Kaduna: Is this the change we voted?

Kaduna State has been witnessing population explosion with no commensurate infrastructure development. The master plan of the once hitherto growing but serene state has been distorted by many years of negligence, over population and scattered shanties. The rural communities witnessed lack of government presence in all aspect of human development. The alarming rate of maternal […]

Kaduna State has been witnessing population explosion with no commensurate infrastructure development. The master plan of the once hitherto growing but serene state has been distorted by many years of negligence, over population and scattered shanties. The rural communities witnessed lack of government presence in all aspect of human development. The alarming rate of maternal mortality and poor standard of education were the order of the day. The previous administrations in the state did little or nothing to address the persistence problems of poverty and infrastructures deficit. 

Sixteen years of PDP in power must have transformed and turned the state into Eldorado of all sorts, but these donkey’s years have been wasted through outright diversion of resources meant for the development of the state.

With the 2015 general election which culminated and ushered into a new regime of change, many people are still skeptical on whether the state has departed from old order where rhetoric and poor performance were the norms or not? For those of us who yearned and massively voted for change, we cannot keep quite while the state is witnessing dramatic changes. Kaduna state, under the able leadership of Malam Nasiru Ahmed El-Rufa’i has been executing various policies and programmes aimed at uplifting the living standard of the people. Within two years at the helm of affairs, governor El-Rufa’i has embarked upon massive construction and expansion of township roads. The ever busiest Ahmadu Bello Way has been wearing a new look. 

In a bid to bring the age long Zaria water scarcity to an end, the abandoned Zaria water project has been re-awarded and contractors are working hard to finish it. If the project is completed, over one million population of Zaria residents would have water in their homes. The school feeding programmes introduced by the state government has greatly increased school enrolment and enriched the pupils with adequate nutrition. Under the pilot programs, thousands of house wives have been economically empowered. Youth empowerment has received the great attention it deserved. Within the period under review, the state government has recruited 3000 task force (KASTLEA) and 2000 science teachers. The state government has also finalised the recruitment of over 5000 young graduates into the state civil service. With these giant strides, the people of the state can shout loudly and tell whoever cares to listen that, this is the change we voted! 

Ibrahim Mustapha Pambegua, Kaduna State