By Nasir Dambatta

“The care of human life and happiness, and not their destruction, is the first and only object of good government.” — Thomas Jefferson

Leadership is not measured by slogans, photo-ops, twitter rants, hauling insults at opponents, or political rhetoric. It is measured by results. And in Kaduna State today, one fact stands tall: Governor Uba Sani has reversed 54 cumulative years of stagnation — years scattered across abandoned roads, shuttered cattle markets, and silenced cultural festivals that insecurity and neglect had buried. In under two years, he has done what others left to gather dust.

This figure — 54 cumulative years — is not abstract. It is real, lived history. It is the 13 years a crucial Karatudu–Romi road was abandoned, leaving communities cut off. It is the 10 years the Birnin Gwari Kara cattle market was closed, suffocating trade, and the rural economy. It is the 18 years the Nom Bajju cultural festival went mute, robbing an entire generation of cultural pride. It is the 6 years the Tuk-Ham festival was silenced, the 4 years Kagoro’s Afan festival was suspended, and the 3 years other Southern Kaduna festivals were muted. Together, these lost years equal 54 years of paralysis. Today, under Uba Sani, they are being smashed.

For over a decade, residents of Karatudu and Romi watched helplessly as their key road turned into a symbol of state failure. Thirteen long years of abandonment meant potholes, accidents, and isolation. Then came Sani’s intervention: construction equipment roared back, signalling that Kaduna’s forgotten corners were no longer invisible. A 13-year blot was erased in one decisive act of governance.

The Kara cattle market in Birnin Gwari was once a hub of commerce, linking herders, buyers, and traders across Nigeria. Insecurity strangled it, shutting it down for a decade. Families lost livelihoods, and the local economy bled. When Sani reopened it, the symbolism was deeper than economics — it was the return of hope. Trade, trust, and confidence are back, all because leadership chose to confront insecurity rather than narrate it.

Culture too tells a people who they are. When the Nom Bajju cultural festival was silenced for 18 years, an entire generation grew up without seeing their heritage celebrated. In December 2023, it thundered back. For the Bajju people, this was more than music and dance — it was a rebirth of identity. It took courage, reconciliation, and the restoration of peace to make it possible. That is the Uba Sani difference.

The Tuk-Ham festival, suspended for 6 years, and Kagoro’s Afan festival, muted for 4 years, both returned under Sani. In Southern Kaduna, festivals are not mere entertainment — they are binding symbols of unity, pride, and resilience. When insecurity shut them down, communities felt voiceless. By reopening these cultural spaces, Sani has not only restored joy but also rebuilt trust between government and people.

It is one thing to reopen a market or rebuild a road. It is another to understand the scale of what Kaduna lost before Sani arrived. When you add it all together — 13 years here, 10 years there, 18 years elsewhere — it becomes a staggering 54 cumulative years of stagnation. That is more than half a century of silence, paralysis, and decay overturned by one administration’s resolve.

What Uba Sani is doing in Kaduna is not cosmetic politics. It is resurrection. He is dragging forgotten projects out of the grave, breathing life back into markets once written off, and giving communities back their cultural heartbeat. Each reopening is a statement: Kaduna will no longer bow to fear. Leadership has returned to confront insecurity with vision and courage.

The lesson for Nigeria is clear. Roads do not reconstruct themselves. Markets do not reopen on their own. Festivals do not revive without peace and political will. It takes leadership with focus, empathy, and courage. Sani has shown that governance is not about excuses or propaganda; it is about rolling back the years insecurity stole and giving people their lives back.

Kaduna’s story today is not about paralysis but revival. From a 13-year road jinx to an 18-year cultural silence, from a 10-year market closure to festivals muted for 3 to 6 years, Uba Sani has undone a staggering 54 cumulative years of stagnation. In the process, he has reset the trajectory of the state. History will not remember the silence of those lost years. It will remember the governor who broke them.

“The legitimate object of government is to do for a community of people whatever they need to have done, but cannot do at all, or cannot so well do, for themselves—in their separate and individual capacities.” — Abraham Lincoln

*Dambatta is Senior Special Assistant on Print Media to the Governor

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