By Dr. A.A Salam
On the 25th February 2023, about 93.5 million Nigerians will enfranchise their civic duty to choose, among the presidential candidates of various parties, who will be the next President of the Africa’s most populous nation and largest economy.
Already, the political atmosphere is increasingly tensed and uncertain with insecurity, poor micro and macroeconomic policies that led to economic turmoil and critical hardship as well as poor fiscal and monetary policies that resulted to hyperinflation. The governments are under the cobweb of corruption, revenue leakages, uncontrollable oil theft, debt-trap and dearth of expertise in the national decision making.
Considering the current situation of Nigeria, No doubt, the aspiration of Nigerians for a country that inspires hope and give equal opportunity to citizens to prosper are a dream that require contemporary set of leaders who have capacity and impeccable records of performance in their previous leadership positions. To achieve a great Nigeria in the slippery times of high socioeconomic conundrum, a people-centric set of leaders must emerge from the 2023 election to pilot the affairs of our country to the great prosperity of our dreams.
It is time for Nigerians to change the direction. We have an opportunity now to salvage ourselves from the shackles of insecurity, high cost of living, lack of quality education and health system and vote for the right candidate regardless of his ethnicity, tribe and religious association, but only on his integrity, intellectual capacity and antecedent bases.
Let’s vote for a candidate base on his belief in one Nigeria, whether he is from North or south Muslim or Christian. Let’s make our country a nation where commoners will have a free education and efficient healthcare system, a Nigeria where the labor of our past heroes shall never be in vain.
For this reason, I objectively study the top presidential candidates’ blue-prints and reflected deeply on who among them shall Nigerians vote to lead our nation in the coming polls. For each there are pros and cons, but one candidate that emerges favorably on unbiased scale of transformative and servant leadership is Rabiu Kwankwaso.
A critical appraiser of Sen. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso by electorate affirmed his competence, cosmopolite, detribalization, energy, resilience and tenacity of leadership with utmost priority for the progress of Nigeria at large. Tough times should be left for tough people to deal with. Sen. Kwankwanso’s track records of performance and leadership sagacity make him the most qualified candidate to lead Nigeria at a critical and vexing time we are struggling with. He is the light and hope that the nation has been awaiting for since independence. He holds the four aces and the invisible key to unlock the fortunes of Nigeria.
Kwankwaso started his career as a civil servant with the defunct WRECA with his background as a UK-trained Water Resources Engineer. His educational sojourn spans institutions across Nigeria (Kaduna Polytechnic), UK (Middlesex polytechnic/ Loborough University of Technology) and India (Sharda University). He earned a PhD in Engineering and was certified by COREN (FNSE). He was also awarded several honorary doctorates by both Nigerian and foreign universities.
On the political front, He quit public service and joined politics in 1992 and was elected both as a Member of the Federal House of Assembly and Deputy Speaker. He was elected governor of Kano in 1999 and 2011. In between, he was a Minister of Defense and Special Adviser/Envoy to Dafur and Somalia, and Member of the NDDC Board. In 2015, he was elected a Senator.
His first attempt to be a presidential flag bearer in 2015 saw him coming second to President Muhammad Buhari during APC primary election- a feat he achieved ahead of his opponent Alh Atiku Abubakar (former Vice President of Nigeria). Kwankwaso recently adopted NNPP as a political party and became and its presidential candidate and party leader. Within a few months, NNPP became popular base on its wide spread across the nation and party to vote for by many Nigerians. This is unprecedented in the Nigerian political history.
As the saying goes, the taste of the pudding is in the eating. Kwankwaso successfully translated his educational, political, and civil service experience into concrete achievements. His track records of performance and prudence make him the most qualified candidate to lead Nigeria. He led the most populous state in Nigeria (Kano) with a cosmopolitan disposition. His handling of Boko Haram insurgency in Kano suggested his mastering of security strategy and acumen to deal with multidimensional national insecurity that has bedeviled the country. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo was right in his choice of Sen. Kwankwaso as his Minister of Defense. Nigerians will be doing the right thing at the poll to make him the next President.
Kwankwaso is best known for his massive human capital development and infrastructural revolution by building two new universities, 26 higher educational institutions spanning all sectors (health, entrepreneurship, vocational to mention a few). He beefed up Kano’s IGR from 500 million to over 2 billion monthly. He made an unprecedented record becoming the architecture of modern Kano and building fiscal discipline and prudent deployment of resources to achieve more with little in the service of masses. These accomplishments put him ahead of his rivals based on his top notch performance.
Nigeria needs someone with a knack for pragmatism, someone who could balance classical economics with democratic humanism. And it had one in Kwankwaso. LET US VOTE FOR HIM.
As a Kano man, the journey isn’t complete for me without getting the right leadership for my dear beloved state. It has been a difficult time for Kano people since Governor Ganduje came to power. Ganduje-led administration took over an integrated and well-coordinated government from Kwankwaso in 2015, when all the sectors were functioning effectively with prospect to become best State in Nigeria in terms of providing public goods, human capital development as well as transparency and accountability in managing the State’s resources. He deviated from pro-people policy and agenda bequeathed to him by Kwankwaso to anti-people programmed and engineered to enrich a few political loyalists and family members around him. All the economic sectors in Kano State aren’t working effectively for seven years under Ganduje’s watch, his government is known only for high level of corruption in managing the affairs and resources of the state.
The time is now for the restoration of the State to its glory days by voting Engr. Abba, popularly known as Abba Gida-Gida who is the people’s choice of the NNPP gubernatorial candidate in the election holding on 11th March, 2023. Kano People have already decided to make this happen Insha Allah.
Abba Gida-Gida isn’t just a party candidate. He is a proven human and resources manager as demonstrated in his long years of meritorious service to the State. He worked at WRECA before he resigned and served as the Principal Private Secretary to Gov Kwankwaso in 1999. He served a similar role in the Federal Ministry of Defense.
Abba was appointed as Commissioner of Works and saddled with the responsibility of infrastructural revolution seen in Kano under the leadership of Kwankwaso. He supervised several major projects, including flyovers, underpasses, township and rural roads network, building new institutions, etc.
His Ministry created the KAROTA to solve traffic issues in Kano. Kano’s streetlights and landscaping with the interlocks were supervised by him. The three new cities of Kwankwasiya, Amana and Bandirawo were successfully delivered by him within record time.
Abba was adjudged by the public to have won the 2019 gubernatorial election which was widely condemned to have been rigged in favour of by the incumbent Governor. His broad understanding of statecraft and entrepreneurship put him ahead of his competitors who are naive ignorant of dealing with contemporary Kano’s numerous problems.
Abba is a workaholic, firm, strong, charismatic and inspiring leader. He is known for tolerating nothing short of excellence from the people working with him. He combines empathy with a sense of justice.
Salam is an Economist and Patriotic Nigerian