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22 November 2010 By Abdullahi
Bichi Yusuf A good leader is someone who
knows the way, goes the way and shows the way. And
courage is not having the strength to go on, it is
going on when you don't have strength – Anonymous The useful tenure of the
incumbent governor of
Kano state, Malam (Dr)
Ibrahim Shekarau,
Sardaunan Kano will formerly come to end on 28th
May 2011. It is about six months away effective
November 2010. Already, the search for successor is
on as the governorship election is slated for April
2011. There are quite a number of people who are
interested to succeed Malam (Dr) Ibrahim Shekarau. At
least, about twenty people so far from three leading
registered political parties namely ANPP, PDP and CPC
are already showing interest in Shekarau's seat. Among the over twenty
governorship aspirants in the three prominent
political parties, it is expected that after the
primaries, the number of the aspirants will be trimmed
to just three candidates. From the way things have
been going on in the matter of campaigns, it is also
expected that Mallam Salihu Sagir Takai of
All Nigeria Peoples Party,
ANPP, General Lawal Jaafar Isa of CPC and Alhaji (Dr)
Musa Kwankwaso of PDP are likely to emerge winners of
their various party primaries. This expected result
may lead to new political realignment among those who
could not scale through their party primaries.
Whatever the type of realignment that will emerge
after the primaries, it might not in any way
fundamentally affect the three candidates mentioned
above. Among these candidates, the good people of Kano
are expected to elect one candidate that will take
over from Malam Ibrahim Shekarau, Sardaunan Kano as
the governor of
Kano State effective May 29,
2011, all things being equal, ceteris paribus. Having looked at the wonderful
achievements of Malam Shekarau administration under
the All Nigeria Peoples Party, ANPP in the last seven
and half years , the next wish of the good people of
Kano State is to ensure that the marvelous
achievements of the Shekarau administration are not
only preserved by the incoming leadership, they should
also see to it that whoever that they are going to
elect as the next governor of the state possesses the
same attributes, character and characteristics of
Malam Ibrahim Shekarau. Such attributes include hard
work, integrity, transparent, amiable, detribalized,
fear of God, preservation of culture and tradition of
Kano environment, progressive, humane, responsible,
peaceful and straight forward. These attributes in
Shekarau are the secret behind the success of his
administration. To some discerning and
retrogressive elements in Kano state, they prefer a
leader that will feel the individual pockets of
cronies with public fund to using the same fund for
collective development. This is why there has been
some pockets of opposition against Shekarau
administration, in spite of the visible progress his
government has recorded for the state since it came
some seven and half years ago. Let us quickly remind
ourselves of these noble achievements of Shekarau
administration. In seven and half years,
Governor Ibrahim Shekarau
recorded "280,000, 350,000 and 53,000 new enrolments
in his Primary, Secondary and Tertiary institutions
respectively, established 364 new Primary Schools,
added new 200 classroom blocks and rehabilitated over
300 more; built additional 247 secondary schools,
upgraded 85 JSS Schools to SSS and constructed new 826
classrooms for them; rehabilitated 190 laboratories,
furnished 207, equipped 202; hired 15,000, 6000 and
1200 qualified new teachers for Primary, Secondary and
Tertiary institutions; and has invested over
N1.4billion in scholarships for Kano students studying
locally and overseas. What about his road network that
looks like mini London, his entrenchment of peace in
the state, his societal reorientation, his improvement
of the basic health care, his human and structural
development drive" and so many other laudable
achievements that past governors of the state has not
recorded. It is against this background that the good
people o Kano should not allow sentiment to becloud
their reasoning against the man who has done so much
for the state. One can say here without fear of
contradiction that almost 75% of people who jump from
one political party to the other do so for personal
aggrandizement and never for the interest of the
people they seek to lead. Shekarau, as a straight
forward leader believes that there is no
people-oriented programme that one would like to
execute in another political party that one cannot
achieve in one's original party, if really there is
truth. This is why Shekarau has remained consistent
and determined. All these good attributes of Shekarau
are enough to trust him and depend on his guide so
that we can have some one to hold responsible should
any thing go amiss. This is why I think the
endorsement of Mallam Salihu Sagir Takai by Governor
Ibrahim Shekarau to take over as the next governor of
the state should be accepted and applauded by the good
people of Kano state for the simple fact that one does
not take soup because of its pepper, one should take
it because of its salt. We cannot claim to like Shekarau
as a result of his outstanding performances but at the
same time dislike his preference. As a leader who has
been leading the state for the past seven years, he is
in position to know who can preserve and consolidate
his laudable achievements for the state. We need a
leader like Shekarau who can stand for somebody and
defend him to logical conclusion. In contradistinction
to this, we do not require leader that anoints a
person, only to dump and betray him at the time of
need. It is in realization of this that we should
accept the choice of Shekarau in the person of Mallam
Salihu Sagir Takai as the next leader to take over
Kano to the next level of development. If out of greediness, sentiment,
animosity and hatred, the good people of Kano disallow
Shekarau's choice of Takai, they may pay dearly or
such retrogressive action, which Kano people are not
known about. For the fact that some people want to
team up against Takai's candidature, it shows that he
is actually the best person for the state. Similar
thing happened when Shekarau was vying for his second
term in 2007. If the Kano people had not stood firmly
against the odds, the state would have been robbed of
development the state is witnessing today. Therefore,
one would like to advice the ANPP in the state to put
parochialism and hatred aside and prevail on other
governorship aspirants to shelve their individual
differences and queue behind the Shekarau endorsement
of Malam Salihu Sagir Takai. It is understood that when Takai
was
Commissioner of Water Resources
as well as that of Local Government Ministry, his
performances were enviable and legendary. He is a
peaceful man and does not discriminate on the basis of
tribe and religion. As a transparent man, Takai was
able to record a reasonable number of achievements.
