Kaduna State governor, Sir Patrick Ibrahim Yakowa, was recently in Atlanta where he attended the 2011 Convention and Anniversary of Zumunta, a northern peoples’ forum. He speaks with Leadership’s United States Bureau Chief, ABIODUN OLUWAROTIMI, on Islamic banking, Boko Haram and many other issues.
Excerpts
Whatare your reactions to the issue of Islamic banking?
I think the experts are looking at it and the government will take a decision on the issue based on their advice.
Sir, the Sultan of Sokoto recently said that the presence of the military in the Northern part was not the solution to Boko Haram bombings. Do you share this view?
The president and commander-in-chief has made a pronouncement on the issue of the presence of military in Maduguri – that it is not certainly advisable to withdraw them now due to the situation of things in Borno State. I think that while they are there, a lot is being done by Mr. President and the federal government to find a lasting solution to the issue, and I think I will stand by the position of President Jonathan.
Do you see the emergence of Boko Haram as a product of injustice, and what do you think is the way out?
I do not know what you mean by ‘a product of injustice’, but all I know is that a lot is being done to really understand what Boko Haram wants – what really their grievance is, and the government is trying to take a lot of measures to find out what really is the cause of these attacks. I am sure that it is only when you are able to establish their grievances that you will know how to redress it. So, I do not know about the injustice you mentioned, but I know very well that a lot is being done to find out what their agitation is.
Can you tell us a little about the changes that your government has been able to make since inception?
As everyone knows, I became governor of Kaduna State in May, 2010, after His Excellency, the present Vice President (Namadi Sambo) was elevated to that position by the president. I became the governor for a little over one year and most of the time of this period was spent preparing for the recently concluded 2011 elections. But despite the pre-occupation of the campaigns for the elections, one can say that I continued with the programme we started together with Vice President Namadi Sambo when he was governor. We had an 11-point agenda
. Number one of it is security for peace and development. We also paid a very special attention to education, especially primary education which is the bedrock for all other levels of education, where we introduced free and compulsory primary education for all children. In the health sector, we also introduced free medical treatment for children below the ages of five and all pregnant women, and embarked on massive immunisation campaigns in order to eradicate polio and other communicable diseases in Kaduna State, and I must say that we achieved a lot in the area of immunisation.Regarding polio, I think Kaduna State is one of those states that have virtually succeeded in the elimination of polio. We have done well in the areas of education, health and infrastructural development.
Our people are still yearning for roads, inter-city roads and roads within townships. In the past one year, we have been able to embark in a number of new roads, rehabilitating those that were already collapsed in some of the towns in the state. The roads of the sub-urban areas were bad before and we have been able to work on them. One of our areas of special interest is agriculture. Kaduna State is a state of agriculture and it maintains tremendous potential for agriculture. You can get all types of crops there – maize for consumption, ginger for local use and also for export and so many other crops. This made us pay very special attention to the issue of agriculture.
I have been able to acquire substantial quantity of fertiliser that was distributed to farmers last year. Right now, the distribution of fertiliser for the ongoing farming season is going on in all the local governments of the state and the whole intention is to substantially increase production of all the different crops. We have also tried to introduce the mechanisation because presently the production is very low now with the kind of small-scale farming. We are collaborating with the federal ministry of agriculture in order to introduce a tractorisation scheme into the state whereby we are hoping that, very soon,
I am going to launch about 200 tractors that will be distributed to cooperative societies in different parts of the state to improve agriculture and to assist us in food security. These are some of the achievements we have made, but let me say that the number one is security because the state government has continued to pay very special attention to the issue of security. We hold very regular meetings of what we call the Religious Harmony Committee Meeting.
This meeting brings together religious leaders from the two major religions – Islam and Christianity – in all the 23 local governments. This idea is to ensure that that our state continues to be very peaceful in spite of all that had happened in the past.
Sir, there was a controversy over the inclusion of about 11 of your immediate past commissioners in the new cabinet. How were you able to resolve this?
