GOV. SHEMA IS RIGHT!
The voice of the people is the voice of god…
When Governor Ibrahim Shema referred to his
political opponents as political cockroaches
right before the good people of Katsina
State either of two possible reactions was
imminent: “Approval” or “Disapproval.” We
have seen people employ the latter against
their leaders in this country by very many ways
some of which even led to the demise of such
leaders where they failed to manage the
disapproval properly. But in this case the
people of Katsina State did not
disapprove of the statement rather they
proceeded to deliver their judgement as
follows
Gov. Shema: “The PDP administration in
Katsina State has impacted on your life and
that of your family.
You must take your sick child to the hospital
for free treatment.
You have to use the good roads built by the PDP
to go to your house.
Your child has not paid a kobo for his
education since I became governor. He is not
paying for examinations. [Someone from the
audience said WAEC and NECO free]
From 2007 to date, there is no father that is
paying a kobo for his child to go to primary or
secondary school, or for WAEC, NECO or NABTEB.
Therefore, we must be grateful to Allah.
If you take a look at some states – I don’t have
to mention them; but they are many – they have
had PDP and other parties at different
times. But Katsina has been under the control
of the PDP since the return of democracy.
And don’t worry about political cockroaches.
Cockroaches are found in the toilet even at
home. The moment you see a cockroach, what do
you do?”
The People: “You kill it.” [The audience
responded]. He repeated the question
before then added “Crush them.” And
proceeded continued.
Gov. Shema: “And I tell you, if anyone touches
you, you must retaliate.
The politics we played in the past, where
PDP members are disrespected, humiliated
and molested, but we asked them to be
patient, now whoever wrongs you, you must
retaliate, I said it.”
It would seem therefore from the foregoing
that Gov. Shema has with the numerous
"masses oriented projects" some of which he
enumerated in the transcript above have
captured the heart of his people and
earned their ally to which end they are
willing to flush out anybody rising to truncate
their many dividends.
Also, it is very important to note that our
amiable governor did not directly call anybody
“cockroach” but referred to them in a
descriptive allusion as “POLITICAL
COCKROACHES.” This means that he was only
referring to their political character.
But while the Katsina people are yet to react
negatively to the misconstrued statement some
of the elites with political interest seem to
have taken up the duty of over stretching
the truth of the statement from fact to fallacy
alleging that it has incited the people
against them being the opposition- the same
opposition that Shema weathered to emerge
Governor in 2007 and floored in 2011 to
return to office without need or use of
violence. According to some of the opposition
leaders in the state like Mustapha Inuwa,
The Katsina State Chairman of The All
Progressive Congress (APC) the statement
was targeted at their party and the members
due to their growing acceptability and
popularity in the state. He also noted that
the party would petition the Inspector
General of police and the State Security
Services to investigate such utterance as
they could not fold their arms to be threatened
with violence by the governor.
But, one striking question that comes to mind
following some of the insinuations above is
that "if truly these opposition parties are
acquiring popular acceptance in Katsina
State why then are they afraid ?" "Who then
will be at the beck and call of Shema to attack
them the 'emerging popular majority?”'
Ordinarily, if such allegations were true we
the people of Katsina would have rather
opted to join the popular opposition to shun
Shema but the truth is that the opposition in
Katsina, if I may justify the allusion of Gov.
Shema, are like pests to the positive
developments in Katsina State.
Scientifically, there are about 4,600 species
of cockroaches in the world 30 of which are
identified with human habitat; typically
spreading bacteria, allergies and are
potentially dangerous to human living. In this
light, much as one appreciates the role of
vibrant opposition as one of the
“performance catalyst” in government be it
democratic or not it must be noted here that the
acclaimed opposition is not the idle
paradigm. Rather these are the same
people who have over the years branded
Shema “Stingy Governor” simply because he
chose to invest the state funds in “masses
oriented projects” instead of sharing it
with them in the name of political structures
and stakeholders
Another question that comes to mind here is
whether this is the first time such sarcasm
is used. The answer is definitely no! I am
no party person but truth be told, we are all
witnesses to the inciting statements
against the People’s Democratic Party
(PDP) Presidential Candidate in 2011 by
one of our well respected leaders and just
recently the Governor of a South-South State
openly declared operation civil
disobedience. These are people who have
always been blunt with their words and crude
in their actions but it is Shema’s sarcasm
that is now a thunder storm.
One would think that with the same proportion
they are criticising the pest sarcasm they
would equally deny every other fact stated in
that statement. Governor Shema listed
things he has been able to achieve for us in
Katsina and they could not deny it. He stated
how the same opposition has been
humiliating and attacking people of
Katsina State for the past seven years and
they did not disclaim it. But when he alludes
to their negative politics as “political
cockroach” they decide to use that to attack his
person forgetting that he has a sterling
clear record when it comes to violence. Our
governor is a lawyer, a politician, a leader
and a devout Muslim. A man of this capacity
cannot use words carelessly. Like poets have
poetic licence Shema used the word in its
Political Sarcasm and in that same meaning
we the people of Katsina State understood
him. That is why hours and days after he
made the statement none of us has gone out to
attack anybody in the bid to crush the
“cockroaches”. Most of them are our family and
friends operating deviously like
cockroaches and when the time comes we shall
crush them like “political cockroaches” with
our “votes”!
Zainab Gambo.