Kwara: Time to reward loyalty?

For those not familiar with the Ruth story, the book of Ruth in the Holy Bible is a good guide. But we are not talking about Ruth here, this is the story of another man in the contemporary age who has demonstrated the type of steadfastness and commitment of Ruth, his name is Mallam Bolaji […]

For those not familiar with the Ruth story, the book of Ruth in the Holy Bible is a good guide.

But we are not talking about Ruth here, this is the story of another man in the contemporary age who has demonstrated the type of steadfastness and commitment of Ruth, his name is Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, the erstwhile National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC) who resigned his office recently.

The news of Abdullahi’s resignation as the APC’s National Publicity Secretary following the defection of the Senate President, Dr Abubakar Bukola Saraki from APC to PDP, took the media and the internet like a storm, many wondered how a man could be so loyal to a fault to have left such exalted office for uncertainty, because it was widely assumed Saraki would be stripped of his position as number three citizen. Even those who pretend not to like him or his principal were always quick to use him as a reference point when the words loyalty and diplomacy are mentioned.

Those familiar with Abdullahi’s story know he hasn’t done anything unusual, he has done it before in a more juicy office when he resigned as the Minister of Youth and Sports under the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan, again following the defection of Senator Saraki from the PDP to the APC.

All the time Abdullahi has had reason to resign appointment and dump party was because of his principal, there was no time he took such decision on a personal note.

Abdullahi, who has his first stint in public office as a Commissioner for Education under the Saraki-led administration in Kwara State, has moved up to become a fine technocrat with full grasp of the required ingredients needed in steering a public organization.

His rare trait of loyalty has earned him the sobriquet of “Omoluabi” among the political class. The sobriquet which means “a responsible fellow” no doubt aptly fits the man who has continued to be the toast of all.

Beyond his outstanding virtue of loyalty, talk of finesse, class, calmness and smartness, Abdullahi it is. This is very evident in the way he has managed and recorded landmark success in the various public offices he had served Kwara and the nation at large.

As Kwara state Commissioner for Education, Abdullahi, who came into the office to meet a rot and deplorable system, left all in awe with the way he managed the state’s education sector which culminated into a revolution that democratised access to quality education for all Kwarans.

Again, he proved that he was not a local champion when he was appointed to oversee the nation’s ministry of sport. It will not be out of place to say that it was during Abdullahi’s short time as Sports Minister that the Nigerian team at various international competitions recorded the best success so since the return to democratic government in 1999. Remarkable among the successes was the 2013 African Nations cup won by the Nigerian Super Eagles.

In all of these, his latest resignation as APC’s spokesperson and Chairman of the Board of National Sugar Development Council (NSDC) has continued to raise questions of compensation and reward for a worthy follower. Just as the biblical Ruth did not go in vain and reaped heavy reward from all her doggedness and loyalty, it is believed that Abdullahi’s longstanding loyalty and competence will not be left to slide away unnoticed.

As the 2019 general elections draw nigh, observers are earnestly looking towards the direction of Mallam Abdullahi as a worthy successor of Governor Abdulfatai Ahmed who can carry on with the developmental mantra that has been established in Kwara under the Saraki’s administration. As a former cabinet member, he is not a novice to the governance of Kwara, as a former Minister, he sure has full grasp of public administration.

His candidacy would no doubt be a great advantage to the State of Harmony, to consolidate the harmonious success.

Femi Salako, Akure, Ondo State