Opinion

By Kabir Musa Ringim

As a graduate of Computer Engineering and holder of MSc Information Technology, I’m skeptical to write about this topic which is a little bit controversial because of the divergent views of the two school of thoughts about the topic, but that will be explained later in the article.

As the world is currently in the information age – also known as the computer age that began in the mid-20th century, characterized by a shift from a traditional industry established by the Industrial Revolution to an economy primarily based upon Information Technology, the biggest challenge now is the way in which robots (bots) have started taking over many jobs previously meant for humans.

While the innovation of technology has greatly improved our day-to-day activities, it has also proven that we no longer need actual human beings to help with many of the jobs of today in the near future, thanks to robotics.

A robot is a machine programmable by a computer capable of carrying out complex actions automatically. According to the Britannica dictionary, a robot is any automatically operated machine that replaces human effort, though it may not resemble human beings in appearance or perform functions in a humanlike manner. By extension, robotics is the engineering discipline dealing with the design, construction, and operation of robots.

As its definition indicates, robots are here to replace humans in workplaces, markets, the army, etc. Though robots are still under development, the history of robots has its origins in the ancient world, during the Industrial Revolution, humans developed the structural engineering capability to control electricity so that machines could be powered with small motors.

Already, machines and robots have started replacing humans in many workplaces like banks, industries, markets, and media houses in Nigeria. Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) gave banks the privilege to employ few tellers, while the internet allow them to have few customer care representatives. Nowadays, you don’t need a hardworking secretary to type your work when you can easily dictate to a computer what you wanted to write and get it printed.

Office workers in public and private institutions have already started feeling the heat. A job that 20 persons can handle in a week can be done by a robot in a day. Governments now give less priority to office workers and more priority to health and education sectors when it comes to employment and recruitment. But it is just a matter of time before this status quo changes because both the education and health sectors will soon start experiencing the tsunami of job loss.

In the near future, school doesn’t have to recruit many teachers when a single tutor from anywhere in the world can teach thousands of students online and have their exams and tests marked by a computer program or bot.

Health institutions will soon require the services of a few health workers, medical doctors, and consultants, since a patient can get a prescription for himself by talking to a robot or chatting with a consultant that renders online services, also surgeries can be performed by robots.

Security outfits will face massive job loss with the development of robot police and soldiers. A robot will be stronger, more loyal, more reliable, and more accurate than humans, in addition to it being a machine, as such, emotionless and immortal. One robot can fight thousands of humans on a war front. Already drones are now more preferred than having an air force officer flying a warplane to enemies’ camps.

Media houses like TV and Radio stations don’t need to employ OAPs, presenters, newscasters, and language translators in a few decades to come, because machines and computer programs can handle their jobs. News editors and program managers will simply work on program contents and news and upload them into a special computer program for presentation, translation, and subsequent use.

Same case with employing sales girls and boys at retail stores, shops, and supermarkets. Who will bother to go shopping physically when people can easily order what they want to buy online and get it delivered to their doorstep? Cleaners, houseboys, office messengers, cooks, labourers will all cease to exist because of robots.

Other jobs that bots will take away from humans include, but are not limited to, telemarketing, automated shipping services, sewer management, tax preparers, photograph processing, data entry work, librarians and library technicians, etc.

But with all that I mentioned above, I’m not in any way trying to spell doom for the next generation of youth that will graduate from schools and start looking for jobs, in a few decades to come. As I have stated from the beginning, there’s a divergent view on the topic. Some people view bots as a weapon to wipe out humans from industries, military, offices, workplaces, etc, while others view it as a great development that will better the lives of humans which is needed to be embraced by all.

For me, humans by nature, since time immemorial, have had survival instincts and no technological development was able to render people jobless. If a job is no longer in existence, humans will always find themselves a better alternative. When industrial machines came into being in the 19th century and replace millions of menial labourers, humans find a way to survive them, the same way robots will be integrated into our daily lives. By the way, it is the very humans that made the machines and the robots not the other way round.

