Adamawa is a state that has been serially raped since the inception of the current political dispensation sixteen years ago with a break here and a respite there. While most states are moving forward the state appears to be perpetually in the reverse gear moving downhill. The last eight years have been harrowing to the citizens of the state to say the least. The state was in the firm grip of carpetbaggers for seven of the eight years and was briefly rescued by some dream merchants who attempted to resuscitate it by Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) technique. The dream merchants were shunted aside by selfish, incompetent, power-grabbing allies of the carpetbaggers and sadly enough their inheritors are about to take over from the current crop of pretenders. These pretenders aren’t ready to go quietly though they know they have time barely enough for packing their belongings out of government houses and offices. In the last days of their administration, they are more concerned with surpassing the records of Stella Oduah, the delectable former Aviation Minister of the bulletproof BMW fame.
It makes no sense for a government that is on its way out and effectively in its lame duck period to recklessly “buy” two SUVs for the scandalous sum of N180million – irrespective of whether the vehicles are missile or bulletproof. To top it all, another 50 Hilux pick-ups were bought for N400million. Are you serious? This nonsense taking place under the watch of a supposed ‘man of God’? Anyway, this is beside the point. The serious stuff began with trying to circumvent due process while committing this economic felony. In clumsily trying to cover their assess, the government of Bala Ngilari sacked the director of the state’s Public Procurement Bureau and ganged up with disgruntled political pimps in the State House of Assembly to re-enact the 16 is greater than 19 doctrine of Goodluck Jonathan. Nine out of twenty five members of the state Assembly were allowed to use the Government House Banquet Hall as temporary legislative chamber to purportedly “impeach” the Speaker, Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri and “elect” Jerry Kumdisi as the new “speaker”. Ngilari, a lawyer with almost 40 years post call experience, superintended this illegality.
The drama unfolding in the state in the past two weeks made me looked again at the jokers in the Adamawa Government House, masquerading as leaders – Ngilari and his foot soldiers. I came to the conclusion that they are either poor students of history or they failed to grasp the significance of democracy or even the offices they are occupying. My conclusion is that their behaviour is a concrete illustration of a comic paradox. Instead of responding to the essence of his responsibilities, he is devoting his time and public resources in trying to trivialise his predecessor; beholden to a perceived struggle for the control of the soul of local politics in their local government, where his predecessor is the top dog. And this does not have any direct bearing on good governance in the state. The current altercation between the executive and the legislature, stoked by the executive’s financial recklessness and administrative impunity, is an alibi by the governor and his side kick to “deal” with the speaker once and for all, thereby making him a political ‘nobody’ in their domain. It is my believe that the speaker has transcended where they are trying to reach and far away from their grasp. His political influence spreads across the state. Ngilari and his sidekick only succeeded in diminishing the status of the governor of Adamawa state.
Bala Ngilari and his people (including the carpet baggers and the inheritors) are scared shitless of Fintiri and his band of dream merchants because in his short spell as acting governor, he has succeeded in showing the people of the state that government can work. He went beyond the probable and made the people see the possible. His style of governance was devoid of contempt, which the people were used to through impunity by past administrations.
The intrinsic significance of the Ngilari government lies in the philosophical fact they understand nothing about governance and government. They swim in emptiness, content in the power they wield, though they do not understand how it could be used to better the lives of the ordinary man, whose love they crave. Unlike Fintiri, the man they are trying to bring down. Thus it is only the crass opportunist or ignorant that may think they are worthy of the offices they now occupy through legal gymnast and Other Peoples’ Interest (OPI). In my view, they are just a corollary of astronomical incompetence whose sole achievement in the final analysis may be summarised thus – “they came, saw, were overwhelmed and perished while all the time being engaged in trying to destroy the legacies of their betters’. They will perpetually be beholden to the unconditional acceptance of the premise that if I cannot perform, let the house come down on all of us. They want us to celebrate mediocrity as being superior to competence; forcing the people of Adamawa state by sheer propaganda to accept “non-acceptance” – the sacking of the Director general of the Public Procurement Bureau and Jerry Kumdisi as leader of the legislative arm of government. Accepting that 2 SUVs costs the government N180million.
Ngilari should be made aware that in this office one had to be competent – there are no alternatives or mitigating considerations. But our governor failed to realise that the acceptability granted his predecessor by the people of the state was earned and was neither coerced nor contrived. The acceptability of Fintiri wasn’t based on affection but as a recognition of his sterling qualities as a leader.
To paraphrase one philosopher – it is not my intention to be a fly swatter, but when the fly acquires delusions of grandeur, we have to blow the whistle on the pretentious noise made by the fly. The actions of this particular fly since perching on the exalted seat of the governor of Adamawa state amounts to political embezzlement, which may just be a cover for incompetence and thievery. It appears deliberate malice has taken control of the thinking faculties of Bala Ngilari and his key advisers. They should be well advised to mark their time and disappear from our political radar. I hate writing obituaries but I hope this is not an eulogy to Ngilari’s political career.
The able can never be inferior to the incompetent.
