Uba Sani Donates New CNG Buses To NUJ, NBA, NMA, Others

Kaduna State Governor, Uba Sani, has donated brand new buses to the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), Kaduna State Council, Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS), and Kaduna State University (KASU), to ease transportation and mobility challenges confronting the organisations and institutions.

Governor Sani described the beneficiaries as critical institutions contributing to the state’s development.
The governor presented the vehicles to the beneficiaries at an event in Kaduna on Tuesday.
According to him, the beneficiaries had played significant roles in the development of Kaduna State and therefore deserved the government’s support.

“I’m only handing over the vehicles to the beneficiaries. All five very critical institutions that were given these vehicles today are very important organisations and have done a lot in contributing toward the development of our state,” Sani said.

He said the bus donated to the Nigerian Correctional Service would help address some of the mobility challenges affecting the service, particularly in transporting inmates to courts, health facilities and other locations.

“The Correctional Service is very critical. We went there twice in a year, and we’ve seen the level of decay in the Correctional Centre here in Kaduna.

As a government, we’ve done a lot in trying to address the infrastructure deficit there and the problems they are facing,” the governor said.

“Giving them vehicles today would only help them in addressing most of these issues that have to do with transportation and mobility.”

Sani also commended the Nigerian Medical Association for its collaboration with his administration in improving healthcare delivery across the state.

He said healthcare remained a fundamental right of citizens and that the NMA had supported government efforts at the primary, secondary and tertiary levels.

“The Nigerian Medical Association has done extremely well. In Kaduna, healthcare is very critical; it’s very important.

We always made it clear to everyone that it’s a fundamental right of every citizen,” he said.

The governor said providing a bus would improve medical professionals’ mobility and enhance the association’s operations.

The governor described the Nigerian Bar Association as another critical institution in the state, commending the Kaduna Branch for its role in promoting justice, the rule of law and good governance.

He said the Kaduna NBA Branch remained “one of the most vibrant branches in the whole of Nigeria” and had contributed significantly to protecting the rights of underserved and underrepresented citizens.

Governor Sani also highlighted reforms at Kaduna State University, saying his administration had worked with the university management and the National Universities Commission (NUC) to address accreditation challenges.

He said several faculties and departments had since secured accreditation, while a 50 per cent reduction in tuition fees was intended to increase student enrolment.

“When we decided to reduce the tuition fee by 50 per cent in KASU and other state higher institutions in Kaduna State, it’s simply because we want to increase the level of enrollment, and I’m happy today that this has been achieved,” Sani said

He also described NUJ as a very critical body in the enthronement of democracy in the country, adding that some journalists even lost their lives under military dictatorship fighting for the return to civil rule.

Governor Sani said the intervention was part of his administration’s broader commitment to working with professional bodies, institutions and government agencies to improve service delivery and contribute to the development of Kaduna State.

Earlier, receiving the vehicle on behalf of doctors and healthcare professionals in the state, Chairman of the NMA Kaduna Branch, Dr Hassan Bala Salihu, expressed appreciation to the governor.

“On behalf of all doctors and all healthcare professionals in Kaduna State, I want to sincerely appreciate you for this kind gesture. We have seen the commitment to advancing healthcare systems in Kaduna State,” Salihu said.

Also, Chairman of the NBA Kaduna Branch, Barrister Baba Lawal, said the donation would strengthen the branch’s operational capacity.

“On behalf of the Nigerian Bar Association, Kaduna Branch, I wish to express our profound appreciation to His Excellency, the Executive Governor of Kaduna State, for his generous donation of a bus to our branch,” Lawal said.

Vice-Chancellor of KASU, Professor Abdullahi Musa, described the donation as a historic development for the institution. “We wish to sincerely appreciate our very dear Governor, our home Governor, the Governor of the people, for his generosity, his care, for donating a brand new bus for our university,” Musa said.

The Kaduna State Chairman of the NUJ, Comrade AbdulGafar Alabelewe, said journalists had requested the bus approximately six months earlier during a Ramadan Iftar with the governor.

He described the delivery of the vehicle as a major milestone for the union, noting that the last time the NUJ received a similar gesture from the state government was about two decades ago. “Today, history is being made because we are not just getting a bus; we are getting a luxury bus, for that matter,” Alabelewe said.

He said the previous bus had become unserviceable and assured the governor that the new vehicle would be put to good use, particularly in facilitating journalists’ movement to assignments across the state.

Alabelewe also said the media would continue to play its role of holding government accountable while setting an agenda for development.

“This is not because we want to be partisan, but because the media originally was not created to antagonise the government. The media was created to set the agenda for the government, which we have been consistent in doing,” he said.

He disclosed that NUJ President, Alhassan Yahya Abdullahi, had asked him to convey the union’s appreciation to the governor and inform him that the union would, at his convenience, confer on him the position of Grand Patron of the NUJ in Kaduna State.

The NUJ chairman also assured the governor that journalists would continue to discharge their responsibilities as the state approaches another election.

“As we approach the election, we want to assure you that we will do our duties to ensure that we have a very peaceful and free, fair election in Kaduna State,” he said.

The Controller of the Nigerian Correctional Service, Kaduna State Command, also expressed appreciation for the vehicle, saying it would address a major operational challenge facing the command.

Representing the Controller-General of Corrections, Sylvester Ndidi Nwakuche, he said the bus would be used to transport inmates to court, health facilities and other official engagements.

“On behalf of the Controller-General of Corrections, the officers and men, and the entire inmates of our custodial centres, I stand before you today with deep joy as we celebrate another milestone of success,” he said.

He assured the governor that the vehicle would be properly maintained and used for the purposes for which it was donated.