2019: MY VOTE IS… (6)

By Bala Muhammad | Published Date Feb 23, 2019 0:50 AM

In continuation of our series MY VOTE IS…FOR or AGAINST, we today again head to the Presidential, Senatorial and House of Representatives Elections postponed from last week. A week, they say, is a long time in politics; indeed it has been so, as already scores have already been killed and maimed in this tragically murderous politics of ours, even before the elections and the results. May Allah continue to protect us.

For reminders, past issues of this series have discussed Corruption, Almajiri, Drugs, Kidnapping, General Insecurity, etc. Last week, we discussed a mishmash of relevant issues, and that’s what we shall continue today. Readers should note the series will, in sha Allah, continue beyond the Governorship and State Houses of Assembly Elections in two weeks’ time.

COLUMNIST – MY VOTE TODAY is for His Highness Sarkin Kano Muhammad Sanusi II…who has been on the airwaves these past many days personally leading Ulama and Imams in several prayer, admonition and warning sessions against violent politicking. The Emir and the scholars have invoked the wrath of Allah on any politician who drugs youths and uses them as thugs to kill and maim others (and we all answer AMIN!). He also urged political leaders to match the Du’a with action by walking the talk on peaceful elections; citing the ‘Hadith of Tawakkul’ where the Prophet of Islam Muhammad, upon whom be peace, once directed a companion to FIRST secure his property AND THEN depend on Allah. To the Emir’s and the scholars’ prayers, we say AMIN – may Allah frustrate, punish and condemn politicians who lead the youth astray while theirs are apparently safe and sound. AMIN again!

 

COLUMNIST – MY VOTE TODAY is for Kano State Commander of NDLEA Dr. Ibrahim Abdul for doing the unthinkable – mustering the moral will to detain prosecute the ‘unprosecutables’ – those ‘outsiders’ who flood Kano with illicit, banned and counterfeit drugs. Read carefully these 35 names apprehended with various amounts of hard drugs – all currently in detention awaiting their days in court: Dickson Orji; Abuchi Ike; Otega Eze; Mohd Nasir; Tony Okoye; Nura Suleiman; Ikechukwu Eze; Chigozie Okwonkwo; Chinedu Anato; Uche Emeka; Ebuka Edoche; Shubhan Savena; Kenneth Nelson; Samuel Eze; Usman Sabo; Princewill Sunday; Ikenna Christian; Kennedy John; Obinna Chibuzo; Alhaji Yarima; Kabaka Benjamin; Okwudiri Madueke; Martins Uba; Steven Obi; Joseph Linus; Obinna Owoh; Steph Benjamin; Izuchukwu Mercy; Jude Chukwudi; Nzube Okeku; Emeka Oji; Friday Moses; Hafizu Ibrahim; John Ojukwu; and Omieze Zurkoni. THIS IS IN KANO fa! Do you see what I see? Kano NDLEA has so far refused them bail, directing their lawyers to approach the courts. Some of them are waiting for drug forensic reports from Lagos for appropriate prosecution. In addition to these 35, one Okechukwu Echefo (note the name again) was also arrested with nine cartons of fake Coartem tablets and seven cartons of fake Augmentin tablets; he uses elubo powder to manufacture the fake drugs. Kano NDLEA has within four months hauled in more than 1.7 tonnes of assorted drugs such as Tramadol, Cannabis, Rophinol, Pentozocine, etc. AREWA WAKE UP! This Column calls on Kano Elite to throng the courts to see which judge will give them bail!

COLUMNIST – MY VOTE TODAY is for new Kano State Commissioner of Police Muhammad Wakili, he of the famous “Kano Kwaya/Maza Kwaya/Mata Kwaya” statement. He has vowed to fight drug abuse and thuggery in Kano to a standstill, and has asked all Kano people to help him with prayers and fasting for Allah to help him. He has apprehended truckloads of drugs as well as lethal weapons – in this particular case a consignment of 6,750 local knives concealed inside bags in a vehicle headed for Katsina. All these are apparently intended for this murderous exercise called Nigerian democracy. CP Wakili has already arrested and charged more than 1,000 thugs, muggers, drug traffickers and other vagabonds. All of them are now off the streets, in various prisons across the metropolis. Is Arewa sleeping?