Kabir Musa is the HOD Computer Engineering, Binyaminu Usman Polytechnic, Hadejia, Jigawa State.

By Nura Jibo

During my university days in one of Nigeria’s best and leading universities, I was a victim of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) strike. As a result, we were stricken academically and made to stay at home for an entire year.

The ASUU-Federal Government face-off continued to linger. We were affected by another two-year strike at different times. Then I wrote a full page in the Daily Trust opinion column of 2 May 2003 titled, “ASUU/FGN Face-Off: Point Blank”.

I don’t really blame ASUU for all the strike actions. Because I know even then, the moribund status of the Nigerian education system had reached its comatose stage. We were given lectures in two of the biggest lecture theatres at my university. And the mammoth student crowd was so overwhelming that one had to sit on the floor to listen to lectures. There was a lack of seats and spaces to patch on and receive lessons. That was nineteen (19) years ago!

Now I don’t want to be lengthy today. Anybody that wants to know the solutions I proffered then could search Google or take time to read my book chapter on Nigeria. It is there on Amazon

To cut the story short, I listened to the haggard-looking and frustrated ASUU President with a sympathetic mind. I saw how Seun of Channels Television tried to balance his reporting with Festus Keyamo’s verbal diarrhoea.

First, anybody watching Keyamo’s take on ASUU knows he is lying! He sounded a pathological one, for that matter. But I don’t blame him because that’s what some Nigerian politicians do to make ends meet! However, as a lawyer and former human rights activist, Keyamo ought to have been careful by minding his language as a custodian of justice.

I am happy the ASUU President debunked and dismissed Keyamo as one of those ‘chop-chop’ guys that rants on government, but after having a lucrative position, they eat and dine from it. And their so-called activism ends there!

Second, Adamu Adamu’s Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Education is one of the most corrupt ministries in the world. A verifiable proof and evidence of this is vivid when one wants attestation of their academic documents. The entire people in charge of attestation of university documents are all fantastically corrupt. They charge and collect kick-backs from left, right, back, front and centre! And they would tell you there is no actual price for attestation of one’s academic documents.

Very recently, a very shocking incident happened. Someone was kept aside, probably a former staff of the Ministry, that specialises in being a money liaison negotiator between one of the women directors that work in that attestation section in the Ministry and anybody that comes for attestation of documents. That guy (name withheld for now but will be released in my subsequent analysis) is extraordinarily corrupt and charges a considerable amount of money in the name attestation!

I wanted to expose these ills and terrible ineptitudes to Adamu Adamu by intending to painstakingly go and meet him personally at his office the way we used to meet at late Dr Mamud’s Tukur house in Kaduna at Raba Road. But I decided not to because he may ask his secretaries not to usher me in. The rest of this story is a menu for another day. Now let’s come back to ASUU Strike.

As it is, Adamu Adamu has lost respect and the so-called radical reformer he thinks he was. Because for him to preside over an education ministry that is the biggest in Africa and allow corruptible ministerial staff to keep reigning and painting a terrible image of Nigeria in the name of attestation of documents shows a lack of concern and total negligence of holding public office on Adamu’s part!

Therefore, little wonder when he ignores ASUU’s demands because during his struggle days to make both ends meet, he was an ardent ASUU supporter. But now, he has joined the bandwagon of Keyamo’s “Kiya Kiya” in the name of public service!

Third, I respect my university teachers very well. They earn my respect any day. Because despite all odds, they made me who I am educationally (academically), politically, socially, realistically, genuinely, “temeritically”, hopefully, audaciously, respectfully, fearlessly, confrontationally, and above all analytically and scientifically savvy.

Ditto Adamu Adamu and the Keyamo’s of this world!

They were well trained and educated by those university lecturers that they betray today in the name of public office.

To be continued!

Nura Jibo is a Lifetime Member of the West African Research Association (WARA), African Studies Centre, Boston University, United States. He can be reached via jibonura@yahoo.com.

