Month: August 2022

By Ahmad Deedat Zakari

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has clarified that the 2023 general election results would be transmitted electronically.

Mr Festus Okoye, the National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee of INEC , disclosed this in a statement on Sunday, August 21, 2022.

Mr Okoye said the clarification becomes necessary as a result of a misunderstanding which arose from an interview.

He further stated that there will be no deviation from the manner in which the recent Ekiti and Osun gubernatorial elections were conducted.

The statement party reads :

“For clarity, the procedure for result transmissions remains the same as in recent Governorship elections in Ekiti and Osun States. There will be no change in all future elections, including the 2023 General Election.

We wish to reassure Nigerians that the electronic transmission of result has come to stay. It adds to the credibility and the transparency of the process when citizens follow polling unit results on the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal on real-time on Election Day. There will be no change or deviation in subsequent elections.”

By Uzair Adam Imam

Kano State Governor, Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, has commiserated the death of a renowned Kano businessman and industrialist, Alhaji Uba Leader.

Leader was a famous businessman. He died Saturday in Abuja at 77, leaving several children and grandchildren behind.

While commiserating with the family, Ganduje, represented by his Deputy, Dr Nasiru Yusuf Gawuna, said Leader’s death was a significant loss to the entire nation, a statement Saturday by the Chief Press Secretary to the Deputy Governor of Kano State, Hassan Musa Fagge, disclosed.

In part, the statement read, “Alh. Uba Leader was among the businessmen who contributed to the development of the economy and making Kano the commercial nerve centre of Northern Nigeria.

“He had lived a life of selfless service contributing to humanity through his philanthropic activities creating jobs for the less privileged.”

The Governor prayed to Almighty Allah to forgive his deeds, grant him Jannatul Firdaus and give his family the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss.

By Aliyu Nuhu

It is obvious that the Nigerian government can rescue the train victims if it seeks outside’s technology. There are many options including combat gas that could neutralize the terrorists without any harm to the captives.

Russia used Opiate Fentanyl, a non-combat gas, meant for medical use to rescue people held in a theater. There were casualties because that gas should never have been used because people will need oxygen immediately after inhaling it to be able to survive. If we want non- lethal weapons there are options and we should reach out to Israeli or United States. If we want combat operation we should use Executive Outcome of South Africa. They have the specialty and night vision for rescue operation.

No responsible government will sit down and do nothing for fear of collateral damages, allowing terrorists to dictate terms to it. The Russian rescue mission had unfortunate outcome but it at least stopped future attacks.

In Nigeria you can be sure that this is not the last abduction because of the way we are mismanaging the situation. There are nerve agents that attack people by their DNA, meaning that, in a crowd of a million people, it will only kill the target person whose DNA is locked into the nerve agent.

The drone that killed Ayman Alzawahiri was meant to kill only him without harming his family. The special missile didn’t have explosives but piercing blades. There was no damage even to the building.

The mistake FG always make is talking to the terrorists. Listen to Garba Shehu saying the terrorists asked for their children, a special plane was sent to bring them. They asked for their women and the women were promptly released…, etc. Imagine! Each time terrorists abducted people, the FG will go into negotiation frenzy, begging them, giving them money, releasing captives and even sending them hard drugs and vehicles. That is a fatal mistake. It is the reason why abductions continue to fester. The terrorists don’t fear Nigerian government. They are even threatening to abduct the president. Worst is that they are in Nigerian soil. No terrorist can hold hostage in America or Israel. No way!

The FG should learn from United States and Israel. They are terrorists’ biggest customers. When terrorists commit crimes against America or Israel, the two countries don’t talk to them. What will follow is silence. The two countries don’t negotiate or listen to any demand. Then, you will see the terrorists becoming confused and going into hiding because they know their days are numbered, that death will come anytime because the CIA and Mossad are only gathering intelligence and planning. It doesn’t matter how long it takes. One day a terrorist leader will be driving and a drone will come from the skies and in seconds he is gone. One day he will be sleeping in his well hidden abode and in faraway Pakistan and commandos will fall from the sky and he is dead. One day he will just peep through the balcony and his head is cut off by a blade carrying missile.

