Rimi and the Metaphor of the Wasp

By

Abdullah Musa

kigongabas@yahoo.com

I may not err in saying that a human being must try first to be himself before he becomes relevant to the lives of others. Limamin Canji, as the late Alhaji Abubakar Rimi was fondly called by those who followed him, was one such individual who really had the utmost confidence humanly possible in himself. An extrovert of the highest ranking, it was never in Rimi’s repertoire to either hide his feelings, or to chew his words in order to make them palatable to his foe. He was in most significant instances always in the offensive. He left his foes in no doubt as to the exact direction he intended to follow.

The metaphor of the wasp, as shown in the title of this discourse, is drawn from the 48 Laws of Power. In that book, the story was given of a wasp that was reflecting on its life, it seemed not to be of relevance to anyone. It decided that a life without fame was not a life was worth living. In order to achieve fame, it decided to go into the king’s palace. In there, it stung the young Prince who was highly loved by his father, the king. The prince was highly tormented and screamed so much such that the whole Palace was in commotion, with every effort made to capture the belligerent wasp, which stung the Prince more and more.

Because the seat of power was in turmoil, the whole town also became in turmoil, and the little wasp of no significance, overnight became the talk of the town. At last the little wasp expired from its own efforts, and left its name etched indelibly in the minds and records of the men and the kingdom.

When he made his appearance during the second republic, Rimi was Governor of Kano State on the platform of the PRP. However, right from the start, Rimi had his eyes set on the national front. He vilified the then President Alhaji Shehu Shagari to such an extent that you would have thought that it was he who contested the presidential election and lost instead of late Aminu Kano.

In away Rimi was really totally different in character from Aminu Kano. The late Malam was a radical conservative. He really cared for the downtrodden, but he also believed in the traditional divide of Nigeria as North and South; and with politics viewed from such spectrum. There was no way therefore Aminu could have teamed up with Southern politicians in order to scuttle Shagari’s Presidency. Rimi did not however have the temperament of becoming a local champion. It was his view that the only way to tackle NPN at national level was to join other opposition blocks in order to form a strong challenge.

It is most ironic however that Nigerian politics never really grew to the level expected by Rimi. Southerners proved Aminu Kano right when they stuck with the idea that the only good Northerner was one without political power. As such no amount of persuasion could make them to accept Rimi instead of Obasanjo as presidential candidate. More painful could have been his apparently fruitless association with some middle belt politicians, many of whom have been identified as believers in eternal hatred for anything Hausa-Fulani. If historians would record the deeds of men honestly, Rimi should be recorded as number one nationalist.

At the expense of sacrificing the backing of his region’s traditional power base, he sought to champion a kind of politics that simply says: may the best man win. If the reader would recall from our opening paragraph, we mentioned that Rimi believed in himself to the hilt. He felt qualified to stake his claim to power and fame wherever in Nigeria, without waiting for any powershift arrangement to tie and immobilize his opponents for him. Nigerians could not reciprocate his beliefs.

In 1981 we were mesmerized by lale kati; a television program of CTV in Kano which was covering the political rallies of Rimi after they parted ways with Aminu Kano. What we saw in that program was not necessarily the eloquence of Rimi. What Rimi succeeded in doing was to vent out on our behalf, our frustrations with the social arrangements pervading then and now in our society. It was, is, an arrangement whereby the best which citizens are capable of achieving is stultified by dogma, and many atimes, archaic traditions.

Rimi spoke, lived, and succeeded against all such rot. He might not have attained his aspirations of leading Nigeria, but he left his mark. Not only that he left such indelible footprints, but he left those who mouth the words democracy and good governance in a debt which they may not be willing to repay.

Rimi achieved excellence. He was not found wanting when he administered Kano State. In Rimi, our brothers in the South had cause to feel uncomfortable. He showed them that a detribalized Nigerian is possible. And politics being a game, the prize is not won by donation; it has to be earned. And we Kano people are rightly proud to have produced a son who spent his life constructing his own side of the bridge. Unfortunately, those who are to meet him half way are still looking at the opposite direction.

Rimi has paid his dues to Nigerian politics.