The Concourse
By Soney Antai, serial awards-winning columnist
Yahaya Jingir, Cohorts, and the Rest of Us.
Last week, a hitherto little-known figure in our national development space burst into our collective consciousness for the wrong and grossly faulty reasons. His name? Muhammad Sani Yahaya Jingir, an Islamic ‘scholar’ and cleric. But who is this man, to start with?
Jingir is reported to have been born in 1950 in Gurum, Bassa Local Government Area of Plateau State. He is an influential figure within Jama’atu Izalatil Bid’ah Wa’Ikamatis Sunnah (JIBWIS), also known as the Izala Movement. Translated from Arabic, JIBWIS means “Group Committed to the Removal of Innovation in Religion and the Establishment of the Sunnah.” The Sunnah refers to the totality of the way of life of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad, which Muslims view as a model for living. Founded in 1978 in Jos, JIBWIS is a Sunni/Salafi Islamic group that can be classified as belonging to the Wahhabi movement, which seeks to restore Islamic ideology to what it was under its founder. Jingir leads that faction.
Based in Jos, Plateau State, Jingir’s religious odyssey was heavily influenced by the late Sheikh Abubakar Mahmoud Gumi. The elder Gumi, driven by a deep-seated sense of entitlement, once vowed that no Christian would ever rule over Nigeria; of course that has since proved a hoax. His eldest son, Sheikh Ahmad Abubakar Gumi now the country’s leading self-styled negotiator for bandits. The elder Gumi served as the first Grand Khadi of Nigeria’s Northern Region (1962–1967). Now, you know the trail and the pedigree.
The Kano Outburst
On Saturday, 8th August, 2026, Jingir attended a Kano State Government-sponsored mass wedding for 1,500 couples. For observers outside Wahhabi Islam, the event was a social affair—though its rationale remains questionable, as it is hardly the business of any responsible government to funnel public funds into financing private matters like marriage. We hear that N1.5bn went into this show.
Rather than restrict his remarks to the occasion, Jingir—who miraculously survived a suspected Boko Haram bombing during Ramadan preaching in 2015—decided to grandstand. Naturally, he found an enthusiastic cheerleader in the host governor, two other attending governors, and the assembled crowd.
According to a viral video circulating online, Jingir seized the opportunity to further strain the country’s delicate religious harmony. Not only did he reaffirm his support for the divisive Muslim-Muslim presidential ticket of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima (a stance he has maintained since 2023), but he also descended into the gutter by labeling Christians “infidels.”
Furthermore, Jingir peddled the phantom belief that Muslims vastly outnumber Christians in the country, reportedly urging Muslims to “show the infidels their limit.” Such crude temerity!
Not stopping there, Jingir reportedly described Nigeria as an exclusively Islamic nation that must always be ruled by Muslims, telling anyone uncomfortable with that ‘reality’ to pack up and leave the country!
How have Nigerians reacted to Jingir’s obscurantist outburst? What are the implications for the country, going forward? In the second part of this piece, we will, among others, examine how Nigerians—including the Presidency—have responded to Jingir’s verbal assault and his insult to our collective sensibilities and intelligence.
●Osun Guber Poll
The tension-provoking, emotion-charging, and violence-tainted off-cycle governorship election in Osun State, held last Saturday, was concluded on Sunday. While announcing the results in Osogbo, the state capital, the Returning Officer, Professor Joshua Olalekun Ogunwole, declared the incumbent, Ademola Jackson Nurudeen Adeleke (running under the Accord Party), the winner. He polled 511,067 votes to defeat his closest rival, Bola Oyebamiji of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who scored 444,815 votes. Few analysts gave Adeleke a chance, given the heavy deployment of federal security assets to the state. Many feared this was a calculated move by the APC Federal Government to cow, dominate, and seize control of the state ahead of next year’s federal, state, and local government elections—fears fueled by inflammatory threats from figures like Senator Francis Fadahunsi of Osun East. Yet, the people of Osun thought and acted otherwise, and ultimately prevailed. The clear lesson here is simple: when people stand strong together, they can choose their leaders by themselves; when political office holders lead, and not rule, the people will back them. Non-performing governors should beware; the people aren’t sleeping. Governor Ademola Adeleke is undoubtedly celebrating his victory. However, immense work lies ahead: bettering the lot of the Osun people and bringing to justice the perpetrators responsible for the dozens of lives lost in the weeks leading up to the polls.