The Bondage Of Tokenism In Southern Kaduna And The Emancipatory Power Of Negotiation

By Eld. Yusuf Solomon Danbaki, PhD.

Never mistake the drum they gave you to beat at the palace gate for the keys to the palace: The keys remain firmly in their pocket.

Tokenism, in its simplest form, is the practice of making superficial or symbolic efforts to include marginalized groups in order to give the appearance of equality, while actually maintaining their exclusion from real power and decision-making.

For the people of Southern Kaduna, the political experience since 1999 has been a masterclass in sophisticated marginalisation disguised as inclusion. Tokenism is not an accidental oversight; it is a calculated political strategy that grants the appearance of representation while deliberately withholding real power, these manifest in chronically low percentages of appointments (averaging 20-30% across administrations despite about 50% demographic share) and project allocations (less than 25% of state infrastructure budgets), as well as symbolic gestures like the creation and upliftment of chiefdoms by governors such as Ahmed Makarfi, who established 22 new chiefdoms and dozens of districts post-2000 ethno-religious crises to pacify non-Muslim ethnic minorities and provide nominal identity without substantive executive authority or equitable development, a tactic echoed by successors like Nasir el-Rufai through selective upgrades of ruling houses to emirates and demotions of traditional titles that further fragmented rather than empowered the region. It is the classic offer of a seat at the table with no voice in deciding what is served.

Tokenism has historically delayed emancipation in various struggles by pacifying resistance and perpetuating inequality under the guise of progress. In apartheid South Africa, for instance, the establishment of Bantustans homelands granting nominal self-rule to Black South Africans served as a token gesture that delayed full liberation for decades; while these territories covered only 13% of the land for 75% of the population, they stripped citizens of broader rights and economic access, prolonging apartheid until the 1990s negotiations dismantled the system.

Similarly, in the American Civil Rights movement, post-Reconstruction token inclusions like limited Black voting rights in the late 19th century were quickly undermined by Jim Crow laws, delaying true emancipation until the 1960s legislation; these symbolic concessions created illusions of advancement, sapping momentum from broader demands for equality.

In India’s Dalit struggle, colonial and post-independence token reservations in education and jobs often benefited a select few while systemic caste discrimination persisted, extending the fight for substantive rights well into modern times.

Southern Kaduna is a demographic and electoral giant. Across its about 13 local government areas live almost half of Kaduna State’s population and, in the 2023 general elections, it accounted for 43.7 % of the state’s registered voters and delivered over 60 % of votes in several southern constituencies. Yet this formidable bloc has never been allowed to translate numerical strength into proportionate political authority.

Token Appointments pattern is consistent and unmistakable:
The highest office ever routinely conceded at the state level is Deputy Governor a position heavy on protocol but light on executive leverage. Other concessions are a handful of commissioner slots, board chairmanships, or heads of second-tier agencies. These appointees are paraded as proof of “inclusiveness,” yet they function inside a machinery engineered to neutralise their influence. Across administrations, Southern Kaduna’s share of state cabinet positions has averaged far below its demographic weight of approximately 50%: About 22% under Ahmed Makarfi (1999–2007), 25% under Namadi Sambo (2007–2010), a higher 40% under Patrick Yakowa (2010–2012) due to his southern origins, 25% under Mukhtar Yero (2012–2015), a low 15% under Nasir el-Rufai (2015–2023), and around 23% under Uba Sani (2023–2025), often limited to non-strategic roles.

Token Projects in form of a stretch of rehabilitated road is announced with fanfare and presented as evidence of governmental goodwill. Such isolated gestures, however, cannot offset decades of systemic under-investment in health, education, roads, electricity, and water across the entire region.

The outcome is a brutal political exchange: Southern Kaduna’s massive vote bank is traded for symbolic crumbs, never for structural power.

The most corrosive effect of tokenism is its ability to co-opt its own beneficiaries. Those who accept these positions are swiftly transformed into exhibits “See, the system works” and often feel compelled to mute demands for collective justice in order to safeguard personal privilege. Genuine leadership, by contrast, treats a token appointment not as the destination but as a higher platform from which to press for genuine equity.

History teaches that the most durable victories are won at the negotiating table. The American Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 emerged from negotiation. The end of apartheid came through CODESA. Sustained silence must eventually mature into structured dialogue that reorders power.

The moment for that mature conversation in Northern Nigeria, and specifically in Kaduna State, is now.

To our northern brothers in the state: lasting peace and shared prosperity are impossible when half the state is permanently consigned to the margins. Stability built on perpetual subordination is an illusion; it will always collapse into resentment and violence.

To Southern Kaduna: the path forward is not endless silence and blind loyalty, nor the fantasy that power will be voluntarily surrendered. It is unified, strategic negotiation anchored on negotiable demands, rotation of the governorship, equitable representation in the executive council and the judiciary, and a fair, transparent formula for project allocation and revenue sharing.

Negotiation is not capitulation; it is the highest form of political realism. It recognises that we are bound together by geography, history, and destiny inside one indivisible state.

Our children deserve more than framed photographs of token deputy governors and ceremonial commissioners. They deserve an inheritance of genuine partnership and equal citizenship.

The bondage of tokenism can be broken not by rejecting every offer out of anger, but by negotiating, calmly and firmly, for what truly matters: not merely a place at the table, but an equal say in what is placed upon it.

That is the only negotiation worthy of Southern Kaduna’s sacrifices and the only one that can secure a just and lasting peace for generations to come.

……danbakiyusufsolomon@gmail.com