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By Muhammad Sabiu

Dear Buni,

We need to talk; governance is beyond speeches. It requires actions, commitment and foresight. There is no place in history for those that failed to deliver the mandate given to them in any democratic polity. The world’s political leaders continue to champion the ideal democracy, tell voters you know the best, use your voice to bring change and take ownership of your destiny in knowing the details and aspects of governance. This gives prudent leaders the zeal and passion for taking responsibility, for leading by example. To incorporate new ideas and creativities, which provide an avenue for feedback and to believe in criticisms. These are the attributes that make them stand out amidst many challenges.

However, if we are to measure the growth and progress of our society, the indices we can use is education because acquiring quality and functional education is the concern of every community. That is why scholars in the field of public policy emphasize that, when it comes to educational policy, the stakeholders and actors are paramount to the policy’s success. They need to be integrated, involved, and allowed to participate freely without hindrance from the policy formulation and implementation stage. All their ideas and contribution need to be examined, analyzed and incorporated into the policy. They need to feel important in every step of the policy process. This will give them ample opportunity to take ownership and responsibility for its success and bring about a higher level of commitment in implementing the objective of the policy.

You declared a ‘state of emergency on basic and secondary education’ on your assumption of office. We all cheered and understood something needed to be done to save the sorry state of education. We believe in your powerful speeches on the first-ever ‘Educational Summit’ held in Yobe state. You declared that “I know there are a lot of complaints about some teachers, who are not qualified to teach, and complaints about some teachers who are not able to speak or write well in [the] English Language. This has to change”. We all hailed again, thinking the messiah and symbol of hope had arrived.

From your oratory speeches, we develop confidence that today’s governance transcends what had happened in the previous administrations. We all got a sigh of relief and hoped new ideas and philosophies would guide your administration. The people of outstanding calibre would be called to serve the state, people with foresight and reason.

The problems facing the Basic and Secondary Education policy are many. The broad objective of the policy was in papers, and in practice, it did not demonstrate what it entails. The problem emanated from the formation of the team or committee saddled with the responsibility to craft the policy and to non-involvement and proper participation of actual stakeholders: Teachers, Headmasters/Headmistress, Education Secretaries, etc. Supervisors, Zonal Inspectorates, former and serving Principals and parents of the pupils/students. These are the most important actors and stakeholders alongside the legislative and civil society organizations (CSOs).

This action makes the policy a product of educational elitism or an avenue of wasting state resources. It did not reflect the wishes and aspirations of the general populace. It did not cover every stakeholder because most of the committee members are teaching in higher institutions of learning. They don’t have actual expertise in what it takes to make primary and secondary education functional. The committee lacks the wisdom or vision to go beyond their thinking to involve the real stakeholders in generating the policy ideas.

Since the signing of the committee’s report on January 16, 2020, by you, and declared that “all hands must be on deck to actualize the goals of the policy”, eleven months later, on December 16, 2020, Daily Trust released a survey of the number of out-of-school children in Nigeria by Nigerian Education Data Survey (NEDS). Yobe state has 57 per cent of school children in the country, and this figure corresponds with the technical committee’s report that 40% of Yobe children are out of school.

What have you done to improve the students’ enrollment and retention in the state, enhance teachers’ capacity, and employ new ones to fill the gap? The emergency is not about pronouncing a word; it requires action, and, in this part, you failed to lead and hold the oath of office you took to manage the affairs of state that you’re ready to make education functional and accessible. Leadership is all about making an impact in people lives you promise to govern.

I was surprised by the emergency in education, particularly the deduction of teachers’ salaries in August and September. Everybody knew there was uncertainty in revenue generated and allocated to the state, but this would not be an excuse. You need to understand, the critical stakeholders in achieving the goals of your policy are teachers. How can you declare an emergency on a sector hoping to improve it but end up eating their hard-earned cake?

You need to double teachers’ salaries and allowances, provide proper capacity building training, provide accommodation, and motivate them to work hard. This singular action smeared the image of your administration. Unless you reverse this policy of salaries deduction and apologize to them for the hardship and problem your administration causes them, you’re heading in the wrong direction.

