Governor Uba Sani of Kaduna State recently visited Vice President Kashim Shettina at the Presidential Villa to commiserate with him over the calamitous flood incident in Maiduguri, Borno State. He spoke to State House Correspondents on the sad incidents and the investment drive of his government especially the smart city project in Kaduna among other issues.
Q: Did you say that a joint committee will be set up with the Huawei company to monitor the progress of the smart city project and to begin work in full?
When we were in China after the bilateral meeting between President Bola Tinubu and President of the People’s Republic of China Xi Jinping, during the 2024 Forum on China-Acrica Cooperation (FOCAC), and after many MoUs were signed between the Nigerian and the Chinese government, at the level of sub-national, that isKaduna State Government, we also signed an MoU with Huawei Technologists Limited on the Kaduna Smart City.
That would enhance security, improve the levels of efficiency and transparency in public service, create smart healthcare system, smart education, smart public transportation, as well as e-governance. When we returned a few days ago, we set up a committee between Kaduna State Government and Huawei to implement the MoU and from the timeline, I have no doubt in my mind that in the next two or three weeks, we will come out with details of the MoU and we are much encouraged by the support given to us by Huawei technology in China. That is why we are trying as much as possible to implement the MoU within the time frame.
Q: So, why are you in the Villa?
I came here personally to commiserate with the Vice President on what happened in Maiduguri, the issue of flood disaster. For me, it was a tragedy because, as we are speaking, from what I heard from the Vice President, over 100 lives were lost as of yesterday. Today, a lot of efforts have been made to ensure that more lives are saved because of the incident. It’s a tragedy, it’s an unfortunate incident.
A similar incident, I was told by the Vice President, happened about 30 years ago. Of course, it was not at this magnitude, but the Government of Borno State, as well as the Federal Government, are working to ensure that more lives are saved and people return to their homes safely.
We have also encountered problems in Kaduna because of the flood. About four bridges were affected and about 60 communities cur off within three local governments in Kaduna State. We have been very proactive in addressing the problems in Kaduna. Our state’s environmental management agency is also working around the clock to ensure that we provide necessary support and assistance to the victims as well as educate people to be vigilant and address the problem that happened.
Particularly, as we know, the problem of climate change, most of these problems are natural disasters and also some are happening because of the negligence of the people, but they need to be educated. And for us, we will do everything to ensure that we address the problems.
Q: How much FDI would the Kaduna smart city attract to Kaduna State?
A lot of private investors are trying to key into the smart city project in Kaduna State. First, it will create about 100,000 jobs, that is direct jobs, indirect jobs could be up to 500,000. Before this thing, we signed an agreement with Google, where about 5, 000 women have been trained, and supported in the digital economy between Kaduna State and Google so, so most of them will key into this. Because of that, more people will be able to be employed and self-employed also.
In terms of the volume of the investments, we think it will attract at least $150 million in investment to Kaduna. Before that, we have attracted over $350 million from Chinese companies in the last seven months.
This is in the area of solid resources, infrastructural development as well agriculture. So that’s what is happening.
