Adamawa state has forever remained in the
news for mostly the wrong reasons almost throughout this dispensation beginning
from 1999. It has been one political
crisis or the other beginning with the quarrel between Atiku Abubakar, the then
Vice President and his then boss Olusegun Obasanjo. The state has also shown signs of stunted
growth syndrome in relation to its peers.
These two phenomenon cannot be separated – perpetual quarrel between its
elites and the stunted growth bedevilling the state. And the ordinary man on the street bears the
brunt.
While the state and the people are in the
process of being pulled out of the quagmire they find themselves in, some
others are stoking the embers of discontent and disunity in order to deny the
poor the benefit of enjoying the relative peace and tranquillity that followed
the exit of the immediate past administration.
The stock-in-trade of these people is the fabrication and dissemination
of rumours meant to endanger disenchantment against the current
government. Such merchants of
embitterment lack conscience and only worship lucre.
While the nascent administration under the
leadership of Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri is trying to find its feet and re-energise a
state that has been under life support all this while and prepare the people
for the forthcoming elections by breathing live into hitherto institutions that
has gone dead, these narcissists are busy distracting the government from its
avowed goal. Some of the rumours you
hear are so pedantic and churlish that they bear no repetition. I was shocked to read a post on Facebook by
a person I have tremendous respect for
saying he “heard” that the government is considering the removal of his
highness, the Lamido Adamawa, Dr. Muhammadu Barkindo Aliyu Mustafa. Without considering the incendiary nature of
such a rumour he went ahead and posted it on such a volatile platform.
I wondered what the author was aiming to
achieve if not to ignite unnecessary tension and mutual distrust between the
government and the highly revered traditional ruler. The reason given by the writer is the
Lamido’s call for a one hundred percept resource control at the on-going
national conference. I think the
Lamido’s call was in tandem with the wishes of the conveners of the conference
and should therefore be lauded and not be used against him, if it be true. Such issues are not to be trivialised on
social media because they touch raw nerves in some quarters. But if the intention is to generate the aforestated
objective of creating a strained relationship between the government and the
traditional institution, then it is sad coming from such an experienced and
exposed journalist.
The traditional institution is not to be
taken lightly in any society and by whomsoever because they are repositories of
our cultures and values. And by
convention, in Adamawa State you cannot go higher than the Lamido in the
Adamawa Traditional Council. Taking the
name of the governor and the Lamido in vain is therefore the height of
mischief.
A lot of rumours are flying around with the
specific aim of painting the current government in bad light. Views from politicians, operatives of the
past administration and others who lost out in the present arrangement are hell
bent on giving the government a bad name just to hang it. As indigenes of the state with roots and
stakes in how the state fared, we should be mindful of our utterances,
particularly those of us who are privileged to have access to the Internet. We inadvertently shape the mind of our
readers – whether we dish out bile or honey.
I do not have any problem with writing anything factual, but we
shouldn’t reduce ourselves to the level of those hate mongers who makes the
social media their avenue of divisive comments.
As much as one may dislike his Excellency,
Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri, he it is that God has thrust the mantle of leadership of
the state on his shoulders. The load he
is carrying right now is enough to make the shoulders of Atlas wilt without
many of us adding to those he inherited.
Much as some of us may find it difficult to accept the fact that Fintiri
is in charge, it may be easier for us to accept that the old order is no
more. Fabricating dangerous stories in
order to draw attention to self is doing great disservice to the already
traumatised people of Adamawa. We should as much as possible be circumspect in
our utterances.
The Fintiri government is barely a month
old, yet we expect them to perform miracles that for seven years couldn’t be
performed. Trying to distract the
government because our personal expectations are at stake is wrong and
destructive. May God save us from the
tongues of the wicked.
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