Education

By Muhammad Sulaiman

A New Year’s Day community gathering in Daneji took an unexpected philosophical turn when a sponsor’s closing remarks sparked deep reflection on knowledge stewardship and mortality, Professor Abdalla Uba Adamu has revealed.

The January 1st townhall meeting, organized to honor ten outstanding youth from the Kano neighborhood, became memorable not just for the celebrations but for a pointed challenge issued to the honorees, Professor Adamu recounted in a Facebook post that has drawn significant attention.

The young achievers, recognized for accomplishments spanning Artificial Intelligence, Mathematics, Nursing Sciences, and Qur’anic studies, were urged by event sponsor Alhaji Ahmed Idris to “die empty”—a statement that initially puzzled attendees before its meaning was revealed.

Idris, a prominent community pillar, was invoking Todd Henry’s motivational concept that individuals should pour out their knowledge and talents during their lifetime rather than take untapped potential to the grave. “You enter your grave empty—all the knowledge has been left outside for other people to use,” Professor Adamu explained.

The academic noted that at least three of the honorees hold doctorates or specialized training in Artificial Intelligence, achieved before AI became a consumer phenomenon, while others excelled in diverse fields—showcasing what the community hopes will inspire younger residents.

Writing on his experience, Professor Adamu drew connections between Henry’s secular philosophy and Islamic teachings on amanah—the sacred trust of knowledge. “Discharging your knowledge—sharing it and imparting it on others—is therefore one of the highest acts of Islamic piety,” he wrote, adding that both the Qur’an and Hadith contain warnings against hoarding knowledge.

The professor described the event as a community response to concerns about youth engagement with “consumer communication technology” at the expense of career focus and future planning.

By Usman M. Shehu

One of the most unsettling realities for any corps member post-NYSC is the harshness of the Nigerian labour market. I know this firsthand—we had our Passing Out Parade (POP) on 18th December 2025. 

Finishing NYSC brings not just doubt, but real anxiety and fear: fear of losing the monthly allowance, and the daunting task of distributing your curriculum vitae (CV)—via email or in person—to companies, agencies, and contacts.

The dynamics of the job market have shifted dramatically. It’s no longer just about what you know (your skill set), but increasingly about who you know (your connections). This is driven in part by the sheer volume of graduates entering the market each year. 

Take my field, geology, for example: it’s not one of the most competitive courses, yet about 80 students graduated from my class alone, with degrees ranging from first class to second class (upper and lower), and third class. This pattern repeats across faculties, from the sciences and engineering to the humanities. When you do the math, thousands of graduates flood the market annually, far exceeding the combined absorption capacity of the public and private sectors.

This oversupply is a major reason why many graduates and even their guardians rely on connections to secure jobs. It’s an affront to the merit-based ideals of our educational system and a key factor behind the public sector’s declining efficiency. When nepotism and connections trump competence, institutions suffer. The civil service is already crumbling under this weight, as we see today. Fixing it remains a hot topic in public discourse, but the goal should be clear: employment, public or private, must prioritise what you know over who you know.

Another major challenge is the age barrier. Since 2009, the NYSC certificate prominently displays your date of birth to prevent age falsification. This makes it harder for anyone over 28, whether due to late entry to university or academic delays, to secure interviews or even apply. Most job portals and advertisements specify strict requirements: age limits, degree class, skills, and years of experience. Often, if you’re above the age threshold, you can’t even access the application portal. These restrictions hit hardest in white collar jobs.

The Way Forward: Despite these systemic hurdles, individual agency matters. To move forward, we must be enterprising and proactive: work hard, strategically build in-demand skills (like digital marketing, data analysis, coding, or entrepreneurship), and stay humble while relentlessly pursuing opportunities, whether through networking, job hunting, or starting your own business.

That said, this moment isn’t entirely bleak. We’re excited about the transition and earning our certificates. It opens doors to jobs that require completion of the NYSC. And if we take these steps seriously, upskilling, staying resilient, and thinking creatively, we won’t just be employable; we’ll become highly sought-after prospects.

