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By Lawi Auwal Yusuf

Prostitution is a global phenomenon and not particular to one society. However, it’s a worsening problem in tertiary institutions as female students take it as a means of livelihood and accomplishing their academic objectives. Moreover, extravagant lifestyles, peer-group influence, and drug addiction are also reasons for such deviance in academia.

This is the business of providing relatively indiscriminate lustful services to another person who is not a spouse in exchange for immediate payment, valuables, or a contracted favour. The absence of deep emotional liking is an essential element of passionate relationships.

These students readily accept these benefits in return for services to virtually everyone willing to pay, with few exceptions of relatives. Hence, the basis for engaging in the act is the reciprocal material benefit or favour while the male partner participates for pleasure.

The immoral students provide these illegitimate services to nefarious staff, co-students and off-campus lovers. They exhibit themselves enticingly to get undeserved favours like altering the marks of their failed courses to pass, upgrading their CGPA, divulging examination questions and other confidential information or giving admission to unqualified candidates. Moreover, their indecent and seductive dressing, revealing sensitive parts of their bodies, is an open invitation to lure men.

It is incredible to see how boisterous female hostels are at dusk and the splendid cars that pick up girls to hotels, nocturnal occasions, jamboree parties, clubs, and other joyous night entertainment. Affluent clients are supplied with enough quantity to satisfy their amorousness as simple as pressing a button. Similarly, tourists, especially those travelling from foreign countries, also patronise them. These harlots are also hired for politicians at the expense of taxpayers.

The effects of this illicit trade are enormous. It should not be perceived just as a victimless crime. It leads to other heinous crimes and unpredictable consequences. Corruption, favouritism, infidelity and the spread of venereal diseases are also repercussions of prostitution. Similarly, it contributes to the precarious state of education and the nation at large.

Higher institutions churn out these incompetent graduates who are employed into various positions to provide services to the public which require expertise. Today it’s so sad that jobs are given to the highest bidders or these strumpets who engage in the wicked services with employers before they are recruited. Lack of specialisation leads to rendering poor services. Thus, meritocracy as a core principle of bureaucracy and a catalyst for Nigeria’s advancement is at its lowest ebb.

The proliferation of brothels is noticeable in the neighbourhood of most schools. Student-whores find men on campus and in town whom they may never meet again and contact STDs. They subsequently infect several others, which may include innocent wives or husbands. These dangerous or fatal ailments are impediments to a healthy and productive population. Furthermore, the used paraphernalia not correctly disposed of are potentially hazardous to public health.

Violent crimes are also perpetrated on campuses as prostitution attracts anonymous visitors and criminals who rape, assault, dupe or even slay their lovers and other students. These criminals also engage in drug dealing and addiction. Crime is so dangerous when rates of victimisation are high because communities become dismembered. People become distrustful of one another and prefer to stay indoors. This will make students and staff uncomfortable and hinder teaching and learning.

Prostitution facilitates corruption and favouritism in government whereby politicians and civil servants steal public funds or make unmerited favours in exchange for the services. Policing also worsens extortion and bribery as it creates opportunities for police and college guards to engage in unethical conduct like collecting bribes in exchange for non-enforcement.

Furthermore, it is a nuisance to uninvolved people. Legitimate businesses lose customers who avoid the area due to inconvenience and traffic congestion, affecting the local economy. In addition, married people engaged in these promiscuous activities seem lackadaisical about the consequences when their spouse realises. Indeed, they run the risk of separation, resulting in higher divorce rates and broken families.

The untainted students can develop an interest in prostitution by intermingling with tainted ones, especially intimate groups and friends. The senior prostitutes influence those close to them in the environment and serve as the source of learning for new ones.

Moreover, such activities give room for ungodly male students and staff to sexually abuse innocent female students. They put them under duress or undue influence to concede and give in.

This makes numerous parents and husbands apprehensive and reluctant to let their daughters and wives pursue further education. In addition, some hate and stereotype Western education, which causes significant setbacks to girls’ education and gender equality.

Many of these erring personnel are apprehended and their appointments terminated while others are prosecuted. Unfortunately, this punishment seems to have no appreciable effect because it is becoming more rampant nowadays.

Finally, I hope this article will attract the attention of all the stakeholders more to make concerted efforts to exterminate this menace from our campuses.

Lawi Auwal Yusuf wrote from Kano, Nigeria. He can be contacted via laymaikanawa@gmail.com.

By Adamu Isah Babura

“Baban Khalifa”, Hafsat called me.

I don’t like this Baban “father of” appellation. Since the tradition demands that she, as my wife, should not call me “Muhammad”, which is my name, why not something like “Sweetheart”, “My Love” and so on that she used to give me before we were blessed with children? Khalifa is the nickname of our first child. He too has his real name hidden. I named him after my eldest brother, Abubakar. As another tradition requests, we should not call him by that name. It would look quite disrespectful.

“Baban Khalifa,” she repeated, now a bit louder, interrupting my thoughts.

“Yes,” I responded and looked at her with rapt attention. I knew she wanted something, a request or a favour, I guessed. I would grant her wish, regardless of the difficulty, I said to myself. The setting and timing could not be better.

It was on a peaceful Sunday morning. It had been raining since dawn. The rain began soon after we finished the early dawn prayer (Subh) at the mosque, which was behind our street. We barely reached home when it became so strong. Most likely, those faithful staying behind after the prayer for Zikr could not make it home without getting drenched. Or, they could extend their stay in the small, poorly ventilated mosque, especially as its single door and two tiny windows had to be closed to prevent the rain from coming in. Whatever it was, I was back at home. I slept until after 8:00 am when Hafsat woke me up for breakfast. As usual, she had already arranged everything and more, for she had put on one of her best clothes. There was scented air blowing beautifully from a lighted incense. Moreover, the electricity company had brought back power, which went off during the rain. It is their habit always to take it off whenever it rains. Almost everyone now expects power outage as soon as it starts raining. Quite unusual of my wife today, she insisted that we listen to my favourite music by Nura M. Inuwa. I agreed.

The children were still asleep. After all, nobody would wake them up this early for any reason on a Sunday morning. On the weekends, their Islamic school opens at 2:00 pm. For now, the house was ours, Hafsat and me. I was expecting her to ask for something pricey or a complex task, but she came up with a question I was not ready to answer. No, I could explain it there and then, but I did not want to revisit that unfortunate event that had shaped my life forever.

“I want to know you better,” she uttered with a serious yet smiling face. That was quite uncharacteristic of her. “Tell me, why are you so dovish?” she asked and then added that she had never seen a man like me who, as others, including my friends and hers, told her, acted like a spineless woman. We had never had a little argument since our marriage seven years ago.

Well, I did not know where to begin. Marcus Aurelius, a character in the famous Gladiator movie succinctly said, “Waste no more time arguing what a good man should be. Be one.” Quite early in my life, I started doing exactly that. Additionally, I expected others to do the same, not only for themselves but also for the sake of humanity. I envisioned a world where peace and understanding exist and reign in all quarters. You may call it El-Dorado on earth. I was well aware that some close friends jibe me on that, saying that this world could not be what I wanted and that I was simply an idealist. I never argued further, for I considered myself a pragmatist. Therefore, engaging them in a debate would be futile. None of us was willing to believe with the other, and that would contradict my principle.

People could be born like that, but I was not. I then narrated to Hafsat a life-shaping incident that happened during our childhood to a neighbour called Tijjani. It left an indelible mark on my personality. Since then, I agreed with the Hausa maxim that says “Mutum rahama ne”, meaning “a human being is a mercy”. Before the unfortunate incident, Tijjani never cared to talk to anyone in the community. The most shocking fact about his antisocial behaviour was his being poor. Often, it was the rich that looked down on the low-income individuals. That was not the case here. However, his wife was somehow unlike him as she used to visit one or two friends in the neighbourhood before he forbade her. In short, no one knew anything about him and his family.

