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Tag: Kwankwaso

  • Amaechi won’t drop NGF mandate, says Kwankwaso

    Amaechi won’t drop NGF mandate, says Kwankwaso

    Kano State Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso yesterday joined the bitter row over the Nigerian Governors Forum(NGF) leadership saying, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi will not surrender his mandate.

    He also said the PDP leadership has refused to convene the party’s National Executive Committee to look into members’ complaints.

    Kwankwaso, who spoke with a group of reporters at the Kano Governor’s Lodge in Abuja, said the G-19 voted for Amaechi after obtaining a commitment from him that he would not give up under any circumstance.

    “This party belongs to all of us, it does not belong to the governors; it doesn’t belong to president or it doesn’t belong to the party chairman; it doesn’t belong to anybody.

    “We have invested so much in this party, I don’t think any governor is thinking of leaving this party but if you are suspended, dismissed or expelled, of course there are no options.

    “That is why we are saying, and I can assure you, all the governors who voted for Amaechi consider this suspension as suspension to all of us; not to Amaechi, not to Governor of Sokoto. We are even surprised it started from there. I think there are bigger fish than Amaechi and Governor of Sokoto. Many of us are disappointed that it started from there.

    Kwankwaso went on: “On this issue, we entrusted Amaechi with only two tasks. One is campaign, talk to the opposition because it is Nigeria Governors’ Forum; it is not PDP Governors Forum. Talk to them because you are the candidate; talk to them, probably it may suit them to vote for you. The second option is, hang up to the contest; can you hold it? He said ‘yes’. “Now, I can tell you, Amaechi cannot withdraw without our approval. Anybody who is saying Amaechi should withdraw is wasting his time because that is not in the agreement between us and Amaechi. We gave only two tasks to Amaechi and he did well.

    “The problem we have in the party now is that we don’t have anywhere to go and say our minds and that was why our founding fathers of this party say in the constitution that at least, every three months we should meet. These are the issues. We should communicate among ourselves and that is the only way but the time we start washing our linens outside, then it becomes a disaster.”

    In his view, Amaechi’s election showed that the 16 governors backing Jang do not know the art of politics, contrary to their posturing, adding that the NGF crisis might lead to the emergence of two big parties.

    Kwankwaso warned the PDP leadership against reckless recourse to suspension or dismissal of governors.

    He said with the suspension of Amaechi and Governor Aliyu Wamakko of Sokoto State (Wamakko suspension was lifted yesterday), all the PDP governors backing the Rivers State governor had been technically suspended by the party.

    Kwankwaso said: “Let me say that we are Northerners and I think we should be consulted on what we need. Some people have decided that we should take chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum. That is not our choice; we know what we want from the politics of this country and even if that is what we want, we are not expecting anybody to choose for us. We should choose for ourselves. I think that point should be clarified.

    “Along the line, some people suggested that PDP should have a leadership. Many people thought that there is a linkage between the NGF election and the appointment of the PDP Governors Forum and, of course, we had Chairman of PDP Governors’ Forum and we met as the PDP Governors Forum immediately after the appointment of the chairman.

    “Let me say that at that meeting, we made it clear that we were determined to ensure democracy in this country.

    “If there is no democracy in the Governors Forum, I begin to wonder where we can have democracy in this country and many people don’t understand how angry many people are. Many people here in Abuja don’t understand how committed we are to ensure democracy in this country.

    “So, we decided to stick to our gun – that many of us have got grandchildren now. I have two grandchildren in primary school now and no grandfather can go and choose a friend for his children. You only see your children’s friends and when you do, you ask: who is your father? They will tell you and he may be your enemy or friend. It is very difficult to tell your child that the father of your friend is my enemy. And it is better for a good father or grandfather to keep quiet because the more you tell them – that your grandfather or your father is their enemy – the more they stick to their friends because they would not understand what you mean by that.

    Kwankwaso condemned interference in NGF affairs by some forces in Abuja, especially the PDP leadership.

    He predicted that the NGF crisis may lead to emergence of two big parties in the country.

