Opinion

By Abubakar Suleiman

If you are conversant with the Arewa cyberspace, it will be surprising if you are unaware of the cliché, “Please, hide my identity.” It has gained so much currency (or notoriety) on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. And it is mainly followed up with bad news, especially related to relationships and marriages – cases of incest, infidelity, marriage battery, heartbreaks and others.

People usually send their relationship or marital problems to popular social media pages or handles managed by self-styled marriage counsellors. These counsellors or opinion shapers then subject the problems to the public for solutions while hiding the identity of the sender of these problems.

Surprisingly, these people who found themselves in a toxic relationship or abusive marriage have parents or guardians who married them off to their spouses. Still, they many times seem to bypass them for advice or counselling.

They also rarely approach certified marriage counsellors or therapists for solutions. Therefore, the problem is thrown to the public, and with too many disjointed ideas or solutions, sieving the best solution to the peculiar problem becomes complicated.

Not so fast; how are we even sure these stories or problems are true? What if someone sits in the comfort of their room or basement and concocts these unfounded narratives to make the stories trend? Many people don’t check the logical validity or fallacy of these stories.

Social media gave everyone a platform to air or voice out their views. The problem with the advent of these platforms is not the access to information but rather the processing of information. Many people find it uneasy to check the authenticity of stories or the validity of statistics.

The blowback or unintended consequence of this ‘hide my identity’ trend is that it has made many young people consume many negative stories, thereby fuelling suspicion between both genders. Moreover, stories of successful and happy marriages have been in short supply. Therefore, some young people no longer see marriage as a worthwhile endeavour wherein you invest your patience, energy and prayers.

On the one hand, love movies from Nollywood, Bollywood or Kannywood made young people see marriage or relationship as a perfect bed of roses or land of Eldorado instead of the cocktail of happiness, sadness, compromises and sacrifices that it is.

On the other hand, ‘hide my identity’ stories have increasingly made partners or lovers dine with each other with a very long spoon. Each sees the other as a veiled threat or a potentially dangerous person. These trends have created overnight feminists and misogynists.

The above backdrop does not downplay the effects of abusive or toxic marriages or relationships that appropriate authorities could reasonably address – parents, guardians, certified counsellors or the court. However, young people must be guided on what marriage entails, its prospects and its challenges. They need a direction or triangulation amidst a plethora of negative information and scary marital or relationship stories.

They should also be fed with successful marital examples or stories and the possibility of a happy marriage. And this makes parenting a more difficult task in our contemporary world.

The last time I checked around, we still had more good homes than broken ones. But, unfortunately, the familiar stories of abusive marriages or relationships are just the case of bad news flying more than the good ones.

Check out families around you, your pairs, neighbours, colleagues at the workplace or married classmates. You’ll understand that except for the usual day-to-day challenges in marriage, they are relatively not bad as it is being portrayed. However, we can canvass for improvements, coping mechanisms or detailed exit plans for worst scenarios. Therefore, ‘hide my identity’ stories are many times fabricated stories or isolated cases than the whole.

Abubakar Suleiman wrote from Kaduna and can be contacted via abusuleiman06@gmail.com.

By Abdurrazak Mukhtar

Introduction:

In the face of adversity, some individuals find the strength to rise above their challenges and achieve greatness. Such is the remarkable story of one individual who refused to let failure define them. Despite enduring twelve failed attempts at obtaining credit in English for their SSCE, they persevered, eventually mastering the language and becoming a mentor for HND and degree students. This story is a powerful reminder of the transformative power of perseverance and the unyielding spirit that can lead to incredible accomplishments.

The Will to Succeed:

Life has a way of testing our determination; for this individual, the English language became their ultimate hurdle. Year after year, they faced disappointment as the elusive credit seemed just out of reach. But instead of succumbing to despair, they summoned the courage to keep trying. Their unyielding will to succeed became a driving force that fuelled their journey towards mastery.

The Turning Point:

After numerous setbacks, the individual refused to let failure define them. Instead, they embraced the challenge head-on, recognising that actual growth often arises from struggle. So, rather than giving up, they embarked on a relentless pursuit of knowledge and skill, dedicating countless hours to studying and honing their command of the English language.

The Power of Education:

With each setback came a valuable lesson. The individual began to understand that learning is a lifelong journey and that education extends far beyond the walls of a classroom. They sought guidance from mentors, devoured books and resources, and immersed themselves in the intricacies of the English language. Slowly but steadily, their proficiency began to improve.

