Kaduna state Governor Uba Sani is using the gains of the fuel subsidy removal by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for the development of the people of the state, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Mr Bayo Onanuga, has said.
He spoke recently in Kaduna, Kaduna state, while welcoming visiting journalists on a tour of the federal government projects in the Northwest region of the country.
“Your Excellency, with your kind permission… What we saw earlier, we saw only a tip of the iceberg. And sitting here for about 5 hours, watching all these videos about what the government has done in the last 3 years to make it possible. I am not really surprised at anything about what you have done. Governor Uba Sani has a history as a human rights activist, as a fighter for democracy, as everything. And what he has demonstrated, what we have seen today, is that he was not just an arms chair critic. He has shown that given the opportunity, he will walk the talk. He will do those things that he has been talking about, that he has been assessing those who were in authorities before him, that they should do.
“And I am really, I am very, very impressed. I am surprised that in Kaduna, for decades, two decades or so, some communities did not have roads. I noticed one of the communities, Kafanchan, for instance, where I have a driver from Kaduna. He always tells me that during the tenure of the former governor, that the entire Kaduna South was abandoned. What I have seen here is a different narrative. That Governor Uba Sani is showing up every year, is developing every part of the state. And I think the governor deserves a big round of applause. And I think also Mr. President deserves a big round of applause.
“I said so because, you know, when President Bola Ahmed came in, there were two things he did. Very quickly, from day one, he removed subsidies. He said, no, there is no dollar subsidised foreign exchange. And Naira should be triggered openly, and so on. And what he did was he freed the resources and states are getting more money. And that’s the money we are seeing in Kaduna . I think when I go to Abuja, I will go to the President and say, Mr. President, that money you are giving to the state, I have seen them in action. That money is in action in Kaduna. And I think in this state, the governor has done everything that a governor can do. And I am really, really very, very impressed about the achievements he has done in just three years. And I imagine what he would do if the people of Kaduna, and I have no doubt that he would, if they gave him a second term, when he would be elected to the state,” said the residential spokesman.
Onanuga said the collaboration of both the federal and state governments is what the tour is out to achieve and showcased to the people.
“The federal government doing its own show, and the state is doing its own show. Those are the things we set out to see. We said, let’s go out, let’s go on a show, let’s see what the President has done in the past three years, and what the state has done,” he added.
While referring to the well-paved 35-kilometer Gadan Gayan–Gwaraji–Kujama Junction Road, linking Gadan Gayan to Maraban Kujama, the president’s spokesman said he had thought it was one of the federal government projects.
“I was telling my colleagues and I said, this must be a federal road. I didn’t know it was a state road, because the road was so good. And the Commissioner for Information Management told us, this is a state road. I could not believe it. You are doing very well. And I hope you will continue to do well. Don’t rest on your oars.. Continue to do more and more for Kaduna state.
“And I can also attest to what I just saw now, that in Kaduna state, I saw your Director-General of the Kaduna State Schools Qulaity Assurance Authority. It’s good you are being creative. it’s something to be expected from our government. The government can do it in a better way, try to do a lot of things, create some models that other states should follow,” he said.