    He said: “I want to say that those living in glass houses should not be throwing stones, especially when it comes to suspension, dismissal, impeachment, these are words that people should be cautious about.

    “We want peace, we want stability and we want development in this country. All these things that are happening, I think you should not worry too much because in developed democracies around the world, in America, Germany, Britain, everywhere, developed world, you have two major parties.

    “Nigeria, we have one party now and other small, small parties. Who knows, maybe we are having transition in this country of two parties and before we have two parties, some people must make mistakes, big, big mistakes.”

    He said the pro-Jang governors became desperate about removing Amaechi and forced the NGF to postpone the election twice.

    Kwankwaso explained how he nominated Jang as a strategy to show that some of the G-16 governors are novices in politics.

    “Because we realised that they were very desperate and that even when we did the election and they were defeated they will not accept, we decided to deny them of their first choice, second choice and any choice at all. We gave them who will feel should be the minority leader of G-16.

    “They refused to take us seriously that Ameachi should continue. They thought they could play games and, you see, when we left the place, they went and had a meeting and accepted our nomination and at the end of the day, they brought him to the general meeting of the Nigerian Governors Forum and at that Forum, we told them that Amaechi should continue as our chairman. They made all efforts to frustrate voting, saying that there should not be voting. We said: ‘Why should there not be voting? This is a democracy’.

    “They were hell-bent in removing Amaechi and we were also determined to ensure that our friend, whoever, he is among the 36 governors, is the chairman of our Forum. That was how we brought all the ballot papers and the box (the one we are familiar with from INEC) and there was an election; 35 of us who were there voted, and it was counted 35. Only the governor of Yobe was absent. All of us were present. At the end of the day we counted 35 ballot papers and when they were separated, Amaechi had 19 and the other 16.”

    Kwankwaso said he warned Governors Ibrahim Shema and Isa Yuguda that they could not win the NGF poll.

    He added: “During the meeting of the PDP Governors Forum, we decided to call the Northern Governors Forum, we all sat down at the Governor’s Lodge.

    “At that meeting, the issue of Shema came up and I told Shema that ‘look, my brother, I was terribly disappointed in you that you are my neighbour, my friend and you are my brother, you never came to tell me that you are contesting election and you are parading yourself, looking like somebody who was being sent to us.

    “I told him clearly that I would never vote for him and I will never ask anybody to vote for him and I would make sure that he lost that election and I even told him to go and withdraw. Other governors supported me. Sule Lamido was there; he supported me. Isa Yuguda was there; the Governor of Adamawa State, Murtala Nyako, supported. Those who supported me asked Shema to go and withdraw.

    “ Unfortunately, some people took that opportunity to go and say that Shema did not have the North to support him. Later, Shema was dropped and they brought Isa Yuguda. Isa came to me and I told him that ‘look, I am still a villager and I behave in many ways as a villager and in my village, Kwankwaso in Kano, if a councillor goes to a family and says I am contesting to be a councillor and they accept it, when somebody comes in the afternoon, they will tell him that you are too late. I told him that you are late.

    “Let me also correct the impression that many people thought that I did not really like Shema; it is not so. in that particular instance, we did not want Shema because we wanted to choose our own chairman.

    “With Yuguda, they came through the same route and I advised him, ‘you must not do that; if you do that , you will fail’. When he insisted, of course, he was in my house, I did not want to go as hard as I did with Shema. I told him ‘we will see; let us see how it will go. “Now, you see on Friday, on the day of the election we went to the Chairman of Northern Governors Forum, it was all politics all through.

    “Some people were determined to ensure that Ameachi did not win the election and we were determined to prove to them that nobody can shave our heads in our absence.

    “A situation where our colleagues were going round Abuja, they were abusing us, telling us all sorts of things, I don’t think that is acceptable and that was why we proved to them that they were at the elementary level of politics.

    “By the time we went to the Niger State Governor’s Lodge for the meeting of the Northern States Governors Forum, the question was: was anyone of them ready to step down for the other? Neither of them was ready to step down for the other.

