The Bantu Question: A caution to His Excellency Engr. Rabiu M. Kwankwaso, by
Engr. Bello Gwarzo Abdullahi, FNSE
Your Excellency,
Permit me, with the highest regard and deepest sense of civic duty, to write you publicly. This open letter arises from the grave concern shared by many Nigerians, especially those from Northern Nigeria, about the current political atmosphere and the strategic position you occupy in it.
It is no exaggeration to state that the times are perilous, and the decisions of key national figures like yourself will significantly shape the direction of our democracy.
In reflecting on recent developments, I am compelled to draw your attention to a historical concept from post-apartheid South Africa, the strategy known as “Hiring a Bantu.”
This term came to represent a cynical political maneuver by the Democratic Alliance (DA), a party historically dominated by white liberal elites. The DA would often promote a Black candidate into a visible leadership position not necessarily out of a deep commitment to racial justice or transformation but to symbolically appeal to Black voters, even while the party’s core structures, policies, and priorities remained aligned with privileged interests.
In short, the goal was not inclusion, but optics. I am afraid that is what your good friend President Bola Tunubu has up his sleeves in engaging you and your supporters. I hope I am wrong.
Your Excellency, are you now being positioned as an Arewa “Bantu for hire”?
The signals are deeply troubling. You are being courted not for alignment of ideology or vision but for your sheer political capital and credibility among the masses. And yet, the same establishment doing the courting offers no commitment to addressing the structural marginalization, economic hardship, or political disenfranchisement faced by the North and its people under the current regime.
Why did Mr. President deliberately ignored you in 2023 when he was constituting his infamous cabinet ?
Before any further step is taken, I urge you to reflect deeply on the enduring values of mutum mai kirki, the “person of honour”, as eloquently and scholarly articulated in Kirk-Greene’s analysis of Hausa axiology.
In that sophisticated cultural and moral framework, a man is judged not by what he gains but by what he stands for, protects, and refuses to compromise.
Consider how President Tinubu has treated close allies in recent political history:
His former Deputy, a dignified woman of substance, was pushed aside.
Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, once loyal, was denied a second term without ceremony.
Your Good Friend , brother and one time Deputy Dr. Umar Ganduje.
Malam Nasir El-Rufai, after helping deliver a region, was publicly humiliated and politically sidelined.
Kashim Shettima, co-pilot on the Muslim-Muslim ticket, now holds office in name but wields limited influence.
Kashim Imam, once a long-standing friend and partner, is nowhere near the table.
Sheikh Rauf Aregbesola, a loyalist of decades, has been practically erased from the inner circle.
READ ALSO: Unleashing Verbal Barrages: Kashim Shettima in his element, by Engr. Bello Gwarzo Abdullahi, FNSE
And now, millions of ordinary Nigerian voters, who, in good faith, voted for President Tinubu in 2023, have been abandoned and impoverished.
Their hopes have been crushed by a deliberate and premeditated policy regime that has unleashed hardship, eroded livelihoods, collapsed the middle class, and reduced once-thriving citizens to paupers struggling under the weight of insecurity, hunger, and inflation.
What fate, then, awaits any new “ally” within this political orbit? I know you are special the above may not happen to you.
Would the same forces that ruthlessly neutralized their own allies permit you to thrive? Or are you simply being asked to adorn the outer walls of a house you will never be allowed to enter?
Your Excellency, political trust is not a game of trial and error. As things stand, Nigeria’s democracy needs a principled and formidable opposition to rein in the overreach of a regime with increasingly authoritarian tendencies. Aligning with a party that has repeatedly betrayed its own carries a price far greater than any position or offer might promise.
It is neither wise nor dignified to accept power or the illusion of it from someone who holds it only temporarily. Power ultimately belongs to the Almighty, not to the transient actors on the national stage.
Who is the true source of power: PBAT or Allah (SWT)?
The answer to that question should guide your decision and all of ours.
The stakes are high. The consequences will be lasting. And your legacy is too precious to be gambled in a desperate game of political musical chairs.
Daure kashi ko bata igiya: As you some knots, once tied, are impossible to untangle.
A word, they say, is enough for the lucky. May this word find you in wisdom and strength.
With sincere regards,
Engr. Bello Gwarzo Abdullahi, FNSE
bgabdullahi@gmail.com
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