In Sokoto, why the eyes on Bafarawa?
It took a resounding diplomatic approach of the Sultanate as well as the singular statesmanship of Governor Wammakko to calmly override the media spin, thereby effectively debunking the notion of strained relationship. By the time His Eminence Sultan Saad Abubakar presided over the turbaning of the new district heads appointed in place of those removed […]
It took a resounding diplomatic approach of the Sultanate as well as the singular statesmanship of Governor Wammakko to calmly override the media spin, thereby effectively debunking the notion of strained relationship. By the time His Eminence Sultan Saad Abubakar presided over the turbaning of the new district heads appointed in place of those removed and admonished them to steer clear of partisan politics in order to be true fathers of all their people and also preserve the honour and respect of the traditional institution, there was a graveyard silence from the hitherto noisy opposition. People now confirmed that the media propaganda around the removed district heads was directly linked to their harbouring partisan agenda while masquerading as district heads.
The fat cat behind the clandestine manipulation of the revered traditional institution in Sokoto State was however finally yanked out of the bag of intrigues, when the Sokoto State Government finished the sanitation exercise with the clinical excision of Alhaji Isa Bajini Galadanchi from membership of the state Council of Chiefs and as a Senior Councillor in the Sultanate Council. Along with this, came the astonishing revelation of the arbitrary and primordial motivations of former Governor Attahiru Bafarawa whose subordinating assault on the Sultanate Council and indeed the privileged heritage of the throne of Sultan of Sokoto still remains one of the excesses of his government.
On one hand, Bafarawa took advantage of his exalted office to promote his clannish interest by not only creating the Bafarawa District but imposing his own father as district head! He did this knowing fully well that his actions lacked legitimacy and offended the two centuries long tradition observed in the sultanate of Sokoto. He even went further in desecrating the sanctity of the Sultanate Council by surreptitiously removing the then Galadiman Durbawa and appointing his political associate in his place for the sordid purpose of planting his stooge among the kingmakers by virtue of the fact that the Galadima is an automatic member of the kingmakers. This was in pursuit of his pipe dream of being the “power behind the Sultanate” which he began unfolding before he was voted out of office by outraged citizens.
These revelations have effectively unmasked Alhaji Attahiru Bafarawa as the “local champion” of the kind of politics which took place when he was before he was planted on Sokoto State as Governor. Against this background, it is sad to hear that people like Atiku Abubakar and General Buhari have actually allowed Bafarawa to join them in preparation for 2011.
Governor Wammakko has left no one in doubt by the way he quietly but effectively identified the left-over cankerworms of nepotism and autocracy and surgically excised them from the political heritage of the Seat of the Caliphate, to much undeserved flak. Rather than seek to build himself, Wammakko demonstrated his commitment to combine good governance with respect for the tradition and heritage of the people. There is no doubt that his legacies will benefit the people of Sokoto State.
Dallatu writes from Bodinga