Last Sunday, an interview with former Governor Nasir El-Rufai on Channels Television revealed a lot as he spared no effort in promoting his profile as the new opposition frontrunner against President Bola Tinubu’s comeback bid in 2027.
Sadly, the former governor left many obvious gaps and simply played the ostrich. As the first governor to have confessed in December 2016 that he paid foreign Fulani to stop attacks on communities in Kaduna State, many wondered why his interviewer did not ask him to rationalize his action against his present allegation that payment of ransoms to bandits is continuing under the watch of his former friend and National Security Adviser (NSA), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu. After paying foreign herdsmen in 2016, what right does he now possess to accuse the NSA of the same action he took when he was governor? Now that the NSA has denied the allegation, El-Rufai should come out with proof of his allegations.
Uninspiring Past
No matter how hard the former governor tries to spearhead a power change, he is still haunted and hounded by his past. When focusing on how he treated the Southern Kaduna people when he served as governor, adequate reasons abound for how, despite having their kith and kin in the administration, the Southern Kaduna people were the worst victims of his reign. Under his reign, the arrogance of power was openly displayed, and voices of reason, especially media practitioners, suffered for daring to challenge his administration. Against rational thinking and contrary to protests, the former governor changed the names of Southern Kaduna chiefdoms, with his government grossly engrossed in adversarial efforts that reduced the zone to political irrelevance due to his constant but baseless accusation of being rejected by the people in the 2015 governorship poll. Those from Southern Kaduna who served in his government but disagreed with his dictatorial style of government obeyed table manners and kept mute.
At his inauguration in 2015, El-Rufai lamented the burden of foreign debts on the state but went ahead to take a $350 million loan from the World Bank. He promised free education for the poor but ended up doubling secondary school fees, with fees for tertiary schools increased by over 300 percent. Despite his vow to keep the state safe from monsters of insecurity, Kaduna became Nigeria’s headquarters for banditry and a haven for criminals.
He sacked hundreds of monarchs, just as he dismissed 25,000 primary school teachers, thereby throwing the entire system into chaos. By the time he exited power in May 2023, the El-Rufai government had become a major problem that many believed was more of a problem than a solution.
Fresh Air
If anyone was in doubt that governance rises and falls on leadership, the absence of the former governor in the corridors of power has proved that the nightmares of Kaduna citizens are over. Under Governor Uba Sani, the atmosphere of toxicity that characterized the El-Rufai era has ended, with his successor extending the table of dialogue to include those who were once considered strangers in running the affairs of government. The quick and constant resort to both local and foreign loans has been replaced with effective management of state funds. The leaked video clip where the former governor was seen justifying the adoption of the Muslim-Muslim ticket at both state and federal levels remains one of the damning proofs against El-Rufai’s claim to altruistic leadership based on inclusion. It’s pathetic that someone like the former governor, whose track record once portrayed him as a national figure, has been thrown down from his Olympian height of relevance into the pit of profiling citizens based on ethnicity and faith.
Reversing Past Injustices
The introduction of the four-day workweek for public primary and secondary schools by the former governor, inspired by religious considerations, was recently reviewed by Governor Sani. School lands seized and allocated by El-Rufai have been retrieved and revoked. Determined to undo past injustices, the present administration is remedying past prejudice and discrimination.
Bracing for Next Polls
Without prevarication, El-Rufai is now a spent force grossly incapable of leading the charge against Tinubu. In failing to demonstrate political inclusiveness in running Kaduna State, the former helmsman has proven himself an unmitigated failure in amalgamating a new rainbow opposition to defeat a government he fought so hard to support. With the same zeal he spearheaded the emergence of Tinubu as president in 2023, El-Rufai is deploying the same devotion, if not more, to ensure Tinubu’s comeback in 2027. Beyond the propaganda of the former governor, El-Rufai’s frustration is getting the best of him as he sprinkles little truth mixed with untruth to deceive the ill-informed. The man who once ruled Kaduna State is in dire need of returning to the floodlights, but he is always reminded of his negative footprints when he served as governor. His outbursts against the Southern Kaduna zone and his refusal to regret his actions clearly show that a leopard can’t change its spots.
Fading Relevance
Those carried away by El-Rufai’s propensity to state what is not, riding on the horse of propaganda, should know there are limits to publicity stunts. To make matters worse for him, Senator Sani has refused to follow the old path of divisiveness that was the hallmark of his predecessor. If the truth must be told, it’s easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for El-Rufai to determine who emerges as Nigeria’s president or governor of Kaduna State in 2027. The greatest armament that dealt a deadly blow to the former governor was the obliteration of his ministerial dream. His footprints in power have now rendered him untrustworthy of political collaboration. Now, he has been diminished and can only operate from the backstreets of power play.
By Simon Reef Musa