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Opinion

The Godfather Who Mistook Democracy for Personal Ownership

Published

3 months ago

on

Kano Map

 

Murtala Muhammad Rijiyar Zaki

Democracy is, at its most essential, an act of trust. Citizens go to the polls, cast their votes, and place in the hands of an elected individual the authority to govern on their behalf. That authority is borrowed, not given. It is conditional, not absolute. It belongs, in the final and irreducible sense, to the people who granted it, and it must be exercised in their interest, not in the interest of whoever helped engineer its acquisition. This elementary principle, the very foundation upon which every credible democracy in the world is constructed, is the principle that Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso has spent the better part of three decades systematically, deliberately, and quite unapologetically violating. His violation of it is not accidental. It is not the product of ignorance or misunderstanding. It is the logical expression of a political philosophy that has always placed personal ownership above democratic accountability, and godfather authority above the sovereign will of the people.
To understand the full weight of this charge, one must first understand what godfatherism actually means in the Nigerian political context, and why it is not merely an inconvenient feature of our democracy but a fundamental corruption of it. A political godfather, in the Nigerian tradition, is a figure who uses his resources, his organization, and his influence to install candidates in elective office, with the explicit or implicit understanding that those candidates, once elected, will govern not primarily in the interest of the electorate but in the interest of the godfather. The elected official becomes, in this arrangement, less a representative of the people and more a proxy for the man who put him there. The voters, in this model, are not principals whose mandate the elected official is obligated to honor. They are a mechanism, a crowd to be mobilized and demobilized at the godfather’s discretion, a necessary inconvenience in the process of acquiring and exercising power.
This is the model that has been perfected, refined, and deployed with extraordinary effectiveness across the entire arc of his political career. He did not invent godfatherism in Nigerian politics, and it would be unfair to suggest otherwise. But he has practiced it at a scale, with a sophistication, and with a degree of institutional embedding that sets him apart from the ordinary political patron. Kwankwasiyya is not simply a network of political supporters. It is a parallel governance structure, a shadow administration that has, for years, operated alongside whatever formal government happened to be in power in Kano, always with the understanding that the real decisions, the real appointments, the real directions of policy would be filtered through one man’s judgment and one man’s calculations.
The most instructive way to appreciate the depth of this ownership model is to examine what happened each time a political associate of Kwankwaso dared to exercise the kind of independent judgment that democracy not only permits but actively demands. The case of Governor Abdullahi Ganduje is the first and perhaps most telling exhibit. Ganduje was Kwankwaso’s deputy governor, his chosen running mate, and eventually his personally endorsed successor. He was, by every public indication, a Kwankwasiyya man to the core. When he won the governorship and proceeded to govern Kano as an elected official accountable to Kano’s people rather than as a Kwankwasiyya proxy accountable to its founder, the consequences were swift, bitter, and enormously damaging to Kano’s political stability. war enraged. The two men, former partners and political brothers, became bitter enemies whose conflict consumed years of Kano’s political energy, distorted the state’s governance, and created divisions whose effects are still visible in the state’s political landscape today.
Now, with a precision that suggests not merely repetition but pathology, the same drama is performing itself with Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf. Abba was Kwankwaso’s political son in the most complete sense of that phrase. He rose through the Kwankwasiyya structure, received the movement’s full organizational support in the 2023 governorship election, and arrived in office as the standard bearer of a movement that had just achieved its most significant electoral victory in years. By the Kwankwasiyya ownership model, Abba was supposed to govern as an instrument of the movement’s will, making appointments that the movement approved, pursuing policies that the movement sanctioned, and maintaining, above all, the fiction that the man in Government House in Kano was the governor while the man who really governed Kano lived elsewhere and wore a red cap.
Abba refused. And in refusing, he did something that deserves to be named clearly and celebrated without reservation: he honored the democratic mandate that the people of Kano had given him. The people of Kano did not vote for Kwankwasiyya’s agenda on the ballot paper they cast in 2023. They voted for Abba Kabir Yusuf. They did not elect a movement to govern them. They elected a man. And that man, exercising the authority that democratic election confers, made decisions that his judgment and his reading of Kano’s interests demanded, including the strategically essential decision to align his government with the federal administration in order to ensure that Kano’s development was not held hostage to one man’s unresolved political grievances.
Kwankwaso’s response to this exercise of democratic independence has been to cry betrayal, to mobilize his movement’s considerable media machinery against the government, and to position himself as a martyr of political ingratitude. But let us be precise about what he is actually saying when he uses the language of betrayal in this context. He is saying that an elected governor who makes decisions without his approval has broken faith with him. He is saying that the democratic mandate of millions of Kano voters is subordinate to his personal expectations. He is saying, with a candor that his language barely conceals, that he considers the governorship of Kano to be, in some meaningful sense, his property, and that its occupant’s primary obligation is not to the electorate but to the man who arranged for his installation. This is not a democratic position. It is the position of a feudal lord who has temporarily misplaced his deed of ownership and wants it returned.
