Abdu Labaran, D G Media, Katsina State

The Ruling Party and The Opposition.

By Abdu Labaran Malumfashi.

In developed democracies, like USA, Germany, Italy, Spain, etc, otherwise known as the western world, one hardly hears about the opposition until during or near elections.

The UK operates what is called ‘Parliamentary Democracy’, where the members of the ruling party sit with members of the opposition parties in the parliament to discuss matters of the state whenever there is a sitting.

Russia and the rest of the pretentious democracies still have a hang over of dictatorship, and so do not allow the opposition to operate freely.

China, North Korea and others are not pretentious about any democracy, so it is little wonder that they do not suffer opposition lightly.

But in our shores, where we pretend to operate free democracies like they do in the western world, from the federal government to the state governments we try to KILL the opposition parties with a view to making the nation or state a one party entity, for reasons that have nothing to do with service delivery to the people.

They want to make the entity a one party-affair so that they can do as they wish without challenge from any quarters. They want their words to be final, encouraged by the ‘yes or you are right Your Excellency’ people.

These people encourage their excellencies to do what is not always right, which is not their concern as long as they remain relevant with the government or and have their pockets full all the time with money illegally gotten from the commonwealth.

All the states, including the federal government, are guilty of this offence. I should therefore not be tasked with mentioning the names of the alleged perpetrators. Despite the promises they made to the people during campaigns, they go back on these promises once elected into office. But killing the opposition is not one of the promises they made to the people, and it is not a good option too.

In some countries like China where, as stated earlier in the article, they have no pretence to a democratic governance, the punishment for self enrichment with ill gotten benefit is most often death or a life imprisonment.

What do we do here but to celebrate any wealth, including that which sources are not known or uncertain, which is why the elected rulers on our continent want to remain in power for ‘ever’, only giving up reluctantly or by force.

An alleged celebrated kidnap kingpin was recently hailed in his north central state when he was released from prison after serving a jail term. The emir of the kidnap kingpin’s hometown was among the celebrants, who hailed the return of the so-called ‘philanthropist’ as a blessing to the people of the area.

Recently, a state government in the north western part of the country, is alleged to be behind the suspension of the National Chairman of the ruling party in the country, Dr. AbdulLhi Umar Ganduje, allegedly by the party officials of his ward.

The national chairman is one of the sponsors of his party in the state. Those who are alleged to be involved in the supposed suspension ought to have been proud that ‘their son’ is the national chairman of ruling party in the country.

Besides, as the national chairman of the ruling party in the country, he can influence the citing of a project to whatever area he wants in his state. What of the ward officials of the party?

What these people fail to understand or are incapable of understanding is the fact that they can only decide what goes into their individual pocket, not any meaningful project in their ward, because the federal government has the last say in where projects are cited, even if they are by state governments.

Now, if this shenanigan was allowed to succeed, the people of the chairman’s home state and, especially, ward, would be losers too, as it is not about the national chairman alone.

Above all, democracy will be the greatest loser,
because we are not yet ripe for a one-party society where the people will not have a good representation, when there is no alternative party to fight for them.

On these shores, we operate not democracy for the good of everyone, but what is known as ‘the winner takes all’ system, where the ‘winner’ takes everything and gives whatever to whoever he deems it fit to give to.

Malam Malumfashi wrote from Abuja.

Why is Nigeria not great?

By Abdu Labaran Malumfashi.

About 2.5 million people were said to have gathered at the Kaaba Holy Mosque (better known as the haramın) at Mecca, Saudi Arabia for the finale of 2024 Ramadan Umrah. Among them are hundreds of thousands of Nigerians, many of them from the north, who also went on the Umrah.

Some of these people went to the Umrah earlier, but absconded and hide due to the expiration of their visa, so they may make it to the finale of the Ramadan Umrah.

The question begging for answer is: On whose behalf did they go for the Umrah. If you think that all the many Nigerians went there for any body else but themselves, you are most likely to be wrong.

Why this is so is because year-in-year-out so many Nigerian Muslims go to Saudi Arabia for the Umrah and (above all) the greater Hajj, but the country, Nigeria, remains the worst for it, because not all those who undertake the religious trip inlude the country in their prayers.

Many Christians from Nigeria also go to Jerusalem for the annual pilgrimage, but still the country does not seem to be the better for it in terms of moving forward.

Nigeria always seems to get backward instead of forward because most of those on the religious trip forget (or fail) to pray for Nigeria. They seem only to have one thing in their mind; which is the advancement of their personal interests, not Nigeria’s.

