The politics of Buhari's visit to Kano

• Published date: 02 February 2023
• Publication title: Nigeria - The Nation

One of the many bizarre intrigues that usually define elections in Nigeria - whether general or off-season - is for politicians and their followers to make a mountain out of a molehill of any issue. One such situation happened on Monday when the fake news of President Muhammadu Buhari's purported stoning by youths in Kano State during an official visit went viral. However, FANEN IHYONGO reports that the President, who was in Kano to inaugurate some landmark projects, was not stoned; neither was his chopper nor motorcade hurled with pebbles.

Expectedly, destructive pieces of misinformation soar faster than those that enhance unity. Negative and fake news seems more persuasive than good news. Again, it is a big news item for a man to bite a dog than when a dog bites a man.

Being an election season when other parties are working hard to wrestle power from the ruling party All Progressives Congress (APC), every slight negative incident is hyped by the opposition. That is what happened to President Muhammadu Buhari in Kano on Monday. Contrary to the news getting round that President Buhari or his entourage was stoned in Kano, he was warmly received in Kano by the people and state government.

However, prior to the President's visit, the Kano State Governor, Abdullahi Ganduje, had urged President Buhari to postpone his planned trip to inaugurate some projects in the state. In a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Abba Anwar, Ganduje said the masses were angry because of the hardship the people are experiencing due to the naira redesign.

'Deeply concerned with the hardship caused by the limited time given for halting the use of old naira notes by the Central Bank of Nigeria, and for security reasons, Kano State Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje reveals that the state resolved and wrote to the presidency that the visit of the President to inaugurate some projects to be postponed,' the statement said in part.

During the visit, it was alleged that some angry youths in Kano State hauled stones at the advance convoy of the President. Reacting to the occurrence, the Peoples' Democratic Party (PDP), in a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, described the incident as outright treason and sacrilege. 'This organised attack on the person of the President is out rightly treasonable and a sacrilegious assault on our national sovereignty which must be condemned by all,' the PDP said.

According to the PDP, the attack was designed to undermine the...