We have done our part of the bargain. The winners must do their part. Our community needs to get representatives in this government, structural and human development, and adequate government support equal to the effort we put together toward your victory.
Rigasa is a ward in Igabi local government in Kaduna State that is endowed with people. It has an estimated population of 3 million people. Politically, Rigasa as a ward provides the largest number of votes, even higher than some local governments. People of Rigasa are zealous about any kind of development, which gives birth to different community-based organizations that are working tirelessly to move the community forward. Rigasa Action and Awareness Forum (RAAF) is among those organizations which can be regarded as the most coordinated and active pressure group in Rigasa.
Elections are won and lost due to voters’ choice. There are no voters without voters’ cards. Every person that got a new voters’ card or transferred from anywhere to Rigasa ward, did that through the effort of Rigasa Action and Awareness Forum (RAAF).
After the conclusion of the initial phase of Continuous Voters Registration (CVR) on 21st September 2021. RAAF observed poor awareness of the CVR in the Rigasa community. With the new polling units added to Rigasa from 23 to 153 and the big dream of having a LGA or constituency one day, we realized that we must come together and mobilize to ensure all new polling units have the required number of voters to avoid cancelling any polling unit.
To achieve this, RAAF constituted and inaugurated a CVR committee in October 2021. This committee works day and night. It enters all the nooks and crannies in Rigasa. Single handedly, RAAF CVR committee members registered and transferred more than 11000 voters, which is the highest in the whole nation as a ward.
The committee works from October 2021 up to July 2022. To ensure the new and transferred voters collected their cards, RAAF extended the period of the committee work to help mobilize and ensure the Rigasa community had collected their cards. It was a successful job, and about 90% collected their cards.
The presidential election comes with poor voters turning out, which is the same nation wide.
For our efforts not to be in vain, a voter’s mobilization committee was inaugurated to ensure people come out in mass during the governorship and state house of assembly election.
One of the issues observed as the cause of the poor voters turning out is the voters’ migration that affected a lot of people and they were not aware of where to vote.
The committee members work tirelessly by printing signs to help people locate their new polling units. Immediately, it stationed its members at every main polling unit to check and direct voters to where they are to vote using the INEC web site. It was a fantastic work that greatly increased the number of votes cast.
Every single time, energy and resources spent by the members of the RAAF with little or no help from anyone is for the betterment of the community. We thank the Almighty that our effort has yielded a result.
We have the best ladies and gentle men that are always volunteering for the development of the Rigasa community, not for personal gain. We are game changers.
The winner of Igabi West State assembly seat, The speaker, Hon Yusuf Zailani, got almost half of his winning votes from the mighty Rigasa ward, which is 46.28% of the total votes. The remaining six wards combined gave him 53.72%. With this, Rigasa cannot be ignored for any reason.
Rigasa gave the governor-elect Hon. Uba Sani 32.06% of the total votes from Igabi LGA, in which it is the second LGA that gave the highest vote for his victory. There is no single ward in the whole of Kaduna that gave the governor elect this percentage of votes.
We have done our part of the bargain. The winners must do their part. Our community needs to get representatives in this government, structural and human development, and adequate government support equal to the effort we put together toward your victory.
Always remember those that help you out at the time you are in need. There will be another time when you will need them again. What you did today to reward their efforts determine what will happen next time you need them. Four years is just around the corner. Time and history will always judge us.
His Excellency Governor Nasir El-rufai needs all the gratitude from the winners of this election because we couldn’t have been able to convince people if he had not done all he did to Rigasa. May Allah bless and protect you, sir, as you hand over to the next governor, which we are hopeful will make Rigasa Community proud as they made them proud.
Pharm. Mustapha M Umar
Writes from Rigasa Kaduna.
Email: mustaphau03@gmail.com