By Babayola M. Toungo

As a parting gift to Nigerians, former President Muhammadu Buhari conferred national awards in various categories on some Nigerians Among those awarded the honours are serving and former governors, senators, technocrats and captains of industries. A total number of 339 deserving (and some undeserving?) recipients were lucky to make the list. I heartily congratulate all those who made the list.

One of those who made the list is Adamawa state governor, Rt. Hon. Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri who has been conferred with the national award of Commander of the Order of Niger (CON). A well-deserved recognition from a departing president who might have considered so many variables before deciding to confer our fourth highest national award on an “opposition” governor. President Buhari is of the APC while Fintiri is elected on the platform of the PDP. I know the governor must be excited by the nature of his selection bearing in mind the nature of our politics. But excellence cannot go unnoticed. There are governors who served before Fintiri and there are others who are still serving and belong to the same political party with the former president but were not considered suitable to be so recognised. The pleasure is in knowing that your efforts at transforming a society is recognised from quarters least expected.

Some senators were also awarded the national honours, but I am curious as to why our very own ‘matan nan’ was not deemed fit to be so recognised by a president who belong to the same political party with her despite her over exposure in the social media and her unmatched ability to stage a near successful civilian coup in Adamawa state. This, coming few days after she was snubbed by the Modibbo Adama University, Yola when they conferred honorary degrees on those the University found worthy in character to be so honoured, is a hard nut to swallow. Her supporters protested the unfair treatment meted on our new amazon by MAU, Yola. I told some of them that the catch phrase in such awards is ‘character’. I am not implying anything and nobody should infer anything.

I will surely get to the bottom of this latest snub – I suspect either the governor has a hand in denying ‘matan nan’ the national award or Professor Abdullahi L. Tukur might have been complicit in the plot to make her look like an ordinary mortal like any of us. Either way, I will not rest until I get justice for her.

Fintiri’s CON may be a harbinger of better things to come for the governor. A recognition this high from such quarters further cements the governor’s visibility on the national political canvas and he has just been sworn-in for his second and final term. Also, age is on his side. Who knows – may be his next national award will be the Grand Commander of the Order of Niger (GCON) – and you know the political offices associated with the GCON. I am not insinuating anything, by the way. Just feeling mischievous this morning. But underate the governor at your peril.

I had waited for the storm generated by the purported suspension of Mallam Bashiru Ahmad, the Adamawa State Secretary to the Government (SSG) from an amorphous association called Jimeta PDP Critical Stakeholders. The purported suspension was contained in a write-up which I cannot place as either a press release, press statement or communique. After the responses and debate that this action engendered, it became quite apparent that the people behind the charade have become reckless enough to show their hands. In their bid to denigrate Bashiru Ahmad, they only succeeded in revealing what they had succeeded in hiding all these years – the fact that his excellency Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri is not their favoured candidate and they can go to any length to make sure the governor didn’t succeed.

While trying hard to downplay the role of the SSG, the “critical stakeholders” only showed their ignorance of public communication otherwise they won’t have exposed their underbellies by claiming that PDP lost Yola North during the gubernatorial election because of the high-handedness of the SSG. Is that not an indictment on the “critical stakeholders”? Talk of cutting your nose to spite your face. By admitting that they did not vote for his excellency, they have unwittingly attributed the 24 thousand votes that the PDP garnered in that election to the efforts of the SSG. My question here is that with such admission, why are they expecting the governor to reward Yola North local government with any position of authority and trust? They played the same role against the governor in 2019.

My interpretation of the sour grapes of these “PDP critical stakeholders” is the failure to admit that they have overstayed their welcome on the political scene. Being a recurring decimal since 1979 is admission of lack of mentoring and by extension lack of fresh ideas in a stifling environment in dire need of fresh blood in its politics. The “critical stakeholders” are a handful of spent forces, led by a perpetual “friend” of the government since the beginning of time. He has always enjoyed government patronage and threw crumbs to his fellow travellers who are always content to be his cannon fodder in his endless quest for relevance.

While it is not in doubt that these pseudo-leaders of the Jimeta community have been around since the 2nd republic, I don’t think any of them can beat his chest and point to one person that they have assisted to become a part of a productive society or any physical development in Jimeta attributable to their influence. It is unfortunate that we live in a society that is uncritical and only thrives on mediocrity and quackery. The blood suckers in our society are those who call themselves “critical stakeholders” and we sheepishly allow them to have their way. Pathetic.

The SSG is an institution and not Bashiru Ahmad the person. In their misguided effort to politically ‘destroy’ Bashiru Ahmad, they are undermining the institution. I have followed the activities of the stakeholders’ Capo since the inception of the Fintiri administration and he has always been predictable in his actions. While he worked tirelessly against the success of the governor in the 2019 polls, only to belatedly try to retrace his steps after the presidential elections of 2019, it is the same game plan unfolding in Jimeta right now. His anti-party and anti Fintiri activities in the run-up to the 2023 elections is what is haunting him and he must therefore find a scapegoat and who will be a better scapegoat than the SSG who he has been having a running battle with since the day Bashiru Ahmad was appointed to the exalted office.

