STANDING DEMOCRACY ON IT’S HEAD IN EL-RUFAI’S KADUNA STATE
The Oasis Reporters
February 21, 2018
Back in 2015 when our votes propelled Mallam Nasir Ahmed El Rufai to Sir Kashim Ibrahim House as governor, the security situation then was such that the military were out in exercising a Constitutional role of ” …..acting in aid of civil authorities to restore order when called upon to do so by the president……. ” in conformity with Section 217 Sub section 2(c) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
At the point of transfer of power in Kaduna State, the military was out deployed but the dictator was so fixated with hate for the military deployment that he quickly ordered their recall to the barracks. This action was not informed by altruistic considerations but on the need to save on the huge amount spent maintaining the military while performing that constitutional role.
What a paradox that the same military establishment so hated by El Rufai has suddenly become his darling to the extent that he is using them to execute a personal vendetta against his real and perceived political opponents.
The events of February 20, 2018 at No 11b, Sambo Road during which a contingent of Nigerian Army personnel were reported to have provided cover for, as the dictator’s political adversary distinguished Senator Suleiman Othman Hunkuyi’s house then housing the authentic faction of the APC was pulled down must surely come to the Chief of Army Staff as a rude shock worthy of a high level enquiry to unravel the extent of the military’s involvement.
Adherence to the rule of law is sine qua non in any democratic arrangement but in Kaduna State, it is quite a different ball game entirely.
Here in Kaduna State, a contingent of the military deployed to assist the government in maintaining security has been transformed by the governor now turned dictator to becoming a gestapo of some sort. The very act of pulling down a property, any property for that matter on political considerations has not in any way elevated the person of the governor rather it has diminished him and made him look cheap while potraying him as a brute and a sadist. Where ever he may have fled to after executing this heinous and shameful act in the early hours of yesterday, he must be wrapped up in a blanket of shame.
I did suggest once that our Constitution has put us in this mess to the extent that it failed to include psychiatric evaluation as a requirement for those seeking public office. Had this been made a requirement, Kaduna State would have been saved the burden of this character masquerading as governor. His place would rightly been some health facility with a proven track record in treating mental illness.
One deeply worrying phenomenon is that in the entirety of the State Security council there was none with the gumption to have warned this brute of a Chief Security officer of this State as to the consequences of this beastly and utterly disgusting act.
Could the problem not have been discussed prior?
If no, then those who still have some of their senses in this contraption of a democratic government should have left in protest. They will not hearken to the voice of wisdom because of the abject poverty of goodwill and not the poverty of bread on their tables. That sane people will be party to this madness called governance in Kaduna State is most unimaginable.
While some numskull in KADGIS or wherever will seek to justify what took place at No 11b. Sambo Road is absolute bunkum and the very height of buffoonery. The judiciary from whom the contrived authorization may have been obtained for the demolition must now be laughing at itself for giving strength to acts of tyranny. Distinguished Senator Suleiman Othman Hunkuyi has proven he is grown beyond pettiness by saying he has forgiven the dictator for the act of pettiness while still affirming his friendship with the impish dictator. Those who helped in anyway in carrying out this injustice must also know that the day is fast approaching when the alibi of “I was merely carrying out superior orders or instructions” will not be enough to provide a defence for surely they ought to have the sense of discerning right from wrong.
In a general sense, it is our democracy that has been assaulted not either the Senator, the values he represents or the APC as a political party. What the impish dictator desires is to exclude everybody from contesting the 2019 elections and he seeks to achieve this through dubious and undemocratic means.
An additional flaw of our constitution is that it offers immunity to people whose level of sanity is in doubt as is the case with the dictator in Kaduna State. Granting immunity to these sorts of characters is akin to handing a fully loaded automatic weapon to a deranged person or guiding a bull into a china shop and expecting the bull to be orderly.
As it were, No 11b Sambo Road has become a Mecca of sorts where persons who were on the side of the dictator also visit to see for themselves the stories being told. I agree with them completely because it is better to see for yourself than to be told.
We must never forget that the President brought this evil upon us in Kaduna State when he subverted the process through which the people’s choice of a gubernatorial candidate would have emerged by raising the impish dictator’s hand too early to force a candidate on the electorate. The President must have thought that his man had purged himself of his penchant for careless talk, arrogance and complete lack of respect for people and institutions. How wrong he was because the dictator went on to insult not only our past leaders alive but those already rested in the bowels of Mother Earth, may they be well rested in peace. Amen.
He has openly insulated respected traditional rulers to their faces some he put in detention simply because he is governor. We are not far away from another opportunity to choose another governor who will have to work assiduously to recover and repair our Kaduna State from the gang of ravenous urchins and bandits. It is for everyone of us to scrutinize the character of those who will be picking the gauntlet that we may make informed choices. As for the impish dictator who has presided over the systematic looting and auction of our collective patrimony, I am done with him.
Written by Gora Dauda.
Mr. Dauda is a retired military personnel and writes from Kaduna in North west Nigeria.
