el-Rufai’s second coming

Governor Nasiru el-Rufai has been elected for the second term having defeated his closest rival, Isah Ashiru Kudan of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in a keenly contested poll. Although, it is not yet uhuru for the governor as PDP has rejected the result of the poll and promised to challenge it in the court, based on the result declared by the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC), el-Rufai was victorious.

I am an ardent critic of el-Rufai policies since the time he came on board. My criticism is born out of the desire to have a just and peaceful Kaduna state; I picked holes in some of his policies and constructively criticised them. For instance, the retrenchment policies that threw over 50,000 personnel out of work without their entitlements.

el-Rufai’s second coming should, as a matter of expediency, address these nagging issues once and for all. Let the disengaged staff receive their benefits as specified by the civil service rules. His second term will contend with the ethnic-religion tension in southern Kaduna. At present, curfew has been imposed in the troubled Kajuru and some parts of Chikun local government where attacks and reprisals attacks are being carried out with impunity.

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The crises in Southern Kaduna did not start with the el-Rufai administration; it is as old as the history of the state. It, however, became worse due to some forces that are fuelling the crises for their political and economic benefits.

The inability of past administrations to bring the perpetrators of these ungodly or heinous acts to justice has exacerbated the tension rather than resolving it.

Governor el-Rufai should convene a peace and reconciliation confab with the affected communities with a view to identifying the remote causes of the age-long upheavals that defied lasting solutions. Those who have been arrested for causing trouble should be prosecuted. This will serve as a deterrent to others who have pre-determined plans to cause havoc to the peaceful atmosphere of the state.

Ibrahim Mustapha Pambegua, Kaduna State.

His first tenure witnessed uncompleted projects; the governor and his aides cited lack of funds as the reason the projects could not be completed as scheduled, with the improved revenue to the tune of 30billions last year coupled with measures put in place to block revenue leakages and unnecessary overhead expenses, the governor should hasten the completion of these uncompleted projects in state.