2019: WHAT ABOUT KWANKWANSO ?

By Victor Oluwadamilare 

"If a thing is not building, it must be decaying . . ."

Nigeria today is a country desperately in search of right leadership–leadership in all spheres of her national life. The civilian administration of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP from 1999 to 2015, at the Federal level and in many of the states, ended in colossal failure. The PDP, which had boasted of ruling Nigeria for 60 years, caved in 44 years earlier than its projection.

While key members of the ruling elite became billionaires, and were living like medieval lords, the Nigerian people were impoverished to no end.  Most families could no longer guarantee three square meals; life became "nasty, brutish and short”.

It was in the midst of this uncertainty and near hopelessness that the elections of 2015 produced the Change Mantra exponent, President Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress, APC.  Granted that the APC government inexplicably inherited loads of problems from its predatory predecessor, the seemingly display of lack of preparation for governance has continued to be a feature of the administration 

According to Opposition Leader, Keith Rowley in Trinidad Express of 10th April, 2013, "Anytime a government resorts to blaming the opposition for its failure to deliver on their mandate and their responsibilities to the people, it is a clear sign that it has accepted that it has outlived its usefulness."

For sure, the APC government cannot be said to be a total failure in many respects like development of infrastructure, war against corruption, tackling the insurgency problem among others. Also, it could be said that the level of impunity as we used to know has considerably reduced, while government Ministries, Departments and Agencies have shown better restraint in their nefarious activities of old. 

However, the APC government has been flawed in many ways. The conduct and character of the National Assembly strangely known to be controlled by the same party, APC has not helped matters.  Importantly, the APC as a party in government lacked cohesion, even in the absence of a virile opposition.  Many reasons had been adduced for the internal combustion going on in the APC. But the sad import of it all is that the Nigerian voting populace has been shortchanged on their hard-earned investment of voting for Change which has remained elusive in the last three years. 

If the postulation of Opposition Leader, Keith Rowley in the Trinidad Express, was anything to go by, there is need for another change. And, one of the men naturally positioned for this change is the cerebral two-term former Governor of Kano State, Sen. Rabiu Musa Kwankwanso, RMK, for short.

RMK, a man imbued with tremendous leadership qualities is a tested politician who can also be trusted. He is a detribalised Nigerian and a well grounded grassroots mobilizer, whose central focus was and is still the people. Across his political trajectory, he displayed a caring heart filled with compassion and passion of servi

ce touching the lives of citizens profoundly. 

In his political evolution, he discovered early the nexus between trust and loyalty as a balancing act among leaders and their followership. He was able to leverage a unique model of community leadership, a compelling ability to inspire, organize and mobilize people to achieve greater success for the benefit of all.

For RMK, trust must be visible and transparent for a corresponding participation and support from the people to achieve a desirable impact. This principle formed the basis of his KWANKWASIYYA IDEOLOGY "premised on gaining and honouring the trust bestowed on leadership by the people to deliver visible and impact full succour to the less privileged in the society, irrespective of political, religious and ethnic leanings."

Politics meant different things to many people. RMK is very clear in his thought process. To him, "Politics is a formidable vehicle for delivering the  much -needed empowerment and relief to the teeming mass of the less privileged and the completely helpless and forgotten in the society. "

While many are given to sycophancy and lip service, RMK took the bull by the horn, believing that politics should not be left in the hands of the charlatans. He resigned from a prospective career in the Civil Service in 1992 after a meritorious 17 years stint as a water engineer.  That was the beginning of his meteoric rise to stardom in his home state, Kano and nationally. 

RMK, an excellent manager of men and resources, has as his selling point the uncanny ability to unite people of different backgrounds and beliefs, work for sustainable peace and diligently mobilize resources to achieve optimum goal.  It is an attestation to his unique leadership traits that in the short-lived 3rd Republic; he was elected under the platform of the Social Democratic Party, SDP into the House of Representatives, representing Madobi Federal Constituency, Kano State.  He later emerged as the Deputy Speaker, an affirmation of his political sagacity. 

In 1994, RMK, a morally upright and insightful politician was again elected Member, Constitutional Conference, where he met and worked together with the late Gen. Musa Yar'Adua, a romance that culminated to the formation of People Democratic Movement, PDM. Due to the politics of that era, the PDM was not registered as a political party.  This made him and his teeming supporters to join the Democratic Party of Nigeria, DPN, winning the largest number of local governments due to his mastery of grassroots politics made possible by his popularly acclaimed KWANKWASIYYA IDEOLOGY. 

RMK who recognizes and work for the social contract with his people had no difficulty in clinching the PDP's gubernatorial primary elections.  A great unifier, RMK won the 1999 general elections to become the first civilian Governor of Kano State in the 4th Republic.  His achievements in office are legendary. They  ranged  from the Community Reorientation Committee, CRC, to serve as a vehicle for social sector development to many laudable innovations like the Free School Feeding Programme, which were later copied across the country. 

In 2003, he sacrificed his re-election bid because of his loyalty to President Olusegun Obasanjo and the PDP, at a time when anti -party activities got to a point that some PDP governors were playing double game.  This rare display of loyalty, party discipline and political maturity earned him the appointment as Minister of Defence. Later in 2006, he was appointed Special Adviser on Darfur and Somalia to President Obasanjo.  He was also a former Board Member, NNDC representing the North West geo-political zone. He later voluntarily resigned due to the endemic corruption in the corporation. 

Again in 2011, RMK was on song, as his election victory for the second time as Kano State Governor was historic and unprecedented. He won the election without holding any political appointment or support from the Federal Government.  He reaped bountifully from his rich investment of transparency and strength of character in pursuing social contract with his people, a project of 18 unbroken years. A trustworthy man, full of integrity, Kwankwanso is ready, willing and able to take Nigeria out of the woods. 

"Look for three things in a person - intelligence, energy and integrity. If they don't have the last one, don't even bother with the first two, "says W. Buffet. 

Good enough, Kwankwanso personifies W. Buffet’s entire principles of leadership. The icing on the cake for Kwankwanso is that he has a good quantum of integrity the office of the president requires for optimum performance to unleash Nigeria’s inherent greatness to humanity.

* Oluwadamilare, an Ibadan-based journalist is a Media Consultant and a Public Affairs Commentator.