His invitation to EFCC some time in April this year,
was to clarify the role of certain local government
Chairmen, which he clearly and satisfactorily did
against the wish of some political foes that wanted
him to be innocently crucified for being Governor
Shekarau's candidate. All is now history as he came
out unscathed of the political blackmail. Up till
today, those who are jittery of Takai political
sagacity are still desperate on how to frustrate the
gentle man's political aspiration. Unfortunately for
such political adversaries, they do not know that when
God has decided, nothing any man born of woman can do
but to accept God's decision. The same political
travails happened to Malam (Dr) Ibrahim Shekarau while
he was aspiring to become governor of Kano State. In
spite the odds, Shekarau is on his seven and half year
today as governor and it beats one's imagination why
people do not learn from history, might be due to
desperate and vaulting ambition. Now that Governor Ibrahim
Shekarau is preparing to handover the government to
another democratically elected leader, who should the
Kano people entrust with their mandate among the
litany of aspirants. Have the good people of Kano
asked themselves why we have so many people wanting to
become the next governor of the state after Shekarau's
exit? Whatever is the reason behind the rush for
governor of Kano State, it is clear that most of the
aspirants are merely aspiring for recognition and not
that they have any serious manifesto for the good
governance of Kano. It is in this respect that the
good people of Kano should think twice before adopting
bandwagon device. Based on the achievements recorded
by Shekarau administration, it goes without saying
that only his party, ANPP is qualified to continue
with the good work. Any leader elected on the
threshold of another party, will only come to ruin
what has already been put in place because of hatred,
animosity and the culture of dsstroying past to cover
up for the present. For instance, CPC is a new party
established based on personal aggrandizement. As a
result of mutual conspiracy to undo the ruling party
in the state led by Malam (Dr) Ibrahim Shekarau, the
Congress for Progressive Change came on board as a
means of undercutting the interest of perceived
political foes. Thus, the membership of this party is
not based on ideological inclination aimed at
fostering progress for the state but a conglomeration
of different political interests coming together with
the main purpose to unseat a common foe without having
concrete plan on how to build and improve on the
existing infrastructures of the state. If most of this
party membership is from ANPP, could they tell us why
they left their old party, thereby leaving what is
known to unknown? What are the achievements of CPC in
Kano State upon which it wants the good people of
Kano
to vote for it? In an ideal political situation, CPC
should only strive to win election in local government
areas to showcase the kind of leadership people expect
at the state level. As a result of desperation to
avenge some imagined political detractors, the party
is eager to clinch the state governorship seat, which
should be resisted by the good people of Kano State.
Thus, whatever achievements recorded by the party
leading aspirant, General Lawal Isa Jaafaru as a
Military Governor in
Kaduna State some eighteen years
ago cannot be used as a yardstick for the present
democratic situation. So, we should be spared of his
military experience in our present democratic set up. As for the
Peoples Democratic Party,
PDP, this political party had already been tested in
Kano. And the result of its performance has remained
poor. In addition to the party's poor performance at
the national level, the people of Kano cannot for
another umpteenth time allow PDP to lead them again in
Kano State. When the present party leader in the
state, Alhaji (Dr) Musa Kwankwaso was the governor of
the State between 1999 and 2003, there weren't any
meaningful achievements except disruption of peace,
tribal sentiment and gross corrupt practices that lead
to the rape of ecological fund of the state, it will
be funny for any serious minded people to expect the
good people of Kano to cast their precious vote for
the same Musa Kwankwaso as governor of the state,
considering the fact that once beaten, twice shy. Kano
as a progressive state should not expect any
meaningful achievement under Kwankwaso-PDP government
for the state. This is why Shekarau's ANPP is a good
option for the people of the state. In this respect,
no person except Mallam Salihu Sagir Takai can
preserve and achieve more developmental project for
the state. ANPP should therefore team up behind this
gentleman to ensure that he gets the party
governorship ticket for the forthcoming 2011
governorship of the state. This is not to state that
other aspirants as the
Deputy Governor, Engineer
Mohammed Tijjani Gwarzo, the one time governor of Kano
State, Alhaji Ibrahim Kabiru Gaya are not competent to
lead the state. It is however a fact that these two
people have tasted leadership of Kano in their various
capacities, they should, in the name of justice and
fair play, allow some one else like Malam Salihu Sagir
Takai to lead the state in the next political
dispensation. This is why we should listen to
the voice of Malam (Dr) Ibrahim Shekarau in voting
Takai as his successor, for continuous progress of the
state. This is because, as a good leader, Shekarau
knows the way, goes the way and should show the way.
Abdullahi Bichi Yusuf writes
from Bichi, Kano State.
abdullahibichiyusuf@yahoo.com |
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