Governor Uba Sani of Kaduna State has warned against the activities of “latter-day activists”, who he described as politicians who undermine Nigeria’s democracy when they find policies unfavourable.
Mr Sani gave the warning while breaking the Ramadan fast with journalists at Sir Kashim Ibrahim House in Kaduna on Thursday.
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The governor said journalists played a crucial role in the struggle for democracy in Nigeria and should remain vigilant against anti-democratic forces.
“When we were in the struggle, we, the civil rights activists, relied mostly on journalists. Most of them lost their freedoms, and some even lost their lives when we were fighting for democracy,” he said.
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According to him, the contributions of journalists remained central to Nigeria’s democratic journey.
“You cannot talk about democracy today without the contribution of journalists. So, you have to be vigilant about this category of politicians who are conflict merchants,” he advised.
Mr Sani alleged that such politicians focus less on development issues such as healthcare, education, human capital development, infrastructure, unemployment and poverty, but rather exploit ethnicity and religion to divide Nigerians.
“When campaigns begin, they will focus on these issues instead of matters that affect all Nigerians irrespective of ethno-religious affiliations,” he said.
The governor also described some of the individuals he referred to as “emergency activists” as not part of the pro-democracy struggle.
“When we were fighting for democracy, they were partnering with military dictators. Today, from nowhere, they are trying to teach us democracy,” he said.
Mr Sani said Nigerians should question the democratic credentials of such individuals, noting that their past actions contradict their current posture.
“What do they know about fundamental human rights? What do they know about freedom, the rule of law, equality and justice?” he asked.
He urged journalists to hold such politicians accountable by scrutinising their past records.
Highlighting achievements of his administration, the governor said that before he assumed office, 12 Local Government Areas in the State had no single kilometre of road constructed in 10 years.
According to him, his administration has taken development projects to all 23 local government areas of the state over the past two and a half years, in line with the principles of equity and justice.
Sani also disclosed that only five out of the 32 secondary healthcare centres in the state were functional when his administration took over.
“Today, we are renovating, equipping and remodelling 15 out of the 32 secondary healthcare centres,” he said.
The governor added that Kaduna State previously had about 580,000 out-of-school children, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.
He said the number had been reduced to 182,000 through government interventions.
Mr Sani further disclosed that his government, in partnership with the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development, the Islamic Development Bank, and UNICEF, among other development partners, plans to build an additional 102 schools.
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He said Kaduna state had secured about 62.8 million US Dollars in funding to address the challenge of out-of-school children.
According to him, the state is currently the only subnational government benefiting from the facility due to its transparent governance practices.
“Our focus is to ensure that no child is left outside the classroom in Kaduna state because we believe education is the greatest leveller,” the governor said.
(NAN)
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