    “When the issue of electing somebody to replace the two(Shema and Yuguda) of them that was when the politics came in. It was very clear to the two of them and our position was very clear to all governors either in the North or in the South – that we were determined to elect the NGF chairman of our choice but everybody was playing games and politics and what we did in the Niger State Governor’s Lodge in selecting Jang as a consensus candidate was to show them that they know very little about politics.

    “One, we decided to say they cannot get Shema as the chairman of the minority group of the G16. We also said you cannot even get your second choice (the Bauchi State governor elected) and our group decided, under my leadership, to give them Jang as their leader. I nominated Jang. I gave them Jang and I asked the Governor of Benue, Gabriel Suswam, to support me and many people supported me.”

    On the withdrawal of Yuguda and Governor Gabriel Suswam from Northern States Governors Forum he said: “Maybe they are not Northerners, the interest of the North is bigger than the NGF. When people are angry, they should know what to say; they should not allow anger to lead them to say what may count against them tomorrow.”

    Kwankwaso faulted the endorsement signatures being bandied about by the Chairman of the PDP Governors Forum, Governor Godswill Akpabio.

     

     

     

     

    He said: “I was really shocked when the Governor of Akwa Ibom brought a paper that was signed in April. Initially, I was laughing, but when I thought of it deeply, it was very disheartening for a governor, especially somebody who is supposed to be our leader, someone who is supposed to be the chairman of PDP Governors Forum. He brought an old paper. Even that paper; many of them who signed were calling us to say they called them to sign. They have 19. They thought they defeated us.

    “What is important, I believe, in democracy is to appreciate the sanctity of ballot papers. I am the governor of Kano today by the grace of God. I got only 46 percent of the votes. The three major parties in Kano State (ANPP, ACN and CPC) shared 54 per cent. They went to court; they went everywhere. Now I am the governor.

    “You see it is very disheartening that all our governors will sit down in a hall, get ballot papers, vote, count the votes and somebody will say an old paper that was signed was an evidence of voting.

    “The chairman of PDP Governors Forum; they way he brought that paper; the way he spoke, I think he should learn to talk. When you see him, you tell him to be talking like the chairman of the PDP because I am beginning to be ashamed if our chairman is behaving like that.

    “Like I said, we (Northern PDP governors) should decide on what we want. We are few in number; 15 governors. If there is anything, we should be given the chairman of the PDP Governors Forum.

    “Now that we have chairman of the PDP Governors Forum just saying his own, I think he should better keep quiet.

    Kwankwaso added: “Quote me, tell him that we can also Janglize the PDP Governors Forum; we can also form a separate PDP Governors Forum.”

     

  • Kwankwaso spends N250m to train 215 youths

    THE Kano State Government has spent over N250 million on the establishment of the state’s Corporate Security Institute to create jobs for the teeming unemployed youths and enhance security of life and property.

    Governor Rabi’u Kwankwaso spoke yesterday at the Government House during graduation of the 216 youths of the institute and offer of appointment to newly employed youths under the “1005” and “1006” employment schemes into the state civil service.

    The governor noted that some people were recruiting old, unqualified men to guard their homes and complexes, adding that such people lack exposure to modern trends in security management.

    He said the Corporate Security Institute is a step towards revolutionising security management in the state.

    Kwankwaso explained that because of the dire need for the corporate security men, the government resolved to employ all the 216 graduates of the institute to serve in government agencies and establishments.

    According to him, various private organisations and agencies have indicated interest to employ them to replace their current “watchmen”.

    The governor said the graduating security personnel were given three weeks intensive training in security management to enable them meet the demands of their jobs in a changing world.

    He added that the next batch of 300 students has been selected and will be resume soon.

    Kwankwaso assured that his administration would continue to create opportunities for the teeming unemployed youths in Kano.

    The governor congratulated the beneficiaries but cautioned them against indolence and corruption.

    He explained that because the government has enough money to pay the entitlements of its civil servants, his administration will inject new blood into the service for enhanced productivity.

