What President Muhammadu Buhari told Us" and My Speakership Aspiration

By

Umaru Mohammed Bago

(Speakership Aspirant, 9th Assembly House of Representatives)

I thank Almighty Allah for the privileges that he has bestowed on me in life. I will be quick to admit that for all the modest accomplishments of today, they are all due to the fact that the Almighty Allah allowed them.

I set my write up against this background because this is what General Buhari’s life has committed to us his followers from my days as a member of The Buhari Organisation from 2003, then I was following him without eyes on any position least of all Speakership, rather just following him out of conviction as a young banker.

I just believed that we can have a better country, and was myself and others at the time opted to follow ’’Mai gaskiya’’ or the ’’General’’ Those were the titles we used for today’s President Buhari way back in 2003. 

And these were well earned epithets, the Maigaskiya title earned as a reason of his Spartan and modest life, it was easy to connect with  him and as a young opionated, idealist Nigerian.

I was satisfied that he will be best suited for the task of reclaiming and repositioning our country politically, socially and economically. 

In fact the then General Buhari was and still remain a beacon, I was inspired by his ability to have personal staffs who are Christians and from the southern part of the country, for me that was a signpost of a man who believes in unity and oneness of our nation inspite of our diversity as a nation both in tongue, geography and culture etc.

So as a young banker, not really eyeing any political position, I was satisfied to just be a Buhari follower, and so I found a comfortable embrace in the fold of The Buhari Organisation.

I ran against the political tide in my state to champion the entrenchment of the Buhari personae in the North Central Zone, one particular fact was that all my uncles, leaders and father figures particularly in Niger State were sympathetic or card carrying members of the Peoples Democratic Party, from the General Babangida to the then Governor Kure, former Governor Aliyu Babangida among others.

But I chose to run against the tide and we worked assiduously for our leader, who we offered unreserved cult like loyalty without any expectations.

This background became the prelude to my eventual break from my budding banking career and entry into the political space.

Among all the things I learnt from the General, are his love for justice, fairness, Spartan life style and contentment, the strongest and most endearing virtue that I took away from General Buhari is how he exemplified courage in the face of adversity, his resilience in the face of challenges and above all ’’General’’ always say to us ’’NEVER BE AFRAID TO STAND UP AND FIGHT FOR JUSTICE’’ AND WHAT IS RIGHT.

In over the past fifteen years in politics, these immutable words have given me so much of courage, these words were the words that made us stick to ’’Maigaskiya’’ in the face of adversity.

I alongside others refused to veer off track, enamored by truth and justice, we remained the soldiers of the ideology of the man Mohammadu Buhari.

This was the tonic, that sustained us in TBO, (THE BUHARI ORGANISATION) encouraged us to go into CPC without looking back and eventually into the APC, my followership of President Buhari was baked in the crucible of unalloyed loyalty and commitment over sixteen years. 

Secondly, from this steely background of a thorough bred and well baked progressive of the Buhari hue, it remains a big joke today when I joined the Speakership race in pursuit of justice as President Buhari taught us sixteen years ago, that persons who were not in that league would begin to malign and impugn the reputation that I have built with strain and sweat, in those days it will take a devotee to be a Buhari follower! 

I know how the movement and members were challenged, harassed and humiliated!.

So basically the challenge I rose up to, i.e. running for Speaker was baked in the Muhammadu Buhari crucible.

  

In the run up to the 2019 election, I alongside other committed party loyalists propagated the ideals of the continuity of President Buhari and the Next Level vision of my Party, the APC, and Almighty Allah rewarded us with overwhelming victory in Niger State, from House of Representatives to Senate, Gubernatorial and Presidential and among all the states.

Niger state is one of the states that met the desire of the party and our President's wish for what was our campaign theme ’’APC Top To Bottom’’ that was what we achieved in the face of opposition in Niger State.

By this victory, I have graciously found favour with my constituents, my Governor and people of Niger to have been elected to represent my constituency, Chachanga Federal Constituency for the third time which started in 2011 from the defunct CPC and re-elected in 2015 on the platform of APC and now in 2019 on the platform of the APC making me a third term ranking member.

Indeed I recall that my Governor at a political meeting said that Insha Allah, our state and zone will put me forward to run for Speakership, knowing fully well that the political dynamics are in favour of the zone by reason of our performance and our verifiable and the tangible political value that we brought to bear on the victory of the APC at the 2019 elections, and with this, the seed for the aspiration for Speakership was sowed.

Progressively as the days unfolded, the aspiration for Speakership by the people of North Central became more realistic, justifiable and indeed justiciable.

  

The Emerging Scenario:

The North West where President Buhari is from delivered the highest votes at the 2019 Presidential elections for him and our party, so in support of status quo, but also well earned, the North West zone retained the position of the President. 

while the North East geopolitical zone that came third by votes cast for the President and our party got the Senate President slot.

But it is indeed a shock of unimaginable proportions, with volcanic eruption size bravado that the North Central geopolitical zone that came third is not being considered for Senate President and not even the Speaker! 

