Kaduna state of Nigeria has always been a core centre reflecting the earliest influences of socio-cultural and infra-structural development for the whole of the north. Very early in the years after independence, Kaduna as a city stood out as the gate to civilisation of the north.
Whether north, south, west, or east of it, Kaduna as a city embraced all from the entrepreneurial to the educational institutions, from the vibrant occupationally mobile to the rail transport system, from the multi-ethnic fusion of tribes to the western and eastern faith doctrines lying with traditional beliefs, agriculture and then the military infrastructures.
All these set a standard which has remained unbeaten in the whole of northern Nigeria about Kaduna. It was no wonder later then that when the creation of state structures occurred, Kaduna got its geo-political sphere from the former North Central state and was naturally identity branded as Kaduna. It had become the Lagos of the country for the north. Peace and stability in Kaduna has always found a way to diffuse to other parts of the north.
It is this same state that has as its Governor today a man whose ascendancy to Office has come in similar guise as Mr. President, Goodluck Jonathan’s. He was a former deputy governor but as it happened, the governor lost his life in a helicopter accident and he was left to take the mantle of state administration and zeal to assure that he was capable of proving himself as veritable visionary and achiever. He is Governor Mukhtar Yero Ramalan.
Since April, 2013 when he assumed the full reins of office, he has embarked on a revitalisation of his vision for the state affecting core areas of the people’s expectation. By the provision of vehicles and buses for commercial usage and ease of public transportation, he tied an entrepreneurial and empowerment philosophy to the scheme. From a pilot scheme of 40 cars for example to use as taxis, the state has granted a subsidy of 50% on costs and a tenure of two years to make repayment. This scheme compels the individual to put the vehicle to work for the people and thus enhance the transport situation and ease of mobility of the people. The same goes for the buses which are used for inter-municipal and inter-state travel.
In similar vein, 700 tricycles were also provisioned to affect employment and poverty alleviation to enable those people who at the lower economic rung of the income ladder to find relevance and sustainable income for their survival and their families.
Agriculture also enjoyed encouragement as Governor Yero also invested in the procurement of tractors to boost land use and farming engaged in by peasant farmers given the rich agricultural landscape of Kaduna which is yet to be fully exploited. Water, as an integral part of daily sustenance and rural provision as a responsibility of government, received a massive boost with almost a billion naira investment in provision and facilitating potable drinking water to the people.
His concerns for the wellness of the state reflects by his recent distribution forty new Toyota Hilux vans, fitted with communication gadgets, to security agencies in the state is indicative of the very glaring need to help these agencies fulfil their mandate to ensure peace, order, and sense of safety necessary for the socio-economic development of the peoples of the state.
Ensuring that education could be better facilitated and delivered certainly reflected a core concern as consultations on a large scale was put afoot to ensure that education received best practices and became a cardinal deliverable to all and sundry in the state. This would certainly affect improved policies on educational processes to mark a fundamental difference to what the people of the state would enjoy.
While these are not exhaustive of what Governor Yero has been able to do in less than a year, it definitely portends what his vision for the state can be and how seriously he takes his political responsibility in service to the people.
Governor Mukhtar Yero Ramalan would, about this time, be in the United Kingdom to receive an award in recognition of services to the people of Kaduna state. Yet it cannot be all smooth sailing as they say that ‘uneasy lies the head that wears the crown’.
