Date: 2018-04-13

As the 2019 electioneering process is gradually taking shape with number of aspirants daily on the increase, Kwarans are daily treated with denials and half-truths.

It'll be foolhardy to at this material penultimate year to the general elections feign ignorance of most of the aspirants especially the scores angling to succeed Gov. Abdulfatah Ahmed whose second and final term as governor elapse next year.

Prominent among the rumoured guber hopefuls is a former member of the House of Representatives who is the sitting Speaker of the Kwara State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Ali Ahmad.

Ali Ahmad in all ramifications is qualified to be christened a Don as an associate Prof. of law from the University of Ilorin, where he was lecturing before venturing into Politics. It's however surprising that the learned parliamentarian have since thrown away all his postulations as an academics.

The proverb that says 'a coward dies several times before death' aptly captures back and front movement politics of denial of Hon. Ali Ahmad with regards his governorship ambition.

While it is a badly kept secret that Ali Ahmad has always eyed the number one seat in the State, which undoubtedly is a legitimate desire, he is daily de-marketing himself with the ways he's going about it.

It's however befoundling that as exposed and experienced Ali Ahmad is, he's still not bold enough to aspire and submit his aspiration to scrutiny of discerning minds, through his well orchestrated politics of pushing out message through an alibi only to deny same officially after the message might have achieved the desired result. This indicisiveness of a supposed learned academics is to say the least a disservice to the highly revered professional strata he represents.

Kwara State is in a precarious situation due to long years of apathy to governance and policy formulation and implementation, it then therefore means for it to turn progressive and drastic tide, all hands must be on deck to get it right.

If someone as exposed as Ali Ahmad who is arguably one of the most educated amongst the various guber hopefuls, cannot lead by example and assume the role of a pacesetter in coming out with the aim of engaging Kwarans, opinion moulders and various other stakeholders at this stage, then it shows he is not the kind of a governor Kwara needs come 2019.

Ali Ahmad succinctly fit into the description who stands for nothing and therefore falls for everything.

It's bemusing Ali Ahmad has consistently said only to turnaround to refute

It still beats my imagination that as an academics myself, Ali Ahmad who I used to know as an hard talker and a fearless freeborn with his knowledge in Islamic jurisprudence, which establishes the fact that it's only God that gives and takes, hasn't balls to stand by his aspirations.

I beseech all Kwarans of conscience to be watchful and eschew sentiments in monitoring the electioneering process and must stand and rise up against double-faced politicians.

Oniwiridi is a PhD student, he writes from Maiduguri.