Kaduna State

By Ahmad Deedat Zakari

Reactions trail the Labour Party Presidential Candidate Peter Obi’s visit to the controversial Islamic cleric Sheikh Ahmad Gumi. Nigerians on social media have been saying a lot about the visit. 

Peter Obi tweeted photos of himself with the cleric in the latter’s residence on Monday

He said, “Dr Datti Baba-Ahmed and I stopped by for a courtesy call on Sheikh Gumi at his official residence in Kaduna.”

A tweep with the username, PopularOnyeka, described Obi’s visit as strategic, “Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and give God what belongs to God!! You are a strategic man! And I trust you. May God protect you and turn your enemies into helping hands “

Virgo_brownie said : 

” Hmmm. Is this not the same Bumi that’s linked to terrorism? PO, what is happening? ” 

Onyemanchi commented: 

“He is not a convicted terrorist. Does he still have influence in his society? Do we need the votes of the members of his Society? Will their votes be counted? Well, the answer to all this is YES. Visiting him is not his approval of his activities.” 

minospeed007 wrote :

” After this meeting, Sheikh Gumi will talk to bandits to surrender and embrace peace. Peter Obi is the true peacemaker.”

Many Nigerians, particularly the Labour Party presidential candidate supporters, have expressed diverse views on the visit. Hence, Gumi has been trending on Twitter since Obi announced his visit to the cleric.

By Muhammadu Sabiu

Reports reaching The Daily Reality have indicated that residents and drivers were in a panic on Monday as fuel shortages hit many filling stations in Kaduna State and the surrounding area.

Many petrol stations had long lines of vehicles, and this forced buses drivers and commercial motorcycle riders to increase transportation costs by 50%.

Madam Ashatu Suleiman, a local, claimed that it cost her N150 to move from Sabon Tasha to Kaduna Central Market, where she sells food, adding that she paid N200 this evening as she was heading home.

According to a report, the cost of transportation from Kaduna to Zaria has jumped from N800 to N1,000.

Many people feared that the state’s fuel shortage was caused by floods in Kogi, which made it difficult for fuel trucks to pass.

The Kogi flood, according to Mr. Samuel Ebiko, station manager of Enyoojo filling station, has nothing to do with the Kaduna station’s gasoline shortage.

By Safiyanu Ladan

The death of Emir of Zazzau Alhaji Dr Shehu Idris on 20 September 2020 has thrown hundreds of thousands of people across the length and breadth of this country into mourning. As it also provided an opportunity for princes in the four ruling houses of Zazzau Emirate to jostle for the vacant throne.

Per the law, the Zazzau Emirate Council, under the leadership of Wazirin Zazzau Ibrahim Muhammad Aminu, as the chief custodian of the tradition of the Zazzau Emirate in the absence of the emir, wrote to the Kaduna State Government notifying the governor of the demise of the emir and the vacant position created by his death.

On the third day of Fiddau prayers, the governor, while eulogizing the late monarch, said ever since the emir died, he could not sleep in the night until he took drugs, saying that the late emir used his wisdom, knowledge and experience in helping his administration.

In the selection of the emir, he openly demonstrated his neutrality as he prayed for the kingmakers to get a worthy heir to the throne that would emulate the good leadership qualities of the late emir.

Having been empowered by the law to select a new emir upon the death or deposition of an emir, the kingmakers have every right to choose any person they deem fit and worthy of the throne without prejudice against any person or group.

The law said that, and I quote, “Upon the death, resignation, or deposition of any chief or any head of chiefs other than a chief of a kind referred to in section 4, the Governor may appoint as the successor of such chief or head of chiefs any person selected on that behalf by those entitled by customary law and practice to select in accordance with customary law and practice.”

Any ulterior motive from any individual or group in this will set unprecedented hostility in a peaceful and all-accommodating emirate.

The ill decision of the government to undermine the most peaceful selection process by appointing Ahmed Nuhu Bamalli and other than the three nominees forwarded by the kingmakers has further divided the once united ruling houses, which they have enjoyed for decades as a result of intermarriage between them that produced hundreds of children.

In 2020, Wazirin Zazzau Ibrahim Muhammad Aminu, chairman of the Zazzau Kingmakers committee, was suspended by the Kaduna state government for dishonouring an informal invitation and was subsequently taken to court for allegedly violating the government’s rule.

While still in court, he was removed and replaced by Khadi Muhammad Inuwa Aminu in 2021.

In what appeared like an unending tussle last week, the removed Waziri notified both the Kaduna State Government and Zazzau Emirate of the decision to take legal action against his wrongful removal and wrongful appointment of Ahmed Nuhu Bamalli as the Emir of Zazzau.

As we await to see how the court events would unfold in what seems like there are numerous vested interests in the tussle but hiding in the shadow of Waziri, time would expose and unmask their faces.

Safiyanu Ladan wrote from Kaduna. He can be reached via uncledoctor24@gmail.com.

By
Sumayyah Auwal Ishaq
1st October, 2022

The Personal Assistant to the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Alhaji Hussaini Ɗankantoma, has kicked off what he described as house to house campaign for the presidential, gubernatorial and other candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kaduna State.

Speaking shortly after meeting the Kaduna State APC gubernatorial candidate, Senator Uba Sani, Ɗankantoma noted that the Kaduna State is very strategic for the realisation of Tinubu’s presidential ambition.

He further noted that the landmark achievements of the APC’s led administration in the country will boast Tinubu’s chances of winning the election. On the other hand, Ɗankantoma expressed optimism that Senator Uba Sani would address all the challenges confronting the Kaduna State and revamp all the critical sectors in the state.

He further called on leaders of the party in the state to close ranks and work harmoniously for the victory of the APC’s presidential candidate in 2023.

By Uzair Adam Imam

A kidnapped mother and her four children, alongside three other people, were rescued from bandits along Birnin Gwari and Chikun LGAs.

Samuel Aruwan, the Commissioner for the Ministry of Internal Security and Home Affairs, disclosed this in a statement issued on Tuesday.

He said the victims were rescued during a patrol in the areas by the Troops Operation Forest Sanity.

It was reported that the troops came under fire from the bandits while on patrol along the Birnin Gwari-Gayam-Kuriga-Manini axis.

However, after the troops returned the fire, the bandits fled into the forests, leaving behind the captives in their custody.

Aruwan said, “The seven victims have been reunited with their families.”

He identified the victims as Gloria Shedrack and her four children named Jimre Shedrack, Jonathan Shedrack, Angelina Shedrack and Abigail Shedrack. While the adults freed were Joseph Ishaku and John Bulus.

The Government of Kaduna State commended the troops for their brave efforts in rescuing and reuniting the victims with their families.

By Sumayyah Auwal Ishaq

The Kaduna State Government on Friday, 23rd September, 2022 apologized for the hardship being faced by motorists and passengers due to construction works of the Kaduna-Abuja Expressway by Julius Berger.

The Commissioner of Internal Security and Home Affairs, Mr. Samuel Aruwan, conveyed this in a statement made available to The Daily Reality (TDR) in Kaduna.

According to him, “Citizens plying the route over the last few days have experienced severe hardship and discomfort due to the gridlock, which is deeply regretted.”

“The Kaduna State Government is in discussions with Julius Berger PLC, and other relevant agencies, over ensuring that obstructions are promptly cleared and the gridlock is eased for normal movement of traffic as soon as possible,” he said.

Commuters on the ever-busy Kaduna-Abuja Expressway fumed on Friday as they wasted hours in the gridlock occasioned by the repair works on the road. They called on government to review the pace at which Julius Berger Nigeria Plc is executing the construction works on the expressway. The commuters, who are mostly public and private sector workers, and businessmen, berated the company as they spent over forty eight hours trying to manoeuvre the gridlock.

By Uzair Adam Imam

The Divisional Police Officer (DPO) abducted in Birnin Gwari, Kaduna, over 90 days ago has said that all the rain of this year has been falling on him.

The officer said he was ill and had a blood clot as the bandits kept him in chain long since his abduction in June.

One of the family members, Musa Muhammad Gyadi-Gyadi, made this disclosure to journalists saying they usually hear how the gunmen torture the HOD every time they called.

The Daily Really reported that CSP Mohammed Gyadi-Gyadi was abducted while driving to report for duty at the Police Division in Birnin Gwari town, the headquarters of Birnin Gwari Local Government Area.

He said: “We are talking to him on the bandit’s phone. The officer told me that all the rain this year is falling on him, and he is sick and has a blood clot.

“He begged us to save his life. He said they were chained. He was just begging us to save them, because he is currently defecating blood, stooling, and has pain in his leg.

“N2 million was given to someone to take to the bandits, but they collected the money and refused to release the ransom bearer,” he added.

According to him, the bandits keep demanding more money for airtime, as well as a motorcycle.

By Ahmad Deedat Zakari

Bashir El-Rufai, the son of Kaduna State Governor Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai, has described the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, as a “useless union” that should be scrapped.

The junior El-Rufai, on Monday, August 29, 2022, said ASUU is useless and should be replaced with educators that care about the students and Nigeria.

