Nigeria’s minister of communications and a governorship aspirant of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Oyo State, Barrister Adebayo Shittu has said that he is ready to embark on the mandatory National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) after he completes his tenure.
Said he: “it will be a pleasant thing (for me) to go (and serve the nation in the NYSC) after I have been governor by the grace of God.”
The minister who spoke in an exclusive interview with popular Ibadan-based broadcast journalist, Edmund Obilo, on his programme ‘State Affairs,’ said that he did not serve in the NYSC because he was elected a lawmaker after graduating from the university.
He said however that court “will have to decide whether serving in the house of assembly and being minister is not superior and does not replace service in the NYSC.”
Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi State has admitted that President Muhammadu Buhari is his friend despite belonging to the opposition People Democratic Party (PDP).
Governor Umahi, who spoke on Friday night in Abakaliki during the quarterly media chat/ dinner as part of celebrations to mark the nation’s 58th anniversary and 22ndyear of the state’s creation, said that their relationship was beyond politics.
The governor said that the State Government would name the one and half kilometre glass tunnel it is constructing after Buhari as it would be one of the best in the world.
“I want to state that aside my wife, Buhari remains my only boss and should be respected by Nigerians because of his status as the president.
“Buhari as the president is the symbol of the country just as the governor’s are mini-presidents in their respective states.
“The fact is that as a human being, he might not be doing everything correctly, but the citizens owe him prayers and understanding to lead the country aright.
“I have said repeatedly that I don’t have to insult him to show that I am a PDP member and it is not my duty as a governor to insult the president.
“This does not mean that I do not identify with the ideals of the PDP, but it must be stated that those who say they are supporting Buhari in Ebonyi are only deceiving the people.”
The governor said that the opposition in the state is only interested in his job and not genuinely supporting the president, even as he vowed not to allow them to take the position from him.
“The northern senatorial zone of the state produced a governor who served for eight years; the central zone did the same and the southern zone where I hail from should be allowed to complete its eight-year tenure.
“This is the tripod on which the state’s equity rests and even though a sitting governor wanted to truncate it, God brought a David in my person to ensure it was maintained and it will be maintained till the end.”
Governor Umahi advised Nigerians to realize that power comes from God and to check the brazen quest for political offices which has brought several problems to the country.
“Politicking has recklessly taken the centre stage in the nation’s affairs and if such is not checked for the next four years, it would be difficult for the country to handle its consequences.
“The common man in the country just needs food on his table as politics has become a means of profiteering even from those who have nothing to offer to the people.”
The governor, who took time to enumerate his administration’s strides in the areas of infrastructure, agriculture, education, heath, human empowerment, among others, noted that his decision to modernize the state capital was irreversible.
Media practitioners from within and outside the state took turns to ask several questions bordering on the state’s existence and made general comments, at the occasion.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
President Muhammadu Buhari has expressed sympathy to the government and people of Indonesia over the latest Tsunami and earthquake disaster that hit Indonesia’s Central Sulawesi Island, killing no fewer than 384 people.
In a statement today, Saturday, President Buhari said that the natural disaster was devastating beyond description, saying: “no matter how distant we are away from others around the world, we remain connected to them by our bond of common humanity, and such bond creates automatic empathy and sympathy for the pains and tribulations of others.
“My administration and the entire people of Nigeria are with you at this difficult and tough moment when you struggle hard to minimize the impact of this tragedy and in your efforts to provide temporary relief and comfort to the affected victims.”
He prayed to God to protect the people against such tragedies in future and give the victims the comfort to overcome the impact of what he described as “this unsettling and horrifying natural disaster against which humanity is powerless to prevent.”
Report had it that rescue workers have been hunting for survivors after a powerful earthquake hit the Indonesian island of Sulawesi and triggered a tsunami, killing at least 384 people.
After the 7.5-magnitude earthquake hit yesterday, Friday, water smashed into buildings and swept away homes in the coastal city of Palu city, home to 350,000 people.
It was reported that more than 540 people are being treated in several local hospitals amid the massive destruction in Palu and 29 people are missing.
Disaster Management Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho warned that the death toll could climb in the coming days.