    Kwankwaso stressed that new mechanisms have also been adopted to check stagnation in the service.

    State Head of Civil Service, Alhaji Umar Shehu Minjibir, described the employment of over 5,000 fresh graduates in two years as unprecedented in Nigeria.

     

  • Kwankwaso decries unstable power supply

    Kano Sstate Governor Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso yesterday decried the epileptic power supply to Kano, the commercial and economic nerve centre of the North.

    The governor spoke through the Secretary to State Government (SSG), Dr. Rabi’u Suleiman Bichi, at the opening of the Kano Forum Office of the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).

    Members of the forum, who were inaugurated yesterday, include: Ali Safiyanu Madugu, Naseer Kura Ja’afaru, Suleiman I. Bello, Abubakar B. Ahmed and Idris Ibrahim Daho.

    He queried the reason Lagos is given preference over Kano in power supply, even though Kano is adjudged the most populous state in the country.

    Kwankwaso said his administration would support the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) to ensure adequate supply and distribution of electricity in the state.

    According to him, the state government is making efforts to complement power supply, having signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with a German energy company to generate 60 megawatts (MW) of solar-powered electricity.

    The governor said there is hope that 35MW would be generated from Challawa and Tiga Dam.

    “When all these are in place, our industries will be revitalised and Kano will take its pride of place as the centre of commerce and industry,” Kwankwaso said.

    The governor urged the forum to ensure that customers get good services and value for their money.

    The Managing Director of Kano Electricity Distribution Company, Alhaji Mohammed Tunde Balogun, said the new office would handle unresolved electricity disputes between the distribution company and aggrieved customers in Kano, Jigawa and Katsina states.

    He said: “This is a step forward in providing electricity consumers the opportunity for an appeal. However, we will do our best to ensure that customers’ complaints are resolved timely and satisfactorily without allowing them to get to the forum.

    “It is important for the public to desist from the temptation to report frivolous cases to the forum’s office. They should desist from trying to take undue advantage of this facility by rejecting our genuine interventions. We don’t want them to come here and be turned back with their cases, for lack of merit.”

  • Kwankwaso destroys N350m expired drugs

    Kwankwaso destroys N350m expired drugs

    Kano State Governor Musa Kwankwaso has destroyed 18 truckloads of assorted expired and adulterated drugs worth N350 million.

    After setting fire to the consignment at Mariri, in the outskirts of Kano, the governor told reporters that the action was a pointer to his administration’s resolve to end the sale and consumption of harmful drugs and medical consumables.

    He said the government would not succumb to pressure to overturn its decision to close the obnoxious Kano drug market.

    According to him, the government resolved not to jeopardise anybody’s business but to ensure that the collective interest of the people is protected.

    The government, he said, will not allow few individuals selling bad drugs and related items to make money at the expense of the people’s health and well-being.

    Kwankwaso noted that no responsible government would allow its citizens to patronise inferior or contaminated medicines, provisions and related products.

  • Boko Haram: we’re all guilty, says Kwankwaso

    Kano State Governor Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso yesterday blamed governments, politicians, traditional rulers and religious leaders for the mounting insecurity across the country.

    He said: “The parents, the communities, the local government authorities, state governments and the Federal Government are all guilty of the insurgency that is facing this country. We are all guilty.”

    The governor spoke in Kano when he received members of the Presidential Committee on Dialogue and Peaceful Resolution of security challenges in the North.

    He traced the security challenge facing the North to the failure of the leaders to take full responsibility of governance and offer dividends of democracy to the people.

    Kwankwaso regretted that family values are no longer upheld because “parents no longer take responsibility of their families.”

    He added: “We have a situation in this part of the country where parents give birth to 20 to 30 children, chose only two of them and send the rest away to God-knows where.

    “Children are sent to places that they don’t know. They are left to fend for themselves. We have a situation where you go round the city and find garrison of children, able-bodied youths begging. These children were abandoned by their parents and they were sent away and brought into the state. They grow up to hate themselves, hate their parents, hate the leaders, hate the government and the society. They feel they were deprived, they feel injustice and they become enemies of the state and constituted authorities. They thereby become vulnerable to crime and violence.

