Politics
From Sawaba to Asara: The Evolution of Commercial Politics in Kano-Auwalu Anwar
Published
4 months agoon
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<p>By Auwalu Anwar</p>
<p>“The only thing Kwankwasiyya has in common with NEPU and the PRP is<br />
mimicking wearing the red cap.”<br />
&#8211; An Anonymous Elder of Kwankwasiyya.<br />
From Radical Idealism to Commercial Politics</p>
<p>In this month, seventy-five years ago, a momentous event unfolded in Sabongari,<br />
Kano: the founding of the Northern Elements Progressive Union (NEPU) by eightradical young patriots. On 8 August 1950, Abba Mai Kwaru, Bello Ijumu, Baballiya Manaja, Musa Kaula, Abdulqadir Danjaji, Garba Bida, Mudi Sipikin, and Magaji Dambatta convened at Ijumu’s house, No. 9, Ibadan Road, to inaugurate a movementthat would challenge the oppressive foundations of colonial feudalism in Northern Nigeria.</p><div class="KZwlnZja" style="clear:both;float:left;width:100%;margin:0 0 20px 0;"><script async src="https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js"></script> 
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<p>NEPU was not merely a political party; it was an ideological movement rooted in<br />
the emancipation of the oppressed Talakawa, determined to reform the Native Authority system and secure Nigerian independence. Although NEPU was a<br />
regional political party, its visionary founders were pan-Nigerian nationalists.<br />
This founding moment, and the vision it represented, invites critical reflection on the condition of political leadership in present-day Kano. The appropriate homage to NEPU at seventy-five is, therefore, not rhetorical celebration, but sober reflection and evaluation of the trajectory in the deterioration of qualitative leadership.</p>
<p> ;</p>
<p>How far has the dominant political current in Kano embodied by the<br />
Kwankwasiyya movement aligned with or deviated from the values of Sawaba<br />
(liberation), which once defined Kano’s identity? How has the logic of class struggle, ideological activism, and social justice been replaced with a politics of patronage, personality cults, and commercial transactions?.</p>
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<p>This article undertakes an analysis of differing political practices and styles of<br />
leadership that defined Kano’s post-NEPU evolution, with a particular focus on how<br />
ideological politics gave way to transactional politics.</p>
<p>Using a historiographical approach, it evaluates the degeneration of radical<br />
traditions into electoral entrepreneurship, culminating in the political dominance of Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso. It offers a diagnostic account of the broader socio-political consequences of this shift, and argues for the urgent need to reconstruct a credible ideological alternative.</p>
<p>The NEPU: A Legacy of Emancipation<br />
NEPU’s principles, enshrined in the 1951 Sawaba Declaration, were foundational<br />
to the political identity of Northern progressives. It aimed to:</p>
<p>1. Overthrow the autocratic family-compact rule embedded in the Native Authority system;<br />
2. Recognize and frame the antagonism between the colonial-traditional elite<br />
alliance and the Talakawa as a class struggle;<br />
3. Democratize state institutions and retool them to serve the interests of the<br />
people;<br />
4. Confront feudal oppression through mass mobilization and revolutionary<br />
change;<br />
5. Establish a new social order rooted in equity, freedom, and dignity.<br />
The NEPU-PRP (People’s Redemption Party) continuum, particularly under the<br />
intellectual and moral leadership of Malam Aminu Kano, defined a political tradition grounded in principled dissent, social justice, and radical reform. Aminu’s historic resignation from public service in October 1950—in protest against the corruption, nepotism, and parasitism of the Native Authorities—signaled a moral break with the status quo. His political career was marked by personal integrity, intellectual engagement, and a commitment to egalitarianism that shaped the ideological orientation of Kano’s political elite for decades.</p>
<p>The PRP in the Second Republic extended NEPU’s legacy into a new era, attracting<br />
intellectual heavyweights like Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka, and Bala Usman. It<br />
advanced a politics of mass empowerment, structured participation, and anti- imperial sovereignty. PRP’s clarion call was unambiguous: politics was not a marketplace for wealth but a battleground to ensure the protection of human dignity.</p>
