Opinion

In Defence of Truth Against the Merchants of Chaos

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<p><&excl;-- BEGIN THEIA POST SLIDER --><&sol;p>&NewLine;<&excl;-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v&period; 2&period;0&period;95 -->&NewLine;<div class&equals;"quads-location quads-ad4" id&equals;"quads-ad4" style&equals;"float&colon;none&semi;margin&colon;0px&semi;">&NewLine;&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p><div class&equals;"eLI6JpYC" style&equals;"clear&colon;both&semi;float&colon;left&semi;width&colon;100&percnt;&semi;margin&colon;0 0 20px 0&semi;"><script async src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;pagead2&period;googlesyndication&period;com&sol;pagead&sol;js&sol;adsbygoogle&period;js"><&sol;script> &NewLine;<&excl;-- TV --> &NewLine;<ins class&equals;"adsbygoogle" &NewLine; style&equals;"display&colon;block" &NewLine; data-ad-client&equals;"ca-pub-4403533287178375" &NewLine; data-ad-slot&equals;"4399361195" &NewLine; data-ad-format&equals;"auto" &NewLine; data-full-width-responsive&equals;"true"><&sol;ins> &NewLine;<script> &NewLine; &lpar;adsbygoogle &equals; window&period;adsbygoogle &vert;&vert; &lbrack;&rsqb;&rpar;&period;push&lpar;&lbrace;&rcub;&rpar;&semi; &NewLine;<&sol;script><&sol;div>&NewLine;<p>By&colon; Muhammad Auwalu Yakasai<&sol;p><div class&equals;"XjfuAnDk" style&equals;"clear&colon;both&semi;float&colon;left&semi;width&colon;100&percnt;&semi;margin&colon;0 0 20px 0&semi;"><script async src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;pagead2&period;googlesyndication&period;com&sol;pagead&sol;js&sol;adsbygoogle&period;js"><&sol;script> &NewLine;<&excl;-- TV --> &NewLine;<ins class&equals;"adsbygoogle" &NewLine; style&equals;"display&colon;block" &NewLine; data-ad-client&equals;"ca-pub-4403533287178375" &NewLine; data-ad-slot&equals;"4399361195" &NewLine; data-ad-format&equals;"auto" &NewLine; data-full-width-responsive&equals;"true"><&sol;ins> &NewLine;<script> &NewLine; &lpar;adsbygoogle &equals; window&period;adsbygoogle &vert;&vert; &lbrack;&rsqb;&rpar;&period;push&lpar;&lbrace;&rcub;&rpar;&semi; &NewLine;<&sol;script><&sol;div>&NewLine;<p>In the restless arena of Nigerian politics&comma; it is not unusual for falsehood to dress itself in the garments of activism&period; At sensitive times&comma; when accountability begins to take root and reforms disturb the old order&comma; faceless groups suddenly emerge&period; They come with rented voices and placards of convenience&comma; rehearsing anger that has been bought and paid for&period; Their loyalty is not to justice but to the highest bidder&comma; and their real mission is not truth but disruption&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The latest example comes from a body calling itself the &ast;Forum of Kano Civil Society Organisations Against Corruption&ast;&period; While their name suggests credibility&comma; their actions betray a different reality&period; Their sudden interest in shouting &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;corruption” is less about accountability and more about shielding disgraced patrons whose nightmares are named transparency and reform&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Let us speak plainly&colon; not a single anti-corruption agency in Nigeria—neither the EFCC nor the ICPC—has indicted&comma; charged&comma; or issued any investigative report against Alhaji Abdullahi Ibrahim Rogo&period; There is no judgment&comma; no official finding&comma; no proven evidence&period; What exists instead are recycled claims amplified into headlines&comma; whispers circulated in political corners&comma; and rumours dressed up as scandal&period; To call such unproven allegations &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;evidence” is to dignify gossip&period;<&sol;p><div class&equals;"dYxUSvfX" style&equals;"clear&colon;both&semi;float&colon;left&semi;width&colon;100&percnt;&semi;margin&colon;0 0 20px 0&semi;"><script async src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;pagead2&period;googlesyndication&period;com&sol;pagead&sol;js&sol;adsbygoogle&period;js"><&sol;script> &NewLine;<ins class&equals;"adsbygoogle" &NewLine; style&equals;"display&colon;block&semi; text-align&colon;center&semi;" &NewLine; data-ad-layout&equals;"in-article" &NewLine; data-ad-format&equals;"fluid" &NewLine; data-ad-client&equals;"ca-pub-4403533287178375" &NewLine; data-ad-slot&equals;"6550225277"><&sol;ins> &NewLine;<script> &NewLine; &lpar;adsbygoogle &equals; window&period;adsbygoogle &vert;&vert; &lbrack;&rsqb;&rpar;&period;push&lpar;&lbrace;&rcub;&rpar;&semi; &NewLine;<&sol;script><&sol;div>&NewLine;<p>The hypocrisy of this drama is not lost on the people of Kano&period; When corruption once paraded itself openly when videos showed dollar bills hidden in flowing robes&comma; when public lands were sold in secret&comma; when contracts were inflated beyond reason these same voices were silent&period; There were no petitions then&comma; no protests&comma; no campaigns for accountability&period; But now&comma; as a new administration is working to rebuild what was destroyed&comma; suddenly their tongues have loosened&period; This is not conscience at work&semi; it is vengeance for lost privileges&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<&excl;-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v&period; 2&period;0&period;95 -->&NewLine;<div class&equals;"quads-location quads-ad1" id&equals;"quads-ad1" style&equals;"float&colon;none&semi;margin&colon;0px&semi;">&NewLine;&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&NewLine;<&excl;-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v&period; 2&period;0&period;95 -->&NewLine;<div class&equals;"quads-location quads-ad5" id&equals;"quads-ad5" style&equals;"float&colon;none&semi;margin&colon;0px&semi;">&NewLine;&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>Among