The Reign Of Abdulkadir Kue And The Nupes Of Niger State

By

Maji Alhassan Tswako

dakani_son01@yahoo.co.uk

 

 

 

Niger state is about 30 years old (1975 – 2005).  The state is believed to be about 50% populated by the Nupe speaking group.  Since its creation, it has been ruled by tribes, mostly from outside the state as a result of military officers posted as Governors and administrators during the military stronghold on the nation.  But also even during the break offs of military dictatorships when we were allowed civilian government during the second and third republic; the Nupes struggled as they could to rule the state, but in vein.

 

Those of us who witnessed the 2nd term of Governor Awal Ibrahim will recall how much the Nupe group tried to unseat Awal Ibrahim of Gwari extraction of Suleija to replace him with a Nupe man, Ahaji  Badakoshi  (remember Badakoshi was recently  declared the winner of that election after his death).  Then, came the 3rd republic, when Dr. Musa Inuwan became the Governor of Niger state from Kanbari extraction of Kontogora zone. Dr. Musa Inuwa joined the party (NPN) just two weeks before the party nomination and won against the numerous Nupe strongest contenders.

 

Thanks for the zoning formula being applied in party politics of Nigeria, during the on set of present dispensation a Nupe man took the Governorship candidature of the almighty  People Democratic Party with ease, contesting just among themselves.   

 

During that contest, some of us who believe that descent personalities should be put in to highly prestigious positions such as Chief Executive of   a state thought that the choices were not good enough between Abdulkadiri Kure, who was rumored to have been dismissed from FCT ministry by Abacha strong man, General  Jerremiah Hussani, the then FCT Minister on corruption charges, and Alhaji Idiris Kpaki  who was an Abacha errand boy traveling to Mecca  to consult with the Islamic occults in the Holy land for the perpetuation of Abacha in office.  He was also at the center of a million Quaranic recitations for Abacha.  But the PDP state convention thought that probably Abdulkadiri Kure was a better devil.

 

Let us now examine the performance of this alternative devil, looking at the way he has handled the state administration since he assumed office. Abdulkadiri Kure administration started on what most people believe was a sound footing.  His initial projects, and obviously now the last, was the reablitation of township roads such, as Bida, Kontagora and Suleja the cost of which were severely paid for by the State civil servants who had their promotions, annual salary increments and some allowances stopped. Few members of his cabinet that were opposed to his open day robbery of the civil servants were shown the way out of the cabinet. We can still remember the untimely exit of people like Dr. Idiris Kutigi from the cabinet for his opposition to the thievery.  But these are now history, what follows next was we the make believe that it was the State resource that was being used for the extensions of rural electrification by connecting communities to national grid, but we later leant that even that rural electrification was actually financed by the Federal PDP Government. Whichever was the case, we gave the glory to Abdulkadiri Kure’s administration.

 

After these activities, which took place within the first two years of Kure’s first tenure, the State citizens until today do not know what Kure’s administration is doing with their money.  In fact what followed these so called initial achievements was massive sell out of State properties such as houses usually used by the poorly paid and civil servants, state companies such Intercity Bank, Mokwa Ranch and a host of others.  Today Niger state is worse the Kure met it.

 

What Abdulkadiri Kure, the Executive Governor of Niger State there after specialized in doing is to surround himself with party stalwarts whose main and only interest is to milk the state dry.  Some of these sycophants are stark illiterates whose only knowledge is the do the master’s bid. In some cases they had never seen four walls of a classroom in their life.  Some of course were ex-convicts who were colluding with car snatchers to sell their ill gotten property. Kure, at the beginning of his second time had and still probably has up to 50 Special Assistants (SA) in each of the 43 Local Government areas; including the smoke-screen Local Governments he created mainly to enable him and his agents to siphon State resources.  Each of these SA’s received not less than N50,000 monthly in the past and up to-date they still receive not less than N20,000 per month. I wonder how many civil servants in Niger State earn N50,000 a month, including the permanent secretaries. As if this is not enough drain in the resources of the State, each of  them, that is the SA’s and other PDP officials in the Local Governments, and party hanger’s on may have been Government sponsored to Haji or Jerusalem at least once.   The Haji (sadaka) also yearly spreads to Local Government councilors, State legislators who are already being paid fat salaries not to mentions from time to time dish out of State funds to them and others to build houses for themselves, buying petrol stations, sponsoring naming ceremonies and marriages.  In the Niger state Government, there is an official of the Government holding a post of political adviser. This man is the money sharer of the Government.  A retired infantry captain who one will see as a disciplinarian, shares money to the party stalwarts based on requests.  He was said to have boasted that he is a descent person and that if he had wanted to enrich himself, he would have been a multibillion by now, but he is a “free giver” and all monies that goes through him he gives out to people.

