While presenting his last budget as Governor of Katsina State to the state House of Assembly last Tuesday, Governor Bello Masari, wept profusely. Ejiofor Alike writes that while the governor has every reason to weep for leaving the state more ravaged by bandits than he met it, his loyalists believe that he would miss the cordial relationship with the state’s lawmakers
Power is sweet as they say and when one loses it, there will be a solemn moment he will betray his emotions, no matter how long he had occupied the plum office.
This is was the case last Tuesday when Governor Aminu Bello Masari broke down in tears on the floor of the Katsina State House of Assembly while presenting a budget estimate of N288,633,257,963.00 for the 2023 fiscal year before the lawmakers for their scrutiny and consideration.
Masari publicly wept intermittently before the lawmakers and some top government officials, including the state’s deputy governor, Mannir Yakubu and the state’s Chief Judge, Justice Musa Danladi Abubakar, who also witnessed the budget presentation.
Though the governor had earlier told the lawmakers that he might be emotional while presenting the budget, he composed himself until towards the end of his speech when he broke down in tears.
First elected in 2015 as governor of Katsina State on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Masari was re-elected in 2019 on the same platform.
Since Masari is currently serving his last term that will end on May 29, 2023, his tears immediately became the subject of conflicting political interpretations between his supporters and detractors.
While many have wondered why the governor should publicly weep on such occasion, others said that he wept because it dawned on him that he is leaving power.
However, his opponents believe that he wept because he would leave the state worse than he met it in terms of insecurity. Masari inherited a very peaceful state but would be handing over a state where bandits incessantly kill and kidnap people for ransom, a state where farmers pay taxes to bandits to access their farms.
Overwhelmed by the state of insecurity in his state, the governor had on June 25, 2021, while inaugurating an operation and communication centre at the state’s police headquarters, said the only choice left was for the people to take their destiny in their hands and fight back.
“The era of blaming the federal government and security agencies on issues of Insecurity is over; let us wake up and see how we can tackle the problem ourselves. Fighting back is necessary.
“We cannot fold our arms and be waiting for security personnel from other places to come to our aid; therefore, everybody should be a police personnel by giving valuable information to security agencies,” he reportedly said.
The governor reiterated this call on August 2021, during a condolence visit to Jibia Local Government Area, where eight persons had died after the driver of a vehicle belonging to the Nigerian Customs Service lost control and ran over them.
In a statement by his spokesman, Abdu Malumfashi, the governor said, “It is the people’s meek submission that emboldens the bandits to continue with their heinous activities with murderous frequency. People must divorce their minds from the mistaken notion that security is government’s sole responsibility alone.”
He also defended his position during an interview on the state radio, Nagarta in Kaduna, claiming that there were not enough security operatives to man the state, hence the need for citizens to resort to self-defence.
“We also know that there are not enough security personnel. How many soldiers are there in Katsina and this is because this insecurity affected virtually all states of the federation. This compounded the problem and people cannot fold their hands and watch themselves being killed. If they abandon their villages, where will they go and when will the killings end?” Masari queried.
Also while speaking at President Muhammadu Buhari’s house in Daura on December 28, 2021, the governor repeated his call for self-defence.
“It’s Islamically allowed for one to defend himself against attack. One must rise to defend himself, his family and assets. If you die while trying to defend yourself, you’ll be considered a martyr. It’s surprising how a bandit would own a gun while a good man trying to defend himself and his family doesn’t have one,” he reportedly argued.
Having realised that he had failed in his duty as the chief security officer of Buhari’s home state, he went on state that his government would be willing to help citizens acquire arms.
“We’ll support those who come with the initiative to procure arms because residents need to also complement the efforts of security agencies. These people (security agents) don’t have the number to protect the people. When President Buhari came, he even tried by increasing the number of our security agents but it’s inadequate. Count it yourself, how many policemen do we have in this country? How many soldiers do we have,” he added.
Despite his failure to secure his people, he still told the state lawmakers during the budget presentation that he expected the people to vote for the APC in 2023 elections.
Currently, there are fears that with five local government areas in the firm control of terrorists, many do not know how the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) will conduct the 2023 general election in the state.
With the state of insecurity in the state sliding to a frightening level under his watch, the governor has enough reasons to weep.
That he will miss power was partly reflected in his budget speech when he said: “As you are all aware, this is the last time I will stand here before the honourable members of Katsina State House of Assembly to present the draft annual budget for Katsina State government.
“Mr. speaker, honourable members of the State Assembly, I hereby wish to categorically state that I will miss this excellent working relationship. I hope that the same treatment will be accorded to the incoming administration,” he explained. Surprisingly, he still scored himself high despite his abysmal failure to secure his people.
“Alhamdulillah, we did not fail in our responsibilities to improve your lives and the condition of your livelihood within the available resources. And I am sure posterity will judge our government on the meaningful projects, programmes and policies implemented during its tenure as government of Katsina,” he added.
Indeed, posterity will judge Masari for failing to secure the state despite having a sitting president coming from the area.
