Thread by @toluogunlesi

I will try to live-tweet highlights of #StateHouseBriefing, featuring Governor @elrufai this morning. Follow this thread. See previous tweet for livestream link.

#StateHouseBriefing

Security actions and interventions in Kaduna State, by @NigeriaGov with support of @GovKaduna
#StateHouseBriefing

“The only good bandit is a dead one.” — Governor @elrufai #StateHouseBriefing

“The only good bandit is a dead one. But some of my colleagues thought that they could [engage] with bandits. It’s only after they failed that they came to my side.” — Governor @elrufai
#StateHouseBriefing

NER speaks on the evolving nature of security challenges in Kaduna State. Says as of 2015 the biggest challenges were cattle rustling, urban gangs and ethno-religious crises.

Today it’s banditry, kidnapping and to a reduced extent, cattle rustling. #StateHouseBriefing

Governor @elrufai: Those that say @NigeriaGov and @contactkdsg @GovKaduna are not doing anything about insecurity are being grossly unfair. We are doing a lot and collaborating.

#StateHouseBriefing

Gov NER: There are many ungoverned spaces in Nigeria because we don’t have enough security personnel. We need more people in the military, police, DSS, etc. Nigeria needs 1.1 million policemen, we currently have only a third of that. #StateHouseBriefing

Gov NER: Kaduna State publishes quarterly statewide crime statistics, we’ve been doing that since 2020, and are the only State doing that. According to that data, Kaduna Central has actually been more vulnerable to insecurity than Southern Kaduna. #StateHouseBriefing

NER: There is beauty in diversity and in size. Nigeria is better bigger and together.
#StateHouseBriefing

Gov NER giving some context to the insecurity situation in NW; says Jigawa doesn’t have any major forests, Kano has just one. Kaduna, Katsina, Sokoto and Zamfara, & Niger in NC all share a vast forest range stretching to Niger Republic. The bandits know these forests very well.

Gov NER: Banditry increasingly taking on the guise of terrorism. Bandits typically have no ideology, often have no religion, driven solely by economics. But now, growing collaboration being seen between bandits and BH/Ansaru. Hence the 2021 designation of bandits as terrorists.

NER: Kaduna established a Kaduna State Peace Commission (KADPECOM) in 2017. It is supported by partners such as Ford Foundation, USIP, USAID, and others.

Pioneer Executive Vice Chair was Most Reverend Dr Josiah Idowu-Fearon, Secretary-General of the Anglican Communion.

Gov @elrufai speaks on the State’s investments in security hardware - drones, trackers, Forensics Lab, and the Kaduna Safe City Project (surveillance camera network for Kaduna Metropolis and a Security Operations Coordination Center). Says N10–N12B invested in these since 2015.

.@elrufai says Kaduna State
—Runs 4-day work week for public service
—Has Free & compulsory education to SS3
—Has education loan collabo w/ FCMB (single-digit interest, 10 year tenor)
—Fully compliant w/ Contributory Pension Scheme
—Has almost doubled primary school enrollment.

There’s a US$600 million Iron Ore Mining, Processing and Steel Production investment in Kaduna that will be commissioned soon. Private investment. Acc. to Gov @elrufai, this is what Nigeria has been trying to do in Ajaokuta for decades and with billions of dollars.
#InvestNigeria

Kaduna State now home to the largest vehicle assembly plant in Nigeria, says the Governor. Dangote Peugeot Automobile, a partnership between Dangote Group of Nigeria and Peugeot of France, to produce cars, trucks, etc.

Production has recently commenced.

#InvestNigeria

Gov @elrufai: You cannot govern people you don’t know. That’s why we set up the Kaduna State Residents Identity Management Authority (KADRIMA). We have so far enrolled 4.2 million residents of Kaduna State. The Kaduna Residents Card is linked to NIN.