Opinion

By Zayyad I. Muhammad

The 2023 presidential elections present the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) with a golden opportunity to wrestle power from the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC). However, the PDP faces a daunting challenge in how to utilize this opportunity. To do this, the PDP needs to present a common interest from the party’s wide, and sometimes, varying interests so as to secure for the party, sufficient internal and external support during the elections.

PDP got its calculations right. The All Progressives Congress (APC) picked its presidential candidate from the South, especially the Southwest – Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu, is APC’s presidential candidate.

The emergence of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar as the presidential candidate for the main opposition party – (PDP) was a product of three things. The party has settled for someone who has the national outlook; the party wants to outwit the ruling All Progressive Congress ( APC) in one of the latter’s strongholds — the North, and lastly, the party needs a strong war-chest for the 2023 presidential elections.

Atiku’s emergence was smooth, despite the political intrigues that occurred before and during the presidential primaries. The selection of Ifeanyi Okowa as Atiku’s running mate had appeared also a smooth one. But two weeks after, it is causing dangerous stirs in the PDP camp that had appeared united, initially after the primaries. Former Governor Ayo Fayose scratched the ‘ old-wound’ of the call for a southern presidential candidate, Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue state is fuming, while  Governor  Nyesom Wike’s camp is causing more ‘commotion’ within the party by threatening the much-needed unity in the party. 

To be nominated or selected as a Vice Presidential candidate, the person must bring something to the table — votes, a daring war chest, well-established political structures, or influence in the political party.

Had Atiku picked Wike, the PDP would have appeared to opt for someone that will bring a massive war-chest and “home votes”. At the same time, the PDP would appear to have succumbed to pressure and tried to calm ‘a bull in a china shop’.

The APC, on the other hand, would have been happy, if Wike had emerged as the PDP vice presidential candidate. Firstly, it would have ‘balanced’ its controversial Muslim-Muslim ticket. Secondly, the APC would have used Wike’s candidacy to consolidate its votes in one of its strongholds — the North. In the 2019 presidential elections, the APC used Peter Obi’s Vice Presidential candidacy to de-market the PDP in the north. Peter Obi’s deportation of northerners was massively used against him. Like Peter Obi, Wike doesn’t have longtime friends, political associates or structures in the north, to defend him. However, to be fair to Wike, during the campaign for the PDP presidential primaries, he was able to tour the country, thus making some new networks and contacts. Furthermore, if Atiku had picked Wike, the former would have had to work extra hard in the north, because Wike will be a good recipe for APC’s strategy in the North. With Wike as VP, those people who are unhappy with APC or have not decided, may not want to thumbprint a ballot paper with a “Wike.”

The selection of Governor Ifeanyi Okowa as Atiku’s running mate is a product of PDP’s strategy to consolidate its footings in its strongholds — the Southeast and the South-South while not jeopardizing its attempt to strike the APC in the North. Okowa is controversy-free and the North will not have any issue with him.

Any person in Governor Nyesom Wike’s shoes will certainly feel hurt and demeaned — he has been a pillar in the PDP when the party was ‘deserted’ and he’s among the very bigwigs that have never left the PDP to another party. Furthermore, Mr. Wike polled 16 votes to defeat Mr. Okowa who scored three votes in a shadow election by a committee set up by the PDP to pick a running mate as reported by many media houses in the country. Moreover, whether one likes or dislikes Wike, for sure, he has something to offer the PDP.

That window created by Atiku for the PDP to setup a committee to select for him the Vice Presidential candidate, was an error on Atiku, so to say. The selection of a running mate is the absolute right of the flagbearer. Since Atiku already had someone in his mind, that committee was unnecessary. Though, it appears it was an honest attempt to bring everybody on board in making or taking a decision.

When it comes to elections, every political party has its own strategy. Had Atiku accepted the choice of the ‘VP Selection Committee’, it would have been the first time in the history of Nigerian politics, that a political party will solely determine the VP candidate for its presidential candidate. Though the PDP said, it was Atiku that requested the party to recommend to him, a VP. Atiku has the final say!

