Kwara Politics: Big Impact is Better than So-Called Big Idea, Saliu Mustapha replies Bolaji Abdullahi
The All Progressives Congress ((APC) candidate in the forthcoming Kwara Central Senatorial election, Mallam Saliu Mustapha, has fired a salvo back at his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) counterpart, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, over the Big Idea Vs Big Impact argument that has dominated Kwara media space in recent times.
Big Idea is the campaign slogan of PDP’s Abdullahi, while Mustapha maintained he has made Big Impacts beyond the former’s big ideas
It can be recalled that during the inauguration of his campaign council, Mustapha declared that he has made impacts bigger than Abdullahi’s big ideas, while Abdullahi via an open letter on 1st January, 2023 replied that there’s more to the Senate they are both contesting than philanthropy.
“The position that you and I seek requires critical thinking and big ideas more than anything else. The issues that would be brought before us as senators would require us to think creatively and take decisions based on hard evidence,” the PDP candidate wrote.
But Mustapha, in his response, which was contained in a letter issued on Tuesday, expressed surprise that his counterpart, who is believed to be an intellectual, would misinterpret his previous statement.
“While you misinterpreted my statement to mean that I was underplaying the value and significance of ideas, big or small, the statement was clear enough to decipher even to the average viewers or readers.”
Mustapha further said that while ideas are good, it will amount to nothing if it does not solve people’s problems.
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” For the sake of emphasis, I’d like to reiterate that while ideas are good, I believe we’ve gone past the stage of merely mouthing it for the sake of the political optics. But we are beyond that. We should be at the point of implementing creative ideas and innovative solutions to solve our people’s pressing problems through both legislative and executive channels,” the letter read.
He continued, “While it is obvious that we both have a different conception of what ideas are or should be for our people, it’s regrettable that, in your usual self-glorification, you already branded my belief as “cynical no-thinking.”
I am afraid that your definition of the concept, especially as it relates to the welfare and wellbeing of the people we both seek to represent, is clearly at variance with what ‘ideas” truly mean.
You have relegated the word to constant newspaper publications, frivolous attacks on your opponents and media features. Idea, to me, is the base word for ideology; and any ideology that has no positive impact on the people should be rejected outrightly, as I am sure yours would be by February 25th.”
Commenting on the exchanges between the two candidates, Kamaldeen Haruna, a political analyst, expressed surprise at the response of the APC candidate, whose calmness, he said, has been mistaken for gentility.
“I read through his response carefully. This is the first time Turaki will be coming out to dignify Abdullahi and he really spoke hard truths,” he stated.
He added, “Bolaji has gone to the extreme and I don’t see him winning the war that he has started. I guess he thought he had the media. It’s better for him to keep selling his ideas compared to the unnecessary attacks.”
