No sharia, no tazarce
By Bolade Omonijo
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GOV. Attahiru Bafarawa is no doubt an astute politician. When the Sharia fire was raging in neighboring Zamfara state, he knew the smoke would soon envelope Sokoto. He followed the motion-set up a panel to look into the desirability and modalities; got a bill prepared and presented to the House; and then signed into law. Many in Sokoto swear that his excellency's hands were tied, otherwise he would have avoided it, Arch conservatives still hold it against him that the all-important law came into effect on May 29, 2000 without the fact, Gov. Baferewa was out of town that day. Since then, life has gone back to normal, or near normal. Kabukabu (motorcycle riders in Sokoto do not discriminate against women and women of easy virtue still swarm the few hotels in town . The only difference is that those hooked on the green bottle have to wait till evening when the many market usually bubble. But for the experience of citizen Safiyatu Husaini, the woman sentenced to death by stoning, one would have said that Sokoto Sharia wears a human face. Meanwhile, the whole world is awaiting Governor Bafarawa's verdict. Will he sign Safiya's death warrant? A steady course If there is any state that has shown consistency in treading the conservative path, it is Sokoto. It gives leadership to others like Niger, Bauchi, and Rivers States. In the First Republic, for as long as the Sardauna, Sir Ahmadu Bello and the Northern People Congress, NPC, lived, no other Sokoto, Rabah or Yabo or Shagari. Then came the second republic when the mantle of leadership was passed to Alhaji Shehu Shagari, again from Sokoto. The people rose in unison to support Shagari's NPN. In the 1979 presidential election, the NPN obtained two-thirds of that total votes cast, compared to its closest rival, GNPP's, one quarter. When the votes obtained by those two Northern parties were added together, they amounted to 93 per cent. In 1993, Chief M.K.O Abiola broke all existing records nationwide to receive the widest support ever. But his efforts did not impress the Sokoto voters. Only 20.79 percent of the voters thought he was a presidential material compared to Alhaji Othman Tofar who won the support of 79.21 per cent of the electorate. The trend continued in 1999 when almost 60 per cent of the voters cast their ballots for the APP in the presidential election. Beyond these statistics, however, the significance of Sokoto in Northern politics, in particular and, Nigerian politics, in general, appears to be waning. Why? Politics is a game of numbers. In 1979, Sokoto votes were eagerly awaited by the politically sophisticated. They came in tidy numbers and were delivered en bloc to the NPN. They could prove the decider. Today, the story has changed. In the 1979 governorship election Sokoto people cast a total of 1.4 million votes, compared to Kaduna's 1.2 million, Kano's 1.1 million. Gongola's 65 million and Borno's 7 million. But, by 1999, the story had changed. Old Borno (that is, Borno and Yobe) returned 1.2 million votes in the presidential election, old Kaduna (that is, Kaduna and Katsina) returned 2.8 million, old Kano (that is, Kano and Jigawa) returned 1.4 million. Then, old Gongola (that is Taraba and Adamawa) returned 1.7 million votes. What about old Sokoto,? 1.2 million. That is not the end of the story. Even within the Sokoto axis, Sokoto state recorded the least votes. While 380,079 people voted in Zamfara during that election, 512,229 in Kebbi, only 254,427 exercised their civic rights in Sokoto state. Who is the general? Before the last general election, the Marafan Sokoto, Alhaji Umaru Shinkafi was seen as the political general of the Sokoto zone comprising Sokoto, Kebbi and Zamfara state. He won the title having fought many political battles. In the NRC days, not many would forget how he fought Alhaji, Adamu Ciroma to a stand still. Again, in the UNCP days, he was the clear leader. He bestrode the scene like a colossus and easily dictated the pace. When, therefore, APP was formed and he emerged one of the moving spirit, he was the only person from the Sokoto axis who could flow along with the likes of Olusola Saraki, Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, Bode Olajumoke, Odumegwu Ojukwu and Gamaliel Onosode, among others. In talks with the South West based Peoples Consultative forum, Shinkafi, a friend and confidant of Chief Bola Ige was at the forefront. But the home front was not as secure as it appeared. At least in Sokoto state, there was someone who felt he too had paid his dues and moved swiftly to prove a point. The name? Alhaji Attahiru Dalhatu Bafarawa. At the time, Bafarawa was the chairman of Cement Company of Northern Nigeria, chairman, Bafarawa Petroleum, Bafarawa Mills ltd and Bafarawa farms ltd. In short, he had reached the dizzying heights in the business world and wanted to prove himself. In Eastern Sokoto where both Bafarawa and Shinkafi had extensive political machinery on the ground, there were irreconcilable differences all through. A compromise was only struck after the intervention of other party elders in respect of Isa local government. While Bafarawa insisted on producing the chairmanship candidate for his home local government area, Alhaji Umaru Shinkafi who hails from neighboring Shinkafi local government areas of Zamfara state was consoled with supplying the vice chairman. Since then the relationship between the chairman, Alhaji, Habibu Halilu and the vice chairman, Alhaji Yusuf Abdullah has been anything but cordial. Upon election as governor, Alhaji Bafarawa is said to have moved swiftly to consolidate his hold on the party and power structure. If out of power in 1998/99, he was able to checkmate the influence of Alhaji Umaru Shinkafi, the former boss of NSO is said to pose very little threat today. So, whither the Marafan Sokoto?
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