Kano Politics Between Brigandage And Social Development

By

Musa A. Yakasai

musaminus@yahoo.com

Kaduna Polytechnic Kaduna

Kano State is regarded as one of the most politically vibrant state in Nigeria. Many politicians in northern Nigeria look up to Kano to set the trend. If the people of the state are not careful and they allow the reactionaries to take over it would become a state of hooligans. This is because the level of sanity now achieved would be eroded since the reactionaries are more likely to sack the over 10000 workers employed by the state government in the last two years. It is the irony of Nigeria and the contradiction of indigent northern Nigeria in particular that its elites are determined to destroy the administration that is more socially committed through its mass employment and agricultural programs. Every time northern elites gather they talk about leadership, poverty and Almajirai but under their very eyes the most comprehensive efforts to tackle these ills are now threatened.

In 2003 Kano experienced an unprecedented political upturn with the election of Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau as the Governor of the State. This was a political upturn for two reasons. One for the first time a governor was elected on the basis of his character and no other consideration and thus state was offered another chance to chart a progressive course after it was aborted in the second republic. He had no history of political banditry. He has no record of encouraging bandits or yan banga. He has always lived a life of integrity. Secondly the governor is the most experienced technocrat ever elected he was a permanent secretary the highest bureaucratic position before his resignation. His predecessor was a level 12 officer when he opted for partisan politics. Many individuals contributed to the success of the ANPP at the polls in 2003, some for the sake of public good while many others for personal reasons.

Kano State experienced one of the most socially innovative administrations in the second republic under the leadership of Alhaji Muhammadu Abubakar Rimi who was very young and energetic. That period was also one of the wealthiest in Nigeria's history because oil was at one time selling at $40 per barrel. The money available to Kano State at that time was more valuable than today based on purchasing power. Alhaji Muhammadu Abubakar Rimi confirmed that he went even further to seek for more money through credit to expand his development initiatives. Despite all his efforts and the frugality of Mallam Aminu Kano hypocrites some of whom are still active today separated them and Kano went into a very turbulent period. There was Kano rampage in which many people lost their lives and public properties worth billions were lost. The hypocrites who engineered that public acrimony and social unrest lost nothing the masses suffered. Now we are approaching another repeat of that process we pray to Allah protect the peace loving people of Kano against the machinations of hypocrites.

Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau who is steering one of the most ground-breaking social development schemes in Nigeria is now being confronted by some of the most vicious political opponents in the country. They are in fact more brutal than those who confronted Alhaji Muhammadu Abubakar Rimi. The parasites confronting Shekarau could be categorized into two the first category, are the retrogressive elements; who are remnants of the decadent class of northern Nigeria that participated actively in the previous PDP administration of the state. The second category of parasites, are his former supporters who did not get want they wanted. This category could also be further divided into those who are seeking material benefits and those who are after relevance.

As brigands most of the opponents of the Shekarau administration want him to have a negative posture towards the Federal Government of Nigeria. It is surprising that even members of the PDP are using public ignorance to castigate the Governor for having cordial relations with the President who belongs to the PDP. As mischief makers they have been making efforts to incite the public that the Governor is friendly to the President who does not like Kano. During an interview with Alhaji Muhammadu Abubakar Rimi the brigands were comparing his relationship with NPN administration of President Shehu Shagari and that of Governor Shekarau and President Obasanjo. He noted that he had cordial personal relations with the President even though the administration refused to grant him guarantee to secure foreign loan for development project. The brigands could not save Kano traders when customs attempted to invade the markets and it was the cordial relations of the Governor and the President that worked. It was also that cordiality that made the Federal Government to encourage airlines to patronize Aminu Kano International Airport and hand over the prime aviation land to the state government for development.  

