By Fred Asake
Hon. Isa Ashiru Kudan, the governorship candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), in Kaduna State, has not been campaigning for the upcoming elections, thus confirming to Kaduna state voters, that he is incapable of governing the state, after the impactful tenure of Mallam Nasir El-Rufai. In fact, despite emerging as the Kaduna state governorship candidate of PDP at the May 25, 2022 primary, his campaign has literally failed to fly, while the distinguished Senator Uba Sani of the All Progressives Congress (APC), had hit the ground running.
While Ashiru is basically missing in action, Uba Sani has continued to dutifully engage in strategic consultations with key stakeholders, professional bodies, community-based organizations, traders, artisans and all shades of vote influencers. To date Uba Sani, in spite of his demanding assignment at the Senate, where he is the Chairman of the powerful Senate Committee on Banking, Finance, Insurance and Other Financial Matters, has successfully held town hall meetings in the three senatorial districts, where he presented his intimidating report card and flagged off his campaign.
The serial PDP flag bearer, with his “hide and seek” strategy has somehow confirmed insinuation even within PDP circles that he is ill-prepared and may have been afflicted with self-doubt; that is where his recent appearance on Arise Television comes in handy. In fact, the people of Kaduna state are jubilant that the Arise crew grilled the PDP candidate beyond his capacity. During the interview, he showed inability to comprehend what the actual issues in the governance of a state like Kaduna are. Only God knows how Arise Television, was able to pin him down, considering that for several months he had been avoiding live interviews.
From his interview, many Kaduna voters came to the conclusion that the PDP candidate may just only be interested in updating his curriculum vitae, as he clearly demonstrated inability to match answers to the critical questions. Indeed, after watching the interview, many discerning voters in Kaduna state quite correctly, concluded that it would be an unpardonable error of judgment to elect him governor of the state under any guise. That it would be a tragic error of a monumental proportion to elect him, as successor to Nasir El-Rufai who is bowing out after a sterling performance.
Asked in the interview why he wanted to become governor of Kaduna state, Ashiru said: “I feel I have something to offer. As a citizen of Kaduna state, things are not really well with us here. And I feel I have something to offer, taking into consideration the fact that I have been in the system for more than 30 years. So, for me, I feel I have something to offer as far as I am concerned.”
According to the above submission, one can isolate three principal forces that are driving the perennial ambition of Isa Ashiru Kudan to govern Kaduna state. Building his aspiration on a “feeling that he has got something to offer, and the fact that he has been in the system for 30 years or more, and finally, the fact that things are not really well with our dear state”, are clearly alarming. And because he is not a serious candidate, he couldn’t disclose what he has accomplished in the last 30 years, including his eight years at the National Assembly, where he was the deputy chairman of the powerful Appropriations Committee.
The most important propelling force for the PDP candidate , as he repeatedly said on tv, was the “feeling” that he had something to offer, a feeling that is not shared by many citizens of the state and his party members, who have continued to decamp in their thousands to the APC. Beyond his “feeling”, he was not convincing in his argument as to why he wants to be governor.
His lack of conviction on why he wants to be the governor, and his outdated position on most issues, clearly left his interviewers perplexed. For example, Ashiru, represented the good people of Kudan/Makarfi Federal Constituency at the House of Representatives, from 2007 to 2015. In all of those eight years, he offered absolutely no opinion on the floor of the lower house of parliament. He neither sponsored a bill, nor moved a motion; nor did he contribute meaningfully to the bills or motions raised by his colleagues. His constituents who yearned for good representation, were clearly disappointed.
So, it is difficult to see what exactly he has to offer beyond his feeling. Leadership is beyond feeling. Feeling is emotional. Leadership is thorough and full of insights, tact and strong-willed decision. A leader who banks on his feelings will derail society and lead the people astray. Investors do not throng to your state because you have a feeling that you can govern. No, they come because they see the leadership and progressive programmes that they can relate with. Many Kaduna people argue that PDP failed in its leadership recruitment process to have gone for someone whose only qualification,is his feeling that he can lead,only Uba Sani, who has demonstrated leadership and capacity.
Another supporting evidence that Isa Ashiru Kudan’s governorship ambition is forlorn, is his response during the Arise Television interview under review. He was insistent that being in the system for more than 30 years is enough qualification for the job. Yes, Isa Ashiru Kudan has been in the system for the last 30 years, but the missing link is, what exactly did he do? How has he impacted on the system in any positive sense, to justify a bragging right, or give you a sense of entitlement to a higher assignment? As a matter of fact, Isa Ashiru Kudan, has been in the system for many decades, but he hasn’t been able to leave his footprints in the sands of time. And in spite of his many years in the system, he is not prepared in any way for the enormous challenges of the job.
The third reason Isa Ashiru wants to be governor is because “things are not really well with Kaduna state”. We cannot mince words here. The country is plagued by insecurity, of which Kaduna state squarely falls within the epicenter. The traditional cleavages of religion and ethnicity are vital factors in the insecurity matrix. Competition for access to land and water also ignites clashes between crop farmers and herdsmen. Then, there is the inordinate struggle for political power coupled withcriminality by terrorists. All of these vices have unfortunately combined to unleash regrettable loss of lives and property in different parts of Kaduna state.
While this crisis is not peculiar to Kaduna state, the Nasir El-Rufai administration has taken steps to address farmers/herders the crisis by setting up the Damau Household Farm in Kubaulocal government area. The Milk farm located in the DamauForest Reserve is a bold plan to centralize the activities of nomadic herdsmen, thus addressing the farmers/herders clashes, by curbing farmer-herdsmen clashes, a constant trigger for communal clashes. This effort is unfortunately unknown to Isa Ashiru Kudan, because it is not a solution stock in the past that he is so used to.
The Damau Household Milk Farm, a joint venture project between Kaduna State Government, the Danish dairy giants, Arla, and Miyyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria, is a win- win due its several advantages, it holds the promise of jobs creation, thus promoting economic development, swift resolution of the security problems by concretely demonstrating ranching as a viable alternative to the itinerant method of rearing of cattle and sheep and hopefully expand the national capacity to produce high quality milk, the creation of extension a profitable value chain in the business of cattle rearing and reduction in import of milk.
Governor El- Rufai, was also in the forefront in offering the federal government workable ideas to address the security challenges. For instance, El-Rufai, led the campaign to designate them as terrorists, to enable the armed forces legitimately go after them. He has also pushed for the recruitment of more men and women into the security agencies, because the lack of number is a factor in the war.
From the senate, Uba Sani, had equally proposed the amendment of the constitution, to allow for the creation of state police. He also got the Fire Arms Act amended. These are more forwarding and realistic propositions, as opposed to the pedestrian and shallow solution by Ashiru.
He said: “For me, issues that affect security has (sic) gone beyond government, whether somebody likes it or not. People have role to play. Like the police used to say, ‘Security is everybody’s business.’ So, for me, once you have the right person, somebody that can reach out to the downtrodden, a lot can be generated in terms of ways and means of resolving conflicts from amongst us.” What a simplistic reduction of a serious issue!
The impression most people got listening to Ashiru, is that of someone unknowledgeable in understanding the troubling security situation in the state he wants to govern and indeed the entire region. It is not surprising therefore that he has no coherent perspective on how to make positive change.
*Asake writes from Southern Kaduna
