By : Kayode Abdulazeez, Ilorin
Permit me to start this piece with a quote from one of the world foremost spiritual leaders and ambassadors of peace, Dalai Lama, who says “Peace does not mean an absence of conflicts; differences will always be there. Rather, peace means resolving these differences through dialogue, education, knowledge and in human ways”.
Christened as ‘state of harmony’, Kwara state has in recent time been at the centre of national news for acrimony within the ranks of the All Progressives Congress (APC), the party that formed the government at the state.
Although to Nigerian politicians, politics is about permutation to outsmart others and satisfy the interest of the political players. It has little or no consideration for community development and peaceful coexistence.
Consequently, it calls for recognition and honour when someone that is unarguably known to be an Army in the political arena looks beyond his political travails, suffered in the hands of some people within the party, to preach peace and unity amidst rancour in the same party.
The person is calling for support for the government in the face of the party’s crisis, in the interest of genuine development of the state and poor masses. Definitely, such person sincerely deserved a worthwhile recognition and celebration.
At this point, I humbly call on all our community leaders, open-minded politicians, peace loving kwarans and other stakeholders in the project of Kwara to join me in celebrating a TRUE PROGRESSIVE POLITICIAN, with unflinching love for the state, people and his political party (APC). An honourable with characteristics of that title, Hon. Mashood Mustapha (MM) fimc, ‘Olu-Omo of Universe’.
Here are some of quotes from the ‘patriotic man’ at the period of acrimony among APC members in the state;
“After that 2019 election, I realised that it is only God that gives power and he gives it to whoever he chooses. He has given it to AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, whether rightly or wrongly, whether we are comfortable with it or not. The issue is that someone has been picked. So who are we to challenge God’s position. For me, as a man that believes in faith, I decided to give him support to succeed in his journey to better kwara”.
“I appeal to Alhaji Lai Muhammed, Senator Gemisola Saraki, Prof Oba and other major stakeholders in the party to let us forget about this crisis and let all of us come together and support the governor in the interest of the state”.
“Let us not see politics as if it is a way of life. It is the means to the end and not the end itself. And for me, we should see politics as a vocation. People that have been elected, people that have been appointed should be allowed to run the system while we take the backstage and go and do some other things and not to insist that the moment I’m unable to get certain things, there wouldn’t be any way. The governor is in the office. But if you distract him, it will have adverse effects on some of his performances. The people at the grassroot will suffer the effect”
“I want to implore the people in PDP to have the interest of Kwara at heart and come to the mainstream party (APC) because we have a lot to benefit and attract to the state from Federal” You are indeed a great man with heart of gold!
Abdulazeez is a Media Aide to Alhaji Moshood Mustapha writes from Ilorin, Kwara state capital.
