Kaduna 2023: My government will not suffer insecurity-PRP guber candidate

From Noah Ebije, Kaduna

Alhaji Makarfi, 37, said as the youngest governorship candidate in the country, he will run a responsible government to sustain his 3-point agenda of social justice, economic, and human capital development.

Speaking at an interactive session on Thursday with Journalists at the secretariat of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Kaduna State council, the governorship hopeful noted that the people have lost hope in present government because of socio-economic hardship.

He however, promised to form government of unity with other political parties if he wins the governorship election to ensure unity of purpose.

“Insecurity is a fall out of irresponsible government and that is why I deliberately refused to add to my three points agenda. When government is responsible insecurity will be tackled. We are going to form a government that is responsible.

“It seems the hope of Nigerians have been lost. After seven years the people were disappointed. Kaduna is in huge debts, coming second after Lagos.

“Today the business community is at the lowest ebbs. Their shops were demolished. No alternative shops were provided for them. If we come on board we are going to change things for the better.

“We had people who had the fear of God who led us in the 70s, leaders like Balarabe Musa, Aminu Kano and the rest of them. We are remembering them today because they were honest and cared for the people.

Speaking on the three points agenda, he said, “The level of mistrust in the state is very high. There is mistrust between Christians and Muslims which has never been so. We will ensure everybody feel a sense of belonging. We should live by example.

“The reason why there is mistrust in Kaduna and Nigeria is because of the rethoric of our clergymen, both Christians and Muslims. We will put policies in place for CAN and JNI to lead the people and unite them if we come on board.

“We need full autonomy of our judicial system. We want a Kaduna that should be celebrated as epicenter of peace of northern Nigeria.

“On the economy, 66 percent of Nigerians are living below poverty level. We want to revamp the fortunes of Kaduna. We will revive dead industries in the state. We want to reduce dependence on foreign goods. We want a Kaduna that the 23 local government areas will have industrial programmes. We want to see them as another metropolitan cities. These are the areas that are blessed by Almighty God. The economy of Dubai was not good as economy of Kaduna 35 years ago.

“The youth have the energy and creativity to drive the economy. The major economy of the world are being led by young people. We want to move the state from consumption to production level We share similarity with China in terms of human capital.

“We need to adopt Igbo system of business by apprenticeship. We will encourage young ones to learn one trade or the other while they combine it with schooling.

“In human capital development agenda, we are looking at education, health and ICT. Today the world depends on technology. We want our young people to be part of this drive because technology belongs to the future. We want to have a policy to encourage young people to use their phones to do genuine businesses from the comfort of their homes. Most of our graduates are unemployeable because of poor educational system. We must work to improve the system.

“We want to ensure everybody is given what is due to him or her.

Youths are into criminal activities because they are jobless.

“The welfare system had been bastardised. The fight against corruption cannot be won unless we improve welfare system. If your income is less than your expenses you are in trouble. As you continue to spend, you are spending someone’s income.

“Power can be created from waste that liter on our streets. We have seen it done in other countries.

“We want to make Kaduna the economy hub of Africa. We want to see metropolitan cities emerging so that Kaduna can be celebrated as it was in the 60s and 70s.

“We are committed to reviving the economy of Kaduna by industrialization as done by late Balarabe Musa when he was the governor of Kaduna state in the 80s. Jobs can be created at the local government level.

“But if you bring a programme that supposed to be done in Abuja to Kaduna it will fail. If you invest heavily in artisans like Motor mechanics you will achieve alot. We can produce electric car in Kaduna. We can also apply this in order sectors.

“We will form a government of unity when we win the election. We will call APC, PDP and other parties that lost election to come on board.

“We will ensure local production in the state. We will ensure that made in Kaduna goods go to China and other countries of the world”.

This was even as he advised journalists on reporting the forthcoming general elections, saying, “,You should play your role as journalists in 2023 elections. A wrong election will not be felt by a political party alone, but journalists too. So your contribution towards the success of the elections is very important”.