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Kano APC’s “Fragmentation” 2027 : Gawuna/Garo, Gawuna, Garo, Barau /Kawu, Barau, Kawu, Other Dark Horse(s)

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By Abba Anwar

This piece reflects on the opinions and arguments surrounding the survival strategy of All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kano state beyond 2027. Many moves, employed strategies, conspiracy theories and political calculations are, but build ups to 2027.

Believe it or not, APC is still a force to be reckoned with in Kano. Whether Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje is a National Chairman of the party or not, his consolidation of solid foundation when he captained the affairs of the party for Eight consecutive years as a governor, gives the party a life saving effort, which it still enjoys.

Fragmentation is still in view within the purview of party structures as embedded in the hearts of some party members. And potential members joining the party with genuine intention, as time passes by.

As many envisage, APC’s victory in Kano hangs on the neck of who becomes its gubernatorial flagbearer and his running mate, how candidates are filled in other positions come 2027. Among other factors.

Whether Gawuna /Garo ticket is still relevant or not, only time can tell. Gawuna’s good faith in Allah’s decision during the electioneering campaign up to the election period, in 2023, meant a lot in the victory of the party. That was later scuttled by other conspiracy theories.

His relationship with people when he was Chairman Nasarawa local government reminded many to support his cause. I’m not looking at the local intrigues he faced from his local government.

While Garo’s kind hearted, apart from his trust in Allah’s decision also (as a Muslim, Mu’umin for that matter), his known contributions to human development, who sees man as the centre of development, his sharp political strategy and his style of leadership, when he was Chairman of Kabo local government, among other factors, played important role in the party’s victory, which was later scuttled by other interests in 2023 elections.

For the Deputy Senate President, Barau I. Jibrin, who for sometimes now, runs helter-skelter struggling for relevance to, according to many opinions, get gubernatorial ticket come 2027, is being paired with Senator Kawu Sumaila. To have Barau /Kawu ticket. Though Kawu is still within the fold of New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP).

As it is now, is only a projection of what can be brought to the limelight. Kawu is indeed a force to be reckon with, in Kano South. No matter from whichever angle you are looking at the prism, Kawu Ba Kanwar Lasa Ba Ne in Kano South.

That is why some people are of the opinion that, Barau/Kawu ticket can make a difference. According to such opinion, Barau’s position as DSP, and Kawu’s political ingenuity, could make comfortable landing for APC come 2027.

These are only views expressed by people within and outside the rank of the party, APC. As related to Gawuna /Garo ticket and Barau/Kawu ticket. And let’s look at Gawuna, Garo, Barau and Kawu in their individual capacities and capabilities.

Gawuna’s great asset, for example, is his turning of all experiences, setbacks and examined opportunities to Almighty Allah.

I’m not interested in some expressed opinions about his direct relationship with his constituency and the issue of those who surround him, from the beginning to date.

Garo’s political asset is his genuine concern about what affects people with the aim of reinforcing them. He means acceptance when he says “yes.” He is not slippery in his words and actions. He too, as a Muslim, he believes Allah controls everything he faces in life.

I’m not also interested in an opinion expressed by some, that he is no longer accessible. For this I refer my reader to an article written by one Labaran Dantala, recently, captioned, “Garo, Still Available, Accessible.”

For Barau, his great asset goes to what he was able to bring to the state, using his position as Deputy Senate President, for re-approving Federal College of Education (FCE), Kano, to Federal University of Education and the creation of North West Development Commission. He too believes, Allah controls everything.

I do not care to look at his miscalculation of accepting cross-carpeters from, especially, Kwankwasiyya faction of NNPP. Who later go back to their roots. His inability to learn lesson from the then Gawuna’s Tsamar Nama operation. I do not also have any interest in what party people blame him of. That is abandoning party members and concentrating on new comers, who add no value to his political ambition.

Kawu’s greatest asset, is his wealth of experience in Kano South political history and politicking. Aramma Kawu as some address him, knows the Power of Allah in controlling everything in life and beyond.

I do not want make any comment about his ferocious postulations when it comes to politics. But some still see this as another great asset for a politician. His membership of NNPP isn’t my area of interest here. So also his being surrounded by ‘Yan Birni is not in my shopping list.

For APC to bounce back stronger and domineering, it is important to look at some handful few legislators, who, by all estimation, do more than expected.

The first and foremost person in this category is Hon Abubakar Kabir Bichi. Chairman House Committee on Appropriation. This is a gentleman who always believes in his constituency first. While doing that, he doesn’t go for other opposition party members. He, instead, takes all along.

Hon Bichi’s strategy of not embracing members of the opposition parties at the detriment of his own party members, earns him greater respect and relevance, more than the Senator representing his area. In clear terms, Hon Bichi is more powerful, in whatever estimation you can see it, than Senator Barau from that end.

