Re: What’s wrong with Adamawa’s elite?

The Adamawa State governor, Muhammad Umar Jibrilla, and his mouthpieces are angry with and walling the Adamawa ‘elites’. Recently, during an interview with the BBC Hausa in Abuja, the governor was said to have accused some ‘elites’ of sabotaging his government. Equally, on October 17, 2015, his commissioner for information, Ahmed Sajoh, wrote a piece in the Daily Trust, accusing these ‘elites’ of spending millions of naira in legal fees and media propaganda just to antagonize Governor Bindow’s government as they did to the previous governments in the state.

“Already, some cases are in court seeking to nullify his (Gov Bindow’s) election through the backdoor since his fellow contestants in the last election did not go to the tribunal to challenge his victory. The legal war is upon us, just as the impending media war, seen via the sponsorship of false news reports on social and conventional media,” Sajoh said.

Adamawa people are left with the big question of who ‘these elites’ are to whom Governor Bindow and his supporters are referring. Most people presently assume that former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and former Governor Murtala Nyako are the A-list ‘elites’ calling the shots in Governor Bindow’s government. Could they also be backstabbing Governor Bindow? Governor Bindow said his commissioners were brought into his government by stakeholders; could these stakeholders be fighting him now? Will court cases and media propaganda stop the governor from performing his duties?

Many people believe if there are elites fighting Governor Bindow, then the governor is very lucky, as it will be an opportunity for him to doggedly work for the development of the state without the task of servicing elites’ thirst for government patronage.

However, while worrying about some fictitious ‘elites’ haunting him, Governor Bindow and his advisers should also watch his own body language. So far, projects siting and appointments have given an impression to the masses that his government is for the ‘elites’. Mr. Governor should note that Adamawa ‘political elites’ are insatiable; they are just few power-hungry politicians and the self-appointed godfathers and kingmakers, who are elites just by nomenclature and not in their contributions to the development of the state.

Governor Bindow should fight back by winning the hearts of the common folks through people-oriented development policies. The governor should wholeheartedly seek to bring real development to the people – development in agriculture, roads, education, electricity, healthcare, water supply, transportation, youth development and good governance. If Governor Bindow works for the good of the Adamawa masses, the masses will fight the ‘elites’, if indeed there are elites fighting the governor.

With the loud outcry for true change from the masses, governors should know that they cannot hide under the pretense that some people are fighting them just to justify their underperformance.

Zayyad I. Muhammad