Angeles And Demons Rejoiced - John Danfulani

Sun set on the gentle life of His Excellency Sir
Patrick Ibrahim Yakowa on 15th December
2012 in the creeks of South-South State of
Bayelsa.

On that Black Saturday of the
gracious month of December, a Nigeria Navy
Agusta helicopter annihilated Yakowa, Gen.
Andrew Azazi, Elder Dauda Tsoho and two
Navy officers. Yakowa was in Bayelsa to
attend the burial of the father of  a
Presidential aide on Strategy and
Documentation Barr. Oronto Douglas. Aviation
disasters in African's most populous political
clime, aren't stories, anymore, so, the news of
this and other mishaps, caught nobody by
surprise.

Gentleman Yakowa was a man of all seasons
and a crown eagle whose wings of efficiency
and dedication got stronger with age. While in
on earth, he was one of a few compatriots
that fate, hard work, tenacity made them sit in
executive councils of the three layers of
governments.

He was Local Government
Chairman, Member of State and Federal
Executive councils, and State and federal
permanent secretary. In between these, he
headed many committees at the state and
federal levels. This made him a rare specie
and a barn of experience in the political
atmosphere of the nation.
However, the most important development in
his public life happened on 20th May 2010, a
day he took over the mantle of leadership in
the State because of Arc Namadi's alleviation
to the post of the Vice President of Nigeria by
President Goodluck Jonathan. All these
upward movements of political office holders
at the federal level and Kaduna State were
engineered by the journey to the great beyond
embarked by President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua.

Promotion of Namadi to the office of the Vice
President was enveloped in many conspiracy
theories within the State and in most of core
northern States. The most widely peddled
theory was, Christian Association of Nigeria
(CAN) incubated and hatched a plan of adding
another Christian Governor in the North, a
region of nineteen states that has only two
Governors- despite existence of Christians in
millions. Tension skyrocketed to the skies,
thereby forcing the leader of Muslim Umma in
Nigeria the Sultan of Sokoto to issue a
statement to meltdown a pyramid of tension
the development erected. Despite the
rampaging rumour and tension that
permeated the state, Yakowa made a date
with history on 20th May 2010. His ascension
created a personal as well as general history
in the annals of the state. It was the first time
a Christian became an Executive Governor of
Kaduna. By accident or design the military that
ruled the country longer than politicians never
posted a Christian to rule Kaduna throughout
their misadventure into the political terrain
that started in 1966.

On assumption of office, Yakowa's actions
and inactions were tailored by his experience,
knowledge of the operating environment, and
forces that pull the strings of power behind the
scene. The State's political terrain is cliental
and dictated in a mafiaso known as THE
KADUNA MAFIA.He wobbled the slippery tight
rope of balancing these competing interests,
which made him hold the balls of peace and
development in the air. This unique
circumstance rendered experience he acquired
from 1972 that he started as a District Officer
almost useless because of ethno-religious
divisions that creeped into the state from
1987. Before 1987, there were minor
disagreements but they never resulted to
violence killings and arsons of believers of
other faiths. Even the struggles by many
independent Southern Kaduna Communities
who were unjustly merged by Europeans into
the Caliphatic system of Futajalo Fulanis that
fought and defeated the Habe rulers didn't
ignite bloody skirmishes we saw:  in 1987
Kafanchan clashes, 1992 Zangon-Kataf
entho-religious crisis, 2000/2001 Sharia
crises, and 2011 post elections upheavals. His
was akin to a man given the onerous endeavor
of refereeing a tango between two charging
buffalos aiming at each other's jugular.

He
took most the wild kicks from both sides, and
at some points both sides believed he wasn't
an impartial umpire.
Because of tension and intelligence streams
suggesting one heinous schemes or the other,
much energy and resources went on; physical
and administrative security, peace building,
and appeasement of the two forces. Peace
and security became the only agenda before
his government. It wasn't making hospitals
functional, effective delivery of primary
healthcare, renovation of decaying
infrastructures, improving the learning
environment, or initiating of peoples's oriented
projects but insuring the swords are kept I
their sheaths, match sticks kept in their
packets, and people sleep without hearing the
zing-zing of guns and boom-boom of bombs.
This drained the financial poll of the state.
Because his mandate came with sweat and
blood of most of his Christians brothers of
Southern Kaduna, a revolution of great
expectations sprang up like an Amazon forest.
Many participated in his 2011 political
agenda with the hope that that will give
Southern Kaduna a chance to balance aged
systemic lopsidedness and also create an
economic and political agenda for Southern
Kaduna people in the State and the nation
that will outlived him. Most expectations of
Southern Kaduna people can only be achieved
if Yakowa emerged as a revolutionary that got
power through the bullet not the ballots.
Young elements willing to climb the economic
and political ladder characteristic of Nigerian
society got frustrated because it couldn't be
business of creating emergency millionaires
and young public office holder like what
happened in the two regimes before his.

