Uba Sani’s infrastructure revolution

By Adamu Muhammed

By any reasonable measure, infrastructure is one of the clearest tests of governance. Roads connect communities. Hospitals do not campaign; they save lives. Markets, abattoirs and public facilities do not make political promises; they create the conditions in which people can work, trade and prosper. In Kaduna State, Governor Uba Sani’s infrastructure interventions are increasingly telling that story.

The recent commendation by the Executive Chairman of Birnin Gwari Local Government Area, Hon. Dr Salisu Isah, following the flag-off of the ₦177 billion reconstruction of the 122-kilometre Mando-Kaduna-Birnin Gwari Road, offers an important lens through which to assess the infrastructure direction of the Uba Sani administration.

For communities that have endured years of insecurity, isolation and economic disruption, the reconstruction of the road is more than another capital project. It represents reconnection, renewed confidence and the possibility of economic revival.

The Birnin Gwari chairman aptly described the road as a historic intervention capable of opening a new chapter in the development of the area. His assessment is significant because it comes from the frontline of the challenge. For residents of Birnin Gwari, the road is not an abstract infrastructure statistic. It is the route through which farmers move their produce, traders reach markets, students travel to schools and families access essential services.

The Federal Government’s reconstruction of the Mando-Kaduna-Birnin Gwari Road therefore complements the infrastructure agenda of the Kaduna State Government and demonstrates the importance of federal-state cooperation in addressing long-standing development deficits. But the story of Uba Sani’s infrastructure interventions in Birnin Gwari does not end with the federal highway.

The ongoing reconstruction of the 36-kilometre Bagoma-Gagumi Road is another important component of the state’s effort to restore connectivity and economic activity. According to the local government chairman, the project has reached an advanced stage and is being executed to a standard capable of delivering lasting benefits to communities along the route.

This is precisely where infrastructure becomes more than concrete and asphalt. A road connecting a rural community to major commercial centres can change the economics of an entire area. It can reduce travel time, lower transportation costs, improve access to markets and make agricultural production more profitable. It can also make government services more accessible and encourage private investment.

For a state such as Kaduna, with its vast agricultural potential and strategic location in Northern Nigeria, connectivity is indispensable to economic development. Governor Uba Sani appears to understand this broader relationship between infrastructure and human development. His administration’s interventions have not been restricted to roads. In Birnin Gwari, the renovation of the Jibril Mai Gwari Memorial Hospital I demonstrates an appreciation of the fact that physical connectivity must be matched by functional social infrastructure.

A rehabilitated road may bring people closer to healthcare, but the healthcare facility itself must have the capacity to serve them.

Similarly, the construction of a modern abattoir and veterinary clinic addresses public health, livestock management and economic activity simultaneously. In an agrarian community where livestock constitutes an important component of household livelihoods, such facilities can have implications extending well beyond their immediate physical locations.

Infrastructure should not be viewed as isolated projects scattered across a state. Its real value emerges when roads connect farms to markets, hospitals serve connected communities, electricity powers businesses, schools develop human capital and public facilities support productive economic activity.

That is why the concerns raised by the Birnin Gwari chairman should also be viewed as part of the next chapter of Kaduna’s development agenda. His appeal for the completion of the abandoned Gwargwaje-Zaria Road through Farin Ruwa to Saulawa highlights the scale of the infrastructure deficit that remains. Likewise, his call for the reconnection of communities to the national electricity grid is a reminder that roads alone cannot deliver comprehensive development.

According to Isah, communities in nine of Birnin Gwari’s 11 wards remain without electricity from the national grid following years of insecurity and damage to infrastructure. That is a development challenge with profound consequences.

Without reliable electricity, businesses struggle to operate, healthcare facilities face limitations, students find learning more difficult and agricultural value chains lose opportunities for processing and storage. Digital connectivity also becomes more difficult to sustain. The challenge, therefore, is to build on the progress already recorded.

This is where Governor Uba Sani’s leadership faces an important test: sustaining infrastructure delivery while ensuring that projects are completed, maintained and connected to wider economic opportunities.

The governor’s infrastructure agenda is particularly significant because of the difficult circumstances confronting parts of Kaduna when his administration assumed office. Areas such as Birnin Gwari had suffered years of insecurity that affected not only lives and livelihoods but also the physical infrastructure upon which development depends.

Rebuilding such communities requires more than conventional capital expenditure. It requires restoring the confidence of citizens that their communities have a future. That is perhaps the most important dimension of the current infrastructure push.

A road into a previously isolated community sends a powerful message: the government has not abandoned its citizens. A renovated hospital says that lives in remote communities matter.

A modern abattoir and veterinary clinic say that rural economic activity deserves investment. And renewed connectivity says that communities once cut off can once again become part of the larger economic network.

The commendation of Governor Uba Sani by the Birnin Gwari council chairman is therefore noteworthy not merely as political praise but as an acknowledgement of infrastructure interventions being experienced at the local level.

It also highlights the value of collaboration among the Federal Government, state government, local governments, traditional institutions and communities.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s intervention on the Mando-Kaduna-Birnin Gwari highway and Governor Uba Sani’s complementary projects in Birnin Gwari illustrate how different levels of government can combine their responsibilities to address development challenges that no single tier can solve alone.

The role of traditional institutions is equally important. The recognition given to the Emir of Birnin Gwari, His Royal Highness Malam Zubair Jibril, OFR, Maigwari II, reflects the importance of traditional leadership in sustaining peace, community ownership and cooperation with government.

Infrastructure ultimately succeeds when communities protect it. Roads must be maintained. Public facilities must be respected. Communities must cooperate with contractors. Security must be sustained around strategic infrastructure. And the government must remain accountable for quality, completion and maintenance.

The impressive projects already underway must be completed to standard. More communities must be reconnected. Electricity infrastructure must be restored. Educational and healthcare facilities must receive sustained attention. And infrastructure investments must increasingly be linked to agriculture, manufacturing, skills development and employment.

The ₦177 billion Mando-Kaduna-Birnin Gwari Road may become one of the defining infrastructure projects of this period, but its ultimate success will not be measured by the length of asphalt laid.

It will be measured by the farmer who reaches the market more cheaply, the trader whose business expands, the student who travels safely to school, the patient who reaches a hospital on time, the young person who finds employment and the community that once felt forgotten but now sees a pathway to prosperity.

And if the emerging story from Birnin Gwari is any indication, Governor Uba Sani’s infrastructure interventions are beginning to transform that promise into tangible reality.

For Kaduna, the task now is to keep building, keep connecting and keep opening opportunities, until every community, including those that have endured the longest years of isolation, become fully integrated into the state’s economic and social future.

• Muhammed writes from Kaduna.