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In an  interview with a newspaper on November 30,  2013, Dr. Omololu  Olunloyo, a great nationalist,  a two-time  former Commisioner  of Education  of the old Western Region, a former Governor of Oyo  State, one of our few remaining elderstatesman and a man that played a prominent role in the politics of both  the First and Second republics, said the following:

“Chief S.L. Akintola was the supreme leader. Chief Obafemi Awolowo left (the  Premiership of the Western Region) of his own volition without advice to contest the federal election. In the federal election he contested  but  he had no alliances. Stubborn, aggressive, very hardworking, visionary leader that  Awolowo  was, he never understood real politics at any time.  In real politics you have to look at the figures, you have to have  allies- there are no permanent friends or permanent enemies. You must have some allies.  Nigeria  is too fragmented for you not to have allies. If you are counting in the presence of someone with nine fingers, you don’t count in the person’s presence and say ‘so you have nine fingers’.  We had a brilliant man called S.L. Akintola who understood real politics. Awolowo believed that book knowledge was so  important  but he (Akintola) knew better. A situation arose- Awolowo wanted to ally with the East and Akintola wanted to align with the North. So  there  was a  crisis”.

These are interesting historical perspectives and  insights from a man that was appointed as a  Commissioner (or Regional Minister)  for a region that comprised of no less than what  are seven states of the Federation  today (Oyo, Osun, Ekiti, Ondo, Ogun, Edo and Delta) at the tender age of 27. I am not sure that I entirely agree with Olunloyo’s assertion  that  Awolowo did  not appreciate the importance of building bridges with other ethnic groups  and forming alliances  given the fact that  he  and  his Action Group   did  build bridges  and form an alliance  with the ethnic  minorities of both  the old  Northern and Eastern regions and  did in fact  champion their  cause and fight for their  rights.  Yet that is neither here nor there. The important thing is that we are witnesses to an important contribution from a major player and participant  to the debate about a period in  our history  that affected the fortunes of our country in a very  real and profound manner.

I say this because it could be argued that the bitter  fight that took place between Chief Obafemi  Awolowo and Chief S.L. Akintola and their respective  supporters throughout the  early  ’60s, the  division within the Action Group and its eventual  splitting into two separate and distinct parties, the ugly  events in the South-west at the time and the unrestrained and brutal  violence that  was unleashed by both sides against one another  led directly to  the first coup d’etat of January 15, 1966. This in turn led to  the second coup d’etat of July 29, 1966, to  the shocking pogroms and mass killings of the Igbo in the North  and ultimately to  the Nigerian civil war.  It is therefore good news when those that participated  at the highest level of  governance at the time  and that  are  living witnesses to those events, like Dr. Omololu  Olunloyo,  speak out and share their insights and wealth of knowledge with us.  I sincerely hope that he will continue to do this and that  other participants and witnesses from both sides of the political  divide, like  Chief Olaniyun Ajayi, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, Chief Richard Akinjide, Chief Ayo Fasoranti  will also share their views and insights with us as well.

Agreement
When  one considers and reflects on Olunloyo’s words and the entire  background of the Awolowo/Akintola feud ultimately one  has  to make a choice and come to a decision as to who was right  and wrong and determine  which side  was  really  at fault. Yet many questions still need to be answered before one can take a legitimate and  definitive position  on this. For example  as Mr.  Adeniji Mudahir Akinniyi, a young and insightful commentator on facebook,  asked ‘’  What  was  the agreement  between  Akintola  and  Awolowo  before  Awolowo  left  for  the Federal  Government  poll?  Who  was  the  traitor  amongst  the  two?  Who  is  the  father  of civilization  in  the  South-west?  Who is  responsible  for  the  socio-political  and  economic  development  of the  old  Western  Region? I  need  answers  to  these  questions  before  I  post  my  final  comment’’.

For the answers to these questions one has to look at the history books even though, as Napoleon Bonaparte once said, ‘’history is more often than not  written by the victor and not the vanquished’’.  Akinniyi has indeed  asked  the relevant  questions. I  know  the answers to them but  I will not share them  here  or  anywhere  else because I will not  say or do anything that will  resurrect  the  great  division of the past. Suffice it to  say  that  both  Awolowo  and  Akintola were great Yoruba  leaders and great  men  and  they  were both human  beings  and  were therefore prone to making  errors of judgement from time  to  time.  We the Yoruba owe  EVERYTHING to them both and  it is very  unhelpful for our collective  cause to attempt to demonise  one and idolise  the other.  Neither of them  was a demon or  an  angel- they both had  their faults, strengths and  weaknesses.  Yet they were both  great  men.

