By Muhammad Abubakar Suleiman

When Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf declared a public health emergency on drug abuse on July 22, 2026, and inaugurated the Multi-Agency Task Force on Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, many in Kano saw it as another committee. Three months later, the committee led by Barrister Muhyi Magaji Rimin Gado is dominating security headlines in the state.

The Taskforce was constituted as a multi-agency platform bringing together NDLEA, Police, DSS, Consumer Protection Council, Pharmaceutical Society, Ministry of Health, Anti-Daba Unit and other stakeholders. Dr. Ibrahim Garba Muhammad serves as Secretary.

From Raids to Results: Over 400 Arrests

According to briefings by the Chairman, within the first two months the Taskforce arrested more than 380 suspects and secured over 230 convictions. By September 29, when Barr. Muhyi spoke at the Kano Network of NGOs (KANET) Monthly Lecture at Nasarawa GRA, the figure had risen to over 400 arrests.

Presenting its scorecard to the State Executive Council in late September, the Taskforce reported a 35% reduction in drug-related crimes in the last three months, attributing it to intensified enforcement, seizures and over 500 convictions as of October 22.

Operations have focused on identified hotspots: Race Course, Filin Idi, Filin Mahaha, Tashar Rami, Kawo, Tashar Rimi, Jakara, Madigawa, Yalwa, Sanka, Kul Kul, Dogon Nama and Kukar Bulukiya.

Recoveries include Cannabis Sativa, Tramadol, Diazepam, Pentazocine, Pregabalin, Exol-5 and a Methamphetamine-based designer drug. In one case, 870,000 capsules of Pregabalin were seized from a pharmaceutical company over suspected diversion. Local weapons – knives, daggers, cutlasses and clubs – used by gangs were also recovered.

The Taskforce also recorded high-profile arrests. On August 18, it announced the arrest of a former Chairman of Rogo Local Government for allegedly selling and administering fentanyl injections to youths, after a victim who spent over N2 million on injections identified him.

Latest: Gang Sponsor Tracked to Port Harcourt

In its most recent operation, the Taskforce announced on October 30 the arrest of a 27-year-old suspected gang violence sponsor, Ishaq Lawan Ibrahim, popularly known as Malam Keya, from Yalwa in Dala LGA.

According to the committee, Malam Keya was allegedly financing violent clashes by rival Daba gangs in Dala that claimed lives. He fled to Port Harcourt, Rivers State, after crackdown intensified, but was tracked and arrested in an operation led by Head of Operations, CSP Bashir Gwadabe, and brought back to Kano. He is now in police custody pending prosecution.

Chairman Muhyi said the arrest outside Kano shows the Taskforce will pursue suspects beyond state boundaries.

Beyond Enforcement: Children, Rehabilitation and Technology

The committee says its mandate is not just enforcement. It reported rescuing 43 underage children allegedly exposed to intoxicants and convicting two dealers – Kabiru Isa and Usman Hamisu – for the offence. About 125 persons were referred to the Kano Reformatory Institute in Kiru for rehabilitation. With Kiru overstretched, government has provided an additional facility in Tofa.

The Taskforce has set an ambitious target of taking 10,000 youths off the streets for rehabilitation, skills acquisition and reintegration.

On August 21, Barr. Muhyi inaugurated nine sub-committees to professionalize the fight: Finance; Media and Publicity; Advocacy and Sensitisation; Licences, Inventory and Verification; Compliance, Inspection and Electronic Tracking; Monitoring and Implementation; Intelligence; Reformative and Traditional Council; and Anti-Drug Coordination.

Tech Turn: AI, 24-Hour Line and NDLEA Support

In the last two weeks, the Taskforce unveiled a new approach. On October 22, Barr. Muhyi, on behalf of Governor Yusuf, donated operational equipment to the NDLEA Kano Strategic Command led by Commander Dahiru Yahaya Lawan, to boost operations.

He also disclosed that Kano is deploying Artificial Intelligence for surveillance and tracking of suspected dealers, and equipping a rapid-response centre with ICT and a 24-hour toll-free line where residents can report and get response within 30 minutes.

At KANET lecture themed “Kano Drugs Crisis: Challenges, the Way Forward and the Role of the Community,” Muhyi stressed community intelligence and called for more rehabilitation to decongest remand homes.

No Sacred Cows

From day one, Barr. Muhyi has maintained a hard line on political interference. “No politician can pressure me to free drug suspects. The only person who can stop me is the Governor, and I know he will never interfere,” he told journalists on July 28.

That stance, coupled with intelligence-led raids, has earned the Taskforce both praise and scrutiny.

The Bigger Picture

Kano Police data cited by the Taskforce indicates about 70% of major crimes in 2025 were linked to drug abuse. The Executive Order outlawing Daba gangs provides a minimum of five years imprisonment under Section 97A of the Kano Penal Code.

Whether the Taskforce can sustain momentum will depend on three tests: securing the drug supply chain from pharmaceutical diversion, expanding rehabilitation beyond Kiru, and maintaining inter-agency cooperation without becoming a parallel enforcement body.

