Opinion

By Usman Muhammad Salihu.

Nigeria as a country is bedevilled with so many challenges and problems ranging from insecurity to inflation which causes a high cost of living, and the recent introduction of a cashless policy aimed at boosting the economy of the country but somehow causing life more difficult, especially to the masses, among other contributing factors.

Insecurity, especially the issue of Boko Haram militants (in the North East and some parts of north-west and north Central), where almost on daily basis bomb blasts occurred, hundreds of people killed and taken thousands into captivity, among others, were the major factors that force many Nigerians to preach the gospel of change in the year 2015 which after the then general election produces the incumbent president Muhammadu Buhari.

As time went on, Muhammadu Buhari’s administration did quite an impressive performance in curtailing the menace of Boko Haram, but yet, the rising of another phenomenon which is banditry.

Bandit came as a result of the farmers-herders crisis, which later escalated to another phenomenon currently causing serious and harmful effects on our economic, political and social development.

These bandits were known to be riding into villages on motorcycles in order to loot, rape and kidnap the inhabitants of such villages as well as kill anyone who resisted.

 Kidnapping nowadays has become a very lucrative venture, especially in north-western Nigeria. Between 2011 when the problem started to 2022, Nigerians paid millions of naira to free family members, friends, and relatives and in most cases, village inhabitants have to forcefully made by these bandits to pay a certain amount to them in order for the inhabitants to stay in their villages and carry out their day-to-day activities.

Moreso, the issue of the educational sector revamping, the ASUU’s eight months strike is still afresh in the minds of fellow Nigerians, especially students. Without revamping this sector, the future of our youths is at stake. As the saying goes, to kill a nation is to deny it education.

On the economy of the state, is there any nation that exists without an economy? The administration to come must have to do the needful to avoid the policies that may cripple the country’s economic sector, and this can only be done through forming a committee of economic experts who will be advising the government and leading the economic development aspect of the country.

The judicial system has to be allowed to carry out its full function without hindrance or interference from the government. This will pave the way for the sector to maintain its full function and possibly speedy arraignments and passing judgements effectively, and aside from that, it helps the government in the fight against corruption.

To whom much is given, much is also expected.

The 2023 general election is one of a kind, where the issue of vote buying was drastically reduced to a minimal level. This is saying that Nigerians voted for the President-elect based on their expectations of him hence being ready to face the numerous problems of the citizens and find out their solutions.

We pray that the president-elect’s campaign slogan ‘RENEWED HOPE’ will indeed renew the already lost hope of Nigerians.

Usman Muhammad Salihu writes from Mass Communication Department, Abubakar Tatari Ali Polytechnic, Bauchi, Bauchi state. He can be reached via muhammadu5363@gmail.com.

By Muhsin Ibrahim

I am in my late 30s. However, I sometimes struggle to minimise my presence online. That is even though being online is part of my main job (thanks to digital ethnography) and my ‘side hustle’. Often, one or another thing on the internet will take your focus away, and before you know it, you waste quality time doing nothing important.

According to reports, TikTok rolled out new screen-time limits for teens yesterday to help them reduce their addiction to the video-sharing platform. Under-18 users will get an alert when “they hit an hour of daily scrolling. To dismiss it, they’ll have to enter a passcode.” Unfortunately, this may not help much because kids know how to navigate these restrictions. For instance, they can fake their ages.

Folks, select whom you interact with on and off social media carefully. Avoid toxic people even if they are ‘influencers’. If their content continually disturbs you, unfollow, unfriend, or even block them. Don’t seek people’s validation; learn to ignore and tolerate trolling.

Perhaps more importantly, remember that there is a life beyond social media and outside the internet in its entirety. Live it very well. It’s, in fact, the real deal.

Muhsin Ibrahim lives and works in Cologne, Germany. You can contact him via muhsin2008@gmail.com.

By Lawi Lawal Yusuf

The early solutions to poverty were based on the premise that poverty is an aspect of inequality and could only be solved by restructuring society. As a result, most of the policies explicitly aimed at its reduction were developed from the stratification theories. But quite the contrary, from the late 1960s, many social scientists felt that the war on poverty had failed.

