Opinion

By Mukhtar Ya’u Madobi

“The current trajectory is a road to desolation. Let us get around the table and talk. Let the elite in the closet come out and let’s debate our future and forge a consensus. The elite conspiracy of silence and some community leaders should end.” – Governor Charles Chukuma Soludo

The above quote was made by the Anambra State Governor, Professor Charles Chukuma Soludo at a low key but a colourful inaugural ceremony to mark the beginning of his tenure in office on Thursday, March 17, 2022.

It is not surprising for the Governor to have solicited the support of stakeholders and other community leaders in the state in order to surmount the challenges currently being faced by the state and the entire eastern region in general.

When Soludo was announced as the winner of the last November gubernatorial election in Anambra, he clearly knows that one of the most contending issues that people might look up to him to proffer solution is nothing but the rising insecurity that has engulfed the state and the entire Igbo nation.

It is no longer news that the eastern region of the country has, over the years, become a hub for maiming, killings and wanton destruction of citizens’ properties, occasioned by the activities of some miscreants tagged as ‘unknown gunmen.’ But truth be told, the origin of these so-called “unknown” or “faceless” gunmen can be traced to the military wing of the members of the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB group, known as Eastern Security Network, ESN.

The group, under the leadership of Nnamdi Kanu, who is currently languishing inside the Department of State Service, DSS dungeon after being rearrested in Kenya, last June and flown back to Nigeria, after he previously fled the country, upon breaking the bail conditions.

The IPOB group has over the years been actively clamouring for the creation of an independent Biafra nation from Nigeria.

According to them, the eastern region and Igbos have been marginalized and treated as second class citizens in the country in terms of appointment into political offices, resource sharing and allocation, and governance, among a host of other allegations. But alas, instead of the outlawed group adopting a legitimate manner of registering their grievances, they subscribed and resorted to violence.

The notorious group has carried out several attacks on government facilities including security outfits, Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC Offices, markets, and prisons among other strategic locations. It can be recalled that the ‘unknown gunmen’ in March 2021 unleashed terror on Owerri, the capital city of Imo State, in a night raid. Reports indicated that the guns-wielding men attacked Owerri Correctional Center, thereby releasing not less than 2,000 inmates and subsequently burning some sections of the facility.

Again, they also went ahead and attacked Imo State Police Headquarters, killed some security personnel, looted the armoury and eventually set ablaze security patrol vans that were packed at the premises. Since then, their activities have become more pronounced as they intensified their attacks at will, killing various personnel of the security forces of Nigeria including the Police, Military, DSS Operatives, Prison Warders, Road Traffic Officers just to mention but a few.

It is also on record that IPOB militants have been enforcing sit-at-home order every Monday across the entire five states of the eastern region since when Kanu was re-arrested. According to the group, this is to serve as a means of solidarity and to force the government to capitulate to their demand for his unconditional release.

However, this order has been crippling the economic situation of the region thereby dragging it to the cross. A lot of people who live from hand to mouth are denied such opportunities on a weekly basis as markets remain closed as well as schools, banks, government agencies etc. In fact, this lingering terror activity of the group is like a cankerworm that has been eating deep into the flesh of the entire eastern region people.

Reports indicated that there are some incidents where a lot of people are killed and their business places destroyed by the proscribed IPOB group members under the pretext that they have flouted the sit-at-home order.

Not only that, a number of elites in the Igbo region cutting across traditional rulers, politicians, public servants and business moguls were murdered by these blood-sucking demons. The unfortunate murder of Ahmed Gulak and that of the husband of the Late Dora Akunyele in their own pools of blood by the IPOB militants were, to say the least of their heinous acts.

Their nefarious activities are just too numerous to be outlined in this piece. Thus, let’s just leave it as a story for another day.

Meanwhile, it is gratifying to learn that presently, Governor Soludo of Anambra has stepped up an effort to stem the rising tides of insecurities haunting the state and the region at large.

Soludo, while featuring in an interview with the Channels Television, promised to grant amnesty to IPOB members who agree to call it a quit by laying down their arms. Though his plan has been countered by the Ohanaeze Ndigbo, emphasizing that the vicious group have been causing violence to the entire Igbo nation all under the pretext of actualizing the Biafra nation, they however welcomed the idea of rehabilitating the aggrieved Igbo youth in order to have everlasting peace in the region.

To that effect, the Governor has just appointed and unveiled a 15-member Truth, Justice and Peace Commission to stop the activities of the indigenous people of Biafra (IPOB). The committee is headed by the human rights activist, Prof Chidi Odinkalu with Ambassador Bianca Ojukwu as Secretary.