Happy POP to my fellow ex-corps members, Batch C Stream 2 2025! Let’s step into this next chapter ready. For by failing to plan, we are planning to fail.

Usman M. Shehu wrote from Kano via usmanmujtabashehu@gmail.com.

By Amara Sesay

All praise is due to Allah, the Most High, the Most Exalted. We seek His peace and blessings upon the last Prophet sent to humanity, Muhammad (may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), his noble household, his companions and all those who follow in their footsteps until the Last Day.

“Has not the time come for those who have believed that their hearts should become humbly submissive at the remembrance of Allah and what has come down of the truth? And let them not be like those who were given the Scripture before, and a long period passed over them, so their hearts hardened; and many of them are defiantly disobedient. Know that Allah gives life to the earth after its lifelessness. We have made clear to you the signs; perhaps you will understand.” (Surah Al-Hadid, 57:16–17).

O Beloved Muslims, Has Not the Time Come? Beloved brothers and sisters, reflect for a moment—are we content with the state we find ourselves in today? How can we exchange a seat of honor for one of humiliation? Are we not the same people who pray at least five times daily, asking Allah: “Guide us to the straight path”, yet so easily stray toward the ways of those who have earned His anger? How can we abandon the mosque, the remembrance of Allah, and the noble mission entrusted to us, only to imitate those who oppose divine guidance? Are these the actions of Ahl al-Albab (the people of understanding)? Do they reflect the character of Ibadur-Rahman (the servants of the Most Merciful)?

Will such deeds bring us the comfort of angels at the time of death, or the comforting words Angels in the darkness of the grave? O Muslims, Do You Not Know Your Worth? You are the most honored of all peoples. Allah has chosen you to lift humanity from servitude to men into the worship of the ONE TRUE CREATOR of men. You were sent to liberate humankind—from the narrow confines of this world to the vastness of this life and the Hereafter.

For this noble mission, Allah has blessed you abundantly: He gave you the Qur’an, a book so mighty that if it were sent down upon a mountain, it would crumble from humility. He sent you Muhammad (may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)—a mercy to all creation. And the best of all created beings. Can there be a better role model for you? He granted lands rich in resources and strategically placed across the world.

He gave you population, wealth, heritage, and faith—blessings that many envy. But know, O servants of Allah, that these are trusts (Amanah) for which you will be questioned on the Day of Judgment. So fear Allah and let each soul reflect on what it has prepared for tomorrow. Truly, the convulsion of the Final Hour is a terrible thing!

O My Sister in Faith! You are the cornerstone of this Ummah’s future. You owe the world your purity, your steadfastness, and your sacrifice in raising a generation that will save mankind from despair and darkness. Do not be deceived by the false glitter of this fleeting world. The world praises you only when you abandon your modesty—but remember the deception of Shaytan toward your mother Hawwa (Eve). She lived in pure freedom until Shaytan promised “more,” only to strip her of dignity. Do not trade the honour of Maryam (Mary) for the cheap attention of those who see women as objects. Allah did not create you to be consumed and discarded—you were created to nurture faith, justice, and light. So fear Allah and pay attention to the kind of deeds you are sending forth for the Hereafter. Indeed, the convulsion of the Hour is a terrible thing.

O Believers, Remember your accountability know that every one of us will be questioned by Allah—about our life and how we spent it, our youth and how we used it, our wealth and how we earned and spent it, and the blessings we so often take for granted. “Then you will surely be asked that Day about pleasure.” (Surah At-Takathur, 102:8).

Will we then be grateful servants—or are we among the heedless who allowed this world to blind them from the Home of Eternal Bliss? “It [Paradise] is not [obtained] by your wishful thinking or by that of the People of the Scripture. Whoever does a wrong will be recompensed for it, and he will not find besides Allah a protector or a helper. And whoever does righteous deeds, whether male or female, while being a believer—those will enter Paradise and will not be wronged [even as much as] the speck on a date seed.” (Surah An-Nisa, 4:123–124).

