Kano State

By Uzair Adam Imam 

The governor of Kano State, Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, has said that the traditional institutions have a role in tackling the insecurity bedevilling the country over time.

Ganduje said being the traditional institutions as the custodian of history, culture, values, morals and ethics, their role in fighting insecurity is tremendous.

He stated this Thursday at the coronation lecture held at the Kano University of Science and Technology, Wudil, as part of events for the coronation and presentation of Staff of Office to the Emir of Gaya, Alh. Aliyu Ibrahim Abdulkadir.

A statement signed by the Chief Press Secretary to the Deputy Governor of Kano State, Hassan Musa Fagge, disclosed this on Monday.

The statement added that Ganduje, who was represented at the occasion by his deputy, Dr Nasiru Yusuf Gawuna, the traditional rulers have been managing and leading people in their domain by ensuring peace and stability through conflict resolution, in fact, they are respected for the way they handle issues and resolve them amicably.

“Traditional Institutions are led by people who are knowledgeable and revered by their people.”

“The Traditional Rulers possess qualities such as experience and wisdom and give advice that prevents and solve conflicts,” he said.

However, Ganduje went on to say that knowing the role of the traditional institutions towards national development made his administration create additional emirates. 

He added that the aim is to harness their contributions and potentials with the aim of bringing more development to society.

By Yahuza Abdulkadir

Many a time, I listen to people expressing their feelings and emotions, telling their beautiful and ugly stories, talking about the experiences they encountered through their journeys.

But then, there’s this story I wanted to write, but I couldn’t. Whenever I tried to, fear overwhelmed me. So, I overcame my fears and summoned the courage to write this story today.

In April 2021, while travelling to Funtua in Katsina State, I had a dreadful experience that left a big scar on my heart.

On that day, I reached Kano at around 6:30 PM and boarded the ‘Adaidata Sahu’ tricycle to Rijiyar Zaki Park because I was told that it’s only there I could get a car that would take me to Funtua by that time.

We started the journey to Funtua at around 9:00 PM. It was late and a lovely friend who happened to know how the road used to be at night advised me to stay till morning. But I couldn’t heed her advice because I wanted to reach Funtua that night and complete my assignment the following day.

I started regretting why I embarked on the journey when our car spoiled at Malumfashi. The driver tried to get the car back to work for almost an hour but no progress. Finally, he decided to walk a few metres away to get a mechanic. And we were lucky that he came back with one. After several trials, the car engine started, and it got back to work.

I can still echo the voices of the two women seated at the back, pouring blessings upon the mechanic who helped fix the car’s problem. He really tried, but God’s miracle has taken place, I believe.

As we continued the journey – chatting and listening to other passengers telling their stories, I fixed my eyes on the road, and many thoughts knocked me on the head. When I noticed no car coming from the other side of the road, fear robbed my mind. My heart kept beating. I wanted to tell the driver that I was uncomfortable with this journey, but silence kissed my lips. I kept mute for some minutes. But deep inside of me, I wasn’t feeling okay.

A few kilometres to Bakori, we spotted torchlights reflecting from a close distance. And I heard the driver saying, “Inna-lillahi Waa Inna Ilaihir-rajiun,” meaning: “From Allah we are, and unto him is our return.” He tried turning the car to escape the trap in our front, but the sound of gunshots flying in the air made him stop the car.

I couldn’t remember what happened, but I saw people with guns and torchlights telling us to get out of the car. We went out, and I was terrified. Some voices began to whisper into my ears, “Had I known, I could have stayed in Kano till the following day like my friend said, but my stubbornness got me into this, it’s not my fault; this is my fate.”

That night we were robbed. “The Children of the Night” collected all our money and that of the driver. Then, they took away our cell phones and walked into the bush, shooting in the air.

When they left, I got into the car, shivering. Then, I realized that my smartphone was inside my small travelling bag, which I kept close to where I sat. I put the phone into the bag earlier because its battery was flat. So, I was lucky that my smartphone was still with me, though they took my small phone I used for calls. I know that we were lucky enough to be alive that night.

