As President Muhammadu Buhari embarks on a two-day visit to Kano, his
\nstrongest political base this week, a simple question the Kano man or
\nwoman should answer for himself\/herself is: How well did you fare in
\ntwo years, six months after Muhammadu Buhari took power?
\nWhen Kano gave Muhammadu Buhari about two million votes, the highest by
\nany state that swept him into office in 2015, one issue had dominated
\nelection-time discourse, and still remained: Security.
\nA few morons who did not any way represent Islam, a religion of peace
\nhad launched a series of horrendous gun and bomb attacks on he city as
\nthey did on a number northern towns and villages.
\nNo where was safe in Kano. A place that was safe today, can be site of
\na deadly attack tomorrow. The police, the other security agencies and
\nthe general civilian bore the brunt of a large-scale insurgent
\noffensive. The security situation was intensely volatile.
\nMen and women leave home to fetch food for the children and later in
\nthe day, their dead bodies are brought back.
\nThe casualties mounted to dramatic levels. On a particular Friday in
\nFebruary 2012, Boko Haram launched a deadly attack on police and other
\nsecurity establishments leaving its trail, hundreds of deaths and
\nthousands with various degrees of injury. In December 2014, suicide
\nbombers and gunmen launched yet another deadly attack on the city
\nJuma\u2019at mosque killing 300, leaving hundreds of others injured.
\nKano residents, as did nearly everyone across the country had by 2015
\nlost confidence in the incompetent, corrupt Jonathan administration
\nwhich they said was not doing enough to protect them against Boko Hara.
\nNigerian soldiers with centuries old reputation for courage, valor and
\naccomplishment were starved of needed arms and ammunition. They
\nrecorded their first-ever failure to bring peace and stability.
\nIt is instructive to remind ourselves that the people didn\u2019t just fold
\ntheir arms doing nothing about their plight. Given that they had a
\ngovernment that failed to govern, in the circumstance, they did the
\nmost they could to overcome the life of fear and anxiety clamped upon
\nthem. They imposed security rules on themselves and listened to their
\nown instincts.
\nThey erected high blast protection walls and barbed wire around homes,
\ninstitutions and public places.
\nAfter years of murderous campaign by the terrorists, what everyone
\nwanted form Candidate Muhammadu Buhari was security first, security
\nsecond, security third, then economy and jobs and the fight against
\ncorruption which only a man with his credentials of impeccable personal
\nintegrity could wage. Group after group of voters promised him that if
\nonly you show us a plan for ending the dislocation and disruption of
\nour lives, we will give the kind of support that no others will give.
\nOn the day he assumed power, there and then on the inaugural Dias,
\nPresident Buhari began the war against terrorism and insecurity.
\nAfter billions of Naira sunk and thousands of the lives of our
\nservicemen and women lost, he has put he terrorists out of business,
\nalbeit a part of the mopping remains. Boko Haram designs for Kano and
\nas many other cities has come to naught.
\nPeace is back and the people are enjoying freedom all over again. This
\nfreedom and democracy is what people are expressing when they go on
\nradio and social media to say nothing has changed in their lives; that
\nnothing has been achieved.
\nPeace is back and people are no longer preoccupied with the fear of
\nwhen the next bomb attacks will happen.
\nThey are fighting over their favorite football teams. Our men and women
\nare squabbling over who is the best player.
\nIn the two-and-a-half years in office, the government of President
\nMuhammadu Buhari is putting Kano State through a revolution in the way
\nprojects are being assigned and executed.
\nKano, long one of the fastest growing economies in the country , had
\nbegun to lag in the years preceding Buhari due to problems occasioned
\nmainly by the acute shortage of power. Neighborhoods spent weeks
\nwithout electricity; factories sent workers home and shut down because
\nthey had no money to sustain production using diesel generators.
\nNow, things are getting better. The numerous projects put in place to
\nenhance power generation and transmission in particular are being
\nbrought to fruition. Records indicate that Kano today enjoys a daily
\ncumulative power supply of about 18 hours.
\nTo bring a permanent solution to the problem power epilepsy, the Buhari
\nadministration has been discussing the idea of of a contract for the
\nlaying of gas pipelines from Ajaokuta through Abuja and Kaduna to Kano.
\nThis should meet the needs of manufacturing industries as it has been
\nfor the coastal areas including Lagos and Ogun states industrial zones.
