Understanding the Power of Gwamna as the Driving Force in Gombe

By Ibrahim Sani

This article is structured to draw the lines between objectivity and subjective truth, give the true picture behind the paint of lies with which the administration of Gov. Ibrahim Dankwambo of Gombe State was portrayed and to also put in right perspective the unalloyed personality of Dr. Jamilu Isyaku Gwamna (JIG) whose popularity is both growing like wild fire and fueling the journey of unprecedented defeat for the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the state. I wish to state emphatically that I am unnerved by the toxic and derogatory statements made to halt the exposure of the abysmally poor performance of the present administration. When a man fails to educate himself with the truth, the society should help him out. The issues I earlier raised in my article were objective and devoid of propaganda.

Those paid parrots of Dankwambo know that what they call incontrovertible facts of the governor’s achievements are nothing but subjective truth that lack verification. The recent media score card of Dankwambo as having done for the state more than what Senator Dajuma Goje did in the sphere of governance is nothing but the opinion of praise singers of the governor. It is clear that the unfounded statistics reeled out by the rejoinder of the article ‘Expounding Danger of Dankwambo, Nafada Script in Gombe’ was done to win the sympathy of the people by spreading falsehood about Senator Danjuma Goje who many see as a man who cares for the people of the state. The objective of Dankwambo’s new hatred for the likes of JIG and Senator Danjuma Goje has nothing in truth but everything in falsehood. If Goje handed over a failed state to the present administration, why wait till seven years to cry out? Perhaps, the government is trying to buy reasons to justify its failure which must be revealed as soon as they are defeated in 2019. Whether Senator Goje means well for Gombe State is for the people to judge because the ultimate judge of good governance in modern democracy remains the people. Unfortunately for Dankwambo and his partners in political deceit the wide acceptance of Senator Danjuma Goje has refused to decline.

The needless media attacks on people who have chosen to toe the line of truth to expose the lies behind the paints of Dankwambo’s performance by his associates as witch-hunt and distraction is an evidence of the fact that the government of Dankwambo doesn’t want to take responsibility for the failures of his administration. What happened to the N30 billion bonds raised by this government for infrastructural development? Who will pay the debt? Is the infrastructure claimed to have been built by this government commensurate with the massive borrowing? All the highlighted achievements are nothing but political projects of financial recklessness that lack a link between what the people want and the meagre offer the government claims to have given. The debt profile of the state is alarming yet nothing is mentioned in that regard.

As for the claim of turning the Kalare hoodlums into worthy ambassadors of the state, it is only a platform to achieve two things: siphon the money of the state as the government claimed that youth rehabilitation quaffed N170 million annually. Secondly, they are being used as thugs for election which has been the unchanging objective of this clueless administration. In addition, if the claim of constructing 50 more roads than all his predecessors is true then Nafada should be annexed to the neighbouring state as the roads in that part of the state and other bad roads in rural area which are supposed to link the farmers with the market to sell their perishable goods. But there is no evidence of road construction.

Taking a swipe at past leaderships of the state and portraying them as having done nothing, while at the same time the present administration claims to have renovated and up-graded as well as completed past projects is nothing but double-speak that is self-contradictory. Can one renovate, up-grade or complete what doesn’t exist? I think the question that should be asked of the government of Dankwambo is, what legacy will the next governor build on?

I sympathise with the PDP in Gombe state which is yet to recover from the shock of JIG’s move to the All Progressives Congress (APC) as evident in the constant reference to his defection by the PDP. The Sardauna of Gombe (JIG) is an embodiment of democratic victory in all ramifications of modern day politics of Gombe as well as symbol and champion of good governance. This is as a result of the fact that JIG has spoken the mind of many in view of his daring insistence on justice. The ache of the PDP has only but started as JIG will, in 2019, be the political architect that will engineer the defeat of PDP in Gombe. Accusing JIG of political disloyalty is a mark of what the PDP does better: maligning the person who has refused to dance to the tune of their dissimulation; after all, you can beat a child but you cannot stop such a child from crying.

Sani, a public analyst can be reached via shawai2000@yahoo.com