By Abdulmalik Suleiman
The Nigerian politicians are usually very keen in ascribing to themselves what they are not. They are very quick to tell those who care to listen to them that they are democratic and progressive in ideology while they are not.
One clear exception to this is the Leader of opposition, New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) Sen. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso who, unlike others does flaunt this but does it.
The former Kano State Governor has always walk the walk rather than talk the talk and evidence are bound to support this.
A careful appraisal of his political journey since he made his first appearance in the nation’s political landscape will suffice.
In the shortlived Third Republic, he was elected into the House of Representatives where he subsequently became the deputy speaker of the lower Chambers.
He staged a return in the current Fourth Republic when he teamed up with other like minds across the country to establish the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
One would have thought that he would have had a smooth sail in picking up the governorship ticket in Kano State but that was not the case.
The Kano born statesman rather subjected himself to the rigours of internal democracy when he had to face formidable challengers in the party to pick up the governorship ticket.
It was a long drawn battle which pitched him against formidable and we’ll established political gladiators in the state. In the end, he not only triumph internally, he also won the subsequent general election to clinch the governorship crown.
That was 1999 but four years later, he lost the seat to one of his major political traducers in the state, Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau who went on to rule the state for eight years.
To many political observers, Kwankwaso was the first politician in this dispensation to concedes defeat and went further to congratulate the winner and not the much touted former President Goodluck Jonathan conceding to former president Buhari.
Two things are very instructive to be noted with regards to Kwankwaso’s style of politics during these eight years.
One of such is that he shunned pressure and temptations from PDP members at that time who urged him to approach the election petition tribunal to challenge Shekarau’s victory.
To him, his loss was a democratic experience which he took to heart with a view to finetune and rejig his political engagement in a manner that will make it unassailable and formidable.
He tried to stage a comeback four years later but some hawks within the PDP worked against him and he failed to secure the governorship ticket.
Rather than kick, he took this setback in it’s strides but by 2011, Kwankwaso had become a collosal force, not only in Kano but in the country as a whole.
He got the ticket this time and got a resounding victory at the general election to eventually stage a comeback to power.
Discovering the need to replicate his accomplishment at the national level, the former minister who had joined other progressive elements in the country to float the new All Progressives Congress (APC) sought the presidential ticket of the party.
Unfortunately, he lost to the eventual winner and the immediate past president, Muhammadu Buhari in a keenly contested race where he came second.
It must be noted that unlike other politicians who will bellie ache over the outcome, Kwankwaso worked for the success of the APC in Kano.
In the end, it is on record that he did not only deliver the state, he did so resoundingly to the APC as Kano was perhaps the state where Buhari polled the largest votes in the country.
A man of the people who believe in working for the common good of all, Kwankwaso who had by now assumed an enigmatic personality had joined the PDP when APC began to deviate from its set ideology.
He challenged for the presidential ticket of the party and once again lost to a former Vice President Atiku Abubakar but again, that didn’t deter him as he worked for the success of the party in the country and most especially in Kano.
The ruling APC once again denied him victory when the PDP and the then governorship candidate, Engr Abba Kabir Yusuf were coasting home to victory.
It is on record that rather than toe the familiar line of violence which the modern day Nigerian politicians are noted for, he opted for peace by urging residents of the state to eschew violence and await the outcome of the judiciary process.
He didn’t urge his supporters to violence when the judiciary affirmed the victory of the then governor and now National Chairman of the APC, Alhaji Abdullahi Umar Ganduje.
And recently, when the same undemocratic forces try to steal victory from NNPP in Kano State through legal process, Kwankwaso reenacted the same principle when the same scenario presented itself again by urging his supporters to stay calm while awaiting the judicial outcome of the election thus making Kano peaceful on the long run. Many did not know that it was Kwankwaso who actually prevented Kano from sliding into anarchy before supreme court delivered it’s judgement in favour of NNPP.
Another quality of this great man is that he is not in the habit of breathing down on government officials for personal favour. It is to his credit that he has never set his feet on the Government House since the coming on board of the current Kano State government.
It is also instructive to note that members of his immediate family are not of the habit of currying one favour or two from government.
Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso is a leader not a godfather. His democratic and progressive credentials are there for all to see and this is the kind of leaders that the country needs at this time to pilot it’s affairs.