When the death of erstwhile Kano politician and political bigwig, Abubakar Rimi hit the web, there was a volley of reactions. A very few sympathetic while most were derisive. Judging from the comments of Nigerians, it was obvious they were untouched by the demise of this Kano political giant. It is not hard to understand why this is so. One has to take a look at the problems prevalent in the country to understand why the people don’t see an exit of one of those they consider as brains behind the economic, socio-political mishap of Nigeria as worthy of discourse.
The politician who was once governor of Kano State from 1979 to 1983, died at the age of 70 was returning from the wedding ceremony of his eldest daughter when he was met by men of the underworld on Sunday the 4th of April. The result of this unfortunate meeting was a heart attack and subsequent death before he could receive medical attention. The consummate politician has been on the political scene for as long as most Nigerians can remember. From the Aminu Kano led People’s Redemption Part where he defected following a disagreement with the latter to Nigerian People’s Party, the late politician was to be active on the political radar fifteen years later when he and others like Chief Alex Ekwueme a former Vice President, Professor Jerry Gana founded the ruling People’s Democratic Party in 1998 after meeting the requirement of representing national rather than regional and ethnic constituencies for the 1999 elections.
However the politician was to defect again to Action Congress in 2006 and later back to PDP after being reconciled to his former party members by a team led by Chief Alex Ekwueme. A man who enjoyed the portfolios of Governor of Kano State, Minister of Communications under the late General Sani Abacha in 1993, Chairman of the Nigerian securities and minting company in 1999 and Chairman of the Nigerian Agricultural and Co-operative Bank can be said to have belonged to the distinguished crop of people in the country who live fat on the nation’s wealth at the expense of over 150 million people, a people who have been on a constant backward movement since the granting of independence to their beloved country. A country where economic decline has led to brain drain, high unemployment rate, power problem, corruption, bad roads, inadequate medical care, ill equipped security personnel, armed robbery, high maternal and infant mortality rate among many others. It is in this kind of atmosphere that every kind of negativity thrives.
Statistics show that from 1960 till date, the unemployment rate which was virtually nonexistent in the 1950s rose from 1.5 percent to a current 4.9 percent. Due to greed of most leaders, no viable position has been taken to curb this menace which has brought to life social vices such as armed robbery, fraud and ritual killings. Often interrupted education and decline in quality of the same has ensured that more frustrated and less qualified graduates are churned into the society. So the more the politicians are happy to spend with impunity, funds meant for the development of the country, the more we produce trigger happy armed robbers and ransom demanding militants and kidnappers. It is unfortunate that the type of leaders we have in Nigeria are so short sighted to see that they are also at the receiving end of these destructive forces born of their corruption and ineptitude to tackle national problems. What amazes me is that these politicians have impressive resumes trailing them like pretentious perfumes and yet there has been little or no change in the fortunes of this country. One would wonder what they do with all they learn.
Abubakar Rimi is a politician that will be remembered by a lot of people for different reasons. What cannot be taken from the man was that he was a very vocal politician always surrounded by controversy. Most people viewed with suspicion his movement from one political camp to another when it best suited him. Overall he was a man constantly in the news for one political ruckus or the other. Whatever his motives were, he was seen as no different from the likes of him dominating politics in the country. He must have been to those that knew him, a man of honour, generous or whatever enviable disposition associated with likeable people but the majority of the people did not have such an opportunity to know him at close quarters other than the fact that he was at several times a public officer in a country that neglects its citizens.
All over the world, politics is seen as a dirty game but in Nigeria it is a dangerous game and as the morals of those in it seem to plunge further into an abysmal realm of desperation and political thuggery, there is likely no respite in sight. The end game of our politics is mired in assassinations, mysterious deaths, questionable court decisions and harassment. For this reason, sound candidates will always be discouraged from joining the political fray. Only half bred and naturally criminally minded individuals feel at home in it. Now that another politician bites the dust, people are raking up new conspiracy theories. The newspapers reports about a heart attack after being confronted by armed robbers do not satisfy some of the people who believe that there is more to the late politician’s death than meets the eye and who can blame them? Nigerians have not seen any credible elections since the return of democracy on May 29th 1999 while several high profile assassinations have been swept under the rug. So it is only natural for Nigerians to view any death from the political circle as instigated by the boogey men of our politics who continue to remain faceless if not untouchable.
Although the late politician’s death was not greeted with outright celebration as the late General Sani Abacha, it is sad when a people do not share the grief of the family of a fallen politician. It is a shame that our leaders have not learnt a lesson or two from the past. They are victims of the same problems they create. If indeed this country was laid on a solid foundation and we have credible elections producing credible leader as opposed to rulers, imagine what haven Nigeria would have been. If the country did not abandon other sectors of the economy for oil, resulting in high unemployment rate, imagine how crime free the country would have been. If there were sound economic principles guiding our leadership, why would the youths travel to outside the shores of the country or turn to devious means in order to survive? Every shred of pity for our politicians have been lost in the people and for those who believe in the heart attack story, they respond with cynicism and count the numbers of ordinary Nigerians lost to the disease due to poverty and the constant worrying problem of how to survive in the stagnated economy. We are all victims of the sorry state of Nigeria. Surely, our politicians do not think this is funny.
The Political Tragedy of Nigeria was Published
In Guardian Newspaper Nigeria on April 15, 2010.