Wonders shall never end as far as Nigerians prefer democracy as the best form of governance. Notwithstanding, there are those hiding under the democracy for a hidden interest against the socio-economic survival of the people.
Loading ...My intention was to drag Bauchi opposition parties to the cleaners to strengthen the records for posterity to judge, but for the limitation of time before the commencement of the general elections on February 25, 2023, there has been an expected increase in the tempo of campaign activities by the various political parties with each trying to outwit the other with or without justification. In Bauchi State peculiar scenario, electioneering by the opposition parties has been an extra-ordinary display of hubris by some of the state actors who have wittingly or unwittingly chosen deceit, lies, and crude blackmail as, means of achieving their diabolical goal.
Of particular note is the frenetic energy with which some past governors of the state, along with some lapdogs have been busy in the absence of any reasonable gainful engagement promoting the gubernatorial candidature of one Air Marshal Sadeeq Baba Abubakar (Rtd) of the All Progressives Congress (APC) against the re-election of a man tested and serving as one of the best governors ever, Sen. Bala Muhammed with malicious gusto.
Once again, they want to lord Sadeeq over the majority just as they attempted in 2019 unsuccessfully against the victory of Sen. Bala Muhammed to quench their thirst at the detriment of development and good governance.
Instead of accepting the making of God to repent and realize their foolishness, for the same unthinkable reason, they have regrouped and back to the trenches, trying to play the discarded old tricks in same old ways. This time around, they are going about it more ferociously; lying, deceiving, blackmailing, and dishing out outright misinformation on the governing style of Governor Bala Bala Muhammed.
In their latest attempt to win the sympathy of the electorate for their drowning candidate, they went beyond the call of duty, murdering innocent souls, disparaging the image of the state governor for undoing some of the wrongs they had done while presiding over the affairs of Bauchi state.
At the flag-off of their gubernatorial campaign and presentation of party flag in Bauchi to their chosen Sadeeq Baba Abubakar, they labored in-vain to confuse the unsuspecting motley crowd with crude lies, blackmail and mischief against the serving governor who happens to be their albatross and thorn in their infantile ambition. In trying to hoodwink the electorates, they usually maintain grave yard silence on the benefits youths and women are driving from the present government apart from a ray of other achievements in different sectors of the economy that are visible and positively changing the living standard of the people.
To put the records straight, however, the Special Advisor to Governor Bala Muhammed on Media/Publicity, Comrade Mouktar Gidado in a quick rebuttal, clarified those issues mischievously raised by opposition and dismissed the outburst as shameful, unfounded and unguided.
His words: “It is a shame that rather than opposition to applaud the ingenuity of Governor Bala Muhammed for changing the odds within just four years for a better Bauchi State, they resorted to blackmail and mischief and trading in fabricated lies of their imaginations.
“Governor Bala has completed almost all inherited uncompleted projects capable of improving the fortunes of the state without minding who started and abandoned them that should be commended”.
But for Comrade Mouktar, who took it upon himself in line of duty to respond appropriately and professionally to the bundle of lies traded by desperados seeking for power to abuse, on his part, Governor Bala Muhammed doesn’t feel an inch perturbed by those ceaseless campaigns of calumny.
As a man of honor and integrity, he has demonstrated immeasurable patience and forbearance in all manners of circumstances. In the face of all lies, deceit and deliberate distortion of facts in a bid to smear his good reputation, he keeps an abiding faith in the social contract he entered into with the people of Bauchi State, refusing to succumb to any form of cheap blackmail or condescending to the level of engaging in a war of words with his drowning political adversaries. Since the facts are glaring and before the public court, it is for the electorate to weigh the options available before them, and know where the truth lies.
This is even more so that the administration runs an open, inclusive, transparent and accountable government. It only behoves on those who see politics as dirty game to rethink and do a possible review of their strategy for power acquisition. Politics itself is not that dirty as erroneously believed in some quarters. What makes it look as a dirty game is the way and manner the players go about pursuing their ambitions without modicum of decency and decorum.
In an election season like this, it is not unusual for politicians to do a review of strategic alliances for the mutual benefit of the parties in the race, while also remaining independent in certain spheres. With the ongoing alliance review in Bauchi State, the future relevance of certain politicians including those in blind opposition to unseat a performing governor on March 11, 2023 is impressively on trial.
Ordinarily, no one goes into an election with the hope of losing. But it is also a known fact that only one person will surely win in an election to an elective position at a time. So, when two partners decide to go into an alliance it is usually with a conviction that the benefits derivable from the synergy will be greater than those from individual efforts. But the question here is: What is there for offering by opposition parties? Practically nothing other than retrogressive ideas tailored to self-enrichment and derailment of progress of the progressing state.