This was even as head of the International Red Cross in Indonesia, Jan Gelfand, said that electricity and communications have been cut off, making it difficult to assess the damage in Palu and nearby fishing community of Donggala. Sutopo:
“It is not just the people in the large urban areas. There are a lot of people also living in remote communities who are hard to reach.”
With Palu airport closed, relief workers have to make their way to Palu by road. Sulawesi is one of the biggest islands in the world and the drive from the nearest airport is around 10-12 hours. “We already have people en route but you never know what damage there is to the road infrastructure.”
In Palu, authorities are still urging residents to not go inside their homes and sleep away from buildings – fields, roads or yards because of the danger from aftershocks.
After a local hospital was damaged, medical staff opted to treat dozens of wounded residents just outside the building, Sutopo said.
Dr. Komang Adi Sujendra, Director of Undata Hospital in Palu was seeking help from the public following the quake.
“At the moment, in our hospital, electricity is out all over Palu, roads are cracked, the phone network doesn’t work,” he said in a video posted on Twitter. “We are hoping for any help.”
“We need tents, medicine, canvas, nurses …”
Air traffic controller dies after trying to escape
An air traffic controller who stayed behind to make sure a passenger airplane took off was among the dozens of victims.
Anthonius Gunawan Agung, 21, died in the hospital after he jumped off the traffic control tower at the Palu airport when he thought the tower was collapsing.
His colleagues had evacuated the tower when they felt the earthquakes but he stayed behind to ensure that a Batik airplane safely took off, Air Nav Indonesia, the agency that oversees aircraft navigation, said in a statement.
“We felt a deep heartbreak, may God gives Anthonius the best place beside him, along with other victims of Donggala earthquake,” Air Nav spokesperson Yohanes Sirait said.
A massive quake
The horrific scene began Friday when the first in a series of tremors was felt at 3 p.m. (3 a.m. ET) 35 miles (56 km) north of Palu, according to the United States Geological Survey.
Three quakes of 4.9 and larger magnitudes were recorded up to three hours before the tremor near Palu, the USGS said.
The tremor triggered a tsunami that hit beaches in the cities of Palu and Donggala, officials said.
The tsunami was “about three meters high,” Nugroho said.
The shaking of the 7.5-magnitude tremor was “severe” and the likely damage following the quake was considered “moderate to heavy,” the USGS said.
A series of aftershock quakes were reported in the aftermath of the quake, including a 5.8 magnitude tremor just 12 minutes later.
An early tsunami warning had been issued by the Indonesian meteorological agency, but was later lifted after the agency ascertained that the water had receded.
Indonesian president Joko Widodo said the military was being called in to the disaster-struck region to help search-and-rescue teams get to victims and find bodies.
Writing on his official Twitter account Friday, Widodo said he was monitoring the situation and preparing for any post-earthquake eventualities.
“May our brothers and sisters remain calm and be safe,” he wrote.
A resident is seen beside the collapsed brick wall of her house at Tobadak village in Central Mamuju, western Sulawesi province, on September 28 after a strong earthquake hit the area.
The quakes come a month after a trio of earthquakes hit several islands in the South Pacific and Indonesia, including Lombok, which is still recovering from the effects of an August 5 earthquake that killed more than 430 people.
Minister of Women Affairs, Senator Aisha Jumai Alhassan has resigned her appointment in the federal cabinet and surrendered her membership of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
In a letter of resignation today, Saturday, the embattled Minister complained of being unfairly treated by the National Working Committee (NWC) of the APC for disqualifying her from contesting the governorship position in her Taraba State.
Aisha Alhassan expressed surprise that the part did not give any reason for her being Disqualified other than just the word “not cleared.”
In the resignation letter, the aggrieved Minister however thanked President Muhammadu Buhari for the opportunity he gave her in the last three years to serve under his government even as she wished him good health.
Only yesterday, Friday, the national chairman of the APC, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole had said that Aisha Alhassan was disqualified because of divided loyalty.
The embattled Minister’s problem started last year when she declared open support for the presidential ambition of the former Nigerian Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, who she said was her political godfather. She had said that even if President Buhari would contest along with Atiku, she would quit her ministerial position to support Atiku.
