Wada Nas

Wada Nas (1938 – 3 January 2005) was a Nigerian politician. He was one of eight members of the Northern Elements Progressive Union to serve in the Federal Parliament during the Nigerian First Republic and later aligned with the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) during the Second Republic. He rose to national prominence as a minister in Sani Abacha's military government, notably as one of the dictator's three Ministers with Special Duties, becoming known as a staunch defender and chief propagandist for the regime.

Nas began his education at an elementary school in Funtua, attending from 1945 to 1949. He later enrolled at Katsina Middle School and, upon graduating in 1954, proceeded to Katsina Teachers College (KTC). During his time at KTC, he developed an interest in politics and became an admirer of Aminu Kano and his socialist Northern Elements Progressive Union (NEPU). He wrote to Kano expressing his interest in joining NEPU, to which Kano responded by encouraging him to first complete his studies. Nas was among the eight NEPU candidates who won seats in the Federal House of Assembly, where he served as its youngest member.

Following the January 1966 coup, which marked the end of Nigeria's First Republic, Nas returned to Funtua and took up farming. During the Second Republic, he re-entered politics as a member of the ruling National Party of Nigeria (NPN). However, with the return of military rule after the 1983 coup, he once went back to farming.

In November 1993, General Sani Abacha staged a coup d'état against the ING and assumed power. Initially serving as Minister of State for Education, Nas was appointed one of Abacha's three Ministers with Special Duties in early 1995. According to journalist Chris McGreal, these positions were created as "a euphemism for dealing with the opposition." Nas became known for publicly defending the actions of the Abacha government and was described by critics as the administration's chief propagandist. His tenure in the role was also marked by efforts to mobilise regional, religious, and ethnic sentiments, "both to galvanise support for the regime and to intimidate, harass or weaken perceived opponents of the regime."

In 1995, following the execution of writer Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other Ogoni activists by the military government, Nas defended the administration's actions, accusing foreign governments of supporting insurgency. The following year, he criticised Amnesty International as 'troublemakers,' after three of its staff members were arrested while en route to a reception hosted by U.S. ambassador Walter Carrington.

Nas sponsored the founding of the Democratic Party of Nigeria (DPN), one of the five political parties established under Abacha's transition program. Like the other parties, the DPN endorsed Abacha as its candidate for the planned 1998 presidential election, a move Nas defended as reflecting "the wish of Nigerians." Abacha died two months before the election was scheduled to take place.

During the Abacha-era, the Nigerian press gave Nas several pejorative nicknames, including 'Wada Noise', 'Wada Nasty', 'Wada Nonsense', and 'Wada NADECO', the last being a reference to the pro-democracy coalition National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), which opposed the military regime.

Fourth Republic

Following the death of Abacha, General Abdulsalami Abubakar succeeded him and initiated Nigeria's transition to democracy. On 1 July 1998, Nas, along with his colleagues Wole Oyelese and Lazarus Unaogu, was sacked. He was a staunch supporter of General Muhammadu Buhari and endorsed his presidential candidacy. He was also a member of The Buhari Organisation (TBO), a political group formed to support Buhari's bid for the presidency.

Nas became a vocal critic of President Olusegun Obasanjo through his writings. He accused Obasanjo of implementing a hidden pro-Yoruba agenda and alleged that Yoruba political leaders were deliberately marginalising northern Nigeria while favouring Yoruba and Christian appointees.

In 1999, following a violent attack on mostly Hausa northerners in Lagos by the Yoruba nationalist group Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC), Nas blamed Obasanjo for failing to take action against the OPC. He warned that "the north would not sit idly and watch its people being killed in the south west...Northerners would retaliate if the authorities failed to protect their people in the south west and punish the offenders."

Nas had two wives and twenty children. He died on 3 January 2005.