By Maiwada Dammallam
By the day, PDP is proving itself as bad an opposition party as a the bad ruling it was when it was in power. Attached is a video of the Chairman, Katsina State chapter of the PDP, Alhaji Salisu Majigiri, calling on Governor Aminu Bello Masari to resign for what he described as his (Masari’s) failure to provide security for Katsina State.
While there’s no mincing words about the disturbing security situation in Katsina state as well as in other states in Nigeria, particularly the North West, or the need for all stakeholders to depoliticize the issue and focus on finding a lasting solution to the problem, I find it absurd that Majigiri saw an opportunity to score cheap political goals with which he’s probably aspiring to regain the lost relevance of the local chapter of the PDP in Katsina Stats using the lives of innocent citizens of Katsina state as a tool.
The call for Governor Masari’s resignation by Majigiri is the most laughable and absurd political outing of PDP at any level in recent times for reasons I will outline shortly. Laughable because it’s alien to the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria which Chapter 2 he haphazardly quoted out of context either deliberately to deceive gullible Nigerians or for genuine lack of ability to interpret and contextualize the sections he relied on to make his bizarre call for Masari’s resignation.
But the fact that Majigiri is a former Member of the House of Representatives and could be assumed to be fairly enlightened to interpret and contextualize the Nigerian constitution makes it more likely that he’s playing politics with a problem that should be on the priority list of patriotic Nigerian. Majigiri’s selective kind of justice also left more room to doubt the sincerity of his advocacy and see it for the politicization of a serious problem that it is.
And who will disagree Majigiri was insincere and selective in his advocacy? Majigiri is among the most (if he’s not the most) versatile member of the PDP having served the PDP at the different levels from the executive to the legislature. It doesn’t make sense that throughout his sojourn in the PDP he never saw reason to call for the resignation of former Governor Shema who, according to Majigiri’s “law of failure” was also a failed Governor for his inability to satisfactorily execute the “Chapter 2” he quoted to justify his call for Governor Masari’s resignation.
Of course, we cannot forget too soon that Katsina State was already a killing field when Barr. Shema’s tenure expired. Actually, on a certain day when the entire PDP machinery in Nigeria from the then President Jonathan and all movers and shakers of the PDP were in Katsina Government House dancing the night away, over 130 innocent villagers were massacred by bandits in cold blood in Katsina South Senatorial zone between Sabuwa, Faskari and Dandume LGAs.
Not only did Majigiri forgot to call Barr. Shema and Dr. Goodluck Jonathan to resign for their failure to protect the lives of the massacred villagers, he also forgot to advise Barr. Shema to visit the affected villages to sympathize with the traumatized families of the victims. Perhaps, back then he’s a better “constitutional lawyer” than he is today to read and understand the “Chapter 2” he haphazardly quoted in its purest context and see the unfairness of calling for the resignation of Masari or any Nigerian Governor in the basis of insecurity by trying to apply the much touted Chapter 2 of the constitution in a manner befitting only a “suya-joint” situation.
Correct, Chapter 2, Section 14, subsection 2 (b)of the Nigerian constitution has it that the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government but not in the sweeping manner Majigiri made it. Why he’s shy to quote other related chapters, sections and subsections of the constitution dealing with the security, without which the ambiguous “Chapter 2” he quoted will remain only a part of a statement that make sense to nobody. Just relying on the section saying “the state is responsible for the security and welfare of citizens is not enough to justify calls for the resignation of a Governor. We must look at other sections of constitution that explains who is the “state” in this respect. Is a Governor qualified to be seen as the “state” as mentioned in the chapter Majigiri quoted? Certainly not because Section 214 dealt with this in the in the relevant sections.
For instance, Section 214(1) of the Constitution is emphatically clear about who is responsible for the security of Nigerians. It says: “There shall be a police force for Nigeria, which shall be known as the Nigeria Police Force, and subject to the provisions of this section no other police force shall be established for the Federation or any part thereof.“ And yes, Majigiri should have told Nigerians in the EXCLUSIVE LEGISLATIVE LIST of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria are 68 items which only the Federal Government has EXCLUSIVE POWERS over. Items on the list includes:
1-Arms, ammunition and explosives
2-Military (Army, Navy and Air Force) including any other branch of the armed forces of the Federation
3-Police and other government security services established by law
So, how’s Majigiri’s “Chapter 2” such a conclusive provision to decide which Governor stays in office and which should resign?
If this is not enough to confirm Majigiri’s selective sense of justice, may be his absent mindedness about equally or even more disturbing events in PDP-controlled states in the North West could expose the insincerity of his advocacy. Sokoto State is a hotbed of banditry and just like Katsina State, subscribed to the constitution of Nigeria. Any patriotic effort to resolve the Katsina conflict will join Sokoto because the problem is contagious and only a unified solution could resolve it with finality.
Why, then, was Majigiri shy to call for the resignation of all governors in the states under the grip of banditry? Shouldn’t Majigiri call for the resignation of Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal? Sure, he will not because Tambuwal is a PDP Governor who deserve the benefit of correct interpretation of the constitution in line with Majigiri’s ambition to breathe life into the dead PDP in the North West. I challenge him to release another video showing him calling for the resignation of Governor Aminu Tambuwal to prove my selective theory wrong. The limitations of his office to Katsina state will not be a problem given that at different times he’s involved with issues of other states despite the limitation. In any case, I’m under the assumption he intends the public to see his advocacy as a nationalistic instead of the PDP trick to enter by the window where it couldn’t by the door that it is.
The bottom line is, we have a serious situation that requires patriotism, commitment, selflessness and sincerity of purpose to defeat. There’s no room for playing games with the dangerous situation at hand to gain or regain political relevance. Lives are needlessly and brutally wasting by the hour simply because some politicians took decades putting in the wrong pockets billions of dollars made available to prepare Nigeria for eventualities like this. It’s only fair if those Nigerians who led us into this conundrum should sit by the side and watch those putting sincere efforts to halt and reverse the dangerous trend. Just how Majigiri, a leading PDP player, got the courage to call for the resignation of Governor Masari beats me! Nigeria is not Kannywood for dry jokes like this to impress anybody.