Atiku Abubakar is a master in negotiations, give and take and reaching out to people, including adversaries. Atiku should sit down with Wike, one-on-one, to resolve all the issues. It’s politics. It’s all about winning!

Zayyad I. Muhammad writes from Abuja, Nigeria. He can be reached via; 08036070980 or zaymohd@yahoo.com.

By Mukhtar Jarmajo 

Mao Zedong, the founder of the Peoples Republic of China, once said, “Politics is war without bloodshed while war is politics with bloodshed.” By inference, thus, there is so much correlation between politics and war, the only difference being that the former isn’t bloody while the latter is. Therefore, the art of politics is the same as that of war, where two or more opposing parties contest for supremacy either in terms of votes for political power as with politics or territorial control as with war. Additionally, politics and war involve strategies to subdue the opponent through deceptive techniques. 

Perhaps this is why Sun Tzu, the great Chinese writer, philosopher and war strategist, noted that while differentiating victorious warriors from defeated ones, “Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win.” Aside from that, Sun Tzu emphasised the importance of strategy in war. He also meant that only warriors who adopt strategies in defining the means to conquer the enemy are victorious. The third import of Tzu’s quote is that strategists conquer their opponents well before the offensive is launched. 

So just as wars can be won and lost before the first Salvo is released, elections too can be won and lost even before any vote is cast. Meanwhile, it bears no repeating that only strategic politicians achieve such excellence. They study the prevailing political circumstance, analyse it based on the ambitions of the time, and then meticulously plan the best strategy to be used in conquering the opponents. Politicians such as the Bauchi state APC governorship standard bearer, Sadiq Baba Abubakar, are victorious political warriors simply because they understand the art of political warfare. 

During the governorship primary election in Bauchi state, the erstwhile Air Chief turned political czar and let his fellow contenders believe they were more political than him. Therefore only they knew what the road to winning the party’s ticket looked like. After the contest, Sadiq Abubakar won the day, with the runner-up placed at a distant 92 votes away. While they were reluctant that he was not a factor to count, Sadiq Abubakar campaigned vigorously and reached out to stakeholders and delegates to convince them of the substance and import of his ambition. 

In the end, they were convinced that aside from experience he would bring to the table, the erstwhile diplomat is one politician capable of giving the ruling PDP in Bauchi state a run for its money. Thus, he won the primary election before the first ballot was cast. And by Sun Tzu’s standard, Sadiq Baba Abubakar is a victorious political warrior. It raises no eyebrows that as a graduate of political science who also holds a master’s in strategic studies, the Bauchi APC governorship standard bearer can do even more than this. 

Jarmajo can be reached via dattuwamanga@gmail.com.

By Habibu Gimba Kafin Hausa

The resent gubernatorial primary election of the All Progressive Congress in Jigawa State, which produces Deputy Governor, Alhaji Umar Namadi (Danmodi) to fly its flag, ahead of 2023 election really commendable.

Since assumption of office, Badaru’s attention has been focused on the aspects of the economy that have direct bearing on his people in terms of welfare and social uplift, not forgetting their viability and economic worth.

The state has initiated investment-friendly policies, reasons for its position as third in Nigeria in the World Bank’s latest Ease of Doing Business Report, in addition to many fruitful policies for businesses to drive and that had contributed to the state’s internally Generated Revenue and raised the state’s Gross Domestic Product from 900 billion to about 2 trillion naira, the highest ever in the history of the state. 

Before his appointment as Finance Commissioner and later promoted to the Deputy Governor, in 2015 and 2019 respectively, Umar Namadi, was a member of the state committee constituted by Governor Badaru on verification and validation of contracts as well as that of staff audits.

Also, after he assumed office as Finance Commissioner, various rankings by national and international bodies have consecutively ranked Jigawa as the most transparent State in budget transparency in Nigeria.

