Mallam Nasiru El-Rufa’i, the governor of Kaduna state is one of the most maligned public officers in the country. He is hated for the wrong reasons by those who feed fat on the public till and the governor has yanked their sticky fingers from the cooky jar. Ironically, El-Rufa’i is doing a wonderful job in Kaduna according to stories I read every day. The man may be arrogant, egoistic, and brash, but hate him to your heart’s content, one thing you cannot take away from him is his performance as a public officer – accidental or otherwise. Wherever he served, he left indelible marks that no matter how negative he is portrayed by those who felt they didn’t get their “dues”. Performers are by nature arrogant and distant but only to those whose sense of right and wrong are inverted. Performers are always considered to be arrogant and snobs by those who feel threatened by the actions of these solution-driven men.
Mallam Nasiru El-Rufa’i as a performer and so is the Adamawa state Secretary to the State Government, Bashiru Ahmad.
There is a recent upsurge by people who couldn’t get their way in the government with Bashiru Ahmad as the Secretary to the Government. The SSG has proved to be a bulwark for the government and governor against political jobbers and rent-seeking civil and public servants. This has irked many, particularly those who believe they are closer to the governor than his SSG. The recent media lynching by this mob, in my view, lacks any factual basis beyond venting pent-up frustrations by very few individuals hiding behind a masquerade with access to yellow journalism. We have seen them use the Desert Herald in the past with no success. After this failed project, they have now turned The Finder, a barely known online news platform to pour their poisonous tales about the unsuitability of the SSG to hold the office. But they only succeeded in poisoning themselves because the wind has blown, and we have seen the fowl’s nyash.
I want to make crystal clear that Bashiru Ahmad is no political orphan in Adamawa politics therefore, much as we won’t like to join issues with crowds for rent, we are compelled to please beg the men behind the masquerades to come out if they truly have the courage of their conviction. Toothless men hiding behind pseudonyms have the gumption to give the governor fourteen days to replace the SSG or face their wrath? Isn’t that laughable? This is the tragic scenario we are faced with as a people.
I am not asking the group to like Bashiru Ahmad as a man – far from it. But credit must be given where it is due. I have been among those lucky to be associated with him during this political dispensation. We have gone to all the nooks and crannies of Adamawa state with Bashiru Ahmad during the campaigns and I got close to him since then. I cannot remember seeing any Fintiri Supporters’ Group in all the communities we visited, so it is fraudulent for such a group to emerge from the blues. Everyone who campaigned for Fintiri is his supporter, so nobody has any patent or trademark to “Fintiri Supporter”. I have interacted with him in his capacity as the SSG on several occasions and I am therefore qualified to talk about the little I know of him. I feel degraded writing this response to such a “group” but allowing it to pass will be worse. Responding to unequal is injustice and I pride myself on standing for justice whatever situation I find myself in.
Any supporter of his excellency, Rt. Hon. Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri will not denigrate his appointee, particularly a high ranking one on the pages of newspapers or airwaves. Whatever the appointee’s shortcomings, a sincere critic may rather take him/ her on, no matter the “arrogance” of the public official. They will be well advised to sheath their swords or risk being disrobed in public. We are yet to expose them because of the benevolence of the SSG and our moral rectitude and not because we do not know them. But they seem to be forcing our hands. If the chips are down, we will surely do so. As the old cliché goes, a word is enough for the wise.
BY ALHAJI AMINU KWALLI, JIMETA
