Therefore, different politicians achieve popularity for different reasons. A reputation for selfishness, cold-heartedness and stinginess are not virtues that can easily attract popularity to a politician. It is also easier to court the affection of the people when you touch their lives directly. This is the question, which many enemies of Mohammed Abacha have failed to address. Despite the malicious media campaign against him by his opponents, his popularity with the ordinary people remains as formidable as ever in Kano State. He never hesitated to touch the lives of the ordinary people in their hour of need. He tremendously assisted thousands of people to settle medical bills and other basic economic needs. Besides, thousands of youths have received his succour at critical moments of need. Even the author of the 48 Laws of Power, Robert Green, admits the role of what he calls “strategic generosity” as a factor for political success. This factor helped Abiola and Mohammed Abacha incredibly well.

Everything in life is a combination of hard work, good luck, destiny and personal attitude towards your community, especially in the life of a politician. There is no disputing the fact that Mohammed Abacha is tremendously compassionate, aided by hard work. His opponents didn’t work hard to the extent he did. They instead relied exclusively on General Buhari to campaign for them to achieve victory. We have to be honest to admit that Mohammed planned far ahead and better than his opponents to achieve his goals. If we dream for any ambition, we shouldn’t oversleep and instead we should stay awake and work hard towards that objective. Destiny is also at work to define Mohammed’s success. No matter how hard he worked, however, if it is not the will of God, he wouldn’t have been elected by the people as the gubernatorial candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) in Kano State.

It is therefore, unfortunate to see how Mohammed Abacha’s opponents are sponsoring malicious media campaign to bring him down. If they were truthful and sincere politicians, they should have used the millions they are spending on newspaper adverts to malign him in touching the lives of their distressed neighbours. Spending millions on wasteful newspaper adverts to bring down your opponents is bad politics. A sincere politician would have used the funds to lift the lives of others. If politicians can use the millions they are wasting to bring down their opponents to practical alleviation of poverty, they would have tremendously reduced the burden of economic strangulation facing their immediate poor neighbours.

It seems Mohammed Abacha’s opponents are working against the larger interest of the party. His opponents are mainly determined to see that the CPC doesn’t have a gubernatorial candidate in this election. Their logic is simple: if I cannot have it, let no one else have it. In any contest, however, only one man can emerge a winner. The larger interest of the CPC is more important than individual ambitious. If the CPC ended up without a candidate, which seems to be ultimate objective of Mohammed Abacha’s opponents, who is the loser? Certainly, it is the CPC!

One must, however, praise the humility, maturity, sagacity and courage of Alhaji Rufai Hanga, one of Abacha’s opponents who had now decided to throw his weight behind the party’s gubernatorial candidate in the larger interest of the CPC. He told the Freedom Radio in an interview in Kano that at this stage, every loyal member of the party must unite and work together to ensure the CPC takes power in Kano State. The former Senator from Kano State appealed to CPC supporters throughout the state to throw their weight behind Mohammed Abacha. Therefore, the supporters of Colonel Lawal Ja’afaru Isa should demonstrate the same courage by working for the success of the party.

In fact, the smear campaign against Mohammed Abacha has achieved the opposite result. Instead, it has made him even more popular in Kano State in the same manner the hostile media war against General Buhari collapsed. It is futile fighting the men and women of destiny. Former President Jerry Rawlings of Ghana was liberated from prison to become the leader of his country; the late Pakistani Prime Minister, Mrs. Benazir Bhutto, became the first-ever woman political leader of her country in 1988 after the death of General Mohammed Zia-Ul-Haq who had vowed to stop her from leading her country through a constitutional amendment. But God decided otherwise and she became a Prime Minister ultimately. Our enmity against our opponents cannot stop the hands of destiny.

Millions of CPC supporters are impressed by Mohammed Abacha’s loyalty to General Buahri and the party. He sees General Buhari as a father, having worked with the late General Sani Abacha to make the defunct Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF) a success story. The CPC gubernatorial candidate had mobilized thousands of the party supporters to receive General Buhari at the airport during the presidential campaign of the party in Kano. He disappointed his opponents who had thought that he would distance himself from the party, which recognizes his opponent, Colonel Ja’afaru Isa. But Mohammed Abacha had proven to his opponents that he is not petty-minded. He had demonstrated that the party progress is more important than individual ambition; he had also proven that his respect and loyalty to General Buhari goes beyond their present political association. Despite the knowledge that the party leadership is supporting his rival, Mohammed worked like an obedient party man to mobilize thousands of CPC supporters to come and receive General Buhari.

Mohammed’s magnanimity and humility should humble any party man who believes in the collective success of the party. His opponents should stop wasting millions on newspaper adverts to malign him and, instead use the funds to finance the success of the party. According to Senator Sani Hanga, leaders of the Buhari Organization such as Sule Hamma and Buba Galadima, are mainly to blame for misleading General Buhari on the imperative of internal democracy. He believes they have their personal agendas to impose their own candidates whether the voters want them or not. As a result, the party is bitterly divided in states such as Kano, Katsina and Bauchi. Most CPC supporters are disappointed that General Buhari didn’t raise the hands of Mohammed Abacha and Lado Danmarke during his final campaign tour to Kano and Katsina states respectively. Mohammed Abacha’s popularity is unrivalled in Kano State and his opponents should demonstrate sportsmanship and grace by putting the success of the CPC before their personal ambition. The CPC cannot afford division at this critical stage when the nation speaks in unison behind the urgency of throwing out PDP, which used 12 years of democracy to aggravate poverty, insecurity, unemployment, hunger, despair and disease.

Jalal writes from 10, Jameel Street, Anguwar Rimi, [email protected]