The Director of Aminu Kano Centre for Democratic Studies at the Bayero University, Kano State, and a keen follower of political developments in the state, Prof Habu Muhammed, speaks on the rivalry between the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Abdullahi Ganduje, and the 2023 presidential candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party, Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso, among other issues
For years, there has been a lingering rift between two former governors of Kano State, Abdullahi Ganduje and Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso. What is your take on the feud?
The political impasse between the two former governors could be attributed to the political ego of the two personalities in Kano State. I refer to it as political ego because the two personalities were the best of friends that you could see in the past.
They were two good friends to the extent that they served in public services both in Abuja and in Kano at the same time. One was supporting the other, and they were mutually respecting each other.
But things started changing when Kwankwaso was about toleave office during his second term as governor of the state.
At that time, Kwankwaso was dragging his feet about who to nominate or who would succeed him.
It was the intervention of other party members that even led to the nomination of Ganduje into the political competition for the leadership of the state. This made Kwankwaso reluctantly ask him (Ganduje) to contest since he already had the support of the party members.
It was after that time that things started changing between them. Ganduje even later used a word in Hausa, which is called Likimo. He said, “All along, I was loyal to Kwankwaso, but in reality, if I have my way, I will do what I believe I can do without the influence or intervention of any godfather.”
The Hausa word he used is just like an underground or a kind of subterranean way of relationship in which you don’t openly expose your intent, but when the end has justified the means, you will then declare your true objectives.
That was what happened because by the time Ganduje became the governor of the state, he decided to be independent of Kwankwaso.
How did he do that?
Just as you know, Kwankwaso has a political movement called ‘The Kwankwasiyya Movement’. This movement has its objectives, philosophical focus, agenda, and programme of action.
But when Ganduje became the Kano State governor, he was initially doing what the Kwankwasiyya Movement wanted him to do, even using their red cap.
But subsequently, at some point, he removed the cap and said he wanted to be independent. That also fuelled the crisis.
It got to a point that Ganduje became very adamant and paid no heed to the programmes and agenda of the Kwankwasiyya Movement. Ganduje started to be independent without paying any attention to the tradition of godfatherism that we know in Nigerian politics.
That led to a sour relationship between him and Kwankwaso. There were many instances where conflict erupted between members of the Kwankwasiyya Movement and Ganduje’s supporters, who also came up with their own Gandujiyya Movement.
So, both camps had been at loggerheads since the beginning of Ganduje’s administration in the state.
But what are other factors that fuelled the crisis?
One thing that also fuelled the crisis during Ganduje’s governorship reign occurred when his father died. Then, Kwankwaso came for the burial alongside his supporters.
But when he got to the funeral venue, the crowd at the gathering shouted at him and a fracas broke out between his supporters and them.
This also deepened the sour relationship. But sometime in 2017 or 2018, the supporters of the two political heavyweights had a serious fracas in which many people were brutalised.
Afterward, we then formed a coalition of Kano Elder statesmen, and I was the secretary of the group. It was called the Kano Forward Committee, established to chiefly reconcile the two warring camps. We did all that we could; we visited Ganduje twice.
Then, he was still the state governor. We also visited Kwankwaso in Kaduna twice. At some point, we even wrote outeight points for each of them to respect and follow to bring peace to the state. We even visited prominent personalities in the state, trying to persuade them to intervene in the crisis.
We visited the late Emir of Kano and Alhaji Aminu Dantata among other big political figures, including former Vice President Yemi Osibanjo. But unfortunately, it was all to no avail as none of the two warring camps respected the agreement we provided for them.
Consequently, the crisis brewed, such that whenever there was a slight confrontation between any of the two camps, there would be a riot in the state.
Along the line, the deputy governor of the state at that time, Professor Hafiz Abubakar vacated his office and Ganduje immediately brought in another person.
But how did the rift between the two former governors politically affect the state?
Of course, it did. Firstly, they are two hefty politicians and parts of the mainstream political echelons of the state. This means if there is any conflict among them; it will affect the implementation of policies in the state.
I can tell you vividly that most of the projects that were initiated under the Kwankwaso regime during its second term were abandoned by Ganduje. For example, the 40-kilometre roads in all the local governments of the state were stopped instantly.
The schools were established by Kwankwaso but Ganduje, during his tenure, decided not to do anything about the schools. That is, support was not given to the school considerably by Ganduje’s government. In other words, the rift between the two men affected the political process of the state.
Also, the rift provided a cul-de-sac in terms of the implementation of some policies, such that many projects were abandoned in the state. Just as you know, when two personalities clash all the time, it is the people who are usually the victims of the conflict.
In other words, when two elephants are fighting, it is the grass that will eventually suffer. That was what happened and is still going on today in Kano State.
This is because the brainchild of Kwankwaso’s movement, who is the current governor of the state, has brought the issue into a new circle. So, the rift is lingering, and no one truly knows how or when it will end.
Away from the state, it has been a norm in Nigeria’s politics that a new governor will stop some projects and policies initiated by his predecessor, especially when both of them are not from the same political party. Why is this so?
It is because, in Nigerian politics, the bottom line is power. If somebody controls power, he will want to ensure that he brings in a new set of people into his government and these people oftentimes may not be in the interest of the ex-governor who left the power.
That is one aspect. For the other aspect, most times, governors always want to hide some skeletons in their cupboards. As such, the more they have their mentees and protégés in their government, they are therefore safe whenever they are not in control of political powers in the state.
Based on this, their stewardship in the state will not be investigated. They will be very much assured of political influence in their states. If the current governor tries to say no to this arrangement, it will result in a crisis of rising expectations and dashed hopes on the part of the people.
The other sensitive issue that we all need to understand is that party politics in Nigeria is not ideologically based. Look at what happened in Kenya in the 70s when there was a kind of ideological conflict between Odinga Odinga and Jomo Kenyatta. Odinga Odinga who was Kenyatta’s vice president later decided to leave the Kenya African National Union.
He left the government and formed his party to protest against the way and manner in which Kenyatta was running the government. This was very important in the sense that ideology was the backbone of any action for those leaders. However, today, ideology is no longer there.
How does this affect Nigeria?
What matters to most politicians these days is to use power for political vendetta. When you use power to showcase your arrogance, might, and political wisdom, it means that at the end of the day, you have to betray your predecessor.
This crisis of rising expectation as I said earlier is a crisis that lingers from one period to another. Even the most trusted deputy governors are now having crises with their former principals.
Already, you have seen what happened in Edo State and several other states. So, former governors always want to get directly involved in the administration of their successors, which often creates conflict and disagreements across the states.
What is your reaction to the various policies that the incumbent administration has initiated in the country, especially the multiple taxation systems, which Nigerians have decried?
Generally, Nigerians are angry and frustrated by the policies of the incumbent administration.
They are frustrated that whatever an average Nigerian can enjoy today to make him or her feel like a countryman or woman has been eroded. Not only that; it is the rich who are leveraging their access to the ruling government and enjoying the fruit of the labour of the masses.
One thing that we need to understand is that the depreciation in the value of the naira, the fuel subsidy removal, the removal of subsidy on the electric power supply, and the removal of subsidies in some other essential and basic social amenities that the people always enjoy have made Nigerians poor and poorer by the day.
As long as a country like Nigeria goes by the dictates of the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, and other global financial institutions to the detriment of the masses in their countries, these kinds of situations will continue.
The worst part of it today is that the average Nigerian is in poverty and impoverished to the point where some of them cannot eat three square meals in a day.
