Beyond a Rousing Welcome

 

Alhaji Sule Lamido

The Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, recently witnessed a large crowd that came to welcome the Jigawa State governor, Alhaji Sule Lamido. But there was more to the gathering, writes Ibrahim Shuaibu

Friday, June 28, would go down in the politics of Kano State as a day that came with an unusual colouration to the subsisting extrapolations. The size of the crowd was on its own intimidating and attention-seizing. Behold as Kano stood still for the Jigawa State Governor, Alhaji Sule Lamido, who arrived the airport en-route to Dutse, the Jigawa State capital.

As the crowd gathered to welcome him, something worthy of note was palpable- the brandishing of posters and banners bearing his much talked about presidential ambition in 2015, along with his River State counterpart, Hon. Rotimi Ameachi, the supposed running mate.
On that day, the whole of Kano had thought something was amiss as all roads led to the airport to receive Lamido who was returning to Dutse from an official engagement. Thousands of the governor’s supporters both PDP and non-PDP had thronged the airport to catch a glimpse of the governor and subsequently declare support for his supposed presidential aspiration in 2015.

Lamido and his entourage had arrived the Mallam Aminu Kano International airport aboard a chartered flight, at about 4.130pm, and immediately, the supporters who had been waiting went wild, chanting “Sai Lamido, Nigerians want you for presidency”.
The governor who came in company of his deputy, Alhaji Ahmed Mahmud and Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Alhaji Adamu Ahmad sarawa, arrived to the warm embrace of the crowd which included party loyalists, opposition party members; solidarity groups as well as women, who had taken over every space, including roads leading to the Kano airport. And despite the discomforting size of the crowd, they continued to chant heroic songs to welcome the governor.

Lamido was received at the airport by his Chief of Staff, Alhaji Aminu Ibrahim Ringim, including members of the state’s executive council, state party officials and local government council chairman, amongst the thousands of other supporters of the party.
THISDAY observed that even retired and serving government officials from both the state and federal governments, converged at the airport to also declare their loyalty and support for the governor they deemed fit for the office of the president. There were also supporters from the north-west states of Kaduna, Katsina, Sokoto, Zamfara who restated their support for Lamido and Amaechi.
Of course, the roads leading to the Kano airport as well as the adjoining streets were adorned with Lamido/Amaechi campaign posters, while placards and banners were also displayed in all the major roundabouts of the state as part of the tumultuous reception accorded the Jigawa State governor.

After arriving Kano into the waiting arms of the party supporters at the airport, the supporters embarked on a rally round the major streets of the town, which attracted other residents of Kano. As Lamido waved his hands to the crowd from his motorcade, mostly PDP supporters, the excitement that followed was instructive as it smacked of a pending political revolution.
Expectedly, such activities commanded several cars with posters of the governor and which formed a long convoy had created a traffic snarl that lasted over four hours within the Kano metropolis before heading to the Dutse, Jigawa State. The majority of the supporters were dressed in white attire while some spotted blue as part of solidarity for a governor they all implored to contest the presidential election in 2015.

As the sight of Lamido constantly re-energised them, the supporters who had literally waited all day continued to chant “Sai Lamido/Ameachi a 2015”, meaning, we want Lamido and Ameachi in 2015. Yet the believing others chorused Allahu Akbar, which is, Allah is great!
But in a gait that typified some presidential aura, Lamido, technically avoided addressing the people in Kano for obvious reasons. Much as he acknowledged their presence, including sighting the posters that bore his picture and that of Amaechi, as potential presidential duo, he was not oblivious of the weight of anything said at that spot.

Interestingly too, the crowd was also not politically naïve. Immediately, they could interpret the governor’s body language and began their political analysis of the political situation and as such, confident that the Lamido idea would fly.
Most of them gathered and expressed the confidence that the 2015 presidential election would be the next stop for Lamido because they were satisfied with his performance so far as governor and had decided to make him give the nation’s number one seat a shot in the 2015 elections.

The airport reception over, the crowd moved to the Government House in Dutse, where a horde of other PDP supporters had waited for several hours to receive Lamido. An interesting aspect to the Dutse reception was the gathering of disabled persons from Jigawa and Kano States, who had converged to declare support for Lamido whom they described as a true democrat, always concerned about the plight of the downtrodden in the society.

An elder of PDP in Jigawa, Alhaji Mamuda Taura, told THISDAY that “I left my home as early as 8am for Kano so as to witness the return of the peoples’ governor, Alhaji Sule Lamido, because for almost a week, we lacked his presence in the state. I love Lamido’s policy and programmes because they are for the common man and that is why I defied all the hurdles to ensure that I was part of those to welcome him back home. Lamido is truly democratic and I hope he will be the president of this great country.”
Flying a banner as well as making some of the Lamido/Ameachi posters his dress, Taura said “These posters you are seeing on my body were sponsored by me. I sold my foodstuffs to print them and transported myself with the remaining balance to this historical event to welcome him back home.”

Besides, many praise-singers from different parts of the north also graced the reception, while non-indigenes, including Igbo, Yoruba and other tribes turned out in their large numbers with a show of support for the governor. They also flaunted different placards with various inscriptions that indicated support for the governor.

Naturally, the question to ask is: how come Lamido’s return to the state suddenly became a political issue, precipitating such a chaotic reception? But the answer is not far-fetched. Political observers were of the view that it was one of the many steps that are yet taken to give a direction for his much touted presidential ambition. And given the increasing clamour by the northerner for a return to power, the quietly brewing revolution cannot be dismissed within the 2015 permutations.