Gimba Kakanda

Father to a duo of joys | Public servant | @LSENews alum |@uiowa IWP alum | Views expressed are personal, not attributable to any person, group or spirit.

[Gimba Kakanda @gimbakakanda]

Nigeria’s Class Delusion

The degree of classism one witnesses in Nigeria is paradoxical for a country where social mobility is so fluid. You can count on the fingers of your hands the number of wealthy families in Nigeria that can survive without government patronage. That’s why it becomes confusing when you see classist behaviour at public and private engagements from beneficiaries of our rentier system.

The chances of the same Nigerian you look down upon as materially inferior rising to your level are just as high as your chances of falling down the social ladder with a change of government.

The proportion of wealthy Nigerians who neither have the enterprise nor the credentials to sustain their wealth without government patronage is higher than those who possess the business acumen or intellect to thrive on their own, or even function at the top in new businesses or professions.

Every change of government in this country reduces a portion of the elite to struggling reality after a few months or years, while creating a new set of nouveau riche—and that’s frightening. This explains the desperation of some political actors to re-enter the system after leaving office or after the end of their government, seeking to remain relevant enough to sustain patronage.

The funniest thing about this country is that if you go back just one generation in the so-called super-rich families, there is no history of wealth, wealth creation, enterprise, or even professional accomplishment behind their sudden riches. Yet, these same families end up boastful, looking down on the very position they occupied just a generation ago—a position they could easily return to if their breadwinners fall out with the ruling elite.

I went to school with some children of the old money, and I watched them struggle to pay school fees, sometimes borrowing my car just to impress a girl. Nothing humbles my expectations about life more than witnessing such a lifestyle. I grew up reading about their parents’ wealth, and the ashes of that glory are enough reason to remain humble.

There is no level of wealth that time cannot erode. As breadwinners, your prayer should be to equip your dependents with the values to recognise that their privilege is fleeting and to prepare for the future—understanding that there is no absolute guarantee they will make it.

[Barchart @Barchart]

Nigeria is now the world's top performing stock market

[Africa Facts Zone @AfricaFactsZone]

Nigeria has the best performing stock market in the world this year.

[Abdool Moh. @abdool_moh]

There is no ethnic group in the whole world that gives birth to millions of children & abandon them in the streets the way Hausa people do. We have the worst number of child neglect in the world despite being so called “Religious Muslims”.

[Gimba Kakanda @gimbakakanda]

Exactly. The joke is that the rumour was amplified by people with neither access to such information nor any role in government. You read the ignorant hot takes and outright lies, refresh your timeline and move on, because where is even the sense in dropping a winning ticket?

Mr President and the Vice President have an excellent working relationship. If they did not, the media would have had plenty to feast on by now. Even if it sounds sentimental to say so, the relationship between President Tinubu and Vice President Shettima is arguably the most cordial and trusting between any president and vice president since Nigeria’s return to democracy.

[OPEOLUWA 😎😎 @OpeBee]

His place on the ticket was not in doubt.

PBAT retains Kashim Shettima as his VP for 2027 election

[Alhaníslam @Alhan_islam]

I'm excited to be going live with Jaiz Bank today! By 2:30pm 🎉
We'll be talking about banking, financing your dreams, growing your business, and answering your questions about ethical finance.

Africa's future is built by informed, empowered people making smart financial decisions and lets build one conversation at a time.

I can't wait to have this conversation with you. See you live! 🤍
#JaizBank #AlhanforAfrica

[Kalshi @Kalshi]

JUST IN: Nigeria has now the world's “best” performing stock market

[Gimba Kakanda @gimbakakanda]

My South African friends have been pointing me towards what they see as a pattern of disinformation warfare surrounding their country. Their conspiracy theory is that the recent upsurge in xenophobia is being manufactured, or at least amplified, by forces aligned with Israel to destabilise and delegitimise South Africa over its legal action against Israel for the genocide in Gaza.

They claim that the same forces pushing the fiction of a “white genocide” may not be unrelated to those suddenly packaging xenophobia as a spontaneous grassroots movement. Follow the money, the media ecosystem and the attention-farming machinery, they argue, and the two narratives begin to look like attacks on South Africa’s domestic stability from opposite flanks. They also point to what they see as Israel’s history of fomenting domestic trouble or amplifying dangerous narratives in countries that stand up to it.

Time, they say, may reveal whether they are right. Or, if the backroom operation is good enough, it may never do so. Of course, I am not well placed to subscribe to this conspiracy theory, because I believe any government should be powerful enough to neutralise whatever foreign agenda it fears is operating on its soil. Still, I find the thought process fascinating.

[Gimba Kakanda @gimbakakanda]

@larucheebam @sammielepe Don’t mind the clowns.

[Gimba Kakanda @gimbakakanda]

Maradona was a potato.

[Bàbájídé B𝗹𝘂𝗻𝘁 @CRawkeen]

Messi single-handedly made Argentina gain fans worldwide

[Gimba Kakanda @gimbakakanda]

All Bida men do is lie. Where’s the remaining one goal?

[Mo' Sarkee @Moh__Sarkee]

France to win this game by 3-0.

[Gimba Kakanda @gimbakakanda]

Sorry, Morocco. I didn’t have the heart to watch you bow out, so I took the kids out to calm my nerves. I heard two loud screams, and each time I checked to see what had happened, it was another knife in the African heart.

But then, some of our African dreams live in French blue too. 🇲🇦💔🇫🇷

[Alhaníslam @Alhan_islam]

Every generation inherits a responsibility.

Ours is to close the distance between Africa’s young people and the institutions entrusted to serve them.

Across conflict response, peacebuilding, governance, climate action and multilateral diplomacy, I have seen what becomes possible when young people are trusted not merely as beneficiaries, but as partners and architects of solutions.

My work has been about using culture, communication and advocacy to connect policy with people and ensure that institutions never lose sight of human dignity.

It is with humility and conviction that I put myself forward for the role of African Union Youth Envoy.

Africa does not simply need younger voices around old tables. It needs new spaces built with the young people whose ideas, leadership and innovation will define Agenda 2063.

Policy must learn the language of humanity.

And Africa’s youth must help write its next chapter.

— Maryam Bukar Hassan
(Alhanislam)

[Gimba Kakanda @gimbakakanda]

I declined my friends’ invitation to watch the Morocco vs France match because I have a soft spot for both sides. I’ll be using those hours to take the kids out instead. It’s like watching your two wives go at each other when you don’t have a favourite. 😂

Y’all be good and enjoy the match. May the best team win.

[Gimba Kakanda @gimbakakanda]

@intaa_0 😁😁

[GhitaVee🇨🇦 @GhitaVee]

“That Mbappé’s skin colour can still be treated as a mark against him by people who rank far below him on almost every meaningful ladder of human accomplishment tells you all you need to know about the intellectual bankruptcy of racism.”

[Baffa @Mal_Baffa]

Nothing about your own conduct?😂

[Chi Di🍀 @Paulechidi]

You people will not rewrite history as far as i am on this app.

🏆 Portugal won Euro 2016.

Cristiano played 7 games and scored 3 goals with 3 assists, he was the 2nd highest goal scorer in the competition.

🏆 Portugal won the Nations League 2019.

Cristiano played 2 games and scored 3 goals, (Hatrick in the final against Netherlands)

🏆 Portugal won the Nations league 2025.

Cristiano played 8 games and scored 8 goals with 2 assists including a goal in the semi-final and final, also the 2nd highest goal scorer in the tournament.

You are nothing but a liar.

[Gimba Kakanda @gimbakakanda]

I find the hatred of this bottom-tier racist, Senator Celeste Amarilla, towards Mbappé especially ironic because there is an asterisk over her own place in the racial hierarchy she appears to worship. As a Mestiza woman, she would not even be considered fully white by the white supremacist purists whose approval her racism seems so desperate to earn.

There is something profoundly pathetic about people who borrow a hierarchy that does not even place them at the top and then use it to sneer at a black man who has surpassed them in wealth, achievement, influence and global stature. That Mbappé’s skin colour can still be treated as a mark against him by people who rank far below him on almost every meaningful ladder of human accomplishment tells you all you need to know about the intellectual bankruptcy of racism.

[The Sports Pulse @Tsportspulse]

🚨 Paraguayan senator Celeste Amarilla on her racist post about Kylian Mbappe:

"YES, my post against Mbappé WAS RACIST.

That's why I deleted, it was unfortunate.

However, I will NOT apologize, I said what I had to say.

I come from a society where gays were beaten and where calling someone a sh*tty n*gger was the most usual thing.

I come from that generation, so now I'm trying to build a different Celeste Amarilla, that's capable of co-existing with others.

Have patience, I'm trying."

[The New York Times @nytimes]

From @TheAthleticFC: Egypt’s goal against Argentina should never have been ruled out, a former referee writes. "Argentina’s collective failure to defend their goal because they allowed Ziko to run past them is not part of the decision-making process." https://t.co/AlmLb8xqLH

[Gimba Kakanda @gimbakakanda]

Allah ya fi su. 😂

[Al-fawaaid Bookshop @Chubado_a]

Oga Gimba ka haƙura mana🤣