Between Bafarawa

Between Bafarawa, Power shift, Umarun Kwabo and the rest of us

Aminu Aminu Sokoto

London

Although it is not my style to write on personalities, frustrating facts and events are forcing me to shift from this principle and duel into the murky and dirty waters of personality politics.

It has now become a routine for the Governor of Sokoto State, Alhaji Attahiru Bafarawa to weigh the temperament of Nigerians north of the Niger to cash in on their sensibilities and sing the northern hymn in order to score cheap political points. He has done this in 2004, when it was most politically expedient for him, when he and his cronies staged managed an imaginary war between him and the then ANPP chairman Don Etiebet, claiming he was promoting the northern agenda.

Bafarawa has just crossed another ‘milestone’ when he recently gave a news conference reminding us all how the north had been marginalised in the last six years and by implication, appointing himself as the saviour of the north come the year 2007.

In the press conference, Bafarawa alluded that the present rift between the president and his deputy could truncate the desire by the North for a power shift. He further said that what ever the outcome of the fracas between the two leaders, the interest of the north was paramount adding that the north had the exclusive right to produce the next president of Nigeria.

Bafarawa and his fellow crop of northern leaders parading themselves as champions of power shift should go ahead and tell it to the dogs. The people of the north are not unaware of the fact that their clamour for power shift is a selfish move to reclaim power for themselves, their immediate families and cronies. They are riding on the wings of the north to achieve this. One is forced to ask what has Bafarawa done with the power he has been rather indiscriminately wielding in the last six years as the governor of Sokoto State?

When the so-called power was ‘residing’ in the north not a long time ago, what did the northern political elites, which Bafarawa was and still part of did to the north? Did they use the power to provide quality education; affordable housing, good and well maintained road networks for the citizenry? Did they use the power to provide economic succour to bring back the thousands of northerners who parade southern cities, stick in hand, begging for alms? Did Bafarawa know that out of every five beggars in Nigeria, one is from his own sokoto state? If Bafarawa’s spin-doctors are afraid of telling him the truth, we the ordinary citizens will tell give it to him in black and white. Bafarawa and his fellow apostles of deceptive northern power shift struggle should know that those in glasshouses should not start throwing stones.

The big question here is, does Bafarawa in all honesty know what power shift is? Does the doctrine of power shift ever work in his own sokoto state in the last six years that he and his cronies have been amassing themselves and their interest on, at all costs?

In all honesty, can Bafarawa be able to perform the functions of the president of the federal Republic of Nigeria given his sparse educational background? Does he possess the educational and intellectual savvy to perform as the president of the most populous black nation on earth?

But whose north is Bafarawa talking about? Is it Dr. Bala Usman and Balarabe Musa’s north where the interest of the common northerner is at the heart of the rulers? Or is it Bafarawa and Ummarun Kwabo’s north where the ruling cabal hijacks both the state and its resources to the detriment of the ordinary northerner? My guess is the latter.

If Bafarawa should be taken seriously, he should go back to Sokoto and put his house in order first, before playing with the intelligence of millions of northerners.

It is no longer news that the governor has since withdrawn both protocol and security details of his shy and quiet deputy, Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko. I have it in good authority that the two are not even on speaking terms. What a shame!! What an irony for some one who claims and aspires be a leader of the whole north, a nation of about 60 million people.

For commissioners and other public officers in sokoto state, the fear of Bafarawa is the beginning of wisdom and the only means of survival in office. The governor publicly scolds his commissioners like his own children at the slightest provocation. No commissioner dares bring a different view to that of Bafarawa. That is absolute political suicide. Oblivion is where that commissioner will be thrown to with despatch. Unfortunately, the commissioners were appointed to be zombies in the first place and are only after the spoils of office, so we don’t expect them to raise any voice of opposition.

Another disturbing issue in sokoto today is the emergence and imposition of one Umarun Kwabo by the governor on the people of the state as a de-facto ruler with incisive imperial and devastating holistic powers. Umarun Kwabo is a fiery political thug with barely any educational background. Umarun Kwabo’s liaison with the governor has turned him from a raw political thug to a power monger and a political gladiator with an area boy mentality.

