Kwankwaso: Where Bala Salihu Dawakin Kudu Goofed
By Aliu Ibrahim AliuI went through the rejoinder of one Bala Salihu Dawakin Kudu, the Director of Press and Public Relations to the Deputy Governor of Kano State to an article published in the New Nigerian Newspaper of July 25, 2011 under the title, “Between Kwankwaso and Shekarau.” Although, Bala Salihu Dawakin Kudu was appointed as Director of Press and Public Relations to the office of the Deputy Governor of Kano State for public relations functions, it appears that Dawakin Kudu ditched his principal’s assignments for a more lucrative self serving one at the governor’s office in view of the various criticisms governor Kwankwaso receives on daily basis.
We should however excuse Bala Salihu Dawakin Kudu for robbing Peter to pay Paul, knowing fully well that an idle man, they say, is a devil man’s workshop. Unarguably, he does not want to sit idle at the Deputy Governor’s office because there is virtually nothing for him to do there. He therefore decides to extend his tentacles by making himself more relevant in governor’s office through his uninformed rejoinders that are replete in reasoning.
The recent outburst of Dawakin Kudu’s ranting was the rejoinder he made to the aforementioned article, published in the New Nigerian Newspaper of August 1, 2011. Like Dawakin Kudu usually says in his rejoinders, one would not have also bothered oneself to make any form of response to his scripted piece but for the unsuspecting readers he tries to deceive with his unsolicited rejoinders against the indictment of his second boss, governor Kwankwaso.
The way the Director of Press and Public Relations to the Deputy Governor of Kano State argues in his unimpressive rejoinder is akin to the laughable economic solution offered by the former Uganda President, Field Marshal Idi Amin. When he was told of the financial crunch of his country, he simply ordered printing of more money in circulation of his country. To Idi Amin, he wondered why his country’s economy should be ailing when he could simply order the printing of more money for his people. This is the kind of ignorance Bala Salihu Dawakin Kudu expressed in his rejoinder when he claimed that million of people in Kano kept hungry through out Shekarau administration and he expected the people to still be alive till date.
In his shallow thinking, Dawakin Kudu thought that Shekarau’s main function as the then governor of Kano State should have been the provision of food to the over nine million population of the state so that no one should feel hungry simply because Shekarau tried to administer the state in the leadership style of the Amirul Mu’minin Umar Bin Khattab (RA).
Dawakin Kudu should be properly schooled that when, for instance, we say a person is of God, it does not mean that the person is God and therefore we should expect the person to do as God because he is not God, and knowing full well that as human being created by God, none except Him is infallible. One only tries to do well to the best of one’s ability. So, it falls short of reasoning and common sense for Bala Salihu Dawakin Kudu to expect Shekarau or even governor Kwankwaso to feed every person in Kano without any one feeling hungry, not even if Shekarau had constructed fumfu fura da nono to every house hold in Kano State. In any case, it is often said that when one is in Rome, one should behave as Roman. Therefore, permit me to also ask Bala Salihu Dawakin Kudu how many millions of Kano people went to bed hungry without food between 1999 and 2003 when governor Kwankwaso was busy with his aides looting the state ecological fund that subsequently earned them the popular state white paper that will continue to hunt them for the rest of their political career? Again, the likes of Bala Dawakin Kudu should understand that the majority of Kanawas will continue to respect Malam Ibrahim Shekarau, Sardaunan Kano, because of his outstanding integrity and ingenuity of his leadership qualities that stand tall among his peers.
To buttress the above assertions, many prominent men of conscience across the country such as the renown Professor Wole Soyinka, Alhaji Maitama Sule, Alhaji Shehu Aliyu Shagari,Emir Ado Bayero, former President Olusegun Obasanjo, former ICPC Boss, Chief Ayinlola Poopola, Chief Odimegwu Ojukwu and hosts of other personalities have all attested to the integrity of Sardaunan Kano. Still, in appreciation of his sterling qualities, Shekarau also received many honours and awards across the country. All these are clear manifestations of Shekarau’s passion for hard work and excellence. Even, after he left office, people still praise and adore him to the extent that his successor, governor Kwankwaso feels highly ashamed and threatened by Shekarau’s rising political profile and nothing one except God can do about it. This is why sadists as Bala Salihu Dawakin Kudu should spare themselves the agony of creating ill feelings about man of the people and of God.
