–Abdulmalik Suleiman
Presidential Candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party, Sen. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso PhD FNSE has continued to stamp his authority on Northern Nigerian politics as he continues to enjoy mass appeal across the region.
The former Kano State Governor has in recent weeks has been making cameo appearances in major towns across the North as he has continued to secure mass reception in places such as Nasarawa, Kaduna, Kwara and recently Bauchi and others.
With the kind of support coming the way of the former Defence Minister, those peddling the rumour suggesting that he is working for the actualization of the bid of All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu are living in fools paradise.
What actually started as a small initiative is now taking a life of it’s own with the former governor becoming the toast of Northern voters who usually mob him anywhere he goes in the North.
Two recent developments point to that and they were the recent event leading to commissioning of the offices of the NNPP in Kaduna and Nasarawa states where he found it very hard to wade through the horde of supporters that mobbed his vehicle from the airport to the venues of the events.
The venues of the events themselves were carnival like as the supporters of the presidential hopefuls took over every available inch of space in mass solidarity with the presidential hopeful who is called Madugu by the Northern commoners.
The reasons for Kwankwaso popularity isn’t farfetch, as many talakawas regarded him as their own and next to President Buhari of Pre- 2015 in popularity and acceptability.
These moves by the former federal lawmaker further accentuate the fact that those alleging that he is a proxy candidate of Asiwaju are mere dreamers who can only be persuaded to wake up from their slumber.
As it stand today, it’s going to be an herculeans for the two major political parties, PDP and APC to make any appreciable entrance in the larger northern region, especially, when the campaign proper kick-off in September. But as it stand now, one can confidently say the North is Madugu and Madugu is North.