Open Letter To Governor Uba Sani

Warm felicitations on your swearing-in as Governor of Kaduna state. The state has found itself again in the clutches of your party -the All Progressives Congress (APC) after a hard-won victory.

Though, it was an open secret that the poll would stand as a greasy pole to climb. However, given the nature of our politics, it was demonstrable that the inherent power of a ruling party will provide a robust crutch. Well, the court is now left to determine the opposition’s case against the outcome of the election which it believes was steeped in irregularities.

The election that produced you was a cliff-hanger which should ordinarily jolt your party to the reality of the existence of a groundswell of disenchantment against it and your predecessor in particular. So, it should provide you with a reason to agonize over how to govern better in bringing the party to a level of the 2015 election cycle when the party’s support base was mammoth. And, you also need to really chart a new course for the development and unity of the state which would significantly task your experience, exposure, resolve and character.

Undoubtedly, you’re brilliant- your sojourn in the National Assembly betrayed your worth and capacity. Let me paint a sketchy portrait of your predecessor and benefactor. It’s well known that what he lost in height he gained in having a high amount of chutzpah and intelligence- that’s undeniable and no doubt, he commands huge admirers just as haters. He had it all to make your entry grand and seamless but he lost the plot on not a few grounds.

Apparently, he allowed his temperamental nature and lack of magnanimity in victory interfered in the governance of the state. So much have been pointed as fruits of his foresightedness and work ethics from the urban renewal endeavor to improvement in the Internally Generated Revenue (I.G.R) but all came as a massive trade off of the people’s lives and livelihood for personal glory to a large extent. Having found comfort in his echo chamber, he stood impervious to the many concerns and protest of the people. Though, he was awakened to his almost tyrannical grip of the people- this much was evident with the call for mercy and forgiveness well- nigh the portal of the general election. He subliminally proved his lack of democratic credentials many times.

And, opposition was a thing he detested, examples abound. He forgot that he was once in the trenches. The efforts of the past leaderships of the state in building inclusiveness were completely extirpated which explains the fiendish difficulty your party faced at the poll. The burden of pulling the state’s chestnut from the fire is clearly going to be huge. I just thought of the mountain of debt and how you will skirt around it- it got me hyperventilating.

A friend once pointed to the inordinate desire of your predecessor to pattern himself after Tinubu- not least the succession pattern and his hold over Lagos but he seems to forget that the Tinubu was smart enough to have built bridges across various fault lines – in addition to his enormous capacity to forgive.

Again, not a few were worried when you shouted from the rooftop that you were going to perpetuate the policy of your predecessor. You need to be your own guy! Be something refreshingly different. So, you need to weigh your predecessor and his performance dispassionately. People are important. Before long, another election cycle will come beckoning.

Regardless of what you will do, empathy should be at the forefront. You need to betray high amount of emotional intelligence- being tough with high intelligence quotient (I.Q) isn’t enough. Your predecessor was at peace with the tears and wailing of the people which goaded him further in turning the screw on the suffering of the people. Am still at a loss over the volte- face in the sacking of the teachers after so much song and dance were made about it.

Again, you must be your man in bringing the state to normalcy. Ensuring unity and justice in a heterogenous society like Kaduna state will require that your administration takes the nature of the state into cognizance. Remember, that power taste like nectar with irresistible capacity to lull its holder into a false sense of forever- it shuts out the thought of its impermanence before it touches off selfishness, impulsiveness and arrogance and effectively forcing one to forget that “ when the game is over, the king and the pawns go back into the same box.” I wish your administration so much wisdom to succeed in developing the state and stitching its every part together in peace, justice and unity.

Abachi Ungbo
[email protected]