Gombe guber race: Give it to Bayero Nafada

I read with interest an article by Mohammed Abubakar titled Gombe 2011: Who succeeds Goje? Which was published in the Daily Trust of Friday, August 13, 2010 . In it, the writer did an analysis of the race for the governorship of Gombe State as the tenure of the two-term occupancy of Goje comes to an end next May. He analysed the strengths and weaknesses of those in the race and as is typical of that kind of enterprise, he dwelt on the real contenders and also on some of those I will characterized as clear pretenders and those that will eventually be addressed as the also-ran. I will not waste my time here on the last two categories but will focus on the first one, the real contenders. And even here I want to narrow my focus on only one person. And that person is Usman Bayero Nafada.

Although Abubakar could not indicate which of the aspirants stands the best chance of clinching the seat, I wish to state that if my opinion and the opinions of many other patriotic and reasonable citizens of Gombe are asked, we would prefer that the chance be given to Honourable Usman Bayero Nafada the present Deputy Speaker of the Federal House of Representatives. And what are my reasons? One of it is the real popularity of Hon. Nafada.

Talking about the many strengths of Nafada, Abubakar correctly observed as follows: Many analysts are of the view that if a free and fair election is conducted, the Deputy Speaker of the Federal House of Representatives will defeat his opponents hands down. Bayero is known to have built a solid political structure right from the time he was in the state house of assembly, and is believed to have kept it intact.

There is no doubt about it that among those contending for the governorship of Gombe today, Nafada has the widest acceptability among the good people of the state. We are practicing democracy and not some other form of government. And in this system of government any seat in contention should be given to the person with the largest number of followership. Since we are all yearning for a change in the way we do our politics, we the people of Gombe and the rest of Nigerians should come out strongly to insist that the candidate with the greatest quantum of acceptability is supported to win.

Society will be the better off for it because such a candidate will get better co-operation from the governed for the task of development if he is elected to preside over the affairs of the people. There should be no question about whether or not there will be free and fair election in 2011. The feeling of the overwhelming majority of Nigerians is that there will be no wuruwuru or magomago in the forthcoming election. This of course means that a popular candidate like Nafada that enjoys enormous goodwill of the people will succeed.

Gombites should not therefore be discouraged from supporting Nafada out of fear that Goje will not support his candidacy because he Goje is backing his son-in law Dasuki Jalo Waziri. In fact the fact that Goje is endorsing no other person but his son- in law should be one reason why the good people of Gombe should back a good candidate like Nafada to win and offer him a polite rebuff. The position of governor of a state is not a hereditary one. It must not therefore be passed from father-in law to son-in law as Goje is trying to do or from brother to brother as Borno state governor Ali Modu Sheriff is rumoured to be bent on doing.

Apart from the need for the people of Gombe to shake of the contempt Goje is trying to show for them by electing to impose his son-in law, the more important truth of the matter is that if both Dasuki Jalo Waziri and Usman Bayero Nafada are weighed on a scale, Nafada will weigh several karats of gold more than his competitor. No set of reasonable voters would prefer a chairman of a local government area in a state to the Deputy Speaker in the federal parliament of the entire country. There is no contest about it that with his better name recognition and the very influential position Nafada is occupying in the country, he will better serve the interest of Gombe state than his rival Waziri who is certainly going to be a puppet of his godfather in-law. As Abubakar again rightly observed about Nafada in his article, the man is independent-minded. Such a man will certainly be more trusted to act as chief executive than others who are likely to be godsons or real sons of the many godfathers around. Following the wide clamour of the people of Nigeria for the right thing to be done so that The right people can be in positions of authority to address the well being of the people, the time has come for voters not to be intimidated by powerful names that are dropped here and there as sponsors of certain candidates for certain offices. We the people must be prepared to take our destinies onto our hands be standing unwavering behind candidates we believe will serve our interests better. We have suffered for too long in the hands of people who get to power not to represent us but to serve the interests of some powerful persons in society who sponsor them for some ulterior motives. Nafada is the right man for Gombe for 2011. We should support him to win whether Goje supports his candidacy or not.