For now, in the markets of Filin Idi and the streets of Dala, residents say the presence of the committee is being felt.

Looking back on my time at the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change, one change I value most is how the public came to see the sector itself. Environmental protection became a stronger part of conversations about our health, neighbourhoods, livelihoods, and Kano’s future. People increasingly joined the work, supported our programmes, and held us accountable.

For that, I thank the people of my dear state.

This journey began for me on 6 January 2025, when His Excellency, Alhaji Abba Kabir Yusuf, the Executive Governor of Kano State, entrusted me with the responsibility of leading the Ministry.

The challenges were clear. Facilities had deteriorated, policies needed updating, enforcement was weak, and frontline workers were owed outstanding payments. Yet His Excellency saw what the Ministry could become and gave us the support to begin rebuilding it.

Our government-owned nurseries tell part of that story. Eight facilities that had become non-functional were fully rehabilitated, restoring our capacity to produce seedlings locally. Building on the administration’s three-million-tree planting programme in 2024, the programme grew to five million in 2025 and ten million in 2026, with all seedlings raised in government-owned nurseries. Behind those numbers was the recovery of public facilities that could continue serving Kano for years to come.

The same determination guided the restoration of the Kano State Pollution Control Laboratory. We renovated, equipped, and recommissioned it, giving the State the scientific capacity to test, monitor pollution, and support enforcement. We operationalised the Environmental Pollution Control Law and developed the Environmental Pollution and Waste Control Regulations to give that work a stronger legal foundation.

At REMASAB, reforms improved the coordination of waste collection, evacuation, and disposal. Waste management became more organised and responsive, with operations supporting the evacuation of approximately one million metric tonnes of waste. The Dorayi Compost Plant was also brought back into operation, restoring the capacity to turn organic waste into useful compost and creating opportunities for investment.

Across flood-prone communities, we undertook drainage construction, clearance and erosion control. The stormwater harvesting intervention in Toranke and work on the Kano State Drainage Master Plan formed part of our effort to move towards better protection and long-term planning.

We also restored four public parks, with more underway. Spaces that had suffered neglect were given new management arrangements and a clear responsibility for maintenance. Families now have more welcoming places to spend time together, while the parks’ combined annual revenue increased from around ₦5 million to ₦90 million.

Alongside these projects, we rebuilt the policy foundations of the sector. We developed the Kano State Climate Change Policy, its implementation plan and results framework; advanced the Climate Change Bill; and reviewed the Forestry Law after more than five decades. We also developed the Climate Finance Reform Action and Implementation Plan and the Green Bond Framework to prepare Kano for environmental and climate investment.

Kano’s third-place finish in the just-concluded 2026 Climate Governance Performance Ranking, and the opportunity to present our work at COP30 in Belém, Brazil, gave us reasons to be thankful. They also reminded us how far consistent support and collective effort could take the state.

None of this work could have continued without the people delivering it every day. With His Excellency’s backing, we cleared nine months of salary arrears for 2,369 verified street sweepers and doubled their stipends, re-engaged inspectors and forest guards, and doubled the stipends of 875 sanitation vanguards. I remain grateful for their service.

Today, as His Excellency separates the ministries and appoints a new Commissioner for Environment and Climate Change, my strongest feeling is gratitude.

To His Excellency, thank you for trusting me with this responsibility, listening to our proposals and supporting the decisions needed to carry them through.

To our staff and agencies, community leaders, development partners, civil society organisations, young volunteers, businesses and residents: thank you for standing with us. Your participation, patience and constructive criticism helped us improve. These achievements belong to everyone who contributed.

I congratulate the incoming Honourable Commissioner and offer my full cooperation to sustain the work we began together.

Serving the people of Kano State in this capacity has been a privilege. Thank you for the trust and support.

Dr. Dahir M. Hashim, Honourable Commissioner
Ministry of Water Resources, Kano State, writes from Kano.

By Abba Anwar

In Kano North, a strange miracle is happening. One building can become three institutions at the same time. In the morning it is a NOUN Study Centre, in the afternoon it is a FUDMA Satellite Campus, and in the evening it is an ICT E-Learning Centre.

Same roof, same paint, three different press releases. And this is being celebrated as three different achievements of the Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Barau I. Jibrin. Mine is just to reassess what many call constituency projects. As 2027 general election is around the corner knocking our doors day in day out.

For a Senator who has been in the National Assembly since 1999, then as a member of House of Representatives, from Tarauni federal constituency, who controlled the national budget as Chairman of the House Appropriation Committee then, and started as a Senator from 2015, who is now the number two citizen of the Senate, Kano North expected bulldozers, not signboards. They expected completed roads, not N19 Billion and N37 Billion allocations that disappear into a 90-kilometer road that is still at 40%. They expected Immigration and Civil Defence training schools that train officers, not structures that have remained “under construction” for two years after fanfare.

This reassessment is stemmed from a process, auditing commitment, hard work, enthusiasm and due allocations versus achievements, of announcements versus reality on ground in the 13 Local Governments of Kano North.

