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.
