10 policies Lamido Sanusi should introduce in his new capacities as vice chair of the Kaduna Investment Promotion Agency and chancellor of Kaduna State University

By Ayo Akinfe

(1) He should insist that 50% of Kaduna State’s annual budget is spent on education every year between now and 2030

(2) He should get the Kaduna State University (KSA) to open vocational technical colleges in each of its 23 local government areas

(3) He should introduce a Kaduna State Work Scheme under which all unemployed youths are paid monthly stipends and provided with hostel accommodation. In return, they will engage in public works like road maintenance, assisting farmers getting their produce to market, grass cutting, maintaining public facilities and providing security

(4) KSA should open at least four women’s refuge centres to take in girls fleeing from forced marriages. There, they will be trained vocationally and those with the ability to go further will be allowed to proceed to universities, polytechnics, schools of nursing, etc

(5) All almajiris and urchins should be granted immediate refuge in a vocational centre where they are de-indoctrinated. Lecturers should be brought in from modern Muslim nations like Malaysia, Indonesia, Turkey, UAE, etc, to teach these youths that Islam can be modern and cosmopolitan

(6) KSA should open at least one agricultural office in each of the 23 local government areas of Kaduna State where farmers are taught modern farming techniques, offered hybrid seedlings, provided with silos, etc

(7) KSA should open a hydro-electric centre where the youth are trained on generating power. This agency should be mandated with generating and distributing at least 2,000MW of electricity annually. It should construct and maintain at least one dam on River Kaduna

(8) Kaduna Investment Promotion Agency (Kadipa) should set itself a target of attracting at least $5bn in foreign direct investment annually. Lamido Sanusi should particularly target Islamic finance

(9) Kadipa should aggressively tap into the solar potential of the state. Local investors should be wooed to open solar farms, especially in the northern part of the state in places like Zaria, Giwa and Makarfi

(10) Lamido Sanusi should set target dates for when Kaduna State will stop depending on federal allocation and when it will take itself off the list of educationally disadvantaged states