Katsina & Nuruddeen M. Abdallah
7 September 2008
analysis
Abuja — An introvert. A deep thinker. A man who is slow in action. An avid reader of assorted materials. A single-minded person. An unpredictable governor. Very fastidious, and not given to forgetfulness.
The above phrases and sentences, with the adjectives that interlace them, are an apt description of the person of President Umaru Musa Yar'adua who ruled Katsina State in North-West Nigeria from 1999 to 2007. However, those who know him too well, especially those who were as close to him as childhood friends, would say the above is not the totality of his personal attributes. They would quickly add another graphic unit - a resilient governor who trudged on in spite of his besetting health problems.
When Yar'adua's health problem became public:
It is not clear at what point President Yar'adua began to have health problems. During his electioneering campaign for governorship in 1999, there were no indications that he had the health problems that dogged his peace throughout his period of governor. At least, not publicly. Apart from the scares on his face, probably caused by eczema attacks, what a few persons who know him closely would point at as he possible health problems could be the after-effect of an accident he was involved in 1982. Yar'adua was involved in a ghastly motor accident for which he was flown to Germany for a graft surgery on his left hand. The other sign that could have raised suspicion that he had internal health problem was his intermittent coughing every time he spoke. Of course, this could be explained as the side-effect of his smoking habit, but it could pass as a by-word because coughing did not prevent him for demonstrating his oratorical skills: he was given to speaking ex-tempore, leaving his audience spell-bound with his gestures and careful choice of words and expressions.
If there was anything he carefully put out of the public glare, his skill of concealment failed him in June 2001. He had to abandon his official duties, travelled to Germany for such a long stretch of time of three months for medical attention. While he was away, there was a wide, wild and even weird speculation about what kind of health problems the governor had. Yar'adua was said to have undergone a surgery over kidney-related ailment and may have had a kidney transplant. After about two months of his absence from the state, it was speculated that he might have died of the terminal illness. But the noise of his 'death' did not hold waters, because if a Muslim passes on, his remains are committed to Mother Earth without delay.
Deputy Governor Tukur Jimanshi's costly mistake:
Sunday Trust gathered that Yar'adua's deputy, Alhaji Tukur Ahmed Jikamshi might have been misled into thinking that he could act without recourse to his boss who was on the sick bed abroad. It was said that Alhaji Jikamshi made a costly mistake when he began to award contracts for the execution of many projects in Yar'adua's absence. Since that incident, there was no love lost between the two, as forces loyal to Yar'adua was said to have driven Alhaji Jikamshi out of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), shortly after he left government as deputy governor.
However, as an evidence that the then governor had problems with his kidney and needed constant attention, the German construction company, Julius Berger, built and donated a dialysis centre to the state. It is located in Katsina General Hospital and it is well-equipped. The centre was to solve two problems. To prevent the people of Katsina State who had kidney problems from making the torturous trip from Katsina to Kano - the only place they could access a dialysis test. Secondly, it was to bring a centre where the then Governor Yar'adua could go for test and attention if he felt uncomfortable in his bowel.
Since Julius Berger built the dialysis centre in Katsina, the President's health crisis became an open issue in Katsina state. It was no longer a big deal if he had to travel out of the country, especially to Germany, to receive medical attention. When Yar'adua took his annual leave in 2002 - for the first time - he immediately flew to Germany for a whole month to attend to his health. Apart from such medical trips, he was always around in Katsina. In his eight years as governor while President Olusegun Obasanjo held sway at the centre, Yar'adua travelled with Obasanjo on a foreign trip not more than two times. The most prominent of his official trip with Obasanjo was when he accompanied the former president to China. Other trips were visits to Abuja and Kaduna on occasional meetings, like the Council of States of Northern Governors' meetings. He did not have the habit of touring other states in the federation on fanfare, unlike many other governors who savoured that vanity of office by constant sight-seeing visits and acceptance of traditional titles in various ethnic communities across the country.
Specifically, Jikamshi was said to have been allegedly convinced by his aides and associates into believing that Yar'adua would hardly come back, having spent over a month in the hospital in Germany. It was after that, the acting governor awarded contracts with the monies 'safely kept' by his principal. Politicians and contractors that 'invested' in the government reportedly enjoyed that gesture.
As usual, the people of the North West state took their governor's illness without much concern. Despite his ill health, Yar'adua maintained a low political profile, as he hardly attended functions outside his home state.
His health problems notwithstanding, Yar'adua's leadership style was characterized by several political shenanigans. His humility and mien, observers believed, did not deter him from putting his political opponents in the cold. When the PDP national chairman, Prince Vincent Ogbulafor, declared that ruling party will rule the country in the next 60 years, those who know Yar'adua were not surprised at all.
His antecedents in dealing with people that hold views contrary to his, are legendary. After his emergence as the state governor, the pioneer Katsina state PDP chairmen surprisingly quit their positions, along with other prominent party chieftains that included Engr Nura Khalil. They moved into other political parties, especially the opposition ANPP. Alhaji Musa Musawa was the pioneer PDP chairman of Katsina state. Insiders said that having realised that the politician lacked the capacity to swallow his whims hook, line and sinker, Yar'adua devised a way of not only ensuring that he left his position in as the party's chairman, but to also leave the party entirely.
