Arch Sani Rayyan Ibrahim
FAMOUS American enterprenuer, Emanuel James Rohn, professionally known as Jim Rohn, once said, “a good leader, is a leader that is strong, but not rude; kind, but not weak; bold, but not bully; thoughtful, but not lazy; humble, but not timid; proud, but not arrogant; has vision with foresight, has humor, but without folly”. Nothing fits the above description of modern day leadership more than the Kano duo of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Kano guber candidate and Kano state deputy governor, Alhaji Nasiru Yusuf Gawuna and his running mate, Alhaji Murtala Sule Garo, popularly known as Gawuna/Garo or G & G.
The emergence of Gawuna/Garo as the flagbearers of the APC in Kano guber election puts to bed the long standing debate of winning Kano come March 11, the G & G duo are by far the people’s favourites in the state because these have been interwined by fate long before the APC ticket brought them together.
During the 2019 general elections, when there was a reported hitch and glitch at the Gama Area of Nasarawa Local Govt, Gawuna and Garo rushed to save the situation before it got out of hand, the two gentlemen were set up by an opposition party but not before they managed to douse the growing tension taking a brief detention and some opposition slants in the process, but Kano and Nigeria will forever be grateful for the intervention of G & G on that fateful day of what might have turned out to be the biggest chaos in Kano political history.
Gawuna is a politician par excellence, as a Deputy Governor, he can best be described as a bridge builder with uncommon character and discipline. He is a generous, honest and trustworthy person who can be entrusted with a higher public responsibility, as a loyal deputy governor.
Gawuna is also a reliable, dependable and straight forward individual with wealth of experience in public administration, economics and diplomacy. Indeed, he is a kind of material needed in our present day political arrangement.
Modern day politics is for people like Gawuna, More than before, the awareness social media had created in the last one decade has put politicians and political leaders on their toes to either perform or lose the next election. With Gawuna, there is no such fear of the latter, he has always performed from his days as multiple chairman of Nasarawa LGA, to commissioner for agriculture and now, deputy governor.
The man also has the singular distinction of serving under all three governors of Kano state from 1999 to date; Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, Malam Ibrahim Shekarau, and of course, Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje.
Gawuna – A visionary leader, grassroot politician and lover of Kano and its people. Some described him as a “fountain of Kano’s peace and progress”.
For the people of Kano, to have such an outstanding gentleman vying to serve, is nothing but a blessing from the Almighty. Gawuna is a politician whose compassion and love for his people is clear in every of his actions as a person, as a politician.
The wedding fatiha of his daughter again proved to many people that indeed Nasiru is a bridge builder. Dignitaries from different parts of the country and beyond were in attendance. Politicians from different political backgrounds were also there to rejoice with him for attaining such a big stride in life.
He has often received sticks from the opposition for saying he will continue where his boss, Ganduje stopped come May 29th, some feel that is a word of a politician trying to curb supporter but there is nothing in the last three decades of Gawuna’s politics to suggest the smallest iota of lie of deceit. He is truly a man of his words.
Murtala Sule Garo’s journey into politics is an interesting story, unlike most politicians who come out to contest, this man was dragged by his people into the political race, and it was his sheer desire to serve, evident in everything he does, that got him to accept, albeit reluctantly.
Some analysts and historians see politics as a dirty game. This is as a result of the blackmail and betrayal of political opponents and other negative activities of politicians. The activities of this category of people therefore make politics a dirty game. These are the kind of politicians fighting the will of people today, but there are a few exceptions and Garo is one of such exceptions.
Garo is in the category of people who are true progressives, decent people who are in politics to improve the lives of their people. They are not in politics to make money and do not see it as a do or die affair. They are selfless, humane and have nothing but the interest of the people at heart.
For a man that has given so much for Kano and the good people of the state, it will be utterly unfair that anybody in Kano will deny others a chance to see self service of this illustrious son of Garo come March 11.
I repeat, Garo is in politics to serve Allah and humanity. How is that possible in our environment you may ask? Well, the answer is in both his antecedents and precedents. With him, politics is not a dirty game, those who play it unwholesomely are. And he has shown that in his character and campaigns.
For over a decade, Garo has continuously serve the good people of Kano with his hard earned money. He has built schools, hospitals, vocational centres and provided help for local security outlets, as well as lots and lots of women and youth empowerments and social and family donations to hundreds of families in the state.
The Kano APC ticket has got both brains and brawn and a full page of a newspaper won’t be enough to highlight how much the duo of Gawuna and Garo have contributed to the development of Kano and Kano people but it is our prayers that G and G get the chance to continue to deliver the good of democracy come May 29th.
Rayyan writes in from Dala, in Kano