Yuguda: Squandering Goodwill so Fast!

According to the American Journalist, Brian Browne, history teaches but we learn not from its lessons. Governor Isa Yuguda of Bauchi State came to office not so much because of his own extraordinary efforts but on the account of exhausted goodwill of his predecessor, Alhaji Adamu Mua¢zu. Inebriated by the vodka of power, former Adamu Mua¢zu grew so repulsively arrogant and intolerant of dissent that his public goodwill began to fall apart like a house of cards.

 

Oblivious of the ephemerality of power, Mua¢zu thought he was a demi-god and was ready to bring anyone to his knees that dared him. In fact, the Bauchi State PDP was in his pocket so much that he could disqualify candidates he didn¢t like for any offices, no matter how popular they might be. Intoxicated by power, he was not ready to see reason and was always ready to defy decent public opinion to gratify his selfish ambitions.

 

Unfortunately, he failed to imbibe the lessons of history and he was consequently humiliated out of office. In his place, Alhaji Isa Yuguda of ANPP was elected. He could have contested under the PDP ticket but Mua¢zu hounded him out of the party and the ANPP embraced him. In fact, Mua¢zu was so widely hated because of his excesses that he also lost his Senatorial bid.

 

Therefore, Governor Isa Yuguda has every reason to thank God for rescuing him from the lion¢s mouth. Sadly, Yuguda is rapidly descending into the same characteristics that made former Governor Mua¢zu so widely hated.

 

Senator Nazeef Suleiman of Action Congress (AC) is one of the champions of democracy that saw the back of Governor Ahmed Adamu Mua¢zu. Alhaji Nazeef, who was formerly a member of the PDP, had to leave the party he worked so hard for because of Mua¢zu¢s overbearing attitude and selfishness. As a redoubtable democrat, Senator Nazeef fought internal battle with Mua¢zu while they were in the PDP together to ensure the former Bauchi State Governor respected democratic tenets such as the freedom of choice. While other PDP leaders retreated to their holes like timid rats, Senator Nazeef opposed Mua¢zus dictatorship at even personal risk for his safety.

 

He galvanised the people of Bauchi State to reject his autocratic ways and restore the freedom of choice. And by the time Nazeef left the PDP, Governor Mua¢zu was merely holding an empty shell of the party. His goodwill was thoroughly exhausted and his anointed successor lost woefully to ANPP candidate, Alhaji Isa Yuguda.

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However, democratic struggles do not end with the exit of one dictator. The emerging dictatorial tendency of incumbent Governor Isa Yuguda is once again pitting Senator Nazeef against the former Minister of Civil Aviation. As Yuguda bares his fangs, Nazeef is back to the trenches to resist the tendency of elected leaders degenerating into despots. In fact, nothing destroys democratic growth like silence and cowardice of those who have the privilege to act but chose to show cold passivity.

 

Governor Isa yuguda is uncomfortable with Senator Nazeef¢s activism and is deploying state power against him, despite the fact that he is an elected lawmaker in his own right. His crime is that he refuses to be silent while Yuguda is treading the path of former Governor Mua¢zu. In particular, Senator Nazeef doesn¢t like the idea of Yuguda arrogating to himself the power to endorse or disqualify candidates for the last local government elections in Bauchi State .

 

As soon as he was inaugurated, Isa Yuguda called on opposition parties to work together for the common good of Bauchi State and they agreed to do so. But Yuguda had a much sinister agenda than he was publicly ready to acknowledge. He stacked the cards against members of the opposition to ensure they didn¢t win a single local government seat contrary to the spirit of goodwill he reached with the opposition members.

 

The fact that Senator Nazeef is still fighting dictatorial tendencies suggests that his action has nothing to do with personal or private motives. The same principle that pitted him against Adamu Mua¢zu is the same factor why he is opposing Yuguda¢s despotic tendencies. Our democracy can never prosper if we maintain apathy in the face of rising threats to our democracy. Governor Yuguda promised to ensure a level playing ground in the last local government elections but fixed the process to ensure the success of candidates he personally endorsed. What matters is not the candidates the people wanted because they were merely presented with a fait accompli.

 

Senator Nazeef is not looking for appointment from Yuguda but he is fighting to save our democracy from the inimical effects of dictatorship. He is a vocal voice for democracy and is widely respected for his courage. Unless someone stands out from crowd and speaks up, Governor Isa Yuguda could even be worse than his predecessor. However, Senator Nazeef should not be deterred from his course of ensuing genuine democratic culture is entrenched in Bauchi State and Nigeria at large.

 

Signed:

Yunusa Mohammed Darazo

No. 27, Maiduguri Road ,

Kaduna.