Some of them even undertake the trips not for the sake of Allah, but for the purpose of worshipping the devil so that they may remain relevant in the affairs of the country and or have their pockets full with whatever currency is in vogue.

Of course, not all the travelers to the Holy Lands forget where they come from in their prayers. I saw a video where some fair skinned (clearly none Nigerians) people performing the DAWAF (going round the Kaaba) praying for the progress of Nigeria, and I am almost sure that they were put into it by some patriotic Nigerian citizens.

A couple of years back, the BBC had a world wide survey in which it found that Nigeria was allegedly the most religious country in the world. According to the survey, most people in Nigeria belong to one religion or the other, and even the apostates (irreligious) sometimes invoke God when they are in a tight situation.

And recently (2024), it was found out that Nigeria had the most Koranic reciters in the world. With all these Islamic tributes, Nigeria is supposed to be up there among the developed nations of the world, but so is not the case.

A conclave of self serving politicians, their business allies and religious leaders seems to hold the nation backward despite its religiosity and ample resources. Only them, their spouses and their children seem to be making progress on these shores, and no one else.

A former prisoner, who was forgiven and left (the prison with only N20k became fabulously rich (allegedly worth more than $2 billion) after eight years as president.

A one time recharge card seller, who later became a close presidential aide, was to become the owner of an airline and many houses in choice addresses around the globe, amassing the wealth after only an eight-year stint in the presidential villa.

And a former governor, when asked (at the time) how he was able to pay for the ‘expression of interest’ and the gubernatorial forms, he answered that he did not have the money to pay for the forms. The forms were paid for by his relatives and friends.

But some four years ago, the London Economist (Magazine) put him among the 10 richest politicians in the country with a net worth of over $2 billion.

Well, where did all the money come from if the three were just there to serve the country, but not themselves.

The Nigerian religious leaders and the business moguls are no saints either when it comes to ra**ng the country.

The religious leaders lead a life of absolute luxury, while most of their followers live in poverty. Some of the religious leaders, especially of the Christian variety, even own airplanes while some of their followers try to survive.

When told of the miracle cures they perform in their churches, not in the hospitals, and asked why it was so, a former African country leader (not Nigeria) allegedly quipped that “in hospitals there are real patients NOT actors”, to show how corrupt some of the Christian pastors can be.

The same can be said about the business leaders, some of whom are believed to be fronting for hidden political leaders. These group of people do perhaps deliberately refuse to come to terms with the fact that there must be a country and its people before they, or whoever they represent, can become obscenely rich.

Malam Malumfashi wrote from Abuja.

WHO IS AFRAID OF GANDUJE?

By Abdu Labaran Malumfashi.

Of recent, there have been a lot of shenanigans against Ganduje, suggesting that someone is, or some people are, afraid of the National Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr. AbdulLahi Umar Ganduje, PhD.

The plot to get the National Chairman of the APC out of office seems to centre around some of the North Central states of the Federation. But one of the governors allegedly behind the plot has openly distanced himself in the matter, saying that he and Dr. Ganduje enjoy a very cordial relationship, which no amount of blackmail can change.

A press statement issued and signed by his Press Secretary, Mr. Kula on Thursday last week, said that “it is imperative to clarify that at no point did Governor Alia assembled, attended and sent a representative or participated in any meeting to discuss the removal or call for the resignation of AbdulLahi Umar Ganduje.

“The Benue state Governor remains firm in his belief and alligience to the leadership of the National Working Committee of the APC under the leadership of Alhaji Ganduje.

“Further more, at no point, whether publicly or privately, has the Governor advocated or expressed any desire for resignation of the National party Chairman”, he said.

But a youthful former governor, who recently vacated the office of the Number One Citizen of his North Central state, had his posters flooding the Federal Capital of Nigeria, Abuja, declaring that he was the ‘right’ candidate for the office of the National Chairman of the ruling APC, as if the office was vacant.

The former Governor forgot that he was the same person calling the president an old man when President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was then a presidential aspirant in the ruling APC. The ex governor handsomely paid some of the Kannywood stars to drum up support for his presidential aspiration, telling those who cared to listen that it was the ‘turn of the youth to rule the country’.

It is the same person who now wants the support of President Tinubu to run the affairs of the ruling party, forgetting the statements he had made in the past about the age of the person who is now the president of Nigeria.