    “These are the bitter pills we must swallow — that we are all guilty of what is happening today. We have to wake up and rise up to the challenges. What started in Yobe and Borno is everywhere in the North. It may eventually envelope the country, if we don’t check it now. It is a national issue that must be addressed.”

    Kwankwaso, who was also a former Defence Minister, urged the government and Nigerians to eschew greed and ensure that what is meant for the people gets to them.

    To end the Boko Haram insurgency, Kwankwaso advised that “we should keep our eyes on what is happening. Our leaders must plan properly, have long-term planning. We must also do away with the issue of planning for a second-term while the business of governance suffers”.

    He added: “As a former Defence Minister, I advise that the rule of engagement must be strictly followed by soldiers deployed to the areas where we have emergency rule. I appeal to those affected in this insurgency to come to the table and dialogue. We have to reduce the issue of greed, if we cannot eliminate it. We have to ensure that the right thing is done under the worst circumstance. We also have to control our emotion.”

     

     

     

  • Kwankwaso inaugurates commuter luxury buses

    Kano State Governor Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso has said the current infrastructural revolution of his administration is attracting private investors to the state.

    The governor spoke in Kano when he inaugurated 10 mass transit luxury buses, of the expected 100, which will convey passengers across the Kano metropolis.

    The buses are under a private sector participation (PSP) with Shaaxi Auto Logistics and Solutions Limited. The ceremony was held at the Government House.

    Kwankwaso expressed delight that his administration was getting more recognition for building a modern Kano that will be the pride of all residents.

    He said: “The easiest way to attract investors is to improve social amenities and provide infrastructure, including roads, for smooth traffic flow in the state. That is why companies, such as this, are coming here to invest.”

    Emphasising that the effort of his administration to make Kano one of the best cities in Nigeria was yielding results, the governor urged private investors to come to the state.

     

     

     

     

     

  • Kwankwaso inaugurates Kano Pillars new board

    Kwankwaso inaugurates Kano Pillars new board

    Kano State governor, Dr. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, has inaugurated the 15-man board of the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) side, Kano Pillars on Wednesday.

    Governor Kwankwaso during the swearing-in ceremony at the government house, Kano charged the new board to use their football experience to move the club forward.

    He said that he chose the former Special Assistant Technical to the Director-General, National Sports Commission, Abba Yola as the club chairman based on his fast experience in sports administration, which according to him, will be used in transforming the team to a greater height.

    “This government wants something good for the club that is why we took our time after the last board to appoint credible people we think will tinker the club to a better one everyone will be proud of. Abba Yola was called upon to lead the club because this government believes his experience in football management is needed to transform the club and I believe they will deliver.

    “So I urge all of you to work together in the interest of the club and the people of Kano in general,” Governor Kwankwaso said.

    Responding on behalf of the board, Abba Yola thanked the governor for the opportunity given to them to serve the state while he promised that he and his executive will not disappoint the state government and the people of the state.

    “I on behalf of member of this board we want to thank his Excellency governor Rabiu Kwankwaso for his confidence in us as well as an opportunity to serve the state in this capacity. We will use our influence to get more people to sponsor the team so as to reduce the burden from the state government. We will not let the government down by discharging our duty as expected of us,” Abba Yola said.

    The former Special Assistant Technical to the Director-General, National Sports Commission, Abba Yola will be the chairman while the club’s secretary Bashir Ahmed Maizare will serve as the board’s secretary.

    Other members of the 15-man board are Abba Galadima as General Manager, Khalid Bello, Dr. Rabiu Muhd Chanhu, Babangida Little, Kabiru Ali, Sharu Rabiu Ahlan and Nasiru Garba Bichi.

    Others are Bashir Idris Mu’azu, Babangida Adamu, Shehu Adamu, Muhd Rabiu Sabo Bakin Zuwo, Uba Danzainab and Garba Umar.