With these recent unfolding developments mapped out by the Governor, it is hoped that the IPOB members will lay down their weapons and embrace peace so as harmony and normalcy could finally return to the Igbo nation.

Mukhtar, a public commentator, writes from Kano via ymukhtar944@gmail.com.

By Shafi’i Sheikh Jr.

I tried to resist the temptation to speak on matters that fringe around governance and government policies. This is because there are things that an observer can only see if he resists the temptation to jump into the fray and become an actor himself. But recent happenings have reawakened my enthusiasm to march to the stake like the man my mom had always desired me to be and take the bullet in the chest should the need arise. 

In 2015, we supported APC with our sweat and money chanting “change” wherever we found ourselves so much that it caught every household’s mood. Why? Because we thought a Buhari-led government would have no trouble handling the heaps of problems bedevilling our mettlesome Nigeria. 

Now, let’s get down to the nitty-gritty of why we-the masses brought Buhari to power in the first place. 

First of all, Nigeria, Africa’s biggest oil-producing country, was rapidly growing its economy, but the wealth had not been shared appropriately. Half of Nigeria’s population was living below the poverty line. The corruption that was partly to blame was eating into every fabric of Nigeria’s being. 

Secondly, the menace of Boko Haram was spreading wider than it started and had already claimed over 20,000 people and forced out some 3 million others from their homes. We accused the previous Goodluck E. Jonathan-led administration of not taking the menace seriously and posited that Buhari, who’s from the region, would do better if given the opportunity. 

We, therefore, came out en masse to vote Buhari into power. The 2015 election was and still is of massive significance in Nigeria’s turbulent history because, for the first time in Nigeria’s history, an opposition candidate won a presidential election free and fair. 

The president-elect (as he then was) told his supporters that “We have proven to the world that we are people who have embraced democracy. We have put the one-party state behind us.”

“You, Nigerians, have won. The people have shown their love for this nation and their belief in democracy,” He mentioned. 

It was the beginning of a new era. Nigeria and Nigerians refurbished a new hope. But these hopes were soon quashed by his incompetence to constitute a cabinet after 100 days in office. It was opined that a leader who couldn’t form a cabinet for that long is ill-prepared for the most important job in the country. 

Albeit hinging his voter appeal on waging war against corruption, fighting terrorism, and revamping the economy, the Buhari-led government had nothing to show except a plethora of controversies that embroiled his first 100 days in office. 

Today, the government only succeeded in pulling us from the shackles of Boko Haram into a dungeon full of kidnappers, IPOB and the so-called Unknown Gunmen. 

Ours is a country where lives are no longer sacred. Education has been exiled, social amenities are declared “extinct”, and food! Well, you’ll have to take a bank loan if you want to eat healthily. These terrorists attack and operate in broad daylight. 

Even after the president’s declaration in 2019 that Nigeria has “technically won the war” against Boko Haram, the country is still ravaged by insurgencies ranging from kidnappings to coordinated attacks on security forces and population centres. 

The recent attack on the Abuja-Kaduna train is a clear example that Nigerians will not forget for a very long time.

If holiday refers to that time of the year when one usually takes time away from home, work, or business to travel and relax, then this so-called government has betrayed Nigerians and gone on a holiday! 

Shafi’i Sheikh Jr. is a student of the Nigerian Law School, Kano Campus. He writes from Jos and can be reached via talk2sheikh.esq@gmail.com.

Ishaka Mohamed

According to a New York Times bestselling author, Joyce Meyer, patience is not simply the ability to wait — it’s how we behave while we’re waiting.

Many Nigerian youths have been eager for the outcome of their applications for the Nigeria Jubilee Fellows Programme (NJFP). Well, the waiting period is almost over because forty days from now, successful Fellows will have been deployed to their host organisations. This is according to the mail sent to many applicants, a version of which has also been posted on Facebook by the official page of the scheme: Nigeria Jubilee Fellows Programme.

That said, I write this purposely to advise all the applicants. I have categorised them into three.

The first group are those who have been pushed by impatience into using rude comments on posts by two Facebook pages: UNDP in Nigeria and Nigeria Jubilee Fellows Programme. I presume they’re really fresh graduates who, probably, haven’t been following recruitment processes in Nigeria. I’ll outline only three out of the countless cases of delay in the country for them. 

The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) started a recruitment process in 2019 but failed to complete it until 2022.

N-Power Batch C application started in June 2020, but the deployment of beneficiaries never happened until after 15 months. 