<p>The Military Disruption of Ideological Politics</p>
<p>The ideological rupture began with the political engineering of General Ibrahim<br />
Babangida’s Presidency (1985–1993). Through the imposition of state-created political parties the National Republican Convention (NRC) and the Social<br />
Democratic Party (SDP) Babangida decoupled Nigerian politics from its organic roots. These government-funded parties were ideologically barren, engineered for elite integration rather than democratic participation.</p>
<p>This state-orchestrated detachment of politics from the people led to the rise of<br />
political brokers, transactional loyalty, and personality cults. The movement away<br />
from political conviction to political commodification was not accidental; it was systemic. Party organs were hollowed out.</p>
<p>Patronage replaced ideology.</p>
<p>Campaigns became platforms for rent-seeking rather than nation-building.<br />
Kano, the once-vibrant epicenter of radical northern politics, became a laboratory<br />
for this emerging model of commercial politics. A generation of leaders emerged,<br />
not through ideological struggle and heroism, but through opportunism, access tostate power, and mastery of street-level populism. The old slogans of emancipation were replaced by clientelist chants. The most successful political actors were no longer those who inspired, but those who traded influence.</p>
<p>The Triumvirate: Shekarau, Ganduje, and Kwankwaso</p>
<p>In the post-PRP political order, three men came to dominate Kano’s political<br />
landscape for a quarter of a century: Ibrahim Shekarau, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, and Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso. Each served as governor for two terms. Collectively, they encapsulate the arc of Kano’s transformation from an ideological vanguard to a commercial theatre.</p>
<p>Of recent, according to many political commentators, pundits, opinion-makers and scholars, such as the former Special Adviser on Religious Affairs during<br />
Kwankwaso’s first term (1999–2003), who also served Ganduje as Commissioner in<br />
the Ministries for Higher Education; and Religious Affairs (2019–2023),Muhammad Tahar Adamu (Baba Impossible) and the State Chairman, Council of Ulama, Ibrahim Khalil, the acceleration of the collapse of our political institutions,<br />
structures, and values, as a people, can be directly linked to the activities of the<br />
triumvirate.</p>
<p>Indeed, each of them has his peculiar attributes as a person, but more so as a<br />
politician. I would like to, at this point, present how people perceive them relating to the deepening socio-political crisis engulfing Kano State; and also express my opinion from what I deduced by observing their political activities and programmes.<br />
For the avoidance of doubt, I do not have any problem with any of them. I have an<br />
excellent personal relationship with Ganduje. Shekarau and I have mutual respect for each other. I genuinely admire Kwankwaso’s exceptional skills and<br />
organisational capacity to mobilise, recruit, and retain followership. However, my love for Kano and training as a student of history are stronger than the sentiments and considerations mentioned above.</p>
<p>Ibrahim Shekarau</p>
<p>Shekarau is regarded, by many, as of lesser faults among the three. He was not haughty even when he emerged governor on the platform of All Nigeria People’s<br />
Party (ANPP). He did not see himself as a super human being for occupying the<br />
office. He was neither known for looting public treasury nor seen to have stolen<br />
Local Governments’ funds, directly or through bogus joint-projects’ account to<br />
execute special projects.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, having spent a great part of his life as an activist or patron of the<br />
Muslim Students’ Society (MSS) and also acquired power on the euphoria of the<br />
restoration of Shari’a implementation, a project into which his predecessor was<br />
known to have been reluctantly involved, Shekarau’s tenure witnessed an obsession to ‘Islamise’ governance and its institutions, for which he committed a large chunk of public resources to court the support of religious organisations and their gatekeepers. Shekarau’s religiously-coated political activities and showmanship made some people to assume that he graduated in theology rather than mathematics.</p>
<p>Despite his relative prudence, Shekarau’s style of financial management was weak<br />
as he was not fully in charge of his appointees; some of whom were perceived to have grossly abused their offices.<br />
