As usual, whenever election approaches, political gladiators will be seen moving from one platform to another, basically to fit themselves into an advantageous and favorable position to quench their thirst of inordinate political desires, not caring whose ox is gored in the process.
Sometimes, some of them go to the extent of flouting the moral compass and exhibit typical abuse of human sensitivity.
Also, another ascribable feature of the free-election ploys, the media, both the conventional and social platforms, will be inundated by rhetoric, scripted political hoopla and irrational criticism to tactically hoodwink and delude the general public, especially the electorates.
In situations where all these shenanigans and mimicry of democracy triumphed, the citizens would suffer the impending consequences, while good governance would be truncated and the entire polity will be apparently shortchanged, leaving the beleaguered majority holding the short end of the stick at the end.
Like in every state, as the clock ticks towards the long-awaited 2023 general election, the good, the bad and the ugly narratives are oozing out from Adamawa state – it’s the actual manifestations of the proverbial beauty of the democracy where the merited and unworthy stand the same right in seeking the mandate of the people.
It’s ostensible that political permutations, alignments and realignments have since begun with the incumbent Governor of the State, Umaru Ahmadu Fintiri’s, second term bid recently getting a morale rooter as some patriotic sons and daughters of the state have magnanimously obtained the 2023 gubernatorial nomination form for AUF to re-contest in the upcoming guber race in the state.
It’s true that one good turn deserves another, and with his unprecedented and remarkable feat, Governor Fintiri’s second leg should be the yearning and aspiration of all the jingoistic folks of state.
In fact, politics is always complex and the Nigerian version of it seems to be more intricate, because, sometimes the required rationality is eluded in the system.
while AUF is doing what proved to be undoable to his predecessors, turning the infrastructure deficient state.
However, he stands face-to-face with some desperate politicians from the opposition All Progressive Congress (APC), who have surfaced on billboards strategically placed at various locations within the state capital city, Yola, and other local governments areas of the state.
Most of personalities whose pictures appeared on the billboards, however, are hit and run politicians who, after getting the mandates of the people, gallivant the luxurious parts of Abuja, turning pages of the newspapers and other social media sites as their only constituency.
Indeed, all thanks to Governor Fintiri’s liberal disposition for allowing them to mount billboards on virtually all the roads his administration has built, and by always staying in the state as he hardly go out of his domain unless for a genuine reason, especially for the good of the state.
Today, we have seen the absolute departure from the days the state was teleguided and micro-managed from far away Abuja to the days where the leadership is always and practically on ground.
Today, under the able and passionate stewardship of Mr. AUF, the entire state is his constituency and he places the state at the topmost level of his priority radar.
Gone are the days when the Adamawa state executives were operating from Abuja and anytime they were in the state, they behave like passers-by and wayfarers – the state has suffered long abysmal neglect from its past leaders, until the emergence of the Redeemer called Fintiri.
Though, it’s allowed for people to contest election if they duly possess the requisite qualification, I don’t see any of those who indicate interest to contest against Governor Fintiri in 2023 as his match politically.
Virtually all these aspirants are several planets down AUF in terms of the aspects of the requisite qualification for the political office they have all fixed their eyes on.
Fintiri glaringly possesses the vastest invaluable experience that has built him into a towering gladiator over the political Lilliputians dating him in Adamawa electoral battleground.
He rose from a member of the state assembly to become the Governor of the state in a fiercely contested poll in 2019, defeating the incumbent governor Bindo Jibrilla of the All Progressive Congress (APC) with a wide margin, in spite of the fact that the APC is controlling the government at the centre which gave Bindo some level of advantage over Fintiri.
Recently, one of the newspaper nerd politicians, Hon. Abdurazak Namdas, who represents Jada-Ganye-Mayo/Belwa-Toungo Federal Constituency of Adamawa State at the National Assembly, in an interview with the Nation newspaper boasted of possessing the clout to defeat Fintiri in 2023.
It’s laughable and absurd for someone to be savouring the comfort of Abuja and think that defeating Governor Fintiri will be as easy as talking to journalists. Politics is local and anyone who thinks he can match Fintiri in Adamawa should come down to the state and do real politics.
In what seems as disparagement of the exalted office of the Adamawa state governor and abuse of the sensitivity of the minds of the people of the state, Senator Elisha Abbo, who was recently entangled in an alleged most shameful case of immorality, mulls becoming the Governor of Adamawa state.
Though, the people of the state are still battling with public outrage over the unbecoming attitude of Mr Abbo, his decision to govern the state is puzzling because, if morality is one of the yardsticks, people like him wouldn’t be close to power.
The Adamawa state APC has turned to be a club of desperate politicians who want to get power by all means even without having what it takes to be in any leadership position.
No wonder, the party is always in crisis not because of the collective interest of the state, but for the excessive interest of the power mongers. The party is widely divided along several interests. A divided house will never stand to win election in any clime, let alone Adamawa where the Governor is creditably writing his name in gold.
In fact, AUF is till my out uncommon democratic deliverables in Adamawa state in the class of Governor Babagana Zulum is in Borno State. AUF is transforming Adamawa with flyovers and underpass and other historic projects.
One good turn deserves another. What is expected by the people of the state, is continuity and sustainability of Fintiri’s legacy beyond 2023.
Abubakar writes from Yola.