By Adamu Tilde, PhD

This tribute should have come earlier. I have tried to write something about Mallam Ali Garba several times, but it always ended in a stalemate. Not that I can capture the essence of Mallam in a few paragraphs, but I, nevertheless, will share what Mallam meant to me.

It is trite to discuss the mutual distrust between the few Western-educated elites and the remaining populace of the Muslim North. The condescending looks the former harbour for the latter has inadvertently led to animosity, disdain, estrangement, and suspicion. This mutual distrust has stalemated the needed cultural and social changes and transformation for growth and development. 

For long, the ordinary populace cannot find reasons to associate with the educated elites; the elites, on the other hand, cannot understand why the public views them with utter cynicism. In my view, the effortless meandering of this contradiction tells the essence of Mallam.

Mallam was educated in Kent up to PhD level, published books and articles in reputable journals, worked in some elite organizations and finally settled in Bayero University Kano (BUK), Department of Business Administration, until his demise. This impressive resumé only made Mallam more courteous, down-to-earth, and humble. So, how did he surmount what appears to be an insurmountable challenge? I will come back to that later.

I first met Mallam in 2014 at Kano Central Hotel. I was selected for a workshop on entrepreneurship by Hajiya Amina Ado Kurawa. Mallam was one of the resource persons. Given how Hajiya Amina praised Mallam Ali, we waited with bated breath for this all-important resource person. We were not disappointed. Mallam delivered a flawless presentation. I could not wait to engage him after the presentation, only for Mallam to excuse himself for another engagement. I later searched for his name on Facebook. 

Mallam interspersed his discussions, teachings and writings with ‘barkwanci’ (humour). This invited a lot of traffic to his wall; it also made his students and followers feel at ease in his presence which thus facilitated two-way communication. You would feel confident asking Mallam anything.

Another charming trait that won Mallam many hearts was the extent to which he would reach to correct you without belittling you or making you look/sound foolish. This all the more made him endearing and welcoming. 

Mallam knew he had a lot to share, and we were not making better use of his knowledge and experience. He looked at us (Tijjani, Marzuq, and I) in one instance and said: “Use me.” In another instance, during our first visit to his house, he invited us upstairs, introduced us to his wives, and finally said to us: “This is your house. Come whenever you want.” We were not alone. He did this to many. This unassuming and welcoming personality made Mallam a darling to many and led to the birth and polishing of innovative business ideas. Maryam Gatawa’s Gatmeals is one example. 

Muslim North has no shortage of brilliant minds bristling with excellent ideas that can transform its economic prospects into reality. However, I suspect that the knowledge of how to harness and translate these innovative, transformative ideas into reality is in short supply.

One way of achieving this is to bridge the gap of access between the two aforementioned mutually distrusting classes. This is the essence of Mallam Ali Garba. And this was what Dr Waziri Junaidu cautioned us against in 1971: “Let not your degrees, research and publications be an excuse to feel haughty amongst your own people. Knowledge is at best when it is universally useful, and the best scholars are those whom the ordinary man fears neither to encounter nor to address.”

Adieu, Professor Ali Muhammad Garba.

By Tijjani Hassan

War is a business of interest. Like the Russian invasion of Ukraine over the fear of western domination of the geopolitics of the defunct Soviet Union, Nigeria had her fair share of international politicking of how the superpowers wrestle for relevance in the post-World War II era, climaxing into the Nigerian-Biafran Civil war of secession.

As Chinua Achebe summarily spelt out in his book There was a Country, Harold Wilson, the PM of Britain, maintained a firm stance about one of the Queen’s priced colonies. The UK would not support the breaking away of Nigeria in the guise of secession. That would mean challenging their preplanned neocolonialism programme.

The BBC’s Rick fountain, in a story on Monday, January 3, 2000, titled “Secret papers reveals Biafra intrigue,” shows how Britain would and currently was more interested in her oil holding than a “united Nigeria”. The Cold War would see Britain and the Soviet Union wrestling for supplying the largest cache of ammunition to General Yakubu Gowon-led Federal government.

