Replicate Kaduna peace model with local data, community ownership, Gov Sani urges States

From Femi Oyelola, Kaduna

Governor Uba Sani of Kaduna State has advised other states seeking to replicate the Kaduna Peace Model to first identify the specific issues and drivers of their security challenges, and to enable communities to take ownership and lead the process for it to succeed.
The governor offered this advice when the Implementation Monitoring Committee of the National Economic Council paid a courtesy visit to Sir Kashim Ibrahim House, Kaduna.
Recalling the situation he inherited, Governor Sani said there was a significant trust deficit between the government and the people, adding that “this was the first thing we addressed.”
He noted that the second priority his administration tackled was justice, equity, and fairness, pointing out that politicians had exploited those gaps for selfish purposes.
According to him, conflict entrepreneurs hiding behind religion and ethnicity had free rein, and their followers were destroying Kaduna State.
The governor revealed that security issues in the state previously included ethno-religious crises on one side, and kidnapping and banditry on the other.
“From our data, we realize that we lost more lives due to religious crises in Kaduna State than even banditry. That’s why we sat down and evaluated the situation,” he said.
Governor Sani stated that his government had addressed the ethno-religious crises through a policy of inclusion and equitable development across all 23 local government areas.
“I make bold to say that there has never been any incidence of ethno-religious crisis in Kaduna State since I became Governor on May 29, 2023,” he disclosed.
He added that the Kaduna Peace Model, which is home-grown and community-driven, has drastically scaled down banditry and kidnapping.
Many states, he said, have been reaching out to replicate the model.
“What do we tell them? You have to relegate politics and focus on governance. When we came in, we said the issue of politics is over. We focused on governance; it has nothing to do with political affiliation, religious affiliation, or geography,” the Governor stated.
He said the impact of improved security is already visible. “Today, as we are speaking, we have reclaimed over 500,000 hectares of land that were abandoned because of insecurity. Now our farmers have gone back to their farms.
“When we came in, over 100 schools were abandoned in some frontline local governments because of insecurity. As we are speaking, we have opened all our schools.
“Our primary health care facilities, more than 150 of them, were closed because of insecurity. Today, as we are speaking, all of them have been opened. And they are operational,” he said.
Governor Sani said his administration is focused on four main sectors: education, healthcare, agriculture and infrastructural development.
On education, he noted that the state is leading in skill-based education in Nigeria. “The Vice President, three months ago, sent a circular urging other states to copy our policy on skill-based education.
“The Honorable Minister of Education also said our Institutes of Vocational and Skill Development are more equipped than any University of Technology in Nigeria.
“We have graduated about 4,300 trainees in our Institute of Vocational here in Kaduna. And all of them have been given certification by the National Board of Technical Education that will enable them to work anywhere within and outside Nigeria,” he added.
The Governor said there were about 550,000 out-of-school children when he assumed office, but based on UNICEF and Bureau of Statistics records, “we have taken back at least 300,000 of them to school.”
“Education is one of our major priorities, and that’s the reason why we always budget at least 26% of our budget to education since we came in,” he said.
On healthcare, Governor Sani reaffirmed that quality healthcare is a fundamental right of everyone, particularly the downtrodden.
He said Kaduna is the only subnational to have moved all its 255 Primary Healthcare Centers to level 2 status, and that they are manned by qualified personnel.