For Uba Sani, A Governor for All, at 55

Uba Sani

Henry Ugbolue writes about the political trajectory of a member of the Ninth National Assembly and current Governor of Kaduna State, Senator Uba Sani, as he clocks 55.

There are public lives that unfold as a steady accumulation of titles, and there are rarer ones that read as a moral journey; shaped by struggle, refined by responsibility, and sustained by fidelity to principle.

As the ebullient Governor of Kaduna State, Senator Uba Sani, turns 55 today, December 31, 2025, Nigeria and friends of Nigeria are invited to reflect on a life of uncommon coherence: one in which ideals professed in youth have not been discarded in power, but rather deepened, institutionalised, and translated into measurable outcomes.

Sani’s story is inseparable from Nigeria’s own democratic odyssey. His earliest emergence into public life was as a student union leader, forged in the crucible of debate, dissent, and civic consciousness. Those formative years prepared him for a far sterner test: the pro-democracy struggle of the 1990s, when the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election plunged the nation into crisis.

At a time when fear became policy and silence a survival strategy, Sani chose audacity. Alongside his close ally and friend, Shehu Sani, he emerged as one of the young northern activists who rejected the regime’s cynical attempt to ethnicise the struggle and falsely frame it as a sectional contest.

With tenacity and sincerity of purpose, Uba Sani crisscrossed the northern and southern parts of Nigeria (especially after Shehu Sani was incarcerated by the military junta on allegations of coup plotting), building bridges across regions, faiths, and convictions.

He worked assiduously alongside some of the boldest voices of that era: the late Chief GaniFawehinmi, Dr. Beko Ransom-Kuti, Femi Falana, Femi Aborishade, Joe Okei, and others, towards a singular objective: the actualisation of the overwhelming mandate freely given to Chief MoshoodKashimawoOlawaleAbiola on June 12, 1993 by Nigerians but criminally annulled by the military regime.

When arrests thinned the ranks and repression intensified, Sani adapted rather than retreated, expanding the struggle to draw attention to the incarceration of figures such as the late General Shehu Musa Yar’Adua and the deposed Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Ibrahim Dasuki. Loyalty; to comrades, to conscience, and to country, was the defining constant of those years.

That moral backbone would later distinguish his legislative career. In the 9th Senate, where he represented Kaduna Central Senatorial District, Sani did not merely participate; he shaped the agenda. He topped the list of senators with the most progressive bills and ranked among those whose legislative initiatives were eventually signed into law by the President. His was a legislature driven by ideas, not theatrics; by reform, not rhetoric.

Among his most consequential contributions was the sponsorship of the Banks and Other Financial Institutions (Amendment) Act, BOFIA 2020. Few laws in recent Nigerian history have so decisively anticipated the future. BOFIA modernised Nigeria’s financial sector, strengthened regulatory oversight, enhanced stability, and, critically, brought fintech innovations within a coherent legal framework.

In doing so, it expanded access to finance for micro, small, and medium enterprises and laid the foundation for the rise of fintechs that now define Nigeria’s digital financial ecosystem. It was legislation as foresight, and governance as architecture.

On May 29, 2023, Sani assumed office as Governor of Kaduna State, inheriting a polity of immense diversity and equally immense challenges. Kaduna had long occupied a paradoxical place in Nigeria’s imagination: rich in culture and enterprise, yet frequently scarred by ethno-religious tension and insecurity. What has unfolded since then is a quiet but deliberate restoration. Through inclusive leadership, fairness, and consistency, Kaduna has been steadily returned to winning ways; as a bastion of peace, safety, development, and belonging.

Under Sani’s leadership, governance in Kaduna State has become visibly inclusive, anchored on the principle that the state belongs equally to all its people, irrespective of faith or identity. On his watch, Kaduna has witnessed an unprecedented absence of ethno-religious crisis, an achievement grounded not in coercion, but in justice, trust, and equity.

Security has been pursued with both firmness and empathy, combining robust collaboration with federal security agencies and deep community engagement. Traditional rulers, clerics, and local leaders have been integrated into the peace architecture, transforming them from spectators into stakeholders.

Development has followed the same inclusive logic. Over 135 road projects spanning more than 1,300 kilometres have reconnected long-neglected communities, while healthcare reforms, most notably the upgrade of 255 Primary Health Care Centres and the commissioning of a 300-bed Specialist Hospital, have brought dignity and access closer to everyday life.

Perhaps the most transformative pillar of his governorship has been agriculture. With over 42 percent of Kaduna’s GDP and 60 percent of its workforce tied to the sector, Governor Sani recognised early that food security is inseparable from economic stability and lasting peace. Agricultural spending rose dramatically, surpassing continental benchmarks, while initiatives such as free fertiliser for 100,000 smallholder farmers, all-year irrigation farming, mechanisation, and crop risk insurance redefined state support for farmers. The launch of Nigeria’s first Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zone in Kaduna marked a decisive shift from subsistence to agro-industrialisation, positioning the state as a future hub of food wealth.

At 55, Sani stands as a testament to what is possible when activism matures into statesmanship without losing its soul.

His life reflects loyalty tested by adversity, tenacity tempered by wisdom, and power exercised with humility.

As he marks this milestone, I wish my dear friend, the Comrade-Governor, God’s guidance, renewed strength, and even greater achievements in the years ahead.

For Kaduna, and indeed for Nigeria, Senator Sani’s journey affirms a simple but enduring truth: leadership, at its best, is service to all.

-Ugbolue writes from Abuja.