Muhammad Garba
When my attention was drawn to a back page article in the Daily Sun of Friday, February 28, 2020, entitled: “Between Gov Ganduje and Emir Sanusi,” in one of its columns, Public Sphere, written by Mr. Onuoha Ukeh, I was expecting to see something very different, having known the author of the column as the former editor, Daily Sun, and now managing director, The Sun Publishing Limited, my colleague and friend.
I expect stuff like that by an author of his standing and caliber to be an impartial review and analysis, but the predilection of the writer is laid bare as the tone of his message clearly revealed that he was either ignorant of the circumstances that led to the creation of four new emirate councils in Kano State or that he was on a harangue mission to prosecute Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje in his own court of public opinion, to the satisfaction of some individuals or groups hostile to the administration in Kano State. Dazed by the writer’s choice of words and judgmental musings, I was at a loss as to what really might have influenced a professional of such a stature to be used to murder the truth and reality.
I am responding just to set the record straight, because, from all indications, the sentimentality expressed therein points to the fact that the writer has not been a keen follower of what has been happening in Kano State. While I am not joining issues with the writer, my response is also intended to disinter the inaccuracies presented in the piece in a way that may look factual to unsuspecting and gullible public outside Kano State.
Ukeh made a failed attempt to interlace the investigation of alleged N3.4 billion financial misappropriation by the Kano Emirate Council and the creation of four new emirates in the state. They are two different things. This is so because the Kano State Public Complaints and Anti-Corruption Commission remains an independent agency that champions the fight against corruption without any interference by the state government or His Excellency, Governor Ganduje.
The commission, backed by the relevant legal provisions that established it, has proved its mettle by investigating top echelon of the state civil service, prominent public figures and even political appointees without the interference of the governor. And as a public figure, the monarch is not immune to investigation. After all, Ganduje has made it clear that he harbours no personal grudges against the Emir. Even after the conduct of the general election in the state, Ganduje was together with the Emir at his palace for a special prayer session for peace in the state. After that, Ganduje has also attended other functions with the monarch at the palace, in addition to the fact that invitations are being extended to him to attend state functions. And to my understanding, if there is any personal vendetta against the monarch, the governor is not under any sway to make him the chairman of the state’s Council of Chiefs which the monarch has graciously accepted.
The anti-corruption agency acts on petitions by citizens against those who may have allegedly misappropriated funds meant for public use. The Kano Emirate case is but one among hundreds of thousands of corruption cases being handled by the agency. In any case, how the agency goes about performing its constitutional duties is not my concern here.
What I wish to establish is that Ganduje has no influence in the alleged corruption case against the Kano Emirate Council. More so, there is no connection whatsoever between the said allegations of corruption in the Kano Emirate Council and the creation of four new emirates in Kano state.
In this connection, the monarch’s guiltlessness can only be established after the investigation is completed and the case prosecuted in a court of law. However, the author ought to have found out why Emir Sanusi is refusing to cooperate with the investigation.
If as the monarch claimed from the onset that he would be ready to face any probe, why is he now undermining the legal power of the commission to investigate his alleged involvement in the misappropriation of public funds?
I have consistently maintained that these new emirates did not just emanate from Ganduje. They have been in existence for centuries and what the governor did was to give them legal backing as desired by the people. The creation of new emirates in Kano State should not be misconstrued as a move to whittle down the Kano Emirate and its rich cultural heritage. Rather, it is a well-articulated move to expand Kano’s cultural heritage and take development directly to the people. After all, some of the new emirates even predated the Kano Emirate.
Ukeh, it appears, is being misled, because not even the few who are opposed to the creation of the new emirates have ever advanced any acceptable reason to support their view. The Ganduje administration has made it clear that the exercise is not borne out of any primal considerations, but to slacken the burden imposed on one single emirate council in the face of the challenging demands of the people in the area. It was also rested on the premise of nurturing speedy socio-economic development and the improvement of security in all the nooks and crannies of the state.
One is not surprised that, when the author refers to those opposed to the creation of the new emirates, he mentioned the so-called politically inclined and self-appointed Kano Elders, who are mostly disconnected from the people and desperately wanting to score cheap popularity. All they can offer as reason for their antagonism is that the creation of the new emirates has “destroyed” the tradition of the ancient city of Kano.
To further show their desperation, some of these ‘elders’ even went to the extent of fanning the embers of discord and vague calls for violence. It was only when the group, under the aegis of Advocates for United Kano, realised that they were not with the people and could not speak for the 16 million people in Kano State that they resorted to the legal action that was also quashed by a competent court of law.
Ukeh was also fed with wrong information on the situation on the merit of the creation of new emirates, which has continued to yield positive results. For one thing, it has spread development into the rural areas. Investments and opportunities are coming their ways such as the establishment of the first indigenous private university, Al-Istiqamah University, in Sumaila Local Government Area of Gaya Emirate by Hon. Sulaiman Abdulrahman Kawu Sumaila, former Special Adviser to the President on National Assembly Matters. The state government has also embarked upon construction and upgrading works at the four health facilities in the new emirate headquarters of Bichi, Gaya, Rano and Karaye.
The author has claimed to have visited Kano but, apparently, he has not and instead used the erroneous information given to him on youth idleness to dish out to the unsuspecting public. In the last four years, the Ganduje administration has empowered more than one million youth in the state. Kano now enjoys peace more than any city in the North because most of the youth engaged in political thuggery and banditry have been engaged in the formal or informal private sector.
Contrary to Ukeh’s postulations and attempts to misinform on the Ganduje administration’s efforts to tackle the menace of begging by almajiri pupils, out-of-school children are being registered and are to be enrolled in formal schools. The introduction of free and compulsory basic and secondary education, integration of tsangaya schools as well as prioritisation of girl-child education in the state are all part of measures to address the problem of out-of-school children. And to sustain the system, an Education Trust Fund has been established where 5 per cent of the state’s internally generated revenue, 2 per cent of local government allocation and 2 per cent of all contracts awarded by the state government will go to the fund.
It would, therefore, be instructive if Ukeh would find out how the monarch is preaching against begging but at the same time encouraging it at his backyard. That singular attitude pitted him against the former governor of Kano State, Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, leading to the issuance of a query letter to the emir by government.
The Ganduje administration is also approaching the issue of begging by almajiri with all seriousness. Arrangements are being made for the enrolment of out-of-school children in 12 facilities across some local government areas in the state, in compliance with the state’s policy on free and compulsory education. Each facility has dormitories, hostels, cafeteria, toilets and staff quarters, among others. The move is now gaining more support as other northern governors have started joining the crusade against street begging by especially children.
I wish to use this medium to invite Ukeh on a tour of Ganduje’s projects and achievements in Kano State so that, next time, when he writes, he would do it to inform. I am very sure he would be marveled, if not humbled, by what he would experience during the visit, provided his mind is not numbed by bias against the Ganduje administration.
•Garba is Commissioner for Information, Kano State