On one fateful day, Tijjani, who lived in Hotoro, a suburb of Kano city in those days, took his wife to their house in the metropolis. That was their routine whenever he was travelling. However, quite unusual f their schedule that day, the wife returned to the home in the evening. With a phone in one hand, she picked up a piece of stone and knocked at their door repeatedly, loudly. As she later revealed, he didn’t answer or return her several calls since they parted in the morning. Therefore, she suspected that he might have abandoned the idea to travel and came back home. But, the house was still locked. She frantically called his phone number, again and again, no response. She gave up and went back home.

Days and almost a week passed, nobody heard of Tijjani. All efforts to trace his whereabouts proved in vain. His wife, whose name I cannot recall, could not ask anyone around, for she very well knew that her husband did not interact with anyone. She resorted to reporting the case to the police who later came and forcibly opened the house. To everyone’s sheer shock, they found an almost decomposed body of Tijjani inside their bedroom. No doubt, people in the neighbourhood had been complaining of a strange smell recently. He was gagged, both hands and legs bound with curtains, and his stomach ripped. The house was almost empty, and everything had been packed away. Upon investigation, people in the neighbourhood could only recall seeing some unknown individuals with a truck carting away property from the house. Nobody asked them why, how or anything whatsoever. The few eyewitnesses interviewed by the police thought that Tijjani was simply relocating to another area.

Hafsat’s eyes were already filled with tears. She gently argued that that was the highest form of I-don’t-care attitude on the neighbours’ part and prayed to Allah to rest Tijjani’s soul in peace, and for the punishment of his cruel murderers. Although I said “Amin,” I didn’t agree with her entirely. It takes two to tango. We should be our neighbours’ keepers. Both our religion and culture teach us to do that, for inevitably, we reap what we sow.

Adamu Babura is a lecturer at the Department of English and Literary Studies, Bayero University, Kano. He can be reached via adamubabura@gmail.com.

By Adamu Bello Mai-Bodi

The success stories emanating from the Boko Haram epicentre in Nigeria’s north-eastern states, particularly Borno and Yobe, must not be separated from the combination of unwavering military operations and the assistance given by the tactically planned Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF). CJTF is a local group founded in 2013 to support the Nigerian military’s operations against extremists and defend local populations from attacks like the ones currently taking place in Kaduna, Niger, Sokoto, Zamfara and Katsina.

Recent events in Nigeria reveal that the region’s indigenes primarily carry out terror activities. The Northwest is no exception. To put an end to this brutality, the authorities in the Northwest should take a page out of Borno State’s book and organize a local militia to work alongside the military. Locals know their communities’ lows and highs, nooks and crannies way better than military personnel. Therefore, involving them would boost the chances of conquering non-state actors and their partners in crime.

The people of Hausa land have a history of bravery and, if given a chance, many will volunteer to work in the task force to bring respite to and rid their community of murderous bandits. On this note, Nigerian authorities should give Northwest people a chance to work with the military and salvage the region. In addition, the loose group should possess basic weapons and must have female members to help with handling women and children. When this is done, I’m optimistic about having Borno-esque results.

The going is now rough in the Northwest, and the people are willing to fight back, but the constituted authorities don’t allow that. This region is densely populated. Every state can recruit at least thirty thousand vigilantes and pay each member a twenty-thousand naira incentive per month. Notwithstanding, authorities should be very observant during the recruitment of this recommended vigilante group to avoid engaging the bandits’ Trojan horses.

Gathering intelligence would be easier with the CJTF in place. The locals hired would quickly identify criminals and their enclaves, resulting in more successful security operations. Apart from increasing security, another positive aspect of the CJTF concept is that it provides people with temporary jobs to keep them occupied and provide food for their families. Instead of governments and individuals paying large sums of money as ransom to bandits, the money could be utilized to pay vigilantes a monthly stipend.

Adamu Bello Mai-Bodi writes from Azare, Bauchi State. He can be reached via admabel86@gmail.com.

By Auwal Umar

The books of history and religion are replete with facts of many apostles of Allah, their companions, their followers, other great personalities, as well as some pious predecessors who audaciously confronted the most brutally imposing rulers of their times. Prophet Moses’ Pharaoh is the most prominent example from the time immemorial to date. Two days ago, an erudite Sokoto-based Islamic scholar, Prof. Mansur Sokoto, chose that path of honour that commensurates with the position of Islamic scholarship regarding the tear-shedding condition of insecurity and unprecedented carefree attitude about the general plight of the masses.