He also seems to overlook the fact that Dr. AbdulLahi Umar Ganduje, PhD, former Governor of Kano state, is a resilient fighter. He is a fighter who never says ‘no’ to a challenge.

Well, I do not know whether there are other under handed dealings to undermine the national chairman of the APC, but that is not saying that the consummate administrator and politician would not know about it, if there are.

In the last article I wrote about him, titled: ‘Dr.AbdulLahi Umar Ganduje: A Consummate administrator’, I forgot to add ‘and politician’. The title of the article should have been: ‘Dr. AbdulLahi Umar Ganduje: a Consumate Administrator and Politician’.

In the said write up, I failed to mention what a cunning politician that Dr. Ganduje was. Immediately after the Supreme Court’s decision to award victory to Governor Abba (Gida-Gida) Kabir Yusuf, the National Chairman of the APC went to Kano to congratulate his successor and (then) invite him to pitch up his tent with the ruling party.

Of course, he knew that would be a hard sale, but that did not stop him from trying and doing his best at it, because failure is when you failed to try, not when you tried and fail.

Dr. AbdulLahi Umar Ganduje did not outwardly show his disappointment at not winning the Kano gubernatorial election for the APC, as others (including this writer) would expect, which explains the reason why he is a cunning politician, adept at reading other politicians’ mind long before they say what they mean.

This also explains why some people in the state are already reminiscing about his departure from the local political scene. Kano state politics without Dr. Ganduje is a non starter. One young man shot a video clip in which he was regretting joining the ‘red cap movement’ instead of remaining with the man popularly known as the ‘Cadimul Islam’ of Kano state.

The young man’s reminiscence of the Ganduje time was brought about by the ‘Shiekh Aminu Daurawa and Murja Ibrahim Kunya saga: Winners and Losers’, in which the present governor initially supported one side before he catapulted into turning his back on the side he earlier supported.

The APC national chairman may not be a party to the Kano state HISBAH squabble, but he was a winner in the light of the young man’s imprimatur on him.

Although not a few people considered the presence of his wife in his former Kano state administration as too domineering, the same people forgot that the woman, most famously known as Goggo, is a real professor, teaching at one of the tertiary institutions in the country. The two together will naturally form a formidable force that will not suffer fools gladly. So Dr Ganduje was right, to have the Professor beside him, most of the times.

And the power brokers in the ruling APC were no fools when they decided on Dr. Ganduje as the national chairman of their party. He is from the richest and most populous state in the north, while the president is from Lagos, the richest and most populous state in the country.

The duo of the president and the national chairman of the ruling party makes for a formidable party that will be very hard to defeat at the national election without resort to any underhanded election tribunal. One can always count on the north, led by Kano state, to always deliver the critical numbers, when the votes are counted.

Malam Malumfashi wrote from Abuja.

The Ibrahim Kabir Masari’s Example.

By Abdu Labaran Malumfashi.

It is not often that you come across a politician who spends his hard earned money on good deeds even without general elections on the horizon, like Alhaji Ibrahim Kabir Masari.

Alhaji Ibrahim Kabir Masari recently did what no other individual (politician or not) in Katsina state ever did. He doled out items worth N1 Billion in his Funtua (Katsina South) Senatorial District.

But who is Ibrahim Kabir Masari, before we get on with what good deeds he has done to warrant interrogating the person that he is?

Alhaji Ibrahim Kabir Masari is better known as Ibrahim Masari, ‘WAZIRIN TINUBU’. It is a name that rings a bell across the country, especially in his home state of Katsina, Lagos and Abuja, the Federal Capital of Nigeria.

But if his full name is used to address him, it would appear to some people as if he was the son of the uncle (Alhaji Kabir Masari, the Madawaki of Masari) of the former Governor of Katsina state, Rt.Honourable Aminu Bello Masari. And if he was referred to as just ‘Masari’, many people would immediately bring the former Katsina state governor to mind, since he is called so.

For starters, Alhaji Ibrahim Kabir Masari is the bosom friend of the Katsina state Governor, Dr. Dikko Umar Radda, PhD.

Alhaji Ibrahim Kabir Masari was the National Welfare Officer of the ruling party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) long before the present government came on stream. But during the National Convention of the ruling party, where the present president emerged the National flag bearer of the APC, Alhaji Ibrahim Kabir Masari’s home state of Katsina lost the chair of the National Welfare Officer, but won that of the National Legal Adviser, a position eventually won by someone else in the state, since the former welfare officer was not a lawyer.