The Promise of Allah Is True “If only the people of the cities had believed and feared Allah, We would have opened upon them blessings from the heaven and the earth; but they denied [the messengers], so We
seized them for what they were earning.” (Surah Al-A‘raf, 7:96).

Even amidst the trials facing the Muslim world—humiliation, oppression, poverty, and spiritual confusion—the promise of Allah remains true. The pious will inherit the earth, and the believers will rise again to a state of dignity, security, and leadership. The problem is not with the promise, but with the promised—all of us. If only we could temper our love for this fleeting world, conquer our fear of death, and return to Allah in sincere repentance—we would find Him Most Forgiving, Most Merciful. “O you who have believed, bow and prostrate and worship your Lord and do good that you may succeed. And strive for Allah with the striving due to Him. He has chosen you and has not placed upon you in the religion any difficulty. [It is] the religion of your father Abraham. He named you ‘Muslims’ before and in this [revelation], that the Messenger may be a witness over you and you may be witnesses over mankind.” (Surah Al-Hajj, 22:77–78).

“O you who have believed, persevere and endure and remain stationed and fear Allah that you may be successful.” (Surah Aal-Imran, 3:200). The Final Word, “And Our word has already preceded for Our servants, the messengers, that indeed they would be those given victory, and indeed Our soldiers will be those who overcome. So leave them for a while and see, for they are going to see. Exalted is your Lord, the Lord of might, above what they describe. And peace be upon the messengers. And praise to Allah, Lord of the worlds.” (Surah As-Saffat, 37:171–182).

O Muslims—return to Allah before death returns you to Him. Awaken your hearts, renew your faith, and rise to the honour Allah has destined for you. Hold fast to the rope of Allah together, for He is your Protector—and excellent is the Protector, and excellent is the Helper. May Allah revive our hearts, unite our Ummah, and make us among those who hear the reminder and follow the best of it. And the final word is: All Praise is due to Allah, Lord, and Nourishers of everything that exists in the Universe. And may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon the Messenger, his household, his companions, and all those who followed them on the right path.

By Uzair Adam

Kano State Governor, Alhaji Abba Kabir Yusuf, has assured that all outstanding earned academic allowances owed to staff of state-owned universities will be fully paid before the end of December 2025.

The governor also directed the Commissioner for Land and Physical Planning to conduct a comprehensive assessment of land belonging to Northwest University, Kano, with a mandate to revoke any illegal allocations or encroachments linked to the previous administration.

These decisions were disclosed in a statement issued on Thursday by the governor’s spokesperson, Sunusi Bature Dawakin Tofa.

Governor Yusuf spoke during the 35th State Executive Council meeting, which featured a courtesy visit by the Pro-Chancellor of Northwest University, Kano, alongside members of the Governing Council and the university’s management.

The visit was to formally present Prof. Amina Salihi Bayero as the newly appointed Vice-Chancellor of the institution.

Prof. Bayero, a pioneer academic staff member of the university, recently made history as the first female Vice-Chancellor to emerge from within the institution’s academic ranks.

According to the statement, the governor commended the Governing Council for concluding a rigorous and transparent process that led to the appointment of a substantive Vice-Chancellor.

He urged Prof. Bayero to carry out her responsibilities with diligence and to work closely with all stakeholders to enhance academic excellence throughout her five-year tenure.

Governor Yusuf further reassured the new management of his administration’s commitment to addressing the challenges confronting the university, while expressing optimism that the institution would witness improved academic standards and institutional growth under the new leadership.

Earlier, the Pro-Chancellor, Prof. Hafiz Abubakar, revealed that the selection process for the Vice-Chancellor lasted ten months and received unanimous approval from the Governing Council.

He added that the appointment of the university’s first female Vice-Chancellor had been widely welcomed.

In her remarks, Prof. Bayero expressed gratitude for the opportunity to serve and pledged her full commitment to the task ahead.

She also unveiled a 14-point agenda aimed at repositioning Northwest University, Kano, for greater academic and administrative excellence.

By Abbas Datti

The Federal University Dutse (FUD) has ushered in a new era of purposeful leadership with the election of Professor Ahmad Muhammad Gumel as its 4th substantive Vice Chancellor, a development widely welcomed across the academic community as a well-deserved victory for merit, experience and vision.

