Zamfara ANPP: Those Who Come to Equity…

By

Bello Bala Damba

bbdamba@yahoo.com

What makes it so plausible to assume that hypocrisy is the vice of vices is that integrity can indeed exist under the cover of all other vices except this one. Only crime and the criminal, it is true, confront us with the perplexity of radical evil; but only the hypocrite is really rotten to the core. --- Hannah Arendt

Events of the last three months have firmly put my dear state of Zamfara on the headlines for, mostly, the wrong reasons. Despite the huge strides recorded in the state in the last two years by the Mahmud Aliyu Shinkafi’s administration, few elements in the state, notably the opposition All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) and their foot soldiers, have been working assiduously to make us believe otherwise.

In their usually clownish comportment, top shots of the ANPP have openly castigated Shinkafi and his achievements, trying (unsuccessfully) to tell the world that Shinkafi is anti-Sharia.

In interviews granted by the few who chose to remain in the dying party, especially House of Reps member Hon Bello Matawalle, they claim that Shinkafi has abandoned Sharia and is working behind the scenes the undermine its implementation in the state.

Nothing can farther from the truth. As an indigene of Zamfara, I am fully aware of what is going on in this state regarding Sharia. My concern however is not in defending the government of the day in its implementation of the divine law, what I am more concerned with is the saintly attitude of the ANPP when in actual fact, what is happening in the state headquarters of the party clearly contravenes everything Sharia stands for.

Being a resident of Gusau, I was astounded when a friend of mine told me of the atrocities going on in the state ANPP headquarters located along new market road. This is because I have read countless publications where the party accuse Shinkafi of abandoning Sharia. This is not to remember the kind of blasphemous statements made by ANPP bigwigs branding all PDP chieftains as anti-Sharia and in essence anti-Islam during past elections in the state.

In order not to be swayed by some one else’s opinion, I decided to pay a visit to the headquarters of the party penultimate Sunday and what I saw was simply beyond comprehension for a party that prides itself as one divinely-inspired to rule Zamfara state.

Upon approaching the one story building at around 7.45pm, I was met by a stench of Indian hemp oozing out of some rooms in the building. As a non-smoker, the stench made me lost my balance. The tough-looking youths holding forth at the headquarters were having a field day smoking ganja and chatting away their lives. Surrounding them were girls of various ages, some smoking cigarettes, one joining in the hemp party, while three others were sitting down discussing issues I can’t comprehend.

Seeing that I was a complete stranger among them some attempted to do away with the hemp. One was bold enough to ask me what I was looking for and I said I came to look for a friend. They asked me to look around which I did. Before getting away from the premises, I saw three young men in deep discussion about the political situation of the state and quickly joined them. I spent about 15 minutes hearing all sorts of rubbish about the PDP-led state government, and their follies of believing that ‘President Umaru Musa Yar’adua has effectively told Shinkafi that he has to make up with Yarima of he (Yar’Adua) will have nothing to do with him (Shinkafi),” I felt it was enough and took my leave.

The question that I kept asking was, the party that claims it will give us Sharia, why can’t they fully implement the same Sharia in their offices? My attention was also drawn to the fact that the Vice Chairman of ANPP in the state, Malam Ibrahim Wakkala was the immediate-past Commissioner for Religious Affairs in the state, yet why can’t he implement Sharia in his office?

Most worrisome aspect for me an ordinary citizen of the state is that the PDP-led government appears to be handicapped in its response to the menace of the youths. In an interview with a local paper recently, Malam Musa Zubairu, the Chief of Staff to Governor Shinkafi pointed out that government is cautious in tackling the menace of the youths, otherwise people will interpret it to mean they were out to harass and intimidate the opposition. While one can understand the government’s dilemma, I think overall public interest should come first in all their actions.

I think the ANPP should squarely face the challenges ahead of it, which is trying to oust an administration that has surpassed the records of all past administrations in the state. ANPP leaders should not be saying one thing and acting another. That is hypocrisy. That is also the point of quoting Hanna Arendt at the beginning of this article. The consequences of their actions are that you can fool some people sometimes but you cannot fool all the people all the time. This is true.

As we all know, the character traits of hypocrites are like that of an envious person who spends his days destroying himself by feeling sorry for that which he could not achieve but others have. He feels sorry and regretful and desires all people to live in misery and infliction while plotting to deprive them of their happiness. Envious make the fortune of others their goal. They apply every method to deprive others their fortune or talents. They are prey to their lonely wants without realising it. The envious manifest their evil intentions by spreading rumours, accusations and lies about the envied ones. If they feel that their lusts are not satisfied by doing this, they may even go as far as to encroach upon their freedom or even deprive them of the right to live just to fulfil their endless want..  

Tragically and unfortunately, the trouble with the top shots in the ANPP in Zamfara is their seeming lack of decency and decorum. Such tendencies often lead to over indulgence in self glorifications and claims to superior intellects as typified by their characterisations of others with contrary views.  For any discernible mind with knowledge of what goes on in Zamfara since the emergence of Shinkafi as governor in 2007, it is on record that he has been a victim of constant attacks by ANPP supporters and their allies.

Some scholars are of the opinion that hypocrisy is fundamental to being a human being. I suspect that everyone reading this has, at one point or another in their lives, done something that ran counter to their beliefs or their stated ethics and morals. But just because those scholars believe that everyone is fundamentally a hypocrite, that doesn’t mean that there aren’t different types of hypocrisy. But there’s a kind of hypocrisy that I hold in utter contempt - religious hypocrisy. If you are a strong believer in a religion but don’t always hold to its tenets when they become “inconvenient,” too hard to handle, or because you want to avoid responsibility for your actions, you are deluding yourself; you are a hypocrite whose actions should not be tolerated. The Zamfara ANPP falls into this category. And as Raisa Gorbachev once pointed out, “Hypocrisy, the lie, is the true sister of evil, intolerance, and cruelty.”

So to say in clear terms, those who come to equity must come with clean hands. Zamfara ANPP cannot be an exception.

Bello wrote from Damba, Gusau. He can be reached at bbdamba@yahoo.com