The scholarship program, so frequently invoked as the centerpiece of Kwankwaso’s benevolence, must also be examined in this context of ownership and obligation. It is a program of genuine educational impact, and that impact must be acknowledged. But it was also, by the testimony of its own structure and its own cultural expectations, a mechanism for creating politically indebted citizens. Young men who received Kwankwaso’s scholarships understood, without being told explicitly, that their education came with a political price tag attached. They were expected to be Kwankwasiyya soldiers, to wear the red cap, to attend the rallies, to defend the movement on social media, and to vote, organize, and mobilize as the movement directed. The scholarship was real. The debt it created was equally real. And a democracy in which citizens are politically indebted to a patron for their education is not a functioning democracy. It is a patronage system wearing democracy’s clothing.
There is a further dimension to this ownership model that deserves careful attention, and that is its impact on the quality of governance that Kano has received across the years of Kwankwasiyya’s dominance. When a governor knows that his political survival depends not on satisfying his electorate but on satisfying his godfather, his incentives are fundamentally distorted. He makes appointments that the godfather approves rather than appointments that competence recommends. He pursues policies that maintain the movement’s patronage networks rather than policies that address the state’s developmental needs. He manages information to protect the movement’s image rather than managing resources to improve the people’s lives. The distortion is systematic, and its costs, while difficult to quantify in any single instance, accumulate across years of governance into a development deficit of enormous proportions. Kano’s persistent structural challenges, its unemployment crisis, its struggling industrial base, its dependence on federal allocations, these are not merely the products of bad luck or difficult circumstances. They are, in significant part, the products of a governance model that has been answerable to the wrong principal for far too long.
It is worth pausing here to consider what genuine political mentorship, as opposed to godfatherism, actually looks like. A true political mentor invests in the development of younger leaders because he believes that stronger leaders produce better governance for the people he loves. He gives his mentees the tools, the networks, and the confidence to govern independently and excellently. He celebrates their independence as evidence that his investment has matured. He measures his own legacy not by how many proxies he controls but by how many excellent leaders he has released into public service. By every one of these measures, Kwankwaso’s relationship with his political sons fails the test comprehensively. He has not produced independent leaders. He has produced dependents, and when they outgrow their dependence, he has declared war on them. The pattern is too consistent, too repetitive, and too damaging to be explained as personal disappointment. It is the structural consequence of a political philosophy that was always about ownership rather than mentorship.
The people of Kano have a right, a democratic and a moral right, to a government that is accountable to them and only to them. They have a right to a governor whose first, last, and only political obligation is to the mandate they granted him at the ballot box. They have a right to a political culture in which their votes are the ultimate source of political authority, not a preliminary ceremony that a godfather subsequently ratifies or overrides according to his own judgment. Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf’s refusal to govern as Kwankwaso’s proxy is not a betrayal of democracy. It is democracy’s vindication. It is the system working precisely as its architects intended, returning authority to the people by insisting that their elected representative answers to them and not to the man who helped elect him.
Kwankwaso has spent decades building a movement and decades mistaking that movement for a mandate. He has confused organizational power with democratic legitimacy, confusing the ability to mobilize crowds with the right to govern through proxies, confusing the gratitude of scholarship beneficiaries with the sovereign consent of an electorate. These are not small confusions. They are the fundamental errors of a man who has been at the center of Nigerian democracy long enough to know better, and who has chosen, repeatedly and consequentially, not to.
Nigeria’s democracy is young, imperfect, and perpetually under pressure from precisely the forces that Kwankwaso represents: the forces that would reduce elections to expensive ceremonies legitimizing predetermined outcomes, that would convert public office into private property, and that would transform the people’s sovereign authority into a godfather’s personal asset. Every time a governor like Abba Kabir Yusuf insists on governing for his people rather than for his patron, he pushes back against those forces. Every time Kwankwaso responds to that insistence with outrage and accusations of betrayal, he reveals, with an honesty that his political communications never intend, exactly what he believed he owned and exactly why he was always wrong to believe it.
Kano does not belong to Kwankwaso. It never did. And the sooner his political calculations are made to reckon with that elementary democratic truth, the sooner the state can complete the transition from a political culture of patronage and ownership to one of accountability and genuine service. That transition is already underway. Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf, by the simple act of governing for the people who elected him, has done more to advance it than any political speech or manifesto could have achieved. That is not betrayal. That is, at long last, democracy beginning to mean what it was always supposed to mean in Kano.

