Arewa

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.

By Musa Kalim Gambo

January 15 marks 56 years since the gruesome murder of Prime Minister Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa and Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto and Premier of Northern Nigeria. To borrow a few words from Shakespeare, both were like Colossus under whose giant feet the North strode.

The description of that Saturday’s night events still haunts many of us here in the North. Though we sincerely believe that Allah must have predestined that these servants of His were not going to exceed that day on earth, and they would die from the bullets of Igbo-led soldiers. It is still a tragedy we will never forget.

On Tuesday, January 11, Daily Trust published an opinion piece written by my excellent friend Sa’adatu Aliyu titled “Igbos too deserve Nigeria’s presidency”. When I saw the title, at first, I thought it must have been written by an Igbo ethnic nationalist from South-Eastern Nigeria, for she is expressing an opinion that is utterly alien to Northern Nigeria’s political thought and discourse. One should expect this line of thinking to come from the Igbo because the Igbo elite has popularized this illusory notion of exclusion from Nigeria’s corridors of power, especially Aso Rock, as one of the major precursors for secessionist agitation in today’s Nigeria.

By the way, this is the ethnic group that produced Nigeria’s first civilian president, Nnamdi Azikiwe, in the 1960s. Then, again on the return of democracy in 1979, Chief Alex Ekwueme emerged as Nigeria’s Vice-President.

In 2019, Atiku Abubakar had Peter Obi, a former governor of an Igbo state, as a running-mate. Unfortunately, it was a wrong calculation, and we saw how it ended. One of Obi’s major sins that stained Atiku’s ticket is that as a governor in Anambra state, he reportedly came up with policies that frustrated Northern traders and artisans in his state. This sin is an expression of the general attitude towards the Northerner in the South-East region – where the Northerner is perceived with disdain and attacked in the event of any slight provocation.

Again we cannot forget Sardauna’s warning about the Igbo tendencies and quest for dominance in every little sphere of endeavour. This warning and the pain of Sardauna’s murder is still with many of us.

But it is important to understand that even without this fear of domination, the Igbo vote on its own is inconsequential in the making of a president in a democratic Nigeria. So even without January 15, which now resembles the Roman Ides of March, when power mongers assassinated Julius Caesar, the Igbo will not make it to the president.

However, suppose we have an Igbo man in the line of succession within the political equation. In that case, a natural tragedy as it happened to Umaru Musa Yar’adua may undeservedly promote an Igbo man to occupy the exalted seat of the president. And that will be a pure work of Providence that the North will pray for God to forbid.

Some people suspect that an average Northerner hates the Igbo man; that is a wrong assumption. No, the Northerner is comfortable doing business with the Igbo man, as can be seen by the presence of Igbo businesses in every village, town, and city in the North. However, in the political scene, the average Northerner is apprehensive about the Igbo man at the apex of political power. The Northerner does not want January 15 to repeat itself in terms of the elimination of our most revered political leaders.

In the end, I like to re-emphasize, as has been emphasized by many Northern political elites, we are in a democracy. An Igbo man is free to purchase a ticket on any political party’s platform to run for any political office, including the president. If he can generate the requisite number of votes to win the election, who will stand in his way?

Let it be known very well that the presidency of this country is not a baton in a relay race that would just be handed over to the next athlete standing. No, it is a tug of war with competing parties pulling against each other on opposing sides. So, no one should come here again with that sense of entitlement declaring that the Igbos deserve Nigeria’s presidency too. Instead, they should be advised to jump into the arena and fight for the seat with the full knowledge that the North’s deciding population will not clap for them. We study and honour history, its figures, and defining events in the North.

Now, on January 15, and every other day, let’s not forget to pray for Allah’s mercy and blessing upon the souls of Sirs Abubakar Tafawa Balewa and Ahmadu Bello, and all other departed heroes of ours who had the progress and development of our region and people at the centre of their hearts.

Gambo writes from Zaria, Kaduna State, via kalimatics@gmail.com

By Uzair Adam Imam and Muhammadu Sabiu

The Nigerian presidency has been criticised for failing to immediately offer its condolences to the families of the travellers from Sokoto State who were burnt to ashes by terrorists.

Reports have indicated that the bandits set a vehicle conveying no fewer than 42 passengers ablaze in Sokoto, northwestern part of the country.

