By Abba Anwar

I didn’t think of making a rebuttal to a piece authored by one Abdulrazak Usman PhD on my recent article on His Excellency Deputy Senate President, Barau I Jibrin, PhD, CFR, but seeing the prestigious PhD attached to the name I decided to put pen on paper thinking the writer could be one with a semblance of good faculty of reasoning.

One of the things I enjoy the most in my life is public debate of this type. I won’t challenge Mr Usman to tell me where was he when I wrote dozens, if not hundreds of write-ups supporting, amplifying, coordinating and strengthening Senator Barau’s programmes, projects and policies in his own right in the past?

Mr PhD understands the language very well, that time I was ASSESSING DSP’s programmes (genuine and near genuine) and projects (the good, the bad and the ugly). And this time around I’m REASSESSING same interventions but with different style and pattern. While assessing his interventions I relied solely and heavily on information coming out from his office and sometimes directly from him.

But now during REASSESSMENT period I decided to go there physically and see with my naked eyes (with koro-koro eyes) what has been said for years. As a PhD holder you should know the difference between primary source and secondary source. I guess you know that.

It sounds interesting when, in your first paragraph you said, “The temptation to assume that a piece written by Abba Anwar, titled “Reassessment of DSP Barau’s Projects in Kano North: One Building, Three Names,” was motivated by patriotic zeal and a genuine desire to speak for his community is understandable. However, the events of October 18, 2026, provide a compelling reason to question that assumption.”

Your submission that, “… the events of October 18, 2026, provide a compelling reason to question that assumption,” is clearly defeatist and a show of academic ineptitude. If you think I wrote ill about DSP you really missed the road. In my professional years I don’t write ill to people just like that. Even when I was the Chief Press Secretary to the former Governor of Kano State, Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, nowhere in my six years in that position, where one could fault me of spitting bad things about Ganduje’s political opponents. Not in my record, at all. Yes as a human being there could be some faultlines, but not in spitting bad things to people.

All the praises you identified as coming out from my earlier articles about the DSP are correct. I said all those good and encouraging things about him. But that was when I was ASSESSING the interventions of the Distinguished Senator. And now I’m REASSESSING same interventions.

For your information Mr PhD knowing everything about the budget, approvals, releases and application of funds to all the projects credited to our dear Senator, as a lobbyist in his own right, are there as public properties with the relevant ministries, departments and agencies. Even you, can access them all. Apply Freedom of Information Act you will get them all.

Under what you call “The October 18 Turning Point” in your piece, you said, “On October 18, 2026, Anwar published a rejoinder to a Weekend Trust report concerning a deep-pocketed member of the House of Representatives from Kano.

In the process of defending the lawmaker, he took the opportunity to disparage serving legislators from Kano State through innuendos that now appear to provide context for his latest attack on the Deputy President of the Senate.”

Contextualizing the two different issues together shows how shallow you could always be. It explains what you are suffering from, poverty of ideas and sound argument. What has my rejoinder to Daily Trust got to do with REASSESSMENT of DSP’s interventions? Is Hon Abubakar Kabir Bichi a Senator or is he contesting for Senatorial seat?

If you are indirectly inviting me to also assess and reassess Hon Bichi’s interventions and compare with that of the Distinguished Senator, I can do that as well. I can do compare and contrast analysis, if you so wish. Just indicate your interest Mr PhD.

For your information Oga PhD Senator Barau is my elder brother. When he was member House of Representatives, from 1999 to 2003, my elder brother Dr Auwalu Anwar, was Special Adviser Political to the then Speaker of the House of Representatives, late Ghali Umar Na’Abba. Anwar and Barau worked closely. So my REASSESSMENT is only aimed at telling the Senator to please sit up in preparation for the Day of Judgement. I want him to meet His Lord SALIN ALIN (peacefully). No more no less.

Mr PhD’s comparison of Kano-Gwarzo-Dayi road project and Kano-Zaria-Kaduna-Abuja road project shows how shallow is
Mr PhD’s argument.

While you fail to acknowledge the distance of the roads under scrutiny, you also fail to understand the politics involved in Kano-Zaria-Kaduna-Abuja road project. And even at that Kano-Zaria-Kaduna-Abuja road is faster than Kano-Gwarzo-Dayi road project. While Kano-Gwarzo-Dayi road is 90.65km Kano-Zaria-Kaduna-Abuja road.

