Usman Garba Santuraki

Alhaji Lawal Kaita is from Katsina State, while Alhaji Abubakar Rimi is from Sumaila town in Kano State. The two men belonged to different political divide-Alhaji Lawal belong to the conservative inclined political interest, on the other hand, Alhaji Abubakar belong to the progreesive inclined interest and that was in the beginning of their political career during the second republic.

Alhaji Lawal Kaita was once a Governor of the old Kaduna State under the platform of the conservative party (NPN) AND Alhaji Abubakar Rimi was the Governor of Kano State under the platform of the progressive party(PRP).

For this writer, his closeness to the two great politicians is not long.For Alhaji Lawal Kaita, my wife's younger sister is presently married to the son of Alhaji Lawal's sister while, for Alhaji Abubakar this writer was a classmate to the junior brother of his late wife Hajiya Sa'a'datu Rimi. For the benefit of the readers, the writer met Alhaji Lawal here in Yola in the course of his visiting with the former Vice-President Atiku and had a sudden brief meeting with Alhaji Abubakar during his visit, when the paramount ruler of Adamawa emirate Lamido of Adamawa Alhaji Aliyu Mustapha celebrated his 50 years on the throne. So the readers are the ones to say or make the choice of who is a politician between these two great men.

Back to the main issue under discussion. One of these two personalities remained focus on his political idealogical front and that is Alhaji Lawal Kaita.Since his alignment with the late Major-General Shehu Musa Yar'adua and formed what was known as the Peoples Front, Alhaji Lawal has remained consistent with the ideology of the late political strategist.

Even when the administration call for the formation of Associations that would be fused into political parties, Alhaji Lawal was in the fore front in the mobilization of the supporters of the late Yar'adua political machinery which was the main factor of the formation of the greatest party in Nigeria today PDP. Alhaji Abubakar Rimi did not live up expectation in remaining and remained focus on his political idealogical front. He starts as a progressive politician but, suddenly made a u-turn and switched over to the then Zikist political ideology and later jump the bandwagon of the conservative politicians. When the goodies are not fort coming and he is not in the good books of the then President Obasanjo, Rimi dumped the conservative party(PDP) that he so much help in its formation as the party in government. All through the years, that the party was in government Alhaji Lawal was inside it despite the humiliation and bashings he received from the then President Obsanjo who suddenly ordered for his removal as the Chairman of the Nigerian Maritime Authority because of his belief that he is one of the founding fathers of the party until he was unregistered as a bonifide member of the party. Alhaji Abubakar Rimi in spite of the venoms he poured on the party and the then President Obasanjo find it convenient to go back and denounced the party,he formed together with Alhaji Lawal Kaita and even the then former Vice-President Atiku who is seen as the financier of the party Action Congress(AC). Alhaji Lawal Kaita is not drowned in the political waters of this country but, Alhaji had already got drowned in the murky waters of politics of this country. Infact, the teeming down trodden has bade Alhaji Rimi farewell as they start seeing him drowning from being a progressive and enemy of the feudal system to being conservative and a capitalist. Alhaji Lawal Kaita right from the onset, is a conservative and had always aligned himself with the conservative party that even fielded as a Gubernatorial candidate of the then conservative party (NPN) and won in the old Kaduna State. The people of the country need to take an indepth research to unveiled who is a politician between the two eminent politicians. It is necessary to do so, because as our politics is day in day out getting, it is proper to do away with political prostitutes, sycophants who really live and play with the sensibilities of the vast majority of the people of this country in the name of being the peoples heroes and political Godfathers. The greatest disservice of a person, who call himself a politician is to abandoned his political ideology in order to feast on the crump being offered to him by someone whom they did not share the same political aspiration and ideology It is therefore, necessary for our great politicians to remained well focus and steadfast in the political game once they had a very large follower ships.

BY USMAN GARBA SANTURAKI