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Opinion

The Prophet’s Mosque, Al-Rawdah, and the Inner Peace of the Visitor’s Mind

Published

6 days ago

on

June 13, 2026

By

 

By Abubakar Dangambo

Madinah Al-Munawwarah, the radiant city of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), occupies a unique place in the hearts of Muslims across the world. Located about 450 kilometers from Makkah, it is a city of peace, spirituality, and immense historical significance. For millions of believers, visiting Madinah is not merely a journey; it is the fulfillment of a lifelong dream.

Unlike many great cities of the world that are known for their skyscrapers, industries, or commercial activities, Madinah is known for something far more precious—tranquility. The moment a visitor enters the city, he is greeted by an atmosphere of calmness and serenity that is difficult to describe in words. The city seems to embrace every visitor with a sense of comfort, reminding them that they are walking on land blessed by the presence of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him).

At the heart of Madinah stands the magnificent Prophet’s Mosque (Al-Masjid An-Nabawi), one of the holiest sites in Islam. Within its sacred boundaries lies the house of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), where he spent much of his life and where he is buried alongside his beloved companions, Abu Bakr As-Siddiq (RA) and Umar ibn Al-Khattab (RA).

The first time I entered Madinah and subsequently stepped into the Prophet’s Mosque to observe the Maghrib and Isha prayers, I was overwhelmed with emotion. Words failed me. My eyes filled with tears of joy and gratitude. For years, I had dreamed of visiting this sacred place, and suddenly I found myself standing within its walls.

As I joined thousands of worshippers in prayer, an indescribable feeling settled over me. My mind became calm, my heart found rest, and my entire body felt a comfort unlike anything I had ever experienced. It was as though every burden and worry had been lifted away. The peaceful atmosphere of the mosque, combined with the spiritual presence of the place, created a feeling that remains unforgettable.

Although we arrived in Madinah late at night from Jeddah, I could hardly wait for dawn. Immediately after the Fajr prayer the following morning, I hurried back to the Prophet’s Mosque to visit the resting place of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and his noble companions.

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Standing before the sacred chamber was one of the most emotional moments of my life. Tears flowed freely as I thanked Allah Almighty for granting me the opportunity to fulfill a dream I had cherished for many years. I offered my greetings and salutations to the Prophet (peace be upon him), Abu Bakr (RA), and Umar (RA), praying that Allah would count me among those who sincerely love and follow their noble example.

Another unforgettable experience was praying in Al-Rawdah, the blessed area between the Prophet’s pulpit and his house. The Prophet (peace be upon him) described it as a garden from the gardens of Paradise. Every Muslim who enters Al-Rawdah feels a special connection to history, faith, and spirituality. Being in that sacred space filled me with gratitude and humility. I spent those precious moments in prayer, reflection, and remembrance of Allah, thanking Him for His countless blessings.

What makes Madinah even more remarkable is not only its sacred sites but also the character of its people. The residents of Madinah are widely known for their kindness, hospitality, and respect for visitors. Whether in the streets, markets, hotels, or around the mosque, one encounters smiles, warm greetings, and genuine willingness to help.

The hospitality of the people reflects the legacy of the Ansar—the noble residents of Madinah who welcomed the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and his companions during the Hijrah. That spirit of generosity and care continues to live on in the city today. Visitors from every race, language, and nationality are treated with respect and dignity, making them feel at home despite being far from their own countries.

Walking through the streets of Madinah is itself a memorable experience. The city is remarkably clean, organized, and peaceful. Around the Prophet’s Mosque, worshippers from every corner of the world gather in unity, demonstrating the universal brotherhood of Islam. Despite the diversity of cultures and languages, everyone is united by the same faith and love for Allah and His Messenger.

My stay in Madinah lasted only two days before I departed for Makkah to commence the rites of pilgrimage. Yet those two days remain among the most cherished moments of my life. The joy, comfort, spiritual fulfillment, and inner peace I experienced are memories that can never be erased.