It is to be noted that Alhaji Ibrahim Kabir Masari’s association with the Jagaban Borgu (as Bola Ahmed Tinubu was popularly known everywhere in the country) started long before the latter became the National flag bearer of the APC, which explains why he (Alhaji Ibrahim Kabir Masari) was chosen to be the candidate’s temporary running mate before Senator (Alhaji) Kashim Shettima became the permanent running mate and, eventually, Vice President to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of Nigeria.

Presently, Alhaji Ibrahim Masari is the Senior Special Assistant (SSA) to the President on political affairs, a position that keeps him close to his boss and mentor.

The Vice President was at the event as the Special Guest of Honour, and opened it by stating that it was the first time that anybody from Katsina State would distribute items worth N1 Billion in his state, and in only one senatorial district for that matter.

He said people like Alhaji Ibrahim Kabir Masari were what the ruling party (APC) needed to sell it, and the Wazirin Tinubu was doing a very good job of it.

The VP said he was amazed at the mamoth crowd that attended the occasion, the like of which was not seen in Funtua, according to him, “in the last ten years”. The assertion was immediately corrected by the crowd, which roared in unison that “such a crowd was only seen just once in the history of the town, Funtua”.

The event was also witnessed by the governor of the state, who was represented by his Deputy, Alhaji Faruk Jobe. The governor agreed with the Vice President in both the size of the donation, the size of the crowd and the need for people like Alhaji Ibrahim in the ruling party so as to continue selling it across the country.

There was also the former Governor of the state, Rt. Honourable Aminu Bello Masari, among other important guests at the occasion, to assist the Vice President in the initial introduction and distribution of the items.

The items include the following:
(i) N30,000 to each person in each of the Wards of the 11 local governments in the Funtua Senatorial district. The amount came to a staggering N306 Million.
(ii) 15 Motor cars, which are covered with large pictures of the Vice President, the governor and Alhaji Ibrahim Kabir Masari. And, boldly inscribed in large letters on the plates is the legend ‘WAZIRN TINUBU’, instead of the numbers.
(iii) 75 Motor cycles
(iv) 110 Grinding Machines
(v) 102 Solar Panels
(vi) 150 Sewing Machines
(vii) 42 Spaghetti Electric Making Machines
(viii) 42 Manual Spaghetti Making Machines
(mx) 10,000 Bags of Fertiliser
(x) 100 Welding Machines, among so many other things.

Well, the loss of the APC National Headquarters in Abuja is the gain of the Villa and other places in Ahaji Ibrahim Kabir Masari’s generous presence.

Malam Malumfashi wrote from Abuja.

Before Their Excellencies and Honourables go on the ‘ritual’ Ramadan Umrah.

By Abdu Labaran Malumfashi.

This article should have come before the month of Ramadan, but as the saying goes - Better late than never- is very much apt in this case. Besides, although some of those refered to in this article may have already gone to Saudi Arabia for the Umrah, many more are still at home, but will be there for the same or other reasons in the very near future.

It has become a ritual or, for some people, a competition of sorts, to go to Umrah number of times in one year so as to be counted among those who have ‘made’ it or have ‘arrived’ and joined those who have the money to ‘waste’ from a land where poverty is the ‘in thing’.

The article is about, in the most, Muslims in the northern part of the country, where there is, what one may call, abject poverty and anger, because some people can barely manage one meal a day. This is on the account of the severe insecurity in the area, which spawns many supposed refugees owing to the activities of bandits (some of them foreign) and the policies of the Federal Government such as the removal of Fuel Subsidy, which is, of course, applicable to the entire nation.

The so-called refugees, many of whom are barely out of their diapers and who came to Nigeria in truck loads from the neighbouring countries, can be seen in major cities in the north loitering on the streets or going from one house to another, begging for food. They hardly take ‘no’ for an answer when they are begging in homes. Some of them are as young as three or four years old, the sight of which is very pathetic to behold.

Ask them where they are from, and they will tell you that they are from ‘Sokoto’ or ‘Zamfar’ or ‘Kebbi’ or ‘Katsina’ states, but they are not telling the truth, as most, if not all of them are non-Nigerians

They claim to be from these towns because many residents of these places speak like they are themselves from the neighbouring countries.

For example, Jibia town in Katsina state, is peopled in the main, by citizens of a certain foreign country, which is why those who come from that country, always claim to be from Katsina state.

By ‘Their Excellencies’, the article refers to the President, the Vice President, Governors and Senators then the members of the House of Representatives, better known as ‘Honourables’ and others who have the money to waste, instead of putting it to helping the needy at home, many of whom, as was stated earlier, can barely afford one meal a day.