From Struggle to Mentorship:

The incredible twist in this story lies in the individual’s transformation from a struggling learner to a mentor for others. First, through their perseverance and hard work, they developed a unique insight into the challenges faced by students grappling with English. Then, armed with their own experiences, they became an inspiring guide, supporting and motivating HND and degree students in their pursuit of linguistic excellence.

Inspiring Others:

As this individual continued to impact the lives of others, their story became a beacon of hope for those who had lost faith in their abilities. They showed that failure does not define one’s potential but serves as a catalyst for growth. Furthermore, their remarkable journey instilled in others the belief that success is attainable with unwavering dedication and an unrelenting spirit.

Conclusion:

The story of this extraordinary individual serves as a testament to the power of perseverance. Despite repeated failures, their unwavering determination to conquer the English language transformed their lives and inspired countless others. Furthermore, it teaches us that setbacks are not roadblocks but stepping stones to success. With the right mindset and an unyielding spirit, anyone can triumph over adversity and achieve their goals.

So, let this story remind you never to give up, no matter how challenging the journey may seem. Instead, embrace each failure as an opportunity for growth and keep moving forward. Your struggles today may become the source of inspiration for others tomorrow. Remember, the key to success lies within you.

By Hamisu Gumel

The environment is an essential component of human life and sustenance. It provides the necessary resources and ecosystems to support our daily activities. However, with the increasing human population and industrialisation, the environment has become severely threatened, leading to environmental degradation and climate change.

As I write this, increasing areas in the northernmost part of Nigeria, including parts of Jigawa State, are turning into deserts due to climate change, which brings about high temperatures and soil degradation, among its adverse effects. Climate change is a significant environmental issue affecting the world for decades, and its impacts have become more apparent in recent years. Climate change is a long-term change in global weather patterns, resulting in more extreme weather events such as droughts, floods, heat waves, and heavy rainfall.

Jigawa State, located in the northwestern part of Nigeria, is among the frontier states facing the adverse effects of climate change as it has suffered from the symptoms of desertification: erosion, rain shortages, and drought. In response to this challenge, Umar Namadi’s blueprint for environmental protection in Jigawa State is a significant step towards protecting and conserving the environment.

No doubt, for any serious government to come on board in the state, the issue of land conservation must take centre stage. With agriculture as the economic mainstay of the state, over 80% of households rely on farming for food and income. And Jigawa’s wetland (fadama) areas represent about 14% of the state’s total landmass of 24,742 square kilometres. But desertification, exacerbated by our unsustainable felling of trees, is threatening this natural endowment.

One of the significant highlights of Umar Namadi’s blueprint is the continued support of relevant afforestation and reforestation programs and projects under the Environmental Protection Agenda. Afforestation and reforestation are crucial measures for mitigating the effects of deforestation and climate change. Deforestation adversely affects the environment, leading to soil erosion, loss of biodiversity, and reduced water quality. Afforestation and reforestation help mitigate these effects by restoring lost forests and planting new ones.

The Great Green Wall Initiative is another critical project that Mallam Umar Namadi’s blueprint supports and aims to implement in the letter. The Great Green Wall is a pan-African initiative to combat desertification and land degradation in Africa’s Sahel and Sahara regions. The initiative involves planting a wall of trees that spans over 8,000 kilometres from Dakar in Senegal to Djibouti in the Horn of Africa. The incoming Jigawa State Government’s intention to invest in this project indicates Danmodi’s resolve towards combating desert encroachment and restoring degraded land in the affected parts of the state.

Yet, a crucial aspect of this blueprint that catches my fancy most is the item on the establishment of 250 km of shelterbelts and woodlot plantations in the state. A shelterbelt is a strip of trees or shrubs in a straight line to protect farmland, homes, and other structures from wind erosion and soil degradation. This can be said to encompass all the factors of environmental protection. The 250 km-long shelterbelts, according to the blueprint, would cut across the north-western part of the state, starting from Guri Local Government Area and passing through Birniwa (both in the northeast) along the border with the Niger Republic up to Maigatari, Babura, Yankwashi, Gwiwa, and Roni Local Government Areas.

Establishing shelterbelts and woodlots along the northwestern part of Jigawa State is particularly significant and desirable as the area is prone to soil erosion and desertification. In addition, the site also serves as a buffer zone between the Sahara Desert and other parts of Nigeria. So, this shelterbelt protection program, if implemented, will go a long way in helping to reduce the effects of desertification and land degradation and serve as a model for other regions facing similar challenges.