Moreover, as we all know, the significant source of revenue to finance all the intended projects are Federal Allocation. Due to uncertainties in the global oil market, the government should review the policy and allow all relevant stakeholders to review and execute the policy. The government should cut the cost of governance, reduce unnecessary expenses, and accommodate all the projects you intend to achieve in realizing functional education in the state.

In all the projects done in some schools across the state, the major funders of these projects are donor agencies and development partners in collaboration with the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) and North East Development Commission. However, what is the role of other institutions, especially the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) and Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education, in complementing the efforts of these Donor agencies in making and realizing the objective of the policy? Unfortunately, we do not see their visibility, even the recruitment of SUBEB, for almost a year, there is no result.

Given the background above, we need to sit down and talk about governance. History is there to those who leave a golden legacy or otherwise ensure your government adopts a participatory approach to policymaking involving all stakeholders. The policy should be the product of citizenry wishes and aspirations by allowing them to participate in policy design and implementation, enhance teachers’ and administrators’ capacity with the sole aims of improving their productivity and increasing their salaries and allowances.

Funding is key to achieving the policy’s objectives; 26% of budgetary should be allocated to education and ensure proper utilization. In addition, you need to create a Basic Education Trust Fund (BETF), be managed by accomplished education administrators, and provide robust and proper collaboration and partnership with Donor Agencies and Development partners. What we want from you is action and taking responsibility to show you can do it.

Umar Yahaya Dan-Inu wrote from Hausari Ward, Nguru. He can be contacted via umarnguru2015@gmail.com.

By Muhammad Sabiu

By Uzair Adam Imam

President Muhammadu Buhari has appealed to the leadership of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to embrace peace, stating that Nigerian universities have had enough strikes.

Buhari, who was representated by Professor Ingnatuis Onimawo, made the plea on Saturday, 23-10-2021 as he was delivering a speech at a convocation ceremony in the University of Ilorin.

The president also stated that the dialogue is always better than the conflict as no any gain ever driven from crisis.

However, he added that a lot of time had been wasted as a result of Corona virus pandemic, thereby saying the university system cannot afford to withstand any crisis now.

1. The president was quoted saying: “Let me also use this opportunity to appeal to members of ASUU to embrace peace. They should realise that dialogue is always better than conflict. No one gains from crisis. While government alone cannot solve all challenges facing a society, this administration is willing to listen to complaints and alternative points of views to managing a situation.”

“The university system cannot withstand any crisis now considering the time it had lost to Coronavirus pandemic,” he said.

Speaking on the issue of Corona virus, the president said: “I expect our universities to conduct researches targeted at discovering an antidote to it. Universities are expected to focus their research on challenges facing our societies and find practical solutions within the context of national development.”

“I therefore challenge the Universities to give their best in the fight against this common and unrelenting enemy of humanity. I enjoin our researchers to collaborate among themselves and look forward to bringing an effective solution to this medical challenge.”

“The nation expects University of Ilorin to play a leading role in the research efforts to develop Covid 19 in Nigeria.

“The nation expects nothing less from the Nigerian University system”, he added.

By Muhammad Sabiu

By Uzair Adam Imam

The Federal Government has uncovered the sponsors of the self-acclaimed activist, Sunday Igboho, some of whom are known to have connections with terrorist organizations such as Boko Haram.

The disclosure was made at a press conference held in Abuja on Friday, October 23, 2021, by the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN.

It has been reported that the government has unravelled how Igboho got money from 43 bank accounts, transferred to him by his sponsors.

According to Malami, a committee was set up to carry on an investigation on this self-acclaimed activist.

The 24-member committee comprised of members of the Federal Ministry of Justice, Federal Ministry of Information, Nigeria Police Force, Department of State Services, National Intelligence Agency and the Defence Intelligence Agency.

Malami was quoted saying: “The Federal Government has received the report on financers of Adeniyi Sunday Adeyemo a.k.a Sunday Igboho. The report revealed that Sunday Igboho is a director and signatory to Adesun International Concept Limited registered on 23rd April 2010.”

“Adesun International Concept Limited also has Oladele Oyetunji and Aderopo Adeyemo as Directors. Sunday Igboho is linked to 43 bank accounts in 9 banks.

