IS EL-RUFA'I OKAY?

               By

                   John Danfulani, Ph.D
                  Johndanfulani@gmail.com

He is not. Sure, he isn't.  Most of his decisions suggests; he is clueless, visionless, rudderless, and astronomically detached from realities on ground. His activities from 29th May 2015 to date certified the cliche that, you can be highly educated and still act like a chronic illiterate who has never seen the four walls of a formal class. His request to and approval by the Federal Government of Nigeria(FGN)  of surrendering of Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe and Sir Ahmadu Bello roads situated in the Western bypass and the middle of Kaduna city is one of such crazy decisions that has kept tongues rolling.

Other states are busy lobbying to see that more roads in their jurisdictions are taken over by FGN because of the huge resources at the disposal of the FGN. Between 1999-2000 the then Minister of Works and Housing Sen. Isaiah Chawai Balat converted many state's roads in Kaduna to Federal Roads.It was then that Kaduna-Kachia-Gimi road, Samaru Kataf- Saminaka Road, Manchok- Jos road, Pampegua-Zaria road and the rest were made Federal Roads. Before the end of Chief Obasanjo's tenure, most of these roads were rehabilitated and constructed.

The lifting of these roads and placing on the list of Federal Roads gave the government of Sen. Ahmed Mohammed Makarfi (1999-2007) a financial breathing space.That accounted for massive urban and rural roads projects his government embarked upon. Because of the less financial stress experienced Sen. Makarfi even executed Federal projects in FGN's appropriations. The  Kawo overhead bridge was one of such effort by Sen. Makarfi's government. After helping out, the State recovered its funds from FGN.  If Mr. El-rufa'i feels he has the capacity to bailout FGN, why not copy Sen. Makarfi's strategy of bailing out FGN and recover the  state funds afterward?

It's an open secret that clashes between Federal Road Safety Corp (FRSC) and his KASTELLA engineered his request. FRSC refused his KASTELLA carrying out their duties in these two roads with the highest traffic in the state. And because Federal Roads are outside KASTELLA'S jurisdiction, he tactically made a request to FGN to enable him illegalise activities of FRSC in the two roads. The decision was poor because even if KASTELLA man the two roads 24/7 they can't generate sufficient revenue to pay themselves, let alone maintain the roads. Pretty soon, this reality will soon catch up with Mr.El-rufa'i and his co masterminders of this poor decision.

It's about time Mr. El-rufa'i and his team reconcile themselves with the reality that, they aren't running a private company where profit is the driving force. Let them also understand that time is not their best ally. And history will never be kind to them at the end of the day. My take!