BY RAYYANU BALA
As the 2019 election draws nearer by the day with only few months away
from now, the governorship seat in Nasarawa state is drawing more and
more aspirants from across all the registered political parties. As at
the last count, there were no fewer than 30 persons who are jostling
for the coveted seat of governor of Nasarawa state; this includes both
the contenders and the pretenders. While some have come out openly to
signal their intention to contest for the plum position, others
conceal their intentions for one reason or the other at least for now.
But between now and the next few months, virtually all those that have
the intention of contesting for the governorship in Nasarawa state
would have no option than to come out to indicate their wish as well
as the platforms on which they wish to realize their ambition so as to
beat the INEC datelines which stipulates the sequence of activities
leading to the general elections in the first quarter of next year.
Majority of those who signifies their intention to contest for the
governorship of Nasarawa state today are under the illusion that the
office of the governor is undemanding. Most of them see the office as
one that requires no skills or experience to undertake it; that
explains why today we have a long list of contestants. Today every
Jack and Harry wants to become the governor of Nasarawa state. To them
what matter most is for them to become governor, the enormity of the
responsibilities that goes with the office is immaterial to them.
And one irony of the whole thing is that when you prod those in the
pretenders’ category further, what you hear from them is, “What is the
big deal about it. Was it not how Al-makura started— like joke, like
joke?”
Recently, I asked one governorship aspirant regarding his state of
preparedness, both in terms of mental alertness and availability of
funds to execute his campaign. What I got from him was not only
laughable but puzzling. I tried to make him realize that the job of
the office of the governor is a thorny one, especially in a state like
Nasarawa where you have, apart from dozens of competing interests,
also the problem of lack of commensurate funds to meet up with the
competing demands of infrastructures and services as the state depends
largely on funds from the federation accounts, but all my points
failed to yield the desired result.
The office of the governor contrary how some view it is not an office
for a dullard. It is an office where one must have either the
intelligence or wisdom or both for him to not only succeed but also be
on the side of history. A governor whose level of intellect and wisdom
falls short of minimum requirement can only get himself twisted
around to the detriment of good governance.
Indeed, the notion that Governor Umaru Tanko Al-makura came into
office unprepared and that he contested for the office like a ‘joke’
is a misconceived one. If anything, we have never had a governor in
Nasarawa state who came into office fully prepared for the daunting
tasks ahead of him like Governor Al-makura as right from the day he
made up his mind to contest for the governorship of Nasarawa state, he
focused his mind on winning the contest which explained why he shunned
all entreaties from all quarters urging him to jettison his aspiration
of becoming the governor of Nasarawa state. What I am saying in effect
is that Al-makura right from the onset demonstrated both in attitude
and in actions that he was a contender and not a pretender and showed
himself up as a dogged fighter with an uncontestable moral fiber. He
fought for the office with his entire strength both in financial terms
and in terms of determination to excel against all odds.
Again the widely held viewed that Al-makura spent little during his
electioneering campaign in 2011 is equally untrue. On the contrary,
Al-makura spent lots of money in the execution of his campaign. Those
who are privy to how the campaign was carried out acknowledged that
Al-makura did not became the governor of Nasarawa state on a platter
of gold contrary to the widely held view in most quarters. Al-makura
got to the office of governor after suffering serious but varied
deprivations not only in his savings in banks but he also suffered
deprivations in form of his freedom and liberty. We are all witnesses
in this state to how Al-makura then CPC’s governorship candidate was
on February 8, 2011 arrested by the security operatives and detained
at the police CID office in Abuja over alleged involvement in heckling
of former President Goodluck Jonathan during his campaign visit to
Lafia.
One fact that still remains incontrovertible is that Governor
Al-makura did not have it easy on his way to Shendam Road Government
House in 2011 contrary to widely held notion. Aspiring for the office
of the governor in any democracy in the world is not a primrose path.
Hence apart from possessing the financial muscle one has to be
determined and remain focused. One must shun anything that would
distract him against his set objectives. Governor Al-makura from all
available evidence has duly paid his dues before becoming the governor
of Nasarawa state. He paid it with his money and his freedom.
Therefore any one who says that Governor Al-makura got the office of
governor of Nasarawa state on a platter of gold is not being fair to
the history of Al-makura’s journey to Shendam Road Government House.
Any governorship aspirant in Nasarawa state who thinks that Al-makura
got it on a platter of gold needs have his head re-examined and must
size himself up if at all he is really and genuinely interested in the
office of governor. Nothing comes easy just as Bongos Ikwe sang in one
of his heat albums in the 80’s.