Governor Nasir El-Rufai has described Lagos as a small place compared to Kaduna and even joked that Kaduna can feed the whole of South-East, predominantly Igbos.

“It’s a huge state,” Mr El-Rufai said of Kaduna, ravaged by worsening insecurity. “So, the fact that there is insecurity in one part does not mean there’s insecurity everywhere. It’s not Lagos. It’s not a small place at all.”

His argument was to emphasise the economic viability of the northern state.

“Yes, we’ve had investment summits, and they have been very successful. In the last five years, we have attracted nearly three billion dollars in investments in spite of all these stories about insecurity because investors know that large parts of Kaduna state are quite safe,” the Kaduna governor further explained. “They are safe as anything.”

The governor stated this to State House correspondents on Tuesday after a closed-door meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari.

He insisted that despite Kaduna’s worsening insecurity, the state continued to attract investments even though it could have been better.

On the potential of Kaduna to feed Igbos in the South-East, Mr El-Rufai expatiated, “Kaduna state is a huge state. We have 46,000 square kilometres. I joke with my colleagues from the South-East: Kaduna state alone can feed the five states of the South-East two and half times.”

(NAN)