Umar Namadi’s achievements in office, when he was a state commissioner of finance, have made him one of the most transformative commissioners of finance sector in the history of Jigawa State. As a Chartered Accountant and Head of Economic Team, Under Umar Namadi, we have seen how Civil Resource Development and Documentation Centre declared Jigawa State top among the 36 states on Budget Transparency Index 2020 ranking.

While Jigawa State continued to be at the top of the sub-index, Ondo and Kano States ranked second and third with scores of 86 and 80 respectively.

The commitments and excellent jobs of Namadi, as the chairman of the Jigawa State Investment Promotion Council, upgrade the business ecosystem of the state. This is why from 2019 to 2022 Jigawa State has been ranked as the third state with the fastest growing small and medium scale industries in the country.

He has been doing everything possible to bring in key players to make Jigawa State a top destination for investment in Nigeria. This singular effort brought about 70 local and foreign investors who show their interest to invest in Jigawa, with a potential of providing 60,000 jobs opportunities, where about 17 of such opportunities have been actualized and are worth 1.2 million dollars.

In a bid to take his responsibilities, as the Chairman Governing Board of Invest Jigawa, the Deputy Governor led the members of the agency to hold a roundtable discussion numerous times. This has been to discuss opportunities to network with top government leaders and captains of industry.

Danmodi is loved by Jigawa people and compatriots outside the State. He has the education, charisma and experience to pilot Jigawa State to the Promised Land.

As the Chairman of Nigerian Association of Small Scale Industrialists (NASI), Jigawa State Chapter, a successful businessman and a private sector inclined, Namadi will provide enabling environment for international and domestic investors to improve our economy, through the pursuit of policies that guarantee economic growth, and ensure sustained progress in the improvement of basic human development indicators.

A well-recognized business tycoon, Namadi will continue to provide all the necessary support to boost small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Jigawa as part of his effort for ease of doing business reforms. He has been saying that the responsibility of any government is to provide facilities that would improve economic activities of its people. If he is elected as the governor of Jigawa State, Danmodi will demonstrate his readiness to reposition the state’s economy to a growth trajectory where the economy will work for all of us.

His running mate, Engineer Aminu Usman Gumel, is a competent, dedicated and a focused commissioner. Under him, we have seen how the State Government embarked on massive road constructions and rehabilitations. Almost all the road projects, totaling around 716.5kms inherited by Badaru’s administration, have been completed while an additional 878.15km of regional, township and feeder roads awarded by Governor Badaru’s led administration are at different stages of completion. All these happened while he was the works and transport Commissioner for 8 blessed years.

Alhaji Umar Namadi is person who understands Badaru’s policies and programmes and their impacts on the people. If Jigawa people vote Umar Namadi to be their elected governor in 2023 general election, the welfare and future of Jigawa people will always remain his focal point.

By Ahmad Deedat Zakari

Within 48 hours, in the most populous black nation in the world, an Assistant Commissioner of Police was gruesomely murdered. Boko Haram insurgents infiltrated a prison in the country’s capital and released their members. The president’s security team and media convoy was attacked, leaving two injured.  

All these are happening amidst biting inflation that has enthroned hunger in the country. Nobody seems concerned about students of public universities in the country that have been at home for several months. Scores have already taken to cybercrime as an alternative to education.

Just like in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, everything that holds us together as a nation is seemingly crumbling. It is unbelievable that it is happening under President Muhammadu Buhari’s watch, a man who is reputed for diligence and integrity.

It is saddening that the man Nigerians unreservedly love and elected to lead them is good at only travelling. While the nation burns and desperately needs succour, the president is on his way to Senegal.

Reports indicate that the president has made 11 international trips in five months. Sadly, the president’s official trips are not translating to anything good for Nigeria.

Buhari’s tenure ends in ten months, but will Nigeria survive these months’ hunger, insecurity and absence of education?