“The major financier of the fugitive and separatists was found to be a Federal Law Maker in the National Assembly. A total sum of ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-SEVEN MILLION, ONE AND FORTY-FIVE THOUSAND NAIRA ONLY (N127, 145,000.00) was received by Igboho from his financiers between 22nd October, 2013 and 28th September, 2020 through Adesun International Concept Ltd accounts.

“A total sum of TWO HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-THREE MILLION, ONE HUNDRED AND NINETY-EIGHT THOUSAND, TWO HUNDRED NAIRA ONLY (N273,198,200.00) transaction outflows was recorded from Sunday Igboho’s account between 15th March, 2013 and 11 the March, 2021.

“Investigation reveals that Adesun International Concept Ltd (belonging to Igboho) transferred the sum of twelve million seven hundred and fifty thousand naira (N12, 750,000) to Abbal Bako & Sons.

“It might be recalled that Abbal Bako & Sons and its promoter Abdullahi Umar Usman are suspects in the on-going Joint Terrorist Financing Investigation. Abdullahi Umar Usman is by way of financial transaction connected to SURAJO ABUBAKAR MUHAMMAD (who was sentenced to life imprisonment in UAE on charges of financing terrorism [Boko Haram]).

“This report shows the nexus between separatists’ agitation, terrorism financing and disruptions of peace in the country,” Said Malami.

By Mubarak Ibrahim Lawan

Audu Bako, a Police Commissioner, the first military governor of the old Kano State from April 1967 to July 1975, was a wonderful human who executed superhuman projects that were, to this day, unsurpassed. When he came, Kano was the most educationally deprived among the 12 states created in 1967. Nevertheless, he made it compete with the rest before he left.

Together with his dutifully well-meaning permanent secretaries and commissioners, Audu Bako charted a good Kano development plan that was followed by successive governments up to the year 2000. Only a few changes were effected in the last 20 years. However, he was regarded as the most insightful governor of Kano to date.

Audu Bako gave Kano life when he came despite having met only 743 staff in the entire state, most of them junior officers; no single Kano indigene that could operate a bulldozer; only 241 primary schools, 16 post-primary schools and 139 teachers; no tertiary institutions in the whole state except Bayero University College and Advanced Teachers College, ATC Kano.

With the take-off grant of N10 Million on 1st April 1968, Audu Bako created six ministries, (1) Agriculture, (2) Forestry and Community Development, (3) Justice, (4) Education, (5) Finance, Industry and Commerce, and (6) Works and Surveys, as well as three other commissioners under the governor’s office who took charge of Home Affairs, Local Government and Information Division.

To bring the government closer to people, Audu Bako established 8 administrative headquarters: (1) Kano North Central -Ɗambatta which includes Ɓaɓura, Garki, Ringim, Gabasawa, Gezawa and Minjibir; (2) Kazaure, Comprising Roni, Yankwashi and Amaryawa; (3) Gumel which includes Sule Tankarkar, Maigatari, Ɗanzomo and Gagarawa.

The fourth (4th) was Haɗejia comprising Birniwa, Malam Madori, Guri, Kirikasamma, Auyo, Bulangu and Kafin Hausa. (5) Kano West with headquarter at Gwarzo includes Dawakin Tofa, Bichi and Ƙaraye. (6) Kano South-East with headquarter at Birnin Kudu has Gaya, Jahun, Dutse, Sumaila and Gwaram. Then (7) Kano South-West -Rano, Dawakin Kudu, Kura, Ƙiru, and Tudun Wada. Lastly, (8) Kano Metropolitan that comprises Ungoggo, Kumbotso, Kano and Waje.

This way, the far-sighted governor touched the lives of everyone in the state. Among his accomplishments, Audu Bako expanded the government house, built administrative area offices, the famous Gidan Murtala, the Audu Bako secretariat and the State Fire Service. He also built the Bagauda Housing Estate at Dakatsalle, Bagauda Lake Hotel, 13 junior Staff quarters, the 500 Housing Units at Tiga workers village, the bedroom houses at Suleiman Crescent and WRECA Staff quarters at Challawa and Gari Dams.

