Arewa

By Aminah M. Abubakar 

The crackdown on women begging for alms or food in Arewa communities has raised questions and fears of human rights violations. Attacks on innocent women, based on fear-mongering claims of a group of women trained as cultists to carry out nefarious missions, are becoming increasingly alarming.

Several audio clips circulating on social media alleged that about 100 women were trained by a secret society group to infiltrate Arewa communities, posing as beggars or impoverished individuals needing financial assistance. It is claimed that if you allow them into your home and offer any assistance, whether money or food, you will instantly collapse or die.

How was this baseless and manipulative statement conceived?

Who is responsible for perpetuating the fear-mongering that endangers women’s lives in Northern Nigeria?

Why do many, including the educated class, believe such a narrative paves the way for the blatant abuse of vulnerable women?

Why haven’t religious scholars and traditional leaders investigated to uncover the truth behind this notorious fear-mongering, which poses a threat to innocent women struggling with poverty and hunger?

At times of every new power shift in Nigeria, there has been different tribulation and tension. Hence, rumourmongers have a role to play in creating chaos and instability.

Islam condemns rumour-mongering. It is well known that Islam enjoins its followers to act cautiously and verify any story or news that comes to them according to Shari’ah because Allah says in the noble Qur’an:

“Believers, when a dishonest  person brings you a piece of news, carefully ascertain its truth, lest you should hurt a people in ignorance and afterwards you become regretful for what you have done.” ~ Surah Al-Hujuraat 49:6.

While I may be mistaken, my instincts compel me to question the authenticity of the initial stories that struck fear into the hearts of people, creating tension and distrust towards women seeking financial assistance at a time when most families struggle to afford decent food.

I wonder if the fabricated fear-mongering was aimed at silencing people and preventing them from voicing their grievances toward government policies that exacerbated the existing economic breakdown caused by the previous administration. It’s always difficult to discern the extent to which those in power will go to manipulate and conceal their shortcomings.

Just two days ago, I witnessed a disturbing video on Facebook where two destitute women were mercilessly beaten by a group of teenage boys for no apparent reason other than their quest for food or to visit another community. Similar incidents can be found on WhatsApp groups, where women have been stripped almost naked and beaten by groups of youths over flimsy allegations, such as causing the collapse of someone merely through conversation. Treating vulnerable women is unjust and unwarranted, as any form of human rights violation is profoundly concerning and illegal.

Those who pushed the fabricated narrative that 100 or 1000 occultic women were capable of killing people by simply greeting or begging have now created the violent “monsters” that are now taking advantage of the situation to attack or even kill poor women – widows & mothers whose means of survival depend only on going out to beg for food or financial support.

We are all aware that the harsh economic situation created by the new government has increased the number of people seeking food and financial assistance. This group includes mentally ill and poverty-stricken citizens. Millions of Nigerian families have been enduring significant hardships due to the new government’s policies and are unsurprised.

It has always been the usual norm in Nigeria: the politicians and elites live in luxury, indulging in the finest pleasures – lavishly eating the best whenever they desire, living in luxurious homes they build, while the ordinary citizens who entrusted politicians with their votes suffer from poverty and the consequences of self-serving decisions made by the elites.

I hope this brief piece sheds light on the fabricated fear-mongering prevailing in Arewa communities, emphasising the gravity of human rights violations. It also underscores how impoverished and hungry women have been made scapegoats by a nonsensical false alarm intended to divert attention from the harsh economic realities that adversely affect people’s health and well-being.

Aminah M. Abubakar sent the article via mbubakar.minah@gmail.com. She can also be contacted via her X handle (formally known as Twitter): @MinahMbubakar11.

By Muhammad Sani Usman

Somebody was shocked that the revenue of Zenith Bank as of 2022, which is N945 billion, is greater than the internally generated revenue of northern states combined. Literally, Zenith Bank alone is more financially buoyant than northern Nigeria. And he was lamenting about the poor inclusion of northerners in such investments in their states.

Kaduna is taking the lead in investments in the North, but her (Kaduna) IGR is not up to one hundred billion Naira; it is half of that. Even the profit after tax of Zenith is bigger than the economic cities of Kano and Kaduna. These two states are not up to N100 billion altogether.

I told him, “Investing in banking is highly industrious. But our northern billionaires have no business with anything “Knowledge-based economy”. What they know is to hoard dollars, buy shares, and run over a baby company/factory, as in acquisition.

Prof Murtala Sagagi of the Economics Department of Bayero University, Kano, told us, “While conducting a survey about the percentage of non-inclusion of Kano people to most of the fine-investments in food and beverages, logistics, and Banking Industries, one manager of one famous company told him, “When they try to recruit graduates for trainee positions; they expect them to be meticulous in training before they think of absorbing them fully as staff.

But you’ll employ someone as an assistant quality control officer or sales personnel, but his/her performance index will shock you unless you change your mindset seriously. Industries require expertise to run; you can’t employ someone you can’t fire or are lazy.”

There was another testimony last week. I was discussing with an auditor of one of the best companies in Northern Nigeria. The guy told me they had recruited a new customer care representative, and he was deployed to that branch, but all the time, the guy was not working; even the invoice that he was supposed to do, he couldn’t.

Unknown to the guy, a letter was sent from the headquarter for monitoring and evaluation of his performance by the senior staff of that organisation. My guy is among the people to vouch for him, i.e., whether he would be retained as permanent staff.

However, this is not limited to banking or the mentioned industries; this is about the lackadaisical attitude of our politicians about not creating factors that will favour industrialisation in the North. The A-K-K gas project is among the hope we have for the future of the North. Let’s wait and see!

Muhammad Sani Usman an industrial chemist who advocates good governance and Sustainable development goals. He writes from Zaria via Muhdusman1999@gmail.com.

By Abubakar Suleiman

If you are conversant with the Arewa cyberspace, it will be surprising if you are unaware of the cliché, “Please, hide my identity.” It has gained so much currency (or notoriety) on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. And it is mainly followed up with bad news, especially related to relationships and marriages – cases of incest, infidelity, marriage battery, heartbreaks and others.

People usually send their relationship or marital problems to popular social media pages or handles managed by self-styled marriage counsellors. These counsellors or opinion shapers then subject the problems to the public for solutions while hiding the identity of the sender of these problems.

Surprisingly, these people who found themselves in a toxic relationship or abusive marriage have parents or guardians who married them off to their spouses. Still, they many times seem to bypass them for advice or counselling.

They also rarely approach certified marriage counsellors or therapists for solutions. Therefore, the problem is thrown to the public, and with too many disjointed ideas or solutions, sieving the best solution to the peculiar problem becomes complicated.

Not so fast; how are we even sure these stories or problems are true? What if someone sits in the comfort of their room or basement and concocts these unfounded narratives to make the stories trend? Many people don’t check the logical validity or fallacy of these stories.

Social media gave everyone a platform to air or voice out their views. The problem with the advent of these platforms is not the access to information but rather the processing of information. Many people find it uneasy to check the authenticity of stories or the validity of statistics.

The blowback or unintended consequence of this ‘hide my identity’ trend is that it has made many young people consume many negative stories, thereby fuelling suspicion between both genders. Moreover, stories of successful and happy marriages have been in short supply. Therefore, some young people no longer see marriage as a worthwhile endeavour wherein you invest your patience, energy and prayers.

On the one hand, love movies from Nollywood, Bollywood or Kannywood made young people see marriage or relationship as a perfect bed of roses or land of Eldorado instead of the cocktail of happiness, sadness, compromises and sacrifices that it is.

On the other hand, ‘hide my identity’ stories have increasingly made partners or lovers dine with each other with a very long spoon. Each sees the other as a veiled threat or a potentially dangerous person. These trends have created overnight feminists and misogynists.

The above backdrop does not downplay the effects of abusive or toxic marriages or relationships that appropriate authorities could reasonably address – parents, guardians, certified counsellors or the court. However, young people must be guided on what marriage entails, its prospects and its challenges. They need a direction or triangulation amidst a plethora of negative information and scary marital or relationship stories.

They should also be fed with successful marital examples or stories and the possibility of a happy marriage. And this makes parenting a more difficult task in our contemporary world.

The last time I checked around, we still had more good homes than broken ones. But, unfortunately, the familiar stories of abusive marriages or relationships are just the case of bad news flying more than the good ones.

Check out families around you, your pairs, neighbours, colleagues at the workplace or married classmates. You’ll understand that except for the usual day-to-day challenges in marriage, they are relatively not bad as it is being portrayed. However, we can canvass for improvements, coping mechanisms or detailed exit plans for worst scenarios. Therefore, ‘hide my identity’ stories are many times fabricated stories or isolated cases than the whole.

Abubakar Suleiman wrote from Kaduna and can be contacted via abusuleiman06@gmail.com.

By Muhammadu Sabiu

A Northern Nigerian digital skills learning centre, Engausa Global Tech Hub, will admit students and commence its September classes next week Monday.

This is contained in a short announcement posted on its official Facebook page Sunday.

“New Engausa Global Tech Hub classes will begin on Monday 12th November 2022 Insha Allah,” the post reads.

The classes, largely delivered in the Hausa language, focus on teaching skills like video editing, blogging, graphics design, web design and Android dev., social media literacy, and digital marketing.

Others are installations (CCTV, solar panels, electric fencing, and Intercom) and smartphone repair skills.

The training costs twenty-five thousand naira (N25,000) and lasts for a period of five weeks.

In order to register, interested applicants are advised to click www.EngausaHub.com or call any their phone numbers.

By Ahmad Deedat Zakari

A Nigerian lady, Halima Ali Shuwa, has been recognised by the reputable University of Manchester and awarded with Student of the Year Award.

Ruth Macarthy, a doctoral researcher at Salford University, announced this on LinkedIn on Wednesday. 

“Sitting in Whitworth Hall today, at the prestigious University of Manchester, was one of my proudest moments as a Nigerian. It was the moment Halima Ali Shuwa was called up [to] the podium to receive the “Student of the Year” award from the President of the university.” Ms Macarthy wrote.

While presenting the award, the President of the university stated that Halima was chosen because of her dedication and selfless commitment to research excellence.

The President added that Halima dedicated a huge amount of time to researching the immune response in the blood of hospitalised COVID-19 patients – and predicting which patients will further develop long-term covid complications.

She was the first to publish on the associated long-term changes with fatigue and breathlessness in patients who would subsequently develop long covid.

Halima, a recipient of the prestigious Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) scholarship, hails from Shuwa town of Madagali Local Government Area of Adamawa State. She was born, brought up and schooled in Maiduguri, Borno State.

Halima studied Bachelor of Medical Laboratory Science at the University of Maiduguri, MSc Immunology at Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, and then got a PTDF scholarship to the University of Manchester, where she did her PhD in Immunology. 

Halima has published seven papers in high-impact journals during her studies and has four more papers under review. 

Towards the end of her PhD, Halima managed to secure multiple job offers from the University of Manchester and several pharmaceutical companies. Finally, she accepted the job offer from GSK (GlaxoSmithKline), where she’ll continue her cutting-edge research to discover an alternative cancer treatment targeting B cells in Immuno-Oncology settings.

By Tijjani Muhammad Musa

Our primary problems in Northern Nigeria (Arewa) as far as the media landscape is concerned are a lack of support and patronage for our own media outlets, shallow-mindedness of our Arewa celebrities and self-centeredness of our social media influencers. Let me briefly explain these.

When a media outlet is floated, whether physically or online, many of our intelligentsia would choose to ignore it and refuse to contribute to its development, survival or sustenance. Some even find it offensive to see their writings featured on such platforms. So how can you imagine them making any effort towards reaching more people via such channels with their brilliant ideas?

This lack of encouragement by the intellectual elites of the Arewa region eventually quashes the zeal of the owners of the medium. So they end up laying their medium to rest, and nobody bothers to ask them why.

Next, our Arewa celebrities are primarily uneducated, digitally unsophisticated or advanced in thinking enough to realize the importance of their newfound status.

Instead of leveraging their popularity to drive home the concerns and aspirations of their people, their region and religion across the country or even globally, most of them just let the star status get into their heads. Thus, they end up as an ill wind that blows nobody good.

Finally, our Social Media influencers, most of them except for a minute few, are more or less acting like local champions, without any focus on using their influence to change the mindset of their followers.

These so-called influencers are constantly striving to create and upload content that only keeps the fire of attention from their followers burning, thereby getting them more and more Likes, comments, and emotes.

Very few among the influencers bother to target being a voice of the masses they represent. In contrast, their voices could be heard echoing the primary issues that concern their embattled region on a national and global scale so that something is done about it.

And they also would refuse to echo and make a trend of burning matters that affect their people, region and religion. A typical example is the acquisition of PVC for the 2023 elections. Have you seen any Arewa Social Media influencers making it a topic of importance? Almost none!

That attitude is unlike that of their counterparts across the divide and globe, who would each lend their support and credence to any trending topic of local, state, regional, national and global concern. Create and add their voices to any other SMI’s effort, so it assumes a loudness nobody can ignore.

Ours would instead choose to write or talk about what will keep their fans entertained, no matter how mundane that is.

Tijjani Muhammad Musa, alias Poetic Tee, is the Chairman of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) Kano Chapter. He can be reached via mmtijjani@gmail.com.

By Uzair Adam Imam 

Cyberbullying against women is one of the lingering issues women face across social media spaces over time.

The menacing issue, however, has now escalated to become a global problem affecting women emotionally and chasing them away from online spaces.

The Daily Reality interviewed some women about the hazard. They recounted that the kind of messages they received from men were disgusting. 

The women decried that most of these disgusting messages often demand nude pictures or videos and propose love, irrespective of one’s marital status. 

This issue is most common on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, among other social media platforms. 

Zahra Madaki, one of the women interviewed, complained that social media is never an exciting place for women to go as cyberbullying exacerbates daily.

She stated, “Social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram are very annoying nowadays. That’s why I decided to stop using them.

“Everyone is after love affairs. So, anyone will keep proposing for love as they see you online. It’s so annoying,” Madaki complained. 

On request for sex, pornography

According to Aisha Jibril, not her real name, women are victims of all naughty things on social media platforms today. 

She complained that some men request sex, and nude pictures or videos, as you begin to chat with them. The development, she said, distresses many women.

She stated, “there was a time someone on Facebook asked me if I ever watched pornography. I was shocked because, at that time, I didn’t know the meaning of the word. 

“I had to ask my elder sister what the meaning of the word was. Before I could respond to his earlier message, this man sent me a porn movie. 

“I shivered with fear that my phone nearly fell on the floor. I was terrified. I had never before that time had such an experience. I hardly slept that night,” Aisha said. 

Another source, Khadijat Muhammad Bah, also decried the menace, blaming men for being irresponsible in their relations with girls.

Bah said, “we ladies are seeing and reading all kinds of rubbish. Some men out there send nude pictures and always request nude photos.

“Some would insult and curse because you refuse to give them your contact. Some of them just want sex. 

“One day, I posted my picture on my story, and one guy said, ‘wow, those lips are for me’. And that was one reason that always stopped me from putting my picture on my story,” she lamented. 

According to a source who preferred not to be named, her sister once met someone on Facebook. Their relationship started as a friendship before the guy finally asked for sex, which later led to their breakup.

She said, “the guy kept pleading with her to come to his apartment. But she refused. We were surprised at how shameless this guy was.”

Someone keeps on disturbing me – Housewife

A housewife who spoke to The Daily Reality complained that someone kept disturbing her on social media.

The woman said she told the guy to stop chatting with her because she was married, but the guy turned a blind eye. 

She said, “This man started adding me to some irresponsible dating groups on WhatsApp. But, I thank God that through the help of my brother, we solved the issue and blocked the son of bitch afterwards.”

Another housewife complained that some men that chatted her up used to send her some porn photos, but she deleted them instantly.

She added, “these guys chat and comment on our posts anyhow. They tend to forget about our marital status. They forget that our spouses and relatives also see our online activity and would be sad to see such naughty and irresponsible comments under our posts. 

Cyberbullying: An unfortunate reality in dear need of mitigation

Dr Rukayya Aliyu, a senior lecturer at Bayero University, Kano, urged the technology firms that build these sites to act and make online spaces safe for women. 

Aliyu described the menace of cyberbullying as an “unfortunate incidence” in dire need of mitigation.

She stated, “Cyberbullying is an unfortunate incidence, but unfortunately, it is challenging to overcome because it happens on social media platforms, which are free and uncensored. 

“However, it can be managed to some extent with measures from the sites themselves, which can only be minimal.  The reality is regulation by the government might not be effective considering the lapses in regulating traditional media, to which the government has better control and access. 

Women ought to be responsible and mindful of their online activity 

Dr Rukayya also urged women to be mindful of what they post on social media platforms to avoid insults and indecent comments. 

She said, “on my take as a woman, it’s displeasing, but then fellow women should understand that most abuses come as reactions to our post and engagement with the platforms. Therefore, we should be responsible in our dealings and always be conscious that whatever goes on on any internet-connected platform is no longer personal. People have a right to their opinions. 

“If we don’t want to be abused or bullied, we ought to be responsible and mindful of our digital or cyber identities. However, we shouldn’t rule out that no matter how ‘decent’ or responsible our social engagements are, there are people who will still castigate, blackmail, abuse and bully us. 

“So before engaging, we ought to be conscious of the implications and be ready to surmount them through confidence and steadfastness in what we do,” Dr Rukayya added.

By Yahuza Abdulkadir

A source culled from Wikipedia says that TikTok, known in China as Douyin, is a video-focused social networking service owned by Chinese company ByteDance Ltd. It hosts a variety of short-form user videos, from genres like pranks, stunts, tricks, jokes, dance, and entertainment with durations from 15 seconds to three minutes. TikTok is an international version of Douyin, released initially in the Chinese market in September 2016.

However, I was not a user of TikTok until a few weeks back when a friend gave me the hint to start using the app to promote my art by creating short videos of spoken word poetry. And then, I came to learn young people use the platform to showcase their talents in comedy, singing, dancing and other forms of entertainment through creating short videos and sharing them across a community of users.

However, after launching my account, I felt it was boring for people like me to find comfort there. The only person I was able to follow was Alhan Islam because I am interested in what she does. After a few days, I could no longer log in to the app again.

As of January 2022, out of the 4.8 billion social media users globally, TikTok has 1 billion active users, earning a spot in the six most famous social media platforms. Cloudfare’s 2021 Year In Review puts TikTok as the most famous website in 2021, surpassing even Google. Tiktok net worth is $50 billion in 2020 and now nearly $75 billion in 2022. Despite the nature of content promoted on the platform, one may want to know that so many individuals earn huge amounts of money through their videos’ engagements.

According to Forbes Magazine, a 17-year-old American social media personality and dancer, Charli D’Amelio, the most followed video-creator on the platform, earned $17.5 million in 2021, making her the highest-paid TikToker of the year.

I read many articles on Facebook and other blogs where people lament the platform to be a weapon for killing the young women in this generation. They said most of the videos created by users promote indecency and immorality. But recently, I found out that it’s not only in Nigeria that such content is being promoted; it’s almost everywhere globally. This made some countries take legal action on the matter. Countries like Pakistan has imposed and lifted four bans on TikTok, tagging the platform to be responsible for promoting immoral, obscene and vulgar content.

Bangladesh government also involved itself in the war against pornography to save children and adults from moral and social degradation by blocking the platform’s internet access. TikTok was also temporarily banned in Indonesia in the year 2018. The Indonesian government said the platform has a lot of harmful content to children.

In 2020, the platform was also banned by the Indian government to protect the data and privacy of its citizens from threats that have to do with national security, and they tagged the platform responsible for promoting inappropriate content. As a result, the platform lost 167 million users in the country. What would surprise you is that even China has banned the use of this platform.

This shows that the Nigerian government can also ban TikTok if it wants to. Do you think it’s not possible? I think it’s possible if we look at the “Twitter ban saga.” Unless the government thinks the use of this platform has no consequence on their side. If that’s the case, we need to go back to our homes and solve the problem. As people would say, “Charity begins at home.”

We shall all know that social media platforms are there to serve a purpose, and if it turns out that we tend to lose our good morals and forget where we came from by joining the trends and “feel among syndrome” – showing the world how indecent we are, then we have deceived nobody but us. So I think good characters matters the most.

Furthermore, it’s disheartening to see the young women in the Arewa community selling their body parts on cyberspace, not only on TikTok. This occurs almost on every social media platform. It’s a massive disappointment to our cultures and values. Whatever one might engage in, they should know “the internet never forgets.”

Yahuza Abdulkadir wrote from yahuzaabdulkadir50@gmail.com.

By Umar Sani Yakubu

My parents or father, to be specific, see someone in me. Who is that person? I was not privileged to meet someone because he was called to glory years before I was born. This is a story I traced for myself, and I will share it with you. But wait, you must not tell anyone because it is my little secret. A secret nobody tells me, and until I discovered it for myself, I doubted if someone was even ready to tell me.

Well, my father might have kept it so dear to himself. Unknown to my father, if there is anyone’s gesture I understand so quickly, it is his. Thus, I know this among other gestures of his, and I will tell you how.

When I was first registered for my elementary school in 2001/2002, my father smartly registered me as ‘Umar Yakubu’, omitting his name ‘Sani’ as my surname. A development I fought even with my then little age. It happened that anytime my class teacher called me Umar Yakubu in the attendance register, I would keep mute. To the best of my belief, I had reasons to do that because I have repeatedly warned that that wasn’t my name. And correct it as Umar Sani.

Consequently, my struggle for self-defence grew to the level that the class teacher and the headteacher couldn’t tolerate any longer. Finally, the school invited my father, and they settled the case. I was eventually renamed “Umar Sani”.

However, growing up around stage 4 (primary 5), I began to think and reason with my dad’s earlier decision. It was clear that his love for the name Yakubu knew no bounds. And unfortunately, till then, I was his only son among my sisters. For that, I decided to put a smile on his face by adding Yakubu to my name, which I did, thereby making it Umar Sani Yakubu. I wrote that on all my notebooks. Although not the way he wanted it, I knew he was happy this time.

Now the secret: that man wanted to name me Yakubu. He has never told anyone, not even my mother, his wife. I think this is a secret only he and I share because I snatched it from his looks and maybe action just like the story above. But why did he name me Umar? I will tell you that too.

The combination above of ‘Umar Yakubu’ is two in one. Combination of a father’s name and his son’s. Umar is the last child of Yakubu. A younger brother who was so dear to my dad. After his death on April 22, 1995, followed by my birth on July 17, 1996, my father felt the joy of his life. It was the day he held on his hands his first child, who seemed to come with the confusion of his life.

This is because he wholeheartedly wanted to bring his father and his brother back to life. But, unfortunately, I am a twin to none. I am just me and one. So he had to choose between the two who to immortalise first. A confusing choice to make, he decided on Umar to console his mother for the immediate loss. Do you now see the reason for his combination of Umar and Yakubu? He wanted me to be two in one.

Enough for that story.

Now the question is: Am I even brave enough to bear the name Yakubu?

According to stories I gathered, Yakubu Danladi, as the name implies, was indeed the return of many bearers of the name before him, the likes of Prophet Yakub (may God be pleased with him) and in our recent past Yakubun Bauchi, Late Emir of Bauchi. He was brave, hardworking and kind-hearted.

However, from a decent background, Yakubu was born a farmer who turned out to be the best in the history of our locality through conversing his local experience with the civilised way he later acquired. Until his death, his love for agriculture and farming spoke for itself on the size of his farmland.

Taking about his service as a civil servant, he had gone around the country even before Bauchi was made a state. He wandered from Kano to Maiguduri to Mubi (where he gave birth to his first child Sani (my father)). He later went for an agricultural-related course in India and then back to Nigeria to Azare in Bauchi State.

He was once transferred to his local government (Dass) as Sole Administrator in 1987, a development that later led to his political participation. He contested and was voted for the office of local government chairman in December 1987 and till August 1989.

Obviously, Mr Chairman is my grandfather I never met. Still, as G.K. Chesterton once mentioned, “People who make history know nothing about history. You can see that in the sort of history they make.” I doubt my father knows many people that have offered me seats and told me about Mr Chairman. They tell me how it was sitting around him, being in his caravan of leadership, and even pointing to me things that make them remember him, which are their children they named after him.

According to them, he was a reformer who came and provided their basic needs at the right time. Mr Chairman constructed the first town bypass road, built feeder roads for villages, built all the village head houses, built numerous village dispensaries,  awarded to the youth the first football trophy, “Barde Laya Memorial Cup”. To date, he remains the only local government chairman to have a sitting president, Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, to commission his project in Dass.

Sadly, as I write this, it is thirty years since he left the family, the community and the world, which occurred on January 30, 1992, and headed to heaven, in sha Allah.

Tellingly, I never had the privilege to meet him, but I used to have that mist-eye that he would have been a caring grandfather. May his soul continue to rest in peace, Amin Ya Rabbil’alamin.

Finally, father, I am not named after you. In fact, I now have a nephew who is so lucky to be. But, I believe, like you, I am strong. I am my kind of Umar. And be as it is, we feel your company in us. Your spirit is strong, and it follows everywhere we go. Also, I want to tell you that your family, even with eventual here and there, is still strong, and together we will go beyond a reasonable doubt to make sure that your generation lives till the end of time. Thus, the family miss you. So, continue to sleep well, father.

Sani writes from Dass, Bauchi and can be reached via saniumaryakubu@gmail.com.

By Hammed Adam

Dividing Nigeria into Oduduwa Republic, Biafra Republic, Arewa Republic, and possibly the Niger Delta Republic has been done already with the current level of hatred and mistrust between the citizens. It is just that it has yet to be officially announced.

They’re not yet officially recognised as sovereign states because there might be a physical war before any country break out from another, which is yet to be witnessed. Moreover, everyone knows it’s constitutionally treasonous and felonious to rebel against any government.

Another reason is that most of the Yorubas and Igbos who want secession aren’t fully ready (militarily wise) to weigh a war against Nigeria, a recognised country, knowing they will be resisted firmly using the might of the Nigerian armed forces.

Igbos, in particular, delay their move to go into war against Nigeria because they have first-hand experience. They also know that with the unity between Hausa and Yorubas, they won’t succeed, and the result can be disastrous, just as it was back in 1967-1970.

Now that Yorubas are fed-up, they have risen against Nigeria to actualise the Oduduwa Republic. They do so by provoking the Northerners into war by evicting Hausa-Fulanis from their regions. The Igbos will back the Yorubas to become allies as they both pursue the same interests.

Mazi Nnamdi Kanu is on air with his compatriots, trying to see how they can galvanise the Yorubas, the Christians in the Middlebelt, and other Christians of the minority tribes in the North. These include the Atyabs of Kaduna, Jukuns and Mumuye of Taraba and Benue State, Berom of Jos Plateau, Tivs of Benue State, Bachamas of Adamawa State and others. He wants them to pay allegiance to Biafra and rise against the Hausa-Fulani-Muslims in the North.

The more Yorubas and the aforementioned ethnic groups heed the calls of Nnamdi Kanu, that would be the beginning of the fight between Nigerian soldiers of Northern extractions vs Nigerian soldiers of Southern extractions mixed up with Christians vs Muslims. That could be the end of one Nigeria unless those defending the unity of Nigeria becomes victorious.

If Yorubas still prefer Nigeria over Oduduwa and Biafra, the Igbos agitating for secession are like barking dogs in chains. Half of the Igbos and most people from the South are already against the creation of Biafra. But with Yorubas by their side and the disjointed Northerners, be it on the battleground or polling units, none in Nigeria can be successful against them and is nothing but toothless.

Who knows Nnamdi Kanu his first arrest in 2015/2016? But he cunningly crawled into the limelight with his verbosity. Today, with the help of the Nigerian Govt, he’s not only controlling Igbos but mightily influencing Ijaws, Igalas, Kallabaris, Tivs and the almighty Yorubas here and abroad. They all listen to him better than they do, even to their Churche’s Pastors, Monarch, Alfas, State Governors, etc. He’s much more as an Emperor than a just leader, which is perilous as he’s becoming more powerful by the day.

This is only possible when a country is ruled by someone like today Muhammadu Buhari, or a country ruled by cabals as the amiable wife of Buhari hinted as early as 2016. Still, even some patriotic Nigerians failed to listen to her and resort to calling her petty names and politicising it in defence of APC and Buhari.

For God sake, if not because of craziness and stubbornness, what makes any Nigerian think they can love or care for Buhari better than how his only wife, Āisha, can do?

If I tell you I’m not scared of the disasters the demarcation of Nigeria into four or at least two parts would bring upon innocent people, I’m lying to you. But, still, God knows, if Nigeria can be divided into many parts without bloodshed, I have no problem with that. So, likewise, if the creation of Biafra and Oduduwa would be resisted without wasting the lives of innocent people, I have no problem too.

May God, in His infinite mercy, look into this matter and choose for us which is the best. Āmin Thumma Āmin.

Hammed Adam sent this article via hammedadam2@gmail.com.