Deedat wrote from Lokoja, Kogi State, via ahmadzakari111@gmail.com.

By Muhammad Rabiu Jibrin (Mr. J) 

It is heartbreaking and horrible that in a country that operates democracy, a nearby house is turned into a medicine store, and no matter the condition of a patient, they can’t be treated in the maternity when it’s raining. Windstorms blew off the roof some time ago. This has been the condition the people of the Komi community found themselves in for a long time despite reports that the gory images of the worn-out structure of the maternity have been submitted to the relevant authorities.

The 22-year-old maternity with a 6442 target population has been in deplorable condition for about 7-8 years.  Owls and other birds made their nests in its ceiling before the damage worsened to the extent that they had no option but to vacate. The staff in the structure reportedly killed two puff adder snakes.  The maternity clinic was built in 2000 by the then Funakaye Local Government Chairman Alhaji Abubakar Abubakar BD to ease people’s lives.

Not more than a month ago, the price of 25 litres jerrican of water skyrocketed from 100 naira – which has been viewed as expensive to any subsistent farmer – to 250 naira forcing many people to sleep on empty stomachs and animals stood thirstily. Until the rain became steady, the rain-softened earth dams retained some water, and the community breathed a sigh of relief from the cancerous lack of drinking water.

As part of their contribution towards curtailing the damages before it went beyond control, every civil servant in the community was tasked with a sum of one thousand naira monthly, which was used in repairing damaged places for a couple of months.

What has been happening could be viewed as an infringement of the right to health guaranteed in chapter 2, section 17, subsection 3(d) of the 1999 Federal Republic of Nigeria constitution. Under the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights, the  ‘Right to Health’ has been guaranteed.

Also, it has been accorded recognition by many international treaties in which Nigeria is part and parcel. These include the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination (CEFD), the convention on the rights of the Child (CRC), the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) among others.

It is high time the government came to the rescue of this community. Likewise, non Governmental Organizations and well-to-do individuals should, for a matter of help, come to their aid too.

Muhammad Rabiu Jibrin (Mr J) wrote from Gombe via muhammadrabiujibrin@gmail.com.

By Abdulrahman Yunusa 

Upon all the existing factors that are enough to be the reasons for one’s resignation as an elected leader in Nigeria, I don’t know what often shields them from towing on to that path. Despite the gruesome killing, kidnappings, molestation and other unfavourable crimes thriving in our localities, they remain in power.

There is no “Resignation” in the vocabulary of Nigerian leaders. Because you hardly see them making resignations when things tend to go out of their control. Sadly, they prepare to die in power than live outside the power. 

Unlike our shabby mentality, those who have tried and failed in saner climes mostly took the most honourable decision by relieving themselves of the burden threatening their yoke. Some resign for reasons which we might eye as petty ones. Some quit for being unable to deliver the political promises they have made during the campaign. Some leave for failure to secure the lives of their people, which is one of the best reasons for one to vacate.

That silly mentality should be tamed with immediate effect. Else the next generation will suffer at the hands of evil beings who will soon assume the mantle of leadership and keep subjecting the lives of millions of people to excruciating pains. 

Enough is enough. Just tender resignation whenever conditions warrant that. Don’t subject the lives of millions of people to jeopardy for political greediness. Instead, learn to relinquish your position for the sake of your people. Maybe that will be the only positive impact you will ever make for your people.

The social, political and economic vicissitudes we are facing incessantly in Nigeria are the result of our leaders’ greediness. It’s simple to get that when you analyze and evaluate the current scenario in the country. 

Recently, Zamfara State Governor openly admitted that his govt has failed to discharge its primary responsibility, which is the protection of the lives and properties of its people. He urged them to pick firearms to defend themselves against bandits.

That pathetic scenario is enough to tell you they are more concerned about their political seats than the lives of their people, which are ideally more worthy than their useless thrones. So they can’t tender resignation later to let the better hands have the chance to try their luck. Instead, they rather remain there and keep watching their people dying mercilessly in cold blood. 

