THE MESSAGE FROM KWANKWASO Category: Opinion Published on Tuesday, 27 May 2014 05:00 Written by Abu Najakku Hits: 3253 Kano has almost always been governed by the opposition. In 1979, the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), led by Alhaji Aminu Kano, swept to power in almost all elections in Kano, beating its rival, the National Party of Nigeria (NPN). Before then, Kano was the home base of the Northern Elements Progressive Union (NEPU), in the First Republic. During the Babangida transition, Kano voted for the National Republican Convention (NRC). At the beginning of this Republic, Kano voted for Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso, the gubernatorial candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party. However, soon after, i.e. in 2003, Kano made a u-turn and voted for the opposition All Peoples Party led by Malam Ibrahim Shekarau. Now, the results of the local government election held on Saturday, 17th May, 2014, have sent a loud message to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that Kano State is no-go territory. The notice of the results published in some national newspapers indicated that the All Progressives Congress (APC) won the entire 44 chairmanship as well as 484 councillorship seats, leaving the PDP with nothing. Regardless of its reaction, the message is clear and unmistakable: the PDP is absent in Kano; this is no Jonathan country. The vow by the PDP to file its case at the election tribunal could probably get them one or two local government chairmanship and councillorship seats, but no more. Those sworn to returning Goodluck Jonathan to the Presidency in 2015 should be seriously concerned about the size and share of the votes of the two main political parties. Whereas the APC got 2,370,889 votes, the PDP got a paltry 200,687 votes. This situation is calamitous for PDP. It raises serious questions about the fate of the party in Kano State. Is there infighting in the PDP? Is there sabotage by some party stalwarts? Did the PDP make mistake in its choice of candidates? Did some party bigwigs exaggerate their popularity at the grassroots? Was PDP rigged out of the election? If this repeats itself in 2015 presidential election, as it may, the results from Kano will cancel out votes from at least two of the biggest states in the Jonathan column. Playing dog-in-the-manger is former governor of Kano State, Malam Ibrahim Shekarau, who has given the impression that he has a big following in Kano. President Goodluck Jonathan had left the victims of Nyanya bombing to their fate and flown to Kano to receive Shekarau and his supporters in a much publicised event. Security reports weren’t quite favourable but the grounds of Kano Polo Club in Kano were considered safe enough for the President to just go there, perform the function and then leave. This went as anticipated; the snag was that contrary to the media hype, the crowd that turned up was rather scanty; it was also lifeless. The people that rallied kept to themselves and showed little or no enthusiasm for a big event that had a presidential presence. The narrative in Kano is that Ibrahim Shekarau, the former All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) governor had hitherto promised never to join the PDP even if it remained the only political party on earth. But suddenly, and shortly after Governor Kwankwaso had joined him there, Shekarau left the All Progressives Congress for the party he had so much despised. Many analysts are of the opinion that Shekarau’s journey into PDP is an ego tripping, as most of his followers, especially those in the House of Representatives, refused to follow him into his new party. Even the last-minute desertion of Kwankwaso by Hajiya Baraka Sani, the immediate past Kano State Commissioner of Agriculture, didn’t help Shekarau to win the election in his Nassarawa Local Government. In a counter move, Kwankwaso named to his cabinet, Alhaji Nasir Yusuf Gawuna, a former chairman of that local government, and a Shekarau confidant. Shekarau cannot have any significant followership in Kano because of who he himself follows. This government, with its record of unresolved extrajudicial killings of citizens by its security personnel in Bornu, Kaduna, Nasarawa, Plateau States, etc., and continuous profiling of Northerners, among other things, cannot be elected by our people in 2015. Kwankwaso has demonstrated that he is in charge of the direction of politics in Kano. Anyone who has been to Kano recently could attest to the fact that Kwankwaso has shown singular purpose in developing this strategic northern state. From agriculture, education, housing, road construction to empowerment of the populace, Kwankwaso is second to none. He is a master in the battle of wits. In Kwankwaso, the North has got a courageous leader that counterbalances our gaffe-prone president who joins issues with state governors instead of tackling national problems that have overwhelmed him. Kwankwaso suffices not only for Kano but the North. He has remained focused and brooks no misuse of public funds. He has challenged the president to identify corrupt public officials in Kano and see how they would be dealt with. Kwankwaso understands the mission of any serious northern governor: till the land and develop the human resources, and that is what he is doing. He provides enormous support to farmers and opportunities for the young people of Kano to go to school anywhere in this world. Your parents don’t have to be highly placed to get a slot to be a pilot, engineer or medical doctor. In Kwankwaso, there is no basis for comparison with Shakarau; Kwankwaso’s is a revolution in the North. The Kano local government election is a dress rehearsal for the presidential poll. It looks like PDP is going to get a bloody nose in Kano in the 2015 election, if we get there. The message from Kwankwaso is that this is an APC territory, Shekarau and other proxies should keep off.
Posted on: Tue, 27 May 2014 19:29:19 +0000
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