From Agaju Madugba, Katsina
Katsina State Governor Aminu Bello Masari took time off at the weekend to delve into aspects of his private life, revealing to our correspondent that his favorite meal is ‘acha’ served with soup made with leaves from the boabab tree, (miya kuka in the Hausa language).
Acha is a meal which in northern Nigeria is popularly referred to as a ‘rich man’s food’. While a measure of rice currently goes for between N900 and N1,200, a measure of acha sells for between N4,500 and N6,000 depending on the variety.
‘My favorite food is acha because it is light and contains less sugar,’ the Katsina governor said, adding that, ‘I always like it served with miya kuka.’
The governor, who turned 71 on May 29 said he excised the word ‘relaxation’ from his vocabulary the day he took office at Katsina Government House on May 29, 2015.
According to him, ‘there should be no time to relax when you choose to serve in public office,’ although, according him, he finds time to visit the gymnasium about three times a week.
‘I go to bed in the early hours of the morning and wake up around 5 am for prayers and go back to bed between between 5:30 and 6 am and rise again by 10 am.
‘Cumulatively, I am able to have between five and six hours of sleep every night and I think it is enough.
‘One of my greatest challenges has been the issue of banditry and then there is also the issue of education.
‘You need to go round to see the level of decay in the education sector due to several years of neglect.
‘We have lost a lot of ground in education. Katsina used to be number one in the north but we lost that position.
‘But I am happy to say that we have started closing the gap because from the result from the Ministry of Education, out of the 56,000 candidates who sat for NECO examination last year, 91 per cent got five credits and above. So, we are making progress. Certainly, with time, Katsina will recover,’ Governor Masari said.