Nasir El-Rufai’s reign as governor of Kaduna State will go down in history as one of the most heartless and dictatorial administrations ever...
Nasir El-Rufai’s reign as governor of Kaduna State will go down in history as one of the most heartless and dictatorial administrations ever witnessed in Northern Nigeria. His tenure was defined by ruthless demolitions, mass sackings, total disregard for human suffering, and a debt legacy that has shackled Kaduna’s future. His government had no human face, no compassion—just raw, cold-blooded policies that plunged thousands into hunger, poverty, and hopelessness.
Under El-Rufai, thousands of homes, businesses, mosques, and churches were bulldozed without a shred of concern for the lives and livelihoods destroyed. Traders watched helplessly as bulldozers crushed their shops; families were thrown onto the streets as their homes were turned to rubble.
In 2018, he ordered the demolition of a factional APC secretariat, a move widely seen as an act of political vengeance. By 2021, over 450 buildings, including religious sites and schools, were demolished in Zaria. Even in his final days in office, he still found time to order the destruction of schools and hospitals belonging to the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), proving that he thrived on inflicting pain.
El-Rufai’s questionable governance style reached its peak when he sacked over 22,000 teachers in one fell swoop. Breadwinners lost their jobs overnight. Families that once had stability were plunged into hunger and despair. And just when people thought the worst was over, he struck again—firing another 2,357 teachers in 2022.
Many of these teachers had worked for decades, raising generations of Kaduna’s children. Yet, under El-Rufai, they were discarded like trash, denied their entitlements, and abandoned to suffer. To this day, thousands are still struggling to feed their families because of one man’s reckless obsession with control.
*Crippling Debt: Shackling Kaduna’s Future*
Not only did El-Rufai ruin lives, but he also drowned Kaduna in the heaviest debt burden in its history. When he assumed office, the state’s domestic debt was N49.8 billion. By the time he left, it had skyrocketed to N87.3 billion. External debt more than doubled from $234 million to $569 million. Where did all the money go? Certainly not to the people, who suffered under crumbling infrastructure, unpaid salaries, and a harsh economy.
This is not counting the removal of innocent traditional rulers from office with little or no justification. At his whims and caprice, traditional rulers have lost their stools and when court orders were given for their reinstatement, such orders were flagrantly ignored by the all-powerful Elrufai regime.
El-Rufai’s rule will not be remembered for development or progress. It will be remembered for the thousands of families he drove into poverty, the businesses he wiped out with the stroke of a pen, the teachers he sent to the streets to beg, and the staggering debt he left behind. His government would be remembered for its brutality, recklessness, and a complete lack of empathy.
History will not be kind to El-Rufai. His name will forever be tied to the suffering, hunger, and joblessness that defined his era. Those who survived his tenure will never forget the nightmare he inflicted upon Kaduna.
Musa wrote from Birnin Gwari, Kaduna State
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