Among the benefits of the proposed shelterbelt program is that the shelterbelt will protect farmland and communities from wind erosion and soil degradation. Wind erosion is a significant problem in this part of the country, resulting in the loss of topsoil and nutrients, making it challenging to grow crops. A shelterbelt will reduce wind velocity and protect the soil from erosion, improving soil fertility.

Also, Jigawa State is prone to desertification and land degradation resulting from deforestation, overgrazing, and poor land use practices. A shelter belt will help mitigate these problems by reducing the effects of wind and water erosion, promoting soil conservation, and improving soil fertility.

Likewise, establishing a shelterbelt will promote agroforestry, which involves growing trees alongside crops or livestock. Across the world today, agroforestry has been proven to be a practical approach to sustainable agriculture as it improves soil fertility, conserves water, and promotes biodiversity. Establishing a shelterbelt in Jigawa State will promote agroforestry and create opportunities for communities, especially those in the drought-affected areas of the northwestern part of the state, to generate income from tree products such as fruits, nuts, and timber.

Lastly, establishing a shelterbelt in Jigawa State is a significant step towards environmental sustainability, as it will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve soil quality, and promote biodiversity.

Now, as the May 29^th inauguration day is fast approaching and all eyes are on the incoming government of Mallam Umar Namadi to translate into action its campaign promises, I have no iota of doubt that the man is equal to the task. We believe that by applying these greener development strategies, the state government could create employment opportunities, increase agricultural yields, and protect the environment for the good of our people. We know that many tree planting (or shelterbelt) programs were initiated and failed in the past, but if this particular project comes to fruition, it will be the first of its kind in the country.

Hamisu Gumel wrote from Limawa Quarters, Gumel, Jigawa State. He can be reached via hamisugumel@yahoo.com.

By Mukhtar Jarmajo

In a democratic system, individuals have the right to associate with any political party of their choice. This right is enshrined in the Nigerian Constitution, and it guarantees the freedom of political association to every citizen of the country.

Recently, there have been efforts to call back Halliru Dauda Jika, a former member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Bauchi state, who left the party to pitch his tent with the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) ahead of the 2023 general elections. Reliable sources close to Jika said he decamped from the APC because he felt he deserved the party’s governorship ticket, having funded the party since 2019.

However, it should be noted that the call-back efforts are unnecessary and uncalled for since the person in question has the constitutional right to be in any political party he so desires. Jika has the right to leave the APC and join another party, just as he now has the right to rejoin the party as an ordinary member.

It is crucial to understand that political parties are voluntary associations individuals join based on their beliefs, ideologies, and interests. Therefore, deciding to join or leave a political party is a personal choice everyone should respect.

The call-back movement seems driven by people who were likely his supporters while in the APC. However, if these people genuinely believe in the ideology of the APC, then they should work towards strengthening the party by promoting its values and ideals.

All should respect the constitutional right to political association, and call-back movements should cease, especially when they are unnecessary and uncalled for. Instead, political parties should focus on strengthening their values and ideals, and individuals should be free to join or leave any party without fear of persecution or intimidation.

Jarmajo wrote from Wuse Zone 2, Abuja. 

By Jemimah Shuna Dogo

Data journalism has emerged as a powerful tool, allowing journalists to delve deeper into complex issues and present information in a compelling and accessible manner. However, data journalism faces numerous challenges in Nigeria that hinder its full potential. This article aims to shed light on some of these challenges and explore potential solutions to enhance the practice of data journalism in the Nigerian context.

The first challenge is that of limited Access to Reliable Data. The lack of credible and current data is one of the biggest problems data journalism in Nigeria faces. Government institutions and agencies frequently lack transparency and may suppress information that would interest the general public. Obtaining accurate and thorough data, essential for fact-checking and creating data-driven stories, is difficult for journalists. Journalists find it challenging to offer unbiased analysis and hold public officials accountable without trustworthy information. To curb this challenge, it is essential to promote open data laws. This can be achieved through advocacy and campaign. The government should encourage openness and give the general public and media easy access to data.

Secondly, the lack of data literacy among journalists is a setback. A unique skill set that combines conventional reporting with data analysis and visualisation is needed for data journalism. To properly deal with data, however, many journalists in Nigeria lack the requisite data literacy abilities. Because of this knowledge gap, fewer journalists can use data-driven methodologies in their reporting, leading to a dearth of data-driven stories. Training and capacity building is the answer to this challenge to be tackled. Media institutions, NGOs, and international organisations can work together to provide workshops, seminars, and online courses that give journalists the skills they need to gather, analyse, and visualise data properly.

