By Bilyamin Abdulmumin
When President Muhammadu Buhari set up the Presidential Transition Council (PTC). He illustriously allocated two seats to the incoming government, and TINUBU would nominate two APC stalwarts: Chairman of the governors’ forum and governor of Kebbi State Senator Atiku Bagudu, and a former Commissioner for Finance in Lagos State, Olawale Edun.
The nomination of HE Atiku Bagudu into the PTC didn’t go down well with some panicked critics, for a glaring reason: what is going to become of Bagudu, performing a central role in the incoming government. So they put into use the only tool in their toolbox: a sinister campaign.
HE Atiku Bagudu’s devotion to APC began in 2014 when he and the then-other PDP bigwigs shun the political interests to pursue a rescue mission, forming a formidable merger that ousted the incumbent president for the first time in the history of the country. In that general election, Atiku would employ his resources and time to cost APC victory both at the state and federal levels.
As soon as the federal government kicked off, President Buhari would set the ball rolling with food self-sufficiency as a top priority, and the president had just got the right person to do the trick. Atiku Bagu as a legendary economist with a penchant for industrialization would help chart the path of success for the policy. The remaining, as they say, would become history as Kebbi State has since become synonymous with the rice revolution across the country, flaunting mega rice process mills like WACOT, LOLO, Labana, and a host of other small and medium plants all over the state. When the skeptics woke up to this glaring feat they could not believe it, so they embarked on a discrediting campaign. According to them, it was a private business so neither the president nor the state government should get any credit for the booming rice activities in the state. But should the situation flip, and the economy of the state be stuck in the mood, these critics will be the first to cry to high heaven.
After the first four years of tenure, despite the new down of economic constraint caused by necessary policy changes in the state and county at large, which the critics sought to bank in on, but the masses would hold on with their guns, and both President and HE would pass the vote of confidence to secure the coveted re-election.
So HE will continue with his industrial exploration. In this spell, Air Aviation Services was wooed to site Air Unity Aviation college in the state, the presidency was lobbied to formalize the bursting gold mining activities in the state in the form of Presidential Artisanal Gold Mining Initiative, Kaduna and Kebbi would partner with Dangote-Peugeot Vehicle Assembly Plant for vehicles assembling in Nigeria, despite security challenges in Kebbi south, Dangote commitment was to step up to establish a sugar factory in the state.
And that’s not all. The MoU with NNPC to establish a Bioethanol Plant in the state would enter its second gear with the completion of technology transfer between Kebbi State and the Indian government. The GB food company would begin operation of their 20 billion tomato processing plant in Ngaski LG in the state (one friend, a police officer, who was attached to the industry could not hold his sheer awe and delight about the marvelous industrial activities and in particular the seemingly positive economic impact on the nearby communities). And on its part, the Kebbi State government would directly birth the state’s own industrial hub where the farmers’ darling commodity, fertilizer is among the products. Just last month a state-owned flour mill began operation.
It takes skills, training, and discipline to see the good side in every situation, otherwise one will perpetually see only the problems. In one viral cartoon, two artists were to draw their observations through the window views. One pragmatic artist could peep beyond the iron frame of the window to draw a beautifully manicured lawn and above it, the shining blue sky to the admiration of anyone who came across the drawing but the other artist, at best a narrow-minded, could only see the non-inspired iron frames to draw. The same issue but while one could bring out the best beauty in it, the other cannot go beyond the uninspiring window frames.
The most plausible call for HE critics here is to keep tabs on the state’s incoming administration for continuity from these initiatives, to ensure the consolidation of the gains and learning from problems. Lagos state is a pacesetter when it comes to progress as the result of continued development by the government. In addition, HE should also be rallied support and not otherwise to continue playing a key role even in the incoming federal government to help augment the industrial activities in the state.
But fast forward to 2023 when HE rounds up and folds his tenth. Instead of seeing the philosophy of the half-full cup, these critics chose to tow in the wailing path of the half-empty cup philosophy. But Like the proverbial man who crossed the seven seas, HE saw through their sinister campaign all of the time, in his bid for the governorship, as a chairman APC governors forum candidate, and now the membership of the Presidential Transition Council.
The story of these critics’ letter is a pathetic one as it crashed before it kicked off because no better person to understand the sinister campaign right now than the person the letter is being addressed to: President-elect Bola Ahmed. The president has endured accusations of multiple dimensions: the Bullion van saga, drug trafficking, religious dogma, school certificate, dual citizenship, health issues, and others but in true superhero Mr president-elect aced them all.
