By Abdu Labaran Malumfashi.

I decided on this open letter to reach you because that is the only way I could get your attention either directly or through a third party, who may bring it to your attention.

Yours has become a household name well beyond the boarders of Kano State. ABBA (‘Gida Gida’) Kabir Yusuf is now known by almost everybody in the Northern part of this country, courtesy of the nomenclature ‘(Gida Gida’) which is used to refer to you. This is the making of Allahuma Subahana Wa Ta’ala(SWT), not an individual or group of individuals.

Although you do not need to be reminded that Kano State is the largest in the Northern part of this country in terms of population and wealth, it is worthy of you to know that, in His infinite mercy, God has decided that you will be the current tenant of the Kano State Government House against all the odds that appeared to be against you becoming the number one citizen in the state.

No individual or a group of individuals can claim credit for your success at the Supreme Court because that is the prerogative of Allah (SWT). Know that only Allah can make you whatever you may become even if the world is against you, and the entire population, minus you, can not make you governor if Allah Says no for you to become a governor.

So, don’t allow yourself to be the puppet of someone or a group of some people simply because God has used them as instruments for your elevation to the position of governor of your state. Again, know that Allah has made you the governor of your state so as to serve the interests of the entire people of Kano State, which includes people outside the Red Cap movement.

Do not do anything that you will live to regret well after you leave office as governor of your state. Do not be at the beck and call of one individual or a group of individuals who may believe that they have a score to settle with others who differ in their approach with them. You started that way by demolishing buildings near the Masallacin İdi. but Do not continue the same way. 

You demolished some buildings belonging to people you thought were in some way connected to the former Governor of Kano State just to please somebody who hated the guts of the former Governor. Don’t enter into a fight that does not belong to you. As a forgiving leader you are supposed to arbitrate fairly not to take sides and support one side against another. God did not make you a leader of people for you to take sides.

Yes, you are human and therefore susceptible to behaving like one. A human being I mean. And, you cannot please all the people all the time, but you can do your best and leave the rest to Allah because He knows what we mortals do not know.

Don’t start anything whose impact may reverberate well beyond the boundaries of your Kano state. Some people have already started jubilation in anticipation of your taking a very decisive action, whose impact may be felt beyond the boundaries of Kano State just to please a few people who want the status quo in the state altered. 

Think of the interest of the Kano State people by not doing the bidding of one person or a group of persons. Do the bidding of the Kano State people by doing the right thing that will benefit most of them. Do not please a few but draw the ire of most of the people by taking the state BACKWARD.

Those who tried to take the wind out of your sails did so in what to them is supposed to be self defence, not, in my view, out of malice.

Try to be a forgiving leader, not a vindictive ruler to the entire people of Kano State, which is not why Allah chose you out of the millions of people that make up Kano State.

Also, do not listen too much to the sycophancy of Hausa musicians whose only interest is the amount of money that goes into their pockets or the earthly possessions they might have, not your or the people’s well being. Be wary of this brand of beggars who will immediately leave you the moment you are no more in power no matter the amount of money you might have ‘made’ while in office. Some of them might stick with you until they see the end of that one too. Their lyrics might say all sorts of things about you, you may start feeling like a ruler not the leader of people that Allah Has meant you to be.

Do not surround yourself with ‘Yes, Your Excellency’ people who only utter what they think you might want to hear. Such people are not worthy of a space in your administration because they will not give you the right advice. They constitute the unmaking of many past leaders who only regret well after they leave the position of power, which will surely come sooner or later.

This very position I well know, because of the transience of power, they will tell you all sorts of lies, especially about some people whom they think are getting too close to you for their comfort.

These kind of people will leave you the moment you are no more calling the shots and move to the next person who is the new number one citizen in the state.

You are an engineer, who may live his life well even without the calling of partisan politics. But since you decided on politics as your present calling, then do it for the benefit of your people not the interests of an individual or a group of individuals, please.

Malam Malumfashi wrote from Abuja.