BY MANSIR LAWAL KAWARE
GSM: 08036355591, KATSINA STATE
1st NOVEMBER 2026
One may not be exaggerating if it is said that All is now set for the 2027 General Elections. This is because all parties have submitted the lists of their candidates for various elective positions to INEC. The Electoral umpire has, in turn, released the lists of cleared candidates vying for different positions. It has since lifted campaign periods and the parties have set-up their campaign bodies being referred to as campaign councils that have equally started their campaigns in different forms and with different approach. The APC being the ruling party has officially flagged off its campaign for the election in Kaduna, North-West Geopolitical Zone on Saturday the 24th October, 2026.
But before the flag-off the leadership of the APC Campaign Council paid visits to some traditional rulers and other people that matter across the country. Such visits took the campaign council to Katsina State. While there, the council visited the palaces of Katsina and Daura under the leadership of Senator Abdul’aziz Yari as the Director General of the APC Presidential Campaign for the 2027 election. The actions of the two individual Emirs at their palaces become in contrast with each other, but not with any designed arrangement. They innocently acted on their own stands that later become a comparative issue.
It could equally be observed that some people have taken advantage of the controversy and bring in what was not there. One of such comments I came across was the saying “Any attempt to depose the Emir of Katsina, or do anything to harm any member of his family would be met with serious protest up to Abuja”, further warning that Katsina is not Kano, and they added the pictures of the Emirs of Katsina and Kano. I dismissed that as a fictitious write-up, because it bore no attribution that could answer any of the 5W’s & H of writing.
Similar scenario has played out in 2007, when Late President Ummaru Musa Yar’adua and Late President (Gen) Muhammadu Buhari, may God have mercy on their souls, were contesting for the office of the President under PDP and ANPP and were both from Katsina State. As the campaigns were going on, one of the foreign Broadcast Media Stations interviewed Buhari in Hausa Language and the journalist interviewing the Late General, pointed out that, both Buhari and Yar’adua are from Katsina (Katsinawa) why were they contesting for the same office instead of reconciling among themselves. Buhari answered that he was not ‘BAKATSINE’ i.e he wasn't an indegene of Katsina Emirate an indigene of Katsina Emirate, because being Bakatsine or Katsinawa is different in meaning from saying you are from Katsina State. While a person who is not from Katsina State may not know the difference, those of us in Katsina State know the demarcation. Ummaru Yar’adua happens to come from Katsina and is bearing the nomenclature of “BAKATSINE” with Katsinawa as plural, while Buhari is from Daura and answer the nomenclature of “BADAURI” with a plural Daurawa. As it is, there is an existing association of Katsinawa and Daurawa with Alhaji Aliyu Bala Daura (DEDA) as its National Chairman.
Similarly, when Katsina State was created in 1987, the famous Hausa Singer Dr. Mamman Shata who is under Katsina Emirate says in his song for the new state then, “Katsinawa sai mu dage Kafa, Badauri ba ya bata shiri” meaning the people of Katsina Emirate and Daura Emirate were carved out from Kaduna State and put together to make Katsina State, and were, therefore expected to work together. But because of the political difference of that time, some people deliberately began to say, Buhari doesn’t like Katsina and has distanced himself from the indigeneship of the State, thereby creating hatred against him from Katsina because not all people heard the interview and were lured into believing what they were told by those parties. The samething was being peddled now over the actions of the Emirs of Katsina and Daura on the APC Campaign council’s visit to the state. I have taken time giving this explanation because unless the reader understands this background, he will not comprehend the subject matter to be discussed.
Now, let’s first inform the reader that out of thirty four local governments in Katsina State, 29 are under Katsina Emirate, while 5 are under Daura Emirate. The insecurity matter is affecting the local governments under Katsina Emirate, while the 5 local governments under Daura Emirate are invariably not affected. Three of the Local Governments under Katsina Emirate that are neighbouring Daura Emirate are also not affected by the attacks. These are Mani, Mashi, and Dutsi. Three other local governments also under Katsina Emirate are facing light attacks, these are Bindawa, Ingawa and Kusada. The remaining 23 local governments also under Katsina Emirate are under perennial attacks by the Bandits, Kidnappers and cattle rustlers with 9 local governments or there about declared as frontline local governments that experience such attacks day and night. The categorisation of these attacks and otherwise was not as a result of any arrangement or magic, but simply because they are close or far away from the forest where these criminals turned into their places of abode. The closer the local government to the forests, the level of its vulnerability to the activities of the criminals.
Daura Emirate being the last part of the state located at the north eastern part of the state, has made it safe from the attacks because they cannot safely cover the distance and run back to the forest with their captives without coming across security agents. The only case popularly known to have occurred in Daura was the kidnapping of Magajin Garin Daura ( District Head of Daura) at his residence just a stone throw from the Emir’s palace and that was seen as a specialy organised operation.
Therefore, all those who say what they were saying over the actions of Katsina and Daura Emirs can be forgiven if they are not from Katsina State , because they are talking about, what they do not know. But for those who are from Katsina State, their actions could only be for two reasons. It is either they are being mischievous or they have not been following the news about developments from the palaces for over 1½ decades. Otherwise, whoever is conversant with the two palaces, would know that there was nothing new in what the Emir of Katsina has said, because it is a statement he has repeatedly made whenever he was chanced to address a delegation of politicians, government representatives who visited his palace , as well as security Top Brass since the time of Goodluck Jonathan as President, when the problem of cattle rustling and other crimes began. The present visit causes so much outrage because the political atmosphere has already been charged and the APC campaign council which doubled as that of the ruling party was involved.