COLUMNIST – MY VOTE IS…THEN, FOR AN ENVIRONMENT that will allow free hand to such security officers as the Kano NDLEA Commander and the Kano Police Commissioner to sanitise our society and politics. So help them God, and me too!

ADAMU SALEH (salehdaurawa52@gmail.com): My vote today is for the candidate who can finish the war against corruption and insecurity in Nigeria; My vote today is for the candidate who has promised to take Nigeria to the next level; My vote today is for the candidate who says Nigeria is greater than any political party; My vote today is for the candidate with a high sense of responsibility, discipline, hard work, integrity and a commitment to the rule of law and due process.

COLUMNIST – MY VOTE TODAY is for Sir. Kuli Kuli (comradezaid6@gmail.com), self-styled ‘Revolutionary Leader of the Future Visionaries’ who has been advocating for fair treatment of INEC Ad-Hoc staff, especially after suffering the pains of last week’s election postponement. The self-named ‘Sir Kuli Kuli’ had also led a delegation of such youths the other day to see Sarkin Kano on their concerns. The young man wrote an Open Letter titled ‘Urgent Communique from One Million INEC Ad Hoc Staff’ to INEC Chairman Prof. Mahmoud Yakubu:

“On behalf of the one million ad hoc staff comprising NYSC members, students and others, only God can compensate us for our suffering, as we travelled to work as electoral officers only to suffer unnecessary hardship occasioned by sleeping in INEC offices and bare classrooms under very serious Harmattan cold and wind. Many of these youths had no means of transport or even transport fare to come out of the villages they were posted to be able to return home. How could you do this to us, when we remember how the Senate approved for you N242 billion just for these elections. Yet we were maltreated right from the application stage, the verification stage and to the most cumbersome training stage so we can man INEC’s 119,973 polling units nationwide. We agree it may normal to reschedule, but it is very abnormal to expose us poor Nigerian youths to unnecessary suffering, coupled with the tight economic and financial hardships. We are sure none of the President’s or Vice President’s children are among us INEC Ad Hoc staff. Neither are Governors’, Senators’ or Reps’ children. We therefore demand our training allowances be released immediately; our wasted transport to the various INEC offices be compensated; and a national public apology be issued by INEC to us on all media.”

FINALLY: “The President of Mosquitoes Association of Nigeria (MAN), on behalf of his members including anopheles and others, hereby appreciate Nigerian Corpers, students and other youths for the voluntary donation of their blood to the millions of hungry Nigerian mosquitoes last week’s Friday night. Reports from all MAN branches indicate that members had a feast on these fresh and youthful ad hoc staff that night; therefore, MAN President and his members are looking forward to seeing these generous donors again this Friday.”

2019: MY VOTE IS…5

 

by

Bala Muhammad

balamuhammad@hotmail.com

https://saturdaycolumn.blogspot.com

 

In continuation of our series MY VOTE IS…FOR and AGAINST (the series of which is also available at https://saturdaycolumn.blogspot.com and https://linkedin.com/in/bala-muhammad-0784384), we today head to the Presidential, Senatorial and House of Representatives Elections. We therefore discuss a mishmash of issues relevant to the day. Today is the first round in the elections, so the series will continue beyond the Governorship and State Houses of Assembly Elections. Readers can still send in their 100-word contributions on matters to decide for them the State Polls.

 

 

 

COLUMNIST – MY VOTE TODAY is for the best qualified, as defined Dr. Nasir Kankarofi (abmanal2@gmail.com), Imam of the Railway Friday Mosque in Kano where I prayed Jumu’ah yesterday. The Imam’s Khutbah (Sermon) dwelt on “Leadership from the Islamic Perspective”. He said, interalia, that it is not everyone that aspires for leadership that should be entrusted with it. There are criteria when it comes to elective or appointive offices. Some of these, according to the scholar, are:

 

“In Muslim lands, it is natural that many Muslims may aspire for a single position. But even if the leading candidates are Muslim, we must vote for the better person – better in Akhlaq, better in Integrity, better in other positive attributes. Also, in Muslim societies, consensus among scholars says that Males should stand for executive positions; our sisters should not be distracted from their primary responsibility of being custodians of the family, but could go the legislature to help decide matters.

