Despite the Gama gamble

I turned to look at Tahir, who, drowsy with sleep had already turned off his bedside lamp, and I carefully said: ‘One thing can certainly be said about these “inconclusive polls”, they sure come with a lot of dividends.’ I observed, putting down the newspaper I’d just finished reading on my bedside drawer. ‘Really, what makes […]

I turned to look at Tahir, who, drowsy with sleep had already turned off his bedside lamp, and I carefully said:

‘One thing can certainly be said about these “inconclusive polls”, they sure come with a lot of dividends.’ I observed, putting down the newspaper I’d just finished reading on my bedside drawer.

‘Really, what makes you think so?’ He asked.

‘I just finished reading what the columnist, Dr Ibrahim, wrote. In the two weeks it took to prepare for a rerun of gubernatorial elections in the disputed Gama ward, in Kano,  twenty boreholes have been provided, the main street is being rehabilitated and bulldozers got busy making sure that refuse dumps were fast disappearing. Pregnant women were given free delivery kits in hospitals while the youths were getting free football kits to aid their recreational skills. Even mosques and hospitals got rehabilitated because Gama had to wear a new look ahead of the supplementary elections. Tell me Tahir, would these have come their way if that ‘inconclusive’ label wasn’t attached to their polls?’ I queried.

‘No they wouldn’t and that proves to us how insincere our politicians are. I mean these things Dr Ibrahim listed were all things Gama people have always needed but in the four years they’ve ruled, the authorities didn’t think these people deserved them. Now that it looked like the only way to get votes, they decided to remember that the poor chaps in Gama have been living without potable drinking water and around  mountains of refuse. They suddenly noticed that their women have been having babies without the requisite delivery kits and their youths need recreational tools. What a lot of hypocrisy!’ He concluded with disgust.

‘Yes, hypocrisy indeed! But the man to thank for even these hypocritical dividends coming their way, is the INEC Chairman. Truly Mr Prof deserves all the kudos for the Gama transformation. If I were the ward head of this area I won’t think twice before naming that rehabilitated road after the INEC chairman.’ I declared.

‘In that case many more roads will have to be named after the Prof, if we are talking about dividends of inconclusive polls in Kano. I mean look at the local governments that were suddenly given a naira rain because the supplementary elections were coming. Over 200 million was suddenly disbursed without any debate or red tape. If it wasn’t for the desperation with which they wanted those votes, this isn’t the kind of money withdrawn and shared in a matter of days. And the commissioner for local governments had the guts to say that it wasn’t for the same purpose because the affected local governments were only nine but the money was given to 13 local governments areas of the state.

But who is he kidding? If the funds weren’t released to influence the elections, why were all the nine affected local governments included. Why not others from among the 44 existing local governments in the state?’ Tahir asked heatedly.

‘You are right Hubby dear and the best part of this desperate act of voter inducements is that it exposed the way government works. By this I mean we always saw government work as slow to execute because so many people are involved. From the approval to release of funds to project take off, everything is a matter of months. But after what we’ve seen, in the Gama gamble, we now know that government projects can be assigned and executed in the shortest possible time, given the political will.’ I observed.

‘Oh yes, even the money disbursed to local governments is another pointer to that. Ordinarily state governments will always drag feet about any allocation to the third tier of government. They like keeping them imporverished, underdeveloped and at their mercy. But because this time around they are desperate for results, the money was released without any fuss at any quarters.’ Tahir noted.

‘You know what’ I said turning over on my pillow to face him ‘If I were a resident of Gama or any of these local governments, I would gladly refuse to vote them, for these were things we deserved which you didn’t want to give us and now that you need us, like a trade by batter you decide to make it a game of give and take. It’s very unfair.’ I opined

‘But some people did exactly that Bint. You were away visiting Little  Bint and didn’t know how it went. You see despite what you called the Gama gamble and all the other inducements, the authorities still weren’t confident of winning. They knew that there were people who felt betrayed that they weren’t given any dividends of democracy until the supplementaries came; so they were prepared for them. And the result was the thuggery, voter intimidation and even bloodshed that marred the polls on that day.’ He disclosed.

‘Really Tahir? How then did they get a winner if the polls were marred by such incidents?’ I asked, sitting up in amazement.

‘Dont ask me Bint. Just accept that our democracy is a game of abracadabra “the more you see the less you understand”. And frankly I don’t want to dwell on it. I’d had enough of it when you were away and I hadn’t much else to do. Additionally, I just want to close my eyes and sleep. I need to wake up at 4am and seek my home in the next world. So please, do not bother me anymore by enquiring about the dirty deals of our political class.’ He begged.

‘No problem Hubby dearest. Get your beauty sleep and later seek the blessings of the last third of the night. Just make sure you wake me up too. So we can both seek and hopefully find those blessings together.’ I replied, putting my head back on the pillow and switching off the bedside lamp.