Nigeria’s political landscape has been marred by a recurring theme of betrayal in Nigeria. The act of betrayal, often perpetrated by those who have sscended to the position of power through loyalty, trust, and sacrifice, has far-reaching consequences that extend beyond the realm of politics. It damages personal relationships, erodes public trust, and undermines good governance, ultimately threatening the very fabric of the nation’s democracy.
A tradition has developed in this country, not only within the present democratic dispensation. This menace of betrayal of mentorship and political trust, dates back to Nigeria’s political history as far as 1982.
The history of political betrayal in Nigeria dates back to the early years of the Second Republic, with the rift between Late Aminu Kano and Abubakar Rimi serving as a stark reminder of the destructive nature of this phenomenon. Their once-powerful alliance, forged in shared ideology, crumbled due to ideological disagreements, political strategies, and generational differences. Rimi’s defection to the Nigerian People’s Party (NPP) and subsequent resignation as Kano State Governor obviously constituted a betrayal of the movement he helped build.
In 1982, the late Abubakar Rimi, factionalized the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) under which he became Governor in 1979. Prepatory to 1983 general elections, Malam Aminu Kano fielded Alhaji Sabo Bakinzuwo as the PRP governorship candidate in Kano State against Abubakar Rimi in the then NPP. He lost to Sabo Bakinzuwo.
In 2002 prepatory to 2003 general election President Olusegun Obasanjo sought ethnic solidarity from the Alliance for Democracy (AD) governors of the South West. He convened a meeting with them, expressing concern that northerners were mocking him by claiming he did not even win even his ward in the 1999 Presidential election. He sought their assistance to demonstrate political strength in his home region.
He promised that if they supported him in the presidential election, he would, in return, support them in their governorship elections, including providing financial support. President Obasanjo assured them he was not interested in the PDP winning governorship elections in the South West. His primary objective was to secure massive votes from the region so that other parts of the country would recognize him as politically grounded.
All the AD governors of the South West agreed except Sen. Bola Ahmed Tinubu, then Governor of Lagos State, agreed to support him as requested. After the meeting, Bola Ahmed Tinubu advised that, for precaution they can assist President Obasanjo modestly as their brother and leader. He suggested allowing him to win Ogun State, his home state, marginally, and to increase his votes in the region significantly, so as to silence critics without sacrificing their own political base.
The five governors rejected Tinubu’s advice. Tinubu made it categorically clear that he should be counted out of the arrangement.
The five states that supported Obasanjo ensured that he enjoyed a land slide victory in their states. In Lagos State, Bola Ahmed Tinubu ensured that the AD presidential candidate won. Subsequently, the five governors who supported Obasanjo lost their second governorship elections. That was their consequece for Anti party.
In the 2011 general election, the former Governor of Zamfara State, Alhaji Mahmud Aliyu Shinkafi, who was elected under the ANPP, was pressured by late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua to defect to the PDP. He sought the counsel of his elder brother, Alh. Umaru Ali Shinkafi, Marafan Sokoto. Though his brother hesitated the idea he reluctantly endosed due to presidential pressure. After joining the PDP, Mahmud Aliyu Shinkafi lost the 2011 Gubernatorial election to AbdulAziz Yari of the then ANPP.
Similarly, Alh. Abdullahi Adamu, former National Chairman of All Progressive Party (APC) and Executive Governor of Nasawa State (1999-2007) sponsored Aliyu Akwe Doma who contested sgainst him twice (1999 & 2003). When Aliyu Kwai Doma was sworn in as Nasarawa State Governor, in less than one year he took Abdullahi Adamu to EFCC on the gound defrauding Nasawa state of billions of Naira. Alh. Almakura defeated him at nomination level under the same party PDP 2006.
The arraigning of Abullahi Adamu before the EFFC was not the making of Alh. Aliyu Akwai Doma but God, to teach politicians in power a lesson, that it is not right for whatever reason,to ignore founding members of a Party and recruit an opopent at the last hour to bulldose him as a candidate.
In the 2019 general election, the former Governor of Zamfara State, Dr. Bello, Matawallen Maradun, who was elected under the PDP, defected to the APC and subsequently lost to the PDP the party he abandoned.
This historical anticedent explans the consequences of political betrayal in twofold.
First, political defeat. Second punishment of God in the hereafter. Both Islamic and Christian teachings warn that betrayal attracts punishment in this world and in the hereafter. The holy Bible says:
1 Betrayal shatters the foundation of trust, leading to isolation and fractured bonds, as illustrated by David and Absalom, and the deep pain. Psalm 41:9.
2. Betrayers often experience guilt, shame, and alienation….
3. The Bible warns that treachery ultimately destroys the treacherous, as shown in Proverbs 11:3.
The holy Qur’an and Islamic theology align with the holy Bible:
“Indeed, Allah commands you to render trusts to their rightful owners, and when you judge between people, to judge with justice and fairness”. Excellent is that which Allah instructs you. Indeed, Allah is ever Hearing and Seeing. [4: 58]
One of the early generation of Islamic scholsrs, Al-Mawardi said: “He who betrays will be humiliated and will be disowned. Another one said: “If the one who betrays a trust knew the consequences of breaking a covenant and being treacherous, he would restrain himself from them.”
God, in His wisdom, grants authority and leadership to who he wishes strip him of it when He wishes. Whoever bilieves in God, trusts and relies on Him, will not abandone his party and join the ruling one. Weakness of faith and dearth of heart’s purity are instrumental to defection.
It is for this reason that I have written this article, to offer fatherly counselling to governors, particularly serving and potential ones against political betrayal. They must desist from this practice. Betrayal, is one of the sins that God does not spare until the Day of Judgment. The Holy Qur’an: “Fid dunya khizyun wa fil akhirati azabun azeem”, “disgrace in this world and severe punishment in the hereafter”.
Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf of Kano State, I urge you to reflect deeply on this message. If God had destained you will not be subjected to punishment in hereafter, you may lose the 2027 governorship election. If He hadnt , you may win and face the consequences. This is not a curse but a reminder of divine justice, as promised by God.
I am not asking you to rescind your decision to join the APC. Rather, I urge you, as a Muslim, to rely solely on God. From the moment of your creation, God destined that you would become governor of Kano, and He has also destined whether or not you will have a second tenure.
If God has destined a second tenure for you, no one can take it away, even if you remain in NNPP. Defection can NOT over ride Divine destiny. Courts can only decide eligibility under a specific party; they cannot prevent someone from contesting under another platform.
What happened to Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso was also within the wisdom of God. God paid him in his own coin.
In late 2017, Senator Kwankwaso invited me to his residence in Abuja and informed me of his resolution to contest the 2019 presidential election under my party, the National Rescue Movement (NRM). I welcomed the decision. He assured me that once Buba Galadima returned from a medical trip abroad, a joint committee would be formed to manage the merger process between Kwankwasiyya and the NRM.
However, events later revealed that the decision was rescinded by counsel new comers to KWANKWASIYYA. When I visited him afterward, I accepted the outcome as Divine destiny. I however cautioned him using a Hausa proverb: “Ba a daukar kare ranar farauta”- you do not recruit a dog on the day of hunting.
I warned him that those who advised him could abandon him at any time. My concern was his success.
Sadly, events unfolded exactly as I predicted. He was betrayed in the same manner he had betrayed he broke promise.
This confirms the central argument of this article: betrayal and broken promises attract divine consequences here and the hereafter. However, the fact that Kwankwaso faced his punishment in this world may signify that he is a potential residence of paradise.
I urge all politicians to learn from these lessons and desist from the politics of breaking promises and betrayals.
Senator Dansadau writes from Abuja
