Shema and the opposition in Katsina
Furthermore, it is in public domain that he and all PDP governors returned President Jonathan in the party’s presidential primaries on Saturday January 15, 2011. For that act, opposition parties are trying to make a mole out of nothing, causing disaffection for the governor and his government, expectedly though. Well, whatever anybody or group of […]
Furthermore, it is in public domain that he and all PDP governors returned President Jonathan in the party’s presidential primaries on Saturday January 15, 2011. For that act, opposition parties are trying to make a mole out of nothing, causing disaffection for the governor and his government, expectedly though.
Well, whatever anybody or group of people does or do contrary to the position the governor has taken is immaterial because we are in a democracy with freedom as its core value. Immaterial simply because nobody has been crushed, vilified, harassed, intimidated on account of holding a view other than the one His Excellency stands for. I think in this part of the country we are lucky to have Shema as not just a governor but a leader in Katsina. Without going too far, if those who are fusing can stretch their eyes a bit farther towards the north-east geopolitical zone, probably they would understand and appreciate what it is to have Shema as governor of Katsina State. I am sure Katsinawas are aware of the police situation in Gombe State before the governorship primaries of the PDP, where no politician dared dream of taking over from Danjuma Goje. Politicians such as the Deputy Speaker of the Federal House of Representatives Usman Bayero Nafada nursed the ambition to succeed Goje, but they dared not do that in Gombe. Such things were only muted in far away Abuja, because of the intolerant situation in the entire state sustained by the ‘Yan Kalare. Is it the same in Katsina State?
Those who have been following and keenly observing political happenings in Oyo State would readily tell you the ugly situation Senate Leader, Teslim Folarin is in now. In his own case, he is not talking about returning to the Senate, in fact, not even the Senate, but how to get back his nomination to once again fly the PDP’s flag in the next elections. Senator Folarin is struggling tooth and nail to remove an impending hang man’s noose about to be hung around his neck. The Senator’s fate is man-made. He was not too long ago flung into detention, charged with murder, released on bail and then charged again. He is back home cooling from that sweat. Folarin’s present ugly situation, according to political pundits, is linked to the governor of Oyo State, Christopher Alao-Akala. Is it the same with Senators from Katsina State who have since decamped to other parties and are now working against Governor Shema? It would be naïve for anybody to think His Excellency is not aware of all this, but he chose to look the other way.
Immediately after the PDP primaries, some irate misguided youths in Katsina metropolis took laws into their hands and went berserk, in the process destroying innocent people’s property and creating unnecessary tension within the state. The state government knew that the hoodlums were acting the scripts of the opposition with the intent to cause chaos and disaffection. Shema refused to be provoked and nobody was arrested as a result of that crisis. The wisdom in that action of the governor for not reacting lies in the fact that it did not take much time for the dust from that crisis to die down. And the reason it has to die down that much fast was because of the absence of the law enforcement spontaneous reaction on behalf of the governor as it is done in other states in the country.
I think the opposition in the state are taking and driving their luck too far. It would be in their interest to beat a fast retreat, despite the fact that they have exposed their true but ugly traits. It is not as if Governor Shema would change his mind to now begin to descend on them with iron fists as we are currently witnessing in some states. He will not do that. He is too matured to condescend so low to do that. The good thing about the whole thing is that the good people are watching how the opposition, through their evil plots, are trying to set back the hand of the clock in the state in terms of driving physical development championed by Governor Shema. The implication of their action will be visited on them by the same people they think they are protecting when they come around to seek public offices in future.
This little crisis is probably what is giving people the wrong impression that Governor Shema is going to face trouble in the April governorship elections in the state. The crisis, as I have illustrated above, is insignificant as it is to constitute any stumbling block to Shema’s return to Government House, Katsina, in-sha Allah on May 29, 2011. Emir of Katsina, Alhaji Abdulmimini has since shown the way and the good people of Katsina State will not betray their royal father.
Awal writes from Kurfi, Katsina State