A few weeks before he was sworn in, Kano State governor Abba Kabir Yusuf, also known as Abba Gida-Gida, disclosed that he would reverse many of his predecessor’s projects and policies, including the decentralised Kano Emirate, and demolish buildings erected upon lands which he angrily announced were improperly allocated. Mr Yusuf’s predecessor, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, was theosophic about his successor’s threats. God, whom he understood so well considering His almighty and inscrutable nature, would not permit Mr Yusuf’s revisions, the former governor moaned almost under his breath. But dispensing with the radicalism of the then incoming governor and the sighs, resignation and philosophies of the then outgoing governor, Barometer on May 7 counselled restraint, admonishing Mr Yusuf in Hausa idiom to let sleeping dogs lie.
But Abba Gida-Gida would have nothing to do with Hausa proverbs, idioms and aphorisms, regardless of how cute. Shortly after his inauguration, and still breathing threats and imprecates against his loathed predecessor, Mr Yusuf rolled out the bulldozers and began demolishing buildings and shopping malls erected on lands he argued were improperly allocated. A roundabout he claimed mocked Government House and compromised its security, but was unprecedentedly designed by a celebrated young female architect from Kano, also became a casualty. Sensing that his demolitions received acclaim, the governor intensified the demolitions with abandon. One after the other, the buildings fell, no matter how expensive, and notwithstanding the hundreds they rendered economically prostrate. He was yet to get round to reunifying the emirates before some of his supporters, ardent Kwankwasiyya movement activists, began to complain loudly that the governor had become reckless.
At last the courts have stepped in. A member of the Kwankwasiyya movement, who voted the governor’s party, the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), into office, went to court to stop the demolitions. The member professed his love for the founder of the movement, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, a former Kano governor, but vowed to resist the demolitions. The courts have ordered the government to stay action until the case is disposed off. The demolitions are unlikely to proceed as furiously as before. Indeed, it is also unlikely that most allottees would be found guilty of land appropriation. Dr Ganduje may have exceeded his powers in approving allocations with regard to some of the lands, for instance in hospitals, mosques and schools, but the courts would be appalled by Mr Yusuf’s resort to self-help. They may find the former governor guilty of bad judgement, but no one has yet successfully litigated poor judgement. It is not even clear, in any case, that Dr Ganduje was derelict in his duty.
If the courts stopped Mr Yusuf dead in his tracks on the subject of demolitions, the chances that he would casually embark on the revision of the Kano emirate system may have receded considerably. Should he nevertheless embark on that needless adventure, it will be mired in controversy, ill-will and litigations, both in the courts and the House of Assembly. Making promises during campaigns is one thing, fulfilling them is another thing entirely: one is theoretical, the easy part; and the other is practical, the hard part. Barometer had made the following observations on May 7: “Mr Kwankwaso and Mr Yusuf, the governor-elect, will want to bear in mind the Hausa adage: A bar kaza cikin gashinta (Let sleeping dog lie/Leave a fowl in its feathers). When the former monolithic Kano Emirate was split into five, it was unclear how popular the policy was. But when the stools were filled and coronations took place, the emirates burst into raptures, whether real or affected. Now the five emirates have since moved on, and like acquired taste, the people have grown to become accustomed to their new emirs and their cultural and sociological appurtenances. Reviewing this elaborate restructuring will hardly be productive or wise, and returning Muhammadu Sanusi II to the throne, assuming he was popular in the first instance or his explosive and often iconoclastic statements and ideas could be tamed, would come with its own drawbacks…
“Reinstating Kano’s emirate structure and returning Muhammadu Sanusi II to the throne may theoretically be easy to accomplish, but they will prove more disruptive than the hypothetical good Mr Kwankwaso and Mr Yusuf hope to achieve. The new Kano leaders should instead prove that their incoming administration is wise, mature, and progressive, not encumbered by minor issues or petty jealousies. Kano State is widely considered by many political scientists as one of the two or three states in Nigeria closest to the civic culture. Mr Kwankwaso should ride that wave which his movement has begun; but riding it will obviously demand more circumspection and adeptness than his speeches have inspired. And by insinuating a radical policy into the governor-elect’s agenda, not minding what the latter’s priorities might be, the NNPP leader seems unmindful of overreaching himself. If he persists in his present approach, he may get embroiled in the incoming governor’s administration and risk becoming a nuisance.”
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Barometer had called on ex-governor Kwankwaso to restrain his protégé, the new governor, and also counselled both men still basking in the euphoria of their victory to moderate their convictions and beliefs. There are ways to revise and even revoke the policies and programmes of a past government; but these must follow the laws of the land. Dr Ganduje couched his actions and allocations in terms of the law and due process, whether they made sense or not, or whether they beautified the state or uglified it. To revise those actions, his successor must follow, not manipulate, the law. In the case of the demolitions, the new governor has seemed to rely on populism, not the law; and he was headstrong. Now the courts have restrained him; it is important that he seize upon that legal encumbrance to realign himself both to due process and the goodwill of the hundreds of thousands who voted the NNPP into office.
Benue governor needs circumspection
Benue State governor Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia is immensely popular, and he rode on the wave of that popularity to win last March’s governorship election. He deserves his victory, especially seeing the dire straits his state has come to. There are obviously tons of issues to look at, programmes to reappraise, allegations to investigate, and incompetence and inefficiencies to indict and punish. It was, therefore, not surprising that among his first actions was the suspension of chairmen and counsellors of the 23 local government areas of the state to enable their probe.
But, as expected, the Association of Local Government (ALGON) in the state has described the suspension as illegal. Its officials headed to court and have, according to their chairman, Mike Uba, obtained a court order stopping the suspension. However, according to the governor’s chief press secretary, Kula Tersoo, the government had no knowledge of the court order. The governor, he added bleakly, is someone who obeys the law, and who will not breach court order. He clarified further that the House of Assembly recommended the suspension, not the sack of the chairmen, and the governor merely gave effect to it. They will stay suspended despite their threat not to vacate office, Mr Tersoo growled.
Clearly, Nigerian states have not transcended the military culture of embarking on radical and sometimes populist actions immediately after assuming office. Consequently, some states in the past few weeks, particularly where there have been changes of ruling parties, have announced and even executed radical measures to show that new sheriffs are in town. Abia, Zamfara, Sokoto, Benue and Kano are examples, and the states are frothing with radical changes, some of them daring or mocking the law. The states, however, must be cautioned to follow the rule of law, transparently and accountably. After all, on a hypothetical tomorrow, ruling parties can and will lose elections, and risk being harassed by their successors. It is important that administrative and legal precedents be set in such a manner that succeeding governors would have no choice but to respect tradition, the law and the constitution, even if indigenes bay for blood.