RABIU KWANKWASO: A MAN OF HONOUR

“Friends are an aid to the young, to guard them from error, to the elderly, to attend to their wants and to supplement their failing power of action, to those in the prime of life, to assist them to noble deeds” - Aristotle.

On January 27, 2016 as the oath of office was being administered on Alhaji Yahaya Bello as Governor of Kogi State, I remember how the cold hands of death snatched away Prince Abubakar Audu. He would have been the one with the deserved honour alongside his deputy, Hon. James Faleke. I remember so many things. I remember what the late Prince Audu had said; the things he had done and what he planned to do. I reflected on his eccentricities with melancholy. I remember how after the primary elections, accompanied by Hon. Faleke, Prince Audu tried to reach out to the then aggrieved Mr Yahaya Bello for reconciliation and cooperation in the interest of the party and the disdainful treatment of the latter both on the phone and when the duo of Audu and Faleke resigned to seek him out in his home. Then, I remember what he always said to his friends about my work, entitled, Audu, Where are you? Human life is such that we cannot give our planning the credit for our ultimate arrival. Whether we move at random from one attraction to another, or shun all else in concentration. Our destiny both drives and direct us, turning us back from every deviation, hurrying us forward to what no thought of ours can possibly design or foresee. If however there’s such a thing as cruel destiny, I daresay the destiny that plucked out Prince Audu in his moment of triumph; that destiny that has come between Hon. Faleke and duly deserved inherited position and transferring same to Yahaya Bello, albeit and hopefully, in the meantime, is indeed, a cruel destiny.

I remember the life, times, friends and allies of the late Prince Audu. Talking about friends and allies of the late politician, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, a former Governor of Kano State is one friend for consideration. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso is a politician of eminence in the ancient city of Kano, a city known for its high political and commercial activities; home to such legendary politicians as late Sir Aminu Kano, late Alhaji Abubakar Rimi, Alhaji Yusuf Maitama Sule, and late Sabo Barkin Zuwo and businessmen like Alhaji Aminu Dantata, Alhaji Ishaku Rabiu and Alhaji Aliko Dangote. As far as the proud and eminent men of Kano came, Musa Kwankwaso is distinguished by fundamental goodness of character and heroic political prowess. Kwankwaso, a quintessential progressive, is the proponent of the Kwankwasiyya philosophy, a deliberative democracy mechanism which ensures that the government listens to problems and respond, creating room for the people to take ownership of solutions to identified problems. Kwankwaso, like his late friend, Prince Audu, says what he means. His strong reason, great experience coupled with his noble and generous notion about politics ensured that Kano State today is a reference point on developmental vision.

Endowed with wisdom and uncanny foresight, Rabiu is acquainted with politics in all its parts. Unarguably, he is one of the brains that plotted the fall of the Peoples Democratic Party. I recall with excitement the Nigerian Governors’ Forum and new PDP saga. Of all Kwankwaso’s towering accomplishments, I find his sense of friendship admirably fascinating. Kwankwaso has a pleasant and genial personality. I have never seen a better or truer friend of the late Prince Audu. During the lifetimes of Audu and after his death, Kwankwaso is dedicated to the cause of their friendship. His loyalty in defending Audu’s honour after his death is astounding. The totality of Kwankwaso’s involvement in the political and personal affairs of late Prince Audu, his concern for the well-being of Audu family has redefined friendship among politicians. By and large, Kwankwaso is not the only ally of the Audu, but in a true and practical sense of the word, he is; he is a devotee of the Audu. Comrade Musa Wada, Lokoja