About fifty trainees graduated from the Dangote Articulated Truck Driving School. The effort was to minimize the rate of auto crashes involving its drivers and other road users in the country.
The trainees who celebrated the success amidst joy have passed through a specially designed and rigorous educational curriculum, said the Divisional Director Transport (DDT), Mr Ajay Singh.
Mr Singh, who spoke at the graduation ceremony, said the trainees would now be exposed to practicals through attachments for an additional six months.
The Daily Reality gathered that the school at Obajana is one of its kind, having been the only accredited truck driving academy in Nigeria.
It was learned that the school was commissioned last year by the former Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Dr Boboye Olayemi Oyeyemi.
The effort was to bring solutions to the menacing issue of auto crashes involving articulated trucks in Nigeria.
Mr Singh said that the school would not only bring down the rate of crashes involving articulated vehicles but also positively impact other drivers.
He was quoted as saying, “The ultimate objective was to achieve zero accidents for all subsidiaries in the Dangote Group.
Also speaking, Mr Daniel Marcus Akuso said the intensive training was carried out in collaboration with the FRSC and Fantique Driving Training Centre of South Africa.
According to the Manager of the school, the three months training programme has been a big success and changed the orientation of the trainees.
He said, “This is the only articulated truck driving school in Nigeria where the students are paid stipends, trained, tested, certified, licensed, and employed. Our products are not only for Dangote Cement but for all subsidiaries of the Dangote Group in Africa.”
As we all know, politicians in Kano have been claiming they are followers of the late Malam Aminu Kano to achieve their political interests. We all know and remember him as a leader of the masses, a reformist, educationist and revolutionist. Mallam had built the most substantial legacies. When he was minister, he joined protests against the federal government in Nigeria.
Honourable Kawu Sumaila is Malam’s ghost. As a strong opposition leader after resigning from his position as senior special assistant to the president on national assembly matters, Kawu defeated the incumbent senator that spent sixteen years in the seat last week.
He is ready to represent the good people of southern Kano. He contrasted and won the election three times. He represented Takai/Sumaila for 12 years in the Green Chamber.
Kawu’s action is louder than his voice. He knows the problems of his senatorial district. That’s why he aspired for the seat in 2019 and lost in a questionable primary election. He is ready to speak about his senatorial district, Kano state and northern Nigeria.
Kawu supports the less privileged within and outside his constituency. He founded Al-Istiqama University, the first private university in southern Kano.
Umar Ahmad Rufai wrote from Kano via umarahmadrufaijr@gmail.com.He is a student at Aminu Kano College of Education in Kano.
The Presidential elections have come to pass, and the outcome of the results will continue to be a watershed in the political terrain and a new definition of “Loyalty “ in Adamawa PDP politics. Atiku Abubakar of the People’s Democratic, PDP, got 417,611 votes, Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the APC got 182,881, Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP) secured 105,648 votes, while Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) got 8,006 votes
The performance of the Labour Party in the state though not surprising because of the open secret fraternity of the incumbent Governor with the Labour Party for some time.
It is now obvious that the allegations against the Governor of Adamawa state for anti-party activities have come to pass. Many prominent people of Adamawa State last month alleged and warned that Governor Rt. Hon. Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri had pitched his camp with the Labour Party’s Presidential candidate and crisscrossed the state campaigning for him in line with the arrangements of the G5 PDP Governors. It’s an open secret that he remained a member of the group covertly. The outcome of Saturday‘s Presidential election is a clear testimony to that effect.
The theatrics of the Governor’s pretentious loyalty and deception could only go that far, and today the die is cast, and the truth cannot be suppressed.
Atiku Abubakar though not unaware of Fintiri’s intrigues, according to sources, decided to ignore all the clear and overwhelming evidence shown to him in that regard and deluded himself in a suspension of belief, hoping that Governor Fintiri would continue to be loyal and supportive.
The Waziri Adamawa rightly or wrongly is said to be scared of the consequences of confronting the Governor in order not to jeopardise his political fortunes since all politics are local, and will need the governor on his side to succeed in this rather elusive Presidency, having attempted severally without success and believing this could be his last opportunity.
In February, when the Labour Party candidate, Peter Obi, visited Adamawa State for his campaign, he ignored the protocol of usual courtesies on the Paramount Ruler, the Lamido of Adamawa Emirate and Chairman of the Adamawa state Traditional Rulers Council but headed straight to Numan Federation to pay homage/Respect to Hamma Bachama of Numan Federation, which was a serious breach of protocol and a slight on the Lamido. It’s also on record that he was there to fraternise with the predominantly Christian community in the zone.
Obi’s action was attributed to Fintiri’s advice and in active collaboration of CAN leadership. This strategy is today consequential to Labour’s Political gains in that part of the State. Obi defeated Atiku in Numan LGA and secured substantial votes in the other areas in the zone.
The outcome of the elections results in Madagali, the Governor’s support base where the Labour Party won at the Governor’s polling unit, is, without doubt, a collusion in cohort with the Governor.
The ADC Gubernatorial Candidate, Malam Muhammadu Usman Shuwa, after officially endorsing the PDP presidential candidate, His Excellency Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and promising to work for him in the state, relocated to his home town Madagali 6 days before the election. He made serious contact and strategies to ensure Alhaji Atiku Abubakar’s victory and delivered his polling unit and even his ward for Atiku.
If Fintiri had Atiku’s interest, he could have ensured he delivered not only his unit or Madagali but the entire Northern Zone for Atiku, being his domain and as an incumbent Governor of Atiku’s Party, but behold, the outcome isn’t what we expected.
They say in war, political war inclusive, all is fair, and politics is like the contributions in “Adashe”. In other words, it’s turn-by-turn. Everyone will take his share, albeit at the tail end
Waziri Adamawa is well-schooled in political treachery and well-acquainted with its muddy terrain. Therefore needs not be incited into realigning his priorities and strategies. He surely feels where it pinches.
In stating the obvious, we can only wish Waziri Adamawa well in his future endeavours
Auwal Modire wrote from Yola, Adamawa state. He can be reached via modiree@aol.com.
It is a general psychological belief that individuals tend to keep repeating things that benefit them and help reduce their suffering. In politics, too, citizens believe that the essence of participating in the political life of their country is to maximise their benefits through attaining improved living conditions, say, for example, security of lives and properties, food, a better health care system, more employment opportunities, stable electricity and so on.
You don’t need statistical data to conclude that, since 1999, when Nigeria returned to a democratic system, the sufferings of Nigerians coming out to vote for a better life increased. As such, many citizens choose not to exercise their franchise as it does not benefit their lives.
Abraham Lincoln’s definition of Democracy as a government of the people by the people and for the people seems irrelevant in Nigeria because some of the leaders who served political offices in the past were suspected to be products of statistical inflation during elections, not by choice of the majority. Thus, they are not by the people; our leaders are considered to serve themselves rather than the general populace. That is why they strive to get into power by hook or crook.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) reported that during the 1999 general election, out of 58 Million Nigerians that registered to vote, only 30 million were able to vote, 42 out of 61 million registered voters voted in 2003, only 35 million out of 62 million in 2007, 39 million out of 74 million cast their votes in 2011, 29 million out of 67 million in 2015, 29 million out of 82 million in 2019 and, sadly, in the recent 2023 presidential election we have witnessed the lowest turnout whereby of all the 93.46 million eligible registered voters we have, only 24.97 million came out and cast votes.
Though many factors like; lack of voter education, electoral malpractices and vote buying during primary elections, which produce uninspiring candidates in the general elections, rigging during the general election, and the activities of political thugs are contributing factors to political absenteeism during elections, the major factor that converts responsible citizens into political absentees is bad governance resulted by poor- performing elected officials and political parties.
To respond to this signal of “not having feelings” citizens about the political affairs of our dear country, resulting from a lack of efforts from the side of our political leaders to improve people’s situation, I see it that the best way to lure people back to the polls is to promote people’s welfare. Campaigns and sensitisations are less effective these days—only action matters.
Take, for example, the issue of vote buying. You can’t convince someone who lives from hand to mouth, similarly being denied the opportunity of going to market on election day to get what to eat, not to collect a bag of grated maize for a vote—relief materials matter.
Zaharaddeen Muhammed wrote from Azare and could be reached via zahmuhaza@gmail.com.
Fatima Aliko Dangote, the Executive Director, Commercial, NASCON Allied Industries, has commended women for playing a crucial role in making the Dangote Group achieve many successes.
The Director made the commendation while opening the International Women’s Day Conference in Lagos and Dangote Cement Plc, Obajana Plant.
She stated that the company had offered its employees many opportunities that helped them improve their personal and professional development.