Another obstacle that hinders the practice of data journalism in Nigeria is a lack of adequate technological infrastructure for journalists using data; issues including limited internet connectivity, erratic power, and obsolete devices and software present serious difficulties. These challenges limit the potential for data-driven journalism in the nation by impeding data collection, analysis, and distribution. Overcoming this obstacle involves Infrastructure development. Stakeholders in Nigeria’s media sector should give infrastructure improvements a top priority. Collaborations between media outlets, IT firms, and governmental organisations can help find long-term solutions to these infrastructure problems.

Furthermore, security and safety issues obstruct the practice of data Journalism. When reporting on corruption and other pressing societal issues or conducting sensitive investigations, journalists in Nigeria frequently worry about their safety and security. These hazards can increase when using data journalism, which may involve disclosing untruths. Data journalism is discouraged by threats, intimidation, and attacks on journalists, which also restrict press freedom and the public’s right to information. Strengthening press freedom is vital to ensuring that journalists can work without fear of retaliation. Government institutions, civil society organisations, and international organisations need to collaborate.

Finally, lack of locally-bred Journalism models. Scholars believe that If journalism adheres to the Western model’s principles, it will be unable to fulfil its mandate to contribute to “new knowledge”. In this context, “new knowledge” may refer to understanding rules and traditions that are particular to each culture. Therefore, a model that best fits regional circumstances is required. To conclude, data journalism holds immense potential for enhancing transparency, accountability, and public engagement in Nigeria.

Jemimah Shuna Dogo can be contacted via Jemimah.dogo@kasu.edu.ng.

Dr Shamsuddeen Sani

The modern discourse around housework for wives from the Islamic legal perspective has garnered beyond the adequate level of scholarly attention. It is as old as the marriage institution itself in the Islamic tradition.

The book, Wives and Work: Islamic Law and Ethics Before Modernity, published in 2022 by Columbia University Press, is a compelling and intellectually rigorous work that broadly contributes significantly to Islamic studies and gender studies.

Marion Holmes Katz’s meticulous research and refined analysis dismantle stereotypes and offer a fresh perspective on the complex realities of Muslim women’s lives. By engaging with Islamic legal and ethical traditions, the author not only deepens our understanding of the past but also provides a platform for critical reflections on the contemporary challenges and possibilities surrounding women’s roles as wives and their engagement in the workforce within Muslim-majority societies.

The book adopts a well-structured framework with an elaborate introduction followed by four body chapters and concludes with a thoughtful synthesis. Each chapter is dedicated to the diversity and development of fiqh discussion of domestic labour for the respective periods of the four Sunni schools of law.

The first chapter emphasises the formative period of Islamic law (8th-9th century CE) with a profound exploration of the Islamic literary corpus reflecting the social realities of the early Islamic community, then focusing heavily on wives’ domestic labour in the Maliki legal school. 

Moving into the 10th century CE, the second chapter of the book examined the issue of domestic labour through the lens of Shafii scholar Abul Hasan al-Mawardi using his legal manual, Al-hawi al-Kabir, as a paradigm for deconstruction but at the same provided a captivating contrast through his ethical manual Adab al dunya wal din.

Chapter three navigates into the intellectual realm of the Hanafi school of law, specifically focusing on the legal manual Al-Mabsut by the esteemed Hanafi scholar al-Sarakhsi. This comprehensive investigation illuminates al-Sarakhsi’s profound analysis and interpretations pertaining to domestic labour, offering an in-depth understanding of the Hanafi school’s intricate perspectives.

Geographically and temporally shifting to the post-classical period in Damascus, chapter four directs its attention to the Hanbali school of law. The focal point of analysis lies in a meticulous exploration of Ibn Qudama’s seminal work, which would later face extensive challenges from the visionary scholar Ibn Taymiyyah. Ibn Taymiyyah’s radical approach to the subject matter promotes a ground-breaking and transformative vision of the ethics of marriage, firmly rooted in the Qur’an and hadith traditions.

By Prof. Abdelghaffar Amoka

Colleagues have been sharing their experiences as academics in Nigerian universities with several reactions. The essence is not to discourage people from going into academia but to know what lies ahead of you if you want to go into academia. Like most colleagues, I had no idea of the challenges in Nigeria’s academia when I was so eager to join. For example, I never knew the job is for 24 hours, and that promotion is based on research output you will fund from your pocket.