One of the things that fascinated me about Dr. Olunloyo’s interview and which is historically factual, is what he said about Akintola entering into a political alliance with the North (which was known as the NNA) and  Awolowo  entering into a political alliance with the East (which was known as UPGA). This was the essential difference in  strategy between the two  and it represented their  respective  worldviews.  Akintola, who had deep  suspicions  for  the  Igbo, felt that the interests of the Yoruba were better  protected  and served by an alliance with  the  northern ruling class  whilst Awolowo, who had  equally deep suspicions  for the northern  ruling  class and  the  Hausa-Fulani oligarchy, felt that the  Yoruba  interest was  better served and protected by an alliance  with the Igbo. The Western Region became the  intellectual, spiritual and physical  battle  ground for the two opposing  and conflicting strategies and  world views and the rest is history.

My only  mild  criticism of both of these two great Yoruba leaders is that they and their  respective  supporters and followers in the  old  Western  Region, including Dr. Omololu Olunloyo himself,  did not sufficiently understand or  appreciate  the importance and benefits of building bridges between themselves  and  avoiding  a major  conflict. Instead of making peace, making the necessary concessions and attempting to foster unity in the collective interest of the Yoruba nation BOTH  camps  went for the jugular and an all out war ensued which did not end until May 1 1967 at the Yoruba “Leaders  of  Thought” meeting in Ibadan. Even  after  that tensions and suspicion still  existed  between the two sides for many decades and, to a certain extent,  still  remain till today.

June 12
The annulment of Chief  MKO  Abiola’s election of June 12, 1993  by the northern ruling class and ‘’their’’ military  dealt a death blow to the Akintola philosophy and strategy of a strong northern and western alliance. However that alliance and trust is being slowly and carefully rebuilt and resurrected today with the recent merger between the ACN, ANPP and CPC and the formation of the APC as a political party. Whether anyone likes to admit it or not the APC essentially represents an alliance between the North, the South- west and the Mid-west.   The annulment of Abiola’s June 12 mandate was sad and unfortunate but it had one positive result- it brought the two sides in Yorubaland much closer together in a very meaningful way and from that point on till today they have operated more or less with one accord. This is so  even though  there  is still an uneasy peace between the two  camps  and their descendants  and even though from time to time flashpoints of disagreements are voiced out. My view is that  if  we are really interested in fostering Yoruba unity and perhaps one day forging and  establishing  our own nation we must keep that peace at all costs and move forward as one.

Yet given the disposition of Awolowo towards the Igbo  as Mr. Jide Olajolu, another young facebook commentator, asked,  ‘’is  it not ironical that the average  Easterner detests the  same  Awolowo  and equates  Yoruba  nationalism  with  him?’’
Chief Awolowo

Chief Awolowo

APGA
Jide is  absolutely right. The greatest irony of all is that, generally speaking,  the  Igbo  detest  Awolowo   and have  done  everything that is  physically  possible  to malign  and discredit him since  1967.  Yet  this was the man whose party  went  into an alliance with them at the most critical point in our history (between  1964  and 1966) and who  urged his faction of  the Yoruba to work closely with  them  even though by that time he was in prison. That is what the UPGA alliance  represented-  an Igbo/Yoruba alliance which was pitted against the Hausa-Fulani North and  Akintola’s  pro-northern faction in the West. Awolowo suffered  immensely  in the hands of the North and the other group in the South-west because his party refused to compromise with them and because they took that position. Yet very few Igbo  are prepared to admit this even when they know it to be true and most of them don’t even know it because they were never taught it in their schools. The Igbo do not teach their children  all  these things and instead they tell them that Awolowo was the devil incarnate, a murderer of children, a genocidal maniac and an Igbo-hater who ended up committing suicide out of frustration. These of course were all lies and well orchestrated fabrications that were designed to rubbish the man’s memory and legacy. They demonised  Chief Awolowo, their friend and political ally, and on the  night  of Jan 15  1966,  during the course of  the Ifeajuna-led Igbo coup,  they murdered Chief S.L. Akintola and Sir Ahmadu Bello (the  Premiers  of  the Western and  Northern Regions respectively) who were both their political adversaries, who  saw  through  them  at an  early stage  and who had open  contempt  for them.

