2027: Uba Sani Questions Atiku’s Quest For Presidency

Kaduna State governor, Uba Sani, has advised former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and other northern political elite to map up development strategies to tackle the problems of the region, instead of seeking for power at the centre.

Governor Sani stated this when the leadership of Sir Ahmadu Bello Memorial Foundation visited him at the Government House, Kaduna on Wednesday. He said the north lacked a common agenda.

Governor Sani expressed gratitude to the foundation for drawing the attention of northern political office holders to focus on core issues of human capital development.

He pointed out that the north is bedevilled with problems such as out-of-school children, deficit in skill-based education and inadequate good healthcare delivery system.

Governor Sani decried the maternal and child mortality rates in Northern Nigeria, as well as the high number of out-of-school children, including the dearth of skills-based education in the region.

According to him, there were over 500,000 children roaming the streets of Kaduna State when he assumed office but his administration has returned 360,000 children back to various schools.

The governor said the Kaduna State’s household-mapping approach which identified the out-of-school children, has been adopted by the Federal Ministry of Education as a model for tackling the national challenge.

‘’And I’m happy Sir Ahmadu Bello Memorial Foundation is leading in this direction, because we need to sit down, look at our problems and address them holistically,’’ he noted.

The governor said that his administration focuses mostly on primary healthcare that takes care of the medical needs of the poor and rural dwellers, without neglecting secondary healthcare.

‘’ For us, healthcare in Kaduna is the fundamental right of everyone, particularly the less privileged and the vulnerable within our society,’’ he further said.

Quoting UNICEF statistics, he said that there are about 18 million out-of-school-children in Nigeria and 70% of those children are domiciled in Northern Nigeria.

On skills-based education, Governor Sani disclosed that Vice President Kashim Shettima had written him about three months ago, requesting Kaduna State to allow the Federal Government to use its manual.

Earlier, former Governor of Niger State, Dr Mua’zu Babangida Aliyu who led the delegation, thanked the governor for allocating 50 hectares of land to the Foundation, to establish the Arewa Unity University.

Aliyu recalled that the late Governor Patrick Yakowa gave the Foundation, the plot of land adjacent to Murtala Mohammed Square, where its office was built.