By Fodio Ahmad
The relative developmental backwardness of Niger state 15 years into the present democratic dispensation is a situation that has readied people of the state to give their votes to that ‘perfect gentleman’ who can wholly turn their fortunes around in the next gubernatorial election.
Based on my interactions with many Nigerlites across its three Senatorial Districts, electing a governor for the state next year means one thing to everybody; the person should just be a revolutionary that will cure the state of its rots, without minding the party he comes from or whose ox is gored.
However, the writings that are now clear on the wall gave me the pat to commend their collective resolve and also plead with them to keep this resolve alive up till the time a winner would be announce after the poll next year.
But despite the fact that I am sensing ‘ideal democracy’ being played in the build up to the election, I must remind my fellow Nigerlites that it is high time we put an end to the sycophantic politics which we are perennially known with; it clears the way for our leaders to loot us blind, steal our future and build personal edifices with the money that is meant for building infrastructure for us.
After Kure and Talba’s eight years each, what basic amenities are we enjoying in the state? Nothing! Now, as far as we are not patients of psychiatric hospitals, I am sure we won’t want another tenure of nothingness.
In a prognosis on the election by one BalaYakubuGawu in the Daily Trust edition of May 21, 2013, the present Deputy Governor, Musa Ibeto, the writer, whose words spoke volumes that he was paid to write the piece, fronted the deputy governor to be our next governor.
According to Gawu, among the horde of people jostling to succeed our present loquacious Governor, Mu’azuBabangidaAliyu, none of them can move the state forward like Ibeto can do.
Weeks after Gawu’s publication, a popular columnist in the same Daily Trust, Muhammad Haruna, came up with another prognosis, though his own sounded more sensitive, fronting AbubakarSani Bello.
Apparently, the longstanding relationship between MohammedHaruna and Sani Bello’s father-in-law, GeneralAbdulsalamiAbubakar, spawned his sentiments. Haruna was Abdulsalami’s Media Adviser when the latter was the Head of State of our country, you see?
As far as I am concerned, the two writers penned their respective pieces having a candidate in mind, because they are cut from the realities in the state. Weighing their respective pasts, Ibeto and Abulolo cannot turn the fortunes of Niger around, so we don’t need them.
Now, am not trying to also front a candidate because I am having a sentiment, but having weighed his achievements in the various places he has served, I would boldly and defensively tell Nigerlites that among the candidates that are so far vying for Niger’s number one seat, Mustapha Bello, is the only person close to that revolutionary we are clamouring for.
And if I were the sum total of Nigerlites, I will throw away partisan politics and vote for the best among the lot which, for the time being, is Mustapha Bello.
I will write another piece if a better man joins the race before the poll. For now, let me leave us with a quote by Jerry Long Felllow: “The height that great men reached and kept was not attained by sudden flight but, while their companions slept, they were toiling upwards in the night.”
Fodio wrote in from Minna