A minister of State for Health under Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration and the Deputy Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Army, Funke Adedoyin, is dead.
She died today, Friday in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, at the age of 54 from what was said to be cancer complications which she has been battling with since 2016.
She was said to have been cured of the disease but suffered a relapse three months ago which led to her travelling to the United States.
Funke, who until her death today, was a member of the House of Representatives, representing Irepodun/Oke-Ero/Isin/Ekiti Federal Constitiency of Kwara state, was reported to have just returned to Nigeria and was recuperating in Abuja.
National chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Adams Aliyu Oshiomhole has said that the party disqualified the women affairs minister, Hajiya Aisha Jumai Alhassan in her bid to contest for the governorship of Taraba State in the 2019 election because of her doubtful loyalty to the party.
At a news briefing today, Friday in Abuja, Oshiomhole confirmed that the minister has issues that have to do with party loyalty.
“Our constitution is clear and it dictates that to contest elections or even hold office in the APC, you must be loyal to the party in every material concern.
“From all she had said in the past and even her comments and general attitude during the screening, the NWC reviewed everything taken together and we arrived at the conclusion that she does not possess the level of loyalty that the APC requires for her to contest elections on our platform.
“We made it clear when the defections happened that APC may well benefit from these defections if it helps us to be more critical in terms of whom we give platform to contest elections and that there are core values that binds the APC together and they are non-negotiable.
“The Electoral Act and the APC Constitution forbids anyone from being a member of more than one political party at a time.
“You cannot be a member of APC and be a card-carrying member of another party but when you have a situation where it would appear, based on what you know and based on what I know that someone is probably APC in the daytime maybe for the purpose of retaining certain offices and they are PDP at heart or if they are not PDP at heart, they are actually and simply a follower of a one-man permanent presidential candidate…then we have the right to ask ourselves if these attitudes and qualities are characteristics of an ideal member of an APC. So, those are the reasons.
“We did not want to have a lengthy explanation to do but she knows why she was disqualified and we know why we denied her the use of our platform.”
On the minister of Communications, Barrister Adebayo Shittu who was also disqualified from contesting the Oyo State governorship election, the APC chairman that for him to have admitted that he did not do the mandatory NYSC as provided for under the law was enough to stop him from holding any public office.
“It is not something you may elect to do or abstain from doing and my understanding of the NYSC Act is that no employer of labour is permitted to employ anyone who graduated under 30 years and who did not obtain an exemption for reasons as provided for in the NYSC Act.
“So, for us, not participating in the NYSC raises very serious moral issue as well as legal issue.
“After interviewing him, we were convinced that….for our party, there are clear lessons we need to learn from our recent past when people…anyway, we were convinced that if he did not do NYSC, that for us, was enough to disqualify him and we had to find the courage to do so.”
President Buhari participated in Bilateral Meeting with Secretary General of Organisation of Islamic Cooperation Dr Yousef Ahmed Al-Othaimeen at the Sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York
The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has vowed before President Muhammadu Buhari in the United States of America to soon expose the real motive for the insurgency by members of the Boko Haram.
At a bilateral meeting with the Nigerian President, on the margins of the 73rd United Nations General Assembly in New York today, Friday, OIC Secretary-General, Dr, Youssef Ahmed Al-Othaimeen emphasized that the body will use its facilities and institutions to correct the wrong narrative that the Boko Haram insurgency is about Islam.
Dr. Al-Othaimeen said that OIC had passed a resolution committing member states to support Nigeria in combating extremism, adding exposing Boko Haram insurgents for who they are is necessary to put the issue of extremism in its proper perspective.
The OIC scribe pledged to do everything possible to assist Nigeria in that respect, even as President expressed gratitude to the OIC on its proposal to help Nigeria tackle the Boko Haram insurgency.
The President also underscored the importance of education in purging the mind of wrong indoctrination, particularly on religion.
Buhari noted that the problem in Nigeria is aggravated by climate change and population explosion, emphasizing for the umpteenth time the need for the recharge of Lake Chad through inter-basin water transfer, to take care of about 45 million people who depend on the lake for agriculture, animal husbandry, fishing, and many others.