In the lecture, the Islamic cleric gave an overview of the multifaceted ways the occupant of the number one seat, the assumed Messiah, betrayed the mandate entrusted to him by the Nigerian masses. You may recall how President Buhari shed tears each time he was on the losing side at the polls and showed sympathy with our plight during the previous dispensations. Due to his long-standing and seemingly unfading popularity, people from every nook and cranny in the North supported him.

Prof. Sokoto recounted how an old woman of 100 years or thereabouts was optatively praying: “O God never take away my soul, lest I die without voting for Buhari to the presidential seat.” Some in the North died due to wild celebrations for his success. He commented on the support he enjoyed from some Islamic clerics, with some of them publicly invoking the wrath of Allah upon those that refused to vote for him. These bespoke the unalloyed love President Buhari enjoyed.

During the lecture, Prof. Sokoto brought to the fore some of the campaign promises Buhari used to make. He always assured the northerners and Nigerians in general that he would equate the value of Naira to a Dollar, improve the quality of education at all levels, reduce the pump price, among many other sugarcoated promises. Before Prof. Sokoto went on squarely to shed light on the height of insensitivity of President Buhari, he commended his efforts for restoring peace in the North in his first tenure before the worst came to worst. Specifically, the following are some key takeaways from Prof. Sokoto’s lecture.

Discriminatory and lopsided treatment against the North

As highlighted in the lecture, despite all the support president Buhari received before and after getting elected, he scrapped the pilgrimage subsidy. On every predicament that befalls the South, the President and his aides will quickly make a press release and take necessary actions but act quite differently when there is a similar occurrence in the North. Recently, 42 passengers were ruthlessly burnt down to ashes by bandits, but their lives were not worth a word of sympathy from the President. On the following day, ignominiously, the President headed to Lagos for a book launch by Bisi Akande. Ironically, there in the book, many blows of satire were landed on his face, which he might be unaware of. Again, bandits launched a series of attacks for four consecutive days, killing an APC gubernatorial candidate. A Kaduna state law-maker and a Katsina State Science and Technology Commissioner also fell victim to the same fate. Additionally, the former President, Shehu Shagari, lost his life, but President chose to go to the funeral of late Abiola’s wife. Even Prof. Ayo Banjo, treated with reverence, was quick to disown some facts credited to him in the book that seemed to be more important than the lives of charred passengers.

Misplacement of priorities

Buhari’s government is very good at misplacing its priorities. He borrowed a large sum of billions to share with some ghosts and nonexistent beneficiaries. Such funds can be used appropriately to address many problems bedevilling the nation.  Had the amount, vainly shared with less visible economic impact, been channelled for the general fixing of the power sector, the impacts from all its veins would have been visibly seen. Resident doctors’ lingering problem of strikes can be a thing of the past if just four billion naira would be dedicated to their cause. That is without talking about the flashy presidential weddings that gulped many billions in a day.

Failure of the government to address cattle rustling dilemma

The cleric hints at a crucial point that needs special attention. He lamented that many Fulanis’ cattle were stolen with no action taken against the theft, and the entrepreneurs of doom and downfall might have capitalized this. In other words, the problem of banditry is probably the result of retaliation by the aggrieved Fulani youth whose cattle were rustled, and the government failed to call the culprits to book. Such instances of “I don’t-care attitudes” by Buhari’s government can’t be numbered. If the government were seriously proactive on the issue, the chances are that we would not be in the present situation.

Wrong advisors and mediocrity

Despite the inexplicable delay of six months to appoint ministers, President Buhari picked one of the worst sets of cabinets, some of whom are unheard of even in the mass media. The President neither gave room for workable advice nor appointed competent hands to handle the job. Moreover, he does not listen to the voices of the experts, journalists, activists and Islamic clerics.

The cabinet goes unchecked

Once you are appointed to serve in Buhari’s government, you can do whatever you like because no one would hold you responsible for your actions or inactions. Buhari hardly gets his cabinet reshuffled because he does not care for accountability. If you were to assess his cabinet by any reasonable standard, the result would surely be awful. As a result, his cabinet members are often unruffled and well aware that they would be sacked only if they clash with some untouchable cabals.

