Education

By Umar Yogiza

The four writers are Tares Oburumu, Ruth Chidera Echewe, Sadiq Mustafa and Taiye Ojo, they arrived in the ancient town of Ilorin, Kwara State, for the first batch of the 2023 Imodoye Writers Residency programme. A statement issued by the residency manager said the writers are expected to be there for three weeks and an optional one week.

Tares Oburumu is a Bayelsa State-born poet and essayist, based in Warri, Delta State, Nigeria. He’s the author of 6 published chapbooks. Tares Oburumu is the winner of the GAP poetry prize 2018 and his chapbook ‘origin of the syma species’ won The Sillerman First Book prize for African poets 2022, to be published by Nebraska University Press, U.S., in fall 2023. Tares had been nominated for the Pushcart prize with Woven Tales Press 2019, and Ice Floes International literary journal 2021.

Tares Oburumu is in Imodoye residency to work and expand his three chapbooks: Erasure, Chatham House and Red: the love story of Annie Ernaux. As a child, Tares heard the nerve-racking stories of how brothers took to the Atlantic Ocean, going oversee, and it broke him to pieces hearing the manner they died in their attempt to escape the bedlam their country has become. His lens’ expositions focus on emigration and the attendant trauma not told by those who suffer from it. And to shine the light on how they ended, coffined in the dream of escaping Nigeria.

Ruth Chidera Echewe, (Unbreakable) is a writer, editor, media personality and professional blogger. She publishes potpourri of themes in unbreaky.comblog, her personal blog space is called UNBREAKABLE FEATURES. She’s a graduate of English and Literary Studies from the Federal University Lafia, Nasarawa State, Nigeria. An indigene of Abia State, Nigeria, but resides in Enugu State.

Ruth, Chidera Echewe is in Imodoye to complete her work: Sisters Series, prose, dealings with humans, certain bonds that sustained our existence and given us a different definition of life. She kindly follows various studies that have proven the strongest bonds emanated from the establishment of relationships. Ruth is motivated by her passion for creativity which has gone ahead to give birth to what she intends to manifest into a publishing, writing and editing firm in the nearest future.

Abubakar Sadiq Mustapha is a poet, art curator, documentary photographer, and community developer. He studied Geology and Mining at Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University, and currently rounding up his master’s program at the same Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University, Lapai, Niger State. Sadiq uses books, photography, and arts in driving social change from girl-child education, and gender-based violence to youth participation in politics and believes in the power of photography and how it can be used toward mental health, is in Imodoye to complete his manuscript: Home is my Mother’s Tongue.

Abubakar is also a photo columnist with Salamander ink magazine and the curator of the Abubakar Gimba literacy campaign. He’s the project lead for The Lapai Bookclub’s mobile library and school, a project that takes reading and arts to grassroots communities in Northern Nigeria aimed at increasing the literacy rate of the region and creating awareness in governance.

Ojo Taiye is a Delta base Nigerian eco-artist and writer who uses poetry as a handy tool to hide his frustration with society. He’s the winner of the Hay Writer’s Circle poetry prize, US, 2021, Calthalbui poetry prize, Ireland 2021. In 2020 Taiye Ojo was selected to participate in Capital City Film Poetry Festival, in Michigan and Poetry Introductory Series, in Ireland. His commissioned works include Belfast Photo Festival 2021, Winnipeg Fringe Festival and Leeds Poetry Festival.

Taiye’s recent works explore neocolonialism, institutionalized violence and ecological trauma in the oil-rich, polluted Niger Delta. His themes deal with the effects of climate change,
homelessness, migration, drought and famine, as well as a range of transversal issues arising from
racism, black identity and mental health. Taiye Ojo is in Imodoye to complete his poetry collection: Scoping Map.

Established by Dr Usman Ladipo Akanbi, the Imodoye Writers Residency is a private initiative for writers and visual artists keen on completing their ongoing work in a conducive environment at no cost. And as part of giving back to the community, during their stay in the residency, the writers are expected to mentor secondary school students in Ilorin in creative art/writing.

By Salim Ibrahim Isa

Since late last year, many public universities have released revised fees, primarily reviewed upwards in unprecedented percentages (mostly more than a 100%). Students, parents and other stakeholders have expressed shock, with many blaming the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) for being behind the increase as a response to the Union’s fallout with the Federal Government last year and members of the Union laying responsibility to the executive councils of respective universities.

Whatever the reason for the increase and whoever is behind it, the rising cost of education is a reality students and other stakeholders have to face, for it is doubtful to be reversed.

It will be useful to consider the following discussion, especially by students who would be directly affected by the fee hike.

Choice of courses

Choosing a course to study has been a longstanding issue. Many students go to university to study courses for years only to realise later that they could have made better choices regarding their aspirations. With education being more expensive, prospective students will save themselves much disappointment later in their studies or after graduating by researching courses before applying for them and making informed decisions. Nobody wants to pay massive amounts of money to study a course only to find out later that it has no job prospects or something like that.

Alternatives to degrees

It is not a divine revelation that everybody must have a degree. Colleges of education, polytechnics and other higher institutions offer various types of training and award multiple certificates, which can be as useful as a degree, depending on how the holder uses acquired knowledge. A student who cannot afford the higher costs of a university education shouldn’t lose all hope. It is still OK to seek other affordable alternatives and acquire training and certification.

