Lawal Jafaru Isa, Kano CPC and 2011

As the 2011 elections approaches, politicians in Kano state as elsewhere allover the country are planning, scheming, contacting and making consultations on how to succeed or takeover from Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau, Executive Governor of Kano state or from the ruling ANPP in the state.

The newly registered party, Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) is a party that political analyst and commentators are predicting can be a party with all it takes to defeat both the ruling ANPP and opposition PDP in Kano state. The CPC been the party that General Muhammadu Buhari belongs to, and Kano as the hub of his political backing will make both Shekarau of ANPP and Kwankwaso of PDP to be nervous as the political permutations of the state will change completely the day he entered the ancient city for campaign.

Brig. General (rtd) Lawal Jafaru Isa, the former military governor of Kaduna state from 1993 to 1996 is among the leading members of the CPC in Kano state. Even though the people of Kaduna state are in the best position to tell the world who is Lawal Jafaru Isa, any person current with events when he was in charge even as a military governor , the way he govern was quite distinct and different. The legacies he left in Kaduna state are numerous which was unlikely with the military governors and will envy most of our elected or selected civilian governors of today.

With the 2011 elections around the corner, Lawal Jafaru Isa (rtd) has finally answered the calls of Kanawa to contest for the seat of Kano state governor under the platform of Congress for Progressive Change (CPC). Like most people of Kano he is concern with how the state have been under developing in the past 10 years upon the billions of naira been collected as federal allocation and internal generated revenue.

Problems bedeviling Kano are many ranging from unemployment, chronic poverty, high divorce rate, insecurity, illiteracy to mention but few of the social and economic problems that the present administration of Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau could not solved. Worse still, the present led Kano state leadership is not leading by example. When they claimed that they had equip the hospitals, but their wives are giving birth in Europe and America . They claimed that they had build schools and employed teachers, but their children are schooling in London and Malaysia . Virtually the economic sector has collapse due to lack of ideas by the Kano led ANPP leadership to modernize the sector.

Kano state has the highest population in the country. According to the 2006 census, it has approximately 10 million people. Among the population if one will use the yardstick of development in relation to poverty, unemployment and inequality, can Kano state be said to be developing in the past 10 years? With the general assumptions used, can people of Kano said to be productive in relation to economic growth? It is said there are about 2 million Achabas, 2 million Yan bunburutu (petrol hawkers) two million Almajiris, more than 1 million Zaurawas (divorced women) and if you add the number of Yan jagaliyas, Yan dabas, with these numbers minus the under aged, the sick, the elderly, the unemployed, how many are left that are really contributing to the economy?

With the condition that Kano finds itself , it needs a man with a vision, creative, humble, sincere, hardworking and that had been tested and trusted to deliver the dividends of democracy, Lawal Jafaru Isa (rtd) has all the above listed attributes. And if the CPC gives him the opportunity to contest on its platform he has the ability and competence to deliver Kano sate to it. Most of those presently seeking Kano state governorship are merely contesting to replace a namesake, a mentor, to avenge, their party must win or riding on their families name. So far, none of them have unbundled his agenda to the electorates or they had an outstanding record that can prove that they can make a difference.


The Kano CPC should learn from current happenings in the state where the main political parties to reckon with are accused of bending the rules to favour particular candidates. It primary elections should be transparent, free and fair as this will enable it to escape internal wrangling that will surely spell doom for a party when it denies the choice of majority of it’s members. It will be hardly for the Kano CPC to have a gubernatorial material more than Lawal Jafaru Isa(rtd) , a man that the oppress and downtrodden masses, civil servants, the business community, traditional and religious leaders, youths, students e.t.c will support , back and cast their votes for him on the platform he will contest on due to his previous records.

The leadership and stakeholders of Kano CPC must work collectively for their party to succeed in Kano . The factions of Alhaji Haruna Danzago and Alhaji AbdulMajid Danbilki Commander should bury their differences for the greater interest of the party. And Dan Zago should change his attitudes and nature of politics so as to create space for those that will soon decamp from ANPP and PDP in the state when finally they fail to secure tickets they are looking for. The Kano CPC stands to gain a lot and win the state only if the leadership and stakeholders buried their selfish interests.

Kano state needs a new beginning come 2011 elections, with a new set of leaders and representatives that will sincerely work for the betterment of the state and its people. With Lawal Jafaru Isa (rtd) as governor in the next dispensation, Kanawa may feel the impact positively for the change they truly need.

Shehu Mustapha Chaji

shehuchaji@yahoo.com