Despite governments’ energy and resolve, the poor remained stubbornly poor. As a result, some sociologists of welfare increasingly predicated that poverty is merely a problem of the poor, and solutions must be crafted on the assumption that the issue of poverty lies with the poor themselves and need cultural reorientation.   

Radical sociologists object to the welfare state by taking a more radical right-wing view than the left-wing socialists and social democrats as they argue for a freer, more open and more competitive economy and minimal state intervention. They were critical of much state intervention in welfare. They saw it as having a negative impact by discouraging self-reliance, creativity and entrepreneurship and promoting the dependency culture as people rely too heavily on state hand-outs.

Also, they further argued that as social problems progressively increase, the welfare state would become more and more expensive, leading to an excessive tax burden on private enterprises which prevents reinvestment. Hence, undermining economic growth and development.

Alternatively, they provided new impetus to changing welfare along neoliberal lines by defining poverty as a way of life and therefore developed solutions from the culture of poverty theories.

These three trends – the progressive increase of state financial burden coinciding with the stupendous rising cost of welfare administration, which had not equally extrapolate poverty. The emerging dependency culture on the welfare state results in what we might call a poverty trap, where the poor feel contented with the benefits available than taking low-paid work, giving them less incentive to work, which undermines their self-supporting abilities – have led to a pro-capitalist line of critique of the welfare and an alternative policy approach.

Arising in both the academic and policy fields, this critique and alternative approach pursue more explicitly a cause that prioritises individual initiative, economic competitiveness, encouraging responsibility and rewarding effort. But indeed, not isolated from a context where social justice and general fairness are being institutionalised.

The philosophical underpinning of this perspective is that even though all members of society are entitled to a reasonable minimum living standard regardless of their ability to work, welfare involves the moral expectation that people must take responsibility for their behaviour and the jobless must look for a job tirelessly and must accept any suitable one. Furthermore, individuals must be empowered to seize control of their future by being competitive, industrious and entrepreneurial, while the state is obligated to open up equal opportunities.

In context, these ideologues see poverty as a result of cultural influences on poor’s behaviour. They can be tackled by counteracting such behavioural dysfunction by changing faulty attitudes with universal moralities such as achievement orientation.

Thus, policies designed on this strand of thinking aim to undo the presumed effect of the culture of poverty by fostering ambition, hard work, initiative and motivation. Programmes are designed explicitly to change the social, psychological and vocational shortfalls of those bred to a life of poverty and are socialised to become more responsible and to remove such presumed deficiencies and bad attitudes by instilling work habits, character building and determination.

In the same vein, policies of job creation and encouraging people back to work and other measures that make work more attractive are introduced so that idleness could be significantly reduced to cut unemployment and increase the number of people working. Similarly, persons with defects are assessed to determine whether they are fit enough to do some work and in a position to help themselves, allowing them to fend for themselves.

It is gratifying to note that under this spectrum, measures coordinated to fight poverty are not formulated to displace it from society by providing more generous universal services (such as transport and social housing) or providing the poor with sufficient income to raise them above the poverty threshold, as direct aid is the least popular approach. Such brunt of benefits only cushion the misery produced by poverty but couldn’t dissipate it altogether. Contrarily, it was hoped that changing the poor would make them upwardly mobile on the social strata. To perfect this idea, the poor need a hand-up, not a hand-out to always depend on.

They needed the support and opportunities to help themselves rather than simply count on the state. And they must be willing to take these vantages once they have the education, training and work experience, while some have to be compelled to take advantage of the opportunities. In almost all circumstances, as experience has shown, significant benefits to the poor discourage many from taking a paid job.

 Efforts are made to move away from universal benefits and services by reducing the huge government expenditure on welfare to a minimum for only those with genuine needs to avoid fraud. At the same time, resources are redirected towards training and development of the poor and other extreme societal needs. This helps the poor turn enterprising and therefore take care of themselves.

The solution to poverty rests on a broader range of coordinated measures. Therefore, it’s more efficacious to have an effective welfare state that cushions the harsher edges blunted by capitalism while rewarding individualistic efforts, encouraging responsibility and ensuring equal opportunities.

Lawi Auwal Yusuf wrote from Kano via laymaikanawa@gmail.com.

By Abubakar Suleiman

The period preceding the presidential elections was greeted with intense and unrestrained emotions, outright bigotries and zingers from political opponents and supporters alike, so much that discussing issues that really matter was out of the table.

