Nasir el-Rufai, governor of Kaduna state, says it would be
difficult for the All Progressives Congress (APC) to defeat Seyi Makinde, his
Oyo state counterpart, in 2023.
El-Rufai spoke on Friday at the commemoration and send-off
ceremony organised for Nteranya Sanginga, the outgoing director-general of the
International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA), held at the IITA
Conference Centre, Ibadan.
The Kaduna governor said the APC will try its best to unseat
his Oyo counterpart but it would be tough because Makinde has governed well.
Both governors recounted how they had an argument during a sitting of the National Executive Council (NEC) on whether to lock down states in the heat of the COVID-19 outbreak in 2019, but resolved to do what they felt was best for their respective states.
“After that debate, I
went back to my state and I locked it down. Seyi went back to his state and did
what he called a partial lockdown, but he locked himself down because he got
COVID,” el-Rufai said.
“The beauty of Nigeria is its diversity. In my state, I did
what I felt was the right thing and he did what was best for his state.
“We’ll do our best to defeat you. But I know it will be
tough because you’ve been a good governor.”
The governor lauded Sanginga for the courage and hard work
he put into transforming IITA.
“As Nigerians, we’re very grateful to you for what you have
done here because each and every state in Nigeria is a beneficiary of the
groundbreaking research that you have done,” he said.
“Both of you (Sanginga and Akinwumi Adesina of AfDB) are
breaking ground along with others and you give our children hope that Africa
can be anything it wants to be if it works hard.”
Also speaking, Makinde said it was exciting to have worked
with IITA on several projects in line with his administration’s vision to
expand the state’s economy through agribusiness and to encourage youths to
exploit the opportunities in the sector.
“There are so many
lessons to learn from this great man because of his brilliance, passion and
leadership style. We have worked together on several projects and I have no
fears or worries about letting IITA lead projects such as the STEP,” Makinde
said.
“He asked me to come down to Fasola and I saw the pictures
of ‘before and after’ and the students fried chin-chin, baked cake, which got
me thinking that I used to have the same opportunity at Bishop Philips Academy
but we lost it along the line.
“So, I asked him to extend the programme to all the
senatorial districts in the state and we picked one school per senatorial
district; and now, the programme has spread to 13 schools in Oyo state.
“This is the electioneering period, and I want to use this
opportunity to tell the people of Oyo state that if I am given another
opportunity to serve, we will take the Start Them Early Programme to more
schools in the state.”
The event also witnessed the launching of Sanginga’s
autobiography, ‘Leadership in African Agriculture’.
Other dignitaries present at the event include Akinwumi
Adesina, president of the African Development Bank (AfDB); Rashidi Ladoja,
former governor of Oyo state, and representatives of ex-President Olusegun
Obasanjo and Adeyeye Ogunwusi, Ooni of Ife.
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