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By Hashim Muhammad Suleiman, Ph.D
I am not a politician but I respect politics and politicians. I respect them because they hold enormous power that shapes all other aspects of social life, including that of after life. Not only that, I also respect the fact that while politicians hold power, they decide on what to do with that power: negative or positive.
While Nasiru na wajen Rufa’i held power as Kaduna state governor, he decided, head-on, to fight Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. He was always looking for little ways to chip away anything that makes the university a suitable place for learning.
As an alumnus of the university, Nasiru enforced crushing tax regime on the staff of the university and decided to unilaterally carve away hundreds of plots of lands from the university’s Mando campus and share same to his palace jesters. Indeed, it took the efforts of ASUU-ABU, ABU management and other stakeholders to stop Nasiru’s onslaught on Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. Yet, it was same university that managed Nasiru’s toddler formative years and award him a degree that changed his life for the better.
However, now we have another occupant of same Sir Kashim House, holding same political power but with difference in social approach. In his wisdom and treating of power with human face and for humanity’s sake, Governor Uba Sani of Kaduna state is coming to the aid of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.
Where his predecessor saw land to encroach, Governor Sani saw opportunity to help ABU assume its rightful place among committee of global centres of learning. Among other things, Governor Sani has come through to rebuild and even expand the road networks of the great citadel of learning. He was personally on campus to kickstart the road constructions.
Also, Governor Sani has set up a powerful committee for the renegotiation of the crushing tax burden that Nasiru enforced and vehemently refused to give a listening ear to anyone. Hopefully, the fruits of the committee will soon make the staff of ABU smile.
In fact, while Nasiru held sway, the unwritten law of Kashim House then was to crush anything associated with ABU, Zaria. When ASUU-ABU took the governor to cleaners for his abrasive attempt at chopping away ABU’s land, news from the grapevine had it that his lieutenants were combing through official documents to see if any of the ASUU-ABU excos had a land or a house in Kaduna state whose CofO would be revoked in order to get back at him but they found none.
Power is a floating soap form. Today, Nasiru is alive, struggling to fix himself back to places of power and this governor is doing all things positive to make ABU greater than it was.
This is the way of social power: while you hold it, it may intoxicate you into believing you are not expendable and you could do whatever you want. However, the moment power leaves you, you become an onlooker, not the fulcrum. Today Nasiru is an onlooker and hopefully, he’d continue to be for a very long time. While Nasiru is looking on, Governor Sani is doing his things and right thinking members of the society are happy with the positives he is bringing to ABU, Zaria.
Surely, one thing that ABU, Zaria doesn’t do is to forget how its children treat her, either for good or for bad. ABU, Zaria will never forget how good Governor Sani is treating her, neither will the mother forgets how another of her children, Nasiru treated her very poorly. Also, her hundreds of thousands of children, grandchildren and humanity will never forget.
-Dr Hashim is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Mass Communication, ABU, Zaria