Yet  only the Igbo can  explain  why they  hated  and still hate Awolowo so  much. I say  this  because he was their friend and ally when the crisis in the Western Region took place. I guess that their hatred stems from the role that he and the Yoruba played during the civil war. Yet I believe  that Col. Emeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, the Igbo  rebel leader,  made the greatest mistake by attempting to secede at the time that he did  (against  Awolowo’s  advice  and better judgement)  and, worse still, he attacked the Western Region with his Biafran forces even when many of our people had sympathy for their cause and plight. As a matter of fact the man that led the Biafran forces in the attack against the Midwest and the  West  was a gallant and courageous Yoruba officer by the name of Col. Victor Banjo  who  believed strongly in the Igbo cause and who (along with Major Emmanuel Ifeajuna, the leader and arrowhead of the Jan 15, 1966 coup) was later executed by Ojukwu.

Ojukwu betrayal
The truth is  that  it was Ojukwu that betrayed  Awolowo  and  the Yoruba and not the other way around. I say this  because  they fired the first shot and tried to overwhelm, capture and enslave us by  attacking  our territory with their  forces. They overwhelmed the people of the Niger Delta and the  Midwest very easily but when they got to the  gates of the  Western Region at a place called Ore they were stopped in their tracks by the  Yoruba  forces and the famous 3rd Marine Commando which was 98 per cent Yoruba fighting force. That is how they were prevented from entering Yoruba land and they were pushed back, inch by inch, from the Midwest and  the Niger Delta area  (by the same 3rd Marine Commando) back into  the very heart of  Igboland  from whence they came  until they were broken, defeated and forced to surrender.  After  being attacked the Yoruba had no choice but to fight back and we did so very successfully.  Chief  Awolowo, General Benjamin Adekunle, General Olusegun Obasanjo, Brigadier Sotomi, Col. Alabi Isama, General Adeyinka Adebayo, General Olutoye, General Ogundipe, General Alani Akinrinade, General Ogunleye  and  a number of other key Yoruba officers and public  servants  played a key role in that war and that struggle to protect our people and our territory and I am very proud of their efforts. If not for them we would  have been conquered and enslaved and we would  all have  been  speaking Igbo as our first language by now. Finally I  believe  that Akintola’s position about the Igbo has been  vindicated. Both he and Ahmadu Bello were right about them all  along  and Awolowo obviously did not fully understand them. Today, though he was once their best friend, they hate Awolowo  with as much passion as they once hated Akintola  and  Ahmadu  Bello.

‘Achebe’s racist categorisations’
Permit me to  make reference  to what  the late Professor  Chinua Achebe had to say about Awolowo and the Yoruba in his last, and most controversial book, entitled, ‘’There Was A  Country’’. I will not repeat his  words and racist categorisations here  but I would urge all those that are interested in it and that can stomach it to go and read those words in the book.  I believe that those words reflect the real thinking of most Igbo about the Yoruba even though they  tend  to make attempts to hide it until  they  are pushed to the wall and lose their  cool.  This is proved by the fact that, to date, not one  single  Igbo leader or commentator of note has condemned the  book or disagreed with  Achebe’s comments and assessment. As a matter of fact rather than condemn it they have wholeheartedly endorsed  and applauded  it.    The real reasons for the  deep  hatred  that most   Igbo have for Awolowo,  Akintola and the Yoruba generally can be found in that book.  Sadly most of the Igbo youth since the end of the civil war were weaned on such fairytale of genocide and betrayal at the hands of and by the Yoruba. This explains the attitude of many of them and the tendency for them to view even the mildest form of criticism as evidence of ‘’Igbophobia’’ and proof of a deep-seated hatred for the Igbo people. Yet nothing could be further from the truth.

The Yoruba have always been very kind, very generous and very accommodating to the Igbo and history attests to this.    As a matter of fact, if the truth is to be told,  the  unbridled political  ambition of the Igbo  to dominate and control the whole country  and their  strong dislike  for  the Yoruba  can  be traced back to 1945 when key Igbo  leaders like Charles  Daddy Onyeama (who was a member of the Legislative Council at the time  and who, many years later, went on to become  one of the most revered and respected judges in the World Court at the Hague)  made some openly  racist, provocative  and incendiary  remarks  about what he described as the ‘’inevitability’’ of the Igbo to eventually ‘’dominate Nigeria’’.

