BY SIMON REEF MUSA
When the former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mallam Nasir Ahmed el-Rufai, was inaugurated as Kaduna Governor on May 29, 2015, the hopelessness that once enthralled the state seemed to have fizzled out momentarily. There was renewed hope for a bright future as Kaduna citizens were set to experience a new dawn. Though the newly sworn-in governor was known in some quarters as possessing the capacity to walk his talk, some people warned cheerleaders of the then new government never to be too hopeful of el-Rufai’s promises.
Most worrisome was the deep hole of crippling foreign loans accumulated by the state that was $234 million. For a state known for its many collapsed industries that once provided job opportunities and enhanced the profile of internally generated revenue, the prospects for recovery were far-fetched and undreamed-of. As the state seemed trapped in the mud of despondency, the man bearing a new message of hope, also known as Mr. Demolition; a sobriquet he acquired while destroying illegal structures in Abuja, never faltered in reminding the electorate of a new tomorrow.
Lamenting on the state of affairs in Nigeria, especially Kaduna State, Governor el-Rufai had painted a picture of a country struggling to survive the hardship foisted by so-called democratic leaders he described as rogues, thieves and pickpockets: “For far too long, our country has been a place where hope goes to die, where the future has been stolen from our children, where our leaders have commandeered our resources largely for their own personal enjoyment, and where grinding poverty has become a fact of daily life for nearly all our people.
“Our state is no exception. Kaduna State is in a difficult situation. As soon as we have all the facts in coming weeks, we shall lay bare to you just how deep a hole we have dug ourselves in the past several years. But this much we already know. Our finances are in shambles. Kaduna is the second most indebted state in our country. Our state is staggering under the weight of billions of naira in debt and other liabilities. As we all know, merely by walking the streets or seeing our neighbors every day, the state of our state is abysmal. Our schools and hospitals, our roads and bridges, our villages, towns and cities, all are markers of backwardness.
“Too many of our children are hungry and in rags and in the street. Our society is divided along religious and ethnic lines. Worse still, our state cannot stand on its own feet. We have become a state of beggars, a condition of dependency that is an affront to our dignity and our humanity.”
The then new governor did not only give optimism to distraught citizens in May 2015, he provided a template of what the people should expect even as the new administration was too eager to end the bitter tale of miserable embitterment ripping across the state. Apart from threatening to bring to justice those responsible for the collective doom of the state, the former FCT Minister outlined the basis upon which his government should be assessed, noting that his government was irrevocably committed to the entrenchment of fairness to all groups across ethnic and religious divides.
Nearly seven years after, how far has Governor el-Rufai gone in turning away the darkness of the past and enthroning a new hope for the future? Have Kaduna citizens fared better under his government than under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) led by Alhaji Mukhtar Ramalan Yero who was famous in adorning the streets of Kaduna with his posters?
Certainly, if the past seven years are anything to go by, the road to hope for citizens of Kaduna could turn out to be a long and tedious journey. The Debt Management Office (DMO) has released the level of indebtedness of all the 36 states, including the FCT. From the rating, Kaduna under el-Rufai is now the second most indebted state in Nigeria with foreign loans totalling over $560 million. The indebtedness level of foreign debt owed by Kaduna State was increased last year by the World Bank loan of $350 million through the approval of the National Assembly. The intrigues that trailed the approval of the loan had frustrated the comeback bid of Senators Suleiman Othman Hunkuyi and Shehu Sani in 2019. With Senator Uba Sani defeating his opponent that is famous for social media taunts, the approval of the loan sailed through without a grumble.
Groaning in 2015 after his inauguration as governor, the former privatisation czar had also noted: “We cannot comfortably pay salaries of our teachers and nurses and civil servants. And after struggling to pay salaries, we can do little else. We cannot fix the schools, help our farmers, repair our roads, or treat the sick. We have arrived at a dead end. The patient is sick, and it needs radical therapy. Are we to have a government that exists solely to pay the salaries of political office holders and public servants, or would we prefer a state that devotes the bulk of its resources to providing decent schools, health facilities and roads, using the public servants as responsible instruments for delivery of the services that our people so urgently need?
“Can we neglect to raise the proportion of our state budget going for capital projects, thereby preferring investments over consumption? Do the resources of the state not belong to all its citizens, rather than for the pleasures of a few? I say to you today, my fellow citizens of Kaduna State, that the time has come for us to face up to our responsibilities as citizens. We must make many difficult decisions. We have no choice but to postpone immediate gratification and sacrifice the fleeting comforts of today for a better future for our children. This is what change means. You have spoken loud and clear that the time is now to stop the madness, and to live up to our fullest potential as human beings in the 21st Century.”
Promising to deliver justice to all citizens of the state, el-Rufai had solemnly promised: “We pledge to you today to focus on jobs, security, education, and healthcare. We made these promises to you during the campaign, and we fully intend to fulfill them. Insecurity is an obstacle to progress. Too many of our communities have suffered from communal violence, cattle-rustling and armed robbery. We will work with law enforcement officials to drastically reduce violent crime. We will reform the administration of justice to ensure speedy conclusion of cases and send a clear message that there will be sanctions for unlawful conduct.
“As we seek to insure the safety of life and limb, so also must we nurture the mind. It may be a cliché that our children are our future, but that does not make it any less true. We will embark on school reform so that even poor children stand a chance to make a better life. To that end, the government you have asked me to lead will guarantee free and compulsory basic education for every child up to JS3, regardless of gender, religion or ethnicity. We have to return to these fundamental values.
“Without education I will not be standing before you today, a poor boy from a hardscrabble village who lost his father at a young age but who nevertheless got the opportunity of a decent education, which took me from a village school to Barewa College to Ahmadu Bello University and ultimately to Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in the United States of America.”
As it stands, the promise to resolve security challenges bedeviling the state is yet to be realised. Kidnappings and other crimes are still rampant as defenceless citizens have been cold-bloodedly murdered in Zangon Kataf, Birnin Gwari, Giwa LGAs, among others, by brigands. Unqualified teachers may have been shown the way out of the system, but some of the schools are still without science teachers. Salaries of state workers are subjected to a rhythm of uncertainties.
Hundreds of state retired workers are yet to be paid their gratuities, with some dying without receiving their rightful entitlements. Those unlucky to be alive are subjected to endless quarterly verifications to ascertain if they are still alive. The cost of medical healthcare in public hospitals is out of reach for the commoners. Hike in school fees in public schools has foreclosed the hope of the promised quality education and destruction of shops and markets has thrown many street traders into a vast ocean of disillusionment.
The hope of yesterday has been turned into a blistering blight of the present. The footprints of el-Rufai in the corridor of power have clearly shown that there is a remarkable difference between promises and the arduous task of fulfilling the same. With opposition elements unable to provide an alternative option, democracy in the state is fast becoming a sham.
As Kaduna people await the expiration of this government in May 2023, not a few are of the view that the man who shall come after el-Rufai in 2023 shall be inundated with the daunting task of returning the state to pre-2015 period. Kaduna State stands in a threshold of a new challenge that cannot be realised on negative partisanship. Strategic thinking by the political class must commence now in order to rescue and resolve the intractable challenges created by el-Rufai’s conundrum.
