By John Danfulani, Ph.D
On 16th June 2016 page 17 of Leadership Newspaper displayed an invitation to tender by Kaduna State Government of a GOLD ORE PROCESSING PLANT in Birnin Gwari. The complex will have the following: a) Main Extraction Hall;B) Buying centre;c)Classroom Block;d) Machine Store;e) Mosque;f)Equipment Store;g)Lavatories;h)Gate House;and i)External work. Characteristically, the advert contained conditions to be fulfilled before bidding for all or any of the compartment enumerated in A-E hereinbefore.
Once again, Mr. El-rufa’i has confirmed that he is an ideological flip-flopper and a bias leader whose quantum of hatred and insensitivity is unprecedented in the history of the state. We have now confirmed that his sermons on privatization from 1999 to 2015 are opportunistic and deficit of dregs of sincerity. All razzmatazz and bombastic talks were a strategy of attracting Bretton Woods representatives in Nigeria for political aggrandizement. Little wonder the disasters recorded in some privatization deals that made Nigeria lost millions of USD.
On ideology, involving government in what is purely a business oriented project like the one in focus is taking government back business. His total hatred of government dabbling into business was graphically laced in his papers of October 2012 titled, “Privatization In Nigeria:The Promise And The Perils. Is he telling us that cronyism, corruption, inefficiency, favouritism, imperfect justice system and nepotism that were systemically engraved are gone? In the said paper, he foreclosed a replication of any success story like the ones we are seeing in China, Brazil, Singapore and Malaysia. If snags he tabled in his privatization holy book in 2012 have been liquidated within their first year in office, don’t we have the right to know? I smell a rat. Somebody want to use government of Kaduna State to establish some businesses and sell them to fronts and cronies before vamoosing on 29th May 2019. I hope history proves me wrong on or before 29th May 2019.
The Gold Ore Centre has provision for a mosque. Is Mr. El-rufa’i telling us that Christians and followers of other religions don’t deserve a worshipping place in the centre? Where will Christians have their morning devotion, midweek prayer, Sunday School and numerous Christian activities that members do? If the people that their religion admonished five times prayer within 24hr have a prayer centre, commonsense holds that those that their religion ordered prayer without ceasing should have more prayer centres. For ignorance or deliberate move his religious bill recognized only two religions in the state, why treating one fairly and another bad? When did the goose and the gander stopped sharing the same pot of sauce? How can this open show of bias against other religions bring peace and harmony? How can it build trust between Christians and followers of other religions and government?
On 29th May 2015, Mr. El-rufa’i swore to treat all manners of people equal and fair.This action and others have shown that he is not faithful to his oath of office. On 6th April 2016, while chatting on sunrise daily on Channels Television, he recklessly said Christians constitutes 30% and Muslims are 70% of the state population. This action of intending to build a mosque without a church must have been engineered by his unscientific 30 ratio of Christian population in the state. Equally, that must have guided his skewed and lopsided appointment of commissioners, board Chairmen and members, chairmen and members of LGA caretaker committees,top aides of his administration, and the minister representing the state in Abuja. One can safely say, religion and ethnicity are the directives of the state policy. Kaduna State version of Apartheid, right? Yes!
With these actions and decisions, how can one resist the temptation of judging and interpreting all his actions from an ethno-religious prism? How can one resist the temptation of believing that, his retweet that if Jesus criticizes Jonathan Maku/Okupe/Abati will alleged He slept with Mary Magdalene? How can one resist the temptation of believing that Mr. El-rufa’i has a hidden agenda against Christians and other minority in Southern Kaduna and entire northern Nigeria? Mr. El-rufa’i has graduated from spewing words of hate and contempt on Twitter to execution of those contemptuous and hate agendas.
I somehow don’t blame Mr.El-rufa’i for his numerous unabashed fairing of biases in Kaduna State since 29th May 2015. Christian and community leaders, Christians in his cabinet, state and federal lawmakers from Southern Kaduna are to blame. Am serious they are to blame. I stand by this even if a Russian made AK47 is directed at my head. Their passivity and not hearing or seeing his executive selfishness is responsible for all these rampaging insensitivity and belittling balderdash of Mr. El-rufa’i.
This is an issue that the state branch of CAN must not take kindly or treat with caution.Sad enough, they are passive-if not completely actionless. This action calls for open protest and occupying the streets for equal treatment, but CAN’s front is quiet like the Western Front in the Second World War. If politicians are not talking for fear of Mr. El-rufa’i’s awesome might that he uses uncharitably and roughly,CAN shouldn’t be part of the fearsome cream. CAN must live up to its billing and the spirit of its founding fathers like Jolly Tanko Yusuf, Engr Salihu etc. If their spiritual bases is hindering them from saying certain things and “acting somehow”,let them reform CAN and make way for “unordained Clergies” to openly fight for the interest of their members. It is often said; if a cat can’t run,let it make way for the tortoise.
Dr. Danfulani can be reached through his email: johndanfulani@gmail.com