Honestly, Shekarau did not achieve any outstanding infrastructural development or transformation. His attention was largely devoted to what he termed, ‘ethical reorientation’ (gyaran zukata; a daidaita sahu); for which he established many<br />
institutions, such as Sharia Commission and Hisbah Commission, to achieve.<br />
Regardless of his shortcomings, Shekarau was conscious of the existing diversities<br />
in the state and tried his best to achieve equitable representation of all interests in<br />
running the affairs of government, which might explain the tremendous peace<br />
recorded in the volatile community during his tenure.</p>
<p>In addition to his generous patronage to religious constituencies, Shekarau extended unprecedented attention and, what people termed “extravagant support,” to traditional institutions and rulers. Thus, the Emir of Kano, Ado Bayero, rewarded<br />
him with the traditional title of Sardaunan Kano. His flirtation with the monarchical<br />
constituency was a total negation of the ideals of NEPU and the PRP, even though<br />
the traditional political institutions have been reduced to mere cultural symbolism.</p>
<p>As a politician, Shekarau is neither regarded as a success story nor a failure. He used to have a large number of fanatical followers, whom he gradually dispersed through tactical group mismanagement and avoidable leadership missteps.</p>
<p>He is not considered a reliable or stable politician and many people allege that his<br />
words, on any promise he made, were hardly kept.</p>
<p>However, the remnants of his political associates always explain that his only real weakness is his desire not to offend anyone, which ironically pushes him, many a times, to offend everyone. That is why he could neither say “No” nor fulfil his<br />
voluntarily made promises at the right time.</p>
<p>Abdullahi Umar Ganduje</p>
<p>Ganduje, in the opinion of many people, is a more difficult person to understand than his two friends. He appears friendly and respectful of everyone, like a salesman, but hardly are his dispositions towards people a true reflection of how he values them.</p>
<p>He is considered exceedingly elusive, slippery, and capable of elevating the art of deception and pretence to a guiding principle in his political interactions and<br />
relationship with others. He is known for being patient, strategic, and crafty.<br />
Ganduje, according to commentators, trusts no one but himself. As a governor, he was perceived and depicted as an embodiment of corruption and malfeasance. His crude appetite for primitive wealth accumulation is seen to be far beyond mere greed or selfishness to a malignant disease.</p>
<p>He was alleged to have personally handled every procurement awarded by his<br />
government, from the purchase of costumes for artistes to the construction of overhead bridges, while in office. The viral videos in which he was shown receiving bribe in dollars from a contractor, which he repeatedly denied was, perhaps, the lowest level of shameful acts to which any governor could go, if proven.</p>
<p>Notwithstanding his love for materialism, most of Ganduje’s construction projects<br />
were regarded to have been executed to specifications and were solid. They were not substandard at staggeringly inflated prices as witnessed during Kwankwaso’s tenure.</p>
<p>Because of his self-love, Ganduje had parted ways with majority of worthy<br />
politicians in his team. This might explain why he was not able to establish any<br />
distinct political identity, apart from Kwankwaso’s, for the eight years he spent as governor in Kano.</p>
<p>Most members of his inner circle were considered riffraff politicians, who were more of a liability to themselves and to others than an asset to the community.<br />
Conscientious public servants and decent politicians did not appear to have attracted his admiration or sufficient attention and support to discharge their duties efficiently.</p>
<p>For instance, towards the general elections in 2023, his chosen State Chairman of All Progressive Congress (APC), Abdullahi Abbas, publicly declared that members of their party did not want Allah’s intervention to avert any calamity during theanticipated gubernatorial election. The prayer was answered, instantly, and they were convincingly defeated at the polls.</p>
<p>Surprisingly, as a two-term governor and former National Chairman of the ruling<br />
party, Ganduje does not have the requisite influence to attract a reasonable number<br />
of credible politicians as his followers in Kano today. However, this does not mean<br />
he has no access to rented crowds, political prostitutes, thugs, and assorted teams of hooligans on demand, to execute his dirty political jobs for him.</p>
