It is certain that the burden of leadership does not only end at delivering services, but often times heavy risk trails the efforts of most quality leaders.
There is the risk of fallen sick that leads to abnormalities of the human body, as it had on Governor Nasir Ahmad El-Rufa’i, with the ill-fated contraction of COVID-19, while striving hard to save the lives of his people.
A good leadership entails rational postulations that could bring effective progress, development and prosperity of the led, by tinkering on the security, education, healthcare and political stability of the people.
One good leader whose thought and mindset is geared towards actualizing all those variables for the good of the people, is the indefatigable Governor of Kaduna State, Malam Nasir Ahmad El-Rufa’i.
His inner most desire and quest of seeing the state progress, first accorded priority in the areas of education, being the epicenter of every development. El-Rufa’i’s administration has put in place myriads of policies that seeks to address the decaying level of education, in not only the areas of infrastructure, but even human capital development of the sector.
Malam El-Rufai’s first line of action, in seeing adequate infrastructure are developed to the nearest possible standards are good things to reckon with; class rooms and other advanced equipment/tools that will ease quality learning process of the primary and secondary school pupils and students have been in place.
Today, qualified teachers are employed, free education has since become the norm, with the unfolding of a 13.7 billion naira yearly free education policy for primary and secondary school students in the state. According to El-Rufa’i,
“The policy has taken away the burden of tuition fees, school uniforms, feeding at the state boarding schools and other sundry charges from parents every year.
”Importantly, the laid down policies of the government, have today made it possible and convenient for most parents to enrol their children/wards into public primary and secondary schools. Many thanks to El-Rufai’s exemplary leadership of enrolling his child into a public school.
Face lift is given to the state tertiary institutions. Similar policies are also reforming and reshaping the entire civil service of the state. More significantly, is El-Rufa’i’s strides in the area of healthcare, with the renovation of facilities; the policy of having in place qualified health workers and medical doctors has become a priority for the hardworking governor.
t is not surprising that he was honored by the Nigerian Medical Association, NMA. It is my humble view that NMA’s commendation over El-Rufa’i’s efforts in the health sector, was further corroborated by the Partnership for Advocacy in Child and Family Health, (PACKFAH) whose project coordinator, Mustapha Jumare, has appreciated the; “renovation of the 255 primary health care, (PHCs), and the review of the 2019 health budget showed significant compliance with the policy requirements needed to catapult the attainment of universal health coverage in the state.
”So worried about the COVID-19 pandemic that he rationally postulated and tirelessly put in place several measures. He was the first to order for total lockdown of his state, all in trying to curb the spread of the monster virus. His concern about safeguarding people’s lives, has unfortunately paid him the price of contracting the virus, to which I and surely many other well meaning people had prayed for his quick recovery.
When El-Rufa’i tested positive for the dreaded disease, I became frightened and I am very sure many others, for just the simple fact that a reformer’s efforts would be thwarted.
The teamwork of El-Rufa’i, along side his deputy, Hadiza Sabuwa Balarabe, his chief of staff, Muhammad Sani Abdullah, and all cabinet members, have been yielding good results in the economic sector.
Besides luring investors, the government has revamped some moribund industries thus creating jobs to teeming population and in the long run creating more wealth into the state economy.
Hence he has improved the internally generated revenue (IGR). Kudos to his zero tolerance for corruption too. Taken into cognisance, the importance of infrastructure development, to both rural and urban populace, constructions of new road networks is in place, while many others were rehabilitated, during his administration, hence the state is having good phase of development.
Significantly, and strategically El-Rufa’i’s establishment of the ministry of internal security and community affairs, has given impetus to the administration’s fight against criminalities. He has severally taken daring steps, often times damning consequences in leading security agents to engage criminals disturbing the peace of the state.
Water protect is another sector, that has greatly received the utmost priority of El-Rufa’i’s administration. A good example is the case of the N17.32bn, age old, decades of unfinished gigantic Zaria water project, which has finally seen the light of day, given succour to residents of the ancient city. Posterity will indeed judge him fairly.
His concerns about free quality education, is plainly a demonstration of not only political will, but setting the state on the actual phase towards sustainable growth and development. It is hoped that Malam would soon get very fit out of the monster virus, to continue to positively impact on the state. Surely, Malam can simply be described as a progressive, a reformist, that Kaduna state has been yearning o have. He is a dogged and a rational, visionary leader that many states are envying to have.
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