Public pundits who tend to raise their voices or pen down their thoughts on the challenges ahead got their ideas or pressing questions drowned amidst fierce online arguments. Discussing the manifestoes of the parties of the major contenders took the back seat while bickering on variables like the contestants’ age, health, religion, region, and ethnicity became the front burner across many platforms.

As the wave of the electioneering is beginning to disappear and the elections have been won and lost, I think we can start to ask the president-elect, where do we go from here? His job has been well cut out for him. And it will definitely not be an easy ride, and we need to be realistic.

Contextually, should subsidy finally go or stay? Should education at tertiary institutions be subsidised or commercialised? How do we push the country towards a knowledge-based economy? How will the poor access quality basic and tertiary education? How do we fund deficits in the power sector to make industries wake up? Can we change the security architecture? Should state police be created? Should we continue to maintain two chambers in the National Assembly? And how do we source the fund to run the government? To what extent should we play politics with governance? Can all these and many more be done in 8 years? The questions are many.

The election and its aftermath exposed the fragile unity between the regions and religions that made up this geographical space called Nigeria. Therefore, as a matter of urgency, the President-elect should hit the ground running by reaching out to aggrieved regions and their leaders by assuaging their real or imagined fears and grievances.

The problems of the country are too enormous to be dragged back by agitations and the feelings of being left out. Therefore, an inclusive government and approach to governance have never been this necessary.

Security

Just when President Muhammadu Buhari was about to claim victory over Boko Haram and insecurity in the North East, unprecedented spates of killings, kidnappings and banditry reared their ugly heads in Northwestern Nigeria.

A huge swathe of land became inaccessible, many major roads were deserted, farming nosedived, and a humanitarian crisis ensued. With these problems, many people found themselves in the yolk of poverty. Others became homeless, and fangs of hunger rendered many others dead.

The security structure is in dire need of an overhaul. Community policing, intelligence gathering, using a non-kinetic approach and the continued procuring of more weapons cannot be over-emphasised. The procuring process of these weapons should be monitored to evade financial abuse by unpatriotic elements in security management.

Personnel on the front line serving the country should also be motivated. A situation where underperforming service chiefs are rewarded with tenure extensions or a slap on the wrist should end with President Buhari.

Furthermore, I think decentralising the Police Force is necessary to curb the spread of insecurity across the country. State police is an idea that could be floated and established while strong laws preventing sub-national governments from abusing it should accompany such establishment.

Successive governments have failed to face and address the epileptic power supply problem headlong. A humongous amount of public funds have been infused into the power sector only to purchase more darkness for Nigerians. We had intermittent national grid failure with President Buhari. Many Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) depend on the power supply to fester as many others have yet to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and cashless policy shocks and effects.

The state of the economy is scary. Unemployment has increasingly become high; inflation rates are biting hard; economic growth is sluggish; the country’s debt burden upsurged; the gap between the poor and rich has widened; and the conservatism of the Central Bank was thrown to the dogs by Governor Emefiele thereby making monetary and fiscal policies blurred.

These indices have been detrimental to the security and well-being of the citizens and their businesses. Therefore, the President-elect has a considerable responsibility to close the gap between the rich and poor through job creation, effective wealth distribution, social protection programs with measured outcomes and strengthened fiscal policies.

Subsidy

Only a few among the unlettered in Nigeria don’t know this word. Even those who cannot speak English have a name for it in their language. It is obviously no longer sustainable, as we even borrow to close budget deficits. However, oil is the most critical ‘social safety net’ for the poor in Nigeria; a tweak in its price is greeted with snag, suspicion and impoverishment.

The distrust between the leaders and the led has reached a crescendo, and the oil sector is marred with irregularities so much that we are not even sure of the amount of our domestic oil consumption. Therefore, critical infrastructure needs the money channelled into the subsidy to enhance economic diversification and gradual departure from over-reliance on oil.

And an excellent way to allay the masses’ fears that the money derived from the lack of subsidy might be squandered is through involving vital stakeholders like the Nigeria Labour Congress, Trade Union Congress, civil societies, sub-national governments, community leaders, and other relevant bodies. A comprehensive Key Performance Indicator or milestone should be developed and tracked by these stakeholders, and a project implementation and result delivery unit on the side of the Federal Government.

