Understanding Uba Sani’s solution for insecurity in Kaduna state and beyond

BY JIBRIL KAREEM

It is true that most of the members of the highly revered Kaduna Elders’ Forum are well aware of the uncommon intellect of the young and level-headed governor of Kaduna state, Senator Uba Sani. Not a few of the elders were however confounded, albeit positively, on Monday, February 5, when the governor hosted the Elders’ Forum at the Sir Kashim Ibrahim Government House, Kaduna, the state capital.

The very influential members of the Kaduna Elders’ Forum who were led by the duo of Gen. Zamani Lekwot (retd) and Alhaji Abubakar Mustapha, were ostensibly at the Kaduna State Government House to felicitate with Governor Uba Sani following the affirmation of his resounding victory at the gubernatorial polls by the nation’s apex court — the Supreme Court; but the very profound Governor Uba Sani seized the rare opportunity of the visit to present what many now regard as the state-of-the-State address to the respected elders. Curiously the Governor spoke largely off the cuff, underscoring his administrative depth and firm knowledge of the issues that matter.

Not surprisingly, the red-hot issues of banditry, kidnappings and other shades of insecurity and criminality in the state took centre stage. Governor Uba Sani did not only trace the root causes of the multifaceted crisis of insecurity in the State, he proffered workable solutions and gave the elders up-to-date steps his administration has so far taken, the results already achieved and the projections for the future.

For starters, Governor Uba Sani traced the security challenges in Kaduna State and the North-West zone of the country at large, to poverty, unemployment and poor leadership or governance at several tiers of the people’s being.

“What are the factors that have brought about this unfortunate state of affairs? Hopelessness, lack of education and lack of economic prosperity. Over 85% of the people in the North West are either not educated or financially excluded,” Senator Uba Sani told the elders.

“No matter how much we talk and try to bring about peace, if we don’t look at the area of good governance, we will never end the problem of insecurity in Northern Nigeria in particular. People always talk about how the problem of insurgency ended in the North-East, but the insurgency is not the same as the problem of banditry and kidnapping that we have in the North-West. The North-East issue was about people who came from nowhere and talked about the ideology of Boko Haram. However here in the northwest, there is so much poverty. If we don’t address the poverty by supporting our farmers and increasing productivity, we will not address the problem of insecurity,” he averred.

The governor also bemoaned the huge number of out-of-school children in the North-western part of the country, especially in Kaduna state. “In Kaduna state, we have over 600,000 out-of-school children. This is unacceptable and we, in fact, view the situation as a ticking time bomb”.

The governor was however quick to inform the elders that since assuming office, his administration has been deploying very effective measures to stem this ugly tide, an example being the proactive collaboration between the Kaduna State Government and the Kuwait Fund. He said the Fund is currently supporting the state with $28 million to return hundreds of out-of-school children back to school under the Qatar Sanabil Project.

Pursuant to the Sanabil Project, Qatar has also commenced the construction of 500,000 housing units for less privileged residents of Kaduna State. The Mega Economic City project was officially inaugurated by Governor Uba Sani and Qatar’s Ambassador to Nigeria, Ali Bin Ghanem Al-Hajri in Kaduna in August 2023.

The project aims to improve the living conditions for underprivileged families in the state. Aside from the construction of the housing units, Qatar Charity shall be undertaking an array of interventions and empowerment programmes for the less privileged across Kaduna state. These programmes, many of which have commenced, include scholarships for orphans and children of the poor, distribution of sewing machines, welding machines, irrigation pumping machines, salon kits, and drilling of hundreds of boreholes across the 23 local government areas of Kaduna state.

According to Governor Uba Sani, “The Economic City will provide world-class infrastructure and make Kaduna a reference point in modern and affordable accommodation with adequate security and a conducive atmosphere for business activities. It will facilitate international trade while serving as a platform for local entrepreneurs and traders. It will also harness product value chain opportunities and improve economic growth,” he added. The governor said the project extends beyond housing, it also provides clinics, shops, poultry farms, and farmlands for the rainy season and irrigation farming.

On insecurity, Governor Uba Sani informed the elders that his administration is currently working hand-in-hand with the Armed Forces of Nigeria to fight and win the war against banditry, kidnapping and all other forms of criminality in the state. The governor recalled his visits to the Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa (who incidentally is from Kaduna State) all the Service Chiefs as well as the National Security Adviser (NSA) in his quest to garner support to stamp out multifaceted insecurity in Kaduna State. Members of the Kaduna State Elders Forum were visibly enthused when Governor Uba Sani announced that the collaboration with the nation’s Armed Forces and other security agencies was already paying off.

“They (Armed Forces) have decided to set up two Forward Operation Bases in Kaduna, one in the Southern Kaduna, in Zangon Kataf to be precise and the other one in Birnin Gwari to serve Birnin Gwari down to Giwa. The FOBs will be set up in the next three weeks”, he told the elders.

The Kaduna state governor was unequivocal in his assurances to the Kaduna Elders’ Forum that the days of bandits, and other criminal elements, who have for a long while been terrorizing the State, were numbered.

