By Muhammad Sabiu

The Magistrate Court in Bauchi has granted bail to the prominent Islamic scholar, Sheikh Idris Abdul’aziz Dutsen Tanshi.
 
The court ruled on Tuesday on the request for bail requested by the lawyers of the cleric after he was arraigned.
 
On Monday, the police brought Sheikh Idris Dutsen Tanshi before the High Magistrate Court, where they charged him with incitement.
 
Dutsen Tanshi, whose lawyers told the court that the crime the cleric is accused of committing will not prevent him from being granted bail, denied all the allegations against him.
 
The judge then set today Tuesday as the day he would rule on their request and he did.
 
Recall that a religious organisation called Fityanul Islam filed a complaint against him, accusing him of uttering bad words against the Prophet Muhammad.

By Uzair Adam Imam

The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has called on the President-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to reward Governor Nasir El-Rufa’i of Kaduna State with a juicy post for his enormous contribution towards the attainment of Tinubu’s success in the 2023 presidential elections.

MURIC made this passionate plea on behalf of El-Rufa’i in a statement by its Executive Director, Professor Ishaq Akintola, on Monday.

Akintola stated that MURIC deemed it germane to remind Tinubu of the need to pay debts owed and appreciate those who made his current status a fait accompli. 

According to him, this is important in order to start sowing the seed of success for the incoming administration as well as to secure a strong foothold for 2027.

He further stated that El-Rufa’i should reap the rewards for standing between those in the corridor of power and their inglorious choices. 

The statement read, “As the days inch closer to the inauguration of the new administration of Bola Ahmed Tinubu as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Commander-in-Chief of the Nigerian Armed Forces, the Nigerian political spectrum has been inundated with power struggle intrigues and post allocation schemes. 

“This is not new to us since we know that failure is an orphan, but winners are always surrounded by all and sundry.

“However, we deem it germane to remind the President-Elect of the need to pay debts owed and appreciate those who made his current status a fait accompli. This is important in order to start sowing the seed of success for the incoming administration as well as to secure a strong foothold for 2027.

“Gratitude is a major characteristic of a good Muslim. Allah says in the Glorious Qur’an, “If you are grateful, I will increase my favours on you…” (Qur’an 14:7). If the President-Elect shows appreciation to the ‘Noble Dozen’ from the North, he will enjoy more of their solidarity.

“It is noteworthy that the ‘Noble Dozen’ (i.e. the twelve governors who insisted that power must shift to the South) was led by Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State. There is no Nigerian who is unaware of the unique support and unequalled solidarity given by this Northern group to the President-Elect. El-Rufai, in particular, left his palatial office in Kaduna to spend days in Abuja.

“His contribution to our victory, the victory of the Muslim-Muslim ticket, is unquantifiable. He became the mouthpiece of the Muslim-Muslim ticket camp, moving from one media house to another. We must not allow all these to go in vain.

“In particular, we must remember the risk El-Rufai took as he stood between those in the corridor of power and their inglorious choices. We must not forget his bold confrontation of the central bank governor over the latter’s misguided, ill-fated and accursed naira discolouring.  

“It will beat all imaginations and expectations, particularly among Muslims if El-Rufai is not considered for a juicy post in the cabinet of Bola Ahmed Tinubu. We have played national politics the way it should be played. But now is the time to be focused. Choice positions should not be allowed to go to political charlatans, fairweather friends, hypocrites and parasites. El-Rufai is a different cup of tea. He is tested and trusted. He is the icon of Northern dignity.

“To the President-Elect, we have this to say: guard very jealously the good relationship and the alliance between the North and the South West. It is a union steeped in historicity. Compensate the North for its dignity and integrity without being unfair to the rest of the country. 

“We bequeath you the burden of Nigeria. Your road will be rough, no doubt about that, but with prayers and your well-known administrative acumen and political sagacity, Almighty Allah will clear the bumps and roadblocks for you,” the statement added.

