By JOHN DANFULANI |
Ibrahim Gamawa, whom I suspected is Adamu Adamu’s tag-team mate made a piece in Thursday’s 30th July Daily Trust in defence of the former hypercritical priest of moral shrine Adamu Adamu. He unsuccessfully tried to show his initial lack of interest in these exchanges, but could not stand by such feelings to the end. And finally rolled-up his sleeves, picked a pen and jointed this titanic fray that one suspects will not finish before Christmas. It is now a balanced equation of a tag-team of twos, with Chaji/Danfulani axis versus Gamawa/Adamu team.
Like his co-team mate, he wobbled and fumbled round issues and ended up not seriously addressing any raised by me or Chaji or helped Adamu’s case.
Else, what was the point he was making by accusing us of playing “someone else’s script”? Since when did people who advance moral questions become mischief makers? If posing moral questions, evangelising, and accusations is an act of mischief, is your Adamu not the biggest Nigerian shareholder in the venture? Because his entire journalistic career which spans over two decades was anchored on asking moral questions, preaching morality, and mischievously accusing others of lack of it.
Gamawa also opined that “I do not want to delve into the accusation of arrogance and other issues on Adamu”, of course you will not, because only your hero has the right to use words as desired. How can you detach these titles and phrases from wanton arrogance: “talking silly about Bauchi”, “given to some clowns”, “this nation might have tolareted corruption but should never be allowed to accept it could tolerate insult to its collective intelligence by those who daily inflict and then add salt to it, our collective injuries”, “in the past my attitude even to reasonable rejoinders…”.There were countless other arrogant and contemptuous sentences and phrases in his weak response to Chaji,s moral sermon.
There were conspicuous lacunas of logic in thinking because at some point he asserted that “Adamu was right to say that his duty as a journalist should not be restricted to Bauchi, and it is nobody’s responsibility to tell him when or who to write about. Since there is the possibility that his opinion may be influenced and as such he will not be objective in his writing”. In this case, Adamu and his supporter swam their illogical wings into our waiting net. Was Adamu not aware of this possible influence ab initio when he picked on Muazu and his government? By your confession, which is quite true, we state our case that all Adamu wrote on Muazu was influenced and prejudiced by interest. What is remaining, is to forward an apology to Muazu and being a true Muslim, Muazu and some of us that were hoodwinked to believing him will forgive, forget and forgo.
The last sentence of his fifth paragraph was laughable and portrayed his parochialistic perception of what is politics, who is a politician, and what event is political. You stated that Adamu is not a politician? Who else is, in this world? These are rather some of the insults to our collective intelligence that your master accused others of. It is my utmost belief that Adamu was not careful, otherwise he would have stumbled on that phrase in your piece and outrightly pruned it out. But Adamu is still recouping from Chaji’s merciless shelling and my back up blitzkrieg of Wednesday; so, it will be hard for him to see all the contradictory statements in the write up.
Activities of Adamu in 2003 and 2007 confirmed that he is not only a Hobbsian political animal but a living and practicing one with the main opposition party ANPP. Can Gamawa tell us what Adamu was doing when he said in his reaction to chaji “throughout 2003 I was virtually Shekarau’s sentry standing by Buhari” In the said duty, was Adamu Adamu standing sentry in a military parade ground or in a political rally? Your guess is as good as mine.
Again, Adamu told us before the 2007 general elections that he was resting his moral pen because he was joining Buhari’s presidential campaign trail. He actually left because some of us stopped seeing his Friday sermons in the Trust. Many actually saw him close to Buhari wherever the Gen. went. Votes hunting actually took them to Bauchi where Adamu and Buhari appeared and successfully sold Malam Isa Yuguda to the conscious people of Bauchi who are now thinking whether the product Adamu and co “seduced” them to buying was worth the price. Then, can somebody with fertile conscience write and tell us that Adamu Adamu is not a politician? By nature and practice, he was and will continue to be one until he answers the call of Allah to reunite with Him, the angels and other saints in aljanna.
These are some of the deceits and holier-than-all mantra some of us are out to combat and totally eliminate from the system. People like Adamu have exhausted their barns of deceits and bare faced fabrications against the system and people. The role of a pen man is not evangelizing a principle he does not believe or wished it exist.
Lest I forget, Chaji has advanced further questions to Adamu Adamu and by extension his tag-team friend, are we likely to get answers soon?
http://www.newnigeriannews.com/politics.htm
Monday, 3 August 2009
Saturday, 1 August 2009
Talking silly on Bauchi [II]
Written by Adamu Adamu
adamuadamu@dailytrust.com
Immediately after the 2007 election, even though I am not in politics and will never be; and even if I were ever to be so, I wouldn’t be in the PDP from which he came or the ANPP into which he went, Governor Isa Yuguda offered me the post of Secretary to the State Government. I declined this immediately because I knew it was something I would not do under any circumstance. I told him why but promised to help in any way I could.
Even before the government had fully taken off, he appointed me chairman of the committee set up to review the work of the Transition Committee that oversaw the handover. We worked on its reports and produced the documents that became the subject matter of the judicial commission of inquiry that is currently looking into the affairs of the governorship of Alhaji Ahmadu Adamu Mu’azu; and this perhaps is the main reason why His Excellency decided to remain outside the country.
After the committee’s work, the governor asked me to accept the post of adviser to him on whatever it was I wanted. Here, in fact, the deputy put more pressure on me to accept than the governor himself did, perhaps believing that if I joined the government, it would help his position. But I made my position clear that I would not work for the government.
Later, in the presence of the deputy, the governor renewed an invitation he had earlier made to me to compile and document all the assignments he had given me and all the advice I had offered to him into a consultancy agreement so that I could be paid. Though I understood the concern behind all these offers and all the kindness intended, I felt insulted and declined.
Though there are many problems in Bauchi, the most unexplainable has been the failure of the government to utilize good counsel. And looking at a few of these self-created problems—or rather, solutions looking for problems—it is difficult to explain why they should exit in the first place. Let us look at three that Chaji touched and see why they cannot be my concern in the manner he suggested. He talked about Yuguda’s decamping, his conduct towards General Buhari and his plan to impeach his deputy.
To me as a journalist, the ANPP and the PDP were just political parties; and if I opposed Yuguda’s decision to decamp to the PDP, I didn’t do it as a result of some preference for the ANPP. According to him, I was the only one who opposed him; and I did so only on moral, not on partisan political, grounds. I told him if he did decamp, he would lose whatever political mutumci he had and the state would be out of his control. But Yuguda was made to believe that the people of Bauchi would not oppose his move; and that they were only apprehensive that if he did decamp, he might abandon his programmes. I told His Excellency that the majority of the people of Bauchi who overwhelmingly voted for him didn’t know or care a hoot about programmes.
They elected him for four reasons. First, there was this almost universal unpopularity of Ahmadu Mu’azu. Second, Mu’azu chose as gubernatorial candidate someone who was seen as his sheepish protégé, by reason of which he also became equally unpopular. Third was the non-threatening image of Yuguda and the belief that he would never be as high-handed as Mu’azu was, and the people’s desire for change which they hoped to realize in him. And finally, and most importantly, there was the decisive endorsement of Buhari that Yuguda received. Buhari not only endorsed him but took time off his own campaign to campaign for Yuguda; and he went round all but one of Bauchi’s 20 local governments for him. This was something he had not done for any other ANPP gubernatorial candidate.
A fifth reason that is often not mentioned is the directive by Abuja that the security forces shouldn’t allow the incumbent governor to rig the election. It is not mentioned because it will seem to have been cancelled by the armed turnout of the people of Bauchi to protect their votes. Nevertheless, without this decision, the electoral commission could still have rigged and announced a different result; but that day, the Federal Government knew that there would have been an unprecedented bloodbath.