<p>Most technocrats in Kano lament the golden opportunities to make a difference in the political fortunes of the State, which Ganduje squandered, intentionally.<br />
He was, among the trio, the most educated; most experienced; most exposed; richest; and the oldest person to be elected governor. Yet, his overall performance did not portray him as someone better than the others, who were considered less endowed<br />
in many respects.</p>
<p>Loyalty was better rewarded than competence in discharging<br />
affairs of the party and in governance, by Ganduje.Unexpectedly, despite the impression many people have about Ganduje as a stingy person, he generated a list of selected associates and friends to whom he sends monetary gifts at regular intervals, usually during the two Eid festivals.</p>
<p>Considering the historicity of radical political tradition and the strong ideological foundation laid by the leadership of the NEPU, as its legacy, many people wonder why the continuing rapid deterioration in the quality of political leadership in Kano<br />
State?.</p>
<p>Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso.</p>
<p>Undoubtedly, of the three gladiators, who are blamed for polluting the political space and lowering the qualitative standards of leadership in the environment, only<br />
Kwankwaso is actually regarded as a serious politician with considerable following to influence a significant shift in political behavior in Kano.</p>
<p>Thus, the search light in this tribute focuses more on him than on the others, in order to have a better understanding of the root causes of the current leadership challenges in the state.</p>
<p>In order to dispassionately discuss the evolution of commercial politics at the<br />
expense of ideological politics in Kano therefore, it is necessary to review the<br />
trajectory of Kwankwaso’s political antecedents, strategy, and ascendancy.<br />
Is Kwankwaso genuinely a pro-poor politician or is he fake and merely taking<br />
advantage of his vulnerable followers, majority of whom are uninformed?<br />
The best way to answer this question, is to trace the transition of party politics in<br />
Kano; from being a conviction-based vocation for the emancipation of society under Aminu Kano; to a self-centred commercially profitable enterprise with Kwankwaso as the sole-signatory to all its bank accounts and the greatest beneficiary of its multiple, often manipulated, but profitable transactions.<br />
Although many people who mean well for Kano lament that it is regrettable to have<br />
an autocrat like Kwankwaso as the dominant political player in the state; they fail to understand that, his emergence was made possible by the nonchalant attitude of true democrats, who refused meaningful involvement in the political process, which created a natural vacuum for him to fill.</p>
<p>Nature abhors a vacuum!</p>
<p>It is, therefore, important at this point to present Kwankwaso’s political history and strategy in order to understand how his emergence as a leading player transforms<br />
ideologically oriented politics into a lucrative commercial enterprise in Kano State.</p>
<p>Kwankwaso’s political career commenced with his election into the House of<br />
Representatives, from Kura-Madobi-Garun Malam Federal Constituency, under the<br />
umbrella of the SDP, in July 1992. He emerged Deputy Speaker when the position was zoned to Kano State. He was later elected Delegate to the National<br />
Constitutional Conference, from Kano Central Senatorial District, in 1994.<br />
In 1999, he contested gubernatorial primaries of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and, initially, lost to Ganduje at the Result Collation Centre.</p>
<p>His friend and District Head of Gabasawa at the time, Aminu Babba Dan Agundi,<br />
deliberately delayed submitting the result of his constituency in order to rescue<br />
Kwankwaso with doctored results from Gabasawa. That was how the initial gap wasbridged with unlawful votes when Xan Agundi rigged the process in favour of<br />
Kwankwaso leading to his declaration as the winner.</p>
<p>The incident almost led to the disintegration of the PDP in Kano State. Surprisingly,Ganduje conceded ‘defeat’ to save the party from explosion and was appreciated by all for his maturity and sacrifice. This was what endeared him to the party leadership.</p>
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<p>So, if Ganduje had actually rigged Kwankwaso out during the gubernatorial election in 2019, as it has been widely speculated, it should be considered as a mere return match. Revenge, according to experts, is more delicious when it is served cold.</p>
