Has El-Rufai dropped the ball in Kaduna?

I’m a proud indigene of Kaduna State. Or at least, I used to be. Ironically, I never felt this way when the erstwhile PDP-led government was in power. This time, it’s one I voted for that has left me feeling utterly abandoned. I even told myself maybe I’m just a bit over-critical, but I looked over data, records of stuff that has happened since Governor Nasir El-Rufai was sworn in, and all I see are broken promises and unmet expectations. What irks so much is the fact that this is a man we know is a performer having proved it as FCT Minister before. His cabinet (or part of it anyway) showed promise, as it contained bright, accomplished youths poised to perform. Many, many months later and all we have seen are disappointment after disappointment. That’s why I have to say that while the issues I want to touch upon are numerous – and I confess to writing this on the fly – I’ve tried my best to capture most of the main areas I feel have more glaring problems.

Just before the PDP government left, it had awarded many contracts for urban roads. The work, of course, was unfinished or even un-started, for a while. Governor El-Rufai obviously enforced the continuation of the road work, and it began in earnest, only to halt once more. Half-done, dusty roads which will soon turn into muddy ones cover most of the city, and something needs to be done, fast. Also, the work honestly comes across as substandard, something the former FCT minister is not known for condoning. So what’s going on in Kaduna?

Just say ‘sale of government houses’ and tempers would flare up. Some of the civil servants, honestly, deserve a better deal. Not all of them are ‘evil’ as the joke goes. In fact, a great deal of them served – and are serving – the state diligently. Speaking of such, teachers seem to have gotten the rawest deal, with all kinds of mechanisms seeing them tortured, like the rumoured new retirement ages. After one has planned his/her life, then a state government arbitrarily slashes retirement age? Haba! How’s the deficit supposed to be handled? Is this the thanks they deserve? I could go on.

Then the gaping sore that is the security situation in Southern Kaduna. Even to a layman like myself, it’s obvious that a political solution is needed. Granted, the issue is complicated, with both ‘sides’ screaming blue murder. But that’s exactly why any governor worth his salt should make it a priority to fix things, and not allow rumour, hearsay and innuendo become the order of the day.

Infrastructure, too, is suffering. Not just roads, but schools and hospitals are still not at optimum operational levels. The one in Shika, honestly, is a joke, as patients even have to source for foolscap paper to be registered. They have to pay for stationery! Where on earth should that be allowed to happen? We should be spared this kind of embarrassment, and patients spared that kind of torture.

School feeding, too, has stopped, after being lauded across Nigeria. Why is this so? Does that mean it wasn’t well-planned? I would’ve thought someone as meticulous as El-Rufai would have everything under tight control. A brief visit to somewhere, say Rigasa, would show the teeming kids out of school, something the feeding programme was helping address. Still on schools, Kaduna needs to sit up, as well. There is a huge chasm in the sector, which needs filling up, by the governor, aided by an active education commissioner. I can’t harp on this enough.

Understand me, I’m simply a disappointed fan/supporter crying. We had so much hope in the man, even when PDP wailers where wailing to us not to give support. Now, they’re happily making fun of us. If there’s a problem somewhere, Mr. Governor, you should communicate with your citizens, make us understand why, and not allow rumour mills or inaccurate info take over.

Then there’s the thorny issue of Zak-Zaky, whose religious movement raises all sorts of questions. But is his continued incarceration the best way out? Can’t a different approach be taken? I have a lot to say on the issue, but they are mostly questions. Please, Mr. Governor, provide answers so that Kaduna citizens can sleep in peace.

Agreed, security is relatively better, thanks to the combined forces of the Army, Air Force, Police and Civil Defence Corps, and your commitment as the state’s chief security officer. However, same should be extended to Southern Kaduna, massively, to help the area return to peace. Not one to mention only bleakness, I’ll say I was impressed by the way the state government responded to the pocket of violence that erupted in Kabala West last week. It was swift and effective, both on the security side, and on the diplomatic side. If only such timeliness and sensitivity could be afforded to the areas I’ve lamented about in most of my article. One can wish, after all.

I began this article by saying I have lost pride in my state, Kaduna. I still feel that loss, and it’s deeper than ever before. However, I still feel hope. Hope that the governor – and his cabinet of commissioners – will wake up and visibly perform, to the benefit of all Kaduna citizens, and the nation at large.

Hamza wrote in from Ungwan Rimi, Kaduna.