By Ibrahim Madugu
President Muhammadu Buhari was to visit Zamfara State last Thursday but the trip was cancelled on the grounds of bad weather. The purpose of the trip from official declarations was to condole the people of Zamfara State on the deaths caused by the bandits; but the grand purpose according to observers was for the state government to use the good reputation of the President through the visit to mend the ugly images of bad governance in the state including the strong allegations of aiding banditry. On learning about cancelling the trip, the social media space and public fora around Gusau and major cities in Zamfara State was filled with jubilation and joy as many did not understand the purpose of the visit beyond its broad day light political scam. One of the leading commentators and Chairman of a prominent civil society group asked a representative question in a social media post “what was the president coming to do in Zamfara…was he planning to meet the representative of the IDPs, for example?”. Another academic and prominent commentator wrote “thank you PMB for postponing the visit. This will save the image of the government and the good people of the state… there is virtually nothing to be commissioned by the President”.
On the other hand, cancelling the trip was a big disappointment for Governor Matawalle and his supporting minions because of the near zero goodwill they enjoy from the wider public. One of the members of Zamfara State Assembly loyal to the Governor wrote an emotional comment in response to the cancelled trip in Hausa that reads “May God disappoint all those who want to see us disappointed”, On his part, the Governor organized an elaborate press conference to explain the reason for cancelling the trip submitting that it was the will of God. Mr. Matawalle was quoted by the Punch Newspaper lamenting “As man proposes, God disposes. I am sadly announcing that President Muhammadu Buhari has postponed his condolence visit to Zamfara due to the sharp drop in weather conditions”. One insightful person asked, if this is truly a condolence visit, why all the effort to raise hundreds of billboards in the state capital? Is it to mock the dead persons? Ideally, a condolence visit should be low key; but that of Zamfara was done with huge amount of money spent out of the meagre resources of the state to raise bill boards and use same money explain why the trip did not happen to the media.
After President Buhari’s return to Abuja, a recorded broadcast was made by the President in both English and Hausa to apologise to the people of Zamfara State for his inability to conduct the visit. The one minute thirty seconds scripted speech revealed how much pressure was mounted on the presidency to save the face of Zamfara State Government. In a sane world, a brief impromptu session with the media from Sokoto or at arrival in Abuja by the President could have been more natural response; others feel a statement from the President’s media aids as it happens in even more important situations than cancelling a trip could have been apt. One analyst said that the speech was a useful clue to the suspicion that the Governor of Zamfara was scammed by the most talked about merchants of the presidency who collect millions of money behind the President’s stern eyes and make promises and assurances. He believed that same people must have been given more money or have received enough to drag the President into making the exaggerated address that does not tally with his known ways in recent past.
President Buhari needs to give credence assumptions like the one earlier and watch his close aides especially as 2023 draws nearer. In fact, President Buhari should actually do more vigilance as someone like the Governor of Zamfara State, Muhammad Bello Matawalle, who has serious allegations of corruption and wrong doing are desperately frequenting the Presidency to return to power with the support of another scammer in the person of former Governor Ahmad Sani Yariman Bakura. Two prominent allegations that President Buhari should know about Matawalle to be on his guard are the forgery of certificates of landed properties in Abuja and being a top beneficiary of the misappropriation of armed funds of the past government. As a Governor, Matawalle has been known to be collaborating with the bandits and supporting their action through the agency of the failed amnesty he created hoping to use them as the last option to win election. One of the strong indicators to this are the recent arrest of the supplier of arms and food to the bandits by name Musa Kamarawa who was confirmed to be a political appointee of the Governor Matawalle. Presently, a prominent Islamic Scholar in Sokoto State by name Malam Murtala Assada attributed the escalation of banditry in northwest to the complicity of Governor Matawalle and challenged the Governor to counter the claim. The scholar argued that Governor Matawalle joined the APC to cover his crime of aiding bandits because he knew that joining the ruling party guarantees ‘forgiving all sins’.
On behalf of the people of Zamfara, we have every reason to celebrate the cancellation of President Buhari’s trip to the state. The good people of Zamfara do not deserve such scorning from President Buhari whose loyal supporters they have remained in 2007, 2011, 2015 and 2019 against antics like Governor Matawalle who left no stone unturned in opposition to the president during his famous political struggles. If it is the work of the weather, it must be God’s way of answering the prayers of the good people of Zamfara and a way of protecting the good image of President Muhammadu Buhari from the scam of Governor Matawalle and his co-travellers.
Ibrahim Madugu Writes from Gusau Zamfara State.