Russia, part of the former USSR, took a step further by sending MiG fighters and technical assistance to Nigeria. Moscow later expanded her bilateral relation with Nigeria with an eye on the Ajaokuta Steel Company. As a result, a $120 million contract was signed in 1969. However, the Steel Company, situated in present-day Kogi State, North Central Nigeria, remained a testament to the elephant project without producing steel for the manufacturing needs of Nigeria to date. 

The UK was, however, much concerned about France’s secret antics.

France, the other big player in the dark colonial days in Africa, was secretly shipping weapons and ammunition to the Biafran enclave through their former colony of Ivory Coast and Gabon. Moreover, France has always been sceptical of Nigeria’s growing domination and influence over the Paris Francophone clients in the West Africa Subregion. The Size of Nigeria is intimidating to her French neighbours of Cameroon, Niger, Chad, Benin Republic, and others in the geography of the West Africa sub-region.

The Caribbean Island of Haiti was the first to make a rush in granting full diplomatic relations with the breakaway Biafra Republic in 1969. That means a little to Nigeria anyways. It was, however, a moment of celebration in Biafra as it rekindled the hope for the sovereign Biafra Republic. 

France, who openly claimed to be neutral in her initial response to the crisis, issued a statement from the Council of Ministers in July 1968 sympathizing over the heart-trembling development in the heartland of Biafra. It was orchestrated by Charles de Gaulle, the French President who led Paris’s resistance against the Nazis in World War II.

Like the UK, it was about resource control. Paris has already hatched a plan for her multinational corporation, Elf Aquitaine, to become later the primary explorer of the crude oil deposit in West Africa. Nigeria’s oil in the old Eastern region would be the spoil of war.

While the war ragged, the United States of America openly looked elsewhere, neither supporting Nigeria nor Biafra. Instead, they advocated for a united “One Nigeria”. President Lyndon Johnson toed the line of Britain until Richard Nixon. Upon his assumption of office, President Nixon called on the Nigerian Military Forces to cease hostility to ease the suffering in Biafra.

The Portuguese were much more clever as they paved the way for Lt. Col. Emeka Odumegwu Ojukwu to land Biafran planes in Sao Tome, a Portuguese colony. The agreement was, however, shrouded in secrecy.

The Chinese were not left out of the Civil war politics in Nigeria. Although Biafra got most of her weapons from the black market and produced a few locally, China later provided military equipment to the breaking away part of Nigeria.

African leaders were not left out too. Despite the organization of Africa Unity (OAU)’s efforts to reconcile Gowon and Ojukwu, Julius Nyerere of Tanzania, on April 13, 1968, openly declared Dar-es-Salaam’s recognition of the Republic of Biafra. Tanzania was the first African country to take this overt stance. Gabon, Ivory Coast and Zambia would later follow the footsteps of Tanzania.

In sum, it was more about international politics and the desire to have a share of Nigeria’s resources in colossal oil deposits. As a result, western powers contributed less towards ending the Civil War, which ended in 1970.

Tijani Hassan A. wrote from Kano, Nigeria. He can be reached via tijanihassan2020@gmail.com.

By Ishaka Mohammed

Sometime in April 2021, an interviewer told me that there were only five kinds of nouns. She went further to reject some of the concepts I used while trying to disagree with her. For example, she claimed that neither ‘uncountable’ nor ‘mass’ could be used while discussing kinds of nouns. Surprisingly, however, she accepted ‘countable’. Before I could say anything further, she had mentioned her qualifications, perhaps to prove her superiority to me. Although I apologised to her, I wished I hadn’t encountered such a drama, thanks to Covid-19. I’ll explain this in the following story.

Due to my observation of many state civil servants, especially teachers, I’m usually afraid of relying on a state government job in Nigeria. Although I’ve applied for some government jobs in Kaduna State, I’ve never thought of depending totally on any (if employed). Besides, it’s highly unwise to rely on a single source of income.