  • As Kwankwaso’s Northwest University takes off

    By the time you are reading this piece, the Vice Chancellor of the Northwest University, Kano, Professor Dato Mohd Razali bin Angus, is perhaps leading 97 other qualified academic staff of the university to matriculate the pioneer students today.

    Today, the administration of Governor Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso has recorded yet another streak of success in the area of education. The achievements of the present administration in education within the period of two years cannot easily be enumerated, let alone be fully explained, perhaps because of their enormity and space constraint. I need not ‘bother’ you with the issue of the establishment 21 training institutes, nor distract your attention from observing the matriculation oath with the issue of the establishment of 44 technical schools sited in each of the 44 local government areas of the state.

    From the basic level to the advanced level, Kano records a milestone in education. The massive infrastructure and manpower improvement is unprecedented in the history of Kano. So far 388 blocks of classrooms, making a total number of 1,552, classrooms have been built and fully furnished by the present administration. While new schools are built, 170 existing schools (hitherto porous and encroached) have been fenced so far. With a view to strengthening the foundation, 14,976 teachers have been trained.

    Like the idea of establishing the first ever state university in Kano, the Kano University of Science & Technology (KUT), Wudil, the idea of Northwest University was mooted, conceived and after brief gestation hatched today.

    When Gov. Kwankwaso mulled idea of establishing the first state university during his first tenure in office between 1999 and 2003, doubting Thomases, even within the government, were pessimistic about the concept. But the governor remained steadfast and see to the realisation of the dream. The rest is now history as 2,163 students have so far graduated from KUT. What would have been the fate of these 2,163 graduates had he forgone the idea?

    After about eight years of neglect by the preceding administration, the founder of the KUT rediscovered and resuscitated the institution. Library, lecture theaters, students’ hostels are being built in KUT. Massive infrastructure and manpower development are concurrently taking place in KUT and Northwest University. Both universities are getting equal degree of attention.

    In order to record success in the Northwest University project, Governor Kwankwaso appointed an astute academic in person of Professor Hafiz Abubakar as the chairman of the implementation committee. Burning candle on both ends, the implementation committee ensured that everything went according to the vision of the governor. After meeting the requirements of the regulatory authority, on 27th March, 2012, the National Universities Commission (NUC) granted licence to Northwest University.

    Announcing the endorsement, the Executive Secretary of NUC, Professor Julius Okojie, said the the university has satisfied all criteria for recognition, expressing satisfaction with the speed with which the new university is being developed.

    After rigorous scrutiny, informed by the governor’s desire to set standard, Professor Dato Mohd Razali bin Agus was appointed as substantive Vice Chancellor of the university. Professor Bin Agus, who was until his appointment, the Vice Chancellor/Chief Executive of Twintech International College of Technology, Kuala Lumpur, has been a vice chancellor in three different countries.

    Today, we are witnessing another history. Another brainchild of our visionary leader is taking off with unprecedented bang. The Northwest University is unique in many respects, just as it is a pacesetter in many areas of learning. A large number of the lecturers, carefully selected on merit, have First Class degrees, while the matriculating students meet the requisite criteria for admission. By this, the students are on the pedestal of taking after their lecturers. A witty Hausa proverb observes that if an antelope will run, its calf will certainly never crawl. This is moreso when there is conducive atmosphere for learning, or in the case of the proverbial antelope calf, a space for running.

    Northwest University is unique in many respects. It is the only university in Nigeria that starts its maiden session with 1,000 students, four faculties, 17 departments, 24 programs and 97 lecturers offering courses in natural sciences, environmental sciences, social and management sciences, arts and languages. Even the NUC attests that these qualities are above average for a take off.

    In just the temporary site, the lecture halls and offices are fully air-conditioned. It is the first fully ICT-driven university that boasts of the latest interactive whiteboard technology, an established e-library and computer laboratory with state-of-the-art ‘nComputing’ technology. There is also fast, reliable and uninterrupted Internet connectivity, the offices are equipped with branded computers, abundant computers for staff and students. As obtained in top flight ivory towers across Europe and America, students of Northwest University can obtain lecture notes online on the university’s portal.

