The truth about PDP primary in Sokoto
Ayuba Ahmad’s, “Review of the gladiators and the playing field,” published recently is one of such. The article gave away objectivism for praise-singing; truth was massacred in a manner which suggests that Wamakko is the anointed saint Sokoto State has ever had. This presentation was made without bringing to fore, the unfortunate state of economic […]
Ayuba Ahmad’s, “Review of the gladiators and the playing field,” published recently is one of such. The article gave away objectivism for praise-singing; truth was massacred in a manner which suggests that Wamakko is the anointed saint Sokoto State has ever had. This presentation was made without bringing to fore, the unfortunate state of economic stagnation and abject poverty in the Seat of the Caliphate.
In the write-up, Ahmad postulated that the administration’s unprecedented payment of monthly stipends to thousands of disabled persons among others, has recorded appreciable success in tackling the crisis of unemployment and restiveness among youths in the state. But the level of destitution and child delinquency in Sokoto today is unprecedented.
This has brought to fore, the extent of the writer’s betrayal of conscience, which ought to be the responsibility of any social analyst. Today, Sokoto is one of the frontline states that harbours beggars on the streets. I challenge anyone who doubts this to pay a visit to Sokoto.
More so, “crises of unemployment and restiveness among youths in the state” have continued to grow. These crises are propelled by the unjust utilization of state resources. Today, Sokoto state harbors a high number of political thugs milled from the deliberate unemployed youth factory. I do not know if Ahmad and his likes need be reminded that this army of compromised youths are substitute for the law enforcement agencies.
Indeed, to any objective analyst, Ahmad’s article turned out to be just another example of empty vessels making the loudest noise. To please his master, he stated that Wamakko is standing tall and awesomely bestriding the political landscape of the Seat of the Caliphate like a colossus that many would not dare throw the hat into the ring.
Gada rose to become a senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria without banking on goodwill from any mortal. If not for sycophancy, Ahmad as a Muslim should have traced Wamakko’s political pedigree to see that Allah’s goodwill, which He bestowed on mankind, is never elusive.
Ahmad’s blunder went far when he thought that Gada is one of the naive politicians whom political rivalry would deter from discharging his socio-moral obligations (reference to Gada’s visit to Bafarawa’s house for wedding). It should be noted that Gada is not Bafarawa’s enemy.
In his attempt at stating what he claimed to know about Gada, which he picked at the last three paragraphs of his discourse, Ahmed again fell short of making any impression by failing to state clearly, the person and character of Gada. His assumption is that “Gada does not possess the political assets or muscle to successfully go into the challenge.”
To Ahmad’s understanding, it is not possible for Gada to dislodge Wamakko during the primaries come March next year despite Wamakko administration’s unpopularity. Wamakko has led the state all these years towards shrank values: farmers are lacking markets for their produce and a host of unemployed youths today face a bleak future. The Almajiri syndrome has further plagued the rhetorical statements of rehabilitation by the government. As a symbol of the good Islamic leadership, the city has lost its glorious cleanliness, which it enjoyed in the past.
What Gada is challenging are the inadequate, uninformed and mistaken policies that have only succeeded in making things worse. The poor are growing poorer, the rich are growing richer—the hand-picked (Five Alive, as they are fondly called) while the state is generally growing weaker.
Should Gada be deliberately misunderstood for his insistence that the state is not flourishing and that the enormous creative and spiritual potentials of the people of the state are being wasted? Is he being misunderstood because he says that workers in Sokoto state are being humiliated and exploited through arbitrary loan schemes? Or that depression is forcing farmers off the land and that the state is ranking among the lowest in the country in terms of development?
As it might distaste Ahmad and his sponsors to hear, Gada will prevail over proponents of bad governance with the support of the people. To think that God cannot do anything in the face of the domineering strength of an incumbent is sheer ignorance.
By Isa Aliyu Wamakko wrote from Rijiya Area, Sokoto