Mohammed S. Umar
Information management is about creating understanding in a society and between various interests. The responsibility thrust of a minister of information should then be to market aggregate values of a country to the audience that should include those within the country (citizens) and outside in image laundering. It becomes tragic and bizarre when an instrument of cohesion falls into the wrong hand of those that now go berserk to disparage a section of a country in uncouth language to satisfy select interest.
Every reasonable Nigerian should condemn the recent outburst of the Minister of Information, LabaranMaku. It is evident that the minister is becoming irascible in trying to cover up iniquities or disappointment of the PDP government. His tirade against Governors Wamakko and Kwankwaso of Sokoto and Kano states, respectively, failed to address the burning issues confronting the nation today. Indeed, being a northerner, Maku is fully aware of the weight of his ranting. No amount of apology can attenuate a deliberate insult on a people.
In describing the exit of the five governors from PDP to APC Maku said “they are like the Fulani nomads, they move from one party to another without shame.” Every patriot can now glean that this is a calculated insult against a people. One wonders how the Fulani stock in PDP would feel about a government that stoops so low to insensitively unleash inappropriate charade against their culture. Unfortunately, there is virtue in migration for legitimate business. It is exploration of new frontiers which helps in human evolution. A static people creates a dull, odious, nauseating and erratic environment where nothing moves – it nurtures a stock of irredeemable revelry that continually snores in hang-over while their house is on fire.
There is unprecedented unemployment among vibrant section, the youth. This is because critical infrastructure that would facilitate employment generation is neglected for chase of political office glamour. Government is about addressing issues of good governance, which should reflect on the general life pattern of the citizens not rhetoric. The prevalent insecurity in the country has endangered economic and social growth in some parts of the country. Security of life and property is a social responsibility the government owes the governed. It guarantees the courage to invest by potential investors and precipitates greater and freer social interactions among the populace. That confidence of a secured citizenry is fast eroding from the psyche of every Nigerian. There is capricious lack of trust by the masses towards their leaders, and worst among themselves, because of perceived alienation.
The governors that decamped from PDP to APC did not take that decision in a hurry. Indeed, every option to convince the leadership of PDP to adhere to inclusive style of leadership was thoroughly explored, but unfortunately it was obvious that narrow interests had already been entrenched to truncate democratic principles. Concerted efforts were severally made to reconcile issues that border on the democratic mechanism of a true national party, but were rebuffed at every stage by petulant leadership that was vehemently insensitive to majority opinion.
The analysis of the present composition of the leadership of APC in Sokoto and Kano by Maku when looked carefully is vindictive orchestration of frustrated interest bent on creating disaffection among the people of the two states. The analysis is obvious in intent and purposes. Governors as chief executives cannot be irrelevant in their party leadership. It is normal democratic practice that they control the party at the state level to maintain necessary discipline and good followership. PDP or Maku cannot deny this fact, no matter how hard they try to stoke up embers of disaffection in Kano and Sokoto.
Unfortunately, it appears Maku might be relishing a dicey defection by those so-called founding fathers of APC in the states he mentioned. We wonder why the internal issue of APC should bother the Minister of Information. The evidential showmanship or persuasive nature in justifying the exit of the so-called founding fathers of APC in Kano and Sokoto failed woefully to situate their action within the Fulani movement theory of Maku. That is a typical hypocrite and a subordination of professionalism to mawkish sentimentality.
PDP instigated its present fate, and now there is strong opposition in APC certainly the party is at the brink of disintegration. It will be worse for it when APC takes over the mantle of leadership after 2015 general election. People can be fooled for some time, but definitely not all the time. It is time for change and the train is meandering through every nook and cranny of this country to connect the masses that shall sweep off the debris scattered all over the political landscape of this country by PDP.
Umar is President of Sokoto Liberal Democrats Media Foundation (SOLID). Email: [email protected]