 

“Similarly, the candidate must be adjudged to be Just in character and demeanor. He must also be Healthy, with no defect or disability that can hinder the discharge of his duties. He should also be Freeborn, and not a slave – he should not be facing social or economic encumbrances that can equate to being a slave. He should also be an Adult, and not a child. He should be Sane, and not crazy, demented or mad.

 

“The candidate worthy of being elected should also have a Constituency, i.e. he should have a segment of society that can claim he is theirs. and can defend him. (In Hausa, ‘dan mutane’, or ‘dan ma su mutunci’). He should also be Knowledgeable, learned enough to make him able to take informed decisions. He should also be Wise and politically-dexterous, and not a fool, or what the Hausa call ‘Wawa’ or ‘Gabo’ or ‘Shawaraki’. In this, the politically-dexterous could even be better than the pious; in Islamic History, many otherwise pious people have been sidestepped for ‘politically-wily’ persons.

 

“The candidate should also be Strong, firm and brave; in leadership, better the strong but ‘imanically’-weak than the ‘imanically’-strong but weak in decision-making. Also, in Muslim societies such as ours, Ahlus Sunnah (Tariqa, Izala, neutral, etc.) should lead us – and not rebellious sects that will only bring schism among people. Finally, the candidate should have Taqwa, fear of God, and Wara’ (or being able to prioritise between what is necessary and what is important.”

 

ALHAJI GADO M. KODOMI, MAIDUGURI (gadoj2012@gmail.com): “MY VOTE TODAY is for who can contain Boko Haram: I have lived in Maiduguri all my life. We have gone through hell but are now halfway back to paradise. Many of our loved ones have been killed or maimed, properties worth billions of Naira have been destroyed, and whole towns and villages have been wiped out. Millions have been rendered homeless. However, today we are able to sleep with our two eyes closed, at least in Maiduguri and in some few other parts of the state. We thank Allah and then President Muhammadu Buhari. Therefore, my vote today goes to PMB so he will be able to correct some of the things not done right in the fight against Boko Haram.”

 

COLUMNIST – ATIKU, IPOB AND SOUTH EAST: We just saw several videos making the rounds of members of the Independent Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) rallying along highways in South East cities screaming “No Election”. Considering that the Igbo South East has the least number of voters in this election (10 million according to INEC, compared with 20 million in the Hausa-Fulani North West), and now this scare-mongering by IPOB (which is also being accused of setting several INEC offices on fire in the South East), could the PDP expect its bulk vote from the Igbos, as calculated? But, according to PDP pundits, there are still some “10m more Igbos outside Igboland; 7m in the North and 3m in South West.” Can they do the magic? Or is the fear of IPOB the beginning of wisdom?

 

DR. RUQAIYAH SAIDU, ABUJA (ruqayyahsaidu@gmail.com): “MY VOTE TODAY goes to that person who has Taqwa (Fear) of Allah. The one who will care and get worried about the Almajiri System. The one who will get Arewa working again. The one who will bring back peace and security to our North East and other parts of the country. The one who will rescue our youths from growing drug addiction. My vote today will go to the angel who will revive our decaying education by making it a top priority. It will also be for that who will reform our health sector so that we don't need to be begging the Indians to grant us visa to travel to their country for treatment. My PVC will in sha Allah be put to use today to elect the best of the best.”

 

COLUMNIST – THE KANO EL CLASSICO THAT ISN’T HOLDING: Had Senator Rabi’u Kwankwaso put forward his name to re-contest his Kano Central Senatorial District for PDP, he would have had to slug it out with APC’s Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau. That would have been an El Classico many in Kano were looking forward to. I do not know who is ‘Barcelona’ or who is ‘Real Madrid’, but we would have enjoyed this match – both had been Kano Governor for eight years apiece; each had been Minister; one is a Senator now and the other is aspiring to be. Shekarau had defeated Kwankwaso when the latter was incumbent in 2003; Kwankwaso had come back to defeat Shekarau’s anointed in 2011. So it is essentially a draw. El Classico – perhaps “Next Season?”

