When PDP lost its status in the 2003 general elections in Kano, I was wondering how with all the supporters, virtue and strength of the party in the state, a mere ANPP won the state thanks to the party’s presidential candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari whose influence in the state is very high and people like Ibrahim Shekarau took their seats at a blink with over a million votes counted for him without any headaches.
However, after some weeks, this same person started clamouring that his position was won through his own wisdom. The result was that in the 2007 general elections, he got half the number of votes he got in 2003, thanks to the crisis of PDP in Kano and The Buhari Organisation’s parting ways with the state’s campaign.
I think what best worked for him are the Hizba guards and the Adaidaita Sahu drivers, who were all thinking that should he lose his seat, they too would lose their jobs, and the best that worked for him was money, running into over a billion naira spent during his 2007 campaigns alone. But I would like to assure the Adaidaita Sahu drivers that those grimy things they’re driving will be replaced with fully air-conditioned luxury buses in order to modernise the transit systems, and all the Hizba guards will be given permanent jobs in different sectors within and outside the state; PDP has good things for everyone.
PDP’s loss in Kano is a lesson from God Almighty to all members of PDP and all citizens of the state. One of the lessons was that PDP has done all things possible to make Kano State a great place in the country, but a few people visited the state with violence just to claim that it is PDP leaders that brought the violence. The best security a person needs is at his home, his place of work and worship. If we can remember, it was during Shekarau’s time that the beloved wife of our prominent leader of Nigerian democracy, Alhaji Abubakar Rimi, was murdered at home. So were some ulama being murdered in their homes, including one of the most renowned Islamic scholars in Nigeria, Sheikh Ja’afar, who was murdered in the masjid. Is this the most peaceful time of our state as they try to say? Is this the way forward in the state? Is this one of the agenda of Adaidaita Sahu?
In the 2003 general elections, PDP which was divided into many factions and groups, with Rimi, Kwankwaso and Ghali, drawing their supporters and each of them trying to debilitate the other, most especially the then Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso when Rimi and Ghali were trying their best to see him fail and Kwankwaso wanted to see Ghali also fail in order to regain his own seat as the speaker. It was well for them; they all lost their positions and were not happy. Even though Kwankwaso was favoured with a seat as minister, he was still not happy with the way he saw his dream projects being abandoned by Shekarau like the water projects, the expansion and modernisation of metropolitan roads, the feeding and clothing of primary school students, the provision of electricity for rural areas, the support he was giving to women by training them on different dexterities.
His projects were unlimited. I thought Kano would be one of the greatest cities in Africa by this time, but four years spent by Shekarau and his party have been the most tragic with our roads collapsing and no plans of expansion; our cities are filled with gutters without planned slabs to cover them up. If the gutters are taken care of, we would be able to get rid of mosquitoes and flies and many diseases could be prevented. Kwankwaso started working on the creation and development of pedestrian ways, but Shekarau abandoned the project claiming it to be a waste of money, even as some cities were using interlocks to make roads. Though still identified as part of his achievements in the state, Kwankwaso established the first state-owned university and library, built houses for the poor, created many jobs, but the proportion of unemployment in Kano is now very high; for every achaba rider you see on the road will take up employment if given and abandon the achaba job.
Anyway, it is all the crises in PDP that arose to stall the greater developments in the state; but since then, the leaders of PDP under the chairmanship of Senator Mas’ud El-Jibril Doguwa have once again solved their dispute with Rimi, Kwankwaso, and Ghali now becoming one single family under the umbrella of the Peoples Democratic Party. It is now left to the people to vote for change, though we have seen the first vote for change in the 2007 local government elections. One day, we shall see how Almighty Allah will punish those who use His name to lie or take oath that they can never keep. Does Governor Shekarau remember his pledge of 500 million naira to support Rumfa College? I haven’t seen even a percentage of that pledge in the school. Where is the water he promised to 10 million citizens of Kano?
Is it only after he fails that he will tell us that the Tamburawa Flash Water Project is not enough to provide Kano with water? Why are our primary and secondary school students still sitting on the ground in their classes? Is this the rightful way to improve education as a mathematics teacher? Is shari’ah working in the state when he can see bottles of alcohol being transported openly in Sabon Gari market? If Governor Shekarau wanted only Adaidaita Sahu, he didn’t have to be a governor to achieve that; he could’ve created an organisation that can do the Adaidaita Sahu works, because it is merely the work of an NGO which everyone can do, let alone leaving the work for our imams and local heads.
The people of Kano are now eager to see PDP return and continue with the hard work they started from 1999 to 2003. The people will never ever let ANPP take over the state again. In fact, the party that has no democracy both practically and theoretically will never rule Kano again. Some ANPP members and the governor himself were able to win twice, but I doubt if they can achieve that again. Though we know that Yar’Adua did it for the first time in Katsina, Turaki did it for the first time in Jigawa, and so many others did it for the first time, so it is not a big deal. Is it the wisdom, mercy and karma of Obasanjo that made him to rule the country twice? Or is it the wisdom, mercy, and karma of George Bush that made him to rule the U.S. twice? Shekarau’s tazarce is just like Obasanjo’s and Bush’s. Besides, the case is still in court.
After all the damages that ANPP has done to the state, let PDP come with its useful tools to repair the damages and continue with their good development plans which were started from 1999 to 2003, since PDP is now standing on its feet with extreme karma. We the citizens of the state will continue to pray for the party and its leaders. May Almighty Allah give them the courage, strength and power to continue with their good projects for the development of Kano and its citizens in general. May He also continue to guide us to understand the people who love Kano and its citizens best.
Published on DailyTrust (5/2/2008)