Buhari in group photo with Nigeria community in US
President Muhammadu Buhari has accused Nigerians of being silent for the 16 years in which the country was mismanaged by the government of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Buhari, who spoke today, Friday, when he had a meeting with the Nigerian community in the United States of America Thursday on the margins of the 73rd United Nations General Assembly in New York, regretted that the elite allowed Nigeria to be mismanaged for 16 years without as much as raising a voice in consternation.
“They didn’t say a word. Under the PTF (Petroleum Trust Fund, of which he was Chairman), we did roads from Lagos to Abuja, to Onitsha, to Port Harcourt. Since then, the roads were not done, between 1999 and 2015, yet the elite did not say a word.
“I was called Baba Go Slow. Those who were going fast, where did they get to?
“In 1983, military officers gathered, and made me Head of State. I packed the politicians into jail, told them they were guilty until they could prove their innocence. We seized what they had looted, but after I myself was put in detention, the politicians were given back what they had looted. How many elite complained about that?
“Three times I contested elections; three times I went to court after the elections were rigged against me. No justice, but I said ‘God dey.’
“It was mainly the ordinary people that stood by me. That is why I am always conscious of them. They are my constituency. Even pregnant women on the queue would fall into labour, go to have their babies, and still come back to vote for me. I will keep doing my best for the country.”
The President asked Nigerians, include top flight professionals, drawn from fields like medicine, engineering, sports, the arts, investment, academia, politics, agriculture, transport, education, publishing, and many others to come back home, and contribute to the change that is making headway in Nigeria.
“You are contributing to this great country (America). If you want to help people back home, invest in education in your constituencies. If you educate people, they won’t then accept nonsense from anybody.”
President Buhari said that the administration he leads has by and large kept faith with its three key campaign promises; to secure the country, revive the economy and fight corruption.
“I have tried to do my best since I came,” he stressed, adding: “Security-wise, we are better. Boko Haram still conducts cowardly attacks, but the insurgency is not the same as it used to be. They are terrorists, and have nothing to do with religion. We will continue to deal with them. Ask people in the North-east, especially in Borno State, they will tell you they can sleep with two eyes closed now.”
The parley was put together by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Diaspora Matters, Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa and the Nigerian professionals who were drawn from different parts of the United States and Canada.
Representatives of USA chapters of Nigerians in the Diaspora Organization (NIDO) presented awards to President Buhari in appreciation of his performance, urging him to do more.
The odds against Governor Mohammed Jibrilla Bindo of Adamawa state in the run to 2019 general elections seem insurmountable. In fact , it’s like squeezing water out of a stone.
His popularity rating has nosedived among the generality of the people, the same way his chances of securing a second term. As a countdown to the party primaries which comes up barely forty eight hours from now, the governor is not at peace with himself due to uncertainties arising from almost four wasted years of misappropriated glories and perverted strategic thinking on the fundamentals of good governance.
The government that benefited massively from the “sak” philosophical dictum of the Buhari administration was to say the least, inept, weak, and clueless. There was no clear demonstration of vision and mission in the art of governance as the leadership’s blurred vision, if any, and medieval concept on modern development has risen to Olympian height its brazen incompetence and blatant pitfalls on what governance is all about.
With above preamble, pundits with democratic values, party stalwarts and bookmakers in popular participation have started showing tremendous interest in the Adamawa primaries of the ruling All Progressives congress, APC, scheduled for this Saturday in Yola.
For now, Yola is generating heat and the governor’s camp is in total confusion and disarray because of the proverbial “new kid on the blog” In 2015, Governor Bindo came to power as a result of tremendous goodwill and palpable affection of the people who were in dare need for a change. With infectious charm, urbane outlook but deceptive virtues of humility, the governor descended on the political turf like the turnado.
Bindo electrified the political space and the good people of the state responded.The governor came to power under the Buhari change mantra, through the powerful political structure of Governor Murtala Nyako in 2015. Nyako would always be remembered with nostalgia as a politician with mass grassroot appeal.
