A view of the ongoing spat between satirist Dan Bello and Bauchi government

October 12, 2024

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Bauchi State Governor Bala Mohammed and Hausa satirist Dan Bello

A view of the ongoing spat between satirist Dan Bello and Bauchi government

By Ayuba AHMAD

Bello Galadanci, also known as Dan Bello, is a popular comedian, a playwright and a renowned satirist known for his scathing but, humorously delivered criticisms of personalities and developments on the public domains.

Naturally, just like with all social crusaders, Dan Bello is not the best of friends with those in authority. He is seen by the people whose actions and inactions are the subjects of his stinging analyses, as meddlesome, an irritant or, a character assassin.

He delivers his bitting salvos mostly in the Hausa language, obviously because he is more focused on issues pertaining to the north where the Hausa language is a pervading means of communication and somewhat of an unofficial lingua franca.

With degrees obtained from educational institutions in Nigeria and abroad peaked with a PhD, and currently, a teacher of the English language in China, he is otherwise, an erudite scholarship, very well educated and lucid in the western sense.

In his latest outing, Dan Bello has been, literally, at daggers drawn with the Bauchi state governor, Alhaji Bala Abdulkadir Muhammed, and his administration. Asking Nigerians to support Governor Bala Muhammed in his bid for the presidency in 2027 (ironically), the satirist gave practical reasons why the electorate should key into the Bala Muhammed 2027 Presidential Project.

The practical reasons Dan Bello hilariously gave for his “campaigning” for the Bauchi state helmsman are a series of video clips of sordid sights of decayed, dilapidated and sorry state of schools and hospitals in different parts of the state.

The message conveyed by the graphics are crystal clear. Dan Bello is telling Nigerians that: “with his great landmarks in the health sector of brokendown facilities and sickening wards in majority of the state’s hospitals, and, a legacy of school buildings without roofs and classrooms without basic furniture, Bala Muhammed is, indeed, eminently unqualified to be the next President of a country presently in dire need of a messianic leadership.”

Dan Bello did not merely stop at highlighting the lacklustre and pathetic records of governor Bala Muhammed that should endear him to us (the voters), as our choice in the presidential race, he went on to portray incidents of mindless looting, misappropriation and squandering of the state’s resources.

To illustrate his case of profligacy, lack of probity and accountability under the watch of Alhaji Bala Muhammed, Dan Bello tells the story of the construction of a new Government House.

According to the social crusader, not only was the project unnecessary and therefore, wasteful in the first instance, it also soon became a drain pipe through which, humongous sums of money got drained and diverted into private coffers. Initially billed to cost 6 Billion Naira, the project is now to gulp 13 Billion Naira following the usual upward review in government contracts.

Pictorially juxtaposing the new Government House with the ongoing nearby private residence of the governor, Dan Bello claims that the governor’s edifice is more elegant and apparently, more costly. Further, he insinuates that the governor’s palatial mansion is being funded from the state treasury.

Expectedly, jolted officials of the Bauchi state government have dutifully and, fiercely responded by dismissing Dan Bello’s claims as baseless narratives by “someone who is embarked on a campaign of vendetta.” Hajiya Jamila Dahiru, the Commissioner for Education, simply dismissed the satirist as, “a liar trying to make name for himself.”

Performing his duty of an image maker, the Public Relations Officer of the Ministry, Jalaludeen Usman described records of Bala Muhammed’s in the state education sector as, “phenomenal” and “unprecedented.”

According to Usman, in addition to ” bringing about 500,000 children back into the educational system, the annual payment of WAEC, NECO and JAMB examination fees for thousands of candidates, the administration of Governor Bala Muhammed has also increased budget allocation to the sector from 12% to 16%, representing the highest increament in recent years.”

It didn’t stop there, the satirist confirmed via his Facebook page that the son of the Bauchi state governor, Shamsudeen Bala, has threatened lawsuits against him for exposing the corrupt activities of his father’s administration.

While officials have understandably been, at great pains to defend the government of Bala Muhammed against allegations of abysmal records especially in the education and health sectors, it is noteworthy that not much has been said in defence of Dan Bello’s allegations of, ‘staggering level of corruption and decadence in the management of public funds.’

Obvious to any objective analyst, the narratives of Dr Bello indicate that, though, the government may have tremendously increased budget allocation to the two critical sectors of education and healthcare delivery, such humongous sums of money allocated have not translated into correspondig improvements in the infrastructures of the sectors.

The claims by the government of having initiated and executed “transformative” programmes and policies to enhance education and healthcare delivery, are clearly in contrast to the graphic evidence of decay and dilapidation seen in the videos provided by Dr Dan Bello. As it is said: “Pictures don’t lie.”

The rather banal dismissal of Dan Bello as a “liar” and one that is “seeking a name” does not fly in the face of logic and fact. Given his level of education, global exposure, and present station in life, it seems uncharitable, whimsical, and grossly inappropriate to describe him as an opportunist or an attention-seeking individual.

On the contrary, Dr Dan Bello comes across as a visionary, young, and patriotic scholar simply propelled by heroic anger. He cuts the picture of a generation of Nigerians who are not content with the decades of the reign and attendant ruination of corruption perpetrated by a long chain of bad, incompetent, and unpatriotic readership.

Hear him: “The phenomenon of staggering and mindless looting of public treasury appear in most states of the north. We can not allow things to continue this way.

“I don’t think the people of Bauchi understand the staggering quantity of the money in question. One billion naira is 1000 million naira, and this money can be used to renovate 1000 classes at six million naira per classroom!”

While wishing His Excellency governor Bala Muhammed success in his presidential aspiration in 2027, it is however, expedient and advisable for him to seriously reckon with the wise counsels oozing from the irritating voices of the likes of Dr Dan Bello Galadanchi.

After all, it is said that those who come to seek justice must come with clean hands. Just as charity should begin at home. In other words, when the time comes, the wider electorate of Nigeria would be keen on the records of stewardship as governor of Bauchi state.

To Dr Dan Bello Galadanchi, it is hoped that he remains focused and courageous even in the face of the antics of detractors and retrogressive forces that are inately averse to change and progress of the society. The likes of Dan Bello are indeed critically required today in Northern Nigeria, which is unarguably the most backwards and most perilous of the regions that make up the country. Sad, the future as it is, looks bleak.

Pictures of the decayed and dilapidated state of schools in Bauchi State: