Governor El-Rufai’s overboard style

Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna state means different things to different people, not only because he is controversial, but also because he is an anti-establishment person. Each time there is a news item about him, I am always eager to read it because there will always be something interesting and strange that he has done or that he plans to do. This was why I ordered a copy of his book ’’Accidental Public Servant’’  on Amazon in February 2013 days before its official release.

When Amazon delivered the book at my Boston apartment few days later, El-Rufai lived up to the way I have always seen him. That is someone who goes ‘’overboard’’ with everything he does for reasons best known to him. I was shocked to read about Oby Ezekwesili’s student loan and her asking former president Olusegun Obasanjo for help in repaying the loan. He went further to write about private discussions he had with Nuhu Ribadu, former  chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) about Tafa Balogun, former Inspector General of Police and Atiku Abubakar’s patronage of  spiritualists (Mallam). These are things that should be for his ears alone, but he made them public in the book.

With his election in 2015 as governor of one of the most difficult states to govern in Nigeria, I thought this will bring some changes in him, but I was wrong. In the second week of July 2015, he called for the scrapping of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), due to fraud and mismanagement. I asked myself if the President had accepted his advice, will those who will man the new corporation come from the moon or will be the same Nigerians who turned the NNPC to a cash cow?  The rest is history.

Like the popular saying, the leopard will not change his skin, On October 8, 2016, I saw a headline in one of the dailies that Governor El-Rufai has banned the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) popularly known as the Shi’ite sect in Kaduna state. His reason was that the sect was an “ unlawful society and organization whose activities  are dangerous  to security and good governance’’. I ignored the story. Since he became governor of Kaduna state some people who are not happy with the progress he has made have continued to plant negative stories in the media. These stories are capable of undermining the relative peace enjoyed in the state, but the people have always supported El-Rufai.

However, when other media organizations reported the story, I was convinced beyond reasonable doubt that the news was factual. I was shocked by this decision, not because I like the Shi’ite sect or their troublesome nature, but recalling how they fought Colonel Lawal Jafaru Isa  to a standstill during the Sani Abacha days in Kaduna with their ’’Ba wata hukuma sai ta Allah’’ philosophy (There is no government, except that of Allah)  made me uncomfortable.

I also know that the Nigerian constitution guarantees freedom of worship in as much as one does not undermine peace and national security. Hence, I cannot understand the rationale behind the ban. After all, Kaduna state has laws to deal with threat to peace by the sect or any other group. If any member of the sect is found wanting, the courts are there to handle such cases.

My apprehension is also strengthened by fact that the sect is still fuming over the  December 12, 2015 clash with the convoy of the Chief of Army Staff in Zaria which led  to the death of over 300 members and the continous detention of its leader, Ibrahim  El-Zakzaky. To make matters worse, the state government is yet to implement the recommendation of the Judicial Commission of Inquiry requesting the prosecution of soldiers who massacred the Shi’ite members.

My fears were however confirmed when youths started attacking members of the sect and also destroying their houses in Kaduna,Kano,Katsina and Plateau states last week. In the process, some reportedly lost their lives.

If Governor El-Rufai has forgotten, this was how the Boko Haram revolt started in Maiduguri in  2009.  I was at the Public Relations Unit of the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH) to confirm a story when news filtered in that members of Operation Flush, a joint military and police security outfit set up by then Governor Ali Modu Sheriff shot 20 members of the sect at Custom Area of Maiduguri. Their crime was refusing to wear crash helmet during a funeral procession leading to the confiscation of their motorcycles, but the Boko Haram members will have none of that. They ran back to their headquarters at Ibn Taimiyya mosque around Galadima Junction and mobilized their members for a show down with Operation Flush.. The resultant effect is what we are dealing with today in the North East where over 20,000 people have died and the drain on the nation’s scarce resources in the last six years.

In as much as the Shi’ite  sect have always been a nuisance to Kaduna people, allowing youths to attack and destroy their houses under whatever guise is a gateway to anarchy. The first set of Boko Haram members arrested in July 2009 told the police that their late leader, Mohammed Yusuf advised them to arm themselves to the teeth as the government was planning to clamp down on them. This is was why they started making bombs and buying assault rifles.

Ignoring the persecution of Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) members will not augur well for peace and security in Kaduna state and Nigeria in the long run. This is because if the Boko Haram sect with thousands of their semi illiterate followers could pose this kind of threat  to the Nigerian state and neighbouring countries of Chad,Niger and Cameroun, i wonder what will happen if IMN with their well educated members decided to go underground and fight the state. The outcome is better imagined than said. I say may God forbid this.

I believe the right thing for Governor El-Rufai to do is to beef up intelligence gathering around the sect and make anyone who undermines peace and security to face the full wrath of the law. In this way, the excesses of the sect can be curtailed. Kaduna state is already battling with kidnapping, cattle rustling, armed robbery and cannot afford to expend scarce human and financial resources on fighting insurgency in the North West. El-Rufai has also made so much progress in changing the fortunes of Kaduna state in the last seventeen months and cannot afford to destroy a house he was a party to building.

Governor Nasir El-Rufai, today’s decisions are tomorrow’s realities. It is not too late to make amends. Kaduna is too important in Northern Nigerian in terms of commerce and politics to be allowed to go the way of Borno,Yobe and Adamawa states.

Lawal can be reached through [email protected]  Twitter: AbdulRafiu19