The Bakura Constituency Bye-Election in Zamfara State has come and gone. The battle line earlier drawn has now been decisively decided. A clear winner has finally emerged. And a bad loser has also emerged. It has, however, left in its trail, a heap of discerning lessons to be learnt by both political godfathers, political gladiators, political learners, political jobbers and also political prostitutes.
For the period the administration of Abdulazeez Yari Abubakar lasted in Zamfara State, he has ruled the state with such unparalleled arrogance one can only find in a man who is deficient of worldly knowledge, exposure and universal character. His arrogance is specially crude, born out of a mixture of poor knowledge of worldly affairs, poor human relations and poor understanding of contemporary events leading to success in governance. This was the bane of his administration and was also responsible for his recent Waterloo in politics.
He has since “touched the ground” but has refused to acknowledged that. As an ordinary citizen, he carries himself around fighting the incumbent Governor of the state, Dr. Bello Muhammad Matawalle who has, by providence, ascended the leadership position just left by Yari. By the very circumstances of Matawalle’s ascension, Yari rejected the Will of God and still addresses his own chosen lackey as the “elected Governor” of the state while he tells his hunting dogs to always call Matawalle a mere “sole administrator”.
The Bakura election was a golden chance for Yari to show the world that he “owns” the state while Matawalle is only a “sole administrator” until the time of elections in 2023 when they will take over their seat of governance from him.
It was Yari who willingly blew the tiny Bakura election and ballooned it into a national affair. He bounced across the APC States in the country garnering financial, moral and political support. He challenged Matawalle to a fight. And a fight he got from Matawalle! The election was held, and, like the Tyson-hit which causes an opponent permanent internal injury leading to bleeding to death, Matawalle, after the second round in the ring, sent the entire arrogance of Yari and his clique into total stupor and oblivion.
Observers after the elections have noted that Matawalle speaks less of Yari, but he acts volumes to prove Yari wrong at all times. Independent observers noted that Matawalle would rather ignore Yari all the time when he rants because the two do not belong to the same class by all standards. Their level of knowledge, exposure and sophistication are miles apart. Matawalle will be smearing his accomplished credentials by joining issues emanating from ignorant and encapsulated World view.
Indeed, even among useful animals, there are status. The horse is a beautiful creature, big, strong and of the royalty. The Donkey is less strong, less beautiful, less intelligent and meant for lowly engagements. Matawalle is no match for Yari.
Today, Matawalle has shown the world that Yari was a liar. He did not own Zamfara politics. Matawalle does. The yardstick of measuring the upcoming events in 2023 was chosen by Yari. He was flatly defeated at it by the quintessential Matawalle. The major lesson to learn here is that if Yari was the political lucky boy of Zamfara before, Matawalle is the political God-chosen star of today’s Zamfara politics and a far far more sophisticated personality than Yari.