Iyobosa Uwugiaren takes a critical look at the Governor of the Year award recently conferred on Governor Uba Sani of Kaduna State, arguing that while accolades may adorn a tenure, only durable impact ultimately defines it.
On a humid afternoon in the late 1990s, as soldiers loyal to the regime of Nigeria’s late military Head of State, Grneral Sani Abacha, patrolled the streets and opposition groups carried grave consequences, a young activist stood shoulder to shoulder with pro-democracy icons such as Gani Fawehinmi, Olisa Agbakoba, and Chima Ubani, alongside students and labour organisers, demanding a return to civilian rule. Among them was Uba Sani—then more familiar with protest chants than policy briefs, and more accustomed to confronting power than wielding it. For many in that restless crowd, democracy was a distant aspiration; but, for Sani, it was a consuming passion.
Almost three decades later, that same activist occupies the highest political office in Kaduna State, steering budget cycles instead of barricades, security briefings instead of strategy meetings in civil society offices.