Kaduna Sustain Project: The man and the manifest, by Sani Abdulrazak
The sluice gates of our antsy political cumulus are now well and truly open, there is invariably deafening noise as anticipation builds, with politicians canvassing for votes while the electorates calmly read and sometimes hear the plans these politicians have should they eventually be victorious. This is indeed a very crucial period in our history, one that we hope will further strengthen our democratic process and bring about good governance.
These politicians reel out their manifesto for public consumption, it is like a salmagundi of the intentions, views, justifications and all a politician aims to achieve within the constitutionally backed timeframe in power, and should the electorates vote for him, it becomes a debt that he must pay.
There would be, one imagines olla podrida of tongues debating each manifesto, with analysts seemingly scrutinizing every line in granular details, but of greater importance is the ability of politicians to actualize their manifesto when they get to the office, this is a worrying aspect of our electoral journey. Politicians become bereft of ideas on how to implement their own manifesto, finding excuses for their ineptitude thereby resulting in the lack of trust we are experiencing between leaders and the masses. Gladly though, some progressive politicians are changing the narrative.
One of such is Senator Uba Sani, the Senator representing Kaduna Central at the house of assembly and the Kaduna state gubernatorial candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the upcoming 2023 general elections. But who is the man Senator Uba Sani?
He is a man that has recreated himself in others, a proverbial Lannister of our time that has paid his debt in full within his first year in office. A man who has given his constituency an elixir of even marginal development. A leader who has written his name in the sands of time, one his people consider a Sui generis. He is synonymous with putting forward an effectively planned and heedfully written manifesto when he ran for the senate in 2019, and exceedingly delivered on his manifesto in just his first year in office. He is arguably the best legislator of the 9th Assembly. It is not surprising the nervousness that greeted the launch of his manifesto, Sustain Kaduna Project, recently, and he didn’t disappoint. But what is the manifesto all about?
There is no doubt, and nor should there be that the Sustain Kaduna Project will be thrillingly exceptional. But more importantly and crucial to our understanding of the manifesto is the belief that he has what it takes to deliver as he has done so thrillingly, and also how antsy the people get wanting to see how well it will be put to action like he has done so marvellously in the past. Sustain Kaduna Project is seeking the mandate to sustain the successes of the present administration and continue to improve the quality of life of the people of Kaduna state through security and safety, upgrade of infrastructure, strengthening of institutions, trade and investment, agriculture, investment in human capital and nurturing citizens engagement. The project aspires to build on the accomplishments of the past eight years in the state in order to make Kaduna synonymous with business and innovation, create jobs, position Kaduna as a major ICT hub and establish its tertiary hospitals as places of medical excellence.
In the areas of security, law and order, the project intends to support further in technology to aid law enforcement and strengthen the vigilante service as complementary efforts. It also chooses to deepen local intelligence gathering and launch a security trust fund among others. Furthermore, the project plans to consolidate and continue the unprecedented infrastructure upgrade program of the 2015-2023 APC government to enhance public welfare and accelerate economic growth through sustaining the comprehensive renewal and regeneration of infrastructure begun by the El-rufai administration.
Senator Uba Sani believes in a public service system with qualified and motivated staff, is efficient in promoting good governance and delivering exceptional public service for growth, therefore, his project intends to sustain such growth through the support of such public service machinery. Similarly, Kaduna State is now a dominant hub for investment and commerce in Nigeria and Senator Uba Sani intends to sustain such conditions for economic diversity. In the areas of agriculture, ensuring food security by encouraging investment in food production and processing, and manufacturing of agricultural implements in Kaduna State will be his priority when voted into power.
The Kaduna APC is devoted to building and empowering people for development and prosperity. People are believed to be the resource that creates, develops or transforms all the resources that make civilized existence possible. A progressive commitment to the promotion of equal opportunity for all persons has been a critical governance feature in Kaduna State since 2015. This has manifested in a steady commitment to expand access to Education and Health, two key sectors which together have consistently taken the largest chunk of budgetary allocations. Senator Uba Sani’s Sustain Kaduna Project intends to nurture such giant strides going forward.
Senator Uba Sani will continue to build, strengthen and nurture a beneficial relationship between government and communities through effective engagement with communities for equity, responsiveness, collaboration and accountability.
There is a cavernous gap in capacity and leadership qualities between distinguished Senator Uba Sani and other contenders’, a chasm that is visible for all to see and keeps getting clearer as we approach the polls. It is getting harder to find the superlatives to describe the man Senator Uba Sani, and now the manifesto, the Sustain Kaduna Project. You read with cringe how his opponent are busy building castles in the air, but as the old cliché goes, data is a stubborn fact and numbers don’t lie. We thought Senator Uba Sani would have a contest, but what can be seen rather fairly now as a conquest will be an inevitable victory at the polls.
Sani Abdulrazak, the author of The Adventure of Ayya, is a Senior Technologist at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria and a member of the Directorate of Student Matters, Kaduna State APC Campaign Council. He can be reached via email at sazzak175@gmail.com.
