Clearing air on Governor Sule’s rural development initiatives

By Ali Abare

Recently, a report by Sahara Reporters has been making the rounds, claiming that the Nasarawa State Government has spent a whopping N707 million on refreshments and meals in just nine months while neglecting rural water supply.

For any resident who has followed the visible projects in their communities—the new roads connecting villages, the solar-powered boreholes bringing clean water—such a claim feels not just inaccurate, but completely detached from reality.

For any keen observer, it is clear that this is a classic hatchet job, designed to provoke outrage by ignoring the full picture.

The truth is that under Governor Abdullahi Sule, a comprehensive and deliberate strategy for rural development has been unfolding, targeting the very bedrock of grassroots life: roads and water.

First, let’s address the N707 million figure head-on. The state government has clarified that this sum is not a frivolous entertainment budget, as according to Mr. Peter Ahemba, the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Public Affairs, the amount represents the aggregated operational expenditures of multiple government ministries, departments, and agencies over nine months.

Accordingly, these monies cover essential statutory activities like security operations, official meetings, training workshops, and the implementation of various programmes.

Therefore, for Sahara Reporters to present this consolidated figure as “money for food and drinks” is a gross misrepresentation, a tactic often used in yellow journalism to mislead the public.

But the real story, the one Sahara Reporters chose to ignore, is what the present administration has putting in place. Governor Sule’s approach is holistic.

He understands that development cannot reach the grassroots if people are cut off by bad roads and parched by a lack of clean water.

Therefore, his government has been attacking these problems on multiple fronts through dedicated agencies.

When it comes to opening up the hinterlands, the record is substantial. Just last year, Governor Sule personally inaugurated the 15-kilometer Garaku-Dari road in Kokona Local Government Area, a project hailed by residents as the realization of a long-held dream.

This is not an isolated case. The administration has awarded a contract worth over N4 billion for the construction of a 50km road linking Toto to Umaisha. These are major arteries.

For the smaller but equally critical feeder roads that connect villages to markets and farms, the government has unleashed a silent revolution through the World Bank-funded NG-CARES programme.

The results are staggering: 45 rural roads have been constructed across all 13 local government areas, benefiting over 100,000 people.

These include projects like the 11km Bukan Fadama Agyaragu road and the 5km Kwandare-Awuma road in Lafia.

To institutionalise this focus, the Nasarawa State Executive Council has established a Bureau for Rural Development, mandating it to construct, upgrade, and maintain all rural feeder roads and water installations.

This is not the action of a government neglecting rural communities; it is the blueprint of one systematically connecting them.

On the critical issue of water, the accusation of neglect is, in the government’s words, laughable, since the facts on the ground tell a different story.

Under Governor Sule, the entire water sector has been revitalised. The State Water Supply and Sanitation Agency (NASWASSA), the Ministry of Water Resources, and the State Water Board have all been empowered to drive reforms.

The Commissioner for Water Resources and Rural Development, Hon. Mohammed Agah Muluku, recently provided a detailed account of progress made in just 11 months.

The list is extensive and specifically targets rural areas: five solar-powered boreholes for communities in Lafia LGA, 40 simple solar-powered boreholes in Keffi and Doma LGAs, and five more across Akwanga town.

The choice of solar power is deliberate—it ensures sustainability and reduces running costs for these communities.

The NG-CARES programme has also been a powerhouse for water provision, constructing 73 solar-powered boreholes across the state’s local government areas.

Furthermore, the government is executing ambitious large-scale projects to solve urban and semi-urban water shortages.

This includes the dredging of River Amba, the main water source for Lafia, and the construction of a crucial booster station at Garaku to enable water from the Mada Water Works to reach Keffi metropolis.

Just days ago, the government unveiled a new statewide water project plan for 2026, which includes providing potable water to seven government veterinary clinics and establishing a water-quality testing laboratory.

These are not the actions of a government squandering money on snacks; they are the investments of a government building lasting infrastructure.

The impact of these coordinated efforts is real and measurable. For the people of Kokona, the new Garaku-Dari road means easier movement and boosted economic activity.

For the thousands of farmers across the state, the 45 NG-CARES roads mean their produce can get to market.

For communities like Madagwa Hausawa in Lafia, or countless others in Keffi and Doma, the new solar-powered boreholes mean an end to the daily struggle for clean water.

The NG-CARES programme alone, a testament to the state’s implementation prowess, has also built or rehabilitated 89 primary healthcare facilities and 76 classrooms, while supporting over 11,000 farmers.

In fact, Nasarawa State emerged as the top performer in the entire NG-CARES programme in Nigeria, a feat that earned it an additional N13.6 billion in grants for achieving superior results in rural economic development.

This is the hallmark of a serious, result-oriented administration.

Indeed, the recent report by Sahara Reporters is a textbook example of how to craft a misleading narrative.

It plucks a large, aggregated operational figure from a budget, strips it of all context, and falsely presents it as proof of extravagance.

In the same breath, it wilfully ignores the billions of naira being sunk into roads and water projects that are visibly changing lives in rural Nasarawa.

Governor Sule’s administration has chosen the harder path of actual development—building roads that connect, and providing water that sustains.

This comprehensive, agency-driven approach through the Bureau for Rural Development, NASWASSA, NG-CARES, and others is a silent revolution at the grassroots.

It may not make for sensational headlines, but it is building a more tangible legacy: accessible communities and a hydrated, healthier population.

The people of Nasarawa State, who are the ultimate beneficiaries of these projects, deserve to have this full and factual story told, not a carefully selected narrative designed to smear and distort.

Abare is the Senior Special Assistant on Media to Governor Abdullahi Sule