No wonder, as the saying goes, “Da na gaba ake koyi“, people learn from their elders. Buhari is the president who enjoys more power than any other person within the polity. He should therefore be the best object of emulation. But, no, he too does not care about the lives of his citizens. Hence, the governors follow suit, despite the sheer incompetence and ineptitude, coupled with the I-don’t-care attitude they exhibit at the extreme. Yet, they don’t mind resigning or taking any proactive measures. God is watching!

Until we console our greedy minds to do away with that uncultured culture of political greediness by learning how to vacate position when things tend to get out of our control, we shall find it difficult to scale through the dark ocean. 

May we scale through the dark ocean soon, amin.

Abdulrahman Yunusa is a social and political affairs analyst. He writes from Bauchi and can be reached via abdulrahmanyunusa10@gmail.com.

By Aminu Mohammed

I nurtured my desire to study abroad during my undergraduate days at the Department of Political Science and International Studies, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. It was the era when ABU was the hotbed of Marxism and radical thinking in the North, led by the late Marxist historian Dr Bala Usman and others like Dr Bako, Prof. Sadiq and Prof. Ayo Dunmoye. I was fascinated by the writings of Karl Marx and Max Weber, which prompted my desire to study in Germany.

Germany is the wealthiest country in Europe and a global leader in education and research. It is the land of scientists like Albert Einstein, Max Plank and philosophers such as Immanuel Kant, Arthur Schopenhauer, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Friedrich Nietzsche, Karl Marx, Max Weber, and Goethe, among others. The education in Germany is top-notch, especially in medical sciences, natural science and engineering. Studying in Germany is also cheaper and more cost-effective compared to other countries such as the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia.

Many of you may wonder why I choose to write on this topic, considering the high cost of studying abroad. Many of you may still think that only the elite can afford to send their children to foreign universities and others from a humble background are not capable of doing so, probably due to their circumstances.

I want to tell you today that you should perish such thoughts that have limited our people, especially in the northern part of the country, making them doubt their abilities. I want to tell you that there are no limits to where you can go and what you can achieve if you believe in your dreams and work towards them. We live in an era of information technology where you can use your smartphone to search for information that will aid you in improving your life and career. There are many Nigerian students from the Southern part of the country; most do not have wealthy parents and are thriving in this environment.

Studying in German universities is tuition-free for both local and international students. There are two options: you can either study through scholarship or self-sponsorship by taking care of your living expenses on your own through a system called blocked account. The first option is highly competitive and more tedious than the second one. Therefore, I suggest that people without solid financial capacity focus on the first option by applying for a scholarship. You can check the universities’ websites offering your courses and see the requirements for obtaining the scholarship.

The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) currently offers scholarships to students from developing countries for the 2023 academic session. The scholarship covers everything, including a monthly stipend of 861 euros for master’s students and 1200 euros for doctorate students. So, you should apply as soon as possible before the deadline. It would help if you had an outstanding grade in your first degree, a minimum of two years of work experience, a good motivation letter, and volunteering experience, among others, to be accepted for the scholarship programme.

The second option, through a blocked account, requires a lot of money, which means that you are on self- sponsorship, hence will cater for your living expenses which include payment for accommodation, health insurance and other costs in Germany. This option is for those who can afford the blocked account stipulated by the German authorities, which is currently 10,332 euros approximately (N6.7 million). You must deposit this money in a German bank after getting admission before securing a study visa. Most students who arrived in Germany for studies used Fintiba bank, a financial institution based in Frankfurt, Germany.

Once you get admission, you can check the website of the German embassy in Abuja or Lagos, look for the requirements for the study visa, and then apply for a visa appointment. I will advise that after getting admission, you check the official website of the German embassy in Nigeria or visit the embassy in Abuja or Lagos to get information on how to deposit the money in Fintiba bank. Don’t give your money to anybody.