Why has Kano even though admired by other northern states become so self destructive? This negative behavior is illustrated by the elites' consistent determination to bring down all progressive governments of the state and glorify brigands. It is precisely the vision of Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau to re-orient the society from the self destructive path to that of realization of the full human potentials of the energetic people. Kano like most Muslim states of northern Nigeria is plagued by ignorance and poverty. This ignorance could be traced partly to the cultural crisis of refusal to integrate Islamic and western education and paternalism. On the other hand poverty in Kano is both caused by ignorance and incapacity to compete in the ever-changing world because of lack of skills as well as a very unproductive economic base dominated by relations of production. Trading is very important sector of the state's economy while agriculture is peasant based with low productivity. Manufacturing is prohibitive as in many other northern states because of lack of energy. A well focused government therefore needs to concentrate on the fundamentals; education and economic empowerment. There is no government in northern Nigeria today that has done more in these sectors based on available resources than Kano State under the leadership of Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau. The government expended more than 20% of its resources on education and more than 10% on agriculture in 2004.     

During his inauguration Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau promised to show the world that Shari'ah is beyond punishment but complete social transformation with manifest emphasis on redistributive justice. Half way in his tenure it would be worthwhile to explore the success or shortcoming of this promise. The first success was the establishment of three institutions charged with Shari'ah implementation. The previous administration had only committees without any legal backing. The three organizations established by the Shekarau administration are the Shari'ah Commission, the Hisbah Board and the Zakat Commission. These organizations were never in existence therefore new human and physical structures had to be established from the scratch. The Hisbah had to recruit and train personnel that were non-existent before. Over 8,000 were recruited and trained. Disgruntled Wahhabist Ulama are however not satisfied with the Shari'ah implementation strategies of the Shekarau administration because of their extremism and intolerance and the fact that they have not been given permanent appointments in the Shari'ah bodies. The police are yet to come to terms with Shari'ah Laws of the states hence they have remained a bottleneck and an obstacle to the efforts of the State Attorney General. In order to ensure peaceful adherence to the new Shari'ah Codes on traffic ethics the state government has provided 100 buses and 500 tricycles in place of the motorcycles now mostly used as a means of mass public transport in the state. The anti-Shari'ah opposition has launched the most virulent campaign against this major poverty alleviation intervention which is so far the most comprehensive in the whole of Nigeria. Another section of the opposition which is only concerned with punitive aspects of the Shari'ah have consistently attacked the government for not carrying out punitive measures and have at the same time ignored the positive contributions in the provision of facilities and the institutional reforms carried out so far by the administration.

The greatest challenge of Shari'ah implementation in a turbulent state like Kano is how to maintain social harmony in a deeply divided society. The Muslims are divided into sects. As a commercial center it has provided a refuge for many uprooted migrants that used the opportunities for upward social mobility that are not available in other places. As people without stake in social tranquility some of these uprooted ulama have capitalized on the grievances of the poor to cause social unrest by preaching sectarian intolerance. They are destroying the gains of the Shari'ah reforms through their virulent campaigns of hatred. They have allied themselves with the remnants of the former PDP administration. It should be recalled that PDP administration lacked the compassion of any progressive Muslim leadership when it denied over 9000 pensioners their benefits and at the same time refused to provide the institutional mechanism for peaceful implementation of the Shari'ah. Yet, this, intolerant ulama have gone into alliance with them to destabilize the present Kano State Government on the pretext that the government is not implementing punitive aspects of the Shari'ah. They want the non-Muslim areas to be attacked by mob so that there would be break down of law and order to bring down the administration.

As part of the progressive efforts of the Shekarau administration the state government dedicated more than 10% of its expenditure in 2004 to agriculture. This investment in agriculture serves two main purposes. It is a redistributive strategy because it provides subsidy to the poor segment of the society that serves the second purpose which is production. Agriculture is the most important productive sector of the economy accounting for 34% of the GDP at the national level as confirmed by the National Economic Adviser on Tuesday June 7, 2005 and over 60% at the Kano State level. It is mostly peasant based in Kano State hence the best way to reach most of the poor people is to subsidize it. No government is doing as much as the present Kano State Government and no state government has ever done that in Nigeria. The state government has spent over N3.09 billion on agriculture. For the first time in the history of Nigeria, farmer groups were targeted. It should be noted that agricultural extension has been neglected in Kano for several years until the coming of Shekarau administration that targeted 9600 farmer groups for extension and participation in the special mass food production program. The previous PDP government spent more money on Governor's luxurious life than on agriculture because it was more interested in structures than on individuals. The Kwankwaso administration spent N719 million to construct Governor's Lodge in Abuja while for two and half years it spent N589 million only on agriculture. These facts were made available by that administration itself in their book titled Landmarks in Kano State May 29 1999 to May 29, 2002. That administration was never people orientated but more interested in hoodwinking the populace hence concentrated all efforts in building structures and destroying the individuals. This singular comparison is enough to indict that administration. It is surprising that some cronies of that administration are even making attempts to compare it the Shekarau administration and unfortunately no sane voices are intervening. This is also most unfortunate in this period when northerners are insisting that the Federal Government should pay more attention on agriculture some are even clamoring that 15% of budgetary allocation should be dedicated to agriculture.

