From Abba Anwar

Either for good, in their own definition, or for bad, some elements within the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kano, are planning to play their second to the last political card against His Excellency, the Deputy Senate President, Distinguished Senator Barau I Jibrin, CFR, by planning and organizing press conference and protest at the National Assembly, calling for the removal of the Deputy Senate President. From his position.

To me personally, the open but crude rivalry and unnecessary display of hatred among political juggernauts within the APC, is a pointer to one fact that, the leadership circle of the party in the state, is not only, weak and self-first promoter, it is destabilizing, deconstructing and disengaging.

Leaders and elders of the party have a long way to go to strengthen party structure and redirect respect to honesty, transparency, openness and sincerity of purpose. Without these, all so-called efforts, by whatever name they are called, stakeholders engagement, elders forum, caucuses, former this or former that, could be as insignificant as building castle in the air. In other words? All in vain. Vanity upon vanity.

What fertilizer is to plant, so also orchestrated hatred is to the Distinguished Senator Barau. Continuation of the preventable face – off among leaders of the party in Kano, is as good as signing death warrant of all factions. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s political interest, in his sight, supercedes all other interests.

A word is enough for a wise!

When DSP Barau’s intervention in sponsoring thousands of students across the sate of Kano and influence in the establishment of Federal University of Science and Technology, Kabo and establishment of North West Development Commission, with headquarters in Kano, among other numerous interventions, is like they are not being appreciated as part of the development process of the state and the region. By those people. where then are the calculation and political arithmetic of plotters against the DSP?

What is more surprising is, when people started concocting all lies against Senator Barau for the travails of some of our politicians in the state, you see Tom, Dick and Harry blindly condemning this gentleman without fact checking the entire process and procedures.

Unknown to them, by blaming all odds times to the Senator, they are at the same time telling us that the Distinguished Senator is such a very powerful leader. Who can do and undo. To whoever he wishes. While his rivals and enemies from the other side of the table are standing helplessly.

His efforts in the security of the state, appear to deliberately, be non-traceable to his opponents. Because their brain is not only retarded, but beclouded with unguided interest and self-first lifestyle. The provision of thousands of operational equipments, ranging from vehicles, motorcycles, office equipments, rehabilitation and construction of offices of security agencies, are numerous to mention.

Let me ask this singular question, how can a call for the removal of the DSP – a plan in the pipeline – be seen and interpreted as love for Kano? Let us see who these noise makers could be. Well, even if some nonentities or faceless individuals are put forth to be floating in the ocean of uncertainty and frustrations, architectures are neither invisible nor unidentifiable.

Anwar writes from Kano
Monday, 15th December, 2025

The Northern Youths Merger Group APC has distanced itself from the recent statement made by Engineer Dr. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, the former Governor of Kano State and leader of the Kwankwasiyya movement, criticizing President Ahmad Bola Tinubu’s handling of the security situation in the country.

In a press release signed by the National Coordinator of the group, Hon. Musa Mujahid Zaitawa, the group expressed its disappointment and condemnation of Kwankwaso’s statement, describing it as “baseless” and “shameful”. Zaitawa pointed out that Kwankwaso has a history of opposing the government without justification, citing his previous criticisms of former President Goodluck Jonathan and his current stance against the APC government.

The group questioned Kwankwaso’s credibility, given his roles as a former Minister of Defence, Governor, and Senator, and wondered why he would make such statements at a time when the President is working tirelessly to address the security challenges facing the country. Zaitawa noted that Kwankwaso’s comments were not only unhelpful but also undermined the efforts of the government to ensure peace and stability in the country.

The statement further highlighted the erosion of support for Kwankwaso among his former associates, including Senator Kawu Sumaila, members of the National Assembly, and other prominent individuals who have abandoned his camp.

The Northern Youths Merger Group APC urged Kwankwaso to desist from making statements that could be perceived as inciting or divisive, and instead, encouraged him to support the government’s efforts to address the country’s challenges. The group emphasized that the Tinubu administration is committed to ensuring security and development in the country and will not be deterred by baseless criticisms.
The Arewa Youths Mager group said they have uncovered a conspiracy by Kwankwaso to use the Kano State Government to politicize the security situation in the state by leveling baseless allegations against former Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje and Deputy Senate President Barau Jibrin that they were involved in it, to show that the government of Asiwaju Ahmad Tinubu failed to address the insecurity problem for people of Kano when it comes to the 2027 campaign to turn their backs on the APC.

