By Ife Osemedua
365Daily – Former Governor of Bayelsa State, Seriaki Dickson, has described as unfair, criticism of the decision of Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, to withdraw his son from a public primary school in the state over kidnap threat.
The Kaduna State Governor was recently reported to have secretly withdrawn his son from a public school where he was a pupil.
The boy’s registration in the school was widely reported and expectedly elicited diverse reactions from the public, some hailing the decision at the time as patriotic and leading by example, while others had dismissed it as mere politics aimed at gaining cheap popularity.
His eventual withdrawal has also divided opinions on the propriety of the decision, especially coming on the heels of El-Rufai’s public stance against ransom payment to kidnappers.
But Dickson, in a show of support, said in a post on his Facebook wall on Sunday, July 4, 2021, that the decision by Governor El-Rufai to relocate his children from public school to a private one is a reasonable reaction of a father in the prevailing circumstance.
According to him, “the Governor is right in his action. No one should expect a situation where public officers who either suffer threats or have been victims of kidnap of family members, to fold their hands and wait for kidnappers to strike and lament.
“As someone who has been a victim of kidnapping myself; where in 2008, my late mother was kidnapped while I was a serving member in the House of Representatives, as well as in 2015, when my younger sister was kidnapped while I was Governor of Bayelsa State and people I know equally suffered in hands of kidnappers, I appreciate the trauma and pains of kidnap victims and their families and the fears and concerns of Governor El-Rufai as a father and Governor.
“I also commend the Governor for his refusal to negotiate or pay ransom, for that is the right thing to do. This was also my position even when my family members as stated above were kidnapped, because every ransom paid to kidnappers and bandits funds the next criminal activity and legitimises crime and criminality.
“We must unite for the security and stability of our nation,” Dickson said.
Also speaking on the development, Gimba Kakanda, journalist and public affairs commentator, wrote: “Politics aside, Governor Nasir el-Rufai’s decision to withdraw his son from that public school is in the best interest of the state. If he had left his son there, there would’ve been two sinister challenges to contend with: one, too much of the state’s scarce resources would’ve been earmarked for the protection of the son at school; two, the presence of the son at the school would’ve subjected all other students to increased threats of kidnapping.
“We may choose to debate the hypocrisy of his decision, but I feel, at this point, it’s more than just an attempt to demonstrate his faith in the quality of public school in Kaduna State. The El-Rufai I know is a showman, and he would’ve loved to have his son at the school to score some political points but, as Bob Dylan once said, “The times they are a-changing.”
Responding to criticisms over his action, El-Rufai posted on his Facebook page: “Integrity is doing the right thing even when no one is watching.”
– C. S. Lewis