The Kaduna State Teachers’ Service Board (KSTSB) started a recruitment exercise in 2018 but managed to employ 7,000 secondary school teachers in July 2022. In fact, as of the time of writing this article, that’s nine months after their employment, none of these teachers has been posted to a school, let alone being paid a salary.

Therefore, there isn’t any need to feel too disappointed over something that is highly expected. It’s worth stressing, however, that it’s OK to clamour for a positive change in whatever concerns us, but decorum is highly recommended, at least for a young graduate and job seeker. So, rude comments should be done away with.

The second group are the over 340,000 applicants who won’t be selected. Yes, a total of 365,679 people applied for the scheme that needs only 20,000 Fellows per annum.

With or without cogent evidence, there’ll be lamentations from almost every angle when successful applicants are eventually picked. Many will blame favouritism and the like. A good number might lose interest in applying for other jobs, claiming that it’s by whom one knows. I urge all unsuccessful applicants (yet to know, though) to avoid losing momentum because of this; it’s simply part of life.

Now, to the third group, the privileged few, I advise that you think twice before leaving your ‘small’ job for the programme. Although it’s said that Fellows will be fully paid as graduates, being deployed doesn’t guarantee prompt payments. You must be realistic to yourself by keeping an alternative means of livelihood.

Of all of the schemes I’ve observed in Nigeria, only NYSC is somehow consistent in the payment of allowances. I’ll mention three others that have significantly failed in this regard.

One, as of January 2022, many of the past N-Power volunteers were still owed stipends. That was after 18 months of exiting the programme. And even while in the scheme, a significant number of these youth often received overdue allowances.

Two, the Special Public Works Programme for 774,000 unskilled labourers ended in March 2021, but a good number of the beneficiaries weren’t paid their N60,000 stipends until after nine months (end of December 2021).

Three, some Nigerian youth were placed on a three-month paid internship called the Work Experience Programme (WEP) from August to October 2021.

The Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development promised each intern a monthly allowance of N30,000 within the period of their engagement.

But such never happened, as the payment commenced in November 2021 and continued, inconsistently, through February 2022.

Some may think that NJFP will be different; I pray so, too. However, the scheme has already shared a pattern with its predecessors. In August 2021, it was promised that the first batch would be inducted in about two months’ time (October), only for the statement to be changed after seven months.

Based on the above instances, I reiterate that you keep an alternative source of livelihood before engaging in the programme. This is especially important for those who’d be posted to states other than their current settlements.

On a final note, if you’re privileged to be deployed to a private organisation, make sure to sell yourself. Much as many organisations usually aim to rightsize their employee base, none will be willing to lose a diligent young graduate if you really present yourself well.

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

By Bilyamin Abdulmumin

The nation has woken up with yet another round of controversial news, as the committee to the National Assembly mosque, Apo legislative quarters Abuja, deemed it fit to suspend the renowned Islamic cleric Sheikh Nuru Khalil before sacking him later. The committee cited incitement and lack of showing remorse as reasons for the suspension and the final sacking, respectively.

Last week’s Friday prayer sermon the Sheikh delivered was the action that earned him the sack. In the sermon, reeling from the Abuja-Kaduna train attack tragedy, the Sheikh supported a boycott of the upcoming 2023 general election should the government fail to protect the lives of Nigerians. This message immediately went viral to generate a heated debate among the public on social media.

Those who support the message have some reasons. Because it was just history that repeated itself; before the 2015 general election, Nigeria, especially the North, was literally on fire. Amidst the chaos majority of the northern Islamic clerics openly criticized the government of the day – PDP, while drumming support for the opposition – APC.

Fast forward, seven years later, the table has turned. The APC is in charge, and similar to the eve period of the 2015 general election, the insecurity is threatening the country again. So, for this category of view, what is good for the goose should also be good for the gender.

Some try to strike a balance. According to these people, the Sheikh’s sermon was right, but they argue that leadership comes with responsibility. So, a leader with a large audience has both privilege and responsibility. Some of these responsibilities are eschewing opinion, unlike any ordinary person who doesn’t mince words. In other words, the Sheik should have a tread with caution. 

Some categories look at it from the extremism tendency. According to them, some extremists, such as Muhammad Yusuf, the Boko haram leader, started as a spokesperson to the masses. First, he became a fierce critic of the government, but later, when his antics escalated to insurgency, those masses clapping for him became the most victims in the end.

Some sought to politicize the controversy. According to them, the Sheikh has pitched a tent around the opposition – PDP, so they claim he has been a critic of the Buhari government for the last seven years. These critics sealed their arguments with the allegations that the Sheikh was appointed an Imam at a mosque built by Atiku Abubakar, a new Jumu’at Mosque behind the Central Bank Nigeria (CBN) Quarters, Abuja.

