Author Archives: Admin

THE HERESY OF STANDING STILL IN A MOVING POLITICAL TERRAIN

By Barrister Aminu Hussaini Sagagi

One of the most persistent misconceptions about Kwankwasiyya is the attempt to imprison it within a single personality or a single political platform. This reductionist view strips the movement of its historical depth and undermines its ideological ancestry. Kwankwasiyya did not begin with an individual, nor was it designed to end with one. It is the latest expression of a political philosophy that has travelled – deliberately and consistently – through Nigeria’s evolving political landscape.

The philosophical roots of Kwankwasiyya lie unmistakably in the radical populism of Malam Aminu Kano, the NEPU tradition and the audacious Tabo philosophy. Tabo was moral courage in action: the willingness to confront feudal dominance, inherited privilege and the culture of silence imposed on the talakawa. Aminu Kano embodied this ethos in both conduct and symbolism. His simple white attire represented moral clarity and humility; his red cap projected identity, resistance and solidarity with ordinary people. These symbols were not ornamental – they were political language.
Crucially, this philosophy never pledged eternal loyalty to a single platform. NEPU itself was born as a rejection of conservative politics. As Nigeria’s political environment evolved, NEPU gave way to the PRP, carrying the same ideals into a new democratic moment. Later, the same populist current found expression in the SDP during the Third Republic and the PDM tendency that followed, adapting again to shifting political realities without abandoning its core mission.

With the return to civil rule in 1999, the philosophy re-emerged within the PDP, where it gained administrative expression and delivered tangible outcomes, particularly in education and social mobility. When the PDP’s internal contradictions deepened, the movement explored the APC as a possible national reform vehicle. When that promise faltered, it returned to the PDP and later found a more accommodating home in the NNPP. At each stage, the platform changed; the values endured.

This historical movement – from NEPU to PRP, SDP, PDM, PDP, APC, back to PDP, and NNPP – is not evidence of ideological inconsistency. It is evidence of ideological resilience. The philosophy travelled because Nigeria changed.

To remain static would have meant irrelevance.
Understanding this lineage is essential to the present debate surrounding Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf’s imminent alignment with the APC. Resistance from some Kwankwasiyya notables often rests on the mistaken assumption that movement equals betrayal. History suggests otherwise.

The betrayal would be to freeze a living philosophy in sentiment while political realities shift around it.
Nigeria’s contemporary political environment rewards strategic relevance. Governance today is shaped by access to power, coordination of resources and the ability to negotiate influence. For a sitting governor, relevance is not ambition – it is capacity. Surely, capacity in the Kwankwasiyya tradition, exists solely to serve the people.

Perhaps the most damaging misunderstanding is the portrayal of Kwankwasiyya as a personal empire rather than a historical continuum. Individuals may carry the torch at different moments, but the fire itself predates them and will outlive them. To reduce the movement to a personality is to erase Aminu Kano’s legacy and misunderstand the meaning of Tabo.
Kwankwasiyya was never a prisoner of parties. It has always been a travelling philosophy – rooted in justice, powered by relevance and willing to move again to its next destination if that is what service to the people requires.

By Barrister Aminu Hussaini – Special Adviser – Justice/Constitutional Matters to the Governor of Kano State – AKY. May be reached: +234 803 374 2424 / aminuhussaini173@gmail.com

Nigeria is in Trump’s sights. Will it be next?

…Alake favouring China and Chagoury puts Tinubu at risk.

By Biliyaminu Suraj
biliyasuraj247@yahoo.com
American forces captured Venezuela’s now-deposed president Nicolás Maduro and his wife in a major military attack in the country’s capital, Caracas.

Maduro and his wife, were flown out of the country and placed on a US-bound warship to face a criminal trial in New York. President Trump said, “the US will temporarily run Venezuela until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition”.

The military action follows allegations by Mr Trump of Maduro running a corrupt and illegitimate dictatorship.

President Trump does not seem concerned by international law experts who say the attack appears to blatantly breach the UN Charter, which only permits member states to use force against another in two circumstances: either with the endorsement of the Security Council, or in self-defence.

Mr Trump also said he is “ready to stage a second and much larger attack if we need to”.

US Attorney-General Pam Bondi released documents alleging Mr Maduro “sits atop a corrupt, illegitimate government that, for decades, has leveraged government power to protect and promote illegal activity”. This description by the US Attorney-General could equally apply to Nigeria.
President Tinubu has recently come into Mr Trump’s orbit with Mr Trump accusing the Tinubu Administration of allowing jihadist forces to target Christian villages and massacre thousands of Christians. Trump authorised a US Senate delegation to investigate and report directly to him as a matter of urgency. The evidence collected by the Senators during their trip to Nigeria was deeply disturbing. It wasn’t long before a US warship stationed in the Gulf of Guinea launched a successful missile strike on an ISIS camp in Northern Nigeria. That was a warning shot to President Tinubu to do more to prevent the killing of Christians and do it quickly.

