There is no gainsaying the fact that Senator Abdullahi Adamu (APC, Nasarawa West) and first civilian governor of the state, has made his mark in the political history of not only Nasarawa state but Nigeria as a whole. Adamu’s contributions to the development of Nasarawa state and Nigeria are quite visible, especially since the return of democracy in 1999.
A former minister and secretary of the Board of Trustees (BoT) of the then ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Adamu was as influential as any politician could aspire to be, clinging on the corridors of power and helping in taking decisions that have impacted on the lives of Nigerians.
Even when in January 2014, Adamu, alongside10 other senators, defected to the APC, the lawmaker has continued to give his best towards the development of the country. Adamu masterminded the defence against former Senate President Bukola Saraki’s assaults on President Muhammadu Buhari, with Adamu standing against any move by the senate under Saraki to cause problems for the president.
At the home front, Adamu has maintained his true position as a bridge builder, cementing political unions across cultural and religious divides, all with the purpose of moving Nasarawa state forward in terms of unity and development. His visible interventions since his days as minister, especially in Keffi, his country home, is quite legendary. The Federal Medical Centre Keffi and Nasarawa State University Keffi, among many other interventions, are at best Adamu’s legacies to the people of his immediate constituency, Nasarawa state and Nigeria.
Not only that, his forays into agriculture and hospitality businesses, with the Nagari Farms, Shabu Farms, as well as the Keffi Hotel, create employment opportunities for many, even as these ventures generate much needed revenue to the state. In the Senate, it was reliably gathered that Senate President Ahmed Lawan has cause to advise Adamu and one other octogenarian lawmaker to quit politics and retire in order to take good care of themselves.
As the sun sets for his political prowess, indeed, time is not on the side of Senator Adamu and as the saying goes, it’s better for him to leave the stage when the ovation is loudest. Time for him, indeed, to allow younger politicians take over from him.
Already, there are indications that Adamu is aspiring to re-contest come 2023. At over 80 years of age, it’s obvious he lacks the grit and gumption to adequately represent the people of Nasarawa West senatorial zone, and talk less of delivering much needed dividends of democracy.
Pundits say Adamu is warming up to the governor of Nasarawa state, Engineer Abdullahi Alhaji Sule, merely to feather his political nest, ahead of the coming elections. Adamu would have gotten the signals that his political game was up, when during the 2015 general election, he scaled through by the skin of his nose, with a much younger and vibrant Hon. Aliyu Ahmed Wadada, giving him the fight of his political life. Adamu only managed to avoid a defeat, after he prevailed on Hon. Wadada’s late father, who compelled his son to withdraw his case challenging the election of the former governor at the tribunal.
This is aside the fact that but for interventions from the presidency as well as other spirited individuals, Adamu would have earlier lost the ticket to run on APC platform to another younger Hon. Ahmed Aliyu Tijjani, the former secretary to the Nasarawa state government. It’s high time he understood that age is no longer on his side and that the people of Nasarawa West would prefer a vibrant, more agile individual, who has the gusto and zeal to impact meaningfully on the lives of the people. Adamu has been quoted to have said the people of the zone should leave him alone, as he has done whatever they expected from him.
Adamu, therefore, should leave the political stage and retire to his private business and cater for his fledgling health. That does not mean, however, that he will become less influential with his network of associates, friends and political colleagues across the country.
Nura writes from Utako District, Abuja.
