By Aliyu Bashir Limanci
In the wee hours of Wednesday 9th June 2021, the people of Bauchi woke up to the unexpected news that the governor of Bauchi had dissolved his entire executive council including the Secretary to the State Government and the Chief of Staff.
While the dissolution was long overdue, it came at a crunch time at which we are less than two years away from the general elections, and the political climate in the state must have been the major reason behind Kaura’s decision to sack the cabinet.
Ruling a politically vibrant state like Bauchi is arduous and given Kaura’s relentless efforts to fulfil his campaign promises before he faces the voters again, Governor Bala Muhammad has made a right and timely decision to rejig his team and make sure he does not accommodate a mole in his administration who could undermine his policies.
It is a well-known fact that some of his aides nurture political ambitions to run in 2023, some are loyal but they lacked the capacity to rally voters during the next elections while others were just trying to undermine his administration.
For example, Dr. Aliyu Tilde has done well in reforming our education sector but the problem is his anti-people policies that mostly target teachers and vulnerable students could not augur well for an administration that aims to gather public supports.
Unorthodox policies can have positive impacts in the long run but is Kaura ready to face the backlash from teachers who barely survive with meagre salaries but are being subjected to stringent working conditions? Is he ready to endure the anger from parents who think their children have been unfairly denied access to the state-sponsored NECO/WAEC? A popular adage in Bauchi has it that “if you want to test the popularity of a governor in Bauchi, let the civil servants judge him.”
If the downfall of the former governor, MA Abubakar is anything to go by, letting Aliyu Tilde go is the right decision. Besides, he lacks the political firepower to help the governor win his local government, Toro.
A leader is not worth his name unless he is bold enough to fish out moles who might team up with his potential political adversaries to undermine him. There were widespread rumours that certain individuals in the administration were not only disloyal but also surreptitiously leak out information to those who might use it to damage the administration as we eye the next election.
A competent cabinet is an integral part of the strength of any administration. Kaura has managed to build infrastructures better and faster than any governor in the state’s history. But Bauchi is still one of the poorest states in Nigeria.
Our education sector is still in comatose, and poverty has been biting people hard with people eking out a living to keep their bodies and souls together. Our women in Bauchi are still among the least educated women on earth and so many factors including poverty and cultures continue to hinder girl-child education in Bauchi. However, it remains to be seen how the new cabinet will look like and my hope is Kaura should do more is to engage a competent cabinet who has what it takes to help secure our dear state and turn it into a prosperous environment where poverty is defeated.
Aliyu Bashir Limanci wrote in from Gongongon Area, Bauchi, Bauchi State