Many non-degree holders have had spectacular achievements the world over. The most important thing is the training and how and to what use it is put.

Distance learning

Thanks to the internet, a significant number of universities all over the world now offer many courses online. This eliminates the burden of physical presence and its attendant financial implications, making the courses a lot cheaper while maintaining the quality of the courses. Many of these courses have flexible payment schedules, so students can pay in instalments and flexible classes, allowing students to work while studying. One may explore the availability of courses of choice both within and outside Nigeria and enrol in a good course at a good university. In addition, students may apply for discounts and fee waivers to make their studies even more affordable.

Scholarships and sponsorships

Governments, universities, foundations, companies and even individuals within Nigeria and abroad offer scholarships and financial aid to students under various schemes to subsidise education. Some scholarships involve moving to the supporting country/institution, while others support candidates locally. Sponsorships may also be complete or partial. A good way to be up-to-date on scholarship information is to subscribe to scholarship advertising websites and make a good network, especially in academia. Students need to remember, however, that all scholarships have criteria, and many of these criteria revolve around sound academic performance. Nobody wants to waste money on candidates who are not serious about studying, so all need to buckle up.

Salim Ibrahim Isa wrote via saalimibraheem@gmail.com.

By Safiyanu Ladan

The Academic Staff Union of the Universities (ASUU) embarked on an indefinite strike on the 14th February 2022, following years of unresolved issues with the federal government. During the period of the strike, the union had on several occasions met with the federal government representatives headed by the labor and employment minister Chris Ngige with a clear mandate to find a long and lasting solution to the lingering problems but to no avail as the meetings have always ended in deadlock.

Tired and frustrated with that, In September last year, the federal government through the ministry of labor and employment took the union to an industrial court, praying to the court among other things to order the varsity teachers to resume classes with immediate effect. The outcome of the court’s judgement favored the federal government. Paradoxically, the appellant court refused to entertain ASUU’s appeal, saying that until and unless they obey the lower court’s judgement of going back to classes.

The intervention of the speaker, house of representatives Right Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila has paved the way for the varsity workers to get a soft landing in what seems like an unending fracas with the Federal government.

Prolonged and incessant ASUU strikes were this time around followed by a heavy price as the federal government reiterated that, the no work no pay policy has been duly applied to the striking workers. The federal government decision to withhold their salary has generated heated debates and threats from ASUU, but the government remains adamant. Closing down of Universities is at the detriment of students because they are always at the receiving end.

Having been tried but failed to convince the FG to pay the arrears of the past eight months of ASUU members, the management of some universities have decided to compensate that with an increment of students’ school fees. It’s no longer news that some universities have deliberately increased their fees to more than 100%.

It’s now crystal clear that this increment will affect many students because their parents cannot afford to pay such whopping amount of money as school fees. In the meantime, the mass exodus of students dropping out of the universities most especially in the North is imminent. Leaders and everyone should know this. Many students have expressed their worries on the trend and their final resolve to quit.

Safiyanu Ladan wrote from Zariya City and can be reached via uncledoctor24@gmail.com.

By Dansaleh Aliyu Yahya

Reading is a passion that every human needs to have to differentiate himself from other living creatures. Reading sharpens the brain of a reader. It makes him think in a different way compared to those who aren’t reading. One has to read to gain wisdom and even the life experiences of more than a million imaginary characters. For those reasons and many more, I said — read! Read! Read! And never stop reading.

People wonder how can a man with a wife, a business, and a life full of struggles dare to say that he has read hundreds of books in a year. Yes, it is possible if you know what the true definition of time management is.

Time management is the only phenomenon that helps everybody to do many things without even realising he did a lot. Plan your reading exercise, Have a timetable, and tell yourself that you can, then move on.

You can master any kind of skill if you do it repeatedly. So, if you read today and tomorrow, you will be a rocket reader. I can remember when I was in secondary school SS2, I read a book to some of my friends. I was reading it one day, “I swear you just held the book, but you were not reading from it”, Abdulmalik Ibrahim said, “He was my friend at school”.

“I was reading from it”, I said. He collected the book. Trying to prove me wrong. In the end, he proved himself wrong and said, “Why are you here? You should be an art student. So that you can study journalism”. He told me.

“Reading is my cup of tea, and I couldn’t do without it. I read a book in a single sitting because I don’t support cliffhangers. I must see the end of the story if I start reading it”, I told him. “Allah ya taimaki aku!” he said. We laughed.

I told them that I could not enter a toilet, eat food or sit down without reading something. Before, I was blamed at home for going toilet with a book, but now I have softcopies. Your phone can be your library in this 21st century!

So, you too can have speed in reading texts. I finished reading my first three books this year. I didn’t pen this to tell you that I am reading but rather to help inculcate reading culture within our blessed community. And tell people that if a dull young boy like me can do this, then everyone can do it.

May we be blessed, amin.

Dansaleh Aliyu Yahya can be reached via dansalealiyu@gmail.com.

By Uzair Adam Imam

The Kano State Ministry of Education has announced Sunday, January 8th, 2023, as a resumption day for all boarding public and private primary schools for the commencement of the 2nd term academic session.

A statement by the Director Public Enlightenment Ministry of Education of the state, Aliyu Yusuf, disclosed this on Saturday.