A certain Hamas leader who was well disguised and relaxing in a Dubai hotel received a basketball dressed operatives of Mossad in the hotel that left him dead.

If we can’t do it, there are assistance waiting for us. We should seek help. We should train our security agents on it because terrorists have come to stay unless we stop talking to them and start seeking and killing them. The only language terror understands is violence.

But in Nigeria, we have leaders that don’t think at all and I am honestly disappointed with Buhari because he is a retired infantry general.

For violent crimes we need a special military tribunals to deal with them under the security situation we find ourselves. The president has powers to declare security emergency in the country. It means due process will be set aside and violent criminals will no longer face regular courts. The judges are afraid of adjudicating cases involving terrorists and kidnappers because of attacks on them and their families. They are human beings. A judge granted bail to kidnapper in Zaria because according to him his life was threatened. Also we don’t have hangmen to carry out execution.

Cases of kidnapping, terrorism and banditry are federal crimes handled by the attorney general and minister for justice. The man is busy pursuing money and political office to even think of his most important responsibilities. He also failed to delegate his powers to the state attorney generals.

The government cannot just fold its hands and watch. It must think of something and in that case firing squad is the answer under military courts. The military have no compunction taking human lives, they are trained to kill. Boko Haram and Ansaru are committing war crimes and anywhere in the world, war crimes are for special military tribunals, but in Nigeria, the criminals stay safe!

By Kabir Musa Ringim

As a graduate of Computer Engineering and holder of MSc Information Technology, I’m sceptical to write about this topic which is quite controversial, because of the divergent views by two opposing groups of people about it. I will explain this later.

The world is currently in the information age, also known as the computer age. Although it began in the mid-20th century, characterized by a shift from a traditional industry established by the Industrial Revolution to an economy primarily based upon Information Technology, the biggest challenge now is how robots have started taking over many jobs previously meant for humans.

While the innovation of technology has dramatically improved our day-to-day activities, it has also proven that we no longer need actual human beings to help with many of today’s jobs soon, thanks to robotics.

A robot is a machine programmable by a computer capable of carrying out complex actions automatically. According to the Britannica dictionary, a robot is any automatically operated machine that replaces human effort. However, it may not resemble human beings in appearance or perform functions in a humanlike manner. By extension, robotics is the engineering discipline dealing with robot design, construction, and operation.

As the definitions above show, robots are here to replace humans in workplaces, markets, the army, etc. Though robots are still under development, the history of robots has its origins in the ancient world. During the industrial revolution, humans developed the structural engineering capability to control electricity so machines could be powered with small motors.

Already, machines and robots have started replacing humans in many workplaces like banks, industries, markets, and media houses in Nigeria. For example, automated Teller Machines (ATMs) allow banks to employ few tellers, while the internet enables them to have few customer care representatives. Nowadays, you don’t need a hardworking secretary to type your work when you can easily dictate to a computer what you want to write and get it printed.

Office workers in public and private institutions have already started feeling the heat. A robot can do a job that 20 persons can handle in a week in a day. Governments now give less priority to office workers and more priority to the health and education sectors when it comes to employment and recruitment. But it is just a matter of time before this status quo changes because the education and health sectors will soon start experiencing the tsunami of job loss.

Soon, schools don’t have to recruit many teachers when a single tutor from anywhere in the world can teach thousands of students online and have their exams and tests marked by a computer program or robot.

Health institutions will soon require the services of a few health workers, medical doctors, and consultants since a patient can get a prescription for himself by talking to a robot or chatting with a consultant that renders online services. Also, robots can soon perform surgeries. 

Security outfits will face massive job loss with the development of robot police and soldiers. A robot will be stronger, more loyal, more reliable, and more accurate than humans, in addition to it being a machine, as such, emotionless and immortal. Moreover, one robot can fight thousands of humans on a war front. Drones are now more preferred than having an air force officer flying a warplane to enemy camps.

Media houses like TV and radio stations don’t need to employ OAPs, presenters, newscasters, and language translators in a few decades to come, because machines and computer programs can handle their jobs. Instead, news editors and program managers will simply work on program contents and news and upload them into a special computer program (robot) for presentation, translation, and subsequent casting on air.

Same case with employing sales girls and sales boys at retail stores, shops, and supermarkets. Who will go shopping when people can easily order what they want to buy online and get it delivered to their doorstep? Likewise, cleaners, houseboys, office messengers, cooks, and labourers will all cease to exist because of robots.

Other jobs that robots will take away from humans include, but are not limited to, telemarketing, automated shipping services, sewer management, tax preparers, photograph processing, data entry work, librarians and library technicians, etc.

But with all that I mentioned above, I’m not trying to spell doom for the next generation of youth who will graduate from school and start looking for jobs in a few decades. As I have stated from the beginning, there’s a divergent view on the topic. Some people view robotics as a weapon to wipe out humans from industries, the military, offices, workplaces, etc. In contrast, others view it as a significant development that will improve lives, which is needed to be embraced by all.

For me, humans by nature, since time immemorial, have had survival instincts, and no technological development was able to render people jobless. If a job is no longer in existence, humans will always find themselves a better alternative. When industrial machines came into being in the 19th century and replaced millions of menial labourers, humans found a way to survive them; the same way robots will be integrated into our daily lives. By the way, remember that humans make these machines and robots, not the other way round.

Kabir Musa Ringim is HOD Computer Engineering, Binyaminu Usman Polytechnic, Hadejia, Jigawa State.

By Muhammad Sabiu

Idris Jere, the Nigeria Immigration Department’s (NIS) interim comptroller general (CG), has stated that the service is now seeking to hire an additional 5,000 officers.

This, according to Mr Jere, was made to help the NIS fill a manpower shortage, he said while answering questions from reporters in Dutse on Saturday.

“With regards to inadequate personnel in the NIS, as you know, we’ve just concluded recruitment into the service, and we’re training those recruits now.

“As you’re also aware, the government has placed embargo on recruitment, but lifted that on security agencies, because security is key.

“So, we’ve written to the President and I’m very sure we will get approval to recruit about 5,000 more personnel into the NIS,” Mr Jere said.

He noted that President Muhammadu Buhari had received a memorandum from Interior Minister Rauf Aregbesola, who expressed his readiness to grant the request.

The CG travelled to Jigawa to visit hospitalized personnel and offer condolences to the family of one of its officers, who was slain on August 9 by suspected bandits.

The personnel were attacked at one of the Immigration Service’s bases in the state’s Birniwa Local Government Area, which is along the Birniwa-Galadi axis.

By Uzair Adam Imam

Uneasy calm as the Former Speaker of House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, petitioned the Inspector General of Police (IGP) over an alleged plan to assassinate him

Dogara alleged that inspector Dakat Samuel and Inspector Auwalu Mohammed were conspiring with one Barau Joel Amos (Sarkin Yaki) to hatch the assassination plan.

This was disclosed in a petition signed by Dogara himself. However, the matter is currently before the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Criminal Investigation Department and Bauchi Command of the force.

He said, “I am sure you are apprised of the matter since it involves looting of your armory in Bauchi by the very officers who are entrusted with the safe custody of your arms and a constituent of mine, Barau Joel Amos, who sought to buy or has been buying assault rifles from the officers.

“I have been authoritatively informed that the said Barau Joel Amos has confessed that the reason he sought to buy the rifles is to kill me and three of my constituents, vis: Bar Istifanus Bala Gambar, Rev Markus Musa (CAN Chairman, T/Balewa) and Emmanuel (Chairman NL, T/Balewa).

I find it worrisome that there has been no official advise from the police relating to this credible threat to our lives to enable us beef up security around us or just to be careful about our movements. More so, there is a spike in cases of kidnappings and killings by unknown gunmen especially in Lere District of T/Balewa. A case in point was the attack at Boto town where some relations of a former Governor of the State were killed while some were abducted.

“In view of the deteriorating security situation in T/Balewa LGA where the suspect comes from, I wish to appeal to you to use your good offices to ensure that a thorough and all encompassing investigation is carried out so that all those in the loop are apprehended and brought to book in order to restore lasting peace in the Lere District of T/Balewa LGA. With all due respect, this is a matter that must not be handled with kid gloves.

“His confession relating to those who gave him or contributed the money for him to be using to procure weapons. His Bank Statements and phone call logs will definitely collaborate his confessions. Granted his meager salary as a store keeper in a Secondary School, it will have taken him a lifetime savings to be able to raise the N1.2m cash which he wanted to use to buy the two rifles.

“It must be noted that he does not earn any additional dime from any known legitimate business he is known to operate. So the said Barau Joel Amos could not have been acting alone, it is clear that he is being fully funded by his ilks; some evil and criminally minded people.

“Is it in vain that upon hearing that Barau Joel Amos has been arrested and detained that his closest associates all fled T/Balewa town? It will be important to apprehend them no matter where they may be hiding within the country so that they may tell the authorities what they know that scared them to the point of abandoning their families at home while they live as fugitives elsewhere”

By Uzair Adam Imam 

Ovie Omo-Agege, the Deputy Senate President of Nigeria, has decried the worrisome development of ‘sex for grades’ rocking the tertiary institutions in Nigeria today, urging the male lecturers to zip up trousers.

The senator representing Delta State described the development as an “extraordinary harm that negatively impacts the standard of education.”

The Daily Trust reported that Omo-Agege made the disclosure Saturday, August 20, 2022, at Sofadondo 2023 National Conference in Abuja.

The conference was themed; “Sex For Marks And Marks For Sex, Establishing The Change Mantra For National Growth And Development”.

Omo-Agege asserted that harassment instils fear, and fear has no place in the world of intellectualism.

He added, “Without question, the scourge of sexual harassment with its obnoxious sub-culture of sex for grades in our tertiary institutions is extraordinary harm that negatively impacts the standards of education in our tertiary institutions.

“The sexual harassment law protects the right of students to learn peaceably deprived of any form of harassment. Without any doubt, our students, especially daughters and wives, deserve tertiary learning environments devoid of sexual harassment.

“The essence of university education is to expose students to new research and technology. Studying at a university encourages creative and independent thought, which could bring about positive socioeconomic transformation in society. 

“Higher institutions retain the singular ability to transform this nation for greater developmental exploits because that is where the base of our most productive youths reside. They represent the hope of our salvation for national growth and development.

“Harassment instils fear, and fear has no place in the world of intellectualism. If students are unable to express themselves because lecturers are mean, fraudulent, lecherous, manipulating and self-seeking, predatory, wicked, and uncaring, then where will innovations come from? 

“Through such a process, the lecturers will promote those who are undeserving, elevate the mediocre and frustrate brilliant students.

“University education is a serious business that requires commitment and focus. We, therefore, need to create a new paradigm for university education in the country. We need to change the objective of education so that we work towards productivity. We must see our children inventing and innovating things and taking control of their own future and the future of the country.

“It is now the responsibility of every Nigerian to fight this tyranny on campuses. Society itself needs to deliberately give proper orientation to our children. There is a need to break the culture of silence come out of stigmatization. 

The more people speak out about this evil and call out its perpetrators, the more we liberate Nigeria’s youth from bondage and ensure the country’s future. This will also activate the legal and judicial system, which is not just largely untested but also overdue for an overhaul to take care of this menace.

“I also call on journalists, human rights activists, and indeed all stakeholders to be part of this fight. I urge male lecturers to zip up and uphold the ethics of their profession. They should not hesitate to cry out in good time when experiencing any pressure from any female student, whether directly or indirectly,” he stated.

By Uzair Adam Imam 

The UN human rights office, OHCHR, has expressed grievance over the 34-year prison sentence of one Saudi woman, Ms Salma Al-Shehab, 34.

