As usual, whenever election approaches, political gladiators will be seen moving from one platform to another. This is, basically, to fit themselves into an advantageous and favourable position to quench their thirst of inordinate political desires, not caring whose ox is gored in the process.
Sometimes, some of them go to the extent of flouting the moral compass and exhibit typical abuse of human sensitivity.
Also, another ascribable feature of the free-election ploys, the media, both the conventional and social platforms, will be inundated by rhetoric, scripted political hoopla and irrational criticism to tactically hoodwink and delude the general public, especially the electorate.
In situations where all these shenanigans and mimicry of democracy triumph, the citizens would suffer the impending consequences. Good governance would be truncated and the entire polity would be shortchanged, leaving the beleaguered majority holding the short end of the stick at the end.
Like in every state, as the clock ticks towards the long-awaited 2023 general elections, the good, the bad and the ugly narratives are oozing out from Adamawa state – it’s the actual manifestation of the proverbial beauty of the democracy where the merited and unworthy stand the same right in seeking the mandate of the people.
It’s ostensible that political permutations, alignments and realignments have since begun with the second term bid of the incumbent governor of the Adamawa state, Umaru Ahmadu Fintiri (AUF), getting a morale rooter.
Recently, some patriotic sons and daughters of the state magnanimously obtained the 2023 gubernatorial nomination form for AUF to re-contest in the upcoming governorship race in the state.
It’s true that one good turn deserves another, and with his unprecedented and remarkable feat, Governor Fintiri’s second leg should be the yearning and aspiration of all the jingoistic folks of Adamawa state.
In fact, politics is always complex and the Nigerian version of it seems to be more intricate, because, sometimes the required rationality is elusive in the system.
AUF is doing what proved to be unachievable by his predecessors, turning around the infrastructure deficient state.
However, he stands face-to-face with some desperate politicians from the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC), who have surfaced on billboards strategically placed at various locations within the state capital, Yola, and other local governments areas of the state.
Most of those whose pictures adorn the billboards, however, are hit and run politicians who, after getting the mandates of the people, gallivant the luxurious parts of Abuja, turning pages of the newspapers and other social media sites as their only constituency.
Indeed, all thanks to Governor Fintiri’s liberal disposition of allowing them to mount billboards on virtually all the roads his administration has built, and by always staying in the state. Fintirias hardly goes out of his domain unless for a genuine reason, especially for the good of the state.
Today, we have seen the absolute departure from the days the state was teleguided and micro-managed from far away Abuja to the days when the leadership is always and practically on ground.
Today, under the able and passionate stewardship of Mr. AUF, the entire state is his constituency and he places the state at the topmost level of his priority radar.
Gone are the days when Adamawa state executives operated from Abuja and anytime they were in the state, they behave like passers-by and wayfarers – the state has suffered long abysmal neglect from its past leaders, until the emergence of the redeemer called Fintiri.
Though, it’s allowed for people to contest election if they possess the requisite qualification, I don’t see any of those who indicated interest to contest against Governor Fintiri in 2023 as his match, politically.
Virtually all the aspirants are several planets down AUF in terms of the requisite qualification for the political office they have all fixed their eyes on.
Fintiri possesses the vastest invaluable experience that has built him into a towering gladiator over the political Lilliputians daring him in Adamawa electoral battleground.
He rose from being a member of the Adamawa State House of Assembly to become the governor of the state in a fiercely contested poll in 2019. Fintiri defeated the then incumbent Governor Bindo Jibrilla of the APC with a wide margin. This feat was achieved in spite of the fact that the APC controls the government at the centre which gave Bindo an edge over Fintiri.
Recently, one of the newspaper politicians, Hon. Abdurazak Namdas, representing Jada-Ganye-Mayo/Belwa-Toungo federal constituency of Adamawa state at the House of Representatives, in an interview with the Nation newspaper boasted of possessing the clout to defeat Fintiri in 2023.
It’s laughable and absurd for someone to be savouring the comfort of Abuja and think that defeating Governor Fintiri will be as easy as talking to journalists. Politics is local and anyone who thinks he can match Fintiri in Adamawa should come to the state and do real politics.
In what seems as disparagement of the exalted office of the Adamawa state governor and abuse of the sensitivity of the people of the state, Senator Elisha Abbo, who was recently entangled in an alleged case of immorality, mulled becoming the governor of Adamawa state.
Though, the people of the state are still battling with public outrage over the unbecoming attitude of Abbo, his decision to govern the state is puzzling because, if morality is one of the yardsticks, people like him wouldn’t be close to power.
The Adamawa state APC has become a club of desperate politicians who want to get power by all means even without having what it takes to be in any leadership position.
No wonder, the party is always in crisis not because of the collective interest of the state, but for the excessive interest of power mongers.
The party is widely divided along several interests. A divided house will never stand to win election in any clime, let alone Adamawa where the governor is creditably writing his name in gold.
In fact, AUF is dishing out uncommon democratic deliverables in Adamawa state in the class of Governor Babagana Zulum in Borno state. AUF is transforming Adamawa with flyovers and underpass and other historic projects.
One good turn deserves another. What is expected of the people of the state is continuity and sustainability of Fintiri’s legacy beyond 2023.
Abubakar writes from Yola, Adamawa state.