Though the former Governor belong to the old school of Nigerian politics, he is however, a master strategist with enormous goodwill from the teeming masses of the state. Nyako, opened the political space and accommodated a rudderless political novice to secure the primaries of the APC. Nyako had a strong, dynamic and solid political structure that defied different parameters of modern democratic practice.
He gave Bindo solid votes to win the primaries inspite of the “Ghana must go” bags that was allegedly flying around the venue of the primaries. But, the rest is history. Immediately after securing the ticket, governor Bindo confirmed to all those that care to know, that the Wazirin Adamawa assisted him with mouthwatering financial muscle to finally win the states general election. Just like the proverbial Nneka, the bird in Chinua Achebe’s” Things Fall Apart” that ate so much food and decided to fight its “Chi”; an Igbo word for god, the governor later abandoned both Nyako and Atiku.
Now, it’s payback time: with no solid political structure to call his own, how does Bindo hope to win Saturday’s primaries under a free and fair atmosphere? Immediately after his swearing in, the governor has turned his back against those who brought him to power. Except for professional chorus boys and some village never do wells that formed the kitchen cabinet, no significant member of political class got any government patronage. That, in the last three years of this administration, no politician could boast of a contract of N5million from Bindo.
Now is the pay back time. The governor did not empower the youths and he did not give them jobs of even SA’s as was the case with Nyako. I am afraid that the whole issue is precarious that even if Bindo secures the APC ticket, it will be a great misadventures as the party will loose its deposit at the general election.
The people are tired of barefaced lies and empty promises of a government that is generally acknowledged to be inefficient, incompetent and lacking in motivation and commitment to the core values of democracy. In fact, to situate and properly contextualise issues of governance in the state, it would be safe to arrive at the conclusion that this government has woefully failed the Adamawa people. People are in despair and despondency due largely to poverty of governance as Education, heallth, social and physical infrastructure are in great deficit. Politically, Bindo campaign structure is in limbo.
He is neither with Nyako nor Atiku and his local “Oracle” that formed the falcrum of his spiritual based, unfortunately died recently. The man, said to be famous in dubious strategic politicking with nuissance value might have plotted some graphs, but alas! So, where is the strong hold of the governor in the 2019 elections? Bindo is no longer popular in the Northern Senatorial District as he has lost substantial grounds in even Mubi, his home town.
The issue of insecurity and lack of genuine desire to oil the wheel of progress of the populace is a serious minus. In the Central Senatorial District the story is not different.
The same dirges and songs of lamentations.
In the Southern Senatorial District, it is even worse. The rampant killings arising from nomad-farners clashes that has been lingering unabated has created a wide gulf between the people of the Numan federation and the governor. The people are accusing him of nonchalant attitude towards their plight as the crises continue to generate tension and palpable fear. To add salt to injury, the stiff competition coming from the brother in-law to President Muhammadu Buhari, Dr Mahmood Halilu (Modi) is the greatest nightmare that confronts the flamboyant governor of Adamawa state. Dr Modi is aspiring to govern the state with intimidating credentials. Unlike others, Modi is not a school dropout.
With two vibrant masters degrees in the kitty and wide network of contacts to propel the social and Economic fortunes of the state, coupled with decades of political tutelage under the current President, who says that a single lion cannot dare the herd of he-goats? With over 20 years of post graduation experience in both public and the private sector, Dr Mahmood’s campaign train has transverse across the length and breadth of the state and is getting ready to enter the lion’s den.
He is a combatant democrat that is not afraid to swim in the murky waters that is infested by sharks in Nigerian politics. Dr Mahmood Modi’s popularity rating is extremely high and that has sent cold shivers among the governor’s camp and other contestants for the exalted office of Governor of Adamawa come 2019.Modi laments on the dwindling fortunes of good governance in the state, where he promised to tackle the issue of poverty, want, upgrade of social infrastructure, to improve our Educational standards to meet the bar set by giants like Professors Jubril Aminu, Iya Abubakar and Alleidieno among the many and of course change the face and character of governance for mass participation by youths.
He said: “Adamawa state has been confronted with many challenges which could ordinarily be transformed into opportunities for the general welfare of our people.
“My desire to contest is to positively respond to our generational challenges.”