After graduating in 1999, I looked forward to being part of the academia. During my youth service in Kano, I visited the HoD of Physics, ABU Zaria, Prof I. B. Osazuwa, to discuss my “academic dream”. He directed me to the late Prof. N. I. Hariharan. I met him, and he advised that I should enrol for MSc. So, in 2001 on my way from Kano, I stopped over in Zaria, purchased the PG form, and left for Lagos.

As we were job-hunting in Lagos, I remember my friend and Brother, Yusuf Osafore, saying it appears I was not taking the job hunting seriously but was more concerned with pursuing a Master’s degree. My looking forward to becoming an academic was so apparent to people around me. Then, I eventually got hired in March 2005. It was a dream come true. I have finally joined the group of intellectuals. The “most revered” group in the society. A group of knowledge generators. A group of reservoirs of knowledge.

After a few months in the university, they revealed the reality of Nigerian academia. The fact that I had no prior knowledge of. There are, of course, viable ideas, but they die within the university walls because the political class isn’t interested in them. The ideas are published, but it is just for promotion’s sake. I paid N7,000 or so to publish my first paper in a Nigerian university-based academic journal in preparation for the next promotion to Lecturer II. These made me begin to meditate on “my academic dream”.

In 2007, I had the opportunity to visit ICTP for a two weeks workshop, and my interaction there revived my academic dream. Then, in 2009, I got lucky and left the country for my PhD, strengthening my revived “academic dream”. My joy knew no bounds when I published my first research paper in an Elsevier-indexed Q1 journal in 2011. From then on, the papers kept coming.

There are two publication options. You either publish in close access journals where publishers are paid for access to your research work, or you pay between $1,500 to $3,500 to publish as open access for everyone to have access. I remember spending some dollars in 2014 to publish the last paper from my PhD work in Elsevier’s Sustainable Materials and Products journal as open access. That money came from my salary in Norway.

We were told that research impact is based on the number of citations one has. Something they called h-index was brought to classify our research impact. I began to monitor my citations and h-index on Scopus, ResearchGate, and Google Scholar. I usually wear a smile on my face whenever I receive citation alerts. As the promotion period approached, I counted my number of publications and was excited as my number of citations grew. We began to use Scopus h-index to rate academics. Unfortunately, we get carried away so much that if you talk too much, we ask, “What is your Scopus h-index?”

The irony is that you look for money (either grant or personal fund) to do research and get it published in a reputable journal after rigorous reviews (reviewers work for free) and are excited for an additional paper to your credit. Brag that you have so many articles in indexed journals and get promoted for a peanut added to your salary. In Nigeria, you become a Professor to earn about 440 USD (N325,000) per month. You proudly go around with the title (Prof). Meanwhile, a multi-billion dollars cooperation makes money from your sweat and the knowledge you have laboured to create. And all that we are happy with are citation alerts, a growing h-index, and promotions that come with peanuts.

The best publication time is during our young age. As we grow older, our students take over the writing. Then, the university will ask why you are the paper’s first, second, or last author. They have got no idea how it was funded. The academic dream can truly be defined as spending our entire youth creating knowledge and paying a billion-dollar corporation to take it from us in exchange for career capital that you can then use to buy meaningless promotions from other exploited individuals.

Sometime back, I logged into the university network, and the research output of a senior colleague on Google Scholar was highlighted on the university webpage with thousands of citations and a high h-index. So I decided to follow the link to check mine. Mine was very much below his, but it wasn’t that bad. So then, I sat down and began to question the true impact of my research work beyond what Google Scholar has evaluated.

Do a mere citation of our publications truly translate into research impact? Research is global, but you should see your work impact your immediate environment. We have Professors with thousands of citations that can’t present an inaugural lecture, faculty colloquium, or even a departmental seminar; so, what is the impact of our research on our immediate community?

I tried to reflect on our impact, especially as Professors and Farooq Kperogi came to mind. I remember checking on him on Scopus when he became a Professor in the US. However, when I later reflected on his writeups on Nigeria’s sociopolitical scene and the healthy discussions he had generated towards repositioning the country, I began to realise that Farooq has made much more impact on Nigeria than many of us with a better presence on Google Scholar, Researchgate, and Scopus.

Let me introduce myself properly—a Professor of Physics specialising in dielectrics and high-voltage electrical insulation. I have 33 research documents indexed in Scopus and an h-index of 11, 13, and 14 in Scopus, Reseachgate, and Google Scholar, respectively. In addition, I have about 585 citations on Google Scholar. My published research articles are on high-voltage insulation. Still, the articles and the citations, put together, have not impacted our electricity network in Nigeria, which is on a breakdown spree. So, what, then, is my impact?