He also built 130 housing units at the pilgrims camp and junior staff quarters at Haɗejia and Gumel. Similarly, he built Teachers’ Housing Estate at Gwammaja as well as Waziri Giɗaɗo Flats at Lagos. As for roads, he laid tarred roads at Gwagwarwa, Tudun Wada, Kano City, Gyaɗi-gyaɗi, Tarauni, Nassarawa, Sabon Gari and other places.

He dualized Murtala Muhammad Way, from Ahmadu Bello way to Triumph Junction; BUK Road, from Ƙofar Nassarawa BUK; Aminu Kano way; Triumph Roundabout -Ƙofar Mazugal, Ƙofar Ruwa, Katsina Road Junction; Ibrahim Taiwo to Ƙofar Mata, Ƙofar Ƙwaru, Ƙofar Kudu, Kasuwar Rimi to Ƙofar Nassarawa. Still, he dualized State Road from Silver Jubilee Roundabout to Audu Bako way. Others are Lagos Street, Airport Bridge, Mandawari to Ƙofar Kabuga and Suleiman Crescent.

These were part of his achievements in infrastructure. The next write up will look at his success in Kano rural areas, Agriculture, education and health sectors. Indeed there were leaders who, because of their honesty, integrity, political will and commitment, achieved, in about 8 years, what present leaders put together can not achieve in 30 years.

May we learn from this past!

Mal. Mubarak Ibrahim Lawan is a Lecturer at Alƙalam University, Katsina and writes from Kano State.

By Abdullahi Abubakar Lamido

I begin, after praising Allah and sending blessings to the beloved Prophet peace be upon him, with three stories from Nigeria. They are all real. The first is of a rich man who died and was survived by a wife and her two children. His estate included mansions in choice areas, high worth investments, company shares, farmlands, etc. This “beloved” wife was advised to make a waqf (perpetual charity) of just a mosque as a source of everlasting reward for the late husband from the hard-earned wealth he spent his life gathering. She was reminded that less than one per cent of his wealth could do it.  The wife answered in one word: “Impossible”! Rather, she offered to cook rice and beans every Friday and give to the begging Almajiris around as sadaqah. To be fair to her, she did so for some months until she met a new darling husband with whom she now enjoys her inherited, halal fortune! End of story!

The second story is that of a religious and highly influential personality who died and left behind several sons and daughters, all of whom had already grown wealthy and influential. The deceased’s bosom friend, who was the custodian of many of his possessions, approached the heirs. He pinpointed a plot of land in a choice area in one of the largest Nigerian cities and offered that if they would designate it as a perpetual charity, he would build an ultramodern Islamic centre there as a waqf for their late father. This, he said, was to create a ceaseless flow of rewards to their late father. Alas! To his face, they simply said no! And the rest is history.

The third is the story of a woman philanthropist who was the wife of an influential person. She was known for her dedication to building mosques, schools, among other charitable interventions. After her demise, the husband learned of several uncompleted mosques and schools that were part of her charitable initiatives. He called her children to a conference and suggested that from her inheritable wealth, they should dedicate what would be enough to complete such ongoing projects. And what a small portion of her wealth was that! They unanimously rejected his offer, departing in a “just give us our money” mood. It was the father who used his resources to finance the completion of the projects. I gather that he was lucky to have learned some lessons here and begin to emulate his late philanthropist wife. He actually increased his budget for Islamic philanthropy as he was already known for charity also. May Allah accept it for him, and for her.

I am sure by now you, my dear reader, have started to recollect several similar stories you have heard on several occasions or which might have even happened close to you. I also have many to share. But these ones suffice as examples. At least for now. What lesson, then, have you learned from this?

Now, remember the Prophetic hadith in which he explains that the moment a person dies, his reward fetching deeds terminate except three; waqf or perpetual charity being the first of them. The other two reward sources are the prayer of a pious child and beneficial knowledge. Interestingly, in the hadith is an equitable distribution of reward sources of some sort. The wealthy folks no doubt have access to the “lion share” in terms of perpetual charity. Beneficial knowledge is the share of the scholars essentially. For the non-rich, non-scholar believer, giving a good upbringing to his/her children guarantees them prayers from pious children and a continuous flow of reward.

