Matawalle Maradun: The Political Force Behind Tinubu Again -By Sani Danaudi Mohammed

Across the world, nations that survived their toughest seasons did so because they had leaders with vision and lieutenants with courage to stand in the gap. From Churchill’s war cabinet in Britain to Lee Kuan Yew’s team in Singapore, progress was never the work of one man alone. In Nigeria today, amidst economic pressure, political realignments, and security challenges, one voice has risen with clarity and conviction to speak to Nigerians about the success stories of President Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR.

Across the country, as debates around 2027 grow louder, one clear and consistent voice has stood out in defending the Renewed Hope agenda and communicating its gains to Nigerians. That voice belongs to the Minister of State for Defence, Dr. Muhammad Bello Matawalle. A former governor of Zamfara and a grassroots politician from Maradun, he has become more than a cabinet member. He is the political force behind TinubuAgain2027, a man who combines loyalty with delivery and who is not afraid to go to the frontlines, both militarily and politically, to defend the administration.

On security, the Tinubu administration has moved from reactive containment to proactive domination, and the numbers tell the story. The 2024 and 2025 defence budgets were prioritized to reverse years of underfunding, with over ₦3.2 trillion allocated across both years to procurement, operations, training and welfare. This is the largest single push for military capacity in over a decade. Under this funding, the Armed Forces have expanded recruitment by more than 30,000 personnel across the Army, Navy and Air Force between 2023 and 2025, with a special focus on infantry, intelligence corps and special forces.

New acquisitions include attack helicopters, MRAPs, drones for ISR, and precision-guided munitions that have changed the balance in the North West. The Air Force alone has increased air interdiction sorties by over 60% in Zamfara, Katsina, Sokoto and Kaduna corridors. As Minister of State for Defence, Matawalle has been at the center of this operational shift. He has led oversight visits to theatres of operation, engaged service chiefs weekly, and insisted that troops be paid on time and equipped properly. The result is visible.

Dozens of bandit enclaves have been dismantled and several high-profile bandit leaders who terrorized communities for years have been neutralized in coordinated operations. Names that once dominated ransom negotiations in the North West are no longer on the radar because the state chose to hunt them instead of negotiate with them. Communities in Birnin Gwari, Maru, Zurmi and parts of Niger that were once no-go zones are now witnessing a return of patrols, markets and farming. This is not spin. It is the product of budget, political will, and boots on the ground.

The second reason insecurity thrived for so long is poverty. When young men cannot feed, when there are no jobs, and when the government is absent, criminal groups become the employer of first resort. President Tinubu identified this early and decided to attack the root, not just the symptom. The administration’s push for local government autonomy is central to this. By insisting that allocations go directly to the 774 LGAs and by strengthening institutional reforms that limit state interference, the federal government is bringing governance back to the grassroots.

This means LGA chairmen can now plan primary healthcare, rural roads, and agricultural extension without waiting for months. Matawalle has been one of the strongest advocates and stood closely behind the President in support of this reform inside the cabinet, arguing from experience as a former governor that security is impossible without functional local government. When a councilor can fix a borehole, when a LGA can pay teachers and health workers, the appeal of banditry drops. That is governance as a counter-insurgency tool.

Education has also become a security policy. Through the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, NELFUND, the administration has removed the biggest barrier for children from poor homes: tuition. The fund provides interest-free loans for tuition and upkeep to students in public tertiary institutions, with disbursements already reaching hundreds of thousands of students across federal and state schools.

For the North, where out-of-school numbers have been a national emergency, this is a lifeline. Matawalle has taken NELFUND messaging to traditional institutions and student bodies in the North West, because he understands that an idle graduate is a risk and an educated youth is an asset. The message is simple: no Nigerian child should drop out because of money.

In health, the Renewed Hope agenda is rebuilding the foundation. Primary Healthcare Centers are being rehabilitated and equipped in phases, with an emphasis on rural areas that were abandoned. The administration is also expanding health insurance coverage, improving drug supply chains, and investing in the training and retention of doctors and nurses.

In conflict-affected LGAs, mobile clinics and emergency medical teams have followed military operations to stabilize communities after they are cleared. Matawalle has linked this directly to security, noting that a community that receives treatment after an attack is a community that trusts the state again. Health, in this sense, is not a social service. It is state-building.

Infrastructure is the third pillar. You cannot secure a territory you cannot reach. That is why the administration has accelerated work on trunk roads, rural roads, and rail projects that connect farm to market. In the North West and North Central, road rehabilitation has prioritized corridors that were previously cut off by banditry.

Power projects are also being revived to support agro-processing and small businesses. Matawalle has argued in security council meetings that every kilometer of road tarred is a kilometer bandits cannot easily control. Infrastructure lowers transport costs, raises farm incomes, and gives young people alternatives to crime. It is development as deterrence.

Agriculture has received a similar boost because food security is national security. The government has rolled out dry season farming support, mechanization hubs, and input distribution for staples like maize, rice, wheat and sorghum. In states recovering from banditry, there are targeted programs to resettle farmers with seeds, fertilizer and security escorts during planting and harvest.

The goal is to cut food inflation and create jobs at the same time. Matawalle has been vocal in the North that we must “clear the land and then cultivate the land.” Without that sequence, any security gain will be temporary. With it, communities begin to feed themselves and sell the surplus, and that changes the political economy of violence.

Beyond programs, what stands out is communication. In a time when misinformation spreads faster than facts, someone had to step forward and tell the truth about what government is doing. Matawalle has taken that role. He has addressed Nigerians directly on the gains in the North West, acknowledged where challenges remain, and refused to downplay the sacrifice of troops and citizens. That courage matters in politics. People do not follow slogans. They follow leaders who show up, who explain, and who take responsibility. That is why his emergence as a key mobilizer for 2027 is not accidental. It is earned.

The political significance of this cannot be overstated. 2027 will not be won by press releases. It will be won by structure, by trust, and by evidence that government is working. Matawalle brings all three. He brings structure from his years as governor and party leader. He brings trust because he speaks plainly and goes to troubled places. And he brings evidence because the areas he has focused on are seeing measurable change: fewer attacks, more farms, more children in school, more LGAs functioning. That is the definition of a political force. Not noise, but results that people can feel in their daily lives.

As we look to TinubuAgain2027, the task ahead is clear and urgent. It is about consolidating the gains already recorded in security, deepening the ongoing reforms in education, health, infrastructure and agriculture, and ensuring that governance is felt in the last village. Continuity is not about repeating the past. It is about building on foundations already laid, protecting what works, and expanding delivery so that more Nigerians feel the impact of the Renewed Hope agenda. That is the conversation driving support groups across the country, and it is why momentum is building early.

At the center of this push is Matawalle Maradun: The Political Force Behind TinubuAgain2027. It is not just a slogan. It is a statement of fact. In Dr. Muhammad Bello Matawalle, President Tinubu has a lieutenant who understands the North, understands the military, and understands the politics of delivery. As Minister of State for Defence and former governor of Zamfara, Matawalle brings grassroots reach and frontline credibility.

He has combined loyalty with visible results, from supporting operations that neutralized key bandit leaders to defending government policies in communities where trust must be earned daily. And in President Tinubu, Nigerians have a leader willing to take hard decisions on budgets, on local government autonomy, and on structural reform so that the country can return to its glory days.

The quiet work behind these successes was brought into the open recently when I had the privilege to attend the merger of two key support structures: the Tinubu 2nd Term Mandate, led by Dr. Aminu Muhammad Lawal, and TinubuAgain2027, led by Dr. Auwal Abdullahi Aliyu. TinubuAgain2027 is directly championed by Matawalle Maradun as its founder and convener. The meeting, held at Stonehedge Hotel in Mogadishu, Kaduna, was more than a gathering for photographs.

It was a convergence of intellectual minds and grassroots organizers who came to chart the way forward. One message stood out clearly: the success stories of President Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR have been underrepresented, and there is a need for an urgent, coordinated push to help Nigerians understand the benefits and reforms already underway.

No one is driving that communications push more directly than Matawalle Maradun, working alongside the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, and with strategic support from figures like Dele Alake. Both are cabinet members in the Tinubu administration and understand that policy without communication leaves a gap.

The TinubuAgain2027 Movement is filling that gap. It goes beyond press briefings. It has built structures across the 36 states and the FCT, with teams working to take the message to the grassroots, engage voters in local languages, and connect federal reforms to everyday realities of families, farmers, traders, and students.

TinubuAgain2027 Movement is shaping up as more than a campaign. It is a consolidation project anchored on security, reform, and communication. With Matawalle Maradun providing political energy, northern mobilization, and defense-sector credibility, and with a nationwide structure already taking root, the movement is positioning itself to ensure Nigerians do not just hear about Renewed Hope, but see and feel it.

The goal is simple: protect the gains, deepen the reforms, and return the dividends of democracy to every community before 2027.

Danaudi, Writes From Bauchi Via danaudicomrade@gmail.com