‘God of the Igbo’
Two years later, in 1947,  this was followed by Dr.  Nnamdi Azikiwe’s famous speech about the ‘’god of the Igbo’’ who he believed would  eventually give them leadership over Nigeria and Africa.    These were the deeply offensive sentiments of those that belonged to the Igbo State Union which was the umbrella organisation of all the Igbo at the time and which spoke for every single Igbo in the country. It was this rabid and violent expression of Igbo nationalism and intention to take control of the levers of power in our country at all costs, even at that early stage, that created all our problems in the south.  That  is where and when tribalism started in the  southern  Nigeria and the  truth is that the    Igbo started it. It cost  Azikiwe  the Western  Regional  elections in 1951 after the founding of the Action Group that  same  year.  If  not for that we would have had an Igbo man as the first Premier of the Western Region in 1951 and Nigeria’s history would have been very different. For more details  on this   permit me to refer  readers  to    my  essay  entitled,  ‘’The Bitter Truth About The Igbo’’, which was widely published  in various newspapers  and which can be found in the essay column of my website-  www.femifanikayode.org.

Permit me to conclude this essay  by making a final point.  I believe that it is important for us to know our history and to have a clear understanding about what went on in our past. This is the only way forward if we do not want to repeat the mistakes of that past. Whether we are pro-Akintola or pro-Awolowo does not really matter and whether we are from the North, South,  East or West is neither here nor there. The most important thing is for us  to be well acquainted with ALL the relevant facts of history after which we can then  make an informed judgement about past events and past leaders.  Contributions from  informed and experienced  leaders like Dr.  Olunloyo are therefore most welcome even though some may not share all  his views or his interpretation and understanding  of  past events. My prayer for him and indeed  for  all those that served our country during that turbulent and troubled  era that  are still with us  is that they continue to live long and prosper and that they continue to  share their deep  wisdom and vast reservoir of knowledge with us. Given the unfolding events in our country today,  God knows that  we need it now more than ever.

*Fani-Kayode was a minister of aviation

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.

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*Narrates how President aborted  meeting with G7 at the last minute
*’Fighting insecurity goes beyond deploying police, soldiers, SSS’

Governor Musa Rabiu Kwankwaso of Kano State is a lucky politician. After winning the first term in 1999, he lost out in 2003 but returned to his seat in 2011 to continue from where he stopped. His imprints are all over Kano and he does not seem to be in a hurry to give up his fight to reposition the state, even after crossing from the Peoples Democratic Party to the All Progressive Congress, APC. After one hour interaction with Sunday Vanguard at the expansive Government House, Kano, Kwankwaso gives an insight into his kind of politics, his developmental strides and defended his defection to the APC.
Excerpts:

How would you describe your foray into politics so far?
I would say that I am one of the very luck politicians in this country because I left the civil service in 1991 and joined politics in 1992 during which I was elected into the House of Representatives. I was also elected the Deputy Speaker of the House, a post that gave me the opportunity to make contacts with people not only from my state and zone but across Nigeria. The members of the House of Representatives were 593 and we had very wonderful experience working with people-young men and women from across the length and breadth of Nigeria- to move the country forward. That laid a good foundation for my political future. It was an aborted 3rd Republic but, luckily, I was selected to come back as an elected delegate to the Constitutional Conference of 1994-1995. There, again, I was able to meet so many people from across Nigeria and we learned a lot about the country. We met with experienced politicians like the late Shehu Musa YarÁdua, Chief Tony Anenih, Abubakar Olusola Saraki, Gemade and many others, who were at the conference. That galvanised our resolve to work for this nation. I am also lucky that I had the opportunity in 1999 to come to the Government House, Kano as governor and I left the office in 2003. Subsequent appointment as Minister of Defence and Adviser to the President on Darfur and Somalia also helped a lot and I have learnt a lot. So also was my appointment into the NDDC as the member representing the North-west. It also gave me opportunity to have a direct contact with the people of the South. All these gave me a lot of experience especially from 2003 to 2011. I believe those eight years was to give me the opportunity to reflect on what we did correctly during our administration and what we did wrongly. And we came up with projects and programmes which I believe that, if given another opportunity, I would be able to translate into reality for the benefit of mankind. God was so kind to me that I was able to win the election in 2011 at a time nobody believed we could. We won even when Abuja did not believe we could. From day one, we had our agenda and I feel very contented to work with the people of Kano State. People have seen our impact in the last two and a half years. We lost a lot of people and property when there was a serious attack here in Kano in January 2012. But even under that circumstance, the state government refused to stop work. We kept on working and working throughout the year and we are happy that the job has been successfully progressing and the people are happy. We have good people, most Nigerians are good people, and they want peace and development. They want quality life and once they see a good leader, who can deliver, they want to support him. You don’t need to bribe them; they will certainly come out to support you. I am happy that I am in my second term and I am writing my history through the projects we are implementing for the welfare of our people and Nigerians in Kano. We are happy that we have not given room to our enemies to write our history or distort it.   We are happy and contented and delighted that people are happy with what we are doing and that gives us the assurance to do more.