To lament over your shallow analysis I present a sample of some road projects, including that of Kano-Zaria-Kaduna- Abuja road project, so as to wrestle down your uninformed analysis and comparison.

1. Abuja-Kaduna Section of Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano Expressway – 81KM IN 13 MONTHS. Location is Tunga Maje (FCT) to Jere (Kaduna).
Started in September 2025. And completed in October 24, 2026. It was virtually commissioned by President Bola Tinubu at Ranchers Bees Stadium, Kaduna during APC campaign flag-off. It was described by Minister of Works Dave Umahi as fastest road completion in Nigeria’s history.

This now contrasts even more sharply with Kano-Gwarzo-Dayi road, 81km in 13 months vs 90.65km in 5 years and still at 40%. So what are we saying?

2. Second Section of Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano Expressway. The stretch from Jere to Zaria, Kaduna state. It is Lot 2 of the Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano corridor. The length completed is 144km.

The status of the work as at October 2026 was given by Minister Umahi who said on Saturday, October 24, 2026 during the commissioning of Lot 1, “Work was progressing on the second section of the highway, covering 164 kilometres and valued at N505 billion, with more than 144 kilometres completed. Assuring that, “… the remaining 20 kilometres would be completed by the end of November.”

The project was originally awarded in 2017/2018 under Buhari administration but was stalled. It was re-awarded/accelerated in September 2024 under Tinubu with concrete technology. So it has taken less than 2 years of active work under the current method to reach 144km. You think this could be possible without persistent and genuine lobbying?

Why not Kano-Gwarzo-Dayi road where we have Number 5 Citizen, who should be our Chief Lobbyist?
If the Federal Government can do 144km out of 164km in less than 2 years on the same Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano corridor at N505bn, why can’t 90.65km Kano-Gwarzo-Dayi be done in 5 years despite N56bn extra? What are we lacking? Who tries all the time to tell people that he owns the project? Or at best, the project is part of his constituency project?

3. Section I of Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway – 47.47KM IN 2 YEARS 7 MONTHS. Location is Victoria Island to Eleko, Lagos state. It was started March 2024. The first 30km commissioned May 31, 2025 as full 47.47km constructed and declared ready for commissioning October 2026. The project features are far more complex than Kano-Gwarzo-Dayi road project. It has 6-lane concrete dual carriageway with flyovers, overpasses, CCTV, designed through 10-meter deep refuse and swamp with major redesign around Dangote Refinery.

The question still remains if 47km can be built through Atlantic Ocean swamp in under 3 years, why is 90.65km Kano-Gwarzo-Dayi flat savanna road abandoned at 40% after 5 years? What are we really lacking in this part of the planet? Mr PhD I’m asking.

So my argument still remains, while Federal Government completed 81km Abuja-Kaduna highway in 13 months, and 144km of second section in less than 2 years, and 47km of Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway with ocean bridges in 2 years, Kano North’s 90.65km Kano-Gwarzo-Dayi road, flagged off in 2021, is still crawling at 40% in 2026 despite receiving N19 Billion in 2025 and N37 Billion in 2026, who gets mouth to utter a word in this context?

I see gaps in all other arguments of Mr PhD concerning other projects. My advice is, let this PhD man go and see by himself all the projects he also cited. Let him go and do his Reassessment for all the cited and not cited projects.

Series of write-ups and radio programmes are on their way in a bit-by-bit style. This, no doubt about it. As I have all the budgetary provisions of all the projects under scrutiny, approvals and releases documents, I’m sure I will do justice to all and sundry. Mine is only to call attention and not to curse attention. To call the attention of those responsible to make adjustments and correct what can be corrected.

If it is true that I was sponsored this time around, then who was sponsoring me to write all the good things about the Distinguished Senator when I was ASSESSING his achievements? And where were the newly recruited noisemakers, when nobody could talk positive about him, in my style of writing articles, my elder brother DSP, for fear of being attacked? Who? Tell me only one person. Without being immodest, let my reader know this plain truth, since from Senator Barau’s elective positions, from 1999 to date, no one wrote as many articles as I did supporting his achievements, interventions and political direction. Where were the PhDs, lousy and lazy academics and half-baked writers?

Under what Mr PhD called “A WORD OF CAUTION TO ANWAR” he made reference to my recent encounter with the Media Team of the Kebbi State Governor, when I blamed them of not professionally showcasing the great feats achieved by His Excellency the Governor of Kebbi State, Dr Nasir Idris, Kauran Gwandu.