 

COLUMNIST – ON PMB: At the end of the campaign period, President Muhammadu Buhari spoke to Nigerians. This Column’s comments follow selected paragraphs:

 

PARAGRAPH 2. “I wish therefore to start by assuring all Nigerians that this Government will do its very best to ensure that the 2019 elections take place in a secure and peaceful atmosphere.”

COMMENT: Perhaps too late, Sire. In Kano, scores of youths have already been drugged and unleashed on society. Many decent people say they will stay home rather than tempt fate.

 

PARAGRAPH 5. “…Just yesterday, I signed the Peace Accord alongside 72 other presidential candidates.”

COMMENT: These drugged Kano thugs didn’t sign, Sire!

 

PARAGRAPH 16. Our commitment to critical infrastructure – that is Roads, Rails, Bridges, Airports and Seaports – will create more jobs, improving the efficiency and competitiveness of our industries.

COMMENT: Good, Sire – but when you came here the other day, you did not promise to start the other end of the Lagos-Kano modern rail from this part Kano-Kaduna part. Remember the Lagos-Ibadan is going apace.

 

PARAGRAPH 32. “…Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority has invested US$21 million in three healthcare projects… [in Kano, Umuahia and Lagos]…”

COMMENT: Sire, there are SIX GEOPOLITICAL ZONES in the country – the North is ALWAYS shortchanged by TWO in allocation to the old North, West and East. For equity, such projects should be sited in SIX ZONES, not three.

 

PARAGRAPH 52. “…God bless you...”

COMMENT: God bless you too Sire. We are on the queue! A round of applause!

2019: MY VOTE IS…4

 

by

Bala Muhammad

balamuhammad@hotmail.com

https://saturdaycolumn.blogspot.com

 

In continuation of our series MY VOTE IS… (FOR and AGAINST) as we head towards the 2019 Elections (the series of which is also available at https://saturdaycolumn.blogspot.com/ and https://linkedin.com/in/bala-muhammad-0784384), today we discuss ALMAJIRI. For reminders, past issues discussed included Corruption, Drugs, Insecurity, etc. Other sundry issues will also continue to feature – readers can still send in their 100-word contributions. Readers should also note their comments should not be limited to Presidential Elections (concurrent with Senators and House of Reps Members holding February 16) but also on Governorship Elections (concurrent with State Houses Members holding March 2).

 

 

COLUMNIST – MY VOTE IS…FOR THE LEADER WHO WILL END ‘ALMAJIRI’: Last year, this Column ran a six-part series on Almajiri, a local matter so serious that it should now be on both the so-called “Exclusive” and “Concurrent” Lists of Nigerian Governance. Of all our problems, the most discussed and lamented has been the Almajiri – from the time I was in primary school, it was discussed. When I was in secondary school, it was discussed. When I was in university, it was still being discussed. And now in my middle age, it is still being discussed. Haba!

 

“I don’t know what’s wrong with us” is a habitual lament of many a Northern Muslim. A senior colleague corrected this to read: “Count what’s right with us and you’ll find what’s wrong with us?” When one does count, the overwhelming ‘wrongs’ swallow the ‘rights’ by almost 9 to 1 on a scale of 10. So almost everything is wrong with us. The Almajiri ‘Phenomenon’, as we usually call it, may be our most vexatious social issue discussed and lamented by the so-called Muslim intelligentsia. The whole Northern educated elite continues to condemn it; in return it continues to look us in the face. I believe the phenomenon did not defy solution; solution defied it.

 

Back during the 2015 Presidential Elections Campaign, former First Lady Dame Patience Jonathan threw a painful tantrum to our side – ‘our’ meaning Hausa-Fulani-Kanuri Arewa Muslims. That comment, “Born Thro Way”, was a glib reference to ‘our’ albatross, Almajiri. Mrs. Jonathan had said her husband did not need the votes of people who ‘born throway’ children. It was as painful as it was true.

 

Almost two years ago, Kano State Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje brought the matter of Almajiri glaringly home - as reported by the Daily Post and the Sun of August 5, 2016 – by saying “Kano State has become a centre for convergence of Almajiris in Northern Nigeria in the name of Qur’anic education, because there is no legislation outlawing such treatment of children. At the moment, Kano has the highest number of Almajiri and, from the statistics we got, their number is equal to, if not more than, those attending formal schools.”

