Washing your hands is dangerous

Trailing our short motorcade was a Hiace bus that we hired for a few days. While I sat with Alhaji Goshi at the back of the Mercedes and Maikahon Karo sat in the front passenger seat, Tsinin Kusa sat in the 407 with two other persons. One of them was Alhaji Illo Danbarmu alias Mutum […]

Trailing our short motorcade was a Hiace bus that we hired for a few days. While I sat with Alhaji Goshi at the back of the Mercedes and Maikahon Karo sat in the front passenger seat, Tsinin Kusa sat in the 407 with two other persons. One of them was Alhaji Illo Danbarmu alias Mutum Dubu, the one who asked me to make him my Finance Commissioner when I win the governorship. The other was Malam Ali Na-Gangare, a local malam and a close friend of Maikaho. We brought him along to say the prayers because our itinerary included condolence visits to some houses.
After what happened last week, we decided at our strategy session that we should spend the next few days outside the state capital. You never know what His Excellency the Governor can do by way of retaliation. Even though he sounded conciliatory when I saw him at Government House last week, my aides were quick to remind me that the Governor’s nicknamed is mai kwanton kada. That is, ‘the one who stalks like a crocodile.’ People who know him well say he is a very good pretender. When you offend him politically, he will pretend that he has forgiven, whereas he is laying an ambush for you. They say when you enter his trap, he charges at you like a crocodile.
So we decided to be away from the state capital last week in case the Governor laid an ambush. Our first stop that day was at Tudun Nasara town. We went straight to the house of Alhaji Labaran Dan Koli, who is the redoubtable political kingmaker in this town. Alhaji Labaran anointed all the political office holders in this local government. The local government chairman is his son-in-law. The councilor from his ward is the son of his closest friend. The state assembly member from here is his cousin and the Commissioner for Commerce was once the manager of his company. Nobody gets anything in Tudun Nasara without Alhaji Labaran, Maikaho repeatedly told me.
This old grain, leather and tobacco merchant prepared well for our coming. He reserved one huge ram and did a special barbecue with it. He sent all the way to Sokoto for the man who did the barbecue, which was sprinkled with special pepper brought from Borno. He had with him nearly 50 people when we arrived, arranged in three different groups. The most important of them sat with him in his living room. Another group sat in the verandah adjoining the living room while the third group sat under a canopy near his fleet of cars. Alhaji Labaran laboriously introduced each person, complete with a brief on the man’s political importance. I heard at least two former members of the House of Representatives, at least three former members of the State Assembly and two former Local Government chairmen. I shook hands with each and every one of them and I had to smile so much that my faced ached.
From Alhaji Labaran’s house we went to see Malam Audu of Rafi town. People call him Mai Lazimi. He has a very long prayer bead which he recites at least a hundred times a day. Every aspirant in Tafki State seeks Mai Lazimi’s prayers. When we got there, there were at least 30 pupils studying under him. Some were advanced learners who had huge books that they were studying from; the others were junior pupils who sat far away from Mai Lazimi and were reading smaller books and wooden slates. Again I had to shake hands with all of them, after which we gave a four-layered Sallah kola and took over leave.
When he hit the road, I told the driver to stop. I took my water bottle and a small bar of soap that I kept in the glove compartment and disappeared into the bush. When I returned, we proceed to our third stop that day, the stall of Alhaji Yunusa at Dadin Kowa market. Alhaji Yunusa’s stall, situated in the heart of the market, is full of solid minerals of all kinds. Even as we sat there, men were streaming in from illegal quarries all the over the state and were bringing mineral ores in bags, sacks and buckets. Two lorries were waiting in front of his stall to depart with the minerals. Alhaji Yunusa was also a powerful local politician who is known for his frank stance in politics. Unlike all other kingmakers, he does not say he will support you when he knows he will not.
I had to shake hands with all the men who were either inside or loitering around Alhaji Yunusa’s stall. Their hands were very rough; these men were miners who spend all their days in quarries or loading trucks. They were covered in dust and soaked in sweat, but they were all important because they doubled as Alhaji Yunusa’s foot soldiers in politics. After we left them and started on our way back to the state capital, I again told my driver to stop and I took my water bottle and soap and headed for the bush.
I was very tired when we got home. I was in a hurry to go inside because we would be setting out again the following day for more visits. But Maikaho followed me into the living room, saying he had something to say. I wanted him to say it quickly so that I could go upstairs, but he fiddled with a cigarette before he spoke. He said, “Alhaji, I must tell you something. After we left Mai Lazimi’s school and again after we left Alhaji Yunusa’s stall, I noticed that you went into the bush with soap and water and washed your hands. In politics, this is very serious. It will be said that you don’t like common people, that just because you shake hands with them you hide somewhere and wash your hands. Please don’t do that when we go out tomorrow. If people notice it, our opponents will cash in on it and it could be the end of our campaign.”