Bichi according to the opinions I came across, is not eyeing to become a governor. But his strategy seems to be working far better than Barau who has been eyeing to become a governor.

More Bichis in APC means more chances for the party. Just similar to Garo, Bichi has strong home-based support from his Senatorial district. Garo enjoys such support from across the state. Bichi like Garo has never been a slippery type. He takes and speaks what he can accomplish. Not minding whose ox is gored.

To tame fragmentation at whatever length and by anticipating how hazy the environment could be, some notable youth formed themselves and become a Coalition of Youth within APC. This group did well in reawakening party members on their primary responsibilities.

It is not the interest of this write – up to create confusion where there is none, concerning the primary objective of the Coalition. Mine is just to appreciate the commitment, genuine purpose and open door direction of the Coalition. At the initial stage, I didn’t see them as an amalgamation of value addition elements. But as time passes by, I see hope and strength in them.

Notable among such youth, whose presence serves as beacon of hope are, Adamu Unguwar Gini, Musaddique Wada Waziri, Jijitar, Hon Ja’o’ji, Hon Maiwayo, Danyaro, M. Abdussalam Ishaq (Kumbotso) and even that boy Dini Manchester, among many others, who are numerous to be mentioned here.

I re-assured and re-confirmed to myself that, this engaging Coalition has little or no intention to wreck havoc in the party because of their self – centred interest. Though political activities are always not-interest-free. I doff my hat to them because, nowhere I heard them making disturbing noises as a group so far. Either to the leadership or to the followership. Yes, they have their shortcomings. But for now such does not becloud their immense contributions as re-awakening agents for youth movement.

My view on other dark horse(s) is built upon people’s opinion that, apart from Gawuna /Garo ticket or Gawuna as individual and Garo as individual, Barau/Kawu ticket (if that works), or Barau as an individual or Kawu as an individual, there could emerge a scenario where someone somewhere can just come from the blues and picks the ticket. That, to me, is very unlikely. Though nothing is impossible in politics.

Whether or not APC remains as one indivisible political party come 2027, in Kano, the National Chairman of the party, Dr Ganduje has all it takes to ameliorate, align and realign all existing forces within the party in the state.

As I’m rounding up, I vehemently disagree with handful few opinions, suggesting that, Barau is wasting his time, so long as he thinks he can outshine Baba Ganduje in the scheme of things. If it is true Barau is thinking along that line, I advise him to backslide. Because the situation could be dicey and deceiving.

This piece is not looking at the party leadership, at all levels. From Ward up to state level. Party management is not within the purview of this brief work. This write-up looks at the general opinions of people concerning APC’s victory come 2027 elections. I do not even care to also look at the opposition parties.

Abba Anwar,
Former Chief Press Secretary to the former Governor of Kano State,
2018-2023
Can be reached at fatimanbaba1@gmail.com

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Opinion

Locating Nigeria in the Global Digital Landscape by Y. Z. Ya’u, CITAD

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Late last year, the Portulans Institute, an independent, nonpartisan research and educational institute based in Washington, DC, released the 2024 Global Network Readiness Index (NRI 2024). The NRI annually ranks countries across over 100 indicators grouped into four broad areas or pillars: technology, people, governance, and impact. The extensive data used for the ranking allows for an assessment of countries’ progress (or lack thereof) in the preceding year.

In the 2024 ranking, Nigeria is placed 112th out of 133 countries, positioning it near the bottom of the ladder. This ranking indicates a lack of progress, as the country dropped from 106th last year to 112th. Nigeria is not even among the top 20 performing countries in Africa.

The results show that Nigeria’s performance declined in three of the four pillars. For instance, in the Technology pillar, the country dropped from 88th last year to 94th in 2024, while in the People pillar, it fell from 96th to 112th. Similarly, in the Impact pillar, Nigeria moved down from 116th to 118th. The Governance pillar also reflects a low ranking, holding steady at 114th.

Among the three sub-pillars of Technology, Nigeria performed relatively well in Content, being ranked 49th. However, in Access and Future Technologies, it was ranked 110th and 99th, respectively. Access remains a key challenge to the effective utilization of digital technology in the country. With the arrival of Starlink, there is presumably universal coverage, which should improve access. However, affordability has worsened over the year due to predatory pricing by Starlink and the collapse of the national currency. This situation is expected to worsen as telecom operators plan to increase tariffs. Additionally, there have been no significant efforts to improve both connectivity and accessibility in the country.

