It’s not without reason that a section of opposition in Kano State is hell-bent on deflecting attention from the groundbreaking transformation, currently going on in the state. Given their notorious straw-clutching antecedent and their apparent desperation to claw themselves back to reckoning, the last ditch resort to underhand tactic, shouldn’t, however, come as a surprise to any discerning mind. Indeed, politics is not only all about service delivery, but the public perception of it as well. In both, it doesn’t bode well for the members of this disgruntled group.
Since his return to the government house, Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso has been churning out one noteworthy development project/programme after the other. As a matter of fact, the general consensus in Kano, and even beyond, is that the current political leadership is not only doing fabulously well, but the man at the helm of affairs, is raising the bar to a greater height. Thus members of this group of opposition face the principal advantage of being caught napping on the two significant fronts.
Today in Kano, these politicians are not only humbled and prostrate but completely paralysed. The Kwankwaso’s second coming to power has sounded the death knell on them, with astounding performance. And going by the beautiful, well thought-out plans he has in the 2013’s budget, the year is obviously earmarked for their political funeral.
By all means, the last one and a half years, have not been the best of times for Kwankwaso’s detractors. The manner their political stock has plummeted to the lowest ebb, while his, skyrocketed to high heaven, is a case study for the pundits.
It’s within the period that the good people of the state got the opportunity to make significant comparisons. They could easily put side by side, prudence and profligacy, tangible infrastructure revival and mere abstract moral suasion propaganda, and more importantly, sincerity of purpose and make-believe illusion.
In 2003, when Kwankwaso left the government house, following the year’s major electoral upset, it was evidently clear that the new occupants were not prepared for the nature of the job in their hands. Perhaps, this was because they never, in the first place, even envisaged nicking it.
There was something, however, chiefly remarkable about how Kwankwaso tactfully handled his post-electoral defeat politics. The shrewd manner he opted to quietly observe proceedings from the sideline, until the right time for him to stage a comeback had all the hallmarks of political genius. This is, however, in sharp contrast to the disgraceful, amateur manner the current opposition are going about their newly found political misfortune.
Yet, just like their non-readiness for the power —thrust upon them on the platter of gold- formed the basis of their tragic handling of it, when they held sway for eight forgetful years—their lack of preparedness for parting ways with the so-called trappings of office has now proven to be their major undoing.
It could easily be recalled that in the build up to 2011 elections, when the cards were clearly stacked up against them- as some of them were already packing their bags to desert the sinking ship—these political apprentices were still burying their heads in the sand of complacency. They thoughtlessly anticipated the politically conscious Kano people to endorse failure for another term, while Kwankwaso – a politician they completely wrote off – was busy baking a gargantuan humble pie for them. His colourful ideology based campaign, his sense of humour –which they mocked at their own peril – and exceptional mobilisation skills, helped to tip the tide in his favour. Today, to the chagrin of his detractors, Kwankwaso has his reputation as the new undisputable doyen of Kano politics well sewn up.
Thus from the day one, they couldn’t hide their desperation to set the tone of political discourse with their usual mischief. They create much ado about nothing around issues. For instance, when the people are savouring the ancient city is now well illuminated from set to dawn, with functioning streets lights, they wanted the spot light, eternally cast on the little money expended to fuel generators for that service.
Ironically, these carping lots have, failed to see the folly of whining over the cost of diesel purchased to illuminate the streets, forgetting that Kano people are not oblivious of the fact that billions of naira was squandered to put them in total darkness during the eight years of locust, they put behind them.
They have similarly tried the same filthy tactic on virtually every good policy or project initiated by the governor. When within few days of his second coming, beautiful blocks of classrooms started adorning the landscape of the state like magic, their fault-finding machine launched sustained attacks on it. Since it’s, however, difficult, to tell the people that raising structures like that at a time when 150 to 200 pupils were packed in a classroom like sardines , was not a cheering development, they tried to dismiss the buildings as UBE-supported project. But what stopped them from accessing the fund meant for the state under the programme, during their days?
Is it that they didn’t want part away with counterpart cash or they dreaded the scrutiny of supervision that comes with it?
Again, they comically made the locations of the buildings an issue, querying why the new upstairs classrooms “are so conspicuous for people to see?” as if that would prevent students from using them.
But before the needless title-tattling they created around the matter died down, Kwankwaso had already put more slices of humble pie on their table –thereby making the battle of wills untenable for them.
The cheering news of the 501 indigenes of the state selected as the first batch of graduates to be sponsored for Masters Degrees in different fields abroad resonated across the country. The development, undoubtedly, drew the attention of the entire nation to the visionary and purposeful leadership that’s now making a difference in state.
Before then, the establishment of the North West University (NWU), by the state government, which had got the NUC’s approval, had already caught the eye.
So going by the prolific manner the government keeps churning them out, it’s becoming increasingly hard for his traducers to summon up much enthusiasm.
Within a year, the Kwankwaso administration has succeeded in improving the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), from N500 million to N1.3 billion.
And for the first time in history, 75 per cent of the state’s budget goes to capital expenditure, leaving only 25 per cent for the recurrent. This is an improvement from last year when we witnessed a fiscal budget which provided for capital projects to about 67% and recurrent expenditure of 33 per cent.
Indeed, so much is currently happening in Kano today especially in the area of infrastructure revival that small pieces like this one, will not be able to accommodate. And at the pace governor Kwankwaso is moving, it’s easier to face a moving train than to attempt to deflect attention from his achievements.
• Baban-Sumayya wrote in from Kano.
