Dankwambo, and a pedigree for presidency
A positive perception of the leadership potential and acumen of northern leaders was amply generated by the late President Umaru Musa Yar’adua who will be remembered for relying more on his professional, academic and intellectual perspectives than on the parochial instincts that usually sway many a political leader. Had he lived he held greater promise […]
A positive perception of the leadership potential and acumen of northern leaders was amply generated by the late President Umaru Musa Yar’adua who will be remembered for relying more on his professional, academic and intellectual perspectives than on the parochial instincts that usually sway many a political leader. Had he lived he held greater promise of earning admiration, respect and political support across Nigeria comparable to the outstanding stature attained by his deceased elder brother, General Shehu Musa Yar’adua.
As we are seized by the fast approaching 2019 transition we are not as confident and expectant of the viability of the Buhari Presidency as we were at its tumultuous inception. From riding high on the waves of popularity and acceptance of President Buhari as an icon of northern leadership credential, we are today in the depths of despondency over the decline in our political ranking for the presidency potency to the point of accepting the necessity for a change of candidate for the second term northern presidential slot.
The next northern presidential candidate must be able to reverse the decline in political leadership reckoning. He must be more of Umaru Musa Yar’adua in terms of all the positive political attributes and personal qualities that stood him out as the forerunner of a new generation of northern candidates for Presidency. Age, professional experience attainment, academic attainment, intellectual capacity, nationalistic disposition and humane concerns, among others, are critical prequalifying factors which gave Yar’adua the singular advantage.
Recent experience proves that once we get the leadership selection right, the preferred government will also emerge. By way of elimination, the age factor takes pre-eminence. Its time we actualize the generational shift in leadership cadre that has transformed many nations radically while we sheepishly idolize pensioners. So anyone above 60 is a non-starter for 2019 northern presidential candidature. Next, its time also to quarantine military training from civilian democratic leadership credentials, especially where it is the only form of training in the CV!
Politics without professional foundation is also untenable for 2019 prospectors in the north just as professional experience and attainment must assume decisive roles. The basic academic qualifications for consideration such as pre-JAMB and tertiary credentials should likewise filter the flow of aspirants as indispensible quality assurance benchmarks, lack of which should now automatically relegate leadership capacity in today’s Arewa. Due consideration should be given to the intellectual and political dispositions of leadership aspirants which are self-evident from the antecedents and track record, attitudes and principles displayed, reputation, social and community engagements.
Fortunately and contrary to prejudiced perceptions, the northern states are well-endowed with the ideal human leadership resources Nigeria desperately seeks if these critical prequalifying factors are prioritized in the selection process that must necessarily precede the election process to lend it credibility. Fortuitously, for Arewa 2019 such eminently qualified responsible political leaders are being identified by popular endorsement and presented with regularity and clamour by the concerned citizenry. In recent times, the name of Ibrahim Dankwambo has been repeatedly mentioned at various formal and informal platforms and gatherings where the disillusioned northern people ponder over their predicament and brainstorm to build consensus on the best examples of the required candidates.
As Governor of Gombe State, Ibrahim Dankwambo is not prospector aspirant, nor is he untried and untested. From the early years of primitive politics of parochial posturing, personality cultism and deadly gangsters, Gombe State has been quietly transformed into a peaceful, stable, maturing, integrated development zone. Its diverse peoples divisive excesses have been subtly contained and deployed to focus on the promising potentials of unity of purpose and richly endowed expanse of land which they all appreciate and nurture as a common heritage for a brighter future of sustainable statehood.
All it took to change Gombe State so profoundly was a positive change in leadership, nothing more! The people of Gombe did the needful having seen the rightful. The emergence of Governor Ibrahim Dankwambo and the tremendous transformation he brought about once again proves beyond reasonable doubt that good leadership is the best guarantor of sustainable progressive democracy. It is simply miraculous to witness the effective elimination of the notorious and dreaded Yan Kalare thugs from Gombe State followed by the enthronement of law, order, due process, transparency, accountability, prudent management of public resources, sustained development, human welfare and good governance.
Nothing can testify to the genuineness of Governor Dankwambo’s human and political capacity, commitment and credentials to provide responsible leadership and the corresponding overwhelming appreciation and endorsement of the entire people of Gombe State more eloquently than the remarkable outcome of the 2015 elections that saw Gombe State holding onto the Dankwambo legacy with tenacity that defied the so-called tsunami of change which did not spare the incumbent federal government and the governor’s PDP. Here again is vindication of the pre-eminence of credible candidature over party affiliation. No other northern leader in recent times comes near such phenomenal performance in progressive leadership.
Governor Dankwambo will be ripe to move to the national level after two terms of spectacular performance in Gombe State. Moreover, Governor Dankwambo is also pre-eminently pre-qualified for the national assignment. It will be recalled that prior to being elected, Dankwambo was the Accountant General of the Federation (AGF). It was from that coveted position that he resigned solely for the purpose of heeding the call to serve his people in 2011. The Presidency of Nigeria will not be strange territory because Governor Dankwambo is one of the few leaders with support base beyond their ethno-religious origins. He is Arewa’s best foot forward for 2019!
Bulus is a teacher in Jos.