•Canvasses better policies to imbue sense of belonging in citizens
Kaduna State Governor, Uba Sani, has said it is time to rebuild the trust of people in government.
He made the appeal in a statement he issued yesterday to celebrate this year’s Democracy Day.
The governor noted that great men like the late Moshood Abiola had sacrificed to deepen civil rule in the country.
He said Nigeria’s founding fathers, labour leaders, civil society and pro-democracy activists made remarkable contributions to the growth and development of “our democracy, and we owed them a debt of gratitude for their labour of love.”
Sani continued: “The last few years of our practice of democracy have been full of challenges. Our people’s trust in democracy and government waned considerably due to economic, social and political crises, with their debilitating consequences. Many of our people feel the country and its leaders do not care about them.
“The youths feel the country does not care about their future and many parts of the country believe they have not been given a sense of belonging.
“These sentiments and anxieties threaten our country’s economic prospects and desire for national unity.”
He said the way policies are designed and implemented in Nigeria without adequate consultations and scrutiny has tended to alienate the people.
The governor went on: “The challenge before us, therefore, is how to restore the people’s trust in government and effectively mobilise them for the important task of national renewal. Our country must move in a new direction.
“We must put in place measures to ensure inclusiveness, responsiveness, fairness and integrity in policy making and service delivery.
“Devolution of powers is the way to go, more powers must be given to the states to take care of the needs of the people at the grassroots.
“Decentralisation of powers will unleash the potential that exists everywhere in Nigeria. In Kaduna State, we are making conscious and deliberate efforts to spread development by focusing on the rural areas.
“We are determined to reinvent and re-energise the rural economies through massive infrastructure development. When we make the grassroots attractive to our people, rural-urban migration would be checked and our people will fully embrace democracy as a system that caters for their welfare and enables them to realise their full potential.”