Taking all this into consideration, it is indeed incomprehensible that Yuguda would ever speak about Buhari the way he did in that radio interview. But I couldn’t see how a personal decision to be ungrateful by an adult politician could be my problem, just because I am his friend. It was fortuitous and totally uncalled for and false—and to me embarrassing, no doubt, because even if Buhari had not done anything for Yuguda, and even if the office he held or the popularity he enjoys had not precluded a governor from speaking about him in that fashion, Yuguda’s knowledge of my closeness to the General should have been enough to make him think twice.
The charges against the deputy governor, which, it should be remembered, were being assembled only after the impeachment move had already been made, were all baseless; and it might in the end well prove to be more the result of incapable investigation than actual culpability. It would be a botched-up working back from a predetermined end.
It was indeed unfortunate that matters have had to come to this impasse. When the impeachment crisis erupted just before I traveled out, I met the governor in connection with it. Initially, the governor wanted to pretend that it was only an affair between the deputy and the state legislature, until I reminded His Excellency that he was talking to a journalist. Then he told me that the deputy had been disloyal to him. When I asked to know the disloyalty, it became apparent that it was his refusal to decamp along with the governor to the People’s Democratic Party, PDP. I reminded the governor that he could not complain to me about a matter that I myself opposed. Incidentally, this was the same thing I told him when he complained to me about my younger brother who was spearheading the opposition to him in the state legislature.
At any event, I could see that the governor had forgotten what I told him about his deputy; because immediately after the election, I told him that Alhaji Garba Mohammed Gadi, the deputy, was the administration’s most valuable asset; because he had all the qualities that the governor and all the other principal officers of his government lacked.
But really except for the close relationship between the deputy governor and me, it is really none of my business if he is impeached. That is the business of politicians; and since that is the way they play it here, the deputy governor must have known and accepted—or, at the very least, foreseen—the possibility, if not the inevitability, of such an eventuality, even if he will not ordinarily have expected it.
I cannot therefore see how my comment, if it comes, before or after the impeachment of Alhaji Garba, can constitute unfairness to the people of Bauchi State. The fact that it may happen, however, will not make the impeachment right; but neither will it be a shame for the deputy governor if eventually it does. And that’s exactly what I told the deputy governor when he asked my opinion whether he should resign or not. I told him not to resign under any circumstances. It would be more honourable for him to wait and be impeached.
http://news.dailytrust.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3593:talking-silly-on-bauchi-ii&catid=47:daily-columns&Itemid=31
adamuadamu@dailytrust.com
Immediately after the 2007 election, even though I am not in politics and will never be; and even if I were ever to be so, I wouldn’t be in the PDP from which he came or the ANPP into which he went, Governor Isa Yuguda offered me the post of Secretary to the State Government. I declined this immediately because I knew it was something I would not do under any circumstance. I told him why but promised to help in any way I could.
Even before the government had fully taken off, he appointed me chairman of the committee set up to review the work of the Transition Committee that oversaw the handover. We worked on its reports and produced the documents that became the subject matter of the judicial commission of inquiry that is currently looking into the affairs of the governorship of Alhaji Ahmadu Adamu Mu’azu; and this perhaps is the main reason why His Excellency decided to remain outside the country.
After the committee’s work, the governor asked me to accept the post of adviser to him on whatever it was I wanted. Here, in fact, the deputy put more pressure on me to accept than the governor himself did, perhaps believing that if I joined the government, it would help his position. But I made my position clear that I would not work for the government.
Later, in the presence of the deputy, the governor renewed an invitation he had earlier made to me to compile and document all the assignments he had given me and all the advice I had offered to him into a consultancy agreement so that I could be paid. Though I understood the concern behind all these offers and all the kindness intended, I felt insulted and declined.
Though there are many problems in Bauchi, the most unexplainable has been the failure of the government to utilize good counsel. And looking at a few of these self-created problems—or rather, solutions looking for problems—it is difficult to explain why they should exit in the first place. Let us look at three that Chaji touched and see why they cannot be my concern in the manner he suggested. He talked about Yuguda’s decamping, his conduct towards General Buhari and his plan to impeach his deputy.
To me as a journalist, the ANPP and the PDP were just political parties; and if I opposed Yuguda’s decision to decamp to the PDP, I didn’t do it as a result of some preference for the ANPP. According to him, I was the only one who opposed him; and I did so only on moral, not on partisan political, grounds. I told him if he did decamp, he would lose whatever political mutumci he had and the state would be out of his control. But Yuguda was made to believe that the people of Bauchi would not oppose his move; and that they were only apprehensive that if he did decamp, he might abandon his programmes. I told His Excellency that the majority of the people of Bauchi who overwhelmingly voted for him didn’t know or care a hoot about programmes.
They elected him for four reasons. First, there was this almost universal unpopularity of Ahmadu Mu’azu. Second, Mu’azu chose as gubernatorial candidate someone who was seen as his sheepish protégé, by reason of which he also became equally unpopular. Third was the non-threatening image of Yuguda and the belief that he would never be as high-handed as Mu’azu was, and the people’s desire for change which they hoped to realize in him. And finally, and most importantly, there was the decisive endorsement of Buhari that Yuguda received. Buhari not only endorsed him but took time off his own campaign to campaign for Yuguda; and he went round all but one of Bauchi’s 20 local governments for him. This was something he had not done for any other ANPP gubernatorial candidate.
A fifth reason that is often not mentioned is the directive by Abuja that the security forces shouldn’t allow the incumbent governor to rig the election. It is not mentioned because it will seem to have been cancelled by the armed turnout of the people of Bauchi to protect their votes. Nevertheless, without this decision, the electoral commission could still have rigged and announced a different result; but that day, the Federal Government knew that there would have been an unprecedented bloodbath.
Taking all this into consideration, it is indeed incomprehensible that Yuguda would ever speak about Buhari the way he did in that radio interview. But I couldn’t see how a personal decision to be ungrateful by an adult politician could be my problem, just because I am his friend. It was fortuitous and totally uncalled for and false—and to me embarrassing, no doubt, because even if Buhari had not done anything for Yuguda, and even if the office he held or the popularity he enjoys had not precluded a governor from speaking about him in that fashion, Yuguda’s knowledge of my closeness to the General should have been enough to make him think twice.
The charges against the deputy governor, which, it should be remembered, were being assembled only after the impeachment move had already been made, were all baseless; and it might in the end well prove to be more the result of incapable investigation than actual culpability. It would be a botched-up working back from a predetermined end.
It was indeed unfortunate that matters have had to come to this impasse. When the impeachment crisis erupted just before I traveled out, I met the governor in connection with it. Initially, the governor wanted to pretend that it was only an affair between the deputy and the state legislature, until I reminded His Excellency that he was talking to a journalist. Then he told me that the deputy had been disloyal to him. When I asked to know the disloyalty, it became apparent that it was his refusal to decamp along with the governor to the People’s Democratic Party, PDP. I reminded the governor that he could not complain to me about a matter that I myself opposed. Incidentally, this was the same thing I told him when he complained to me about my younger brother who was spearheading the opposition to him in the state legislature.
At any event, I could see that the governor had forgotten what I told him about his deputy; because immediately after the election, I told him that Alhaji Garba Mohammed Gadi, the deputy, was the administration’s most valuable asset; because he had all the qualities that the governor and all the other principal officers of his government lacked.
But really except for the close relationship between the deputy governor and me, it is really none of my business if he is impeached. That is the business of politicians; and since that is the way they play it here, the deputy governor must have known and accepted—or, at the very least, foreseen—the possibility, if not the inevitability, of such an eventuality, even if he will not ordinarily have expected it.
I cannot therefore see how my comment, if it comes, before or after the impeachment of Alhaji Garba, can constitute unfairness to the people of Bauchi State. The fact that it may happen, however, will not make the impeachment right; but neither will it be a shame for the deputy governor if eventually it does. And that’s exactly what I told the deputy governor when he asked my opinion whether he should resign or not. I told him not to resign under any circumstances. It would be more honourable for him to wait and be impeached.
http://news.dailytrust.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3593:talking-silly-on-bauchi-ii&catid=47:daily-columns&Itemid=31
Thursday, 30 July 2009
Re - placing Adamu Adamu on moral scale
Written by Yusuf Gamawa
It was not my intention to reply Mr John Danfulani, and I am also not writing on behalf of Adamu Adamu or any other person or group, but I am rather writing to express my own opinion on all that Danfulani is talking about and to further re-affirm my earlier response to Danfulani’s article two days ago when his piece was posted to my mailbox via the Dandalin Siyasa Yahoo Group of which Danfulani, Chaji and I are members.
