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Comrade Waiya: The Man Shaping the Narrative of Kano First

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5 months ago

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By Comrade Najeeb Nasir Ibrahim | Public Affairs Analyst

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There is a particular kind of public official whose value to a government cannot be measured in project completion rates or budget figures alone. Their most significant contribution is something less tangible but far more consequential: the ability to translate a governor’s vision into a living, breathing public conversation, to take the abstract language of policy and render it in terms that ordinary citizens can understand, trust, and ultimately own. Since his swearing-in on the 6th of January 2025, the Honourable Commissioner for Information and Internal Affairs of Kano State, Comrade Ibrahim Abdullahi Waiya, has demonstrated with increasing clarity that he is precisely this kind of official, and that his presence in Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf’s cabinet is not incidental to the administration’s communication success but central to it.
To appreciate what Waiya has brought to the Ministry of Information, it is necessary to understand what he inherited. Government information ministries across Nigeria have, for too long, operated as little more than glorified press offices, reactive in posture, narrow in scope, and limited in ambition. Their function has been largely defensive: to respond to criticism, manage uncomfortable headlines, and project a positive image of an administration regardless of whether the facts on the ground justified that image. This model of government communication is, at its core, a model of managed dishonesty, and it has contributed enormously to the collapse of public trust in government institutions across the country.
Waiya arrived at the ministry with a different model in mind. Shaped by years of activism, intellectual engagement, and a genuine commitment to social justice, he understood from the outset that the credibility of government communication depends not on the sophistication of its messaging machinery, but on the alignment between what government says and what government does. His first and most important contribution to the administration has therefore been to insist on that alignment, to position the Ministry of Information not as a propaganda unit but as a governance instrument, one whose primary purpose is to build and sustain the kind of public trust that makes effective governance possible.
This philosophical reorientation of the ministry’s role is most vividly expressed in his stewardship of the Kano First Initiative, the comprehensive policy and implementation framework for social and institutional reorientation that has rapidly become the defining intellectual project of the Yusuf administration. Where others might have approached this initiative as a communication product to be packaged and promoted, Waiya approached it as a covenant between government and citizens, a serious, evidence-based commitment to the restoration of the values, trust, and social cohesion on which Kano’s future depends. Under his intellectual leadership, the Kano First Agenda has been transformed from a political slogan into a governing philosophy, one that integrates Islamic ethical traditions, Kano’s own sociocultural heritage, and the modern science of behavioral change into a single, coherent framework for societal renewal.
What sets Waiya apart from the generality of government communicators is not merely his intellectual depth, significant as that is. It is the combination of that depth with a rare political courage, the willingness to engage publicly and directly with difficult questions, uncomfortable truths, and coordinated misinformation, without retreating into the vague reassurances and carefully hedged non-answers that characterize too much of official communication in this country. His media appearances, public lectures, and grassroots engagements are marked by a clarity and conviction that comes from someone who has done the thinking, understands the policy, and genuinely believes in the administration’s direction. That combination of preparation and belief is, in the world of public communication, extraordinarily difficult to fake and extraordinarily powerful when it is authentic.
The trust that Governor Yusuf reposes in his commissioner is not, therefore, the blind loyalty of a political patron rewarding a supporter. It is the considered confidence of a chief executive in a strategist who has earned that confidence through consistent performance, sound judgment, and a demonstrated ability to navigate complex communication challenges without compromising either the administration’s message or its integrity. Waiya understands the governor’s vision at a level of depth that enables him to communicate it not merely accurately but compellingly, and to defend it not merely loyally but persuasively. That is a rare and valuable combination.
His impact on the administration’s engagement with youth, civil society, and intellectual circles deserves particular mention. One of the most persistent failures of Nigerian state governance has been the alienation of educated, critically minded citizens from the business of government, an alienation that feeds cynicism, drains civic energy, and ultimately weakens the social fabric that development depends upon. Waiya has worked deliberately and consistently to reverse this trend in Kano, reaching out to universities, engaging with professional associations, cultivating relationships with media institutions, and creating spaces where citizens are invited not merely to receive government information but to participate in the conversation about Kano’s direction. This approach to civic engagement is not cosmetic. It is substantive, and its effects are already visible in the quality of public discourse around the administration’s policies.
Perhaps his most enduring contribution, however, is his work on societal reorientation, the understanding that sustainable development in Kano requires not only better policies and more resources but a genuine shift in civic culture, in how citizens relate to their institutions, to one another, and to the responsibilities of community membership. Through consistent messaging on discipline, social responsibility, the dignity of productive labor, and the importance of active citizen participation in governance, Waiya has cultivated what might be described as a new civic consciousness in Kano, an emerging public awareness that the state’s progress is not the government’s gift to the people but the people’s collective achievement, enabled by government but ultimately owned by citizens.
None of this work is easy, and none of it is without risk. A commissioner who speaks plainly, engages critically, and insists on the alignment between words and deeds will inevitably attract the hostility of those who prefer the comfortable opacity of conventional government communication. The honorific that has attached itself to Waiya in informed circles, the Super Commissioner, is therefore not merely a compliment. It is a recognition that he has chosen a harder, more demanding, and ultimately more honorable path than the one most available to him, and that he has walked it with the consistency and conviction that genuine public service requires.
As the Kano First Initiative moves from its foundational phase into the intensive engagement and behavioral activation that will define its impact, the role of the man who gave it its intellectual spine and its institutional credibility becomes ever more critical. The initiative will face resistance, as all serious reform efforts do. It will encounter the skepticism of those who have been promised change before and received disappointment. It will be tested by resource constraints, political pressures, and the inevitable gap between ambitious vision and complex reality. In those moments of testing, the quality of leadership that Comrade Ibrahim Abdullahi Waiya has demonstrated since January 2025 will matter enormously.
Kano has had commissioners who managed their ministries competently. It has had commissioners who communicated their administrations effectively. It has had, occasionally, commissioners who thought seriously about their portfolios. What it has rarely had is a commissioner who does all three simultaneously, and who brings to that combination the moral seriousness, intellectual depth, and personal courage that the moment genuinely demands. In Comrade Ibrahim Abdullahi Waiya, Kano State has that commissioner now. The Kano First Initiative is, in no small measure, his gift to the state. The least that the state owes him in return is the seriousness of its full engagement with the agenda he has worked so tirelessly to bring to life.