Universities are identified as keys to innovation, from developing new ideas to providing state-of-the-art facilities. Industrialists and managers of the countries engage them in keeping the workflow full of new ideas. But in Nigeria, our university system has been made the most insignificant institution that has been reduced to lecture rooms. We only publish to avoid perishing.

Everywhere in the world, academics are respected and heard when they talk. But in Nigeria, especially during the Buhari government, they are tagged as enemies to crush. Our universities were once places where policies evolved. Academics generated ideas that shaped the country. Discussions in academia are used to shape the policy development of our nation. The golden time of Bala Usman can never be forgotten. What happened to those intellectual discussions? Who killed it? We now chase appointments within and outside the universities, especially after we become ‘Professors’.

Nigeria has been messy for the last eight years, and universities are in the worst state ever. But the government of Buhari used eight years to run away from education stakeholders’ engagement. The political class are educated people with no value for the education of the people. The best gift that Buhari gave to the people that so loved him was to strangulate the public universities for the people. Rather than having a public engagement on how to salvage the situation he was well aware of before his appointment, the outgoing Education Minister, Adamu Adamu, described the backwardness that they have imposed on us as “self-imposed backwardness” and their idea of the solution is by approving the establishment of more substandard private universities in the North.

The incoming government of Bola Ahmed Tinubu needs to come in with a clean and open mind to engage the academia with sincerity. They should look at ASUU as partners in progress rather than enemies to crush. The solutions to our problems are right in our hands if we are willing to engage each other. On the other hand, academia needs to start looking beyond publishing, not to perish. We need to start thinking beyond journal publication impact that has no impact on our immediate constituency, Nigeria. We need to wake up and revive the golden days of Bala Usman on our university campuses.

©Amoka

By Salisu Uba Kofar-Wambai

It is no longer a front-page story that phone robbery has become a mammoth calamity in Kano state. And it’s gradually spreading like cancer to other parts of Northern Nigeria. One trait peculiar to Northern Nigeria as a geographical entity is that new trends quickly spread and gain ground like wildfire without being questioned. This is precisely what occurred with kidnapping cases.

 If one has no guiding principle, one will always be carried away in imitating others, whether good or bad actions. Phone robbery is now a trend. Many caught in the act would testify that they were not such but got tempted by what others were doing and getting away with it. What a society!

However, unsuspected members of the public have lost their phones, valuable properties and above all, their dear lives and some got injured as a consequence of this brutal and barbaric act. And 95% of the confessions of the wrongdoers have shown that they’re drug addicts and Indian hemp smokers.

Unfortunately, phone users can no longer display their phones or pick up a call because those robbers are somehow like invisible elements and can appear with their life-threatening weapons to pounce on you, which include thorny knives, hatchet, long sharp metals and have you. Often, any attempt to resist their advancement will land one in trouble of losing his life or getting a severe injury that may eventually threaten his health and life. The victims of this are uncountable in Kano and other parts of the North.

However, our legal system is not helping to curb the menace either. Many caught red-handed are seen getting their freedom back. At the same time, those arrested for capital offences are languishing in prisons without meeting appropriate punishment measures on capital offences. And the politicians who have just finished using these thugs and other undesirable elements of society are also contributing a lot in this direction.

Politicians employed them in their recent campaigns as a strategy for winning elections. After the campaigns and elections, they usually leave them alone after spoiling them with vast amounts of free money from the state treasury to enjoy. Those thugs have nowhere to turn in the absence of such goodies but to terrorise unsuspecting and innocent citizens.

Before this, society had its traditional way of dealing with truants and miscreants. The schools of “Yan Mari” are used to shackle those children and disassociate them from the public so that they were given moral remedy of teaching them Quranic recitation, training them on new religious upbringing, and making them off drugs. Owing to the weakness of this system, the Federal and State governments abolished the system by tagging it “gross human rights abuses and violations” instead of helping them to improve and enhance it.

Nevertheless, what’s on everyone’s lips now is that since the government has failed in checkmating the catastrophes, let’s employ jungle justice that everyone caught in the act should be maimed and killed on the spot to serve as a deterrent to others. But can our society accept this? The sanctities of our moral and religious upbringing won’t allow us to think like Lagos Area Boys of burning suspected thieves with tyres alive. Instead, we need to think of more civilised methods.

First, most perpetrators of this act are Indian hemp smokers and drug addicts. So, what are we doing to mitigate it? We allow Igbo drug traffickers to make our state their paradise. And in turn, they are every day, every minute spoiling our young men (and women) who are our future.

