A TALE OF THREE GOVERNORS

Refinement of the mind and aptitude to make informed decisions and ability of objective and rational judgement, like most practical skills, come with the ageing process if one is continuously exposed to logic. This is the reason why I agree with the judgement of the former governor of Cross River State, Donald Duke, that truncating the presidential and national assembly polls of Saturday 16th February 2019 would surely put a great strain on the lean finances of the opposition, especially knowing that the sitting government could so easily tap into the national fund reserves to bankroll an extended campaign. Shall we add also that menacing the opposition and boxing it into a corner in order to manipulate outcomes of polls is a feature of Third World democracy? Over there at Kaduna State, Gov. Nasir el-Rufai, forever the obstinate one who rue making apologies for his careful talks and gaffes was glad to tell one of the meanest lies of this election season detailing how tens of Fulani tribesmen were killed at Adara Chiefdom. For this governor, the twin items of consciousness detailing the tribe of Adara and the idea of mort should bother him really. This is in addition to threatening to send foreign election observers back home in body bags.

Basically, this governor, who is generally regarded as the intellectual in the inner circle surrounding President Muhammadu Buhari, is one bogeyman who has just primed the Fulanis to attack Adara Chiefdom in order that elections would not hold there and we would not be far off the mark if we add that there was a ploy to garner national sympathetic Fulani votes for his principal. That ploy would surely be blunted because Candidate Atiku Abubakar also appeals to the Fulani voting bloc because he has promised to truthfully encourage sedentary animal husbandry. Over here in Niger State, the one who should sit down with Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar (rtd.) and sign a peace pact is the governor who incidentally is the son-in-law of Gen. Abubakar. This young man, Abubakar Sani Bello, with the feminine nickname of “Abu Lolo,” gets pelted with myriad objects wherever he goes on his campaign stump because folks consider him a total failure in the art of public administration. How does the governor take this public shaming? Somehow, Abu Lolo is able to pull some judicial strings such that his opponent in the forthcoming gubernatorial polls is perpetually in court to repeatedly answer to charges for which he has secured bail. It is no secret here that Abu Lolo’s only hope of winning at the polls is to incarcerate Umar Gado Nasko plus the Niger State Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party whilst throwing former Gov. Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu into the mix too. Sunday Adole Jonah, Department of Physics, Federal University of Technology, Minna, Niger State