Mr PhD said, “At this juncture, one is compelled to advise Anwar to desist from the path popularly described in Nigeria as the “anywhere belle face” syndrome.

With each passing day, his writings increasingly expose what appear to be serious deficiencies in intellectual rigour, credibility, and an unrestrained appetite for financial inducement.

This explains why his articles are often characterised by contradictions, ad hominem attacks, and disjointed conjectures rather than coherent arguments grounded in verifiable facts.

An example beyond the present controversy is his article titled “Kebbi: The Performing State Nobody Sees,” which attracted a response from Ibrahim A. Jombali, Special Adviser on Public Enlightenment and Orientation to the Governor of Kebbi State. Jombali’s rejoinder, titled “Kebbi Is Not Invisible: A Rejoinder to Abba Anwar’s Media Visibility Theorem,” pointed out the contradictions in Anwar’s argument.”

If what he said is not diversionary and defeatist in its latent and manifest, he should have presented my rejoinder to them again. I won’t say a word here let me leave everything to my readers to go and read my encounter with Kebbi guys.

I first wrote this article, “The Kauran Gwandu Model: How a Teacher is Outperforming Other Governors Across Nigeria.”

My second article titled “Kebbi: The Performing State Nobody Sees,” attracted their rejoinder, that was what Mr PhD was referring to, titled “Kebbi Is Not Invisible: A Rejoinder To Abba Anwar’s Media Visibility Theorem.”

After their rejoinder I also wrote this, “RE: Kebbi Is Not Invisible: A Rejoinder To Abba Anwar’s Media Visibility Theorem.”(1). So I’m still waiting for them to write another rejoinder.

My reader should go and search for all the above articles and see what happened. I won’t utter a word here.

The same way I’m waiting for the Kebbi Jombali and co after my rejoinder to them, I’m also waiting for Mr PhD here in Kano.

And Mr PhD for your information, after finishing with the elite circle, I mean after all the encounters in English, I will translate everything into Hausa and recycle same for our grassroot audience.

Anwar writes from Kano
Thursday, 29th October, 2026

By Abdulrazak Usman Ph.D

The temptation to assume that a piece written by Abba Anwar, titled “Reassessment of DSP Barau’s Projects in Kano North: One Building, Three Names,” was motivated by patriotic zeal and a genuine desire to speak for his community is understandable. However, the events of October 18, 2026, provide a compelling reason to question that assumption.

Until recently, Anwar was among the ardent admirers of the Deputy President of the Senate, Distinguished Senator Jibrin Barau. He consistently praised the DSP’s political astuteness, resilience, and remarkable infrastructural interventions across his senatorial district.

In the July 3, 2025, edition of Daily Trust, Anwar published an article titled “How Barau, Doguwa Rose Amid Political Persecution,” in which he commended the DSP for surviving numerous political challenges and going on to achieve remarkable feats beyond those of many of his contemporaries.

A few months later, in another article published by Daily Trust on November 15, 2025, titled “The Debut of DSP Barau and Natural Occurrences,” Anwar again offered glowing commendation of the DSP’s leadership, drawing extensively from the findings of a research study conducted by experts.

Among the many observations he made was one that now raises a fundamental question: How does someone who so enthusiastically endorsed a political leader’s achievements suddenly turn around, within less than a year, to disparage the same individual?
Anwar wrote:

“Senator Barau’s interventions across the spectrum are well acknowledged and appreciated by the study. Ranging from his constituency projects, genuine and meaningful empowerment and other interventions since he was a Member of the House of Representatives from Tarauni federal constituency, up to the feats he achieved as a Senator.

They include his scholarship programmes in local and foreign universities. Commending the choice of courses of study and schools selected.

Like in the Nigerian universities, students were sent to study degree programmes in some of our premier universities, like Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, University of Ibadan, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Bayero University, Kano, University of Lagos, alongside other universities.”

For someone who, by conviction, went to such lengths to endorse the findings of experts and extol the virtues of a political leader, only to turn around months later to ridicule that same leader, something is clearly amiss.

And one does not have to look far to understand what may have changed.

* The October 18 Turning Point*

On October 18, 2026, Anwar published a rejoinder to a Weekend Trust report concerning a deep-pocketed member of the House of Representatives from Kano.