Rather by strange arm twisting, and veto not even with a decision of the NWC, or NEC of the party neither was it deliberated and agreed upon, the position of Speaker, 9th Assembly  House of Representatives, the number 4 political position is being zoned to the South west geopolitical zone, that already has the Vice President. 

A zone whose margin of victory for APC and President Buhari, from the six entire states of the South west was swallowed by the margin of victory from Niger State alone leaving with a surplus of over a hundred thousand votes, not to talk about the entire North Central zone!

With this glaring inequality and injustice, the words that President Buhari told us re-echoed in my ears, NEVER RUN AWAY FROM PURSUIT OF JUSTICE! And so I got the deserved energy to soldier on.

The questions are in whose interest is this frenetic effort to gag a geopolitical zone that has given so much to the President and our Party? 

What does the South west zone lose if the zone does not get the Speaker when the Vice President on 2nd term already in the can!? 

Is the position of Vice President in the South west (2nd term) not commensurate enough?

How can it be fair that a geopolitical zone that did more is being relegated at the expense of another zone that did less and already has more? 

How can it be fair to have Vice President and Speaker of the Federal Republic from the same Senatorial district?

The seed of Buhari’s words sowed those days have come alive today:

Secondly, in a party that seeks to be different, how does the flagrant spitting in the face of the constitution of both the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Nigerian Constitution, by which President Buhari and Vice President Osibanjo, and Honourable members of the House of Representatives will be sworn in make us look as persons, people and party when we do not honour the words of Nigeria constitution as captured in Section 14, that states clearly that there must be equity and all-inclusiveness in sharing of political positions, of course APC constitution is a creation of the grund norm?

Today that section 14 of the Nigerian Constitution is about to be observed in breach flagrantly by those who will swear to uphold and defend the constitution.

  

Again, the words of President Buhari has urged me along; NEVER RUN AWAY FROM PURSUIT OF JUSTICE.

Thirdly, can a father with Six children in a house with six rooms for children, give two rooms to one of the children and tell the one that will be deprived to take a place in the boy’s quarters? Will that be fair and just?

.

Again the words that President Buhari told us will sustain me. NEVER AWAY FROM THE PURSUIT OF JUSTICE.

Fourthly, even if this glaring travesty is being given a toga of zoning to the South, why South west? 

Why not South East or South South to give fair sense of balance, belonging and all-inclusiveness, but ’’zoned’’ to South west, and micro zoned to an individual from Lagos State? 

Implying nobody is good enough in other South west states, but micro zoned to Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, no doubts a member of the party, who has been in leadership position on behalf of the South West for twelve years, Deputy Minority Leader, Minority Leader, Majority Leader from the same Lagos in the south west and now Speaker!

So who in Nigeria does not know under whose political umbrella Vice President Yemi Osibanjo and Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila reside?

So how can this be fair on the entire Nigerian people that the Vice President, Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Speaker, House of Representatives, Federal Republic of Nigeria are persons who behold to one man literally?.

Again the words of President Muhammadu Buhari re-echoes in my heart and head, NEVER RUN AWAY FROM PURSUIT OF JUSTICE!.

The independence of the legislature is greatly threatened if the above scenario holds. 

It remains a shock that our revered leaders are mute on this glaring facts!.

As a man baked in the ideology of pursuit of justice as taught by President the General Buhari, I state clearly that the attempt at Speakership is not about me Umaru Bago, neither about any pecuniary or selfish motive, but standing up for what is right, so that we do not lay precedence that will haunt us in future where might will be seen to be right as it is in the jungle, and Nigeria is not a jungle.

My appeal is to all men of good faith and conscience, our Governors, Leaders and particularly Honourable members elect to reappraise this aspiration in the bigger context of Equity, Justice and Fairness and set our nation on the path of noble goals, that is the foundation of a great nation. 

Today it's the North Central! It will be another zone tommorow depending on whose interest is to be served and the power he or she wields in the political space.

In all of these can anybody even try this with the South West geopolitical zone,  a zone that got Nigerians to respect June 12 and for Justice sake , Nigerians obliged the south west the "sole rights" to presidency in 1999! 

And today same zone is shutting a zone out of a national political  equation as guaranteed by the constitution? 

The words of Mai gaskiya, President  Mohammad  Buhari  re-echoes in my ears, NEVER ABANDON THE PURSUIT OF JUSTICE!.

One thing is clear Injustice will forever haunt the perpetrators and my colleagues should know that they are at the threshold of history. 

Innauguration day is a test of conscience , of will and of fidelity to the oath that will make us servants of the Nigerian people. 

Our first test of faithfulness to the words and spirit of the Nigerian constitution is the choice of speaker, wether fit and proper ALL THINGS CONSIDERED in the LARGER INTEREST OF NIGERIA, NIGERIANS, OUR ENDURING VALUES, NATIONAL IMAGE and CHARACTER.  

May Almighty  Allah guide us all.