By Mohammed Bello Doka
3 June, 2026.
The infamous phone call made by Peter Obi to Bishop David Oyedepo before the 2023 elections remains a stain on the conscience of those who claim to desire a united Nigeria. In that leaked conversation, Obi was heard clearly stating, "this is a religious war," as he solicited the Bishop to mobilise Christians in the Southwest and Kwara against Muslims in the North. While Obi and his apologists have attempted to spin and deny the obvious, the tape stands as an immutable record of his divisive agenda. Today, we witness a more dangerous development: Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso and his Kwankwasiyya movement are amplifying that same religious war in the North, adopting a morally bankrupt strategy to provoke chaos because they have been rejected by the very people they claim to lead.
The Kwankwasiyya movement has realised that the North is not buying their propaganda. Kwankwaso's presidential ambitions have been rebuffed repeatedly, and in their desperation, they have abandoned all decorum. Their new strategy is to destroy the sacred fabric of Asabiyya—the bond of solidarity, shared identity, and mutual respect that holds the Muslim North together. They have launched an unprecedented, shameless, and denigrating assault on the revered founding fathers of Northern Nigeria. On social media platforms, Kwankwasiyya loyalists have been systematically insulting Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, and even the great Sheikh Usman dan Fodio, the fountainhead of the Sokoto Caliphate.
What manner of politics demands the desecration of our heroes? The Sardauna, a prince and a premier, built the bridges that united the North. Tafawa Balewa, the Prime Minister, was a gentleman of immense integrity who died for Nigeria's unity. Usman dan Fodio led the greatest revival in West Africa. Yet, these Kwankwasiyya elements, driven by illiteracy and desperation, disparage these giants daily. Just months ago, a senator alleged that opposition elements were sponsoring bombings and insecurity to distract the government and create fear ahead of 2027. This is the template of the Kwankwasiyya: to insult our leaders and stir violence until no election can hold.
Let no one say Kwankwaso is not aware or has not approved what they are doing. Kwankwaso once made a public statement that attacking religious leaders and scholars in Kano and beyond is permissible, even openly threatening that they would climb the pulpit and insult any scholar who spoke against them. This was a green light to his blind Kwankwasiyya movement. He cannot hide behind the excuse that his followers are acting independently. When the leader himself threatens to mount the mimbar and humiliate those who correct him, he has given explicit permission for every excess that follows. The blood of our social cohesion is on his hands.
This assault on our history is not accidental. It is a deliberate brainwashing of the children of the masses. By erasing respect for the Sardauna and dan Fodio, they hope to replace it with blind loyalty to Kwankwaso. It is a moral decadence that seeks to break down law and order. The North is the bastion of political decency in this country. We have our faults, but we do not eat our ancestors. If the Kwankwasiyya movement continues this relentless attack on our forebears, they risk igniting a fire that will consume us all. Their paymasters, who do not wish to see an election in 2027, are funding this chaos. They want the region to burn so that the Independent National Electoral Commission cannot conduct polls, leading to an unconstitutional extension of the current administration or outright anarchy.
We must call a spade a spade. Kwankwaso is facing rejection across the North because the people know he is a political chameleon. He once served as a Minister of Defence and a Governor, yet he has no permanent political ideology except self-aggrandizement. The recent political alignments forming the Nigerian Democratic Congress are seen by many Northerners as a betrayal of the legacies of our founding fathers. The North remembers that the Sardauna and Tafawa Balewa worked to build a federation of equals, not a platform for those who insult our faith and our history.
However, while we issue this exposeé, we must also issue a stern warning to the people of the North: do not take the bait. Do not fall for the violence they are trying to orchestrate. The Kwankwasiyya movement wants you to pick up sticks and stones. They want you to attack their political opponents. They want a breakdown of law and order so that they can cry foul and disrupt the 2027 elections. We must be wiser than the agents of chaos. We must avoid violence in whatever form it presents itself. No political ambition is worth the blood of a single Northerner.
The Kwankwasiyya movement has been accused of severe religious freedom violations, allegations serious enough to attract the attention of the United States Congress through the proposed Nigeria Religious Freedom and Accountability Act. While their spokespersons deny these claims, the evidence on the ground—the insults against our revered leaders and the incitement against religious institutions—is clear. We reject this movement. We reject their moral bankruptcy. And we refuse to be distracted by their vile propaganda. Let them rant on social media. Let them insult the Sardauna. The North is awake. We will defend our heritage, we will protect our Asabiyya, and we will go to the polls in 2027 to vote for our collective interest, not for the selfish interests of a few desperate politicians. We call on security agencies to monitor these online attacks and bring the purveyors of hate speech to justice. Enough is enough.
Mohammed Bello Doka can be reached via [email protected]
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