the populace, it was only a matter of time that uncommon unity of purpose was achieved in Kaduna with the citizens, irrespective of political, religious or ethnic persuasions, deciding to queue doggedly behind their conscientious and well-intentioned Governor, Senator Uba Sani.