How Governor Uba SANI’s Smart City project will change the face of Governance in Nigeria

How Governor Uba SANI’s Smart City project will change the face of Governance in Nigeria

By Femi Adi, Kaduna 

When Kaduna State Governor, Senator Uba Sani was sworn -in on May 29,2023, he made promises to inject new ideas of leadership with emphasis on his SUSTAIN Agenda that will change the face of governance in Kaduna and beyond.

No doubt,he has  within one year in office achieved the feat and has continued to push for more radical development changes that focuses on the principles of good governance based on world standards.

Despite facing a critical period of cash crunch due to the heavy loan burden, he has remained undeterred in his avowed commitments to create the requisite enabling environment for business and economic prosperity.

Considering the Governor's administrative process coupled with his smart sense of viable vision, Little wonder, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu invited him to join the super delegation on a State visit to China .

Governor Uba Sani and other senior government officials received the President  in Beijing, China for the State Visit to China and the 9th Forum on China-Africa Cooperation #FOCAC Summit with the theme: “Joining Hands to Advance Modernization and Build High-Level China-Africa Community with Shared Future”.

For Uba Sani , it was not a time for tea party , but an opportunity as a spin doctor to meet chief executive officers of major Chinese corporations to discuss business and various important matters of growth and development.

According to Global Times report, After China and Nigeria elevated their ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership, Uba Sani, the governor of Nigeria's Kaduna State,said he is thrilled to see his state partner with China in a "smart city" project, which aligns with the country's industrialization.

Kaduna State lies at the southern end of Nigeria's northern plateau,and 80 percent of is 5 million population work in agriculture,according to media reports.

The smart city project will be built under cooperation with Chinese tech giant Huawei -"a very reliable partner," Sani told the Global Times.

The project will enhance public security,efficiency and transparency in public service,and help his state to establish an e-government,make education, healthcare and talent cultivation "smart," and boost the use of renewable energy, the governor said.

Sani hopes to form a joint committee between Kaduna government and Huawei "in one or two weeks." 

The smart city project is one of several broader deals between China and Nigeria that have been inked during the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC).

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Nigerian President Bola Tinubu held talks on Tuesday and announced the elevation of China-Nigeria ties They also witnessed the signing of

cooperation documents including the application of the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System, peanut exports to China and news media cooperation.

Sani said that China plays a significant role in Nigeria's industrialization, and he is "more hopeful and confident that [after this time fat the FOCAC, we will see more fruits."

Kaduna State has Nigeria's first modernized railroad, the Abuja-Kaduna Railway. It is the first railway in Africa built based on Chinese technical standards.

Sani revealed that two months ago his state partnered with North China's Hebei Province to construct an industrial park. Hopefully.