The peculiarity of any argument is that if anyone is allowed to explain his view, one will somehow see a reason for their claim. The above four viewpoints on the same thing are good examples.

By and large, if there is anything this raging debate achieved, it is one thing: it made Nigerians forget the series of other pressing issues like the ASUU strike, fuel scarcity, the naira to dollar depreciation, VP Osinbajo, Minister Pantami, and Farooq debates, even the plight of the actual victims of the attack (may theirs be a speedy release, harmless). One Nigerian coined this scenario: “one rising issue after another makes Nigerians forget their suffering; Nigerians live for the moment.”

Bilyamin Abdulmumin is a PhD candidate in Chemical Engineering at ABU Zaria. He is also an activist for a better, informed society.

By Kasim Isa Muhammad

It is socially impertinent how the vulnerable youths in the Potiskum LGA, Yobe State, have succumbed to excessive drug abuse and addiction without realizing how dangerous it could be for their lives, mental health, and what they uphold shortly.

The increase in drug abuse has become a subject that needs actual consideration and drastic action to combat its rapid growth among youths. Potiskum is the epicentre of carrying out various business and educational matters. It has been the giant pillar of Yobe State regarding population and contributions to con-constant revenue generation and youth engagement towards persuading education for the future. 

But on the other hand, the locality is enveloped with thousands of dumped youths who have chosen drug abuse and are helplessly living around some areas of the town. They hardly work for themselves, and even if they did, the credit is artfully exhausted on hard drugs, thereby keeping them unconscious and capable of being involved in any act of immorality.

However, I noticed that some of them have unintentionally become addicted to sedative drugs due to unemployment. I’ve been seeing them in a place where they hide out and observe this deadly menace. I had an informative interview with one of them, who told me about the main ingredient that drove him to such activity.

Nonetheless, the most significant point here is to draw the attention of the government and public agencies with the responsibility of fighting against any felonious acts that can socially affect society. Both parties should immediately intervene to curb the growth of drug consumption and find a lasting solution.

The government should provide job opportunities for the youths, support them with funds to raise a small business scale, and educate them. Providing efficient job opportunities can securely remove the most vulnerable youths from illegal acts. It will also keep them from sabotaging government and public properties, thereby decreasing the crime rates in the town or the state at large. 

Nevertheless, those drug abuse victims urgently need government or private agencies’ support with funds or facilities to grow a local business or enrol them in schools. The majority of them dropped out of school due to insufficient funding and parental support. 

Furthermore, the Federal Agencies in charge of controlling drug abuse and illegal consumption should stand firm in their determination to conduct secret general patrols, seize any hard drugs, and send any guilty person to a correctional facility.

Regardless, it is very harmful to society and the government to spare those victims without any necessary security intervention. If such illegal drug consumption continues to grow among the population, the children will believe that nothing is wrong with dealing with hard drugs. Moreover, the government may find controlling the kids’ law-breaking mentality challenging.

Kasim Isa Muhammad wrote from Potiskum, Yobe state via kasimimuhd1999@gmail.com.

By Abdulhaleem Ishaq Ringim

The Abuja-Kaduna train attack has finally halted the speculations regarding Boko-Haram’s expansionism into North-West territories of Nigeria. Although warnings sounded as far back as 2-3 years ago were suggestive of the existence and operationalization of such an active expansionist agenda, it wasn’t until January 2022 that I saw what I consider the first official acknowledgement of the expansionist efforts of BH. This acknowledgement was contained in Kaduna State Ministry of Internal Security and Home Affairs’ annual security report wherein lies observations of escalating relationships between Boko-Haram groups and bandits.

It should be recalled that Boko-Haram ceased to exist as a single entity since 2014/2015 when factionalism befell the central entity. This factionalism yielded 3 different groups distinguishable by certain ideological and tactical contrarieties. They are; The Shekau Led Jama’atu Ahlis-Sunna Lidda’Awati Wal-Jihad (JASLWJ), The Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) supported Jama’atu Ansaril Muslimina fi Biladis Sudan (Ansaru) and The Islamic State (IS) supported Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP). And they have been fighting one another for influence and jurisdiction ever since. 

Interestingly, establishing an influential presence in North-central and North-west Nigeria has always constituted a major aspect of these groups’ grand agenda. But for years, it had proven hard for this objective to be achieved by any of the groups even after staging several operations in the 2 subregions as none of them was able to establish that desirable level of hegemonic presence and influence. 