    Now, watching the resplendent assembly of students dazzling, like peacocks, in full academic regalia, one can see raw hopes and aspirations exuding from the matriculating students, who by this time next year, will become proud sophomores and a few years later become the pioneer graduates of this prestigious citadel of learning. Not only the visitor of this university would be happy for this but all other partners in progress, cutting across all spheres of life.

    The concept of the university was explicitly stated by its name. Certainly, this university will bridge the education divide that defines states in the North West region of the country with a colloquially offensive monicker Educationally Less-Developed States (ELDS).

    If some cynics didn’t get the Northwest University concept today, one day the entire Northern region will see the merit of Kwankwaso’s vision.

    Without a leader with foresight who remains steadfast towards actualising his dreams, Northwest University project would have still been in the formative stage. Without such a leader, who brooks no delay and takes the art of governance serious, effort would not be made to bridge this education divide.

    Jaafar is the Special Assistant to the Kano State Governor on Media & Public Relations

  • Kwankwaso in Dubai, woos Emirates Airlines to Kano

    Kwankwaso in Dubai, woos Emirates Airlines to Kano

    Kano State Governor Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso yesterday visited Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, the Chairman of Emirates Airlines and Group in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

    The visit centred on how to open opportunities for both parties, especially the need for Emirates Airlines to start operations in Kano.

    Kwankwaso told Al Maktoum that Kano was undergoing massive transformation, adding that there was need for Emirates to begin operations from the Malam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA).

    The governor said Kano, being a foremost commercial centre and a gateway to major cities in West Africa, also has the oldest airport in Nigeria.

    The state’s potential should not be ignored, he said, noting that the airline should contemplate coming to Kano within the shortest possible time in view of the benefits at stake.

    Describing Emirates Airlines as a world-class aviation company, the governor noted that because the company does not service MAKIA, many passengers from Kano go to Lagos to board its aircraft.

    He said coming to Kano would reduce the stress for travellers to and from Dubai as well as other parts of the Middle East and Asia.

    Kwankwaso said his administration recently sponsored some youths to study piloting in at Mideast Aviation Academy, Jordan.

    The governor said the airline could recruit some of them on completion of their training.

    Al Maktoum said the airline, a subsidiary of the Emirate’s Group, is wholly-owned by the government of Dubai through its commercial investment arm, the Investment Corporation of Dubai.

    According to him, the airlines services include an award-winning international cargo division, a full-fledged destination management and leisure division as well as an airline IT developer.

    The Emirates chief assured that the airline would consider the governor’s request to extend its operations to Kano because of the state’s population and strategic commercial importance in Nigeria.

     

  • Obi, Kwankwaso and knot of state creation

    Obi, Kwankwaso and knot of state creation

    Those who scoff at former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s increasing warnings about an impending revolution in Nigeria are probably caught in the complex of confusing the message with the messenger. Yes, Obasanjo’s privileged presence in the portals of power since 1967 make him an integral part of Nigeria’s leadership failure. But while the retired general’s share of the blame for Nigeria’s misfortunes cannot be downplayed, his expressed concerns are nonetheless not misplaced. The issue is not about his assumed self – righteousness but about the state of the nation. And one of the sore points of our narrative is that of an imbalanced federation. With states and local governments forming the basis of revenue sharing, allocation of infrastructure and high profile appointments, the relevance of states in the nation’s political economy cannot be overemphasized.

    For good reasons, attention has tended to converge on the South –east’s quest for the creation of at least one new state in the region. With the least number of states, the South – east assumes conspicuous minority status among the nation’s six geo – political zones. As such matters go in the context of Nigerian government and politics, some of the state creation demands in the South – east are among the oldest in the country and so comparatively elicit greater consideration.

