Despite being a public holiday, BASHIR MOHAMMED writes that Governor Abdullahi Ganduje recently found time to roll out his score-card for the people who gave him the mandate to superintend over them.
For Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje of Kano state, Democracy Day celebration, is an opportunity for him to present his score-card to working journalists domiciled in Kano for them to be updated on what his government has been doing since assuming office in the last five years.
He came on board as he repeatedly said to serve the people with diligence, knowing that in an ideal democratic setting, leaders in respective positions of authority, always strive to live up to their billings for posterity to judge them at the end of the day and for the unborn to acknowledge.
With this year’s democracy day celebrated nationwide even-though low keyed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the governor saw the need to join his colleagues in the corridors of power who had effected a similar exercise at an interactive session with reporters, to showcase his scorecards. Here, he dwelt on issues relating to leadership and purposeful governance in a democratic setting on a case- by- case basis.
Having been paying good attention to the issue of critical infrastructure, Ganduje minced no words in telling reporters that his score-card on education, security, war against corruption, healthcare and others had been spectacularly marvellous for men of the pen-pushing profession to clearly discern what his government has been doing in propelling the lives of the people of Kano to greater heights.
It was however the contention of Governor Ganduje that no government would ever survive and stand the test of time without journalists considering the fact that they serve as a link between those calling the shots in the corridors of power and the governed.
To that extent, the famous Africa House became a mecca of some sort the day Governor Ganduje fed the working journalists with facts and figures of his stewardship in the last one year and by extension in all the years he had served in the saddle after assuming the mantle of leadership as elected governor of the state. Reopening suit against deposed Emir Sanusi II.
It was during his no-holds-barred response to questions asked by reporters at the special media parley that Ganduje disclosed his administration was considering fresh steps to ensure the prosecution of the deposed Emir of Kano, Alhaji Muhammadu Sanusi II, over alleged embezzlement of funds belonging to Kano Emirate Council while he was in saddle.
Ganduje stated unequivocally that there was no better time to re-open the can of worms than now.
He pointed that the state Public Complaints and Anti-graft Agency has been empowered by law to dig deep into allegations of shady deals level against any person no matter the status, stressing that the agency would swing into action following the striking out of the suit challenging the reform of traditional institutions in the state.
“I can now confirm to you that we have no pending legal issue in any court of law that prevents us from forging ahead with prosecuting the deposed monarch in court. The anti- graft agency is now at liberty to forge ahead. The reforms we are effecting in redesigning and repositioning our citadel of traditional authority are at an advanced stage.
“We have no legal obstacles on our way to actualising such far reaching reforms. we have created the new emirates with the aim of fostering speedy economic development. We have gone far in such a journey and we would never be stampeded into stopping what we have intended to achieve. This is our true position on this,” he affirmed.
On management of funds
Commenting on the on- going projects which he designed to add tonic to his quest for leadership by example and continuity in governance in the face of paucity of funds, Ganduje further stated that his government would heavily rely on Internally-generated revenue to fund the projects taking into cognisance the prevailing situation at hand.”We have relaxed the lockdown imposed on the state to some extent for business to re-open in full capacity. With time, we would lift the lockdown totally. What we are waiting for is the re-opening of inter-states borders by the federal government; once that is done, businesses would commence in earnest,” he remarked.
Insecurity
On insecurity in the northern part of the country, Ganduje further said the issue had been discussed at length by Northern Governors’ Forum, stressing that the federal government had demonstrated its unalloyed commitment in that regard.
“Here in Kano, we have made considerable inroad in checkmating the disturbing spate of armed banditry, most especially in Folgore Forest where a formidable training camp was built. Criminals like bandits, kidnappers, cattle-rustlers and other others using the forest to perpetuate their nefarious acts have been appreciably curtailed.
“I can tell everyone that the measures we put in place had paid-off. Kano is at present the most peaceful state in the country. We have created sustainable synergy with our security agencies in the state and the result has been a spectacular one. We are really proud of this stunning accomplishment and are ever ready to sustain the tempo,” he retorted.
Education
On education, Governor Ganduje stated that he is proud of his unalloyed commitment to sustaining the feat of free and compulsory education for out- of- school children in the state to be free from perpetual ignorance which could often lead them to committing crimes.
He said his government saw the need to integrate the Almajiris system of education into modern curriculum where Quranic and Islamiyya schools would be of a strategic advantage to the entire society.
Healthcare
With Covid-19 taking a toll on the nation, Ganduje said his administration took steps to ensure that adequate and sophisticated testing facilities were provided, while also equipping all isolation centres. He posited that with such measures, the alarming pace with which Covid-19 struck the state has been reduced to the barest minimum”Since I came on board, I considered healthcare as one of my administration’s major cardinal thrusts. We have spent a lot of resources in containing the widespread of so many killer diseases and offer maternal and antenatal care to thousands of pregnant women across all the 44 local council areas.
“Despite the biting fangs of Covid-19, we offered a short reprieve to our traders in their respective places of business. We have eased the lockdown to some extent to enable our major markets to operate in order to pave the way for our economic activities to thrive. This was affected with the caveat that people should observe safety guidelines spelled out by relevant medical experts.”
Curbing rape cases
On ways to curtail the disturbing spate of rape most especially of teenagers brought to his attention by the leadership of the National Association of Women Journalists, Kano chapter, Ganduje gave the assurance that his government would forward a bill to the state House of Assembly on death penalty earlier proposed, which if agreed, would finally be signed into law.”We have forwarded the proposal on death penalty to the state House of Assembly for its approval after which my signature would be appended. As parents, we are very much concerned about the high degree of irresponsibility being exhibited by those who have no iota of regard for human decency. Rape is an abominable crime where ever it is committed. My government would never fold its arms and allow such stupidity to continue.”
Reactions
The media parley undoubtedly elicited reactions from those who followed the proceedings live on radio and television sets by expressing their opinion and showered praise on the governor’s transformation agenda which sought to ginger the confidence of citizens of the state.
Reacting, a chieftain of All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kano, Alhaji Musa Danbirni, said he was not surprised by Governor Ganduje’s score-card, having known to have broken the jinx of discontinuing projects by predecessors due to certain ideological differences.
According to him, paying good attention to critical infrastructure would convince everyone, including the doubting Thomases that he had really come on board with a mission to make his mark on the political landscape of Kano state, using his masterstroke in making everyone to feel the positive impact of a purposeful leadership.
Speaking in a similar vein, a concerned citizen in the state, Malam Zubairu Dawaki, said Governor Ganduje has been spectacularly honest in all his policy action plan and what he is doing to make Kano extra-ordinary in the art of governance and leadership, stressing that using meagre financial resources to execute high profile projects is not a simple task.
