Nasir El-Rufai, from the outset of his governorship campaign in 2014, consistently made it clear that in governing Kaduna State, he would not shirk from his responsibilities or be intimidated from taking necessary decisions that are in the absolute best interest of kaduna State citizens, because that’s the demand of leadership, which contrary to postulations by critics, is not a popularity contest. Like saying goes, to make an omelette, you must break some eggs, so also to achieve development, some hard decisions must be taken, there are just no two ways to it.
The other fundamental reason why El-Rufai never deferred any decision to his “second term“, is not only the inherent deceit, but the fact that the leader is fatally denied much needed time to consolidate on the policies. By taking several “second term” decisions like, the teachers competency test, the reform of the traditional institution, reform of the public service etc in his first term, El-Rufai not only eloquently confirmed that he walks the talk, but in the process sent a strong message to his fellow leaders not to allow the fear of electoral defeat determine the implementation of policies. Nigeria, has paid a huge price for succumbing to exigencies.
This point that is obviously lost on those counting the number of days to the end of El-Rufai’s second term, so they can go back their usual way of life, without an “intruding” El- Rufai, is that he won’t and doesn’t intend to be a lame duck governor, a warning that he sounded very early this year, to both his appointees and the citizens of the state. So nothing, once he is certain about the rightness of his path of action, not even the hues and cries of uninformed critics will deter him from taking necessary actions, not because he won’t be seeking re-election, but because his principles are not based on opportunism.
This background, is to refresh the memory of commentators on the 27th December 2020, Kaduna sex party who seem to have short memories. The Kaduna State Government, it must be emphasized has on numerous occasions showed that while its sensitive and respects public opinion,it wouldn’t solely allow public opinion dictate its course of actions,which by the way, is nothing but the tyranny of a tiny band of loud noisemakers. This philosophical stance was demonstrated by the very decisive actions in charging the organizers of the sex party to court and the demolition of the venue of the sex party, which predictably generated negative reactions, from avowed opponents of Nasir El-Rufai, who have never seen anything good in his actions or policies, solely because they must attack El-Rufai, a perceived obstacle to the vaulting ambitions of their godfather. Because it’s El-Rufai, most of the critics against their good conscience rationalized and attempted to justify an evil development by sophistry.
On their part, the more charitable critics expressed doubts whether the government bothered to conduct painstaking investigation into the whole sex party saga, and whether the sex party eventually took place, and that even if it did, the government ought to have explored other options, like converting the crime scene into a public health center, rather than demolishing the building. One thing that can’t be denied Kaduna State Government is it’s thoroughness, before embarking on any project, including demolitions. In the particular case of Asher Lounge, the investigation led undercover agents to Asher Lounge, as the venue of the orgy and not to Hamdala or Prestige Hotels, a very important point that most commentators have mischievously continued to ignore, because it doesn’t suit their agenda of demonizing El-Rufai, who out of righteous indignation drew the battle line in the war against promiscuity and drugs.
Extreme situations, attract and indeed sometimes warrant extreme reactions. Security reports on the situation in the Southern part of the Kaduna metropolis, as the new Sodom and Gomorrah.. (a situation that has made the case in point worrisome).It must be noted that the dynamics of the Asher Lounge case totally changed when investigations revealed that it was not only the venue for the sex party, but was an illegal structure, a development that led to the demolition of the building. People have questioned why the operators were not given any notice before the demolition, the simple answer is that government cannot negotiate with persons unknown to it, who possess no certificate of occupancy, have no building permit and have not been paying statutory ground rent. The problem of Asher Lounge, is simply the that of operator that seems above the law, which explains why they bluntly refused to avail themselves of the various measures the Kaduna State Government since 2015 had put in place, to help property owners regularize their title deeds.
In Nigeria, the propensity is to read politics into every action of government. The point must be stressed that the demolition has nothing to do with party affiliations, and that wrong,is wrong. Nigerians, must stop hiding under ethnic, religious or party affiliations, when they run foul of the law. Soon people will hide under their lack of height or size as reason why they have been made to suffer the consequences of their actions. Thankfully in this instance, the attempt to craft the demolition as a political witch hunt, spectacularly failed, because the El-Rufai administration has been consistent in enforcement of breaches of laws.
Future Leaders school, like Asher Lounge violated the COVID-19 Protocol by conducting entrance examinations,in the cause of investigation it was also discovered to be a serial violator of planning laws, which compelled the planning authority to enforce compliance,which has seen it forfeited to government. Like Asher Lounge detailed investigations had revealed the school to be a serial violator, so like Asher Lounge the focus shifted from the initial common entrance examination to the Covid-19 infraction that drew attention to it, to its serious infractions of urban planning laws. While the the school owner, has not screamed political victimization, the operator of the Asher Lounge, who is reportedly the wife of a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) official has been crying political victimization.
But the commentators rather than call out .. the said official of the PDP, …. his cheerleaders have mischievously focused attention on the actions of the government. Equally amazing and shocking is the support for the sex party on the grounds that worse things are happening in private guest houses, this is not only appalling,but evidence of the low that we have descended.
Thankfully the demolition of Asher Lounge has knocked some sense into owners of leisure spots, who henceforth must ask questions as to uses those renting their facilities will be putting it to. The actions of the Kaduna State Government must be seen for what it is, restoring decency and not that El-Rufai wants to infringe on the rights of people to engage in immorality,but to safeguard public good, which on a daily basis is being assaulted – from ass down to other practices, the result of globalization that our youths have unquestionably imbibed. We all have rights, but the right of the operators doesn’t include insulting the sensibilities of others.
One can understand the hysteria of the “evangelicals”, who were quick to jump to hasty conclusions,to tag the demolition of the Asher Lounge as being part of an Islamic agenda, which unfortunately informed their reaction. The demolition is no red flag, nor is it a prelude to a systematic infringement of the rights of Christians. But wait a minute, why are some Christians creating the impression that Christianity is synonymous with debauchery, which ultimately is what the defense of the sex party amounts to, a position that does violence and irreparable damage to the faith? The church has no choice, but to join the government in the war against the unprecedented siege on the sensibilities of everyone by the Generation Z, who worship sex.
It’s surprising that Nigerians still don’t know El- Rufai, and that unlike other appeasers, he will certainly not tolerate the affront posed by the renegades, which has serious consequences for a state that already has issues of drugs abuse, as a result of previous administrations refusal to decisively confront the menace, which partly explains the effrontery of the organizers to advertise the event on the social media and other strategic parts of the state. Certainly El- Rufai will not indulge these renegades, nor succumb to mob rule, or wait for the chickens to come home to roost.
There would always be consequences for impunity. To the commentators who have expressed sympathy for Asher Lounge, the truth is that lacking legal titles, it was in every respect a worthless property. Unfortunately, there many other Asher Lounges, and the number makes enforcement difficult,but like Asher Lounge, and Future Leaders School, any untoward event will invariably turn the searchlight on them, which expectedly would lead to action.