The statement added, “While expressing appreciation for the cooperation and support been [sic] accorded to the ministry, Commissioner Rt. Hon. Ya’u Abdullahi Yan’shana urged Parents/Guardians of Pupils and Students of the schools to ensure compliance with the approved resumption dates.

“The Commissioner who also wished the students and pupils successful commencement of the 2nd term Academic session, however, warned that appropriate disciplinary action would be taken against defaulting students,” the statement added.

By Prof. Abdelghaffar Amoka Abdelmalik

A recently published book by Dr Ali Isa Pantami has rekindled the debate between degrees and skills. Even though the book focused on digital skills, “educated” Nigerians are trying hard to separate skills from university degrees (education). That someone graduated in computer science without being able to write a computer code does not mean that all graduates in computer science cannot write computer code.

Public primary and secondary schools have collapsed, and there is no debate on a possible mission to rescue them. The public universities are on the path to the state of the public primary and secondary schools, and all we want is to keep the kids in the class to MILT (manage it like that).

Some of the questions that came to my mind as I watched the debate were: What is skill? Can you truly separate skills from university degrees? What qualified you to receive a degree from a university? What skills do you need to survive in Nigeria? What skills do we need to propel Nigeria to a particular height? Just digital skills? What are the available jobs in high demand in Nigeria? Over the last 20 years, tell me about a job that was advertised, and after all the screening, they could not get a qualified graduate in Nigeria with the appropriate skills for the job.

The debate on degrees and certificates is getting more interesting. It is more interesting to me this time around as the Northern elites champion it. We are growing up.

I did my National Youth Service in a secondary school in Bagwai, Kano state, between 2000 and 2001. One weekend, I went to the market to get some stuff and met the Senior Teacher. I jokingly asked why he was in the market and didn’t let the wife do the shopping. That led to a lengthy discussion where I mentioned the General Hospital, Bichi. As of then, there were 3 Doctors, all male, at the hospital. Two were Yoruba and one Igbo. They were all Christians. There was no female doctor. I told him that they need to encourage their daughters to go to school so that we can have their daughters as Doctors in those hospitals. I guess I was wrong. Degrees are useless.

We are fond of mentioning our iconic automotive designer, Jelani Aliyu, as an example of skills rather than degrees. This is a very interesting example with a missing background. Jelani was a very good student and truly left the university for the polytechnic because he wanted a more practically oriented program. That is what polytechnics are originally meant for. So, after finishing his HND from the polytechnic as the Best All-Round Student, he got a scholarship from the Sokoto state scholarship board to study automotive design at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit, US. They got certificates every step to show that he has acquired the requisite skills. The rest is history.

You see, anyone can write a book on degrees vs skills, especially people at high places whose entire success is based on their degree certificates. But can the book change our reality? Not likely. Only a few Nigerians actually read books. A long post on Facebook is even difficult to read. We prefer to use the time to argue over who is the football G.O.A.T. How do we change that? There are several challenges to deal with to save our system.

But then, by the virtue of your degree certificate, you got a job as a Graduate Assistant at a public university. You built on that to have your Master’s degree in the university. And being a lecturer in a public university, you got a scholarship for PhD in the UK. With a PhD degree from the UK, you got a job offer as an Assistant Professor at a university abroad. Then, a few years later, you got an appointment outside academia. I guess a skill was identified that took you to all these places. There was no record of industry experience. So, all the skills were acquired at the university. So, what is your problem with the university? If you have got all these skills in the university and the necessary skills that your students in your department need to have are missing, then we should blame you for it.

All that you are was built on your degrees, and the same degrees are suddenly no more important but skills? We are supposed to be the light of our society. So, what is skill? What do we do in the universities? Are university environments unskilled environment? Where do you get the skills? Meanwhile, their kids are in university acquiring degrees. My guess is that you need skills, while their kids need degrees to manage your skill.

One of my senior colleagues once told us during an undergraduate lecture in the ’90s that physics makes you think. That’s a skill. He said, whatever you decide to do after graduation, physics will help your thinking. Sometimes back, I had a discussion with one of our graduates who switched from physics to IT after graduation, and he said IT is a piece of cake compared to Physics. He said he finds it easy having studied physics. Of course, let’s preach skills and not degrees while our best graduates are been harvested by the US, Canada, France, Norway, England, Germany, etc.

Recently, there were some trending Master’s graduation lists from UK universities where the graduates were 99% Nigerians. The tuition fee for the master’s program can start a business in Nigeria, but they decided to give the money to the UK university to acquire a certificate that will qualify them to work in the UK. Their first degree from Nigeria got them admission to a Master’s program in the UK. That qualifies them for the two years post-study visa to get a job. They don’t intend to come back, and they will get a job there with a university degree.

Shaquille O’Neal found it offensive when he walked into business meetings, and people would only talk to his representatives. He felt he was lacking something and found it necessary to enrol in a Master’s degree program at the University of Phoenix. He told them that he wanted somebody to teach him in class but was informed that the course he enrolled for was only taught online and that he can’t be taught alone. He asked for the requirements to have a physical class, and he was told that they needed a minimum of 15 students. Shaq paid for 15 of his friends to join him in the Master’s program. There was a gap, and he got a degree to fill it. It is up to you if degrees are skillless.

