What project have you executed that has impacted on the lives of the people of Kaduna North, Kaduna South, Chikun and Igabi local governments in the last one year?
One of the rationales for establishing Metropolitan Authorities in Kaduna state is to manage the infrastructural and economic development of its most populous urban areas, namely Kaduna city, Zaria, and Kafanchan, as cities and not as individual Local Government Areas (LGAs) that make them up. In Kaduna city, our work in the past year has impacted people and businesses in all four local government areas of the Capital Territory, which I will outline in three key areas.
First, is promoting the well-being of our residents. Despite the population growth in the last decade, much of the city’s grandeur and layout remain intact. To maintain this Garden City appeal, we prioritized projects and programmes that border on providing a clean, greener environment and put in measures that serve as groundwork for building a resilient city. In April 2022, over 500 residents joined us to commemorate World Earth Day and the first Kadcity Clean-up and Tree Planting exercise. The recurring initiative aims to promote environmentally conscious activities like tree planting, litter clean-up, and in subsequent editions, climate-themed hackathons will be embarked on in all LGAs of the city.
Likewise, we took a different approach to waste management when we took office and decentralized it into 13 lots and spread the collection of waste from one contractor to 12. We did this to better allocate resources and capacity to all parts of the city and as a precursor for a backward integration- where we collect all waste at the point of generation; that is, the doorsteps of residents, businesses, and industries, which is our ultimate goal. We complemented these efforts with the Labour-Intensive Public Workforce (LIPW) program -a social impact program that employs residents within the social investment criteria, to provide public works such as street sweeping, vegetation, and litter control. These 500 and still counting beneficiaries reside across the four LGAs of the city and are working with us to make Kaduna City the cleanest in Nigeria.
In addition to providing a cleaner city, our residents must have recreational spaces with greenery to spend quality time with family and friends. Due to the many years of insecurity, people in Kaduna city have forgotten what it means to go out. We began with the construction of Lugard Park Corner on Ali Akilu Road. Soon, parks, sports complexes, and other similar developments will dot the city as we encourage more people across our city to spend some time outside their houses and offices. The recently renovated Murtala Muhammed Square, which is one of our assets, is beginning to see a lot of young people using the sporting and recreational faculties. The last New Year countdown held there and saw an unprecedented turnout, perhaps up to 10,000 people who came to witness the many activities of the show, especially the fireworks and countdown into the New Year.
In terms of disaster control and resilience, Kaduna City had few cases of flooding in 2022. Before the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) sent out flood alerts, we devised to dredge the Kaduna River and its 25 tributaries. The dredging commenced on the 6th of July and covered Unguwan Dosa, Keke, Hayin Danmani, Badarawa/Malali, Millenium City Bridge, Gamji Park, Kinkinau, Down Quarters, Nasarawa, Kudenda, Gonin Gora, and Kamazou.
The drive for inclusion and well-being is observable in our road designs as well. We are making adequate accessibility considerations for persons living with disabilities, pedestrians, and cyclers to ensure the safety of all road users and encourage multi-modal transportation. We are working with the state transport regulatory agency (KADSTRA), to implement the Bus Rapid Transport System.
To ensure Kaduna city remains resilient in the face of stresses and shocks like flooding, ill-planned expansion, and conflicts, we are pursuing twin-city agreements with cities that have made incredible progress in urban development and establishing an Office of Resilience within KCTA to replicate similar practices in Kaduna city. Already, we have incorporated firetruck shelters in our bus stops and interchange designs to be strategically positioned across the city to improve emergency response time. Our goal is to respond to non-life-threatening emergencies in less than an hour and life-threatening situations in less than 15 minutes. Similarly, we are working on a waterfront economy along the river bank with a promenade that will capture and store floodwater during flooding, thereby reducing the overall damage it may cause – and further turning a problem into an opportunity.
The second impact area is the promotion of economic activities and human capital development. We are not oblivious to the stress on the existing public infrastructure and the need for an efficient public transportation system. These developments remain a priority for KCTA, and we will continue to pursue investments in these sectors. In the meantime, we have continued the road components of the Urban Renewal, where work is ongoing on four major roads. Bida Road, Kanta Road, Chawai Road, Ibrahim Taiwo Road, and NURTW Road connecting the Nnamdi Azikiwe bypass to Hayin Banki. We are also concentrating on bringing urban renewal to the doorsteps of our residents and improving the usability of facilities like markets and housing estates. One such development is the construction of School Road in Ungwan Rimi. Similar works are ongoing in Gbagyi Villa, with more roads to be awarded in the coming weeks across the four LGAs. Additionally, we are providing directional signs across the city to complement the ongoing street naming and house numbering exercise coordinated by KASUPDA. Navigation is an integral component of transactions and a company like Uber looks out for it in setting up new locations. Hence, these projects will support businesses in logistics, car-hailing, and e-commerce to improve their operations and signal opportunities for more companies in this sector to choose Kaduna city.