Even now, whenever I reflect on those blessed days, my heart longs to return. Madinah is not simply a city one visits; it is a city that captures the soul. Its beauty lies not only in its buildings or landmarks but in the tranquility it offers, the history it preserves, and the spiritual connection it nurtures.

As I conclude this reflection, I pray that Allah, the Most Merciful, grants me another opportunity to visit Madinah and the Prophet’s Mosque. I also pray that every Muslim who desires to visit the blessed city will one day be granted that privilege.

May Allah continue to shower His peace and blessings upon our beloved Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), his family, his companions, and all those who follow his guidance until the Day of Judgment.

Ameen.

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Opinion

Persecution of Crimean Tatar Muslims and Russia’s Campaign Against Ukrainian Identity

Published

1 week ago

on

June 11, 2026

By

 

By Alhassan Bala

The annexation of Crimea by Russia in 2014 marked not only a violation of international law but also the beginning of a systematic campaign to undermine the cultural identity of the Crimean Peninsula’s indigenous people.

The Crimean Tatars, who had already endured one of history’s most devastating forced deportations under Joseph Stalin, now face a renewed threat as Russia continues efforts that many observers say are aimed at eroding their language, culture, and religious freedoms.

According to discussions with representatives of the Crimean Tatar community, the current situation goes beyond cultural suppression. It is, they argue, a gradual process of cultural extinction.

The Crimean Tatars have survived persecution before. In 1944, Stalin ordered the mass deportation of the entire Crimean Tatar population from their homeland to Central Asia. Packed into cattle cars and transported under inhumane conditions, nearly half of the deportees died during the journey or in the early years of exile.

It took decades for survivors and their descendants to return to Crimea and rebuild their communities following the collapse of the Soviet Union.

I recently met several Crimean Tatars, and hearing their accounts of how their grandparents endured displacement, hardship, and persecution was deeply moving.

Their stories are a reminder of the resilience of a people determined to preserve their identity despite repeated attempts to erase it.

Today, more than seventy years after Stalin’s deportations, history appears to be repeating itself in a different form. Rather than relying on mass expulsions, Russia is accused of employing more subtle methods, including institutional discrimination, restrictions on religious practice, and the gradual erosion of linguistic and cultural identity.

Language is central to the survival of any people, and critics say Russian authorities understand this well. Since the annexation, Crimean Tatar-language education has reportedly been significantly reduced.

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Schools that once provided instruction in the Crimean Tatar language have been encouraged or compelled to switch to Russian. Crimean Tatar textbooks have become increasingly scarce, while educators who seek to preserve indigenous-language instruction face growing challenges.

The Ukrainian language has faced a similar decline. Prior to 2014, Ukrainian was widely taught and spoken throughout Crimea.

Today, opportunities to study both Crimean Tatar and Ukrainian have reportedly been reduced dramatically. In many cases, Crimean Tatar language instruction is limited to only a few hours per week, while Ukrainian-language education has largely disappeared from public institutions.

Critics describe this as a form of linguistic colonialism. By restricting access to education in native languages, they argue, future generations become increasingly disconnected from their cultural heritage.

Over time, languages that once flourished in Crimea risk becoming marginalized in the very homeland where they originated.

For the predominantly Muslim Crimean Tatar community, concerns extend beyond language to the practice of their faith.

Human rights organizations have documented reports of mosque raids, arrests of religious leaders, and restrictions on religious education.

The Mejlis, the representative body of the Crimean Tatar people, was banned by Russian authorities as an “extremist organization,” a move widely condemned by international observers.

Young Crimean Tatar men have faced particular scrutiny. Many have been detained and prosecuted under allegations of affiliation with Hizb ut-Tahrir, an organization that is legal in Ukraine but prohibited in Russia.

Human rights advocates have questioned the fairness of some of these prosecutions, citing concerns over evidence and due process.

Reports also indicate that religious literature has been confiscated and that Islamic educational activities have been subjected to increased restrictions.

For many Crimean Tatars, these measures reinforce a perception that maintaining their distinct religious and cultural identity has become increasingly difficult under Russian rule.

Crimean Tatar citizen journalists who document human rights abuses face heavily militarized show trials. Many are sentenced to decades in Russian penal colonies. Journalists face forced disappearances, physical violence, and raids on their homes. For example, Iryna Danylovych, a freelance reporter, was abducted by the FSB and transferred to a Russian prison.