Barrister Jimoh Ibrahim recently got a Doctor of Business degree from Cambridge Judge Business School, University of Cambridge. He is a billionaire with an MSc in Major Programme Management from Oxford, an MBA from Cambridge, a Certificate in International Tax Law from Harvard, an MPA from Ife, and a Bachelor of Law from Ife. He has been a billionaire. What does he need another degree for?

Our universities are not in the best form, nor are our polytechnics the way they were during Jelani’s days. We watched public educational institutions degrade over the years without any resistance except ASUU. That we have lost some vital components of what made a university a university is not a global case. It’s a peculiarity that we have to deal with to save our system. Our efforts should be towards reviving the lost skills that ought to be acquired at each level of our education, from primary schools to polytechnics and universities. 

Sadly, instead of making efforts to save the education system of the country and direct it toward the developmental needs of the nation, we are arguing over degrees and skills while they are taking the extra steps for the further destruction of public universities. The people telling you to go for skills instead of degrees have got their kids in schools abroad or private universities. What are they acquiring there? Unskilled knowledge? They have systematically destroyed what made the university a university but complained of a lack of skills. Double standard.

Since our brothers are championing the commercialization of public universities and skills rather than degrees, I hope our general hospitals in the North have got enough doctors so that we can close down our degree programs for medical sciences. What about law, finance, etc.? Optic fibre, which has revolutionized medicine and telecommunication, was a product of research from the university. A simple physics concept (total internal reflection in a material) that was engineered. Endoscopy and broadband transmission are not products of questionnaires but skilled thinking.

The World Bank recently said it will take northern states 40 years to catch up with their southern counterparts considering the current growth rates. Meanwhile, northern leaders don’t seem to bother about that but doing politics with the education of the people. I was informed today that grasses have taken over some of the primary schools in a state in the North-central. If we are to stop going to school, we need to start telling them to lead the way on the skills we need to survive in the North and make Nigeria work. Is it farming, as the president advised?

In a recent World Bank report, the Bank stated that “despite its vast natural resources and a young, entrepreneurial population, development in Nigeria has stagnated over the last decade, and the country is failing to keep up with the GDP growth of its peers. Declining private investment and demographic pressure push young Nigerians to pursue opportunities overseas”. Lack of skilled leadership and not a skilled workforce is possibly responsible for this.

It wasn’t a lack of skilled workforce that caused the massive unemployment in the country. There won’t be unemployment if there are jobs. There can’t be jobs if there is no job creation or an enabling environment for job creation. We are quick to forget that every certificate, degree or not, comes with the requisite knowledge and skills. The certificate is to show that you have acquired the prescribed skills. Of course, some find a way to get it without getting the requisite skill. This is Nigeria, where everything is possible. That is a systematic problem. That is why there is an interview.

Are you dealing with incompetent graduates? Blame your hiring process or yourself for not conducting the required interview. That you can’t find a job in Nigeria does not mean you don’t have the skill to get a job. The jobs ain’t just there. Go and study in the UK. If you stay back, you will get a job without any need to know someone that knows somebody. But if you dare return to Nigeria out of that thing called “patriotism” to contribute, you may need to buy a job or know somebody at a high place to get that dream job.

The problem is that we don’t even know what we want. No strategic plans. Everyone is just looking out for his pocket. After seven years, there is no clear education policy for the country. They said there are not enough resources to properly fund education, but they can’t produce a sustainable funding model for education. We are still living and surviving in lamentation mode.

They said a country cannot grow beyond the level of education of the people. Meanwhile, the education system of the country is in a deep mess, and no one is calling for a discussion on the sort of education that we need to aid our development as a developing nation. Every opportunist sits in the comfort of his office to push a policy through our throat, policies that will naturally die after they are out of the office. 

It was entrepreneurship yesterday and that made them introduce entrepreneurship as a compulsory subject in secondary schools and as a general studies course in the universities. But which entrepreneur will go and sit as a secondary teacher in a class to receive slave wages of N40,000 per month? The course is taught at the university by colleagues struggling to get home with their take-home pay.

The subject is taught by people struggling with monthly salaries and doesn’t know what entrepreneurship looks like aside from what they read in the book. The government that introduced the policy, as usual, did not make adequate provisions for it to be taught. But they are happy to have introduced the subject. Not sure of how many entrepreneurs we have produced from the teaching of the courses. Today, it is skill acquisition. Are we confused?

Just like the “entrepreneurship” package of yesterday, “Skills rather than Degrees” seems to be the new gold mine among those in government with different packages for funding from the government. At least we have started spending billions on skill acquisition across states. A report from Vanguard on April 6, 2022, says over N6.2 billion was spent to train and equip 16,820 Bauchi youths in the art of smartphone repairs. That’s about N368,609 per person.

You can write books on skills and get Bill Gates to write the foreword, but that won’t change our situation until we are willing to change it. We are not getting it right with our education system, and we have refused to ask honest questions and find answers to them. Some of the skills needed to be acquired at the university are missing due to system failure, and we pretend that all is well. All that our leaders want is to hear that students are in class and manage it like that. The quality of the teaching is not important to them. After all, their kids ain’t there. Unfortunately, we don’t see anything wrong with the MILT syndrome, and some of the victims even consider questioning/challenging the leaders as insubordination.