However, as a private school teacher, my Covid-19 lockdown experience made me see one advantage of government jobs. Government workers received their salaries despite being away from work for months. Unfortunately, it was a different story for most of us (especially teachers) in the private sector.

Most schools in Kaduna had been on lockdown even before the federal imposed the same. I thought normalcy would return within a short time, but I was wrong. I had to stay for five months without a salary but not without food. To complement the assistance from some friends and relatives, I did some menial jobs until I decided to post my story on Nairaland. All I needed was a daily income of N500.

About an hour after posting the story, a lady responded and asked me to chat with her via WhatsApp. I wasted no time, and we reached an agreement. She would send snapped or scanned copies of handwritten notes from Ibadan, and I would type them on my phone and send them to her. We agreed on N30 per page, but she usually paid me higher than that. However, the biggest amount of money I received at the time was N1,200, and it took me three days to complete the task. Moreover, it was difficult typing the contents of the photos on the same phone containing them (the images).

With the lockdown experience, I became so much interested in government jobs. So, when the Kaduna State Teachers’ Service Board (KSTSB) advertised teaching vacancies in December 2020, I responded at once. I was shortlisted for a test, and owing to my high score, my hopes were high. So, expectedly, I was invited for an interview.

I prepared well and looked forward to facing the interview panel, but little did I know that I would be asked a question similar to the number of times President Muhammadu Buhari has been shocked. By the way, despite answering the last three questions correctly, the first one had already created friction between a member of the panel and me.

The woman insisted that there were only five kinds of nouns. I immediately disagreed with her and mentioned more than eight. Surprisingly, she accepted ‘countable nouns’ but rejected ‘uncountable nouns’. I quickly drew her attention to the fact that uncountable nouns are also called mass nouns, but my assertion infuriated her. She claimed that she had never come across ‘mass nouns’, and to prove her authority, she had to boast of the number of degrees she had, with the first being in language arts. I kindly said, “I’m sorry, ma.” However, that was like appointing a campaign director after one has already lost an election. I didn’t get the job.

Since then, I’ve consulted many sources to know how many kinds of nouns there are, but I have

yet to get a definite answer. Should you have an answer to that question, please share it with me.

Ishaka Mohammed wrote from Kaduna. He can be reached via ishakamohammed39@gmail.com.

By Lawi Auwal Yusuf

Some say that all poverty alleviation programmes would be a failure. Unfortunately, given the dispositions of our politicians, this is to a significant extent true because it suggests that they are not genuinely committed to dispelling all forms of deprivation. And this severe material lacking happens to reach its pinnacle that the idea of affluence is a contrived mirage, compromising the economic firmament upon which everything else must rest.

Poverty is the scarcity of material resources or the meagerness of the money needed to acquire those commodities believed to be required to maintain an acceptable living standard. Its a condition of severe deprivation of the basic human needs that include food, safe drinking water, healthcare, education, housing and sanitation facilities. It depends not only on income but also on access to services.

Poverty is deeply entrenched in Nigeria and ravages people’s lives devastatingly. It must be conquered because it leads to cycles of deprivation, whereas poverty is bequeathed from one generation to the other. However, any government that is not making genuine efforts to fight poverty is consciously pushing people deeper into it. This is because government policies significantly influence the extent of poverty. Therefore, impoverished Nigerians and the socially excluded must be helped to alleviate their plight.

Though welfare institutions have been designed to deal with the situations, at least on paper, the attempt to change the conditions of the poor fails because they are but dismal efforts, if not baseless paperwork. Inadequacy of the welfare state and the structure of society are responsible for poverty amid prosperity.

The welfare state is seen as the best remedy for overcoming poverty. Some social workers postulated that it helps tremendously in extirpating poverty and social exclusion and contended that it’s essential in solving many social problems. Therefore, full employment with prospects and increased welfare benefits would soon eradicate these intractable problems through redistributing wealth from the rich to the poor and significantly raising working-class living standards. However, critics argue that it does little to wipe it and even suggest it as a cause. 