It is sad that a man who benefitted maximally from the Fintiri government in forms of contracts is admitting that he worked against the success of the same Fintiri in his second term quest. Scared that Fintiri might decide to strike back and pay him in his own coins, he is now running from pillar to post trying to shift blame to others. It will be better for him to exorcise his demons than keep living in denial. He must resolve the conflicting emotions gnawing his innards in order for him to live in peace with himself. Two facts should be clear to him – the fact that governor Fintiri has emerged victorious in the recently concluded elections despite his machinations and the unstated pact between him and the opposition candidate, and the fact Bashiru Ahmad is the SSG, Adamawa state despite his avowed hatred and the running campaign of calumny he sustained in the past four years.

It is worthy of note that his peers in the Yola North PDP Stakeholders Forum came out in steong words to disown him and his campaign of hatred and exclusion. Being an old man is not the same as being an elder.

Mahmud B. Usman
State Low Cost, Jimeta.

Ordinarily, I would have maintained a dignified silence because responding to unconfirmed statements by misguided persons would have amounted to a complete waste of time and energy. But on a second thought I decided to write this rejoinder not necessarily because of the importance I attached to the earlier write-up by the so-called ‘critical’ Stake holders but because of the good people of Jimeta and some gullible members of the public who might swallow hook-line-and-sinker the dish of lies being served by a group of self-seeking individuals. I am writing as an indigene of Jimeta and a well-informed and ardent supporter of the PDP. I stumbled upon this piece credited to Jimeta ‘critical stakeholders’, which does not exist in PDP constitution.

The sponsored article did not display any intellectual depth or academic prowess. The sponsored writer probably woke up from a bad dream and remembered one personality and decided that the only way he and his cohorts can achieve a level of relevance in the present political equation of the state is to try character defamation because in all his three pieces that I read, he only castigated the SSG maintaining same style of writing and raising same points. Hence, evidently same sponsor(s). Jimeta community has responsible stakeholders who maintained their dignity and have remained relevant in their wards, and the LGA in its entirety. Therefore, I would not generalize my rejoinder because of the action of a few selfish sadists. They would rather want everyone to be a colossal failure as they have been. Hence any attempt to think outside the box is termed anti-party because they epitomize greed and self-aggrandizement. They are mostly capitalists, mainly concerned about themselves and their cohorts and not the greater majority.

We will still address their nauseating and obnoxious allegations. A Kangaroo meeting was said to have taken place at HAMAB motors. The venue of this meeting was indicative of the caliber of individuals that constitute the so-called ‘critical’ Stakeholders. The venue also spelt the agenda of the meeting which was anchored on nothing but envy which clearly confirmed the clique behind it. The squabble with these disgruntled elements is primarily because mallam Bashiru is a principled technocrat that cannot be easily jostled with. There is yet another laughable point raised by the misguided and sponsored writer.

To start with, the writer raised the issue of Bashir’s indigeneship. For an adult that was born in Jimeta and lived for over 55 years therein, what more are you looking for? The story of Bashiru who was orphaned even before birth, because I am privileged to know, would be an interesting read. However, this is the problem of people putting themselves
in a cul-de-sac. These are people who rejoiced when the current Prime minister of Britain was said to be of Indian ancestry and jubilated when some Nigerians won elections in the USA. Hypocrisy is indeed a cancerous disease. I wish they have something tangible to offer in terms of contemporary life experiences. In this age, are we capitalizing on heritage or what one brings to the table? What you have to offer and how you have contributed to the development of Jimeta – both infrastructurally and in terms of human capital development should dictate how you are valued in the society and not where one’s ancestral linage could be located. Confining ourselves and repeatedly claiming ‘Dan
Jimeta’ is not what matters, but being intentional and instrumental to the development of the city with any little opportunity we have. The envious critics who have been capitalizing on heritage are beneficiaries of government at state and National levels for more than three decades with nothing to show in Jimeta and even their wards. In the last four years alone, Bashir has facilitated the construction of tarred roads in Ajjya, Alkalawa, Bekaji and other parts of Jimeta. Bahiru can boast of drilling not less than 20 boreholes in Jimeta –with 10 specifically in Ajiya ward. These are verifiable facts. Can any of these self�acclaimed ‘critical’ stakeholders beat their chests on any developmental project in their wards to their credit? Who should we consider as pride of Jimeta? The few selfish capitalists or the SSG? The SSG is not a man of many words but actions. He believes in doing what will impact positively on the lives of the populace. The cheap blackmail by the disgruntled individuals cannot deter him, that is why he never bothered about their previous write-ups attempting to blackmail or dent his image – now we are enlightening the populace on true position of things.