A member of this government is championing the “Skills and NOT Degrees” campaign, and he has written a book on it. I did not know that ministers have the luxury of time to write books while in office, despite their tight schedules. Well done, sir. I hope the idea will not die in May 2023 after leaving office.

There is no doubt that all is not well in our universities, from the hiring process to the interference of professional bodies to funding to the strangulation of the system by government agents to the killing of motivation to the localization of the universities to the internal politics to the quest for positions to the loss of a scholarship, etc. But condemning the university system that made us because of our mindset against ASUU won’t solve our problem unless we ask the right questions and find answers to them.

Why did the public primary schools collapse? What is the basic skill requirement at the primary school level? Why are those skills missing? What are the deliverables at the secondary schools? How did we lose it? We had the Government Technical Colleges. What happened to them? Can we restore them? What are the expectations from the polytechnics and the university for national development? What are the obstacles to making the expectations a reality? How do we get rid of the obstacles? The University education system is a universal purposeful system that has not changed. Ours is what we made it to be. We must revive the purposeful educational system towards our developmental needs as a developing nation.

Restoring our universities and other educational institutions to the state they are meant to be needs an honest approach. But window dressing our challenges won’t solve the problems if we don’t tackle them from the root. If we don’t sit to deliberate on the sort of education system we need to aid our development as a developing nation, we’ll keep moving around the clock while our situation keeps deteriorating.

Abdelghaffar Amoka Abdelmalik, PhD, wrote from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. He can be reached via aaabdelmalik@gmail.com.

By Uzair Adam Imam

The newly appointed bursar of Federal University Birnin Kebbi (FUBK), Malam Ibrahim Lawal, has assumed duty officially on Monday, December 19, 2022.

This was disclosed in a statement signed Monday by Jamilu M Magaji, the school’s Public Relations Officer.

According to the statement, until his appointment, Lawal was the Deputy Bursar as well as the Ag. Director of Procurement at Federal University Gusau, Zamfara State.

The statement read, “Ibrahim Lawal attended Faki Road Primary School, Kaduna, from 1985 to 1990. He proceeded to Command Day Secondary School, Kaduna, where he got the Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (SSCE), after which he moved to Isa Kaita College of Education, Dutsen-ma, for an Interim Joint Matriculation Board (IJMB) examination between 1998 and 1999.

“Mal. Ibrahim obtained B.Sc. in Accounting, a Master’s in Business Administration and M.Sc. in Accounting and Finance from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, in 2005, 2011 and 2018, respectively. He’s currently pursuing a PhD in Accounting at the Nigerian Defense Academy, Kaduna.

“Mal. Lawal started his career at Bulet International Nigeria Limited as Executive Officer (Accounts) in 2006. Thereafter, he worked in various organizations where he rose through the ranks to become Chief Accountant at Federal University, Wukari, Taraba State; Deputy Bursar and Ag. Director of Procurement at the Federal University Gusau.

“The new Bursar is a Fellow of the Association of National Accountants of Nigeria (ANAN), a Member of the Society for Forensic Accounting and Fraud Prevention, as well as a Fellow of Certified National Accountants.

“The new Bursar shares a vision to improve and maintain a highly distinguished Bursary Department with financial integrity in the management of the University funds through the provision of exceptional services to the University community, the nation and beyond,” the statement added.

By Sheikh Aminu Aliyu Gusau.

The story of AbdulJabbar is that of fanaticism. 

It is about the feud between the Izala and Darika in Kano and across the nation. AbdulJabbar’s over-zealousness, eventually, landed him into trouble. He is from the Qadiriyyah Sufi order, whose headquarters is in Kano, just as Kano is one of the headquarters of Tijjaniyyah. Lately, Kano also became one of the headquarters of factional Izala group, specifically the Salafiyyah.

AbdulJabbar grew up in the midst of an ongoing harsh and hot arguments between the scholars of Izala and that of Darikah. Thinking that he is knowledgeable enough to wade in, he dived into the arguments. 

The fundamental aspect of the Izala argument, which secluded the title of “Ahlussunnah” to itself, is basing everything on the Qur’an and Sunnah based on the understanding of the first three generations of Islam. But they put more emphasis on hadith (sayings, actions and approvals of the Messenger of Allah) with a pedagogical approach. To display that he has an unmatched prowess in that kind of knowledge, AbdulJabbar ventured into the altercation head on. 

That coincided with the emergence of Kano as one of the headquarters of the Shi’a sect, (with whatever you come to Kano, you will find someone/something better). The Darikah Ulama are divided into two, pertaining engagements with Shi’a. While many of their scholars are suspicious about them, some have embraced them for their (Shi’a) near similar stand on the status of the progenies of the Messengerof Allah. AbdulJabbar is one of those who were influenced by the doctrines of Shi’a. He started to turn to their books, which contained condemnation of the companions of the Messenger of Allah and rejection of what they reported directly from the Messenger of Allah. When he went to Iraq for studies, he met many adherents of Shi’a and, consequently, became influenced by their stand on the companions of the Prophet and Hadith.

Thence, AbdulJabbar decided to wage a war on Izala in an unprecedented way – through the condemnation and destruction of the entire Sunni school of thought- to which Izala held on tightly and proudly. Prior to this, no scholar have ever tried that. In addition, all the Darikah scholars believe that they are Ahlussunah, they have no problem with the sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (PBUH). Their problems with Izala is only that of definition, meaning or translation. The Izala, too, according to some scholars among them, agrees that yes the Darikah adherents are Ahlussunnah, in a “broader meaning”, while they (Izala) are the specific/real Ahlussunnah. 

