Katsina State Governor, Malam Dikko Umaru Radda has successfully disbursed ₦3.6 billion directly to communities, empowering all 361 wards across the state’s 34 Local Government Areas with ₦10 million each for immediate community-driven development projects.
This groundbreaking Community Development Programme (CDP), announced by the programme’s Coordinator, Dr. Kamaludeen Kabir, represents the largest single grassroots empowerment initiative in Nigeria’s recent history.
“This programme is Governor Dikko Radda’s visionary initiative to turn Katsina State into a community-driven development powerhouse,” Dr. Kabir explained during the programme briefing in Katsina.
“We want to ensure that in every community, there is government presence—not just in theory, but in practical terms with staff, structures, and resources to regulate and improve the lives of our people.”
The initiative addresses a critical gap in Nigeria’s development approach, where minor but essential infrastructure repairs were often neglected, leading to complete system failures and massive replacement costs. Under this revolutionary model, each ward now has the financial autonomy to tackle immediate challenges before they escalate into expensive emergencies.
Dr. Kabir noted the programme’s immediate effectiveness, “Before this initiative, when a borehole or water pump developed faults, instead of simple repairs that wouldn’t require huge money, they would just be abandoned. Today, through our office, such minor issues are addressed immediately before they cause serious damage and attract huge amounts of money.”
The strategic approach has already yielded remarkable results in less than seven months since implementation.
“As I speak to you, we started less than seven months ago, but today, no single ward doesn’t have ₦10 million in their account to do minor works, and it’s at their discretion to decide what they want to do,” Dr. Kabir emphasized.
The programme’s innovative structure transforms traditional governance by treating each of the state’s 361 wards as distinct communities with unique needs and solutions. “In this programme, we have many definitions of community, but for easy management, we adopt the 361 wards that we have in the state as communities,” Dr. Kabir explained.
“Each ward is regarded as a community under this programme because it is a micro society where people share common ethics and values within that particular area.”
This approach ensures that development initiatives are truly responsive to local needs, whether it’s repairing school infrastructure, fixing health center equipment, maintaining water systems, or addressing other community-specific challenges.
The programme, according to Dr. Kabir operates through a sophisticated three-committee structure that ensures accountability, coordination, and effectiveness at every level which include a steering committee headed by Governor Dikko Umaru Radda,
“The second committee is the joint planning committee,
Chaired by Deputy Governor Malam Faruq Jobe, this committee handles strategic resource management and coordination.
“This joint planning committee is responsible for differentiating who does what and with which resources,” Dr. Kabir noted.
“And then the ward-level community committees.
“That is to show you the level of seriousness the governor has on this programme at the moment,” Dr. Kabir concluded.