Corruption, impunity and an unworkable justice system

Prof. lamented the high level of corruption in the government, with government officials routinely stealing public funds, with no fear of facing the consequences. He labelled the justice system under this administration as unworkable. Unfortunately, the arrests of kidnappers, bandits and insurgents always resurface on social media, but you never hear of them being sentenced. More often than not, some criminals confess their crimes not under duress but because of frailty in the justice system. And yet, they still go scot-free.

Yawuri students still in captivity

A responsible government can never be in peace when just one of its citizens is in danger.  One cannot begin to imagine the unspeakable horror of being held captive by those filthiest beasts, rapists and defilers. The worst thing now is that government does not even talk about them, much less of their potential release from their captors. These innocently helpless students have been in captivity for five months in this horrific condition. There are other similar scenarios in Niger and many other northern states.

Powerful task force on security

The cleric recommended that the government set up a team of presidential task force similar or even more robust than the Covid-19 task force to tackle insecurity head-on. The team should include experts, intellectuals, journalists, traditional rulers, elder statesmen and politicians to provide strategic advice and technical know-how.

State governors should be granted the power to act on the security of their states

Although state governors nominally bear the ceremonial titles of “Chief Security”, their power to act on security issues is limited. Thus, Prof. Sokoto advised that laws should be enacted to enable governors to act and direct the security agencies at their disposal. However, it is a bitter truth that no matter how willing a governor of a crisis-ridden state is, he is not much different from his poor citizens. 

The need to be more pious

Finally, the Islamic cleric emphasized the need for the President and the rest of us to be more God-fearing in all our doings. May Allah reward Prof. Mansur Sokoto for his invaluable words concerning the reality and the sorry state of the nation, amin.

Auwal Umar wrote from Kano. He is a graduate student at the Department of English and Literary Studies, Bayero University, Kano.

By Abdelghaffar Abdelmalik Amoka

There was this piece of trending news over the last week on a certain ranking from the National University Commission (NUC) where the University of Ibadan was the best, and Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University came last. The ranking received a lot of reactions. While there were jubilations from the graduates and students of the relatively younger universities (TETFund Universities as they are popularly called) as they were highly rated on the ranking, the students of some old universities (allegedly living on past glory) were not pleased with the ranking, especially those that were ranked very low despite their gigantic structures. On the other hand, some new universities without research infrastructures were reported to have high per capital google scholar index. Not sure how that was achieved, though.

While the argument was going on among the students about the ranking, ASUU members were having meetings across the universities on another looming strike. The ASUU NEC was reported to be in a meeting this weekend to decide on the looming 2021 strike. While we are awaiting the outcome of the meeting, the students seem to be more concerned with the ranking than the state of the universities and the ASUU strike.

I have been trying to imagine the merits and demerits of the NUC ranking but still trying to figure out one. All the public universities are in terrible shape. Is the ranking based on the best among the chronic underfunded public universities? The 2013 NEEDS Assessment committee of the former president, Goodluck Jonathan, chaired by Prof Mahmood Yakubu, the then TETFund Boss and currently the INEC Boss, revealed the terrible state of public universities and their lecture halls/rooms, and students’ hostels. Some of the hostels occupied by the students were reported not fit for humans.

Has all that changed in 2021? What are we ranking? FG is still dragging the revitalisation of public universities and releasing crumbs to the universities whenever ASUU barks. What are we ranking? Research is not adequately funded in public universities, younger universities have no research structure, and most of us are publishing papers just for promotion’s sake. What are we ranking? We can’t address several challenges from the university, a supposed hub for solution development. We can’t even develop solutions to solve our own challenges within the university. So, what are we ranking?

Who is NUC ranking the universities for? The government, with their deep poverty of sincerity on education, political class so that they can start patronising the universities rather than taking their kids abroad? The parents/students who care not about the quality but certificate, the few committed lecturers or the meal “ticketers”, or the International communities? If we have a structure to rank, there won’t be anxiety over another ASUU strike just a year after the suspension of a nine months strike.