When I saw Danfulani’s article, I hadn’t the slightest idea that it was going to the press, I had thought it was just a contribution to our group’s normal exchange of views and ideas, to which I replied sending my comments and observations in which I specifically told Danfulani that I appreciated his bold opinion on the subject he was writing and that there was no problem people calling others to order which is necessary in guiding our general conduct within the society, but pointed out that he appeared too harsh on Adamu Adamu.
And for that I questioned the sincerity of Danfulani’s motive, because he seemed to have missed the point from the beginning. Adamu Adamu is only a journalist and not a minister, president or holding any office of influence. I noticed also many contradictions with regards to many claims made by him on Adamu, after portraying Adamu as incapable of swallowing the pills of criticism, he again quoted Adamu as saying” in the past my attitude even to reasonable rejoinders to my columns had been to accept but ignore” this clearly shows Adamu’s level of tolerance with regards to responses generated by his writings, without replying or quarrelling as many writers do, but even this Danfulani interpreted as arrogance.
Still, in my response to Danfulani, I pointed out to him that he had digressed completely from what Chaji himself had tried to bring out and further argued that Adamu was right to say that his duty as a journalist should be restricted to Bauchi, and it is nobody’s responsibility to tell him when or who to write about, and if he agrees to this, then he is not fit to be a journalist. Since there is possibility that his opinion may be influenced and as such he will not be objective in his writing. As a writer Adamu has the right to be completely independent and he is a citizen of Nigeria, as a journalist the entire country is his constituency and not just Bauchi State.
These were my comments on Danfulani’s article, but the fact that Danfulani has now gone to press with a new edited piece, means I would make further observation. From what I understand, both Chaji and Danfulani are not sincere at all about their accusation on Adamu, first, it appears to me as if they are among those myopic politician that have since been fighting amongst them selves, supporting either Yuguda or Mu’azu and are now trying to drag Adamu into their melodrama of who is better than who, which is a narrow minded thinking of our people failing to take cognizance of the fact that Adamu is not a politician.
Secondly, if this is true, then it means both Chaji and Danfulani are playing out someone else’s script, and which would have been unfortunate or they are just out to create mischief, otherwise if these people strongly feel that there are real questions Adamu Adamu should answer with regards to his relationship with Yuguda, they should be bold enough to go straight to the point rather than saying Mu’azu or Yuguda and things like that. I would have considered their views more serious if they had just called on Adamu Adamu to make his views open on Yuguda’s government without being sentimental about it.
And so, to me now the question lies now in the sincerity of Chaji and Danfulani, and I do not want to delve into the accusation of arrogance and other issues on Adamu, that is not my concern and not important and in any case unnecessary. If any thing Chaji and Danfulani’s petty mindedness and mischief to have singled out Bauchi in whole of Nigeria for Adamu’s attention and to have tried to force a Journalist into a war he is not part of is not only ridiculous but also mischievous, and amounts to total blackmail on Adamu. If my suspicion is confirmed and true about the Yuguda – Mu’azu political rift to which they seem to belong, then we have no option than to excuse our selves.
http://www.news.dailytrust.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3550&catid=49
It was not my intention to reply Mr John Danfulani, and I am also not writing on behalf of Adamu Adamu or any other person or group, but I am rather writing to express my own opinion on all that Danfulani is talking about and to further re-affirm my earlier response to Danfulani’s article two days ago when his piece was posted to my mailbox via the Dandalin Siyasa Yahoo Group of which Danfulani, Chaji and I are members.
When I saw Danfulani’s article, I hadn’t the slightest idea that it was going to the press, I had thought it was just a contribution to our group’s normal exchange of views and ideas, to which I replied sending my comments and observations in which I specifically told Danfulani that I appreciated his bold opinion on the subject he was writing and that there was no problem people calling others to order which is necessary in guiding our general conduct within the society, but pointed out that he appeared too harsh on Adamu Adamu.
And for that I questioned the sincerity of Danfulani’s motive, because he seemed to have missed the point from the beginning. Adamu Adamu is only a journalist and not a minister, president or holding any office of influence. I noticed also many contradictions with regards to many claims made by him on Adamu, after portraying Adamu as incapable of swallowing the pills of criticism, he again quoted Adamu as saying” in the past my attitude even to reasonable rejoinders to my columns had been to accept but ignore” this clearly shows Adamu’s level of tolerance with regards to responses generated by his writings, without replying or quarrelling as many writers do, but even this Danfulani interpreted as arrogance.
Still, in my response to Danfulani, I pointed out to him that he had digressed completely from what Chaji himself had tried to bring out and further argued that Adamu was right to say that his duty as a journalist should be restricted to Bauchi, and it is nobody’s responsibility to tell him when or who to write about, and if he agrees to this, then he is not fit to be a journalist. Since there is possibility that his opinion may be influenced and as such he will not be objective in his writing. As a writer Adamu has the right to be completely independent and he is a citizen of Nigeria, as a journalist the entire country is his constituency and not just Bauchi State.
These were my comments on Danfulani’s article, but the fact that Danfulani has now gone to press with a new edited piece, means I would make further observation. From what I understand, both Chaji and Danfulani are not sincere at all about their accusation on Adamu, first, it appears to me as if they are among those myopic politician that have since been fighting amongst them selves, supporting either Yuguda or Mu’azu and are now trying to drag Adamu into their melodrama of who is better than who, which is a narrow minded thinking of our people failing to take cognizance of the fact that Adamu is not a politician.
Secondly, if this is true, then it means both Chaji and Danfulani are playing out someone else’s script, and which would have been unfortunate or they are just out to create mischief, otherwise if these people strongly feel that there are real questions Adamu Adamu should answer with regards to his relationship with Yuguda, they should be bold enough to go straight to the point rather than saying Mu’azu or Yuguda and things like that. I would have considered their views more serious if they had just called on Adamu Adamu to make his views open on Yuguda’s government without being sentimental about it.
And so, to me now the question lies now in the sincerity of Chaji and Danfulani, and I do not want to delve into the accusation of arrogance and other issues on Adamu, that is not my concern and not important and in any case unnecessary. If any thing Chaji and Danfulani’s petty mindedness and mischief to have singled out Bauchi in whole of Nigeria for Adamu’s attention and to have tried to force a Journalist into a war he is not part of is not only ridiculous but also mischievous, and amounts to total blackmail on Adamu. If my suspicion is confirmed and true about the Yuguda – Mu’azu political rift to which they seem to belong, then we have no option than to excuse our selves.
http://www.news.dailytrust.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3550&catid=49
Placing Adamu Adamu on moral scale
Written by John Danfulani
We are still recovering from a horrifying dust of shame manufactured by a moral precision guided cruise professionally launched by Mustapha Chaji on the reputation of always pontificating man of double-barrel name Adamu Adamu, a Friday columnist with Daily Trust. The ‘prolific writer’ pretended that Chaji’s cruise was off target; therefore he never suffered any moral damage to his reputation. We think otherwise. The hobbyhorse defective showing in his usual season series further exposed the Pharisee and hidden dictatorial credentials in the Azare-born man. Malam Adamu’s hobbled rejoinder was a manifestation of his unfortunate inability to swallow the bitter pills of criticism he has mastered and become a consultant in administering to people for the past two decades.