So, after two years in the saddle, would you say you have achieved your set target?
No, so far so good, our target is 2015. It is only then that we would be able to complete all the goals we set out to accomplish. We have the issue of the management of resources and have put in place a robust mechanism to ensure that public funds are not mismanaged at any time. This government has decided that we must not go into the issue of security vote. Many leaders in Nigeria hide under security vote to take as much money as possible without accounting for it.. This administration therefore decided not to go into that. This administration also decided to be as transparent as possible to the extent that whatsoever resolution we take in the State Executive Council every week is published in all the newspapers in Nigeria for our friends and enemies to see and to raise queries, if they have any. If there is any project we have awarded that is not in place, you draw our attention to it and we take note and adjust. If you say that the road we awarded is not there, we go there to find out why and take action promptly to save public funds.

Does it therefore mean that the Kano State governor does not use security vote?
No, what we are kicking against is taking government money without accounting for it. That is what Kano State government is guarding against. What we are saying is that if the security agencies have any operation that requires funding, they should put it on paper and state clearly how the money they are asking for would be used and accounted for. So, if I give the Brigade Commander N1 million, I should be able to account for it. There should be enough justification for spending such amount and the evidence should clearly show that somebody spent the amount and he is able to give account at the end of the operation. Part of the money we give to the security agencies must always come back to the SEC for me to see that it has been spent so that nobody goes away with our money. But what people mean by security vote is for the governor to request for hundreds of millions of Naira per day and nobody will come and ask what he does with the money. That is what people mean by security vote.

What strategy have you put in place to checkmate insecurity in Kano?
The strategy is simple. Many people, especially leaders, seem to think that soldiers, SSS, police and the rest are the answer to insecurity. Here is just one aspect.   The others are food security, health security, education security and the totality of these is what we call social security. That is why we are putting our hands into all these areas.   Today, Kano State government is able to graduate a total of 832 young men and women from three institutes we built. All of them have been empowered-some of them received over N130, 000 package free of charge, some N100, 000 to go and start business. These people were trained free of charge in boarding schools and given kits free to go and work for themselves and their families. We do all these in addition to the 24 institutes we have built, among them the Kano State University. All these things give people hope. We have 100 pilots and 54 post- graduate students, who are part of the 501 people we are sponsoring in 11 countries around the world. By the grace of God, we are going to sponsor another set of 502 in post- graduate studies. In fact, we now have no fewer than 1,500 Kano State indigenes studying abroad.   By next (this) week, we are sending out 400 students to some private universities in Nigeria to study. Our problem in the state is the issue of lack of understanding on the side of leadership. Education is not all about getting government paid job. It is about making the people to discover themselves and being about to make choices that will lead to self-reliance. I am happy to say that the people of Kano State now realise that there is hope and this hope is across the state. Either your son or daughter is one of the beneficiaries or you are directly involved. All these things put together make the people happy. That, in turn, reduces crime rate across the state.

Which of these projects is dearest to your heart?
We have a lot of projects on the ground and we are happy about them. We have what it takes to do more. As a starting point, I am going to sign into law, a bill banning begging in Kano and we are working with relevant groups to ensure that people do the right thing at the right time. What is giving me most happiness is the 24 institutes we established and the Kano University of Science and Technology and the North-west University. By the beginning of this session, we can have close to 3,000 students in university. Many have said the universities are perhaps the best in the country. We want to set the pace for others to learn from in all that we do in this state and make Kano State a better place for the people. We are improving our roads, flyovers and bridges. The target is to make people feel the impact of government wherever they may be in Kano State.   By so doing, we will remove miscreants and other undesirable elements from the city and make life more comfortable for residents. It was in a bid to solve some of the ills of society that we banned commercial cyclists and introduced other measures to bring about sanity in the state.

