By Macbun Osborne
We were taught in Primary school mathematics, that one plus one would equal two. But, in some cases, the same calculation could equal to three,four,seven, ten or even zero depending on which side of the divide one finds himself.
For every concerted effort at getting the correct answer to this elementary maths, it usually meets with unexplainable capitulation, it never adds up. This background is necessitated by the way and manner our elder brother Doctor Aliyu Idi Hong, a one time Minister who served under the late President Umaru Musa Yar Adua-led administration, who later served as Secretary of the Presidential & Governorship campaign team in Adamawa state last year.
The assumption of many of us is, that immediately Governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri assumes office in May 2023, we who worked for the landslide victory of the Governor in the last Gubernatorial poll especially with one of our own close to the seat of power in the state, we were almost certain, that some positive changes added with other forms of democracy dividend will fall in our direction with less hassles. But we were all wrong!
Amongst some of our expectations were that, with Dr Aliyu Idi Hong on the horizon and Governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri calling the shots, it won’t be business as usual, where only family and friends of holders of political offices enjoy the
crumbs from the masters table.
Unfortunately with each passing day since then up till this moment, we have seen our sensibilities continually being abused by one of us in whom we use to hold in high esteem.
For barely fourteen months into the governor’s second term in office, where Doctor Hong is reportedly among the very top ‘kitchen cabinet’ members weilding certain influences, whereby he has been handling major capital contracts allocated to him by the current state government, neither of his political foot soldiers, residents of his immediate community nor stakeholders from even his electoral ward in Shangui, enjoy any of these privileges he has been enjoying all these while.
Fo the records, prominent among some of these multi million naira capital projects executed by our elder brother, are some blocks of classroom in Fufore local government area, a perimeter fencing of a cemetery at Wuro Jabbe in Yola South Local Government, and currently he is handling the construction of a UBEC classroom in Mayobelwa local government area of the state. This is in addition to allegedly selling off at a give away price of a brand new utility jeep to one of his friends(name withheld) gifted to him by the state government at a paltry sum of thirty million naira recently.
While one is not begrudging the former Minister over all of these his influences in the current dispensation, but as a political leader in his own right from our local government area, the expectation of many is, that he would have used
this rare opportunity to empower especially some of us who toiled day and night massaging his ego in the wake of those electioneering period and some young people from our locality from Shangui ward, and indeed stakeholders from his immediate community. But that was not to be. Instead what we have been seeing is our brother singlehandedly smiling to the bank.
To compound his insensitivity to other political allies from his constituency is that, even the appointment slots allocated him and other stakeholders from the area by the state government ,he was alleged to have taken the lion share of the slots to himself. He allegedly gave some of the slots to one of his Aides(name withheld)who reportedly sold them out to some disadvantaged members of the public at the rate of between two hundred thousand and three hundred thousand naira. This attitude to say the least is unfortunate and unbecoming of a person of his standing.
I don’t think we deserve this kind of treatment, for the mere fact that we in Hong Local Government irrespective of our political differences can truly boast of fulfilling all the righteousness of the political process, periodic elections, party followership, going on the hustings to campaign, voter registration, and massive enlightenment on polling conduct, yet when a government is formed, majority of the people don’t enjoy the dividends of democracy commensurate with their hard work that translated into installing an administration.
All these attitudes of some of our leaders has tacitly
informed as that the role of politics in identifying a potential leader(s) has over years been on selfish interest and hopelessly short on moral and ethical values of an individual. Most of our leaders are rail-roaded onto positions of leadership without any demonstration to comprehend the problems of our societies on the basis of which they could fashion a sustainable plan. Generally, less than one percent of our so called political leaders has ever drawn any development plan even for their immediate communities not to talk of the state as a whole.
This negates the principle of democracy which they usually claim to practice at any time the opportunity to exercise our franchise presents itself.
But we are learning everyday, and whenever another opportunity of this nature comes again, we would not be cowed again as done in the past.
MACBUN OSBORNE writes from Jimeta-Yola, Adamawa State.