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Sambo’s Faltering Steps By Ishaq Alhassan Qauranmata
Architect Mohammed Namadi Sambo, the executive governor of Kaduna state, is no doubt a self accomplished man. Through a combination of hard work and good business acumen, he built a multi-billion naira empire that is the envy of many a contemporary, and which provides livelihood for several families. In the public arena, Sambo is nobody’s novice either, having served creditably in the Kaduna state executive council in the past.
However, it is an open secret that his Excellency, perhaps due to the demands of his businesses, has not been actively involved in party activities. It is therefore necessary that he treads with utmost caution, to avoid stepping on one or more of the many political landmines left behind by the last administration.
Very few people will dispute the fact that, in Kaduna state, the last eight years were characterized by extreme deceit, dictatorship and the elevation of mediocrity, in form of blind loyalty, to a state craft. The civil service was traumatized, disorientated and reduced to a shadow of its once vibrant self. The political class was effectively sidelined and intimidated into submissiveness while the entire citizenry was pauperized.
Similarly, “the labor of our heroes past” was rendered vain. Despite the lean purse of the Balarabe Musa era, genuine attempt was made to lay a solid foundation for the economy through the provision of an enabling industrial base. The Ikara Food processing plant, Kachia Ginger processing industry, a Furniture Industry at Kafanchan, the Makarfi sugar industry and the Zazzau Pharmaceutical Company, are part of that effort. Unfortunately, in spite of the massive and unprecedented revenue earnings of the last eight years, nothing was done to rehabilitate these plants that could have gone a long way in providing succor to the people.
The last administration surrounded itself with a kitchen cabinet of sycophants, ignored or all together alienated those who would have offered honest advice, and therefore lost focus, engaging in a construction spree which left us with roads but without the vehicles to enjoy them. We had hospitals ‘renovated’ while several Doctors, Nurses and other professionals in the health sector were frustrated out of service by an insensitive regime. Classrooms or even schools were constructed and left either without Teachers or with poorly motivated ones who could not engage in any meaningful teaching. The same scenario permeates all aspects of life in the state.
However, as noted in an earlier write- up, no sector displays the poverty of thinking of the Makarfi administration as the Kaduna state water board. At a time when the board was practically non functional due to non availability of essential equipments and chemicals as well as non payment of staff salaries and entitlements, the government constructed a magnificent “permanent” headquarters for it just a stone throw away from the “temporary” one. In addition several vehicles were procured for the board which the unpaid drivers put to commercial use to ‘survive’. It became the joke in town that people have more access to water board vehicles than to portable drinking water. Herein lays the root of the resentment that people exhibit towards the last administration.
It would therefore not augur well for this administration to be perceived as a continuation of the eight-year suffocation from which people heaved a sigh of relief on May 29th. The decision to retain two key actors of the last administration certainly does not go down well, especially in political circles. Moreover, the apparent concentration of most of the positions meant for Zone-one within the Ikara/Makarfi axis negates the very essence of Democracy which is representation.
Most worrisome however, is the composition of the list of nominees submitted to the Kaduna state assembly for screening/confirmation as commissioners. In the original 23 names submitted, not a single person was picked from the Wadata group which, not only came “second” in the primaries, but actively participated in all the processes that led to PDP’s success at the polls. It was only the addition, occasioned by the crisis that erupted from Sabon Gari local government over the choice of an opposition candidate to represent them that paved way for one Wadata nominee. Wadata, in case anyone needs a reminder, was the campaign outfit of Distinguished Senator Isaiah Balat during the PDP gubernatorial primaries.
It is a political tradition that, after the primaries, party leadership brings together the winner and the looser (s) to reconcile differences, work out power sharing formula and eliminate rancor so that everyone will contribute towards success at the general elections. Such a meeting was convened at the Mutunci campaign headquarters during which all the contenders (except the Sarkin Bai of Zazzau) expressed confidence in Namadi's ability to form an all inclusive government and, therefore pledge to support him.
It is instructive to note that Senator Balat’s task was made more difficult by the circumstances of the PDP primaries which left a sour taste in the mouth of many people, especially the south which felt betrayed and bowed not to have anything to do with the PDP again. As usual however, the distinguished gentleman rose to the task and delivered the strategic southern votes. Besides, it is no secret that Senator Isaiah Balat is among the few individuals who nursed the PDP, using their personal resources and political acumen. Similarly, Balat has been actively involved with every success recorded by the PDP from 1999 to date. Anyone with even a pedestrian interest in the PDP knew that Wadata was the most organized, most visible and most articulate campaign train during the primaries.
It is no secret that Senator Isaiah Balat and Suleiman Usman Hunkuyi contributed immensely to the success of the PDP both at the state and the national level. Nor is it secret that a powerful interest within the state is determined to deny these two gentlemen the fruit of their labor by ensuring they do not have any say in governance either at the state or federal level.
His Excellency, architect Mohammed Namadi Sambo must resist all pressures, designed to drag him into facilitating, through commission or omission, the current blackmail, intimidation and campaign of calumny aimed at tarnishing the good image of people who contributed immensely to his success. |