On that painpul hangover in Zamfara
It was definitely a very courageous move on the part of the governor in view of the long-standing unpopularity and rejection of the PDP in Zamfara State since 1999, a situation that has its origins even further back in the history of Zamfara politics. Faced with the harsh reality of getting elected under ANPP platform […]
It was definitely a very courageous move on the part of the governor in view of the long-standing unpopularity and rejection of the PDP in Zamfara State since 1999, a situation that has its origins even further back in the history of Zamfara politics. Faced with the harsh reality of getting elected under ANPP platform just as the party was being systematically dismembered and eventually placed under the auctioneer’s hammer by myopic and self-centered national leaders, it took a great deal of political foresight and sagacity for Governor Mahmuda Shinkafi to decide not only to bail his people out from the sinking ship, but to opt for the PDP as the best alternative. With hindsight however, it has become very obvious that Governor Mahmuda’s radical initiative was the best option as far as political pragmatism and tactical intelligence are concerned. Going all out to move into the PDP outwitted Senator Yarima and his conspiring colleagues in the ANPP national exco who thought they could “chop” from both ends of their wide mouths by dining with the Yar’adua Presidency at night and clinging to the ANPP in daylight.
The decision to go for the PDP was also “all correct” because, as native intelligence puts it, if you want to eat a frog, choose a fleshy one. The PDP may be marooned and miserable in Zamfara State, but it is the ruling party in Nigeria and this will surely give the dividends of democracy for the people of Zamfara State a huge boost that turns the few second class crumbs from the GNU into peanuts. Getting all the people of Zamfara State into the PDP will unite the bitterly divided people and connect them to the “national grid” of governance, after years of drifting aimlessly in opposition. As for the PDP in Zamfara State, its leaders were so disillusioned about their condition of permanent unpopularity that they had no qualms about openly soliciting Governor Mahmuda’s takeover of their beleaguered party.
Well, a lot of water has passed under the bridge since then and today the news is that the same old PDP leaders who besieged Government House, Gusau to beg the governor to come to their rescue are now, unbelievably, demanding to retain their “leadership” after the rescue operation. It is interesting that the Namadi Angos continue to agitate on behalf of what even they refer to as “old PDP”, when they were the very architects of a new PDP that was created specifically to handover the party to Governor Shinkafi and his overwhelming majority of ANPP followers. The sudden change in perception of the transformation by the old horses of the PDP can only be explained as a confirmation that, like Yarima’s flirtation with the Yar’adua Presidency, they too were selfishly motivated into seeking an ANPP ambulance for their emaciated PDP. They were never sincerely interested in the enormous gains that would accrue to the PDP and in the process turn it into the ruling party in Zamfara State, a feat they could only have dreamt of in their old contraption. It is the height of crass political opportunism for the old PDP horses in Zamfara State to expect to retain the leadership of the new improved party, as if the old ANPP were not their permanent political landlords since 1999.
The bitter truth that the old PDP horses in Zamfara State cannot swallow is that prior to their self-defeating invitation to Governor Shinkafi, the PDP in the state was paralyzed into political limbo by deep factionalization as a result of their tendency to align with personalities in the party. There were at least three factions tearing apart the party in the state, and each insisting to be genuine. It was the sheer exasperation at the futility of their political folly that made Namadi Ango to lead the PDP delegation to “surrender” to the Shinkafi-led ANPP government and invite it to takeover their party. He was a mere faction leader then and it was the gentlemanly disposition of Governor Shinkafi as well as the political diplomacy and strategizing engineered by his Chief of Staff, Musa Zubairu Nassarawar Mailayi and his colleagues which succeeded in bringing the other leaders into what is now being correctly tagged as the new PDP in the state. It is therefore cruel mischief and political dishonesty to hear Namadi Ango and his clique blaming the National Organizing Secretary of the PDP, Chief Uche Sokandus for the unanimously accepted outcome of the state congress held recently and even accusing him of collecting money to influence the outcome.
Alhaji Moyi writes from Gusau