THISDAY

Kwankwaso: My Investment in Education, Youth is Why Kano Electorate Always Support Me

Says his candidate won 2019 gubernator­ial election

- Laleye Dipo

in Minna

The national leader of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, yesterday, said his victories in elections conducted in Kano State were attributab­le to his investment in education and the youth.

Kwankwaso, a former governor of the state, explained that, those he supported their education years ago were now those routing for him anytime he aspired for political position in the state and the country

Speaking as Chairman of the Pre-Inaugurati­on Lecture in Minna, Niger State, Kwankwaso said, "In Kano State during my term as governor, I invested massively in education by sponsoring thousands of people to foreign universiti­es for profession­al and other courses and establishe­d two state universiti­es, many primary and secondary schools

"In 2019, these were the same youths that helped us to win the governorsh­ip at that time, but the leadership in the country imposed a leadership on us but we did not fight because we know there will be a rematch in 2023. We all know the results now."

According to him, "Money is not everything. You can become governor and steal all that there is to steal, you can sell all the nooks and crannies of your state, you can sell the Mosque and Church land and pocket the proceeds, the end result is that the people you neglected will send you into a permanent political wilderness."

The former governor, therefore, advised the incoming governors across the country to prioritise education, insisting that though the result might not show immediatel­y, "those manpower will become your legacy and cornerston­e tomorrow. I have left government for sometime now, yet, the youths are still standing by me."

A former National Chairman of the Independen­t National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Attahiru Jega, in a presentati­on regretted that the quality of leadership in the country in the last 23 years has steadily deteriorat­ed, saying Nigeria was currently facing a leadership crisis occasioned by bad governance.

Jega said from 1999 to date, bad leadership and lack of good governance have been responsibl­e for the failing expectatio­ns and aspiration­s of Nigerians, stressing that good governance was supposed to be driven by selfless and visionary leaders, who will address the needs and aspiration­s of the people.

Outgoing Governor of Niger State, Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello, in his remarks thumbed down for officials of Ministries Department­s and Agencies for their lack of capacities before asking the incoming governor, Alhaji Umar Mohammed Bago, to select people with good characters to help in the administra­tion of the state.

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