We stayed there till dawn because our car couldn’t get back to work again. We were thinking of what to do next when a car carrying bags of maize showed up. We waved hands for the driver to stop. And he did. He got out of the car and headed to where we stood. We told him about the incident, and he showed his concern, sympathizing with us. He told our driver that he was rushing to get to his destination. Then I saw him removing some money from his pocket and offering it to our driver. The driver thanked him and asked us to do the same. This man is very kind. Humanity lies in his heart, I whispered.

We kept waiting there till an empty commercial bus came. Then, after discussing with its driver, he asked us to get in. And we headed to Funtua. Our driver left his car with the intention to get a mechanic at Funtua who could repair it.

When we reached Funtua, I wished the other passengers well and prayed for their safety everywhere they would be. Then, I took my travelling bag and walked to my destination.

Although I have been travelling along the Damaturu-Maiduguri highway, I have never felt shocked and frightened like this before.

This was the most dreadful experience of my life. It’s a memory I can never forget.

Yahuza Abdulkadir wrote via yahuzaabdulkadir50@gmail.com.

By Maryam Muhammad Lawan

“Baby sis! I’m craving for something spicy,” I said in a cosseted voice. 

“Don’t worry, please. Your lazy sis will take care of you today. Guess what! No, I’m not even telling you anymore. Just wait for it,” sis said. 

I jabbed at her amusingly while saying, “Go and prepare whatsoever it’s please”.

“So, you’re poking fun at me. I’ll surprise you today”, My sister said while cackling.

“Yeah, don’t surprise me with rubbish, please, “I teased while she guffawed and moved on. “What a sis? Bless her ya Allah, “I said silently.  

I was left alone in the room when I logged into my Facebook account and started scrolling. Why do I see Haneefah’s pictures on almost every post? Did those other sets of humans release her? So I decided to read, to discover what it is. 

SubhanAllah! AstagfiruLah! I read as many updates as possible, for I couldn’t believe what I read from the first update. But eventually, I realized even the first update was as right as a trivet. 

“Don’t tell me you couldn’t wait for me to finish. I want to cook delicious food, so be more patient, please,” My sister said as she heard my footsteps towards the kitchen. I stood there, and she quickly looked at me. “Okay. Cry, cry, baby, what’s wrong again? Let me turn off this cooker before this mood of yours spoil my hot spicy meal,” sis said aggressively.

I couldn’t spell out even a word, maybe because I was emotional. So all I could do was to extend the phone to her. 

She used her hands and closed her mouth. Tears had no option rather than to roll out of her eyes.

“Innaa lillaahi wa innaa ilaihi raaji’uun! AstagfirulLah wa atubu ilaik! Ya Allah, have mercy on us. The girl I so much like? Though I don’t know her, the girl I always pray for Allah to protect her wherever she’s, and from the evil of those men?” she said with a sorrowful voice. She continued reciting, “HasbunalLahu wa ni’imal wakeel”.

“Her school teacher did this, then, if learning places are not safe, where on earth then? What a wicked world, Ya Rahman, have mercy on us. Ya Razzaq, grant her parents the fortitude to bear this loss,” My sister prayed

I replied, “Ameen ya Rabb,” while giving her a shoulder to cry on.

Maryam Muhammad Lawal wrote from Kaduna via mmafamam@gmail.com.

By Uzair Adam Imam 

Kano State Deputy Governor, Dr Nasir Yusuf Gawuna, has revealed that the State Agro Pastoral Development Project (KSADP) in the year 2021 achieved 123.43% of its disbursement projection.

A release signed Monday by the Chief Press Secretary to the Deputy Governor of Kano State, Hassan Musa Fagge, disclosed.

The release added that the Deputy Governor who is also the Commissioner of Agriculture stated this on  Monday while chairing the State Steering Committee of the project meeting at the Government House, Kano.