 

Now, if a Governor would lament so, this writer will lament more. The simple takeaway here is that there is absolutely no political will to tackle the matter by especially Northern Governors – the clear picture from Ganduje’s lament is that one cannot solve a pan-Northern problem in a single state. It has been attempted in the past with Kano State’s Tsangaya System Reform (incorporating Model Almajiri Schools and a Tsangaya Trust Fund), and also later by the Jonathan Administration with its Model Almajiri Schools on a national scale. Sadly, both initiatives only touched the tip of the iceberg, and even at that the lack of continuity killed them, as is anything Nigerian.

 

From time immemorial (to some of us, that is), post-independence politicians and leaders from the both the military and civilian regimes down to contemporary times only paid lip service to resolving this tragic system where millions of mainly young boys are thrown into the vagaries of urban life of unspeakable social consequences. As for me, as I have argued on this page several times, the only solution is: Send All Almajiris Back Home! Let every father take to his responsibility towards his family. Let the kids live under the care, provision and security of their parents. And then a Social Protection Plan should be deployed to fill in the gaps.

 

It will of course be naive to believe it will be smooth swallow; there may be some resistance as the system had been in our veins for too long. Yet terminating it is inevitable. It must be done, and it is doable. Therefore, My Vote Is For…that leader who will muster the political will to do the needful.

 

Zainab Adam (adamz7881@gmail.com): “My Vote is for the candidate who will work for a united Nigeria where every Nigerian is seen as a Nigerian first without ethnic, religious or geographical consideration. A leader who will fight corruption, with foresight to transform Nigeria into a 21st century nation. A leader that identifies with his people, not just during elections.”

 

Adamu Saleh Daurawa (salehdaurawa@gmail.com): “My vote is for the candidate who will save the judiciary from deep-rooted corrupt practices and who, through legal means, will rescue the institution from bribe-taking judges and their lawyer colleagues who have lost integrity and deserve no honour. My vote is also for the candidate who, through legal means, will recover illegally-acquired wealth from the past and present corrupt leaders. My vote is also for the candidate who will try to right the wrongs done to Nigeria.”

 

John Simon, Platinum Radio 91.1FM, Keffi: “Sir, the vigor with which I wrote to you earlier while appreciating your series “MY VOTE IS FOR AND AGAINST” is still fresh and, as I sit to write to you again today, I’m even proud to do so. Because this time around I have brought in other people’s opinions on the topic. Like I informed you the other time, I have borrowed and used the title of your series for my radio program of Monday 28th January, 2019, titled ‘Roundtable with John Simon on Plantinum FM 91.1’ It was a debate and people were allowed to call in to give a hint on the kind of leader they would vote for, or against. Here are a few of such listeners’ comments:

 

“Frank Emenike: ‘My vote is for someone who will acknowledge that cholera outbreak in Bauchi is the same as cholera outbreak in Ekiti…A leader who will promote equality among all regions in Nigeria. A leader who will address the issue of poverty and security and understand the workings of the security system of the country, in the sense that he will be proactive. A leader who should know that when there’s an outbreak of crisis in Zamfara, there’s tendency of it repeating itself in Birnin Kebbi, if the one in Zamfara is not contained. A leader that will understand that if the security chiefs fail within one year of their assignment, they should be changed immediately.

 

“Olukayode Joseph Gabriel: ‘I will vote for a leader who will carry every Nigerian along, irrespective of religion, tribe, and ethnicity. A leader who believes everybody matters, no matter where you come from.’

 

“Philip Akwanga: ‘My vote is for a leader that will show concern for civil servants. A leader that will acknowledge and implement civil servants’ promotions, not one who pays only half of workers’ salaries.’

 

“Sir, let me again say thank you for the privilege to have used your series title. It has done great good to Nigerians all over. From Keffi, we say thank you for availing yourself for national development as I look forward to hosting you on Platinum Roundtable with John Simon soon.”

 

COLUMNIST – MY VOTE IS…FOR a leader who will work to end the Almajiri Phenomenon!