Secondly, while he was giving reasons for PDP’s failure in Jimeta, I was a bit embarrassed because there shouldn’t be any need to revisit that. H.E is aware of specific people that resolved to work for only the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar. They rented an office and named their movement ‘Atiku Tan’ – a Fulfulde phrase meaning ONLY Atiku. The author clearly indicated that the clique did not work for H.E Governor Ahmadu Fintiti, as they left only the SSG to deliver Jimeta for him. If only mallam Bashiru and his supporters would ganner 24,000 votes for H.E. in Jimeta, if the so-called ‘critical’ stakeholders had supported, H.E. could have obtained more votes to even win Jimeta. It’s a known fact that this clique supported the APC governorship candidate during the election which is no news to governor Fintiri. Therefore, commending the governor at this stage is sycophancy of the highest order. Now that the table has turned, this ‘critical stakeholders’ are looking for how to become relevant. They misjudged. They believed that sacrificing the SSG on their altar of mediocrity can win them the favour of the Governor. Unfortunately, His Excellency knows better. He cannot buy into their lies and shot himself on the foot. He knows those who worked for him. He cannot consult a group of rag-tag politicians who have nothing to offer while considering people that worked hard for his success. The author equally raised the issue of Mallam Bashiru’s involvement in anti-party activity
during the governorship and state assembly elections. For the records, this ‘Atiku TAN’ movement did not only fail to work for H.E. during his election, but the condescending hypocrites worked for his strongest opposition, Senator Binani. Saying that the SSG supported the Labour Party candidate at the presidential election and the SDP candidate at the state assembly election is synonymous with saying he chased shadows; in fact, it is an insult on his intellect and personality – well, I leave this to readers to judge.

Mallam Bashiru was the very person that stood through thick and thin during the
membership party primaries and ensured that all the 35 votes were cast in favour of the out outgoing member, Hamidu Sajo Lekki. Most of the stakeholders were dissatisfied with
the outcome. The member has parted ways with everybody that supported him while he was canvassing for support in his first term. Immediately after the election, he left his home and relocated to the government lodge where he isolated himself from the same
electorates and supporters that voted him into power. According to his supporters, he became inaccessible, he rarely picks no returns calls which further isolated him from the public, which is not good for a member representing his constituents. He created Lekki network during 2019 electioneering campaign and toured the 11 wards with the group. From his assumption of office till date, none of the members has reaped the fruit of their labour which caused them to part ways with him. No wonder, the same network
campaigned against him in the recently concluded election. Lekki was nick-named ‘Maradona’ because of his mischievous attitude – he always wants to play safe by being a mischief maker. This soured relationship between him and the and the so-called ‘critical’ stake holders, most of whom vowed not to support his reelection bid
because he is not a sellable political commodity. Sheer arrogance and pride have made Lekki not to tour the 11 wards to canvass for votes, and he even got confrontational with anyone who mobilized electorates for him to campaign to. When it was obvious that Lekki’s relationship with the electorates has turned sour, H.E had to intervene by inviting Jimeta PDP stakeholders, and not the self�acclaimed critical stakeholders, to canvas support for the member. It is on record, that on
two separate PDP functions, the SSG had admonished the member to mend his relationship with the electorates, but he did not heed to these pieces of advice. His failure to campaign at ward levels as done by other candidates including H.E. caused him to lose the trust and votes of the electorates which unfortunately, negatively affected the
governor’s votes in Jimeta.

There is nothing wrong with having a team to complement the party’s effort in campaign, but instead of working with the party structure, Hamidu formed a 10-man campaign committee in each ward outside the party structure and solely relied on them for his votes. In fact, Lekki could not even distribute bulk of the resources given to him for his own re�election but kept it to himself, which many sarcastically refer to as his gratuity. Consequently, the member was clearly the architect of his own doom. What does a man expect when he is hunting with hounds and chasing with the hares? Failure of course. It is an anathema for one to eat one’s cake and still expects to have it. Our state assembly member should lick his wounds with serenity and calmness of spirit because any attempt to attribute his failure to any person or group amounts to efforts in futility.

Finally, it is the governor’s prerogative to appoint the SSG, which he can pick from any LGA but most importantly, it should be an experienced, trustworthy, a confidant and reliable fellow. Mallam Bashiru must not necessarily maintain the position of the SSG, but I hope among this clique, we have an educated and experienced person to take up the role. Mallam Bashir is not only a technocrat, but he is intelligent, principled, focused, dogged, resilient and most importantly, he is a reliable and dependable ally of H.E. Ahmadu Umau Fintiri. My heart bleeds as a handful of critics get unnecessarily envious when we should be thinking of utilizing our good offices for the success and progress of not just Jimeta but the state in its entirety.

Abubakar Ibrahim writes from Jimeta, Adamawa State.