However, among the three groups, Ansaru remains the most influential in the North-west even though it is thought to have hibernated after the face-off that ensued from the factionalism. Terror watch reports suggest that while in hibernation, Ansaru embarked on a strategic recruitment exercise targeting NW’s most dominant non-ideological criminal groups – the bandits – through infiltration, training, tactical assimilation and arms supply. Apart from Ansaru, Shekau-led JAS through some commanders(like Adamu Bitri before he defected to ISWAP and eventually died) also established and maintained contact and relationship with leaders of some bandit groups. 

Last year, Nigeria’s terror network experienced heightened volatility due to the escalation of the conflagration between the two major terrorist organizations —the Shekau-led Jama’tu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati wal-Jihad (JAS) and Al-Barnawi-led Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP) — operating in the North-east and Lake-chad basin. This resulted in the death of Abubakar Shekau by suicide which sparked serious disarray within the network and rendered the JAS somewhat defenceless. 

Consequently, ISWAP issued an ultimatum to all JAS commanders and fighters to either defect to ISWAP and pledge allegiance to Al-Barnawi or vacate all former JAS territories which now fell under their control. Some commanders and fighters complied and defected while many others surrendered to the Nigerian Army with the aim of becoming beneficiaries of the Nigerian government’s amnesty program(Operation Safe Corridor). The third group of JAS commanders and fighters who neither defected nor surrendered to the Nigerian army were thought to have migrated to NW to forge alliances with bandit groups. 

By implication, the above-stated events suggest that while Ansaru continues to remain the closest to NW bandits, ISWAP and former JAS fighters might have also re-ignited links with bandit groups in the NW. While ISWAP might have taken over control of the vast network of bandit groups that were formerly affiliated to Shekau-led JAS due to the carpet-crossing of JAS commanders (some of whom are the keepers of the link between JAS and the bandit gangs in the North-West just as Adamu Bitri) to the ISWAP side, JAS fighters that refused to surrender to both ISWAP and the Nigerian Army might, however, have also migrated to NW to forge alliances with bandits and escape ISWAP’s wrath. 

Now, the changing dynamics, improved weaponry and renewed offensive tactics seen in recent attacks thought to be staged by bandits are testimonials to an improved alliance between Bandits and members of BH groups. These attacks carry BH signatures all over from attacks on public infrastructure (as in the case of the two train attacks) to attacks on military formations (e.g NDA and the Birnin Gwari Army Forward Operational Base) and the efficient use of IEDs for offensive have increased in frequency in NW states. The recent videotape that was released in the aftermath of the release of the Bank of Agriculture’s MD also signals this unholy alliance. 

At this pace, North-west Nigeria is on the verge of becoming a deadlier terror zone than the North-East ever was. This is because we are dealing with two groups with complementary terror/criminal expertise synergy which holds the potential for the establishment of the most sophisticated terror network Nigeria has ever seen. The bandits indubitably boast of an unmatched knowledge of the local terrain and geography of North-west’s forests and other ungoverned spaces while BH groups, be it Ansaru or ISWAP, boast of a very deadly extremist-ideological core with a sophisticated array of terror-based expertise and affiliation to global terror networks through Islamic State(IS) African subsidiaries(for ISWAP) and Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) (for Ansaru) that allows them access to global terror resources and funding.

The bandits also have numbers sourced from a rich population of child soldiers. Their numerical preponderance, nonideological-cum-uneducated nature and relatively young base makes them extremely vulnerable to indoctrination and a suitable source for terror manpower. Sadly, the use of child soldiers for terror activities is attributed to both ISWAP and Ansaru, but ISWAP has gone further to institutionalize child recruitment and indoctrination using international terror recruitment standards. Hence, ISWAP might leverage this rich child-soldier manpower source opportunity more effectively. 

As I write this piece, I must confess to experiencing the oscillation of an overwhelming shockwave of fear that has been travelling through the deepest core of my body since I discovered ISWAP’s new recruitment and indoctrination strategy through open-source terror watch networks. And here is why:

The largest bandit-manpower source is predominantly the forsaken, uncivilized and uneducated population of forest-based Fulani. Several testimonies from victims of kidnapping further affirm that the bandits are mostly young boys aged 14-18. They have been adjudged to be tremendous in terms of population and now BH groups (ISWAP, ANSARU, fmr JAS) have infiltrated the vast bandit network due to the government’s avoidable mismanagement of the entire situation which metamorphosed from the farmer-herder crisis. Unfortunately, the continued mismanagement of this crisis now holds the potential of further transfiguring into an implosive generation-long extremist insurgency.