Gumel’s emergence followed a competitive and transparent selection process that drew seasoned academics from across the country. Muhammed Gumel’s victory reflects the confidence of the University’s Governing Council in his proven capacity to lead, innovate and consolidate the gains recorded since the institution’s establishment.

A scholar of high repute, Gumel is widely respected for his intellectual depth, administrative acumen and unwavering commitment to academic excellence. Over the years, he has distinguished himself as a disciplined researcher, an inspiring teacher, and a consensus builder who understands the complexities of managing a growing federal university in a dynamic educational environment.

Colleagues describe him as a visionary leader with a clear understanding of the mandate of Federal University Dutse—to serve as a centre of learning, research and community development. Gumel’s leadership style, marked by inclusiveness, transparency and firm decision-making, is expected to strengthen institutional stability and staff morale while enhancing students’ academic experience.

As the 4th substantive Vice-Chancellor, Gumel is expected to build on the solid foundation laid by his predecessors, with a strong focus on academic quality, research output, infrastructural development, global partnerships and community engagement. Gumel’s background in university governance and strategic planning positions him well to navigate contemporary challenges, including funding constraints, staff development, and the drive for international relevance.

In accepting responsibility, Gumel reaffirmed his commitment to service, pledging to work collaboratively with staff, students, alumni, and stakeholders to advance the university’s vision. He emphasised that leadership is a collective task and expressed readiness to harness the vast human resources within FUD to move the institution to greater heights.

The election of Gumel has been widely celebrated as a triumph of competence and integrity. Many within and outside the university community view his emergence as Vice-Chancellor as timely and reassuring—a signal that Federal University Dutse is firmly on the path of sustainable growth, academic distinction and national relevance.

With Gumel at the helm, expectations are high that FUD will consolidate its reputation as one of Nigeria’s fast-rising federal universities, driven by purposeful leadership and an unrelenting pursuit of excellence.

Abbas Datti writes from Dutse, Jigawa State, via comradeabbasdatti@gmail.com.

By Musa Kalim Gambo

The atmosphere at the Red Lecture Theatre in Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, on Saturday, December 6, 2025, was a poignant mix of celebration and profound loss. It was the valedictory event for Professor Sadiq Muhammad, who has just concluded a distinguished 45-year-long career at the institution, teaching in the Language Arts section in the Department of Arts and Social Science Education. But this was more than a retirement party; it was a powerful, two-pronged call to action for the future of Nigerian education: celebrating the professor’s unparalleled commitment to mentorship while simultaneously articulating the country’s urgent need to institutionalise this practice.

A Legacy of Selfless Service

The proceedings, themed “Celebrating a Legacy of Scholarship, Mentoring, and Academic Leadership”, quickly established the magnitude of Professor Muhammad’s impact. Prof. Abdullahi Dalhatu, the Chairman of the occasion and Dean of the Faculty of Education, characterised the event as one of “mixed feelings”, acknowledging the joy of celebrating a career “without being found guilty in one thing or the other”, but lamenting the vacuum his departure creates.

The tributes that followed were the heart of the day, painting a vivid portrait of a man who transcended the role of an academic. Prof. Ramlat Jibir Daura, affectionately known as “the mother of language arts education”, captured the sense of loss, describing Prof. Muhammad as the section’s father figure, who supervised an extraordinary over 300 PhD students. His humility and generosity were recurring themes. Prof. Sani Adamu described him as “one of the poorest professors” because of his immense generosity in using his personal funds to aid students’ education. In a touching testament to his hands-on mentorship, Dr S. A. Abdulmumin recalled an anecdote from the 1990s where the professor, on his humble Yamaha 80 motorcycle, took junior colleagues to the market to buy provisions for their families.

His daughter, Fauziyya Sadiq Muhammad, spoke for the family, describing him as a “teacher, a guide, a protector”, acknowledging the quiet sacrifices he made to balance his professional commitments with his role as a dedicated father and a community pillar who adopted and educated many non-blood-related children.