Despite advocacy for community networks as a means to bridge the digital divide in underserved communities, the country has yet to embrace this solution. While the recent launch of the National Broadband Alliance includes an ambitious plan to roll out more fiber, the reality is that fiber deployment without initiatives to reduce costs will not effectively bridge the connectivity gap.

In the Governance pillar, Nigeria’s rankings are 119th, 113th, and 114th for Individual, Regulation, and Inclusion, respectively. In the Impact pillar, the country is ranked 98th in the Economic sub-pillar, 105th in Quality of Life, and 112th in SDG Contribution.

The overall picture becomes even more worrisome when examining the scoring details. Nigeria’s overall score dropped from 35.73 in 2023 to 34.87 in 2024. Similarly, the Technology pillar regressed from a score of 34.42 in 2023 to 32.50 in 2024. Notably, the Access sub-pillar score fell from 55.57 in 2023 to 38.87 in 2024. The People pillar also saw a decline, from 33.89 to 32.50, while the Governance pillar score fell from 37.40 to 28.40. A slight improvement was observed in the Impact pillar, which increased from 37.20 to 39.89.

Among the indicators where the country performed relatively well are Regulatory Environment (ranked 46th), Cybersecurity (55th), Data Capabilities (55th), Annual Investment in Telecommunication Services (27th), AI Scientific Publications (13th), and Domestic Market Scale (26th). However, indicators such as e-commerce, where Nigeria scored 75.00, reflect a ranking of 87th, indicating that most countries performed well in this area.

It is concerning that several of Nigeria’s higher-ranked indicators are not directly related to digital technology. For instance, the highest score of 86.90 for Regulatory Environment reflects the policies and regulations in place rather than technological achievements. Similarly, the scores for Domestic Market Scale (69.39), AI Scientific Publications (61.77), and Annual Investment in Telecommunication Services (63.90) emphasize the size of the population, academic activity, and speculative investment rather than tangible technological outcomes.

Once again, as in the previous year, many indicators for Nigeria had no data available, which negatively impacted the country’s score. These include critical areas such as Internet Access in Schools, Robot Density, Gender Gap in Internet Usage, AI Talent, Government R&D Expenditure, and Quality of Education.

It seems that as a country, we have not learned lessons from previous rankings. No deliberate efforts have been made to ensure data availability in areas where zero scores were recorded in prior years. Despite advocacy and repeated commitments from the government to bridge the gender digital divide, there is still no relevant data to determine whether these efforts are yielding results. This lack of interest or inability to collect disaggregated data along gender lines highlights the absence of a genuine commitment to addressing the gender digital divide. Progress cannot be achieved within a gender-blind framework.

The government has developed a National Artificial Intelligence Strategy, but it has yet to move to the implementation stage. Meanwhile, two bills are currently before the National Assembly, both aimed at ensuring the “proper control of AI usage.”

Rather than progressing, Nigeria appears to be falling behind, as several countries have overtaken it, pushing it further down the rankings. After the release of the 2023 NRI, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) convened a stakeholders’ meeting to review the ranking and made recommendations to improve the country’s performance. One of the key suggestions was for Nigeria to localize the NRI process, conduct state-by-state assessments, and provide incentives to high-performing states to encourage competition. Unfortunately, this suggestion was never implemented, and the release of the 2024 NRI did not even elicit a press statement, let alone a stakeholders’ forum.

While the NRI itself does not fully reflect how countries use and benefit from digital technology, it provides valuable insights into areas for improvement. To address these challenges, the Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) offers the following recommendations:

1. Convene a stakeholders’ forum to review Nigeria’s performance and implement recommendations from last year’s forum. This would help the country develop strategies to improve its ranking and address the digital divide’s various dimensions.
2. Learn from global best practices by licensing a new tier of last-mile connectivity providers to address gaps while considering affordability. Community networks, managed by communities to meet their communication needs, should be promoted.
3. Reform the Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF) to support community-based communication operators with loans, grants, and technical assistance rather than relying solely on private sector subsidies, which have proven ineffective.
4. Prioritize data collection and management. The lack of data for key indicators significantly affects Nigeria’s ranking. The government must take data seriously across all sectors, not just ICT.
5. Focus on inclusive policy-making through consultation with key stakeholders to address critical gaps, such as bridging the gender digital divide and improving connectivity. The Ministry of Communications, Innovation & Digital Economy must pursue more inclusive processes to steer the country’s digital transformation effectively.

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Opinion

Izala Sect: Crisis of Leadership, Accusations of Shiism Meddle in Polarising Its Members, History Repeats Itself

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By Yakubu Nasiru Khalid

Formally, the Izala sect was formed in 1978, created to eradicate innovation (bid’a) within the Islamic doctrine. It has a modern structure and leadership both at the state and national levels. Therefore, the leadership of the Izala has come with a well-structured and hierarchical bureau and the feeling that they are different from who they see as the “Conservative Islamic Group.”