To me personally the way I see it is this, that our Distinguished Senator should be celebrating completed projects in Kano North. Instead, his constituency is celebrating allocations, approvals and foundations.

A detailed analysis of six major projects credited to him shows a disturbing pattern, big announcements, big budgets, little completion.

1. Kano-Gwarzo-Dayi road of N56 Billion Released, Road Still A Death Trap. This is the most important road in Kano North. 90.65km dual carriageway from Kano to Dayi, linking Kano to Katsina and Kebbi. It was awarded on December 1, 2020, to CGC Nigeria Limited for N62.711 Billion and flagged off on June 10, 2021, with a promise of 24 months completion.

Five years later, what is on ground?

The road was abandoned for over three years 2022-2024. Motorists endured hardship. Communities praised God when contractors returned in 2026.

Why did they return? Because Senator Barau facilitated N19 Billion in 2025 Budget and another N37 Billion in 2026 Budget – a total of N56 Billion fresh injection outside the original N62 Billion. But up to now, the story isn’t something to write home about.

Yet, even with N56 Billion, the road is only 35-40% completed as of October 2026.

The question Kano North people are asking is, if you attracted N56 Billion, who supervises the contractor? Why should a road that got N56 Billion in two years still be at 40%? A performing Senator does not just lobby projects, he ensures delivery.

2. Immigration Training School, Bichi and NSCDC School, Gwarzo. Two years after facilitation, still under construction.

In January 2024, the DSP announced with fanfare that he has facilitated the establishment of a State-of-the-Art Immigration Training School in Bichi and NSCDC Training College in Gwarzo.

The statement then was: “From A to Z, we will ensure it is constructed and equipped.”

As at late 2025 and October 2026, the official status of both schools remains “Currently under construction.” Immigration School in Bichi is at 60-70%, NSCDC College in Gwarzo is at 50-60%. Two years after facilitation, no single officer has been trained there. They are structures, not institutions yet.

As the bitter truth for a Senator who wants to be Governor, building and abandoning is not a good record. The way he follows to facilitate, lobby and bring to the table, absence of follow-up for completion purpose is a bad omen.

3. Federal University Of Science And Technology, Kabo, the only success that is not yet a success.

This is the only project in Kano North that has achieved 100% legislative completion. The Federal Polytechnic Kabo was converted to Federal University of Science and Technology, Kabo after Presidential Assent on May 27, 2025.

Yes, it is now a University on paper. Admission for 2026/2027 has been announced on JAMB CAPS. But visit Kabo today and you will see a Polytechnic being hurriedly painted to become a University. Laboratories are still Polytechnic standard. Lecture halls are still Polytechnic size. There is no teaching hospital, no Senate building, no Professorial offices befitting a University of Science and Technology. So, while the law is complete, the University is not.

4. I won’t call this biggest deceit. But look at it, NOUN Campuses that are E-Learning Centres, and E-Learning centres that are NOUN Campuses.

There was a claim for the establishment of 13 National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) Study Centres across all 13 LGAs of Kano North: Bichi, Bagwai, Shanono, Gwarzo, Danbatta, Dawakin Tofa, Gabasawa, Kabo, Tofa, Rimi Gado, Kunchi, Makoda and Tsanyawa.

There was also a claim for the establishment of Federal University Dutsinma (FUDMA) Satellite Campuses in Gwarzo, Danbatta, Dawakin Tofa and Gabasawa.

There was also claim for the establishment of ICT/E-Learning Centres in Gwarzo, Tofa, Bichi, Kabo and Dambatta.

The truth on ground? They are the same buildings being used for three different names.

Investigation shows that the ICT Centre in Gwarzo is the same building called NOUN Study Centre Gwarzo, which is also called FUDMA Satellite Campus Gwarzo. The one in Bichi is the same. The one in Kabo is the same.

One Centre, Three Names, Three Press Releases.

And even at that, the original 2015 NITDA contract for 5 E-Learning Centres at N193 Million awarded to a contractor was found by Kano Focus investigative report to have no computers, no furniture, no internet years after construction. They were empty buildings where students still travel far to write JAMB.

Today, the new Centres under Barau Foundation are operational at 90%, but they are simply equipped versions of the same empty buildings of 2015. So for 8 years 2015-2023, the Centres existed only on signboards.

During my tour to hear from people of Kano North in preparation for my series of documentaries, I came to understand that Kano North needs completed roads, functional schools, and real universities.

If a 90km road cannot be completed with N56 Billion in two years, if two security training schools remain under construction for two years, and if one building is being counted as three different projects, then there is need for the Senator to put more effort in serving his people well. The bitter truth!

Allocations make headlines. Completed projects make history.
Kano North is still waiting for history.

In subsequent write-ups and about to be produced documentaries for our local communities, I will concentrate on local government by local government analysis of Kano North in relation to His Excellency Distinguished Senator Barau I Jibrin, PhD, CFR.

Anwar writes from Kano
Tuesday, 27th October, 2026