The Academic Imperative: Institutionalizing Mentorship

Crucially, the honoree insisted that the event maintain a substantive academic core, thereby turning the celebration into a discussion of national educational policy. The formal lecture, delivered by Professor Abdullahi Dada on behalf of Prof. Hanna Onyi Yusuf, was titled “Institutionalising Mentoring in Teacher Education in Nigeria: Challenges, Prospects, and Implications for Curriculum Review”.

The paper, a qualitative, analytical study, proposed a reflective clinical mentorship framework and a national mentoring policy to bridge the gap between theoretical knowledge and classroom realities in teacher preparation. It highlighted significant barriers in the Nigerian context, including resource and funding constraints, the absence of a national framework, and cultural or institutional resistance. The recommendations were concrete: policy formulation, strategic capacity-building for mentors, and the formal integration of mentoring into university curricula.

Reinforcing this, Professor J.A. Gwani defined the ideal mentor’s role: “you as a mentor you are a facilitator… a facilitator does not know everything; he facilitates. He provides the environment democratic enough for people to be able to make contribution…”.

A Forward-Looking Valedictory

In his valedictory response, delivered by Professor Alti Kasim, Prof. Muhammad expressed profound gratitude and reflected on his students’ curiosity as his “compass”. More importantly, he used his final official platform to deliver a decisive call for strategic investment in the future of Language Arts: expanding teaching staff, procuring a dedicated language laboratory, and providing robust professional development for faculty.

The final remarks served as a capstone to the theme of mentorship. Dr Lawal Hamisu, a former director under the professor, credited Professor Muhammad’s direct intervention for facilitating his own appointment at the university. This final, firsthand testimonial powerfully reinforced the day’s central lesson.

Prof. Sadiq Muhammad’s retirement is not merely the end of a career but an architectural blueprint for the Nigerian educational system. His legacy demonstrates that transformative academic leadership is not solely about publishing papers or holding titles, but about the grassroots, personal investment in the next generation. As the country grapples with staffing shortages and quality control in tertiary education, the true challenge left behind is not simply replacing a professor, but answering his call to make selfless mentorship the institutionalised norm, ensuring that his 45-year compass continues to guide Nigeria’s future scholars.

–Gambo writes from Zaria.

Usman M Shehu

Do not wait until the conditions are perfect to begin. Beginning makes the conditions perfect.— Alan Cohen

It is unfortunate that Nigerian youths are preoccupied with PR and brown-nosing politicians on social media, mistaking sycophancy for loyalty or mentorship. Not only that, but we are comfortable scrolling TikTok, posting pictures on Instagram,and debating at what age we should start paying attention to the state of the nation, let alone running for office. Why are the youths indifferent to our sick polity that is rotten from the core? Why are they comfortable staying on the fence and serving as spectators instead of actors? Why do our youths somehow believe that they are the leaders of tomorrow and not of today?Though it is the norm that young people, while growing up, usually learn from the older generation, what is there to learn from our current crop of terrible politicians who hold our nation by the jugular? They hide under the guise of “politics is a dirty game.” The old guard have the money, the influence, and the networks; what is lacking or is in decline are vision, energy, and perhaps conscience and discipline—attributes that are essential for good leadership. Unfortunately, what they have will not be willingly given, and what the youths need often seems lacking or absent. The joy of the youths when the Not Too Young to Run Act was passed by the National Assembly and signed into law on 31 May 2018 by President Buhari quickly dissipated when they realised that reality is different from what is written on paper or in Senate resolutions. It does not surmount all the barriers. Money continues to dominate our polity. Only a few youths can afford party nomination forms; the cost of contesting is so enormous that even the smallest elective office is far beyond the reach of most young people. Political parties prefer candidates who can fund them. These challenges are reinforced by the illusion that youths are inexperienced, impatient, and unprepared for leadership.

But then I often ask myself: do we have what it takes to lead, especially now that we are bedevilled with so many crises? It is like a person afflicted with multiple diseases—these include an identity crisis, the collapse of leadership from top to bottom, and a sick civil society. Fixing these issues is daunting even for
experienced and seasoned leaders, let alone those still learning the ropes. It will only be possible through self-education, mentorship, and massive orientation and mobilisation. As Usman Sarki, Daily Trust columnist, rightly put it: “A new generation of rational leaders must arise from the ranks of men and women unafraid to confront entrenched interests, guided by data, driven by conscience and inspired by service.” A corrupt youth cannot be good for the health of our Federal Republic. Only youths of integrity can enhance the good health of our community.

Youths must acquire relevant skills such as adaptability and emotional intelligence, educate themselves, and build strong networks. For youths to be taken seriously, they must be sober, visionary, disciplined, and driven. Before we hold others accountable, we must start with ourselves. With the desire for change
and disillusionment with the status quo, youths can become actors, seize power, and replace some of the politicians who treat power as if it has no expiry date—which is why they often disappear from the spotlight without warning.

In a nation where political power is seen as conquest and humility as weakness rather than virtue, the youths must be brave and courageous in asking for power or running for office. We must sketch a realistic roadmap and hold a vision of rescuing our polity that is being dragged down the drain. With the election season only inches away, the time to act is now.

Usman M Shehu

By: Abdulhameed Ridwanullah

On July 22, 2015, the then-spouse of Nigerian Afrobeats queen Tiwa Savage, Tunji “Tee Billz” Balogun, announced the birth of their son, Jamil, on social media with an image of the father and son’s hands. This, no doubt, was an intimate moment. But beneath that act was the normalization of what researchers described as “sharenting”. Sharenting is a pervasive practice of documenting every stage of a child’s life online. From the baby shower, scan pictures, delivery room and other “first” images in the life of the baby documented for public gaze, sharenting has become normalized to an extent that those calling for caution are regarded as old-school.

Sharenting is now recognized globally as a growing digital privacy concern because it exposes children to long-term data risks they cannot consent to. But in Nigeria, the consequences are amplified by our unique digital ecosystem.
What makes sharenting particularly risky in Nigeria is not only what online platforms do, but what we (users) do. On the users’ part, Nigerians’ platform usage has shown a pattern of resistance that outsmarts platforms’ regulations. In my research on platform resistance, I argued that Nigerians have developed what I call a digital okada culture: creative, evasive practices that bypass platform safeguards the same way commercial motorcycle riders bypass formal road rules. Screenshots, screen recording, parallel WhatsApp accounts, anonymous repost pages and third-party aggregators routinely move supposedly “private” content into the open, uncontrolled publics.

We have seen photos of the naming ceremonies privately shared on WhatsApp status, making their way anonymously to Instagram gossip pages like Instablog9ja and other similar gossip blogs. Simply put, a controlled WhatsApp status update can end up on strangers’ phones instantaneously. Our digital culture in Nigeria is a highly porous ecosystem where content easily escapes parents’ control, which complicates sharenting.
It is instinctive for proud parents to want to celebrate their joy with friends and family. Culturally and religiously speaking, giving birth is not a small feat. It is one of the memorable achievements in one’s life.

The magnitude and social significance of it alone are good reasons to celebrate and post children online. For diaspora families, social media posts also help them connect with grandchildren and relatives not seen physically. On the surface, this looks like a harmless practice. But once it is placed inside a digital okada culture, the comfort of “I only shared it with my contacts” becomes an illusion.

Even mainstream financial institutions have begun to warn that oversharing children’s information online can create future vulnerabilities. A 2018 BBC news report indicated that Barclays Bank forecasted that by 2030, sharenting could result in £670 million in online fraud. The bank added that parents might be “lulled into a false sense of security” without grasping the long-term implications of oversharing online. That warning is not just about money; it is about the long tail of our children’s data.

But financial fraud is only a small fragment of the risk. The bigger problem is how children’s data feeds an entire economic system. As I have written previously, the “paradox of social media is that a digital footprint is both transient and permanent”. It is transient because our post quickly disappears from most feeds, but the metadata is stored permanently in corporate databases. This is what Harvard professor Shoshana Zuboff calls surveillance capitalism.

