Senator Ahmed Lawan and his hatred for Potiskum

At our enlarged meeting in Potiskum, on Monday, April 25, 2022, it was noted that the most recent skewed action of the Nigerian polity is the proposed siting of the envisaged Federal University of Medical Sciences and Biomedical Technology in Gashua, Yobe North Senatorial District and the diatribe of a faceless group of media jobbers against some elders of Potiskum area of Yobe State.

Whereas the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria headed by a son of Yobe North Senatorial District of Yobe State, Senator Ahmed Ibrahim Lawan, CON, had passed the bill for the creation of the University of Medical Sciences and Biomedical Technology in the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria; the one for North-East zone was proposed for Yobe State and thoughtlessly manipulated for Gashua, the home of the Senate President, without recourse to the facts on the ground, the socio-political peculiarities of Yobe State and potent economic reasons which does not and will never favour the duplication of federal tertiary institutions in Gashua.

In the light of the foregoing, we hereby submit as follows:

1. The proposal to the site of a second federal university in Gashua is far from thoughtful, abuse and brazen display of power, a miscalculation, misplaced priority and an act of insensibility to the yearnings and socio-economic balance of Yobe State. For a State divided into three senatorial districts of Yobe North, East and South; Yobe North has the Federal University, Gashua established in 2013 by the regime of President Goodluck Jonathan, Yobe East has Yobe State University and Yobe South has no University! The Senate President, Ahmed Lawan has played very bad politics to push for the siting of the proposed another Federal University in Gashua.

2. The action of the Senate President is a deliberate one to spite the Senator from Yobe South, Senator Bomai Ibrahim Mohammed to be seen by his constituents as a weakling, inconsequential and rubber stamp Senator of the Federal Republic.

3. Senator Ahmed Lawan is using the politics of the siting of the Federal University of Medical Sciences and Biomedical Technology to test political waters ahead of the 2027 Governorship elections in Yobe State, where Yobe South Senatorial District is the rightful successor of Governor Mai Mala Buni, in view of the painful loss of the Governorship opportunity of the area caused by the untimely death of the late Senator Mamman Ali in 2009. Yobe South has patiently waited and supported other Governors of Yobe State after the demise of Governor Mamman Ali only for Senator Ahmed Lawan to rise today and attempt to throw in the spanners into the political wheels of Potiskum zone.

4. The action of the Senate President is also a calculated effort to smear the political credentials of the current Senator from Yobe South Senator, Bomai Ibrahim Mohammed as a political failure to frustrate his well-deserved dossiers as the most acceptable political personality to emerge as Governor of Yobe State from Potiskum nay Yobe South Senatorial District and succeed Governor Mai Mala Buni in 2027.

5. Compounding the injustice, senseless scheming and blatant dislocation of good thinking of the Senate President is the recent publication by a faceless group of media jobbers alleged to have been supported by Senate President, Ahmed Lawan to cast aspersion on some personalities from Yobe State South Senatorial District such as the late Mallam Adamu Ciroma, Liman Ciroma and the living Wazirin Fika, Alhaji Adamu Fika and others as colossal losses to Potiskum zone when they had opportunities to serve in various sensitive positions of the Federal Government of Nigeria.

6. To put the records very straight, we hereby state categorically that the aforementioned elders of Potiskum town, the dead and the living were nationalists, elder statesmen who were never ethnic nor tribal bigots, they were not nepotic nor despotic and are known to have shared the few opportunities and infrastructures in the Nigerian Governments of their era evenly to all citizens of the Old North East region, Old Borno State and never had in their blood divisive tendencies like the Lawans of this world. Besides, the Nigeria of their time harboured good levels of meritocracy; compared to the present skewed age and season of the likes of Senator Ahmed Lawan who see no evil in keeping two federal universities in Gashua.

Besides, the insulted personalities retired from the government with clean hands, superlative cum honest records which the likes of the Senatorial grandmaster, Ahmed Lawan would never measure up.

7. For a former geography and remote sensing Lecturer 1 of the University of Maiduguri, now Senator Lawan, to have thrown away his geographical instinct and “remote senses” to the viability, sensibility and propriety of keeping a federal university in an economically viable location and cosmopolitan area as Potiskum for even development of the new university; compared to an environmentally unfriendly location like Gashua is an indictment to his supposedly good education and exposure.

8. Senator Ahmed Lawan’s misplaced action is another slap to the rich historical and cultural ties between the people of Bade, Fika and Pataskum Emirates of Yobe State known for age-long understanding, friendship and brotherhood which are now seriously threatened by latter-day novices like Senator Ahmed Lawan in the name of skewed siting of a Federal University of Medical Sciences.

9. Should Senator Lawan believe the anthemic existence of two emirates in Potiskum could be ploughed for selfish politics and other clandestine moves to further ignite and fan the embers of “advantaged disunity”, the Potiskum zone despite the unfortunate emirate brouhaha is too wise to sift the wheat from tares, distinguish friends from foes, decipher development from disdain and would never tolerate the antics of a divisive and selfish Senate President against their commonwealth.

10. We hereby call on the Governor of Yobe State, Alhaji Mai Mala Buni, Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, Emirs, Civil Society Groups, good-spirited persons and other lovers of peace and development to stop the madness of Senator Ahmed Lawan to cause bad blood between the people of Potiskum and Gashua and allow the establishment of the proposed University of Medical Sciences and Biomedical Technology in Potiskum, Yobe South Senatorial District and other acts aimed at undermining the political relevance of the area from now till 2027 when the zone would succeed Alhaji Mai Mala Buni as governor of Yobe State.