It is heart-warming to know that Governor Umar Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano State is now a free man. For almost 10 months, former Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso practically turned Ganduje (his erstwhile deputy) into a puppet. The man in Ganduje died, as he was taking instructions from Kwankwaso on virtually all issues. The former governor decided who got what, when and how much in the state. Contractors queued in front of Kwankwaso’s house instead of that of Ganduje. When Kwankwaso comes into town, Ganduje would abandon all functions to receive him. That was how powerful Kwankwaso was until two weeks ago when the Kano State governor decided to rebel and take full charge of the state. Kwankwaso the godfather went to the extreme and was sacked, thanks to support from powerful indigenes of the state. Ganduje, who was just in government, is now in power. The decision of the state’s House of Assembly to pass a vote of confidence in Governor Ganduje this week is a good development. The governor also needs to move quickly to dislodge members of the Kwankwasiyya Amana political movement in his cabinet in the interest of the people.
Ganduje is the first governor in this
dispensation to sack his godfather. This move is clearly in the interest
of the people of the state as it offers an opportunity to get a clear
picture of the alleged rot left behind by Kwankwaso in the state. Also,
the Kano State governor can now implement his own agenda devoid of
external influence. Many other governors across the country are still
under the yoke of their godfathers. Some of these ex-governors still
maintain their apartments in the Government House while the incumbent
governors are pushed to the backyard. Unfortunately, many of these
incumbent governors are happy taking instructions from their
predecessors. They are simply errand boys. I hope the development in
Kano State will motivate these eaglet governors to fight for their
emancipation from the shackles of godfatherism.
GovernorCivil servants in Ogun State
have been on strike since March 7 over a long list of complaints against
Governor Ibikunle Amosun. Union leaders say the five years of Amosun
have brought immense pain on their members. They also say that most of
their members have not been enjoying full salaries for a while now.
According to the General Secretary of the state’s Joint National Public
Negotiating Council, Olusegun Adebiyi, “about 45 percent of our
salaries are being paid and the government goes to the media to tell
them they have paid salaries while 55 per cent of the salaries are being
withheld by the government.” The workers are also angry about
non-payment of gratuities and non-remittance of various deductions from
their salaries. Gratuities were last paid in this state in October 2012.
There is also a huge unremitted contributory pension deduction. Workers
in the 20 local government areas in the state also joined in the
strike. Public schools and courtrooms remained shut. Everything has been
at a standstill in Ogun for days.
Rather than engage the seething workers,
Amosun, who reneged on a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed with
the workers sometime in January, has been going about threatening them
with a sack. Clearly, this is not the time to threaten these hapless
workers. I don’t think Amosun will achieve anything with this. He needs
to be reminded that we are not under a military regime. This governor
has disappointed the workers on several occasions. Ogun civil servants
have never had it so bad in the 40 years history of this state. Amosun
should seek forgiveness and restitution. Amosun and Angry Civil
Servants.
THISDAY
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