By Sani Mu’azu

Just like me, Saint Obi’s formative years in creativity as an actor started from NTA Jos in the late 1980s. He was then working with NIPOST as a staff in Jos, Plateau State, but even then, he had studied theatre arts at the University of Jos and his heart was always on the silver screen. And he sees me as an elder brother and a friend.

After a few stints in Jos, Obinna took the plunge and moved to Lagos where, with the advent of the home video phenomenon, he snowballed into national recorning and became Saint Obi – ‘the Saint Obi’. Jos became proud of him and his achievements as an A-list actor as his filmography credits continued to grow.

We had discussed working with Saint Obi on a national unity project I conceived in which he was to play the role of an Igbo engineer that speaks Hausa fluently. It was also an action package and Saint Obi loved action. The idea of delivering lines in Hausa excited him saying the North would see him in a different light. But the project was not to be. It was that project that kept us talking for a very long time until he disappeared into oblivion.

Saint Obi was a Jos boy and I was not surprised when I heard that he passed on quitely here in Jos. It was heartbreaking though to realise that he came back home but never got in touch with us, his hommies.

Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. We are definitely going to miss Saint Obi from the stage. The industry is going to miss him when it takes a retrospective look at the various movies he led and the various roles this great thespian played as an actor.

My sincere condolences to the industry, our colleagues in Jos but more specifically, to his immediate family for such a huge loss.

Sleep well brother. Sleep well.

By Ahmad Deedat Zakari

A man identified as Idris Aminu, has allegedly murdered his 75- years- old stepmother in the Okehi Local Government Area of Kogi State.

The incident happened in the afternoon of Monday while the deceased was having her siesta.

According to reports, Aminu clubbed the stepmother, Salamatu Aminu to death with a pestle after failed attempts to poison her.

The accused had accused the deceased of witchcraft and blamed her for his failures in life.

Confirming the incident, the Kogi State Police Public Relations Officer, William Ayah said the suspect has been arrested by the command and will be charged to court as soon as possible.

He further disclosed that the old woman was sleeping when her stepson killed her with a pestle.

By Aliyu Yakubu Yusuf

At the beginning of every league season in Europe, football pundits look at the strengths and weaknesses of every team and make predictions on what they think will be the outcome and the position of every team at the end of the season. These pundits predict the likely winners of the league, the top 4 places, the relegated teams, the top scorer, the best player, the best goalkeeper, the best young player, the dark horses and so on.

I have followed these predictions on nearly all the major British tabloids like BBC, Daily Mail, GiveMeSports, Telegraph, Guardian, Athletic, etc. I did not come across a single pundit that predicted Arsenal to finish in the top 3 in the EPL. Most pundits earmarked Arsenal for the sixth position below Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea, Tottenham and Manchester United. In fact, some pundits went as far as predicting Arsenal to finish in the seventh spot below Newcastle United.

Looking at Arsenal’s title challenge from this context, it can be argued that Arsenal have punched well above their weight. By finishing second in the league, the Gunners have overachieved relative to everyone’s expectations at the beginning of the season. I have no doubt that most Arsenal fans who are now disgruntled would have indeed accepted the second position gleefully were it offered at the beginning of the season.

Arsenal’s squad is full of players in their mid or early twenties. Most of these players have never experienced a title race in their careers. The current disappointment may serve as a learning curve for Arsenal players. With Saka, Jesus, Odegaard, Martinelli, White, Ramsdale, Saliba, White, Smith-Rowe, and Gabriel approaching their primes, the future certainly looks bright in the red half of North London. A glass half full.

For the 36 weeks so far played in the EPL, Arsenal led the table for 29 weeks. In other words, the Gunners sat at the top of the table for more than 90% person of the matches played. And having led the EPL table for so long, it must be quite disheartening for the Gooners to lose the title in this disappointing fashion.

At a time, Arsenal appeared to be running away with the EPL trophy. However, most Arsenal fans will remember when their team seemed not to put a foot wrong when everything Mikel Arteta touched turned into gold. Thus, it must be heart-breaking to “bottle” everything when victory looks so tantalisingly close.

