The history of Kogi state cannot be complete without the mention of the prince of the Niger, Alhaji Prince Abubakar Audu, of blessed memory. As the first and second civilian governor of Kogi state, his remarkable achievements that gave birth to the modern Kogi speak volumes. He was a completely loyal and dedicated party man who never jumped ship in all his political voyage. In 2003, the then ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, government rigged him out of office with federal might and despite all the enticements and inducements which graduated to oppression and threats to join the PDP government, he was adamant and remained in the then opposition party, the All Progressives Congress, APC, to strategise and synergise in order to dislodge them.
In 2007, he contested the governorship seat with the then incumbent Governor Ibrahim Idris and won but it was rigged again. However, as a true democrat, who believed in the rule of law, he sought redress in court and had the election annulled. That was how the incumbent PDP governor was removed from office and an Okun man, Mr Clarence Olafemi, who was then the Speaker of Kogi State House of Assembly was sworn in as acting governor in February, 2008, making an Okun man to have a taste of power at the Lugard House, Lokoja, the Kogi state capital.
His ruggedness and doggedness paid off in 2015 when he contested for the governorship seat and was coasting to victory when the cold hands of death struck. That unfortunate and unprecedented occurrence created a lacuna that led to a constitutional crisis in Nigeria. In one of his campaigns in Okene, he promised to make power shift to the central flank of the state, not knowing he was going to be the sacrificial lamb to wrestle power from the PDP to APC and shift it to Kogi central as he had promised. By the above analysis, the governorship seat has gone round and should return to the east this time.
This man did so much for the party in the state that the time is ripe for a post humous compensation by considering his worthy son, Prince Shuaibu Abubakar Audu, an accomplished investment banker of over 20 years standing who has now been cleared to contest the governorship seat of our dear Kogi state. He inherited his father’s political sagacity and capacity as exemplified by various developmental projects initiated and commissioned across the length and breadth of Kogi state. No wonder, they say “a lion must give birth to a lion”. His character, charisma, commitment, courage and capacity have no equal.
As a member of the APC campaign council, he demonstrated unparalleled commitment in all ramifications to ensure the success of Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Nigeria’s president–elect. Our people say, “If a man gives you a cow, you will not hesitate to use the hide to make a seat for his child”. In the light of the above, Prince Shuaibu Abubakar Audu should be massively supported to emerge the candidate of our party, the APC, in the forthcoming governorship primaries. He is arguably the most sellable and acceptable candidate with the requisite contacts and connections across the three senatorial district of Kogi state to become our next governor, if given the chance by the grace of God.
Shuaibu Abubakar Audu has not left anyone in doubt about his immense leadership skills because as a man who rose through the ranks as an entry staff to become what he is today, an executive director at the Stanbic IBTC, he has indeed shown the leadership traits and skills of his late father, Prince Abubakar Audu, who became the father of Kogi modern day development because of the leadership skills and experience he took with him from the banking sector. Among the siblings of the late patron of the Audu political dynasty, Shuaibu is the one today who is an accomplished self-made man. He transversed today the banking sector like a colossus and the records are there for all to see.
It is therefore necessary that as we approach the Kogi 2023 gubernatorial primary of the APC in the state, there is an urgent need for the party to look at the best man to recruit as the governorship candidate of the party; a man with the experience and leadership background that rings a bell in the political sphere. And that person is Shuaibu Abubakar Audu. Yes, he is the scion of his late father’s political dynasty and we have seen through history and recent political happenings in major democratic countries in the world that political parties have deliberately devised a means of compensating children of late political heroes with political office to replicate the work of their late father.
So, asking this for the scion of the late Audu political dynasty is not asking too much from his political party. The Kennedys, the Fords, the Clintons and the Bush families have at one time or the other been compensated with the candidature of their parents, husbands, brothers or even uncle’s political parties because their names reverberates continuously in the political space of their country due to the impressive performances of their patrons and this should be replicated in the APC.
Political dynasties are good in themselves in other climes because it does not necessarily mean that if because of the performances of their patrons the party considers their scions for compensation in the form of them having the right of first refusal to be the candidate of a political party then it becomes a sign that the party has lost its emblem of being a meritocracy. This idea is borne out of the fact that the influence passed over from generation to generation by this political fathers or patrons can be positively put to good use.
We should remember that in our case in Kogi state, we got good governance and most of the development we now see in the state are by and large from the late Prince Abubakar Audu and our state will do exceedingly well if we compensate his son Shuaibu with the candidature of the APC and ultimately the seat of the next governor of Kogi state in 2023.
So many would say that democracies and dynasties are far from incompatible to beat down the importance of this political compensation to the scion of the late Audu but the buzz in a political household like that of the Audu’s is inevitably of politics and it would be odd if it will not spark an interest in at least someone from the family or his offspring. While other children and members of the late political household of the late Prince Abubakar Audu ventured into other areas of importance in life to make a living, Shuaibu was often taken into consideration about matters of state, politics and leadership when he was little more than a child by his late father or has seen in him the qualities as his political heir.
He was alone among the political progeny of his era, at least in sharing the political curiosity of his parents. His desire to go into politics is never prompted merely by his interest in the subject; it is not also to defend the family’s political name but to continue just like his father to give leadership, direction and development to the good people of Kogi state. He is considered today by many as”Champion Redoubtable” in defence of his father’s political reputation while other of his siblings are concerned about the family’s skin. Shuaibu has never been impelled not so much defensively to keep the family’s tradition going but by its history of service to the people of the state.
Finally, if nurture is a useful start to a political career, so too is a well known name. If you happen in Nigeria to be called an Obasanjo,Tinubu, or Buhari, all but the sleepiest voters will think they know something about you. If we are sincere with ourselves, the Audu political family is the best yet in the history of Kogi state because of its impact to the political and economic development of Kogi state. Shuaibu Abubakar Audu is the advocate of a new type of politics dispensation that emphasises the total development of Kogi state and we must compensate they Audu political family by supporting his scion, Shuaibu, to be the next governor of the state starting with his candidature of the APC in the primary election soon to come.
Comrade Ogacheko writes from Lokoja, Kogi state
