GOVERNOR Abba Kabiru Yusuf (GAKY), a product of Kwankwasiyya political school, tutored by no less a master than the grand patron himself, is severing ties with his alma mater, impliedly alleging miseducation therefrom.
Set for tutelage in political intrigues and opportunism; assertions of political independence; counter indoctrination strategies; deconstruction and demystification of the godfather; shocks and therapies of a new political life, etc., at a rival political academy, to produce a vicious political adversary of his mentor.
If a mentee could hardly grasp that his meteoric rise from a lowly post to a top office is a political favour; and that the investments that brought him to power were made by others; or that the political IOUs recalled for his election were by other peoples, and that violating an electoral mandate with unprincipled defection from the party are political sacrileges, then, he is beyond re-education, he is un-educatable.
But the questions are: can a political mentee maltreat Madugu in his den without commensurate political backlash? Wouldn’t this titanic battle for political supremacy reveal the undisputed Jagaban of Kano politics? And who would laugh last?
ALSO READ: Why Nigerian Politicians Fear Voters Who Elected Them; By Lawan Musa Danlami
Why is GAKY ending an eventful political relationship ingloriously, hurriedly defecting to the APC? Firstly, is it as alleged, that he has been reduced to a shadow chief executive, whilst the de facto governor is in Miller Road? Anyway, if there is an iota of truth in the claim, he has a reason to be pissed off with the party and mentor. But hitherto NNPP’s impactful administration contradicts the allegation that GAKY is a lame duck chief executive in Kano.
Secondly, If APC’s covetousness of Kano votes has attracted an irresistible carrot greater than the mandate, mentor and party, political honour and integrity, then GAKY’s prolonged tutelage has been in vain, since he has violated a creed of Kwankwasiyya political philosophy: never trade off political honour and integrity with personal gains.
Thirdly, if the defection is coerced, then he is bereft of a basic Kwankwasiyya trait: bravery, without which one could hardly be an effective leader to proactively shepherd any political flock.
The continuum of Kwankwaso/Ganduje political relations was defined by two extremes. The first was anchored on tutelage and mentorship, unflinching loyalty and deference to the leader. With such behavioural traits, Governor Kwankwaso could sleep with both eyes closed, sealing Ganduje’s gubernatorial succession project.
ALSO READ: The US Hawk Swoops On Maduro, Eyes Oil As Ransom; By Owei Lakemfa
While the second extreme, after the succession, was defined by high profile political intrigues, estrangement, ruptured relations, and a vicious struggle for dominance of Kano politics.
The cloning of a Ganduje out of GAKY transforming a loyal mentee into a quintessential enemy is a project dear to many people. First, Dr Ganduje could lose sleep over it, to settle scores with his former mentor for APC’s defeat in the 2023 elections, and the can of worms exposed on his stewardship, which the dogs wouldn’t eat during the earliest days of the NNPP administration.
The defection is regarded by many as a political affront to Kano voters, the NNPP, and above all, it is perceived as a grand betrayal of Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso. But Kano has a special way of dealing with political ingratitude, particularly if the object of the affront is a revered political leader with a devoted followership, and an impactful stewardship trajectory. The greater the ingratitude, the more protracted the conflict, the higher the resolve to apply the Kano package to the ingrate.
Secondly, there are those on both sides of the divide finetuning the project, poised for windfall benefits regarding a freed GAKY from Kwankwaso’s political orbit as a manna from Heaven. Thirdly, there are Kwankwasiyya brethren enthralled by the project, warming up to fill the mentorship vacancies occasioned by the exits.
ALSO READ: 2026: The Year Of The Locust; By Abadom Lawrence Amechi
Fourth, despite the gubernatorial emptying of opposition parties, with his foot dragging to defect to the ruling party, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu (PBAT) would only be too happy to spite Kwankwaso by supporting the project, pulling GAKY out of his political orbit.
If a mentee could hardly grasp that his meteoric rise from a lowly post to a top office is a political favour; and that the investments that brought him to power were made by others; or that the political IOUs recalled for his election were by other peoples, and that violating an electoral mandate with unprincipled defection from the party are political sacrileges, then, he is beyond re-education, he is un-educatable.
The moral dilemma for the defectors is to justify their entry into a party whose economic and political policies are impoverishing their people, pitching tent with someone they portrayed in bad light, called names, impliedly reframing him as the new redeemer, and their decades long benefactor and mentor as a political leviathan.
ALSO READ: Trending Events Amidst Governor Buni’s Yobe Achievements (2); By Hassan Gimba
The apprehensions on the electoral backlash of the regime’s unpopular policies inform the grand illusion that the ruling party could be saved by the governors, APC’s electoral gateway to 2027, underscoring the desperation to cajole, incentivise or coerce the non-APC governors to defect to it.
Despite the regime’s drive to dominate Kano politics, insert a wedge between mentor and mentee, ravenously eyeing the votes, the dynamics of the defections could inevitably push Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, PBAT’s oppositional cynosure into one of the bigger parties dreaded by the APC. Could GAKY, without the estranged mentor, deliver Kano to the APC in 2027?
This electoral fantasy glosses over the fact that in 2015, APC-inclined governors were a minority: CPC’s only governor and nPDP’s 5, yet the PDP, with its majority governors, was defeated in the election. The people are the gateway to electoral victory not the governors, and no matter which party is in power in a state – ruling or opposition – they would vote a party that wouldn’t renege on its promises, but would hardly vote the one that trampled its promises and impoverished their lives.
ALSO READ: In Memory Of Professor Adamu Baikie (1931–2025); By Jibrin Ibrahim
The defection is regarded by many as a political affront to Kano voters, the NNPP, and above all, it is perceived as a grand betrayal of Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso. But Kano has a special way of dealing with political ingratitude, particularly if the object of the affront is a revered political leader with a devoted followership, and an impactful stewardship trajectory. The greater the ingratitude, the more protracted the conflict, the higher the resolve to apply the Kano package to the ingrate.
Despite the principled basis of the Aminu Kano-Abubakar Rimi conflict in the Second Republic, yet Kano regarded it as a political affront to a great leader, ended in Rimi’s expulsion from the PRP, defeat in the 1983 gubernatorial election, and the vindication of Aminu Kano as the dominant factor in Kano politics, besides his national political stature.
The inconclusive electoral heist of 2019, and APC’s defeat in the 2023 gubernatorial election confirmed Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso as the undisputed Jagaban of Kano politics. The Kano package used in 1983 and 2023 is handy for the 2027 election.
ALSO READ: Multiple Taxation Designed To Emasculate Working People; By Abiodun Olamosu
Despite the regime’s drive to dominate Kano politics, insert a wedge between mentor and mentee, ravenously eyeing the votes, the dynamics of the defections could inevitably push Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, PBAT’s oppositional cynosure into one of the bigger parties dreaded by the APC. Could GAKY, without the estranged mentor, deliver Kano to the APC in 2027?
Who would laugh last: Senator Kwankwaso, GAKY, Dr Ganduje or PBAT? Unfortunately for the last three, the electoral backlash of the neoliberal wreckage of the economy, reinforced by the Kwankwasiyya resolve to settle scores and the public outrage of the political affront could prevent the trio from laughing last.
Time will tell!
Jahun, a public affairs analyst, writes from Dutse, Jigawa State capital.