He said: “There is no any agricultural project in the state that has attained this level. This feat of progress is the highest achieved by any Live and Livelihood Fund Project (LLF) funded by the Islamic Development Bank (ISDB) in Africa.

“In my recent discussion with the ISDB Vice President and report reaching me from LLF, KSADP is the fastest project in fact the progress made by it has gingered the Bank to support Kano State with various interventions such as Structure Agro Processing Zones, National Program for Food Security and Bilingual Project.

He further said:  “The project will be tasked in the year 2022 with the delivery of project outputs to the intended beneficiaries,” adding that 2021 did not call for many oversights supervisory visits by the steering committee being a year for planning, designs, capacity building and strengthening of stock route committee members.

“2022 is going to add value to what the project has started and will be full of physical activities as the previous year has been for planning and consultancies,” he said.

By Hussaina Sufyan Ahmed

The Kano State Government has revoked the license of all private schools in the state.

Kano state’s Commissioner for Education, Honorable Sanusi Kiru Sa’id, stated this at a press conference held on Monday, January 24, 2022.

This news came up as a follow-up after the brutal murder of a five-year-old school pupil, Hanifa Abubakar, by her teacher and school proprietor, Abdulmalik Tanko.

The state government also announced the arraignment of Mr Tanko before a magistrate court in the state. The accused and two others are remanded in the correctional facility pending the next hearing.

On the suspension of the operational permits for private schools, Hon. Kiru said the government would set up a designated team for guidance on the next line of action.

By Hussaina Sufyan Ahmed

When the coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, broke out in Nigeria in 2019, things changed, and lifestyles metamorphosed.

The virus moved from an imported case and elitist pattern to community transmission; its fatality rate stood at 2.8%, while the country recorded an upsurge of about 52% of total cases of the transmission of the virus even during the short lockdown.

The preventive measures of the virus popped out, hence the dissemination of awareness through media outlets – radio and television jingles, set up programs, sensitisation workshops, newspaper pages and even films.  

The use of facemasks, hand sanitisers and hand wash basins also became common. In addition, the practice of distance communication strengthened: no handshake, no hugs and no body contacts except with those already tested negative.

The spread of the coronavirus in Nigeria started as a sceptical phenomenon. Some towns and villages found it hard to believe a global plague could affect Africans directly. This notion is a myth that has lived in Africa for donkey years.

Some Africans believe that the Black man can hardly contact the virus because of melanin pigment in their veins, which preserves the dark skin. Therefore, for these Africans, the Black man is super strong and has immunes that fight against global pandemics and illnesses. However, with the strictness in lockdown worldwide for a year, many Nigerians and Africans who never believed Covid-19 existed were left to believe in it, hence the use of nose masks.

The nose masks market became a target for most traders. The high demand it continued to attract made it seem like the coronavirus never subsided, and this example is visible in Kano state. Nose masks became the equilibrium product of that time; demand, supply and price at active points.

The Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC) reported that the total Covid-19 cases in Kano remained at seventy-three from 22nd of April to 24th of April, during the initial stage of the outbreak. These infection statistics remained at seventy-seven from the 25th of April 2020. However, there was no report from the 25th to the 27th of April 2020. This caused a gap in the state’s record of the infected and non-infected.

The reactionary steering that emanates after an opinion article is released might be expected as this introduction is achieved. So, what is next?

The rise in theft and immorality is relative; however, what is not relative is the understanding of societal norms and inscriptions. The use of nose masks has increasingly seen to the less spread of the virus. What is, however, not really questioned is the increase in crime and immorality in Kano state following the adoption of nose masks.

It is uncommonly common to find out that cheating in marriages grows by the day in Nigeria. This is because many marriages lack communication, leading to the partners engaging in extramarital relationships. However, this article is not about the reasons why couples cheat on each other, but about the narrative the nose(face)mask pushes in achieving the aim of stopping the spread of the virus.

The population of men who visit Ado Bayero Mall, Kano, is seven times higher than that of ladies. They go to woo ladies. They begin with the “I am married” and end up with “be my girlfriend” or “be my wife”. However, the girlfriend narrative is not pushed to a lady in need of marriage. It is to a lady who wants to have the fun of the relationship.

These men use nose(face) masks to shield their identity. This is not to say they are not helping reduce the spread of Covid-19, but what happened to the disapproval of vast Nigerians in accepting the coming of this virus? So, the concept of maintaining extramarital affairs with nose(face) masks is relatable and, at the same time, unrelatable. It all depends on the aim, be it to help not spread the virus or spread the virus.

The women population at the Mall is exemplary in front of the exit gate. This is because more stern security personnel man the entrance gate, so as a pedestrian or one who has no business with entering, you can only go about daily transactions in front of the exit gate.

Females who stand in front of the exit gate pass coded messages to ladies who pass through. Research showed that your nose(face) mask indicates that you want your identity shielded, so the prototype is “shielding your face is a sign that you are in for some business transactions”. This caused some people to halt the use of facemasks except during the entrance of the Mall. This is to kill the notion that they want their identities hidden from some actions they might not be proud of to be seen doing.

Since shyness is part of faith, there is a need to be shy in welcoming transactions that people will stigmatise. However, this is done in the Covid-19 era, and it makes it more serious as we need to curb the virus.

“I seek for a lady that I will take home as I am into women only. Are you game?” This was a question from a woman in a car on nose(face) masks to one of the researchers.

Over time, phone snatching and theft have increased in crowded and isolated areas of Kano state. The increase in phone snatching shows the negative side of nose(face) masks. Some of these perpetrators use nose(face) masks to shield their identities. This helps them curb the spread of Covid-19, of course, but also helps put people in despair over the loss of their treasured asset – their smartphones.

The preventive measures of Covid-19 in Kano have grown more serious as the count of infected people has reduced due to the massive increase in the purchase of nose(face) masks. But then, what about hand sanitisers to match up with this patronage? Personal research discovers that hand sanitisers have gained a decrease in demand. This is to say that the hand sanitisers market does not match up in equilibrium with the purchase of nose(face) masks anymore.

It is important to know that this article should help share the “use nose masks” tag, but the writer will not support the use of the masks while the market of hand sanitisers continue to grow low. So, there is a need to encourage hand sanitisers while the increase in the nose(face) masks increases.

Hussaina Sufyan Ahmed wrote from Kano via sufyanhussainaahmed@gmail.com.

By Uzair Adam Imam

President Muhammadu Buhari has commiserated the death of a five-year-old girl, Hanifa Abubakar, whose teacher allegedly killed, in Kano on Thursday.

The Daily Reality had reported how Hanifa’s corpse was discovered dismembered and buried in a shallow grave at the premises of a certain private school in Tudun Murtala Nassarawa Local Government Area of the state.

Hanifa was a pupil of Abdulmalik Muhammed Tanko, who allegedly abducted her on her way to a school located in Kwanar Yan Gana in Tudun Murtala.

The commiseration was in a release signed Friday by the Senior Special Assistant to the President, Malam Garba Shehu.

Buhari has commended the commitment of the police and the secret service in unravelling the mystery behind the disappearance of Hanifa.

The President also prayed for the repose of the soul of the little school girl and urged her parents to bear the sad loss with courage and fortitude in God.

By Muhammad Abdurrahman

The former senator representing Kaduna Central Senatorial District and activist, Shehu Sani, advised Kano State Governor, Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, to immortalise Haneefa Abubakar, the 5-year-old girl allegedly abducted and murdered by her schoolteacher in Kano.

He stated that in a Tweet, adding that Governor Ganduje should do that by “naming a major street or a public building or public school after her.”

Haneefa went missing while going to school in the Dakata area, Kano, in December 2021. Her abductors demanded and collected ransom from her parent.

