Malaysia

 By Sabiu Abdullahi

Hon. Abubakar Kabir Bichi, a member representing Bichi Federal Constituency from Kano State and chairman of the House Committee on Appropriation, has sponsored 21 indigenes of Bichi Local Government on foreign scholarships to study in Malaysia. 

The beneficiaries will pursue an 18-month program in Engineering, Computing Science, Technology, and other courses at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), one of Malaysia’s highest-ranking universities. 

The scholarship recipients were presented with their admission letters and other necessary documents in Bichi on Wednesday.

Additionally, Hon. Bichi sponsored 59 science and technical students from SS1 to SS3 and provided them with educational kits.

He also recruited 150 temporary classroom teachers and 50 Islamiyya teachers to teach at various schools across the local government. 

Hon. Bichi stated the importance of empowering people based on their abilities, stating, “This is what leaders should do. People should be empowered based on their abilities. We don’t want to politicize education. We always require fair play.”

He reiterated the positive impact of education on reducing crime in Bichi Local Government, noting that the area has seen a significant decrease in crime due to increased access to education. 

The lawmaker also mentioned his commitment to supporting education in the region, stating, “We have been offering 100% scholarships to indigenes of Bichi to study at various Nigerian universities, including BUK, ABU, ABTU, among other universities. We paid the school fees of hundreds of students at various educational levels. We built over 500 classrooms across Bichi Local Government.”

By Sabiu Abdullahi 

In a swift reversal, tech giant Meta has apologised and restored social media posts by Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim about the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.

The move comes after Anwar’s office condemned Meta’s initial removal of the posts as “a blatant suppression of free expression”.

 Meta attributed the removal to “an operational error” and claimed the posts were taken down due to association with “dangerous individuals and organisations”.

However, the company has since reapplied a “newsworthy” label to the content, allowing it to be reinstated on Facebook and Instagram. 

The controversy highlights ongoing tensions between social media platforms and political leaders over censorship and free speech.

Anwar had previously accused Meta of “cowardice” for removing his posts, which included a video offering condolences to a Hamas official. 

Malaysia’s ties with Hamas, considered a terrorist organization by several countries, have been a point of contention. Anwar has defended his country’s links with the group’s political win.

Someone on Facebook argues that religion hinders countries from developing. I fail to see the connection. Politics is chiefly responsible for a country’s development or lack thereof.

Islam and Christianity, the religions I am most familiar with, do not prevent their adherents from attending school or pursuing any field of study.

My family is, I can confidently say, quite religious. Despite this, we have members who are Ph.D. holders and other graduates. We also have nurses, midwives, and teachers, etc., among us (both members and their spouses).

Qatar, Malaysia, and Indonesia are three good examples. They are “conservative” Muslim countries. However, they are developing on a fast track.

Iran and Bangladesh have some of the highest female literacy rates in the world. Women work in almost all sectors in Saudi Arabia today. The examples are many.

It’s sad our youths are misinformed about religion and modernity. They always look at Westerners’ lifestyles as synonymous with development and civilization. No, they are more than that.

To the vast majority of the Muslim world, Boko is not only halal but essential. Thus, don’t pigeonhole your views. Or rely on some ill-informed writers and sensationalized mainstream media headlines.

May we be guided, amin.

Muhsin Ibrahim is a PhD who teaches at the University of Cologne, Germany and he can be reached via muhsin2008@gmail.com

By Sadiya Abubakar Isa, PhD

It is precisely one year since we returned to Nigeria from Malaysia. My experience has been a roller-coaster ride since my return. I’ve seen the good, the bad and the ugly. 

Alhamdulillah for the gift of life and a loving family. The primary reason why we chose to return was that I missed my family so much. My son would always request to see his cousins – “I want to go to ‘Naijilia’, I want to see grandma”, he cried – until my neighbours once pled with us to take him to Nigeria. He has never been there. He just wants to meet his grandparents and cousins as he has only met them via video calls. I responded.

