By Arch Sani Muhammad Kabir
I bumped into a very exciting political story on Bauchi State last week. It was reported that the governor had appointed some media assistants on print, broadcast and new media. According to the online statement, the team is tasked with the ‘“responsibility of showcasing and propagating the good work of the Governor of the State on social networks”. This is good news.
If there is one governor who has been so unlucky with media reports and the story of the work in his State. It’s Governor Muhammad Abdullahi Abubakar of Bauchi State. For over a long time, I just couldn’t comprehend this media quirk, until some months ago when the war between Governor Abubakar and his political foes became open.
The political turn of events in Bauchi since 2015 has left me and many other indigenes of the State bitter and confused. We have always been used to opposition party members fighting the government in power – from inception to the next election.
This new regressive turn that members of the Governor’s political party are the ones fighting his administration as they don’t see anything good in the State despite the many developmental projects on ground, is actually a thing of concern for anybody who wants the progress of Bauchi State.
I am not a supporter of M. A. Abubakar. In fact, I never gave him a chance to do well on the basis of his legal background, because I initially thought Bauchi State doesn’t need another technocrat, at least not at that material time.
Having escaped the 8 years of PDP misrule, what I felt Bauchi State needed then was a man with vast political and administrative experience, not a career Barrister like M. A. Abubakar. It is however magical that the man has completely proven me wrong with his laudable projects, social innovations and administrative vision.
In the last 17 months, M. A. Abubakar has redefined development and good governance in Bauchi State, for once in a long while, the people of Bauchi are happy and satisfied with government policies and programmes. The love and support the public has for the Governor is an attestation of that fact.
In just a short time, the governor has positively impacted on every facet of human life in the State – education, security, agriculture, healthcare, employment, water, empowerment as well as housing and shelter. It’s like Abubakar has been preparing all his life on how to solve all of Bauchi’s problem and he is doing just that.
It is therefore worrying when some group of party men decided to bring the governor down despite his progressive strides in the State. It begs the question, whose beneficial interest is this political war serving? Definitely not the people of Bauchi State.
Constructive political opposition is a good thing for any government of the day. It helps keep the administrators in line and it gives the public an option for change, but it is a blatant disregard for the public when politicians selfishly fight a government that is doing well for the people as it is the case presently in Bauchi State.
It is bewildering that the people that should support and help the Governor to continue to do well for the people of the State are particularly the ones who choose to selfishly fight and distract Abubakar to the detriment of the development of our dear State.
If the power blocs in the State actually meant well for the people, they would have known that this is no time for dirty politicking. This is the time to make amends for every political difference and come together for the betterment of Bauchi State.
There are always lots of dusts after an election in every State, but the smart political elites in most States sheath their swords and push forward the winning government for the development of their States. Other elected politicians virtually provide a platform for administrative guidance for the man in power. This is the political tradition in the country, which unfortunately the political office holders in Bauchi choose to ignore.
They choose to fight the governor for their own selfish political reasons. They choose to ignore what the people want and carved a path that will lead to the end of their political relevance. They choose to blindly torch the anger and fury of the electorate.
It is worthy of note that, the political blackmail and counter blackmail on M A Abubakar has only made the governor more popular by the day. It is pleasing that Governor Abubakar is smart and wise enough to fight this political war with his progressive and developmental work in the State.
I wish to plead with Governor Abubakar to stay focus in governance and ignore his ‘party men’s’ unnecessary attacks on his person and government. This is not only a fight on the governor, it is also a fight against the people of Bauchi State. And the people will fight back with their voter’s card when the time is right.
All of our religions tell us that it is God Almighty that gives power to man and taketh it when He pleases. The earlier this political detractors in the State understand that, the better for them and Bauchi State. Cynicism is not going to give them power, only God can.
I rest my pen.
Kabir wrote in from Bauchi and can be reached on kbkatagum@gmail.com