ASUU-FG Debacle

Another problem the President-elect will carry forward from President Buhari and even presidents before him is the ASUU-FG debacle that has refused to succumb to any pragmatic solution. Fake promises and insincerity on the side of the Federal Government and dogmatic or unbending approach on the side of the Academic Staff Union of Universities have made it impossible for the two to reach a sincere, realistic and practicable solution on the way forward.

Corruption

Plus, we are still battling corruption. Padding in the budget, red tape in the civil service, inflation of contracts and other forms of abuse of public office for personal gain are still with us. Corruption has basically been cancer eating up the already meagre and dwindling resources meant for economic growth, nation building and stability.

Corruption will not disappear overnight, but with the help of technology, building strong institutions and strengthening existing ones like the Judiciary will go a long way in minimising it.

The issues mentioned above and many more are parts of the conversations we should naggingly keep having with the President-elect, who will be sworn in as the President come May 29, 2023.

We should be less tendentious in doing so, but we should never relent in holding our leaders — presidents, governors and other elected or appointed public officers —accountable as humanly possible. The era of lack of communication and the body language that being our President is like doing us a favour should end with President Buhari.

I wish the President-elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, successful days in office. May Allah grant him firm political will and a competent team to drive good policies and push the country towards greatness. Let the conversations continue.

Abubakar Suleiman writes from Kaduna and can be reached via abusuleiman06@yahoo.com

By Ibrahim Nura Aliyu

Nigeria is one of the most populous countries in Africa, with over 200 million people. It is also one of the most diverse countries. Its rich and varied cultural landscape comprises various languages, religions, and ethnic groups. Nigeria is also an essential global player in commerce and industry. In addition, the country’s abundant natural resources and strategic location make it an important economic hub in West Africa.

However, its recent history has been challenging. The country has faced several security challenges, including the Boko Haram insurgency, cross-border terrorist attacks, and regional rebellions. In 2017, the country faced a major humanitarian crisis due to extreme weather conditions.

Nigeria has many problems with security and helping people, and journalism has played a big part in solving these problems. The media plays a significant role in informing the public and raising awareness of these issues. They also play a crucial role in reporting the government’s response to these challenges. This has assisted in ensuring that the public has a better understanding of the challenges faced by the country and the measures taken to address them.

Journalists have done more than just report on what the government is doing. They have also worked to bring attention to the humanitarian crisis. This has helped get more people behind the efforts to deal with the problem. It has also ensured that the humanitarian situation is given adequate attention.

Journalism has been critical in tackling Nigeria’s security and humanitarian challenges. It has helped ensure that the public has a better understanding of the challenges faced by the country and the measures being taken to address them. Nigeria’s security and humanitarian challenges are among the many issues that urgently need attention from the Nigerian government and the international community.

Also, because the old naira notes can no longer be used, there is a need for cash and food in the country. This has led to widespread hunger and illness and placed the lives of many Nigerians at risk.

Another urgent humanitarian problem is that there aren’t enough naira notes to go around, hurting the economy.

Most of Nigeria’s population is poor, relying on cash transactions for necessary household goods and services. This has caused great hardship for the family budget and has pushed millions into poverty. The recent ban on using naira notes has made it harder for millions of Nigerians to buy food and has led to widespread malnutrition.

Nigeria’s struggling economy has only the naira note as a form of currency inefficiency, which worsens the situation.

The challenges faced by Nigeria’s humanitarian crisis are several. This includes the lack of quality education, healthcare, food, water supply, and access to basic sanitation. Journalism has been one of the key players in helping to require accountability and prevent the spread of terror.

Journalists have been able to get the latest information and give essential perspectives on the conflict by doing their jobs. They have also been able to shed light on many issues that are causing the humanitarian crisis.

Ibrahim Nura Aliyu can be contacted via khalilnuradeen@gmail.com.

By Uzair Adam Imam

Nigeria as a nation has been battling with security challenges over the years. The issue has disrupted many activities in the country and, sadly, as the 2023 general elections approaches, there is no safe corridor in the country.