2019: MY VOTE IS…3

 

by

Bala Muhammad

balamuhammad@hotmail.com

https://saturdaycolumn.blogspot.com

 

In continuation of our series MY VOTE IS…(FOR and AGAINST) as we head towards the 2019 Elections (the series of which is also available at https://saturdaycolumn.blogspot.com/ and https://linkedin.com/in/bala-muhammad-0784384), today we discuss mainly the tragedy that is Drugs Trafficking where Arewa has been the target of traffickers who are mainly from the South East; whether for ‘commercial’ or ‘annihilative’ purposes. Other sundry issues also feature – so readers can still send in their 100-word contributions for inclusion in subsequent weeks (even though some good friends of the Column, such as Lawal Shehu, sent in almost 300!):

 

COLUMNIST – MY VOTE IS…AGAINST DRUGS TRAFFICKING: In April last year when this Column ran a six-part series on “Drugs and Arewa”, and the series was replicated on such platforms as Nairaland, I counted, conservatively, about ten thousand abuses and curses from people whose people are mentioned, with evidence, as those plying us – Arewa – with drugs. Apart from some sympathetic comments from here up North, almost none of the cursers and abusers acknowledged the crime of their people, or even sympathised with mine for being their victims. All were, like, you are a bigot, a tribalist, a religious jingoist.

 

This type of attitude was replicated recently when the ‘Code of Conduct versus Chief Justice’ palaver broke. The same people closed their eyes to the substantial evidence of wrong-doing and insisted that nobody should be punished if s/he comes from a certain part of the country. The South West (the bride of APC Merger with Arewa), is now retorting, ‘Like former Finance Minister Adeosun like former CJN Onnoghen’. And the latter is not even actually ‘theirs’ to start with!

 

Now, therefore, if people who have no problem with their people criminally supplying hard drugs to my people, and will even try to shout down any nay-sayer, openly root for a certain political candidate, I will immediately adopt the philosophy of ‘The Enemy of My Friend is My Enemy’ – meaning, I will not cast my vote in tandem with those who see no fault in their people ‘killing’ mine; and this is only in drugs trafficking fueling youth addiction in my part of the country. Not to talk of a certain old man of about 80 still unrepentant for murdering Sardauna, Tafawa Balawa, Maimalari and others in the darkness of the night of Friday January 15, 1966.

 

To wit, for reminder purposes, let us recall a few paragraphs from the series Drugs and Arewa of last year:

 

“The Katsina State Command of NDLEA said it had impounded a trailer in Funtua loaded with 24,000 bottles of cough syrup with codeine in a trailer from Onitsha to Funtua. Among those arrested are Christian Chukwuma and Obiora Chukwuma…” (https://www.vanguardngr.com/2018/03/ndlea-nabs-6-impounds-trailer-loaded-24000-codeine-syrup/).

 

“A hard drug (intoxicant) supplier, identified as Stanley Arinze, has been arrested by the Kano Police Command for trying to smuggle hard drugs. The tablets worth N19, 200,000 were intercepted after being concealed inside LG Plasma TV cartons in a trailer along Kano Eastern bye-pass. The man, a native of Anambra State, reportedly supplies Tramadol tablets to Kano and Republic of Niger…” (http://www.informationng.com/2017/07/man-conceals-drugs-worth-n19million-in-plasma-tv-cartons-arrested.html and https://www.straightfromnaija.com/man-arrested-with-tramadol-tablets-worth-n19200000/).

 

“Justice Okon Abang of the Federal High Court in Abuja…sentenced a man, Mr. Anthony Chidi Ikeaba, to 14 years imprisonment for unlawfully importing 1.782 kg of cocaine into the country…” (https://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/05/man-jailed-14-years-cocaine-trafficking/).

 

“Officials of the NDLEA at the Murtala Mohammed Airport, Lagos prevented two Nigerians from execution in Malaysia. Onovo Sylvester Henry and Ufiri Onyedika Emmanuel were caught attempting to smuggle 2.575kg of methamphetamine to Malaysia where drug offences attract capital punishment. Nnamdi John Kingsley was nabbed while taking delivery of the television sets containing heroin…” (https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/sunday/index.php/news/10005-ndlea-discovers-heroin-in-plasma-tv).

