The Katsina State Governor-Elect, Umaru Radda, on Friday, in Abuja, said his administration would deploy technology to tackle terrorism and make deserted farmlands accessible for cultivation.
This, he said, would resuscitate farming activities, the mainstay of Katsina’s economy.
“Agriculture is a major area of livelihood for our people. So we must provide security for our people to farm. We will involve the locals and use technology in tackling the security issues in my state,” Radda told journalists on Friday after he met the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), at the State House, Abuja.
This comes barely 24 hours after the Governor-elect received his certificate of return from the Independent National Electoral Commission in Abuja.
Radda polled 859,892 votes to defeat his closest rival, Yakubu Lado of the People’s Democratic Party, who scored 486,620 votes at the March 18 governorship elections.
However, the North-Western state has been a hotbed of terror in the past few years as Boko Haram attacks continue to target farmers, causing many to flee their lands.
In May 2022, at least 15 farmers were reportedly killed when gunmen stormed Gakurdi village in Jibia Local Government Area of Katsina State.
In February 2023, over 40 vigilante personnel fell when insurgents ambushed their convoy en route to recover stolen cattle.
But Radda, who appeared in the company of the current Katsina Satte Governor, Aminu Masari, told State House Correspondents that “I have said it over and over that security is our first priority. This is what we are going to give much attention to because it is only when you have peace and security that you can be able to go to the farm, school, hospital and even the market.
“So security is very cardinal to the economic development of our society. And agriculture is one of the major areas of employment in our state. And it’s a major means of livelihood for our people.
“We must provide security for our people. And we promise to involve the locals and we will involve the use of technology in tackling the security issues in my state.”
With two months before his inauguration, the governor-elect said his administration had kickstarted a strategic policy review whose recommendations will be implemented after May 29.
“We have rolled out our strategic policy for the state and just the day before yesterday, we inaugurated our strategic policy review committees.
“We want to kickstart our work immediately we are sworn in as governor and deputy. So I think we are doing everything now to ensure that we put everything in place so that we can hit the ground running immediately after swearing-in,” he explained.
Radda stated that he was at the Villa to show Buhari his certificate of return. According to him, the President urged him to be accountable to his people.
He noted that “The president has always been advocating for transparency and accountability in government. And he urged us to be fair and open to Almighty God in discharging our responsibility.
“We thanked Mr. President, and we felt that we should come and show him our certificate of return as issued to us by INEC.
“We just came here with my governor and our leader to meet Mr. President and to thank Him for what he has done for us as a nation and what he has done for us as the leader of the party. We came to appreciate him because of his input to the victory we got in Katsina.”