A firm believer in good governance being the most potent weapon against insecurity, Governor Uba Sani has tailored his administration to bring sustainable development to every nook and cranny of Kaduna State. Indeed, the governor’s topmost priority areas are the rural and underserved areas of the State. “The central policy thrust of our administration is Rural Transformation. We are committed to revitalizing our rural economies through massive infrastructural development,” Governor Uba Sani recently reiterated.

“Our people have been struggling to stay afloat in this harsh economic climate. As a government, we have been unrelenting in fashioning and implementing policies, programmes and projects to bring succour to the poor, underserved and vulnerable. We are determined to reverse the negative development indices of Kaduna State. We are creatively and innovatively addressing the challenges of poverty and youth unemployment. We are prioritising women and youth empowerment,” the Governor assured stakeholders during the Kaduna State Core Security Council meeting with traditional rulers and Local Government Chairmen of frontline areas, held in January this year.

Very conscious of the fact that the nefarious activities of bandits and other criminal elements, in especially rural communities in the State, will all-too certainly imperil his vision of aggressively curbing poverty and underdevelopment in underserved parts of the State, Governor Uba Sani has in addition to his administration’s fruitful collaboration with nation’s armed forces and other security agencies, revitalized the Kaduna State’s Vigilante Service (KADVS). He beefed up the Service with 7,000 able-bodied persons who were trained by the Nigeria Police Force and he has since procured assorted security assets for the rebooted Service.

The recruitment and screening of the trainees were in collaboration with critical stakeholders including local government chairmen, and traditional and religious leaders. Governor Sani has also affirmed that the initiative, apart from being a major step towards restoring security and development in the state, is also geared towards providing jobs for the teeming youth population in the state.

Poised to give needed financial muscle to several security efforts his administration is undertaking, Gov. Uba Sani recently signed into law, the Kaduna State Security Trust Fund Bill, created to provide funding support to the efforts being made towards degrading terrorists, bandits, kidnappers and other criminal elements. The new law repealed Kaduna State’s Security Trust Fund Law No. 22, of 2018.

The Kaduna State Governor believes that the legislation would help raise funds for acquiring and deploying security equipment, personnel and materials, as well as their training. The governor explained that the private sector would play a prominent role in managing the trust fund in collaboration with critical stakeholders in the security sector. “The new law is also designed to align with global best practices. It is a model for other sub-nationals as well as a clear demonstration of the state government’s commitment towards degrading terrorists, bandits, kidnappers and other criminal elements who have been laying siege to some communities in our state,” he added while appealing to corporate organisations and public-spirited individuals to donate generously to the security trust fund.

Interestingly, the federal government and other states are keying into Governor Uba Sani’s long-running advocacy to alter Nigeria’s constitution to enable States to establish and run their respective police forces or services as is the case in most developing and developed countries of the world. It is on record that as a vibrant lawmaker in the 9th Senate, Uba Sani sponsored a series of bills seeking to have the nation’s constitution altered to accommodate the State Police. Governor Uba Sani’s pro-state police bills while he was in the senate include:

• Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (Alteration) Bill 2020 (SB. 592) – This Bill sought to alter the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 to amongst other provisions establish State Police Force in the 36 states of the Federation, change the name of the Police Service Commission to the Federal Police Service Commission, establish the State Police Service Commission and amend the Second and Third Schedules of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999.

• Police Service Commission Act 2001 (Repeal and Re-Enactment) Bill, 2020 (SB. 594) – This Bill sought to repeal the Police Service Commission Act 2001 and enact the Federal Police Service Commission (Est. Etc) Bill to amongst other provisions establish a Commission which shall be charged with discipline of all officers except in state police force and to dismiss and exercise disciplinary control over any person holding office in the Nigeria Police Force (other than the inspector-general of police).

• Nigerian Police Act (Amendment) Bill, 2020 (SB. 593) – This Bill sought to alter the Nigeria Police Act 2020 to amongst other provisions establish an operational structure for the State Police Force in the 36 states of the Federation, change the name of the Police Service Commission to the Federal Police Service Commission, and address new issues that are not covered under the Nigeria Police Act 2020.

• State Police Service Commission (Establishment) Bill, 2020 (SB. 595) -This Bill sought to enact the State Police Service Commission (Est. Etc.). The Bill was sculpted to amongst other provisions, establish a Commission which shall be charged with disciplining all officers in the state police force and dismissing and exercising disciplinary control over any person holding office in the State Police Force (other than the Commissioner of Police).

Indeed, these bills scaled the requisite hurdles in the Senate and were referred to the 9th National Assembly’s Joint Committee on Constitutional amendment. Their enactments into law suffered mainly due to the apparent lack of national consensus or political will at the time, to have the states establish their respective police outfits. However, now that the federal and state governments seem to be finally coming to terms with the imperative and even the urgency of altering the nation’s constitution to enable the 36 States of the Federation to establish and run their respective Police Force or Service, to complement the efforts of the Federal (Nigeria) Police Force, the vast knowledge of Governor Uba Sani of Kaduna State on this score would be very crucial.

In general, it is becoming apparent that both the federal government and other sub-nationals in Nigeria may have to study, understand and harness Governor Uba Sani’s well-thought-out panacea for insecurity in Kaduna state in particular and the country at large.

Kareem, a security expert, is based in Kawo, Kaduna state.