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By Aisar Fagge

The International Trade Fair of the year 2023 has been dedicated to the Dangote Group by President Muhammadu Buhari.

The Kaduna State Chamber of Commerce organised the trade fair in collaboration with the Industry to Pan-African Conglomerate.

This was disclosed in a statement signed and issued by the Corporate Communication Unit of Dangote Group.

The statement said that President Buhari, who was represented by the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr Muhammad Mahmud Abubakar, made the dedication while declaring the Trade Fair open over the weekend.

The statement read in part, “As part of strategies to expand market share and reach more customers, the management of the Pan-African conglomerate, Dangote Group, has announced its partnership with Ogun and Kaduna states Chamber of Commerce and Industry to stage this year’s International Trade fair with a promise to invest more in Nigeria’s economy.

“To this end, the Group Chief, Branding and Communication, Dangote Industries Limited, Mr Anthony Chiejina, said subsidiaries under the Group are featuring prominently at the two fairs, which kicked off at the weekend in Kaduna and Abeokuta, Ogun states, respectively.

“While the Trade fair organised by the OGUNCCIMA will be formally declared open today (Monday) by the Ogun State Governor, Chief Dapo Abiodun,” the statement added.

The president also commended the Dangote Group for its contributions to national development.

President Buhari further urged the general public and businesses to use the opportunities offered at the fair.

By Ukasha Rabiu Magama

In a bid to prevent pre and post-election unrest across Toro and Bauchi during the oncoming elections in Nigeria, Toro Uplift Association commences a sensitisation program across various secondary schools in Bauchi state.

The sensitisation program, which will commence on Monday, 13 February 2023 and end on Thursday, 23 February 2023, has been disclosed by the Union’s chairman Abdulfatah Mu’azu while addressing some susceptible youths in Toro last Wednesday on the consequence of political thuggery.

Abdulfatah said the sensitisation journey, which will be embarked on in three selected secondary schools across the state’s towns, is aimed at discouraging pre and post-election violence in the forthcoming poll.

He, however, admonished the susceptible youths to disassociate themselves from unprofitable politicians who may hire them to disrupt the smooth conduct of elections for selfish interests.

In their respective comments, some of the susceptible youths, Shamsudden Umar and Nabil Saleh, paid allegiance to Toro Uplift and thanked the union for considering them despite their situation and promised not to engage in any political violence no matter the amount of money one will offer them during the election period. 

In his remark, the association’s secretary Umar Muhammad Sani said the Toro Uplift would not fold its hands to allow selfish politicians to use youths to disrupt the peaceful conduct of the exercise. He, however, charges that susceptible youths report any suspicious politicians whose target is to use them as thugs.

He further called on the principals of various secondary schools across the state to give the Toro Uplift Association maximum cooperation to have a smooth sensitisation exercise so that entire societies will be benefited from the program’s outcome. 

By Abdurrazak Mukhtar

Comfort is often seen as a golden ticket to happiness – where we can bask in the serenity and put our feet up. But what if I told you that staying in your comfort zone for too long could be the very thing holding you back from success? This saying suggests that to thrive genuinely; one must be willing to trade comfort for discomfort.

Imagine a world where you never challenge yourself and always stick to the tried and true. Chances are, your life would remain much the same, devoid of growth and new experiences. But that’s not the kind of life anyone of us wants, right? The key to unlocking our full potential is embracing discomfort.

Risks are the building blocks of progress. By stepping outside our comfort zones, we open ourselves to a world of possibilities. Only by testing our limits can we discover what we’re truly capable of. Every time we push ourselves to be uncomfortable, we grow, and our comfort zones expand.

Being uncomfortable doesn’t mean feeling miserable and stressed. It’s about embracing a new challenge and putting ourselves in a position to learn, grow, and succeed. And as we progress, we’ll find that the things that once made us anxious and nervous become second nature.