Al-Shehab, a doctoral student, was sentenced to 34-year imprisonment for following and retweeting so-called dissidents and activists.

She was arrested in Saudi Arabia in 2021 while on holiday from her studies at Leeds University in the UK.

The woman, who has two small kids, was sentenced to jail, followed by a 34-year travel ban in connection with a series of tweets and retweets on political and human rights issues in Saudi Arabia,

OHCHR expressed concern in a statement by its spokesperson, Liz Throssell, urging the Saudi authorities to quash her conviction and release her immediately and unconditionally.

The statement read, in part, reads, “She should never have been arrested and charged in the first place for such conduct.”

“Saudi Arabia must not only release Al-Shehab so that she can re-join her family but also review all convictions stemming from free expression against human rights defenders.

“The government should release those jailed, including women who were jailed after they legitimately demanded reforms of discriminatory policies, as well as religious leaders and journalists,” Throssell said.

By Uzair Adam Imam

Hundreds of job seekers from different parts of Nigeria trooped into Kano State Thursday to jostle for the West African Examinations Council (WEAC) jobs.

The examination body was hiring assistant registrar, accountant, quantity surveyor, registered builder and network administrator, among other posts.

The job seekers sat for a computer-based aptitude test organized by the examination body at a CBT centre along Gwarzo Raod in Kano.

Unemployment is one of the lingering issues currently flogging the Nigerian graduates, making it a serious challenge, especially to the government.

A recent Bloomberg report shows that unemployment in Nigeria has surged to the second-highest on the global list, jumping to 33.3%.

Unemployment alarming

Musa Musa Dangwangwani, surprised by the number of applicants who trooped into the state to sit for the CBT, said the unemployment rate in the country is alarming.

Dangwangwani, an applicant from Katsina State, said, “Despite the high unemployment rate, job opportunities are very scarce. I’m therefore pleading with the government to provide job opportunities in the country.

Another applicant from Kogi State told our reporter that the issue of unemployment in Nigeria is seriously killing graduates, urging the government to do the needful to mitigate the problem.

‘The future is bleak’

“We have a lot of graduates out there that already lost hope. If you speak to them about any job opportunity, they will tell you they don’t want to apply for any because they are rigged out.

“One has to have a godfather before he secures a job now. But I have been trying my best. Wherever I heard of any opportunity, I apply, believing that one day I will succeed,” Dangwangwani said.

A female applicant from Kaduna State, who did not want her name in print, said the gathering was suggestive of the country’s high unemployment rate.

She said, “The way people gathered here tells me about the high rate of unemployment in the country. The government needs to do something to end this issue.

“Government should revive the number of factories shut down over the years. I think that will really help.

I lost my job due to insecurity – Applicant

An applicant from Bauchi State told The Daily Reality how he lost his job to the security challenge in Nigeria.

He said that was the reason he was now seeking another job.

He said, “I had my business. I’m a network engineer. My job was to provide internet service to the people mining in the bushes, but because of the current insecurity in the country, we can’t risk our lives; thus, I am jobless now.”

The Daily Reality recalls that professionals have argued that there is a need for urgent intervention to save the country from an impending danger posed by the exponential increase in unemployment.

By Uzair Adam Imam 

Former Nigerian President, Olusegun Obasanjo, said the country’s future is in the hands of youths.

The ex-president, who put all hopes in youths, stated that the solution to the country’s challenges was in their hands.

Obasanjo charged the youths to do the needful and change Nigeria into a better country in a chat with a famous singer, Charly Boy.

He said in parts, “I am the father of frustrated youths in Nigeria. That we are poor and frustrated is not the fault of God. 

“It is the choice of our leaders, and if we are going to change that situation, the youths have to change leadership. Pure and simple. There is nobody who will do it other than the youths.”

Many people in Nigeria share this belief that the solution to the country’s challenges is in the hands of the youths.

However, still few people, on the other hand, argue that the youths are not even ready to shoulder this responsibility.