Adamu Bah Dalati
The year 2015 is one of the greatest years in the lives of all kinds of people in Potiskum. A memorable milestone took place and also a new record was set which was never seen in any past political and social history of the illustrious town. This revolutionary event played a highly weighty role in promoting Potiskum to a more robust and solid political society. It is the largest, in all terms, including the composition of more diverse constituent tribes.
However, throughout the democratic regime, Potiskum has been the most vividly divided and ruled, and thus any accidental benefits were mostly on individual capacities. The agendum to suppress the progress of Potiskum by the series of so-called leaders has been nurtured and passed on since before the creation of Yobe State.
That was when the local government comprises Potiskum itself and the current Nangere and Fika LGs. Throughout the period of democratic era, it was only in 2011 and 2015 that the whole Potiskum came together to display their oneness, discarded and erased their differences, accepted the fact that only so they can be great again.
On one hand, in the interest of moving Yobe forward, they unanimously voted for the ruling party in 2011 despite the simple fact that their majority belongs to the opposition party (PDP). This was attributable to the apparent corrupt nature of the opposition candidate.
The candidate, Late Usman Albishir, was once disqualified in the ANPP primary election against Late Mamman Ali on the ground of corruption. It would have been a waste of votes if in 2011 Potiskum PDP members voted for Albishir because, even if he won, he would eventually lose in the court. On the other hand, towards 2015, they realized that the ruling government has been a terrible obstacle and a stumbling block on the path of the state progress.
This has not been owing to only its incompetence, but also to its efforts to accomplish the aforementioned agendum. As a result, all the Potiskumites ensured that no single ballot box was won by the ruling party during the 2015 election.
This vigorous stand confirms the degree of political sophistication and rationality of the natives and all the homegrown residents of Potiskum. But the question is, can we remain united and give a block vote to a credible candidate this time around? For me, voting for the most appropriate candidate means winning the election even if the incompetent one was ultimately proclaimed as the winner.
Now that 2019 is fast approaching, Potiskumites have yet another tough decision to make. As with the previous elections, I am optimistic that their votes will remain reserved for a credible candidate who has Yobe in mind and is sure to bring a sustainable development in all aspects.
Recently, I was opportune to come across a strong hidden pressure group which constitutes patriotic and determined intellectuals from different backgrounds. One of their vowed missions is to carry out investigative integrity screening on all aspirants irrespective of the party to which they belong. They have vowed not to allow any person with a corrupt profile to succeed. One of their reasons is that Yobe requires being developed at a faster rate than any other state as it is the least developed.
I believe in the strength of this group, their planned strategies seem to be so robust that even a seated governor can be shaken. Therefore, all aspirants must be certain of the beauty of their profile before attempting to contest. This time around, clean record matters. They see the Cargo airport to be constructed as a misplaced priority as it will be sited in the capital city where the market is only operational on the market day(Sunday).
This is what they portrayed to me as one of the products of incompetency. Another thing I strongly believe to have been a retarding force is the inability or refusal of the current state government to work in consonance with the national policy of economic diversification. Agriculture has been made the major area to work on in salvaging our economic integrity, but our government inputs virtually nothing in this regard. Although it was published on 15-Sept-2015 that the state government constituted a five-man committee mandated to design modalities for effective irrigation farming. The effort was to engage 40,000 youth in the state.
This ensured the governor’s visit to China where the state formed a collaboration with a Chinese firm earlier the same month. It has been more than two years now and the entire scheme seems to be fictitious. Absolutely, this is sure to make Yobe the poorest federating unit if restructuring is substantiated.
The floating mystery is who aspires to emerge as a contestant for governorship among the Potiskumites. Our expectation is on three men from different parties, Adamu Waziri (PDP), Deputy governor (APC), and Ibrahim Bomoi (APC) as it echoes in the town.
However, none of them has yet revealed his stand, but, like Abraham Lincoln, Adamu Waziri is fearless and consistent in contest, whispers also circulate about the plan of deputy governor to contest but he is being careful not to err in his relationship with the governor as it is sure to affect his ambition, while conflicting rumours circulate with some people saying Bimaz is vying for the governor’s sit others saying he is aiming the senator’s sit.
For me, and because I am writing in the interest of oneness of Potiskum and the development of Yobe, and not any political party, this divided mind makes Bomoi more of a toddler in politics. All his posters do not specify any political office he is aspiring. Many people said his fate will only be determined by governor Ibrahim Geidam,
I know Potiskumites very well, they are characterized by pride and strength and are assiduous to live up to their pride. Therefore, they believe it is imperative and thus made it incumbent upon themselves to nurture and preserve their pride. Such people are hardly deceived by money expended during campaigns.
We all believe that if there is anything known to us better about Adamu Waziri is that he is a fearless and selfless politician who was born and brought up in a political as well as chieftain home, who also longs for the governorship of the state. His ambition is more beneficial to the state than to himself because he held a lot of big offices but the highest position he held is the minister of Police affairs, and during national assignments, he never leveraged on any of the offices he held to enrich himself. He once responded to me in a text message that zone A, B, and C have the same right to him as a governorship contestant.
He never discriminated against any zone, local government, or tribe. He respects Pataskum emirate council and all other emirate councils the same way he respects Fika emirate council. For him to secure the ticket to contest under PDP, is as less demanding as saying it. On a TV interview back in 2003, he made it apparently clear that “education must not only be free but also compulsory”.
And as long as public schools remain incapable of competing with private schools in Yobe State, I don’t think it is yet time for him to step aside, because up to 2019, no effort can be administered by the current government to revive the schools to be conducive enough for the elites’ children.
The Deputy governor, Jarman Pataskum is known to be a quiet gentleman, and most loyal to his boss. Before the governor could develop the momentum to be able to actively participate in some of the national activities, his deputy was always assigned the role of representing him. Meaning, he has accustomed to governorship roles already. If he can, against all odds, develop the balls to radiate his aspiration and carefully strategizes a workable scheme, he stands a chance to secure the ticket to contest for the governorship.
The BIMAZ ambition is already dependent on the governor’s final decision. It was said by many, that he cautioned his followers to avoid affiliating him to either senate or governorship. As a result, even his closest political collaborators are unsure of the bearing of their movement.
He has been a financial manager during the course of his entire career; therefore, if accidentally, though less likely, he obtains the ticket for governorship and wins, public funds will be safe in a good hand, and by virtue of his generosity, it is highly likely that Yobeans will be massively empowered, and also most probably, the state will definitely begin to invest in human and natural resources.
It will, therefore, develop the capability to be ready for the restructuring. Honestly speaking, Yobe is virtually completely dependent on the federal pocket, a big parasite.
Follow the Neptune Prime channel on WhatsApp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Va74ZvU2v1IqKByXoX3d
Do you have breaking news, interview request, opinion, suggestion, or want your event covered? Email us at neptuneprime2233@gmail.com
