The job-seeker master, busy stooge and their retinue of blunders

It is not uncommon for a frenzied movement to become synonymous with one blunder after another in a sequence, all through its vertical hierarchy. Kano people are starting to decipher the deep connotation of speeches, actions, inactions and attitudinal lapses characterised by the Abba Kabir Yusuf administration. On the day of his inauguration, Governor Yusuf made comments alluding to being disheartened by accrued loans left behind by the administration of Former Governor Ganduje. The emotion-laden comments of the Governor fell short of describing borrowing as a crime only by a whisker, but only in his court of public opinion.

This is the summary of the attitudinal lapses inherent in the politics and in the governance of Kwankwasiyya; preferences or styles are pushed down people’s throats as though they are sacred laws. A government that has followed right channels to borrow, went on to litter the state with more physical projects than any other in recent times, and one that has enumerated such liabilities in its handover notes, has obviously done no wrong, but as expected, the charged emotions must be riled up, as has always been the case in the past.

Recently, the Kano State Government claimed that it plans to purchase grains and seedlings from the Federal Government for onward subsidised sale to farmers. This is pure hijack of credit due to the FG, as President Tinubu has already clearly reeled out this as one of palliatives on the back of Subsidy Removal. However, it is akin to the style of Kwankwasiyya between 2012-2015 when the state government at the time pocketed all funds from SURE-P of the FG and gave no due credit in that regard; in fact what followed was more of vilification and antagonism against the FG.

Not too long ago, during the 2023 campaigns, Kwankwasiyya social media handlers and followers gave so much circulation to clips wherein the leader belittled the then APC candidate as a feeble hospital patient suffering constant abdominal leaks. But in their characteristic inconsistency, the same firebrand apologists hastened to describe President Tinubu as the best thing after bread and rice, because of the hope of participating in a government of national unity. This underlines the salient inconsistency of the group, swinging from one side to another like a pendulum, fuelled by the whims of one man who has so outwardly sought to become Minister, under a party he so passionately disparaged, and 20 years after being appointed same, exposing his absolute horizontal progression in politics. As rationally expected, the job he so desperately sought did not fall on his lap, rather he is left to battle internal wrangling within his mushroom party.

A clear display of the group’s foothold and direction lies in their approach whenever control and influence are divinely bestowed upon them. Given all the possible actions through which to announce and demonstrate their coming into office, Governor Yusuf’s administration chose to commence its honeymoon days by appealing to its deeply rooted grudges, indiscriminately bringing down structure after structure, and arbitrarily marking many more for demolition, ridding the state’s economy of the rejuvenated investor confidence, and numerous potential private sector driven collaborations, and undermining future collaborative initiatives. There is evidently an emotional drive to cause Kano, recently one of the country’s leading construction sites, to become a litter of destroyed buildings. Not a single Executive Bill has been forwarded to the Kano State House of Assembly to signify an urge for accelerated pursuit of progress; it has just been loud noisy accounts of emotional one-sided stories through every available microphone and radio station.  

Everyone wonders wherein responsibility for such a human disaster lies, and the unanimity of reason and logic is upon a headship that has given in to puppetry of a grand master. The one who took oath and swore allegiance is appearing derelict to such duty, and giving off a sense of it being mere delegation, hence causing little to no ownership and accountability to the social contract, whose validity the APC is in the courts vehemently challenging.

Whenever I recall the vitriol and vile with which Sen. Kwankwaso predicted that Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje would be ill-treated and binned by the President Tinubu administration, I wonder how much more he innately harbours, as Ganduje has gracefully marched into office as National Chairman of Nigeria’s governing party. In his words, in Hausa, Kwankwaso metaphorically created a literary impression of Ganduje ending up as an owl in the midst of domestic birds; but like other nullified wishful thoughts of his, Ganduje triumphantly remains at the fore of affairs and will remain there to remind Kwankwaso of his inherent fallibility and political vulnerability, only always dependent on emotional swings.

The master, still very much a job-seeker, and his stooge, busy with the eye-service of measuring interlock tiles at his 2 project sites, and their retinue of blunders will prevail until the courts rightfully intervene. They will continue to portray affinity to the youth while refusing to fill critical roles with the young and vibrant. They will pay lip service to enhancing functionality of social systems, yet prioritize demolitions over all else. They will consistently claim to abhor close ties in government, however with every set of appointees; those who know can pin-point a preponderance of family and friends. Conclusively, with every passing day, the supposed egalitarian movement is further exposed as the chameleon that it is, one that fluidly swims in the waters of personal interest.

Hon Yusuf Babangida Sulaiman, Member, Kano State House of Assembly (2011-2023), Gwale Constituency