Ganduje: I can’t have an associate like Kwankwaso for the rest of my life

Abdullahi Ganduje, governor of Kano state, says he cannot have a political associate like Rabiu Kwankwaso, his predecessor, for the rest of his life.

Ganduje succeeded Kwankwaso in 2015 after serving as his deputy for eight years.

The unique thing about their working relationship is that Kwankwaso still chose him when he returned to power after eight years.

But both men fell apart shortly after the 2015 election.

But speaking to select journalists in Kano, the incumbent governor said both of them cannot be in the same camp for the rest of their lives.

“I cannot have ‎a political associate like him for the rest of my like him; he too can’t have an associate like me, for the rest of his life,” he said.

He also spoke about the vacation of President Muhammadu Buhari, saying the nation’s number one citizen deserves a good rest.

“We pray for the president to be back home safely. His sickness was not an agenda and could not also be an agenda‎, so you see the issue is,” he said.

“I know Nigeria is a big country with multi-religious, multi ethnic, multi everything that you can think about, so is easy to politicise issues that are not supposed to be politicised.

“What we believe is that everybody can get sick. So you want to us to start calling him while he is sick, he needs some rest. If he is to talk with every governor, why is he there to get treatment and rest?

“People seize the opportunity to talk rubbish. Some are not wishing him well, so they are expressing their mind that he is sick, he is this and he is that. But he wrote formally that he would go for a vacation and medical treatment. So what kind of information are we looking more than that?”

On the policy of his administration towards education, he said: “Let me start with the challenge‎ first. First of all as I have been saying, if you have a large population, then you have problem both in education and health, even with the provision of infrastructural facilities. But education is the first victim when the population is large because you have to provide for every child, and it has to be sustained.

“So, in basic education, what we observed is that government cannot do alone, and therefore, there is one segment that is being neglected, that is community participation in education. If you look within the highest number of government schools. This is because apart from the population, not many people are interested in investing in education, that is why we have the value like that.

“Education is so voluminous. Sometimes you become confused on where to start. But I think if you want to start building, you have to start with a foundation, that is why we are putting emphasis on basic education, to ensure that we get it right, to have as many pupils as possible in school to reduce the ones outside the school, and to also invite married people, some organisations that could undertake corporate social responsibilities to ensure that this concept is embraced by the members of the public and I think we are succeeding.”