The truth of the matter is that the gang-up against the serving governor is already at crossroads in its political journey. Those in the gang-up are inadvertently caught up in a delicate balance between the desire to retrieve their steps for loyalty to Governor Bala Muhammed on one hand, with less objective of promoting their preferred candidates in other parties on the other hand. By so doing, they erroneously believe they can navigate through the political turbulence ahead of governor Bala to remain relevant in Bauchi state politics. They got it all damn wrong.
For the latter option, the answer is predictable. Without necessarily pre-empting whatever may be the outcome of the gubernatorial election slated for March 11, it will be much easier for the proverbial camel to pass through the hole of a needle than for Air Marshall Sadeeq Baba Abubakar to defeat the incumbent loved governor.
History is there to serve as a guide to political pundits who may want to hold a contrary view. But the problem is that people hardly learn from the lesson of history. Suffice it to say, however, that no matter how much one tries to ignore history, history in all its alienating necessities will not ignore you. If in 2019, some of those masquerades with all the paraphernalia of the offices they occupied combined with the enormous powers they wielded could not defeat Sen. Bala Muhammed, how will they fight from outside the corridor of power to win an election for their new found friend who failed to deliver positive result for the safety of Nigeria as one of those security chiefs until he was sacked?
Those masquerades do not need a soothsayer to be told the home truth about their latest alliance which is already doomed to fail from the outset because nothing has changed in the power equations to turn the tide against the re-election of Governor Bala Muhammed. For all they care , it will rather delusional and presumptuous to think that the same electorate who rejected other contestants in 2019, will now decide to embrace the same archaic antics of the power game, and abandon the mandate freely given to the incumbent governor to serve the interest of the greater number of the people.’
By opting for opponents, the masquerades have finally completed the full circle of their political journey in Bauchi State. for the benefit of hind sight, some of those masquerades were political associates of Governor Bala in the day time and his detractors at night until he defeated them with their evil intentions in 2019. Therefore, having run a full circle in all their trysts, the only alternative left to correct the error of judgment that led them to the ongoing political wilderness is to retrace their steps and reunite with the PDP family for the overall interest of the people.
Regrettably, with the gang-up and the desperation that has accounted for the sustained campaign of calumny against Governor Bala Muhammed, it does appear that the masquerades’s camp has learned nothing and forgotten nothing from the past. Because they seen defeat coming with lightening speed and stirring them in the face ahead of the gubernatorial election, they have continued to spin falsehood against a result-oriented government. Such malicious strategy of the masquerades is doomed to fail as the people already know where the truth lies.
In politics, as in conventional warfare, what matters is not your strategy but the strategy of the enemy camp. In this case, it is quite clear that the intention of opposition for all the traded lies about the Governor Bala administration is to discredit the good works he is doing. But it is a road that leads to nowhere other than the ditch. It is like building something on nothing. The strategy of concocting lies against the government cannot stand because the people’s eyes are widely open.
In no time, every lie told about the Bala administration will soon come down like a pack of cards. One obvious thing is that every citizen of good conscience knows that the administration operates open, transparent, and accountable governance. That, primarily, is the essence of the government’s policy that makes the people part and parcel of the decision making process to establish the necessary trust and confidence in the administration. And it is that confidence that forms the basis of the existing social capital between the government and the people. Social capital is a set of shared values or resources that allows individuals to work with the government to achieve a common purpose. In today’s increasingly democratizing world, evidence has shown that social cohesion is crucial for sustainable development. It is in keeping with that global trend that Governor Bala Muhammed at the inception of his administration deliberately evolved the idea of citizen engagement through the concept of “Building Our Future Together” which has now become a sing song among stakeholders in Bauchi State.
So, it doesn’t matter the intention of those who prefer the option of bare-faced lies, subtle blackmail and outright misinformation to issue-based electioneering and constructive engagement, there will be a triumph of light over darkness. As a people’s government, the records are there for public scrutiny.
For the majority of the people of Bauchi State, a vote for the re0election of Governor Bala Muhammed is a right vote for continuity of the goodies. With the trust and confidence that currently exist between the administration and majority of the people, there is no doubt that they will patriotically vote overwhelmingly for continuity because they have seen and touched the good works Governor Bala Muhammed is doing and will still do more with a renewed mandate. As they say, no one changes a winning team in the middle of the game.
Several times in the recent past, the masquerades were overheard, boasting of their relevance and the power to dictate the shots in Bauchi State. Without prejudice to the rights of the electorate to elect a candidate of their choice, all dynamics put together, the coming election is going to be a triumph of the truth over falsehood in the State. it doesn’t matter the childish and mischievous gang-up, and all other forms of shenanigans on display by those in opposition, Governor Bala’s victory is a sure deal, courtesy of Bauchi State patriots of conscience who have consistently continued to lend credence to the voice of reason and the imperative of power rotation after the second term of the present administration. Beyond the argument about credible performance, the need to entrench the principle of justice, fairness, and equity in the system is another reason people ought to vote for the re-election of Governor Bala Muhammed rather than handing over Bauchi State to desperate undertakers.
–
Muhammad is a commentator on national issues