Asa Briggs said that “the welfare state exists where governments decide that the private enterprise is failing to meet the needs of its citizens. The welfare state might intervene to meet such needs by providing services such as health care, education, social housing, transport and social services; or by redistributing resources to those in need through benefits system.” This means that money can be redistributed to the poor through the benefits system, and welfare services can be used to minimise poverty. 

The main problem with poverty eradication policies in this country is that they reduce the amount of poverty that truly exists. Hence, authorities attempt to deal with it through unfounded poverty alleviation programmes, frivolous economic empowerment schemes or even minor reforms. But, contrarily, its widespread are ruining Nigerians’ lives leading to social disorganisation, while deft changes are necessary to extricate it. Therefore, Nigerian policymakers must examine the problems in defining and measuring poverty and social exclusion, their causes and most importantly, the possible solutions.

Poverty is measured either in an absolute or relative term. Absolute poverty is usually based upon the notion of subsistence. This means that individuals are said to be poor if they lack the wherewithal to live decent lives. It is a judgment of basic human needs and is measured in terms of the resources needed for such living. Hence, it is much more concerned with establishing the quality and amount of food, shelter, clothing etc., deemed necessary to maintain physical, material, social and psychological wellbeing.  On the other hand, when measuring poverty in relative terms, the prosperity of that society at a particular time must be considered before fixing its threshold. 

The money needed for the subsistence level of existence must cover food, clothing, rent, schooling, fuel and light, and household and personal items. This must be adjusted according to family size.

Another contentious issue is whether poverty should be seen purely in material terms or must go beyond that. Supporters of the former view assume that poverty consists of insufficient material resources considered necessary to maintain a good everyday life. But, followers of the latter view believe it involves much more than material dearth. They see it as multiple deprivations with different dimensions.

For instance, there is a lack of educational opportunities, professional training or adverse working conditions. None of these conditions is directly related to an individual’s material possessions. It signifies radical societal changes rather than simply raising the income of the worst-off members. Tackling poverty in this sense would require a fairer redistribution of income, but also, it would require fundamental changes in the social structure.

Lawi Auwal Yusuf

Kano, Nigeria.

By Umar Haruna Tami

The people of Funtua Local Government Area of Katsina State had, on Friday morning, staged a protest to express their anger over continuous kidnappings in the town and the sorrounding villages which happen almost everyday.

The protest followed the kidnapping of eleven people on Thursday night, among which include women, a girl and a child. However, Police used tear gas to disperse the protesters shortly after the protest started.

Kidnapping has become endemic in the outskirts of Funtua town making it hardly a week to pass by without a news or two about either a kidnap attempt or a successful kidnap of residents.

Last Thursday night, around ten o’clock, kidnappers came to Sabuwar Abuja and kidnapped some men, women, children and shot one person who refused to open the door of his house.

At the beginning, when the kidnappers came to the victims’ houses they knocked on the doors and threatened to kill the victims if they refuse open. This forced many surrender and open the door.

But these days, the first thing they do after knocking a victim’s door is to use digger and axe to break it. If that doesn’t work, they break the house wall and enter the house through the hole and fetch the people.

When the people understood the new strategy the kidnappers use, they opted to fleeing their homes in the evening and move to their relatives’ houses in the town where they can sleep safely and come back to their homes in the morning.

Men and women from villages also come to the town in the evening to find shelter. Among these fleeing women, the kidnappers met some, in the recent incident, lately on their way to the city and kidnapped them.

None is spared in this barbarism the kidnappers are perpetrating against the people of Funtua including women, girls and children. In June, a kidnappers’ informant was arrested in the same area where Thursday’s incident occurred.