\nRoad projects that are ongoing include the following:
\n\u00b7 Dualisation of Kano- Maiduguri Road Section IV (Postikum \u2013
\nDamaturu) with over 58% now completed;
\n\u00b7 Dualisation of Kano \u2013 Katsina Road ( From Dawanau \u2013 Katsina)
\n\u00b7 Kano \u2013 Western Bye Pass
\n\u00b7 Rehabilitation of Saminaka \u2013 Doguwa Road; and Doguwa \u2013 Tiga Road
\nThe state of Abuja-Kaduna-Kano dual-carriage way which has attracted so
\nmuch public criticism is now receiving attention.
\nBut the President, it has reliably been gathered, has a different plan
\nfor the road. It is expected that in the course of this visit, he might
\nbe making a significant pronouncement on the future of this road.<\/p>\n
The Aviation sector has also given Kano good deal. Presently,
\nConstruction is ongoing of a new international terminal building at the
\nKano International Airport, as well as rehabilitation of car parks and
\nservice roads<\/p>\n
President Buhari just approved the construction of rail tracks
\nconnecting Kano to Maiduguri.
\nA brand new standard gauge rail line will connect Kano and Lagos. This
\nrailway development funded through partnership between Nigeria and
\nChina has delivered Kaduna-Abuja and the Lagos-Ibadan sector is under
\nconstruction, to be delivered by the end of the year 2018.
\nActually, Kano-Kaduna contract would have been signed months ago, but
\nwas postponed following Chinese, the funder\u2019s insistence that they
\nwanted to take Kano-Ibadan in one stretch.
\nKano, as to be expected, is one of the major beneficiaries of the
\nadministration\u2019s Social Investment Programs. Following successful
\nawareness creation among the state\u2019s large population of the unemployed
\nand the downward revision of the entry requirements to accommodate NCE
\nand Diploma certificates holders, Kano entered more than 80,000
\napplications for the current wave of N-Power recruits.
\nOn the Conditional Cash Transfers, Cash Transfer Facilitators have been
\ngiving orientation and training; State Cash Transfer Offices have
\nalready been set up in the state and enrollments have commenced from
\nthe 23rd of November. The payment of beneficiaries is expected to start
\nthis week, that is the first week of December.
\nThe Implementation of the Home Grown School Feeding Program is
\ncommencing soon. The month of December has been set as the target
\nmonth.
\nThe Government Enterprise and Empowerment Program, GEEP loans through
\nthe Bank of Industry are currently being received by traders, artisans
\nand small scale business men and women in the State. The special
\nintervention fund for textile manufacturers is already making possible
\nthe return of the industry in Kano and other states.<\/p>\n
Before I end this discourse, let me address an issue of frequent
\ninterest in radio talk shows in the city\u2019s vibrant broadcast industry.
\nHardly do you have a day without one hearing such claims as, \u201cwe gave
\nBuhari two million votes. That is the highest by anyone. What special
\nconsideration is he giving us?\u201d<\/p>\n
Although Kano appears to be well served from the litany of projects
\nillustrated here, and truly deserves even more, it is evident that
\ngovernment’s effort in developing the state, and indeed all parts of
\nthe country is driven by the party, APC\u2019s philosophy of integrated
\ndevelopment. Kano remains President Buhari\u2019s strongest political base.
\nThe President will however be the first to say he does not consider any
\ncommunity or state a vote bank. He will not treat any section or
\ncommunity as a vote bank because he is bent on pursuing a policy of
\ninclusiveness. If one part develops and the other lags, then the
\ncountry cannot be said to be truly on the path to sustainable
\ndevelopment.
\nInstead of treating parts of the country in any preferential way,
\nPresident Buhari has stuck to his themes of development and uplifting
\nthe poor and the marginalized , saying over and again that he belonged
\nto everyone and he belonged to no one. To that extent, the man at the
\nbottom of society would continue to be at the centre of development.<\/p>\n
The people of Kano should themselves grow out of the feeling that they
\nare tools or items of vote bank but a people who are just and fair to
\nthemselves and to others forming a part of the mainstream of
\ndevelopment; a people who want to be treated as equals and who do not
\nexpect or demand anything special, over and above what is due to them.<\/p>\n
Although this essentially is an official visit, millions of Kano people
\nwill turn up to see and listen to the President with decorum. And given
\nthe high level of political consciousness in the state, expect our
\npeople to sport Buhari masks, T-Shirts, banners and buntings saying \u201cwe
\nlove Buhari.\u201d Don\u2019t even rule out a shouting match between splinter
\ngroups. It is a way to show true love for the President.<\/p>\n
GARBA SHEHU
\nSSAP(Media and Publicity)
\nAbuja.
\n2-12-17.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
As President Muhammadu Buhari embarks on a two-day visit to Kano, his strongest political base this week, a simple question the Kano man or woman should answer for himself\/herself is:…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":38841,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-60375","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles-opinions"],"yoast_head":"\n