Dr Modi said: “we are absolutely committed with unwavering resolution if voted into office to educate the citizens on the virtues of responsible and responsive governance that supports President Buhari’s message of building an orderly, disciplined and just society that is founded on rule of law, integrity and moral rectitude in the conduct of our national lives.”
Former Nigerian Vice President, Atiku Abubakar has described the result of the Osun State rerun governorship election in which the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) the winner as the triumph of tyranny that will not last long.
In a statement today, Friday, Atiku stressed that the result just declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in favour of the APC candidate “is a travesty of justice. That was not democracy. That was a demonstration of tyranny.”
He recalled that the victory of the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Ademola Adeleke, was firmly established last week on Saturday the 22nd of September, 2018, even as he said: “this so-called victory of the APC is not a democratic victory.”
Atiku claimed that observers, both foreign and domestic, reported the brazen intimidation of voters and outright suppression of voting in PDP strongholds with even PDP agents physically prevented from being at the polling units.
“These actions showed to the whole world that this unnecessary rerun, in polling units cancelled or voided by the INEC, was nothing more than a red herring, to distract attention and gain time, while the ruling party perfected strategies to pull a fast one on the electorate, as it has done today.
“I wish to say to Senator Ademola Adeleke and the good people of Osun State that I stand with you today and tomorrow in your time of need. I will not be presumptuous to tell you what to do. But what I can tell you is that whatever you choose to do, I will be with you both in word and in action.
“Furthermore, I call on the international community not to stand idly by while democracy is being trampled upon. Nigeria is a very unique nation. We are very strategic to Africa in terms of population and location. A destabilised Nigeria will destabilise Africa and this must never be allowed to happen.
“Thus, the international community must intervene to ensure that what happened in Osun must be investigated, reversed and prevented from spilling over to other gubernatorial, legislative and national elections.
“Finally, I call on Nigerians to be on guard. The APC has shown its hand. It is the leprous hand of a tyrant. Therefore we must be alert in future elections, for as Thomas Paine said “eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.”
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Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi State has admitted that President Muhammadu Buhari is his friend despite belonging to the opposition People Democratic Party (PDP).
2019: Gov Bindo’s Nightmare, By Ibrahim Modibbo
The odds against Governor Mohammed Jibrilla Bindo of Adamawa state in the run to 2019 general elections seem insurmountable. In fact , it’s like squeezing water out of a stone.
His popularity rating has nosedived among the generality of the people, the same way his chances of securing a second term. As a countdown to the party primaries which comes up barely forty eight hours from now, the governor is not at peace with himself due to uncertainties arising from almost four wasted years of misappropriated glories and perverted strategic thinking on the fundamentals of good governance.
The government that benefited massively from the “sak” philosophical dictum of the Buhari administration was to say the least, inept, weak, and clueless. There was no clear demonstration of vision and mission in the art of governance as the leadership’s blurred vision, if any, and medieval concept on modern development has risen to Olympian height its brazen incompetence and blatant pitfalls on what governance is all about.
With above preamble, pundits with democratic values, party stalwarts and bookmakers in popular participation have started showing tremendous interest in the Adamawa primaries of the ruling All Progressives congress, APC, scheduled for this Saturday in Yola.
For now, Yola is generating heat and the governor’s camp is in total confusion and disarray because of the proverbial “new kid on the blog” In 2015, Governor Bindo came to power as a result of tremendous goodwill and palpable affection of the people who were in dare need for a change. With infectious charm, urbane outlook but deceptive virtues of humility, the governor descended on the political turf like the turnado.
Bindo electrified the political space and the good people of the state responded.The governor came to power under the Buhari change mantra, through the powerful political structure of Governor Murtala Nyako in 2015. Nyako would always be remembered with nostalgia as a politician with mass grassroot appeal.
Though the former Governor belong to the old school of Nigerian politics, he is however, a master strategist with enormous goodwill from the teeming masses of the state. Nyako, opened the political space and accommodated a rudderless political novice to secure the primaries of the APC. Nyako had a strong, dynamic and solid political structure that defied different parameters of modern democratic practice.