Yes, I did so because I believe in continuity. I was part and parcel of the government of His Excellency, the Vice President. We worked out the programmes together and there was a need to continue the programmes and policies that we have been implementing. Even when I became the governor, I looked at all the commissioners that were working with us and I decided to bring back those that were capable, prudent and ready to contribute to the growth and development of the state. I did not do this alone. I had extensive consultations with our stakeholders in the party and other leaders in the state to be able to arrive at who and who not to continue with; so, I really do not see any trouble with that.
What of the controversy revolving around the constitution of caretaker committees in the local governments of the state?
Kaduna State has a local government law and it allows the appointment of interim management committees for local government councils in a situation whereby you are not able to hold elections immediately. You see, the law is there; it makes provision for the constitution of the committees and the size. It backs everything we have done regarding formation of caretaker committees for the local government areas. This was to be in place till we organise local government elections. Through extensive consultations with stakeholders in the state, the government was able to come out with the composition of a chairman and other four members of the interim management committees and this was submitted to the State House of Assembly for ratification, which followed the law, and then screened all these members of the committees and confirmed them for swearing-in as members. So I want to assure you that we have complied with the local government law in the State.
What have you done to help those that were displaced during the post-election crisis in the state?
A lot has been done and a lot is being done presently. I set up a special committee under the chairmanship of my commissioner for information, Alhaji Saidu Adamu, made up of members from different relevant ministries, the police, the State Security Service (SSS) and the two major religious bodies. This ccommittee has been working towards ameliorating the plights of those who were displaced as a result of the unfortunate and unnecessary political violence that erupted after the presidential election. I called it ‘unnecessary’ and ‘unfortunate’ because all that happened was as a result of politics and I said to my brother politicians that we have a lot of electoral laws in this country that provide for whoever feels aggrieved. If you feel that you have been cheated or rigged out or whatever it is that you feel, the solution is not violence; the solution is not instigating unemployed youths and putting them to start burning property, commercial places, places of worship, killing or maiming of people. That is not the solution, and we must learn to abide by the rule of law no matter how aggrieved we are.
Can you let us into the outcome of the panel?
Well, I am not going to pre-empt the outcome of the work of the Judicial Commission of Inquiry. All that I know is that I was so pained by what happened. I was very sad with the level of killing and maiming of people and destruction of property and I set up the commission. Very soon, the commission will make available the outcome of its investigation to me and we will then see how to come out with a strategy that will help us prevent a re-occurrence of such unfortunate situation in the state.
The CPC’s (Congress for Progressive Change) gubernatorial candidate is challenging your victory in the last election in the court and you are calling on the court to set aside his appeal. Sir, what informed your request?
The case is before the court and I will not want to comment on it, but all I can say is that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared me the winner of the 2011 governorship election and I have been sworn in as the governor of the state and now the CPC has decided to challenge me in the court. We are all in the court and lawyers of both teams are arguing it out, so it is not for me to talk about an issue that is before the court and I am sure that the tribunal will do justice to the issue accordingly.
So what are the things that Kaduna people should be expecting from your administration now?
In the next four years, my determination is to substantially improve on the state of things in Kaduna State. Talking of infrastructure, I will say that I went round all the 23 local government areas of the state twice before the primary elections, and after my campaigns for the general election and I had very very clear vision of the needs of the people in different parts of the state. Roads, water, education, good health care facilities, and agriculture, I mean timely supply of agricultural products in the state – these are the things that I have set machineries in motion to begin to implement within the limit of resources available. The problem is resources and that is why I am happy to be here in Atlanta in the United States to attend the Zumunta convention where I have so far been able to talk to investors to know the areas where they can assist Kaduna State. I assure that a lot will be achieved in all these areas mentioned above at the end of the next four years.
Sir, what do you think about the controversy surrounding the single term agenda in the country?
I think I read that this issue was discussed by a Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP) in the country. I believe the Conference of Political Parties came out with this suggestion as a possible way to reduce the bitterness and the rancour that always arise when you have a sitting president or governor wanting to contest a second term in office.
