The thin line between Shekarau and Kwankwaso

The thin line between Shekarau and Kwankwaso by Dauda Ibrahim Tsoho in Daily Trust of 21/6/2011

Once again, the wheel of democracy has rolled out of existence, the eight years back-to-back tenure of the ANPP government led by ex-Governor Malam Ibrahim Shekarau with all its challenges and achievements, and has ushered the return of PDP government led by Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso with all it has in store for the people of Kano State.

That’s the beauty of stable democracy: governors may come and go, but the mandate remains in the hands of the electorate.

And if the present democratic structure is maintained, come another four years, the people of Kano State will go to the polls to elect a man or woman to administer the state; that’s a herculean task, because the political terrain in Kano is crowded with blackmailers, thugs, dreamers, achievers and noise-makers. It seems inappropriate to associate the recently sworn-in governor, Dr Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso with political ‘blackmailers,’ ‘thugs’ and ‘noise-makers,’ but that’s what his advisers and party loyalists are stuck with.

Not yet sworn into government, his advisers and party loyalists made allegations in a story by Daily Trust newspaper headlined: ‘Shekarau’s 4 billion naira hotel bills.’ Such allegations were aimed at blinding the public to the unparallel achievements of the Shekarau-led ANPP government.

Isn’t it a disgrace for PDP members of Kano State to accuse the ANPP governor of spending such an amount in 8 years without taking into account that the PDP-led Federal Government spent 2.8 trillion naira (18 billion dollars to generate 2000 megawatts in 12 years at a time South Africa spent only 3 billion dollars to generate 5000 megawatts in 5 years? While I am in no position to exonerate Shekarau’s ANPP led administration of corruptions, there is a great risk in accepting such accusation whose ulterior motive is to rubbish the achievements of a political opponent.

I chuckle at the fatuous notion expressed by PDP members that they have come back to serve the people of Kano. The godly truth to confess is that, they are back to reverse the eight peaceful years enjoyed by the people of Kano under the Malam Shekarau administration.

Kano State has a bloody history of religious and political violence, and there is no need now to delve into that sorry past.

Unlike any of his predecessors, Shekarau courageously demolished the invisible tribal wall separating Kano indigenes from non-indigenes to the administration of the Ikemba Nnewi, Dim Odumegu Ojukwu and the Igbo community resident in Kano. Thus, during Malam Shekarau’s courtesy call on the Ikemba Nnewi’s residence in Enugu, the respectable Igbo statesman had these to tell the world: “Governor Ibrahim Shekarau is an icon of national unity who should be emulated by other Nigerians for the collective good of the citizenry. If all Nigerians should think and act along the same line with Governor Shekarau, there will be no ethnic or tribal lines drawn among people.”

The trust which the people of Kano have placed in Dr. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso is the most precious thing he possesses now; so he must justify his capability, but not on the pages of newspapers. What the people of Kano want is revitalization of industries that will create jobs for our teeming unemployed graduates. The road to industrialization in Kano may be said to have started with the network of modern dual and six lane streets and the 150 million litres of water per day Tamburuwa water plant constructed by the Shekarau administration.

As a “Great Dreamer,” Malam Shekarau dreamt of a new Nigeria in which ‘Kano State Independent Power’ would generate 4000 Megawatts; unfortunately, that dream did translate to reality. The people of Kano would have been the happiest if Malam Shekarau’s dream of 4000 megawatts had come true. Let us therefore be united by this truth: Without electricity, our state’s economy progress can never be achieved.

Government is a continuous venture. History has it that in 2003, the Shekarau administration inherited uncompleted projects from the Kwankwaso administration. Conscious of the necessity for continuity in government, Shekarau placed the interest of the state above politics and completed the projects that his predecessor started.

With 4000 Megawatts, Dr. Engineer Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso could go down in the history of Kano State as the governor who revived Kano State’s comatose tanneries, groundnut mills and textiles factories. In fact, with 4000 megawatts, he would be remembered as the outstanding governor who created more jobs than all his predecessors and successors.

Meanwhile, when the history of Kano State’s ‘six lanes roads network’ comes to be written, it will be realized that the visitors and people of Kano owe a far greater debt to Malam Ibrahim Shekarau. May Allah grant Dr Rabiu Musa Kwankwso the wisdom to do the right things.

Tsoho wrote from Kano.