There is a new twist in the build-up to the 2011 governorship election in Borno State, with the emergence of the deputy governor, Alhaji Adamu Shettima Dibal, as a governorship aspirant. James Bwala writes on the chances of the deputy governor towards clinching the ticket in 2011.

The emergence of the deputy governor of Borno State, Alhaji Adamu Shettima Dibal, in the governorship race in 2011 has been described by many people in the state as God’s intervention.

According to political pundits in the state, God has many ways of shaking off the strong and making the weak strong for his pleasure. They added that it was initially considered a tall dream for the deputy governor to even have the guts to run for the governorship of the state, without officially obtaining the blessings of the incumbent, considering what they described as the fear of Sheriff.

Of course, many have also agreed with those political analysts on the fact that in the last one year, since politicians began to fall over themselves in a bid to seek one office or the other, none of them in the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) had considered Sheriff’s seat, owing to the signal given to them by the governor himself regarding who would succeed him in 2011.

But presently, it appears things are becoming different in the state. Although history has shown that there was no record in the state whereby a deputy governor succeeded his boss, Adamu Dibal may eventually break the jinx, owing to the grand following which he enjoys in the state.

Dibal, who earned the reputation of  being one of the most loyal deputy governors in Nigeria, has also been described by many Borno citizens as humble and people-oriented. According to reports, Dibal was able to win the heart of Borno elders because he  had demonstrated sportsmanship on many occasions when he had been tried and been found to live up to expectations. It would be recalled that it was for these reasons that there were consultations with prominent Borno  elders from all the three senatorial districts in the state by some group of concerned youths, under the name of Southern Borno Development Association (SBDA), with a view  to ensuring that Dibal succeeds Sheriff in 2011.

All other things being equal, it appears that all is set for a power to shift to the Southern Borno Senatorial district, even as the group felt choosing Dibal as an aspirant to contest and succeed Governor  Sheriff in the 2011 gubernatorial elections was right thing to do. The power shift, according to the development association, would be based on justice, equity and fair play, after due consultations with the elder’s forum and other opinion leaders in the state, adding that this decision was the right of the minorities in a modern-day democracy, which was to ensure social justice, equity and active participation of the people towards moving the state forward.

Speaking with Nigerian Tribune, the Chairman, Southern Borno Development Association, Yahaya Hassan Gaya, said the incumbent deputy governor deserved to be given the chance to contest, after successfully serving his tenure for seven years without causing any political crisis, which have been the bane of five states in the country, saying even though democracy is the game of numbers, it is, however, no more relevant, considering the increasing ‘yearnings and aspirations’ of the minorities on justice, equity and fairness in a democratically elected government. He further said that if numbers were to have been a major determinant in democracy, how many votes of Kenyans and African-Americans would have made President Barack Obama win elections in the United States of America.

According to him, besides the hold on to power for 18 years by the North and Central Senatorial districts, Governor Sheriff had, at several political forums in Dikwa, Gwoza, Biu, Bama and Hawul, declared that his next successor would emerge from Southern Senatorial District of the state.

According to Sheriff during one of his speeches, “I have broken the political jinx which says that only somebody from Borno Emirate can be the governor of the state. I came from Dikwa Emirate and yet, I am the governor of the state. After my second tenure in office, I will shift power to someone in the next emirate.”

It is now left for the people of Southern Borno to justify Governor Sheriff’s political statements of power shift by consolidating among themselves, with the view to having a unity of purpose and direction. Southern Borno, comprising 11 council areas with a population of over 2.8 million, had never produced any civilian governor since October 1979, while the other two senatorial districts, North and Central, had Alhaji Mohammed Goni, Asheik Zarma, Senator Maina Lawan Ma’aji, late Alhaji Mala Kachallah, and the incumbent governor, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, as the elected civilian governors of the people between 1979 and 2010.

With the emergence of the Borno deputy governor as the main contender for the Sheriff’s job, the number of governorship aspirants has risen to four. They include Governor Sheriff’s younger brother, Alhaji Mala Sheriff; Ambassador Saidu Pindar and Kashim Imam. According to some political watchers in the state, the aspiration of Mala Sheriff, one-time Commissioner of Finance during the administration of former and the late Governor Mala Kachallah, will definitely meet a brick wall because of the rate at which the Sheriff’s family is being criticised in the state, particularly now that all tertiary institutions in the state are on strike and the whole workforce are planning to follow suit. In addition, the result of the ANPP ward congress, where the governor’s men lost out, has indicated clearly that the electorate may have decided to ensure that the status quo must change this time around.

For Kashim Imam, he is considered as Borno’s most popular gubernatorial aspirant and two-time governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Alhaji Imam lost to Ambassador Baba Ahmed Jidda at the party’s primary elections in 1999 and lost again to Governor Modu Sheriff in 2003 and 2007 respectively. His glorious political days in Borno might have even out, as he was alleged to have narrowly escaped being lynched in Damboa, one of the 27 local government council in the state due to reports that he is not a sellable material for the governorship of the state.

While former Nigerian Ambassador to Sao Tome and Principe, Ambassador Saidu Pindar, is said to be one of the big spenders in the Borno PDP, the emergence of Dibal seemed to have outshone him, even among his people, owing to the liberal nature of the Borno deputy governor and his grassroots touch with the people, which has made him more popular. As such, if he wins the 2011 election and succeeds Sheriff, Dibal will be the first deputy governor to attain such an exalted position in the history of the state.