The idea of single term is a suggestion that will be handled appropriately in line with the laws of our country and I believe Nigerians will have the opportunity of contributing their own opinions to the one term issue for the president and state governors. Nigerians will be able to make their own suggestions if the one single term is okay or it should continue to remain the current four years of not more than two terms. I want to assure you that Mr. President is a democrat and I know he will allow Nigerians to decide what they want. Whatever decision the generality of Nigerians adopts will be accepted.
Recently, Reverend Josiah Idowu Fearon said that Kaduna is the problem of the north. Sir, as the governor of the state, how will you react to this?
Reverend Josiah Fearon is one of the outstanding Christian clerics who is equally very vast in Islamic books and I have a lot of respect for him, but truly I do not understand the context in which he made that statement. Certainly, if you say that the problem of the north is Kaduna, all I will tell you is that the state is an interesting state to everybody in the north because it was once the headquarters of the Northern Region and, even today, every who is who in the north has residence and interests in Kaduna. To some extent, I will say that everybody was concerned about the unfortunate incidents in Kaduna and, traditionally, the statement used to be made that when Kaduna sneezes, either the rest of the north or the country catches cold because, as I said here in Atlanta, Kaduna is very critical to Nigeria. You find people from all the geo-political zones living in Kaduna and this has made it an interesting state. To this extent, I will say that everybody is interested about what is happening in Kaduna.
Can you describe your relationship with Vice President Namadi Sambo who was once your boss as the governor of Kaduna State?
Point of correction, the Vice President is still my boss as the number two citizen of the country. This was the statement I made in one of the side events of the 2011 Zumunta convention and you were there. My relationship with him is very good and I have a lot of respect for him. Anybody thinking otherwise must be a mischief-maker and nothing more than that.
What is your take regarding the agitation for creation of another state from Southern Kaduna?
The agitation for state creation is not restricted to Southern Kaduna alone. Different groups and communities are agitating and have submitted memoranda to the National Assembly, requesting that states be created. One of it came from the Southern part of Kaduna State for the creation of Gurara State. Another one also came from the northern part of the state and all these memoranda are before the National Assembly. Today, Kaduna State is one of the most populous states in the country and the two agitations are not based on anything other than to accelerate the pace of development of the whole state if it is divided into two parts.
You have been doing very well in the area of poverty eradication in your state. How do you think other governors should approach this crucial issue?
The issue of poverty is not restricted to the north alone, but I think the issue of agriculture should be taken into consideration in order to increase the income of peasant farmers and as well increase the standard of living of everybody. I strongly believe that what we should in the northern states is to pay very special attention to agricultural development, especially peasant agriculture.
We must also pay a special attention to education as well and make sure that all our people are educated to enable them to be able to embark on some certain things by themselves. That is why Kaduna State started with a productive educational system which the federal government has happily adopted, and it is going to implement it. So, by the time the federal government collaborates or partners with state government in the north to implement this system of education, a lot of people will be educated and this will assist us to take a giant step towards fighting poverty in the north and, by extension, the whole country.
Sir, can you throw more light on the establishment of a noodles producing company in Kaduna State and what do you think the state will benefit from this. Also, do you have other foreign investors planning to invest in the state?
Yes, apart from Dufil, the noodles producing company, I also have other investors wanting to establish in Kaduna State. Let me say that this is one of my achievements in the area of trying to attract foreign investors to come and create job opportunities in the state. This is a multi-billion naira industry that has been established by some Asian investors, and all the state government did was to provide them with a land.
The construction of the factory has gone to an advanced stage. Even we have received a report that they need an additional land to expand the scope of the factory so that they will be able to employ more than 5,000 people to work with them by the time they complete the construction. Employing 5,000 workers will go along way in eradicating crime and poverty in Kaduna State. Like I said, I have got another request for a land from another group of investors to establish a fertilizer plant in Kaduna and I have since given directive to the state ministry of lands not to waste time in identifing a suitable place for them to commence the construction of their factory.
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