“ASUU is a very useless union. They should be scrapped & replaced with educators that actually give a damn about students and how that translates to the future of this country.” He tweeted

El-Rufai’s condemnation of ASUU is coming after the union extended its ongoing strike in the early hours of this morning. ASUU has been on strike for half a year, an industrial crisis that has crippled the academic activities across Nigeria’s public universities.

By Ishaka Mohammed

Sometime in April 2021, an interviewer told me that there were only five kinds of nouns. She went further to reject some of the concepts I used while trying to disagree with her. For example, she claimed that neither ‘uncountable’ nor ‘mass’ could be used while discussing kinds of nouns. Surprisingly, however, she accepted ‘countable’. Before I could say anything further, she had mentioned her qualifications, perhaps to prove her superiority to me. Although I apologised to her, I wished I hadn’t encountered such a drama, thanks to Covid-19. I’ll explain this in the following story.

Due to my observation of many state civil servants, especially teachers, I’m usually afraid of relying on a state government job in Nigeria. Although I’ve applied for some government jobs in Kaduna State, I’ve never thought of depending totally on any (if employed). Besides, it’s highly unwise to rely on a single source of income.

However, as a private school teacher, my Covid-19 lockdown experience made me see one advantage of government jobs. Government workers received their salaries despite being away from work for months. Unfortunately, it was a different story for most of us (especially teachers) in the private sector.

Most schools in Kaduna had been on lockdown even before the federal imposed the same. I thought normalcy would return within a short time, but I was wrong. I had to stay for five months without a salary but not without food. To complement the assistance from some friends and relatives, I did some menial jobs until I decided to post my story on Nairaland. All I needed was a daily income of N500.

About an hour after posting the story, a lady responded and asked me to chat with her via WhatsApp. I wasted no time, and we reached an agreement. She would send snapped or scanned copies of handwritten notes from Ibadan, and I would type them on my phone and send them to her. We agreed on N30 per page, but she usually paid me higher than that. However, the biggest amount of money I received at the time was N1,200, and it took me three days to complete the task. Moreover, it was difficult typing the contents of the photos on the same phone containing them (the images).

With the lockdown experience, I became so much interested in government jobs. So, when the Kaduna State Teachers’ Service Board (KSTSB) advertised teaching vacancies in December 2020, I responded at once. I was shortlisted for a test, and owing to my high score, my hopes were high. So, expectedly, I was invited for an interview.

I prepared well and looked forward to facing the interview panel, but little did I know that I would be asked a question similar to the number of times President Muhammadu Buhari has been shocked. By the way, despite answering the last three questions correctly, the first one had already created friction between a member of the panel and me.

The woman insisted that there were only five kinds of nouns. I immediately disagreed with her and mentioned more than eight. Surprisingly, she accepted ‘countable nouns’ but rejected ‘uncountable nouns’. I quickly drew her attention to the fact that uncountable nouns are also called mass nouns, but my assertion infuriated her. She claimed that she had never come across ‘mass nouns’, and to prove her authority, she had to boast of the number of degrees she had, with the first being in language arts. I kindly said, “I’m sorry, ma.” However, that was like appointing a campaign director after one has already lost an election. I didn’t get the job.

Since then, I’ve consulted many sources to know how many kinds of nouns there are, but I have

yet to get a definite answer. Should you have an answer to that question, please share it with me.

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

By Sumayyah Auwal Ishaq

Residents of Rigasa, a major support base of President Muhammadu Buhari in the Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State, have cried out over the gully threatening to swallow up the community. The gully had swept away many houses in its paths, rendering many residents homeless.

The Daily Reality observed that areas badly affected by the erosion include Layin Cinema, Unguwar Yan Kilishi, Makera, Tarotaro and Madaki Habu Street. With heavy rainfall, the branches of the erosion are spreading fast as a vast expanse of land is caving in, threatening more houses.

The Secretary-General of Rigasa Development Forum, Mr Sani Ibrahim, who spoke on behalf of the affected communities, pleaded that concerned authorities should come and end the innumerable damages the gullies had done to them.

He said the gully had already cut them off from accessing each other and some other parts of Rigasa town. Another resident, Mr Umar Ahmad, said, “We no longer send our children on errands anymore, and worst still, the people in government, who came to canvass for votes, have abandoned us”.

Findings by The Daily Reality showed that the gully has cut off many routes making life unbearable for the hundreds of residents. A signpost in one of the areas has indicated that the Federal Ministry of Environment had previously awarded the contract in the past. The community is on the edge of the precipice and may be cut off from other communities if nothing is done urgently.