An Open Letter to Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai
By Nasiru Jagaba
24/01/2026
Power Without Conscience, Silence Without Shame, Blood Without Justice
Mallam Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai,
Your recent comments about an alleged “silent war against the Muslim North” would merit careful engagement if they were not framed by selective outrage, troubling amnesia, and a record in office marked by exclusion, repression, and unresolved violence.
You did not suddenly discover injustice. You have simply lost proximity to power.
Where was this alarm when Northern Muslim dominance of Nigeria’s security, judicial, and economic architecture was widely acknowledged? There were no essays, no warnings about patterns, no concerns about imbalance when key national institutions were led by individuals from the same regional and religious bloc.
During the Buhari administration, which you defended with visible loyalty, no Northern Muslim governor was imprisoned for corruption. Yet Jolly Nyame of Taraba State and Joshua Dariye of Plateau State, both Northern Christians, were jailed. There was no public protest from you about selective justice or religious profiling.
Your record in Kaduna State also drew sustained criticism from Christian communities and civil society groups who argued that governance under your watch deepened religious mistrust. The Muslim–Muslim ticket you promoted, and the pattern of appointments during your tenure, were viewed by many as dismissive of Kaduna’s fragile pluralism and history of sectarian conflict.
But the more serious questions relate to security and accountability.
During your tenure, several communities in Southern Kaduna experienced repeated attacks that left many dead and displaced. Among the unresolved issues frequently cited by critics are:
The killing of the Adara paramount ruler after returning from a meeting with you, with no widely reported prosecutions.
The kidnapping of students from Baptist High School and the limited public accountability that followed.
Repeated attacks on communities in Kaura, Zangon Kataf, Kauru, and Kajuru local governments, where victims and advocacy groups say justice was slow or absent.
These incidents created a perception among affected communities that their suffering did not receive the urgency or empathy it deserved from the state government. Reports at the time also documented arrests of community leaders, journalists, and activists who spoke out about insecurity, raising concerns about press freedom and civil liberties.
There are also lingering questions about the management of public funds. Kaduna State accessed significant loans, including World Bank financing, during your administration. Critics from Southern Kaduna argue that development projects did not proportionately reflect the level of borrowing for which all citizens are now collectively responsible.
These concerns form the backdrop to current skepticism about your claims of injustice at the national level.
Many Nigerians believe the deeper problem facing the North is not the present federal administration but decades of leadership failures by the Northern political elite. Persistent insecurity, declining education outcomes, and rising poverty have done more to damage the region’s standing than any perceived imbalance in federal appointments.
Terrorism and banditry, not shifts in political influence, have eroded the dignity and economic vitality of the North.
The challenge before Northern leaders today is not to reclaim influence in Abuja but to rebuild trust with communities who suffered violence, to strengthen local governance, and to accept responsibility for past failures.
History remembers both what leaders say and what they overlook.