ISWAP has instituted a new recruitment and indoctrination initiative. This initiative aimed at recruiting an army they term “The Empowerment Generation” focuses on training and indoctrinating children aged 8-16 as seen in a propaganda video released by the group. The implementation of this training and indoctrination exercise is done through the instrumentality of a well structured educational institution named “Khilafah Cadet School”. Cadets, otherwise called “Cubs of the Caliphate” are drilled in extremist Islamic education; tactical military, arms and infantry training; and Jihad and enemy execution techniques. 

This school boasts of having a well-structured curriculum consistent with global terror standards and a strict entry requirement as students have to pass entrance exams before getting admitted. The school is well-funded and resourced. The scariest aspect of the video is the scene that shows the cadets practising special force warfare tactics. In the scene, the cadets are shown entering a building in special forces style to extract enemies. The enemies used for this drill were Nigerian soldiers captured by ISWAP. After the extraction, the 3 soldiers were made to kneel and they were all shot in the head by three different child soldiers barely aged 15. The precision, the tact and the efficiency in execution are consistent with that which is usually seen in war movies. 

The “Cubs of the Caliphate” are a product of a long-term strategy envisioned by ISWAP to continue the ideologically-driven war for another generation, serving as a formidable and inexhaustible manpower source for the terrorist army. As I watched that video, I reflected with fear on the young bandit population in the NW and the possibility that most of them might end up getting admitted into such kinds of indoctrination programs as a result of the strategic alliance between bandits and these terror groups. I could not help but weep at this gruesome picture of the future, asking what if Boko-Haram groups succeed in assimilating a major section of the young bandit population operating in this part of the country? 
The catastrophe that would result from this scenario is indescribable. Nigeria has managed to mismanage every security situation that it had ever faced. But we cannot afford to continue mismanaging this crisis for the future looks gruesome unless a de-escalation happens. But how do we tame this menace? 

The only security situations in Nigeria that the government had been able to manage to an extent are those that benefitted from robust dialogue and amnesty programs. And the closest we got to destroying insurgency through the use of brute force was when mercenaries were hired to fight Boko-Haram in 2015. But just like dialogue, the implementation of completely annihilating military offensives is as well another efficient option in countering terrorism and insurgency. But in Nigeria’s context, this method carries the smell of impossibility all over it. In fact, brute force clearly constitutes precedential failures in the fight against terror and insurgency in Nigeria.

The highest level of brute force(since the completely annihilating one has so far been simply unachievable) we have been able to exert could not tame Niger-Delta Militancy, it hasn’t been able to crush Boko-Haram for almost two decades now. And it is yet again proving inefficient in the fight against bandit-terrorists even before the infiltration of the very tactical and well-resourced Boko-Haram groups. 

We are left with two options; the Gumi option of dialogue and strategic engagement with stakeholders in the affairs of these bandits with the aim of securing a ceasefire and ultimately, surrendering of arms in exchange for amnesty and redress(before they completely get assimilated into the ideological war BH groups are fighting) or the Elrufai solution of engaging the services of mercenaries to perform a sweeping operation targeting all forests and hamlets harbouring these bandit-terrorists and their BH affiliates since the implementation of such method by our military seems impossible. 

Principally, the fundamental responsibility of every government is to safeguard the lives and properties of its citizens. Nigeria’s government under President Buhari has failed in that responsibility but we can no longer tolerate this failure for it holds the potential of consuming us and the country at large. Nigerians must rise up and demand an end to this barbarism NOW! 

Abdulhaleem Ishaq Ringim is a political/public affairs analyst. He writes from Zaria and can be reached through haleemabdul1999@gmail.com.

By Abdulsalam Alkali

Almajiranci is an informal educational system that is predominantly practised in Northern Nigeria. Almajirai are teenagers ages 4-17 who are sent away from their dwelling by their respective parents to seek Islamic knowledge, a source for sustenance and clothe themselves by begging for alms from people.

The Almajiri system has produced prime leading Islamic intellectuals in Northern Nigeria. Still, along the cord, the system has been altered with the rise in population, making it a system that makes children of tender age susceptible to danger.

It’s awful how Almajirai are abandoned to cater for themselves even though parents should be responsible for their children’s needs and provide them with education. Sadly, parents choose to neglect their responsibility towards their children and abandon them at the early phase of their lives. This is unfair and should be tackled; else, it will erode our societal values.

Numerous discussions and symposia have been held on the predicaments of the Almajirai and how to reform the system. But it is all an exercise in futility because there has been practically no action to stem the tide.

The government, civil society organisations and traditional leaders have a role to play. First, the government should enact legislation prohibiting parents from taking their children to the Almajiri school. In addition, the government should make primary and secondary school free and compulsory so that poor and vulnerable parents can send their children to both formal and informal schools for our society’s good.

