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By Uzair Adam Imam

President Muhammadu Buhari Thursday accused the state governors of corruption and diversion of the local government allocations to own personal treasury.

President Buhari decried the menace, saying it was one of the major challenges that hindered the country’s development.

He said the state governors used to collect money on behalf of the council areas in their states and remit just half of such allocation to the council chairman.

Buhari disclosed this at the Presidential Villa in Abuja at an event hosted for members of the Senior Executive Course 44 (2022) of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru.

Buhari, who spoke about the height of corruption in the country, said the ugly behaviour of the governors also encourages corruption in the local government system, thereby inhibiting development at the grassroots.

He added, “Speaking from personal experience, a Chief Executive of a state, a qualified lawyer, trained, the treatment of local governments, what they did, this is my personal experience.

“If the monies from the federal government to state governments is N100m, let’s put it at N100m. N50m will be sent to the chairman with a letter that he’ll sign that he received 100 million.

“The governor will pocket the balance and share it with whoever he wants to, and then the chairman of the local government will see how much he must pay in salaries; to hell goes development. Monies for the salaries will be given, and the balance will put in his pocket. This is what is happening.

“This is Nigeria. It’s a terrible thing. You cannot say the person who was doing these was not educated. He was a qualified lawyer, and he was experienced, yet he participated in this type of corruption.

“So, it’s a matter of conscience, whichever level we find ourselves. As a leader, you sit here, with all the sacrifices the country is making by putting you through institutions and getting you ready to lead.

“The fundamental thing is personal integrity. May God help us.” The president said.

By Lawi Auwal Yusuf

An upsurge in food loss this year in some states, specifically those devastated by disastrous series of flooding that destroyed farmlands and carried away the produce, has raised some concerns about food insecurity in Nigeria. Several media reports actually talked about the widespread flooding damaging dwellings, large swathes of farmland, and infrastructure and displacing millions of people, only leaving them struggling to salvage the remains of their harvest. To this end, over 20 million Nigerians were projected to be facing food scarcity. Crops lost to the pandemic flooding coupled with lower yields, exorbitant prices of fertilizer and security challenges are likely to precipitate shortages and make prices costlier.

Indeed, Nigeria cannot afford to battle famine currently as it is facing a myriad of other extreme challenges. We recall that a 2021 UN report revealed that almost half of all food produced would never be consumed. Nigeria loses and wastes roughly 40% of its total food produced annually. Being the highest in Africa, with a total of 37.9 million tons of food that is thrown into the trashcans of households, restaurants, retailers and other food services. It further disclosed that each Nigerian discards almost 189kg of food every 12 months. No doubt, this trend, augmented by this year’s nosedive in the food supply, will famish more Nigerians.

But the big question remains, are Nigerian authorities conscious of this awful threat? Unfortunately, the government’s continued abysmal attention to the problem is evidenced by its lackadaisical disposition in dealing with the issue. The relatively paltry budgetary allocation to agriculture has made us more assured that they don’t give a damn about food security.

To add insult to injury, Nigerians are not yet willing to back away from food squandering, which they see as normal. The problem’s exacerbation implies that this behaviour is deeply entrenched as a lifestyle without visualising its social, economic and environmental repercussions. Wealthy individuals continue to store excess food while impoverished Nigerians remain at the mercy of starvation.  However, cutting food loss and waste is essential as more people continue to die of hunger every day, whereas millions of tonnes of edible food that can save their lives are extravagantly trashed into landfills.

Generally, food loss or waste is the food that is discarded and lost uneaten and occurs at either the production, processing, retailing or consumption stage of the food supply chain. Unlike in the Western metropolis where most food is wasted at the consumption level, contrarily, most food in the third world is lost at the production stage. Though food waste is a component of food loss, the two terms differ, considering the point at which the loss occurs.

Food loss is the decrease in quantity or the quality of food in the production and distribution process. While food waste is the removal of healthy food at the consumption level from the supply chain and usually occurs in shops or at home. Both are mostly caused by poor stock management, expiration, negligence or the indifferent act of throwing away half-eaten food.  

Consequently, food loss and waste undermine the sustainability of our food systems; hence, they cannot be resilient if they are not sustainable. When food is disposed of, all those resources used to produce it are wasted equally. This includes water, land, labour, energy, capital and precious time. Similarly, they have negative impacts on national food security as well as its availability. Nonetheless, they also help in pushing prices up while depleting farmers’ and retailers’ incomes.

