Kano and the disdain for political anointment

Not too long ago, Kwankwaso as governor of Kano State between 1999 and 2003 was shown the door for arrogance and non-performance. His successor Malam Ibrahim Shekarau became governor because of the humiliation he received from Kwankwaso who ignominiously demoted Shekarau from Permanent Secretary to an ordinary class teacher. Kano people, in their bid to […]

Not too long ago, Kwankwaso as governor of Kano State between 1999 and 2003 was shown the door for arrogance and non-performance. His successor Malam Ibrahim Shekarau became governor because of the humiliation he received from Kwankwaso who ignominiously demoted Shekarau from Permanent Secretary to an ordinary class teacher. Kano people, in their bid to prove to politicians that power indeed belonged to them sided with the underdog. They dismissed the governor’s dreams and gave Shekarau a resounding mandate that kept him in office for two terms. For eight years before Kwankwaso reclaimed his second term, Shekarau was the lord of the manor. But while at it, he forgot that the democratic zeal of the people had handed him the mandate as compensation for obedience. So he tried to swing the votes in favour of his godson Alhaji Salihu Sagir Takai. But he failed woefully and Kwankwaso was by some incidental algorithm returned to do a second term. The shame of his defeat sunk deep when Kwankwaso returned because it gave birth to the Kwankwasiyya philosophy, which was well received in Kano.
The topsy-turvy baton change between Shekarau and Kwankwaso is reminiscent of the power play in Jamaican Prime Ministerial exchange between Sir Michael Manley and Edward Seaga. But worse than that is the morale which over time has established the notion that the Kano electorate abhors manipulation.
Shekarau, who is currently a troubled Minister for Education, because of strikes and all, is holding the tiger by the tail as he is poised to lock horns, again, with Governor Kwakwaso, but this time both men are sparring by proxy. While Kwankwaso is rooting for his deputy, Dr Ganduje, Mallam Shekarau will be hoping that his god-son Alhaji Salihu Sagir Takai will become drive the sirens through Sokoto Road. The interesting morale from this encounter is that history is about to repeat itself. Both men were first and foremost trounced by the other as incumbents even while trying to perpetuate their dominance over Kano politics. At both occasions they were incumbents and worked for themselves and both of them failed. Conclusively, one can say that both men, if history is anything to go by, are about to be shamed again.
Today, the two former governors are working to install other people. In simple terms, one would have thought that they have burnt their fingers but would be shy to burn their bridges. If Kano was any other state, the desires and inordinate ambitions of these two governors would have cut through like hot knife on butter. But dreams alone don’t cut it in Kano, where if wishes were donkeys, beggars would smile. But this is Kano whose motto, when transcribed literally is “man pass man.”
The Deputy Governor, Abdullahi Ganduje and Sagir Takai can continue to bask in that illusion. Suffice it to say that in Kano, political history has shown that candidates can win elections on their own merit alone. Since the days of the Peoples Redemption Party, PRP, when Mallam Aminu Kano dominated the field like a colossus, no politician, no matter how sagacious has been able to redeem any political IOU to a godson or a friend. Aminu Kano believed so much in democracy that he allowed talented politicians to fly unfettered. His doctrine of power to the people became so pervasive that the people caught the bug and kept the flu. Since then, all fly by night politicians have been shamed by the electorate.
Even his invincibility in Kano, General Muham-madu Buhari, who enjoys overwhelming popularity among the Talakawa, had tried and failed to impose Lawal Jafaru Isa on the people in 2011. The people have always kept their swag. In considering the candidates therefore, the two gladiators must be reminded that it takes a village in Kano politics. Kwankwaso might have performed superfluously as governor between 2011 and 2015, but that does not mean that Kano people would accept his anointed man as his successor.
What is the fate of Salihu Sagir Takai in this equation? Many people have likened Shekarau’s desire to impose Takai as wanting pigs to fly. The former Water Resources commissioner was Shekarau’s candidate in 2011 and was defeated under the platform of All Nigerian Peoples Party ANPP. This defeat in the hands of Kwankwaso after eight years in limbo is a substantiation of the political independence of Kano people. Under no circumstances must anyone assume that the Kano electorate can be manipulated into accepting one man’s wish and only a fool would run around hanging his hopes on anointment to govern Kano. But where will the dark horse emerge from?