Loyalty contest as Kwarans await Saraki’s choice for governor

Like the other 28 states where gubernatorial elections will be held on March 2, 2019, interested aspirants across party lines have also been signifying interest in Kwara state.
But in the camp of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), where the Senate President Bukola Saraki holds sway as leader and major decider of who clinches whatever tickets available, loyalty and other peculiar factors would surely play out.
Taiye Odewale puts up a prognosis on the contest.\
Loyalty and people Loyalty, defined in the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, as the quality of being faithful in one’s support for somebody or something, has in human history from Adam, been a key factor in relationship between leader and followers, organizations and their employees or staff and countries and their citizens.
In politics in particular, the factor of loyalty between leaders cum godfathers and followers or supporters is the strongest when it comes to consideration of who to be allowed to occupy whatever elective position without injuring the relevance of the godfather in the scheme of things politically thereafter as being witnessed in so many states of the federation where godfathers have been severely cut to size by godsons who through that process, elevated themselves to godfathers or leaders.
Godsons inflict pains on godfathers In many states of the federation within the last 19 years of the present political dispensation, this type of turnaround political fortunes or misfortunes has been been arepeatedly experienced in different ways and shapes between godfathers and sons from Enugu to Abia, Edo, Kano, Lagos and even Kwara State.
For instance, whereas in Enugu State, Chief Jim Nwobodo, the erstwhile godfather of politics in the state, was reduced to mere participant in politics now by virtue of the injuries inflicted on his relevance by former Governor Chimaroke Nnamani, in Abia State hitherto godson, Senator Theodore Orji, succeeded in cutting to size the larger than life personality image of Orji Uzor Kalu, who left office as Abia State Governor in May 2007.
Uzor Kalu has since then been running from pillar to post, in fact jumping from one political parties to the other desperately seeking to get elected as Senator from Abia North without success.
The failure has largely been due to the severe damage his political machinery has suffered in the hands of godson Governor now Senator Theodore Orji, who is fondly called Ochendo Global.
They are not alone, Chief Tony Anenih of Edo State, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso of Kano, and some late Afenifere chieftains in Lagos and the late legendary Politician, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Sola Saraki in Kwara have suffer similar fates through devastating blows inflicted on their political machineries by former godson Governors Adams Oshiomhole, Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano State, former Bola Tinubu of Lagos Stat and Senator Bukola Saraki respectively at different times and in different circumstances and situations.
When competence override mere loyalty It is, however, instructive to say this scenario played out in Kwara State in 2011 between the then Governor, Bukola Saraki and his father, now late, Dr Olusola Saraki, the legendary Olooye! effected a paradigm shift from mere loyalty to loyalty plus requisite knowledge and competence on the part of those to be favoured to occupy any elective position in the state including the nine National Assembly seats.
For example, while under the godfatherism of the late Olooye!, (Dr Olusola Saraki), followers such as Hon Nimota Oba Wakansi, who by self confession, warmed herself into the heart of the senior Saraki as an ice water seller in ‘Ile loke’ not only got appointed as Commissioner for Women Affairs but also got elected into the House of Representatives in 2007 to represent Ilorin West/Asa Practically, in whatever way the expected scenarios would play out, it is certain that the three critical criteria of unflinching loyalty, requisite knowledge and competence must be seen to have been sufficiently possessed and demonstrated at different times by whoever eventually emerges.
Federal Constituency strictly on the basis of loyalty and nothing more.
In fact, all other supporters and followers who have been favoured to occupy such elective positions under the political leadership of Senator Bukola Saraki since 2011, have aside absolute loyalty to their Leader (Bukola Saraki) over the years been compelled to demonstrate requisite knowledge and competencies as prerequisite for such positions.
When competence becomes an issue This is the very reason the leader seems to be having difficulty on who to anoint among the coterie of his dependable and competent allies aspiring for the PDP gubernatorial ticket in the State among whom are Hon Zakari Mohammed, who is representing Baruten/Kaiama Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, his counterpart representing Patigi/ Edu/Moro Federal Constituency, Hon Ahman Pategi, and former Governor of Kwara state now senator representing Kwara North, Senator Shaaba Lafiagi.
Others are; former Minister of Sports, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, Speaker, Kwara State House of Assembly, Hon Ali Ahmad, former National Secretary of PDP, Alhaji Kawu Baraje, former Secretary to the Kwara State Government, Alhaji Ladi Hassan etc.
Though the list seems to be endless but the fact of the matter is that whoever would eventually emerge, will have to come from Kwara North or alternatively Kwara Central based on emerging factors, while Kwara South is completely out of it since the outgoing governor, Alhaji Abdulfattah Ahmed, is from the zone.
Loyalty, competence and zoning But by well known arrangement put on ground by the Leader (Bukola Saraki) in 2011 when he backed Ahmed for the governorship position, he said he did it for power to move from Kwara Central where he and his predecessor, the late Governor Mohammed Lawal come from, to Kwara South after which it will go to Kwara North.
If the arrangement is to be respected and strictly adhered to, then the likes of Hon Zakari Mohammed, Hon Ahman Pategi and Senator Shaaba Lafiagi, may have some edge in the contest over their counterparts from Kwara Central.
Of the three, Zakari seems to be the most favoured by virtue of his youthfulness, vibrancy and suaveness.
However, Pategi and Lafiagi are not in any way pushovers, by virtue of their very deep experience in politics and public service delivery.
While Pategi has been in the House of Representatives for the past 12 years with quality and impactful representation, Lafiagi has been in the Senate for close to 8 years now and, once meritoriously served as the governor of the state from January 1992 to November 1993.
APC comes into the mix However, the permutation of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to field its gubernatorial candidate from Kwara Central on account of voting strength may alter the above stated arrangement of the Saraki-led political camp.
Even if such a scenario plays out in the coming week, the Leader will still find it difficult on who to back among the coterie of his diehard loyalists already in the race like Bolaji Abdullahi, who had at different times sacrificed national positions to follow Saraki to where ever he goes politically, ditto for Kawu Baraje, who despite rising up to the position of the PDP national chairman albeit in acting capacity, joined Saraki in leaving the party to the APC in 2014 and repeating same this year by following him out of the party back to the PDP.
Such credentials have also been displayed and demonstrated over the years by other gubernatorial aspirants from the zone like Dr Ali Ahmad, Alhaji Ladi Hassan etc.
Practically, in whatever way the expected scenarios would play out, it is certain that the three critical criteria of unflinching loyalty, requisite knowledge and competence must be seen to have been sufficiently possessed and demonstrated at different times by whoever eventually emerges.

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