By: Gab Efo
Ahmad Rufai Sani, economist, administrator and elected Governor of Zamfara State from 1999 to 2003, has caused no small stir since his recent visit to Sheikh Dahiru Bauchi, the 92-year-old Islamic cleric in Bauchi State.
The immediate past Senator of Zamfara West Senatorial district, Sani’s statement that he is available and ready for the office of President or Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in the 2023 race is causing the tension, particularly in the political class.
Popularly known by his traditional title of “Yariman Bakura,” Senator Sani has touched many lives across ethnic, social and religious divides hence the rush by some people to identify with his ambition to lead the nation at-large.
His academic background in Economics, experience in employment creation and generation under the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) and a stint in the apex financial and economic institution- the Central Bank of Nigeria – has placed his head above many in the quest to lead Nigeria into a future of an economy beyond crude oil.
Today, he is arguably one of the most successful poultry farmers of northern Nigeria extraction, helping to keep many youths off the streets.
Yariman Bakura is an advocate of politics without bitterness and a firm believer in “All power belongs to the Almighty God, who gives it to whomsoever God desires.” He understands the benefits of religious tolerance as a tool for social stability and security.
Little wonder that his alienation from the politics and governance in Zamfara was replaced with banditry and insecurity. That is why many are clamouring for him to accept to offer himself for the exalted office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria come 2023 general elections.
Followers, associates, admirers, young and old, rich and poor, from Calabar to Sokoto, from Maiduguri to Lagos, from Warri to Kano, from Abakaliki to Ilorin are doing all humanly legally possible to see to the emergence of Senator Ahmad Rufai Sani, Yariman Bakura as the next President of Nigeria in 2023.