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Opinion

History Made: Eyamu Oghenenyerovwo Peculiar Emerges as UniAbuja’s First Female SUG President

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1 hour ago

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August 16, 2026

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By Asodike Miracle

Eyamu Oghenenyerovwo Peculiar has broken a longstanding leadership barrier at the University of Abuja after emerging as the university’s first female President of the Students’ Union Government (SUG). Her election represents more than a change in student leadership; it signals a new moment for female representation, participation and aspirations within the university community.

The University of Abuja 2025/2026 Students’ Union Government election was conducted on June 30, 2026, through the university’s official digital voting platform on the UniAbuja app. Her victory represents a significant moment in the university’s student leadership history and highlights the growing participation of female students in leadership and decision-making. Peculiar won the election with 4,747 votes, defeating her closest contender, Orelope Abdulbaseet Omobolaji, who polled 4,286 votes. Abubakar Babba Dahiru Babba came third with 1,727 votes.

Eyamu Oghenenyerovwo Peculiar is a 300-level student from the Department of Tourism and Hospitality Management. Her manifesto focused on improving academic support, prioritizing student well-being, protecting students fundamental rights within the university system, and promoting a student government that actively listens to and represents all students opinions across various faculties.

Her campaign identity also played a role in communicating her message to the student community. The slogan, “Everything Peculiar, Nothing Is Ordinary,” presented a distinctive campaign identity while positioning her as a candidate offering something different. Her campaign activities, including a jollof festival where meals were distributed to students, also provided opportunities for direct engagement and interaction with the student body.

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Beyond these activities, her campaign mobilized students across different faculties to raise awareness about her candidacy and communicate her vision for the SUG. These efforts demonstrate how campaign communication extends beyond presenting a manifesto; it also involves building visibility, creating connections and making a candidate’s message relatable to the intended audience.

The election’s digital voting process further shaped student participation. Through the UniAbuja app, students were able to cast their votes from their hostels or homes without having to queue at a physical polling point. This reflects the growing role of digital platforms in facilitating participation and connecting students with university processes.

However, the historic victory also comes with expectations. Students will expect the new administration to translate the promises contained in her manifesto into practical initiatives that address academic concerns, welfare, students’ rights and effective representation. As the first female SUG President, she now occupies a symbolic position that carries both opportunity and responsibility. The success of the administration will therefore depend not only on the significance of Peculiar’s emergence but also on how effectively her government communicates with students and responds to their concerns.

This creates a clear relationship between achievement, expectations, performance and reputation. Peculiar’s leadership will be shaped by what her administration does with that opportunity. How effectively it communicates with students, responds to their concerns and delivers on its promises will influence how students assess not only her administration but potentially their perceptions of female leadership within the university.

Reacting to her victory, Peculiar thanked students for believing in her vision , describing her election as a win for every young woman and for leadership built on competence, character and service rather than gender.

Her emergence therefore presents both a breakthrough and a test. It opens a new chapter for female participation in UniAbuja’s student governance while placing greater attention on the responsibilities that accompany leadership. The lasting significance of her election will ultimately be determined not only by being the first female SUG President, but by the quality, responsiveness and accountability of the leadership that follows.