For Dawakin Kudu information, Shekarau joined politics to correct the ills of governance as espoused in the coming of Kwankwaso as governor of the state. Today, as we have seen, we are grateful to God that Shekarau has achieved this aim and made the difference to be clear. The tribal despot championed by governor Kwankwaso’s first coming was thrown to the dogs by Shekarau administration thereby bringing non-indigenes closer to the government of Kano State and promoting unity in diversity. With the coming of governor Kwankwaso for the second time, the governor has no choice but to follow the good example laid down by his predecessor by also appointing non-indigenes in his present government, which was not so in his first coming. So, those who undermined yesterday because of today, leave to also undermine today for tomorrow.
Bala Salihu Dawakin Kudu despicably tries to cover up the woeful defeat of Kwankwaso in 2003 by his false pretence that Shekarau won the election based on the so called “intimidating popularity of Buhari.” But the nagging question is this, why did the absence of the same intimidating popularity of Buhari could not stop Shekarau in 2007 nor presence of it give victory to Buhari who contested presidential election in 2003, 2007 and 2011 but failed in all? Bala Salihu shot himself below the belt when he claimed that Ahmad Bichi of PDP was defeated by Shekarau in 2007 governorship election because Bichi was not as popular as Kwankwaso. This lame assertion does not hold water because if the same Bala Salihu claimed that Shekarau won the 2003 election on the popularity of Buhari, then the so called popularity of Kwankwaso should have also earned victory for Bichi who Bala agreed that Kwankwaso stepped down for, due to the latter’s gross indictment of corrupt practices. It is this consistent inconsistency of Bala Salihu Dawakin Kudu that makes every rejoinder of his incoherent, unimpressive and disastrous. He does not know too that every one’s progress evolves a gradual process of one step to another. This is why his claim that Shekarau was relatively unknown before becoming governor falls flat of compendium of due process and lacks logic. Also, the unsubstantiated sentiment expressed by Bala that “Shekarau ungratefully and disdainfully betrayed Buhari” is grossly untrue as it lacks merit. No one including Dawakin Kudu has given answer to how Shekarau betrayed Buhari except to pass the expression for mere political sentiment.
The fact is this. A betrayal, to my understanding, is an act of abandoning a mutual trust by a person or group of persons against the other based on vaulting ambition. Let us briefly go down the memory lane. Shekarau and Buhari joined APP in 2003 to collectively pursue common interest of the party. As a result of their unblemished past record of integrity, they were various endorsed by the party to stand for governorship and presidential elections respectively. By virtue of Buhari’s position as the Presidential candidate of the party, it is mandatory on him to present party flag to all the party’s governorship candidates across the federation. Thus, the presentation of the party flag to Shekarau by Buhari, which was also presented to other ANPP governorship candidates in other states, was not an exception as any other presidential candidate would have performed the same role.
As at 2003, APP, which later became ANPP, had nine state governors comprising Kano, Jigawa, Yobe, Borno, Kebbi, Taraba, Kogi, Sokoto and Zamfara. Again, as at 2007, six out of the nine ANPP state governors ditched their party and cross carpeted to the national ruling party, PDP, leaving only Kano, Borno and Yobe with the former governor Shekarau as the last man standing in his north-west geo-political zone. In the same year, Shekarau was able to stand on his feet by winning his second term election to consolidate his governance, in spite all odds. Towards the 2011 general election, Buhari also jettisoned ANPP for a new party, CPC to advance his political goal while Shekarau remained in ANPP for his purposeful leadership. At the end of the day, both Buhari and Shekarau emerged presidential candidates of their respective parties for the 2011 presidential election, which the ruling party candidate, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan of PDP was declared the winner of the election.
Looking at the above political sojourn, where is the so called betrayal that Bala Salihu Dawakin Kudu unimpressively, ignorantly and disdainfully cited in his desperate rejoinder that is in itself an indictment of his boss he tries in vain to defend? Dawakin Kudu should have consecrated his time and energy to tell his readers about the achievements (if any) so far recorded by the governor in the last two months he mantled leadership saddle of the state, which he knows pretty well that no such achievements exists except witch hunting, blackmailing, docility, noise-making, vendetta and back peddling the progress already achieved by his predecessor, Shekarau.
Finally, the good people of Kano are not unmindful of the modus operandi of this present unfortunate government and no amount of rejoinders with the byline of Bala Salihu Dawakin Kudu and his apologists can cover up the government incompetence to move the state forward. It is however better for governor Kwankwaso to own up to this fact and change for good than allowing himself to be trapped in the orgy of disaster and hopelessness of his government, occasioned by his self serving ego.
Aliu Ibrahim Aliu, Kano City, email: aliuibrahimaliu@yahoo.com
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