<p>The Director of Organization for Kwankwaso’s Campaign (1999-2003), who was later appointed his Commissioner of Finance, Ibrahim Dan Azumi Gwarzo,<br />
corroborated the role played by Xan Agundi in turning the table against Ganduje.</p>
<p>In fact, he further explained how he used his telephones, Nos. 064-670095 &; 064-<br />
670096, and communicated directly with Dan Agundi, from the Result Collation<br />
Centre, and informed him about the number of fictitious votes to manufacture in order to ‘defeat’ Ganduje.</p>
<p>With Kwankwaso’s emergence, Gwarzo further elaborated, he became a monster,<br />
disregarding the principle of equitable representation among the three major political tendencies constituting the PDP in the State, namely: NPN (under Aminu Wali), Santsi (under Muhammadu Abubakar Rimi), and Tavo (under the joint supervision of Dauda Xan Galan/Musa Gwadabe).</p>
<p>PDP elders in Kano were shocked and taken aback by Kwankwaso’s recalcitrant<br />
disposition as soon as he became candidate of the party. His disrespect for them increasingly worsened, up to his swearing-in as Governor.</p>
<p>For instance, he opposed the elders on the choice of Ganduje as his running-mate.<br />
He rejected their proposal on the appointment of Secretary to the State Government.</p>
<p>He refused to take their advice on the nomination of a new Party Chairman to replace Yusuf Baita, who was appointed Commissioner of Commerce and Industry.</p>
<p>In addition, the Chairman of the Elders Committee, Abdu Dawakin Tofa, had<br />
confirmed to me at the time, how Kwankwaso attempted to swindle the committee by proposing to replace Ganduje with Tofa’s brother, Mahmud Baffa Yola, as his<br />
running mate.</p>
<p>Tofa rejected the offer as immoral; only to learn that Kwankwaso’s actual plan was<br />
to replace Ganduje with a different person, Bello Hayatu Gwarzo, had the former<br />
consented for Ganduje to be dropped.<br />
How did Kwankwaso manage to dominate and have absolute control of the political<br />
space in Kano?</p>
<p>The truth is, regardless of his shortcomings, Kwankwaso has certain advantages and qualities, which continuously enhance his chances in contest with his opponents,<br />
since 1999.</p>
<p>He has stupendous wealth, which he amassed in the course of his public life as Governor, Defence Minister, Board Member of the Niger Delta Development<br />
Commission (NDDC), and Special Envoy to Darfur.</p>
<p>He always plans well ahead of others. He is tenacious and persevering. Above all,<br />
he is exceptionally grounded in the etiquette of local politics, as a full-time<br />
practitioner. He always stoops to conquer whenever necessary, with sufficient ease<br />
and fake humility.</p>
<p>His political strategy for mobilization, recruitment, and retention is consistent with his unique character as peasant-elite.<br />
He is an elite by his social status; but speaks and understands the language of<br />
peasants; if occasion demands, he easily blends and becomes one. He is street-smart with unquantifiable native intelligence.</p>
<p>The ability of a politician to connect well with his constituents, at their level, is a<br />
huge asset and a special gift in politics. It is the purpose for which the gift is<br />
deployed, which define the character of a politician as good or bad.</p>
<p>His style of group management is highly decentralized. He micro-manages and<br />
divides his followers into smaller cells in order to dominate and rule them effectively.</p>
<p>For instance, academics, technocrats, professionals, retired security officers,<br />
members of the business community and others, who submit to his authority, are all confine to their local government areas for operational purposes. Thus, it is only<br />
Kwankwaso who knows what is happening in every local government area and in<br />
the entire state. He has no deputy or an effective central coordination committee.<br />
I have deduced this unwritten membership precondition law through discussions<br />
with some of my Kwankwasawa friends and former political associates, who spoke to me in absolute confidence.</p>
<p>He is uncomfortable with self-respecting elites, who know and respect the value of<br />
self-worth. He is not excited in partnering with conscientious intellectuals and does<br />
all he can to keep his distance or block their chances for relevance in his group.</p>
<p>The Kwankwasiyya Group<br />
Kwankwasiyya, therefore, is strictly speaking not an ideological or progressive<br />
