I was transfixed watching a video clip where as usual, our Learned Emir was delivering a lecture on the myriad of problems besetting our once Great Kano, to an audience many of whom are either complicit in the predicament befalling us, or in many ways than one, have given their tacit approvals by condoning those irresponsible individuals who are responsible for the irresponsible leadership that has brought us to this sorry state.

At the background, a select few victims of these irresponsible leadership and another few well dressed, well fed political elites and few other pot-bellied rich Contractor-cum ‘Business’ men whose only business is conniving perpetually with the irresponsible leadership in stripping the common man of what rightly belongs to him from one election to another.

Shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’ and stroking their well oiled beards are ‘Sheiks’ and ‘Ustazs’ always in cahoots with the Government of the day, well known for their sermons either on Radio, Television or on occasions like this, quoting most eloquently from the verses of the Holy Qur’an and Ahadiths on what The Almighty and His Messengers charge us to do as Good Muslims to get a ticket to Jannah.
The message of the day is the good old Message; Our Problems! Our predicament as a people.

The Emir, eloquent as ever, lacing his sentences with occasional Arabic phrases and Qur’anic verses with excellent delivery of high and low pitched rhetorical questions that stir very deep emotions buried for ages in the innermost recesses of our hearts, is ever succinct in laying the bare truth on where the original ‘Sin’ emanates and where the possible solutions lies.

In summary, he pointed out that we have lost our values as a people. That no matter what the Ulamas and the Traditional and Business Leaders do, even for a thousand years, a competent and committed Governor with the right political will in conjunction with a responsible legislature can change the fortunes of Kano overnight.

Everyone clapped, women from the back seats yelled the traditional ‘Guɗa’ shrilled sounds in acquiescence!

The Emir rolled out the disaster lists; crumbling family structures, broken homes, children on the streets, domestic violence against women, near absence of education, language barriers in Learning Institutions, absence of affordable healthcare systems, rape, drug abuse, depression in marriages, early marriage and forced marriage, and on and on and on!

In every gathering like this emotions are high, sentiments are whipped, blames are apportioned, possible solutions are proffered BUT not one person ACTS.

Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result has been our revered pastime. Always falling back on our famous and readily available last resort, ‘Abun Sai Addu’a ‘ ko ‘Allah dai ya gyara mana!’

We are all in agreement that what we lack is Credible, Capable, Focused, Vibrant, Out-Of-The-Box Leaders at all levels who will embrace a positive paradigm shift in the way we are governed.

Leadership that feeds on the Scale of preference of the people not on personal opportunity cost. Leadership that focuses on the priorities and needs of the people not on Bogus projects that further impoverishes the people. Leadership that care about what their conscience tells them at night in the small corner of their beds, rather than the daily shouting of praises by their Sycophants on our airwaves.

Leadership that studies yesterday, analyses today and prepare for tomorrow. Leadership that is fair, just and sincere.

Do we lack candidates for these positions? Is kano not blessed with young men and women who can fit these descriptions? Are we not capable of this quantum leap of faith? No!

The honest, hard bitter truth is, we have all failed to ACT on individual and collective basis. We shout, we lament, we form committees, pressure groups, youth associations, political parties, but when it comes to doing the right thing we always go back to our selfish, biased and stereotyped mode of choosing and electing those irresponsible individuals who will only serve our personal interests rather than our collective destinies.

Leadership that will provide us with financial support travel to India or Egypt or Germany for medical reasons NOT the one that will equip our hospitals with equipment and the right personnel.

Leadership that will put enough money in our pockets to allow us buy huge diesel generators and enough money to fuel, rather than the one that will build small neighborhood power plants. Irresponsible leadership that will give foreign scholarships to select few rather than improve our Educational systems.

Reversing our discussion back to 2015, Oba RILWAN, The Oba of Lagos openly canvassed for votes for the then Candidate Ambode who is now the Lagos State Governor. He, clearly in unmistakable terms, told all Igbos resident in Lagos to jump into the Lagoon if they dare not vote for Ambode. The last time I checked, heavens did not fall! He ACTED. He took a stand. He guided his subjects. He showed the way.

Kano Emirate has the most organized, the most extensive and the most oldest political structure in our history as a people. From the Emir, to Senior councilors, to District Heads, Village Heads and Ward Heads.

The Emir and his retinue of subjects are a formidable force to be reckoned with. They have the constitutional and moral right to indicate, support and vote for the right candidate who will give us the right leadership. We will appreciate him more if he takes a firm stand come 2019 instead of his usual nodding of head when political aspirants pay him homage.

He cannot be a radical in other aspects of life yet assume a conservative stance when it comes to choosing our leaders. Leadership that determines the political and economic trajectory of our collective destiny.

It’s not enough for the Emir or any of us to always go philosophical when we’re faced by our self inflicted failures that ‘God will hold each and everyone of us responsible is we fail to ‘ACT’. And for those of us who have chosen to leave our comfort zones and offer ourselves for service to the people, it is not enough if we know we don’t have anything better to offer more than the current incompetent ones.

We owe it a duty to offer ourselves for public scrutiny not only in terms of our capacity and leadership skills, but in strong character, focus and vision. We must demonstrate the capacity to interpret both the political and economic compass of our state that will help us navigate through these economic, social and political terrains that has defied the third class leaders we have always chosen to elect.

Bashir I. Bashir
Kano, Nigeria.
1st May, 2019.