Last Saturday, yours sincerely attended the burial ceremony of the paramount ruler of the Bakulu, His Majesty Yohanna Sidi Kukah. It was an occasion that attracted the low and mighty, with Vice President Kashim Shettima paying a condolence visit to Anchuna Sarki, the hometown of the deceased monarch. While condoling the Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto, Most Revd. Dr. Mathew Hassan Kukah, who is the brother to the late King, the vice president disclosed that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved the establishment of the Federal University of Applied Sciences, Kachia.
Voice Of Discord
When the bill for the establishment of a university in the southern part of Kaduna State was sponsored by Senator Danjuma Laah in the 9th National Assembly (NASS), many hoped that the bill would be passed into law by then President Muhammadu Buhari. Sadly, it was trashed due to what others say was an attempt to politically subjugate the people.
Alienated from the country’s mainstream politics, and priding itself as the stronghold of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Kaduna South Zone 3 bore the brunt of being the headquarters of the opposition. The actions of Senator Laah of the PDP then constituted a discordant force and ensured the dream for a university remained elusive. Expectedly, no one expressed shock when Buhari refused presidential assent on the Manchok University Bill.
Under the present dispensation, there was an outcry from a cross-section of critics in the zone when it was discovered that the university that was initially billed for Manchok had been relocated to Kachia. The refusal by Buhari to endorse the university in Manchok was among other neglects unleashed on the region for daring to be in the opposition. Despite the World Bank $350 million loan granted to the former administration, led by Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, Southern Kaduna became the trampled zone that was gradually diminished into an island of dispossessions and insecurity.
Despite polling over 40 percent of the votes from the eight local government areas constituting what is referred to as Southern Kaduna in 2015, el-Rufai ensured that the region became a destitute zone bereft of meaningful development initiatives. It was during the twilight of his administration that the former governor approved the dualisation of the Kafanchan Township Road under the Urban Renewal Project. It only took the personal intervention of his successor, Senator Uba Sani, who forced the project contractors two weeks ago to return to site.
Past Ghost
When viewed against the backdrop of cost implications for building new structures for the new university that is awaiting presidential assent, replacing the aborted Nok University with the new federal university is a realistic option. With structures built for the Nok University that are now forfeited to the federal government, it has now become easier and affordable for the government to shoulder the burden of a new university.
Before now, there were outcries against the relocation of the proposed university in the zone to Kachia, with people, especially from Kaura, kicking against the move. The discord over the Kachia choice was mainly due to what many described as inadequate information made to the public on the circumstances surrounding the relocation of the federal university to Kachia. More worrisome, the present senator, Barr. Sunday Marshall Katung, was not forthcoming with information. His aides were only interested in singing his praise for the bill; a feat that was also achieved by his predecessor, Senator Laah.
While Katung was a beneficiary of chance; Laah was a victim of chance. Katung under Buhari would not have achieved what Laah failed to achieve, while Laah would have successfully achieved what Katung had achieved, if not more! For a zone whose politics is anchored on acquisition of personal empowerment veiled in ethnicity, the presidential pronouncement on the establishment of the federal university should teach the zone one or two lessons on the need for collaboration, rather than political alienation. There is no doubt that President Tinubu has shown interest in the zone, but the politics of the zone has to be amenable to existing realities for the people to reap maximum benefits.
New Dawn
Doubtlessly, there is a new dawn for Southern Kaduna. The new hope is blowing across the zone, not because of political players from the zone, but due to the presence of a federal government that is sympathetic to the people. Tinubu has demonstrated a favourable disposition in identifying with the people, politicians from the zone should, as a matter of urgency, smell the coffee and do what is needful before it’s too late. Apart from political re-alignments that must take into cognisance political realities, Southern Kaduna politicians should think less of their egos and personal empowerment. They should not only be engaged in needless pull-down syndrome, but should embrace the bigger picture of pursuing overall interests for the good majority and the area.
Tinubu may not have been the favoured president to hold out the flame for a new future for Southern Kaduna, but as thing stands now, the president is gradually providing infrastructure and returning peace to the zone. Credit for the new federal university must be given to the Tinubu-led administration that is committed to identifying with the Southern Kaduna people who are victims of a political class that is engrossed in the pursuit of their pecuniary interests.
In the New Year, may the dream of the federal university be fully realised and may the blindness of our politicians be directed to the cause of our people, state and country.