The international community must continue to pay attention to the situation in Crimea. The Crimean Tatars survived Stalin’s attempt to destroy their nation and identity.

They rebuilt their communities from the ashes of exile and deserve the opportunity to preserve what they have fought so hard to reclaim—their language, their faith, their culture, and their homeland.

In this regard, the efforts of the Crimea Platform, an international initiative established to keep global attention focused on Crimea and the challenges faced by its people, remain important.

Through dialogue, advocacy, and international engagement, the platform continues to highlight the plight of Crimeans and the need for a peaceful and just resolution.

Alhassan Bala writes from Abuja, Nigeria.

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Opinion

Senator Barau: 3 Years of Meritorious Service to Humanity as DSP

Published

2 weeks ago

on

June 7, 2026

By

 

By Abba Anwar

As a build up to 2023 general election, Senator Barau I Jibrin, was campaigning to become a Senator for another round, in the 10th Assembly. From Kano North Senatorial District. All his campaign promises then were centered around his primary constituency.

Unknown to him, his victory would open door for him and create an opportunity, for him to become, Deputy Senate President. Alas, after the election of His Excellency Senator Godswill Akpabio, as Senate President. Jibrin was elected his Deputy.

His election as DSP, stemmed from so many considerations, of the gentleman. His credentials and his past contributions and engagements in the National Assembly, starting from being a Member of House of Representatives, when he represented Tarauni federal constituency, from Kano Central, were considered. As such his pedigree gave him, not automatic chance, but edge over others to become the DSP.

During his days as a Member of House of Representatives, when late Right Honourable Speaker Ghali Umar Na’Abba was the Speaker of the House, Jibrin was the Chairman House Committee on Appropriation. The same position he held when he became Senator. Apart from being Chairman Senate Committee on Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund).

His choice or rather election as the Chairman House Committee on Appropriation, was hitherto considered and approved by the entire Honourable members, because of his credentials in the field. Not only that, he was one of the best students during his undergraduate days and postgraduate days, in his chosen area of studies. Which gave him so many inches ahead of others, then.

As Chairman Senate Committee on TETFund, the choice was made on the basis of his love for education, education and education. His genuine support for equipping people with education, at all levels, was considered at the same time. No wonder, his constituency, witnessed and are still witnessing his unmatched and unparalleled contributions to the education of his people, under Barau Jibrin Scholarship Scheme. Apart from other areas of intervention in the sector.

His service to humanity cuts across constituencies, party lines, geographical boundaries and ages, in the last three years of his leadership as Deputy Senate President. Even some parts of Nigeria, benefited from his legislative efforts. In his primary constituency, he sponsored hundreds of students for undergraduate studies in some carefully selected Nigerian universities. While dozens were selected, also after diligent screening, for their postgraduate studies outside the country.

Modern fields of study such as Software Engineering, Robotics Engineering, Artificial Intelligence, and Chemical Engineering, in which he sponsored many students, are testament to his legacy and reflect his focus on human development. He believes that education builds capacity, capability, and compatibility in life.

In the education sector he initiated and presented a Bill for the establishment of Federal Polytechnic, Kabo, that was established with 17 approved programmes in Science, Engineering and Health Sciences. He further lobbied and followed-up legislative process; which also provided infrastructure for the Polytechnic to be transformed to University of Science and Technology, Kabo.

He initiated, lobbied and followed-up for the Federal College of Education (Technical) Bichi, to Federal University of Education Bichi. The same effort was applied to the transformation of the Federal College of Education, (FCE) Kano, to Yusuf Maitama Sule Federal University of Education, Kano. He initiated and lobbied for the renaming of the University, after the name of the former Permanent Representative of Nigeria, to the United Nations, Dan Masanin Kano Yusuf Maitama Sule.

He was able to facilitate the establishment of 13 National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) Study Centres, across all 13 Local Government Areas, of his constituency, Kano North. Also facilitated for the establishment of Federal University Dutsin-Ma 6 Satellite Campuses and four (4) more Study Centres facilitated in Gwarzo, Danbatta, Dawakin Tofa, Gabasawa local governments.

His Excellency, Deputy Senate President, constructed blocks and made renovation of many primary and secondary school in Kano North. Apart from helping teachers and students with the means of transportation to schools for teaching and learning.

