Still on Niger State’s Quest for an Effective Governor -By Gimba Kakanda

Our electoral choices are our poisons. Some of the reactions to my caveat about the trending practice of antagonizing governorship candidates who don’t reside in, or have lived in, Niger State are disheartening. Someone even shared that one of the aspirants married women from other states and ethnic groups, and this has left me devastated because I hold him in high esteem. Of course, it’s your right to choose whoever appeals to your sentiment, but projecting parochial and hateful campaigns to de-market aspirants in a place with too few inspiring options is self-sabotage.

That we don’t live in Niger State anymore doesn’t make our stake less than yours. We hold equal stakes in the state and care about how it’s run just as much as you do, if not more. Any sensible person in and from Niger state would be quick to prioritize competence over self-serving interests. We need a prospering state, not a regressing home of civil servants and retirees.

If you choose a Governor that ends up as a disaster, it’s going to wreck us differently. Some of the people asking you to choose wisely have a lifelong antidote to overcome these poisons you make in your rabid bid to choose a poorly-assessed Governor.

We have high-flying options, and someone just reminded me that Hon. Saidu Musa Abdullahi (SMA), who’s been a star lawmaker and inspiring leader, is likely to join the race. At least, he’s a ”local breed,” by our definition of the term, and much more decent than some of the characters asking to manage Niger State. So, let’s calm down and assess our options based on their merit. Niger state is not your father’s property; it’s not your inheritance!