In the process of defending the lawmaker, he took the opportunity to disparage serving legislators from Kano State through innuendos that now appear to provide context for his latest attack on the Deputy President of the Senate.

In that rejoinder, published more than a week before his current article, Anwar offered a revealing glimpse into his emerging political alignments. He criticised certain legislators from Kano for allegedly failing to complete their projects, although he conspicuously refrained from mentioning their names.

He wrote:
“One encouraging aspect of the photographs (used by Weekend Trust) is that they show completed projects. This stands in contrast to the situation involving some prominent legislators who frequently boast about their projects but whose projects, unfortunately, remain incomplete or are executed to only a negligible extent.

“Even more troubling is the practice of presenting existing structures as newly executed projects, sometimes for the purpose of claiming credit for work that was already completed.”

These statements suggest that Anwar had already embarked on a campaign to undermine certain members of the National Assembly from Kano, a development that became more apparent with his subsequent attack on the Deputy President of the Senate.

While Senator Barau has weathered numerous political storms, as Anwar himself previously acknowledged, there is a compelling need to set the record straight. This is necessary to correct the distortions in the article and prevent unsuspecting members of the public from accepting claims that misrepresent the facts.

* ON THE KANO–GWARZO–DAYI ROAD*

It is important to clarify that the N56 billion earmarked for the Kano–Gwarzo–Dayi Road has been provided for in the budget, although the funds have yet to be released. This, rather than the malicious insinuations being peddled, remains one of the major impediments to the pace of work on the project.

It will be recalled that the Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Barau I. Jibrin, recently met with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to express concern over the slow pace of work and appeal for a change of contractor to ensure the timely completion of the project.

What a merchant such as Anwar know, but is unwilling to acknowledge because of their mercantile proclivities, is that projects of this magnitude require substantial funding and considerable time to complete.

The Abuja–Kaduna–Kano Road, for instance, has been under construction for about a decade, while several other projects across the country have remained incomplete since 1999 due to paucity of funds.

Despite these challenges, Senator Barau continues to work tirelessly to ensure that the Kano–Gwarzo–Dayi Road is completed as soon as possible.

Facilitating a major infrastructure project that benefits multiple communities is a significant achievement for any senator.

* ON THE IMMIGRATION TRAINING SCHOOL, BICHI, AND NSCDC TRAINING SCHOOL, GWARZO *

Even a cursory understanding of legislative functions reveals that facilitating the establishment of a federal institution is fundamentally different from executing its construction. Works at the schools are ongoing.

* ON THE FEDERAL UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, KABO*

During the last Senate, Senator Barau sponsored a bill to establish the Federal Polytechnic, Kabo. The bill was passed by the National Assembly and assented to by the then President. Two sets of graduates have since passed through the institution.

In the current Senate, he sponsored another bill to upgrade the Polytechnic to a full-fledged university. Following its passage by the National Assembly, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu graciously assented to the bill, paving the way for the establishment of the Federal University of Science and Technology, Kabo.

For the 2026/2027 academic session, the university has shortlisted students for admission, and the processes are still ongoing, contrary to the false claims being circulated by Anwar in what appears to be an attempt to appease his paymaster.

Since 1999, no other lawmaker in Kano State has facilitated the establishment of a federal university through the legislative process. This is a record that deserves recognition, not distortion.

* A WORD OF CAUTION TO ANWAR*

At this juncture, one is compelled to advise Anwar to desist from the path popularly described in Nigeria as the “anywhere belle face” syndrome.

With each passing day, his writings increasingly expose what appear to be serious deficiencies in intellectual rigour, credibility, and an unrestrained appetite for financial inducement.

This explains why his articles are often characterised by contradictions, ad hominem attacks, and disjointed conjectures rather than coherent arguments grounded in verifiable facts.

An example beyond the present controversy is his article titled “Kebbi: The Performing State Nobody Sees,” which attracted a response from Ibrahim A. Jombali, Special Adviser on Public Enlightenment and Orientation to the Governor of Kebbi State. Jombali’s rejoinder, titled “Kebbi Is Not Invisible: A Rejoinder to Abba Anwar’s Media Visibility Theorem,” pointed out the contradictions in Anwar’s argument.

One understands that the times are difficult. However, making a living by accepting assignments to malign individuals and political leaders is a despicable practice that undermines the integrity of public discourse.

Anwar would do well to reflect on this counsel and reconsider the path he has chosen. At the very least, he should endeavour to preserve whatever remains of his credibility.