Sharenting allows surveillance capitalism to thrive because parents voluntarily funnel massive intimate behavioural data about their children into algorithms. This behavioural data could be monetised by building a detailed, lifelong predictive profile of the children. According to privacy researchers, children’s photos that people share online are being used to train facial recognition algorithms and AI systems.

Think about that! Our children’s faces are being used to teach machines without our or their consent. Parents’ excitement often leads to the surrender of children’s data to platforms without their consent. Even celebrities who build careers on social media visibility, like Rihanna and Cardi B, are choosing to obscure their children’s faces to mitigate risk. Drake famously raps in the Emotionless track that “I wasn’t hiding my kid from the world; I was hiding the world from my kid”.

Many Nigerian parents take comfort in the illusion of privacy of End-to-End Encrypted messaging platforms. They assume that posting baby photos on WhatsApp Status, especially to a restricted contact list, is safer than throwing them on Instagram. Messages on WhatsApp are encrypted, no doubt; however, that alone does not mean data extraction isn’t taking place.

Metadata about what we share (e.g., baby photos), who we talk to, when, location, duration, and frequency are extractable and shareable data that the platforms can use to build a behavioural pattern.
In other words, even when images disappear, their informational shadows remain.

Beyond the momentary applause and privacy concern, what happens when these children grow up and do not appreciate their lives being displayed online and their privacy being taken away? Teenagers are already suing their parents in Europe for unconsented exposure. It is only a matter of time before a similar conflict emerges in Nigeria. I am not a technological Luddite. Far from it. I am just a concerned technology researcher who cares about the use and misuse of social media.

In a country shaped by digital okada culture, parents cannot assume that what they post about their children will stay where they intended. Sharenting is not just about cute photos; it is about handing our children’s futures to platforms, algorithms and a porous digital public they did not choose.

Nigeria needs greater digital literacy around children’s rights. There is also a need for more public awareness campaigns and discussion about consent beginning at home. Parents must think beyond the moment of joy and consider the digital futures they are constructing for their children.

Abdulhameed Ridwanullah is a researcher at Media for Empowerment and Impact Lab, Northeastern University, Boston, USA. He can be reached at olaitanrido@yahoo.com

By Hadiza Abdulkadir

The Nigerian government has secured the release of 100 schoolchildren abducted last month from St. Mary’s School, a Catholic boarding institution in the Papiri community of Niger State.

The attack, which occurred on November 21, saw armed men take 303 students and 12 teachers hostage. In the days following the abduction, 50 pupils managed to escape and were reunited with their families.

According to officials, the rescued children are expected to be handed over to Niger State authorities for medical and psychological evaluation. Government sources confirmed the release but did not disclose whether it resulted from negotiations, military operations, or other interventions.

Despite the successful rescue, concerns remain high. More than 160 students and staff members are still unaccounted for, leaving many families anxiously awaiting news of their loved ones.

Child-protection advocates and community leaders have renewed calls for stronger security measures around schools, stressing that the safety of students must be a national priority as mass abductions continue to plague parts of the country.

By Abubakar Idris

For those whose businesses do not sell within and around the spectrum of the academia, most probably, the term “peer review” never ring a bell; and for that, we start with that. Often used within the scientific community, an article, or any piece of work is said to be peer reviewed when it is subjected to scrutiny of experts in the same field of study before getting published. Thus, experts in the field are the peer(s), while their scrutiny of the work is the review. 1 + 1 = 2. The purposes – as put simply by Kelly et al. (2014) in their ‘Peer Review in Scientific Publication: Benefits, Critiques, & A Survival Guide’ published by The Journal of the International Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (JIFCC) and cited in more than 800 works – are to: check for relevance / importance / contribution in the area, validity of methodology, and novelty / originality of the work; and ensure improvement in the quality of manuscripts worthy of publication. In any case, in this context, the argument is this: anybody who passed through this celebrated academic writing process, if really conducted as should be done, [can] considers themselves as Odogwu of some sort. Uhm, you know… even as I claim to be a [forest] scientist, with a lot of my written works [mainly published under pseudonyms] appearing in both local and international dailies and magazines, to set the record straight, I must, here, confess that, to my credit, there exists NOT a single peer-reviewed publication! Except perhaps if the bar is to be lowered in respect of the few articles I was able to have got published by the International Society of Tropical Foresters (ISTF)– which I know say you no go gree do even as you know the editors are professional foresters.

