The Political Economy of Criticism Shekarau’s Administration in the Trajectory

BY

Muttaqa Yushau Abdulra’uf

Email: myushau@yahoo.co.uk

Department of political science Bayero University Kano

Introduction It is suffice to say that the politics of opposition in the Nigerian Political milieu is in most cases beclouded by personal interest thereof. Or it is tailored towards personal attach, which to my on view negates the essence of the so-called “democratization process” in the country particularly in Kano State, and backpedals the development process. Basing from the above, this piece is prompted to answer the following; which approach could best explain criticism in Kano politics, and what implication does such an approach has on the public sphere.

The approach toward understanding the unfolding political burning issues in Kano state, is the political economy approach, I found this approach suitable for the fact that, it states the extent to which our interest is determine by the economy and vice –versa. So we can deduce that as our economic interest is affected we often retaliate in the guise of opposition.   Having look at the way people criticize the incumbent regime in Kano state, one could attest to the fact that, the criticism are two fold; one that is genuinely formed based on the perceived failure of the government to carry people to the promise land,on one hand, and those aggrieved by the administration for not suiting there personal interest, as well as those from the opposition parties that wanted to sabotage the government of the day.

Be it as it may, I’m not at all prophesizing not criticize but try to be fair if not objective, as argued by Edwin Black in the American Journal of Communication “ Certainly there is nothing wrong with a critic’s having political convictions. It is unavoidable. Only an idiot is without political convictions--in rare cases, maybe a holy idiot, but an idiot all the same. The very term, "idiot" is from the Greek word for "non-political person." We don’t want to read rhetorical criticism written by an idiot, which really means that we don’t want to read rhetorical criticism that has no political dimension to it. It may be possible to write apolitical but still luminous criticism of pure music or of nonrepresentational painting, but it is hard to imagine apolitical rhetorical criticism that isn’t desiccated.” >From the forgoing having a political conviction is paramount in a political landscape, so as to bring readjustments where the administrative processes happens to be truncated. My task is now that of addressing the various categories of the critique of this administration, and their general reasons.

The perceived failure of the government: To some people the Kano state government has not perform up to expectation, owing to their major insinuations that the administrative vicinity is surrounded by old friends, University academics, and those that did not serve the party. While others view it from the quasi implementation of Shariah, lastly the rest of the critics argued for not seeing any departure from the erstwhile administration, but all are entitled to their opinion since it is democracy.

Those aggrieved for not suiting their interest.

The second category are those aggrieved by administration, either for not being co-opted in to the positions they desired, or even when co-opted denied access to do as he/she wishes. Intra - party rigmarole’s also typify this categorization Those from the opposition party Then third category, are those from the opposition party, whose oppositions is more vehement, they oppose the government on ground, other than for simple a simple reason it captures power from their entrenched dictatorship, that respects no body and even ban the apposition activities in the media houses, and in the same vain they oppose the government in order not graduate with a second class upper in the realm of performance.

Conclusion and reflexion .

It is obvious, this administration will be faced with many challenges more than any other, the fact being that people claimed to be part and parcel in bringing the government in to power, it is this believe that made people to confuse being a step to power to that ultimate giver of the power.

The other reason may be that of the fact that, the government is confronted with the plurality of the state, a state that is a conglomeration of people, bound by different ideologies and interest, the satisfaction of these pluralities is the most thorniest issue.

However, the government is opposed for not using the power of government in checkmating irregularities, some people are worried about the cabinet arrangement of the government whom happens to be “’untouchable”, but the question to ask is this; would cabinet reshuffling brought change from the status qou?

From the foregoing, there is a clarion call for the people of Kano state to develop the culture of tolerance, patience, and constructive criticism that would aid the government in ensuring the absorption of development administration as the philosophy of the government, the government also need to be commended for providing conducive atmosphere for opposition and public opinion to flourish both in print and broadcast media.

Finally people should bear in mind that governance is not easy, a governor may enter government house with his own ideals, but to what extent would his ideals be harmonized with that of the political system that is battered for century old, let alone brig change in a single day. May AllAH HELP US