Buhari Commends El-Rufai For His Developmental Successes
By Bolaji Ogundele and AbdulGafar Alabelewe, Kaduna – The Nation
President Muhammadu Buhari has commended Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai for committing himself to changing the state.
He noted that the governor has been successful in that quest.
The president, who is on a two-day working visit to commission some of the state’s urban renewal projects, spoke at the Murtala Square in Kaduna.
He arrived in the state on Wednesday night from Banjul, The Gambia.
President Buhari, accompanied by El-Rufai, flew to Kafanchan to commission the Emir Road, Katsina Road and Dan-Haya Road.
He returned to Kaduna around noon to commission the remodelled Murtala Square, a sprawling sporting, event and recreational centre.
Noting the impact of the urban renewal programme, President Buhari said he could no longer find his way around Kaduna, even as someone who lived in the city for long.
Commending El-Rufai, the president said: “You have committed yourself to changing Kaduna. You have been very successful and people throughout the country are appreciating it.
“You are writing your history in letters of gold. I congratulate you for your achievements so far.”
The president commissioned some of the 19 completed urban renewal road projects, including the reconstructed Kawo Flyover, an almost one-kilometre long dual carriageway with three ground rotaries.
At the Kawo Flyover, the President said to Governor El-Rufai: “thank you for associating me with your success.”
Other projects commissioned include the 5.6km Aliyu Makama Road, the multi-storey Basic Education Mega-School in Lokoja Road in Rigasa, and the dualised Yakubu Gowon Way and Leventis Underpass.
President Buhari also commissioned the Infectious Disease Hospital in Mando and the fertiliser blending plant of Barbedos Group.
As he commissioned the one-kilometre Kawo bridge, President Buhari recalled how he narrowly escaped being killed by car bombers around the defunct Kawo bridge in July 2014.
According to him, he was trailed by car bombers who attempted to kill him near the bridge in 2014.
He said: “The bombers were trailing us; they wanted to blow me up, but my escorts somehow blocked them. But before we came to this bridge, the attackers became desperate.
“There was a small market or something like that, here then. Then they exploded the device, but God protected us. And here I am again. Thank you, your excellency.”
President Buhari said with the new infrastructural developments, the governor has done what was expected of him and Kaduna has become a state of choice.
He said: “I was constrained by family problems to relocate from Daura to Kaduna after I came out from my long detention period, which is part of my personal history.”
El-Rufai launched the Kaduna State Urban Renewal Programme in June 2019, shortly after which the projects commenced in Kaduna, followed by those of Kafanchan and Zaria.
“The goal of the urban renewal programme is to regenerate Kaduna, Kafanchan and Zaria, the three major cities in the state,” he said.
“These unprecedented investments in urban infrastructure are to consolidate the state’s position as an investment destination, improve its economic competitiveness and promote the welfare of the residents of the state.”
The president’s visit to Kaduna State continues today as he commissions road projects in Zaria before being hosted at a state banquet in Kaduna.
– The Nation