Secondly, we haven’t built rehabilitation centres to change these criminals to develop positive characters and morals so they can be reincorporated into society again. And those built were closed down for the greedy notion that the government could no longer feed them. Sad!

Thanks to the new legal thinking, such suspects will be tried as armed robbers from now on. But all these measures cannot solve the problem in toto until we fight Indian hemp and drug smugglers. We can only end up killing our children and still, others joining. Parents also have to do more for their kids.

May Allah guide our children and us all, amin.

Salisu Kofar-Wambai wrote from Kano and can be contacted via salisunews@gmail.com.

By Bilyamin Abdulmumin

Days ago, a picture of a beer advert on a bus with the caption: “ba barasa a cikin wannan giyar” dramatically attracted public attention. First, it appears the translation was outright flawed. The English direct translation may read thus: the alcohol doesn’t intoxicate.

Every native or one conversant with Hausa would find it difficult to wrap his head around this Hausa translation. So, some think it was out of the sheer cheap labour that the South African wine industry relied on the online translator to land them into the translation comatose. It might also be the usual case of giving the advert to the wrong agent or hiring a non-native to advertise the product.

Forget it; even if you are a professor in a particular language but happen to be not native or brought up in that typical language culture you will end up harming the advert than promoting it. One such advert that went wrong recently was that of one famous company, which read: “ko wanne zubawa, muhimmanci da ya wuce gwaji”. The equivalent English version read, “Every drop treasure beyond measure” What a rape to language!

As promoters of products, one can never dare associate the advert with alcohol in Hausa or any Islamic land; else, the result will be a mass exodus from the product. The brewing companies are still recuperating from the wound their Maltina product suffered because the same company is producing it as beer.

One factor that even fans the fire of controversy is that alcohol, beer/wine, and intoxicants are used interchangeably as the same thing: giya/barasa. So it becomes meaningless to try to separate one from another: that is to say, the beer contains no alcohol, alcohol is not intoxicated, or the alcohol is non-drunken. In the Hausa language, as long as it is alcohol there is nowhere to turn around.

Notwithstanding, are alcohol, ethanol, beer/wine, and intoxicants the same or different?

Alcohol is a general term referring to any organic compounds with OH functional groups. Therefore, any organic chemical with -OH in its makeup is alcohol. Examples of alcohol (alkane series) are methanol, ethanol, propanol, butanol, and the list goes on…. Alcohol has been a subject of controversy, no thanks to one of its family members: ethanol.

This controversial member: ethanol, is composed of two carbon, six hydrogens, and one oxygen; because of the presence of OH (hydrogen bonding) in its makeup, ethanol enjoys a wide range of applications. It is next to water as a global solvent. In addition, where water fails in industrial application, ethanol as an organic chemical (with carbon in its makeup) swoops in.

The industries where ethanol easily finds its way include Pharmaceuticals, several medicines you can’t do without today owe themselves to ethanol; Paint Industry, where your favourite paint can’t exist without ethanol; Fragrances, ethanol, not water is the solvent for making many perfumes; the Medicinal Properties, ethanol is a death sentence to microorganisms so when next used sanitiser, know that ethanol is that potent content; Bakery Industries, yeast is used in the bakery to give the bread desired quality as a result of ethanol and carbon dioxide as a by-product; Electrical Repair, ethanol is used as spirit, take your gadget for repairs they use ethanol for cleaning; Oil and Gas, perhaps the most economical part of ethanol use is when employing as fuel, depending on the purity, ethanol can be used as complement or substitution to transportation fuel (PMS); Brewing Industry, now the most controversial part of ethanol is when used as a drink, such as beer or wine. In beer, starch, e.g. corn or maize starch, is acted upon by appropriate enzymes and yeast industrially to produce beer. In a similar passion, fruit instead of starch is used in winemaking. Ethanol in brewing is the most dominant public knowledge, so it has become synonymous with alcohol (even among native English speakers).

The beer and wine produced conventionally contain up to 15 per cent of ethanol. This percentage is quite enough to intoxicate the drinker. Islam has outrightly forbidden taking intoxicants, such as beer and wine. The consequence for the global brewing industries is that they can only bite their fingers to watch a market of a staggering 1.5 billion people impossible to penetrate. So this became the mystery brewing industry struggled to crack. They finally get a catch.