He gave Bindo solid votes to win the primaries inspite of the “Ghana must go” bags that was allegedly flying around the venue of the primaries. But, the rest is history. Immediately after securing the ticket, governor Bindo confirmed to all those that care to know, that the Wazirin Adamawa assisted him with mouthwatering financial muscle to finally win the states general election. Just like the proverbial Nneka, the bird in Chinua Achebe’s” Things Fall Apart” that ate so much food and decided to fight its “Chi”; an Igbo word for god, the governor later abandoned both Nyako and Atiku.
Now, it’s payback time: with no solid political structure to call his own, how does Bindo hope to win Saturday’s primaries under a free and fair atmosphere? Immediately after his swearing in, the governor has turned his back against those who brought him to power. Except for professional chorus boys and some village never do wells that formed the kitchen cabinet, no significant member of political class got any government patronage. That, in the last three years of this administration, no politician could boast of a contract of N5million from Bindo.
Now is the pay back time. The governor did not empower the youths and he did not give them jobs of even SA’s as was the case with Nyako. I am afraid that the whole issue is precarious that even if Bindo secures the APC ticket, it will be a great misadventures as the party will loose its deposit at the general election.
The people are tired of barefaced lies and empty promises of a government that is generally acknowledged to be inefficient, incompetent and lacking in motivation and commitment to the core values of democracy. In fact, to situate and properly contextualise issues of governance in the state, it would be safe to arrive at the conclusion that this government has woefully failed the Adamawa people. People are in despair and despondency due largely to poverty of governance as Education, heallth, social and physical infrastructure are in great deficit. Politically, Bindo campaign structure is in limbo.
He is neither with Nyako nor Atiku and his local “Oracle” that formed the falcrum of his spiritual based, unfortunately died recently. The man, said to be famous in dubious strategic politicking with nuissance value might have plotted some graphs, but alas! So, where is the strong hold of the governor in the 2019 elections? Bindo is no longer popular in the Northern Senatorial District as he has lost substantial grounds in even Mubi, his home town.
The issue of insecurity and lack of genuine desire to oil the wheel of progress of the populace is a serious minus. In the Central Senatorial District the story is not different.
The same dirges and songs of lamentations.
In the Southern Senatorial District, it is even worse. The rampant killings arising from nomad-farners clashes that has been lingering unabated has created a wide gulf between the people of the Numan federation and the governor. The people are accusing him of nonchalant attitude towards their plight as the crises continue to generate tension and palpable fear. To add salt to injury, the stiff competition coming from the brother in-law to President Muhammadu Buhari, Dr Mahmood Halilu (Modi) is the greatest nightmare that confronts the flamboyant governor of Adamawa state. Dr Modi is aspiring to govern the state with intimidating credentials. Unlike others, Modi is not a school dropout.
With two vibrant masters degrees in the kitty and wide network of contacts to propel the social and Economic fortunes of the state, coupled with decades of political tutelage under the current President, who says that a single lion cannot dare the herd of he-goats? With over 20 years of post graduation experience in both public and the private sector, Dr Mahmood’s campaign train has transverse across the length and breadth of the state and is getting ready to enter the lion’s den.
He is a combatant democrat that is not afraid to swim in the murky waters that is infested by sharks in Nigerian politics. Dr Mahmood Modi’s popularity rating is extremely high and that has sent cold shivers among the governor’s camp and other contestants for the exalted office of Governor of Adamawa come 2019.Modi laments on the dwindling fortunes of good governance in the state, where he promised to tackle the issue of poverty, want, upgrade of social infrastructure, to improve our Educational standards to meet the bar set by giants like Professors Jubril Aminu, Iya Abubakar and Alleidieno among the many and of course change the face and character of governance for mass participation by youths.
He said: “Adamawa state has been confronted with many challenges which could ordinarily be transformed into opportunities for the general welfare of our people.
“My desire to contest is to positively respond to our generational challenges.”
Dr Modi said: “we are absolutely committed with unwavering resolution if voted into office to educate the citizens on the virtues of responsible and responsive governance that supports President Buhari’s message of building an orderly, disciplined and just society that is founded on rule of law, integrity and moral rectitude in the conduct of our national lives.”
Modibbo is an Abuja based Journalist.