Reactions as Senator Donates Burial Materials for Constituency

Senator representing Kano Central, Rufai Sani Hanga has said he donated over 2000 clay pots and 10,500 yards of white cloth (called ‘Likkadani’ in Hausa) to the Muslim graveyards in his constituency to please God and seek His eternal reward.

On Friday, May 3, 2024, one of the senator’s social media aides, Dawuud Auwal, announced that Hanga, whose district covers 15 local government areas, donated 500,000 clay pots and 500,000 plain white cloths to help his constituents bury their dead.

This development generated means reactions from Nigerians especially those on social media.

Meany described the donations as “out of touch” with the people’s needs, arguing that the senator should focus on addressing more pressing issues such as healthcare, education, and infrastructure development rather than distributing items of questionable practicality.

Some also called for a more transparent and consultative approach to constituency projects, adding that elected officials must prioritise initiatives that directly impact the lives of the people they represent.

However, the Senator, who is the Deputy Minority Chief Whip of the 10th Senate and a member of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), in his first press conference after the 2023 election explained that the gesture was to please God and seek His eternal reward.

According to him, those materials were not part of his constituency project as propagated by cynics and his opponents, saying they spread the misinformation out of hatred and malice.

“We made the donation to Kano state committee for the graveyards headed by Dangoribar Kano and district head of Tarauni Local government. We had found out that clay pots were lacking in most of our graveyards and decided to donate,” he explained.

Hanga said he faced health challenges after his election as senator spending seven months in hospitals in Nigeria and later flown to Egypt and England, where he spent 3 months each on hospital bed.

The lawmaker said despite his health condition which he is still recuperating from, he managed to make meaningful contributions to make life better for his constituents from his personal resources.

He said he succeeded in inserting some projects for his constituency in the 2023 budget, which he will follow up to ensure implementation.