On March 4, 2009, the Daily Leadership newspaper
published an article written by one Mallam Aminu
Ginga with the above caption. I commend the efforts
of the Leadership editorial team for making the
online edition of the said article available for me
to read on the Internet in faraway Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil, where I was participating in a conference on
Sustainable Development. The author, in his usual
manner of
election rigger and usurper, used his article as a
platform to spread lies, distort information,
manipulate obvious facts, and cast aspersions on my
own person and His Excellency Alhaji Attahiru
Bafarawa. The article is nothing but pure fallacy; a
clear case of character assassination orchestrated
by the present Sokoto State
Government. I have a number of issues with
this article. To begin with, an article purportedly
written by a lecturer with the Uthman Dan Fodio
University shows such poor mastery of basic English
grammar as to render the author’s argument - and by
extension the entire piece - incoherent. It falls
far short of the quality of writing that one would
expect from an undergraduate student of any
university, let alone a lecturer. Ginga is a clear
casualty of the calamity that has befallen higher
education in Nigeria, and a testament to the
collapse in our educational sector which should
immediately be declared to be in a state of
emergency as recently recommended by former Vice
President Atiku Abubakar.
Secondly, in view of background as member of
Wammako’s gang of looters and election riggers,
Ginga Aminu, lacks the required rectitude and
integrity to counsel a man of Bafarawa’s repute on
corruption.
On the whole, the issues raised in the article are
not amenable to rigorous intellectual review.
However, permit me briefly to make the following
clarifications to Aminu’s mischievous write up in
order to correct any errors of fact and conception.
Ginga Aminu appears to have forgotten that Alhaji
Bafarawa wrote to the EFCC and ICPC to investigate
him (Bafarawa) and his administration just some few
months before he left office. This is common
knowledge and can be easily ascertained from the
EFCC. In recent years, the EFCC and ICPC, supposedly
impartial anti-corruption organs set up by the PDP
government, have prosecuted several prominent
personalities on varied charges of corruption. If
indeed Bafarawa is guilty of corruption, why has he
not been arrested and prosecuted like some of his
other colleagues?
It is an open secret that the “kangaroo”
investigation panel set up by Wamakko and led by
Aminu Ahmed was another failed attempt to victimise,
witch-hunt and ridicule Bafarawa and his supporters.
Did Wamakko mean to imply that the EFCC and ICPC set
up by the same PDP government are no longer
competent to do their jobs? While I may agree that
the state Government has the power to set up
investigative panels, the Wamakko-led government
clearly lacks the moral authority to set up a panel
of enquiry on this issue because of his direct
involvement as former Deputy Governor who has vested
interests in pulling down his former boss. It is
obvious even to theblind that the bitter rivalry
between Wamakko and Bafarawa will inevitably reflect
in the outcome of the investigation panel which has
made a mockery of the whole timewasting exercise.
Ginga, as a purported member of the academic
community you must be familiar with the fundamental
principle of natural justice that everybody must be
given a fair hearing in his/her own case. You and
your cohorts knew that Bafarawa was never invited to
the panel let alone given the chance to tell his
side of the story. The panel simply invented
allegations against Bafarawa and proceeded to find
him guilty. Haba! That is not acceptable anywhere in
the world. Once again, I repeat, it is an attempt to
rubbish Alhaji Bafarawa and a clear case of the pot
calling the kettle black.
Let it be known to you that Alhaji Wamakko, the
Governor that you are so zealously defending, is a
highly regarded member of the Nigeria Looting Squad
and we are ready to establish corruption cases
against him through the EFCC, ICPC and get him
convicted in the court of law after his tenure. This
is a man who, as deputy governor under Governor
Attahiru Bafarawa of Sokoto State, cultivated an
insatiable appetite for stolen state funds in
flagrant violation of his oath of office. Charges of
corruption were leveled against Wamakko by the
Sokoto State House of Assembly in the impeachment
notice served on him before he narrowly escaped due
to pressure from elders. You should be bold enough
to ask him why the Wammako Bridge in his village has
not been commissioned till date.
Alhaji Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko is no stranger
to the politics of deceit, fraud and -violence in
Nigeria. Since he gate crashed into the Sokoto State
Government House as the self-acclaimed governor on
May 29, 2007 having been forcefully enthroned by
INEC and his retinue of political bandits, Sokoto
State, hitherto the most peaceful state in Nigeria,
has lost its innocence with unlimited pains and
agonies unleashed
on all its populace without exception. Alhaji Aliyu
Wamakko’s two-year holocaust in Sokoto State wreaked
so much havoc that the tale will undoubtedly be told
for generations to come that an unrepentant vagabond
once captured the state and unleashed the most
devastating attack on all facets of life; that he
conspired with his squad of political vampires in
the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to ravish the
state dry economically, morally, culturally and
politically. You denounce as ‘comedy’ an open letter
personally written by Alhaji Bafarawa to Alhaji
Wammako. Has your boss ever openly denied any of the
allegations raised in
the letter?
I am not prepared to join issues with you on the
question you raised about Bafarawa’s invitation to
the United Nations during his time as the sitting
governor of the State. The discerning reader knows
that it is completely irrelevant to the subject of
this discourse. You only raised the petty issue in
an attempt to blackmail me and divert the attention
of the readers from your intellectual shallowness. I
may, however, want to challenge you to produce
evidence of the millions of Naira I supposedly
collected from the Sokoto State government during
Bafarawa’s tenure as governor. I never met Alhaji
Bafarawa in person until he attended a General
Assembly session at the UN headquarters in New York.
I visited Sokoto twice throughout his regime and on
both occasions I rode in my personal car to Sokoto
from Abuja. So, all these allegations of Bafarawa
assigning cars to drive me around are mere
inventions of your corrupt mind. I am indifferent to
your baseless assertions that I live in the Diaspora
and am syndicated to web portals and newspapers
sponsored by Bafarawa; they are immaterial to me. I
would much rather talk about the significant issues
of election rigging, corruption allegation, and
sheer arrogance being exhibited by your godfather
‘Saint’ Wammako of Sokoto State.
The issue of Arewa is another digression to
confuse the public about your obnoxious write up.
You are not a spokesperson for Arewa. The people
that constitute the Arewa movement are intellectuals
of sound mind, well able to discern good from evil.
They are able to read the politics in your
mischievous clamor for Bafarawa to apologize to
Arewa for an undetermined offence committed against
this respected group of patriotic Nigerians of
northern descent. You may not know that is one of
the reasons why no one has ever joined you in your
campaign of calumny. Has any reputable Arewa member
asked Bafarawa to apologize? In conclusion, let me
inform you authoritatively that Alhaji Attahiru
Dahalatu Bafarawa is a man of impeccable character.
He is willing and ready to make himself available to
answer all questions concerning his tenure as
governor of Sokoto State, whether by a duly
constituted and unbiased panel or either of the
known anti-corruption agencies in Nigeria. As
clearly stated in his letter to the EFCC and ICPC
toward the expiration of his tenure as governor, he
is ready to shed more light on the Sokoto State
fund.
Oludare Ogunlana writes from Baltimore, Maryland,
United States.
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