Many owners of surplus resources miss the opportunity of making a waqf due to procrastination and other flimsy considerations. By doing so, they deny themselves the most important investment of their lifetime. How can Allah give you the opportunity of making an investment that may pass a millennium fetching you rewards only for you to refuse to do so? Daniel Crecelius explains to us that several waqfs, created for the provision of various social, religious, educational, economic and welfare services free of charge to the public, have survived for five centuries, and some for over a millennium. Now! Imagine yourself, in your grave, receiving “alerts” of rewards daily while charting with the Angels! Can you imagine the amount of reward you would earn by continuously creating benefits, solving problems, drawing happiness to thousands or millions of needy and poor lives for decades, centuries or even a millennium after your departure from this deceptive world? Consider the following stories.

You already know the third caliph of the Prophet, Uthman bin Affan (may Allah be pleased with him). After the migration to Medina, access to water became a great challenge for the believer. They had to buy from a Jew who owned a well called Ruma. The Jew was so wicked, charging exorbitant prices, and making life difficult for the believers. The solution was for the Muslim community to own it. The Prophet peace be upon him announced a guaranteed direct entry certificate to Jannah for whoever purchased it. Uthman did. He surrendered it as a waqf. People now could get water at zero cost. This charity became blessed and continued to expand. During the Umayyad period, it began to grow date palm trees in its surroundings. Many grew. The Ottoman Empire paid particular attention to developing the trees generating income from them. The returns would then be shared into two; a portion distributed as charity and the other saved. Later, the Saudi Arabian authorities opened a bank account in the name of Uthman Bin Affan. They save half of the returns and distribute half in charity. As the savings grew, a hotel was built in Medina, still in the name of Caliph Uthman. Half of the returns is reinvested while the other half, amounting to about 500 million Riyals annually (equivalent to about USD14 million) is distributed in charity. 1400 years of ceaseless reward, thanks to waqf!

Then the story of the great philanthropist, lady Zubaiyda, daughter of Ja’far al-Mansūr, granddaughter of the second Abbasid Caliph Abū Ja’far al-Mansūr; wife of the 5^th Abbasid Caliph Hārūn al-Rashīd and mother to the 6^th Abbasid Caliph, al-Amīn. Although she died in 216 AH (832 CE) in Baghdad, her source of reward is still yet to! In 186 AH (802 CE), she visited the Holy land as a pilgrim. She then noticed the serious difficulty people experienced in Mecca vis-à-vis accessing water. There were no reliable wells and springs from where to fetch portable water. The people rather relied on rainfall or poor wells that were irregular in providing water. She then ordered her treasurer to look for “world-class” engineers and professionals from different cities to embark on the work of constructing a befitting well. Having observed how difficult the project would be due to the nature of the soil which was rocky and hard, she declared her readiness to pay a dinar for every single digging, until they reached water level. Soon, highly professional engineers and experts flooded Mecca and started work, surveying between hard rocks until they were able to sink the well. In the end, they parted with the dinars and she parted with the never-ceasing reward! She dedicated the well as a waqf for the residents and visitors of Mecca. Water became abundantly available. Water scarcity became history.

But not only this. Zubayda also did a waqf for the waqf; waqf of rentable houses and landed properties for the maintenance of the water wells.  The ‘Ayn Zubaydah has been described as the largest waqf known in history in terms of the cost of its capital, the magnificence of its design, as well as its contributions to welfare in a sustainable manner. Importantly, the Well of Zubaydah, as it came to be known, has remained functional and productive to date. About 1200 years? It is being utilized by the people of the city as well as visiting pilgrims to the Holy land.

Dear reader! Make a waqf. Look around you. Investigate; what is the greatest problem of the poor around you? Food? Water? Lack of a clinic? Lack of a school for their children? Lack of capital for the poor widows who need money-generating ventures? Make a waqf to provide a sustainable solution for them. Build a plaza, a shopping complex, a rentable house, a garden or buy shares and dedicate as waqf for funding such charitable courses. Do not wait for your wife to make sadaqah of rice and beans for you on Fridays! If you want to enjoy your wealth perpetually, why not just make a waqf NOW?

Abdullahi Abubakar Lamido is the Chairman, Zakah & Waqf Foundation, Gombe, Nigeria. He can be contacted via lamidomabudi@gmail.com.

By Muhammad Sabiu