You can go to any Nigerian bank to do the international transfer to Fintiba bank once you get the details on how to go about it from the German embassy. The money belongs to you and is for your living expenses here. Once you arrive in Germany and go through a system referred to as legitimization at the bank, Fintiba bank will then transfer 848 Euro monthly to your account for 12 months. The money will not be transferred in bulk to your account but bit by bit.

.Of course, you can work here and earn money to support your living expenses. Students are entitled to 20 hours per week and can work more than 20 hours during holidays, especially when the university is on break. Most international students work here and earn good money. An hourly wage depends on cities, but it is mainly between 10.45 to 16 Euro per hour (N6, 500 to N10, 000) depending on the city and company you work for. Wages in bigger cities like Munich, Frankfurt, Berlin, Hamburg, Cologne and Dusseldorf are higher than in smaller cities like Kiel, Flensburg, Cottbus, Magdeburg, etc.

Public universities do not charge tuition fees in Germany. Depending on the University, you only pay a semester fee (alias social fee) ranging from 200 euros to 380 euros per semester. For instance, students in my university pay 264 Euros per semester. This covers dues for the student union and transportation. In other words, students do not pay whenever they board a bus or train, as the semester ticket covers the fare for buses and trains within the city of Kiel and up to Hamburg. So, our semester ticket covers movement throughout the state of Schleswig Holstein and Hamburg.

Most Nigerian and international students I have met here are on self-sponsorship. Theystudy and also work to take care of their living expenses. There is always a part-time job available for students, especially in big and smaller cities, and you can take advantage of that to earn money for your upkeep. Some students focus on studies only during the semester and only work during holidays, while some attend lectures on weekdays and only work part-time during the weekend. The choice is yours.

I must emphasize that studying in Germany is tough, and you must put much effort to succeed. People fail here quickly, especially students who focus on work without paying much attention to their studies. But the main thing is to strike a balance between your studies and part-time work, if you want to achieve your goals. Of course, many students have been able to secure jobs after their studies here. A lot of Nigerians that I know here work after completing their studies.

Moreover, for those apprehensive about their religion, there is a large population of Muslims in Germany, mainly from Turkey, Syria, and Egypt, among others. There are mosques everywhere. At least we have six mosques in my city, with even a mosque mainly for Africans to perform their prayer.

I still reiterate that you can do everything independently with your computer or laptop. You do not need the help of anybody or an agent to assist you in applying for admission, scholarship or the visa process. Don’t fall for any scammer. You can do this from beginning to end on your own until you find yourself in Germany. You don’t need to know anybody to be able to secure admission, scholarship or visa to Germany. I arrived in Germany in 2018 without knowing anybody or even a friend. My communication was with the University strictly. If I can do it, you too can do it. So, believe in your abilities and go after your goals. I wish you all the best in your endeavour.

Aminu Mohammed is at the School of Sustainability, Christian-Albrechts Universität zu Kiel, Schleswig Holstein, Germany. He can be reached at gravity23n@gmail.com or 219013@mail.uni-kiel.de.

By Nusaiba Ibrahim Na’abba

The ongoing unexpected outrageous hike in prices of goods and services stringed by inflation is not all new to our survival in Nigeria as we’ve learnt the hard way to navigate through hurdles and thorns to manage our lives. Simply put, things are at the moment not falling apart but in their right places – exactly where we want them to be. And by extension, we are reaping the seeds our predecessors sowed.

Contextualizing the global outrage on inflation unveils how our population crises are highly influential to the inflation catastrophe we are recently experiencing in Nigeria. Conversations around our incapacitated population have always been cumbersome. People keep reproducing to demonstrate their selfish reasons and associating them with religion, even when they’re fully aware of their inability to cater for their needs – a lifetime debate. Due to cultural and religious reasons, overpopulation is always quite a sensitive issue. Religious gatherings, cultural discussions and even governmental activities deliberately skip them to avoid chaotic scenes.

