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By Ibrahim Mukhtar

The Governing Council of Federal University, Birnin Kebbi, at its 25th meeting held from Monday, 21st to Thursday, 24th November, 2022, has approved the appointment of Prof. Muhammad Zaiyan Umar as the new Vice Chancellor of the University.

In a press statement sent by Alhaji Jamilu M. Magaji, the
Public Relations Officer,
Federal University Birnin Kebbi, he noted that the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of Council, Prof. Funmi Togonu-Bickersteth announced the development at a Press Briefing held on Thursday, November 24, 2022 at the Council Chamber, Senate Building, University Main Campus.

The statement received by The Daily Reality states that “the Pro-Chancellor who revealed that the appointment of the new Vice Chancellor was sequel to the advertisement in the Daily Trust and The Punch Newspapers of Saturday, 2nd July, 2022 and subsequent interview by the Governing Council, added that the tenure of the outgoing Vice Chancellor ends on December 3, 2022.

Until his appointment, the new Vice Chancellor was the immediate past Deputy Vice Chancellor, Sokoto State University.

Muhammad Zaiyan Umar, a Professor of Political Science at the Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto (UDUS), comes with over three (3) decades of professional and administrative experience. He started his professional career at the UDUS as a Graduate Assistant in 1989 and became a Professor in 2009.

The immediate past Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic), Sokoto State University, Sokoto, Prof. MZ Umar also served as the University’s Ag. Director, TETFund’s Research and Development Centre of Excellence. He is currently the Chairman of the Board of Centre for Open and Distance Education (CODE) at the Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto. Prof. Umar was, at various times, the Ag. Head of Department of Political Science, Deputy Dean and Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences, as well as the Dean of Postgraduate School at UDUS.

The new Vice Chancellor served as Resource Person to several organizations including the Institute of Security Studies, Abuja; National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPPS), Kuru, Jos; The Electoral Institute of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the House Committee on Marine Transport, National Assembly, Abuja.

A Fulbright Fellow, Prof. Umar served at the University of Washington, Seattle, USA between 1988 and 1999. He served as an External Examiner and Assessor for promotion to Reader and Professor for various State and Federal Universities in Nigeria as well as the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA), in Dakar Senegal. He is a member of the Fulbright Alumni Association of Nigeria, Nigerian Political Science Association (NPSA) and Social Science Academy of Nigeria (SSAN).

Prof. Umar was born on June 12, 1963. He is married with children.”

By Muhammadu Sabiu

Some villages in Zamfara State’s Zurmi LGA have to pay a “compensation charge” of varying amounts.

Aliyu Buhari, a resident of Moriki, one of the settlements in the local council, claimed that the bandits had demanded payment of the levy through released hostages before allowing villagers access their farmlands.

According to Buhari, some villages have paid the bandits and reached a reconciliation agreement with them.

He also noted that people in Moriki are actively striving to increase the tax.

He was quoted as saying, “People living in Moriki ward were asked to pay the sum of N20 million to be able to enjoy some level of peace.”

There have recently been reports of abduction in the state as the bandits have yet to demand a ransom for some of the abductees.

By Ahmad Deedat Zakari

A lecturer with Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Dr Nadir A. Nasidi, has been declared winner of the African Studies Review prize for ‘Best Africa-Based Dissertation’

The Public Affairs Directorate of the institution announced Dr Nasidi’s success in a statement on Thursday, November 24, 2022.

According to the statement, “Dr Nadir A Nasidi’s dissertation ‘ A Contextual Analysis of Sufi Saint Paintings in Kano Nigeria’ has won the 2022 African Studies Review (ASR) Prize for the ‘Best Africa-Based Doctoral Dissertation”.

The statement said Dr Nasidi will also be given a certificate recognizing the award and a $500 e-certificate from Cambridge University Press.

The Vice-Chancellor of ABU, Prof. Kabiru Bala, has congratulated him saying that the “University always takes pride to see its students and staff excel in a given task.”

Dr Nasidi is a lecturer at the History Department of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria and had defended the award-winning dissertation in 2021 at the same institution.

By Engr. Mustapha Habu Ringim

Despite all his official commitments, Prof. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami’s internationally recognised contributions to the field of both Digital Economy and Islamic knowledge are unprecedentedly breaking colossal barriers to socioeconomic development in Nigeria and Africa at large. We are grateful to The Almighty Allah, Who has bestowed our society with such a rear gem.

The Islamic scholar and professor of cyber security, Sheik Pantami, is leaving, to some extent, a tripartite legacy for our future leaders to emulate. He is equally fostering a paradigm shift in his professional career and public office as a Minister of Communications and Digital Economy. He is an epitome of a role model, a philosopher with a positive legacy which will serve as a footprint or a sailable path for all potential leaders, academics and religious scholars to tread on.

However, Malam Pantami is building this astounding path against all criticisms from some of his academic colleagues and Islamic and Christian scholars. He patiently stands tall on his two feet. He forges ahead against all social media hypes, just like the flow of rivers, as “rivers never go reverse” – they gradually clear their paths to their destinations, entrenching a memorable route for explorers and navigators to follow passively.

Long before writing his essential book Skills Rather than just Degrees, his advocacy out of which the book was written, has already transformed so many lives, including myself and thousands of graduates of our innovation hub, through the effective programs and seminars conducted by the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) under the excellent leadership of its Director General, a “Digital Transformer”, Kashifu Inuwa CCIE.

Prof. Muhammad Bugaje, the current Executive Secretary of the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), is another advocate of the same subject. However, his slogan, “Skills but not Degrees”, is a bit tougher. Therefore, I sincerely urge these two erudite professors to actualise an inter-ministerial or agency collaboration between NITDA and NBTE to develop a realistic action plan and strategic roadmap for entrenching ubiquitous skill capital development in our society. 

The National Board for Technology Incubation (NBTI), Industrial Training Fund (ITF) and National Directorate of Employment (NDE) would equally play an essential role in the proposed collaboration. Such agencies are supposed to be under the same umbrella, the way it is done in Morocco, which as a result of their effective work-based learning, has achieved one of the highest economic growth among African countries, as pronounced by the European Training Foundation.

ENGAUSA GLOBAL TECH HUB, publicly recognised as “technical skills enthusiasts”, will formally seek permission from His Excellency Prof. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami to translate the book into the Hausa language. The translation will help fit it into the bilingual-based curriculum of ENGAUSA APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAMS. That opportunity would also pave the way for using the translated version in our public awareness programs on Radio, TV and social media. This book succinctly corroborates the mission and objectives of ENGAUSA HUB, as it goes with our motto, “Breaking Barriers and Bridging Gaps”.

Engr. Mustapha Habu Ringim is the founder/CEO of EngausaHub.com.

By Ahmad Deedat Zakari

President Muhammadu Buhari has unveiled the redesigned naira notes in Abuja.

The President unveiled the new naira notes on Wednesday morning at the meeting of the Federal Executive Council (FEC ) at the state house, Abuja.

The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele was also in attendance during the unveiling ceremony.

While addressing the FEC members after the unveiling ceremony, the CBN governor debunked the rumours that the early unveiling of new notes is a means to target any Nigerian.

He therefore appealed to the public to refrain from perpetuating such rumours.

He added that the CBN will intensify the monitoring process and interrogate the process of withdrawals.

He stated that there will be strict restriction on the volume of cash that people can withdraw over the counter, as it works with the EFCC to monitor the purpose of any heavy transactions.

By Ahmad Deedat Zakari

The Nigerian media industry has adopted a new mechanism to address ethical and professional problems in the industry.

The decision was an aftermath of a media roundtable organized on Monday, 21st November, 2022.

The amalgam of the Newspapers Proprietors Association of Nigeria (NPAN), Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE), Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), Broadcasting Association of Nigeria ( BON) and the Guild of Corporate Online Publishers (GOCOP) came together to arrive at the resolution.

Media leaders and operators at the roundtable noted that the success of the co-regulation would be attainable via a workable enforcement mechanism.

According to them, co-regulation is attainable when the Nigeria Press Organization (NPO), comprising NPAN, NGE, NUJ and BON work together to make the co-regulation system effective. This will be done through the establishment of the ombudsman at local and central levels.

This is contained in a communique issued at the end of the media roundtable convened within the context of the imperative of a strategic response to the challenge of institutionalizing self-regulatory mechanisms by the media for the media.

The communique was jointly signed by the president, NPAN/NPO, Mal. Kabiru A. Yusuf, FNGE, president, NGE, Mustapha Isah, president, NUJ, Chief Chris Isiguzo, MFR, president, GOCOP, Maureen Chigbo and the executive secretary, BON, Dr. Yemisi Bamgbose

The communique noted that measures must be put in place to avoid the creation of bureaucratic structures that may have high-cost implications and hinders the efficient operation of the ombudsman.

The communique reads in part:

“That sanctions for the violation of ethical codes and professional standards shall be determined by the Ombudsman, guided by the regulation.

“That media professional bodies and associations shall partner with media organisations to give wide publicity to the decisions of the Ombudsman,” the communique stated.

On the revised Code of Ethics of Journalists in Nigeria, the communique noted that a bill of rights would be incorporated into the revised code to address concerns over some industry practices that tend to undermine the welfare and safety of journalists.

The communique also said: “That the revised code shall protect investigative journalism by making the public interest exception to instances where undercover methods may be used to obtain information.

“That the revised code shall distinguish between paid content and editorial content to preserve editorial integrity; and a new clause would be inserted to obligate journalists to promote the right of the people to know, freedom of the press and responsibility.”

Ahmad Deedat Zakari

President Muhammadu Buhari said the Kolmani oil project has attracted over $3bn investment in the oil and gas sector at a time the world is unwilling to invest in fossil energy.

The President made the disclosure while flagging off the Kolmani Development Project in Bauchi on Tuesday. The president noted that his administration has done everything to de-risk the project and attract investors.

Buhari said:

“Considering the land locked location and the huge capital requirement, the economics of the project is a challenging proposition. Consequently, from the outset, I instructed NNPC Limited to utilize and leverage their vast asset portfolio across all corridors of its operations to de-risk the project to attract the much-needed investment.”

“It is therefore to the credit of this administration that at a time when there is near zero appetite for investment in fossil energy, coupled with the location challenges, we are able to attract investment of over USD 3 billion to this project.”

The President in his address also commended the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) for their effort in discovering oil in the northern part of the country after so many futile attempts. He noted that the discovery foreshadows economic prosperity for Nigeria.

“This is indeed significant considering that, efforts to find commercial oil and gas outside the established Niger Delta Basin was attempted for many years without the desired outcomes,” he stated.

The Daily Reality had reported that the Kolmani oil exploration is the first of its kind in Northern Nigeria.

By Ahmad Deedat Zakari

President Muhammadu Buhari is all set to flag off the exploration of oil exploration in Gombe and Bauchi states. The historic event is the first of its kind in the northern part of the country.

Amidst very tight security, the president and his entourage arrived in Bauchi on Tuesday, 22nd November, 2022 for the ground- breaking ceremony and inauguration of the first oil drilling in Northern Nigeria.

The ceremony is set to take place at the OPLs 809 and 810 sites in Kolmani, a border community between Bauchi and Gombe State.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company, NNPC, had announced the discovery of oil in commercial volume in October 2019. Crude oil, gas were said to be discovered in the Kolmani River region at the community between Bauchi and Gombe State.

By Muhammadu Sabiu

The Nobel Laureate, Wole Soyinka, has stated that he does not need a religion and does not worship any gods, stating that he does not practise any religion.

At a public presentation of his two-volume collection of essays on Sunday, Soyinka made this revelation and said he saw nothing wrong with embracing mythology as an integral part of his creative process.

As a mythologist, he added, people have the right to fabricate stories about themselves based on their personal experiences.

The professor was quoted as saying, “Do I really need one (religion)? I have never felt I needed one. I am a mythologist.

“But religion? No, I don’t worship any deity. But I consider deities as creatively real and therefore my companions in my journey in both the real world and the imaginative world.”

By Samson Kefas Galadima 

Everyone can claim to be a leader, but not everyone is an effective leader. Therefore, it is time to separate the wheat from the chaff. 

People who know me very well can attest that I rarely write for politicians or people who hold public office. This is because of the preconceived notions I have about Nigerian politicians. Before now, I believed Nigerian politicians were corrupt people who share the national cake at the centre and corner while they desert their constituents. My perception has been that way right from my childhood. The reason for that cannot be far-fetched from what I see every dawn of a new day where politicians make empty promises and never keep them. Instead, they fly to Dubai or the UK for recess while the people they govern face social unrest, poverty, and even religious divisions when the nation is facing problems of national concern.

However, in the last five weeks, my generalization about some of the Nigerian politicians began to take a radical paradigm shift when I got selected to participate in the Legislative Mentorship Initiative (LMI), the brainchild of the Speaker of the 9th House of Representatives Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila. The Legislative Mentorship initiative is a special program that seeks to identify, train, and equip a younger generation of ethical public sector leaders. In addition, the program seeks to deliberately, intentionally, and consistently groom the successor generation of public sector leaders, especially legislators, to possess and demonstrate deep values of character, competence, and capacity, which would later or sooner improve governance efficiency in our country.

During the last five weeks, other 73 fellows from across the 36 States of the federation and the FCT and I had engaging moments with Mr Speaker during what we tagged as “The Mentor-Exchange (MentX)”, where the Speaker shared with us his 20 years of wealth of experience working as a Legislator, the story of his humble beginning, the challenges and how he was elected as the Speaker of the 9th House of Representatives, Federal Republic of Nigeria. It was indeed such a revealing and inspiring moment.

In addition to the awe-inspiring delivery of his speech which was graced with ease, his humility captured my heart, leaving me begging for more of his presence. When asked about effective leadership, he said, “Leadership is about sacrifice and sometimes the kind of sacrifice you would not imagine that you would want to make; it is the kind of sacrifice that hits you to the marrow.’’ Sometimes you would have to bury your interest to consider others, but above all, national interest should be what drives you at the end of the day, he added.

When speaking of humility, Rt. Hon. Femi said, “Being the Speaker of the 9th House of Representatives, I don’t see the 359 Honourable Members as subordinates. Instead, I see them as colleagues and myself as the first among equals. 

Gbajabiamila is a visionary leader who sees beyond his nose. I can attest to this through the aides he is working with and the investments he is making in the lives of young people in his constituency. This is also true for Nigeria, by extension. For instance, the Legislative Mentorship Initiative (LMI), which he founded and I am proud and privileged to be part of the inaugural cohort, is doing a fantastic job of sharpening the minds and visions of young people. He believes nation-building is a joint task that cannot be completed without the youth, and so is the task of building tomorrow’s leaders. No wonder the LMI’s motto is ‘…building the next generation of Nigeria’s public sector leaders.’ 

Another quality I admire in Gbajabiamila’s life is his vulnerability as a leader. For instance, recall sometime in July this year, the Speaker on his verified Twitter page posted pictures of himself in a classroom at Harvard School of Government in the US at a time public universities in Nigeria had been shut down for about six months at that time, Mr Speaker after widespread backlash on social media apologized to Nigerians for the insensitive post.

In his words, he wrote, “Yesterday, I posted a picture of myself at the @Harvard@Kennedy_School undergoing a course. That post was not sensitive to the present feelings of fellow citizens, especially parents and students who are presently bearing the brunt of the ongoing closure of public universities owing to the unresolved issues between the Academic Staff Union of Universities and the Federal Government of Nigeria. I apologize for the post at this time, and I hope you will understand that it was not my intention to cause disaffection.’’ Mr Speaker’s ability to accept that he was wrong when being criticized made him an exceptional leader. Unfortunately, this quality is lacking in many of Nigeria’s politicians and public servants. A significant number of them see vulnerability as a sign of weakness and not strength. 

With the contributions of Mr Speaker and other well-meaning Nigerians, a new Nigeria is possible. As I draw closer to a conclusion, I want to thank you, Mr Speaker, for never saying no to your responsibilities. In this way, Mr Speaker, you have won over another ardent supporter of accountability who will appreciate you where you deserve to be appreciated. I will provide constructive criticism and positive feedback where necessary as I share your core values of accountability, inclusivity, and effective governance. Thank you, Mr Speaker, for being an exemplary leader that makes a difference.

Samson Kefas Galadima is a writer from Gombe State and a Fellow of the Legislative Mentorship Initiative (LMI). He can be reached at kefsammy@gmail.com.