This season represents a golden opportunity for Arsenal to slap their 19-year wait for the EPL title. Considering their lofty standards, Manchester City were relatively poor for most of the season. Save for the last two months, Liverpool were having one of their worst seasons in recent memory. Chelsea were having a season from hell. Manchester United were in their usual shambles, though the coming of Erik Ten Hag has brought some semblance of calm. Spurs are just…well, ‘spursy’.

Looking at the whole picture, most of the EPL big boys were largely underwhelming for most of the season. It is difficult to imagine Liverpool and Chelsea having another miserable campaign next season for the Gunners to capitalise on. Therefore, this might just be a good opportunity missed. As I said earlier, most of Arsenal’s crop of young players have performed tremendously this season. This may spell trouble for the Gooners in the near or distant future.

Arsenal have grown a reputation of selling their best players just when they appear to hit their peak. Players like Fabregas, Nasri, Van Persie, Adebayor, Hleb, Toure etc., were all forced to leave Arsenal to realise their dreams of winning the big trophies. Will the current Arsenal players resist the temptation if (or when) big boys come calling? The vultures come circling. And this may well be another Groundhog Day for Arsenal. A glass half empty.

Aliyu wrote from Kano. He can be reached via aliyuyy@gmail.com.

By Uzair Adam Imam

The President-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has proposed a 20 to 50 years development plan to help address the menacing underdevelopment issue in Nigeria.

Bisi Akande, Pioneer National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), disclosed this on Sunday in a public lecture in Ondo.

Akande, who is also a former governor of Osun State, lamented that the failure of successive governments to have a development plan for critical sectors of the economy is responsible for the country’s underdevelopment.

He stated, “We fail to plan and, yet, we are surprised that we fail in almost all sectors as we are all lapsing into generations of plan-less hypocrites.

“I can assure you that was not what we inherited. In this same country, we used to have five years capital development plans and seven years capital development plans. Now we only plan for the immediate next election.

“We thank God that this time around; Nigerians have elected a leader who has planned for a long time to be our President.

“Asiwaju Bola Tinubu is a well-known person to Baba Fasoranti, and he is also an inheritor of the Awoist legacy of planning and integrity.

“Therefore, it is right and necessary to expect a 20 or 50 years master plan for Nigeria from President Tinubu which would transform this blessed country into a great one,” Akande added.

By Uzair Adam Imam

There was jubilation at the Arewa Data Science Academy on Sunday as their team emerged 2nd place in the just concluded Cohere AI Hackathon, winning a prize of Eight Hundred Dollars + Cohere AI Credit.

One of the team leaders, Dr Shamsuddeen H. Muhammad, relayed the exciting news on his Facebook account on Sunday.

Dr Muhammad added that the Arewa Data Science Team had competed against different teams and demonstrated skills and creativity in machine learning.

He stated, “I am happy to share that the Arewa Data Science team has won the competition at the Cohere AI hackathon and received a prize of 800 dollars and Cohere AI credits!

“Our fellows competed against different teams worldwide and demonstrated their skills and creativity in Machine Learning. Congratulations to the team on this achievement!”

Muhammed further stated that Arewa Data Science Academy is a free training program for Arewa youth who want to learn data science and machine learning.

He added that the academy “provides monthly stipends (N10,000) and free internet data (20GB) to our fellows to help them in their learning activities. 

“If you are interested in joining us, visit our website at: https://arewadatascience.org,” he stated.

By Bilyaminu Gambo Kong-kol

Language is considered the principal method of human communication, consisting of words used in a structured and conventional way and conveyed by speech, writing, or gesture. It is a tool that establishes commonness between the sender and the receiver.

For the commonness to be established, the encoder must be well-grounded in the language he chooses to use and arrange his words systematically. He must also consider meanings such as denotative, connotative, reflected, and social, among others. 

The receiver must also do his part as interference is likely to occur from him, the environment, channel, or encoder.

However, language sometimes becomes a betrayer by betraying even the native speakers due to its rigid nature. The fact is that even if you are familiar with the rules, language may decide to disgrace you abruptly.

In this piece, Hausa, Fulfulde, and English languages will be used to explain my points.

In Hausa, it is a rule that most of the words that end with the letter “A” are feminine, and those ending with E, I, O, and U are masculine. But there are exceptions. For instance, words like kotu (court), gwamnati (government), and kwallo (ball) end with masculine vowels, but they are feminine. On one part, ruwa (water), zama (sitting), and kira (call) are masculine despite having feminine endings.

Hausa also demands that wherever possessives “Na” and “Ne” are used for masculine words, they should be substituted with “Ta” and “Ce” for feminines. For example, Jirgina ne (It is my plane), motata ce (It is my car).

Many Hausa speakers, including some of the natives in northwest Nigeria, are struggling to adhere to the rules. To get primary data on this, choose any state in Nigeria and listen to their radio stations or have physical interactions.

In Fulfulde, the law states that a word’s ending determines its demonstrative adjective. For instance, it is okay to say this horse, this room, or this pen in English, but the case is different in Fulfulde. Wamnde nde, sudu ndu, bindirgol ngol. To learn more, get a Fulani friend or wife.

This rule is giving headaches even to the LI in Yola, as it requires alertness and quickness of thought. It is normal to hear a typical Fulani man saying “Mi laari mo” instead of “Mi laari ngal” when he is referring to “I saw the hen”.

Another blunder is the introduction of the letter “V” in Fulfulde. In a standard Fulfulde setting, there is nothing like the consonant sound /v/. Hausa, too, does not have it. That is why some Hausa say bery good instead of very good. Just like the way some Hausa misplace V for B in English, some Fulfulde speakers misplace W for V in their first language. 

For example, “O vindi” instead of “O windi” (He wrote), “Mi vi” instead of “mi wi” (I said), “O va’i leggal” instead of “O wa’i leggal” (He/she climbed a tree).

One interesting thing about Fufulde is that, unlike Hausa and English languages, Fulfulde does not have pronouns that differentiate gender. Fulfulde’s pronoun “O” refers to he/she in English and Shi/ita in Hausa.  And Fulfulde’s pronoun “Ma” refers to Ka/Ki in Hausa. Maybe this was done to show our shyness and respect (Pulaaku). 

Another virus that is threatening Fulfulde is code-mixing and code-switching. Some Fulfulde speakers in Adamawa, Taraba, Gombe, and Yobe could not speak pure Fulfulde for an hour without borrowing from Hausa, English, Arabic, or their L2 words. This signifies a low level of grammar or lack of respect for Fulfulde language. It needs to be fought gallantly.

In English, rules of concord, tenses, syntax, and semantics are hectic for learners and L2 speakers. 

Concords like: “He says, I say, they say, he has, I have, they have, he does, I do, they do, he does not have, I do not have, and they do not have” are found to be confusing most especially by learners. Also, the sentences below, even though correct, may not convince learners as plural nouns could be seen nakedly. Shamsu, together with his wife, is coming to London or Maijama’a, along with Bilkisu, is coming to Cyprus. Think of “Neither Ghali nor the students are present” vs “Neither the students nor Ghali is present”. 

In tenses, the unjustified usage of the past in the present, the present in the past, or the distortion of the entire tenses is common. Moreso, the choice of words and sentence construction are influenced by speakers L1. You will see an English sentence given direct translation from Hausa, Fulani, Igbo, or Yoruba. Example: Haruna said it is for you and me.

In phonetics and phonology, words are pronounced mostly the way we hear others articulate them over time. Sometimes, Lll speakers localise the British accent. Consonant sounds like /θ/, /ð/, /ʃ/ /ʒ/, /ʈʃ/, /dʒ/, and ŋ/ are mispronounced in some words. Vowel sounds /ʌ/,  /ə/, /ɜ:/, /æ/ and the eight diphthongs play with the tongues of learners. Or should we say learns to play with them?

The topic is broad, but advisably, make sure you learn all the dos and don’ts of every language you want to communicate with people. This will pave the way for you to communicate effectively and earn your respect. By so doing, you minimise 70% to 90% of your chances of making mistakes. Don’t expect 100%; even the natives are still looking for that!

Nevertheless, always remember that language is not a friend. It may decide to disappoint you unexpectedly. I received mine on my last day as an undergraduate student at Bayero University, Kano. I was stuck fishing out whether the word “bind” is a regular or irregular verb. What is the past participle; binded, bounded, or bound? It had escaped my memory. I still don’t understand why English decided to misbehave on this special day of mine (04/05/2023).

Whatever the reason, I got a pitch that led to the writing of this article. Alhamdulillah! My appreciation to communication scholars, the Vice Chancellor of Federal University, Kashere, Professor Umaru A. Pate, and OPEC’s PR Coordinator, Dr Umar Jibrilu Gwandu, for drawing my attention immediately. I HAVE BOUND MY UNDERGRADUATE PROJECT!

Bilyaminu Gambo Kong-kol is a graduating student of the Mass Communication Department at Bayero University, Kano. He can be contacted via bilyaminugambokonkol20@gmail.com.

By Lawal Dahiru Mamman

Brain drain in Nigeria has lingered for some time now. In the medical profession, it is the most dominant issue occupying the mind of physicians and other health personnel. This may not be unconnected to the fact that human life is sacrosanct.

It goes without saying that the incessant brain drain of medical personnel in Nigeria will slow the attainment of Universal Health Coverage (UHC), that all people have access to the full range of quality health services, they need, when and where they need them, without financial hardship, in this part of the world.

Mainly, the mass exodus of doctors out of the country is caused by poor welfare of medical practitioners, lack of or insufficient working equipment, and poor working environment leading to the need for seeking a more sumptuous alternative – greener pasture as it is called.

This is purely a reflection of the theory which argued that “…… if wages rose above subsistence, the number of workers would increase ….” By implication, wherever our medical brains are sprinting to have a more luscious wage or salary for the profession. This would increase the country’s workforce while wearing out our dear nation.

Discussions have sprung over time on how to salvage the situation. Experts have suggested an increment in the welfare of doctors. In contrast, others have voted for ending medical tourism, especially public officeholders, to enable them to pay more attention to funding health facilities at home.

The most recent attempt to curb the mortal exodus of medical practitioners is to shackle them with the power of the law. This is through a bill sponsored by Ganiyu Johnson, a lawmaker from Lagos. The bill seeks to amend the Medical and Dental Practitioners Act 2004 to address the brain drain in the health sector. According to the lawmaker, it is only fair for medical doctors who enjoy taxpayer subsidies on their training to give back to society.

The legislation is titled, ‘A Bill for an Act to Amend the Medical and Dental Practitioners Act, Cap. M379, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004 to Mandate Any Nigeria Trained Medical or Dental Practitioner to Practice in Nigeria for a Minimum of Five Years Before being Granted a Full License by the Council to Make Quality Health Services Available to Nigeria; and for Related Matters.’

While the above is more restricted to medical and dental practitioners, the same lawmaker said on Friday, April 14, 2023, that he would be presenting a similar bill on nurses and pharmacists; when he intends to do that, time will tell.

With different medical associations reacting in negation by stating that the bill has the propensity to trample on the rights of doctors, the Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, said the bill is in order especially looking at the fees paid by the government to subsidise their training at universities, and the service which they render before travelling overseas. However, the minister said the service does not make up for the cost of training.

The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) has said the bill will not see the light of the day because it impedes the constitutional right to freedom of movement of doctors and violates international labour law, chiefly since the government has subsidised students from all other professions.

The Nigerian Medical Students Association (NiMSA) and the World Medical Association (WMA) have vehemently disapproved of it, too, because the bill, according to the latter, is “not only outlandish but totally retrogressive, unresearched and very ill-informed.”

The bill that intends to give health workers full license only after five years of working in Nigeria has passed the second reading in the House of Representatives. While this may have come out of benevolence, it may not be the piece we search for to solve the puzzle of brain drain in the health sector.

If the bill sees the light of day, after five years, doctors will still have the freedom to travel out, in my opinion even more experienced. So, could this be the solution we yawn for? Instead, a more lasting solution should involve doctors and government officials meeting halfway to save Nigeria’s crumbling health sector.

I want to firmly believe that Nigeria has what it takes to cultivate the soil for growing ‘greener pasture’ our medical professionals continue to voyage foreign lands for. But only leaders fuelled with altruism can summon the political will to do the needful.

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

By Hafsat Ja’afar

When are you getting hitched? Are you still single? When are we meeting our in-law or the Mr Right? You’re just choosy, aren’t you? So hurry up and get married! All these questions are uncalled for. Seriously people!

Do you need to go that extreme in asking people unanswerable questions who do not know the unseen?  It’s driven people nuts, and it needs to stop. Believe it or not, delayed marriage is a trendy issue not only within our society but also a universal issue due to the changes in our modern times.

Marriage delays in Northern Nigeria may result from the following;

Nature: Some are destined to stay single up to old age, while some are afflicted with natural diseases, which, no matter how much they want or try to get married, they cannot.

Tradition: Every family has its norms, values,  and principles. Some think their children must reach a certain age or level of education before marrying them off.  The issue of trousseau is a major setback too. These principles sometimes hurt the life of the people involved.

Illiteracy: This is another side of the coin, as some of the established youths consider marriage a burden, so they prefer private/commercial affairs. To them, getting married is like inviting old age while the “I’m Still Young” slogan still rings in their heads.

Expectation: This plays a significant role as the backbone of the marriage delay, as both parties expect luxury and goodies before marriage. The gents are looking for capacitated in-laws, and the ladies are waiting to marry into an influential family. However, this might take years for some to achieve.

Financial Instability: Due to unemployment, underemployment, inflation, cashless policy and other financial crises we all know about, some people run away from marriage.

Societal pressure on why and when you’re getting married has led many into failed and toxic marriages, which they later regret. Due to such pressure, someone I know married a man who gave his terms and conditions on splitting the bills 50-50.

As a classroom teacher, she was to handle school fees, medication, and other things. In the end, the marriage broke down because, according to the husband, she’s not complying and not making ends meet. She’s now a divorcee with two kids.

A friend-turned-sister married a man she doesn’t love, but he loves her dearly. For years their matrimony was nothing to write home about with four kids. She made his life and family a living hell to escape the marriage. She finally succeeded, taking her kids along with her and denying him custody of them.

Someone also told me it’s better to bear the title of Mrs in an abusive marriage than to stay single while time is against us. I was shocked beyond words for her to say this. She desperately needs a husband, someone to call her own.

Another one got married to a tricycle driver out of desperation, though he’s an NCE holder with no job, and she’s a graduate with a job. The interference of friends and relatives in their marital life led to serious malice between the two families. The couple used to spend weeks on no-speaking terms. All the love and sacrifices made for each other vanished, and the blame game became the order of the day. Sessions of reconciliation took place with no positive results. Finally, they went their separate ways and found peace and tranquillity, as they say.

The hustle and bustle of life is an essential element that paves the way for critical and creative thinking, mainly if a person engages him /herself in business, studying, working, and what have you. No matter how small it is, it fades away. Whatever is bothering an individual gives room for greater achievements in life.

As the saying goes, ‘it’s better to wait long than to marry wrong’. To avoid jumping into an erroneous affair, you must pray and choose wisely to avoid unforeseen circumstances.

Hafsat Ja’afar read BA (Ed) English at Bayero University, Kano. She wrote from Kano via jaafarhafsat@gmail.com.