Daura, Katsina State — November 20, 2025
By Halima Abbas
The 2025 Yusuf Bala Usman Memorial Lecture held Thursday at the Yusuf Bala Usman College of Legal and General Studies (YBU-CLGS), Daura, became a powerful forum on the role of continuity in deepening democratic development, with speakers praising Governor Dikko Umaru Radda’s administration for entrenching institutional reforms and sustaining long-term policy direction.
The event, chaired by the Chairman of the College Governing Council, Hon. Justice Sadiq Abdullahi Mahuta (Rtd.), drew academics, civil servants, students, and community leaders. The Provost of the College, in his welcome address, reminded participants that democracy thrives when scholarship, civic debate, and intellectual honesty guide public discourse. He described the memorial lecture as a vital tradition that keeps alive the progressive and courageous intellectual legacy of the late Dr. Yusuf Bala Usman.
In his opening remarks, Justice Mahuta praised the organisers for sustaining the annual lecture, recalling Dr. Bala Usman as “a fearless advocate of truth and accountability whose intellectual contributions continue to shape Nigeria’s democratic consciousness.” He stressed that development suffers when leadership changes result in abandoned projects and policy reversals. According to him, Katsina State’s recent reforms show that continuity, when pursued with sincerity and discipline, can accelerate growth and build public trust.
The keynote address was delivered by Malam Ahmed Abdulkadir, Chairman of the Katsina State Radio and Television Services Board, who examined “continuity” not only as a political necessity but as a democratic imperative. He argued that continuity preserves valuable reforms, prevents waste, strengthens state institutions, and ensures that citizens benefit from long-term planning. Abdulkadir said Governor Radda’s administration provides clear, measurable evidence of continuity-driven governance across security, education, health, agriculture, environmental management, and institutional reform.
He highlighted the establishment of the Ministry of Internal Security and Home Affairs as one of the most significant achievements of the administration, describing it as the point where security moved from an ad-hoc response to a fully institutionalised function of government. He noted that the ministry now coordinates the activities of the Katsina Community Watch Corps, a body of more than 1,400 personnel whose presence in rural areas has strengthened local confidence and improved collaboration with federal security forces.
Abdulkadir also reflected on the state of emergency declared in education, which led to the recruitment of more than 7,000 teachers, construction of new classrooms, and renovation of existing ones. He drew attention to the government’s decision to clear WAEC and NECO examination backlogs, allowing thousands of students to continue their education without financial barriers. The institutionalisation of the AGILE Programme, which expands learning opportunities for girls and empowers young women with life and digital skills, was cited as a major step toward inclusive development.
Turning to healthcare, Abdulkadir described how primary health centres across the state have been revitalised, with some upgraded into general hospitals and equipped with modern MRI and dialysis units. He said these interventions are reducing the need for medical referrals outside the state and bringing quality healthcare closer to rural communities.
The keynote painted a broad picture of agricultural and economic reforms anchored on continuity. Farmers, he said, have received tens of thousands of metric tonnes of fertiliser, irrigation support, and mechanisation units, while women and youth entrepreneurs are benefiting from empowerment programmes, including a ₦5 billion revolving fund that supports small-scale businesses.
A striking example of continuity, the keynote stressed, is the transformation of the Katsina Youth Craft Village (KYCV) from a dormant project into a full-fledged Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Centre of Excellence. Now certified by the National Board for Technical Education and aligned with the Nigerian Skills Qualification Framework, the centre trains youths in more than a dozen trades, including auto mechanics, tailoring, electrical installation, cosmetology, welding, and digital photography. In 2024 alone, 634 graduates received government-funded starter packs worth ₦248 million. The centre has established new partnerships — notably with Autogig International Resources Ltd in Lagos and Brazil’s SENAI Institute — and recently secured a ₦60 million IDEAS–TVET grant that will train 200 young people in digital hardware and GSM repairs. Abdulkadir described the Craft Village as “a living example of how continuity transforms ideas into sustainable institutions capable of attracting global support.”
The second paper, presented by Dr. Aminu Salisu Tsauri, Executive Secretary of the Katsina State Scholarship Board, reinforced the theme of continuity through a scholarly lens. His presentation, titled “Building a Culture of Policy Continuity in Democracies: Evidence from Katsina State Under Governor Dikko Umaru Radda,” drew on global research to show that societies progress fastest when development policies survive electoral cycles and when institutions — not personalities — drive long-term reforms.
Dr. Tsauri examined the Radda administration through four distinct pillars: institutional strengthening, people-centred governance, fiscal discipline, and merit-based processes. Using empirical data, he highlighted the dramatic expansion of scholarship funding from ₦700 million in 2023 to ₦4 billion in 2025, with projections of more than ₦9 billion in 2026. More than ₦2.4 billion has been spent on supporting Katsina indigenes studying within Nigeria. He noted that the new scholarship structure introduced merit-based competitions, special provisions for students with disabilities, and automatic employment for first-class graduates.
The foreign scholarship programme received significant attention. Tsauri explained how Katsina-sponsored students studying medicine in Egypt and technology-related fields in China were selected strictly on merit, with priority given to youths from indigent families. Their performance, he said, has justified the investment, as seven of the nine best MBBS students at Beni Suef University in 2024 were Katsina beneficiaries.
Dr. Tsauri also highlighted institutional innovations such as the Treasury Single Account, the Katsina State Development Management Board, the Directorate of ICT (KATDICT), and the enterprise development agency (KASEDA), stressing that these structures are designed to ensure that government policies remain sustainable and survive political transitions.
Throughout the event, speakers drew parallels between the governance philosophy of Governor Radda and the ideals championed by Dr. Yusuf Bala Usman — truth, justice, equity, and long-term public interest. Both guest speakers agreed that Katsina State’s experience demonstrates that continuity does not mean repeating old ideas, but refining, strengthening, and expanding them into lasting institutions.
By the end of the lecture, the consensus among participants was clear: continuity has become one of the defining pillars of governance in Katsina State, offering a model that other Nigerian states may learn from. The memorial lecture closed with a renewed call for stronger institutions, consistent policy implementation, and more inclusive governance — the same values that defined Dr. Yusuf Bala Usman’s lifelong commitment to Nigeria’s democratic development.
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