Nasarawa: A new dawn beckoning?
Nigeria’s democracy had thrown up all manner of people in leadership positions, including, sad to say fraudsters, which is why perhaps our politics is suffused largely by rancorous cacophony and brinkmanship. However, it appears a new set of people - highly educated, experienced with new ideals and mindsets are rearing their heads, though you many say they are still few and far between. Yet they are worth celebrating if only to underline the fact that there is still some silver lining in our country. One of them is Engineer Abdullahi A. Sule, the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress party in Nasarawa.
Engr. Sule has literally travelled the world, lived and worked in the United States for several years; the exploration and exploitation of oil has taken him to diverse places as Atlanta and Serbia, mingled with some of the world’s most influential persons, yet he does not carry himself about with supercilious pomposity as many Nigerian elites are wont to. He dresses simply most of the time (except perhaps when he is in suit) probably because by virtue of his profession he was used to wearing overall, helmet and boot. He is not given to emotions and is calm, at least from the little interaction one had with him. For example, he answers all questions, the good, the bad and the ugly, with even tone unlike others who would fly off the handle or betray their emotions when certain tough questions are thrown at them. And he is quick to apologise, unlike many of our elites for whom the word “sorry” does not exist in their dictionary. For example he apologised to a group of people who had come to see him and talking to him standing saying it is not in his character for people to converse with him while he is sitting down like a king and they standing. He also personally ushers his visitors to their seats, unlike the practice where the staff do this.
On the narrative being peddled by some people that he is not a native of Nasarawa state, Sule averred that the narrators would have to decree his hometown, Gudi, out of existence on the map of Nasarawa state for it to hold water. He disclosed that his father as the traditional ruler of the area is the one that signs the indigeneship form of the people to confirm their indigene-ship of the local government and Nasarawa state to wit.
The Nasarawa APC governorship candidate dismissed the claim that he would do the bidding of his erstwhile boss if elected, explaining that in so far as Dangote’s interests in Nasarawa State are the same as those of the state which is job creation and empowerment of Nasarawa people, the question of doing ‘Dangote’s bidding’ does not arise. Ditto the talk that he would pander to Governor Umar Tanko Al-makura’s wishes. Sule describing himself as an independent and knowledgeable person who probably has more experience than the governor because of his varied interactions and relationships worldwide, said that the governor’s wish would be for him(Sule) to perform better than him in office. While stating that the governor had laid a solid foundation for the state, Sule stated that his goal is to build solid structures on it, adding that in line with his professional training, he had already undertaken a survey of the state’s needs and prospects as well as how to achieve his set objectives for the state by way of models and approaches.
Victoria Ngozi Ikeano, Nasarawa State Lafia,