Governor Uba Sani of Kaduna State has said that poverty and economic exclusion are the root causes of insecurity in northern Nigeria, warning that unless they are addressed holistically, the region will continue to face unrest.
The governor stated, “I came from the trenches. I fought successive governments in the past, during the military era. I went to detention a few times, fighting for justice and equality”.
Sani said his administration began with a data-driven focus on poverty and underdevelopment, drawing on his experience as a former chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking.
“When I came in as governor, what I did was to look at the poverty index, not only in the state but of the entire North. I was the chairman of the Committee on Banking. I had the data, the statistics from the Development Department of the Central Bank, from the SDG. I can tell you, sitting here, the poverty index as of 2023, when we came in, was alarming,” he explained.
According to him, more than 60 to 65 per cent of people in the northern region — especially in the North-West — were financially excluded when he assumed office. This, he said, made many young people vulnerable to recruitment by armed groups.