Malam Adamu Adamu is a veteran pen warrior of over two decades standing, who has shuttled in and out public and private media outlets, some of them still in circulation and others have since been laid to rest. In his preferred vocation of penning, the old pen-horse is an all-rounder who dabbles in all issues under the sun, irrespective of his Lilliputian status on the matter(s) in focused. Those who make time following the Friday rabble-rouser may recall reading him on multifaceted issues like; Arab-Israeli squabbles, his titanic religious debates with Dr. Gumi, his many-series reaction to Asari Dokubo, upside down inside out, Country where everything goes et al. If one will make time and flip through his entire articles one will most likely stumble on his write-ups disagreeing with medical doctors on how to transplant a heart, or arguing with an astronaut on which jacket to wear while on the moon; issues clearly beyond his intellectual and mental capacities. Throughout afore-listed pieces and many others dating back to his nursery years in the profession, the economist turned newsman has always assumed to be an all knowing genius, holier-than-thou, and infallible. Nobody can remember reading him retracting, correcting or even apologising to anybody throughout his journalistic career, behaving like an Engel among mortals.
We were in Nigeria when St Adamu of Azare jerked His Excellency Adamu Muazu and his government by the neck to suffocation and politically murdered it. He painted Muazu blacker than Lucifer and the worst thing that ever happened in Bauchi state. Many erroneously thought the character annihilator was on his long perceived critical assessment of his state government. Some of us knew, beyond his below-the-belt kicks is the reality; it was the voice of Jacob but the hand of Esau. Divine wisdom was not compulsory to knowing that he was Man Friday holding a gallon of corrosive acid on a character demolishing errand. The saying that you can fool people sometimes but not all times is fully playing in the life of Malam Adamu. The goddesses of deceit must have abandoned him in the middle of the game hence this unexpected but timely exposition from Chaji.
In his long nurtured crass arrogance and journalistic pomposity, Adamu deliberately tried to show that Chaji’s masterpiece was not worth his busy attention in this word ‘in past my attitude even to reasonable rejoinders to my columns had been to accept but ignore’, that his wish-washy and morally barren rebuttals were instigated by pressure from other quarters. Hear him again ‘some of the issues raised don’t make sense at all they were pure fabrications and involved lies’ If big moral questions advanced by Chaji are not worth attracting clarification(s) from a man who has lived his life crusading morality, what else is worth his attention? In his tactless damage control measure, Adamu stumbled down the moral high ground to the valley of legalities by mischievously questioning whether a columnist is legally bound to comment on matters associated with his state of origin. This poser was bluntly rhetorical and he should be the least pretender of not knowing the right answer to his senseless question.
It is morally correct to smell a rat if a self ordained pope of morality decides to pull down his moral gown and replaced it with legal toga. Even on this, he is still ‘ignorantly’ dictatorial because he frowns at Muazu’s denial of existence of corruption in his government, and the enlistment of Limamin Changi Abubakar Rimi of Kano to launder the image of his regime. Ply the same lame of logic, was Muazu not also a heir to the collective pool of legal rights that permits accused persons to make effort of defending self and enlist the services of credible voices to help them out? It is sad that the lethal virus of senile dementia has destroyed Adamu way before the global standard age limit. This is about the first time one is appreciating the full effect of the theory of diminishing returns outside economic parameters.
The Bauchi State writer skews and bumbles on by asserting that he only wrote twice on the government of Muazu, this was balderdash because his ‘terminator’ did not quote the frequencies of his diatribe and image-denting pieces on the former governor. The quintessential or bulls-eye question in Chaji’s logically helmed moral sermon was why was his usual time-tested puritanical eagle eye pretending not to see the evil political typhoon blowing form Bauchi state? After all, his challenger has a precedent set by Adamu himself, who some years ago made self the chief watchdog of political events in Bauchi state. And many, including his traducer ‘Chemical Chaji’ still assumed he is still manning that self acquired post since it has no term limit. If there was no more than meet the eye fraternity between him and Isa, this apostle of global morality would have taken swipes and run series of seasons of commentary against Yuguda when he decided to jumped ship from the party that acted the Good Samaritan when he was ‘persecuted’ by PDP and Muazu. When this show of shame and fair weather character in Isa transpired, he pretended to have run short of ink or had his fingers crushed by his car door which did not permit him handled his pen for a while.
The repercussion of Chaji’s moral upper-cut was still taking its toll when he unnecessarily tried to dodge the point that his muteness was not predicated on his friendship with Malam Isa Yuguda. He attempted a shambolic shenanigan of justifying his silence by referring Chaji to a similar event involving another friend governor of his, who incidentally also has the title Malam, who also had skirmishes with his deputy. Then, where do we place Adamu vis-à-vis the opprobrium that says “show me your friend and I will tell you who you are, bad company corrupts good moral”? Or do birds of the same feathers no longer fly together?
The heading of his supposedly face-saving reply ‘Talking Silly About Bauchi’ confirmed him a belittler and an intolerant character. Can any sensible, humble and gentleman writer cobble a reaction to a write up that merely solicited answer to some questions regarding his long cherished principles in this fashion? It shows his petty mindedness and lack of tolerance to criticism and contrary ideas or views. Then, if thousands of people he made a living throwing the kitchen sink at were to act like him, where would he be today; in the gulag or in the grave?
(Editor’s note: Mohammed Haruna is on a short break.)
http://www.news.dailytrust.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3465:placing-adamu-adamu-on-moral-scale&catid=47:daily-columns&Itemid=31
We are still recovering from a horrifying dust of shame manufactured by a moral precision guided cruise professionally launched by Mustapha Chaji on the reputation of always pontificating man of double-barrel name Adamu Adamu, a Friday columnist with Daily Trust. The ‘prolific writer’ pretended that Chaji’s cruise was off target; therefore he never suffered any moral damage to his reputation. We think otherwise. The hobbyhorse defective showing in his usual season series further exposed the Pharisee and hidden dictatorial credentials in the Azare-born man. Malam Adamu’s hobbled rejoinder was a manifestation of his unfortunate inability to swallow the bitter pills of criticism he has mastered and become a consultant in administering to people for the past two decades.
Malam Adamu Adamu is a veteran pen warrior of over two decades standing, who has shuttled in and out public and private media outlets, some of them still in circulation and others have since been laid to rest. In his preferred vocation of penning, the old pen-horse is an all-rounder who dabbles in all issues under the sun, irrespective of his Lilliputian status on the matter(s) in focused. Those who make time following the Friday rabble-rouser may recall reading him on multifaceted issues like; Arab-Israeli squabbles, his titanic religious debates with Dr. Gumi, his many-series reaction to Asari Dokubo, upside down inside out, Country where everything goes et al. If one will make time and flip through his entire articles one will most likely stumble on his write-ups disagreeing with medical doctors on how to transplant a heart, or arguing with an astronaut on which jacket to wear while on the moon; issues clearly beyond his intellectual and mental capacities. Throughout afore-listed pieces and many others dating back to his nursery years in the profession, the economist turned newsman has always assumed to be an all knowing genius, holier-than-thou, and infallible. Nobody can remember reading him retracting, correcting or even apologising to anybody throughout his journalistic career, behaving like an Engel among mortals.
We were in Nigeria when St Adamu of Azare jerked His Excellency Adamu Muazu and his government by the neck to suffocation and politically murdered it. He painted Muazu blacker than Lucifer and the worst thing that ever happened in Bauchi state. Many erroneously thought the character annihilator was on his long perceived critical assessment of his state government. Some of us knew, beyond his below-the-belt kicks is the reality; it was the voice of Jacob but the hand of Esau. Divine wisdom was not compulsory to knowing that he was Man Friday holding a gallon of corrosive acid on a character demolishing errand. The saying that you can fool people sometimes but not all times is fully playing in the life of Malam Adamu. The goddesses of deceit must have abandoned him in the middle of the game hence this unexpected but timely exposition from Chaji.
