Enter Senator Kanti Bello's Shop!

By Nasiru L. Abubakar


Senator Mahmud Kanti Bello is slowly and steadily living up to his name- Kanti. For those who don’t understand the Hausa language, the word ‘Kanti’ simply means a shop. Now don’t tell me you don’t know what a shop stands for. But in case you need a reminder, it is a place you can get to buy anything- as long as you have the money- since a shop is always opened for business. Sometimes you wonder how some people perfectly fit their names.
If you are wondering I will go to this extent in describing a Nigerian Senator, who supposedly should bear ‘distinguish’ to his name, please indulge me, perhaps till the end of this article. Maybe then you would get the …
For starters, Senator Kanti Bello got to the Senate under the All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP) platform. In April 2004, local government elections were held in Katsina in which Governor Umaru Musa in connivance with then state INEC commissioner returned PDP candidates as winners. Shortly after the results were announced, Kanti and his party the ANPP cried foul. Indeed Kanti told the press that (let me quote him): "My local government was split into two my own local government where I came from that is Ingawa election was not held, the state government said there was no security. The following week about six thousand PDP thugs and three thousand policemen were brought to Ingawa and result was declared without election."
He also accused the police in Katsina for descending so low as to be used by the Katsina state government in the then local government elections and noted that the results were declared against the wishes of the people.
At another press interview on the same election, he said and I quote: “What Umaru (referring to the Katsina State governor) and Bawale Bala (INEC boss) are telling me is that I am not capable of winning even a councilor seat in my constituency. Thank God I am wise enough not to accept stupidity.”
Now the game has changed, Kanti is no longer selling ANPP wares, perhaps because they are not bringing good returns - no shop owner can remain in business without returns. He now deals in PDP which is notorious for selling contraband and smuggled wares. And because the goods are smuggled, the party is ready to give him loans without any collateral.
Today, Yar’Adua has integrity, he is a good man and a true democrat who respects the wishes of his people.
Surprisingly, when he left the ANPP, they didn’t complain because according to them the man has no credible customers. If you ask the senator why he had to leave the party that gave him his senatorial seat, he would say it was due to disagreement with Buhari. But we all know that before leaving the ANPP he wanted to kill the party in Katsina by saying they have suspended Buhari but their decision was quashed by the national headquarters of the party. So as a political
orphan, he seems to have found solace from a barren mother- the PDP.
Believing that the same Umaru, who couldn’t deny him victory in 2003 due to Buhari’s mass appeal, can now guarantee it (?), Kanti Bello is singing a different tune. According to him, former Head of State and presidential candidate of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), General Muhammadu Buhari does not pose any threat to Yar’Adua- the same Yar’Adua that he accused of undemocratic traits in the past.
Kanti told a national daily that Buhari had two major defects, namely, injustice and inability to listen to the other side once he has taken a position on issues, adding that it would be dangerous for the nation if Nigerians elect him as president.
These defects of Buhari are the strong points of the PDP presidential candidate, Yar’Adua. Haba, Kanti Bello? Please ask Speaker Masari and Magaji Mohammed if Yar’Adua listens.
Again, can anyone compare Yar’Adua’s acceptability to that of Buhari? Is it the Yar’Adua that couldn’t face his colleagues in fair contest even with the president’s backing? Haba Kanti what you have may be a harmless product but it is hardly saleable.
If Senator Kanti Bello has forgotten his past comments on Yar’Adua and the PDP simply because he wants to return to the senate, I want to tell him that there are many of us out there who have not forgotten, and will not forget since they are well documented in the papers. I will not talk about the good things he said about Buhari because he may deny saying them, but they are also documented for posterity.
Kanti Bello’s recent political summersaults have exposed him for what he truly is. At least, with these developments, the people of Katsina, Yar’Adua inclusive now know that the man has a price. And with his Kanti wide open, smugglers and those involved in illegal businesses now have a worthy business partner. I will also advice Nigerians to visit Kanti Bello’s shop, see the products- Nigeria: Yar’Adua; Katsina: Shema and Daura Senatorial Zone: himself- he has and decide whether they are the best in the market.
Nasiru L. Abubakar lives in Kaduna.

(Kanti Bello’s recent political summersaults have exposed him for what he truly is. At least, with these developments, the people of Katsina, Yar’Adua inclusive now know that the man has a price. And with his Kanti wide open, smugglers and those involved in illegal businesses now have a worthy business partner. I will also advice Nigerians to visit Kanti Bello’s shop, see the products- Nigeria: Yar’Adua; Katsina: Shema and Daura Senatorial Zone: himself- he has and decide whether they are the best in the market.)
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