Some have asked the question repeatedly, ‘Why Yari-led 10th Senate?’ For us, we think the question should rather be, ‘Why not a Yari-led Senate presidency?’ Senator Yari, like other elected senators, is eminently qualified to contest for the number one seat in the Red Chamber. If for any reason there is any man who has hitherto played inclusive politics from the Northwest since his joining date, no one rivals the personage of Senator Yari. His antecedents from the day of joining politics till this very moment and more recently 2015 to 2019 more than qualify him over and above anybody from especially the Northwest geo-political zone to run for senate presidency.
Aside from competence skills, he has shown how successful a man he can be handling public office. His experience as a former two-term legislator at the House of Representatives and that of his two-term as the governor of the Northwest state of Zamfara are pointers to his acumen, sagacity and wizardry in leadership and politicking for mutual benefits. Like Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the President-elect, Senator Yari is the second side of the coin, character and leadership deliverables.
What makes Sen. Yari different? Ask me a man with no religious dogmatism, I will point to you Senator Yari. Prod me and ask from me a man with no blood for tribal chauvinism, I will proudly show you one man who stands tower and above every ethnic nor religious inclinations. If there is any political figure whom I have studied very closely from the Northwest with no iota of religious cum tribal idiosyncrasy, then, I will tell you and anyone that Senator Yari sits at the apogee of such a humane description. This is no fiction but a statement of fact that is open to any debate. Senator Yari has proven this time and time again that he is one man with no tribe or religion when it comes to his relationship with people.
It is not controvertible that the former Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), Senator Yari is a Muslim. However, a careful study of his lifestyle will lend credence to the undeniable fact that he has never allowed his religious credo to determine how he relates with people who have come across him in their life sojourn. He probably must have learnt that from the teachings of the Prophet of Islam who admonished his adherents to always relate with people in the best of manners regardless of their creed, belief and/or faith. This is the major reason you observe around including his workers are people with diverse backgrounds. He never appointed anyone who worked or is working with him based on religious chauvinism or based on such an individual’s religious beliefs. His records are there for public scrutiny.
The time has come in Nigeria that as a people, we must do away with ethnic cum religious politics. We must begin to look at people from the prisms of competence, capacity and gregariousness. If there was any Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), Chairman who prioritised nation-building above and over primordial sentiments of religion and ethnic proclivity, that person must be no other than the man with the sobriquet, ‘Best Chairman Ever’ according to his colleagues. Senator Yari is one man who gives preference for competence and capability (to deliver on schedules) over the religious, ethnic or tribal background of the would-be subordinate. He cares less about your tongue or your nationality before he considers you for an appointment.
Just like the President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, for Senator Yari, do you have what it takes to deliver? Are you a go-getter? Do you aim for quality delivery that will impact your immediate environment positively? If your answers to these simple questions are in the affirmative, then, you are good to go with the Shattima Mafara. A further look at his sway as the Chairman of the Governors’ Forum will portray a man whose philosophy about life is humanity. His decision to push for the collective good of all Nigerians regardless of their faith, tongue or biases had prepared him long ahead for a herculean and demanding national task as that of the Senate President.
Senator Yari is one man who thinks a move that will benefit all rather than his ethnic nationality should be pursued with zest and gusto. This shows nothing but the true personage of a selfless man, a man with the true character that both major religions preach lover of his neighbours. A nation with the calibre of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed as the sitting president and Senator Yari as her Senate President is a nation that is blessed beyond viva voce only if such a country can take advantage of such benison. The Yari-led 10th Senate presidency will complement Asiwaju Bola Tinubu’s many plans on his #RenewedHope agenda alongside his vice president-elect, Senator Kashim Shettima.
Senator Yari has constantly shown that he is a man with the Midas touch. He is a man with a big vision who believes in human capital development to achieve set goals and objectives irrespective of people’s ethnic or religious lineage. Can Nigerians trust his leadership of the 10th Senate? The truth remains, if Nigerians could trust their country with President Muhammadu Buhari after three attempts by him to no avail, and a second term in 2019 despite the narratives in the media, why not Senator Yari? Good governance is a relative phrase. If good governance in the Senate is about people-oriented legislation coupled with nation-building for prosperity and developmental governance, then, there is no other candidate with the wherewithal and experience better than Senator Yari.
He is a pacesetter, an achiever per excellence and a go-getter.
•Akinola, a politician, writes from Federal Capital Territory, Abuja