This reminds me of a story I heard from a Muslim preacher who narrated the story of a very rich man who lived in a poor neighbourhood. One day he went to his poor neighbour to bid him a farewell as he and the entire members of his family were going on Umrah. The poor man, at that time, who could hardly afford one single meal for himself and his family, asked the rich man, according to the preacher, why he came to tell him his plan for the Umrah, and he replied that he was giving him his due as a neighbour. The poor man then told the rich man that “my prayer for you is that may all of you never come back home safely”, and the rich man was shocked at the response of the poor man.

Many ‘made’ it or ‘arrived’ at through the abuse of the government till, but still brag about being ‘rich’ with money not earned through means that are wholesome. Still, they are not satisfied, as they keep on accumulating (the money) that even their great-great grandchildren can not spend what is ‘stolen’ from the government and left for them, no matter how hard they try.

All the same, the Federal Government was said to have recently released N30 Billion to each state to help them ease the hardship that is bedevilling the country which, as stated earlier in the article, is more severe in the northern part of the country because of the severity of insecurity in the region.

It is to be understood that the insecurity in the country is not the making of the present governments at both the federal and state levels. They met it there. Which reminds me, too, of the saying by a former Head of State, that any insecurity or disturbance of any kind that lasts for more than one day, has the hands of the government in it.

In our nation’s case, it is not the hands of the Nigerian government that is the cause of the insecurity, but those of foreign governments who seem to have one or two things they want in, or have against, our dear old Nigeria.

One country that is always mentioned as against Nigeria is a European country, noted for its ill treatment of its former African colonies, for reasons best known to her. The country is alleged to have recruited some foreign mercenaries who supply sophisticated weapons to, and at times work with the, bandits, many of whom are believed to be foreigners themselves, not the local Fulani who are alleged to be behind it.

Some uninformed top federal government official, who seems to believe in the myth that the Fulani are responsible for every bandit attack and kidnapping in every part of the country, warned the Fulani to distance their cattle from the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), not knowing that most of the cattle are owned by his fellow top people in the country. Unless, of course, he was flying the kite to hide his ownership of ‘hundreds’ of the cattle.

Being the normadic people that they are, the Fulani are known to love being with cattle, weather or not they belong to them, which is why they are found in every part of the country, defending on the season.

But a militia group in a North Central state, confessed to the police in the state to being behind the killings in the state, but pretended to be Fulani so as to ward off suspicion on themselves. So much for the Fulani being behind every bandit attack and kidnapping in the country.

Still, the federal government tries as much as possible to alleviate the people’s hardship, hence the huge N30 Billion given to the states. But huge as this money may seem to the poor people on the street, a lot of it will end up in the pockets of ‘their Excellencies’ and other powerful people in the governments. Only few states in the federation will use the money for the purpose it is meant for.

As for ‘their Excellencies’ in the upper chamber of the National Assembly, the huge amount they get as constituency allowance, not many of them will spend a part of it for the purpose for which it was supposedly given. The same thing goes with their colleagues or the Honourables, in what is called the ‘lower chamber’ of the National Assembly or the House of Representatives, for you and me who are not well informed.

Others go for the ritual Umrah as many times as they can afford in one year for, not the worship of Allah (SWT), but what, for due to the lack of better expression, the worship of the ‘devil’. And I have no apology to make to anyone, because it is nothing but the truth.

For the Umrah, sometimes even during the Hajj proper, you see many young boys and girls (many in their teens) in the company of older men and women. Or they link up in the Holy Land, having made a prior arrangement, of course. And the same gender engage on all sorts of devilish things, facing the Holy Kaaba, in order to make money or remain relevant in the affairs of the country.

This is the most unfortunate thing about some of the people who go on the Umrah or the Hajj proper and the people they sponsor. They just go to the Holy Land to offend Allah (SWT) not to worship Him.

Mr. Malumfashi wrote from Abuja.

Shiekh Aminu Ibrahim Daurawa and Murja Ibrahim Kunya Saga: Winners and Losers.

Shiekh Aminu Ibrahim Daurawa and Murja Ibrahim Kunya saga has left many people with sour test in their mouths, many of which are unnecessarily for the wrong reasons. In the process, there emerged winners and losers.

But before I go further in this discourse, let me confess that I am also a ‘Bakane’, before someone asks the irritating question of what my business in the matter is?