political group. It has no ideological blueprint or a manual for the transformation of society. It is a mere collection of desperate followers, who see opportunities and the fulfilment of their life-ambitions and desires only through their leader. Some of his<br />
followers have been accused of making blasphemous utterances to demonstrate their loyalty to him.</p>
<p>The lawless and militant disposition of Kwankwasiyya as a group, makes it attractive to the youth, juvenile delinquents, malcontents, political apprentices, irreconcilables,<br />
and opportunists in society; who become mere tools in the hands of their leader to<br />
manipulate for his exclusive benefit.<br />
Kwankwaso takes advantage of the rooted tradition of political volunteerism in<br />
Kano; and uses it to extract maximum benefits from the activities of his unsuspectingfollowers, whom he programmes and remote controls to work for him not as political associates or partners, but as democratic volunteers, if not labourers.</p>
<p>Of course, among his followers, there are dotted islands of tested politicians, skilled<br />
experts, and decent individuals, who neither place high premium on their services nor bother to protect their dignity. It is alleged that one has to debase his self-esteem in order to belong and be accepted as truly loyal by Kwankwaso.<br />
Internal democracy is a forbidden concept in the group. No open discussions on any<br />
subject relating to fairness and justice in the distribution of positions, which are at<br />
best either allocated arbitrarily among those whose faith in the charade is not in<br />
doubt, or allegedly purchased by people of means, especially new recruits, who<br />
joined the group with the full knowledge that access to any elective or appointive<br />
positions, at all levels, is for sale to the highest bidder. Thus, no dissenting voices on any decisions taken by Madugu are tolerated in Kwankwasiyya.</p>
<p>Honestly, the Kwankwasiyya group is, literally, like a prison under the control of<br />
someone who denies the inmates the freedom of movement and of thought.<br />
Political Brokerage and Investors<br />
Kwankwasiyya is akin to The Buhari Organization (TBO) of yester years. It has a single indivisible objective: to achieve the exclusive ambition of the leader in total disregard for the aspirations, expectations, and deserved benefits to his followers.</p>
<p>As a broker in politics, Kwankwaso always carries his followers in a hand-bag in<br />
order to invest them in any political stock-market of his fancy for his benefit.<br />
He can also lease them, temporarily, to a political party or to any individual, who<br />
pays for his services, or agrees to accommodate him as a potential presidential candidate or a running-mate, depending on the circumstances in which he finds himself.</p>
<p>Frankly speaking, Kwankwaso is neither a selfless politician nor an authentic<br />
political leader. He is a mere portfolio investor or a soldier of fortune in politics.<br />
This is why whenever he jumps from one party to another, he jumps with<br />
Kwankwasawa as sellable commodities in his containers. It does not matter whether or not they have registered with his new party, they are not its members, at all.<br />
For instance, when he adopted the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) and<br />
pretended to ‘contest’the presidential election in 2023, he left his commodities with their tags as PDP leaders in Kano State. He put them in the fixed deposit of Nyesom Wike Domiciliary Account; pending when his under the table auction processes for the commodities would be concluded.</p>
<p>At the end of the process, he handed over the bill of lading to Wike, who took<br />
delivery of them as PDP delegates from Kano State, in order to fight Atiku in the<br />
party primaries. It was much later that those characters left the PDP to join their<br />
auctioneer in NNPP.</p>
<p>Still, in 2023, during the general elections, Kwankwaso’s premium was believed to<br />
have been renewed by the APC in conjunction with its candidate, Bola AhmedTinubu, who sponsored him to contest for the presidential election on the platform of the NNPP, with the sole purpose to block Atiku from harvesting meaningful votes in Kano and becoming the president of Nigeria. He played ball.<br />
For those who perceive Kwankwaso as a mercenary, and they are in millions; his<br />
political activities at the national and sub-national levels are primarily motivated by envy, greed, hatred, ingratitude, and treachery. For instance, one of the gubernatorial candidates of the NNPP in the North-East, during the 2023 elections, has unbelievable stories of treachery relating to his experiences with Kwankwaso’s role in his defeat by the APC.</p>