In his long nurtured crass arrogance and journalistic pomposity, Adamu deliberately tried to show that Chaji’s masterpiece was not worth his busy attention in this word ‘in past my attitude even to reasonable rejoinders to my columns had been to accept but ignore’, that his wish-washy and morally barren rebuttals were instigated by pressure from other quarters. Hear him again ‘some of the issues raised don’t make sense at all they were pure fabrications and involved lies’ If big moral questions advanced by Chaji are not worth attracting clarification(s) from a man who has lived his life crusading morality, what else is worth his attention? In his tactless damage control measure, Adamu stumbled down the moral high ground to the valley of legalities by mischievously questioning whether a columnist is legally bound to comment on matters associated with his state of origin. This poser was bluntly rhetorical and he should be the least pretender of not knowing the right answer to his senseless question.
It is morally correct to smell a rat if a self ordained pope of morality decides to pull down his moral gown and replaced it with legal toga. Even on this, he is still ‘ignorantly’ dictatorial because he frowns at Muazu’s denial of existence of corruption in his government, and the enlistment of Limamin Changi Abubakar Rimi of Kano to launder the image of his regime. Ply the same lame of logic, was Muazu not also a heir to the collective pool of legal rights that permits accused persons to make effort of defending self and enlist the services of credible voices to help them out? It is sad that the lethal virus of senile dementia has destroyed Adamu way before the global standard age limit. This is about the first time one is appreciating the full effect of the theory of diminishing returns outside economic parameters.
The Bauchi State writer skews and bumbles on by asserting that he only wrote twice on the government of Muazu, this was balderdash because his ‘terminator’ did not quote the frequencies of his diatribe and image-denting pieces on the former governor. The quintessential or bulls-eye question in Chaji’s logically helmed moral sermon was why was his usual time-tested puritanical eagle eye pretending not to see the evil political typhoon blowing form Bauchi state? After all, his challenger has a precedent set by Adamu himself, who some years ago made self the chief watchdog of political events in Bauchi state. And many, including his traducer ‘Chemical Chaji’ still assumed he is still manning that self acquired post since it has no term limit. If there was no more than meet the eye fraternity between him and Isa, this apostle of global morality would have taken swipes and run series of seasons of commentary against Yuguda when he decided to jumped ship from the party that acted the Good Samaritan when he was ‘persecuted’ by PDP and Muazu. When this show of shame and fair weather character in Isa transpired, he pretended to have run short of ink or had his fingers crushed by his car door which did not permit him handled his pen for a while.
The repercussion of Chaji’s moral upper-cut was still taking its toll when he unnecessarily tried to dodge the point that his muteness was not predicated on his friendship with Malam Isa Yuguda. He attempted a shambolic shenanigan of justifying his silence by referring Chaji to a similar event involving another friend governor of his, who incidentally also has the title Malam, who also had skirmishes with his deputy. Then, where do we place Adamu vis-à-vis the opprobrium that says “show me your friend and I will tell you who you are, bad company corrupts good moral”? Or do birds of the same feathers no longer fly together?
The heading of his supposedly face-saving reply ‘Talking Silly About Bauchi’ confirmed him a belittler and an intolerant character. Can any sensible, humble and gentleman writer cobble a reaction to a write up that merely solicited answer to some questions regarding his long cherished principles in this fashion? It shows his petty mindedness and lack of tolerance to criticism and contrary ideas or views. Then, if thousands of people he made a living throwing the kitchen sink at were to act like him, where would he be today; in the gulag or in the grave?
(Editor’s note: Mohammed Haruna is on a short break.)
http://www.news.dailytrust.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3465:placing-adamu-adamu-on-moral-scale&catid=47:daily-columns&Itemid=31
Talking silly on Bauchi (I)
Written by Adamu Adamu
adamuadamu@dailytrust.com
When I left the country four weeks ago, I didn’t imagine that the course I would be attending here in London would be so intensive that I wouldn’t have time to write my column or do any other thing for that matter. That was why in my last column on June 26, 2009, I didn’t think it necessary to give notice of my impending absence, which would be for eight weeks. I thought that I would be able to write in between classes.
So, when the editorial page editor of Daily Trust called me around 9:00 p.m. the following Thursday, asking whether they should expect my column, I apologized and told him that even the mere act of having to respond to him at that time was a major distraction. I therefore asked him to tell the editor to put whatever other material they had at hand; and I went back to class.
And because I normally don’t read our newspapers online and the editorial page editor hadn’t alerted me, I was unaware that one Mustapha Chaji, who wrote from an e-mail address—carried in the Daily Trust [9/7/2009], had sent in a series of questions for my attention. The questions were about the situation in Bauchi State—the corruption going on there, the de-decamping of Governor Isa Yuguda from the All Nigeria People’s Party back to the People’s Democratic Party from whence he came and the impeachment of Alhaji Garba Mohammed Gadi, his deputy and other related issues—and what he sees as my role or my silence in all this. It was the following week that several friends called or texted asking me to read it; and by the time I did so, it was too late for me to write last week.
In the past my attitude even to reasonable rejoinders to my column had been to accept but ignore them. It was not as a result of hubris. I never responded to well-intentioned rejoinders, because I respect views that differ from my own, so much so that I am ready to state mine only once, even though as a columnist I could have chosen to have the last word. But, of course, this is not a rejoinder to anything that I have written or implied.
Some of the issues raised in the write-up don’t make much sense at all, or they are observations that should have been more sensibly directed at the ANPP to answer or comply; and, where they referred to me and what he saw as my role in Yuguda’s gubernatorial candidature, they were pure fabrications and involved lies—well beyond what could betaken as fair comment. And, in any case, it is not clear why my views on Bauchi State should assume the importance they seem to have for him. While such expectation of my conduct as a journalist may be legitimate and may even signal public approval, I stand in no need of it; and, in any case, nothing prevents the critic from doing what he accused me of not doing, especially since he is not incapable of writing accusations.
And whether all that was prompted by facts on the ground or by some unstated, it certainly took off at a tangent that ignored its own context. The writer was imputing motives behind what he saw as my silence, portraying my friendship with Governor Isa Yuguda as the reason for that silence.
Chaji is unhappy that I wrote about Ahmadu Mu’azu but hadn’t written about Isa Yuguda, though from his tone there might have been more to it than that. As it were, I wrote twice about Mu’azu, who, incidentally and, perhaps unknown to the critic, was as close a friend to me as Isa is; and if that friendship didn’t stop me from throwing those challenges at him, a friendship to Yuguda couldn’t have been a reason for me to shield him or even wish to do so.
And because that friendship is not something that has been taken advantage of, it is not something that should ordinarily have been known to the writer, which points to the direction of motive. Be that as it may, I would have written even more on Mu’azu if he had persisted with those barefaced denials; and, especially, had he handled the issue with the seriousness it deserved, instead of giving it to some clowns to handle for him. But he wisely allowed the matter die down quietly after.
But I didn’t write what I wrote about Ahmadu Mu’azu as a citizen or spokesman of Bauchi State or as his enemy: I wrote what I wrote as a journalist; and it was not my goal, as Chaji said, to debunk his portrayal as an achiever. If Chaji had been a regular reader of this column, as he said he had, then he had not been a careful reader of it. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have missed the point I made that I didn’t write about Mu’azu because he was corrupt per se. I wrote because he tried to deny an allegation that he was; and, at that time, he even enlisted the help of Alhaji Muhammadu Abubakar Rimi to help him amplify that denial. This nation might have tolerated corruption, but it should never be allowed to accept that it could also tolerate insult to its intelligence by those who daily inflict, and then add salt to, our collective injuries.
Then, as now, I have maintained that unless a journalist wanted to undertake comprehensive panorama on general gubernatorial corruption, it would have been unfair to write a one-off on anyone of them. To some, this distinction might not mean much, but to me, as a journalist who wanted to be fair, there was all the world of a difference between taking Mu’azu on, on what he had personally and publicly claimed, and which was specific to him; and singling him out and blaming him for all the corruption in which all the governors were then wallowing—and letting the others go scot-free.
