AN OPEN LETTER TO THE GOVERNOR OF KADUNA STATE (MALAM NASIRU AHMAD ELRUFA'I)

 AN OPEN LETTER TO THE GOVERNOR OF KADUNA STATE (MALAM NASIRU AHMAD ELRUFA'I)

Mr. Governor, if this will accidentally or incidentally visit your table, which i hope it would, i have the following questions and attention seeking sentences.

 is this how you want to be remembered? Is this the legacy you want to bequeath to people of kaduna state and Nigeria at large? Is democracy in anyway comparable to autocracy, dictatorship, or tyranny? Are you not worried about risking your long time built Rome to dilapidation? What about your dear reputation? Is this policy(total lockdown, with no fresh air for business people to breath in) worth employing? What if this policy is creating more harm than good?

 Think about it! Think about the political, social, and economic effects of your decisions, if not religious, as you may say "we live in a secular state", and as you sometimes play around it and think that it's just a mere toy from merciful source(Allah). You need to be careful, religion is not a dabbling ground, it will be better if you go and settle that tragedy(beard's issue) that you jokingly put forward amidst this political tantrum with Allah(The Omnipotent). 

You should also know that, power is transient, especially in this so called democratic system of governance. Because, power is intermittent, the more one believes and prepare for life after its departure (when one has it at one's disposal), the better for one and for the fluidity of its usage and rendition.

It is important that you watch each step you take, even for no sake, but political opportunism. We can't understand the situation, we cannot understand what you are fighting for, we cannot digest what policy you are trying to forcefully effect!. Why won't you sit back for a moment and think about the consequences of your exploits? Are there no better alternatives?

Lets not get taken away by something(power) that will in a wee time cease, lets not lose that credibility in a time you need it the most. 

People thought you were a good, competent, and one in a million leader.

They then bestowed their trust upon you, but now you want to slacken  their determination, they had spent their precious time, money, and above all health, to see that you crossed the ocean, but now you are trying to capsize the boat taking them. Why? Don't you think that you'll one day need them? Don't you think that pulling a trigger against them is like pulling a trigger against their friends and family all around Nigeria, and more like digging your own grave when you cherish to live longer(in politics)? 

Mr. Governor, it's better if you hold on, review your policies, and give room for external suggestions from experts, otherwise, you may fall a victim of CENTRALIZATION( a system that concentrates power at the top level of an organisation, or what pundits may call "dictatorship").

Sorry, to be candid, I'm not striving to spill even a droplet of anger, rather i just feel a sense of responsibility to air out what is more of a general public and unaired perception, than a personal suggestion. I also tried to be fair and less judgemental before writing this by glancing with an eagle eye into your policies, and was able to deduce that barely all of them regarding covid-19 were ineffective and illogical.

Check out and see...

1. You forced people to embark on a  lockdown, peppering that it's for precautionary measure, when you had zero case recorded, and when you had better alternatives to pick from. I know you may say "PREVENTION IS BETTER THAN CURE", yes i agree, but That's too early, that's not the best option, when you could barricade the borders, stop entry, and allow these innocent, and covid-19-free people to carry on their daily and incessant hustles, for their survival, and which I'm sure would have been a better solution. You can see how unsound and unhelpful this policy was, because we later got infected.

2. Upon your extension of the lockdown, you tried sealing some of the loop holes, by effecting the closure of our border which was a very good move, but at the wrong time, in the sense that we had started recording cases. But anyway considered a good move, as the saying goes " BETTER LATE THAN NEVER". But if i may ask: why not in the first place? Why not at a time that's thirsty for such a policy?

Further more, your introduction of palliatives' distribution policy as a means of relieving the poor masses was amazing, as heard  and interpreted by our poor-and-without-prejudice ears' antenna, but not as it was in the real world. Because what we saw was just a failed intervention, as the targeted had not in anyway benefited. Why didn't you ensure that the distribution was done by people of high integrity? Why didn't you mobilizable good people to go and look after the distribution, to give an account on how the distribution went out, and to ensure fair and equal distribution?

We know you could do that, since you could plan and protect your votes during an election to make sure each had counted, then what is more difficult in this one? Or you want us to believe that it was just an attention seeking and conscience clearing palliatives. I suspect it was, because it falls in a category of 'CONSCIENCE CLEARING INTERVENTIONS' -- that are just announced, effected, without provision for accounting or check and balance, with a sole aim of liberating one's mind from a dungeon of responsibility.

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3. The policy that negates religious congregation in places of worship has not also been helping, and that's proven by the recent introduction of relaxation to the policy for two days in every week. What we don't understand here is: does the transmission have anything to do with intent? If not, then, why are you not afraid that the relaxation(even if it's for restocking food items, and medical issues) may cause spread of the virus, while you're so disturbed that  prayers' congregation would be the only existential threat?

This i think is groundless, because i believe and expect that any rational person will, that, if people would get infected by congregating for just few minutes in their places of worship, where they seek protection and ease from Almighty Allah against their problems like, poverty, and covid-19, then, they are more likely to get infected when congregated in places of pursuing worldly satisfaction. Why the doubled standard?

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4. The last, maybe but not least policy: Relocation of food stuff sellers to public schools. This policy played a vital role in summarising my thinking and confusing my thought, because it made me think that the initial goal of fighting against  the spread of the virus has been changed to fighting in favour of it. Because, If you're scared that people would get infected in the market places, where they resides in their respective shops, and where I'm sure if better policies had been installed, like,  enforcement of hand glove wearing, face masking, and some sort of physical distancing between the sellers and the buyers,  would have been very helpful and rewarding.

 I know you may think all of these things will not pay either, even though not tested, Then if so, how are you sure that the current destination is not more uncanny, threatening, and unsafe? I did a survey to find out how safer it is to have these people going to public schools for their transactions, and was able to come up with the below result:

In each public school i went to , especially the ones around Tudun wada-Unguwar Sunusi metropolis, the crowd and congestion i found was one of its kind, with barely a free aisle for you to pass through. That's totally illogical, and not helping either, as it's like running away from a less dangerous place to a more dangerous one, because it strikes out every attempt at effecting other subordinating policies like; physical distancing, restriction of congestion, etc.

In fact, as i concluded: people are more likely to get infected by the plague when in public schools doing business by greater percentage, than when in their market places( i. e 75%-25%) roughly.

So watch out closely, the collateral damage was immense, many JUMA'AT PRAYERS have moved on, RAMADAN has passed on, EID-ULFIDR has bidden us farewell, while we're all on lockdown. Think about it, think about what might have happened during RAMADAN, the prayers of the pious, the prayers of the oppressed, and the prayers of the accepted servants, especially at night of LAILATUL QADRI...

But listen, i have a glad tiding for you, " it is not too late to adjust, to seek for forgiveness, and to make better policies that will help you realise your goal and objectives, especially on covid-19".

 I pray that Allah will forgive all your shortcomings. I pray that Allah will forgive us all.

 

Finally 

I have this as a reminder:

-- Nearly all men are born with a leading gen, but real men and good leaders are defined by how much they rationalise power at their disposal.

-- Nearly all men are bound to lead in a society, but we hardly believe that rulers exist except in time of adversity.

-- Good leaders are defined not by how much power or aggressiveness they used in compelling their followers to obey, but by how much simple and effective logics they used in making obedience part of their followers' instinct.

-- Ignorance commences when one thinks one knows everything, because one's imperfection grows out like a green grass in rainy season, as one tries to prove one knows everything.

-- Intelligence is not defined by how much hard one strives to conquer a problem, but by how much simple techniques one uses to bid that problem a farewell.

Thank you.

Muhammad Malam

24/05/2020.