Kano and the Fluffs in Gov. Abba’s Approaches

By: Dahiru Hassan Kera

Again, Kano is in the news for another bad and ugly reason. It is obvious that the state has been in the news for different reasons since the emergence of Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso’s stooge, Engr. Abba Kabir, as the governor of the state under the flagship of the New Nigerian People’s Party, NNPP, a miniscule political party whose strength and popularity somehow surged in Kano, where it swept a reasonable number of state houses of assembly, houses of representatives, and senatorial seats in the 2023 general election.

Although there is no doubt that the party and its candidates got overwhelming support during the last election across partisan lines, not merely from the membership of the party but from the majority of the voting population of Kano State, The above has been clearly justified by the results. The sympathy they enjoyed during the legal battles to reclaim the mandate at the Supreme Court after the election petition tribunal and appeals courts annulled Engr. Abba’s emergence.
Sadly, instead of Engr. Abba Kabir replicating the gesture of overwhelming support he got from the people of Kano and beyond, his approaches, actions, or inaction became, to a great extent, problematic, and the public, including members of the party, became troubled, thoroughly disillusioned, and shocked that the honeymoon could end even before starting.
It quickly became widely known that Engr. Abba Kabir, who was ostensibly elected to right the wrongs of the previous administration of Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, who was accused of running the state like an emperor for eight consecutive years, was himself an error.
And in pointing out the many sins and fluffs of Gov. Abba, citizens and residents were unanimous in reminding him that he was not voted into power by the Kwankwasiyya movement alone, as he might have erroneously thought, but by a collective yearning for a fresh breath. In fact, the APC’s candidate, Nasiru Yusuf Gawuna, lost not because he was not a better pick than Abba when assessed on their individual merits but for the seeming unpardonable political and financial extremes of the administration he served in. Put the NNPP’s Abba Kabir and the APC’s Nasiru Gawuna on a scale of credibility and capacity; the former will not be found anywhere close to the Kano government house.
Ostensibly to settle political scores with his former boss, Kwankwaso, Mr. Ganduje unilaterally dethroned the 14th Emir of Kano, HRH Muhammadu Sunusi (ll), and banished him to the Loko local government area of Nasarawa state under a trumped-up charge of insubordination. Meanwhile, it is instructive to note that the whole drama was planned, perfected, and successfully executed under the watch of a northern president, Muhammadu Buhari, who should have known and treasured the traditional heritage of the Kano emirate but could not rein in on former Gov. Ganduje despite knowing the consequences of such a decision. Also, none of the northern leaders stood up to stop Ganduje’s sinister move that removed the embattled Emir. Reversing such recklessness will as well set a precedent where the Kano emirate may become rotational, with every governor or party enthroning its own loyalist as Emir.
Forget hiding under any pretence; you cannot try such recklessness with the renowned thrones of the revered traditional leaders of the south, the Obas. Even in politics, the Southerners play by the instruments of reason when dealing with a perceived adversary. In Lagos, when the power that be ousted Governor Ambode by denying him his party ticket in 2019 in favour of the incumbent, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the whole thing was managed with caution and prevented from becoming messy and muddled.
Equally, when the people of Kano felt they had become too unsafe by the strange actions of sales of public properties, including schools, burial grounds, and praying grounds, to the families and cronies under the supervision of Mr. Ganduje, the Kano people bided their time and rejected Ganduje’s anointed candidate, Gawuna. Another thing that played against the APC was the allegations of excessive corruption during Ganduje’s reign, especially with the release of the ‘dollar stocking’ video by the publisher of the Daily Nigerian Newspaper, Jaafar Jaafar. Indeed, the general public watched the APC play it dirty without recourse to decorum. There were also allegations of excessive meddling with the process of governance by cronies of the man at the helm, including playing demigod and using hostile and uncouth languages within the corridors of power.
Regrettably, instead of Governor Abba having to humble himself and reset the state, especially where the previous administration went wrong, he now appears to be far removed from the nuances of governance. In fact, many are of the view that he is being teleguided by a strange machinery of power. Kano is at that juncture where they believe that their chief executive does not care very much about the reason why the people of Kano State voted him into power and gave him their moral support throughout his legal travails. I neither cherish the way public properties were mercilessly sold nor do I support how the NNPP government, under the supervision of Governor Abba Kabir, went on a demolition spree where properties worth billions of naira were destroyed and the remnants looted. The government possesses legal alternatives to recover the property allegedly sold within the ambit of the existing laws. It is the same way the government revoked the sale of Hasiya Bayero Paediatric Hospital, allegedly sold by Ganduje’s administration. Though the court of competent jurisdiction has found him to have erred and ordered the government to compensate the innocent victims of the political retribution, the victims and their families will hardly forget it, particularly those whose capital and homes have been destroyed.
Recently, the decision of the renowned Islamic cleric, Sheikh Aminu Daurawa, to resign his appointment as the Commandant of the state-owned Islamic security outfit, Hisbah, due to the outright criticism of their modus operandi by Governor Abba Kabir in public has not only belittled his political support base but has further raised concerns about what is actually happening to the people of Kano State.
It is therefore pertinent to ask the following question: how can the government choose to retain a morally distressed Tiktoker, Murja, over Sheikh Daurawa? Why did the governor choose to criticise Hisbah’s mode of operation in public with an emotionally distressed tone despite being in control of the various channels of government communication? Why did the authority keep silent on how she was sneaked out of prison custody before her next court appearance? While this issue is still trending, Governor Abba Kabir should be aware that his action has prompted the people to ask the above question and are awaiting his response. He should either address the public to answer these very serious questions or risk losing popularity every minute until the day he returns to the trenches and faces the music from the people of Kano State like they did to Ganduje and his candidate.
Daurawa’s resignation and Kano government acceptance of the same leaves the impression that the governor’s action was merely to trigger Sheikh Daurawa out at all costs, knowing fully well he would never accept that mugging on his personality and hard-earned reputation. By this action, therefore, the immorality vendors who have chosen Kano State as the dumping ground for all sorts of nudity and immorality have now received an administrative nod to double their efforts, especially those coming from neighbouring Niger and Cameroon.
There is no doubt that making Kano a hotbed of kidnappings, phone snatching, drug peddling, and giving administrative leeway to Tiktokers into governance will further aggravate the already dicey situation.By resigning, Daurawa has saved his image, but the same cannot be said of the Kano government, and whoever succeeds him will find it difficult to operate. Meanwhile, and sadly, the Hisbah has now been reduced to a toothless bulldog by Gov. Abba! We all supported Gov. Abba, but it is necessary to tell him his fluff will consume him politically if he refuses to retrace his wrong steps.
Kera is the Publisher of Daylight Reporters.