The nation has the right to ask why this has not been done, or why this has only been done selectively; and the journalism profession will be hard put to explain; but no one has the right to ask Adamu Adamu why he has not done this in general or in any particular case. Anyone who accused me of silence over what was happening in Bauchi State therefore might as well have accused me of silence over what was happening in every other state, because I hadn’t written on the corruption or deputy-gubernatorial impeachments going on in any of them. And no law says only the corruption in your state of origin should interest you or be a matter for your column or be a sensible ground for taking you to task.
Or, if friendship with governors is for Chaji and all the others who think like him a good ground for suspicion, they should, for instance, have remembered to accuse me of silence and shielding Governor Ibrahim Shekarau from criticism with respect to what happened between him and General Muhammadu Buhari. Shekarau is to me a longer-lasting friend than Isa had been and he also has had problems with his deputy and both of them were close to the General. And throughout 2003 I was virtually Shekarau’s sentry standing by Buhari’s side.
This, certainly, was a write-up I wouldn’t have bothered to answer except for two reasons. First, many people have asked me to respond, even though they should have known better. This response to it, therefore, is more in deference to their wishes than to the substance, logic or merit of the content of that write up. And second, perhaps this trivialization of the matter by the write-up may have now created an opportunity for me to seize and address the whole issue of my involvement with the government of Bauchi State, especially for the sake of the many friends who, falling for this type of warped logic or any other, had been genuinely anxious on my behalf.
http://www.news.dailytrust.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3294:talking-silly-on-bauchi-i&catid=47:daily-columns&Itemid=31
adamuadamu@dailytrust.com
When I left the country four weeks ago, I didn’t imagine that the course I would be attending here in London would be so intensive that I wouldn’t have time to write my column or do any other thing for that matter. That was why in my last column on June 26, 2009, I didn’t think it necessary to give notice of my impending absence, which would be for eight weeks. I thought that I would be able to write in between classes.
So, when the editorial page editor of Daily Trust called me around 9:00 p.m. the following Thursday, asking whether they should expect my column, I apologized and told him that even the mere act of having to respond to him at that time was a major distraction. I therefore asked him to tell the editor to put whatever other material they had at hand; and I went back to class.
And because I normally don’t read our newspapers online and the editorial page editor hadn’t alerted me, I was unaware that one Mustapha Chaji, who wrote from an e-mail address—carried in the Daily Trust [9/7/2009], had sent in a series of questions for my attention. The questions were about the situation in Bauchi State—the corruption going on there, the de-decamping of Governor Isa Yuguda from the All Nigeria People’s Party back to the People’s Democratic Party from whence he came and the impeachment of Alhaji Garba Mohammed Gadi, his deputy and other related issues—and what he sees as my role or my silence in all this. It was the following week that several friends called or texted asking me to read it; and by the time I did so, it was too late for me to write last week.
In the past my attitude even to reasonable rejoinders to my column had been to accept but ignore them. It was not as a result of hubris. I never responded to well-intentioned rejoinders, because I respect views that differ from my own, so much so that I am ready to state mine only once, even though as a columnist I could have chosen to have the last word. But, of course, this is not a rejoinder to anything that I have written or implied.
Some of the issues raised in the write-up don’t make much sense at all, or they are observations that should have been more sensibly directed at the ANPP to answer or comply; and, where they referred to me and what he saw as my role in Yuguda’s gubernatorial candidature, they were pure fabrications and involved lies—well beyond what could betaken as fair comment. And, in any case, it is not clear why my views on Bauchi State should assume the importance they seem to have for him. While such expectation of my conduct as a journalist may be legitimate and may even signal public approval, I stand in no need of it; and, in any case, nothing prevents the critic from doing what he accused me of not doing, especially since he is not incapable of writing accusations.
And whether all that was prompted by facts on the ground or by some unstated, it certainly took off at a tangent that ignored its own context. The writer was imputing motives behind what he saw as my silence, portraying my friendship with Governor Isa Yuguda as the reason for that silence.
Chaji is unhappy that I wrote about Ahmadu Mu’azu but hadn’t written about Isa Yuguda, though from his tone there might have been more to it than that. As it were, I wrote twice about Mu’azu, who, incidentally and, perhaps unknown to the critic, was as close a friend to me as Isa is; and if that friendship didn’t stop me from throwing those challenges at him, a friendship to Yuguda couldn’t have been a reason for me to shield him or even wish to do so.
And because that friendship is not something that has been taken advantage of, it is not something that should ordinarily have been known to the writer, which points to the direction of motive. Be that as it may, I would have written even more on Mu’azu if he had persisted with those barefaced denials; and, especially, had he handled the issue with the seriousness it deserved, instead of giving it to some clowns to handle for him. But he wisely allowed the matter die down quietly after.
But I didn’t write what I wrote about Ahmadu Mu’azu as a citizen or spokesman of Bauchi State or as his enemy: I wrote what I wrote as a journalist; and it was not my goal, as Chaji said, to debunk his portrayal as an achiever. If Chaji had been a regular reader of this column, as he said he had, then he had not been a careful reader of it. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have missed the point I made that I didn’t write about Mu’azu because he was corrupt per se. I wrote because he tried to deny an allegation that he was; and, at that time, he even enlisted the help of Alhaji Muhammadu Abubakar Rimi to help him amplify that denial. This nation might have tolerated corruption, but it should never be allowed to accept that it could also tolerate insult to its intelligence by those who daily inflict, and then add salt to, our collective injuries.
Then, as now, I have maintained that unless a journalist wanted to undertake comprehensive panorama on general gubernatorial corruption, it would have been unfair to write a one-off on anyone of them. To some, this distinction might not mean much, but to me, as a journalist who wanted to be fair, there was all the world of a difference between taking Mu’azu on, on what he had personally and publicly claimed, and which was specific to him; and singling him out and blaming him for all the corruption in which all the governors were then wallowing—and letting the others go scot-free.
The nation has the right to ask why this has not been done, or why this has only been done selectively; and the journalism profession will be hard put to explain; but no one has the right to ask Adamu Adamu why he has not done this in general or in any particular case. Anyone who accused me of silence over what was happening in Bauchi State therefore might as well have accused me of silence over what was happening in every other state, because I hadn’t written on the corruption or deputy-gubernatorial impeachments going on in any of them. And no law says only the corruption in your state of origin should interest you or be a matter for your column or be a sensible ground for taking you to task.
Or, if friendship with governors is for Chaji and all the others who think like him a good ground for suspicion, they should, for instance, have remembered to accuse me of silence and shielding Governor Ibrahim Shekarau from criticism with respect to what happened between him and General Muhammadu Buhari. Shekarau is to me a longer-lasting friend than Isa had been and he also has had problems with his deputy and both of them were close to the General. And throughout 2003 I was virtually Shekarau’s sentry standing by Buhari’s side.
This, certainly, was a write-up I wouldn’t have bothered to answer except for two reasons. First, many people have asked me to respond, even though they should have known better. This response to it, therefore, is more in deference to their wishes than to the substance, logic or merit of the content of that write up. And second, perhaps this trivialization of the matter by the write-up may have now created an opportunity for me to seize and address the whole issue of my involvement with the government of Bauchi State, especially for the sake of the many friends who, falling for this type of warped logic or any other, had been genuinely anxious on my behalf.
http://www.news.dailytrust.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3294:talking-silly-on-bauchi-i&catid=47:daily-columns&Itemid=31
Questions Adamu Adamu needs to answer
Mallam Adamu Adamu, a renowned public analyst and columnist with Daily Trust, needs no introduction. He is a public commentator with a distinct style, fearless, educated and bold enough to express his views and opinions both locally and internationally. As an indigene of Bauchi state, when former Governor Adamu Mu’azu was being portrayed as an achiever, Adamu Adamu took time to debunk all the propaganda been said about him.
Naturally, his readers and people of Bauchi state in particular would have expected Mallam Adamu Adamu to come out in the open to express his views in either supporting what is happening in relation to decampment of Governor Isa Yuguda and attempts made by him to have his deputy impeached or to critically analyze what is happening in the state where as reported by the media the members of the Bauchi state House of Assembly were offered ten million naira each to support the impeachment of the deputy governor, Alhaji Muhammad Garba Gadi.