The northern states that are plagued with poverty make no efforts to improve their agricultural practices but keep making noise that the Federal Government should make budgetary provisions. Kano State under Ibrahim Shekarau that is making the most comprehensive efforts makes no headlines. The rapacious PDP on the other hand is making all desperate efforts to tarnish the image of the administration they should hide their faces in shame because they spent more money on governor's luxury than on the livelihood of the poor people. Unfortunately a PDP Senator in the name of Bello Hayatu is even claiming that they did something in the previous administration and that they shall return. Such people make such claims because they think all the people are illiterate an unintelligent. It is their philosophy to make the people remain uneducated because during their tenure they spent only N80million on scholarships for two and half years which is just over 10% of the amount they spent on the governor's lodge in Abuja. They want the people to remain ignorant hence they took the money of the scholarships board and used it for politicking. They provided scholarships for only some subjects yet they spent more money to renovate the Government House Kano. They want the people to remain poor and live in squalor while they lived in affluence. It is only by such rapacious behavior that they could continue to deceive the people.

The Shekarau administration which is committed to human development has spent on scholarships three times what the previous administration spent in two and half years in one year it provided N240million for tertiary scholarships while the previous administration provided only N80million, yet that administration spent N560 million to renovate government house Kano and N719,384,533.10 to build a governor's lodge in Abuja. Dr. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso and his crony Senator Bello Hayatu want the people to remain illiterate so that they could keep telling them lies such as their allegation that the Shekarau Administration has received more money than their administration. As people without sound moral upbringing they could afford to lie because they have kept their followers uneducated hence such people cannot read the facts published by the Federal Ministry of Finance titled: Detailed Breakdown of Allocations to Federal State and Local Governments June 1999 to July 2004. Senator Bello Hayatu lied by claiming that the Kwankwaso administration received N72 billion he also lied by claiming that the Shekarau administration received N90 billion (see Daily Trust June 7, 2005 page 44). He did this without citing any authority this is a clear example of why there is so much corruption in the National Assembly because people who claim to be distinguished could lie to get votes and deceive the people. The Shekarau administration received only N54 billion while the Kwankwaso administration received over N80 billion. That administration inherited only N129 million liability and left behind over N3 billion liability including N200 million because of the Governor's Lodge Abuja hence Julius Berger is yet to hand over the Aminu Kano House to the state government. As lairs they sponsored a newspaper article in which they claimed that Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau has refused to use the house and that he lodges in a hotel. Even one of their religious lied when he said in a Radio Freedom program that Shekarau states in a hotel in Abuja. The only time he lodged in a hotel was when Dr. Rabiu Kwankwaso requested that he wants to use the Governor's Lodge at Mississippi Road but since then he has always used that lodge. It should be noted that the Dr. Rabiu Kwankwaso administration was more interested in projects that have no bearing on the lives of the people hence they spent N790 million to paint and carry out some minor works on the KSIP building. Despite this colossal amount the building was not completed. This amount is about ten times the amount they spent on scholarships for two and the half years. Bello Hayatu and their cronies are very proud of their frivolous expenditures because they believe that people of Kano State are mostly illiterates. They have invested so much in making the people to remain intellectually impoverished hence they could afford such irresponsible propaganda.

Kano is now on a threshold to either continue the progressive path of propelling economic development through human capacity building by rehabilitating dilapidated educational infrastructures, employment of more qualified teachers as well as improving the productive agricultural sector through interventions by providing inputs and know how or return to brigandage of frivolous projects and financing of thugs.