<p>Kwankwaso’s primary objective has always been to be a president or a vice-<br />
president of Nigeria. Otherwise, he would not mind to pull down any northerner,<br />
whose candidature appears promising towards getting elected to either of these<br />
positions. Thus, he manipulates his followers to truncate any presidential material, who might be better prepared or more competent than him in all respects and, unfortunately, in the name of Kanawa.</p>
<p>As a third term governor, through a trapped proxy, Abba Gida-Gida, Kwankwaso is<br />
alleged to have turned Kano State treasury into his personal Automated Teller<br />
Machine (ATM). This, according to his critics, is the whole essence of his holding onto Kwankwasiyya as an effective instrument of blackmail, deception, fraud,<br />
intimidation, and transactional political relationship with any willing investors.<br />
He is loyal only to his ambition. He adds no real value to others. His sophistication<br />
in political opportunism and treachery at the slightest opportunity, knows no bound, whatsoever. So, any political party or a presidential hopeful, who invites<br />
Kwankwaso for a partnership, does so at his or her own risk.</p>
<p>Presently, in the political permutations of Northern Nigeria, the Kwankwasiyya<br />
group is like a malignant cancer. However, with the requisite discipline,<br />
perseverance, organizational ability, selflessness and sincerity of purpose among stakeholders opposed to Kwankwaso in Kano, his destructive political activities, to the greater interest of the community, shall soon become history.</p>
<p>The aura of Kwankwaso’s invincibility, in the context of Kano politics, is an<br />
exaggerated propaganda. All it takes to weaken and defeat him is the right alliances, strategic planning, and selfless sacrifices by all relevant stakeholders for the common good.</p>
<p>Presently, his eyes might be fixed on the chances of certain influential politicians<br />
in Northern Nigeria, who are believed to nurse presidential ambition, including<br />
Atiku Abubakar, David Mark, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, Nasir El-Rufai, and Kashim<br />
Shettima. He can strike or stab any or all of them in the back, if President Tinubu<br />
and the APC or any other Southern presidential candidate pays him the right price.</p>
<p>Just watch his next moves for 2027.<br />
Many Northern politicians believe that there is no morality in Kwankwaso’s<br />
insatiable appetite for materialism. Every position of influence within his<br />
jurisdiction, be it in the context of traditional or modern political institutions, is upfor sale to the highest bidder. The lingering Kano Emirate Crisis is often cited to substantiate this allegation.</p>
<p>Kwankwaso’s political legacy, so far, symbolizes the vulgar concept of “moni for hand back for ground.”</p>
<p>Frankly speaking, considering Kwankwaso’s objective and style of running his group, he was never meant to be a leader (jagora) in the true sense of the term. He is merely a head of caravan (madugu) as correctly referred to by those he uses as his commodities, goods, or wares in multiple political deals and transactions.</p>
<p>The Kwankwasiyya group is totally ignorant of the ways and means to follow in transforming society. This is the naked truth! Both the leader and the led are bereft of ideas and ideals to aspire to move society forward.</p>
<p>When I discussed my intention to write this article with one of my friends, who is<br />
an elder in the Kwankwasiyya group, and asked of his opinion on the similarities<br />
and differences between and the NEPU-PRP legacy and the Kwankwasiyya, he responded by saying: “The only thing Kwankwasiyya has in common with NEPU and the PRP is mimicking wearing the red cap.”</p>
<p>With the increasing hopelessness among our youth, drug-addiction, and substance<br />
abuse, the use of Kano and other cities in Northern Nigeria as a flourishing breeding ground for bandits, kidnappers, and juvenile delinquents, for the likes of Kwankwaso to harvest their gullible followers from, will certainly continue; unless those opposed to such ugly trends decide to come together with an alternative narrative and a realistic roadmap to follow for the achievement of their objectives.</p>
<p>Certainly, Kwankwaso as a mere political contractor does not fit the description of a successor to the revered Malam Aminu Kano in the politics of Northern Nigeria.<br />
Similarly, the Kwankwasiyya group as a deliberately constituted hero-worshipping<br />
