Adamawa 2019: Are we spoilt for choice?

019 will be a year many Adamawa people will be keenly looking forward to. I will, as usual, be watching from the background as we see the clash of mostly personal egos and interests and some few community-driven interests cloaked with some measure of personal interest. I don’t begrudge any politician for his ambition nor his methods in attaining office; after all ambition and crookedness are bedmates to politics. We will have the benefit of having an abundance of choice for the Adamawa gubernatorial seat. We will surely be spoilt for choice.

We have a cosmopolitan looking, provincial thinking incumbent in Bindowo Jibirilla; there is Nuhu Ribadu, who has proved his mettle at the national and international stage; Marcus Gundiri, who has failed to change track and tactics since he first happened on the Adamawa political turf - relying on the block votes of the Christian community and Abdulazeez Nyako, the Senator representing Adamawa Central in the most people-unfriendly Senate ever. These are the major gladiators in the All Peoples Congress (APC). The PDP has Awwal Tukur whose ambition dated back to 2007 and has remained in the PDP even after most of his peers have dumped the party; there is also Sa’ad MC Tahir, Bala Ngilari’s deputy governor when they served Nyako’s residual tenure; and of course there is Ahmadu Umaru Fintitri, who acted for about three months after Nyako’s impeachment.

All the aforementioned have one thing in common - the undying ambition to occupy the government house in Yola. What I cannot vouch for is their ability to deliver. Though their reasons and modus may differ, I know all of them will claim to have the interest of the poor at heart and one of them will surely be voted for by the longsuffering poor masses of the state. Having the interests of the poor and the will to uplift their lifting standard is another thing. Politicians, particularly those from Adamawa state are never known to give a hoot about the voter’s needs as long as the voter can be manipulated to vote for him. Religion and ethnicity are the two manipulative tools used by our politicians and we have failed to realise they are playing us. I hope the 2019 elections will afford us the opportunity to vote according to our conscience and all candidates will be assessed based on their pedigree and/ or performance.

Take for instance the current governor who has invested so much in the provision of infrastructure, particularly roads. The road network in metropolitan Yola has all been rehabilitated and driving is no more the nightmare it used to be. But the question the discerning are asking is - at what cost? Going by the figures released by the Commissioner for Information sometimes last year, some of the roads rehabilitated costs as much as 400 million naira per kilometer, even for a completely new road. This is fantastic. I have never seen where a road project cost this much anywhere in the world. Besides, how much has this fantastic road projects cost the social sector - like education, healthcare delivery or potable water supply? It may seem these are not priority areas of the government. Besides, the governor has a credibility problem, which his critics amplify at every discussion. Without a political structure to call his own, and after falling out with “two” fathers - Nyako and Atiku - Bindowo may have a herculean task ahead of him if he wants to extend his tenancy at the government house, Yola.

Without a political structure and boasting of vulgar aides who mistakes thuggery for political strength and sagacity, the road back to the government house for our governor looks rough and tough. His aversion to ‘yan book is another thing all tpgether.

Another top contender with stellar credentials is Nuhu Ribadu. Ribadu, an expoliceman, made his name fighting corruption and became known worldwide for his strong stand against corruption. He sacrificed a lot for the country in his fight against corruption and was unfortunately consumed by his success. The power play that threw up ‘Yar’Adu’a in 2007 consumed him by forcing him to retire from the police prematurely. Many saw in him a potential Inspector General of Police, but the likes of Ibori made sure that dream didn’t see the light of the day. Though, eventually Ibori served time in a British jail for the same crimes Ribadu hounded him out of the country. Ribadu’s misfortunes are in failing to convert his crime-bursting success into political accomplishment. His first mistake, in my opinion, is in going for the presidency in 2011 when he was egged-on by people who has already made up their minds to vote for Jonathan Goodluck and were only looking for a lame duck candidate. The results show that. And it is unfortunate that we his limitless successes as a policeman, he allowed politicians to drag him by the nose.

Nuhu Ribadu is urbane, educated with a pedigree for performance and worldwide name recognition. He may be able to draw a lot of goodwill for the state and even possibly investments both locally and internationally. His major drawback may be his susceptibility to being influenced by others as we have seen in his short political sojourn so far. He may have to work hard to convince the people that he is his own man.

Marcus Gundiri is playing the politics played by the likes of late Wilson Sabiya and Dr. Bala Takaya, which in essence comprises of appealing to a particular segment of the society to the exclusion of the rest. This line of reasoning has denied the duo earlier mentioned the opportunity of being elected as governors of Adamawa state, though they may have a lot to offer. The reality is that the state is multiethnic and multi-religious and such factors have come to stay in our politics, much as I detest it. Believing that the support of only a segment of the society can get one into office is the biggest mistake any politician will do and Gundiri appears to have learnt nothing from the duo’s electoral failures.

Senator Nyako on the other hand rode on his father’s back to fame and has pretensions of establishing a political dynasty in Adamawa state. He also has a sense of grandeur and immodesty, which could easily bring his political aspirations crashing like a pack of cards. The Senator abandoned a promising (?) military career the moment his father became governor to jump into the murky river called politics. He managed to alienate many of his father’s political associates with his brand of politics and interference into government activities without actually taking up any public appointment. This led to the impeachment of the Senior Nyako. The remorse that many expected from the political upstart failed to materialize but rather a rise in haughtiness with his election to the Senate. The jury is still out as to whether he will win a Senate seat on his own steam or needs the Buhari juggernaut to catapult him back to the red chamber. Can he be a good leader? Not in my opinion.

And of course there is Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri, whose eighty-seven days as acting governor marked him out as a grassroots politician with the milk of human kindness flowing through his breasts. His first act was to clear all outstanding salary arrears owed the state civil servants and this act earned him the nickname “ATM”. He initiated infrastructural projects, which were it to be pro-rated with the time he spent as acting governor, should be the benchmark for any future governor of the state and an indictment on those before him. Much as bigots tried to pull him down they failed because when asked to provide empirical evidence of his bigotry, they failed.

The gubernatorial elections of 2019 in Adamawa will be largely determined by the quality of the candidate presented and not by the political platform. Let us develop a filter to sieve the chaff from the grains. Let us look out for the one in touch with our political reality and aspirations. Toungo wrote this piece from Abuja