Though Adamu Adamu is from Bauchi state, he has written on so many issues happening in other states of the country. He has also written so many times on international politics. Then why is it that Adamu has been silent on what has been happening in Bauchi state before and after Governor Isa Yuguda’s defection to PDP?
Or is it that what is happening presently in Bauchi state is acceptable to him? Or is he shielding Yugada from the hammer of his pen because they are friends? Or is it his own type of politics to abandon his supporters in their hour of need? Is Adamu Adamu not part of those that accompanied General Muhammadu Buhari to Bauchi state during the 2007 elections to sell Yuguda as ANPP gubernatorial candidate?
For months when the local and international media started featuring stories of Governor Isa Yuguda decampment and presently his scheming to have his deputy impeached for refusing to decamp with him to the PDP, I have been following his Friday column to see what will be his reaction, but unfortunately Adamu Adamu has declined to say or write anything on the issue.
Any follower of Adamu Adamu’s Friday Column will observe that he is anti-PDP and staunch supporter of General Muhammadu Buhari of the ANPP. He even boasted that if the 2007 elections were rigged, he would be on the street demanding for justice. On the present administration of President Umaru Musa Yar’adua, Adamu was so critical that he virtually hoped for military intervention. Even of recent he was critical of the opposition in the just-concluded Iran election. Then why is he silent on Bauchi state, which is his state of origin?
Adamu Adamu should remember that either directly or indirectly he has influenced people to vote for ANPP in all stages before the 2007 elections, and after the people of Bauchi state answered his call and massively voted for ANPP, why is he shy in coming out to criticize Governor Isa Yuguda of not being fair to the people of Bauchi state for abandoning the platform that provided him the opportunity of the office he now occupies? Why wouldn’t he come out to chide Yuguda for betraying General Buhari?
And why wouldn’t he ask questions about the ten million naira each said to have been given to any member of Bauchi state House of Assembly that would support his deputy’s impeachment? And if it is true, whose money is he using? His own money or that of people of Bauchi state?
Maybe by the time Adamu Adamu decides to write Gadi would be gone; in that case would Adamu Adamu have been fair to the people of Bauchi state? Why is Adamu Adamu fearless when writing about other events in other states and his pen tends to fail him in regard to Yuguda’s conduct in the governance of Bauchi state in the last two years? Or does he approve of what Yuguda is doing?
Charity begins at home, if Adamu Adamu wants his readers to take him seriously on national and international issues he writes on, he should be able to say the truth to his state governor no matter what the relationship between them is.
Mustapha Chaji can be reached at shehuchaji@yahoo.
http://www.news.dailytrust.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2442&catid=49
Naturally, his readers and people of Bauchi state in particular would have expected Mallam Adamu Adamu to come out in the open to express his views in either supporting what is happening in relation to decampment of Governor Isa Yuguda and attempts made by him to have his deputy impeached or to critically analyze what is happening in the state where as reported by the media the members of the Bauchi state House of Assembly were offered ten million naira each to support the impeachment of the deputy governor, Alhaji Muhammad Garba Gadi.
Though Adamu Adamu is from Bauchi state, he has written on so many issues happening in other states of the country. He has also written so many times on international politics. Then why is it that Adamu has been silent on what has been happening in Bauchi state before and after Governor Isa Yuguda’s defection to PDP?
Or is it that what is happening presently in Bauchi state is acceptable to him? Or is he shielding Yugada from the hammer of his pen because they are friends? Or is it his own type of politics to abandon his supporters in their hour of need? Is Adamu Adamu not part of those that accompanied General Muhammadu Buhari to Bauchi state during the 2007 elections to sell Yuguda as ANPP gubernatorial candidate?
For months when the local and international media started featuring stories of Governor Isa Yuguda decampment and presently his scheming to have his deputy impeached for refusing to decamp with him to the PDP, I have been following his Friday column to see what will be his reaction, but unfortunately Adamu Adamu has declined to say or write anything on the issue.
Any follower of Adamu Adamu’s Friday Column will observe that he is anti-PDP and staunch supporter of General Muhammadu Buhari of the ANPP. He even boasted that if the 2007 elections were rigged, he would be on the street demanding for justice. On the present administration of President Umaru Musa Yar’adua, Adamu was so critical that he virtually hoped for military intervention. Even of recent he was critical of the opposition in the just-concluded Iran election. Then why is he silent on Bauchi state, which is his state of origin?
Adamu Adamu should remember that either directly or indirectly he has influenced people to vote for ANPP in all stages before the 2007 elections, and after the people of Bauchi state answered his call and massively voted for ANPP, why is he shy in coming out to criticize Governor Isa Yuguda of not being fair to the people of Bauchi state for abandoning the platform that provided him the opportunity of the office he now occupies? Why wouldn’t he come out to chide Yuguda for betraying General Buhari?
And why wouldn’t he ask questions about the ten million naira each said to have been given to any member of Bauchi state House of Assembly that would support his deputy’s impeachment? And if it is true, whose money is he using? His own money or that of people of Bauchi state?
Maybe by the time Adamu Adamu decides to write Gadi would be gone; in that case would Adamu Adamu have been fair to the people of Bauchi state? Why is Adamu Adamu fearless when writing about other events in other states and his pen tends to fail him in regard to Yuguda’s conduct in the governance of Bauchi state in the last two years? Or does he approve of what Yuguda is doing?
Charity begins at home, if Adamu Adamu wants his readers to take him seriously on national and international issues he writes on, he should be able to say the truth to his state governor no matter what the relationship between them is.
Mustapha Chaji can be reached at shehuchaji@yahoo.
http://www.news.dailytrust.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2442&catid=49
Sunday, 19 July 2009
2011: Will Buhari- Atiku alliance make any difference?
General Muhammadu Buhari and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar , according to recent media reports are seeking for alliance to "salvage" the chance given to Northern Nigeria at the presidency through zoning which they feel is currently being “ wasted”.
Though they had once attempted to work together during the 2007 elections, but due to their personal presidential ambitions the alliance did not succeed and they parted ways. But will the duo this time around be able to work together to send the PDP-led government packing in 2011? Situations and circumstances have been changing between the 2003, 2007 and the coming 2011 elections. During the 2003 elections, General Buhari had the advantage of massive support from the Northern part of the country and those politicians that fell out with former President Olusegun Obasanjo. And during the 2007 elections, the mood of most Nigerians is to see Obasanjo out of Aso Rock and to Northerners power will shift to the North.
The 2011 elections will be distinct to the people of Southern part of Nigeria as it will determine which part, either South-South , South –East or South West will have the upper hand in having it’s own as President of the country come 2015 elections.
Many Nigerians view Buhari and Atiku as two strange bed fellows, but in politics permanent interest matters most and it will not be surprising to see them working together to oust the PDP. There a lot of hurdles to cross before the alliance becomes a reality. Capitalizing on the mood of the nation, especially the Northerners, is not just enough. Yes, Nigerians are suffering under the PDP- led government and people may now make up their minds that even the Yar’adua’ – led government will make no impact on their lives.
Some Nigerians even view Yar’adua’s administration as motionless, dull, and uninspiring. It can only make promises and enter into agreements it cannot fulfill. The opposition capitalize on such sentiments of Nigerians to takeover reins of power from PDP especially with General Muhammadu Buhari and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar leading the opposition.
If Buhari and Atiku are serious about forming a formidable alliance for 2011 elections, two factors are very important for the success of the alliance. Firstly, both General Muhammadu Buhari and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar should shelve their presidential ambitions aside. They should play the role of king makers through fielding and supporting a competent, vibrant and resourceful presidential candidate.
Secondly, their presidential aspirant should have a running mate from the South-West. Both Buhari and Atiku had already run with Vice Presidents from the South-East and it has not translated into getting more votes from the zone or their were votes, but they were not protected. The South-South is presently enjoying the office of the Vice President courtesy of Dr. Jonathan Goodluck and with him the zone has had an edge over other zones of the Southern part of Nigeria to occupy the presidency come 2015.