So, my friend, next time you are cosily nestled in your comfort zone, take a moment to reflect on this saying. Embrace the uncomfortable and watch as you attain new success and comfort levels in your life. The journey may be challenging, but the reward is worth it.

Abdurrazak Mukhtar  sent this article via prof4true1@gmail.com.

By Ahmad Deedat Zakari

The National Universities Commission (NUC) has directed that all universities in the country be shut down in order for students to exercise their franchise in the 2023 general election.  

The Deputy Executive Secretary of the Commission, Chris Maiyaki, issued the directives in a letter dated February 3 and addressed to universities’ vice-chancellors and directors.

According to the letter, the security of staff, students and the universities’ properties during the general elections is the reason for the closure. 

Mr Maiyaki also stated that the Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, gave the directive following consultation with relevant security agencies.

Part of the letter reads: “As Vice-Chancellors of all Universities and Director/Chief Executive of Inter-University Centres are quite aware the 2023 General Elections have been scheduled to hold on Saturday, February 25, 2023, for the Presidential and National Assembly, and Saturday, March 11, 2023, for Gubernatorial and State Assembly, respectively.

“In view of the foregoing and concerns expressed on the security of staff, students and properties of our respective institutions, the Honourable Minister of Education, Mal. Adama Adamu has, following extensive consultations with the relevant security agencies, directed that all Universities and Inter-University Centres be shut down, and academic activities be suspended between February 22 and March 14, 2023.

By Ibraheem A.Waziri

Every election season in Nigeria comes with its provoking premises and issues! This time around, apart from the usual North and South, Muslim and Christian divides that are often most prominent than party affiliations; a new dynamic which has not yet caught public attention has been added up to the mix. The struggle to maintain relevance between two different categories of Northern eldership or leadership. These two categories, in the realm, are separated primarily by order of generational cohort (GC) in age!

Falling back to the scholars in anthropology, we learn that a GC is usually pegged at 15-20 years. All persons born within such intervals are regarded to, more or less, belong to the same groupings defined by the same circumstances; social, economic, and cultural events and would likely share some core elements in perspectives, tastes and life preferences.

Since the completion of the taking over of Northern Nigeria by the British in 1903, a generation who will eventually become Nigerians from the territory began to be given birth to that same year. Therefore the first generational cohorts (GC) of Northern Nigerians can be said to be those born between 1903 and 1919. That is if the mode at which boys usually reach puberty is considered as the norm to be 16 years!

The second GC came between 1919-35. The third was between 1936-51. This GC is the one that did the 1967 military counter-coup and prosecuted the then Nigerian civil war from the Northern Nigerian side led by 2nd GC member, General Yakubu Gowon, as Head of the Nigerian state.

One can be right to say that the 3rd GC of Northern Nigerians has been influencing politics and government policy not only in the North but in Nigeria from that time until now! The politicians among them, intellectuals and business owners, have been holding the region at its nape!

After the 2019 elections, some pundits among us have been harping about the fate of the North come 2023, as it was obvious that the 3rd GC are threatened by senesces and, therefore, very weak. The assumption is that they will reach a consensus among themselves to identify an able group of successors to hand over the affairs of the North and fade themselves into retirement, having put in their best for about 57 years now! The longest any GC have been there and probably will ever be.

None of us thought that the successor cohort, the 4th GC, born between 1952-67, would need to necessarily put up a fight to dislodge the 3rd GC from the power circle and forcefully take over like what is happening now in the ruling party.

However, since the statement made in Abeokuta on the 25th of January, 2023, in a campaign rally, by Asiwàju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the All Progressive Congress (APC) party presidential candidate; to the effect that there are saboteurs in the Presidency – which ironically is occupied by his party – who are against his emergence as winner of the 2023 presidential Elections slated to hold 25th of February, 2023.

Bola Ahmed Tinubu, though a Southerner, enjoys the support of 14 of the 19 Northern Governors, who are from the ruling party. 11 of them also belong to the 4th GC. 1 belongs (Borno State) to the 5th GC. 

Kaduna State Governor, an outspoken element among them, has granted a series of interviews on the 1st and 2nd of February 2023. To a number of media Houses, including BBC and TVC, in both Hausa and English, implying that some 3rd GC Northern influencers around President Muhammadu Buhari (who is himself a member of the same cohort) are plotting to work against their candidate! By following other means, they do that to ensure a member of the 3rd GC, Atiku Abubakar of the opposition People Democratic Party (PDP), and a Northerner emerge as the winner of the 2023 presidential Elections!

The ultimate question now, apparently, is whether the people in the North will agree to prolong the tenure of leadership and eldership of the 3rd GC Northerners, adding another eight years to their 57 years, making it 65 long years. Or, in the alternative, they want to hand over the realms of their leadership and eldership to the 4th GC Northerners; to bring their own uniqueness to the table early enough.

It is obvious that the 4th GC Northerners, born during the years building up to the civil war to its end, have different perspectives and arguments about how Northerners should see themselves and live with their neighbours in Nigeria. They don’t view Southerners with the kind of suspicion the 3rd GC Northerners think of them. It is why in the first place, they would resolve to fulfil the unwritten agreement of power shift to the South in 2023.

Some members of the 5th GC of Northerners, either those born between 1968-83, would appreciate seeing a new perspective taking control of the space and atmosphere of Northern Nigeria come 25th February 2023. It will guarantee an experiment with fresher perspectives that are sure catalysts to positive change and comprehensive progress, not the same old perspective that has dominated the space for 57 years. 

Also, it is only when the 4th GC Northerners move a little higher on the ladder that the 5th GC Northerners, the post-civil war generation, will enjoy a certain degree of influence at some social plane. The same thing with the 6th GC Northerners, born between 1984-1998, the military rule generation. Also, the 7th GC Northerners, born between 1999 – 2015, Fourth Republic, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) rule generation. Each movement on the ladder creates opportunities for growth and stability for others to play their role and display their God-given talent for the benefit of all.

These can be among the reasons why most Northern Nigerians would consider lending their support to the 4th GC Northern leaders in their bid to take control now. Politicians and bureaucrats like Nasir El-Rufai, intellectuals and opinion leaders like Dr Aliyu Tilde, Mahmud Jega; Abdulaziz Abdulaziz of the 5th GC and a host of other businessmen and religious leaders deserve this chance to move us to another level of life-changing perspective with Asiwàju Bola Ahmed Tinubu Nigerian leadership come 25th February 2023!

Ibraheem A. Waziri wrote from Zaria, Kaduna State. He can be reached via iawaziri@gmail.com.

By Aliyu Ya’u Baraje

I have consistently written against the greediness of Nigerian agricultural produce suppliers since the implementation of the cashless policy. I am now fully convinced that a typical Nigerian is potentially greedy and corrupt, especially when presented with the opportunity.

There is no doubt about the scarcity of Naira, which economics has taught is a characteristic of money. This scarcity has created hardships for Nigerians, particularly for rural dwellers whose voices are hardly heard. This is partly due to a lack of modern education, IT literacy, and little or complete absence of media coverage. When visited, rural areas now seem like mourning grounds, faces barely smile, just silence, and black faces.

As a farmer and rural dweller, I feel it’s my duty to bring to light the ongoing exploitation of local farmers by produce suppliers. These suppliers are taking advantage of the cashless policy to profit at the expense of farmers whose main source of income is selling produce or livestock.

The prices of produce and livestock have plummeted dramatically. For example, the price of maize per 100kg has fallen from 22,000 to 13,000, rice from 26,000 to 15,000, beans from 42,000 to 25,000, and soybeans from 32,000 to 18,000. This trend is also seen in other produce such as millet, groundnuts, sesame, sugarcane, yams and cassava.

Farmers are offered two prices, one for a cash-and-carry deal and another for bank transfers. Those who need cash are given the lowest price, while those who require a transfer receive an increase of about 3,000 to 4,000.

This exploitation is unacceptable, especially since prices of other commodities have skyrocketed. I stand against this mistreatment of farmers and the erosion of their livelihoods.

I am from the southern part of Katsina State, which includes the local government areas of Sabuwa, Dandume, Funtua, Faskari, Danja, Qafur, and Malumfashi. This region is renowned as an agricultural hub not only in Katsina State but throughout northern Nigeria. This is due to the fertile land and extensive use of industrial

fertilizers and manure. The local government areas are rivaled only by the Saminaka, and neighboring local government areas.

Those who are familiar with this region will attest to the fact that its inhabitants are engaged in farming activities, not just subsistence farming but also what could be described as mechanized farming. In this region, farmers producing hundreds of tons or thousands of bags of the listed produce can easily be found. If one is a resident of this region, he is either a farmer or from a farming family. Even those who have switched to other businesses or occupations, most of their extended families are still farmers.

Given this, it should not be surprising that the exploitation of farmers by suppliers is a source of concern for those in the region.

2) In today’s Nigeria, the prices of processed and refined commodities have risen dramatically, with some even doubling, tripling, or quadrupling. The price increase for some commodities is so significant that it’s difficult to describe. So, why are farmers the only target for this exploitation?

3) In southern Katsina State, farming is done on a large scale, making it more of a business. This leads to the excessive use of agricultural chemicals, the prices of which have skyrocketed multiple times. For example, NPK fertilizer is sold for 32,000 Naira, Urea is sold for 22,000 to 23,000 Naira, Moroccan OCP (mixed fertilizer) is sold for 15,000 to 17,000 Naira, and the locally made Dan-Buhari fertilizer made from Kankara Local Government is sold for 10,000 to 15,000 Naira. Given these high prices, it’s understandable why a farmer would not be happy with selling their produce for less than 15,000 Naira.

Moreover, the use of tractors and other heavy engines for farming activities such as harrowing, tilling, harvesting, and transportation requires diesel, which now costs over 900 Naira per liter. The use of small equipment for dry-season farming, mobilization, pesticides, and herbicide spraying also requires petroleum, which now costs between 350 and 400 Naira. The prices of other chemicals such as pesticides, herbicides, and preservatives have not only doubled but have tripled or even worse.

This means that when a farmer who needs cash takes their produce or livestock to local markets, they feel like they are being shortchanged or receiving only a fraction of what they spent months or years nurturing. As a result, many farmers go home feeling like they have been robbed and have nowhere to turn for help

4) I seek to draw public attention to the exploitation of farmers in Southern Katsina state. The rise in prices of agricultural chemicals and equipment, along with the exploitation of farmers by produce suppliers, have led to a situation where farmers are not able to make a fair profit from their hard work. I categorizes those who are happy with the situation into two groups: those who are exploiting the farmers for their own gain (like suppliers) and those who are not involved in farming and only care about purchasing cheaper produce for domestic consumption (the consumers).

5) It is unfortunate that the farmers who work hard to produce the commodities are being exploited by the suppliers, hoarders, and processing industries. The lack of government price control mechanisms, excessive taxes and restrictions on foreign goods, and competitors. The selling of finished products at high prices, even higher than those imported from other countries has shown that farmers are intentionally targeted. This creates a situation where the farmers receive low prices for their produce while the final products are sold at high prices, leaving the farmers with little profit and often feeling exploited. It is important to address this issue and find ways to support and protect the livelihoods of local farmers

6) The exploitation of farmers in Nigeria has become a major concern as they are being targeted by suppliers, hoarders, and companies. The prices of agricultural chemicals and equipment used in farming have skyrocketed, making it difficult for farmers to make a profit from their produce. The lack of government price control and foreign competition, as well as excessive tax charges, have added to the farmers’ burden. Despite the high prices of commodities, the owners of processing, refining and packaging factories have not reduced their prices (per kg from suppliers), and instead sell the finished products at exorbitant prices. This has made life in rural areas even tougher, as the local farmers are unable to compete with foreign imports and are being forced to sell their produce at low prices. The suppliers have also adopted a cashless policy, which has made it difficult for farmers in rural areas to receive payment for their produce. The lack of recognition of wired transfers and poor network and electricity coverage in rural areas has further complicated the situation.

It’s important for the government to consider all factors and individuals, including rural settlers, when making decisions on the cashless policy. The government should strive to ensure that all citizens have equal access to financial services, regardless of their location.

Aliyu Yau Baraje, Dandume Local government area Katsina. He can be reached via: aliyuyau900@gmail.com fb: Aliyu Baraje

By Muhammad Jameel Yusha’u, PhD

At 2:45 am every day, the first email at HKS comes to your inbox. HKS Daily is a catalogue of information about activities at Harvard Kennedy School. If you miss it for a day, you could miss countless opportunities about conferences, breakfast with guests, working groups, and lectures by presidents, governors, mayors and other leading policymakers from different parts of the world.

When I checked this morning, I saw an event posted by the Building State Capability Project. It was a book talk entitled “They eat our sweat: Transport labour, corruption and survival in urban Nigeria.” The theme was from the title of a book by Daniel Agbiboa, an Assistant Professor of African and African American Studies at Harvard University Center for African Studies. I registered immediately.

I love original research. Daniel’s work is an excellent example of that. The book, which I look forward to reading, was based on his research work at the University of Oxford, where he worked with the late pan-African scholar, Professor Abdulra’uf Mustapha. It was a research project that used participant observation to study the informal transport sector in #Lagos. As a student of public policy, this attracted my attention even more. Many policies are designed without an in-depth understanding of the social, cultural and even political implications of such policies.

A governor or minister might see the informal transport sector as a nuisance to a modern city. He might bring consultants to hurriedly analyse the problem and come up with a solution. Every person would like to see his city looking like San Francisco, Paris or Dubai. What we tend to forget is that there are thousands of lives that could suffer in our attempt to look modern. Where do we put those people who work as drivers and ‘conductors’ if we don’t have an alternative industry that will absorb them?

To understand this, Professor Daniel went to the field. He became a bus ‘conductor’ for two months, working with a driver, starting early in the morning and absorbing the difficulty that comes with such endeavour. He used his research to understand the difficulty of survival within the informal transportation sector.

He provided a critique to those who use CPI to evaluate countries as corrupt when ordinary people in those countries have completely different realities. “Informal transport not only provides a sector for examining corruption, but also a prism through which to interrogate the binary framing of formality/informality and understandings of the borders (or lack thereof) between the two.” Says Daniela Schofield in a review of the book published on the blog of The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).

Takeaway: Developing public policy needs in-depth thinking and proper planning. Building infrastructure is only one part of the story. Managing the effect of policies on people is a much harder task.

Muhammad Jameel Yusha’u, PhD, is a candidate for a Mid-Career Master’s in Public Administration at Harvard University, John F Kennedy School of Government. He can be reached via mjyushau@yahoo.com.

By Prof. Abdalla Uba Adamu

Muhsin Ibrahim had started a very interesting thread on his Facebook wall about language usage in northern Nigeria. Basically, the argument is about whether predominantly Hausa (his publics) should intensify their use of English in public discourse, especially now that things are getting more virtual. There has been a lot of resistance in using English among the Hausa because of the belief that using English (or other languages, except Arabic) leads to the erosion of identity. Muhsin urges the Hausa to embrace or at least immerse themselves as much as they can in the English language to gain a competitive advantage. I agree with him.

The arguments against the use of English are predicated upon language and identity. Generally, language symbolizes our identity and conveys identities to those who speak them. But how true is this in an interconnected world? I have a friend whose children were born in Hong Kong. They are adults now. They hardly speak Hausa. Does that make them Chinese? Imagine an Urdu-speaking Pakistani immigrant whose children were born in Wales and do not speak Urdu. Does that make the children Welsh?

In South Africa, the apartheid regime used language as one of the yardsticks, besides skin colour, to develop its divide-and-rule ideology against the black population. If a Black South African somehow was able to speak fluent Afrikaans, does that shifts his identity and make him White? I have encountered Hausa merchants in the Deira section of Dubai’s textile market speaking fluent Hindi – are they then Indians?

I once encountered a Yoruba mechanic in Gusau – born and bred there, but could only speak the Sokoto dialect of Hausa, not my absolutely wonderful Kano dialect, and informed me that although his parents were Yoruba, he does not speak the language. So, what was he? Bayarabe or Bazamfare? The Kano Hausa even created sociolinguistic categories for his situation: ‘Ɗan Kasa’ (‘son of the soil’), ‘Muna Kano’ (immigrant non-Hausa, Hausa-speaking), ‘Muna Hausa’ (immigrant, non-Hausa, retaining immigrant language identity). The two ‘outsider’ categories are easily recognized by Kanawa, who describe their Hausa as ‘wata iri’/strange. Oh, they will interact freely with you – until you come to marry one of their daughters!

So, does merely speaking a particular language confer on the speaker the identity of the originators of the language? We learn English and Arabic. Become fluent in them. Does that make us English or Arabs? Thus, if we speak other languages besides our mother tongue, does that shift the specific gravity of our identity? I have three adult children (an oxymoron, I know, but there you are!). We always address each other in Hausa, but we always write to each other in English! Does that alter our identity?

Then the big one. Any DNA test on me will reveal that I am genetically Fulbe (Silsilɓe/Torodbe mix). I don’t speak Pulaar. I tried to convince myself that I should speak Pulaar as a form of anchor to an identity. When I asked Aliyu U. Tilde about the easiest way to learn the language of my genetic ancestors, he suggested marrying a Fulɓe woman! Not on the cards – I am a single-wife person for life.

So, I moved into the anthropology of cultural preservation. At one stage, I was even the Grand Patron of the Fulani Development Association of Nigeria (FULDAN) Kano Branch. During one or two erratic meetings, I was the only one who could not speak Pulaar – and I was the Chairman! We set up an evening class school at Gidan Makama school in Kano to teach Pulaar. Not many people came – despite the usual posturing of many Kanawa that they are Fulɓe.

Next, with some funding from Maison des Cultures du Monde in Paris, I produced two CDs of Pulaar children’s songs (Surbajo, Short Round Crew), and with the help of the British Council in Kano, held a Pulaar music festival, Voices from the Desert, and included a Pulaar rap song (Wazobia Waru). I have no clue what the artists were singing! I next personally sponsored a series of video lessons on how to speak the language and paid lots to make the finished product sleek and professional. I planned to upload the lot on YouTube. That was four years ago. I never got around to it. If I could, somehow, learn Pulaar, what, exactly, would I do with it – none of my publics speaks it; so, with whom will I converse this new form of lost-and-found language identity?

I stopped all that and quit deceiving myself on the issue. Not even my great-grandparents from both sides of the genetic pool spoke it. At all. Only lovely, glorious, wonderful Hausa. In this, I stand with The Nigerian Bahaushe, where I belong. Gregor Mendel, the father of the modern study of Genetics, rest in peace.

So where do I find the intersection of my identity – at the junction of Hausa and Pulaar languages? And please, don’t say ‘Hausa Fulani’. There is absolutely nothing like that. The fact that the ‘Hausa’ was written before the ‘Fulani’ suggests a linguistic dominance, at the very least, not a genetic chiasma.

Yes, there is often a particularly strong link between language and a sense of belonging to a national group, a sense of national identity. Further, although fears are voiced in some countries about the loss of national identity caused by learning foreign languages, especially English, there is little, if any, research evidence to justify this fear. Studies of language and identity have traditionally focused on how individuals or groups maintain, construct, project or negotiate their social identities in and through linguistic practices. Speaking English, however, does not make you English (not to talk of being Welsh, Irish, or Scottish), even if you are British.

It is believed that languages become endangered when they are not passed on to children or when a metropolitan language dominates over others. The tenacity of the Hausa language and its speakers will only endanger those who come in contact with Hausa, not the other way around. No matter how much immersion in English the Hausa have, I doubt if they are in danger of losing their language and identity. After all, what is identity?

Broken down to the interpersonal level, identity is a person’s sense of self, established by their unique characteristics, affiliations, and social roles. We must therefore see identity as a shifting focus on multiple planes – cultural identity, professional identity, ethnic and national identity, religious identity, gender identity, etc. Language can bind but not suppress them.

Thus, acquiring the English language gives the Hausa a competitive advantage in any international communication while, at the same time, tenaciously retaining their identity. I know. I am one of them!

Prof. Adamu can be contacted via auadamu@yahoo.com.

By Hamid Al-hassan Hamid

I read a post this morning by one of our sisters, where she was asking if it is a “written rule” that men would flirt with waitresses at hotels and restaurants.

Well… the main reason why hotels and restaurants employ females as waitresses is for the undeniable fact that we all know, which is to attract and hook men’s attention. PERIOD!!!

And if you are a woman, with such kind of job, put it at the back of your mind that your qualification is likely the last thing that was considered. Your ability to attract men to the business and enchant them to spend more money is top on the list. The only exception where your qualification will be put into consideration is in the educational and health sector. Other than that, almost all banks, hotels, restaurants, law firms, offices, and businesses employ women to attract men.

It is a wise business strategy too, because men are the top earners in societies, and women hate women. Only men love women. This is one of the reasons why female patients prefer male gynaecologists to female gynaecologists. The female patients in various literatures made it clear that female gynaecologists are usually rude and roughly handle their boxes during examinations, unlike the men who are more caring. And why wouldn’t a man be so, there!

I always tell women to never get comfortable with any man, including myself. I had to protect myself, I do not even chat with women unless it is totally necessary because if I chat with you for at least two days in a row, I am going to start preaching the gospel before I even know it and speaking in tongues. This is what we are built for and why we exist.

I also don’t attend functions, or even so-called tech and business meetups, I do not show up in public unless it is totally necessary. Ask anyone in Sudan if they know my girlfriend. Even the Nigerian community in Sudan have approached and begged me to at least date one girl.

Anyways, at functions, or so-called tech meetups, even when I attend, I try to mind my business, ignore women and just do my things. But the thing is that ignoring women attracts women. Yes. I have had women in Niqaab approaching me and asking why I am not talking and moving around like the rest of the people around me. Let alone women wearing jeans and skirts, those ones will straight up come over, close my laptop and ask why I am being too serious.

Women are very funny. Stay at home, they will not stay at home, they go out and they complain that men are looking at them. Before nko, who or wetin you wan make dem look?

Lowering your gaze will only work for a few seconds in public, especially if you meetup frequently, she will eventually approach you and ask if you have a pencil that needs sharpening.

Some of us go to school, but we find it difficult to research basic human behaviour. I mention research at least to those of us stupid to not understand reality but would at least respect scientific research.

By Sumayyah Auwal Ishaq

Kaduna State Governor Nasir Ahmad El- Rufai on Tuesday called on the people of Kaduna to ignore calls for massive protests amidst currency swap debacle.

In a statement signed by the Commissioner Ministry of Internal Security and Home Affairs, Kaduna State, Mr. Samuel Aruwan, Gov. El-Rufa’i said “the government is aware that certain individuals and groups have made plans to organize massive protests, seizing on the acute shortage of cash and attendant hardships faced by citizens”.

He further said “The Kaduna State Government wishes to appeal for caution and vigilance by all citizens, amidst the prevailing situation arising from the ongoing cash swap and currency redesign policy.

“Citizens are reminded that care must be taken not to play into the plans of devious elements seeking to create crisis in this crucial period. Citizens are thus advised to ignore these calls for massive protests in the interest of public security”.