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Opinion

Scholarship or Trap? Why Northern Nigerian Youth Must Verify Foreign Opportunities

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2 hours ago

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August 16, 2026

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By Alhassan Bala

Hundreds of young Nigerians, including students and graduates from northern Nigeria, have benefited from legitimate scholarships and educational opportunities offered by foreign governments and institutions. Such programmes can open doors to quality education, professional development and international exposure.

However, the growing use of social media to advertise scholarships, jobs and training opportunities abroad also presents serious risks.

Some seemingly attractive offers may be fraudulent, exploitative or even serve as channels for human trafficking and forced recruitment.

This is why young Nigerians must exercise extreme caution before accepting foreign scholarships or employment opportunities promoted online.

Recently, I came across a northern Nigerian professor working outside the country advising Nigerians, particularly young people from the North, to take advantage of a scholarship opportunity reportedly being promoted by educators he knows in Russia.

I have enormous respect for the professor, as I do for many academics who genuinely want to help young Nigerians access opportunities abroad.

Nevertheless, his recommendation reminded me of the disturbing experience surrounding the Alabuga recruitment programme in Russia and the need for prospective applicants to verify such offers independently before travelling.

The Alabuga warning,
For those unfamiliar with the Alabuga controversy, the programme began attracting young Africans through online advertisements offering employment, vocational training and what was presented in some cases as educational opportunities in Russia.

Investigations by international and Nigerian media later raised serious concerns about the programme.

Young Africans, including Nigerians, were recruited through social media and other online channels and taken to Russia.

Reports indicated that some participants who expected education or employment opportunities ended up working in facilities associated with the production of drones used by Russia in its war against Ukraine.

The Nigerian Ministry of Education subsequently said its website had been compromised and that advertisements for the controversial Alabuga Start programme had been posted without official authorisation.

Officials also stressed that the programme was not part of Nigeria’s approved bilateral scholarship arrangements with Russia.

The episode should have taught Nigerians an important lesson: the appearance of government endorsement, the involvement of a university professor or the presence of an attractive scholarship advertisement on social media does not, by itself, establish that an opportunity is genuine or safe.

From scholarships to the battlefield.

There is an even more disturbing dimension to the growing concern over recruitment of Africans to Russia.

In recent years, reports have emerged of Africans travelling to Russia after being promised civilian employment, only to find themselves recruited into the Russian military and deployed to the war in Ukraine.

In February 2026, the Russian ambassador to Nigeria, Andrey Podyelyshev, denied that Moscow operated any government-supported programme to recruit Nigerians to fight in Ukraine.

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He said that if illegal individuals or organisations were recruiting Nigerians unlawfully, such activities were not connected to the Russian state.

Despite the denial, investigations and reports have documented cases involving Nigerians and other Africans who allegedly travelled to Russia believing they were taking up civilian jobs before being sent to the battlefield. In one widely reported Nigerian case, Adam Anas and other Nigerians were recruited under the guise of security employment and subsequently deployed to fight in Ukraine.

The cases are not limited to Nigeria. In March 2026, the Association of Nigerien Students in Russia announced the death of Abdoulaye Issaka Ismael, a Nigerien master’s student who, according to the student organisation, had been recruited into Russian combat forces and deployed to the frontline in Ukraine.

Ghana has also reported serious losses. Its Foreign Minister disclosed in February 2026 that 55 Ghanaians had died after being lured into fighting in the Ukraine war, while hundreds more were believed to have joined the Russian military.

These cases demonstrate that the danger is not merely theoretical.

The lesson for young Nigerians, especially those desperately seeking educational or employment opportunities abroad, is straightforward: verify before you travel.

Anyone offered a scholarship in Russia or any other foreign country should first establish whether the programme is officially recognised by the Nigerian government and the government of the destination country.

Applicants should independently contact the Federal Ministry of Education, the Federal Scholarship Board, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the relevant embassy or high commission before committing money, submitting sensitive documents or travelling.

They should also verify the name of the university, its accreditation, the exact course of study, the physical location of the institution, the identity of the sponsoring organisation and the legal status of whoever is recruiting them.

Most importantly, prospective applicants should be suspicious of opportunities that are promoted exclusively through WhatsApp, Telegram, Facebook, TikTok or other social media platforms, particularly when recruiters pressure applicants to travel quickly or discourage them from contacting government authorities.

A genuine scholarship should withstand scrutiny.

Northern Nigeria has millions of young people searching for education, employment and opportunities to improve their lives.

That makes the region particularly vulnerable to individuals who exploit unemployment and economic hardship with promises of quick opportunities abroad.