Rather than expending resources on a ranking that changes nothing, the commission should have rather diverted the resources towards putting up a structure that will make the universities rank-able. We must develop strategies to fight both external and internal aggression.

The owners terribly underfund the Universities (Federal and state governments), and the academics are dreadfully paid with an Assistant Lecturer earning a net salary of about N115,000 per month and a Professor on the last step earning a net salary of N416,000. The quest for proper funding and better welfare has resulted in uncountable strike actions. However, I still maintain that if we define our priorities well, there is the fund to provide quality education for Nigerians.

Meanwhile, we also have internal issues to sort to improve the system. For example, we have Civil Engineering, Building, and Architecture departments in the universities where we train Civil Engineers, Builders, and Architects. Yet, we have awfully built new buildings and poorly maintained old buildings. We are training leaders in the universities but have terrible leaders in the universities who behave more like local politicians. We are training business and financial experts, but we can’t help the universities manage their resources and can’t help the universities to make money from the resources within the universities. We are training researchers to develop solutions for the world, but we can’t develop solutions for our challenges within the universities.

While the universities need proper funding, we have a lot to do internally to make the university work. Else, no matter how much money is injected into public universities, without responsible leadership to properly utilise the available resources for optimum impact, without academics (not meal ticketers) that are prepared to make things work and will objectively perform NUC accreditation, the funds will never produce the desired result.

Let’s do the cleanup, and everyone will be eager to see the ranking of our universities. You will see healthy competition where universities and departments compete to outperform each other.

Abdelghaffar Amoka Abdelmalik writes from Zaria and can be reached through aaabdelmalik@gmail.com.

By: Sumayyah Auwal Ishaq

The Governor Yahaya Bello Awareness Project (GYB Awareness Project) has supported 1500 less-privileged and vulnerable people across the seven (7) north-west states of Nigeria with various cash and gift items ahead of the Christmas and New Year celebrations.

The National Coordinator, GYB Awareness Project, Saifu Bawa Kajuru, said the goal is to reach out to Nigerians who can’t afford to feed themselves this festive period. He further stated that churches and communities are the major target earmarked by the group.

Apart from the 20, 000 cash disbursed to the beneficiaries, other items distributed by the group included clothes, rice, oil, spaghetti, and cash gifts. Many beneficiaries in Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Jigawa, Sokoto, Kebbi and Zamfara States thanked GYB Awareness Project for their magnanimity.

GYB Awareness Project

By Ibrahim Siraj, PhD

One must start by giving thanks and praises to Allah the Almighty for the peace being enjoyed in Kano. Like the Prophet time Quraysh, Allah has made our city a peaceful sanctuary while people are “being snatched all around us”. Known proverbially as tumbin giwa, Kano is not only northern Nigeria’s commercial hub. It’s also a bastion of manufacturing and industrialization, notwithstanding efforts to cripple it by successive governments.

For several decades, Kano has maintained its cosmopolitan status, housing Nigerians from all across the country. Kano is also home to many expatriate communities, many of whom have come to accept it as their first if not the only home. Analysts and historians have attributed Kano’s development to this welcoming and all-embracing posture. In trade and business, education and scholarship, politics and governance, media and entertainment, Kano has provided a level playing field for everyone (indigenes and non-indigenes alike) to prosper, with non-indigenes often making it at the expense of the indigenes.

In Kano, you do your things without fear of discrimination. Once your contribution is adjudged to be positive, you are as good as any bonafide Bakano. Unless, of course, it is realized that you are going to bring a bad name to the state, that’s when you risk being quickly disowned. There and then, you will be reminded that you are not “a son of the soil”. “Ba ɗan Kano ba ne” will now be the chorus around town.

The security situation in the country is so bad and pervasive that many think no place is safe. Innocent people are killed in towns and villages by marauding and murderous gangs of merciless armed men. Kidnapping for ransom has become a daily occurrence. Travellers take the roads not sure of reaching their destinations as many have had their journeys cut or diverted to bushes where they were subjected to the highest form of human humiliation for no sin committed. Such is the sad reality of the North-Western states with the only possible exception, apart from Kano, being Jigawa.

