Zoning as a Pathway to Equity in Kauru: Why Inclusion Must Prevail Over Personal Interests.
In politics, as in life, there comes a moment of reckoning, a point where a community must choose between the comfort of the status quo and the courage of equitable change. For the people of Kauru Local Government Area in Kaduna State, that moment is now. And the Kumana and Chawai Stakeholders’ landmark zoning resolution of March 26th and 27th 2026, represents precisely the kind of bold, principled step that the people of Kauru constituency have long deserved.
The Kauru Youth Ambassadors (KYA) welcomes this development not merely as a political statement, but as a moral one. We have, over the past months, consistently advocated for an inclusive political framework in Kauru LGA, one that recognises the three-bloc structure of our beloved local government; Kumana Chiefdom, Chawai Chiefdom, and Kauru Emirate. To see the elders and stakeholders of Kumana a d Chawai Chiefdom take this courageous stand is not only commendable, it is historic.
A candid review of how political offices have been distributed/held since 1999 reveals a disturbing pattern of imbalance. The house of Representatives seat and the State House of Assembly seat are consistently domiciled in Chawai and Kumana Chiefdom, which are not just politically lopsided, but a structural injustice that has festered for too long.
The proposed zoning structure endorsed by the Kumana and Chawai stakeholders, HoR to Kauru Emirate, State HoA to Chawai Chiefdom, and LGA Chairmanship to Kumana Chiefdom, is not a radical departure from democratic norms. It is, in every sense, a logical and fair recalibration. It is the zoning framework working exactly as intended, as a corrective instrument, a guarantor of balance, and a safeguard against political colonisation.
KYA has always maintained that no single bloc should lay permanent claim to offices that belong to all the people of Kauru. This resolution is not an attack on anyone. It is an affirmation that every community in this LGA matters, every voice counts, and every bloc deserves its season of leadership.
It must be stated plainly that the Kumana and Chawai Stakeholders who convened on March 26th and 27th respectively are not agitators. They are not troublemakers. They are not self-seekers. These are community elders, former public officials, academics, and respected voices who looked at the political landscape of their constituency and said, with one voice “enough is enough, fairness must prevail.”
Their statement was measured, principled, and forward-looking. They explicitly framed their zoning endorsement as a “deliberate sacrifice” for unity, not a power grab. They spoke not for themselves, but for the future of a balanced and stable Kauru LGA. To condemn them, as some have attempted, is to condemn the very concept of fairness.
Barely had the ink dried on this historic resolution when a counter-statement emerged, signed by one “Comrade Zakka Peter” and “Comr. S.M Taggah” on behalf of a group claiming to represent Chawai/Kumana APC stakeholders. The statement rejected the zoning arrangement and doubled down on support for the re-election of Muktar Zakari Chawai for a third term as Federal Representative and Hon. Haruna Barnabas Danmaigona for another term in the State House of Assembly. Let us be direct, this counter-statement is not a defence of democracy. It is a defence of privilege.
The signatories accuse the Kumana stakeholders of lacking authority. They dismiss the stakeholders’ meeting as “belated” and “misguided.” They invoke the language of democratic will while, in the same breath, attempting to override the collective judgment of community elders and stakeholders. The irony is breathtaking. But let us go beyond the rhetoric and examine the record.
In a democracy, re-election is not a birthright. It is earned, through service, results, and the confidence of the people. On all three counts, the incumbents being championed by the counter-faction have fallen dangerously short. Consider the sobering verdict that the people of Kauru LGA delivered in the 2023 general elections. Hon. Muktar Zakari Chawai, the sitting Federal Representative, could not even secure his own second term. He was defeated by a margin of approximately 5000 votes, a humiliation that, in any honest political analysis, represents a direct and unambiguous message from the electorate “we have had enough.” In Nigerian politics, where incumbency advantage is substantial, losing your re-election bid is not a minor stumble. It is a resounding verdict. The people spoke. Loudly.
Yet today, barely two years after this electoral rebuke, the same political machinery that failed these people has the audacity to present these same individuals as leaders who have “earned their place through hard work and dedication.” Earned it how? With what results? With what visible transformation in the lives of the people of Kauru? The roads, the schools, the hospitals, or the livelihoods of ordinary Kauru citizens?
As for Hon. Haruna Barnabas Danmaigona, the circumstances of his State House of Assembly victory are well known to those who witnessed the 2023 elections in Kauru. It was not a victory forged in the crucible of popular support. It was a product of political maneuvering, the kind that leaves communities feeling not represented, but managed. Such a mandate does not confer moral authority. It confers an obligation to do better, an obligation that has not been met. To claim, in the face of this record, that zoning is being used to “sideline effective leaders” is not just inaccurate. It is an insult to the intelligence and memory of every voter in this constituency.
We call on all community stakeholders across Kauru LGA, in Kumana, Chawai, and Kauru Emirate, to resist the temptation of narrow self-interest and embrace this opportunity for lasting unity. We call on the political leadership of Kaduna State, including the administration of Governor Uba Sani, whose governance philosophy centers on inclusivity, to lend their moral weight to a zoning arrangement that embodies the very values they espouse.
The Kauru Youth Ambassadors did not come into existence to remain silent in the face of injustice. We were born out of the conviction that the young people of Kauru LGA deserve a future as bright as their potential, and that future begins with governance that is fair, balanced, and accountable.
The zoning arrangement endorsed by Kumana Stakeholders on March 26 is not the end of the conversation. It is the beginning of a new political chapter for Kauru, one in which no community is left behind, no bloc is perpetually sidelined, and no failed politician can claim a divine right to represent a people he has already let down.
History will remember who stood on the right side of this moment. The Kumana and Chawai Stakeholders have made their choice, and KYA has made its position clear.
Junaidu Ishaq Maisalati,
Kauru Youth Ambassadors (KYA),
Kauru Local Government Area, Kaduna State.
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