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Under other, varying empowerment programmes, Senator Jibrin distributed 130 vehicles to transport associations, across 13 local governments under his constituency. A total number of 1,000 motorcycles were distributed to headmasters, teachers and other residents in the rural communities.

When students benefited from 1,300 tricycles, 1,300 sewing machines, 1,300 noodle-making machines and flour to women, 1,300 deep freezers and 1,300 bicycles

Under security sector, more specifically his direct support to Nigeria Police Force, the Distinguished Senator donated One thousand (1,000) operational motorcycles. The handing over of the motorcycles took place at Bompai Police Headquarters, Kano. Of which the distribution was at 700 for Kano North Senatorial Zone and the remaining 300 for State Command Headquarters. The donation was purposely made to enhance mobility, rapid response, and reach hard-to-access areas by our Police officers.

He donated other operational vehicles to the Police Command, Bompai, among other donations of vehicles to other police formations, particularly, in Kano North. As he renovated parts of Kano State Police Headquarters. As he further constructed many police stations in different parts of the state.

Our able DSP constructed a modern Police Secondary School in Kabo, his hometown. He is not only concerned with operational vehicles and infrastructure, he is mindful of aiding his people to get recruited into the available spaces under our security system.

Hence he facilitated the recruitment of 120 security personnel as Police Cadets, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) officials, and Federal Fire Service officers from Kano North. After the completion of their training, he hosted them at a dinner in their honor, at Bristol Palace Hotel, Kano. As he charged them on integrity, patriotism, service to the nation and loyalty to their respective formations.

To further enhance security in the streets across his constituency, he helped in the installation of one thousand (1,000) solar-powered streetlights across Kano North, to improve nighttime patrols. As he rushed to Kano Central donating for market security, where he donated Hilux, 5 motorcycles for patrol at Farm Centre phone market.

As our Distinguished Senator believes in re-positioning of our security system and architecture, he sees reason in security infrastructure development. This informs his patriotic decision in facilitating for the establishment of
NSCDC Training College, in Gwarzo, Nigeria Police Service Commission Training Institute, in Kabo and Nigeria Immigration Service Training School, in Bichi.

Under agriculture the biggest project is the long awaited programme on maize and rice cultivation to boost food security, under Barau Initiative for Agricultural Revolution in the Northwest (BIARN), that was launched in April 2025. With the intention of the distribution of about Three Billion Naira (N3b) interest-free loan scheme for 558 young farmers across the 7 states of the North West.

As beneficiaries would get access to, ranging from One Million Naira (N1m) to Two Million Naira (N2m) up to Five Million Naira (N5m) per individual beneficiary. What is delaying the implementation of the programme is the paucity of Funds from the partner organization, Bank of Agriculture (BOA).

Under nfrastructural development, road construction and rehabilitation
specifically, he lobbied for Kano-Gwarzo-Dayi federal road among others. Other infrastructure in Gwarzo, where roads, bridge, water projects and installation of solar lights, became the order of the day, under his interventions. So also hospital construction and upgrades, in the same Gwarzo local government.

Community projects like construction and rehabilitation of Mosques, Palaces and training institutes are all over.

Under Youth and Women Empowerment for economic development, he initiated the distribution of Twenty Thousand Naira (₦20,000) only. For 10,000 less-privileged across all the 44 LGAs in the state. With Kano North taking the largest share of 6,500 beneficiaries, at 500 per LGA.

Just recently DSP launched monthly One Hundred Thousand Naira (₦100,000) only, capital support, for 1,300 beneficiaries, from the Month of February 2026 to December 2026. A year round project. A total of 18,200 beneficiaries, will benefit from the sum of Two Hundred and Eighteen Million, Two Hundred Thousand (₦218.2m) only.

Under other, varying empowerment programmes, Senator Jibrin distributed 130 vehicles to transport associations, across 13 local governments under his constituency. A total number of 1,000 motorcycles were distributed to headmasters, teachers and other residents in the rural communities.

When students benefited from 1,300 tricycles, 1,300 sewing machines, 1,300 noodle-making machines and flour to women, 1,300 deep freezers and 1,300 bicycles

Sports & Community Development are not left behind. As 150 football teams per local government benefited with Jerseys and balls. Totaling 1,950 teams across Kano North.

It is on record, as many people, especially those from Kano North, know, DSP did more than what I listed here. One piece of material cannot encapsulate all this contributions and speak out at a time. But this gentleman did a lot and is committed to step further.

Anwar writes from Kano
Sunday, 7th June, 2026

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