While his brothers were crying of lack of
patronage, elements in the northern half of the
state were also throwing stones of allegations
of favoritism. They alleged that, he gave his
brothers the juiciest appointments in the
State. Their allegation refused to take
cognizance of the recent history of the state.
Both Makarfi and Namadi made their Hausa
Fulani Muslims PPS, Chief of State, CSO,
Commissioner of Finance, and State Chairmen
of PDP. But when Yakowa towed the same
lane, he was accused of irredentism and
favoritism. It was a long tradition in the State
and PDP that Governors are leaders of the
Party at the state level. And between
1999-2007 Makarfi made his political soul
mate Alh. Makama Rigachikun party
Chairman. In 2007 Namadi made his nephew
Ya'u resigned his membership of Kaduna State
House of Assembly and become the State
party Chairman. When Yakowa came on board
and a mini convention was organised in
tandem with certain developments in the body
polity, he made Amb. Nuhu Bajoga the State
Chairman in line with existing tradition. He
was bashed left, right and centre for been a
copycat of a standing tradition. He merely
said, what is sauce for the goose is sauce for
the gander.

Despite all the turbulences, diversions,
deliberate provocations, and shameless
blackmail, Danmasanin Gwong kept his cool
and lived by his promised of been a Governor
for all. He never, not for once , lose sight of his
St. Francis of Assissi prayer which was his
guiding principle- from Adam. Where there was
injury he healed, where there was sorrow, he
provided comfort, where there was skirmishes
he provided peace. These were his greatest
achievements and immoral legacies, and
nothing more. Any yardstick of measuring his
success or failure that isn't anchored on
these, is baseless and defective.
Unfortunately, when this great son of the soil
answered the call of his creator to eternal
glory to rest because he kept the faith and ran
a good race, jubilations broke out in certain
parts of the state. Not because a modern
Pharaoh exited, not because an unfaithful
public servant died, but not because a
kleptocrats melted to answer queries from his
creator. But because a Christian Governor
died, and because Kaduna is to Nigeria
Muslims like what Vatican is to Catholics (One
of them made that known to us in the New
Media). Ordinary people did not only
perpetrate this wickedness and barbarism but
highly respected clerics participated by
creating conspiracy theories about his demise.
The same cleric that he made a case for his
release when he was locked in the Kingdom of
Saudi Arabia in connection with a
conversation he had with Christmas Day pant
bomber in United States, Muttalab. Another
baffling angle was lack of a strong
condemning voice by others, who are now
exhibiting an after thought defensive
mechanism cum damage control tactic that
celebrating death of other runs agains their
religious injunctions. Governor Babangida
Aliyu, the Chairman of northern governors
forums, was the only exception. Others
refused condemning that, but found pleasure
in sending only condolence messages and
paying pretentious visits to the widow and her
kids.

Judging events from 20th May 2010 to the
day he died, there is no doubt that there are
multiple questions to ask about his demise.
Who were with him in Bayelsa? Who flew the
helicopter? Where was he from? Which
religion was he?  Were there independent
observers in the committees set to investigate
the crash?  Was the helicopter procured by the
Navy for mission it went in Bayelsa?  Until
these questions are properly answered, and
very clearly, I will continue to harbour my
suspicion that his death was an incident not
an accident. We are aware that Nigeria
Airspace Management and the body that owns
the flying object formed committees to look
into immediate and remote causes of the
mishap. As we celebrate his one-year journey
to heaven, very little is known or heard about
their work. For a proper understanding of this
murder or accident in Bayelsa, UN must come
in and dust the file on a fresh investigation
drive.

Angels in heaven, demons in Kaduna and
other northern Nigeria rejoiced his death.

Angels rejoiced because a faithful servant
went home to rest, while the demons rejoiced
because a Christian who was supposed not to
be their Governor died. Hope those who
rejoiced will live till eternity, otherwise, too
bad.