Also we have Kano Roads Maintenance Agency, KARMA, to ensure that our roads are put in good shape all year round. We created Kano Roads Transport Agency, KAROTA, which is made up of young men and women well respected by the people because they don’t take bribe but stick strictly to the rules of their work. People are respecting road laws now as a result of the managers. We have made the point clear to all that there is only one law in Kano.

That is why we are fighting drug barons in Kano. Every week, we are confiscating tonnes of illicit drugs. At the last count, we destroyed over N600 million and before then we destroyed over N3 billion worth of illicit drugs. We keep on working and we have teams that are going round with a clear instruction from us that no corner in Kano should serve as a black spot. And in doing that assignment, there is no-go area in the state. The beneficiaries are unhappy but the vast majority is happy. Everyone is a victim of fake drugs, expired drugs and so on. We are now in the middle of fighting illicit drugs. Some people would think I am a politician who will need money from them. I don’t need money from drug barons because they are the enemies of the people.

Almost all your school buildings have the inscription “Kwankwasiya”. What does that mean?
We did a lot during my first tenure. We had all sorts of projects and programmes. We didn’t inscribe anything on them when we were in office between 1999 and 2003. But for the eight years that we were out of government, we realised that there was a better way of doing it. When I left government my opponents tried to rubbish everything that I did. They tried to rewrite history based on enmity. So, when I came back, I tried to change certain things and when I started building the schools, I quickly put the inscriptions to show that the projects are mine. It is politics and you have to blow your own trumpet. We want everyone to know that I did the projects. Initially, many were angry why the inscriptions were put there but now they have seen reasons with us. We are very humble people not to name things after my name but we have to do things that will bring benefits to the people. We are putting these marks to protect the projects from being unduly ascribed to other people. Kwankwasiya comes from my name and my village name but it is now an ideology in Kano. It is not Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso. It is the ideology itself. And what is wrong if you do something and put your name on it? In any case, we are just putting our stamp for people coming to Kano to see. And I will encourage my successor to put his stamp on whatever he does. What is important is to provide facilities for people to use. It is all politics.

You were one of the governors who defected to the APC. One is tempted to ask, what was the problem between you, the PDP leadership and the Presidency that could not be resolved after many attempts at reconciliation?
The issue is that we are people with huge integrity and committed followership. I am one of those who are lucky to have built a large and powerful followership in the last 30 years. We have what one can even call a movement in this state and beyond. We have always been consistent and often identified with a particular ideology. I am one of those who participated in the formation of PDP even in Abuja. Here in Kano, I was one of the very few called Receivers. We have worked very hard for the PDP from 1998 up till last (penultimate) Tuesday. We have also benefitted from the party. There is no question about it because I have been governor twice, I have been a minister, I have been an adviser to the President and a member of the NDDC Board. So, I have benefitted from the system. But, on the other hand, there is a huge misunderstanding on the part of the government and the party in Abuja. And over the years, we tried to make them to understand but, unfortunately, they were not getting the point. As a politician, I am in this game believing that I can one day win election and one day lose election. That is why when I won election as governor in 1999, I was very happy. When I lost election in 2003, I was also very happy because of the experience they teach me. I have contested election 12 times in my life and only lost once in 2003. And without losing election, I can assure you that a politician should not answer the name because he is not complete. To be a complete politician, you have to test what it means to lose election and what it means by winning because sometimes it is easier to manage success than failure. When we lost election in Kano, it was easy for us to manage because of our experience.

