From Maduabuchi Nmeribeh, Kano
Kano state Governor, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje has for the third consecutive time, emerged the best performing Governor as assessed by the Progressive Governors Forum’s Progressive Strides Tracking Developmental Initiatives in APC states.
Speaking to Journalists at Government House on Wednesday, Ganduje’s Chief Press Secretary, Malam Abba Anwar, said the assessment was part of the strategy to further deepen good governance among All Progressives Congress (APC) states in the country.
According to him, “under this methodology, APC states are assessed on monthly basis. The assessment cuts across all sectors of government, ranging from health, education, agriculture, housing, transport, environmental sanitation among others. All states are equally assessed and evaluated.”
Anwar expressed delight that, “for the period of three consecutive months, that is three assessments from September, October to November, of this year, 2019, Kano under Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje takes the leading positions with various degrees of improvement from one stage to another.”
He further stated that, “in a letter dated October 7, 2019 and signed by the Director General of the Forum, Salihu Mohammed Lukman, that was addressed and sent to all APC governors, Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje in this context, forwarding September assessment report, states that, ‘In general, there is an all-round increase in the pattern of initiatives introduced by the states with Kano state recording the most initiatives for this Month (September) with Eighteen (18) Strides, spreading across empowerment, healthcare, education, security, transportation, welfare, power, agriculture, justice and sensitisation.”
The letter revealed that, Yobe follows with 14 Strides, Borno 13, while Edo, Gombe, Kaduna, Lagos and Ogun state with 12 each. Ekiti, according to the letter, records 11, Nassarawa with 9, Katsina and Kebbi states with 7 each, Kwara and Osun with 6 each. Niger state follows with 5, Ondo with 4 and finally Kogi and Plateau states with 3 Strides each.
Anwar noted that, “some of the indices given for Kano’s emergence across the mentioned areas are, the state trains 60 youth on maintenance of high duty and articulated vehicles, distribution of 8 million mosquito nets to residents, governor Ganduje’s unrelenting commitment in attaining universal health coverage.
“Others given are the all-important Summit on education, the commendation from the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, on the state free and compulsory primary and secondary schools education. It gives, as another reason, why Kano excels, the Forum mentions that the state government spends N2.4 Billion on 1,180 primary and secondary schools, as part of the free education policy.
“How Kano/France Scholarship scheme improves lecturers performance. (under this arrangement, over 40 lecturers from the state owned tertiary institutions were sent to France for their Master Degrees. Some have been absorbed for their PhDs). It is indicative to note that, Kano spends over N600m on Joint Tuition Free Post Graduate scholarship programme,” says the report sent to the governor.
“It lists among others, that Kano Hydro Electricity Power Project is set to address petroleum consumption and climate change. And that, the state sets up Tax Tribunal to resolve disputes associated with taxation.
“In the October rating, which is called “October 2019 Progressive Strides- Tracking Developmental Initiatives in APC States report,” the letter addressed to the governor reads, in part, that, “There is an all-round increase in the pattern of initiatives introduced by the states with KANO State recording the most of the initiatives for this Month with nineteen (19) strides, spreading across empowerment, job creation, healthcare, education, security, transportation, power, environment, sports (among others).”
“Kano is followed by Lagos state with 18 strides, Ekiti state with 17 strides, while Edo state records 13 strides, Katsina and Kwara states follow with 11 each, Yobe state 10 and Jigawa state with 9 strides.”
Others, according to the letter are Kaduna, Niger and Ogun states that record 7 strides for each state. Borno and Kebbi states follow with 6 each, Osun and Plateau states with 5 each and finally Gombe, Kogi, Nassarawa and Ondo states follow with 4 strides each.
According to the letter, the overall characteristics of the report shows that all states in The Forum were represented and featured in the edition.
Anwar added that, “some of the indices given for the Month of October, include, but not limited to, the issue of Roll Back Malaria, when the state spends N500 Million on anti-Malaria drugs and other others. During the World Sight Day the state offers Free Eye Treatment to over 20,000 patients. The establishment of 400-Bed spaces hospitals in the headquarters of our newly created Firts Class Emirates. The process has kick started already.
“Because of the seriousness of the state government under Dr Ganduje, a global partner, Global Fund committed N11 Billion to Malaria control in the state. The Forum appreciates that the state establishes 44 Routine Immunization Coordination Centres, across the 44 local governments. And that Kano vaccinated 2.7 children against Measles.
“The report also appreciates that, on Almajiri education, Kano recruits 600 teachers and approves the release of N200 Million for books. When governor Ganduje distributed 779,522 free school uniforms to pupils across the state, the action was commended by the APC Governors Forum.
“Another success story as featured in the October report was that Kano’s Independent 10 Megawatts Project reaches 90 percent completion stage. It also refers to the federal government’s invitation to governor Ganduje for “Clean Nigeria Campaign.” Other factors considered were the signing of Disability Law, which is about to take-off, I mean the Agency and government promise of finding justice for the 9 kidnapped and rescued Kano kids.
“In the most recent assessment report of the Month of November, Kano is consecutively leading all other states for the Third Time in the areas of security, infrastructural development, health, education, economy among other areas, as assessed by the APC Progressive Governors Forum, according to November Assessment Report released recently, by the Forum.
“In a letter sent to governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, that was attached with the full scale report of the assessment, signed by the Director General of the Forum, Salihu Mohammed Lukman, Kano is rated the highest with 22 Strides.
“The letter captioned “Forwarding November, 2019 PROGRESSIVE Strides- Tracking Developmental Initiatives in APC States,” states that “The entries for this edition witnessed more improvement as regards developmental Strides collated from the Forum States in 2019.”
“It was clear in the letter that, “In general, there is an all-round increase in the pattern of initiatives introduced by the states with KANO State recording the most of the initiatives for this Month with twenty two (22) Strides, spreading across empowerment, health, education, infrastructure, security, welfare, economy, environment, capacity building as well as justice and sensitisation.”
“According to the assessment, Lagos follows with 20 Strides, Jigawa follows with 17. Gombe appears with 14, Nassarawa and Yobe with 12 each, Borno, Ogun and Osun with 11 Strides each. Katsina follows with 10, Kebbi with 9, Niger and Ondo with 8 each, Kwara with 7, Edo, Ekiti and Kaduna with 6 each. While Kogi and Plateau have 4 each.
“he report shows that all states in the Forum were represented and featured in this edition of the assessment strides.
“Kano moves with significant improvement from the previous assessment. In September the state was leading with 18 Strides and in October assessment, the state was leading all other states with 19 strides. And with 22 strides for November.
“How the state moves ahead of other states, with significant increase of points, is but a clear indication that governor Abdullahi Ganduje is emphatically taking the state to greater heights. When some states are backsliding, Kano is moving forward very fastly. This calls for celebration and working harder.”
