By Abba Anwar
All praises be to The Almighty Allah, that my write – up on the above subject matter ignited discussions, displeasure, sensible and below sensible observations.
My friend Adamu Mukhtar Unguwar Gini, the author of the rejoinder, who chooses to behave as a gentleman, has raised some issues, that I cherish from the bottom of my heart.
My friend I am sorry if some of my answers do not recognize your position as one of the Protocol officers of the National Chairman of APC, Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, CON, and as Chairman Coalition of APC Youth Movement.
Or alleged self-assigned position of Protocol officer of the former Governor, Dr Nasiru Yusuf Gawuna or an alleged self-assigned Protocol Officer of Hon Nasir Bala Ja’o’ji. But all my submission I assure you will definitely be centered around issues you raised.
While assuring that you wouldn’t want join issues with me, you opined that, “The intention here is just to point at some salient issues skipped by the writer and underscores (sic) the need for establishing the imperative for peace and unity in our great party, the All Progressives Congress (APC).”
You said, “To me what the APC needs most now is peace and unity of purpose in order to wrestle power from the ruling New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) in Kano. Of course, every political party may have its peculiar internal wrangling, but I insist unity is the only option we have to get what we want.” I absolutely concur!
Let me jump down to the central point you raised, where you said and I quote, ” The three potential candidates mentioned by Anwar from Kano North are forces to (sic) reckon with. But the writer shrewdly skipped one very influential politician of national repute from the zone in person of Hon. Abubakar Kabir Bichi, member representing Bichi Federal Constituency at the National Assembly… who has demonstrably shown that he is a leader who had long chosen to be different from others.”
What you fail to understand here is, JUST LOOK AT THE CONTEXT OF MY WRITE – UP. Hon Bichi does not belong to this context at all. If you really understand the contextual explanation. I did not mean his contributions in the party are ignorable or dumpable.
No where in my piece where I mentioned that, only those I made reference to, were the only people who could make difference in the scheme of things. You need to get this clearly.
In one of my recent write-ups titled “Kano APC Youth Coalition, Nasir Ja’o’ji and Party Survival,” go and Google the caption it is there online, I said, “Stars like Deputy Senate President, Barau Jibrin, former Deputy Governor and Gubernatorial Candidate for 2023 election, HE Nasiru Yusuf Gawuna, former Commissioner for Local Governments and Chieftaincy Affairs and former Deputy Gubernatorial Candidate for 2023 election, HE Murtala Sule Garo, HON ABUBAKAR KABIR BICHI, among others.”
The way I put Hon Bichi and didn’t include some of the names of those I included now, didn’t mean they were not important or relevant. Only that, they do not belong to the context of my piece. So it is the same thing here. Bichi is not within the purview of my context now.
In another recent write-up titled “DSP Barau : A Resilient Senator With Advanced Mind,” I wrote it when Barau sponsored 70 students abroad to study Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity and Robotic Science. After commending Barau for that and calling on other leaders to copy from him, I said in one of the paragraphs”… Senator Kawu Sumaila of Kano South and HON ABUBAKAR BICHI, representative of Bichi Federal Constituency, in the House of Representatives, HAVE ALREADY GONE FAR IN THIS DIRECTION. KUDOS TO THEM!”
He is reflected therein because the context allowed for that. Why didn’t you or your backers protested that I did not include other Honorable members? So I begin to wonder the sudden protest started and midwifed from somewhere and birthed through you.
Where were you all, when I gave Kudos to Hon Bichi? I think you people are doing bad public relations for Hon Bichi. What you are doing is not good for his image. You are only painting him in a corrosive manner.
Still under “Kano APC Youth Coalition, Nasir Ja’o’ji and Party Survival,” I included many names of party loyalists who are committed to the survival of the party. Simply because the context allowed that.
This is where I said, “People like Musaddique Wada Waziri, Malam Abdussalam Ishaq (Kumbotso), Umar Maiwayo Rimingado, my younger brother Inyass Habibu, Ibrahim Danyaro, Jijitar, Abubakar Indabawa, former Vice Chairman, Warawa, Dini Manchester Kankarofi, Abubakar Aminu, Hon Barwa, Sani Gilashi, Danfillo, Idris Zango, among many others, are playing very critical role in strengthening the grip of the party across the state and the nation at large.”
Why didn’t you protest that, I did not include so and so person or Honourable? Because they do not belong here. But still that does not mean only those mentioned are the best in terms of party survival.