Because the prohibition in Islam said intoxicants, so by this view, the brewing industries can design beer and wines that contain quantities of ethanol that is not enough to intoxicate a drinker, making beer and wine halal. Some Islamic countries like Malaysia have already nodded to this explanation by setting 1 % ethanol as a limit. Perhaps this was the intention of the South African wine advert on the bus.

On the other hand, the ethanol prevalence is more than what we could imagine; we are as indispensable as ethanol is concerned. Because the enzymes, yeast, and starch/sugar necessary to make ethanol are ubiquitous and, by extension, the ethanol itself. The cups, plates, our hands, and system you are using currently to read this article are a community of microorganisms; among them are the saccharifying enzymes and yeast. So with food readily available in the form of rice (rice), kunu, zobo, pieces of bread, fruits, etc., the right contact is just required to get the ethanol. Fura is the breeding ground for ethanol. The longer the “fura da nono” takes (without refrigeration), the higher the quantity of ethanol will be in it. But this passive ethanol prevalence is non-intentional.

Bilyamin Abdulmumin is a Public Affairs commentator and a Doctoral candidate at the Department of Chemical Engineering, ABU Zaria.

By Mustapha Dauda

People should be screened thoroughly before becoming certified teachers. Now, Colleges of Education are home to lazy and mainly copy-and-paste students. Although there are several academic gurus in the field, a higher percentage of educational students chose to be only there because of their inability to secure admissions in their various intended courses of study.

The alarming nature and downfall of the educational system in this country will be halfway associated with this very problem. So sad. Lack of potential and rigidly talented persons in the academic career is as dangerous as a fire outbreak is to wildlife in a bush to our society. Very dangerous and heart-breaking indeed. 

Teaching is the master of every profession, no doubt. Teachers nurture students in their preferred disciplines. Teachers head and guide and direct in every place of learning. They impact the character and learning of students: they play a vital role in inculcating good moral behaviours, knowledge impassion and impartation. How beautiful and nice of a profession. Moreso, they play a parental role during school hours. 

Though the responsibilities of teachers are beyond that which I have queued and listed here, even with the little above listed, we must agree that this is not a lazy profession. Hence, it should simply be handled by readily authentic, prepared, learned and responsible personalities. A kind of people that shun examination malpractice and any illegalities. Having fully reliable teachers guarantees the production of well-educated students from all levels of education. And, God forbid, vice versa. 

The only effective weapon that will end educational failures is the availability of qualified teachers. Steps in providing qualified teachers include: Demanding higher Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, UTME, scores before getting admission into any institution capable of certifying one as a teacher. It also comprises impromptu student-teacher supervision during their Teaching Practice, TP, periods.

And an important aspect is an instalment of a well-paid salary system to newly employed and already teaching teachers the government. This, for sure, will get the educational system many brilliant minds. Most students go for courses they expect can fetch them money. And for already teaching staff, a kind of test of qualification can be given, perhaps, through external bodies, thereby confirming their strength and teaching capabilities, and also changing the unqualified ones to the non-academic part of the institution, to at least help them maintain the source of income and from being unemployed.

A quack doctor can only kill or jeopardise one person at a time. A building engineer endangers a family or a building at a time. For teachers, it is a different case. An unqualified teacher cheats and misleads a whole generation. And the scary part is that what he wrongly misled the current generation is the same thing that will be passed and taught to the upcoming generation by the current ones, for they’re the leaders of tomorrow. And the problem, the misleading, the imperfection will go like that. The whole generation is in vain. Uncontrollably. Unknown to all, where it may stop, just perhaps. And all these, Just a single damage, by a single teacher. Just one person. Ohh! What will a class of unqualified teachers do to our society? Or what do we think all those quack teachers out there have been doing? 

Everything is just as straightforward as everyone can see it, yeah. Students sitting silently and helplessly listening to quack teachers are helpless and hapless and don’t know the misleading they’re in the middle of. The work is ours and the government’s. From our side, we don’t encourage and invite brilliant and vibrant students to teach. Ohh, sad; one will ask that, after graduating as a well-learned and certified teacher, what will I do, as much as a source of income? This question is too head shocking, and one may hardly get an answer to continue further convincing him to go for teaching.

How I wish and how beautiful to see teachers, too, being screened, being made to practice what they were taught, being made to face challenges that make them look every inch equal to their tasks like it’s usually done to qualified engineers and doctors and every other highly regarded course of study. It will make meaning this way. Indeed, there’s a huge need to look at and upgrade our educational system, of which teachers are the backbone.

Mustapha Dauda wrote from Azare, Bauchi State, via mustaphadauda399@gmail.com.