their claims are stories of palliative diversion&comma; fraudulent contracts&comma; and phantom projects&period; Yet the facts speak differently&period; For the first time in years&comma; food distribution in Kano has been placed under the direct supervision of respected traditional rulers&comma; imams&comma; and community leaders&period; This is a deliberate effort to remove politics from relief and ensure fairness&period; Where small breaches appear&comma; they are acknowledged and corrected openly&period; This is not the secrecy of yesterday&semi; this is the transparency of today&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>On contracts&comma; Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf’s administration has taken bold steps to sanitize processes&period; Inflated contracts are being reviewed&comma; abandoned projects revived&comma; and questionable awards investigated&period; Rather than sweep dirt under the rug&comma; this administration has lifted the rug&comma; exposed the dust&comma; and demanded accountability&period; That is not complicity&semi; it is courage&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Still&comma; the loudest irony remains&colon; those who accuse do so from the shadows&period; Authentic civil society groups do not hide behind anonymity&period; They sign their names&comma; they present facts&comma; and they embrace scrutiny&period; The so-called &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Forum” that now parades itself offers no clear identity&comma; no legacy of service&comma; only unsigned statements and loud microphones&period; Advocacy without openness is not advocacy&semi; it is sabotage disguised as virtue&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf did not come into office to bow to blackmail&period; He was elected on a clear mandate to repair a state wounded by years of mismanagement and plunder&period; In less than a year&comma; his administration has reopened technical schools&comma; revived hospitals&comma; sanitized contracting&comma; and begun to rebuild critical infrastructure that was abandoned&period; These are tangible realities&comma; not mere promises&period; For every false accusation&comma; there is a visible achievement&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The people of Kano are not blind&period; They remember the past the scandals&comma; the dollar videos&comma; the mortgaged dignity of a great state&period; They also see the present—renewed schools&comma; functioning hospitals&comma; fairer contracts&comma; and relief programs supervised with integrity&period; Memory is a powerful shield&period; No rented crowd or faceless forum can erase what people have lived and witnessed&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>To Nigeria’s anti-corruption institutions&comma; the call is simple&colon; pursue evidence&comma; not propaganda&period; Let judgments be guided by facts&comma; not headlines written by mercenaries&period; Investigate where there is proof&semi; ignore where there is noise without substance&period; This is the only way to preserve credibility and strengthen public trust&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>And to those who howl in the name of civil society while hiding behind faceless banners&colon; if you have proof&comma; present it before the law&period; If you have facts&comma; submit them to the appropriate agencies&period; But if all you have is rumour and political sponsorship&comma; then step aside&period; For noise without truth is not accountability&semi; it is merely the echo of fear&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Truth does not tremble&period; It does not beg for audience&period; Like light&comma; it may be hidden for a while by passing clouds&comma; but it cannot be buried&period; In Kano today&comma; truth is reflected not in faceless allegations but in visible service&period; Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf and Alhaji Abdullahi Ibrahim Rogo stand firmly on the side of reform&comma; accountability&comma; and progress&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Against the chorus of chaos&comma; their records remain steady and unbroken&period; And when the dust of propaganda finally settles&comma; it will not be the rumours that endure&comma; but the truth clear&comma; undeniable&comma; and unshaken&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Yakasai writes from Kano<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><&excl;-- END THEIA POST SLIDER -->&NewLine;<&excl;-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v&period; 2&period;0&period;95 -->&NewLine;<div class&equals;"quads-location quads-ad3" id&equals;"quads-ad3" style&equals;"float&colon;none&semi;margin&colon;0px&semi;">&NewLine;&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<script async src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;pagead2&period;googlesyndication&period;com&sol;pagead&sol;js&sol;adsbygoogle&period;js"><&sol;script> &NewLine;<ins class&equals;"adsbygoogle" &NewLine; style&equals;"display&colon;block" &NewLine; data-ad-format&equals;"autorelaxed" &NewLine; data-ad-client&equals;"ca-pub-4403533287178375" &NewLine; data-ad-slot&equals;"1004305389"><&sol;ins> &NewLine;<script> &NewLine; &lpar;adsbygoogle &equals; window&period;adsbygoogle &vert;&vert; &lbrack;&rsqb;&rpar;&period;push&lpar;&lbrace;&rcub;&rpar;&semi; &NewLine;<&sol;script>&NewLine;<&excl;-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v&period; 2&period;0&period;95 -->&NewLine;<div class&equals;"quads-location quads-ad4" id&equals;"quads-ad4" style&equals;"float&colon;none&semi;margin&colon;0px&semi;">&NewLine;&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&NewLine;

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