Uba Sani urges Northern elites to unite around common development blueprint

Kaduna State Governor Uba Sani has urged Northern political leaders to stop making the struggle for power at the centre their primary focus and instead develop a common blueprint to tackle the region’s worsening education, healthcare and skills-development challenges.

Sani said the North needed a coordinated development agenda to address its high number of out-of-school children, maternal and child mortality, inadequate healthcare and shortage of skills-based education.

The governor spoke on Wednesday when the leadership of the Sir Ahmadu Bello Memorial Foundation, led by former Niger State Governor Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu, paid him a courtesy visit at the Kaduna Government House.

He welcomed the foundation’s efforts to redirect attention towards human capital development and described its forthcoming summit as timely.

The summit, scheduled for October 28, 2026, has the theme, “Good Governance, Industry and Creativity, as well as Sustainable Development.”

Sani said the North could no longer afford to pursue political power without addressing the underlying development challenges confronting its people.

“I’m happy Sir Ahmadu Bello Memorial Foundation is leading in this direction, because we need to sit down, look at our problems and address them holistically,” he said.

The governor cited education and healthcare as two of the region’s most urgent challenges.

Quoting UNICEF statistics, Sani said Nigeria had about 18 million out-of-school children, with roughly 70 per cent of them in Northern Nigeria.

He said more than 500,000 children were out of school and roaming the streets of Kaduna when he assumed office, adding that his administration had returned about 360,000 of them to schools.

According to him, Kaduna’s household-mapping system, which was used to identify out-of-school children, has since been adopted by the Federal Ministry of Education as a model for addressing the national challenge.

On skills development, Sani said Kaduna had established the Institute of Vocational Training and Skills Development with campuses in Soba, Rigachikun and Samarun Kataf, covering the state’s three senatorial districts.

He said the institute provides practical training in areas including information and communication technology, mechatronics and renewable energy, linking education to employment, entrepreneurship and emerging industries.

The governor said more than 4,000 artisans and tradespeople had graduated from the institute, while plans were underway to increase annual admission to about 32,000 youths.

He said graduates would receive recognised certification that could enable them to work locally and internationally.

Sani also said his administration had prioritised primary healthcare, particularly for poor and rural residents, while maintaining investment in secondary healthcare.

“For us, healthcare in Kaduna is the fundamental right of everyone, particularly the less privileged and the vulnerable within our society,” he said.

Earlier, Aliyu thanked Sani for allocating 50 hectares of land to the Sir Ahmadu Bello Memorial Foundation for the establishment of Arewa Unity University.

He also recalled that the late Governor Patrick Yakowa had allocated land near Murtala Mohammed Square to the foundation for its office.

Aliyu said Sani would serve as Chief Host and Special Guest of Honour at the foundation’s October 28 summit.