The further dimension to the US-Nigeria tension is the blatant action by Mines Minister Alake in channelling critical minerals discoveries away from the US to Chinese companies and allowing President Tinubu’s benefactor, Gilbert Chagoury, to take his share too.

Chagoury is well known for his role as Sani Abacha’s bagman. After Abacha died in 1998, having looted Nigeria’s treasury of approximately $5billion, Chagoury agreed to return an estimated $300 million to the Nigerian government to secure his indemnity from possible criminal charges.

He currently serves as Saint Lucia’s Ambassador to the Holy See and Permanent Delegate to UNESCO which conveniently affords him diplomatic immunity. His close connections to Tinubu are well known so it should come as no surprise that, after Mines Minister Alake revoked Jupiter Lithium Ltd’s titles to Nigeria’s largest lithium project which Jupiter discovered and developed over the last decade, the Jupiter Lithium Project’s titles were given to Chagoury’s companies.

Maybe President Tinubu didn’t realise that Jupiter Lithium Ltd, a UK company, had signed a deal to supply critical minerals to American Resources, a NASDAQ listed company.

The Jupiter Project is one of the world’s largest deposits of lithium and other critical minerals. It is also one of the world’s lowest cost and highest grade deposits. It has been held in limbo for two years by Nigeria’s court while Mines Minister Alake has been trying to figure out how to get the project off Jupiter Lithium Ltd and give it to the Chinese. The answer came in the form of Gilbert Chagoury. Chagoury employed an Australian, Colin Ikin, to set up a series of front companies to whom the Mining Cadastre Office would award the critical minerals tenements they had revoked from Jupiter Lithium Ltd. Jupiter Lithium Ltd were ejected from their tenements in November 2025 by Nigeria’s Civil Defence Corps who then escorted Chagoury’s Chinese miners to site to commence mining.

But the local communities did not like Ikin or the Chinese. They wanted to continue with the Jupiter Project and all the community development Jupiter had been undertaking for several years. The community leaders challenged the Minister and Ikin. The community was attacked by Fulani herdsmen who used machetes to hack several villages, chopping of one girl’s hand. Such is the intimidation of communities who are told that if they comply with the request for consent to mine the attacks will stop.

The result: the communities live in fear after Jupiter’s staff and security were removed, Gilbert Chagoury becomes the owner of Nigeria’s largest critical minerals project, China secures all the product from one of the world’s largest critical minerals deposits and the US gets … absolutely nothing.

So, by favouring China and Chagoury, Mines Minister Alake has likely put President Bola Tinubu on the list of persons of interest to President Trump.

Mele Kyari @61: Celebrating Impact Beyond Office at Nigeria’s Energy Nerve Centre

By Abdullahi Sabiu

“Mele Kyari is a man of action, rather than words. He is proactive in his approach. He has ability to diagnose complicated problems with thoughtful and pragmatic solutions.”
— President Bola Ahmed Tinubu [January, 2025]

At 61, Mele Kyari’s public service story is best told not by the offices he has occupied, but by the systems he strengthened and the reforms he dared to institutionalise. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s tribute captures, with rare precision, the essence of a technocrat whose legacy in Nigeria’s energy sector is anchored on action, not rhetoric.
As former Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Kyari operated at the nerve centre of Nigeria’s economy—an arena historically weighed down by inefficiencies, opacity, and political overhang. His leadership marked a decisive shift from that past. Calm, deliberate, and data-driven, he approached problems not with noise, but with diagnosis—quietly applying pragmatic solutions to deeply rooted challenges.
One of the most defining chapters of his tenure was the transition of NNPC into a commercially oriented limited liability company. This was not a cosmetic reform. It was a structural overhaul that demanded transparency, fiscal discipline, and a new governance culture. Under Kyari, NNPCL began publishing audited financial statements, aligning operations with global standards and rebuilding credibility with investors, partners, and Nigerians alike.
Beyond corporate restructuring, Kyari’s stewardship was shaped by the urgency of energy security. Amid global market disruptions and domestic supply pressures, he prioritised stabilising fuel availability, advancing gas as Nigeria’s transition fuel, and supporting refinery rehabilitation through public-private collaboration. These efforts reflected a long-term vision focused on sustainability, competitiveness, and national resilience.
His leadership was equally tested in moments of crisis—subsidy reforms, pipeline vandalism, production volatility, and public scrutiny. In such moments, Kyari distinguished himself by restraint and resolve. He chose engagement over excuses, solutions over blame, and facts over sentiment. That disposition earned him respect across government and industry, even among critics.
Now, as a former GCEO, Kyari’s influence endures beyond office. The institutional culture he helped shape, the accountability frameworks he entrenched, and the reformist momentum he sustained remain part of NNPCL’s evolving identity. His legacy underscores an important truth: in public service, lasting impact is measured not by tenure, but by transformation.
At 61, Mele Kyari represents a model of leadership Nigeria urgently needs—technocratic, principled, and focused on outcomes. His journey through the nation’s most strategic sector affirms that quiet competence, when matched with courage, can indeed move institutions and redefine national possibilities.