Understanding the Current Kano Political Scene: Abba Gida-Gida’s True Loyalty to the People-Centred Ideology
By Hassan Sani Tukur
The political fallout between Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso and Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje has often been oversimplified and reduced to personal rivalry. In reality, the disagreement was never personal. It was ideological.
Dr. Ganduje emerged as governor under the Kwankwasiyya Movement, a political philosophy anchored on people-centred and socially driven governance. At its core were policies prioritising education, healthcare, human capital development, and grassroots infrastructure. This ideology produced landmark programmes, including the construction of flyovers and underpasses, major arterial roads, 5-kilometre road projects across all 44 local government areas, foreign scholarship schemes, free education at all levels, free healthcare services, school feeding programmes, and broad-based empowerment initiatives targeting women and youth.
However, shortly after assuming office, Ganduje discontinued many of these flagship programmes. The 5km road projects were halted. Foreign scholarships were suspended. Free education and healthcare services were rolled back. Twenty-six entrepreneurial institutions, garment factories, and vocational centres spread across the state were shut down. Key human capital initiatives such as Auren Zawarawa, monthly women empowerment schemes, and several youth-focused programmes were abandoned.
For the leadership of the Kwankwasiyya Movement, this shift represented a clear departure from its founding philosophy. Senator Kwankwaso, as the movement’s leader, repeatedly explained that his political acceptance and mass following were not products of personal charisma or material influence, but of policies that directly improved the lives of ordinary people. From the build-up to the 2019 elections and in subsequent public engagements, he consistently emphasised that the strength of Kwankwasiyya lay in ideology, not personality.
It was within this context that the fallout was widely described as a “betrayal.” Not because of personal grievances, but because, in Kwankwaso’s view, the ultimate betrayal is for a beneficiary of a people-centred movement to abandon its guiding principles after being entrusted with power. To him, deviating from the Kwankwasiyya ideology constituted a political and ideological breach, not a private dispute.
This background is essential to understanding why the current leadership under Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf represents continuity rather than deviation.
Abba Kabir Yusuf and Fidelity to the Kwankwasiyya Ideals
Long before becoming governor, Abba Kabir Yusuf clearly articulated his position. In his campaign policy document, “Our Commitment for Kano: 2023 and Beyond,” he explicitly pledged that his administration would be a continuation of the Kwankwasiyya government led by Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, whom he described as the architect of modern Kano. He committed to reviving, sustaining, and expanding the programmes and projects initiated under the Kwankwasiyya philosophy.
Since his inauguration on May 29, 2023, this commitment has moved decisively from words to action.
Abandoned projects were revisited, rehabilitated, and reopened. Construction of the 5km roads across the 44 local governments resumed. The reconstruction, re-equipping, and reopening of the 26 entrepreneurial and vocational institutions commenced immediately. Today, less than three years into the administration, more than 15 of these institutions have been reopened, with work ongoing on the remainder.
The foreign scholarship programme was fully revived. The first batch of sponsored students has completed their studies and returned, while the second batch is currently studying in institutions across the world. In addition, the Abba Kabir Yusuf administration cleared over ₦2.24 billion in outstanding tuition and accommodation fees owed for 84 Kano doctors sponsored to study in Cyprus under the Kwankwaso administration but abandoned after 2015.
Education, the cornerstone of the Kwankwasiyya ideology, has received unprecedented attention. The sector was placed under a state of emergency, with 33 per cent of the state budget allocated to it. This has translated into massive classroom reconstruction, construction of new schools, provision of free learning materials, uniforms, bags, and shoes, revival of girl-child education initiatives, and the return of free school feeding programmes.
Healthcare reforms followed the same path. Free healthcare services were restored. Major hospitals—including Hasiya Bayero Paediatric Hospital, Murtala Muhammad Specialist Hospital, Muhammad Abdullahi Wase Teaching Hospital, Nuhu Bamalli Hospital, Bela Skin Hospital, and Yadakunya Hospital—have been renovated or are undergoing renovation. Primary healthcare centres across the 44 local governments are being upgraded, with several elevated to general hospital status. Through the Abba Care Initiative, over 300,000 residents have been enrolled in a free health insurance scheme.
Social welfare and empowerment programmes have also returned. The mass wedding initiative, Auren Zawarawa, continues. Infrastructure development—another defining pillar of Kwankwasiyya—is visibly in motion. Urban renewal projects are reshaping the metropolis, with over 50 major roads under reconstruction, twin flyover projects at Dan Agundi and Tal’udu, more than 60 rural roads under construction, and the conversion of street lighting from diesel-powered systems to solar energy. Kano today is unmistakably a construction site.
These developments demonstrate clearly that Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf has neither abandoned nor diluted the Kwankwasiyya ideology. Rather, he has restored it, expanded it, and given it renewed relevance.
On Political Realignment and the Question of Survival
Calls for political realignment must be viewed within a broader strategic context. The current NNPP platform is deeply entangled in legal disputes that may not be resolved in time. Political history shows that power is often lost not at the ballot box but in courtrooms. This risk is real and cannot be ignored.
The NNPP is currently affected by court orders restricting INEC’s recognition of some party structures. Congresses were conducted while these orders were still in force—an issue that may not present immediate consequences but could pose serious challenges in the future. Nigerian political history offers painful lessons, including the experience of Zamfara State, where legal battles overturned electoral victories. Kano is not immune.
Power is not sustained by moral conviction alone. History is unkind to those who assume that good intentions automatically translate into political survival. Power is secured through alliances, strategic foresight, and careful positioning.
From this perspective, calls for political realignment are not acts of disloyalty. They are strategic moves aimed at safeguarding the survival, continuity, and future ambitions of the Kwankwasiyya Movement, including its long-term presidential aspiration under Jagora.
True loyalty to Kwankwasiyya is not blind attachment to a platform but fidelity to its ideals. Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf has demonstrated that loyalty through governance. Ensuring the survival of those ideals beyond legal uncertainties and political traps is not betrayal—it is political wisdom.
Hassan Sani Tukur
Senior Special Assistant on New Media
to His Excellency, Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf
