By Muhammadu Sabiu

The Shawwal crescent of the Hijra year 1444 has been seen as confirmed by authorities.

This was stated in a short statement through the verified Facebook page of the Haramain Sharifain.

The statement reads, “The Crescent for the month of Shawwal 1444 was SEEN today in Tumair and Sudair subsequently tomorrow i.e Friday, 21st April 2023 is the day of Eid Al Fitr.”

The sighting of the crescent indicates the end of the Ramadan fast.

By Usama Abdullahi 

Our car got stuck in poky traffic when I was heading home after visiting our ailing mother at the National Hospital Abuja last night. The motion was really slow, and that instantly made me feel bored. Also, a young lady was sitting close to me, making annoying phone calls and eating popcorn. I looked at everybody in the car, and they were all engrossed in their smartphones except the driver, who remained focused while driving. So I brought out my phone, rushed to my gallery and played a Hollywood clip. That’s how I decided to kill my boredom.

While watching the clip on my phone, the young lady sitting next to me tapped me on the shoulder – indicating that she needed to talk to me. I felt her tapping but hesitated to turn until she tapped me again. 

This time I turned and stared at her curiously. She then asked if what I was watching was interesting. “Oh, yeah. It’s an interesting clip. Would you love to see it?” I asked. “Ah, no. I thought it was a movie”, she responded. After learning that what I was watching was just a clip and not a movie, she continued to make her phone calls. She’s holding an iPhone. Even though I didn’t see her face clearly, I could attest to her gorgeousness through the softness of her voice.

She was happily on the phone with her boyfriend when one of her broke guys called. Unluckily for him, she didn’t hang the call to attend to his call until she was done talking to the rich boyfriend. She didn’t even greet him when she finally picked up the broke guy’s call. Instead, she began to yell at him for not sending the money he had promised her the other day. I keenly listened to them till the very end. Mind you; I wasn’t eavesdropping because she put the phone on speaker. So, I did hear every single bit of their heated phone conversations.

I was disgusted by what she said to the broke guy. I pitifully imagined myself in his shoes. Although I’m hopeful that I will never be entangled in such a type of unavailing relationship, I felt and still feel for the poor guy.

This encounter has taught me a bitter lesson: how transactional relationships have become these days. Today, only a handful of women love their men unconditionally. Instead, most of them love their men because of their monetary status. I’m not saying that money doesn’t play a significant role in relationships. Of course, it does, but it’s saddening how some women have reduced relationships to lucrative businesses where they earn big money without even investing a dime.

And it’s equally saddening that some men, too, only entertain sexual relationships. This is why we are fast losing our modesty as a society. Any relationship sorely built on material gain is doomed to fail. Loyalty and patience are the most important things that usually keep a relationship going. Money cannot possibly keep your relationship afloat, but loyalty and patience can.

Usama Abdullahi writes from Abuja and can be reached via usamagayyi@gmail.com.

By Uzair Adam Imam

The Federal Government of Nigeria has described the recently concluded 2023 general elections as the most authentic ever held in Nigeria since independence.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, disclosed this yesterday while fielding questions from journalists after the FEC meeting.

He stated that despite efforts by the opposition parties to delegitimize the election, it was the most transparent, freest and authentic ever held in Nigeria.

Muhammed disclosed this as one of the reasons President Muhammadu Buhari refused to interfere with the Adamawa State poll debacle.

He added that the issue was strictly the responsibility of the Independent National Electoral Commission to sort out the matter

According to the Minister, it is not in Buhari’s character to micromanage the government’s institutions.

Mohammed said: “I don’t think that this government has ever intervened in the way the Independent National Electoral Commission conducts its elections.

“So, there’s no need for us to intervene. It was an entirely INEC matter, and INEC handled it.

“The chairman of INEC is in charge of all employees in INEC, and he’s handling it. So, what do you want the government to do?”

By Muhammadu Sabiu 
 
Nigerians studying in Sudan have written the Nigerian government to evacuate all its citizens trapped there, especially in the capital city of Khartoum where the military and paramilitary are fighting.
 
This is coming after some days since the fight had started, which left hundreds either killed or injured.
 
Reports have indicated that thousands of people are trapped in the city of Khartoum with no access to basic needs like food and medicine.
 
The National Association of Nigerian Students in Sudan made this request in a letter to the federal government.
 
The letter reads, “We write this to Nigerian Government in respect to the current and ongoing conflict that erupts between the Sudan military and paramilitary forces in these past days; particularly in Khartoum, the capital city where constant gunfire, explosions and airstrike attacks dominate its vicinity and environs (where a score of Nigerian Students study).
 
“2. The Nigerian Students have been stranded in fears with no access to basic needs equipment and have been facing dangerous threats. We hereby write soliciting and yearning for the Nigerian Government’s intercession to rescue and send for an immediate evacuation of the Nigerian students that are stuck in the center of the ongoing war.
 
“3. We strongly hope that our call for rescue to our dear nation Nigeria will be responded to with immediate effect.
 
 

By Uzair Adam Imam

The National Defence College (NDC) said Nigeria’s insecurity is not inevitable if only magic technologies like artificial intelligence are to be used in the nation.

The NDC commandant, Rear Adm. Murtala Bashir, stated this on Tuesday in Abuja, adding that the military needs to be ahead of the violent non-state actors to address the security challenges ravaging the country.

Over a decade, insecurity has been one of the major issues facing Nigeria and has claimed the lives of thousands of innocent people, leading to the displacement of several others in the country.

The activities of bandits have badly affected the economic growth of the nation as farmers and businessmen fear the atrocious attack by the bandits who either kidnap or slaughter any misfortune individual they encounter.

However, the NDC Commandant identified measures he believed could have been used to defeat terrorists and terrorism in the country.

He said, “Technologies like artificial intelligence and others are the much-needed game changers that will enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of the military’s responses to the challenges facing Nigeria.

“If we’re to also avoid the experiences of the past, where Nigeria has to beg foreigners to prosecute legitimate internal security challenges against militancy, terrorism and insurgency, then we need to reappraise our research and development efforts in technology acquisition and innovation.

“We need to also revamp our military industrial complex, and these efforts must be of national outlook and driven by research and development,” he said.

By Yakubu Nasiru Khalid

Journalists play a crucial role in the ruin of wrongdoings and corruption by reporting the news to the public through various media, research, interview sources, and writing accurate and balanced stories. They also hold those in power accountable by investigating and exposing wrongdoing and corruption. Journalists can simply be described as the voice of the voiceless. 

Moreover, Kano State is the second most populous state in Nigeria, with 44 local governments, and most local governments are outside of the Kano metro. As a result, the voice of the people living outside the metro is not heard. As a result of the lack of journalists that conduct rigorous investigations and research public problems, these rural areas remain neglected.

As gubernatorial elections and State Assembly were conducted in Nigeria on 18 March 2023, many polling units were declared inconclusive due to poor security operations, a snatch of ballot papers and arsons etc. This led to declaring some polling units as inconclusive.

Supplementary elections were held on 15 April 2023 in local governments like Tudun/Wada, Garko, and others. Unfortunately, a large number of thugs were brought into the respective polling units, and those that were legally and legitimately responsible for re-electing were denied and threatened by the thugs. But unfortunately, it is hard to get even a single journalist who eye-witnessed how the election was conducted. Most of these journalists only analysed reports based on their sentiments and opinions. 

In conclusion, journalists can positively impact rural areas by reporting objectively and accurately on public problems without pushing a partisan agenda. However, journalists must avoid promoting divisive rhetoric that pits rural communities against urban areas or different political factions. By investigating local government officials and other influential individuals, journalists can help ensure they act in the community’s best interests. However, this must be done responsibly and fairly without sensationalism or fear-mongering.

By Muhammadu Sabiu 
 
FrieslandCampina, a multinational dairy producer of the famous Three Crowns Milk and many others, has come under fire over the wrong translation of a billboard advertisement from English to Hausa.
 
Many Hausa-speaking social media users, particularly on Facebook, have taken it to their handles to criticise the company for the unprofessional translation of the advertisement.
 
Several of them attributed the error to Campina’s unwillingness to hire professional Hausa translators, adding that it might have been a work of a machine translation.

Attaching pictures to his post about the advertisement, a Facebooker named Aliyu M. Ahmad wrote: “Have you seen the work of ‘Google Translate’?
 
“This is done as if we don’t have Hausa brand designers.
 
“Please, somebody should translate it into standard Hausa.”
 
Another one, Ashir, posted, “Three Crown[s], you’ve raped the Hausa language.”
 
The Daily Reality has gone through social media pages belonging to the company but has not seen any responses to the criticism yet. They were not reachable for a reaction either.

In the past, many Hausa social media users complained about similarly terrible translations seen on billboards adverting one or another product in northern Nigeria.

Others called on the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON) to intervene. However, The Daily Reality has not seen such an intervention from the council as during this report.
 
 

By Muhammad Muhammad Khalil

Marriages built on love, affection and mercy are expected to last forever. But, unfortunately, whilst some marriages crash in infancy, others spanning for decades end up in divorce, too. The psychological trauma children of those failed marriages experience due to their parent’s separation is deep and enormous, negatively affecting their physical and mental health.

In most cases, the love lost between ex-couples shifts to their children. Both the mother and father show unconditional love and care for them, for love of one’s progeny is an inborn disposition in humans and animals.

Despite this, there are pockets of male parents in our society who decline to provide sustenance for their children once the split occurs. They, sadly, leave their ex-wives and their families with the burden of fending for their seeds. Instead, the wives’ families, stacked with their backbreaking responsibilities, bid their daughters to take the matter to court.

It is profoundly depressing how our Sharia courts are flooded with such cases (as mentioned above). I have seen multiple men go to jail for failure to comply with court orders, namely, to give their ex-wives the measly amount designated for the sustenance and upkeep of their children.

From what I have learnt thus far, some men defaulted not because they could not afford it but rather due to their fall-out with their ex-wives, the children’s mothers. The innocent kids usually take a back seat thanks to the resentment the father harbours against the mother. To treat their ex-wives harshly, they deprive their children of their necessities. One wonders: what benefit do such men draw from putting their kids’ lives in misery and danger?

The situation of some divorcees is both worrisome and pathetic. Many have become frequent court-goers because their kids’ fathers are reluctant to relieve the burden. Scores of children of failed marriages suffer significantly because the wrangling between their parents barely stops. The kids’ welfare stays truncated as a result.

My plea to such men is to fear Allah (SWT). And remember that the children they’re endowed with are a trust for which they’ll account. Their children have rights and responsibilities upon them.

As the prophetic saying goes: “All of you are guardians and are responsible for your charges; a man is a guardian of his family and is responsible for his charge.”

Muhammad Muhammad Khalil wrote this via muhdmuhdkhalil@gmail.com.

By Amir Abdulazeez

I became familiar with politics before the age of ten. One contributing factor was family members who contested for elective positions during Nigeria’s botched 3rd Republic in the early 1990s. I was close to people contesting positions as low as councillorship and as high as president. Whenever they were having discussions, there was one name that came up frequently, and that name was Malam Aminu Kano. At that time, his death was not even ten years old.

I knew little about this frequently discussed man then, but I grew up striving to understand more about him. I noticed that politicians from all affiliations adore him, pray for him and then treat him like a prophet. Whenever he is mentioned, people get filled with nostalgia. There is virtually no politician in Kano and, by extension, the greater part of Northern Nigeria who doesn’t want to be associated with the Aminu Kano brand.

For over thirty years since I first heard his story, I have struggled to understand more about him.  The deeper I went, the more I realized how special he was. From 2002, when I became much keen on observing and studying Nigerian politics, up to date, I have been very much convinced that the majority of the set of people we call politicians today are mere jokers without any vision compared to the likes of Malam Aminu Kano. Only a very few of them have tried to replicate the kind of discipline and honesty he was known for. During their era, the likes of Aminu Kano were in politics for a reason which was never self-centred.

Although he was known mainly as a politician, emancipator, reformer and activist, Malam was also a great author, orator, mentor and educationist. He is credited with establishing the modern Islamiyyah system we operate today. He is also believed to be one of the shapers of mass education practised today. He had touched society positively in many ways other than politics. That is why we have diverse institutions named after him; roads, schools, hospitals, airports, etc.

At the peak of his powers, Malam was literally the owner of Kano politics, yet he was humble, kind and generous even to his opponents. His honesty was uncommon even for his era. It was reported that one day, the then Kano State Governor, Muhammadu Abubakar Rimi, visited him with the gift of an electric generator. Malam enquired whether the governor had provided a generator for all the people of Kano State. That was how he rejected it, and Rimi had to leave with it. When Malam died, he didn’t leave any wealth for his family. His only house is now a research centre managed by Bayero University, Kano.

Today marks exactly 40 years since the demise of this rare human being. Although his ideology, ethics and teachings have remained significant, the people have never stopped mourning him. Every year, his death looks fresh; Malam will be mourned forever. He was a champion of progressive politics and justice, a defender of the oppressed and downtrodden, a true man of the people and a dedicated ad unique statesman. He is among the most outstanding Nigerians and a role model to millions of citizens and leaders. He will remain a reference point for a long time or forever. His history will be written and rewritten severally.

His death marked the end of ideological politics in Northern Nigeria. I see him as the greatest Kano citizen of all time, at least in the modern era. He has established a norm by living a life that any right-thinking person would aspire to lead. But, unfortunately, a society like Kano, which enjoyed a solid political foundation laid by the likes of Aminu Kano, is now governed by the kind of shameless and self-centred people we see today.

While some political leaders have worked hard and tirelessly to sustain the Aminu Kano legacy, many others have been anti-people, playing the politics of self-interest at the expense of society. The bitter part is that even political crooks and criminals disguising themselves as leaders are claiming to be identifying with the teachings of Aminu Kano.

Today, we have so many pretenders who claim to be disciples of the late sage, and only people with historical knowledge can unearth their treachery. It is funny that some people even wear his kind of attire, bragging about being like him, while in practice, they are corrupt, morally bankrupt and don’t adhere to any of his teachings.

Unfortunately, many who lived with him did not inherit his modesty, honesty and simplicity. Many of the influential people who remember him today only do so hypocritically. They were never sincere about promoting his virtues. People who claim to have him as their role model are stupendously rich beyond rationality while maintaining a questionable character. If he were alive, he would disown most of these pretenders.

Malam Aminu Kano was not wealthy; he didn’t hold many government positions. Malam didn’t force people into building a political empire, and he wasn’t greedy; his name has been written in gold, and nothing can erase it for the rest of history. The corrupt leaders of today will die to have his kind of name, but they can’t exercise any of his virtues. Instead, they are shamelessly hell-bent on garnering wealth, wealth and more wealth as if there is no life after death.

All my life, I have aspired to become myself and carve a niche from my own view of life. I had understood very early in life that every human being is unique in his own right, and there is no rigid template that everyone must follow to become great. Many great men have inspired me, but I still enjoy being myself. However, for every rule, there is an exception; from what I’ve gathered about Malam Aminu Kano, he is one person I can give up everything to be exactly like him.

Twitter: @AmirAbdulazeez 

By Salisu Yusuf

As against the traditional definition of grammar, English grammar is a mixture of arbitrary and non-arbitrary, logical and illogical rules that are fused to form a language that was hitherto made up of some feuding tribal groups (Angles, Jutes and Saxons). It was around the 14th century, when the Renaissance started, that many linguistic and literary forms and areas were borrowed from Latin, Greek, Sanskrit, French, Spanish, etc, to swiftly form a language that would be used to conquer the world.

English grammar is full of arbitrary and illogicalities that are used as rules governing language use.

The inconsistency of English grammar is vivid in tense formations. For example, the three broad English tenses are further subclassed into 12. Each one delineates a form of the verb that allows you to express a specific time. But the English language has bizarrely many different ways of forming future references. While, for example, “he has…” and “he had…” express two incongruous tenses, the following 5 sentences express one thing, one idea and one tense:

1. The man will take off in 2 minutes.

2. The man will be taking off in 2 minutes.

3. The man is going to take off in 2 minutes.

4. The man is taking off in 2 minutes.

5. The man takes off in 2 minutes.

Has your language such bizarre ways of expressing the same idea from different tenses fused in one tense?

While the auxiliary verbs such as have, has, had, etc attract past form of a verb, the past modal auxiliaries such as could, would, should and might ironically attract the present forms of a verb:

 He had arrived before you came.

 He could arrive before you.

What an incongruity!

There’s no grammatical environment where the rules of agreements are flouted as in the use of idiomatic expressions. For example, the rule of specification in the use of definite and indefinite articles is sometimes dropped in favour of the arbitrary. For instance, nouns and adjectives take articles depending on the environment. But many idiomatic expressions do not leave rooms for articles:

 He is second to last.

 He is second to the last.

 Moreover, idioms such as “it is high time..” and “it is time..” bizarrely take past forms of a verb whenever they are used though they express the present context:

 It is high time we spent the night there.

 It is time he was jailed.

 Sometimes, two similar idioms can be at variance with a slight change in an article. For example, the following sentences express two opposite meanings:

 1. Musa had been the shadow on Abdu’s shoulders during their undergraduate days.

 2. Musa is a shadow of his former self.

While the first means that Musa was so intelligent that he was Abdu’s rival at the university, the second one expresses that Musa is no longer as formidable as he was.

English grammar becomes arbitrary under the notional concord. Notional Concord refers to the agreement of verbs with their subjects on the basis of meaning rather than grammatical form. For example, each of the following quantifiers takes a different rule when it’s used: while “a number of..” takes a plural verb, “the number of..” arbitrarily takes a singular verb: 

 A number of students are missing.

 The number of students is missing.

Similarly, in the use of a “catenative verb”(denoting a verb that governs a series of verbs in a sentence), two or more verbs can appear in different forms. Another can follow a verb in past form in continuous or even base form:

 I saw her complain.

 I saw her complaining.

 I saw her complained.

 What a grammatical anomaly!

Conditional tenses clearly expose the incongruity of English grammar. For example, the first conditional tense looks more futuristic than present in their expressions, yet the “if ..” clause uses habitual tense(if you come..), and third person singular marker (if he comes..). But why should a future reference be used with elements of “s” inflexion exhibiting presentness?

The second conditional tense(which expresses unrealistic situations) daringly expresses the grammatical incongruity: “If you, we, he, she, they were..” is used in all the categories of pronouns and nouns. Here, classifications such as first, second and third-person singular and plural are immaterial! 

Under subject/verb concord, he, she, it, Musa, Binta is used in expressing habitual tense aspects using “s” or “es” inflection but I is not used in this pattern. He/she is used with “has” but I is used with “have”. He, she, it is used with “is” but I is used with “am”. You(second person plural), we, they are used with “are” yet “you”(second person singular) is also used with “are”. But you, we, they, he, she, it is used with “might have..”. Why not he, she, it ” might has..”? English grammar is so funny and complex! 

In plural/singular formations, the rule is sometimes arbitrary. For example, boy, girl, friend form their plural with an “s” inflection. Yet, ox(oxen), child (children), etc, are oddly different.

Why, then, is English so complex in its grammar, phonetics and phonology?

First, English is the child of partible paternity (many fathers)as Jute, Norman, Angle, and Saxon have all contributed their semen in the bearing and formation of what would later become English.

Secondly, English is the most subjugated language, with huge borrowing from Danish, Scandinavia, Latin, Greek, German, French, Arabic, Hindi, etc. No language enjoys huge borrowing as English does.

 Even the so-called 8 English Parts of Speech belonged to the Greek, not English grammar. This is why there are lots of incongruous rules. This is why “boy” is a noun but “beautiful” is not a noun but an adjective. Yet “beautiful” has all the qualifications of a noun. A table with a flat top and 4 legs is not called an adjective, but beautiful, an abstract quality is called an adjective.  This is why you have rules such as “he, she is..” but not “I is..” but “am”. These parts of speech are adopted from Greek grammar.

 The above and many more reasons are what make the English language have the hardest spelling system, pretty difficult pronunciation, a high number of sounds and sound shifts, etc.

The logic is that he is he, she is she, but I is not I, you is not you, but I am.. and you are… While she HAS the book, I ought also HAS the book. But it says I have… While we are we, they are they, but why you is not you, they say you are you not you is you.

 This grammar is illogical!

 Salisu Yusuf wrote from Katsina via salisuyusuf111@gmail.com.