Nigeria, it is a bitter truth the citizens have to swallow, has relinquished its sovereignty in many parts of the country to terrorists.In the North East, there is the 12-year-old Boko Haram war that has displaced thousands, claimed hundreds of thousands lives and destroyed property worth billions of naira.

In the North West and some parts of North Central the activities of bandits is the new normal. Zamfara, Sokoto, Katsina, Kaduna and Niger states are the epicenters of this new wave of terrorism. In some parts of the above mentioned states bandits slum huge taxes on locals before they allow them to farm.

In the South West cultists and kidnappers have a field day. They machete people to death on a daily basis. The media are awash with the news of people being burnt alive.

In the South East the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) terrorists maimed their victims in broad daylight; and have extended this carnage to security formations in the region. One of the attributes of a failed state is insecurity, when the government is not in charge.

This drives away many foreign investors. This is the reality of Nigeria today.Humanitarian crisis in Nigeria comes in many hues. While some are caused by natural disasters, insecurity has worsened the situation.

Many states in various political zones in the country, internally displaced persons camps have opened up. Drug abuse, abortion, sexual exploitation, extortion, among other social vices, are rampant now.

In different parts of the country locals have no access to potable drinking water. Many of them drink from the same stream their cows drink, and they wash their clothes there, too. This has exposed them to different kinds of diseases like cholera and other life-threatening diseases.

The condition of our hospitals, especially in rural areas, is bad. Many of these facilities are understaffed and lack working materials. There are not enough beds and sometimes patients have to lay down on the floor for treatment.

As a student-journalist I believe journalism has an important role to play in tackling these lingering issues bedeviling Nigeria over the time. This includes but is not limited to public enlightenment, responsible reporting, countering fake news and balanced reporting (social responsibility of journalists involved here).

For example experts and analysts believe that many bandits are into banditry because of their ignorance. Balanced and factual reporting can help end terrorism in some ways.

This can only be achieved with adequate training of journalists on terrorism reporting.Recent documentaries by BBC and Daily Trust have laid credence to the argument above of how ignorance, unbalanced reportage and fake news contribute to insurgency or terrorism in Nigeria.

In conclusion, while insecurity is weighing down Nigeria as it worsens to humanitarian crises, journalists can tackle it by fighting fake news, balancing their report and enlightening the public of the danger ahead.

By Sulaiman Maijama’a

Security of lives and properties of the citizens is one of the cardinal responsibilities of every responsible government and the first priority of every society. Nigeria, being a plural society (with different cultures, tribes, languages religions and regions) since independence has experienced, in different points in time, security challenges, the sad development that sowed the seeds of fresh security challenges that resurface in our time. Today, all the six geo-political zones that constitute Nigeria suffer from one form of insecurity or the other.

Boko Haram in the North East, kidnapping and banditry in the North West and the North Central becomes the epicentre of farmers-herders clashes.

Similarly, the South East suffers from the evil atrocities of the Biafran secessionists, the South South is coping with armed groups that have sabotaged pipelines and kidnapped oil workers in Niger Delta, while the South West suffers ritual killings for money making.

In its report on January 4th, 2022, HumanAngle revealed that in 2021, Nigeria had recorded its worst insecurity-related death toll since 2016. At least 10,398 persons were killed across the country between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, 2021.

While this horribly compounded situation is winking its head, other humanitarian challenges in recent time came in and deteriorated the condition.

Thisday reported that in 2019, Nigeria contributed 4.3 percent of the global figures of 79.5 million in terms of humanitarian crises, making her one of the top 10 countries with the highest risks of humanitarian disasters, and the situation continues to worsen.

The humanitarian crisis range from seeking refuge in overburdened and unsafe camps, to limited access to food, healthcare and education. Millions of people in the humanitarian crisis face malnutrition, inadequate social protection, sexual violence, and uncertain timelines for a return to normalcy.

