Comrade Ikonomwan Francis-Kwankwaso is the current Senior Special Assistant to Edo state Governor on Inter-party Relations. In this interview with BODE OLAGOKE, he reveals why he added Kwankwaso to his name, his view about the Kano state Governor, Engr. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, and expectations of his successor in office.
I noticed that you added Kwankwaso to your name, what about?
Kwankwaso is one of my political leaders, he is a man I hold in high esteem. You see, in fact I believe you too know as much as I do, if not better than myself the great qualities and potential in the man call kwankwaso with what God has made of him, I believe if any one who strongly believe in kwankwasiyya chooses to identify himself or herself as a deciple of the great man by adding kwankwaso to his or her name is not out of place in fact the concept of kwankwasiyya ideology in Edo state, the
Social-Political world around me identify and call me kwankwaso seeing thatI strongly believe in the ideology behind the kwankwasiyya initiative. So I am happy being called comrade Ikonomwan Francis-kwankwaso.
Can I know some of these qualities you are talking about?
Numerous, so many that it is difficult to enumerate, well just to mention but a few, let me start from when he was in House of Representative as a Deputy Speaker then he was able to carry all his colleagues along, he saw their joys as his joy and saw their pains as his pain.
I don’t know if you were there at his formal declaration to run for the Presidency of the Federal Republic of Nigeria under the platform of the APC at Old Parade Ground Abuja or watched it on the Screen, you remember an old colleagues of his in the House then a man I supposed is from South-South Geo Political zone gave a testimony of how Engr. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso release his personal money to enable in the treatment of a younger brother to one of his then colleagues in the House.
As a Governor His Performance is mind blowing, he has been able to cause a total re-engineering in Kano state. Is it the training of youth in various field of endeavour of which at completion there is financial empowerment in the form of take-off grants or his ability to encourage young men and women not to fear marriage institution you are aware that this he did by providing the basic household needs for this young men and women, train then, finance the marriage rite and settle them.
And this has gone a long way to check a lot of vices that was prevalent in Kano State. the one that strikes me most is the training of young men on how to manufacture chalk and eventually empower them with a token fifty thousand naira (N50,000) each and directed the 44 LGA Council Chairmen to ensure that the chalk that is used in all the schools in their LGA is produced by these young men. I can go on and on.
How do you see him performing in the senate compare to now that he is a state governor?
Marvelously well, in fact, he is not new to legislative business nor legislative business new to him. To be frank, I strongly believe that Engr. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso becoming a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in the next political dispensation is divinely arranged. This is a man who served as a Deputy Speaker in the House of Representative, a member 1995 Constitutional Conference, a one time Minister of Defence, Special Adviser to the President on Somalia and Dafeur and presently Chief Executive officer of Kano State.
So you will agree with me that this man is broad. You can see that he has a lot of experience in the governance of this great country as one time member of the Federal Executive Council. A lot of experience in Security and International affairs as one time Minister of Defence and SA to the President on Somalia and Darfur. For the Executive arm of Governance you cannot tell me that eight years of good experience is not enough. You will see that he being a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria at this time that the whole world cried for a change is timely and divinely arrange I say so because General Mohammadu Buhari, for all that we know him to be as a man who is ready to bring in the positive change truly need a descent and courageous legislation and that you find in His Excellency Engr. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso.
Do you believe Kwankwaso will do better if appointed minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT)?
It is often said that the voice of the people is the voice of God, as per what I said earlier God has spoken through the people that Engr. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso should go and contribute his quota to the development of Nigeria to bring in the long awaited change in the next dispensation.
Well that is not to say I didn’t appreciate this great call by FCT residents and other interest groups, because it is a confirmation of his great performance as the Executive Governor for eight years in Kano. At the same time an affirmation that this present legislative business, he is being called into, he will definitely perform marvelously well. Therefore, I am of the opinion that His excellency is dearly needed in the upper House at this critical moment of our great country.
Governor Kwankwaso’s deputy will be succeeding him in office as governor, what is your advice to him?
I believe that for his Deputy Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje to have worked dutifully for eight years with his boss, Engr. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso Indicate that they have the same ideology. I simply wish and prayed that the Almighty God will enable him to perform well and even better than his boss because that is the desire of every good Principal like Engr. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso.