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By Umar Yahaya Dan-Inu

Governance, in simple terms, means ‘quality decision’ that affects the citizenry’s life. It encompasses accountability, openness and responsiveness in our institution. When Nigeria utilizes its resources, it can achieve progress and development in every aspect, especially when its men and women come together, respect their differences and views, and work together for the nation’s development.

Any society that lacks leaders who can stand up and look at the challenges and solve them is bound to fail. One of the finest Historians in the world, Francis Fukuyama, opined that Nigeria’s problem is a “lack of quality governance”. Since the beginning of the fourth republic, Nigerians have elected four successive presidents with an optimism that the country’s governance would be changed. Moreover, they hope that prudent accountability and transparency would be established in the polity; corruption would be minimal; the difference would be set from the military rule we experienced in the 80s and 90s; every sector of the economy would thrive.

We also expected that there would be equity, fairness and inclusion in governance and leadership where every region of the country and everyone would be carried along to change the nation’s narrative for good. But instead, the nation’s stories remained the same after 23 years of democracy.

Democracy is all about giving people the opportunity to participate in the leadership and decision-making of their country, to decide on their future, to have their voices on who should lead them and the type of policy choices government made, and how national resources should be channelled for the development of the country.

In our polity, the stories are not the same. The flaws in our democracy are very glaring. There is no prudent accountability. Even the civil society organizations (CSOs) and media houses who are to help in grilling government and demand accountability are part of the problem. Corruption has become deep in our system. We institutionalize it. Mathew Hassan Kukah’s opined that “it is part of the human system”.

Ahmed Idris, a former Accountant General of the Federation,  and his accomplices, fraudulently siphoned 109 billion naira. They took advantage of the system, betrayed the people’s trust and put the nation and its people in more miserable poverty.

There are thousands of his types and stories in this poverty. The measures put by the government to checkmate corrupt practices are not adequate. There is a need for more because corruption is in every sector and aspect of the country. Insecurity, banditry and kidnapping have taken menacing proportion. People are killed unjustifiably regularly, while the government doesn’t seem to care.

On the other hand, the academic staff union of universities (ASUU) has been on strike for several months. Students are doing nothing at home. As the government is showing a nonchalant and lackadaisical attitude toward the striking lecturers, there is no sign of ending it. This justifies the position that Nigeria needs prudent leadership and governance.

Good policy is key to achieving national development. Though public policy can be seen as an act of government carried out through the identification of societal needs and demands and acted upon by the executive and legitimized through the legislative process, it should be pro-people, participatory and devoid of elitism. When we look at the challenges posed by the lack of good policy design and implementation, one will realize Nigeria is in the wrong direction. Every past administration came into power with a vague plan that could not be achieved.

This has been the norm since Nigeria got Independence in the early 60s. The trends have always been to tell people what to do, even if it’s not feasible and realistic. When policymakers disregard the poor segment of their society, they are bound to fail. I genuinely believe that “change will not come to us easily”; it is the responsibility of scholars and experts in our country to stand up and demand change.

We need a change in the area of policy design. People should be carried along in the process of design and implementation. All their problems should be captured, and attention should be given to the solutions stated. The CSOs should track all the government expenditures to speak on the pros and cons of every policy initiated by the government and engage the government on development issues.

Nigeria needs strong leadership. It is a known fact that global leaders showed resilience and exhibited what leadership means during the worldwide pandemic. Covid-19 posed a bigger challenge to people around the world. It killed millions of people, destroyed families and hit the global economy like never before.

In Nigeria and around the world, schools were shut down. The leaders imposed a lockdown; there was no movement of people from state to state. It affects everyone. People are afraid to interact with their families and friends because they fear contaminating the virus.

We need leaders that can inspire hope in times of crisis, especially in the forthcoming 2023 election. Nigeria doesn’t deserve bad people and leaders. We need efficiency in our governance and focused leaders. A courageous and bold one. A leader who can galvanize support from the global community and command respect. A leader with capacity, empathy, foresight and deep knowledge that can translate policy goals into reality.

We must prioritize security, education, health, and employment opportunities. Our failure in effective identification, design and implementation has been the major setback of our public policy. We need expert intervention and input to get it right. We must establish good governance and uplift our people from the artificial poverty created by elite manipulation. Until and unless we stand and get it right, we will continue to suffer at the hand of bad leaders.

Umar Yahaya Dan-Inu wrote from Nguru, Yobe State via umarnguru2015@gmail.com.

By Lawan Bukar Maigana

“We are not coming into government to represent the Muslim or Christian faith. The Sultan of Sokoto and the CAN President are competent to represent their faiths. We are the Nigerian dream team that will catapult the country to a higher pedestal, and we will redefine the concept of modern governance. The Christians have nothing to fear, and there is no cause for alarm because we are one people with a common destiny.”

That was vintage Kashim Shettima, the Vice-Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), in one of his numerous efforts to push back the insinuation of a sinister motive behind the Muslim-Muslim arrangement of the party. In fact, based on his determination to deflect attention from the Muslim-Muslim ticket controversy, Shettima has been using every platform available to him to tell everyone who cares to listen that we should all focus on the issues – issues of governance and how to move the country forward.

But beyond the irritation that engulfs his face each time the issue of religion is brought up and his insistence that real issues, not inanities, should be discussed, Shettima also needs to come up with the issues he wants Nigerians to focus on and, most importantly he should lead the conversation.

Is Shettima himself or Ahmed Bola Tinubu discussing the issues? Beyond saying he and his running mate would tackle insecurity and fix the economy using their experience and the pedigree they have garnered over the years, what specifics has Shettima been discussing? What timelines?

What bold ideas are Tinubu and Shettima bringing to the table to tackle insecurity, fix the economy, power, etc.? What specific promises are they making that Nigerians can hold them accountable for?

APC is the ruling party. Tinubu/Shettima ticket is deemed to be the leading ticket in this election, and Shettima himself is believed to be the ‘Golden Boy’ of the ticket, and he deserves that accolade. So it is appropriate for Nigerians to expect a lot from him, knowing full well that he is a very sound, visionary, and modern-day leader.

Nigerians would like to know exactly what Tinubu and Shettima want to do to make their lives better and change the Nigerian condition. Nigerians want them to elevate the conversation beyond the media and public forum rhetorics.

For instance, public universities have been shut for the last six months, and the misery of our undergraduates knows no bounds. Any candidate that comes to say he would ensure they call off the strike is a lazy thinker and should not be taken seriously. That is like treating headaches and ignoring malaria, which is tantamount to leaving fundamental issues and doing window dressing for some temporary gains. ASUU crisis has been a recurring problem for decades, and Shettima and co need to tell Nigerians what they will do differently to fix the rot in the tertiary education sector and take lecturers back to classrooms and also ensure that our campuses stop producing half-baked graduates. I am talking about permanent solutions, not cosmetic measures that will last for a few months.

Nigerians are desperate to know how much Shettima and his running mate are planning to invest in tertiary education over the next four years and how they intend to raise the money that will run them. Nigerians need to know Shettima’s plans to return the universities to the glorious old days when they were some of the best research institutions in the world and where human problems were solved. When the Covid-19 pandemic and other zoonotic diseases are rocking the world, what Nigerian universities and their research institutes are doing in terms of producing vaccines to cure them? Why the over-reliance on the West?

What is Shettima’s opinion on restructuring education, federal universities, legislature, fiscal federalism, state/regional policing, power generation, distribution, and transmission?

Security challenges have also become intractable in recent years. Nigerians would like to know the bold ideas Shettima and his running mate are bringing to the table. Nigeria is said to be under-policed and under-protected generally. What Shettima’s action plans would look like in terms of empowering the Nigerian army, police and other security agencies?

The 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), makes it mandatory for the Vice President, not the President, to chair the National Economic Council, the highest decision-making body (on the Economy) in the country that has all 36 states governors, the FCT Minister and a few other ministers as members. Aside from that, successive presidents since 1999 have made it a tradition to put their deputies in charge of the entire economy. That tradition has not changed, with Vice President Yemi Osinbajo playing that role at the moment. It may not change with Shettima, and the former Borno state governor will have his job cut out for him.

Shettima stole the show at the recent Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) conference in Lagos as he dwelt on some of the issues. But Nigerians would like to see the APC blueprint and know the policies Shettima and his running mate are proposing to tackle negative macroeconomic indices such as rising inflation, poor growth rate, unemployment, underemployment, etc. What about the exchange rate and CBN policies on the monetary side of the economy? How does the APC duo intend to ensure proper fiscal supervision of the monetary side of the economy, and how is the CBN handling it?

Core inflation, headline inflation, and food inflation are all in the excess of 20 per cent in the face of dwindling purchasing power and a national currency that is always in a free fall! It would be interesting to know what Shettima’s ideas are on how to fix these multifaceted problems. What does Shettima want to do to boost local manufacturing and make Nigeria export-competitive in the global market, which is the ultimate, final solution to the twin problems of the exchange rate crisis and high rate of unemployment?

What is Shettima’s opinion on the country’s debt crisis? Do they intend to take more foreign loans? If yes, why?

The current managers of the economy have for years been spending over 90 per cent of the country’s revenue on debt servicing while they keep taking more and more loans and claiming the country’s debt to GDP ratio is okay without paying attention to the revenue end of the argument. Now, the worst has just happened with the 2022 first quarter reports revealing that the government spent more on debt servicing than what it generated as revenue within the quarter, and the difference was in the region of 300 billion nairas! That means aside from the already known scandal of borrowing to pay salaries, they have been borrowing more to service previous debts, a terrible vicious cycle that is highly unsustainable!

This shows that the problem is more on revenue generation than the present government‘s obsession with foreign loans. Shettima must have a couple of ideas about how to boost the country’s revenue from both oil and non-oil sources.

Talking about oil and gas, what about oil theft? It is crystal clear that it is the reason why Nigeria cannot meet her OPEC quota of 2 million barrels per day, and that is the reason for the country’s revenue shortage. Nigeria is the only country in OPEC that is losing up to 400,000 barrels of crude oil per day to the organised, exotic, white-collar crime called oil theft! And this is the major reason the country’s revenue base is wobbling. Shettima should tell us if their administration would be able to summon the political will to confront the highly placed, untouchable monsters behind the evil of oil theft and save Nigeria from becoming another Sri Lanka or Venezuela!

Yet, this same broke country is spending trillions of naira on the corruption-prone, an opaque scam called fuel subsidy. While failing to fix ailing refineries and importing refined products, and killing the naira, the country is spending billions of naira on a monthly basis to sustain hundreds of redundant staff members of these refineries that are not producing up to a drop of refined petroleum!

While not attacking or seeming to be openly disagreeing with the sitting government since they are of the same political party, the duo of Tinubu and Shettima have a duty to let Nigerians know their proposed choices among the difficult options that will be available to the country from next year.

In a nutshell, the APC duo needs to come up with a robust policy or action plan that will answer a lot of questions in the minds of Nigerians. They need to tell Nigerians what they should expect from them within the first hundred days in office, the first six months, the first year, and so on. While marking their first hundred days, how many executive bills would they have sent to the National Assembly? Which of the troubled sectors will they declare a state of emergency? Is it security, power, aviation, education, oil, and gas, or all of the above? Nigerians need to know!

I am urging Shettima and his running mate to come clean on their implementable plans so that Nigerians can scrutinize them accordingly and fairly when they get into office. Doing so now will send a strong signal to the electorates that they will be transparent and accountable to the people when they occupy the highest offices in the land.

May Nigeria succeed!

Lawan Bukar Maigana writes from Wuye District Abuja. He can be reached via lawanbukarmaigana@gmail.com.

By Muhammad Aminu

At least ten people have been trapped in a three-storey building being constructed in the famous Beirut Road market in Kano City.

An unspecified number of people have been affected, including some people working on the construction site.

An eyewitness said that the Kano State Government is constructing the building. He confirmed that close to ten people are still trapped in the collapsed building.

Three people have been rescued so far, but residents are lamenting the late arrival of the rescue operations team. An eyewitness also said his friend was among the trapped as his number rang and he answered, saying he was suffocating.

The incident happened around 30:30pm Tuesday.

By Muhammad Aminu

The presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, has donated N50 million to Kantin Kwari textile market in Kano following a flood that affected the market.

The Star earlier reported that Kano has been witnessing torrential rainfall in the last few days that has led to floods in many parts of the metropolis, including the Kwari textile market.

The presidential candidate announced the donation Monday while welcoming former Kano State Governor Ibrahim Shekarau to the PDP.

He sympathized with the businessmen and women who were already suffering from an unfriendly business environment with economic hardship.

According to him, Shekarau’s defection is a win for the people of Kano State, the PDP and the country.

The former Kano State governor argued that Atiku was the most qualified candidate to get Nigeria working again come 2023.

Atiku was in Kano since Sunday alongside his running mate Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal of Sokoto State, former Governor of Jigawa State, Sule Lamido, former Minister of Transportation, Senator Abdullahi Umar Idris, among other party chieftains.

By Ahmad Deedat Zakari

Bashir El-Rufai, the son of Kaduna State Governor Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai, has described the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, as a “useless union” that should be scrapped.

The junior El-Rufai, on Monday, August 29, 2022, said ASUU is useless and should be replaced with educators that care about the students and Nigeria.

“ASUU is a very useless union. They should be scrapped & replaced with educators that actually give a damn about students and how that translates to the future of this country.” He tweeted

El-Rufai’s condemnation of ASUU is coming after the union extended its ongoing strike in the early hours of this morning. ASUU has been on strike for half a year, an industrial crisis that has crippled the academic activities across Nigeria’s public universities.

By Uzair Adam Imam

At least three people reportedly died while 15 others sustained injuries in an auto car accident that occurred in Takai Local Government Area of Kano State.

The Kano State Fire Service Spokesman, Yusuf Abdullahi, confirmed the development Sunday, saying the accident involved a Toyota Hilux conveying three people from Jigawa State and a commercial hummer bus conveying 15 others from Kano.

Abdullahi, who identified the dead victims as Sani Isah 28, Shamawilu Isah 30 and Musa Yusuf, 32, stated, “On receiving the information, we quickly sent out our rescue team to the scene of the accident for rescue.

“On arrival, we found out that it was a commercial bus (hummer bus) without registration number and conveying 15 people from Kano that had a head-on collision with a Toyota Hilux conveying three persons coming from Jigawa with registration number JMK 142 XA. The hummer bus was engulfed by fire.

“Out of the 18 people involved, 15 people were rescued alive while three out of the passengers from the hummer bus were rescued unconscious. We immediately conveyed them to Takai General Hospital where doctors on duty confirmed the three unconscious, dead,” he said.

By Muhammadu Sabiu

Malam Ibrahim Shekarau, a former governor of Kano State, has formally rejoined the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Shekarau joined the PDP on Monday in Kano after leaving the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP).

The PDP’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, Iyorchia Ayu, the party’s national chairman, and other PDP members met with the former governor.

Shekarau joined the NNPP from the All Progressives Congress (APC) and left it two months later.

Shekarau, a senator for Kano Central, previously served as Kano’s governor for two terms and as Nigeria’s minister of education.

He also contested for president of Nigeria in the 2011 general elections.

By Lawi Auwal Yusuf

Researchers in social policy now prefer to use the concept of social exclusion to explain multiple deprivations that prevent individuals from joining important community activities. This goes beyond commodities that can be directly purchased. For example, it’s difficult for the socially excluded to secure a job, engage in recreational activities or participate in politics beyond mere voting.

It moves beyond consumption to examine how resources affect the participation of worse-off members in society. Poverty impinges on participation in social activities that are essential to everyday life. For instance, visiting a hospitalised brother or friend. Individuals are deprived if they cannot afford even the cheapest activities.

In the same vein, controlling inequality is indispensable if poverty and social exclusion are to be combated. Any nation with a broader gap between the rich and the poor is bound to be stubbornly enmeshed in poverty. However, some scholars accept that it is not easy to uproot inequality completely. They suggest making a poverty benchmark: income below the average. Those individuals with scanty resources less than this dividing line are considered poor with an intolerable living standard. In this case, there might be inequality devoid of poverty. This idea is primarily concerned with dissipating poverty altogether and integrating people rather than making them more equal.

It is crucial to distinguish between poverty and social exclusion. Poverty refers to material fewness or the lack of means to live a happy life. While social exclusion consists of a broader range of ways whereby members of a society are disadvantaged, consequently predisposing them to poverty. It involves a lack of participation in decision-making and civil, social and cultural life. These deprivations hinder individuals from participating fully in social life. However, both portray the existence of injustice in society.

Tackling social exclusion must involve measures to deal with institutional ethnic stratification, tribalism, sex discrimination, and gender inequality and encourage stronger community cohesion. Nonetheless, institutional ethnic stratification of minority groups is more likely to cause poverty and exclusion among disadvantaged groups than all the other factors. This is because ethnic harassment does produce fear and a sense of isolation, thereby augmenting the social exclusion produced by other inequalities.

Furthermore, women and children are more vulnerable to extreme poverty than men, while lone mothers are at higher risk. This speaks to the high rate of unemployment which is also higher among women than men. This is a reason that helps to explain the high rate of women deprivation that is becoming more noticeable. To cut women’s poverty, it’s necessary to combat the underlying causes like girls’ educational disadvantage, idleness of women, gender discrimination/inequality, lack of promotion for women on low wages and deficient educational achievement for the children of impoverished households. However, a significant increase in welfare services and full employment of women would make a difference.

Disability is another relevant factor prone to poverty and exclusion. Rude attitudes of people towards disabled individuals remain a major cause of exclusion, whereas the need now is for inclusion. Stigmatisation is not only a barrier to participation in the community but also a deliberate move to distance them from the existing opportunities. Moreover, high rates of deprivation among disabled people are a result of marginalisation in the labour market.

Unfortunately, impaired persons tend to have higher living expenses than normal persons for commodities of their special needs. The extra costs for disability include healthcare, physical aid or transport. As a result, they suffer from poverty alongside exclusion, while participation in society is restricted by sensory defects or limited mobility. This results in overall deficient health, which impedes their employability and the ability to work, unlike the non-disabled.

However, poverty and social exclusion are not inevitable consequences of disability. Instead, they are due to discrimination and failure to provide the resources and facilities needed to reduce its effect. Thus, authorities must make strict laws against the harassment of persons with an impairment. Furthermore, public and private organisations must also take reasonable steps to accommodate the needs of disabled persons until the physical environment becomes completely user-friendly for them.

The major causes of poverty in Nigeria include dead-end jobs, low pay, lack of promotion of low-income workers, poor education for the children of the poor and high taxes. The government must understand that excessive taxes such as Value Added Tax and duties tend to take up a larger share of the income of average Nigerians.

Furthermore, a lack of sound education and training for the children of ordinary Nigerians is the leading force behind poverty and exclusion. Skills are increasingly becoming more valuable in the labour market, and without them, there is a high risk of redundancy.

Joblessness is a strong predisposing factor because participation in the labour market greatly reduces the risk of poverty and exclusion, while idleness is closely correlated with them. Provision of full employment with prospects is the gateway to ensuring a better and prosperous life. It also provides the poor with social networks that give a sense of inclusion. It also helps in coping with these acute situations.

Similarly, a high number of children in a family is another factor that increases the risk of poverty compared with smaller households because of the extra costs involved.

Finally, for Nigeria to win its war against poverty, good governance must be the leading force in this crusade. Stealing, embezzlement and turning public office into an instrument of creating wealth for acquaintances and tribal brethren must utterly vanish. Contrarily, transparency, providence, judicious redistribution of resources and equal treatment of all irrespective of closeness or ethnic background must prevail. 

Lawi Auwal Yusuf wrote from Kano, Nigeria

By Yusufu Musa

Watching Prof. Ibrahim Maqari’s outburst the other day made it difficult to respond to several inquiries. One of these is whether solving all the problems ASUU is bringing home will fundamentally alter the perception of the higher education system and transform our universities into those we hear about in Europe and North America.

On February 14, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) announced the start of a four-week roll-over strike that has since been extended three times. However, the issues brought up by Prof. Maqari are not ones that ASUU is examining. Instead, the union is concerned about the subpar working circumstances of its members, the proliferation of institutions, and the appalling physical and technological facilities of public universities.

Maqari alienated his old coworkers by criticizing them. He accused them of working only three to four hours a week, failing to undertake significant research, and engaging in academic fraud to further their careers. Unfortunately, I lack the means to substantiate his broad assertion because intellectual property theft is a severe legal matter. Thankfully, the targets have responded to him with detailed arguments.

I’m arguing in support of his assertion that lecturers should do the duties for which they are compensated, such as quality research and teaching if they want to be paid like Harvard professors who put in long hours. Because when a lecturer declines to instruct, the pupils suffer as a result.

I believe the next battle is one that students should win on their own. There is an internal conflict at the university. University students, who are primarily young people, can ensure that lecturers are held accountable. Still, they don’t always seem to reject the behaviour of some instructors, about whom ASUU appears unconcerned despite the proverb that “charity begins at home.”

ASUU is fighting its own battle but never agrees there are bad elements in the university system that should be fished out. 

The allegorical story Animal Farm by George Orwell struck a chord with me because of how the author captured the naivety of the oppressed in the figure of Boxer. Napoleon never fails, according to Boxer. This is a ball of fire that allows himself to be fooled. In actuality, he is the manor farm’s strongest animal.

Since then, critics have said Boxer represents the Soviet Union’s working class under Stalin’s rule. Members of this group contributed to Stalin’s rise to power. What took place in the end? Boxer became so weak that he was used and dumped. He believed the “thing with two legs” to be his enemy and agreed to help destroy the farm’s owner, only for his persuaders to grow more oppressive.

Consider Nigerian students to be Boxers because they believe ASUU is always right.

While it is true that Nigeria is not working, we are all equally to blame. We understand the system rather well because we are students at the institution.

Prof. Maqari revealed the other side of the story, but ASUU was not pleased. ASUU is bringing the gospel to the government house even though they also require it.

According to Qur’an 2:44: “Despite reading the Book, do you preach holiness but fail to uphold it yourself? Why don’t you understand?”

Through a lecturer, I learned that someone had proposed in one of his university’s senate sessions that professors be required to periodically take an exam so that administration may determine if they are still “professing.” The contributor worried that his colleagues would stop performing research once they received the title. For fear of the professors leaving for other universities, his recommendation was flatly denied.

When they notice that a promotion exercise is getting closer, some professors realize they need to compose a paper. When they do, no one will read the pieces they publish in a departmental journal. The articles are created for promotion rather than to contribute to the scientific community.

I recently visited a department head in one college of education. I noticed some journals on her bookcase. I told her I wanted to submit an article for their upcoming issue. Try to guess what the HoD said. She said that the journal was only released during every promotion season.

Government investment in universities may not change much because some teachers’ unethical behaviour is not being monitored. Even worse, individuals who should be watching for such unethical behaviour believe they are always right. According to them, only the government and students engage in destructive behaviour. Who will then stand up for students?

Students should reject any proposal to restructure the university system without establishing a framework to monitor the behaviour of the teachers. The battle for a functional university system goes beyond having lovely lecture halls, modern labs, and libraries.

Junior academics, resentful of their seniors, do most of the work. Because they are overseeing their PG dissertations, they treat them like slaves.

Even in the classes these powerful lecturers teach, the juniors are tasked with grading the written assignments. A junior lecturer would be seen grading papers for eight courses.

Most of our professors would visit the classroom once or twice during our time at the institution to launch a course and hand it off to a junior scholar. Some of them never even tried to educate us. Due to their inflated sense of importance, they are too big to instruct undergraduates. They were seldom ever seen in the departments. Because their mentors don’t have time, graduate students spend years researching at the institution.

Students must understand that nobody would stand up for them. The government may revitalize institutions and increase funds for higher education, but who has the right to oversee professors’ negligence?

Nigerian young, unlike Boxer, are aware of their power, which they used during the EndSARS rally. The youth must speak up and demand changes in education and other areas of national policy that will affect their future. Some of these teachers have our support despite doing nothing. The strike will finish. We’ll return to the classroom, but will the ASUU police its members there as well?

Yusufu Musa writes from Kaduna and can be reached via ymusa4055@gmail.com.

By Hidayah Bashir Dayyib

There’s a famous saying that “learning never ends”. We’re always learning either actively or passively. Learning starts right from birth, at school/college, and even after graduation.

Learning new skills and honing the acquired ones is of utmost importance for one to succeed or stand out in whatever profession, job, or workplace. And thanks to today’s digital world for providing numerous ways of learning than ever before. For example, you can take online courses, watch YouTube videos, attend webinars, and many more.

As we all embark on the learning journey, we focus only on the “learning” and perhaps never think of learning how to “learn”.

There are scientifically proven techniques based on neuroscience and cognitive psychology to help you “learn more effectively” and “learn like a pro”.

Despite our different levels of understanding, these techniques are helpful and productive when applied. These are some of them:

1. Retrieval practice: This is the best and most effective learning technique. It is a way of testing yourself to recall/retrieve from your memory the key ideas and important points,  remembering as much as possible from what you learn (it may be a lecture, a video, reading a book, or solving a problem).

The best way to understand your learning process is through retrieval practice (what scientists call “metacognition”)

This technique will help you learn faster and better and give you a deep understanding of what you’re learning.

2. Pomodoro Technique: It was invented by an Italian Francisco Cirillo and is super simple. The first step is clearing away distractions and setting a timer to 25 minutes. Work as intently as possible during these 25 minutes, and then take a break for 5 minutes. “Taking a brief, five-minute break after approximately 25 minutes of studying can help your brain process new learning, so what you’ve just been learning isn’t overwritten”.

It is required to relax and not switch tasks during the break.

The Pomodoro is flexible. You can experiment with the timing that works best and go with it. This technique is a powerful tool that helps you sharpen your focus and learn faster and deeper.

3. The hard start technique: This technique is used when solving a tricky problem. It is a way of starting a test or assignment with the hardest part. When you get stuck, leave it and solve the simpler problems coming back later to it. You’ll find yourself making progress because your brain has been trying to find a solution to it while you’re away. In addition, the “Hard Start” technique can help you get credit for more challenging problems on tests.

4. Spacing out your learning into smaller periods over several days. Experiments have shown that spacing your learning over several days helps you learn better with less effort. Moreover, pacing out your learning over several days will make your brain strengthen the stored information.

When you use spaced learning, the infirmaries can make their way into your long-term memory.

Fun fact: Regular exercise boost learning

5. Association and metaphor

Metaphor is relating what you’re learning with what you already know. This helps the new knowledge stick better to the brain. A difficult idea can be simple when related to the right metaphor.

Associating what you’re learning with what you already know will help me remember better.

6. Memorisation: memorising information makes you understand it better, and memorising what you understand more easily. There’s a link between memory and understanding.

Best ways to memorise include:

A. Retrieval practice: instead of the traditional way of memorisation by looking or reading the information, try retrieving it from your memory and testing yourself to recall the information. A powerful way of retrieval is using flash cards.

B. Form an acronym or sentence from keywords: This is a powerful and efficient way of memorisation. Play around with the order of words to come up with a remarkable combination. 

C.  Use the Memory Palace technique: it is a technique used by memory champions to memorise incredible information. It involves using an image-based memory technique.

In the memory palace, you create an image of every word or phrase you want to remember and then place these images in a building you’re familiar with. This is a fantastic technique for memorising large amounts of information or data. When mastered, you’ll be amazed and appreciate it.

D. Form memorable mental images is similar to the association technique above. For example, when you try to remember a trip or a moment, it is usually through the images of the events that happened. Our brains function through images. It is recommended while learning a new language.

Which of these techniques do you use to learn? Please share with me the ones you’re fascinated about and would try. Then, as you are submerged in learning, remember to use these techniques to facilitate your learning.

Happy learning.

Hidayah Bashir Dayyib wrote from Kano via hudaelbasheer15@gmail.com.