With a very popular and accepted Vice presidential aspirant from the South-West , such as former Governor Bola Tinubu or Governor Babatunde Fashola both of Lagos state or any other, Buhari-Atiku alliance can be guaranteed of a block vote from the zone , such votes shall surely be protected.
The duo of General Muhammadu Buhari and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar for the success of their alliance must not give Nigerians the expression that they are desperate for power. General Muhammadu Buhari has contested for Nigeria’s presidency twice, and in both occasions, it was the Supreme Court that legitimized the PDP –led government. Buhari has done more than enough in strengthening our democracy. If he had not contested in the 2003 and 2007 elections, former President Olusegun Obasanjo would have bastardised our democracy more than it has been abused. Buhari still remains the only politician in present day Nigeria with the largest support of the masses.
On the part of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar after being a handbag of former President Olusegun Obasanjo for most of their first term, when he saw his boss planning to perpetuate himself in power, he stood on the side of patriotic Nigerians to fight against Third Term. Many Nigerians like myself will wonder what would have happed if Atiku did’nt lead the fight against tenure elongation gambit of Obasanjo.
The PDP is calculative, deadly and ruthless in achieving its agenda of ruling Nigeria for sixty years. That’s was why they never allowed Buhari’s ANPP to win Katsina state in both 2003 and 2007 elections, thereby denying him a political base of his own. Kano state, which is the hub of Buhari’s supporters, is being hijacked by Governor Ibrahim Shekarau to contest against the former or his intrest in 2011 elections.
Atiku Abubakar’s AC also met the fate of denying it Adamawa state as a base to its presidential aspirant. They also made sure that some of his allies in the AC dump him for PDP. Atiku himself didn’t help matters by visiting Obasanjo to beg him to return to PDP as latter has been saying.
With the 2011 elections as a Northern affair, the PDP is hovering over the Northern states to consolidate their grip on power. The party has been receiving decampees all over the Northern states to boost the morale President Umaru Musa Yar’adua if he is contesting for a second term. The President has allocated so many strategic positions to Northerners and his ability to handle present various workers’ demand can be to his advantage. Key players of 2011 elections are Northerners, therefore from all indications; the votes from the Southern states will determine the inner of 2011 elections.
With the whole world watching the 2011 elections, the hands of President Yar’adua, the PDP and INEC will be tied in case they will try something funny. It is an advantage to the Buhari-Atiku alliance to exploit this opportunity to the core and Nigerians will hope that if they win the 2011 elections they will not become another PDP.
Buhari-Atiku alliance should brace up for the gigantic work of unsitting a sitting President seeking for a second term. It rarely happens, but it has happed here and there. Even the celebrated Ghana elections were so because John Kuffour was not seeking for another term.
The alliance of Buhari-Atiku can translate into success if and only if each of them keeps his ambition aside.
Shehu Mustapha Chaji
shehuchaji@yahoo.com
Though they had once attempted to work together during the 2007 elections, but due to their personal presidential ambitions the alliance did not succeed and they parted ways. But will the duo this time around be able to work together to send the PDP-led government packing in 2011? Situations and circumstances have been changing between the 2003, 2007 and the coming 2011 elections. During the 2003 elections, General Buhari had the advantage of massive support from the Northern part of the country and those politicians that fell out with former President Olusegun Obasanjo. And during the 2007 elections, the mood of most Nigerians is to see Obasanjo out of Aso Rock and to Northerners power will shift to the North.
The 2011 elections will be distinct to the people of Southern part of Nigeria as it will determine which part, either South-South , South –East or South West will have the upper hand in having it’s own as President of the country come 2015 elections.
Many Nigerians view Buhari and Atiku as two strange bed fellows, but in politics permanent interest matters most and it will not be surprising to see them working together to oust the PDP. There a lot of hurdles to cross before the alliance becomes a reality. Capitalizing on the mood of the nation, especially the Northerners, is not just enough. Yes, Nigerians are suffering under the PDP- led government and people may now make up their minds that even the Yar’adua’ – led government will make no impact on their lives.
Some Nigerians even view Yar’adua’s administration as motionless, dull, and uninspiring. It can only make promises and enter into agreements it cannot fulfill. The opposition capitalize on such sentiments of Nigerians to takeover reins of power from PDP especially with General Muhammadu Buhari and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar leading the opposition.
If Buhari and Atiku are serious about forming a formidable alliance for 2011 elections, two factors are very important for the success of the alliance. Firstly, both General Muhammadu Buhari and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar should shelve their presidential ambitions aside. They should play the role of king makers through fielding and supporting a competent, vibrant and resourceful presidential candidate.
Secondly, their presidential aspirant should have a running mate from the South-West. Both Buhari and Atiku had already run with Vice Presidents from the South-East and it has not translated into getting more votes from the zone or their were votes, but they were not protected. The South-South is presently enjoying the office of the Vice President courtesy of Dr. Jonathan Goodluck and with him the zone has had an edge over other zones of the Southern part of Nigeria to occupy the presidency come 2015.
With a very popular and accepted Vice presidential aspirant from the South-West , such as former Governor Bola Tinubu or Governor Babatunde Fashola both of Lagos state or any other, Buhari-Atiku alliance can be guaranteed of a block vote from the zone , such votes shall surely be protected.
The duo of General Muhammadu Buhari and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar for the success of their alliance must not give Nigerians the expression that they are desperate for power. General Muhammadu Buhari has contested for Nigeria’s presidency twice, and in both occasions, it was the Supreme Court that legitimized the PDP –led government. Buhari has done more than enough in strengthening our democracy. If he had not contested in the 2003 and 2007 elections, former President Olusegun Obasanjo would have bastardised our democracy more than it has been abused. Buhari still remains the only politician in present day Nigeria with the largest support of the masses.
On the part of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar after being a handbag of former President Olusegun Obasanjo for most of their first term, when he saw his boss planning to perpetuate himself in power, he stood on the side of patriotic Nigerians to fight against Third Term. Many Nigerians like myself will wonder what would have happed if Atiku did’nt lead the fight against tenure elongation gambit of Obasanjo.
The PDP is calculative, deadly and ruthless in achieving its agenda of ruling Nigeria for sixty years. That’s was why they never allowed Buhari’s ANPP to win Katsina state in both 2003 and 2007 elections, thereby denying him a political base of his own. Kano state, which is the hub of Buhari’s supporters, is being hijacked by Governor Ibrahim Shekarau to contest against the former or his intrest in 2011 elections.
Atiku Abubakar’s AC also met the fate of denying it Adamawa state as a base to its presidential aspirant. They also made sure that some of his allies in the AC dump him for PDP. Atiku himself didn’t help matters by visiting Obasanjo to beg him to return to PDP as latter has been saying.
With the 2011 elections as a Northern affair, the PDP is hovering over the Northern states to consolidate their grip on power. The party has been receiving decampees all over the Northern states to boost the morale President Umaru Musa Yar’adua if he is contesting for a second term. The President has allocated so many strategic positions to Northerners and his ability to handle present various workers’ demand can be to his advantage. Key players of 2011 elections are Northerners, therefore from all indications; the votes from the Southern states will determine the inner of 2011 elections.
With the whole world watching the 2011 elections, the hands of President Yar’adua, the PDP and INEC will be tied in case they will try something funny. It is an advantage to the Buhari-Atiku alliance to exploit this opportunity to the core and Nigerians will hope that if they win the 2011 elections they will not become another PDP.
Buhari-Atiku alliance should brace up for the gigantic work of unsitting a sitting President seeking for a second term. It rarely happens, but it has happed here and there. Even the celebrated Ghana elections were so because John Kuffour was not seeking for another term.
The alliance of Buhari-Atiku can translate into success if and only if each of them keeps his ambition aside.
Shehu Mustapha Chaji
shehuchaji@yahoo.com
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