Why Bello Matawalle Still Matters In Zamfara Politics -By Bashir Aliyu Limanci

As we close in on the 2027 elections, voters and political actors alike seem to have kickstarted a fresh move to gain an advantage and upper hand over their perceived opponents. These frantic efforts and seeming sobriety are borne out by the desperation for power and influence, and this politicking does not also spare the APC in the state ruled by PDP.   One of the hottest places where political actors try to hold sway is Zamfara where the incumbent governor Dauda Lawal Dare faces stiff opposition from the APC with Matawalle being one of the frontliners as he eyes a second term in power.

As a former governor who was well known for pursuing aggressive actions against banditry and illegal mining activities, Dr Bello Matawalle, who now serves as the state minister for Defense remains one of the most enigmatic figures who still dominate Zamfara politics, and this resurging relevance of Matawalle may have been the reason so many people desperately seek to take him down through manufactured wave of misinformation and campaign of polemics and pejorative as Zamfara gears up for a decisive governorship election as indications beckon another showdown between Dauda Lawal Dare and Governor Bello Matawalle.

Thousands of people have died as a result of banditry and mass killings across Zamfara, and it is an insult not only against the governor but also to the memories of those who sacrificed their lives to restore normalcy to Nigeria to even imagine likening a minister with top security clearance, a minister overseeing military operations across various theatre commands in the country to placating designated terrorists in the form of misconstrued negotiation and whatnot.

The sponsors of the acts of mischiefs are known, and their sole intent is to sabotage Matawalle’s potential return as a governor. Thank God, people are well aware of the circumstances surrounded various failed negotiations to save lives, free inmates and help people restore normalcy in Zamfara. Zamfara during Matawalle was fighting an attritional war against bandits, and there were a lot of tactical decisions that were tried to tackle the worsening insecurity, and Zamfara under the then governor Bello Matawalle was in the strong position to end insecurity in the state. It was the success that led to his emergence as the minister of defense.

All odds indicate Governor Dauda Lawal only prevaricates and struggles to explain his woeful failure to assuage the sufferings of the Zamfarans who have been made unrealistic campaign promises only to be left in the lurch. Excuses are for those who deflect blame and mask failures using aggressive misinformation campaigns, fake news and constructed narratives which hold no water.

Millions of Nigerians including in Zamfara have their lives forever changed by the successful economic policies under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and the growing popularity of APC in Zamfara is what might have spooked the enemies of Matawalle even more.

It is at this juncture that misinformation campaigns against Matawalle are being intensified in a clandestine move to diminish his image and weaken his relevance in the grand scheme of things. As an expert in Critical Discourse Analysis, I am sure this campaign of calumny is only getting started, but Matawalle will not be deterred by those who have already lost touch with their political bases, and their desperation only lays bare the futility of their weaponized political intents.

The thing about betrayal is it always boomerangs, and those who turned against Matawalle and collaborated with his political foes to manufacture damaging information will regret their actions, and even come back to work against those who bankroll their political escapades, and there are various options on the table of Matawalle with which he can use to deter them legally, and Nigeria is governed by laws.

It is against this backdrop that I call on the people of Zamfara to disregard this perpetrated campaign of subterfuge likening Matawalle with fake news.

Nigeria is on the cusp of achieving a decisive victory against terrorism thanks to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu efforts to aggressively crush terrorism and tackling the roots causes of insecurity in the country through various kinetic and non-kinetic strategies, and the successes of these intense campaigns against terrorisms in Sokoto, Zamfara, Niger, Borno are there for all to see. Therefore, it is mischievous to, at this juncture when we are recording massive successes against terrorists and bandits, to resort to blackmail and weaponization of insecurity.

As we close in on 2027, Zamfara people will decide vent their anger against those who failed Zamfara, and blindly seek to sow panic and chaos in order to cling on to power despite their massive failures.

Bashir Aliyu is a media consultant based in Abuja