With his beards, his face is unmistakable. With the severed arm of Baba Jangabe neatly tucked in his kitty as trophy for Shariah rule, his reputation is all over. Knowing how uncomfortable Christians are with his Shariah rule, Yerima is wooing Christians to vote him as president. More in this report culled from The Comet.

In the past few weeks, Ahmed Sani's loyalists are evolving secret meetings and contact making procedures. The end in mind is how to overcome the overshadowing perception of Governor Sani as a Sharia exponent and motivate crucial support, especially among Christians in the Southern and North- Central states.

Leading the charge in the articulation of an agenda to Woo Christian votes across Nigeria is Mallam Yunana Shibkau. A cursory-glance through Shibkau' s background brings up interesting details.

A Fulani, Mallam Yunana Shibkau grew up as a Christian. He Yerima was a member of the National Executive Council of the Alliance for Democracy. When Sharia was introduced in his state, Zamfara, in 1999 he led a resolute battle against it through various courts in the land.

Now appointed as Senior Special Assistant on Christian/Moslem Dialogue after Governor Ahmed Sani had worked out compromises and accommodation arrangements for Christians in Zamfara State , Yunana Shibkau has become one of Governor Ahmed Sani's right-hand man.

New organizations being spawned for the sole purpose of mobilizing Christian votes include the Middle Belt Youths for Yerima, (M.B.Y.Y.) Action Media for Yerima, Southern Network For Yerima (S.N.Y.) and the Yerima Christian Network (Y.C.N).

The agenda for wooing Christina votes includes an arrangement for projection of the Ahmed Sani administration's concern for equity and social justice for both Christians and Moslems in Zamfara state.

"Islam guarantees the rights of non-Moslems to practice their religion without hindrance and prohibits injustice of any kind against non-Moslems", Governor Ahmed Sani emphasized in a paper titled: "The Challenge of Sharia in a Democratic Setting", which he presented at a recent meeting with members of the Arewa Youth Wing of Christian Association of Nigerian (C.A.N.) in Kaduna .

The Christian mobilization agenda has become an integral part of Governor Ahmad Sani's 2007 presidential campaign. The Yerima Christian Network which is being led by Mr. Ibrahim Lapinni, a Kogi-born church activist who also publishes a Kaduna­ based newspaper and the Southern Network for Yerima and the Middle Belt Youths for Yerima which are being led by Benue-born Mr. Solomon Tosky Inedu are discussing joint strategies.

Essentially, M.B. Y. Y is working on a blueprint to tone down the expression of anti-Arewa sentiments and mobilization of several community and youth groups in the North-Central states towards fully embracing the Yerima 2007 campaign.

"The artificial divisions and religious polarization which is being used to divide the North, lacks tenable logical basis, especially in this era when an entire continent like Europe is coming together to find strength in unity. For us and all other youth groups here, backing someone like Ahmed Sani who believes in social equity and democratic populism, is the best line of action for 2007, and beyond", Inedu told "Sunday Comet."

The Southern Network for Yerima is aiming to discreetly reach out to mostly Christian individuals and groups in the southern states, especially the students' union leaders in various university campuses across the south. The body also targets critical but non­political groups such as the vocational associations of commercial bus drivers, Okada riders and people engaged in white collar jobs.

There are also speculations that they have a mandate to develop contacts who can, in turn, reach out to others in a faction by the Odua Peoples Congress. Yet more ambitious in the Christian votes' mobilization agenda for the Yerima 2007 campaign is the Y.C.N - a coalition of young people drawn from some fifty church-based entities, largely in the North.

Lapinni, their National Co-coordinator defends their inclination to support Governor Ahmed Sani: "Y.C.N. basically aims to create awareness about the need to promote peace and unity in Nigeria and beyond, through the enlightenment of Nigerians on the activities and initiatives of Alhaji Ahmed Sani, Yarima Bakura, the Executive Governor Of Zamfara State.

"The Yerima Christian Network has every reason to work towards the actualization of the presidential ambition of Alhaji Ahmed Sani. Amongst all the presidential aspirants, none has surpassed Ahmed Sani's suitability for the job, he has the requisite qualification and experiences, he is unquestionably accepted all over the country and beyond, he is a symbol of religious tolerance and despite the introduction of Sharia, there has never been any form of ethno-religious crisis in his state, Zamfara.

"He is a leader that has demonstratably shown his commitment to the promotion of peace, security, social Justice, equity and national unity. He is a leader that has done much to promote discipline, democracy and good governance and this realization prompted our emphasis on the imperative of an Alhaji Ahmed Sani presidency come 2007.

"Few days from now, we shall step up our mobilization activities to kick start our efforts to usher Alhaji Ahmed Sani into Aso Rock come 2007; we urge millions of Nigerians, of all faiths to be sympathetic to our cause. As Alhaji Ahmed Sani prepares to take over the mantle of power tTom President Olusegun Obasanjo, come 2007, we call 00 all Nigerians to support Yerima's presidential aspiration.

"We call on presidential aspirants from other geo-political zones to cede the presidency to Alhaji Ahmed Sani, for the sake of the unity and stability of the country. Finally, we call on all other northern presidential aspirants to step down and collectively work for the realization ofthe presidential aspiration of Alhaji Ahmed Sani," the leader of Y.C.N. stated.

In the last statement is a hint of the stiff challenge which some retire-d generals who are friends to Buhari, General Ibrahim Babangida and Aliyu Gusau, may pose to Ahmed Sani at a later date.

For such challenges and the need to propagate the "gospel according to Yerima", the Action Media for Yerima whose leaders include Suleiman Yakubu of the Zamfara state-owned Legacy Newspapers, have already begun work.

"Nigerians have been put under servitude for too long by the ex-­military leaders and for David Mark to tell us that the next president must have a military background; was talking out of his mind. Thank God that Nigerians of today are more sophisticated and wiser that ever before, this would make nonsense of the likes of David Mark.

-"We therefore call on Nigerians to fight and resist any move to bring in any ex-military dictatorship in 2007 because none of those parading themselves now as presidential hopefuls, including the ex-military leaders can match the incumbent Executive Governor

Of Zamfara State , Alhaji Ahmed Sani, Yarima Bakura. From Yerima's antecedents, neither General Ibrahim Babangida, General Mohammadu Buhari nor their clay-footed lap-baby, General Buba Marwa is a threat to him (Yerima).

"It is only Yerima-led Federal Government that can nurse the country's democracy to an enviable height in Africa in particular and the world in general because he has the ability to retain the democratic structures and would let Nigerians appreciate democracy. Yerima is the only capable hand that can free Nigerians from the present servitude they are being subjected to by ex-military leaders through controllable social-economic forces and the ravages of poverty in all dimensions and ramifications," they asserted in an eulogizing press statement issued in Kaduna on Friday."