She added that the group has been working tirelessly to achieve gender equality for all women in the organisation through the investment of numerous innovative technologies and processes.
She stated, “At the plants, we have the Gamma Neutron Activation Analysis (PGNAA) for online analysis, robotic laboratory, and fully automated central control room system equipped with Human Machine Interface technology (HMI) and innovative solutions to drive resource efficiency, process optimisation and mitigate the environmental footprints of our products while delivering quality products that meet the needs of our esteemed customers.
“We are inspired by our superheroes in STEM, and we hope this session increases your awareness of innovation, technology, and digital education, driven by women for women, and learn advancements in digital technology that address how we rethink our daily lives and achieve our personal and professional goals.
“I would like to encourage our women with a few tips on leveraging technology, Equipping yourselves academically and technically, be inspired and inspire others by creating opportunities for regular interactions with female STEM champions and leaders and tapping into opportunities for hands-on experience in the form of volunteering”, she added.
Also speaking at the event, the Chairperson of the Dangote Women Network at the DCP Obajana, Mrs Fatima Kabir Ikunaiye, said the Network has been carrying out several interventional programmes in the cause of women.
Mrs Ikunaiye said some of the programmes include: support for orphanages and vulnerable homes, sensitisation and empowerment of women as well as training them on skill acquisition.
The Zamfara State Police Command dislodged a bandits’ camp and freed 14 abducted people after spending 68 days in captivity.
The State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), S. P. Mohammed Shehu, disclosed this in a statement in Gusau, the state’s capital.
The statement reads, “On March 10, 2023, Police Tactical Operatives in Conjunction with the vigilante while on Mop Up Operation near Munhaye forest successfully dislodged bandits camp belonging to one recalcitrant bandits’ Kingpin AKA Dogo Sule.
“As a result of the operation, fourteen hostages comprising two male adults, seven females and five children below the age of 2 were rescued.
“The victims who were in sympathetic condition have been taken to the police clinic in Gusau for medical treatment and thereafter reunited with their families and relations.”
Mr Kolo Yusuf, the Commissioner of Police, expressed his pleasure over the victims’ regaining of freedom. He also reassured the continued commitment of the police to protect the lives and property of the citizens.
“Bring him in and untie his eyes”, he heard a female voice snarling in the background. He tried recalling where he had heard that voice before, but it did not sound familiar to him at all.
He looked around and saw that he was in a deserted building, there were sharp instruments everywhere, and the smell of fresh blood originated from a corner. She stood up from her chair and walked to where he was sitting with his hands tied to his feet. Before he could say a word, she had chopped off two of his fingers and whipped him severally. Then, mixed together different liquids in a bottle and handed it over to him.
“Gulp it down, or I smash your head”, her thunderous voice echoed across the four walls.
He couldn’t lift a finger, and his body kept trembling in fear, so she collected the bottle and emptied it down his throat. He had lost the surviving strength running through his limbs. Hence, he couldn’t retaliate nor attempt to stop her.
“I want to watch you die slowly, shred your body into pieces and feed it to the vultures. I want the pains you inflicted on me to manifest on you before your death. That way, I will feel fulfilled”. After these words left her mouth, she picked up the knife from the table and took a few steps forward till she could hear his heart beating heavily.
“Open your mouth”, she ordered.
“Please, have mercy on me”. He said amidst sobs.
“Ohh wow, do you remember when I said these words too, or were you so engulfed in your selfishness that you couldn’t lend me a listening ear, you were man enough to take control notwithstanding the aftermath of your greed, right? It’s time to pay for your debt”. With this, she beckoned her boys to forcefully open his mouth while she slit part of his tongue.
“Now, swallow it, or I will proceed to slit your throat”, she bellowed dropping the piece she had cut off in his mouth. He collapsed, groaning with pain as blood streamed down his throat.
“Get a bucket of water from the freezer and pour it all over him”.
He dumbly opened his eyes and glimpsed at her angry figure, he wanted to speak, but words deserted his mouth, and the pain emanating from his cut couldn’t let him move his tongue. Not in a thousand years would he have imagined this happening to him. He had scaled through so many times; why is this particular victim a thorn in his flesh, does this mean his end is here after all?
“Are you reminiscing on what had transpired between us”? Her voice jolted him back to reality.
“After you left me almost lifeless on the street that day, I swore to make you pay for what you did. I had my boys trace your whereabouts and even gathered some information about you. That was when I learnt that society doesn’t need people like you; rapists deserve to rot in hell. But wait, don’t you have a conscience at all, how can you knock down random girls just to rape them, how on earth? I mean, why do we have to share the same earth with you all?”. She spoke in great anger.
“Make him stand”, she ordered.
The boys unfastened his hands and feet, then held him side by side till he was up. Staring at the sharp edge of the blade, his heart sank.
“Why do I smell fear, are you curious to know what I intend to do with the blade?”. She asked with bittered smiles written all over her face. He only nodded.
“Strip him off his clothes. Let’s get started”. She uttered quickly and authoritatively. His body sensated to every move she made, but he couldn’t help it.
With tears in his eyes, he watched as she cut off his sexual organ. His wails were arrested by tying a gag around his mouth. It was a dreadful and sickening sight to behold. After going through severe agony, he was whipped to death and thrown out. His bloodied body was found in a public toilet the next day.
That morning, her attention was called to the awful scene by a large number of a crowd she had seen along her way to the office. Many people who have seen or heard of what had befallen him had mixed feelings. Among the crowd were some of his victims. Seeing this predator lying in the pool of his own blood in this state made them feel gratified.
She curved the corners of her mouth and flashed her most winning smile. She has finally put an end to the game he started.
Zee Aslam can be reached via zeeaslam19059@gmail.com.
About a hundred students sponsored by the Kano State Government at Digital Bridge Institute have expressed their worries over the state government’s failure to pay for their certificates five years after graduation.
The students decried that the state government has not paid the designated fees to the institute to enable them to collect their results since 2019.
They complained that the development is delaying their education as they are left stranded for over five years.
The students said they need the certificate to further their education and apply for various job opportunities, saying their future would remain bleak if the government refused to intervene.
The Daily Reality gathered that the Kano State Governor, Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, had sponsored 100 students, 40 males and 60 females, to study at the institute in 2017.
The students were sponsored to study various ICT programs such as Software Engineering, Multimedia Technology, Networking and System Security, Hardware Engineering and Telecommunications.
Our future is bleak students
The graduates said their educational careers were at risk, saying the years they spent at the institute would be wasted if the government refused to intervene.
One of the graduates, who pleaded anonymity, said he missed many opportunities, including admissions to study abroad because he has not collected his certificate.
He said, “I was offered three admissions to study in India, but I could not go because my certificate was not given to me.
“Some of my colleagues told me that they even got job offers. However, they could not go for an interview since they didn’t have the certificate.
“I would have scored admission and graduated had I the certificate. Probably got employed in an organisation.”
Muktar Ibrahim (not a real name) said he wanted to further his education but could not lay his hand on his diploma certificate after graduation in 2019.
He said, “I wanted to further my education. However, I have no certificate to seek direct entry into the university.”
Aisha Hussain (not a real name) said it was painful that she was yet to acquire a degree certificate while some of her sisters and friends were serving their one-year mandatory NYSC.
She said, “We have long been expecting the payment by the government for the release of our certificates. It is sad that some of my sisters and friends have completed their degrees even though I started schooling before them.
“I also got so many opportunities. However, I hopelessly saw them pass as I could not go for any of them,” she stated.
Government ignores our appeals
Since graduation, the students said they have been pleading with the government to settle the outstanding debt to enable them to collect their certificates.
The students went to various media stations pleading with the government to come to their aid and settle the debt.
They said they also wrote letters to the Kano State Governor, Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, through the Ministry of Higher Education and the Ministry of Education of the state.
However, all their efforts were in vain, as their plea did not yield any positive result from the government.
Some of these letters.
We are still not tired – students
The students who spoke to The Daily Reality said they are still not tired of sending their passionate appeals to the government to consider them.
They said they are still hopeful and pleading with Governor Ganduje to settle the debt before he leaves office this 2023.
Halima Ibrahim (not a real name) pleaded, “I urge his Excellency, Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, to help us and pay for our certificates.
The lady said her parents are poor and therefore placed all their hopes on her certificate.
Another student who asked not to be named said, “Your Excellency, we know you are good and kind to the poor. We are your children. We are pleading with you to consider us.”
Maimuna Sunusi said, “Our parents cannot afford to settle this debt. Therefore, we are pleading with His Excellency to pay for our certificates and not to waste the years we spent at the institute.”
Kano State Government response
Our reporter has made several attempts to hear from the government, but all his efforts were in vain.
While the Public Relation Officer of the Kano State Ministry of Higher Education, Sunusi Abdullahi Kofar Na’isa, denied knowledge of the development, the Ministry’s Commissioner, Mariya Bunkure, could not be reached for comment.
His name was Sadik. Perhaps about 11 years old. He walked into my newly allocated office in the old Mass Communications building of Bayero University Kano (Nigeria) in 2013. I was startled. He was a tiny boy with deep dark skin, a beautiful face with intense eyes and a dolphin smile. He asked if I wanted to buy Fura (steamed millet balls blended in cow milk, often used as dessert, although it could stand on its own as a nutritious meal). He did not look like any of the usual urchins who thronged the corridors of the building look for odd jobs – run errands, empty trash, sweep office when those officially charged – and paid – to do so did not. Intrigued, I ordered one. He disappeared and returned some twenty minutes later with the Fura in a transparent plastic bag. I paid him, and that was that.
He returned the following day. When I declined to buy it because I didn’t feel like drinking the Fura, he insisted I buy it for others. When I asked why, he simply retorted that I appeared richer than other staff because, first, I was a professor, and second my office was larger. I was amused by his evaluation of my finances based on my position. And true, my office was the largest for staff, but I was a new bride in the Department – having been wedded to Mass Communication after an amicable transfer from the Department of Science and Technology (thus the ‘double’ professor tag), and all stops were pulled to make me welcome. Based on his logic of having a larger office, if not a deeper pocket, I bought about ten and asked him to distribute them to colleagues.
Sadik was to become a regular fixture in the corridor. Always after 2.00 p.m. One day he came with a blue checkered school uniform. Mentally, I thanked the boy who gave him the ‘hand me down’. The uniform was from Musa Iliyasu College, located along Gwarzo Road, a few kilometres from the New Campus of Bayero University Kano. This was a private and prestigious high school in Kano, attended by the children of the well-to-do.
I was told, however, that the uniform was his own and that he was indeed a student at the famous prestigious college. Curious about the human aspect of this development, I decided to delve further. What I found was what I want to share with you regarding the world of Hausa women.
Sadik did not come from an elite home. He was from a large Fulani family living in a ruga (a Fulani cattle encampment) near Janguza Army Barracks in Kano – itself a few kilometres from Bayero University Kano, New Campus, along Gwarzo freeway. The unit was a father, three wives and eighteen children. Sadik was the eldest in his mother’s room. They were herders. Indeed, Sadik was born near Tamburawa along Zaria Road in Kano when the family was on the move in 2002. They camped near Janguza Barracks, where they located their ‘hometree’.
The mother was the one selling the Fura at Bayero University Kano New Campus that Sadiq marketed. She had a ‘stand’ near the Faculty of Engineering. She had a lot of customers in all categories of the university community. After all, even professors love Fura. Her interaction with the university community enabled her to develop an interest in education, and she wanted to get Sadiq to attend a school and eventually a university. She did not want Sadik to follow the family herd. His father, however, wanted the child to join the family herding tradition. The mother then engaged one of her customers, a professor, to drive to the ruga and convince the father to allow the child to attend school, to which he reluctantly agreed. The mother then took over the process of educating the child.
She enrolled him in a local private primary school inside the Janguza Barracks. After he finished, she inquired which was the best high school around, and Musa Iliyasu came highly recommended. She enrolled him there. An exclusive private school. Paid for from the proceeds of her Fura business. She bought a bike for Sadik to make it easy for him to attend the school, some five kilometres from their tent. His legs could barely reach the pedals, but he was enthusiastic about learning. After school, he would go to her Fura stand, park the bike and then trample all over the BUK mega building advertising his mother’s Fura (even boldly entering the Vice-Chancellor’s office to market the Fura), all the way till 6.00 p.m. when they close ‘office’.
I interacted with Sadik for three years. He was so curious, bold, confident and always lifting books on my desk, trying to read them, asking endless questions, his eyes always darting and roving all other office. He was truly an inquisitive and intelligent child.
In 2016 I temporarily relocated my place of work to Abuja, and that was the last I saw of Sadiq. I did not fully return to Bayero University till 2022. In the intervening period, I had wistfully thought of Sadik and finally decided to find out what had happened to him when I returned. It was a massive success story of doggedness by a traditional woman.
When Sadik finished Musa Iliyasu College, he told his mother he wanted to be a pilot. She asked him to find out how much it would cost. Off he went to the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), Zaria, where he learned the fees could be as much as ₦7.5 million. He informed his mother, who immediately asked him to continue the process of getting admitted. She would pay the entire sum – after all, she was already a millionaire with the large herd she had. She earmarked the number of cows to sell to raise the pilot school fees. Sadik did the entrance exams but did not scale the final test. So, he was not admitted.
He then applied to BUK with his JAMB score of 201 for Computer Science but did not meet the Post-UTME requirements for the program. Again, he faced rejection. His mother initiated the process of getting him alternative university admission and was advised to take him to Al-Qalam University, a non-profit Islamic university in Katsina. He went there and inquired about the admission process and the fees. With his results, he was admitted. His mother sold two of her cows for ₦450,000 and gave him the money to pay for the school fees in Computer Science and his accommodation in Katsina. He enrolled and started his program.
When he relocated to Katsina, she sent him money every day. She eventually gave him ₦200,000, with which he started a Fura packaging business, employing his co-tenants in the house he was renting. Soon, he established a small business employing other students. Eventually, he vied for and succeeded in becoming the Vice-President of the Computer Science Students Association of the Al-Qalam branch.
Sadik became a dedicated student with a consistently high CGPA, which could eventually lead to either a good second upper or a first in Computer Science. He was eventually elected the President of the Computer Science Students of his university chapter. One day, the officers of the Association came to Kano for a function during a school break and decided to see his house, especially after he told them he lived in a ruga. They were astonished to discover he was telling the truth – their respect for his modesty raised higher.
In January 2023, I was in my office at the Faculty of Communication BUK when someone walked in. I was bent on my laptop but did notice the guest removing his shoes and coming and standing in front of my desk, waiting for a pause in my typing.
I looked up at a tall well-built young man. I immediately knew it was Sadik. At 21 years, everything about him has changed, of course, but not his dolphin smile. He told me he learnt I was asking of him and decided to come and greet me. I was so happy to see him, and it was he who related to me what I had written so far. I immediately connected him to Sunusi Ahmad Baffa Dawakin Tofa, Chairman of the Kano State chapter of the Fulfulde Development Association of Nigeria (FULDAN), of which I was a patron. They promised to come together and see how Sadik could be part of community mobilisation awareness and a role model, especially for youth. Sadiq owes his success so far to his mother.
Professor Abdalla Uba Adamu and Sadik
***
Sadik’s mother, Hajiya Hauwa Suleiman Dikko, was not an educated, entitled, privileged woman. She did not go to school. Her class was the hard knock of life. As a young girl, she missed going to school with lunchboxes and rucksacks festooned with stickers from the Marvel Cinematic Universe – Spiderman, Hulk, X-Men, and Fantastic Four. She did not attend a privileged landscaped school with paintings of Micky Mouse and Donald Duck on their walls. She had no driver to chauffer her to school in an airconditioned SUV. No TV to return to after school hours in a nice airconditioned living room. No iPads to play with. No Netflix to relax her hard stressful day. No extra lesson teacher (Uncle John or Auntie Funmi) to ensure she passed those horrible subjects such as Mathematics.
Her contemporaries who lived such life finished successfully from their expensive private schools (of course, no private school would allow mass failure, especially from children of the privileged) and had gatekeepers to ensure they got admission into the juiciest disciplines in the university of their choice. If at all in Nigeria – otherwise, it would be off to Ukraine (before it became too hot), some obscure countries in Eastern Europe, India, Cyprus, the UK or preferably, Malaysia.
When such contemporaries returned, they had cushy jobs waiting for them and a relatively easy path to the top. Eventually, they are celebrated as women of substance – given awards (which they don’t need) and celebrated in academic papers and opinion pieces as role models of female achievement and doggedness in a patriarchal society. I don’t mind their high-profile visibility. I just believe the accolades are wrongly placed, or at the very least, the Point of View (POV) should sweep around.
