By Abdu Labaran Malumfashi
Not long ago, the Zamfara State Governor, Alhaji Dauda Lawal bought a BMW car 2024 model at the cost of a ‘meagre’ N300 million, the same amount the Nigerian president was said to have spent (wasted) on the purchase of four tyres for one of his many official motor vehicles.
The Zamfara state number one citizen, who is said to be the richest governor in the country, is a person known for his love of fast state of the art cars. Those in the know of his alleged stupendous riches and his love for modern cars, were not surprised at his purchase of the 2024 model by the Bavaria Motor Works ( BMW).
To the hungry citizens in the banditry ravaged state, and the eight abandoned and stranded in Cyprus, the Zamfara state students, the purchase of the car N300million car by Governor Lawal was not anything to applaud, or even appreciate. It was not funny either, but completely reprehensible, irresponsible and condemnable, at this time of extreme poverty and hardship in Zamfara state in particular, and the country in general.
The eight Zamfara state students, went to Cyprus for higher education on the (state) government sponsorship, were expelled from the institution one year ago for failing to pay their tuition fees, after failed repeated reminders by the school’s authorities. They were ten students initially, but parents of two of them were said to have found the money to send to their children to return to Nigeria. The rest however, remained stranded and abandoned in the foreign country for upwards of one year now.
The expelled-from-school-and-abandoned Zamfara state students, were said to survive all these years by doing some jobs that the locals found as too demeaning and therefore beyond their dignity to do, and sleep with vagrants in open public places, without any healthcare.
This is the same Zamfara state government that was, not long ago, accused by the state’s chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) of paying a ‘settlement’ to a group of bandits, some media individuals, and a powerful online media organisation. The allegation was of course, vehemently denied by the Zamfara state government.
But a few days later, the Zamfara State APC claimed that a far reaching reorganisation was effected in the civil service of the state, with the office of the Accountant General most affected. The reason being that the exercise was carried out to rid the government of ‘whistleblowers’, so that any financial transaction, over or under the table, would not be made available to unintended parties. And the political party said that the action of the government had vindicated it on the allegation.
A neighbouring state from which Zamfara state was created by the Military regime of General Sani Abacha, is saddled with one of the most insensitive and inept governors in the country, who appeared to be constantly in the news for unedifying reasons. General Abacha had done a world of good to the people of the old Sokoto state by curbing out Zamfara state, otherwise the state (Old Sokoto) would have two competing politicians (both) of whom appear to be of very little use to the society.
Nigeria is unfortunately saddled with some of them as leaders, but only of the self serving variety, who are always ready to sell their people or the entire country at the smell of money, no matter where it is coming from. Many have indeed done just that, or even done worse (to be a spy), in the quest to accumulate money.
Although such people claim to be followers of ONE TRUE GOD, their corrupt practice, earning them billions or even trillions of Naira, would appear to be anything but religious, theirs is to accumulate money by whatever means without thinking, or believing that they would have to account for all their possessions and action before God, in the permanent world.
In the event that the unpaid school fees of the Zamfara students have been settled by the state government, or the young men have been brought back to Nigeria by the government, it is still advisable to governments all over the federation never to abandon any student abroad. The Zamfara state students are young men who are supposed to be the leaders of tomorrow.
Treating the young men shabbily in foreign lands under circumstances that are not beyond the government, would not augur well for the country, as it would erroneously be believed by them that, it is the thing to do whenever there is a change of administration in the state.
Such mistreated youths may one day demand their own ‘pound of flesh’ from innocent others, and the it may, unfortunately, continue that way, unless the forgiving types come along and stop the vicious cycle.
May God intercede on behalf of the innocent children, for the only offence of being the children of poor people, in a country that celebrates wealth, regardless of how it was ‘made’.
Malumfashi wrote from Katsina.
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