by Nigerian News24 Correspondents
The Katsina State government has announced plans to provide industrial tools for repentant bandits and build 152 houses for displaced families in Jibia Local Government Area as part of its social reintegration and development agenda.
Governor Dikko Radda made the pledge on Sunday during a high-level consultation meeting on security, governance, and development, according to a statement signed by the Commissioner for Information and Culture, Dr. Bala Zango, and the Director-General Media to the Governor, Maiwada Dammallam.
Radda explained that the package would include housing, business support, cattle, and industrial equipment aimed at preventing violence relapse and supporting displaced households. He emphasized that security remains central to his administration’s blueprint, alongside education, agriculture, healthcare, small business growth, and revenue generation, while noting his openness to constructive criticism.
Deputy Governor Faruk Lawal-Jobe added that the government had created 35,903 jobs across different sectors through its Building Your Future policy. These jobs, he said, include teacher recruitment, appointment of ward heads, and the engagement of vigilantes, hunters, and religious leaders in peacebuilding initiatives.
Highlighting infrastructure investments, Lawal-Jobe said the Urban Renewal Project covering Daura, Funtua, and Katsina Senatorial Districts had cost N74.9 billion, including construction of the 24-kilometre Eastern Bypass, several dual carriageways, and key rural roads.
He also outlined achievements in education—160 new classrooms, rehabilitation of 258 others, training for 18,000 teachers, three new model schools, upgrades under the AGILE project, full payment of exam fees, and N6.18 billion in scholarships for 174,451 students, including overseas sponsorships.
In agriculture, the administration has distributed 400,000 bags of subsidised fertiliser annually, procured 400 tractors, provided 4,000 irrigation pumps, and launched a goat-rearing initiative to empower women and herders.
On workers’ welfare, the government said it had paid N24 billion in gratuities, wage awards, and civil service reforms, alongside large-scale food distributions.
Healthcare interventions include the construction or upgrade of 260 ward-level primary health centres, renovation of general hospitals, establishment of dialysis and diagnostic centres, a pharmaceutical production unit, and securing of international medical equipment donations.
The deputy governor further noted N14.6 billion worth of investments in water projects, including dam completion, irrigation schemes, and conversion of hand pumps to solar-powered boreholes. Land administration has also been modernised, with a new masterplan, procurement of heavy machinery, and N3.17 billion compensation paid to affected landowners.
In the energy sector, the government completed N3.84 billion solar mini-grids, installed 74 km of solar streetlights, restored high-tension power lines, and upgraded community transformers.
Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Nasiru Mu’azu, attributed the spread of banditry to greed, envy, climate-related resource conflicts, and long-standing social injustices. He noted that banditry, which affected five LGAs between 2011 and 2015, had spread to 25 following the collapse of the 2015–2023 amnesty programme.
Mu’azu clarified that peace agreements in DanMusa, Jibia, Batsari, Kankara, Kurfi, and Musawa LGAs were community-driven, not initiated by the government.