Katsina State Governor, Malam Dikko Radda has launched the Katsina State Community Development Programme (KSCDP), an initiative designed to empower communities and ensure grassroots development through participatory governance.
Addressing key stakeholders, Governor Radda emphasized the program’s transformative vision, stating, “Development is not a gift—it is a collective effort. This program represents our belief in the potential of every community, every family, and every individual in Katsina State.”
The CDP introduces an innovative approach to local development, establishing community development centres in all 361 wards across 34 local governments. Each centre will feature three critical offices: Community Development, Community Support, and Community Learning, designed to address infrastructure, social services, education, and economic empowerment.
The Governor immediately announced the appointment of renowned academic and community development expert Dr. Kamaludeen Kabir as the State Coordinator of the Katsina State Community Development Programme (KSCDP).
Governor Radda further outlined key goals of the initiative including enhancing social cohesion, economic empowerment, promoting gender equity, improving infrastructure access, and ensuring environmental sustainability.
Inferring from his personal research and wealth of experience, Governor Radda highlighted examples of successful community-driven development models from other countries, including India’s Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act and Brazil’s Bolsa Família programme.
The Governor concluded his address by calling on traditional leaders, local governments, and development partners to support this collaborative approach, emphasizing the program’s potential to create meaningful, sustainable change.
Earlier in his welcome address, the Katsina State Deputy Governor, Malam Faruk Jobe who was represented by the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Dr. Bashir Tanimu Gambo stated, “The CDP serves as a strategic framework for engaging communities in the formulation and implementation of policies and projects that directly impact their lives.”
“This programme will promote the concept of transparency and accountability which are important pillars of democratic governance in modern societies,” Dr. Gambo furthered.
Delivering his goodwill message, the World Bank Country Director, Mr. Ndiame Diop, commended Governor Radda’s bottom-up approach to community development, emphasizing that shifting from a top-down to a bottom-up strategy fundamentally transforms project implementation.
Drawing from his extensive experience in East Asia, Diop highlighted that community-driven development empowers local populations to identify and address their own needs, ensuring projects are strategically located, precisely targeted, and ultimately owned and defended by the community, in contrast to well-intentioned top-down initiatives that often fail to create lasting impact.
In the same vein, the Representative of the African Development Bank, Mr. Taibi Karikari, congratulated Governor Radda and the people of Katsina State for the launching of the novel Community Development Programme.
Taibi pronounced, “This approach is in line with the African Development Bank’s 10 Year Strategy 2024-2033, which has a prosperous, inclusive, resilient and integrated Africa as its team and accelerates inclusive green growth and driving prosperous and resilient economies in Africa as its twin objective.”
On his part, Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to ECOWAS, Ambassador Sani Musa Nuhu, in his goodwill message stated, “One of the core values and principles of good governance is involving the govern while providing services to them. With this initiative, we found an ally and a partner that we can work closely with.
Ambassador Nuhu, however, applauded Katsina State Government approach to Community Development, adding that this ECOWAS is ready to work closely with Katsina State Government on carrying out tangible economic activities that’ll add value to the citizens of Katsina State.
The event had in attendance the Speaker of the Katsina State House Assembly, Rt. Hon. Nasir Yahaya Daura; Minister of Housing, Arc. Ahmed Dangiwa, the Chief of Staff to the Governor, Hon. Abdullahi Jabiru Tsauri; Representative of United Nations Development Programme who also lauded the initiative, traditional rulers, development partners, investors and other critical stakeholders.