Sir,
Do not succumb to the antics of some alleged elements in your government to create a political crisis in Kano state as such action is capable of creating hatred against your new government and shall erode the remaining confidence of the citizens in the Nigerian democratic system.
Let us for the record as we deem it appropriate, introduce our organization to you, as this is the first time we have been writing to you since your assumption of office as the elected president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Northern Youth Assembly (Majalisar Matasan Arewa), is a youth-focused organization, established in 2010, and subsequently incorporated with CAC. The organization has a functional leadership, at both national and state leadership structures in each of the Nineteen Northern States and Abuja.
Your Excellency, we have painstakingly resolved to communicate to you through this medium, to avoid unnecessary protocol and administrative bureaucracy, considering the gravity of the situation, as well the urgency to draw your attention to the matter, before it goes out of hand.
As you are fully aware, Kano is officially the most populous State in the country, with an estimated figure of over 20 million, a population size equivalent to more than 5 states if added together in the country. Kano State is also the heartbeat of the North, which many citizens of other states largely depend upon, for the viability of their economy, and steady earnings for livelihood.
Kano State has for some years been stable politically since 2019 due to huge sacrifices many individuals and organizations have paid, such as the Kano Peace Committee (KPC), and the Nigeria Police under the able leadership of CP Mohammed Wakil, who summoned all the courage to contain the evilly institutionalized political thuggery, until when the inconclusive saga descended on Kano, through the handwork of some politicians, who did not mean well for the State.
Your Excellency, many lives could have been lost in 2019, but to God be the glory the situation was marginally controlled.
The 2023 general elections, equally went through peacefully, courtesy of the joint efforts of the security agencies, Kano Peace Committee (KPC), as well as the cooperation of the Kano State Government. Kano State has been able to escape many of the evil plans purportedly designed to drag the State into chaos and disharmony.
We are all aware of the pluralistic nature of the State, with diversity in tribe, region, religion, culture, and social background.
Sir, the fragility of the democratic system especially in Africa occasioned by obvious social, legal, and institutional injustice, has cumulatively exposed why the system is steadily losing the confidence of the citizens, and this is witnessed through the broad-day electoral injustice, such as forceful snatching of the peoples’ mandate, through manipulation of either electoral process or judiciary, an evil act masterminded by some desperate and evilly minded politicians, who do not care about the future of the country, except for their political interest, even though at the detriment of the teeming number of electorates.
It is our humble opinion that, if the Nigerian democratic system should continue to operate based on electoral injustice, undermining the best practices of democratic governance, in fairness to all parties, the repercussions would surely be devastating one.
Your Excellency, we are law-abiding citizens and we believe in the rule of law, however, justice shall not only be done but must be seen to be done.
The judiciary as an independent arm of Government, is expected to be the only last resort for the common man, however, where the citizens have begun to doubt the neutrality of the judiciary in the dispensation of the justice system, then the country is certainly heading towards doom.
We have received with dismay, information that alleged the involvement of some elements in your Government, to have interfered and manipulated the Kano State Governorship Elections Tribunal judgment, an information which if it turned out to be true, could certainly be described as unfortunate, unprecedented, condemnable and uncalled for.
Kano State, as temperamental as it is, such desperate actions could trigger a political crisis in the State and could lead to anarchy
Kano is considered the commercial nerve center not only for the North but for the entire sub-Saharan African countries, who have one relationship or the other with Kano State.
Kano State could be described as a role model and as the most politically strategic territory with vast knowledge and political civilization. Given this, Kano is fragile and when broken into pieces, the national security would surely be threatened.
Sir, let us draw you to the memory lane, starting from 1999 to 2007, when you served as the Executive Governor of Lagos State, under AD.
Your party was entirely different from the party at the center, and despite some misunderstandings, His Excellency Olusegun Obasanjo led the Federal Government and did not make any attempt to snatch the mandate that the good people of Lagos State gave you, to manage the affairs of the State, from 1999 to 2007.
Therefore allowing, some alleged members of your Government, to mastermind the conspiracy of snatching the mandate of the Kano people, is as good as inviting hatred against your personality, doubting your commitment to upholding democratic principles, institutionalizing electoral injustice, dashing the hope of the Nigerian electorates to lose complete confidence in the system, and subscribing to the school of thought which emphasizes on the unsuitability of the democratic system for African countries.
In addition, if this electoral injustice is allowed to strive, it would further reaffirm the failure of your Government to uphold the rule of law, and treat all citizens equally and fairly regardless of ethnicity, region, religion, party affiliation, and others, and the perceived situation wouldn’t only amount to creating unrest, but would surely be a set back on the Nigerian democratization and Africa as a whole.
The perceived conspiracy by some alleged elements in the Government, deploying Government machinery and influence, to destroy Kano State, the consequences would not end stop in Kano, as the repercussions would certainly create a multiplier of negative effects on other states of the federation.
Therefore using politics to ignite a crisis in Kano, through the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, would surely metamorphose into creating a crisis that would be difficult to control, based on the brewing tensions, resulting from the Kano State Governorship Elections Tribunal Judgment.
Therefore, there is no better time for you to act, than now to save the situation, by prevailing on your party members who have been alleged to be involved in this political recklessness, as the risk is not worth trying.
Signed:
Dr. Ali Idris, Acting President
Comrade Adikwu Omale Joshua, National Publicity Secretary,
