I never thought anything could still shock me, especially in today’s Nigeria, until I heard that erstwhile Governor Jibrilla Bindow has decided to throw his hat into the ring for the 2023 governorship race in my dear Adamawa state. Now, nothing stops Jibrilla Bindow from contesting any political position, at least, as far as the constitution is concerned. But, it is my belief that individuals should carry out personal checks, perhaps even within their circle of family or friends to always dispassionately analyse their situations, especially before outrageous decisions like his declaration are taken.
Although it is on record that Bindow is so left-handed that even his associates abstain from freely donating useful admonition to him, I still think there should have been at least one person, perhaps an associate, or just someone, to tell him that aiming to eat where he once defecated will be an affront on the collective sensibilities of the people of Adamawa who still live with the pungeant smell of his grand failure as governor.
In fact, could it be that the man swallowed the political pill of selective amnesia and forgot that the people of Adamawa did not follow him to the doctors? Surely, he should know that the people of Adamawa whom he trampled on will plant a tree of memory in no less a place than the market to serve as a constant reminder of his catastrophic reign as governor. Perhaps he thought we had all developed amnesia. I suspect the man may have developed acute dementia to think he could tempt us back into his corner of failure.
However, in case Bindow has forgotten, let me offer a reminder; a rundown of the adversity ripened fruits still hanging in the Adamawa tree of memory. I believe there will be no better place to start with than to request insights into his secondary school certificate saga. Unless he plans to tell us that he went back to school after losing election, which is possible.
How could Bindow forget that he served four years without building as much as one brick of block in the local government areas of Michika, Madagali, Maiha, Gombi, Hong, Fufore, Mayo Belwa, Jada, Toungo, Guyuk, Lamurde and Demsa. These are areas that contributed immensely to the election of Bindow. At a time, Gombi was almost cutoff from the rest of the state because of the decrepit road. As if this was not enough, it was Bindow who declared that salary to local government staff was not a right. Bindow so pauperised local government workers that even banks and businesses blacklisted and refused them credit because nobody knows when they will be paid or if they will be paid at all. Perhaps, Bindow has learnt new skills on how to raise money to pay salaries and maybe that’s why he has summoned the courage to look the people he has helped to render wretched squarely in the eye and demand that he be voted back into power.
Maybe Bindow has also learnt how to enroll staff who had served the state diligently before retiring into the retirement scheme without waiting for their colleagues on the same level to die to free-up space just for them to be enrolled. Workers will sincerely want to know what awaits them, not just at the end of the month, but at the end of their career. Surely, these things won’t be too much to ask, are they?
Also, I will advise Bindow to climb the tree of memory where I’m sure he will find that the people of Adamawa still remember that he didn’t build any legacy project in four years. Bindow Jibrilla can’t point to a single legacy project even if his life depends on it. I dare him to prove me wrong on this.
Was it not Bindow that scammed students into applying for scholarships, collecting N5,000 as cost of form, only for him to pay in scholarship an amount that’s even less than the cumulative amount generated from the sale of forms? The man took advantage of the rampant MMM Ponzi scheme of the time to allegedly dupe unsuspecting students in what is referred to as “robbing Peter to pay Paul” even though, in his case, the amount paid to Paul was way less than what was collected from Peter.
We will wait for Bindow to tell us why he failed to secure the lives of the Adamawa people whose mandate he has returned to ask for. He should start with how he promoted the Shilla boys who became very dangerous to peace loving citizens. I’m sure the entirety of Southern Adamawa will like to know what has changed since he failed to handle the farmers – herders crisis and the tribal and ethnic clashes respectively, plunging the peaceful area into unprecedented crisis. Bindow should tell them if he has returned to cause more deaths to be visited on their people because of his now celebrated incompetence. Yes! Was it not due to his unguarded utterances, leading to the breakdown of peace that some European countries designated Adamawa state as a dangerous location for their citizens planning any travel to Nigeria to visit?
While he’s at it, he should endeavour to tell young students why he refused to pay their registration fees. Bindow should also tell them how many more youthful lives he plans to ruin with his lackluster attitude towards education and the future of their kind. I’m very sure the wives and children of parents who served in the local governments that he starved of salaries will have questions for him; questions I’m very sure they will want answers to.
This is why it is pertinent to call on Bindow’s friends and family to reel him in before he takes them down with him. As the saying goes, it’s the friends and families of the mad person that bears their shame. This is because the first thing mad people lose is shame. If not because of how generous laws can be, people like Bindow should not have the privilege of facing the people of Adamawa in the name of running for a second term where he once failed woefully. The temerity and reckless audacity of that declaration is simply mind boggling. But then, when it comes time for the horse to die, it will become deaf and dumb. The people of Adamawa are waiting for him.
At least, when Governor Fintiri declared, his speech, besides strengthening hopes to the people of the state, contained a check list of some of his achievements; what was impossible for Mr Jibrilla but done successfully by Mr Fintiri.