Anyway, I know that’s unfortunate on my part. Really unfortunate even. And to borrow from the American-sounding accent speaking Ugandan MP, Mr. Atkins Katusabe, whose video recently circulated on social media, “Mr. Speaker, I think this is a disaster.” That said, why is Abubakar writing an article about ‘This Peer Review of a Thing’? Certainly not just to mock himself as having not published any scientific work. A curios mind is already pounding on this thought. Truth is, this write-up is a protest. The background: As is well known, recently, the POTUS, Mr. TACO, and his like-him arrogant ignorant drum beaters told the world a fat lie that paints Nigeria ugly – the accusation of Christian Genocide. Whatever the motive behind the unsubstantiated and impossible claim, while a clear fabrication on all fronts, the powerful man’s words (that include instructing the Pentagon to come with a plan for military intervention to save their created victims in the most populous black nation) threw the big house into a sensational chaos. Mr. K believes 131, Mrs. Ropines 629, Dr. M dreams 450, Miss N thinks 347, and all. As this fire rages, confusion at its fouls-play, as though in response by the insurgents, more organized more intensified attacks and kidnappings were unveiled – dealing some serious blows not just to the national security architecture, but also the country’s very sovereignty. And, no doubt, these troubles are much
more prevalent in the lower-literate, poorer, hotter climate… Northern region (Arewa).
It’s therefore seriously concerning that instead of guiding their younger ones on how to
consciously navigate the complex terrain, some “Arewa intellectuals” chose the path of
misguiding them. Namely, keeping them busy with cheap arguments that are squarely based on
their own personal glory – or lack of it – focused in toto on massaging their egos. Some pseudo
intellectuals, one is tempted to say.
I genuinely don’t understand why a conscious people whose very existence is threatened by all
kinds of terrorist groups and their families receiving a hell-style of beating by the harshest of
known economic realities allow themselves to be consumed by debates around what credential
qualifies one’s social media posts to be read and responded to, or whose comments are too raw,
shallow, extreme, disrespectful, gullible, and intolerant enough for them to “chop block”. I don’t
know what is, if this isn’t, a clear case of reckless joke.
In the seventh scene of Act II of William Shakespeare’s play ‘As You Like It’, a character Jaques
says, “All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits
and their entrances, And one man in his time plays many parts” – then goes on to describe the
seven ages of a man’s life, comparing them to the roles an actor plays in a play. True to nature, in
man’s lifecycle, there is an age for play, there is another for recklessness. Truth is almost all the
Arewa intellectuals are supposed to be done with the said phases. Instead of play and
recklessness, we expect wisdom from them.
When the story of Mazi Kanu’s sentence surfaced and dominated the headlines, I wasn’t as
concerned when most of us were distracted – even if not majorly of Arewa, it is such a serious
[in]security issue itself. But the credentials of our “espat”, oh h*ll no, I don’t get it, and I don’t
want to get it. I thought our so called intellectuals know better, but, well, what do I know?!
Quickly, if you don’t mind my obsession with history, allow me to add this: Elsevier’s Publishing
Guideline notes that, as a method of evaluating written work, this practice, fear (sorry, peer)
review, has been in use since ancient Greece. And, it was first explained by a Syrian physician,
Is’haq Ibn Ali Al-Rahwi (854-931 CE), in his book titled The Ethics of Physician. You gerrit? I
don’t gerrit…
May this article be peer reviewed before it got published, amen!

Abubakar Idris, a scientist without any peer reviewed article, is a graduate of Forestry and
Wildlife from University of Maiduguri. He writes from Auchi, Edo State, and can be reached
via email at abubakaridrismisau@gmail.com or on phone through +2349030178211.