 

But these are not the only way Kure squander our money.  Since the beginning of his tenure, the state Local Government Chairmen, members of the State house of absently and his commissioners might have received upward of 3 official vehicles.  In at least every two years he buys new vehicles to these officials as if what is a stake in the state is how new is the chairman’s vehicles.  Recently it was announced that each district head in Niger state was bought a Mecendiz Benze 200 series and God knows how many they are. In an agrarian State like Niger, where no Local Government can boast of a single working tractor, the so call people’s choice is busy satisfying political office holders that will assist in rigging elections and the traditional title holders, leaving the poor masses to poverty and destitution. In a state where probably no single fire-fighting vehicle is functional you give legislators and commissioners, new vehicles on annual bases.  Recently it was rumored that the least judicial officer in the State received a million naira, and you ask for what?  It is Abdulkadiri’s administration that paid all ex-Local Government councilors and their chairmen N500,000 and one million naira respectively almost two years after they have left office.  Sometimes you wonder if this man is running a philanthropic organization or a government.  Sometimes me think whether Kure has conscience at all to be using state resources with complete disregard to financial regulator, complete disregard to budgetary allocations, and complete disregard to moral or ethical teachings of Islamic religion he pretends to believe in.  When Kure came to power, he was portrayed as an Izala sect believer, he introduced sharia hypocritically but of recent he paid visit to the graves of sheiks in Kaula, somewhere in Senegal with a trop of Malams and party loyalists

 

Kure’s financial irresponsibly goes beyond what we have enumerated above.  He mortgaged the local government finances through a          joint account to only five or less infidels. Infidels because I do not think any body that has an aorta of faith will have the gut to still that much from public pose.  For more than two years, a Local Government council that was allocated about 70-80 million naira a month received just about 10 million (if the Governor did not split it into his mushiroon Local Governments) and 20 million (if it was split into two). What happens to the remain 60-70 and 50-60 million naira for these two years nobody knows except  probably the Magajis, the Katukas, a chieftain of Katcha or kure himself.  When Kure discovered that the so call joint account was no more joined he was alleged to have said ‘Allah ya isa’ that means “ God will judge”, as if we do not have a judicial system in the State here on earth that will bring the people to book.

 

What do all these culminate into?  At present no single project is going on in the state and nothing have been done except these we said he did initially and there is no hope that this Kure’s administration will leave any developmental legacy behind. Of course it is speculated that the Governor called his governing machinery together and told them that the only project he has for the State now is to use the State resources to make sure Babangida becomes the president come 2007.

 

                               WHERE DO THE NUPE’S COME IN TO THIS?

Well, tribal diehards like myself should know by now that this man Kure is a shame to all of us.  We have been made a laughing stalk for a long time to come.  History will not take it kindly with all of us.  After several years of straggling to rule the State that we, the Nupe speaking group are at least a simple majority,  and the most educated, when the opportunity came we did not only demonstrate our scandalous attitude towards public fund but also the Nupe leadership has demonstrated a high level of financial indiscipline using absolute moral decadence in enjoying the public property. I still believe that most of the beneficiaries are the Nupes and history will not forgive them. In 2003 elections after having seen the way Kure’s administration was going, as a repentant tribal diehard, I decided not to vote for Abdulkadiri Kure.  I can now remember telling a friend asking whom I was going to vote for, that certainly not Kure. This writer is now been properly better educated by the scandal Kure is rocking with public fund never to practice tribalism in politics again. As far as I am concerned, if given another opportunity to choose between the two ex-Governors of the State and the present one, I can assure anybody that Kure will not even be the last choice. In fact I will rather throw away my vote if he happened to the only candidate.  Kure’s rein  is a disaster to the State in general and  all the Nupes must share in the shame brought by his administration.