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Most almajiris in Kano are from Chad, Niger — Ganduje

Most almajiris in Kano are from Chad, Niger — Ganduje

Kano State Governor, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, recently spoke with journalists on various national issues including the Boko Haram insurgency and the challenges of managing a mega city. JOHN ALECHENU was there

How has the Boko Haram insurgency affected Kano and how are you dealing with it?

Kano is a cosmopolitan city and the security challenges in the North-East of this country have virtually increased settlements in the state. Many of their (North-East) elites are in Kano; some bought houses, while some built houses. With the improvement on the security situation, the commercial activities have improved. Kano is the commercial nerve centre, not only for the North but also for some West African countries. We have people from Niger, Chad, Cameroon and even Burkina Faso who come here for business purposes. These foreign traders visit our grain market in Dawanau, which is the biggest grain market in West Africa. You can see that Kano is blending between an old city and a new commercial outfit. Therefore, it is a big challenge for the city’s administrators because we have to move the state forward. Otherwise, the challenges will draw us backwards. For any megacity, there are challenges you have to contend with like security. So, it is like being behind the steering for 24 hours, without even having time to rest. This is because if you dose off, you are at the risk of falling into the pit. We have to thank Mr. President for destroying the nucleus of insurgency. The major issue here is that the root has been destroyed. We now work closely with the security agencies and communities in terms of providing security information. We work with various organisations. A lot of arrests are being made now without being publicised.

With recession and money from the Federation Account barely enough to pay salaries, where did you get funds for projects?

We increased our internally generated revenue by redeploying civil servants and employing best practices in modern revenue collection. We instituted a recruitment outfit ; invited almost anybody interested in working with the revenue office. After completing the process which was transparent, we made the outfit independent. We are not paying them salaries; we are only giving them a percentage of whatever they collect. They are a group of young men and women with experience and knowledge pertaining to modern revenue collection. We blocked leakages, reduced cost of governance, ensured transparency in the award of contracts. The revenue board is still young but we are expanding. We studied other governments that we believe are superior to us in the area of revenue collection such as Lagos. For example, last week, we brought 765 university graduates to assist in the collection of revenue. Many people who are supposed to be in the (revenue) net are not even there. The first thing we did was to increase the number of people captured in the net. If you have five per cent of the population, you increase it to about 40 per cent. Then you know that anybody you captured is already there and that he will not go out. That is simply what we have done and we believe we will continue to improve. We have constructed security dormitories along major roads leading to Kano. Each security dormitory contains 40 security operatives. They stay there overnight and they check all the major roads coming into Kano, not only roadblocks. They have their communication gadgets; it is helping us a lot. Even if you don’t see them as such, they are there. The police are there too. So we are doing a lot to maintain security in the state. Though security is always a challenge, we are always on top of it.

We understand that on the average, one kilometre of road costs over N30m in Kano.  Why does it cost so much when state’s terrain is not bad?

We set up the Due Process Bureau and advertised all our contracts, with precise specifications for them. That had assisted us in finding the best price for our projects, either for the provision of services or for construction. You know there is also the issue of inflation. We always plead with contractors to avoid seeking reviews of the cost of contracts. That itself is a kind of control, even though sometimes, it becomes inevitable to review when the change is so abrupt. But you can still maintain reasonable prices. Our Due Process Office is a very strong outfit that checks things very well. We have also instituted an anti-corruption bureau which is working very well. We made it independent. One of our commissioners lost his job because he was indicted by the Anti-Corruption Bureau. Also, three permanent secretaries and, some directors lost their job too. Some were saying if we allowed the commissioner to be removed, it is an indictment on the government but I said it is an achievement. If one of my own is found wanting, I will not allow the person to stay in office.

Why does the almajiri problem persist in Kano despite several efforts to end the menace?

We undertook a survey on the Almaijiri issue. We have more than three million almajiris in Kano State. From our investigations, most of the almajiris are not indigenes of Kano state. Some are from Niger and Chad. Some are from other states, especially from the North-West and North-East. We have taken two steps; one is that we introduced an element of integration by introducing some core subjects into the quranic schools to accommodate schools established for the Almajisris. We introduced subjects such as Mathematics, English and Social studies after which they can take the Common Entrance Examination. Another intervention is to convince our counterpart governors to prevent the migration of school children to Kano. Now, any child that comes as an almajiri, we have an outfit that takes them back to where they come from. But that is not a permanent solution. The permanent solution is for the state to have a law preventing the migration of these children.

Many governors do very well in their first term but slow down in their second term. What is your pact with the people?

In our case, we know that we want to leave a legacy. We know that we must leave a mark because one day we will be remembered for the good things we have done for the state. I am not coming from the blues as far as governance is concerned. As I have been saying, I started as a recruit. In public service, I started from level 8 as a graduate. I went through all the levels until level 17 in the civil service. I am a PhD holder from the University of Ibadan. When I was seeking admission, I was looking for a university where I would face cultural and religious challenges. Somebody told me to go to the University of Ibadan. I went and in fact, I was the only Hausa man. I liked it. In politics, I was the secretary of a party at the local government level; an illiterate was my chairman. Later at the state level, I became the assistant secretary. I contested election and failed and I was rehabilitated by that administration during (Shehu) Shagari’s administration. I went through so many sectors of development. I know it will be a shameful thing for one to come, see and leave. I have to see and conquer. So, I don’t think I belong to that kind of category of governors who would relax after four years.

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