Abdulsalam Alkali writes in Maiduguri, Borno State, via abdulsalamyusufalkali71@gmail.com.

By Sulaiman Badamasi (Mahir)

Social engineering (also known as human hacking) is the art of psychological manipulation of human beings to trick them into making privacy blunders to giving out delicate confidential information. The perpetrator (social engineer) digs background information of the potential victim to identify key necessary weak points and possibly gain the victim’s trust to use the information against them. Before the emergence of social media, it took social engineers a long, frustrating time to acquire as much information as possible about their targets.

However, the dawn of technology saw the 21^st century as the swiftest ever in terms of information circulation. The world has appeared at a height where a single tweet (for example) reaches a billion people in seconds. Thus, information runs fast, businesses nurture, distances diminish, causes foster, coverage enlarges, relationships are created/strengthened, thus making us and our lifestyles more publicized and learned about.

Despite its tremendous impact on making life more relaxed, social media compels us to unconsciously reveal vital personal information about ourselves, families, friends, etc., which could be easily used against us. In other words, what you need to know about people to trigger any havoc on them and their close ones is almost certainly on social media. People’s personal info has become so plentiful that they have a copy of their voter card, national ID card, and driver’s license posted on social media.

Moreover, people reveal their workplaces, positions, type and colour of their vehicles, wives and children (by number, names & faces), schools where their children attend (including class, level, course, location), the colour of their children’s uniforms, favourite food, the interior of their rooms, the kind of electronic devices they own/use, current location, movement plans and means of transportation (motorcycle, car, truck, train, plane) with picture evidence. You know when they sleep/wake, to mention a few.

The recent #KanuTrain attack is a decent scenario of how our personal information can be used against us. The intruders appeared to have readily gathered background details of some of the passengers, including their sitting positions on the train and their social profiles. In a video interview, the killer of Hanifa, the primary school pupil who was allegedly abducted and murdered by her teacher, explained how he took his time, gathered adequate information, and built up his fraternity before executing the unfortunate assault.

The fact is, no ill group/individual strategizes and carries out a successful attack devoid of having sufficient information, which of course, we give generously. Without data, plans go wrong, and they (perpetrators) hardly take these risks nowadays. Repeated evidence has struck our screens on how ill-doers use human informants, drones, and social media accounts to gather information about target victims before carrying out attacks on them, including military bases.

Ethical hackers do not just attack or penetrate internet environments or webservers. Instead, they do footprinting and reconnaissance to know the strengths and identify weaknesses in the system they plan to attack and then exploit them.

Have you ever wondered how your profile pictures can be grilled to reveal more information about you? We often change profile pictures on several occasions. Let us assume you have been on Facebook for ten years and have changed your profile picture ten times (once each year). These ten naturally varying images can be processed using deep learning and natural language processing to understand, for instance, the rate at which you are ageing, how happy/angry/suspicious/innocent you are looking, how healthy or otherwise, to mention a few.

A 30-minute walkthrough of the pictures you have uploaded in the last five years reveals what calibre of people you do mingle with, the state of structure your house is in, the number of countries, states, or towns you have visited, conferences you have attended, how beautiful your wife looks like, which of your siblings/parents/children you love the most, and more. Do you know that a data scientist who knows where you have been going for one year or less can use that data to predict where you will possibly be going next?

All these can be used to perpetrate evils against you/us, thus, informing a possible abductor/kidnapper whether you look like someone who/whose family can afford a ransom payment. Knowing a lot about your family tells them of the softer target amongst them. Of course, they would find it easier to abduct that daughter of yours whose school name, picture, name, age, the colour of the uniform, time to and from school you have made available than you.

Unless we have underlying valid reasons to do so, making our private information and our families public could make them more vulnerable to unnecessary access. Life now looks as if the more your sensitive information is made private, the less you are prone to some unfortunate events.

So, beware!

Sulaiman Badamasi (Mahir) can be reached via sulaimanmahir@gmail.com.

By Usama Abdullahi

Two things are so sure in life. The first is we are all going to die someday. The second is a person is most likely to suffer for being honest at all times. However, in this recent case of Sheikh Nuru Khalid, we can attest to the second fact.

You don’t expect anything good from people who hate hearing and being told the truth. It doesn’t surprise me to see Sheikh Nuru Khalid being unfairly relieved of his role as the Chief Imam of the Apo Legislative Mosque by the Mosque Committee under the chairmanship of Senator Dan Sadau.

