Is Kwankwaso an Aminu Kano or a ‘Political Husband Snatcher’? By Ugoji Egbujo

After the 2023 presidential election, Nigeria’s main opposition leaders wept and kicked over INEC’s brazen duplicity. While Obi and Atiku sustained their fight, Kwankwaso, who placed fourth under NNPP, made a few noises and headed to France to meet Tinubu. The rumor was that he went to negotiate with Tinubu. At a time the nation yearned for a united opposition against the perfidy of INEC and the rapaciousness of the ruling party, Kwankwaso was thinking about self.

Politics in Nigeria is indeed  more opportunism than altruism. So Kwankwaso’s actual desire, despite his posturing, might have been to secure Kano for his protégé Abba Yusuf. And having done that, he wasn’t bothered about the country and the effect of widespread rigging on national unity and development. So if Kwankwaso’s dream is to be president by whatever means, he might have viewed the opposition’s post-2023 election disenchantment as an opportunity to infiltrate the ruling government, even if it meant endorsing subterfuge.

Kwankwaso returned from France triumphant. The rumor mill was agog with tales of him becoming a super minister and potentially Tinubu’s running mate in 2027. Yet, when the ministerial list was released, Kwankwaso’s name wasn’t just missing; the France trip had become futile. A fairly anonymous lady whom even Ganduje, Kwankwaso’s soulmate turned bitter rival, didn’t know was the nominee from Kano. Add this to that: her name was unceremoniously substituted while she was in the National Assembly rehearsing for her confirmation hearing. That was the levity with which Kwankwaso was treated.

He couldnt even make a bloated cabinet overflowing with mediocrity. Nobody could tell what  happened, but many whispered that Ganduje forced the flirtatious Tinubu to choose between him and Kwankwaso, and Tinubu casually discarded Kwankwaso. Jilted, Kwankwaso became jaded; his moral courage to lead opposition politics was damaged. The man of quiet hubris suffered the humiliation silently, living ambivalently. 

Of all the main opposition figures, Kwankwaso has been the least critical of Tinubu. While Atiku, Obi, and others have trenchantly challenged the government’s excesses, lamenting Tinubu’s tyranny , Kwankwaso has returned to playing monkey-post politics, fixating on Kano. When the Kano government run by his protégé dethroned the Emir and installed another, and accused the federal government of propping up the dethroned emir, pushing Kano to the precipice, Kwankwaso only cried foul but didn’t confront Tinubu. His disposition seemed timid and calculated. When Tinubu abused his powers and suspended a sitting governor, the entire country rose up in anger, but Kwankwaso was largely unperturbed. Besides the danger posed to democracy, the Rivers precedent put Kwankwaso’s hold on Kano in clear jeopardy. Yet Kwankwaso, ever shrewd, with one eternal eye on a makeup with Tinubu and inheriting the presidency from him, could neither speak for Kano nor country.

But  when does shrewedness become cowardice?

Kano has produced politicians with national aspirations. Remarkably, they have always been fairly bold and outspoken: Aminu Kano, Maitama Sule, Abubakar Rimi, and Bashir Tofa. While Bashir Tofa, who lost the June 12 election to Abiola, might be seen as less principled than the others, Aminu Kano and Rimi were fearless champions of the talakawa. Kwankwaso, on his part, is no ordinary politician. He leads the Kwankwasiyya movement, a grassroots force that sees him as a vehicle for good governance. Though not on par with the great Aminu Kano, for whom selflessness was a motto, Kwankwaso commands unmatched loyalty in the populous and influential state. To  expand his moral appeal to the rest of the country, he must be more discerning in his political priorities and broaden his visual field. To keep the masses in Kano, he must prioritise selflessness. 

In the face of the hunger, joblessness, and insecurity that have beset the country, opposition leaders have a heightened obligation to hold the ruling government accountable. It’s true Nigerian politics thrive on realignments and selfish compromises, but a champion of the talakawa must be on the side of the suffering people. It’s not demagoguery to put the interest of the poor above personal political calculation.  Aminu Kano wouldn’t contemplate  defecting  to the ruling party to embolden the transformation of Tinubu into a full-blown autocrat. Yet rather than be a consistent, objective critic, Kwankwaso is scheming a defection to Tinubu while running around in a red cap. If the rumors are true, and they have become more plausible every passing day, Kwankwaso has dislodged Ganduje and is poised to snatch Tinubu from Kashim Shettima. And  rather than debunk these rumors and bemoan the gale of defections that has whittled the opposition, Kwankwaso has been loitering around the presidency. The insinuations of political promiscuity to service personal ambition have not deterred him.

A few days ago, after a closed-door meeting with Tinubu, Kwankwaso returned to Kano and accused the president of marginalizing the North, which handed him the presidency, while favoring his Yoruba base. These are supposed to be grave accusations. Tinubu’s presidency has been tainted by tribalism, cronyism, and corruption. But nobody paid attention to Kwankwaso’s lamentation because it seemed dubious. The timing was suspicious.  Some argued that Kwankwaso was only arm-twisting the president to secure more favorable terms for his imminent defection. In effect, he was smartly positioning himself as the man to rescue the president from the anger of the North in 2027. Kwankwaso’s conspicuous and ominous  absence at the meetings of opposition leaders discussing a coalition to challenge the president’s growing authoritarianism lends credence to the suspicions that his latest outburst is a self-serving effort to jockey himself into the space beside the president.

Since the 2023 elections, Kwankwaso has been acting like a bride, treating the president like a suitor, aloof to  the suffering of his Kwankwasiyya. These supporters, among Nigeria’s poorest, are at the real receiving end of the misery the country has faced. How then can any conscientious politician in the opposition not amplify the cries of his people, not relentlessly confront Tinubu’s inability to provide moral leadership and secure the country? If Kwankwaso’s presidential aspiration is genuine, for himself or for the talakawa he claims to represent, his current strategy undermines his credibility. Perhaps for a self conceited  Kwankwaso , the end will justify the means.

Defecting to the APC could indeed secure short-term gains, like control of Kano or a 2027 vice-presidential slot. But this hopping from party to party makes him look like a counterfeit Aminu Kano. Aminu Kano might have been principled to a fault, but Kwankwaso’s honey-seeking pragmatism might be his ultimate political undoing. A disastrous discoupling. Though he would need to overcome his rivalry with Atiku and skepticism about coalitions, teaming up with the opposition could cement Kwankwaso as a principled leader. He has to be worried about alienating the suffering talakawa who have shown him unmatched loyalty. Tinubu’s bed of roses surely  looks tempting, but it could be his downfall. Nobody here mourns husband snatchers. Going out to participate in breaking Tinubu’s marriage to Shettima is adventurous . 

A Governor Tinubu, though lascivious in many ways,  would have resisted the temptation Kwankwaso is drooling over. Kwankwaso’s failure to leverage his grassroots credibility to galvanize national opposition will always be remembered. Aminu Kano, a steadfast advocate for the masses, would have fought against burgeoning authoritarianism. Kwankwaso’s tone-deaf flirtations with Tinubu risk emboldening authoritarian tendencies and weakening the opposition, potentially sliding Nigeria toward a one-party state. But does  Kwamkwaso  care? Kwankwaso must choose.

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