Another influence of Shi’a, specifically the Zakzaky faction, on AbdulJabbar, is the “heedless” confrontational approach. He decided to confront Izala in a “heedless” manner similar to the Zakzaky faction of Shi’a. He failed to decipher that Zakzaky faction only display “heedlessness” while confronting the government, but when it comes to the Shi’a doctrine, specifically on the companions of the Prophet, they apply the  “Taqiyyah”. AbdulJabbar didn’t learn the wisdom behind Taqiyyah, because he thinks that if if he didn’t disrobe himself from the Sunnah he can’t say anything (to suppress Izala) when it comes to “knowledge driven discussions.”

He started by insisting that most of the Ibadat undertaken by Izala were not based on the Sunnah of the Prophet but based on innovations from his companions. He, then started discussing the “innovations of the Sahaba”, giving more emphasis on the second CalIph, Umar. This exposed how deep he was influenced by the Shi’a. He spent time discussing “the fifty innovations” that were smuggled into Islam by Umar.

The fundamental thing that AbdulJabbar failed to realize, when he started his “heedless” sojourn, was that he was invalidating the whole jurisprudence that were in practice by every Muslim who was not a Shiite. He failed to understand that he was, indeed, attacking every Muslim.

When he started this, the scholars at his home quickly realized where he was heading and the danger that lies ahead if their family is to be identified with what he was spewing. Therefore, they tried to stop him, an action that resulted in bitter disagreements between them. Consequently, he parted ways with them and started his own group for his kind of Da’awa.

The advent of Google search engine gave AbdulJabbar quick access to some writings by atheists, Muslim heretics and orientalists from the Christian scholars who satirize the Prophet and his companions. This emboldened him over his attack on Sunnah.

He immediately embarked into the process of invalidating Hadiths. His most important targets were Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim, to be followed by the rest of Hadith books. His method was to establish that it was the companions who deliberately concocted  those Hadiths in order to destroy Islam after the Prophet. The Prophet didn’t utter those Hadiths. He insisted that those who reported the Hadiths knew that they were lies, concocted by the companions, but they chose to conceal the truth for over a thousand years! This is exactly the stand of Shi’a on the Hadith believed by Ahlussunnah.

To prove that the companions were against the Prophet and that they were trying to destroy his religion, AbdulJabbar decided to quote the utterances of Shi’a scholars, heretics and that of the atheists, (everything said by AbdulJabbar on this subject was copied from elsewhere, he was not the one who discovered or hypothesized them, as he boastfully claims), that asserts that the companions have disrespected and ridiculed the Prophet, or that they (the companions) have invented some things into Islam that could never have been from the Prophet (PBUH).

This is what the scholars termed as challenging the “Dirayah” (the part of knowledge that ascertain whether or not the import or meaning of a hadith is in concurrence with the shari’ah) instead of challenging the Hadith from the angle of its authenticity or not, through observing the chain of reporters (Riwayah). 

AbdulJabbar used both approaches, but he took an opposing stand to that of the scholars of Hadith’s principles that “a hadith couldn’t be faulted on the basis of the companion who reported it, because all the companions are deemed trustworthy and honest (specifically when reporting what the Prophet said)”. He, instead, selected the stand of Shi’a that asserted that the fault of a companion is also the fault of any hadith from him, notwithstanding who followed in the chain of the narrators.

Muslims in this country have been reading these books and other commentaries on them from the day Islam came into this country, they’ve never heard anyone interpreting them with such bizarre meanings as did AbdulJabbar. But he kept misinterpreting them – as the Judge said in his rulings – “without showing or pointing the exact words in the books, and it was not an interpretation with meaning (which is lawful) but that -as he (AbdulJabbar) claimed- it was an interpretation with a “Shubhul “Ma’na.” 

Therefore, to all Muslims in this country, with the exception of the Shi’a, AbdulJabbar’s failure to point the exact offensive words he alleged were uttered by the companions, meant that those reprehensible words were his, and he is the one who invented those words against the Prophet (PBUH). This ignoble act, prompted all the Muslims in Kano that bear the name of Ahlussunnah, even if it is the “broader meaning” of Ahlussunnah, to merge in order to fight this menace which is simply Shiism in the garb of Sunnah.

The merger scholars were victorious in pressuring the government to prosecute AbdulJabbar. The judge sentenced him according to the Malikiyya school of thought, using the verdict from “As-shifa”, a book made famous by the family of AbdulJabbar for reading it always in public. It was disclosed that the stand of Imam Malik is that “anyone who report offensive comments on the person of the Messenger of Allah, and eventually failed to prove it, will be deemed as the one making the offensive statement, and is liable to be sentenced to death.”

When AbdulJabbar came out “heedlessly” to proselytize Shiism using the garb of Sunnah, in order to suppress Izala, he was oblivious of this statement from “As-shifa”. Eventually, the verdicts of the book have consumed him. He had also forgotten that, by so doing he will be fighting every segment of the Muslims who are not Shi’a. Now the merger has consumed him. He had also forgotten that though it is said that in this country everyone can say whatever he likes, due to Freedom of Speech, the shariah law is exercised in Kano. Now he is consumed by Shariah. 

