The People’s Redemption Party, (PRP) is cautioning against what it sees as worrisome and disturbing news coming out of Kaduna State. The party’s National Chairman and a traditional title holder in Zaria Emirate, Alhaji Falalu Bello, says nobody wins when lawlessness and polarisation across whatever demographics becomes the norm.
Alhaji Falalu Bello, National Chairman of the PRP
The highly symbolic statement owing to the fact that Kaduna State is where the PRP recorded a magical triumph over the hegemonic National Party of Nigeria, (NPN) in the Second Republic is not blaming anyone as such but would want all those entrusted and privileged to lead Kaduna State politically, across all divides, to live up to the highest ideals of decency and morality which he does not believe is too much to ask for.
The party chairman says it must be clear to all political actors that progress can only occur where peace is a staple, adding that, irrespective of the political ambitions of anyone, “effective leadership thrives where diversity is harnessed as strength, consensus building is woven into the fabric of governance and social integration considered a value”.
Asserting his own deep conviction that the preservation of human life and property, social cohesion and the bequeathing of an enviable legacy should take precedence over everything else, Alhaji Bello is asking all religious, political and traditional leaders to go beyond paying lip service to walking the talk and demonstrating their commitment to same by ensuring that their wards, supporters and followers behave within the ambits of the laws governing civil conduct during and after the election period.
The statement titled “On Kaduna Gubernatorial Election” issued Thursday argues against allowing politics to become a do or die affair. Instead, the Danmasanin Zazzau wants the situation whereby the choice that the electorate makes next Saturday is driven by their desire for good governance and accountability, devoid of religious and ethnic bigotry defining “how our people think and act at the polling stations”.
Hanging this preference on how easily any society could crumble under the weight of mediocrity, hyper-ambition, nepotism, injustice and duplicity, the party leaders draws attention to how these unwholesome variables can never come about until “those who should know better - and delinquents enlisted as agents of mischief to unleash mayhem upon society” fan the embers in addition to inducing it through financial gratification.
Governor Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna State
When the people of Kaduna State troop out on Saturday, March 9th, 2019 to cast their votes alongside their compatriots nationwide, says Alhaji Bello, the objective is to allow citizens to exercise their constitutional rights to choose their leaders. But, according to him, the democratic freedoms Nigerians all enjoy today did not come cheap. “Many of our compatriots lost their liberties and their lives in the struggle leading up to Nigeria getting to this stage of its evolution as a country”
It is thus the collective responsibility of elders to maintain the peace by cautioning all political actors from heating up the polity and making it irreversibly radioactive, adding his belief that where there is true patriotism and commitment to the true principles of democracy, peace, progress and tranquility would reign. “Indeed, those who show restraint in the face of compelling challenges and provocation are the courageous”, concluded the party leader.
Ever before but more so since December 2016, Kaduna State has become a hotbed of a pattern of violence that does not any consensus in terms of the explanation or understanding of it. It has gone up to the point where some interests have started canvassing boundary adjustment to re-arrange the cultural composition of the state. It has been that bad and the sober caution by a party such as the PRP on the eve of gubernatorial election can be very illustrative.
Posted from my blog with SteemPress : https://intervention.ng/15335/