By Chijioke Nwachukwu

Barring any last-minute shift, Rotimi Amaechi, Nigeria’s minister of transport, would be turbaned the Dan Amanar Daura, on Saturday, February 5, 2022, in the ancient palace of Daura, by Alhaji Faruk Umar Faruk, the 60th Emir of Daura. The turbaning ceremony was earlier scheduled to hold on Saturday, February 27, before it was rescheduled for the new date.

The planned event is significant in many respects. It is both unique and instructive. First, it is a recognition of the contributions of Chief Amaechi to the socioeconomic development of Nigeria and in particular the emirate of Daura in his official capacity as the minister of transport. The establishment of the University of Transport in the ancient city by Amaechi was a bold strategic step in itself. Arguably, Daura has not got its fair share of federal presence when compared with similar historical cities of relevance in the North. The choice of Daura city as location for the first specialised university that would be solely devoted to research and technology in the area of transport in Nigeria and indeed Africa is a good turn that surely deserves another.

It is instructive to note that, prior to this time, there was no federal university in the city. China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC), the contractor in charge of the project, has already begun construction works on 413 hectares of land in the city, near the Niger border. The Chinese construction giant has also pledged to bear the $50 million cost of the project as part of its corporate social responsibility. It is expectedly delighting for the people of Daura that the work scheduled to be completed within 18 months would also be inaugurated by this administration in record time.

Apart from the job opportunities it offers the people of Daura and its environs and indeed the nation at large, the university is expected to produce managers and technicians for Nigeria’s rapidly growing rail and road networks. Without doubt, Katsina and indeed the North-West is reckoned as a catchment area in such venture. The conferment of the title on the minister of transport could, therefore, be seen as a genuine gesture of appreciation.

But then, observers may argue, and rightly so, that the conferment of the Dan Amanar of Daura title on Amaechi, a Nigerian of South-South origin, at a time like this goes beyond a mere gesture of returned gratitude. It borders on the yet knotty issue of Buhari successor in 2023.

Remarkably, political gladiators have since been forming alliances and groups in their quest to position themselves for the plum job of Nigeria’s President. Notably, All Progressives Congress (APC) stalwarts like Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, transport minister, Amaechi, are believed to be eyeing the job. Indeed, Tinubu, the APC national leader, has made his intention known and has gone the whole hog to embark on consultations to the northern part of the country where the ultimate power lies at the moment. There is also the former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, Sokoto governor and former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, and former President of the Senate, Anyim Pius Anyim of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who have shown interest. Of course, there are other less visible aspirants. These are men that are eminently qualified for the position they are aspiring for.

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But the turbaning of Amaechi by the Daura traditional council as Dan Amanar Daura has raised a critical and more salient issue in leadership, the issue of trust. For watchers of political events, it is an audacious statement on where the sons and daughters of Daura, including Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari, stand on the 2023 presidential elections. In his recent interview on Channels TV, President Buhari was asked the question who his successor was for 2023. Specifically, the TV anchor had sought to know the President’s preferred choice of candidate in the forthcoming 2023 presidential election. The question clearly caught the President off-guard. The event of February 5 in Daura may have, albeit, inadvertently revealed what Buhari was trying to conceal when he said: “I don’t have any favourite for 2023 and, if I do, I won’t reveal his identity because, if I do, he may be eliminated before the election. I better keep it .”

The title, Dan Amanan Daura gives a clue.

With the coronation of Amaechi, only a few would now be left in doubt as to where the President stands on the matter of his successor.

The turbaning is an endorsement, a loud and eloquent statement on where the current ruling northern establishment stands as far as the 2023 presidential election is concerned. Like in all democracies, it is logical to assume that there are dessenting voices based on individual, group or class interest. The North with its huge and diverse population has divergent positions, which is expected in a multi-party democracy, but as often demonstrated the interest of the ruling northern elites always found convergence on how and who could best protect the interest of the north based on trust.

Recent developments within the ruling All Progressives Congress vis a vis the revised amendment on Electoral Act, among other political moves, suggest that Buhari holds the yam and the knife on matters of the party’s presidential candidate for 2023. His choice is likely to weigh heavily on the side of trust.

•Mr. Nwachukwu writes from Owerri, Imo State