By Saddiq Buhari
There is something profoundly offensive and deeply revealing about a political camp that chooses to insult an entire region, when it obviously lacks ideas of what will endear it to the people he chose to govern; not even among the party he claims to be seeking election into the exalted number one seat in Kwara state.
One expects an acclaimed Professor of Political Science who’s also privileged to head a democratic institute, to at least embody ethical political standards and discuss issues, rather than sending his Personal Assistant (P.A) on Special Duties to attack his perceived opponents.
Prof. Abubakar Suleiman really needs to start nurturing the understanding that nobody is responsible for his abysmally poor level of political acceptability in the state, his character is.
Prof. Abubakar Suleiman’s ambition seems to have clouded his judgment and sense of decorum. Recently, at a public gathering, he showed an unusual fixation with Rt. Hon. Yakubu Danladi-Salihu, telling me ‘Danladi is my boy. He’s a young boy.
Tell him not to be in a hurry, when we leave the stage, he can come’ – a comment made in the presence of Alh. Tajudeen Audu at a wedding recently; simply because I was introduced to him as a staunch supporter of the Speaker.
This reveals his disdain for younger individuals (not just Kwara North) and his underestimation of our capabilities.
The recent frustration expressed by Prof. Abubakar Suleiman in proxy, under the guise of ‘analysis’ attempts to delegitimize Kwara North, portraying it as politically spent, irrelevant and undeserving of voice.
This is a poor representation of a supposed head of a democratic institution who is expected to embody unity, collectivism and respect for divergence in political structures. His outburst, no doubt demonstrated that indeed, he is a misfit for the headship of the National Institute for Leadership and Democratic Studies (NILDS) and also fails the test of the kind of leadership a multi-ethnic state like Kwara deserves to keep it together.
However, it is understandable that Suleiman’s posture is not accidental. It is strategic, but unfortunately for him, results in strategic misfire. When argument fails, contempt is deployed. When credibility is fragile, regions are sacrificed.
It should be made clear that no aide, no academic professor or jejune aspirant has the authority to declare any part of Kwara irrelevant.
Kwara North is not a political error. It is not a footnote. It is a constitutionally equal region, populated by citizens whose rights to participate in leadership and political discourse do not depend on the approval of political marauders or intellectual hypocrites like Prof. Abubakar Suleiman.
This is a man who has never won a party’s ticket, talkless of winning an election. All his political life has been of parasitic nature; eating food cooked by others via appointment, which wasn’t gotten on self recognition, but benevolence of others whom he always betrays, a major factor that makes such a being untrustworthy.
In contrast, the young man the Professor seeks to deride ticks all boxes, zoning is an icing on the cake of Speaker Danladi’s blazing personal and political profile, not the foundation on which his ambition is built, definitely not its oxygen.
Danladi is in his 6th year as Assembly speaker with no record of labour crisis, but can the same thing be said of a Professor of Political Science who believes he has it all but remained at loggerhead with NILDS staff since his assumption of duty due to his garrulous and braggadocio tendencies?
The most annoying aspect of Prof. Suleiman’s veiled anttack on Speaker Danladi is not its arrogance, but its timing and purpose. Coming at a time when questions trail his public record as Director-General of the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS) over issues of high handedness, anti-union posture, staff intimidation, among other serious allegations that impedes a character unworthy of public office.
Instead of Prof. Suleiman’s attempt to deflect through regional contempt, he should rather channel his arsenals to launder his badly battered character and learn how to manage people better.
The same arrogance that undermines institutional integrity is the arrogance that dismisses entire regions as expendable in political debate. It is not surprising.
A camp associated with unresolved public questions does not get to speak with superiority.
It does not get to insult regions. And it certainly does not get to outsource arrogance to aides while avoiding scrutiny itself.
Calling Kwara North incapable or politically exhausted is not analysis it is anti-democratic.
It reflects a dangerous belief that political worth is conferred by elite consensus rather than citizenship. That belief is incompatible with the very democratic principles institutions like NILDS claim to promote.
And the hypocrisy is stark. The same intellectual tradition that teaches checks and balances now appears comfortable with hierarchies of belonging where some regions are “where the rave is,” and others should “shake off any noise.” That is not democracy. That is feudal thinking dressed in academic language.
Kwara North does not need permission to matter. It does not need to earn dignity through silence. And it will not accept being insulted to protect another man’s credibility problem.
If Professor Abubakar Suleiman and his irks truly believe in democratic values, the path is simple: drop the contempt, address the questions, and respect every region equally. Until then, every attempt to speak down on Kwara North will be read correctly not as confidence, but as fear masquerading as intellect.