“Hon Jonathan Asake( Labor Party Governorship Candidate Kaduna) And The Banality Of Evil” – A REJOINDER

By Gora Albehu Dauda

NEWSDAILYNIGERIA: Hon Jonathan Asske was the President of the Southern Kaduna People’s Union (SOKAPU) until recently when he took an interest and jumped into the murky waters of political party politics infested with all manners of very dangerous sea creatures not limited to barracudas, sharks crocodiles, stingrays and the likes . Surely, Hon Asake must have known or at the very least is expected to have known the extent of incompatibility of the decision he made in the light of his position at the time as SOKAPU President. He quickly did the needful by resigning the position of SOKAPU president thereby joining the league of “ Former this, firmer that “. By that decision, he, like anyone else is free to join in the political fray either to vote or be voted for and here, no law has been violated however, Asake’s personal decision is or has raised so much political dust that visibility is very low. I thought that by resigning his position as SOKAPU president, the voices of condemnation of his personal decision should have quietened, but no, they have not. Some folks it appears may have been perceiving SOKAPU as if that body is a secret cult of sort from which a member CANNOT exit if such decided to. We all can understand why there are fears were a member of a cult to exit the cult. The fears are genuine as did happened in the days of the practice of “Aboi” Dodo in the Hausa language in many Southern Kaduna communities of that period. SOKAPU does not belong to such now largely extinct groups.
It would appear to some Southern Kaduna folks that Hon Asake has committed such a treacherous offence that will require a hanging without even the benefit of a fair trial and in hanging him, he must be hung so high that others can see. The essay for which this rejoinder is intended has in my humble opinion raised more questions than answers. I have lots of problems with the title of the essay for many a reason. I took time to read the essay a number of times yet, I could not find a place for the word “Evil” in Asake’s decision for throwing himself up to contest for the governorship position in Kaduna State on the platform of the Labour Party. For a truth when it was only a rumour that a son of Southern Kaduna was joining the governorship race I was full of excitement and I authored a post in support of the patriotism and or tenacity of purpose on display by Asake regarding his decision. It is an overkill to even think of viewing Hon Asake with the same viewing lenses Hannah Arendt had on when “she” I suppose titled her documentation The Banality of Evil”. Hannah Arendt had by my understanding been overwhelmed by the inhumane treatment mated to the Holocaust victims to have settle for that title. Asake certainly does not come even close because nobody’s life is under threat on account of his decision to vie for the governorship of Kaduna State.
I should state here and lucidly too that I am not Hon Asske’s pen therefore the position I hold dear to is mine and not anybody’s. But for Asake’s very busy political schedule, am sure that he would since have picked up the gauntlet thrown down by the essay under reference. Southern Kaduna has gotten too used to settling for far less than we truly deserve which is perhaps why our part of the State is being taken for granted politically. That one of ours has stepped out to challenge the status quo should have been a thing of joy but here we are literally calling for his head. The essay under reference by my understanding appears to have a deficit in truth. It would appear also that Asake’s endeavour will endanger entrenched interests what ever such interests may be. I simply could not identify what evil Asake may have committed to have prompted the essay. If the essay had not come with a heading as in those days of unseen poetry, and it was for the reader to provide a heading, you can bet that many would have differed. If it was for Yours sincerely to suggest a possible title, it would have been.,” Hon Jonathan.Asake ( Labour Party governorship Candidate Kaduna” How Dare You?”. This is the context in which I understand the essay.
I have not in all honesty been able to understand if the essay was authored from the perspective of the author alone of that of the Forum of Southern Kaduna Professors (FOSKAP) to which he is a member. I anchor my thinking on the number of times the collective pronoun “ We” and “Us” were used in the essay. That some folks had some reservation over Asake’s ascendency in 2019 to the SOKAPU president for the fear he was in their view “ Politically Contaminated “ ought to have been reason enough to have justified his rejection or defeat since it was a democratic procedure that crystalized to is becoming SOKAPU president. Had those who partook in that vote back in 2019 opted for another individual “ Less contaminated’, we would have saved ourselves this problem if indeed it was a problem. Contaminated as they may have thought Asake was, I believe that they should have known that in today’s world there are processes by which decontamination including political decontamination could have been carried out The issues here are very simple, to the extent that one throws himself/herself into a political contest, such must be ready for what will follow. I have read somewhere that one’s political opponents will always be on hand to preach a SERMONS as to the claim that they know or knwe who and who dated your mother before she finally married your father. Is this not being proven to be true? For all I know, if you are into politics and dressed in white apparel, you can bet that you are almost certain to return badly stained. To the extent that we all hold a political opinion, we are to that same extent dangerously CONTAMINATED. Where then do we proceed from here?
On a personal note, I find no nexus between Asake’s personal decision and action of joining in the governorship race with the accusation not limited to betrayal, corruption, blackmailed and greed. Even if Asake was hoping to benefit politically from his period in office as SOKAPU president, it is for us as the electorate to make sure he does not. Given that Asake was a Member of the House of Representatives in the past, that should have meant that he knows how to navigate the tiny labyrinths of the political space. Much more funnier is the make-believe that Asake may be someone’s else’s mole, that illusive individual ( A retired General) from one of the States in the Northeast Geopolitical Zone who promised N 10 billion for the outing. To respond to such unsubstantiated rumour and to even allude to it is the very height of absurdities. Even if the rumour were true, what is wrong with that? Would that not have fitted perfectly into the Strategic chain of Ways and Means to desired ends? It is much more absurd to still expect our Southern Kaduna electorate to vote in a predetermined manner. The deliberate effort at lecturing Asake’s supposed campaigners on the 2 faces of this Labour party gubernatorial candidate is to me in bad faith. I wish I knew who out there in Southern Kaduns has the mandate to accord any politician “ Preferential treatment’’. Talk of betrayal is common in the game of politics and I dare to add that it has been a potent weapon often used to maximum effect. That Asake may have deployed his head to break coconut and as a sequel will not partake in eating the coconut is in my view cheap talk. If Southern Kaduna can correctly be called a family, Hon Jonathan Adake is a bonafide member of that family. Should Asake get to reading this piece, I urge and encourage him to head in the direction he is already heading and not to yield to or be distracted by any negative pontification.

…Gora Albehu Dauda, a political and public affairs analyst, writes from Kaduna.