Very committed and hard working individuals like Aminu Dahiru and Barista Baburi, were not mentioned. Why? Because the context did not allow that. But the way I see it both Aminu and Baburi are far better than some of the people I mentioned. But I can’t include them because of contextual concord.
When I did the write – up on APC Youth Coalition, to my surprise, you as the Chairman of the Coalition, did not even call my attention to at least correct me if there was anywhere in the write-up I perceived wrongly. But I continued relating with you happily. Being a friend for that matter.
That was why I am still insinuating that your rejoinder was not merely for the sake of rejoinder, it must have been orchestrated from invisible backers, who do not see reason and wisdom in all that I said in my piece. Why? Because some people were praised beyond any reasonable doubt. Which they do not like. So is this the kind of unity you are talking about?
As you said, “No doubt, loyalty is a pride in political parlance. And Ganduje is an embodiment of loyalty. Rather than to ask his opponent, (sic) the question we should ask ourselves is (sic) how loyal are we to our leader and mentor, Dr. Ganduje? Do we all agree to his decisions in the event he made them?”
I am still grappling to know which part of my piece corresponds with this statement.
As you posit, ” While the APC in Kano may have an array of contenders to the office of the governor, the decision to adopt one remains with the party. We should not be bringing out issues that never existed or even if they do, in order to dent the image of others and promote those we support.”
Though you argued that none of the people cited in my piece, either officially or unofficially declared his intention to run for gubernatorial seat, why then are you acknowledging that, APC may have an array of contenders to the office of the governor? Do you really understand what you are saying here Malam Gini?
The rejoinder continues, “From what I understand, Anwar is saying his mind on where his interest tilted to. Neither the gubernatorial and deputy gubernatorial candidate of the APC in the 2023 election nor the current Deputy Senate President have clearly made any official or unofficial pronouncement on their intention to vie for the governor’s ticket.”
Hello hello hello Unguwar Gini are you sleeping? Please wake up from slumber. Are you aware of the political implications of this statement for your political ambition? Let me ask for the second time, do you really understand what you are saying here? Hmmm.
The best way I understand this portion of your submission is, you could be one of those APC people who have the opinion that none of the three would-be-contestants is suitable for the seat. It is indeed being economical with the truth to talk in this way.
With all the praise singing accorded to Bichi in your write – up, no where before now when you did any similar write – up or something deeper in showcasing Bichi. Such behavior to me, is shortsightness in public relations. If you really believe in what you are saying concerning Bichi what other efforts did you make in the past to show to Nigerians how worth is Bichi? A challenge! Just go beyond posting his pictures in Ganduje Online or Gawuna Online, in such a primitive way and manner.
To cap it all, nobody is contesting how productive is Bichi and how progressive are all his interventions.
The rejoinder added, “The writer, while making a suggestion on the consolidation of the party’s strength, spread and unrelenting tempo be left with some hardworking individuals, he, to my understanding, inadvertently forgotten, is the likes of Comrade Muhammad Garba, Chief of Staff to the national chairman of the APC,”
This really shows you are totally out of touch with the context of my piece. People like Mohammed Garba do not belong here. We are talking of full fledged politicians. Not only that, even if one is a politician, he has to fit in to this context. Not all politicians we have in APC that fit in here. Talkless of professionals like Mohammed Garba. Please understand my contextual approach.
As a matter of fact, I think I should be in the better position to tell you, within the circle of professionalism, who Mohammed Garba is.
I laughed profusely when you said, “Another dimension to Anwar’s analysis which I would want to respond to is likening the APC’s victory or lack of it to the lingering Kano Emirate tussle. As somebody who has written widely on the subject matter, I do not think the writer truly believes the APC or its elements are banking on the crisis to settle political scores.”
Another misconception from the writer’s part is this issue of Emirate Tussle. No where in my piece I said so so group of people are banking on the crisis to settle political scores. I was just highlighting a possible feeling that, whoever thinks the issue can do miracle in party’s victory in 2027, such a person is deceiving himself. Simple!
Furthermore, as somebody who wrote in the past about this tussle, I think I should understand the crisis more clearly than Unguwar Gini. Who possibly didn’t write as short as two or three paragraphs in the past about it.
I hope this part is said with all sincerity of purpose and responsibility, “It is my firm belief that all the people mentioned by the writer have contributed to the success of the APC in the past and are ready to continue to lend their support to its success in the 2027 election year.”
Anwar, was Chief Press Secretary to the former Governor of Kano State, Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje CON and can be reached at fatimanbaba1@gmail.com