By protocol, the emir of Katsina, is the chairman of Katsina State council of Chiefs and can speak on behalf of the two Emirates, which is not so with the Emir of Daura except if delegated by the Emir of Katsina. Therefore, while the Emir of Katsina spoke on security and other related issues, the Emir of Daura may not do so, because none of the local governments under his emirate is affected, all the local governments concerned are under Katsina Emirate, and the Emir of Katsina is there to do so. If he delves into the security comments, he could be seen to have exceeded his bounds because none of the local governments under his domain is involved. If we go by the lawyers language, the issue can be classified as not under his area of jurisdiction.
As for those faulting the Emir of Katsina on what he said, they might have missed the point because Yari as the campaign DG, said the team was not there to ask for endorsement, but to seek for advice and prayers. It should therefore, be noted that, he who asks for advice, should not be the one to choose what kind of advice was to be given to him, but to allow the person giving the advice to do that in accordance with his own perspective. More so, it is the prerogative of the person so advised to work in accordance with the advice or act otherwise. Therefore, there is no qualm as to what the advice looks like.
For those who could remember, the Emir of Katsina had at one time recounted his experience and action as a primary school pupil. I heard him said on Radio, that they were in the same class with Late President Ummaru Musa Yar’adua. According to the narration, one of the class pupils committed an offence, the teacher heard it, but couldn’t pick out the person. As a result, he asked the remaining pupils to either expose the person, else he was going to punish all of them. The Emir said he summoned the courage and pointed out the pupil. At that point the teacher counselled them to be truthful and upright, because they never can tell, that one day, there could be an Emir, Governor or a President among them, and it would be wrong to find them wanting. He closed by saying “Today Ummaru is the President of Nigeria and I am the Emir of Katsina” . By this account, one can deduce that the Emir has been one who says what was in his mind since the period of his tender age, it is not expected that he would change now. Those challenging that he should say the samething when other campaign teams of opposition parties visit him, they need not to lose sweat, he will surely do that, the only difference is that, they would be addressed in future tense since they are not in power and not many people would care about them as it happened to those of APC campaign council who are seen as representatives of the Government.
As for others, who said Buhari was spared by the Emir and is now attacking Tinubu, I think it is either they have not been following the events, or they interprete them in accordance with their own individual perception, or they chose to act like a lawyer in court or a journalist who wants to be mischievous, by picking a sentence out of a paragraph and capitalise his defense or report on it as the case may be.
One thing that needs to be understood is that, the Katsina Emir was not saying the Government was doing nothing, but was only pointing out that a lot still needs to be done, because despite the efforts, the attacks have not stopped. We need to remember that, when the problem began, dead bodies were being brought to the Katsina Emir’s Palace for burial rites,, but were later told to be burying them at their villages. It is a well-known fact that there are ground troops, airforce, the police, in addition to community watch corps and vigilante groups members being sponsored by Dikko Radda Administration and all of them are working, which is believed to have lessen loss of lives and properties, but provided the crimes are going on even at low scale, it is still a problem that has to be mentioned. It is like a thorn in one’s flesh, unless it is completely removed one can never be confortable.
Refocusing our beam on what transpired at the Daura Emir"s Palace on the conferment of the traditional title of Madugun Hausa on Abdul’aziz Yari by the Emir of Daura, one wouldn’t have expected that reaction of the public, because there is nothing unusual in it. All Emirs, Obas, Ezes and Chiefs in Nigeria, do confer traditional titles on some individuals they consider eligible and relevant on their domain. The Emir of Daura has double advantage, because he can give traditional title for Daura Emirate and for Hausa Land, following the legendary history that Daura is considered to be the root of Hausa Land. Where the Daura Emir might have gotten it wrong, could be for making the offer at a time of political visit. But even at that, if we again go over the statement of Senator Yari, that they were not at the palace for endorsement, it means the conferment was not made in recognition of his position as the DG of APC Campaign Council, but having come from one of the Hausa States of Zamfara. The APC being the ruling party and the political tension in the countr put together , made the action all the more offensive in the eyes of the public, but not necessary because what he did was wrong. There were some others who felt the Emir was giving support to Tinubu. I cannot say much on this because I didn’t have an evidence to that effect. Perhaps, sometimes people misinterpret what they report, if the Emir talked on Tinubu continuity, then it has to be further subjected to analysis to determine whether he directed his subjects to vote for Tinubu, or he is talking for himself, but the baseline, is that Senator Yari admitted that their visit was not for endorsement. We also need to know that traditional rulers welcome everyone to their palace because they cannot reject any one. I could recall that when Late President Buhari died, the Emir of Daura thanked Tinubu for the concern he has shown and assured him of the Emirate support and loyalty. When Atiku visited the palace to condole with the Emir, he described him as the heir of Buhari, when Kwankwaso visited, he refer to him as one who can lead the North. So one can see that they are only trying to be at peace with everyone in an effort to unite Nigeria and Nigerians.
Mansir Lawal Kaware,
Writes in from Katsina.
Comments (0)
No comments yet. Be the first to share your thoughts!