Patriotism is not a convenient cloak for political opportunism, just as criticism should never be reduced to a transactional exercise.

The public deserves honest, consistent, and fact-based commentary—not a spectacle of political turncoatism masquerading as patriotism.

Abdulrazak Usman Ph.D, wrote from Kano.

Elections are not won by emotions but by fact. Political Party Candidates campaign to people based on what they can offer, while the ones in power used the dividends of their leadership to people as their major tool to campaign by telling the world what they have done in terms of development, the opposition looked at that, criticised where they have gone wrong and what they have not provided for the people to campaign.

That’s constructive campaigning. The recent flag off of President Tinubu’s campaign in Kaduna on Saturday says a lot about the failure of the president to deliver good governance to Nigerians.

I expected to President to campaign on three or four areas where the north is left behind in his government, this is not to talk of the massive nepotism where his kinsmen are on top of critical government agencies; not treating Nigerians equally. I was expecting to see President Tinubu making adjustment in the kind of nepotism that took place during the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, things get worse, Nigerians and the north is experiencing the worst ever nepotistic government ever since independence.

The President should have asked himself whether the North has recovered from the massive kidnapping which he inherited under Buhari, as people with the fertile land to farm, are we still going to our various farms to do farming? This is No, why because of the insecurity in the North.

In Kaduna, a family was kidnapped and were nearly killed before they were able to be rescued. Nobody knows whether ransom was paid but the kaduna state government claimed to have rescued them. Governor Uba Sani was even seen thanking the National Security Adviser for his efforts in the rescue mission. This is the situation the North finds itself under President Tinubu.

The second most important thing is economic instability, you can’t tell me that there is economic improvement when people cannot be able to take a 3 square meal in a day. When people are abandoning their cars for electric bikes.

This is one area where Atiku has won the heart of the masses by promising to restore the fuel subsidy why because its removal has negative impact on the masses. People are living in hunger and abject poverty, one which I have witnessed as the most since the return to democracy in 1999.

Tinubu has no regret over the hardship but is putting the blame on the opposition. This has provoked Nigerians the most.

Even the governors and National Assembly candidates of the APC are doing their posters alone without attaching Tinubu. Go through the billboards in the north, attaching your poster with Tinubu will create you enmity and make you unpopular.

What Nigerians are after at the moment is the person that will provide them with security, remove them from abject poverty, restore fuel subsidy and provide them with a conducive environment that will provide the unemployed with the job opportunities.

Children can’t go to school because their parents cannot afford that, the daily income, the minimum wage issue and the meagre salary is not enough to cater for their needs.

As a politician, campaign for Tinubu and become unpopular. I have since realised even the politicians at the forefront campaigning for Tinubu don’t care for the North predicament. Despite all the problems and challenges, they tend to care for their pockets not that of Nigerians. This is the most unpatriotic attitude of our people.

It’s sad that even when Tinubu decided to pick his campaign DG, he ended up with Yari, someone with poor record of good governance. The only thing he knows is sharing money to the people. Someone whose source of wealth is associated to his record as a governor. He came into power not as a business man but ended his tenure as governor as one of the most wealthiest governors in Nigeria.

When Rufai Oseni asked for his track record as governor of Zamfara and the high rate of poverty when he led the state; he ended up beating around the bush.

Nigerians are feeling the pain deep in them and they will vote for Waziri Atiku Abubakar, they will give him a try because of the good plans he has for the country at the moment. He served this country as Vice President with diligence, he is one of the best and capacitated Vice President the country has so so far produced not the spare tyre Kashim Shettima who not only serve as Nigeria’s second citizen but as number one praise singer of his principal.

Atiku will win massively for the aforementioned reasons. It’s the people that vote not the elite that make noise on social media or television stations. Elections are won at the polling units not on social media.

They will share the money, people will collect it and vote for the right person and that person is Atiku Abubakar.

I refused to make mention of other presidential candidates for one reason, many of them are working for the return of the president especially the NDC, I trust Seyi Makinde of APM to be more serious as an opposition candidate than Peter Obi of the NDC and Rabiu Kwankwaso who have appeared to be more concerned and critical to Waziri Atiku than Tinubu who has inflicted hardship to Nigerians.

Adnan Mukhtar is a Public Affairs Analyst, University Lecturer and Doctoral Candidate at Bayero University, Kano