By Abubakar Musa Umar...

 Kwankwaso is an icon, a leader in  Kano and northern Nigeria, a courageous and respected leader by his followers…

Born at Kwankwaso village in Madobi Local Government.

Came from a Royal family which was elevated from a Ward leadership (Dagaci) to District head (Hakimi) by the late emir of Kano Ado Bayero.

The Son of Alhaji Musa Sale Kwnkwaso (Maji Dadi) was not just an excellent politician, but an Engineer.,

A graduate of  Kaduna Polytechnic resigned as a civil servant at a young age and joined politics because of his interest in serving people and making an impact on their lives.

Read also: 2023 Presidency: Why Atiku Will win (I)

Kwankwaso was elected as a member of the National Assembly in the 3rd republic representing Kura, Ciromawa, and Madobi constituency.

He was elected as the Deputy Speaker in the aborted third republic National Assembly and was the top seat for northern Nigeria in the then house of Representatives.

Kwankwaso’s interest in politics was influenced by the late  Governor of Kano Abubakar Rimi and the likes of Musa Gwadabe who was a former minister in Nigeria and were the electoral college in Kano.

The emergence of the People’s Democratic Party in the 4th republic in 1998 was another chance for politicians like Kwankwaso.

He joined the PDP alongside many other Kano State politician and later show his interest in the number one seat in Kano.

Kwankwaso contest with Ganduje in the internal party election popularly called the primary election and won with a simple majority and immediately retained the loser as his deputy.

Kwankwaso became Governor in 1999 under the umbrella of PDP and served his first four years successfully.

Kwankwaso ends his first tenure and seek for re-election but lost to Malam Shekarau in 2003 and handed over to the new  Governor and from that moment Kwankwaso remains silent until 2007 when his attempt to contest for the second tenure failed because of the White paper slammed on him for an alleged diversion of scholarship.

He decided to pick Ahmad Garba Bichi to run under the platform of  PDP but loose to Malam Shekarau again. Kwankwaso was appointed as Minister of Defence by Obasanjo and until 2011 when he came back to re-contest and win his second term against the government candidate Malam Salihu Sagir Takai.

In his remarks before sworn into office as governor for the second term,  Kwankwaso said ” we have lost an election and it is recorded for me because I have been winning elections all my life”.

Kwankwaso came with a new ideology in his second tenure. I can remember with words in an exclusive interview with BBC Hausa Kwankwaso said” Munzo turai munga cigaba kuma zamu koma mu samar da cigaba a kasarmu”,  we have come to the Europe we saw the development and we are going to make our country developed “.

Kwankwaso achieved and transformed Kano into a proud modern city in Nigeria.

Kano and Kanawa(Kano indigenes) believed and applaud Kwankwaso on infrastructural development including the construction of two underpass bridges at Gadon kaya and Kabuga in  Kano metropolis and the Modern Rebuilt Kofar Nasarawa bridge.

Kwankwaso was the only Governor in the entire northern states to sponsor five hundred indigenes to study abroad base on academic excellence and most of the beneficiaries came from poor backgrounds.

Before his tenure ends in 2015 Kwankwaso sponsored over 2500 undergraduate and postgraduate students abroad most of them are now working in Kano and other neighboring states.

Some of the beneficiaries were retained abroad with an appointment and/or scholarship for Ph.D.

A report not confirmed stated that about 500 out 2500 sponsored in 2015 to 2018 bags their Ph.D. Kwankwaso was the only Governor to build a two functional Universities in Kano,  Kano University of Science and Technology, Wudil and Yusuf Maitama Sule (Formerly Northwest University, Kano) respectively.

These two Universities reduced the burden of some students and turned their dreams of being a University graduate.

Kwankwaso also established another college of Nursing at Madobi and School of Midwifery at Danbatta and both were in full capacity. The two health-related colleges contributed and solved some of the health-related issues in the State.

The establishment of another college at Tudun Wada for IJMB and remedial studies was among his achievement.

As part of his effort to make Kano great and compete with globalization,  Kwankwaso established Sports institute and also the Institute of  Information and Communication Technology (ICT) at Kura Local Government.

The Construction of three modern cities in Kano namely, Kwankwasiyya, Amana, and Bandirawo in the three senatorial zones was commendable.

Also, construction of five kilometers road in all forty-four local governments in Kano some of which were completed.

The renovation and upgrading of Kano state government house and establishment of a modern palace called Coronation hall were among his achievements.

Kwankwaso was an icon for modern Kano and I trust him and believe he can do it if elected President of Nigeria in 2023.

Abubakar Musa Umar is an Educationist based in Kano and can be reached on 08069080659.