By Saadu Umar
“When a man points a finger at someone else, he should remember that four of his fingers are pointing to himself.” Louis Nizer, My Life in Court (1961), p. 115.
The recent press statement of Qaura has unmasked the real faces and reason behind that crazy, libelous fake news of Sahara Reporters.
As soon as Air Marshal Sadiq threw his hat into the ring to run for governor, Qaura and PDP began to quake in their boots. Understandably, when a giant general like Sadiq enters the battlefield they know the war is over.
That sense of inevitability precipitated palpable fear in the camp of Qaura causing chaos, derilium and hallucination. Like birds high on weed, they began to sing smear songs, dancing in paranoia and delusion.
The conventional army of revolutionaries of the 3-star air force general – equip with conventional weapons: brooms, PVCs, good policies, excellent candidate, patriotism etc – began to appear to Qaura as aliens from forbidden galaxy ready to wipe him out using weapons of mass destruction.
Qaura should know better that, unlike him, Air Marshal is a clean fighter who wouldn’t hit below the belt. Sadiq will win this war fair and square.
True to type and sure of his loss, Qaura has let loose his ailing attack ants ranting the air with smear and character assassination: alas, that will not save him. The roaring lion will neither be deterred nor distracted by the ranting ants. They better retreat to their cocoon lest the lion tramples on them.
We know politicians like Qaura are masters of double speak but his hypocrisy in calling for the investigation of Sadiq is beyond belief. Just yesterday, we watched Qaura on NTA “pouring encomium” on Sadiq using kind words like: Sadiq is a definite “role model”; “the entire people of Bauchi State are proud of him. Because of Sadiq Bauchi is the most peaceful state in the North-East.
Qaura did not stop there. He further commended Sadiq for establishing the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) Special Operations Command and other NAF units in Bauchi. Describing that as “reassuring”, “contributed to the security of lives and properties” and “helped in improving the economic well-being of the good people of [Bauchi] State”. What Sadiq did brings “benefit” and “employment” to Bauchi.
Undoubtedly, securing lives and property, taking care of people, providing employment and development are what Sadiq does best. All his life, he sacrifices everything and gave his all in the service of fatherland; keeping us safe, putting us first. And that is what Air Marshal Sadiq will do as the governor of Bauchi State if elected.
Now, we know what Air Marshall did while holding federal appointment: bringing benefits, employments, economic improvement, securing lives and property. But do you know what Qaura did while holding his own federal appointment? Nothing.
Oh, Qaura did few things then. EFCC told us about that: that while in office, Qaura helped himself and his family. He engaged in “bribery”, racketeering” and “corruption”. The EFCC is sure of Qaura’s crimes to the extent that they arrested him and put him in jail at Kuje. Do you know the money involved? “Up to 1.6 trillion” Naira! As reported by Premium Times on 28-3-2019.
Old habits die hard! No sooner than Qaura became governor allegations of corruption cropped up again. Quite a number of persons accused him of corruption, one of which involved billions of Naira contract for the purchase of exotic cars as reported by Premium Times.
Thus, if Qaura is seriously looking for who to investigate he should look at the man in the mirror.
Qaura should ask the man in the mirror to know why there is “sudden escalation of violent crimes in Bauchi” following his assumption of office as the governor. The reason is partly due to Qaura’s provocative and violent rhetoric during his campaign and speeches. Immediately after his inauguration at the stadium thugs and goons coming back therefrom attacked, robbed and maimed people particularly in and around Ƙofar Fada.
Again, crimes will continue unabated because of Qaura’s wicked policies that cost thousands of jobs, worsen unemployment and poverty. We know the relationship between unemployment and poverty on the one hand and crime on the other. When many employable youths are deliberately left idly, their mind will become the devil’s workshop.
Besides, Qaura is ranting about destabilising armed militia. Who needs them? Certainly, not the popular Sadiq. The talk about armed militia by Qaura is a Freudian slip. He might be talking about his own “plan to foist quasi military organ on the state” through the recent vigilantes law hurriedly created without due process in order to help him use force and violence in the next election.
Already, we are hearing that Qaura is planning to recruit PDP thugs and goons into the vigilante scheme. This scheme as hatched will only admit, exclusively, members of the PDP. If you are not a PDP thug or goon recruitment into this PDP vigilantes is impossible. This is how desperate Qaura is about the election.
Yet Qaura is falsely accusing others of being power hungry. If Qaura really wants to know who is power hungry he should look at the man in the mirror. The man will tell him that what stands between him and Kuje jail is the immunity that will expire next year. That’s why he’s power hungry, desperately so. Because his life, his freedom depends on it.
Air Marshal needs not be power hungry. In fact it’s the people of Bauchi that prevailed on Sadiq to come and rescue Bauchi. Sadiq was busy serving as the Nigerian ambassador to Chad when we called him home unlike Qaura who was an inmate at the time he constested the 2019 election.
Another derilious paranoia of Qaura is his wild accusation that some imaginary people are conspiring to hatch a “wicked machination” to make him “switch resources to security and antagonize the people against the government”. The truth is that the people are antagonizing Qaura not because anybody is telling them to do so but because the people are fed up with Qaura who has been taking billions and billions in the name of security votes only to give them more insecurity, more violent crimes, and bad governance. The people want Qaura to use security votes for security not for building palaces like Russian oligarchs.
Lastly, it’s absurd and counterintuitive for Qaura to now turn around and insinuate that Sadiq is destabilising and violent after he initially and righly so, described him as a role model, proud son of Bauchi who provides security, brings benefits, employment, development and economic advancement to the good people of Bauchi State.
One wonders what has changed? Politics. He has lost it hence the paranoia and the smear. Unfortunately for Qaura, the dirts he’s throwing at Sadiq won’t stick but enhance his squeaky-clean reputation. The people of Bauchi are not buying Qaura’s smear campaign.
The people of Bauchi are wiser. They are sick and tired of Qaura’s corruption, failed promises, wicked policies, deceit deadly debts, nepotism, lies and bad governance. Tired of the cacophony of Qaura’s mercenaries they moved on to the symphony of Sadiq’s revolutionaries – praising God for the gift of Sadiq and singing the songs of victory. Sadiq has come, like Moses, he has come to save Bauchi from its Pharaohs.
Saadu Umar is a lawyer and Deputy Chairman, APC Publicity Committee Bauchi State. saadumaresq@yahoo.com.
