Governor Nasiru Ahmef El-Rufai has described the Kaduna Restoration Group as an ”epistle of elite frustration, lengthy on lame lamentations and short on substance and facts.”
He said the group was like a union of the disaffected, the discontented and the disappointed telling a government that all it needs do to be good is to settle them or go back to the old days of sharing state resources to the few professional politicians too lazy to work for a living like other hardworking citizens.
Governor El-Rufai in a press statement through his spokesman, Mr. Samuel Aruwan, said, “We hope that next time the group chooses to write an open letter, they will come up with facts and specifics, framed within a clear public-interest agenda.
“This first outing is nothing more than an attention-seeking effort, a poorly-articulated morass of ambiguity by persons who are unhappy that KDSG has elevated overriding public interest above their personal interests and ambitions.
“The latest open letter is a mish-mash of accusations and claims that fly in all directions. It makes sweeping claims that it does not bother to prove. Couched in condemnatory language, the letter is written to play to the gallery. It is the codification in a single document of the slanders that the two signatories and members of their so-called group have indulged in, sometimes using proxies and the anonymity of social media.
“The so-called Kaduna Restoration Group is fixated on where people come from. It has decided to cast KDSG officials who are not originally from Kaduna State as the “problem” because they see such persons occupying positions they feel is their entitlement.
“They even cite Section 14 (4) of the Constitution in defence of their parochial stance. That section of the 1999 Constitution offers no such justification for bigotry. The Kaduna State Government has always, and will continue to have in its employment, persons from all sections of the country.
“It is unfortunate that in the 21st Century a media mogul and a person claiming to be a professor of law will remain so wedded to narrow notions. The signatories to the letter and their families visit doctors that are not indigenes of Kaduna State. Their children attend schools in which teachers from parts of Nigeria other than Kaduna educate their wards. Tijjani Ramalan employs people in Liberty Radio and Television that are not the’indigenes’ he claims to be fighting for. Why charity should not begin at home for the two signatories is not difficult to fathom. This hypocrisy looking for misplaced sympathy.
“The Constitution of Nigeria is not an apartheid contraption that limits what services citizens can offer in the public service of any part of our federation. It is important to outline the inconsistency of the letter writers since their claims to “indigeneship” of Kaduna are spurious:
“The doors of this government have never been shut to anyone. But this government believes that constructive criticisms and frank exchanges that are rooted in facts are helpful to improving public policy and governance. The signatories to the Kaduna Restoration Group letter know that their document does not meet this standard.Despite this, and their plagiarism of our “Restoration Programme” for their self-styled alias, and their questionable motives, we are obliged to respond as an elected government.”
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