Amidst this terrible state of affairs, Allah has protected Kano from those assailants and made it largely peaceful. Not only is Kano peaceful, but it is also bustling. New businesses are springing up in various corners of the city. So are small and medium scale industries. Rice mills (big and small) are being established in almost all the industrial areas leveraging the Federal Government’s policy of encouraging local food production.

Many new millionaires and a handful of billionaires have been produced among the business class, don’t mind the much-touted poverty and widespread hardship in the country. In Kano, it is a case of “mutuwar wani tashin wani”, i.e. one man’s poison is another man’s meat, so to say. Or, as the Arabs would say, “masa’ibu qaumin inda qaumin fawa’idu” meaning what’s a bad situation for some is a good situation for others. While the poor masses are crying, this new super-wealthy are either smiling to the banks or busy spending lavishly on big houses or malls.

Indications have emerged recently that people from the troubled states in the North, especially Northeast and Northwest, are taking refuge in Kano with reports of several secret relocations. Politically exposed people from those states are alleged to have engaged in buying or building houses in the state with the intention of moving their families if they hadn’t done that already.

Alhamdulillah, Kano is now the place to be by everyone in search of peace and prosperity. Even the so-called bandits are believed to be relishing the peace in Kano. They are alleged to be sneaking into the commercial city to do business and return to their enclaves undetected. Although not confirmed by the intelligence community, this cannot be quickly ruled out given the large number of people coming to Kano daily from that part of the country.

Recently, someone suggested that one of the biggest mistakes of Boko Haram was attacking Kano. He reasoned that a safe and peaceful Kano would have been in their own nefarious interest as they could have exploited its vastness and used it as a cover from where they coordinate their insurgency activities. This may not be entirely correct, though, as we have seen recently, Kano has become the end-of-the-road for many high-profile criminals who wanted to make it their haven. Wadume readily comes to mind here.

The peace enjoyed in Kano is by no means absolute. The state has a myriad of sundry security challenges it is grappling with. Incidents of phone-snatching often with deadly consequences, thuggery fuelled by political actors, pockets of poorly organized abductions, and drug abuse are becoming a major security threat. Kano still has unresolved cases of kidnapped and sold out children, with many more still being reported missing. Yet, the absence of any large-scale acts of insecurity, the kind of which was witnessed during the dark and inglorious years of Boko Haram bombings or the sort happening in our neighbouring states, is giving us a cause to be thankful.

Many people have been wondering what could be responsible for Kano’s relative peace. Is Kano the so-called “God’s own” state? What are the people here doing that others are not? Or what are they not doing that others do? To whom goes the credit? How could the peace be maintained? For me, it’s only the wish of Allah and His mercy for Kano to enjoy this level of stability. As far as I can see, Kano is no less a sinful society than others facing security challenges. Of course, we have good people here, but we have our share of bad and notoriously evil ones too. Apparently, neither is it due to any conscious effort by security agencies – though not belittling their contribution – nor is it the making of government for some unscrupulous politicians to claim the credit.

But as it is often said, Kano is fortified by the blessings and prayers for peace and prosperity courtesy of those pious, sincere, devout, God-fearing and saintly scholars. They either resided in or visited the city several decades ago. It is believed that their remnants are still available, praying fervently though quietly for peace to reign in Kano and for the state to achieve economic prosperity. Their sacrifices and devotions – and not the deceptive shenanigans of those money-mongering, spiritually empty, morally bankrupt, ostentatious prayer merchants parading the corridors of power today – that are keeping Kano safe and secure.

Whatever it may be, maintaining the peace in Kano is in our own collective interest. We must, therefore, play our own roles. We must sustain prayers and shun sinful behaviour as much as we can. Let us all contribute in whatever way we can to preserve the peace. Let us cooperate with security agencies by providing them with the support they need to discharge their responsibility. Let us continue to pray for the quick return of peace and security to all troubled zones in the country and the world.

May Allah continue to make Kano more peaceful and safer. May He continue to protect it and make it more prosperous!

Dr Siraj writes from the Department of Mass Communication, Bayero University, Kano and is also a reporter for The Daily Reality.