Born on 16th February
1960 in Daudawa, Faskari local government Area of Katsina State, Mallam Ahmad
Nasri El-rufai, is not one of the favorites for my admiration. I had to halt
reading his account on his years of public service, “The Accidental Public
Servant”, because of the rampant self-serving and praise singing contained in
it.
But today, I am not in the least
concerned about what he has to say about himself, but what I personally have to
say about him since he emerged the Governor of Kaduna State.
During the electioneering
campaign, one of the analysts categorized him as being a member of the elitist
school of thought. A school of thought that is more concerned with the welfare
and wellbeing of the elites than with the welfare of the majority of the
populace. I somehow bought the idea, given his past attitude as the Minister of
the Federal Capital Territory. He had to ask poor persons to leave Abuja.
During the campaigns, he joined
the party of change Ambassadors, lambasting past administrations in Kaduna and accusing
them of mortgaging the future of the people of Kaduna. He did not mince words in
stating that he would prune down the bureaucracy of government and shut down leakages.
He has just done that.
Unlike Baba Buhari, who is still
waiting to be told what to do with the different promises he made to Nigerians,
El-rufai in his inaugural speech, slashed his salary and that of his deputy by
50%. It did not end at this. He stopped the practice of allocating fertilizers
to politicians and Traditional rulers and more recently, he reduced the number
of ministries from 23 to 13, and have released his list of commissioners.
The above for me, is a serious
sign of one who is ready to confront the problems of his state head-on and
without kid gloves. Although it is too early to call, but he seems set to make
hard decisions for the betterment of his state. He had to do that as the
minister of FCT, when he pulled down structures, even of rich and powerful men,
although at a point, it had a political cum witch-hunting undertone.
The other governors and our dear
President should at least learn from El-rufai to be decisive in their choices
and not to be trepid.
I look forward to Buhari’s
restructuring of the Ministries, Departments and Agencies.
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