Goveror Ganduje of Kano State is one governor with many controversial issues surrounding him, from the alleged dollar bribe video that went viral last year, to his most recent clash with the first class Emir of his state with his breakup of Kano emirate from just one emirate into splinter of six new emirates followed by the installation of new first class emirs to head the new traditional ruling sections, Governor Ganduje it appears has been in the news lately for all of the wrong reasons there is.

But then again it appears it is not all about controversy and bribe collection with the governor. The 69 year old governor who won his re-election bid by the whiskers indeed has quite a lot of silent achievements.

Gov. Abdullahi Ganduje clawed back from the jaw of death literally to win re-election in Kano State, overcoming the main challenger, Abba Kabir-Yusuf of the Peoples Democratic Party by 8982 votes, after a supplementary election which was widely recorded as being filled with violence, voter intimidation and vote buying.

In the supplementary election held in 28 of the 44 local government areas in the state, Mr Ganduje won by scoring 45,876 votes to the PDP Abba Yusuf’s 10,239.

The State Returning Officer, Prof. Bello Shehu, announced that the governor got 1,033,695 votes while Mr Yusuf polled 1,024,713.
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Mr Ganduje , who made the promise in his re-election speech on Sunday night in Kano, called on all to join hands with him to build the state.‎

He also said that ‎he would run an all-inclusive government that will carry everyone along in the administration of the state.

‎‎The governor thanked the people for believing in his capacity to lead them and for the peaceful conduct of the March 23 re-run election.

On May 29,2015, when the governor took over power from the Rabi’u Kwankwaso led administration, it inherited a huge debt and liability to the tune of N300 billion but nevertheless, he has been able to achieve some landmark goals despite the huge liability left over by the former administration.

This is a huge burden owing to the fact that Nigeria was in economic crisis, occasioned by the crash in price of petroleum in the world market, which left the state governments with meagre monthly allocation from the Federal Government.

This apparently led to Ganduje administration shifting its focus towards strategizing for alternative source of income to settle the debts and deliver projects to masses who voted the government into power.

Despite the dwindling oil revenue, the first feat achieved by Governor Ganduje was sustaining payment of monthly salaries, pensions and entitlements of the government workers. This came at a time when about 27 states of the federation were unable to pay salaries to their workers, despite receiving bailouts from the federal government.

‎In addition to payment of salary, Governor Ganduje resolved to fulfil his campaign promises by completing abandoned projects by past administration, just as he embarked on new projects sprawling across the 44 local governments of the state. From Kano Kal-Kal, Yantebura Mall down to Karkara Salamu Alaikum, Ganduje launched ambitious pet projects aimed at improving the socio-economic well-being of the people.

 

The Reduction In Boko Haram Operations In The State

Working with security agencies in the state along with members of the individual communities in the state, several Boko Haram commanders were arrested in and around the state which hitherto had become a good hiding place for the insurgents. With the use of modern security gadgets, the security agents were able to fish them out.

On the menace of cattle rustlers also, the governor according to reports entered into agreement with them and since then the issue of cattle rustlers has been a thing of the past in the state. A committee that ensures round the clock that all stolen cattles are returned was also inaugurated.

Kano is blessed with dams and grazing areas with the climate being friendly in the state than in the extreme North. This the governor maximised by initiating the provision of some facilities having identified five grazing areas and subsequently encourage herdsmen in the state from going out of the state.

Inauguration Of Free Vaccination For Herdsmen

Governor Ganduje also initiated a free vaccination programme for herdsmen. Reports have it that over one  million people were vaccinated free of charge. The Ganduje led government also sponsored the children of herdsmen for training in artificial insemination (a deliberate introduction of sperm into a female’s uterus or cervix for the purpose of achieving pregnancy). The first qualification for the training was that such a beneficiary had to be the child of a herdsman. These individuals were sent to Turkey for training and are now practicing artificial insemination. The government also constructed two modern artificial insemination centres where modern animal husbandry is being practiced.

 

One of the main qualities of good leader is the ability to be in sync with your ones followers and it appears  Governor Ganduje has been able to prove himself worthy in this regard having shown remarkable good relationship with the people of Kano, he attends weddings, condolences and relates with both young, rich and poor very well which was not the case with the previous governor.

Governor Ganduje has written his name in gold as the only governor in the recent history of Kano to have vowed to complete all the uncompleted projects of previous governments in the state. Projects such as the Gadon Kaya Underpass, Murtala Muhammad overhead bridge at Bata, and Five Kilometre Roads in the 44 Local Governments have since received proper attention, while some are still under construction, others have been completed.

Agricultural Development

Governor Ganduje has been able to distinguish himself in Nigeria as far as Agricultural development is concern, within his first term in office, he initiated quite a number of agricultural revolution, none witnessed elsewhere.

The government of Ganduje invested heavily in dry season wheat farming and rice farming in Kura Local Government of the State, the governor said during the flag off that his government will treat agriculture as a top priority and with all the seriousness it deserves and this it appears it was able to achieve.

Modern mechanised tools were procured by the government, while the minister of agriculture, Chief Audu Ogbeh,visited Kano many times since he was made minister by President Muhammadu Buhari in November 2015, he was in Kano to flag off or launch one programme on agriculture or the other and even the federal government identified Kano as an important partner in agricultural development and food security in the country.

The governor also showed remarkable interest in youth development. For example, the otherwise dilapidated Directorate of Youth Development and Empowerment (DYD) was revamped with the directorate training many youths and entering into partnership with many youth organizations to empower youth in the state. At the onset of the Ganduje administration, 250 youth were empowered with ICT and computers and other gadgets were given to the youth to be self reliant.

With these achievements recorded in just his first tenure, one thing that will come to mind is that the achievements of the man called Alhaji Abdullahi Ganduje have been possibly under reported and as such he deserves some accolades for his giant strides. These achivements also go to show to a large extent that the second term of the governor will definitely mean well for the people of Kano state and usher in another wave of development and progress.