To God be the Glory

Written By; Abdul-Rahman Baban Saibo

A statement of gratitude by Barr M. A. Abubakar on his victory to emerge Bauchi APC Gubernatorial candidate;

Bismillahirrahman al-rahim. All gratitude and appreciations be to Allah the most high.

Today, I,Barr Muhammad Abdullahi Abubakar, a son of Bauchi state, and at the same time an aspirant of the Gubernatorial position of the state under the platform of the party All Progressives Congress APC, wish to express my utmost appreciations, first to my hard working, selfless, tireless and vibrant campaign team whom speared not alone their time, energy and resources but also their trust, faith and belief to see and ensure that this victory was made a reality. I wish to remind them that this is not the victory but the beginning of it. Lest I remind of Herbert George Wells, a British writer who once said “The past is but the beginning of a beginning, and all there is or has been is but the twilight of the dawn.” Sure this victory has become a past, but it is a past that will forever be present in our future times, whilst this historical primary election, is indeed the “Twilight of the dawn” Insha Allah for Bauchi state.

This formidable team should also know that the strife, hustle, tussle and all struggles has just begun, for it shall end not the day we are declared victors of the general elections Insha Allah, it shall end not the day we take over our duties to the Government of Bauchi state, and yet, not again the day we chose to retire, but ‘to God be the glory’ it shall be the day the people of Bauchi state decidesto nod in agreement that we have achieved their ultimate demands which shall definitely be our ultimate goals.

To my fellow contestants, I wish to express to you all that there couldn’t be more worthy and dignifiedopponents, and yours sincerely must say, I hope as we worked toward achieving the congregation of this prestigious party, the unity has been made a success. And I also wish to humbly call upon you all to come join this quest of salvaging this great “pearl of tourism” from the hands of this selfish and self-serving ruling party, for ‘to God be the glory’ even God knows that this is not a one man’s fight. So as this victory is not regarded as mine alone, but the party’s,I call upon your supports, mandates and encouragement and I so hope that ‘to God be the glory’ I shall have it.

I also wish to give my overwhelming thanks to the convention committee, whom despite the stress, pressure and all constraints, maintained absolute order and conducted a free and fair election. If I must suggest, INEC should learn the methods of free and fair electoral conducts from these league of unbiased and transparentgentlemen.

And to the delegates who stood all day long to undergo series of challenges to start with accreditations processes down to the tiresome wait of voting processes, I earnestly hope and pray that you have made it back home in safe and sound conditions. I must say that you voted righteously and wisely, for I might not have been the entirety’s choice but I was privileged to be the majority’s and that is not my making but the making of good and wise decisions made by the majority and most of all the making of God almighty.

So, I must also urge them (delegates) to tighten their shoe laces, because the race has just been blown the whistle for. As the rest of the primary elections are set to take place, I urge them to vote again rightly and wisely the deserved people whom will be “faithful, loyal and honest” to the people of Bauchi state, and will serve our dear state with their “Hearts and Might” and will also protect the interests of our dear state, and “uphold her honor and glory” and so “help them God”.

To the entire people of Bauchi state, I humbly come to you, as a son, a brother, a father but most of all, a servant. A servant, whose motives will not stop at making mighty and great promises but a servant who will see to his words when uttered to his people Insha Allah. And Insha Allah, if God wills and I am elected Governor of Bauchi state, I will ensure that I aim at becoming the best Governor servant that has ever come and will ever come to being in the history of Bauchi state and in Nigeria. Hence, the name “Servant General” I shall bare instead of “Excellency” all through my stay in office, Insha Allah.

And, Unlike any other politician, I will pledge my promises to the people of this cherished state, but as I said I am a politician but not in promises, as Nigerian politicians are well known to be fund of empty and broken promises, especially those of the PDP, so mine will be more of personal promises rather than political ones, but if God decides to test my humanly weakness, I wish to plead to you that I am to you not more than a servant, a son, a brother, or a father. And I do hope and expect I get the proper toss to put me back to order.

To my family, friends and well-wishers, I hope you can see where your prayers has brought us, albeit, we all need to know that now, more than ever your prayers are mostly needed as they should be absolutely sacred. So ‘to God be the glory’ we shall achieve this all together.

Our father, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa in his “Maiden Speech” said and I quote, “Cooperation is for each man to be true to his religious belief and to reaffirm the basic principles of his particular creed. It may be that, when we hear the world crying out for peace, we may receive the inspiration to deal with these intractable problems and be able to really devote all our resources to the advancement of mankind by applying those eternal truths which will inevitably persist long after we ourselves are utterly forgotten.”

I quoted this quote to remind us(Nigerians) our basic responsibilities. The responsibility to come together as one people, one nation, one family, to achieve a common goal which is a “Great Nigeria”. The responsibilities of committing to the bringing back of a long lost hope of our dear Nation. The responsibilities to out-set personal desire and consider that of National building. The responsibilities that must promise the well-being of our people. That responsibility is indebted upon each and every Nigerian whom is eligible to vote.

So, ‘To God be the glory’, I wish, hope and pray that the forthcoming general election will bring an end to the corruption, bad governance and sufferings that this country have been dwelling within.

Long live All Progressives Congress party. Long live Bauchi state. And long live the Federal Republic of Nigeria.