By Abubakar Daya
Politicians have a way of creating needless discontent in the polity for self-profiteering. They suddenly become human right crusaders, freedom fighters, and even ethnic bigots.
We have seen them over many decades mounting rooftops shouting down messages laced with hates and divisions which often spur their foot soldiers on the path to anarchy with unbridled rage.
As the 2027 political atmosphere approaches, we are likely to see more of these crusaders on the route to next general elections. They are likely to draw us into the fray by whipping up sentiment around marginalization, equity, fair play amongst others, the catch words through which they always launch such self-seeking campaigns. And the platforms, social and even conventional media, are always handy for the harbingers of such tales to convey same to their target audience.
A news report, purportedly from a supposed chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Yobe State, one Hon Prince Abali Mai Muhammad Atiyaye, published in one of the national dailies recently bears this tell-tale signs. Titled, “Yobe South Seeks 2027 Governorship Seat” the report painted a rather grotesque picture of how Yobe South has serially suffered marginalization since the commencement of this democratic dispensation in 1999.
He made the public believe that the eastern senatorial district has somehow made the governorship slot their birthright and has held on to the position, describing what he says is an “anomaly” as unfair and unjust. “This has led to the marginalization of Yobe North and Yobe South, Zones B and C, which have been silenced and excluded from the rotation of the governorship ticket. He went on to prescribe that, “there is a glimmer of hope by 2027, the governorship ticket must be shifted to either Zone B or Zone C to ensure peace and justice.”
Many observers of the political development in Yobe are wont to dismiss the report as mere antic of a rabble rouser and therefore undeserving of attention. However, ignoring it could also embolden Atiyaye and his co-travelers to continue to indulge in this gross misinformation, which may likely gain acceptability from outsiders. This is why it has become imperative to enlighten the reading public to look at the broader perspective outside the narrow prism he created about the happening in the state. The public needs to understand that all stakeholders in the state irrespective of political leaning are united; that there is no dividing line within the political firmament that birthed the state; and that Atiyaye’s is the lone voice in the wilderness.
Come to think of it, is Atiyaye really a social equity crusader he made us to believe in the report, because the story’s headline seems to give him away as speaking for the Yobe South, that’s Zone C where he may have hailed or is it his paymaster?
Zone B from all indications was dragged into the picture in order to give the “cause” some sense of credibility. If Atiyaye is really sincere about his crusade he rather should have been fighting to have the governorship slot shifted to Yobe North, that’s Zone B because unlike his Zone C, Yobe North is yet to produce the governor or better still, he should have campaigned for other tribes to have a competent and committed person as the next governor. Or is it that he has forgotten that his zone produced the late Governor Mamman Bello Ali who emerged the governor of the state in 2007 and held sway until his unfortunate demise because of a complication as a result of leukemia in 2009.
The late Ali couldn’t have emerged without the overwhelming support of stakeholders and the masses from Zone A which Atiyaye accused rather brazenly of emasculating others. The late Ali was a pan-Yobeist, a rallying figure who believed in the unity and progress of the state. He was no regional or ethnic bigot who will rather drag his state down through the media because of a parochial interest and that was why the state rallied round him. Yobeans will rally round any such leader irrespective of whichever zones he hails. Someone with capacity, experience and people oriented whose focus is the growth and development of the whole state
Like the Yobe South, its northern counterpart does not also lag behind politically in the scheme of things in the state within the ruling APC in general. The state’s most celebrated son, distinguished Senator Ahmed Lawan from the zone rose to be Nigeria’s number 3 in the leadership hierarchy in the country. Lawan was a super senate president wielding so much influence that dwarfed even the then vice president, Yemi Osinbajo within the APC’s presidency. In fact he was to emerge as the party’s presidential candidate ahead of the 2023 presidential election before faith scuttled the move.
So, it can be argued, that all the zones have been having their fair share of political patronage, and it is rather unfair for Atiyaye to dent this record in order to suit his own agenda. And for him to have alleged that Zones B and C were silenced and excluded from the rotation of the governorship ticket…., and that Zone A has been “employing a divide-and-conquer strategy to maintain its grip on power,” is rather uncouth and unfair.
Such comments are capable of heating up the polity and undermine the peace and unity that the founding fathers entrenched which the stakeholders worked tirelessly to sustain with a view to bequeathing to the future generation. This is why it is important to reign in the likes of Atiyaye before they caused incalculable damage to our collective psyche and destroy our common patrimony.
Daya wrote in from Socol, Potiskum, Yobe State
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