Cool down, Sarkin Fulani
Another newspaper had reported in its Monday’s edition that the son of Alhaji Walid Jibrin had joined the Congress for Progressive Change [CPC] party. That was meant to be a severe blow to Alhaji Walid, who is the secretary of the PDP Board of Trustees [BOT] and has been so for many years now under […]
Another newspaper had reported in its Monday’s edition that the son of Alhaji Walid Jibrin had joined the Congress for Progressive Change [CPC] party. That was meant to be a severe blow to Alhaji Walid, who is the secretary of the PDP Board of Trustees [BOT] and has been so for many years now under different BOT chairmen.
In his heated response in a full page advertorial, Alhaji Walid said, “Normally I shouldn’t have joined issues with the so-called son or the CPC itself but for the great respect I have for some CPC leaders and to keep the record straight. The Jibrin family is a wider spectrum of family set up with identified blood relationship. For example, within the family we have Walid Jibrin having 10 children, Usman Jibrin 22 children, Mailafiya Jibrin 12 children, Abdullahi Jibrin 8 children, Hajia Bamaiyi Jibrin 1 child, Zahliya Jibrin 1 child, Hajia Jami Jibrin 4 children. The Imrana Usman Jibrin who is purported to have joined the CPC is the son of late Usman Jibrin who died two years ago. Even though Imrana is the son of my brother, I have no absolute control over him as I have over any of my 10 children who are intact and fully under my control.” He added that “Imrana, the son of Usman Jibrin, has allowed himself to be cheaply used by some desperate CPC leaders in Nasarawa State to tarnish my hard earned name and to damage my honour and integrity.”
Cool down, Alhaji, cool down. This matter is not as serious as that. Walid Jibrin is the Sarkin Fulanin Nasarawa and has been an active defender of the rights of pastoralists all over Nigeria for more than 20 years now. As such he should be steeped in pulaku, the ancient Fulani culture of shyness and self effacing modesty. Usman Jibrin’s son, more than his own biological children, is the son of Alhaji Walid whether he misbehaves or not.
Come to think of it, what is misbehaviour here? All that the boy did is to join a political party, for that matter a party that controls the state government in Nasarawa. It may have provided to local CPC leaders some fodder for propaganda, but that is all there is to it. No one in the PDP BOT is going to accuse Alhaji Walid of not making sure that all his children are PDP members. No family as large as that could or even should have all its members belonging to one political party. So cool it, Alhaji. As we say here in Nigeria, nothing spoil!
Pot calling kettle black
President Goodluck Jonathan’s aides have charged that Jigawa State Governor Sule Lamido is overheating the polity. This is a really remarkable charge that warrants taking a second look, so I had to go back to the newspaper page to see what this case of a pot calling kettle black was all about.
Lamido had told reporters in his state capital, Dutse that even if Jonathan emerges as PDP’s candidate for president in 2015, he is not guaranteed a win in the general elections. What is wrong with that statement, which is so obvious? What Lamido said was, “If you are saying his party must give him the ticket, it is okay. They can say so. But it doesn’t mean he is going to win the election. But when you say he must win the election, then what are you talking about?” The story did not say what question the reporters asked Lamido, but one can deduce from his reply that he was asked a provocative question such as “You know PDP must give Jonathan its 2015 ticket.”
Jonathan’s political adviser, Ahmed Gulak, who made the charge about overheating the polity, did not think Chief Tony Anenih was overheating the polity when he suggested that Jonathan and all first term PDP governors should be given automatic return tickets in 2015. Or when the same man said there is no vacancy in Aso Rock in 2015. Haba Gulak, you are an old soot-covered cooking pot calling kettle black.