For reasons best known to the Nigerian government, the census that was supposed to take place a year after President Buhari assumed office in 2016 was unfortunately not prioritized in the list of essential development activities. There wasn’t even a convincing explanation for why it did not occur. I buy that the President was out of office as he severely fought to regain sound health. Still, his deputy, Prof. Yemi Osibanjo, was acting President until he recovered. He also didn’t give it the much significance it deserves. The worth of a National Census isn’t that shabby to escape their radar, as it assumes an unchallenged role in catalyzing the development of every society and nation-building.

Well, as it stands, many international sources now place the Nigerian population to have surpassed 200 million. But, referring to our precedents, the past administrations were unwilling to manage rapid population increase by corroborating it with needed economic, financial and health opportunities, among others. Instead, they were more or less obsessed with starting gigantic projects to leave them halfway done when leaving offices. Regrettably, from budgets, policies and programs among myriad activities, the population is often not carefully factored in.

At this point, explaining the statistical representations of our ailing population is almost unnecessary, especially since we are gradually failing to comprehend the magnitude of our plight in statistical terms. Presently, there exists a colossal number of youths that are desperately seeking jobs. Not only that, they are unemployed. Some are drug addicts, miscreants, and even kidnappers and whatnot. Their realm also includes people still hopeful for job opportunities, including a handful employed but in deep struggles, as they continue to shoulder countless responsibilities. This fraction is the largest among the demography of our country and, sadly, the most ineffective.

Then we have children, who contribute a fair share to the general population. A disturbing figure is that of out-of-school children due to their being part of the lower class and a lot who are quadrupling in number as insecurity is not slowing down in forcing them out of their communities. Visibly, most of them embrace street hawking and begging while others aimlessly litter the streets and little girls into forced labour. Picturing our population from a pie sketch, we also have the elderly, many of whom have delivered relentless service to the nation but have only been rewarded unkempt wretched feet as they search for their legitimate hard-earned pensions. And I don’t forget that we have People Living with Disabilities (PLWDs) who wallow in poverty. This is a fair elucidation of Nigeria’s population pie sketch.

Indeed, how inflation is ripping us apart in this country is an incredibly devastating experience. Development activities here have always journeyed long, and even more terrifying is that slow processes in everything aren’t much valued in today’s fast-paced world. As frightening as it appears, the race to the 2023 general elections is already painting a horrible scene for us. The primary elections recently concluded with alleged countless irregularities and corruption aren’t appealing. Hence, it becomes challenging to collate one’s thoughts regarding how life will likely be as we fight to forge ahead.

In a way, this current plight provokes the young minds who are already out of viable options to embark on deadly voyages to Europe. They risk their lives in search of a better life there. It is terrifying to know that the number of youths clamoring for these voyages includes graduates and those earning petty stipends and are well conscious of the dangers involved. However, they aren’t blameworthy for viewing their lives from angles of their responsibilities.

Many optimists, including myself, are hopeful about Nigeria’s transformation for the best. But, until alternative routes to utilizing our teeming population for efficient development are incurred, we’ll keep chasing the uncertain light at the end of the tunnel. Nigeria is behind schedule on capitalizing on effective strategies to breed an efficient population, opposing its self-anointed maxim of “no dey carry last”. We must reinvent this unfortunate wheel of inefficiency by adopting a knowledge-based economy model to harness the enormous potential of our massive population for the best.

Nusaiba Ibrahim Na’abba is a master’s student from the Department of Mass Communication, BUK. She is a freelance writer and researcher. She can be reached via nusaibaibrahim66@gmail.com.

By Lawan Bukar Maigana

 I was spoofed when my father changed my school from a public school to a private school. I remember the first class I had. Our teacher, a lady, asked me a question, and I answered it. She asked me again where I got the answer, and I told her that I got it from my brain. She laughed at me, and everyone laughed at me because I spoke poorly. Our school fee was 16,650.