    Seizing the moment, the South – east has given vent to as many as six new states agitations in the zone recently. However, rising to the responsibility of leadership, Anambra State Governor and chairman, South – east Governors’ Forum, Peter Obi, has moved to get the zone speak with one voice and in such a way to achieve satisfactory results at the end of the day. Between November and December alone, South – east political leaders have met twice in Enugu on the subject. Underscoring the resolve of the zone’s leadership to achieve result, efforts are on to streamline the different requests and come up with just one or two applications for state creation.

    Disturbing questions arise from the skewed regional distribution of these entities in the country. The north’s 19 states to the south’s 17 states obviously confers it with political and economic superiority; a scenario amplified by the contrast between the South – east’s five states and 95 local governments and the North – west’s seven states and 180 local governments. In terms of revenue profile alone, the sharp contrast in the fortunes of the South-east and other zones is glaring. Statistics from the Federation Account show that in the period January to June 2010, the South-east received the least allocation of approximately N99 billion; South-west N166 billion; North-west N168 billion; North-central N116 billion; North-east 119 billion and South-south N386 billion. Following a consistent pattern, the February 2012 allocations display a gnawing disparity between the South-east’s approximate N10 billion and the North-west’s N15 billion.

    Analysts believe Obi’s submissions were an indirect response to the stance of his Kano State counterpart Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso who has demonstrated little restraint in opposing the proposal for a sixth state in the South-east. Kwankwaso was widely reported by the media in late September to have dismissed the calls for creating a sixth state in the South – east in favour of his own Kano State.

    While Kwankwaso is entitled to his views, it is however necessary to situate the discussion in its proper perspective. The Kano State Governor’s obsession with population and geographical size as the qualifications for state creation are misplaced.

    The composition of the United States of America, the country from which our federal and presidential systems is crudely derived, reveals a more egalitarian approach to state creation. Consider that the state of California has a population of 37 million with 570,374 square miles while the state of Delaware has a population of 897,000 and 1,955 square miles in size. Consider also that Texas with 25 million population and of 261,914 square miles is not any more greater than Rhode Island which has one million population and 1,045 squares miles. Similarly, Michigan, 23rd in size among America’s 50 states co-exists with Alaska, the biggest state in size but with just a population of 710,000.

    In the modern world, states are founded on the quest for self – determination. States provide the administrative platform for pursuit of development for groups with a shared sense of socio – cultural affinity. And especially in a diverse polity, as we have in Nigeria, states play a mediating role in the tensions arising from majority – minority relations.

    It is instructive to note that the Gowon junta created an equal number of six states in both the north and south. Apologists of the present lopsidedness in the structure of the country conveniently forget that this equilibrium endured for nearly 10 years before it was disrupted by the insensitivity of the Murtala Muhammed regime. A sober Yakubu Gowon who appreciated the dangers posed by sectional domination acted fairly on state creation but an over-confident Muhammed could afford to act irrationally believing that nothing would happen. Subsequent military rulers who created states, all from the north, progressively maintained the imbalance, deepened further in the distribution of local governments.

    It is hard to believe that these allocations of states and local governments decreed by military dictators without regard to the wishes of ordinary Nigerians can be seized upon by any enlightened person as the precedent that will guide future state creation exercises.

    As the leader of the South – east geo – political zone, Governor Peter Obi’s strong advocacy for empowering the zone with a new state should be viewed both against its benefits to the region and the national distress a continued denial will provoke. When the Ibrahim Babangida junta created Akwa Ibom and Katsina states in 1987, it belittled the well – reasoned recommendation of the Cookey – led Political Bureau for the creation of at least one state in the South-east to the chagrin of the people. Continued disadvantage of the South-east again compelled the National Political Reform Conference in 2005 to resolve on the desirability of an additional state for the zone.

    Obi has placed a core demand of the south-east on the table. Let the other zones do the same. With the recognition of the interdependence of the units of a whole, every group should accommodate the legitimate needs of others. This spirit will suffice to overcome the stringent constitutional requirements on state creation and other exigencies and move the country forward.

    • Afuba wrote from Nimo, Anambra State.