Politics is really about interest, politics is about respect. We are field commanders on the ground in this party and I want to say that if you are the commander among the group you are working for, you should be respected and you should be listened to. And you see, the general feeling in Abuja is that ‘even without states, even without zones and even without regions, we are still fine’. They have forgotten that it is individuals that form the party. And we tried to make them to understand but they failed to understand. If somebody does not like you in Abuja, it is like you are finished, you are gone. And that is not the issue and these people have taken us for granted for too long. I have my family; I have my supporters and should be respected. Even my opponents and enemies here in Kano respect me because they know the meaning of Kwankwaso.   My opponents in the other parties respect me because they know what I stand for in the state. But, unfortunately, we are not respected in our own party. Can you believe that I have never been asked to nominate anybody for any position in Nigeria? And because of this huge misunderstanding, they see me in Abuja as one person from Kano but what they don’t know is that we have disciplined supporters. Nobody in our group here will go to the Villa or the party secretariat asking for appointment or anything because they respect the leader-Kwankwaso. But our enemies, I will call them rebels, will go to Abuja and talk against one man, Kwankwaso, who is their target. So, our main concern is, here is a party which does not respect individuals and groups or zones and, even if you win election, they don’t respect you and your supporters. We tried to make them understand that politics is not a matter of ‘I like you or I don’t like you’. That is why I see the ongoing National Conference as a waste of time and resources. It will not produce any result. Nigerians have already given us their mandate to deliver so we should not be turning round to ask them what we should do tomorrow. How can I now ask Kano people what I should do for them after getting their mandate to deliver good governance and projects? Does it make any sense? We have passed that level and if I don’t have the capacity to deliver on behalf of the people, I should quietly resign and go away. I am not here to play pranks. Of course, I consult with the people and discuss with them but, at the end of the day, I take decisions on their behalf. I know their problem- they need jobs, they need food, they need good roads, schools, hospitals and other social services- and not talks that produce no result at the end of the day.

If it was during the military when they called a constitutional conference to transit from military dictatorship to constitutional government, one can understand and fully endorse and even participate in it. That is the one that Abacha organised and we took part in it. It was unwieldy but, with our experience, we were able to fashion a lot of changes for the country that brought about the present Constitution we are using.
And the people are happy. I learnt that one of the governors said we will be stoned if we crossed over to APC. Let me tell you, in my political history, I have never seen a decision that is popular with my people than the one I have taken. We are in APC to strengthen democracy. I want to be respected while I win election or when I am appointed into an office. At the same time, I want to be respected when I am out of office. That is why I resigned from NDDC when I realised they were doing the wrong thing.

But are you sure you can get the kind of respect you are talking about from the APC?
They will and have to respect us because they have realised that they cannot do it all alone. They want to win election and they need us to be able to do so. Right from the time they started talking with us, they have shown respect. They realised they need us. We also realised that these are the people we want. They can form a formidable party to win election and challenge anti-people forces.

But are you not afraid the Presidency can use its might and move against you and the other four governors?
The agencies of government are made up of human beings who are Nigerians.

They know what this country is passing through. If we move the way we are going now, and, unless things change, everybody would know that the country is broke. I don’t care what is done. I am not afraid to speak the truth. Politicians must be on their toes and nobody should sit down and claim that all is well. The issue we are in now is that of those going into APC and those not going. But let me tell you that in a short while you will see a mass of Nigerians flocking into the APC. I am not afraid. I don’t see any decision I have taken in recent years that I so strongly believed in like this APC. And I believe that it is a step in the right direction that will help this country. The only disadvantage I see in the whole thing is that a few people are benefitting from the system and they are so few. The Nigerian government should be a government for everybody and not a handful of selected individuals.
Well, if the President calls me for a meeting, I would go as a member of APC and not as a PDP member. Even last (penultimate) Sunday, the President invited us and we were all in Abuja to honour his invitation but he refused to see us. We have never seen anything like that. He was in Abuja but refused to see the seven governors. Even if he was on a hospital bed, he could have called us to see him there and sympathise with him. But we were just a few metres away from the President in the Villa but he refused to see us. That is why we believe that certain persons are underestimating and not understanding the real situation on the ground but I think they will begin to learn their lessons from now on.

The rumour in town is that you in particular crossed over to the APC in order to actualise your presidential ambition, which the PDP cannot give you. Could this be the reason for your defection?

They are saying the same thing about all the seven governors. But let it be put on record that all the governors have the capacity and cognate experience to rule this country. I have never gone into any party with any mindset on any particular position. So I am not going to APC to be president or anything but to build the party and to ensure that it wins election in Kano and Nigeria. We are connected to many other states and we want to win elections. I am connected to every local government in this country. My impact will be felt anywhere because many of the people have worked closely with me in different capacities. You see, people underrated our capacity and our support base and that happened because if you surround yourself with my enemies, they will never allow you to see my good sides. And when we come out to play the politics of Kano, they will disappear; you will not see them.

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.

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