The Federal Government recently took journalists on a tour of projects executed by President Bola Tinubu in North-West geopolitical zone, ONYEKACHI EZE, who was part of the tour, reports
When he addressed a team of journalists on media tour of federal and state government projects in his state, Kaduna State governor, Ubah Sani, said the North will vote overwhelming for President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 elections because he has delivered on his campaign promises to the region.
“I know a lot of people are talking about Northern Nigeria. Let me make it clear to all of you that President Bola Tinubu has done more for the North than any leader in Nigeria’s history,” Governor Sani said.
Perhaps, he was reacting to statement credited to a former governor of Kano State, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, in July last year that President Tinubu executed more projects in the South than in the North to which the Minister of Works, David Umahi, reacted to then with a list of some projects executed by the Tinubu administration across the country, particularly in the North.
The media tour, at the instance of Renewed Hope Ambassadors, was to access federal and state government projects executed in the North-West in the last three years.
The four-day tour took the journalists to Kaduna, Kano and Jigawa states. The Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, who led the team, said the inspection tour was aimed at ensuring accountability, verifying contractors’ adherence to specifications, and documenting progress for public awareness.
“The government has done a lot of things. It is just incredible that some people will open their mouths and say that the President has not done anything.
“I believe now you have seen for yourselves that many projects are going on, and these are just about roads. There are other projects that this government has been busy working on in these last few years,” he said.
Among the projects toured by the team, include Abuja–Kaduna–Zaria-Kano Super Highway, which the presidential media team said was “designed to enhance connectivity, improve road safety, and stimulate economic activities across northern Nigeria;” Kaduna-Kano-Jigawa-KatsinaMaradi rail line; 300-bed Bola Ahmed Tinubu Special Hospital, opened on June 19, 2025 and the cardiovascular center at Aminu Kano Specialist Hospital Constructed by Deputy President of the Senate, Jibrin Barau, as a constituency project.
Others are the solar panel farm project, also at the same hospital, facilitated by the House of Representatives Committee on Appropriation; the Kofar Dan Agundi Bridge linking Kano Municipal to Bayero University Kano (BUK); Hasiya Bayero Pediatric Hospital, named after Emir Ade Bayero’s mother; 230-bed Nasarawa Specialist Hospital and the 9km Kafin Chiri Dam in Garoko LG in Kano State that has been abandoned for 40 years, among others.
The 164 km Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano dual carriage way is “a critical North-South commercial artery,” which, when completed, will aid inter-regional trade, agriculture and mobility.
Resident Engineer from the Federal Ministry of Works overseeing the project, Chukwuma Kalu, told the media team that the contractor had so far covered 88 kilometres of concrete pavement from Zuba in the Federal Capital Territory to Jere Local Government Area of Kaduna State.
At the same time, the inbound section from Kaduna to Jere was 21km. Senior Project Manager at Infiouest International, the company handling the project, Mr Robert Turner, said the target is to complete the section of the road before the middle of May, while section two would be completed by November 2026.
“We work day and night. We are totally dedicated to completing it on time,” he added. The project manager disclosed that the company engaged over a thousand workers from the host communities. He added: “The thousand workers I am referring to are Nigerians, from engineers, operators of our machines, down to labourers, who are all from Nigeria.
“In terms of security, we have support from the Office of the National Security Adviser, 1 Division of the Nigerian Army and the locals. We thank God. Generally, we don’t have any major security threats because we have enjoyed strong community cooperation.” Governor Sani also said the 122km Mando–Birnin Gwari road, valued at about N178 billion, is being rehabilitated.
“This is a road that was abandoned for over two decades. It takes leadership like President Bola Tinubu to see the need for such a project; he has fulfilled his promise,” the governor stated. Umahi, the Minister of Works, had, in his reaction last year, to Kwankwaso’s claim of northern marginalisation, said construction work is going on simultaneously on both ends of Kebbi and Sokoto sections of the 1068 km Sokoto-Badagry Superhighway.
According to him, the Kebbi section is 258Km, while the Sokoto end is 120km, a total of 378km by six lanes or 756km by three lanes, only in the North. There is also another 76km Malando road in Kebbi State, which is being constructed by Episolyn Nig Ltd, while the CCECC is handling sections one and two of the N150 billion Kaduna-Katsina road project.
The 400km Kaduna-Kano-Jigawa- Katsina-Maradi rail line, according to Engr. Abdullahi Yakubu from the Federal Ministry of Transportation is expected to boost socio-economic activities for the people of the Niger Republic and Nigeria. Section 1 of the rail project, comprising Kano-Jigawa-Katsina, is expected to be completed by December this year, and by 2027, it is expected that the rail would get to Maradi in the Niger Republic.
The resident engineer, Ali Bukar, who spoke at Dundubus in Dutse Local Government Area of Jigawa State, said section 2 of the project, which is KanoMaradi, has attained 60 per cent completion. “The project will get to Maradi in 2027. Now, we have about nine sections. Work is ongoing in all the sections except one. That is between Katsina to Jibia and Maradi, due to some diplomatic problem and our permanent secretary is on it,” he explained.
The government has done a lot of things. It is just incredible that some people will open their mouths and say that the President has not done anything
The resident engineer added that there would be three rail stations in Kano, Wudil and Dutse. The project is handled by Messrs Motor Engine Nigeria Limited, while the consultant is Messrs Team Nigeria Limited. The Kafin Chiri Dam in Kano South, which was abandoned for 40 years, is now being rehabilitated by the Federal Government at a cost of N15 billion.
When completed, the dam will aid dry and seasonal farming for over 6,000 farmers. Senator representing Kano South in the National Assembly, Senator Kawu Sumaila, told the journalists that “there was no time in the history of Kano South district where nobody after Audu Bako (first military governor of Kano state) came to our aid like President Tinubu and his team.”
The lawmaker explained that the dam has 6,000 units of tube wells across the 16 local governments, to serve 6,000 farmers. “Every farmer will have one tube well of at least 20 feet to 40 feet and one pump machine. This is what we call serious empowerment. The dam is about 5.4Km,” he stated.
Onanuga said the tour included state government projects because subnational is now receiving more money from the centre than before, with the removal of fuel subsidy. Habib Ubali, Director General, Economic Empowerment and Youth Development Agency, Jigawa State, said there is a connection between President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda and the 12-point Agenda of the state government.
The DG explained that the Bola Ahmed Tinubu Multi-purpose Skills Acquisition Centre, Dutse, has 14 sections where youths are trained in different trades, “so that they can become self-reliant, busy, earn a living, as well as contribute their quota to the economic development of the state and the country in general.”
He listed the trades to include headdressing saloon, carpentry, automobile, ICT, fishery, CNG conversion, beads making, leather works, tailoring, embroidery, etc, disclosing that over 300 young people have so far been trained. Governor Sani said if elections are going to be conducted on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and social media, Tinubu will lose.
“But if it is people who will vote through the ballot, he is going to win 70 per cent of the votes. That is a fact of the matter. “It is not about social media; it is about work on the ground. Our people appreciate President Bola Tinubu. But you know, poverty has no religion, when you continue to talk about North, South, people won’t listen to you,” he added.