Overzealousness in sectarianism should be avoided by all, please. 

Translated by Muhammad Mahmud.

By Aminu Alhassan Kuba

Yesterday, education lost one of its most important gurdian angels. Professor Abdullahi Mahdi was arguably the best university administrator and without doubt, the greatest environmentalist Nigeria produced in the last 30 years. As VC, he transformed Ahamdu Bello University (ABU) Zaria into one of the safest and most hospitable university campuses in the country.

In a period of just 6 years, he transformed ABU’s vast land spaces from weed infested farmlands into a scene of beauty, serenity and gardens of roses and woodlands. In our very eyes, he literally transformed the landscape from the brown dusty lands in the dry season and muddy grassland in the rainy season into a beautiful garden of woods, palms and flowers.

As VC, he was like a restless military administrator with a mission. He was everywhere either making sure lecturers were in classes and laboratories imparting knowledge and character, or making sure that no one derailed his green revolution project on campus threatened the peace andsafety of the University communityhe administered.

Within a few years of stewardship, he stabilised the once notoriously unstable ABU academic calendar, ensured teachers taught the courses they were meant to teach at the times alloted. Tests and examinations were conducted as at when due, scripts were marked within agreed timelines and results of all examinations pasted and displayed before the commencement of the next semester. I could remember that, on resumption, the first point of call for any student was the departmental and/or faculty notice boards.

Mahdi was the best VC friend of the Student that ABU had. He was always there whenever and wherever needed. As a student, you could be admiring his flowers or taking a picture in any random place on campus and be surprised with the VC of mighty ABU helping you adjust your pose or position to better capture his beautiful gardens.

He made accommodation administration so seamless and fair that every deserving student got it on a first come first served basis. He made the hostels liveable by deploying adequate sanitation staff and providing water for drinking and sanitation. He turned our hostels into beautiful green gardens and enforced the rules to keep them so.

On security on the campus, ABU felt so safe and tranquil that female students could leave Amina and Ribadu halls 2:00pm and go to their classes unaccompanied anywhere on campus to study without fear of harassment or molestation. The ABU security system became so efficient that Students and the University community trusted them more than any State security agency of the country.

To govern ABU’s huge landmass, he employed the services of hunters to patrol every inch and ensured no one encroached or made its inhabitants feel unsafe. On campus, the University security was empowered to function and deployed the most effective methods to govern the most diverse student collection on campus anywhere in Nigeria.

Within the shortest time possible, he provided adequate water to not only ABU’s numerous hostels and his ubiquitous green revolution project, but its many and widespread staff quarters. The ABU dam was desilted and expanded, the waterworks revamped and expanded, and where provision of water became an intractable challenge like the Suleiman Hall, industrial boreholes were sunk and connected to the water reticulation system.

When NEPA became notoriously efficient in its failure to provide electricity to the campus environment, Mahdi fixed the broken down generators prcured new ones, installed and ran them with military efficiency. Again, they provided lightning to every class on campus and staff quarters. He signed an MoU with NEPA to guarantee power for some hours while generators provided lightning in the absence of NEPA. You could go to the class anytime with the assurance that light was available for your reading pleasure.

On sexual and other sundry harassments by lecturers and other members of university staff, he protected female students to the hilt. The only case that went unsolved was perhaps the one not reported. As Students, we felt safe and protected by Baba Mahdi.

For those that fell in love with themselves on campus, there were always places to go to, to sit and share stories, to take photos and relax without fear. ABU was hard, but it was beautiful, it was a social citadel. We had chairs to sit in every garden and enjoy the beauty and serenity of the campus. The famous gardens around the senate building and convocation square were nicknamed Love Gardens by some and Mahdi Gardens by others.

Public toilets with adequate water for sanitation and hygiene became available in every department, faculty and library. Whenever the need arose, students and staff needn’t rush to hostels to comfort themselves.

As ABUSites, we felt proud to return to campus wherever school reopened. It was always a pleasure to go to the assembly hall or Mamman Kontagora’s convocation center.

Whenever the travails of campus got on the way, the well maintained sports arena opposite Queen Amina Hall was there to admire the beauty of creation and watch volleyball, basketball or just relax. Mahdi made sure that Amina Hostel’s paint was always new, and those saddled with the responsibility of giving accommodation also always ensured that the most beautiful girls were accommodated there.

Mahdi turned ABU Samaru campus to a garden city with paved roads, walkways, trees and flowers. We were proud to tell students from other schools that they could visit ABU, spend a week and return home without walking on unpaved grounds.

Before his tenure elapsed, graduands got their certificates on the day of convocation just students had their results before the next semester commenced.

During his tenure he faced the recalcitrant university unions, including ASUU which he once chaired, with resolve and ensured that their troubles didn’t derail his vision. On a particular day, were inside Kashim Ibrahim Library when violently striking SSANU members clashed with police and teargas was used to disperse them. Many left the library with tears, but Mahdi won.., jacking continued.

When he eventually left, he left ABU many generations better than he met it in every aspect.