The victim confessed that his role in the crime is that of nforming kidnappers on the whereabouts of their potential victims. He also also confessed to murdering his neighbor who recognized him in one of the kidnapping operations he participated. In that operation, it was that same neighbor they attempted to kidnap.

His wife also recognized the informant, but he didn’t realize that. They kidnapped the neighbor’s wife, demanded ten million ransom and after her release, she blew the whistle and the informant was arrested by DSS.

The bottled anger the residents expressed during the protest over these incessant kidnappings has to do with the fact that Sabuwar Abuja, where the cases of kidnapping become rampant, has over two thousand houses.

And in all these houses, many people in the inner part of the town have relatives who, when kidnapped, those people have to contribute their own money to pay ransom for the release of their kidnapped relatives.

Although the protest was short-lived, people are waiting to see the outcome of their expressed anger. The residents and relatives of the people in the areas where kidnapping becomes the order of the day, may not afford to continue paying ransom and living in poverty and, at the same time, be captives in their homes.

Therefore, the government should, as a matter of urgency, look for ways to safeguard the lives of its people and, at the same time, pay attention to the influx of internally displaced persons from surrounding towns and villages, who are now populating all the nooks and crannies and the suburbs of Funtua City.

Umar Haruna Tami wrote from Funtua and can be reached via;
umartami1996@gmail.com

By Hussaini Hussaini

A few days ago, after witnessing the interment of a late Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), I made a grieving post on my social media handles as follows:

“It looks beautiful to witness the admission of an SAN into the inner bar; and it is so direful to witness the laying of a late SAN into the inner earth. The name, the prestige, gone! Bottom line is to watch the end as we watch the goal.”

I received several direct messages seeking to correct my perceived grammatical error in using the indefinite article “an” to “SAN” in the first line of the above post. But in the true sense, there is no error in it, based on the popular usage of the term within the legal circle in Nigeria. An average lawyer uses the term as an abbreviation like “etc” not as an acronym such as NATO or CITAD. So forgive us for not using the dots like “S.A.N.”, which is typical of some abbreviations.

Therefore, an average lawyer pronounces the term to sound like “es-ey-en” and not sound like “-san” as in “Sani”, “san yoghurt”, or “San Francisco”. The contrary is the usual way of pronouncing the term by an average non-lawyer in Nigeria.

It is known that “a” as an indefinite article is attached to a word whose pronunciation starts with a consonant sound, while “an” is attached to a word which starts with a vowel sound. Therefore, since an indefinite article is attached to a word based on the sound of its preceding letter(s) of the alphabet, such as saying “an hour” or “a unanimous”, I believe a lawyer will be correct to say “an SAN”( es-ey-en).

I also said “a late SAN” in my post quoted above. However, I think that is not an issue because the article “a” serves the adjective “late” and not the SAN that succeeded it.

I am not a grammarian, but I hope this little explanation explains the tradition, most especially to people outside the bar.

I can’t imagine how funny it will sound after one works day and night to achieve the silk and a colleague look at him in the eye and call him “-san”.

I sincerely appreciate the efforts of those who attempted to correct my mistakes, and I will always welcome the same at any time. Thank you so much.

Hussaini Hussaini sent this article via hussaini4good@gmail.com.

_____

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect The Daily Reality’s editorial stance.

By ImamMalik Abdullahi Kaga

It’s recently come to the knowledge of most Nigerians (non-residents of Borno State) about the underpayment in the educational sector and a few cases in the health sector, too, in Borno state. This didn’t surprise me as I see bunches of flares trending. If you are sycophant or unpatriotic, you’ll be mum or deny this unfolded truth.

Zulum is indefatigably hardworking and devoted himself to Borno and Bornoans. He has, laboriously, much-needed efforts that deserve accolades, especially in curbing the Boko Haram crisis. A plethora of encomiums were given on his leadership and are still. Compared to the past administration, the status quo of security deserves a ‘must’ commendation. But this, howbeit, will not let us be mum.