What kept the presidency mute after the merciless killing surprised many people, who criticised the government for showing indifference to such a horrible incident.

The Daily Reality learnt that the merciless killing took place on Monday around 09:00 in the morning but was reported Tuesday due to some technical issues.

The security threat of this sort is one of the lingering issues that rock the northern region of the country and succeeded in turning it into a killing field. Scores of people are killed every day, and nothing tangible is seen from the people of authority.

An eyewitness confirmed the incident, saying: “The car which was transiting passengers from Sabon Birni was set ablaze at Gida Village, a few kilometres away.”

According to our source: “I was called when the incident was happening. My uncle, his wives and their four children were some of those that have been killed in the bus.”

Before the presidency mourned, the residents of Sokoto State have been voicing their complaints bitterly, saying that why should the president keep mute on such a brutal massacre of innocent travellers? According to them, this is a national tragedy that deserves national mourning.

Mu’azu Malami lamented that: “It is unfortunate and heartbreaking to have read what had happened to our brothers on Monday. This has indicated that there is a need for the government to do more to ensure the safety of its citizens. And I don’t buy the idea of banning vigilante groups in the state,” he added.

Before the presidency released its condolence statement, he lamented that: “Up to now, there has been no official condolence from the government.”

Chairman Arewa Media Forum, Comrade Abubakar Dahiru, in an interview with our reporter, lamented that: “Neither did the government mourn anyone nor did it take any action.

“In addition to that, the government has even banned the vigilante group in the state despite their tremendous contribution,” he added.

Abubakar Mande said that: “The incident is very sad, and the lives of people are no longer taken as important. As we are mourning this loss, another bad one will occur again. It goes on again and again as it is becoming normal.

“But the silence of the government not to comment about the issue comes to us with great shock,” Mande added.

Also, many social media users from Northern Nigerian aired their grievances over the delay by the presidential media team to offer their condolences, which they did 48 hours after the incident.

By Muhammad Sabiu

By Mukhtar Ya’u Madobi

The alarming rate of insurgency, banditry and kidnappings are rising across Nigeria without any sign of abating.

These myriads of insecurity challenges have been inflicting wanton damages on the country’s political, socio-economic, and educational institutions.

Initially, the prime targets of kidnappers are wealthy individuals who can afford a ransom of any sum to regain their freedom. But nowadays, the narrative has since dramatically changed, as individuals who live from hand to mouth have now become the targets of these blood-sucking demons.

Worse still, this heinous act has been extended to the education sector, looking at how mass abductions of students have become a norm.  These students end up in the kidnappers’ den and get subjected to different forms of torture, leading to the premature death of some of them, while the lucky ones that survive usually go a long way battling with post-traumatic stress disorders (PTSD) due to the horrific experience they were exposed to.

According to the latest edition of Nigeria’s National Security Strategy (NNSS) 2019, a document released by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), retired Major General Babagana Monguno, it was emphasized that kidnapping, armed banditry and militia constituted about 40% incidences of national insecurity in Nigeria.

Reports have indicated that several schools have come under attack by bandits since late last year in which innocent students were horrifically abducted. Records have shown that 20 attacks had been carried out on some Nigerian schools in which about 1,436 children were kidnapped and 16 dead, while 200 children are still unaccounted for.  It is with dismay that many schools were closed, thereby pushing the country’s education system on the cross.

Several schools in Northern Nigeria have been raided by bandits in which mass students were abducted. Notable among them are Government Science Secondary School Kankara, Katsina State, Government Girl Secondary School, Jangebe, Zamfara State and Government Science College, Kagara in Niger state. In addition, bandits have also stormed and kidnapped students from tertiary institutions in Nigeria, such as the Federal College of Forestry Mechanization, Afaka and Greenfield University, both in Kaduna State.

The continuous infiltration of Nigerian schools by bandits, especially in Northwestern Nigeria, is pervasive and disastrous. Currently, students of Bethel Baptist High School, Kujama in Kaduna State and Federal Government College, Yauri, in Kebbi State are still being held in bandits’ camps for more than four months with a slim hope of ever regaining freedom. Meanwhile, the abducted pupils of Salihu Tanko Islamiyyah School, Tegina, in Niger state, did regain their freedom in August after spending about 88days in bandits’ enclave.

UNICEF raised the alarm not long ago, saying that at least one million school children across more than 37 schools in Nigeria are afraid to return to school. According to the agency, the fears by the children were a result of insecurity in the country, especially abductions that had taken place in some schools across the country.

Reports indicated that Nigeria has the highest number of out-of-school children in the world. For every five children that are not attending school globally, one of them is Nigerian. And this is mainly attributed to the danger the students face in their school from the anti-educational forces.

However, the question that is still begging for an answer is, what are the necessary measures taken by the government towards preventing the recurrence of kidnappings in our schools?

Albeit, armed groups, have since proliferated and become more sophisticated over the years. Henceforth, enhanced coordination between state and federal governments will surely improve the response to banditry and general insecurity. Part of this strategy should involve the use of early warning and early response systems involving the federal government, state governments, local vigilantes and community leaders.

Honestly, it will be apt should the Federal Government return to the drawing board to invigorate the earlier established Safe School Initiative program. The Safe School Initiative was unveiled in 2014 in Abuja during the World Economic Forum on Africa (WEFA) by the Nigerian government in collaboration with the United Nations to rebuild, rehabilitate and restore normalcy in the education sector. It was launched in May 2014 after the abduction of more than 270 Chibok girls from their school in Borno State.

The program was established to build community security groups to promote safe education zones, consisting of teachers, parents, police, community leaders and young people. In the longer term, the program will further focus on bolstering the safety of schools by providing school guards and police in partnership with Nigerian authorities, training staff as school safety officers, and providing counsellors to schools at risk of attack.

Additionally, this initiative constituted a series of research, campaign and programmatic activities in collaboration between Theirworld and the Global Business Coalition for Education to raise the profile of safe schools and learning environments in times of conflict and emergencies.

The policy had been successfully launched and recorded tremendous successes in some countries such as Syria, Lebanon, Pakistan and Latin America. Safe School Initiative offers supervision, services and teaching in saving children’s lives in the short term and helping them develop in the long term.

Presently, it is heartwarming to learn that the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) has commissioned an all-female squad mandated to safeguard schools from any harm by either bandits or kidnappers. This is part of its efforts to promote the Safe School Initiative and provide full-proof security for schools as directed by the federal government.

However, the Senate President, Senator Ahmed Lawal, has lamented that the Safe School Initiative program in Nigeria was designed to fail. This is because the Education Ministry was not involved in the funding or application of funds for the program, as the Ministry of Finance handles all these activities entirely.

The time is long overdue to stem the tide of banditry and kidnappings, as Nigeria must be liberated from the hands of ‘aliens who have turned to blood-sucking demons.’ Otherwise, this will retard the bright future of our children and the country they tend to inherit.

Mukhtar wrote from Kano State via ymukhtar944@gmail.com.

By Muhammad Sabiu

A famous Kannywood producer and former actress, Mansurah Isah, took to her social media accounts to lament how some southern Nigerian cinemas rejected the Hausa films.

She further complained about the government’s reluctance to support the films produced by the Kano-based Hausa film industry, Kannywood, and the inability to make the films as popular as those produced in other film industries in Nigeria.

Speaking in a 56-second video, she strongly questioned why Hausa movies are not popular all over Nigeria, except in just a section of the country, which, according to her, should not be like this.

“What did we Hausa producers do in Nigeria that our Hausa movies cannot be shown in cinemas all over Nigeria? But Yoruba movies will be all over; Igbo movies all over. Nigerian movies, too, are all over. So why is that we Hausa producers all left behind,” she questioned.

Though she didn’t mention anybody’s or agency’s name, Mansurah further solicited assistance, which she said should be by patronising films produced by the Kannywood film industry.

“Let us be assisted. You should make regulations. Display your language. Display your culture. You should love us. Make our films to be watched all over Nigeria. An English movie would be brought and shown in Kano, but a Hausa film wouldn’t be taken to Lagos and be displayed there. What is the reason?

Tacitly addressing people in power, she said, “We are the ones who support you. We neither insult nor defame you but we are still not developed. So what do you want us to do?

“I beg you in the name of God to help us and come up with regulations that will make Hausa films to be consumed everywhere in Nigeria.”

Kannywood is embattled with many tough challenges relating to cultural and religious issues, clichéd film content, monopoly of megastars, internal crises, among other problems critics and experts point out.

Masurah produced Fanan, a film whose songs have been trending on social media for several months. It recently showed in cinemas in Kano.

By Aminu Mohammed

“Aminu! I cannot travel to Afghanistan. I am afraid that the Taliban will kill me. I am not going anywhere and will rather die in Germany”.

These are the exact words by my friend and neighbour, Suroosh, who incidentally is from Afghanistan. According to him, going to Afghanistan is akin to signing his death warrant. Suroosh also narrated a gory tale about how a relative was hacked to death a few weeks ago by the Taliban just because he worked as a translator for the United States Embassy in Kabul.

This issue got me perplexed, and I became curious about why the Taliban wanted Surrosh dead. My neighbour revealed that he previously worked for an international non-governmental organisation in Kabul before moving to Germany for further studies. This alone puts him on target for elimination by the Taliban if he decides to visit Afghanistan.

I usually perform my Friday prayer at the Afghan mosque in my city here in Kiel. However, from my interaction with some Afghan nationals, I observed that feeling of hopelessness and agony. These people cannot go back to their country for fear of the unknown. Most of those I engaged in conversation with are afraid to go home for fear of being killed by religious zealots.

This article is not about the Taliban or Afghanistan; I want to draw our attention to the negative trend and how lack of proper understanding of Islamic tenets can lead to chaos and anarchy, resulting in mass suffering among the citizens. It should be noted that this discussion with my neighbour took place shortly after the Taliban took over the mantle of leadership in Afghanistan.

I have always refrained from engaging in any discussion about the myriad of challenges bedevilling Northern Nigeria. However, I realised that one could not continue to maintain silence when it comes to issues about one’s homeland. I am compelled to write this because I am worried about the current security situation in the North, especially kidnapping and banditry. The issue at home has become critical that we need to do whatever it takes in one way or the other to change the narrative.

I have observed with keen interest and dismay the incessant verbal attacks and altercation among our people, particularly our youths, over religious issues in various social media platforms and offline. We attack one another and show hatred and bitterness to our fellow Muslims just because of sectarian differences. This has degenerated to the extent that people within a particular sect will be tagging others who do not believe in their doctrine as infidels.

The Islamic scholars from various sects are not left out in this altercation and dangerous trend. Some make uncomplimentary remarks against other scholars and sects during their preaching and sermon, which always elicit amusement rather than condemnation from their audience. This has become constant and worrisome that we must try as much as possible to propagate against this; otherwise, it will not augur well for our society if we all keep quiet and refuse to act.

Let me, first of all, clarify some issues. First,  I am not an Islamic scholar, and I do not claim to have a vast knowledge of Islam. However, having been taught by Sunni Islamic scholars from Pakistan, India, and Egypt at the College of Arabic and Islamic Studies, Afikpo, Ebonyi State, I can distinguish between right and wrong in Islam. Our teachers (at Markaz) never taught us to discriminate against other sects or abuse people that do not believe in our doctrine. I still don’t understand why our people dissipate energy on religious arguments and trivial issues to the extent of cursing one another.

Today, the North is no longer secure and safe. People are being hacked to death in large numbers. Religious intolerance has become a significant challenge in our society. We derive joy in casting aspersion on people and mocking those who do not believe in our ideology.  This got me wondering whether there is something wrong with us. Why should we be fighting one another over different doctrines and sects? Is Islam in Nigeria different from the one being practised in other saner climes and countries?

Are we not concerned with the number of out-of-school children, illiteracy, industrial stagnation, high unemployment and the raging inflation in the North?  Are the incessant killings of hapless villagers perpetrated by marauders and bandits in our rural communities not enough to wake us up from our slumber? I am afraid that if we continue on this trajectory, we will wake up one day and discover that we have no place to call home because of what we have done to ourselves.

Afghanistan is in chaos and ruins today because of this religious rascality, and I am afraid the North is heading in that direction. Prayer alone without action cannot stop the calamity that may happen if we fail to take action. Therefore, it behoves us as individuals and groups to start a conversation and see how we can live in unity and harmony with our fellow Muslim brothers irrespective of their sect and ideology.

We should learn to accommodate people in our midst irrespective of the sect they belong to or the religion they practice. We should endeavour to voice out against Islamic preachers who abuse other sects or do not share their ideology.  Tolerance should be our watchword and the only key to our progress and prosperity as a people. We need peace and security for us to grow as a nation.  Silence is no longer a virtue. We cannot remain silent and continue to watch as spectators while our region degenerates into anarchy.

Aminu Mohammed is at the School of Sustainability, Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, Schleswig Holstein, Germany. He can be reached via gravity23n@gmail.com.

By Bilyamin Abdulmumin

After the ugly event between 1967 and 1970 in Nigeria that threatened to end the country’s years of coexistence, the then Federal Government sought to mend the fences by mandating one year of National Youth Service  Corps (NYSC) for university and, later, polytechnic graduates.

The program was made effective by ruling that prospective Corps are deployed interchangeably across regions and states. This provides a platform to understand better the country’s cultural diversity and catalogue other differences among Nigerians.

To many, the NYSC scheme is a brainchild to later life achievements, building connections that lead to many things such as jobs, skills acquisitions, marriage or lifelong friendship.

However, out of not knowing, many prospective Corps members risk missing out from this one-lifetime experience in the name of redeployment or service in absentia.

At the tail ends of the NYSC three-week orientation camp, one thing that dominates the exercise is relocation application.

The NYSC commission has provided the options for relocation after completing the three weeks orientation camp from one state of service to another on the grounds of many reasons such as health, marriage, security and what have you.

Many Corp members would seek to outsmart this relocation window, intentionally citing health grounds, among many other reasons, for the relocation. Last Thursday, during the ongoing orientation camp, Gombe State chapter DG had echoed that: “There is no need to invite sickness you do not have upon yourself for the sake of relocation”

It doesn’t take careful observation to note that most applicants are typical northerners, aka Hausa-Fulani.

This leads to an intriguing conclusion; Hausa-Fulani folks are home loving-people. Therefore, they do not want to explore other regions apart from their familiar environment despite the enormous possibilities attached with that.

These home-loving youths would come home after redeployment only to continue from where they stopped; the circle of routine activities but little do they realize that the bet wasn’t worth it.

In education, unarguably where the NYSC scheme found its most important use, many secondary schools poised as Place of Primary Assignment (PPA), especially the public ones, would improve their teaching capacity with these agile youth (bubbling with fresh ideas) who came from different backgrounds. In addition, many students would get their inspiration for future careers from these  Corp members. I’m a living witness, and I have come across many friends who testified to that.

Those Corps who came away from their PPAs have only the service to offer; therefore, they are the most dedicated to their service. Service at home is a deterrent to the prospective Corp members from giving their best; therefore, it makes redeployment to home non-recommendable. On the other hand, service in absentia deprives the host PPA; it will also come back hunting the Corp members involved.

Sometimes later, whenever there is a discussion on the NYSC memories period while those who served in absentia are sent into oblivion, the deployed youths will just be cut short with little to reminisce. However, many of them never hesitate to voice their regret for being deployed to their homes or even from rural to urban cities.

When it comes to having eventful memories, serving in the rural areas is the bomb. That is where NYSC youth Corps members are treated with glamour or grandeur, unlike in urban areas. Perhaps the lack of due recognition to NYSC in the urban areas is because of the high number of youths who were once members; the society became used to the scheme.

Initially, when deployed to a particular environment, primarily rural, it depends on how rural the area is; the writing will be all over the wall that a significant readjustment is necessary, the hopeless loom large on the horizon. Cortisol level overshoot, the less tough youth (female) breakdown crying. Yet, at the same time, men who are more practical with emotions keep it within them. This traumatic experience would soon make the relocation processes continue at an unprecedented rate or invoke planning ideas of serving in absentia either by showing up just during the monthly CDSs or abdicating completely with impunity.

However, the enigma of the arrival would naturally fade away; the cortisol level would come down and, after given sufficient time, the codes of living in the newfound environment begin to be deciphered. One can then manipulate the environment to his taste until at a point after settled. Then, one begins to imagine the wind-up is fast approaching or even fantasy for an extension of the programs.

Dear Corps members currently on the camps or those coming later, avoid plunging into remorse later and shortchange the PPA community. It would be best if you rethink the idea of redeployment or service in absentia.

Bilyamin Abdulmumin is a PhD candidate, Chemical Engineering, ABU Zaria. He can be reached via bilal4riid13@gmail.com.