The role of the media: Journalism, apart from its traditional role of informing, educating and entertaining, can play the following role to curtail such challenges:

1. Stakeholder engagement and “tree analysis”: the nature in which the Nigerian government fights insecurity is like cutting the leaves of a tree without cutting its root. The media should provide a forum for stakeholders to be brainstorming on the genesis of these challenges and the motives behind them. This will give an insight to the government into the roots and ways through which it can be curtailed.
2. Applying “Agenda Setting Theory”: the media should make security and humanitarian reports their topmost priority by consistently reporting and giving them banner headlines and breaking news positions. By so doing the government and relevant authorities will swing into more deliberate actions with a view to bringing an end to the challenges.
3. Applying “Development Support theory” and Serving the watchdog and surveillance role: the media should make editorial policies that will support development and expose any suspicious attempts. This should be done deliberately, knowing that security and humanitarian challenges cause Nigeria underdevelopment.
4. Objective and credible reportage: these are a second name to journalism. When fairness and credibility are maintained in journalism, security and humanitarian challenges will reduce to a minimal level.

Maijama’a is a student at the Faculty of Communication, Bayero University, Kano. He can be reached at:
sulaimanmaija@gmail.com

By Lawal Dahiru Mamman

Epilepsy is a non-communicable condition that affects the brain. The condition causes recurrent seizures, which are brisked episodes of involuntary movement that may involve a segment or whole parts of the body accompanied by unconsciousness and loss of control of bowel or bladder function. 

The prevalence of epilepsy is particularly high in Latin America and in several African countries, notably Liberia, Nigeria, and the United Republic of Tanzania. Parasitic infections, particularly neurocysticercosis, are important etiological-causative factors for epilepsy in many of these countries.

The importance of epilepsy made the World Health Organisation (WHO) and its partners christen the 2nd Monday of February annually “International Epilepsy Day”. This serves as an opportunity to raise awareness of epilepsy, what it is, how it can be treated, and what is needed to bring treatment to all people who need it. This declaration became paramount, especially as 25% of the recorded cases are potentially preventable. 

International Epilepsy Day 2023 (February 13th) appears to have slipped through the cracks of health professionals, media outlets and other bodies usually taking the pain to sensitise the populace about the disease and other medical conditions in the country. This could result from the Diphtheria outbreak and proliferation of notorious Lassa fever, meningitis and cholera.

Nonetheless, Epilepsy remains one of the most common non-communicable neurological diseases globally, with written records dating back to 4000BCE and fifty million (50,000,000) people suffering from the same worldwide, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO), and of this value, 80% live in low and middle-income countries probably attributable to endemic conditions like malaria, road traffic accidents, birth-related injuries, neurocysticercosis – pork tapeworm infection (A tapeworm infection that affects the brain, muscle and other tissues) and poor medical infrastructure.

A large number of patients (70%) could live seizure-free if properly diagnosed and treated even so, the sad reality is that 70-75% of people suffering from epilepsy in low-income countries do not have access to the treatment required.

For centuries, fear, misunderstanding, discrimination and social stigma have trailed and is still trialling epilepsy therefore, an event like ‘International Epilepsy Day’ should be used for sensitisation on preventive measures while authorities make an effort to provide facility and medications needed to control the condition since there has been no known cure.

Lawal Dahiru Mamman writes from Abuja and can be reached via dahirulawal90@gmail.com.

By Abubakar Umar

On Saturday 18/2/2023 being our training day for Civil Society Situation Room Election Observers that took place in Dutse, I left my room at exactly 7am and rushed to Hadejia old Motorpark. Without a delay, I got a car that is traveling to Dutse and got seated. After waiting for other passengers to come before the car took off for some couple of minutes the conductor asked for transport fare. I said I wanted to make a bank transfer. The conductor said they don’t have an account to receive the money. I desperately brought out the last N2,000 new notes from my pocket, gave him and collected my change of N600 unsure of how I can afford to come back in such a situation.

At the end of the training, I immediately left the venue with a desperate face looking for where to get cash. I went to where banks are located in Dutse but to my surprise, all banks were closed and no single person was standing near the Automatic Teller Machines of all the banks, except CBN which is open only to collect old notes.

With a tired body and a desperate mind, I just went straight to Dutse’s modern Motorpark. On arrival, a car traveling to Hadejia is almost full and just waiting for one passenger. On seeing me, they asked me to enter and I told the driver that I didn’t have cash and wanted to make a bank transfer. The driver said he doesn’t accept transfers. I begged him and the conductor to allow me in, but they both seemed not to care, which made me to move aside and wait. 

I was there like a statue, 3 cars left for Hadejia while I was there standing and watching. The NURTW official kept saying they don’t accept transfers and we waited for almost 2 hours.

