As Nigerians troop out on Saturday February 25 to elect a new President for the Federaal Republic of Nigeria, they will use the same opportunity to elect members of the National Legislative Houses of Representatives and the Senate. That is according to the guideline by the electoral umpire in charge of the electoral processes, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
And out of the contenders for the various offices to be contested for, the candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC), going by the mood of the good people of this country appear to be their choices. However, in specific terms, besides the party’s presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, there are other several other candidates of the party across board whose victories are also as almost certain as death.
One of the candidates under that category is Mallam Saliu Mustapha, the Turaki Ilorin, who is the party’s senatorial candidate for the Central Senatorial District. Pundits and political observers in Kwara State and its environ have congratulated the APC, Kwara State chapter the very day the Turaki Ilorin emerged the party’s flag-bearer for the zone. The felicitation in advance was borne out of the belief that the leadership of the party has taken the right step towards victory on February 25, 2023, the day Saliu Mustapha’s victory destiny beckons.
One would wonder why Saliu Mustapha?! And the answer is not far-fetched. We live in a society where our youth begin to emulate wrong role models. And that is a big challenge for some of us who are older than them. Their role models nowadays are actually an insult to us. Role models are supposed to be nation builders. But by the time you get wrong role models, the society is going! We just have to reverse the trend. So, all hands must be on deck to change the mentality and orientation of the youth to know that their role model must not be somebody that can jeopardize and ruin their futures.
When you see a real role model, you would know that he is someone that has a lot of positive things to offer the society. And if we find one, it is then our collective responsibility to rally round him. That is one of the reasons we are supporting Saliu Mustapha to play a major role in the politics of Kwara State.
I am from Kwara but I live in Lagos, I remember clearly when we were growing up, we knew who were our role models. We read a lot of books about Tafawa Balewa, Ahmadu Bello, Nnamidi Azikiwe and the lage sage, Obafemi Awolowo. Those were the people who put their lives on the line for us to have independence. We cannot also forget the likes of Anthony Enahoro who moved the first motion for our independence. Alexandra The Great conquered the world at the age of 19. Those are the people we read about that inspired our lives to want to be like them. But sadly, that is not the case today! Not values like prostitution, archers, yahoo-yahoo, drugs, cultism and all sort of negative values. And the society is responsible for that.
In finding solutions, that is part of why we commended the APC for fishing out Saliu Mustapha, a philanthropist of note, complete gentleman and somebody who is clear about what he wants for the society. With him in the Senate, we are going to have a more dutiful and more honourable parliamentarian. The reason for pushing a good material to the parliament is to be able to push your argument for the good of his people, of his constituency and of his country at large. And I know, Saliu Mustapha has that capacity in abundance. And that is one of the reasons we are optimistic that a winning contestant has been brought on board.
And it is no more a hidden fact that the political tension in Kwara requires a drastic intervention. So, the emergence of Saliu Mustapha in the Kwara chapter of the APC is a saving grace. His popularity and wide acceptability has consumed whatever grudges anybody might have been bearing against others in the party. It has doused tension and consumed any crisis that has been bedevilling the party in the state. In short, Saliu Mustapha is a lifeline for the Kwara State chapter of the APC. And it is also interesting to note that when he emerged the Kwara Central Senatorial candidate on the ticket of the APC, it was never through violence. It was peaceful because all well-meaning stakeholders who want peace collaborated to make sure that, Saliu Mustapha, a complete gentleman and peace-loving emerged. And since his emergence, peace has started reigning.
He emerged like a statesman and not through inducement. He emerged as man of the people who the people love and who loves the people.
To cap it all, there is nothing one can do about tradition and culture. There is no country that can prosper with a borrowed culture. And that is what we are doing as a people and that is why we are at the level we are today. We need to reawaken our culture back. The title of Turaki of Ilorin which he holds means the Treasurer of the Emirate. The title is mighty. It is not a joke. For His Eminence, the Emir of Ilorin to have honoured him with that title, there must have been a unique quality the Emirate Leaders have seen in him before considering him for the great title. So, if we marry all the attributes together, we would see the reason he has to be a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to represent the good people of the Kwara State Central Senatorial District from 2023 and I know that the people of the Central he is going to represent would not regret if they give him the mandate on Saturday 25, 2023.
And frankly speaking, in the Kwara Central, we need people like Saliu Mustapha, to whom the wellbeing of the district is important. Someone who considers the welfare of the youth is important to. Their career, their professions, their future. And Saliu Mustapha perfectly fits into the bill. By and large, I think the guy is the direction all of us should be looking at.
If we have Mustapha in all states of Nigeria, the presidential candidate of the party should go and sleep. If we have somebody formidable as Mustapha in the politics of Kwara State in all the 36 states of the federation, and they all work towards same direction for the party, we will arrive at the mathematical calculation of minority plus minority that will be equal to a majority. And that is what I will encourage all the political parties in the states to do.
I know Saliu Mustapha’s network will reach other important personalities like him in Kwara and in other states too. So, if we put all those pieces together, we would be able to coast home victoriously.
His status will no doubt rub off on others in the race, namely, Mallam Saliu Mustapha himself for Senate, Governor Abdur-Rahman Abdur-Razaq for a second term in office as governor and Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu for president.
Comrade Razaq Olokoba, a Chartered Public Administrator (CPA), member, Nigeria Institute of Management (MNIM), Security Consultant and National President of the Campaign for Dignity in Governance (CDG), wrote in from Ilorin, Kwara State Capital City.
