By Saadu Umar
Muwaffiq Fa’izu Saleh, the author of the above captioned article, published in wikkitimes.com on 18-8-2022, is dead wrong. And here is why.
Senator Lawal Yahaya Gumau slung himself out of the APC after the primary election voters shuffled his senatorial ticket off onto Alhaji Shehu Buba Umar in a free, fair and credible election. Sore loser!
Since these voters have spoken, it is disrespectful, demeaning and undemocratic to second-guess them. And, it’s for good reasons they chose Shehu and chopped Lawal; it wasn’t a miracle as claimed by Muwaffiq.
Shehu is known even if “unknown” to the author who couldn’t “phantom” (sic) how he won his Primary. The voters and we in the APC know Shehu – and soon the author, too, will not only fathom why and how Shehu won but will also realize that Shehu is a phantom of delight, duty, faith and service. (Apologies to Wordsworth)
I know Shehu Buba because I grew up with him at Nabordo in Toro LGA and we have been friends since when we were kids in the early 1990s.
The Shehu I know is kind, considerate, confident, compassionate, honest, God-fearing, hardworking, beneficial and generous. Shehu helps a lot of people in many ways. Here are few examples.
First, charity begins at home. Last Tuesday, September 20th, 2022 a friend phoned me in the morning. During our conversation, he told me how Shehu helped him and paid for a medical procedure that removed a lump on his neck which disturbed him for ages. I know about the lump like four years ago when we met at the village; I was scared it could be cancerous so I advised him to go to the doctors to have a look at it, he couldn’t afford it until an angel in the shape of Shehu came.
Second, earlier this year another young man, a public servant too, from our village informed me that Shehu has helped him with over ₦600,000 to treat his infant son who had complications at birth.
Indeed, I know many people, over time, whose medical bills were paid for by Shehu all over Toro LGA and beyond.
Apart from Shehu’s assistance in healthcare he has done well in the provision of portable water. He has sunk at least 15 boreholes in and around Nabordo and over a hundred in Toro LGA in addition to countless wells.
Shehu built mosques, houses for people and classrooms. He also paid scholarship for so many students. Shehu feeds the poor and helps the needy; he cares for the orphans and the widows.
Shehu bought cars, bikes and machines for multitudes. He sponsors Hajj, Umrah and tafsirs – including tafsirs from Gwallaga Mosque. Shehu gives people money, all people – young, old, male, female, rich, poor, healthy, sick, able bodied or disabled. He is as generous as August’s rain!
Remarkably, Shehu did all this using his personal funds as a private citizen.
Besides, Shehu is a good politician and tactician. A leader full of wisdom and knowledge. Humble and down to earth. Politicians like him a lot. He worked hard to endear himself to the Toro APC stakeholders in particular and that’s why they supported him against Lawal during the election. That support was decisive.
More importantly, Shehu has plans for the Bauchi South Senatorial District. He plans to do certain things and not do some other things.
Shehu will not be a back bencher sitting idly for about 12 years without a single bill to his name like Lawal. He will be a vocal, vibrant and effective senator that will advance the values and interests of Bauchi people.
From day one, Shehu will propose and sponsor specific bills, which include: bill for the reduction of cost of living and inflation; “Talakawa Assistance Plan” to provide ₦30,000 monthly cheques for poor Nigerians; “Universal Basic Stipend” to provide ₦30,000 for graduates of university, polytechnics and other tertiary institutions who are unemployed and will volunteer for community service; “Child Support Package” to provide ₦10,000 per child per month with a ₦30,000 cap per mother. He will extend the petroleum subsidy scheme while cleaning the scheme of corruption and waste.
Furthermore, Shehu will not be hiding at Sharna hotel in Jos like Lawal avoiding his Senatorial District but will be freely accessible, meeting people where they live: in Bauchi, Toro, Alkaleri, Kirfi, Dass, Tafawa Balewa and Bogoro; to render account of his legislative duties.
Shehu will not be swearing at a drop of a hat waxing Wallahi Tallahi endlessly and in vain. He will not promise what he cannot deliver lest he be playing cat and mouse with people of Bauchi South.
Shehu will be an indefatigable fighter against corruption using the oversight tools at his disposal. He is committed to fighting corruption and believes that war against corruption must be consistently fought for Nigeria to tame the monster responsible for our underdevelopment and all.
A certain Senator Shehu will avoid nepotism in the employment of his legislative aides like Lawal. He will never be found employing his wives, in-law and driver as his legislative aides. Neither will he be engaged in the mean practice of demanding a cut from the earnings of people working with him or in his office. Shehu will only employ the right people on merit.
It is impossible to exhaust herein all what Shehu will or won’t do if elected as a senator. Suffice it to say he will continue to do what he’s been doing as cited above and also do all the good things Lawal isn’t doing and will never do, while avoiding the bad things Lawal has done and is doing.
One more thing, the Shehu I know was a teacher at ‘Government Day’ Bauchi, a Senior Special Assistant Political and SSA Normadic Education to the then governor Isah Yuguda, and Caretaker Chairman of Toro LGA – does this person sounds unknown? Yeah, maybe to a madman.
Shehu is an alumnus of ABU Zaria and University of Jos – where he’s currently pursuing his PhD degree.
Shehu is a husband and a father. He is a farmer, businessman with interest in oil and gas. He has friends and acquaintances everywhere including Professor Isah Ali Pantami, Dr Ibrahim Disina, Nuhu Ribadu, Bola Tinubu, Atiku Abubakar, Sheikh Bala Lau, Sheikh Sani Yahaya, Dr Ahmad Gumi, and many more. Evidently, Shehu is in a fairly decent company and is well known and widely respected and will leverage those as a senator.
Conversely, many people don’t rate the author’s candidate that much. For instance, recently, one of the distinguished and revered scholars in Bauchi, Sheikh Dr Idris Abdulaziz, called to question the character, competence and integrity of Lawal in his homily on the pulpit – a place where only the truth and word of God are spoken.
Similarly, not long ago, a former ‘Director General” of Lawal, who should know, went on air and caricatured the character, credibility and integrity of Lawal.
In the same vein, I personally know few of Lawal’s ex aides who don’t think highly of him after watching him up close during the times they work with him.
I also heard from many APC elders and stakeholders from Toro and beyond expressing serious reservations concerning the character, credibility and integrity of our distinguished senator!
And, certainly, the primary voters of Bauchi South unequivocally said that Lawal is a malignant senator underserving of re-election.
Undoubtedly, these credible, reliable and respected people know Lawal better than the author. Therefore, it will be foolish to believe his feeble attempt at marketing Lawal especially in the poor English he wrote and ignore their informed, fair, and candid opinions.
It’s against this background that we are supremely confident that Shehu Buba and the APC will win the Bauchi South Senatorial District Election in 2023, In-sha-Allah.
Lastly, contrary to what the author said, the APC is not at a loss for voting out Lawal. Rather, it’s Lawal that is lost. And since entitled Lawal has swapped Ferrari for a lame and blind donkey for his doomed journey back to Abuja, we can only say goodbye and good riddance to bad rubbish.
Saadu, a lawyer, is Deputy Chairman, APC Publicity Committee, Bauchi State and former Director-General BASEPA. saadumaresq@yahoo.com