Professors, academics, journalists, community leaders and other influential Nigerians therefore have a special responsibility when sharing foreign opportunities.

Before recommending a scholarship or job to young people, they should verify it through official channels and make the evidence available to prospective applicants.

A recommendation from a respected professor can give an opportunity credibility that it may not deserve. If the opportunity later turns out to be fraudulent, the consequences may be devastating.

The Nigerian government also needs to do more.
Government agencies responsible for education, foreign affairs, Nigeria Immigration Service, labour and youth development should maintain accessible, regularly updated databases of approved foreign scholarships and legitimate overseas recruitment programmes.

They should also promptly alert Nigerians whenever questionable opportunities emerge online.

The Alabuga experience showed how easily a dubious programme could acquire an appearance of legitimacy when its advertisements appeared on an official government website.

The subsequent reports about Africans being deceived into military service demonstrate the potentially fatal consequences of inadequate verification and oversight.

Young Nigerians deserve opportunities, but they also deserve protection.

A scholarship should lead to a classroom, laboratory or recognised institution not a factory where they are exploited, and certainly not a battlefield.

For young Nigerians seeking opportunities abroad, the safest rule is simple: do not trust an opportunity because it looks attractive; verify it because your life may depend on it.

Alhassan Bala, wrote this piece from Abuja

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Opinion

Between Sabotage and Scepticism: Why Nigeria’s Oil Dream Keeps Stalling

Published

4 days ago

on

August 12, 2026

By

Halima Aminu

 

By Halima Aminu

Governments do not only govern, they communicate governance. And in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector, the distance between what the government says it is doing and what its strategies are actually delivering has become one of the most consequential communication failures in the country’s recent economic history. Evaluating the Nigerian government’s strategies to increase oil and gas production is therefore not merely a matter of counting barrels. It is a matter of examining how those strategies are framed, how credibly they are communicated to critical stakeholders, and whether the outward narrative is supported by institutional reality on the ground.

The government’s dominant communication frame around oil and gas recovery has been one of triumphant reversal. Official figures show that national crude output, which had collapsed to dangerously low levels around 960,000 barrels per day in 2022 among the worst in Nigeria’s recent production history has climbed back to an average of approximately 1.71 million barrels per day in 2025, with peaks approaching 1.84 million barrels per day. As a communication strategy, this frame is deliberately constructed to project momentum, competence, and institutional control three attributes any government managing a resource-dependent economy urgently needs its investors and citizens to associate with its leadership.

The problem with this framing is not that the numbers are fabricated. The problem is that production recovery, presented in isolation, is a selective narrative. It tells the audience what improved without adequately explaining what remains structurally broken. Strategic communication theory draws a clear distinction between impression management projecting a preferred image and genuine credibility-building, which demands alignment between message and demonstrable reality. Nigeria’s government is currently far more invested in the former than the latter, and sophisticated investors, who are the primary audience for this messaging, are professionally trained to detect that gap.

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The Petroleum Industry Act of 2021 represents the most structurally significant legislative intervention in Nigeria’s energy sector in decades, and its potential is genuine. Its gas fiscal incentives have begun attracting new production-sharing arrangements with international partners. Its Host Community Development Trust framework had channelled substantial funding into hundreds of community projects across the Niger Delta by late 2025 a structural attempt to address the root communication breakdown between oil-producing communities and the Nigerian state, rather than merely managing its symptoms.

Yet even here, the government’s communication strategy reveals a persistent weakness. Five years after the PIA’s enactment, the law has succeeded in restructuring institutional forms creating new regulatory bodies, new oversight frameworks, new corporate structures. What it has not yet succeeded in doing is restructuring institutional culture. Rules exist on paper that are not consistently enforced in practice. Transparency mechanisms are in place that are not routinely populated with verifiable data. Approval processes have been reformed structurally but remain administratively slow in execution.

Nigeria’s oil is real. Its gas reserves, among the largest in the world, are real. Its production recovery, partial and structurally fragile as it remains, is real. What is not yet real not convincingly, not sustainably is the institutional framework that would make those assets fully and rationally investable at the scale the country requires. And what is equally not yet real is a government communication strategy sophisticated enough to build the credibility that framework needs to be believed.

Until Nigeria’s government understands that the long-term persuasiveness of its oil and gas strategy depends as much on how it communicates as on what it does and that impression management is not a substitute for institutional accountability the oil dream will continue to do what it has always done: inspire at the announcement stage, disappoint at the delivery stage, and leave Nigeria perpetually situated between sabotage on the ground and scepticism in the boardrooms of the investors it cannot afford to keep losing.

Aminu Halima
Department of Development and Strategic Communication
200 Level

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