My friends were always laughing at my spoken English because I didn’t know how to speak good English. I still can’t speak good English, but I am working hard to perfect it. That same lady—my teacher—forced me to start reading a novel in class every day, and she mostly asked me to explain what I understood from the book. She corrected me as I explained it to the class, and that was how I started speaking gradually.

My proprietor had always told me that I would become a perfect English speaker one day and encouraged me to ignore my classmates and teachers who made jest of my English. With His mercy on me, I started speaking well with confidence until our graduation. Right now, I speak better English than some of my friends who laughed at me because of my English.

Today, she is proud of me anywhere she sees or hears about me. Had I worried about what my friends did to me then, I wouldn’t have become who I am today because they mocked me well. Some of them are on this platform. They will read this post and laugh at themselves because they know they have done many bad things to me.

Honestly, those days were difficult for me because there were days I didn’t talk from morning to the closing time in school. I didn’t know how to speak good English; English was our school’s only means of communication. So I chose to keep quiet because I didn’t want to be laughed at or mocked by my classmates.

Don’t taunt people with English and don’t laugh at people’s spoken and written English because everyone makes mistakes. No one has a monopoly on English knowledge, including native speakers. Don’t stop learning English because of what people think about you or what they do to you. Continue learning. You will perfect it one day; they can’t laugh or mock you anymore.

The world reads me today. I want to read your articles and watch you talking to a large audience one day. So, don’t stop speaking in public. Those who condemn you today can’t do so tomorrow. They won’t have the opportunity.

Lawan Bukar Maigana writes from Abuja and can be reached via lawanbukarmaigana@gmail.com.

By Mallam Musbahu Magayaki

The Zamfara State Government has officially directed the inhabited communities of the state to carry arms for self-defence as a result of the insurmountable bandit’s attack shattering the state, leading to the destruction of lives and personal possessions of the zone’s commoners. This action, however, would add fuel to the sad development unfolding in the state and beyond by potentially making it unmanageable because everyone would have a gun to protect himself from these foreboding omens. This defensive stance would lead to an offensive.

The government should therefore be conscious that the Ukraine war, which induced President Volodymyr Zelensky to ring up civilians to take up arms in defence of Russia’s invasion of their state, was the result of Russia’s military outmatching Ukraine’s on every level. This implies that the Ukrainian military may be unable to withstand and deter a full-scale invasion.

Mexico should be a case of study as it became a precedent in the past that was destabilised by its innermost citizens when they were constitutionally allowed to hold weapons for self-defence. As such, we need to be thoroughly observing the situations in those developed countries and be capable of identifying those areas where they erred so that we would avoid repeating what they did.

Although Nigeria is one of the biggest African countries with military power, the one million dollar questions are: is our military number insufficient to strike back against these outlaws’ threat? Or are they not functioning effectively in this hazardous assignment? This action would seriously make the efforts of our brave military less appreciative as, in reality, they have been audaciously doing their best to safeguard our lives and properties day-in-day-out.

In a country like Nigeria, where a breach of law has prevalently become the norm, what can be expected to happen devastatingly if a citizen takes up arms? This is a wrong decision that should be changed to a better option. Moreover, what is the essence of creating various security units in the country if they cannot be utilised to defeat those terrorising the country?

Instead of coming up with this irrational idea, why not engage the state vigilantes, empower them with advanced sophisticated weaponry, and train them with military tactics to strengthen our military capacity? Zamfara government should, head over heels, request support from the Federal Government in employing more civilians for this vigilante unit in different angles of the state to fight these law violators.

Simply put, the government has shown its ineptitude in the fight against terrorism. Nonetheless, Borno State has faced more challenges from Boko Haram militias than Zamfara State, but its governor has never come up with the wrong notion of state dwellers carrying arms.

Mallam Musbahu Magayaki wrote from Sabon Fegi, Azare, Bauchi State via musbahumuhammad258@gmail.com.