Gov Nasiru El Rufai Transforms Kaduna Amidst Hues and Cry

By Ibrahim Dan-Halilu

One of the cardinal policies of the Nasiru Ahmed El Rufai’s administration in Kaduna State is the Urban renewal programme launched shortly after his re-election in 2019. Before then, the garrulous governor has embarked on mass demolition of houses and shops in Zaria, Kafanchan and Kaduna metropolis to recover encroached government lands for his projects.  The decision did not go down well with most of those affected and several community leaders. Many traders, artisans and informal sector operators have lost their means of livelihoods to this decision as they had no means of securing another alternative places to resume their businesses. 

While the fire of demolition crisis was raging, el Rufai ignited another with his mass sack of traditional rulers whom he claimed had become a huge financial burden to the state.  He further introduced a new screening agenda for teachers under the employ of the state and local government, which also claimed hundreds of victims who lost their jobs for their failure to pass his newly introduced assessment examination.  

He was on the verge of starting a third round of the mass sack wen the Nigeria Labour Congress mobilized its members nationwide to fight his arrogance and cut him down to size. The Federal Government through the Federal Ministry of Labour and Productivity intervened to save a national strike of workers by asking the governor to stay action until all due process is followed.

Despite the pressure and attacks on his administration, Governor el Rufai has achieved so much with his Urban Renewal Programme.  For one, no state in the North can boast of the kind of revenue profile that Kaduna has achieved in the last six years since he took over. He has introduced several changes to the land administration and urban development which have not only entrenched transparency and sanity in housing development and town planning and management, but also gave the internally generated revenue of the state a boost.  From a paltry N10 billion in 2015, Kaduna State generates over N200 billion in 2021.

Another area generating tension and bad blood for the administration of Governor ele Rufai is the recent increase in tuition for all the state tertiary institutions, which more than tripled. While el Rufai has defended the increase on his desire to raise the standard of education in the state and give students a value for their parents money, most parents believe that the decision was draconian as it has inflicted a huge burden on them amidst harsh economic realities of Nigeria where personal income of most people has remained static or even fallen.

With this revenue and external loan, Governor el Rufai has transformed Kaduna, the capital city, Kafanchan and Zaria into modern cities fitted with double lane road networks, street lightening, pedestrian bridges, and three linking overhead bridges that connect the major federal highways, Ahmadu Bello Way and Nnamdi Azikiwe Expressway. The Kawo Bridge is one of his major land mark achievements that has given Kaduna a new facelift, checked the heavy traffic hold up, and makes vehicular movement easier besides beautifying the environment.

Some may argue that the Urban Renewal Programme is being implemented with no human face. That could be true for some, but for many it’s one of the most ambitious project that balances the need of the people and greed of a few.  The residents of Rigasa, a Kaduna Satellite town and Unguwan Dosa will testify that they were adequately compensated before the governor moved bulldozers to site.  Today, their areas are wearing a new look as a result as the urban renewal programme that has brought new spacious and smooth roads to their communities. 

The Governor Nasiru el Rufai Administration means different thing to different people, but there is a consensus that Kaduna has never had the kind of construction works going on now. The last time something similar or near it happened was during the eight year tenure of Governor Ahmed Mohammed Makarfi who invested time and resources on rural roads, water supply and electrification projects that has given Kaduna the enviable position of being one of the top ten in bridging the gap of poverty indices in Nigeria.

While the Urban Renewal Programme claims many victims, generations to come will remember Governor Nasir EL Rufai as the Kemal Ataturk of Kaduna State whose tenure witnessed an unprecedented transformation of the state to the status of regional power that it was in the 1960s.