Kaduna State Governor, Uba Sani, has said his administration would not have recorded major achievements within two and a half years without the support of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Sani disclosed this while hosting social media influencers for Iftar, the breaking of the Ramadan fast.
The governor disclosed that Kaduna State would be the first subnational government to benefit from the $200 million Nigeria–China poultry project, which he described as the largest in Sub-Saharan Africa, attributing the opportunity to the president’s support for the state.
“By the grace of God, in the next two months we will conduct the groundbreaking for the construction of the biggest poultry project in Sub-Saharan Africa,” he said.
According to the governor, the project will create at least 350 direct jobs and about 150,000 indirect jobs, while supporting around 10,000 small businesses across Kaduna State.
Speaking at the event, he also revealed that Kaduna State would become the first state outside Lagos to develop a light rail system, again attributing the development to the support of President Tinubu.
The governor added that the groundbreaking ceremony for the light rail project is expected to take place in May.
He thanked the social media influencers for their support, describing them as professionals who have chosen to promote the activities of the Kaduna State Government out of their passion for good governance.
Governor Sani further noted that his administration has recorded several milestones within the past two and a half years, achievements he said the influencers have helped highlight.
He explained that the state government, in partnership with the Kuwait Development Fund, has built about 104 schools to tackle the problem of out-of-school children.
According to him, the Kaduna State Government has also constructed 65 secondary schools and renovated over 2,300 classrooms, while plans are underway to build an additional 55 secondary schools.
“We are also recruiting at least 2,000 teachers for our primary schools starting from next month, and we will continue this exercise every year,” he said.
The governor recalled that when his administration assumed office, Kaduna State had about 580,000 out-of-school children.
“Today, by the grace of God, we have reduced that number to about 182,000,” he added.
Sani also said the state is leading in skills development, noting that vocational institutions have been established in Soba, Rigachikun and Zangon Kataf.
He said the Minister of Education had noted that the institutions are better equipped than some Federal Universities of Technology in Nigeria.
According to him, the institutions will graduate about 32,000 artisans annually, all certified by the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), making them employable anywhere in the world.
Governor Sani also recalled that his administration reduced tuition fees in Kaduna State-owned tertiary institutions shortly after assuming office.
“Today, enrolment in our tertiary institutions has increased by over 200 per cent,” he said.
He added that Kaduna State is the only subnational government in Nigeria that has upgraded all its 255 primary healthcare centres from Level 1 to Level 2.
The state, he said, has also renovated, rebuilt and equipped 16 additional secondary healthcare facilities.
“We are recruiting 1,800 medical personnel — from nurses to doctors — every year for the next five years. We have already started,” he assured.
Highlighting achievements in the agricultural sector, the governor said Kaduna State was the first in Nigeria to conduct the groundbreaking for a Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zone.
He also revealed that the state is the second in Nigeria to partner with the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) to establish an Africa Quality Assurance Centre (AQAC), which will enable farmers to certify their produce for global export.
“When we came in 2023, the agriculture budget was only 0.5 per cent. Today, it is over 11 per cent, surpassing the Malabo Declaration target,” he said.
According to the governor, the administration has been supporting farmers extensively.
“We are the only state that has distributed about 900 trucks of fertiliser free of charge to smallholder farmers,” he added.