However, fearing that she recognised one of them, he reportedly used rat poison to kill her. He mutated her body and dumped it at the school he taught in the neighbourhood.

The Kano State Police, in collaboration with the DSS, arrested the suspects yesterday, January 19, 2022. That led to the exhumation of Haneefa’s decaying remains. She has since been buried while the suspects remain in police custody.

By Usama Abdullahi

The media is filled with the tragic story of the deceased Haneefa, who was abducted a couple of months ago in Kano State and later killed in a gruesome manner by her teacher—the abductor. When I came across the story, I couldn’t help but weep for the little pretty, innocent child. The shock in me is unbelievable. But did this happen for the first time? That was the question that popped up in my mind when I first read the news of her demise. 

That wasn’t the first occurrence, and I guess it wouldn’t be the last. A lot of babies have been killed for the past years. Still, more are being killed daily too. Sometimes we don’t hear about it because the abominable act is being done in private, hence beyond the reach of media. Unfortunately, irresponsible parents discard newborns like rotten cabbages; some get abducted while others are buried alive. Moreover, others are being sold as goods meant to be exchanged.

What is this telling you? Simple; it tells you more about our society and how unsparing we are today. This is a true reflection and clear proof of our today’s society. Indeed, we are a money-driven society. We crave excessive wealth badly. And we seek to get that in such venturesome and unacceptable ways. Unfortunately, some of us have turned beasts and cannibals in the process, thereby assassinating and eating the flesh of the unfortunate victims. 

This society stoops so low beyond imagination. Disturbingly, no possible help in sight to redeem such despicable acts and to tame or neutralise the evil-minded monsters doing these. Don’t we have leaders? You may perhaps ask. Yes, we do, but they are not helpful at all. Most of our leaders don’t deserve to live with us, let alone rule us. They are mostly the ones sponsoring these evils.

Imagine a so-called leader who hires hoodlums, feed them, rent five-star hotels for them so that he could assign them to abduct or take away the lives of those he wishes dead. When I was growing up as a kid, I used to deny the existence of “ritualism”. I thought that exists in fairy tales that we were taught at schools or watched on TVs. But, contrary to my kiddish thoughts, “ritualism” truly exists. It’s, in fact, become the norm.

As kids, our parents used to caution us against strangers, that we shouldn’t even exchange words with them. Because most of them are bad, they can wile us by giving us gifts, and when we take those gifts from them, we would be unconscious shortly after, and they would disappear with us to another world where they would waste us for their devilry reasons.

Our parents are damn right. But what our beloved parents need to know today is: it’s no longer strangers but our relatives; it’s now those we trusted and confided our care to. We might even feel more secure in a stranger’s abode than in some of our relatives’. Disgustingly, an uncle rapes his niece; a father kills his daughter; a mother copulates with her biological son, all these for worldly gains.

This is what we are now. One who’s supposed to protect and cater for you now turns to be your enemy. Our society is no longer safe. There are a lot of wolves in sheep’s clothing amongst us. Thus, we need to be extra careful because human lives aren’t sacred anymore. Sadly, humans are often hunted like wild animals in the jungle. Worst still, there’s a market for human organs, where every human body organ is available for sale.

Usama Abdullahi wrote from Abuja, Nigeria. He can be reached at usamagayyi@gmail.com.

By Ahmad Deedat Zakari

Bashir Ahmad, Personal Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Digital and New Media, has completed a block of flats to serve as a centre for the learning of the Qur’an and Islamic literature in his hometown.

Mr Ahmad named the school after his late grandfather and announced it on Facebook.

He wrote, “Months after the foundation laying of a newly Islamiyya, established by my Foundation the Bashir Ahmad Foundation (BAF) in my hometown, Gaya LG, Kano State. I am glad to announce that works have been completed, and the school which is named after my late grandfather, Late Ishaq Ibrahim Model Tahfiz Qur’an, will be commissioned for [the] public in the coming weeks.”