NYMG warned Kwankwaso to refrain from making statements that could provoke the youth to do illegal things that could cause discord and instability among the people’s

The group also commended President Tinubu’s efforts to address the security situation in the country, including the appointment of a new Minister of Defence and the allocation of funds to support farmers in the North.

Let me begin with full disclosure: I am a Muslim and proudly Hausa-Fulani — a product of both tribes, raised with the blended cultures of me begin with full disclosure: I am a Muslim and proudly Hausa-Fulani — a product of both tribes, raised with the blended cultures North-West. If that alone irritates you, simply waka pass, because what follows will be blunt, factual, and completely unapologetic.

First, let us be clear: there is no such thing as a “Middle Belt region” in Nigeria. Not geographically, not politically, not constitutionally. What exists are six geo-political zones, with the North Central being just one of them.

The growing agitation for what I prefer to call the “Bible Belt”—often disguised as “Middle Belt”—is driven largely by neo-Christian maximalists, especially from Plateau State. And Plateau, let us not pretend, has earned an unfortunate reputation as one of the most hostile places for Muslims to live, transit, or thrive. Many documented incidents show entrenched Islamophobic violence, partisan state actions, and security responses that frequently tilt against Muslims whenever there are communal clashes.

But the proponents of this so-called Middle Belt never call it what it truly is: a Christian-only political sanctuary. Even within the North Central, Christians are not the majority. Only Benue and Plateau have overwhelming Christian populations. In Kogi, Niger, Kwara, and Nasarawa, Muslims form the majority—and each of those states is governed by Muslims.

So how does a minority hope to dominate the majority? How can the tail wag the dog?

This agenda is rooted in a deep-seated hostility toward Muslims, weaponised through disinformation, propaganda, and violence. And beyond the politics, the demands are not only unrealistic—they border on the absurd.

The dream of a cross-regional Christian confederacy stretching across Nigeria would require forcefully merging Christian pockets in the North Central, North East, and North West—communities that share almost no borders—with one another. Over 90% of the Christian minority communities they list are not even geographically contiguous with Plateau or Benue. The only connected Christian-majority areas are Plateau, Benue, and parts of Southern Kaduna.

To create this so-called Bible Belt would require mass displacement of millions of indigenous Muslims living in these territories. It would produce a Bantu-like, Southern Sudan-type enclave in the heart of a predominantly Muslim region.

We know how South Sudan turned out. Years after global Christian activists—and even Hollywood celebrities like George Clooney—pushed the “Christian genocide” narrative to break it away from Sudan, the new country descended almost immediately into ethnic civil war among people who share the same faith. The activists have since moved on. The people remain with the suffering.

This is precisely the kind of tragedy Nigeria risks if it entertains such a divisive fantasy.

Creating a religious enclave in Northern Nigeria is possible only through civil war, mass ethnic cleansing, and forceful land seizure. No legislative process can achieve it; it would require bullets, not ballots.

Even more unrealistic is the attempt to annex Christian-minority areas of Southern Borno, Southern Yobe, Southern Gombe, Southern Adamawa, Southern Bauchi, and parts of Taraba into this imaginary Bible Belt. Except for Taraba, all these states are Muslim-majority and governed by Muslims.

The Bible Belt crusaders have even stretched their ambitions to the far North-West, claiming Christian communities like Zuru in Kebbi and Southern Kaduna, and naming random Christian minority pockets across Katsina, Zamfara, Jigawa, and Kano as part of their utopian region.

Let us be honest: how does this happen without displacing millions of Muslims?
How do you build a Christian-only belt across a region dominated by Muslims without violence?
How do you redraw boundaries across the North without war?

The truth is simple. This agenda mirrors the same formula used in the Middle East—forceful displacement, land acquisition, and demographic engineering. Nothing short of massive foreign-backed militarisation could make it remotely possible.

And even then, like South Sudan, such a creation would become a landlocked, unstable, ethnically fragmented territory—a permanent war zone.

Nigeria must never walk this path.

The so-called Middle Belt agitation is not about geography or justice. It is about identity politics and fear disguised as self-determination. It is a project built on emotion, not logic. On ethnic resentment, not fairness. On religious exceptionalism, not coexistence.

I welcome any factual challenge to the points made here. Let the arguments come—but let them be grounded in truth, not propaganda.

Aminu Ayama
@aaa