Kannywood Endorsement and 2023 Elections, By Adnan Mukhtar
In Nigeria, celebrity endorsements are commonplace during the eve of any election.
Ahead of the 2023 polls notable celebrities drawn from Nollywood and Kannywood industries, together with musicians and social media influencers, threw their weight behind some candidates aspiring for various political offices.
The fact that the celebrities, especially those from Kannywood, fanatically supported different governorship and presidential candidates, succeeded in dividing rather than uniting members of the Hausa film industry.
Kannywood, in simple term, is a group of filmmakers from the Hausa Community who are notably from Northern Nigeria with headquarters in Kano.
Among the Kannywood actors and actresses who endorsed candidates in the recent election of 2023 are Ali Nuhu, Sani Danja, Yakubu Mohammed, Abdul Amart, Sunusi Oscar, Abba El- Mustapha, Aisha Humaira Teema Makamashi, Mommy Gombe, and Maryam Yahya, to mention a few.
Also, top Hausa musicians were not left behind as they are the backbone of the endorsement. Leading their pack is Dauda Kahutu Rarara and Naziru Sarkin Waka, who separately endorsed Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress, and the Peoples Democratic Party.
Another popular Hausa artiste, Ado Gwanja endorsed Nasiru Yusuf Gawuna for Kano governorship election, before he later switched his support to Abba Kabir Yusuf of the New Nigerian Peoples Party.
Ali Nuhu
Ali Nuhu commands the highest number of followers in the industry. He backed the candidature of Nasiru Yusuf Gawuna for governorship of Kano and Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress.
Yakubu Mohammed
He is a veteran actor in the industry with decades of experience as an actor and producer. He supported the All Progressives Congress being a member of the 13 × 13 movement led by Dauda Kahutu Rarara.
Sani Danja
The popular kannywood actor supported the candidature of the NNPP Presidential candidate Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso. He was at the forefront of Jonathan’s campaign in 2015.
Abdul Amart
The popular Kannywood producer known as Me Kwashewa supported Yahaya Bello for President until he lose in the primaries. He was later seen supporting Bola Tinubu and Nasiru Gawuna for the governorship of Kano. He was responsible for the mobilization of the Kannywood actors when Rarara refused to support APC at Kano State level because of his misunderstanding with Governor Ganduje.
Aisha Humaira
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An ally to Rarara, Humaira will support anything her boss and associate go for. When Rarara was supporting Shaaban Sharada of ADP, Aisha Humaira was at the forefront and when he decided to support Gawuna abandoning Shaaban Sharada, Humaira didn’t hesitate to support Gawuna and this caused her a backlash from the Kwankwasiyya adherents who called her all sort of names to the extent that they asked to go out of politics of Kano because she’s a non indigene of the state.
Teema Makamashi
The popular actress supported Atiku Abubakar of the People’s Democratic Party. It’s not clear of the person she backed for the Kano State governorship but she was seen once visiting the PDP governorship candidate Sadiq Aminu Wali at his residence.
Sunusi Oscar
Oscar has been a producer in the industry for close to two decades. He is a frontline supporter and Campaigner of NNPP governorship candidate Abba Kabir Yusuf and Sen. Rabiu Kwankwaso. He was once arrested and prosecuted by the Kano State Censorship Board for Directing a song against the Kano State Government under Abdullahi Ganduje.
Abba El- Mustapha
Popularly known as Abba Ruda, he was nicknamed Abba na Abba over his campaign for Abba Kabir Yusuf, the NNPP gubernatorial candidate in Kano.
This is not the first time he is appearing in the political space, he appeared in 2015 under the platform of the People’s Democratic Party aspiring for the seat of House of Representatives which he eventually lost in the primaries.
Dauda Kahutu Rarara
It’s very clear that Rarara supported Bola Tinubu at the centre. He has composed different campaign songs for him, they are the most leading Hausa Campaign Songs for Tinubu. Among them are: Jagaba Shine Gaba and Hello Hello Tinubu.
Because of disagreements with governor Ganduje, he decided not to support the All Progressives Congress in Kano State and opted for Shaaban Ibrahim Sharada a former presidential aide and member of the House of Representatives.
After he was settled with the governor, Rarara agreed to abandon Shaaban for Nasiru Gawuna whom he even composed a song for. When asked why he abandoned Shaaban weeks to the election, he said that the candidature of the lawmaker was just a mere joke.
Naziru Sarkin Waka
He is kown for composing songs for wealthy individuals and men of Royalty. He’s a personal and royal musician to the 14th Emir of Kano Muhammadu Sanusi II. The Emir appointed and turbanned him as Sarkin Wakar Sarkin Kano in 2018.
He doesn’t stay in the same place with Rarara. When Rarara was supporting Tinubu, Naziru was at the forefront for Atiku. When Rarara was supporting Shaaban Sharada, he was seen supporting Nasiru Gawuna but when Rarara decided to come back home to support Gawuna, Naziru switched his support to Abba Gida Gida of NNPP.
The duo cannot stay in the same place together for the misunderstanding that exitst among them.
Sarkin Waka sang the popular campaign song for Atiku “Sai Mun Bata Wuta”. Meaning we must fire APC out of power.
Ado Gwanja
The event and women singer supported APC during the election and its candidate in Kano Nasiru Yusuf Gawuna. What has taken people by surprise is his decision to immediately switch his support to Abba Gida Gida of NNPP a day after his declaration as winner of the governorship election in Kano.
