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 judgment 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 he added “Crush them.”
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 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 who has said the statement was targeted at his party and its members due to its growing acceptability and popularity in the state. Noting 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 stake holders
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 criticizing 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 cockroaching” 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 license 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.
Katsina.