How little does Kwankwaso’s TNM save democracy?

From the moment Senator Kwankwaso seeded the idea of creating a movement – realizing that ‘Kwankwasiyyah’ is a local organization – that he needs another umbrella that would be more inclusive, the die was cast and the war was inevitable.  Some of the reasons Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso and others put forward for advancing a […]

From the moment Senator Kwankwaso seeded the idea of creating a movement – realizing that ‘Kwankwasiyyah’ is a local organization – that he needs another umbrella that would be more inclusive, the die was cast and the war was inevitable. 

Some of the reasons Senator Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso and others put forward for advancing a movement they called The National Movement (TNM) are to address the issues bordering on security, education and infrastructure.

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Political organisations, political movements, youths group, political forums, political agitators, movers and shakers of political aspirations are increasingly becoming popular in Nigeria today. These originated from the attempts of our politicians, youths of the First Republic from then onwards. 

Several efforts have been made to create a Third Force by politicians both while in office and afterward. These attempts, also, were made by people from different callings.  

All these efforts or attempts have failed to yield the desired goals advanced by those behind their creation as they did not provide any alternative interpretations and perspectives to address issues. 

For Kwankwaso, we have been inundated with his noises these past few years including his many disagreements with Governor Ganduje and the PDP.  

He was one of the G7 governors who were at loggerheads with PDP before they welcomed the formation of APC following a merger of their faction with the opposition, posing a threat to the ruling party. 

We are greeted with his contentions, the likes of which Kano people have ever seen after Malam Aminu Kano.  

He comes at people – with his popularity – nurses his egos and ambition in order to have sympathy.  

Let us not mince words here, Kwankwaso does not have relevance in national politics at the moment. He is fighting for relevance politically and at the same searching for bandwagons to associate with based on certain ideology. 

The TNM is just a movement that would give Kwankwaso and his like minds a comfort-zone. Indeed, the TNM is like a social club where politicians will be hoping to get relevance through propaganda. 

The movement was reported to have claimed that the PDP and APC have failed woefully in trying to bring Nigeria out the woods.  

Mr. Kwankwaso was reported to have said the two strong political parties have nothing to showcase in the 2023 elections. 

Putting the movement under scrutiny – one could come out with dozens of analyses. 

Most of the politicians in the movement are lacking political clout at the moment and no longer relevant politically. 

The atmosphere within the TNM is not compelling. The movement is surrounded by desperate politicians who lost their opportunities at various levels. 

Even the timing of the movement is wrong with 12 months remaining to the general elections. The ideas and principles of the movement are sketchy.  

Are these people the only concerned citizens of Nigeria? Are they the only well-meaning Nigerians that are very much worried about what is happening in terms of security, governance, education, polity, infrastructure etc . 

The leadership of our politicians has repeatedly let the nation down in critical times. Their styles of leadership are characterised by rancour within the rank and file of the yearnings and aspirations of the good people of Nigeria. 

Our leaders in Nigeria are not accommodating to a large extent. Some lack the instrument of cohesion, integration and direction. These contributed to the instability of the national polity. They have besmirched the country’s reputations and grossly disgraced and abused our country. 

Our politicians lack focus demonstrated by the absence of good thinking on real development. They are just feathering the nest of corruption and deception. These are now the order of the day. 

We need good people – politicians of character and spirit of service to build institutions that will back-stop and outlive even incompetent leaders at the national and subnational level. 

May God see us through these old-crop-politicians! 

Muazu Muazu is a journalist with Freedom Radio, Kano