It is gratifying to note that the disposal of food in junkyards leads to greenhouse gas emissions that exacerbate climate change. Studies have shown that more than 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions are a result of uneaten food. In addition, food disposal also produces methane, which is 23 times more potent than carbon dioxide. Bacteria produce methane as they decompose sludge in waste treatment facilities and other decaying matter in garbage lots.

Actions are necessary to check this exponential growth in food loss and waste that threaten national security in order to ensure self-sufficiency, maximize the use of the food we produce, increase profits and be thrifty with our natural resources. This will go a long way towards enhancing the efficient use of these scarce resources, mitigating climate change, increasing exports and reducing imports, and above all, supporting food security and nutrition.

 In view of the foregoing, it is necessary to combat the underlying causes like poor transport and storage facilities, unstable power supply, lack of preservation knowledge and techniques, and unplanned buying and excess cooking. Moreover, behavioural change will undoubtedly make a difference too.

Instructively, Nigeria must do all its best, come what may, to steady this monumental failure in food production as the demand for more food increases year on year due to its acutely growing population. Equally important is the need for the government to fill up the broader supply gap created by this year’s immense loss so as to meet up the national demand to forestall dearth in this already ailing country.

Lawi Auwal Yusuf wrote from Kano, Nigeria

By Aisar Fagge

The gubernatorial candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party, NNPP, Eng. Abba Kabir Yusuf, popularly known as Abba Gida-Gida, said we never said we would abolish Kano’s new emirates.

Yusuf made this statement Tuesday during a continuation of interactive session series organised by a coalition of 21 Kano CSOs and NGOs aiming to promote peace and development of Kano State.

He said, “It is APC who are making this campaign of calumny. They went to Gaya Emirate, gathered their elders, feeding them with this blatant lie that Abba would abolish their emirate if elected. Don’t forget in our midst; we have politicians and followers from all these new emirates. They never see any evil intention in us. Had they seen anything like that, they would have abandoned us because they love their localities.

“What these people don’t understand is that Kano people are wise and educated. If you go for a campaign, use your projects and programmes. Stop spreading lies about us and our administration. They made another false accusation about five-kilometre roads that we stole money! [Who stole Kano’s money?] I have been challenging Ganduje for one-on-one debate on five-kilometre roads, but he refused”, he boasted.

Responding to a question about whether, if elected, he would continue with the APC’s uncompleted projects. Yusuf said, “We have been going around supervising their projects and seeing the ones that were properly planned and how they will be completed. Any meaningful project that has a direct impact on the life of the citizenry will be completed. But congested places that are making life difficult for people will be decongested.”

The convener, Dr Aminu Magashi Garba, thanked Eng. Abba Kabir Yusuf, his team, members of the press and all those who made the event successful.

By Aisar Fagge

The gubernatorial candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party, NNPP, Eng. Abba Kabir Yusuf, also known as Abba Gida-Gida, said Non-Governmental organizations (NGOs) are part of his government.

Yusuf made this statement on Tuesday during a continuation of interactive session series organised by a coalition of 21 Kano CSOs and NGOs aiming to promote peace and development of Kano State.

Yusuf said, “NGOs are part of my government. I need creative people who will assist us to make Kano State better. People seem to relegate the power of NGOs when it comes to good governance. They have important roles to play in the socio-economic aspects of human development. Our laws have recognized them. They can even take anybody who frustrates them to court and demand prosecution.

“Our administration will give special consideration to youth development. I, personally, have been supporting youths financially in various capacities, including national competitions. Social media activists and influencers are also part of our plans,” he added.

When asked about Child Protection Bill, the former commissioner said, “We’ll support it. We’ll implement it. We’ll give it maximum support. We’ll bring it back even if it is discarded. These poor kids are being victimized and molested. We’ll not tolerate it anymore,” he frowned.

The event gathered people from all walks of life. People living with disabilities sent their representatives who complained about how they have been constantly ignored by politicians. He assured them important posts such as advisers, MD and [possibly] a commissioner. He lastly appealed to an audience who are eager to see his blueprint, which he said will be unveiled very soon.

The convener, Dr Aminu Magashi Garba, thanked Eng. Abba Kabir Yusuf and his team spared their time to grace the event and interact with the audience on critical issues on health, education, youths, women, the environment, commerce, agriculture, and technology, among others.

By Muhammadu Sabiu

A 53 year old man who makes bulletproof charms for terrorists and criminals in Katsina State is now providing the police with further details on his operations.

SP Gambo Isah, the State PPRO, told reporters that the suspect lives along Maiduguri Road in the State’s Sabuwa Local Government Area.

He further stated that he was detained by the police in Katsina on Saturday, November 26, 2022, as a result of a tip-off.

The Daily Reality has learnt that terrorists and other criminals in the states of Zamfara, Kaduna, and Katsina are paid N60,000 per piece for the bulletproof charm.

As the suspect was taken into custody it was discovered that he was wearing four bulletproof charms covered in jackets.

By Aishat M. Abisola

A few weeks ago, I read that the federal government ordered the Nigerian Education Research and Development Council (NERDC) to remove sex education from the basic school curriculum. This decision was made by the Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu.

This followed the call by experts that sex education should be placed in the hands of parents and religious institutions so that it would not be taught in schools in ways that would not further “corrupt” young children with phones and access to technology.

Adamu stated that since Nigeria is a religious country, morals and values should be taught in Mosques and Churches, adding that it would bring up children with strong morals and reduce the rate of out-of-school children.

When I read this, I was shocked for many reasons. First of all, the introduction of sex education into the basic education curriculum is still recent, and most schools are not even implementing it.

When I was in secondary school, my classmates and I were mainly taught about the biological and chemical aspects of reproduction, not the elements concerning sex and sexuality.

Secondly, how are they sure that sex education has not benefited the youths who are barely taught about it in schools?

Sex education can be defined as teaching and learning about a myriad of topics related to sex and sexuality. It dives into the values and beliefs regarding these topics. It helps people gain skills they will need to navigate their relationships with themselves, their partners, and their community and helps them manage their sexual health.

Sex education can be taught anywhere, in one’s house, school, community setting with trusted individuals, or online. As I stated earlier, I was not taught much about sex education in secondary school.

Luckily, my parents were there to answer my questions on sexual education and even imparted helpful knowledge that has helped me a lot in many ways.

When I learnt more about sex education and focused on what my parents taught me, I learned more about myself, my body, and how I could improve in terms of mental and physical health.

Despite common misconceptions that sex education corrupts children when taught about it at school, sex education can be more beneficial than you might expect. The full description of what sex education entails is as follows:

Human Development

This involves human anatomy, puberty and how it will affect them both physically and mentally, sexual orientation (the different types of sexual orientations), and gender identity (what it means to be male or female).

Relationships

Relationships consist of Interpersonal relationships such as family, friendships, romantic relationships, and relationships with healthcare practitioners.

Personal Skills

This involves areas surrounding communication, boundaries, negotiations, and decision-making.

Sexual Health

Sexual education covers the areas that deal with sexual health, like sexually transmitted diseases, Birth Control, and pregnancy.

Society and Culture

This involves Media Literacy, Shame, and stigmatisation associated with sex and sexual education, the way that power, identity, and oppression can affect sexual wellness and reproductive freedom.

But besides all this, my main concern is how sex education is so callously put in the hands of religious leaders and institutions.

Most parents can be trusted to impart their knowledge about sex education to their children so they are more aware and careful.

On the other hand, religious leaders and institutions cannot be trusted in the same way.

Historically and in recent times, both religious leaders and religious institutions have been known to use children’s lack of sexual knowledge against them in ways most foul.

Priests, pastors, and Imams have preyed on young children entrusted to them by unsuspecting parents.

The more commonly known religious institution to do so are the Catholics, but other religious institutions and their leaders have done the same.

In some Islamiyah (Islamic religious learning academies), Imams have inappropriately touched young children they were supposed to care for.

Some examples would be a French Catholic church that was reported after discovering that its clergy and lay members had sexually abused at least 330,000 children over the past 70 years.

Another example would be a young girl from Lagos whom a Friar sexually abused at her parish church. In 2020, an Imam had taped himself raping a five-year-old girl, and earlier this year, in July, another Imam was arrested for the sexual abuse of seven children.

In October this year, another Imam was arrested for sexually assaulting an 11-year-old. Men (Women as well) who are placed into positions of power are more often than not predators who seek to prey on those weaker than them.

These days, anyone can become an Imam or a pastor. Because of the relaxed nature in discerning whether someone is an actual man/woman of god or whether they can be trustworthy in a position of power, many people get hurt.

Young children should not be placed in their care, nor should they be allowed to discuss sex education with them.
For all we know, they could teach these young and highly impressionable children wrong things and could hurt them badly in the long run.

Statistics have shown that when children have been sexually abused, there is a high likelihood that they will go on to commit the same injustices that were performed on them.

Ultimately, it will perpetuate a cycle of pain and torment.

Appropriately trained sexual education professionals should be tasked with training children on what they need to know about sex education from a young age. This way, they will learn more about their bodies and the best way to know if what is being done to them is right or wrong.

Along with this, their community should also take care of children.

If more than one eye is trained on a child, then any odd behaviour will be noted and told to their parents so that they can take the proper actions necessary.

With these two in hand, parents won’t need to rely on religious leaders or religious institutions to teach children about sex education when children are more likely to be abused by them.

Perhaps then, the government will have more trust in the education system instead of leaving such a delicate and complicated matter in the hands of people who would instead make matters worse than fix anything.

Children are blank canvasses, and teaching them the right things will make lovely and ethereal colours glow on their canvas, but teaching them in the wrong manner will damage it.

Children are the hopes and future of their parents and forefathers; It is with them that a legacy of peace, faith, and kindness is ensured.

I hope whoever reads this takes my words to heart and acts righteously for these children who might be led astray due to improperly placed trust.

Aishat M. Abisola is a member of the Society for Health Communication, Wuye District, Abuja, via Aishatmohd02@gmail.com.

By Muhammadu Sabiu

A native doctor named Odoh Emmanuel has been detained by the Enugu State police after it was claimed that he used a rifle intended for testing the bullet-repelling charms he had created for his client Onunze Benedict to kill him.

The terrible incident was said to have occurred in Umuaram Village, which is a part of the Ikem neighbourhood in the state’s Isi-Uzo Local Government Area.

The victim, an Eha-Amufu resident, reportedly asked the local oracle to create the charm for him.

The native doctor, who was only 23 years old, made the decision to try the charm on his customer by shooting him several times.

Commenting on the incident, the Enugu Police Command, through its spokesman, DSP Daniel Ndukwe, said in a statement: “On 16/11/2022 around 11 pm, Police Operatives serving in Isi-Uzo Police Division of the command arrested Odoh Emmanuel (male and a native doctor) aged 23, of Umuaram Village in Ikem community of Isi-Uzo LGA, for shooting and murdering his adult male client, one Onunze Benedict, of Eha-Amufu community in the same. 

“Preliminary investigation reveals that the suspect confessed to having used a locally-fabricated single-barreled gun to shoot and murder the said victim in his shrine at the mentioned location while testing the gunshot protection charm he had prepared for him. The gun has been recovered, while further investigation is ongoing at the Homicide Section of the State CID Enugu”.

By Ahmad Deedat Zakari

The inspector General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba, has denied disobeying any court order.  

The denial is coming after Justice M O Olajuwon of the Federal High Court sitting at Abuja ordered the detention of the IGP on the ground of contempt of court. 

In a statement made available to newsmen and signed by the Police Spokesperson, CSP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, in Abuja on Tuesday, the IGP claimed ignorance of the said disobeyed court order. According to the Police, the order was not made during the tenure of the current IGP

“The Nigeria Police Force wishes to state emphatically that the office of the Inspector-General of Police, IGP Usman Alkali Baba, psc(+), NPM, NEAPS, fdc, CFR, did not disregard Court Order or the rule of law as the office is not aware of any Court Order, during the current IGP’s tenure, with respect to a matter making the round in the media that the IGP disobeyed a Court Order for the reinstatement of a dismissed officer of the Force.” The statement reads

However, the IGP said he had directed the Commissioner of Police in charge of the Force Legal Unit to investigate the allegation in a bid to ascertain the position of the court and proffer informed legal advice for the IGP’s prompt and necessary action.

The statement further stressed that the IGP is committed to upholding the rule of law and synergizing with the judiciary to ensure quick dispensation of justice.

By Abubakar Suleiman

“There is freedom of speech, but I cannot guarantee freedom after speech.” – Idi Amin

The advent and tremendous upsurge of social media platforms have really enabled and deepened freedom of expression as guaranteed by the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. It has interestingly also destroyed barriers erected by politicians to insulate them from public criticism or scrutiny. However, this freedom has come with some blowbacks. The platforms aren’t the sources of the blowbacks, but the abuse of their usage is.

An issue on the front burner is the arrest and alleged torture or physical assault of one Aminu Adamu, a student of Federal University, Dutse, who was accused of posting a tweet suggesting the First Lady, Aisha Buhari, to be corrupt for squandering the poor man’s money and her body size is a sign of this alleged thievery. The arrest was allegedly carried out on the instruction or directive of the First Lady.

Surprisingly, as at the time of writing this piece, Mrs Buhari or her spokesperson is yet to give a public statement distancing her from this allegation which is a classic case of impunity or abuse of privileges or government institutions. Sketchy reports have it that it is the handiwork of an overzealous security detail attached to her. 

Warts and all, a Nigerian citizen has gone missing, and the Department of State Services (DSS), the Police and other security agencies have a duty to reunite him with his family or take him to a court of competent jurisdiction for whatever offence he must have committed. And, of course, whoever enabled this forced disappearance of Aminu Adamu should also be charged within the ambit of the law.

That said, it is worth noting that politicians or people in power are not alone in the abuse of privileges. What Aminu allegedly did was also a clear case of abusing the freedom of expression and the privilege conferred on him by the Nigerian constitution and social media, respectively. Some people are so engulfed by tendentiousness in partisanships sometimes that they miss the opportunity to network or create value for their business products or brands using social media platforms. 

One of the disadvantages of the freedom that comes with social media is the ability to break barriers unconditionally. It is devoid of a vetting process. Hence it sometimes makes ill-mannered people feel empowered to impugn the integrity or character of people they ordinarily would not dare or attempt doing that too. Plus, others will share this character assassination with glee and without verification.

Tellingly, that politicians or public officers should be subjected to scrutiny or held accountable as humanly possible does not mean they can be maligned, slandered or outrightly and falsely accused with no scintilla of evidence. Politicians or people in power have blood running in their bodies. They have emotions. And bad as they might seem, they also have some integrities to protect.

Bridges have been burnt in exchange for likes or savages on media platforms. Oftentimes effused hatred or unintelligent zingers have replaced verification and validation. In the comfort of basements, unscrupulous people have willingly or unknowingly plunged people into fierce physical or fight online, or even a country into chaos with uncouth written words borne out of unstable emotions. 

Some people just find it difficult to make a point without using insulting or derogatory words, while others will just classically defame or cast aspersions uncontrollably and even unintelligently. 

Interestingly, these people who enjoy and propagate this kind of bashing find it difficult to stomach the slightest of criticisms whenever they are subjected to one. I especially blame no politician or a person in power who approaches a court for this purpose. That they are politicians doesn’t mean their characters or integrities don’t matter.

Therefore, we really need to tread carefully with our engagements on social media platforms. If we derive pleasure in unfettered access to such platforms, then our usage of them should come with a high sense of responsibility.

Let me conclude with a few lines from Kalev Leetaru’s article published on Forbes with the title, “A Reminder That ‘Fake News’ Is An Information Literacy Problem – Not A Technology Problem,” he wrote, “schools no longer teach source triangulation, conflict arbitration, separating fact from opinion, citation chaining, conducting research or even the basic concept of verification and validation. In short, we’ve stopped teaching society how to think about information, leaving our citizenry adrift in the digital wilderness, increasingly saturated with falsehoods without so much as a compass or map to help them find their way to safety. The solution is to teach the world’s citizenry the basics of information literacy.”

Abubakar Suleiman writes from Kaduna and can be reached via abusuleiman06@yahoo.com.

By Ahmad Deedat Zakari

A civil liberty and human rights group, Northern Nigeria Human Rights Advocates (NONIHIRA), has in very strong terms condemned the “unlawful arrest and detention of Adamu Aminu Muhammad at the instance of Nigeria’s First Lady Aisha Buhari.”

In a statement signed by the group secretary, A.A Hakima Esq and made available to the Daily Reality on Monday, NONIHIRA described Aminu’s detention as arbitrary and unlawful.

“The Northern Nigeria Human Rights Advocates condemns in strong terms, the arrest and incarceration of Aminu Adamu Muhammad, the 23 year old student of Federal University Dutse over frivolous allegation of defaming the character of Nigeria’s first Lady Aisha Buhari,” part of the statement reads.

NONIHIRA further stated that defamation if proven is a simple offence for which punitive fine is awarded.

The group urged persons and authorities involved in Mr Aminu’s incarceration to release him immediately and issue him with an apology and compensation.