My female heroes? Those I will be celebrating today, the 2023 International Women’s Day? Let’s start with Sadik’s mother. And hundreds of others like her. I am sure you know one or two in your locality. They are women, often widowed, left alone, with little or no inheritance, and who, with the little they have, were able to provide much-appreciated services in their communities and keep a tight hold on their families. They don’t engage in endless and fruitless debates about gender identity or reproductive rights nor women’s representation in political representation and their share of hegemony. Rhetoric. Talking loud and saying nothing. As my main Man sang, “Like a dull knife / Just ain’t cutting / Just talking loud / Then saying nothing”. (James Brown, 1970).
Mainly, restauranteurs, these local women build people and impact their communities. With their business – restaurant (ƙosai, koko, tuwo, ɗanwake, wake da shinkafa, alkubus, gurasa, ƙashin rago, etc.), public transport (Keke NAPEP, buses, Acaba/Okada, Ƙurƙura), estate (properties, rental apartments, plots of land) – they are the role models who should be celebrated. They don’t feel entitled and are privileged in the peace of mind they have and the mentoring they do in their communities. They have no PAs, SAs, fierce dogs at the gates of their solar-powered villas and mansions, no frowning ‘maigad’ to intimidate and scare away panhandlers.
They have no SUVs as the cost of one could serve as capital for a whole year for their business. They don’t even have cars, despite some owning a transport business or so. They do not take their holidays in London or Dubai – they have no time for holidays as they are busy serving their communities. They marry off their daughters, not in grand style, with furniture imported from IKEA in China but from local makers – thus contributing to local economies.
So, what should be the concerns of women on International Women’s Day? For me, with a focus on Muslim Hausa women living in traditional communities, how about integrating them into the modern sector digital economy? Instead of empty rhetoric about gender representation, why don’t we focus on enabling them to acquire skills such as mobile phone repairs and POS services – in the comfort and safety of their homes? Many women are now engaged with mobile phones and online trading and payments. Muslim Hausa women feel unsafe in approaching service centres where clusters of men provide these services. Empowering them to be skilled in digital knowledge in the lungu and saƙo (alleyways) of our communities works better than hot-air rhetoric and genuinely can make a difference.
On this day, I, therefore, award accolades to Sadik’s mother, Hajiya Mai Ƙashin Rago Fagge (with a whole street named after her), and countless others whom I am sure Jaafar Jaafar knows more. They are truly women of substance.
Today, being International Women’s Day, please locate any in your community, go right up to her and appreciate her. Celebrate her achievements and her silent but visible impact in the community as the REAL woman of substance.
PS: Some have asked about Sadik’s whereabouts. He is in his final year at Al-Qalam, Katsina, Computer Science, and from his results so far, he is heading towards either a First Class or a very good Second Upper.
Professor Abdalla Uba Adamu can be contacted via auadamu@yahoo.com.
Nigeria’s 2023 general elections are the first many people would describe being free and fair without any other positive collocations.
Be that as it may, many would say it has no difference from previous elections we strongly condemned. But to be fair to the discourse, it was much better than the previous ones. Nigerians have witnessed a drastic reduction in vote buying, overvoting, and voter disenfranchisement, among many things.
We saw videos and pictures of election violations nationwide on election day. Some are real, and some are mere fabrications aimed at disrupting our peace – or in the popular phrase, to tire our patience than mislead our senses. However, some of these violations are just an act of immorality from urchins, and the rest are unlawful acts from unpatriotic citizens. Unfortunately, we may end up barking at the wrong tree once we separate the two above.
This is not the first time to hear that immorality is bad for you and your community. For example, one scene might have been where area boys scared off voters that they may steal from them. However, in this case, scaring off somebody is immoral, while stealing from him is unlawful.
As we know pretty well, there are no elections free from irregularities. There are people whose work is to rig elections. We could neither be able to stop them nor avoid them. But we could learn the possible ways to surprise them.
To make my points clear that we have had free and fair elections, we know that Tinubu is contesting for the ruling party. He is from Lagos, one of the most important states in the political calculation as per Nigeria is concerned. In addition, Lagos’s current governor is also from the same ruling party and complies with the presidential candidate, as many would say.
When you combine these protons, neutrons and electrons, a powerful nuclear weapon will statutorily emerge. APC would have won Lagos presidential elections against the Labour Party. But due to free and fair elections, Peter Obi surprisingly made it, and so it was.
In conclusion, for the first time, Nigeria has free and fair elections, though with few unlawful violations of electoral rules. Those denying it are mere victims of utopianism or those who lost it, and we know failure cannot be readily accepted. To date, Donald Trump is claiming to be the winner of the last American elections.