 

“Where is that container of Tramadol intercepted a few months ago by a team of patriotic customs officers destined for No. 3, Festing Road, Sabon Gari, Kano? Where are the arrested and named traffickers Mr. Onuchukwu Benjamin Owulu and Mr. Igboanugo Vincent Tochukwu?” (https://blueprint.ng/customs-seizes-container-of-illicit-drugs-declared-as-spare-parts/ and https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/news/general/two-pharmacists-in-ndlea-s-net-for-illegal-importation-of-controlled-drugs/130269.html).

 

And then, if this doesn’t alarm you, nothing else will, ever! “NAFDAC has intercepted 33 containers of Tramadol which were being conveyed to a yet-to-be-ascertained location in Nigeria…The disclosure was made by the NAFDAC Director-General, Prof Adeyeye, in Abuja…” (https://dailynigerian.com/nafdac-intercepts-33-container-loads-of-tramadol/).  Note the number – 33, THIRTY THREE CONTAINERS!

 

Arewa, are we also drugged? Why would Arewa (as in Arewa Consultative Forum, Northern Elders Forum, Jama’atu Nasril Islam, etc) just sit down and watch people from elsewhere just come and destroy our youths in broad daylight? Why is nobody following up on these traffickers? Where are the prosecutors and the judges who are alleged to be conniving and using technicalities to release – purportedly on bail – these traffickers who more often than not are never arrested again? Can the NDLEA, NAFDAC, Police, etc tell us how the court cases of these criminals are going, if ever? Our fatalistic ‘Allah Zai kare’ fuels our complacence in our abject ignorance. And the judges will just forget to declare the extra dollars in their accounts!

 

ANONYMOUS: MY VOTE IS…AGAINST THAT FORMER GOVERNOR WHO CRIMINALLY PROFILED NORTHERNERS IN HIS STATE: Once upon a time in a state somewhere in Nigeria, a Governor criminally profiled all Northerners residing and conducting their businesses in his state, whereas no one took a similar action against his people, millions of them, in Arewa. He tagged Northerners as terrorists and demanded they they be profiled and have their ID Cards on their necks, much as Hitler did to Jews. This person is standing for election, or running, alongside someone else. But the danger is this, and Arewa should note, should anything happen to the one, the Yar’Adua-Goodluck conundrum will again be our reality – with perhaps worse consequences. ‘In kunne ya ji…!

 

MOHAMMED M. MOHAMMED GOMBE (pantami2001@yahoo.co.uk): MY VOTE IS…for those willing to stamp out corruption from Nigeria. If we collectively take stock of all man-made evils militating against our progress and peaceful coexistence, number one on the list is corruption. As such it is time to act wisely so as to collectively vote candidates whose thinking, words and actions are geared towards uprooting this monster standing between us and good healthcare, functional infrastructure, sound education, food sufficiency, etc. My vote will never go the way of those who cherish, nourish and uphold corruption until they renounce the path of retrogression and follow that of progress by returning their ill-gotten wealth to its rightful owners, Nigerians.

 

LAWAL SHEHU (milshehu@gmail.com): “My vote is for that candidate, even if he were a dictator, who will prioritise Education: One, pay all ASUU requests but do a forensic on each university administration for the last twenty-five years; Two, government should contact countries with established education systems so that each university can be paired with a front-runner; Three, carry out academic audit of those professors who should at best be Lecturers I. Next, Health. Like in Education, audit every teaching, specialist hospital and medical centre from twenty-five years to date. At the same time, give each specialist in government employment ultimatum to focus on full time public service or leave. If this is done, we do not have to worry about health tourism to other countries.”

 

Hussaina Gummi, Near East University, Cyprus (husnagoomy90@gmail.com): “MY VOTE IS FOR anyone who brings railway line to Sokoto, Kebbi and Zamfara. We have always been supporters of this administration, yet it seems we are not part of the blueprint of the next level. Why should we see trains only when we visit Kaduna? Why should we always be the last on the list when, historically, the whole north was part of the Sokoto Caliphate?

 

COLUMNIST – MY VOTE IS…AGAINST DRUGS TRAFFICKING, again!