Kaduna LG poll: El-Rufai’s daring reforms and a heroic loss

BY SYLVANUS OKPE

The loss of the executive governor of Kaduna state, Nasir el-Rufai, in his polling unit and local council at the September 4 Kaduna LGA elections has been the trending political topic of the week. It was widely reported, so much so that political ‘haters’ cashed in on it to pour invectives on the governor and paint the picture of a dwindling political fortune on the governor’s part.

While I was in the village during the weekend, a place where I often suffer poor cellular reception and rely largely on the magnanimity of friends to be abreast with the goings-on, I received calls from a handful of friends who were, judging from the haste in each of their voice, in a competition to be the first to break the news of el-Rufai’s ‘defeat’ to me. It was the third caller who was struck vividly by my reply. “It was a heroic loss”, I interjected in a measured tone.

The immortal words of the psychologist, lawyer and founding CEO of the National Resilience Institute, Mollie Marti, immediately crossed my mind. She wrote: “A noble leader answers not to the trumpet calls of self-promotion, but to the hushed whispers of necessity.”

It would be difficult to be convinced that Mollie Marti was not referring to Governor el-Rufai in the above quote except one does not take a curious and dispassionate voyage into the political trajectory of el-Rufai and the trappings from his victorious “loss” at his polling unit and LGA.

El-Rufai has never wavered in demonstrating his proclivity for daring reforms irrespective of whose interest is at the receiving end, and many times, at the detriment of his own personal interests.

The fact that state governors have gained notoriety for their penchant for truncating democracy and making a mockery of our electoral system as it relates to LGA elections in their respective states is indisputable. In fact, LGA elections are used by state governors to reward loyalists who are sometimes too numerous to be captured in the appointive positions in the state government. It has further been reduced in many states to being the exclusive preserve of known thugs of the ruling party, a situation that has continued to diminish the gains of the local government system in the country.

Unlike other state governors, el-Rufai paid close attention to the hushed whispers of necessity with his self-promotion suffering a fatal blow for it. Preparatory to the Kaduna LGA elections and for the first time in the history of Nigeria, aspirants on the platform of Governor el-Rufai’s party (APC) sat for an exam that produced the best brains as candidates of the party. The result of the process was publicly published to show transparency and each of the aspirant’s grade was attached to his name. This happened at a time when in other states, there are hardly primaries to choose candidates during LGA elections as people are capriciously handpicked by state actors and foisted on the party and, by implication, on the people.

As if that was not daring enough, el-Rufai courageously introduced laudable reforms like the novel electronic voting used during the elections and further exhibited statesmanship by allowing the state electoral umpire to be strictly unbiased so as to meet the yearnings and aspirations of the people at the grassroots, even when he was aware that the reforms might rub off on the gains of his party in the state.

After a dispassionate look into the LGA elections across the country since 1999, the total hijack of the state election umpire and maneuvering of same to act the script of governors, we will be kind enough to cut el-Rufai some slack or avoid incurring the wrath of the biblical injunction “give honour to whom honour is due” by doffing our caps for him, an honourable man who lost in an election he has all the powers to “win”.

Recalling the unbelievable incident of the last LGA election in my state (Benue) was “acting on the script of the state government”, the Benue Independent Electoral Commission (BISEC) disqualified all the APC candidates to pave way for the unchallenged emergence of PDP candidates, again I shuddered at our lack of appreciation for a man who went on to do the right thing even when it costs him some major discomforts.

Democracy must be “alive and kicking” in Kaduna for a state election umpire to announce the defeat of a sitting governor in his polling unit without any fear of intimidation, persecution, witch-hunting or even sack.

Is it not el-Rufai again? I asked another caller rhetorically; a man who, like the proverbial housefly, follows reforms even to his own “grave”. I could remember during his first term when other governors would not dare put their re-election bids on the line, Governor el-Rufai insisted on sanitising the educational sector, a programme that led to the mass retrenchment of teachers who failed the exams meant for the very students they were paid to teach. I could still see the picture of finality in my friend’s face when he swore to me, in the name of all his ancestors, that el-Rufai buried his re-election in that policy. Long story cut short, Kaduna people felt otherwise and here we are, stuck with him and his daring reforms.

El-Rufai possesses the willpower, and the political wherewithal needed to develop this country, he carved a niche for himself above the hues and cries of Nigerians against the momentary inconveniences that have held this country down for more than half a century of its nationhood.

Let me wrap it up here with another quote from one of the most celebrated American professors of Literature, Joseph Campbell: “A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself.”

It is now yours to say if it was a heroic loss or a dwindling of political fortune. Let the need to bequeath a better country to posterity guide our thoughts.

Sylvanus Okpe can be reached via [email protected]