As a matter of routine, all commissioners have to pay homage to Umarun Kwabo at the end of every business day or else they will be booted out of office the next day. Even the federal legislators from the state have to lick this man’s boots if they want to continue to survive politically in the ANPP machinery in Sokoto State. Bafarawa and Kwabo have hijacked the entire state machinery in addition to that of the party. Kwabo has built an empire of political thuggery by engaging scores of youths to intimidate any person that is perceived to be anti-bafarawa in the state. His other name is Kafi gwamna, meaning you are bigger (better) than the governor.

I hear that Mr. Kwabo is planning to contest for governor of the state in 2007 as so decreed by his Excellency. Although as a citizen of the state, he has the constitutional right to vote and be voted for, I weep for the state if this man becomes governor. It is going to be a classic case of ‘from bad to worse’. This is a man who knows nothing apart from political banditry. His eyes are only set on acquiring power and wealth at all costs. Shikenan! The day this man becomes the governor of Sokoto state will mark the final descent in the demise of the state, the beginning of which was started by Bafarawa himself in 1999.

An equally disturbing phenomenon is the silence of our political elites in sokoto amidst all these. There is no doubt sokoto can boast of political elites who have ruled the country in one-way or another. Alhaji Shehu Shagari, Alhaji Abubakar Alhaji, Ambassador Hamzat Ahmed and many others are sitting quietly and folding their arms while the state is being systematically routed and short-changed for the worse by the duo of Bafarawa and Umarun Kwabo. Even though these so-called political elites and elders were and are still part of the collective political mishap that has befallen the North since the Sardauna, none the less, we expect them to intervene at least for the long-term interest of the survival of the state. Their seeming silence smacks a sign of approval to the state of things in the state. One thing for sure, however, is that if it is hustling for positions for their children in the state or federal executive councils, these elements would not be found one minute late.

For sokoto to continue to maintain its enviable position as the political powerhouse of the north, the antics of Bafarawa and Kwabo should be nipped in the bud. The governor should stop behaving like a wounded lion wandering in his own Den.

As I was about to conclude this article, I just browsed the net and found another interesting piece posted by www.elendurereports.com.The article was written by the duo of Jonathan Elendu and Sowore Omoyele. In the article, they said they have information that the governor purchased a house in London on June 1, 2004, a year into his second term of office without declaring it. The duo went ahead to name the street and number the house in London (no. 9, Radnor road London W2 2TF) According to them; the house was purchased for two hundred and ninety five thousand pounds (£295.000) and was paid for in cash. A conservative estimate of this amount in naira stands at seventy three million, seven hundred and fifty thousand naira (NGN 73,750,000).

They further revealed that the governor was among state governors that sponsored the lavish Independence Day celebrations in New York recently that resulted into a clash between the representatives of the federal government and some Nigerian activists. They wondered why the governors would spend that huge expenditure in far away New York while the people of their respective states are wallowing in abject poverty, illiteracy and disease. This revelation really hit me below the belt and confirmed all my scepticism and fear for my dear Sokoto State.

Here is a self-styled champion of the masses, champion of power shift, shifting nothing but our meagre revenue to the world’s most famous financial capitals. I wonder what purpose the house will serve to the governor who will hardly spend up to 20 days in London for the whole year. With the current web of arrests of governors for money laundering in London, it is unlikely if the governor would dare come to London if the house issue is indeed true.

While all this is going on, sokoto people are busy killing one another in intra religious clashes with out anything being done to bring a lasting peace by the administration. Hunger, poverty, illiteracy, unemployment, and the begging syndrome are ravaging the people of sokoto state with serious and disastrous consequences. Again, while this is going on, Bafarawa and Umarun kwabo are busy inflating and channelling all major contracts to proxy companies that actually belong to them.

Bafarawa has created a political liability to himself through his association with Umarun Kwabo that will continue to hunt him for the rest of his life. The battle line has been drawn between the people of the state and the rampaging duo of Bafarawa and Kwabo. Let there be no doubt about it, the ordinary citizens of sokoto state are tired of their antics and are ready to fight back come the year 2007. A word in enough for the wise. Case rested.