I said that I was a ‘Bakane’ because my mother of blessed memory was a full blown Bakanuwa. She came to my hometown with her parents as a 13-year old girl. Her father was a trader and decided to settle in Malumfashi, where years later my mother met my father (a Bakatsine) and got married to him.

My second wife is also a full blown Bakanuwa, which makes me a ‘Bakane’ from my wife’s side, as late Mamman Shata would say. That is why I am interested in Kano state.

About two months ago, on 7th February to be exact, I wrote an open letter to the Kano State Governor, Engineer Abba (Gida-Gida) Yusuf Kabir, named ‘an open letter to Governor Abba (Gida-Gida) Yusuf Kabir’. The nomenclature Gida-Gida has become a household name well beyond the borders of Kano State where the bearer of the name is the number one citizen.

In the said letter, some of the advices I freely offered to the Governor was for him never to take sides in his dealings with the people of his dear state, Kano.

One of my reasons was that Allah did not make him number one citizen in the state for him to deliberately take sides in matters of the state.

I suggested that the governor should be fair to all regardless of the role they might have played in his emergence as the Governor and number one citizen in Kano, his home state.

My reason, as I said, was that Allah decided that out of the millions that populate Kano State, it was he that was to become the number one citizen. And He, not a particular individual or particular individuals, was the One who choose him to be Governor so that he could be fair to all within human capacity, because Allah Himself has said in the Holy Quran that He Would not burden the (human) soul with that which it cannot bear.

But his earlier support for Murja against the actions of the Kano Hisba led to the resignation of its head, Shiekh Aminu Daurawa, a loser, even if temporarily and a victory for Murja, who is known to be a good reader of the Holy Quran, an age-long supporter of the Governor’s and a leading Tik-Toker, who dominates the field among the womenfolk in the north.

A famous Kannywood actress came out in a video in support of Murja, alleging that “all her traducers are members of the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) like myself”. She therefore pleaded with the governor not to mind the traducers. Another plus for Murja.

But when the ‘fire’ ignited by the resignation of Sheikh Daurawa was too much for the Governor to bear, he made a u-turn and berrated Murja Kunya for disrespecting the Ulamas, of whom Shiekh Daurawa is a ranking member. This is a minus for the Governor.

This is not the only minus for the governor, as one young man, who claimed to be in the Kwankwasiya movement and a supporter of the governor before the saga, appeared in a video accusing the governor of being an Islamic illiterate, who according to him, did not attend any known islamic school in his younger days.

The governor’s supposed mentor, the Presidential candidate of the NNPP, Senator Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso, who was also a two-term Governor of the state, also took a carpeting from an Islamic preacher, who alleged that he (Kwankwaso) was also an Islamic illiterate, who had little knowledge of the religion. For that allegation, he was also a loser.

A ranking politician in the state, who seemed to have no problem with the resignation of Shiekh Daurawa, went on air in the state Television calling on the Kano state Governor to “borrow a leaf from the Katsina state Governor, Dr. Dikko Umar Radda in appointing the new chairman of the Hisbah Board”.

That Governor Abba (Gida-Gida) should tell the people of Kano state not to expect any favours from him when the Hisbah do its job as expected of them: Without fear or favour. This was stated by Dr. Radda when he launched the Katsina state version of the Hisbah Board. This makes the Katsina state Governor also a winner in the saga outside his state.

But the young man gave kudos to the former Governor of the state, Dr. AbdulLahi Umar Ganduje, whom he alleged to be well versed in the Islamic faith, which he further alleged, earned Ganduje the nomenclature of ‘Cardimul Islam of Kano state’. This makes the immediate past governor a winner in the saga.

The free women or prostituse (known in the Hausa language as karuwai) and their male counterparts or the effeminate males (known in Hausa language as (‘yandaudu) had a field day in the state capital with jubiliations, celebrating the resignation of Sheikh Aminu Ibrahim Daurawa from his post.

Shiekh Daurawa was known as the head of the Kano State Hizba, the police of sorts that make sure that people within the state behave according to the Muslim Code of Conduct, or the Shari’a, if you like. These groups of people (karuwai and ‘yandaudu) are in their perverse ways also winners in this saga. Their victory is also short lived, as Shiekh Daurawa soon recanted on his resignation as Chairman of the Hisba Board in the state.

It is my candid opinion that the Shiekh Daurawa and Murja Kunya saga would have been unnecessary if the governor had kept his support for the famed Tik Toker to himself.

Malam Malumfashi wrote from Abuja.