I thought about the consequences of extending my stay abroad; what if my parents also die (like my husband’s)? Does that mean my kids would never see any of their grannies? I pondered and discussed it with my husband. Maybe we should just return home after my viva. We thought it through thoroughly, and home it is. We finalised our decision.

Of course, there were other reasons. Our scholarship tenures ended towards the end of 2020, so if we had chosen to stay back, we would have to work extra hard to manage our finances. Additionally, the world was fighting a pandemic, a not-so-good time to job-hunt. So rather than being stranded abroad, we got additional reasons to fly back home. 

Many people, mainly family and close friends, tried hard to dissuade us from returning, but what do you do with homesickness? Or the fear of losing loved ones (again) without meeting them after seven years of being away? We overlooked all the negative news. We thought we could make a difference. We felt that we could directly contribute our quota to bettering our dear country by returning to Nigeria. We discussed, planned and strategised lots of projects to do when we return, but Nigerians aren’t ready – we realised. 

On that fateful day, we arrived in Nigeria on the 19th of March 2021. From the airport in Abuja down to Kano airport, the manners of the airport officials and the treatment of our luggage, we knew we were ‘home’. 

Sometimes I’m glad I’m home, but I often regret this decision. I have tried to settle down since, but I’m still in the process. Truth be told, if one is entrepreneurial, there are many business opportunities in Nigeria, but its challenges wouldn’t let you achieve the desired results in time. Even if you have a good-paying job, your salary is hardly enough this time, thanks to the inflation everywhere and the devaluation of the Naira. Moreover, with the overwhelming decline in Nigeria’s energy sector, things can only worsen over time. 

The vulnerability of an ordinary citizen in Nigeria is very discouraging, thanks to the exacerbating insecurity in our region. You can’t travel around peacefully. You can’t trust your neighbours, not to mention strangers. You can’t even take off your attention from the kids. So we are always living in fear – fear of the unknown. 

Basic amenities are still not basic in Nigeria. The first time my son experienced a light-out, he asked, “Mama, what happened? Please, put on the light, Mama I can’t see”. It was funny, and we all laughed, but it hit me very hard. 

Adopting has been quite tricky for my kids. We are all Nigerians, but my husband and I are more Nigerian than the kids are. Till today when writing this, they quickly have diarrhoea resulting from food poisoning and difficulties in eating local foods. The worst is when you don’t have good enough hospitals around, and It’s tiring. I can’t count how many times we have been down due to malaria or thyroid fever; watching your child suffer from illnesses that would have otherwise been avoided is appalling. It’s exhausting and sometimes frustrating.

We were mugged at Kofar Danagundi in Kano; we have escaped a series of phone snatching scenes. I have been duped and cheated by people I tried to help out of poverty. I still cannot explain the concept of almajiri to my son. He asked, “where is the ‘almadiri’s [almajiri] mother? Why does he have to beg for food?” I still haven’t answered his questions satisfactorily.

While travelling to Borno in mid-January, I experienced what it really means to be in a war zone after slightly escaping a Boko Haram attack. By the grace of God, we are surviving in this country. When we look back at life, we see how far Nigeria is from the developed and developing world. Even India, which is still struggling with all forms of corruption, offers a better life experience than Nigeria. 

I will not advise anyone to return to Nigeria if you ask me. Nigeria is currently at its worst. So don’t relocate to Nigeria if not for very tangible reasons. If you have a good job in your country of residence, please don’t come back. If you have a scholarship, do your best to prove your worth to be retained there. If you have a valid visa, look for a job; keep searching, make yourself useful in any way possible. If you can afford to stay there, don’t even think of returning. Yes, living abroad is expensive but also efficient.

It could also be exhaustive, but the basic necessities are available and accessible. You may pay too much tax but drive on good roads with cameras. You get to eat good food and sleep without battling mosquitoes. 

So if you choose to return, think about the future of your kids here, think about their safety and think about the opportunities they may be missing because of your decision. But then, Alhamdulillah for everything! 

Dr Sadiya Abubakar Isa can be reached via haleesad@gmail.com.