For the first time in 10 months, Kaduna State governor, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai sat for two hours to field questions from journalists. The governor he was wrong to think being a minister and governor were the same and also took time to clear the air on some of his controversial policies including the religious regulation Bill. MIDAT JOSEPH was there for LEADERSHIP Sunday.

How has it been running a complex state like Kaduna for the past 10 months?[i][/i]

I want to say it has been an interesting and successful journey and we are grateful to the Almighty God for his intervention in the state that led to our election. I know we got elected because the majority of the people of the state wanted a change because the way things were going was not acceptable to them and that is why they all came out to vote for us. We are very grateful.

This is the toughest time in Nigerian history to be a state governor, particularly in states that have been ruled by the PDP for a long period of time. Taking over from a system that has institutionalised itself in 16 years and trying to change direction is always tough. But in addition, we took over at the time crude oil price had collapsed by 70 per cent and we have inherited structures of government and machineries of government but most importantly, an attitude in the public service and within the larger community of a country that has been selling crude oil at $100 per barrel. So, expectations remain high while the revenues are very low. The third reason is that I never expected that running a state would be very different from being a.....


http://leadership.ng/news/514659/underestimated-challenge-governor-el-rufai

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