Aminu Aanti
15 November 2008
opinion
Politics according to Mikhail Gorbachev "is a capricious commodity" where yesterday's loyalists that sang your praises could today be your staunch opponents. And rightly so, the political corridor is a vast zone of contestation that provide a site for resistance where people are privileged and allowed by law as a fundamental principles of best democratic practice to discuss reasonably and debate priorities that affect them directly without intimidation and harassment.
As it were, these fundamental principles of freedom could be abused and desecrated when the basic human qualities for objectivity and honesty are jettisoned, discounted and compromised. It is equally true that when all reasons are allowed to take flight and replaced by naked passion and misguided sentiments, we always tend to miss our target and make a mockery of all the beautiful ideals we represent. Passion and sentiments when flagrantly applied compromise level playing ground.
It is against this backdrop that this piece was written so that some records could be set straight and some foggy areas cleared. Lately, any keen observer and listener of programmes on DITV, Nagarta Radio and other relevant News outlets, should have heard unmistakably the assault and bitter diatribe by some hatchet men on the member Federal House of Representatives of Kaduna North Alhaji Mohammed Sani Ibrahim (M.S). This faceless men were hell-bent on desecrating all modicum of values and respect of the memebr. For starters, I want to put it on record that M.S is a two term member of Federal House of Representatives and that feat was achieved by the collective mandate of the people who benefited directly through his numerous assistance and human development projects. If he had not performed as they want us to swallow, he would not have gone back for the second term considering the political awareness of the people of Kaduna-North Local Government.
It is equally worthy of note that the member is not an executive leader that has those absolute powers to give out contracts or employments but rather a lawmaker and representative of the people at the federal level who would rather influence the siting of projects than undertaking them single handedly. However, with all these constraints and limitations, Ibrahim has reached out to the people of Kaduna-North. and beyond at various levels and on several occasions. Different areas of human endeavors were explored by him and possible intervention efforts have been made and arrived at. In the areas of education, he has supported more than 1000 students undergoing studies at various levels. Records are available to show for anyone wishing to verify. In the areas of health, he has equally been of help to his constituency.
He has achieved all these without publicity and fanfares, choosing not to make public his contributions to the people as other politicians are prone to doing for the love of the media and the lime light; he prefers to repose his confidence on the people he assists and expect history to judge him. That attitude of keeping things outside the spotlight has really kept a lot of people in the dark which prompted some among them to criticize him.
It is also enlightening to note that the motorized borehole and over head tank at U/Rimi was constructed by him to alleviate their long suffering on having to go long distance to fetch water. The bridge at U/Kanawa which leads to the cemetery was constructed by him. That construction was timely as the people find it difficult while carrying the deaths to the cemetery or crossing over to the barracks. His contributions to religious organizations are not in doubt. He contributed in building ultra modem computer classrooms in Nurul-Islamiya in U/Kanarayu and supported several religious efforts at various levels of assistance. For his services to the community the kingmakers at Kafanchan, Jama'a Chiefdom conferred on him the traditional title of "Wakili Jema'a", meaning peoples representative, in an elaborate ceremony.
In the hallowed chamber of the legislature, the member has played his role very well. During the twilight of General Obasanjo's administration, when the nation was tackling on the land mine of third term agenda, he stood with the people and voted no on tenure elongation not minding the financial inducement therein. When the recent scandal that consumed Patricia Etteh in the House was threatening to tear the House members apart, he stood with the integrity group which pushed for the impeachment of the embattled speaker. He was also the law maker that sponsored the bill which challenged our hospitals on the unconstitutionality of doctors' report in times of roads accidents.
In his personal life MS comes across as a man of overwhelming forbearance and impeccable sense of judgment. He is highly intelligent and honest. He has a boundless pity for the plight of the people. Thus his numerous assistance for supporting the livelihood of various people and defraying the expenses of medical bills and education of those who could not afford it. Those who cast aspersion on him, making polemic and pejorative remarks, were the same people who benefited one way or the other from his generosities.
Lately, the member commissioned his constituency office to come closer to the people where he gave out revolving scholarship to all the wards of his constituency for outstanding students at various levels of studies including added advantages to those who would study medicine, engineering, computer science and agric mechanization for the duration of their course of studies during his tenure. Secondary, Primary Schools and Polytechnic are not left out of his education assistance. What else does one need to say?
Aanti wrote from Kaduna.
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