The Kaduna State Government says interventions by the President Bola Tinubu administration in infrastructure, education, healthcare, agriculture and security have significantly impacted residents of the state.
The Commissioner for Information and Culture, Ahmad Maiyaki, made this known in an interview in commemoration of Nigeria’s 66th Independence Anniversary.
Maiyaki said the interventions had contributed to improved transportation, expanded access to education, strengthened healthcare delivery and enhanced agricultural productivity.
On infrastructure, he said the Abuja-Kaduna-Kano Federal Highway, initiated under former President Muhammadu Buhari, had recorded substantial progress following the re-awarding of the contract under Tinubu and improved security along the Kaduna-Abuja corridor.
He said work was also progressing on the 19-kilometre Western Bypass and Eastern Kaduna-Zaria Highway projects, as well as the 102-kilometre Kaduna-Birnin Gwari road, which had been dilapidated for about three decades.
Maiyaki said railway projects connecting Kaduna to Kano, Dala and Niger Republic had reached about 80 per cent completion and were scheduled for completion by December.
He also highlighted the Kaduna Light Rail project, describing it as a 50-kilometre network connecting major parts of the Kaduna metropolis and expected to ease transportation and reduce traffic congestion.
On education, Maiyaki said Kaduna had benefited from major Federal Government interventions in tertiary education, with three institutions established or upgraded into universities across the state’s three senatorial districts within the past three years.
He said these included the Federal University of Applied Sciences, Kachia, the Federal University of Petroleum, Rigachikun, and the Federal University of Education, Zaria.
On healthcare, he said the former Patrick Ibrahim Yakowa General Hospital in Kafanchan had been upgraded to a Federal Medical Centre to provide tertiary healthcare services to residents of Southern Kaduna and surrounding communities.
He added that the Federal Government also supported the expansion of a 300-bed specialist hospital to strengthen cancer care services.
Maiyaki said Federal Government support had strengthened Kaduna’s Compressed Natural Gas bus initiative, adding that the state remained the only one offering free CNG-powered public transportation.
According to him, the programme transported more than five million passengers within 15 months and saved commuters over N5.2 billion.
He said the state planned to introduce an additional 120 CNG buses following the Federal Government’s new policy expected to take effect from October.
On agriculture, Maiyaki said Kaduna’s allocation to the sector rose from N1.4 billion in 2023 to more than N100 billion in 2026, noting that agriculture contributed 43 per cent of the state’s GDP and provided livelihoods for about 60 per cent of residents.
He said the state distributed 400 trucks of fertiliser to 100,000 farmers in 2024, 500 trucks to the same category in 2025 and more than 600 trucks to 150,000 smallholder farmers in 2026.
He added that the interventions included the provision of tractors to promote mechanised agriculture and strengthen food security.
On security, Maiyaki said Federal Government support had strengthened the Kaduna Peace Model through improved intelligence gathering and increased security personnel.
He said Tinubu approved 1,000 forest guards for Kaduna to complement the military, police and other security agencies.
According to him, improved security had enabled farmers to return to their farms, with more than 500,000 hectares of farmland recovered and over 200 schools and 150 health centres reopened.
Maiyaki said the number of out-of-school children in Kaduna had also reduced from about 550,000 to approximately 187,000, attributing the improvement partly to enhanced security, social investment and interventions supporting school enrolment and retention.
He said Kaduna had not recorded an ethno-religious conflict in the past three years, attributing this to the state’s early warning mechanism, which had received 75 signals and responded to more than 70.
On youth development, Maiyaki said Federal Government support had strengthened vocational training and skills development programmes in the state.
He said Kaduna’s vocational training curriculum had been adopted by the Federal Government as a model for skills development nationwide, while the state’s vocational centres currently train youths in 14 trades.
Maiyaki added that Federal Government social investment programmes had supported education, women’s empowerment and rural communities, with about 2.5 million people assisted to open functional bank accounts.
He said school feeding programmes had encouraged parents to enrol their children and helped improve retention.
The commissioner also cited the partnership between the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria and Kaduna State, which provided N1 billion for empowerment, including support for 4,050 graduates of the state’s vocational training programme.
According to him, N810 million was provided to beneficiaries to enable them establish businesses and become economically productive.