Luckily, 3 more of my co-trainees arrived at the Motorpark and they too didn’t have any cash with them. Another woman arrived too without cash. Even then, they refused to accept the transfer. 

At last we saw one car was carrying bags of rice. We gathered and begged the driver. The driver, after refusing, finally agreed and gave us someone’s account and asked us to gather the money in the account of one of us and send it to him in one transfer. I was the first to successfully transfer the money because I was using an OPAY account which has a very good network at the moment.

In addition to the time we wasted begging them, we have to wait till they confirm the receipt of the payment before we took off. The person whose account we gathered the money was using UBA Bank trying to make the transfer using USSD code. When he couldn’t, they all begged me to send 5k to the account given to us by the driver if I have it in my account and later the other person would send back to me, when there is network. 

To avoid arriving late during this unsecured time, I agreed and transferred. The driver started the car. While on our way, the driver claimed that they didn’t receive the alert and asked me to check my balance. I showed them the receipt and everyone saw it including the driver. We continued the journey till when we arrived at Kafin Hausa, the driver stopped and insisted that they must receive transaction alert before he can continue. They gave me phone number of the person whom the account belongs to and I sent the receipt via WhatsApp. He read it and claimed that we have to copy the transaction alert (SMS) and send to him. What if someone manipulated the text and sent to him? I said Opay doesn’t send SMS alert, rather only email and Application notification which I showed to all including the driver. He then agreed and continued till we reached Hadejia. He stopped again at Kwanar Jama’are for the same issue. We all insisted that they check their bank balance.

The driver then took us to a bus stop, we alighted thanked him.

The next day (today morning), I received almost 10 missed calls from the person whose account the driver gave us. I texted him and asked what is it he wanted and he replied I have to pay the money so he will stop calling me. I said I already paid, sent him receipt in the presence of the driver who brought us and my fellow passengers all saw it. If there’s any trouble, we may need a ‘bank statement’ to support his claim. Since I sent that message to him, he hasn’t called back again.

How on the earth on the eve of cash scarcity and cashless policy an official Motorpark (State level) doesn’t operate with POS devices? Where is NURTW? Where is the State Ministry of Transport? Where is the State Government itself? Does the President really care about people’s situation? 

Abubakar Umar Gbs

By Muhsin Ibrahim

Religion was central to Bola Tinubu’s emergence as the APC’s candidate for the 2023 presidential election. We discussed the issue as if it would not end. Since the 1993 annulled election of Abiola/Kingibe (both Muslims), no major candidate and his running mate have ever come from the same religion until now: Tinubu/Shettima (both Muslims). But, as the election approaches (we are, in fact, counting hours), only a few people talk about that. However, religion will play a significant role in the voting pattern.

The wild popularity of Labour Party’s Peter Obi on social media and his appeal to foreign media has something to do with his religion. I know this may sound controversial, but it is so. The three other front candidates are Muslims, while Obi is Christian. Besides this, I can’t see a glaring difference between him and NNPP’s Engr. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso per se.

Tinubu and PDP’s Atiku Abubakar are in their 70s, while Kwankwaso and Obi are in their 60s. The four leading candidates are stinking rich and belong to 1% of the Nigerian elite. Interestingly, the candidates represent Nigeria’s so-called major ethnolinguistic groups of Yoruba, Hausa and Igbo, alias WAZOBIA.

Though, there is a parallel between Obi and Tinubu. Many people will vote for them because of their religious identities. I learned that many churches, especially in the North, had ordered their members to vote for Obi. Likewise, the faith-based civil liberties organisation Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) recently “reminded Northern Muslims of their promise to support a Southern Muslim [i.e. Tinubu] in the 2023 presidential election”.

Given the above, I agree with some observers and analysts that Obi may surprise his critics, such as myself, in the upcoming election. The votes from his Christian brethren and others supporting him for other reasons will make a difference. However, Tinubu has many more advantages – being APC the ruling party and his decades-old political footprints, among others.

Anyway, we hope for the best and pray for peaceful elections. But, please, stay away from violence. Your safety should be your most treasured possession. No politician or political party is worth dying for.

With love from a disenfranchised Nigerian citizen.

Muhsin Ibrahim works and lives in Cologne, Germany and can be reached via muhsin2008@gmail.com.