For that’s what you get when you decide to stick with the truth. My fear is not him being fired for speaking against the cruelty of this present government but how politicians manipulate our religious leaders. They use them as baits to help tame or silence the veracious clerics who speak truth to power. This has been the norm for many years now. What makes it look appalling is that those easily manipulated clerics reduce themselves to mere sycophants.

Aside from getting lured into misquoting the Holy Books and preaching only what best suits the hearing of their political godfathers, they try to persuade their followers to believe all the rubbishes they preach. So, to be sincere, I wasn’t surprised when I learnt of the dismissal of the “Digital Imam” over his true statement about the government. It’s not like what the media paints. His sermons weren’t anti-government. 

Yes, his Friday sermon was just a simple reminder and awareness of how to call our hardened and irresponsible government to task. Sheikh Nuru Khalid doesn’t speak for himself alone. He represents the voice of the oppressed masses who brought this government to power through their votes. Only the patriotic and religious ones will fully understand what he preaches. They are the only ones who will realise that this government doesn’t care about the plight of the poor citizens who voted them to power.

It’s so disappointing that he got sacked because of his intestinal fortitude and truthfulness. I saw this coming, considering how fierce he’s lately been in criticising this government for their failure to secure the lives of the people they had sworn to defend. I see his calculated dismissal as more of a  politically advised plan to compel him to complete silence so that they will continue to suppress us by being neglectful regarding safeguarding our vulnerable lives without him chastising them for their ugly sins.

What frustrates me more is knowing that his dismissal letter was full of grammatical inaccuracies and negotiated by people who are said to be genuine Muslims. Yet, their actions betray their faith and academic standings. Islam neither promotes nor tolerates such despicable acts. It’s the religion of peace. Hence, there’s no room for what they did in Islam.

We should be happy that he still breathes because we have seen how some of his likes were slain for saying the same thing. In case you forget, truth-telling cost Sheikh Jaafar and Albany Zaria their noble lives. So, it’s little wonder that the Digital Imam was just sacked. We’ll never get it better by hiding under the pretence of religion to promote and cover up the faults and interests of those usually self-seeking politicians. Accordingly, it’s unfair to deny our clerics the podium to speak truth to power simply because of political gains. 

Usama Abdullahi wrote from Abuja, Nigeria. He can be reached via usamagayyi@gmail.com

By Fatima Usman

During their compulsory National Youths Service Corps (NYSC) scheme, many people don’t usually ask themselves, “What next after the service year”? Many people know what they want and what to do, but they don’t have any concrete idea of what they want or even what they want to do.

But now, the service year is over. For many, the reality will face them right in the face, NO MORE ALLAWEE (33,000 stipends). As small as this money is, it will become gold to many who could not find a job after some months of completing service.

The scheme’s purpose is primarily to inculcate in Nigerian youths the spirit of selfless service to the community and emphasize the spirit of oneness and brotherhood of all Nigerians, irrespective of cultural or social background. This is because the history of our country since independence has indicated the need for unity amongst all our people and demonstrated the fact that no cultural or geographical entity can exist in isolation.

The Joy of every student is to see that they graduate and serve their father’s land without minding the stress they passed through while in the school, but then what next after the one year of NYSC? This is the question many people ask themselves while still on camp, but when you know the answer to it, you are good to go, and vice versa.

After the service year, you are faced with the next phase of life. Some very lucky ones will get a well-paying job or will further their education, while others may have to start all over again after the 33k allowance must have stopped coming.

Back in the day, when a person graduated from tertiary institutions, there was a high tendency that such a person would get a well-paying job without any stress of going to look for a job, but now the case is different. Many students are scared of even leaving the NYSC because they know that there’s no job.

Millions of graduates with outstanding results out there are looking for white-collar jobs, but the country doesn’t have jobs to give everybody. Thus, you should try as much as possible to acquire one or two skills that can be of help after your service year. Don’t wait to finish NYSC before you start thinking of what to do next. Before you even go into NYSC, ask yourself these questions:

What is life after NYSC?

What am I going to do after NYSC?

How am I going to start with life?

When you know the answers to these questions, you are 50% on the track. Today’s world requires us to do more than going to school or graduate with good grades.

Don’t be carried away by the title “graduate”; get yourself something doing. If you have a skill already, develop it; start from small. Yes, it’s pretty stressful, but you will reach that goal with determination and hard work.

Many people who are now successful today passed through a lot, but today they are doing fine. So if those people can do it, there’s no excuse for you.

Fatima Usman is a 300 level student of mass communication at IBB University, Lapai. She can be reached via usmanfatima499@gmail.com.