We are also replanning the area around the Kaduna International Airport to create an aerotropolis -an airport-based city where the land use will complement the airport and spur businesses around the airport.
The third impact area is in the preservation of history and heritage. We adopted the slogan #ItsYourCity, to instill a sense of belonging and ownership among our residents. There is an ongoing collaboration with the District Heads within the Territory to establish a History and Heritage Centre to promote arts and history-related activities in the city. Also, you will recall that the governor, Malam Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai, unveiled the renaming of some public buildings in honor of prominent daughters and sons of Kaduna. In the coming months, we will embark on the renaming of more buildings. Programs like these give permanence to the city’s history.
When you assumed office, you promised that Kaduna Capital Territory Administration will desilt River Kaduna to check flooding. Did you execute the project?
Yes, we did. We have been dredging flood-prone areas like Unguwan Dosa, Badarawa/Malali, Kinkinau, Down Quarters, Nasarawa, Kudenden, and Goni Gora Bridge, since July 2022. A few flood-prone locations suffered from the river overflowing its banks though not enough to threaten lives and property. We received documented and undocumented testimonials from residents in these areas. During rainy seasons, people living along flood prone areas suffered losses but for the preemptive action taken to dredge the river this year. What we found was that blockages along the river are man-induced arising from the notorious dumping of waste along the waterways at Ungwan Dosa, Kigo Road, Kinkinau, Down Quarters, and Nasarawa, farming activities, buildings that failed to conform to standard waterway setbacks of 100 metres away from rivers and 30 metres from streams, and pollution by factories.
Notwithstanding, we have mapped out the existing drainage situation in the city and, with time we will provide a connecting city-wide drainage and sewage system with treatment plants. We will maintain the dredging as a regular exercise in addition to more sensitization on proper waste disposal, removal of structures on waterways, and in extreme cases, relocation of some communities. All told, we were very successful in preventing flooding in the city, and I wish to commend the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources and the World Bank backed Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management Project (NEWMAP), which desilted drainages in the city in readiness for the rainy season. Likewise, the Kaduna State Emergency Management Agency (KADSEMA) which was on high alert to deal with the consequences of flooding. We have seen how the floods have ravaged other states and cities globally and we sympathize with them.
What is the relationship between KCTA and the four Local Government Areas that comprise it?
KCTA is an administrative entity responsible for the areas collectively known as the Kaduna Capital Territory (KCT), covering about a radius of 40 miles with the post office on Yakubu Gowon Way as the center. The creation of Local Government Areas in 1976, balkanized cities like ours into smaller divisions. KCTA for instance comprises Kaduna North, Kaduna South, Igabi and Chikun Local Government Areas.
Statutorily, the local government chairmen are members of the Authority’s Governing Board, and the Vice Chairmen are members of the Management Committee.We hold our Governing Board meetings regularly, where we debate ideas and agree on what to implement and how best to go about it.
So far, has KCTA executed any joint project with any of the local governments?
The law establishing KCTA delegates certain powers and functions of the LGAs and the state to the authority. Although the Local Government Council remains one of our primary stakeholders, projects that fall within this category are executed solely by the authority. However, the Local Government Councils are the principal contributors to the cost of providing waste management services for the city and are part of the joint enforcement task force established by the authority.
KCTA Facts
-In April, over 500 residents commemorated the World Earth Day embarking on Kada City clean up and planted trees within Kaduna metropolis;
-KCTA has decentralized waste management into 13 lots and collection is being done by 12 contractors instead of one;
-The Administration introduced the Labour Intensive Public Workforce (LIPW) programme, which employed over 500 sweepers who also engage in vegetation control;
-It created Lugard Park Corner along Ali Akilu way, where residents can spend quality time with family and friends;
-KCTA dredged River Kaduna and its 25 tributaries which minimized flooding during the last rainy season;
-It has embarked on roads construction, especially Bida Road, Kanta Road, Chawai Road, Ibrahim Taiwo Road and NURTW Road which connects Western Bypass with Hayin Banki.