As a resident and information hunter, I’ve had numerous encounters with local government teachers, and one common lamentation I got from all is underpayment. Of course, I don’t mean all are underpaid, but most (not underpaid ones) will not deny the grievance of their counterparts, so they tell.

A few months ago, I wrote about the unconstructive criticisms of Alhaji Mohammed Jajari, the PDP’s gubernatorial candidate, towards the incumbent governor. Jajari revealed the flaws bedevilling the state’s educational sector, which captivated the attention of Zulum and Gusau, his spokesman. The indigenes of the southern part of Borno state are on ‘no retreat’ choice to vindictively vote against Zulum cometh 2023 election. (You may denounce this).

Zulum’s administration is blessed with media adepts ready to either publicise the factual account of his efforts or hype his documentary, which will make many Nigerians credulous enough to believe whatever they publish. I think this is not limited to Zulum and his media but every politician.  

I’m calling on those who deny or are discordant with this truth to believe that Zulum is a human. He is not above fallibility as it’s the attribute of all humankind, especially leaders. I also call on the government to intervene urgently on this terrifying and terrible issue because education is the cornerstone in today’s life.

ImamMalik Abdullahi Kaga wrote from Borno State. He can be reached via abdullahiimammalik@gmail.com.

By Lawal Dahiru Mamman

Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria typically causes fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. 

Malaria can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death in severe cases. It is spread exclusively through bites of infected Anopheles mosquitoes. The mosquito bite introduces the parasites from the mosquito’s saliva into a person’s blood. Then, the parasites travel to the liver, where they mature and reproduce.

Malaria is a disease that has bedevilled and is still bedevilling the human race, with a high level of incidence in African countries. The worry is that malaria is preventable and treatable but still affects millions all year round. According to the World Health Organisation, 627,000 people died from the disease, leaving another 241,000,000 infected in 2021.

To curb the menace of this disease, the government is spending a lot, the international community is donating, and non-governmental organisations are helping to see that the world is free from malaria. 

This is mainly done by purchasing insecticide-treated mosquito nets, insecticides of different brands, seasonal malaria chemo-prevention and antimalarial drugs in case of infection.

Families also do their due diligence in ensuring that houses are spread with insecticides to kill mosquitoes and that they all sleep in the comfort and protection of mosquito nets. However, all these will not be enough if the little things are not addressed because after all the efforts indoors, you go out of the house only to find out that those tiny beasts are lurking around to feast on you.

Of the over 3,500 species of mosquitoes, three, anopheles, culex, and Aedes, are primarily of economic importance because they are disease vectors. Anopheles carries a microorganism which causes malaria ‘plasmodium’ and other species to reproduce on standing water and complete a live cycle within 18 days or above, depending on the species.

Looking at this biology, we have so many mosquitoes around that can be deciphered; hence, to eradicate malaria, our drainage systems must be functional and provided in areas that lack them to prevent water from lodging, which invariably provides a breeding ground for the parasites. 

Residents should fill up areas with stagnant water, cut grasses close to their houses and resist dumping refuse in drainages and water bodies to allow free flow.

Communities should be informed about the dangers of dumping refuse in the drainages because, besides exposing themselves to the threat of flooding and its aftermath, blocked drainages are a good ground for mosquitoes to breed since water does not flow through.

A plant that repels mosquitoes should replace some of our ornamental flowers. A study published in Malaria Journal in 2011 titled ‘Plant-based Insect Repellents: A Review of their Efficacy, Development and Testing’ revealed that lemon grass alone could either kill or repel about 95% of certain species of mosquitoes. Likewise, trees like Cinnamon could be used as shelter belts because they can repel insects, mosquitoes inclusive. Further studies could be carried out on other indigenous plant species in order to find if they possess properties that will help eradicate mosquitoes.

Eradication of malaria may seem challenging, impossible and debilitating, but a malaria-free Nigeria is possible with a commitment to the above suggestions.

Mamman, a corps member, writes from Abuja and can be reached via dahirulawal90@gmail.com.