Zamfara: Between Matawalle and the naysayers

BY ABDUKADIR SULAIMAN

Governor Bello Muhammed Matawalle of Zamfara state has been a subject of sustained media onslaught which reveals mischief and malicious intent. The reckless accusation by Yekini Nabena (Publicity secretary of the APC) that a PDP governor of a northwestern state is responsible and sponsoring insecurity in the region is obviously the first of the many orchestrated attacks on Governor Matawalle. Then came another attack through a publication by Sahara Reporters that an unnamed general claimed that, “bandits were carrying out their attacks with Hilux vehicles given to them by the Governor of Zamfara state.”

This was soon followed by another round of accusations by the Governor of Kaduna state, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai and a Senator from the state, Senator Uba Sani when they both ironically blamed the approach of Governor Matawalle for the sustenance of banditry in the northwest zone.

It is curious that this is coming from a Nasir El-Rufai in 2016 who claimed he went after Fulani herdsmen to stop killings in southern Kaduna. Please do note it was to persuade people from aborting criminal activity and not prevent it. It is laughable how such a man and his supporter(s) do not see him morally bankrupt to criticise anyone adopting a similar approach.

It is also hypocritical for these two persons to criticise Governor Bello Matawalle and not criticise President Muhammadu Buhari for his “Operation Safe Corridor” which is the purported deradicalization programmes for Boko Haram fighters. The same set of people APC Chieftains are clamouring for scholarship and foreign education while children of fallen soldiers in the ongoing wars on insurgency are not granted a scholarship to study at Army Day children school.

The recent attack was the deliberate misinformation by a former State House Correspondent who did not quote the Governor out of context, but lied against the Governor in a report which is now widely syndicated that he (Matawalle) said “Not all bandits are criminals.”

It is on record that what Governor Matawalle said while addressing a group of correspondents was “not all Fulanis are criminals” and this is sensible enough in the face of the mass profiling of all northerners as Fulanis and all Fulanis as killer herdsmen.

It is pertinent to note that there is an obvious hunt for Governor Bello Muhammed Matawalle in a bid to discredit him and create a bad perception of him among Nigerians. I urge Nigerians to disregard this campaign of calumny which is the handiwork of the former Governor Abdulaziz Yari who is doing everything he can to destabilise the current administration especially in its quest to expose the monumental graft allegedly perpetuated under his watch.

This is nothing but a desperate attempt from the camp of Abdulaziz Yari to divert attention from him. This has further corroborated the assertion that the sponsors of this mischief and wickedness are those who are yet to come to the reality that Zamfara is no longer at their whims and caprices. Zamfara is on the path to a new dawn and no amount of hatchet job can derail this noble course. God Bless Nigeria.

Sulaiman, a staffer of public enlightenment and media communications of Zamfara state government, sent this piece from Gusau.