2019: Dankwambo, PDP’s goldmine, by Yasir Musa Bala

The person of Governor Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo has no doubt remained a goldmine to his party, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
Many watchers of the country’s political landscape will attest to the fact that Dankwambo commands great bias from the Nigerian voting population across party lines.
Without any iota of doubt, Dankwambo has earned for himself and his political party enormous respects.
How then was a governor east of the Nigerian north able to command, nay, earn so much good among the people in every corner of our vast land? This question is quite necessary for us as a people who are fast emerging from a somewhat different political culture; a culture of moneybags’ politics.
It is quite imperative to query the emergent Dankwambo for the purposes of improving our democracy and the processes thereof.
So, I take the liberty of self-sponsorship to restate that the question of how Dankwambo has been able to sit himself comfortably in the hearts of men and women across the country a worthy project.
For one thing, the young PhD holder has not enjoyed the media hype that tricked majority of Nigerians into accepting an aspirant General Buhari (Rtd), even though he, Dankwambo, has a more honorable civil service career than the exgeneral.
This claim will be outlandish for those who have little regard for the truths of history, but for those who reckon with facts, Dankwambo epitomizes the concept of meritorious service to fatherland both in the area of protecting and improving our democracy or of competently and respectfully presiding over the affairs of his people than can be said of Mr Buhari.
The political capital of Dr Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo that the author wishes to emphasize here is simple.
It is doing so much with so little and without complaining or blaming others.
It is staying true to the cause of democracy even in the face of daunting challenges.
Among his many outstanding qualities is his believability.
At a time when the country’s trust in the leadership has been mindlessly botched by sectionalism, cronyism and clear disregard for the wellbeing of the people, the hospitality and tolerance of Dankwambo has won him a huge and robust goodwill among the people.
This is quite important at this juncture in our democratic process when the people in their majority appear to be distraught and lacking hope and sense of belonging in their nation.
For the purposes of reversing this ugly trend, it is important to project this sterling quality of Dankwambo so as to at least encourage the incumbent to perform better within the few months they have left, and sounding a note of caution to his party, PDP, to toe the path of honor and let the choice of their political party be dictated by the need for a candidate who has a better track record than that of Buhari’s.
Dankwambo, apart from being young, healthy and robustly educated, is eminently better suited for our country’s presidency.
He is not vindictive.
And so, it can be easily said of him that he harbors no hidden agenda in the exercise of public office.
That our nation is passing through a phase of needless poverty, pains and divisions there can be no argument.
The insult on our injuries is now that we have a leadership that appears to take pleasure in deflecting the blame on any other quarter except itself – leaving the hapless citizens with a burden of guilt and more pains.
If the leadership track record of Gombe state governor and now PDP presidential candidate can be relied upon, there is much hope for a leadership that is truly leadership.
His has been a leadership that is transparent and takes responsibility for his actions while cheerfully sharing the glories with his people.
A leader of such high sense of charity is certainly not beyond us.
So how instructive is the Dankwambo factor for a PDP that is truly keen about rescuing our nation from the grip of incompetence of the ruling party, the All Progressives Congress, APC? Does it matter to field a candidate with a rare pedigree of no indictment all through his many years of public service? Something General Buhari’s supporters beguile our voting population with.
Methinks the opposition party must outshine its ruling party counterpart by fielding its best.
The PDP must deploy his most formidable arsenal to be taken seriously by the expectant and badly governed electorate.
Bala writes from Kaduna

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