Kano

Kano: Democracy in Mortal Danger!

Kabiru Inuwa

“Neo-Fascism is a latter-day form of totalitarianism that seeks the strict regimentation of state and individual existence and freedom, total subordinations and unquestioning loyalty to its leaders often in accordance with some dictatorial tendencies”

Encarta-2007 edition.

Judging from my recent hectic experience, it is not an exaggeration to say that, freedom of expression, a basic component of democracy is in mortal danger in Kano!

This is because, my last three articles on the socio-economic crises and failure of leadership, has generated so-much unexpected positive and negative denouements from two opposing segments of the society.

On the one hand, the voiceless majority have continued to express appreciations and gratitude, through countless phone-calls and messages of encouragement, urging me not to relent in the onerous task of projecting the ills of our contemporary society. While on the other extreme end, some faceless-cowards have resolves to subject my innocent life to some form of psychological torture, abuses, outright threats and vulgarity; using their uncouth and uncivilised gutter languages.

But I would like to assures my traducers that, being a highly cultured person, who was admonished severally by my parents and teachers alike, to always respect elders and to give due deference to the society, I would not join issues with them on the pages of newspapers, neither would I, respond to them in an uncivilised manner. In fact, I owe no grudges against them.

However, if through verbal threats, the latter-day fascist, hope to scare me away from the path of truth, I’m sorry to say in clear terms that, they have terribly misjudged me, because of the disappointments that will surely follow. I will not succumb to their selfish demands. Instead, I will continue to let the world know the extreme life of wants, squalors, penury and destitutions ravaging our beloved state amidst billions upon billions of revenues that has been steadily accruing to the state for the past five solid years, without commensurate results. I will continue to tell the authorities the bitter truth-the home truth and damned the consequences. Mark my word!

It is gratifying to pleasantly be relieved however, by many conscientious personalities from far and wide, who have point out to me that, the feeble reactions by most of the government appointees and hangers-on is nothing but the ranting of a drowning cabals, which simply smacks of an attempt to cover-up their glaring inadequacy and inability to address the fundamental issues of developments as elucidated in my previous articles.

In addition, the negative reaction have only helps to expose their apprehensions about any attempt to let the world know their glaring failures and flagrant abuse of the opportunity freely given to them twice, by the hapless Kano citizens. It further exposes their incompetence and lack of any particular blue-prints on how to move our beloved state forward! (Baza’a dake mu, a hana mu kuka ba)!

Unfortunately, our society today has become so fascistic, that any attempt aim at saying the truth is construed to be acting in concert with the opposition elements against the interest of the power that be. That is why the backward north and Kano in particular, is in trouble, because it is populated by retrogressive tendencies that are pathologically anti-scholarship and anti-cross fertilisations of ideas. Every sublime issue is reduced to the mundane and base-personality attack!

But for goodness sake, what is wrong with Kano if I may have the liberty to ask? What happened to the legacies of courage, industry, scholarships and time tested ability to say no to any bully? I can not imagine that, the artificially induced hunger on the innocent people has finally taken its toll and sufficiently conquered the ability of the people to oppose executive high-handedness.

Because In a saner societies, where leaders have sufficiently fathoms the gravity of the challenges of leadership and are much alive to their responsibilities to the electorates; constructive criticisms of their policies and programmes is very much welcome. There are no oppositions to the free flow of information and ideas. In fact, healthy exchanges of ideas which stimulate progress for the collective goods of the societies are freely encouraged and rewarded.

For example, were it not for the dogged determination of the likes of Media trust columnists, who subjected Obasanjo to a relentless attack against his life-time ambition for a life presidency (third-term), the story as we heard it today, would have been different. But why were they not subjected to a relentless abuse by the Obasanjo cronies? Why such accusation of being sponsored by the opposition elements was not level against them? Are the Obj cronies not so powerful and so connected enough to muzzle any dissenting voices?

Many people must have heard that, by next month, the much awaited declarations of emergencies on power will come into effect, thanks to constructive criticism which some sections of the myopic Kano political class can not tolerate!

If what I wrote in my previous write-ups are cook-up stories and bunch of lies, why most of the national dailies accords Kano ANPP administrations very low grades in the recent nation-wide performance appraisal? What brings about the obvious unanimity among the forth estate of the realm in this regards? Why states like Gombe, Bauchi, Katsina and even Jigawa scored higher marks in the performance index, despite their relatively low incomes in comparison to Kano? Or where the press, bribed by the oppositions?

I would therefore, advice the neo-fascist, where ever they may be, who are oppose to the public exposure of the on-going graft and sleazes to as a matter of urgent self-preservations, exploit the opportunity given by the soon to be started national constitutional amendment in order to influence the removal of the portion that guaranteed freedom of expressions so as to dissuades us completely. For as long the clause remains, we shall continue to exploit it fully; for the benefits of the generality of our hunger subdued people.

Now for the records, when I defended the policies of the incumbent ANPP government in the last five years, I did so out of strong personal convictions that, at last some body I know reasonably well, with the requisite wherewithal to rescue our state out of the wood into the path of sanity and developments has finally arrived the scene.

Likewise, having now discovered much to my chagrin, the new trend which seeks the complete elevations of self as against the collective interest of all, I have resolves without apology, to exercise my constitutional liberty and change from being a blind supporter of the ANPP government, into a constructive one, again out of my strong personal convictions. (In ‘Kida ya chanja, rawa ma, sai ta chanja)

Therefore, those political jobbers, who said that, I’m being sponsored by the opposition elements, notably kwankwaso, to cast aspersions on the incumbent ANPP administrations, should begin to search the where-about of their conscience; for their apparent misjudgement and lack of true understandings of the fundamental issues at hand.

Furthermore, for the avoidance of doubt, my sudden volte-face has nothings to do with the craze for primitive accumulations of wealth, as some people want to portray. I therefore, beseech them for the sake of God, to sheath their swords of Damocles and heave a sigh of relief, for I meant no-harm to the incumbent ANPP government.

But that does not in any way mean a soft-pedalling of my resolves and convictions to compromise myself into the fold of conscienceless psycho-pant who in the face of the obvious derailment from the track; would choose to keep quite and allow our society to regress into the abyss!

I believed quit strongly that, the latter-day fascist who are now, so intolerable of dissenting views would not have become what they are today, were it not for the sacrifices of the likes of Sir, Ahmadu Bello Sardauna, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, Mallam Aminu Kano, Mr. Akintola, Sir kasshim Ibrahim and Mallam Sa’ad zungur among several others selfless and conscientious leaders!

Finally, I must repeat for the umpteenth time that, henceforth, I will not allow the ANPP administration in Kano to operate freely without subjecting its policies and programs to a critical appraisal with a view to finding the areas where it succeed and areas where it waver; as there is nothing wrong in pointing at the faults of governments for practical corrections to be affected, in our steady march towards evolving a virile and egalitarian society.

I have resolved therefore, to remain rooted along that path and will continue to say it as it is without fear of the latter-day local fascist who would wants Kano to be a breeding ground for all-comers and a haven for the enthronement of arbitrariness and retrogressions. The spurious allegations being peddle can not in any way damping my resolves. I’m unstoppable and shall continue to write and damned any eventuality that may arise therewith. Aluta continua, it is a promise!!!