By Victor Ahiuma-Young

AREWA youths have condemned the sustained attacks against Kebbi State Governor, Dr. Nasir Idris by opposition elements ahead of the 2027 elections, faulting the desperation of critics to discredit Idris’ administration despite glaring evidence of developmental strides.

Critics recently attempted to stir outrage over a photograph showing a patient lying on a hospital bed without a mattress in Kangiwa. But stakeholders argue that such incidents, rooted in years of infrastructural decay, cannot overshadow the governor’s ambitious rehabilitation and development programme across the state.

In a statement, National Director of Health Intervention and Enlightenment, Arewa Youth, Maryam Gele, described the attacks as “sponsored propaganda aimed at rubbishing the progressive and forward-looking government of Dr. Nasir Idris.”

According to her, “True patriots and lovers of Kebbi must realize that the recent upsurge in disinformation campaigns is an evil plan to return the state to the old days of infrastructure deficit which made Kebbi to be seen widely as unprogressive and backward. Have we forgotten when our state capital was being laughed at as Nigeria’s glorified local government headquarters?”

She stressed that the Idris administration, though barely two years in office, has invested billions of naira in the health sector alone, reversing over two decades of neglect by past governments.

Among the governor’s interventions include complete rehabilitation of Argungu General Hospital at a cost of over N1 billion, ongoing rehabilitation of General Hospital, Jega, rehabilitation of General Hospital, Zuru, awarded at over N1 billion, total reconstruction of General Hospital, Kuka Na Yelwa in Kalgo Local Governmnet Area, LGA, and rehabilitation of General Hospital, Bunza (contractor mobilized).

“There are also rehabilitation of 14 Primary Health Care Centres across the state, renovation and equipping of the Drug Management Agency Office, Birnin Kebbi, complete renovation of Kebbi Central Medical Store, remodeling of Sir Yahaya Specialist Hospital to expand specialized services, particularly for women and children, and General Hospitals in Koko and Yauri already listed for complete renovation and restoration. These are not promises; they are projects anybody can verify.”

Gele noted that health is just one of the many sectors receiving attention under Idris’s leadership. What the opposition calls failure is in fact proof of the challenges inherited by the current administration. The question is why critics have chosen to ignore visible progress and instead focus on isolated inadequacies? Who should be blamed for infrastructure decay that began more than 20 years ago? Is it fair to criticize a government that is just two years in office, a government that has begun an ambitious rehabilitation programme targeting key sectors across the state?”

Governor Idris’s supporters insist that Kebbi State is on a new path of progress and development, one that makes it impossible for the state to return to the days when the state was derided as “Nigeria’s most backward state.”