The structure comprises three arms: the Council of Ulama, the Administrative Council, and The First Aid Group. Each of the councils has its own head and followers to achieve designed goals. Even with this structure, the sect experienced crises at both levels, which polarised its leadership.

The reasons attached to the polarisation of Izala at the national level later descended to many states where the organization has a large following. The reasons were multifaceted, from jurisprudence, political, financial, and external meddling to sundry issues.

Initially, there was a problem regarding the leadership of the organization, especially the question of who was the supreme leader of the organization between the Administrative Council and the chairman of the Ulama Council. At the time, the head of the Administrative Council was Alhaji Musa Muhammad Maigandu, from Kaduna, and Sheikh Ismail Idris was the chairman of the Ulama Council, Jos faction recognized Ismail Idris.

The Jos faction rejected Maigandu for not being a scholar but a businessman, arguing that an Islamic organization should be led by a scholar, not a businessman. This added more fire to the crisis.

Furthermore, the Kaduna faction was very critical of some views and fatwas of Ismail Idris, especially those that dealt with the issue of bid’a. According to Ismail Idris, the followers of Izala would not pray behind an Imam who’s not a member of Izala, they would also not marry from the family of a person who inclined to Sufism and would not eat the meat of an animal slaughtered by a follower of the Sufi group.

The Kaduna faction was outrightly against these views and opposed them. Another vital factor that played a role in the split of the Izala group was the accusations and counter-accusations of financial management. Ismail Idris was accused of organizing in the Arab countries, and he was further accused of personalizing vehicles donated to the Izala sect.

In addition, Ben Amara argued that the eruption of the Gulf War in the 1990s between the USA and Iraq was another important factor in the polarisation of the Izala. The Jos faction supported the American invasion of Iraq because of the Saudi Arabian interest, while Kaduna supported Iraq. The Jos faction called Kaduna “Saddamawa” meaning (supporters of Saddam) while Kaduna called Jos “Bushawa” meaning (supporters of American interest).

The leadership of the Jos faction blamed Shia for the internal crisis of Izala and accused some Ulama of being secret agents of Shiism who were working toward dismantling the group.

yakubunasirukhalid@gmail.com

 

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Opinion

Gov. Yusuf’s executive order extending retirement age for HoS, Kano Assembly Clerk, and others unconstitutional

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Sani Usman-DanAbdullo, a Director of Admin and General Services at the Kano State Agency for the Control of Aids, KSACA, has written to the state assembly, seeking its intervention in the
Executive Order issued by Governor Abba Yusuf.

Mr DanAbdullo, in a petition dated January 6 and addressed to Speaker of the Assembly, Jibrin Ismail Falgore, recalled that the governor had in January 2025 issued Executive Order No. 1 of 2025, extending the service period of some civil servants.

According to him, the governor extended the service year of the Head of Service, Assembly Clerk, some judicial officers, Permanent Secretaries and a host of other staff in the state health sector for 2 years after they were due for retirement as of December 2024.

The lawyer also recalled that the state assembly had enacted a law fixing the retirement of staff at 60 years of age or 35 years of service, depending on whichever comes first.

Mr DanAbdullo, therefore, asserted that the governor’s executive order was unconstitutional, “since the House has already made laws which the order seeks to alter”.

He noted that that executive order is not meant to alter, amend, modify or expand the law made by the legislature.

“This act, is, therefore, a clear violation of the principles of rule of law and separation of powers enshrined in our Constitution being not only a clear attempt to usurp the legislative powers of this Honourable House, but to contradict the existing laws already enacted by it in exercise of its powers as such,” the petition added.

While dismissing a claim that the governor issued the order in the spirit of the Doctrine of Necessity, Mr DanAbdullo said there was no justification for extending the service years of the affected retired officers since there are many competent hands with adequate qualifications to be appointed.

“And as for the staff in the health sector, they can be retained on contract arrangement in line with the existing service law of Kano State,” the petition added.

Mr DanAbdullo, therefore, warned that the provisions of the Constitution must not be subordinated to any other law, and must not be subjected to the indignity of deletion of any section or part thereof.

“In view of the foregoing, I urge this esteemed House to employ all legal mechanism at its disposal to overrule the Governor’s decision in the act complained of, which is capable of setting a very dangerous precedent that will ruin the entire public service system of our dear State, if allowed.

“TAKE NOTICE Sir, this act of indiscriminate issuance of executive order, if allowed, will cause the entire Kano State the following catastrophic effects,”

The State Assembly failed to attend to the petition even if it means dismissing it for fear of the governor, if the petition is not attended to we will have no option but to go to court”. He added

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