In Gombe, he built the State university from scratch to compete favourably with many older federal universities and perhaps, to become the best State university in at least northern Nigeria. Two months ago, I was there on q leisure visit and was confronted with the nostalgia of the Mahdi vision all over again. Even when ASUU had been on strike for months, the green made the campus lively and serene. At the zoo he established, we found the few animals it houses well fed and catered for. We saw families visiting with children enjoying the facilities provided by a man of vision and foresight.

As an academic, administrator and leader, Mahdi accomplished all these with a simplicity of a saint and commitment of a soldier on the battle field. He never sought to be known, he did not crave power, but when he got the opportunity he used it to make life better not just for the people he was responsible for but for environment and everything living within.

And when he eventually left the field and retired, he did not build or bought mansions in Abuja, Kaduna or even Gombe, he retired to the warm embrace of his family, and the community he served most of his life with distinction, Samaru in Zaria.

May Allah in His infinite mercy forgive his shortcomings, have mercy on his soul and grant him Jannah. May He comfort his family, the ABU Community and Nigeria 🇳🇬 deprived of a father, leader and patriot that served with distinction, dedication, honour, love and humility.

Kuba was a former student of ABU Zaria. He writes from Katsina State.

By Maryam Augie-Abdulmumin

With the approval of the National Language Policy by the Federal Executive Council (FEC), instruction in primary schools within Nigeria will now be done in the mother tongue. As with every other issue of importance in this country, the policy was greeted with passionate arguments, both for and against. The Government’s decision to promote language learning for greater learning outcomes has been in the making for many years, especially at the lower primary levels. The Federal Government may have officially made it compulsory for the primary mode of instruction to be in the mother tongue. However, this policy has been in practice in most remote communities, especially in the North.

Whilst some arguments against the idea (which we shall review shortly) were valid, it is worth considering the fact that Nigeria is currently facing what is akin to an education emergency. In this regard, whatever little effort is made, especially at the policy level, should be greeted with some positivity whilst exploring ways to augment the effort in the non-governmental and private sectors.

Having said that, it is equally important we explore reasons why this policy might not work. This is because it is only when we clearly understand the hurdles ahead that we will be sufficiently prepared to effectively nurture the policy seed that the Federal Government has planted. Below are three strong reasons advanced against the policy:

The Financial Implication of Educating Children From 500 different ethnic groups.

Without mincing words, I agree with those who say it is unrealistic and unachievable to educate children from over 500 ethnic groups. This is especially true considering that education has always been at the low end of budgetary allocations. Let’s face it, the current economic profile of the nation does not look promising for a radical overhaul of this nature. However, in order to take advantage of this policy and benefit from what technologically advanced countries like China, Germany, and Russia have benefited from for many years, we can start with the low-hanging fruits. By this, I mean let’s start with the three dominant languages – Hausa, Yoruba and Igbo.

These languages already have advanced international media backing (BBC Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo, for instance) and a copious body of knowledge accessible through search engines like Google. There is a possibility of easily scaling beyond the three languages by leveraging the data and lessons learnt at this phase of the implementation.

The dearth of Qualified Teachers and Instructional Materials

Closely related to funding is the challenge of the dearth of teachers and the availability of adequate instructional materials to implement such a grand overhaul. The truth is even the current system is grappling with the same challenges, so it is an open secret that any change will mean more challenges. However, with what is available through scientific research on the benefits of children receiving instructions through their local languages, it is clear that it is only a matter of time before this issue becomes the front burner of national discourse. And although we don’t have it all figured out, we have to start with what is available. The NCE curriculum makes provision for every college of education in the Federation to have departments of Hausa, Igbo, and Yoruba and some provision for the language of the immediate community.

Community ownership, NGO, and private sector support will go a long way in ensuring effective implementation. It is also important to note that whilst the Federal Government makes policies, the responsibility of implementing basic education lies with State Governments. Thus, the onus of ensuring this success will vary from state to state. If, for example, northern governors believe this policy will serve their interest most, they should do everything within their powers to ensure the success of this policy at the state and regional levels. The same may not be a priority for the southern region. What is significant here is how we make this policy work in the best interest of Nigeria’s peace and prosperity.

Favouritism and the Challenge to the Fragile Peace in Nigeria

Viewed from the historical context of education in Nigeria, it is obvious that English is more accessible, learnt and understood in the southern part of Nigeria than in the dominantly Hausa-speaking North, where the region has always relied on the Hausa language for the mass dissemination of information. In such a situation, it is obvious that a policy of this nature will find more fertile ground in the north compared to other regions of the country. But let’s face it, the earlier we speed up access to quality education through whatever medium possible, the better for our country’s peace and prosperity.

The data available on the out-of-school population in Nigeria is disproportionately in the north, and the earlier we bridge this gap, the better for our developmental outcome. In the final analysis, this policy might actually make it more cost-effective and efficient to educate a Nigerian child than the current western-based model.

In conclusion, whilst a radical policy of this nature is bound to be confronted with many obstacles, research and comparative curricular studies have proven that our nation gains from a policy favouring our local languages over foreign languages.

It is true that the English language gives us a platform to compete globally, but the spice is in what is truly ours, our local languages, which tell the stories of history and survival. Let’s not forget that nobody says our own languages cannot gain global dominance under the right circumstances, and it all begins with the curriculum.

Mrs Maryam Augie-Abdulmumin is the Founder and  Executive Director of Illmi Children’s Fund. She can be reached via: info@illmichildrensfund.org.