entity has no linkage, whatsoever, with the radical political tradition and legacies<br />
established by the NEPU-PRP heritage in Kano, since the 1950s.</p>
<p>The successful execution of Kwankwaso’s model of commercial politics can only be<br />
operationally successful in a sick, morally degraded, and lawless society like<br />
Nigeria.</p>
<p>It is important to understand that most of Kwankwaso’s positive contributions as a<br />
governor happened in his first tenure (1999–2003), when he had a good team with self-made individuals and a sprinkle of cerebral intellectuals as members of his cabinet.</p>
<p>His second and “current” tenures are largely defined by deceit, fraud, treachery, and treasury looting, largely through a special, criminally inspired arrangement known as state-local government joint projects’ account. In reality, most of the so-called projects are aborted at the stage of design or documentation, after which full payments for their none-execution are made.</p>
<p>A number of his legacy projects, even in his first term, including five-kilometer<br />
roads; foreign scholarships; fake presidential aspiration; state-local government joint account for the procurement of hospital drugs; overhead bridges; and the establishment of certain pseudo agencies such as the Institute of Sports, were mere excuses for executive robbery.</p>
<p>Recently, the immediate past Secretary to the Kano State Government in the present NNPP administration, Baffa Abdullahi Bichi, had publicly declared that, should he open his mouth on the ongoing atrocities against the people of Kano by the Kwankwasiyya, they would have certainly stoned its leaders. However, he has also<br />
promised to talk loudly at the appropriate time. We are all ears waiting eagerly to<br />
listen to his story.</p>
<p>Kwankwaso believes that he is smart enough to fool all the people all the time.<br />
In his characteristic ignorance and narrow-mindedness, he never thought that people are watching him and recording all his misdeeds but keeping the data for tomorrow.</p>
<p>Many people mistake Kwankwaso’s disposition for arrogance due to a feeling of superiority. Contrarily, I truly do not think that he truly feels superior and is arrogant.</p>
<p>Truly, Kwankwaso suffers from chronic inferiority complex resulting from his<br />
numerous inadequacies and deeply-rooted lack of self-confidence. This might<br />
explain why he faked having a doctorate degree when he became governor in 1999, which was uncalled for considering his rare elevation to an exalted position as<br />
number one citizen in Kano State.<br />
His inferiority complex, I suspect, results from his lack of solid social background.<br />
It might also be the reason why he chooses to always pick unnecessary quarrels with established and credible community leaders, who are regarded as institutions in society. This display of psychological disorder could be the only therapy for him.</p>
<p>For instance, he fought Ado Bayero; he fought Aminu Dantata; he fought Abubakar Rimi; he fought his political benefactor and godfather, Hamisu Musa, who exhumed him from obscurity in rural life and introduced him to politics; and he also disparaged some clerics who had cautioned him against some of his reckless utterances during their preaching sessions.</p>
<p>Kwankwaso is, therefore, the single individual who should be held largely<br />
responsible for accelerating Kano’s democratic decline, through his continuous subversion of radical democratic political institutions, processes, and structures by<br />
their commodification for competitive bidding.</p>
<p>His activities through the Kwankwasiyya group, which he uses to perpetuate<br />
political entrepreneurship can be ended by providing a viable alternative source of<br />
ideological inspiration and guidance to the multitude of the hopeless youth roaming<br />
our streets including his followers.<br />
The Kwankwasiyya Commercial Venture for which Kwankwaso is the sole<br />
proprietor should therefore be considered by all ideologically inclined radical<br />
political groups, institutions, and individuals as a heretical democratic contraption established to mislead and dupe blind subscribers, who are looking for meaningful progressive democratic political alliance or partnership in the interest of national emancipation, development, and transformation.</p>
<p>If this reflection ignites even the smallest urge in some readers to revisit the legacy<br />
of NEPU and PRP with sincerity and vision, then the purpose of this essay would<br />
have been achieved.</p>
<p>NEPU! Sawaba!!!; PRP! Nasara!!!; Kwankwasiyya! Asara!!!</p>
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