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Even though a ruler may be wise as a sage, he must humble himself and yield to others. Then the intelligent will offer him their counsel and the brave will exert themselves to the fullest for him. Sima Guang. The Holy Scriptures, Qur’an and Bible, contain several verses in which the Almighty paid glowing tribute to the companions of prophet Muhammad (SAW) and the disciples of Jesus Christ, whose dedication, commitment and total loyalty ensured the spread of Islam and Christianity all over the world long after the two great men of God have departed this earth. This divine acknowledgement, more than anything else, attests to the indispensability of lieutenants, who serve as extensions of a leader’s senses, thus facilitating the enormous task of guiding and directing the affairs of his people. For instance, in traditional Hausa society, district, village and ward heads are assigned to administer designated areas on behalf of the Emir. In addition to these, a number of palace lieutenants such as the Shantali, Shamaki etc, who reside within the palace, assist the Emir in his day to day activities. These set of lieutenants exert a lot of influence over the leader, and often determine who has access to him and who doesn’t. In modern societies, ministers/commissioners, directors etc run the affairs of government ministries, agencies and parastatals on behalf of the chief executive. Similarly, a coterie of lieutenants within government houses, such as chief of staff, special advisers and assistants etc assist the leader and more often than not determine his accessibility (or otherwise) to the people. The success or failure of the leader (or at least the extent of either), is largely determined by the quality of advise from these lieutenants, hence the popular Hausa proverb “Ba a mugun Sarki sai mugun bafade”. In view of this, it becomes imperative to draw the attention of his Excellency, the governor of Kaduna state to some of his close lieutenants who, by their antecedents are most likely to be operating at cross purposes with him and thus capable of distracting him from the task of fulfilling his campaign promises to the people. Hussain Muhammad Jalo (political Adviser.) By his appointment as political adviser, Jalo is not the most senior lieutenant at Sir Kashim Ibrahim. However, owing to his uncanny ability to position himself strategically within the corridors of power, he is today the most visible and most powerful individual in the Namadi administration, referred to by many in hushed tones as the ‘De facto deputy’. Described by a neighbor at his Rigachukun home as “cunning, calculating and very ambitious”, Jalo has always been trailed by controversy since he came into limelight after winning election as Chairman of Igabi local government under Abacha’s zero party. His tenure was however, short lived as the then military governor, Col. Hamid Ali, had him arrested and charged to court, along with the other council chairmen, over allegations of corrupt practices. Curiously, Jalo reappeared again on the scene as PDP’s chairmanship candidate for Igabi local government in the 1999 elections. However, this second coming also ended in controversy. Inundated by petitions alleging abuse of office, the then Kaduna state house of assembly constituted a panel to investigate local government councils. Hussaini Jalo was among the chairmen indicted by the panel over acts of financial impropriety. However, in a state wide broadcast, the then chief executive, Ahmed Makarfi who is also Jalo’s mentor, shocked the people when he declared that the indicted chairmen will not be punished. Makarfi’s logic (or the lack of it) was simple; since the chairmen, he said, couldn’t have committed the crimes without the collaboration of their workers, it would be unfair to punish them and leave the workers. So, since the people involved are too numerous to be punished, all of them should be allowed to go ‘and sin no more’. If the people thought that was the end of their nightmare, they were jolted back to reality when, after eventually dissolving the councils, Makarfi appointed Hussaini Jalo chairman of the council’s care taker committee. This, however could not last as the barrage of criticisms, complain and petitions became unbearable for even the Liman, and so Jalo had to be replaced. When, after winning the 2003 elections, Makarfi submitted his list of nominees to the state assembly for confirmation as commissioners, Jalo’s name was conspicuous on it. This time around however, the petitions which made the state assembly to reject Jalo’s nomination initially, failed to stop his eventual ‘clearance’ and appointment as commissioner for environment. His brief sojourn at the ministry of environment and later lands and survey also had its fair share of allegations of financial imprudence. In spite of all these, Makarfi forwarded Jalo’s name to Obasanjo for appointment as executive secretary of the PTDF when the seat became vacant after the fall of Mai-Rago. Interestingly, since the Leopard does not shed its spots, Jalo crashed from that exalted seat over a multi-billion naira contract scandal in a record period of less than three months. He was subsequently arrested and detained by the EFCC. However, whoever thought that would be the end for Hussaini Jalo had a shocker coming to him for this cat has more than nine lives! He not only resurfaces in Namadi Sambo’s mutunci campaign train but was very visible in it. Although Jalo failed to make the list of commissioners, he was compensated with the prestigious political adviser. Over the last few months he has warmed himself to his Excellency thus becoming one of the power brokers at sir kashim Ibrahim house. Today, ones ability to have easy access to governor Namadi is determined by one’s closeness to either Jalo or Audi, the chief of staff and herein lays the danger. The fact is while the governor is determined to remain neutral and allow party members to have free choices; Jalo seems to be exploiting the situation to position those loyal to him around his Excellency. For instance, both the aborted Ward congresses and the primary elections for councillorship and local government chairmanship candidates were purely party affairs. However, it was Jalo who, single handedly drew the lists of officiating officers for the two events while party leaders grumbled, albeit behind his back. The ulterior motive behind this act only emerged when the primaries were trailed by complains of foul play, notably in Sanga, Kachia, Soba, Sabon-gari and Giwa, among others. It took a lot of effort on the part of his Excellency to appeal to aggrieved parties to sheath their swords. It is as yet not clear if the Adara, whose majority status and block voting pattern always determines the success or failure of any party in Kachia, have been sufficiently placated to give their votes to the PDP. It will be highly uncharitable to suggest that his Excellency, with his wealth of experience could be totally unaware of the scheming around him. However, it is not out of place to remind him that around every leader, there are those who will exploit all situations for personal gain or to further a vaulting ambition.
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