The same treatment greeted Musawa's successor, Abu Ibrahim. Both of them and many others like Khalil finally found sanctuary in the opposition ANPP. After seeing to the removal of Ibrahim from the party's leadership, Yar'adua was said to have influenced the election of his former staff in Sambo Farms, Alhaji Maiwada Daudawa as the leader of the party's executive in Katsina state. The man still holds sway as the party's chairman in the state.
While those with whom Yar'adua was not comfortable have to bid the party good-bye, his wife, Hajiya Turai, waxed strong and stronger by the day. She became an unseen force to reckon with in government circles, as politicians were not deceived by the fact that she was not actively involved in Katsina State party politics.
Probe committees' reports:
Another question that hung on his neck through his eight-year tenure in the state, according to the president's critics, is the reports of the probe committees he empanelled to look into the activities of some ministries in the state. The reports, which indicted the state civil servants, were never acted upon by him, as no white paper was issued on any of them.
His inability to act on those reports, many believed, might not be far away from some of the decisions he took at the early stage of his administration. For instance, while he attracted applause from the public for maintaining a fat account for the state, he was also accused of transferring the state accounts to from the defunct Bank of the North to Habib Nigeria Bank, where his family is alleged to have some interests.
While the allegations held sway, his critics also pointed at the way a few companies were 'anointed' by him to execute contracts in the state. While Borini Prono, handled all the roads projects in the state, AFDIN, on the other hand, executed several other major contracts. This coincidence sent several tongues wagging.
Yar'adua's political acumen came to the public domain during the 2007 governorship elections in the state. The way and manner the former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Alhaji Bello Masari as well as other candidates, within and outside his party were edged out of political contests, spoke for themselves about how the President ruled his rural state for eight years, his ill-health notwithstanding.
Centralised governing style in spite of his health problems:
Many would have thought that Yar'adua would distribute the jobs to his subordinates and aides as a result of his ill-health, but it was not to be the case during his eight years in power in the state. This earned him criticisms from the opposition parties, which considered him the all-knowing 'alpha and omega' governor. The governor was in charge of all contracts, as one of his former commissioners confided in Sunday Trust. The man said, "In each ministry, Yar'adua gave commissioners only 30 per cent control of contracts to be executed. The remaining 70 per cent were awarded from his office under his directive."
Beyond this centralised system was the fact that many of his aides in government could not predict him because of his capacity to listen and sift issues when they give him accounts of whatever they wanted him to do. He had the rare capacity to listen, such that when he takes his decisions eventually, it would shock whosoever presented cases before him for consideration. One of his close confidants explained this attribute thus: "Yar'adua is a good listener. He allows everyone to say his views before he takes his preconceived decisions. He is one person who can keep you in suspense for a long time, but for good. You will never know his mind until he takes his decision. But one thing is certain. He is never swayed by your arguments; he takes his decisions independently. He is very intelligent - almost crafty - and of a sophisticated character."
The man with four lives:
The rumour about President Yar'adua's 'death' last week was the third since he came to the political parlance. The first was in July 2001 when he was said to have undergone kidney-related surgery in Germany. The second was in March 2007 during his campaign for presidency. In Katsina State, there was apprehension over the rumour, considering the fact that his return was delayed several times in spite of assurances from top government officials. It became a subject of discourse in public places, including offices, parks and places of worship. People were seen in groups pondering over the development and sharing the opinions. The tempo of the rumour reduced when associates of the president in Katsina made contacts with the people to assure that that the president's health situation was not as exaggerated in the media.
A chieftain of the Action Congress (AC) in Katsina State, Alhaji Kabir Yahaya blamed the apprehension on what he described as the unintelligent cover up of the President's health by those in government. He remarked that what happened was unfortunate, unhealthy and could create distrust between the people and the president.
He said, "you are talking about the infirmity of a president of a nation of over 140 million people. I think the government should be more forthright with Nigerians, so that people would pray for the President. A situation where you have government officials telling the nation that the President had gone on lesser Hajj for two weeks, while he is actually receiving treatment in hospital does not make sense at all."
In the course of reviewing the eight years of the Yar'adua administration in Katsina State, viz-a-viz his health condition, all his former commissioners, special advisers and aides declined to speak for fear of the consequences of being quoted in the press. This was not surprising, however. Yar'adua is well-known by one singular attitude. He does not take kindly any negative remarks about his persons, his family and his health. Being a self-conscious person, he finds it very difficult to endure criticisms, and close associates who 'mistakenly' made 'unfair comments' about him can explain the consequences better. In a nutshell, Yar'adua was a strong governor despite his health. Is that what is being replicated at the national level?
The gains of his strong will:
Though many Katsina politicians were not comfortable with the style of leadership of Yar'adua, the society in general benefitted immensely from his infrastructural developmental projects. He built roads, school, upgraded government structures, set up new institutions, at such a time that other governors with huge allocations from the Federation Account had nothing to show for them. Though he is called Baba Go-Slow, Yar'adua, according to those who know him closely, has the capacity of springing surprises with massive developmental projects in Nigeria. In his first year as governor, many Katsina indigenes were almost disillusioned about his style of leadership and gave up on any meaningful development. But, after about a year in office, he began to execute massive developmental projects that surprised many pessimists.
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