Re: Intellectual mischief in Zamfara politics

Re: Intellectual mischief in Zamfara politics

Written by Bilkisu Aminu Gusau

Saturday, 25 July 2009 03:43

I read an article in the Weekly Trust of July 18, 2009, where one Adamu Bungudu responded to an article written by Dr. Yusuf Adamu of the Bayero University Kano. The tone of the article encouraged me to get the original article written by Dr. Yusuf Adamu and after reading his original and what it generated I decided to respond to Adamu Bungudu because he seemed to misunderstand the article of Dr. Adamu. I don’t know either of the writers in person, but I have the privilege of reading Dr. Adamu weekly in his Sunday Trust Column, I have also read many of his works on the web and I have also read some of his academic books when I was doing my MBA. I have also made some inquiries about him online and from friends that knew him. Like Dr. Adamu, I am from Zamfara State even though I stay in Kaduna with my husband. Dr. Adamu raised some fundamental issues on what is going on in Zamfara State and in the whole article he did not say Shinkafi has not done well in Zamfara, all he was saying if honestly understood is that Zamfara was not lucky with Yerima as governor and Shinkafi’s vision is now blurred by politics. He calls for reforms; what else should a citizen do better than what Dr. Adamu has done? His article was not about the government of Shinkafi, it is about the politics of the state. Bungudu questioned Dr. Adamu’s claim of being an intellectual and said that he is ignorant of Zamfara history and politics. Haba Bungudu! Dr. Adamu is an intellectual of standard if you know what an intellectual means. He has captured Zamfara politics aptly and his thesis shows great understanding of what is on the ground. When Bungudu said that Dr. Adamu is “hardly known outside the BUK ivory tower much less in the rank of popular or prominent citizens of Zamfara State” I find this claim baseless, ignorant and a blatant lie. If Bungudu didn’t know who Dr. Adamu is, he should please shut his mouth. Dr. Adamu writes a weekly column in the Sunday Trust newspaper (formerly PLACES and now LANDSCAPES) since 2007. He is very regular in Nigerian newspapers since 1992, how can you say he is not known? Do you read newspapers at all Bungudu? Dr. Adamu is an established scholar, poet and writer. I also learnt that he was the first northerner to earn a PhD in Medical Geography and is a leading authority on Maternal Mortality and Maternal Health in Nigeria. Dr. Adamu I have no doubt is known internationally, his works are taught not only in Nigerian Universities but also in US and European Universities especially in Germany and Norway. Therefore to say he is not known outside the BUK campus is despicable and silly. Bungudu should know that Dr. Adamu is more widely known in the world than any member of Zamfara State Executive or Legislature, go and google his name, you will be surprised to see his calibre. So stop making baseless claims like that please. Zamfara State should even be very proud that he associated with it. When Bugudu alledged that Dr. Adamu is planning to contest for governor in Zamfara State 2011, I think we Zamfarawa should be happy and prayerful that he did not change his mind. He is the kind of people we need to pull our state out of political quagmire and give us HOPE. Therefore, if Shinkafi cannot maintain the tempo he began with, people like Dr. Adamu should be encouraged to join Zamfara politics. Bungudu is also afraid that Dr. Adamu has concentrated on calling his colleagues, the academics to help the state out at the expense of other sectors of Zamfara society. Why should Bungudu be worried when he claimed to have knowledge of Zamfara history and Politics? He knows that all the other sectors have failed the people. In any case, Dr. Adamu may be right if he starts his CHANGE with the help of his colleagues, even Usman Danfodio started with an intellectual revolution before the revolution proper. I see nothing wrong in all these. Dr. Adamu did not say he wants to govern Zamfara Sate and he did not say that he wants the state to be governed by university teachers and there is no where in Dr. Adamu’s write up where he said he wants to head the intellectual movement. What he said was he wants intellectuals of Zamfara origin teaching in Nigerian universities to form a nucleus of a body that will start the rebirth of the State. If Adamu Bubgudu understands the English language very well he should understand what Dr. Adamu was saying. Is change not usually started by intellectuals? If you don’t know this, go and read your history books. Let me recommend Ibrahim Sulaiman’s A Revolution in History, a book of the Sokoto Jihad. Go and read, you will probably understand where Dr. Adamu got his ideas or I think he got his ideas. Bilkisu writes from Barnawa Quarters, Kaduna

Source:

http://weekly.dailytrust.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=685:re-intellectual-mischief-in-zamfara-politics&catid=1:comments&Itemid=109

http://weekly.dailytrust.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=685:re-intellectual-mischief-in-zamfara-politics&catid=1:comments&Itemid=109