Governor Uba Sani of Kaduna State has cautioned journalists against what he described as the activities of “latter-day activists,” warning that some politicians disguise themselves as defenders of democracy when government policies do not favour them.

Sani gave the warning on Thursday while hosting journalists to a Ramadan Iftar at the Sir Kashim Ibrahim House in Kaduna.

The governor said journalists played a critical role in Nigeria’s pro-democracy struggle and should remain vigilant against individuals he described as “conflict merchants.”

“When we were in the struggle, we, the civil rights activists, relied mostly on journalists. Most of them lost their freedom, and some even lost their lives when we were fighting for democracy,” he said.

According to him, the role played by the media remains central to the survival of democratic governance in the country.

“You cannot talk about democracy today without the contribution of journalists. So you have to be vigilant about this category of politicians who are conflict merchants,” he added.

Sani alleged that such politicians often avoid discussions about development issues, including healthcare, education, infrastructure, unemployment and poverty, and instead exploit ethnic and religious divisions for political gain.

“When campaigns begin, they will focus on these issues instead of matters that affect all Nigerians irrespective of ethno-religious affiliations,” he said.

The governor also described some of the individuals he called “emergency activists” as people who were not part of Nigeria’s pro-democracy struggle.

“When we were fighting for democracy, they were partnering with military dictators. Today, from nowhere, they are trying to teach us democracy,” he said.

He urged journalists to scrutinise the democratic credentials of such individuals and hold them accountable by examining their past records.

Highlighting achievements of his administration, Sani said that before he assumed office, 12 local government areas in Kaduna State had not recorded a single kilometre of road construction in a decade.

He said his administration had since executed development projects across all 23 local government areas of the state in the past two and a half years.

The governor also disclosed that only five of the state’s 32 secondary healthcare centres were functional when his administration took office.

“Today, we are renovating, equipping and remodelling 15 out of the 32 secondary healthcare centres,” he said.

Sani added that Kaduna previously had about 580,000 out-of-school children, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, but the number had been reduced to about 182,000 through government interventions.

He said the state government, in partnership with development partners including the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development, the Islamic Development Bank and UNICEF, plans to construct an additional 102 schools.

According to the governor, Kaduna State has secured about $62.8 million in funding to address the challenge of out-of-school children.

“Our focus is to ensure that no child is left outside the classroom in Kaduna State because we believe education is the greatest leveller,” he said.