AKURMI NATION-THE POLITICS OF 2019 AND BEYOND

By YUSUF GOJE

Recently, I had the privilege of conversing with two vibrant and politically conscious youth on the political history and future of the Akurmi people in Lere local government in particular and Kaduna State in general. Of particular emphasis in our discussion is the present misfortune of the Akurmi people not holding any elective or appointive office of executive or legislative significance, which gives us political advantage or attracts development to our communities. We also took out time to x-ray and rank the activities of our elite politicians over the past eighteen years who have immensely contributed to our political fortune or retrogression. The late Barrister Musa Shekarau stood-out tall in terms of achievements among his political contemporaries, as some of his legacies are what many of our politicians today are riding on.

Furthermore, our discussion dwelled largely on why, even with our population, we are yet to produce a lawmaker at the National Assembly and presently without one at the State House of Assembly. When only some few yes back we had at one time or the other a Deputy Speaker, Majority Leader and House Committee Chairman on Judiciary at the State Assembly before 2015. We all agreed that the 2015 general elections regrettably exposed our political naivety by putting all our political eggs in one basket, because we refused to move outside our comfort zone, and we ended up without an elective office. Also, it showed that many of our elite politicians are lightweights without being in either elective or appointive positions, as their political structures collapsed immediately after losing their seats.

However, what became more worrisome in our discussion was when we reeled out the distribution of polling units in Akurmi dominated areas in Lere local government with that of others. Even with the unfair distribution of polling units, it came out that there are one hundred and two (102) polling units in Akurmi dominated communities alone; while the combination of Gure, Kahugu, Piti, Amo and Janji shared forty (40) polling units. On the other hand, the areas dominated by the Hausa-Fulani among others have a total of one hundred and twenty (120) polling units. We also realized that the Akurmi people have substantial voting population around polling units in Hausa-Fulani dominated areas such as Ungwan Bawa, Lazaru, Saminaka, Dan’Alhaji, Kayarda and Ramin kura.

Simple political calculation shows that if the Akurmi people with 102 polling units can strategically break the chains of divide and rule by forging political alliance with its sister ethnic groups (Gure, Kahugu, Piti, Amo and Janji) with 40 polling units, in total we will have 142 polling units to win all elections, not forgetting our large voting population in Hausa-Fulani dominated polling units as an advantage we can tap into. It is high time we show more respect to our sister ethnic groups by creating an enabling environment that gives them a sense of political belonging in an alliance that sufficiently captures their interest. Over the years, when we get power we try to subjugate and look down on them only to remember that we need them during elections; it is time to extend a hand of political fellowship to them in order to ensure that our lost political glory is regained by producing a lawmaker at the National Assembly in 2019 and beyond.

With the 2019 general elections just by the corner, our first point of engagement should be the forthcoming local government elections where we have young Akurmi youth contesting for various elective positions. Supporting them can be the building blocks for our political victory during the 2019 general elections. It is now a matter of survival for us to massively come out and vote for Akurmi candidates, because in a democracy everything is politically influenced and determined, so without our people in political positions, decisions will surely be taken without our input. Our political experience after 2015 till date should have taught us that the “devil we know is better than the angel we do not know”.

 We must put aside the “pull him down syndrome”, as everyone has his or her weakness, so we should not use it as an excuse to vote against our people regardless of their political parties. I am a stickler for merit as against primordial sentiments when it comes to candidates seeking for elective positions; so while I call for us to vote for our kinsmen, we must also x-ray their manifestoes to ensure we can hold them accountable when they get to power. However, the advantage of voting our kinsmen is that it opens up the political space for more of our people to effectively participate and bring about development to our communities.

Every ethnic group has a political agenda, the question is, what is the political agenda of the Akurmi people for 2019 general elections and beyond? Or do we just want to commercialize our support to anyone with deep pockets that we can praise-sing into giving us money for our votes. Rather than our politicians waiting for their political benefactors (former governors who gave them appointments and only see agents to be used to generate Akurmi votes) before taking any political decision; they should be busy building and strengthening their own political empire.

 It is time to wake up or 2015 political misfortune is bound to repeat itself.