Aminu Iyawa’s mosquito tales and the ignominy of double standards
By Mustapha Atiku Ribadu
My attention has been drawn to an article authored by Alhaji Aminu Iyawa titled “The King Who Fell to the Mosquito.” Ordinarily, such a fluid publication filled with innuendos, historical distortions, and dangerous ethnic insinuations should not deserve a response. However, silence in the face of deliberate misinformation may be mistaken for consent and approval. Such compelled my intervention.
As a Fulani man who has associated closely with Governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri over the years, I can authoritatively debunk the falsehoods and toxic narratives put forward by Iyawa.
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The best one can say about his article is that it is a cocktail of distortions, exaggerations and politically motivated bitterness that may sadly be induced by old-age, senility and fading judgment.
For an experienced journalist, and a man who once occupied the office of Commissioner for Information, one would expect a measured intervention built on facts, fairness and balance. Unfortunately, what Iyawa presented in his self styled and phantom article was a dangerous ethnic sermon cloaked as political commentary.
His repeated reference to “mosquitoes” and his literary subterfuge are most unfortunate. A man in his seventies should be bold enough to express his views directly without hiding behind parables and coded attacks designed to inflame sentiments and deepen ethnic suspicion.
The truth is simple: Governor Fintiri has never demonstrated hatred against the Fulani people. That narrative exists only in the imagination of politicians who have lost relevance and are desperately searching for ethnic fault lines to exploit for political survival.
I do not even need to begin listing the numerous Fulani individuals who have remained close associates, political allies and beneficiaries of Governor Fintiri’s administration because doing so would amount to a needless waste of time and energy. I could not also be able to mention Fulani communities that have benefitted from Fintiri’s acts of benevolence and good governance. Facts are sacred and they are already visible for every objective observer in Adamawa State to see.
Governor Fintiri’s relationship with the Fulani community remains solid and cordial. His administration has accommodated all tribes, religions and political tendencies in the state without discrimination. The governor’s developmental projects, appointments and political engagements clearly reflect inclusiveness rather than the imaginary tribal agenda Iyawa desperately seeks to construct.
It is also disingenuous for Iyawa to question the legitimacy of Governor Fintiri’s 2023 re-election. The election was free, fair and constitutionally validated. Unless Iyawa has suddenly chosen to join the camp of Hudu Yunusa Ari and other disgruntled elements who attempted to subvert democracy, he should respect the verdict of the Supreme Court, which remains the highest judicial authority in the land.
In every democracy, election petitions are normal. Contesting an election in court does not invalidate the mandate freely given by the people. The Supreme Court spoke clearly and decisively on the matter. That should have settled every debate for sincere democrats.
More importantly, Iyawa’s article exposes a troubling level of hypocrisy and double standards. Nigerians have not forgotten that when his former boss, Admiral Murtala Nyako, was impeached as governor in 2014, Aminu Iyawa himself led several commissioners from the Nyako administration to openly pledge loyalty to the then Acting Governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri.
A number of people could not easily forget how Iyawa excoriated and lambasted Nyako before Fintiri in order to be part of his cabinet. But from the look of things, it appears that decades after Fintiri refused to accommodate Iyawa who was one of Nyako’s major beneficiaries, because of integrity deficit, the man is yet to recover from the rejection hence this open vitriol.
The same Fintiri he now attempts to demonize as tribalistic and tyrannical was good enough to receive their allegiance at the time. The same “Marghi man” he attacks today was embraced by Iyawa when political convenience demanded it. So what has changed now? The answer is simple: personal interest and a desire for political patronage.
It is therefore dishonest for Iyawa to suddenly reinvent himself as a defender of democracy and ethnic harmony when history clearly shows his political positions have always been shaped by convenience rather than principle.
Adamawa people are wiser today. They understand the difference between genuine political criticism and dangerous attempts to weaponize ethnicity for selfish political ends. The state has suffered enough from divisive politics and should not be dragged backward by those seeking relevance through inflammatory narratives.
As leaders, we must rise above bitterness, ethnic baiting and personal vendetta. Politics should never become a platform for sowing discord among communities that have coexisted peacefully for generations.
Governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri remains focused on governance, development and sustaining peace in Adamawa State. No amount of revisionist storytelling or mosquito analogies can erase the visible realities of progress and inclusive leadership being witnessed across the state.
Ribadu, the Secretary of APC in Adamawa State writes from Yola.
