Nigeria

By Maimuna Abubakar

The house girl business is ancient in Nigeria and the most common one in my area. I am from the north-central part of Nigeria, also known as ‘The Middle-Belt’.

It is common among women here in my local government area to keep girls at home as house helps, girls who, in most cases, are between the age of 13-18 while some may even be younger.

The idea of keeping young children as house helps has always eaten me up, and I have probed a lot of people regarding the rationale behind it. And because I am familiar with a number of these girls and even one of the parents, I decided to ask directly from the horse’s mouth.

For the sake of privacy, I will name the girls after colours. The first house girls I know are Violet, Lavender and Purple. They were about the same age, 12 or 13, I guess. They were brought to the city by a man from their village, who works in the city and became the supplier of these girls. These three girls stayed with people I know, and their job description involved doing all house chores and hawking.

In addition, the girls took care of the domestic needs of their madam’s children, such as the washing of clothes, sweeping and tidying of their rooms, making their meals etc., including children that are older than the girls. Their case, except for Lavender, is a bit favourable compared to others because these madams treated them almost the same as their children. They bought whatever they got for their children and enrolled them in Islamic schools (Islamiyya).

When I asked Violet who I was closest to why they don’t attend a school like the children of their employers did, she told me their parents are against it and asked that they should be enrolled in skill acquisition instead. Unfortunately, the reason these parents are against their children going to school was not disclosed to the wards concerned, as Violet told me.

However, she was very curious to learn. She would always ask me to teach her how to spell things or say when speaking to someone who doesn’t understand Hausa. As Violet got older while staying with her madam, she began to lose interest in her job. Every time she came back from their two-week annual break – they got to see their parents for only two weeks in a year – Violent kept telling me that she wished she never returned, that her father is an older man who she believes needed her assistance. Still, her stepmother insisted that she be married off with nothing from her family if she didn’t return to her job. So she was sent out to the city to fetch money to get her married to a man chosen by her family. Violet later told me that she kept coming back even though she hated it because it was the only choice she got if she didn’t want to get married at such an early age.

The story is the same for Purple. Although, unlike Violet, who was very enthusiastic and ready to learn, Purple always stayed home and watched movies while her madam was at work and the children had gone to Islamiyya. 

On the other hand, Lavender was not as lucky as Violet and Purple. Her mistress owns a local restaurant. She woke up as early as 5 am and slept as late as 12 am, and the cycle continued. She often faced sexual harassment from her madam’s customers, but she could not report them because the first and the last time she did, she was beaten black and blue after being accused of lying. So she had to learn to protect herself by cursing them and drawing others’ attention when anyone tries something inappropriate.

Lavender didn’t attend any school, nor did she acquire any vocational skills. She later ran back to her village and never returned. But I heard from Violet that she was taken to another state different from ours. These three girls were later called back home by their parents and were married off.

Blue is another girl I know who was brought to the city by a woman from her village. She worked with this lady who didn’t allow her to eat with the rest of the family, wash her clothes along with the lady’s children’s or even sleep on the same bed even though they were almost Blue’s age or younger. She couldn’t eat if the children didn’t eat because she was supposed to eat only the remnants of the family’s meal. She got beaten for slight mistakes like accidentally destroying anything from the lady’s home, even if it was as small as a plate. The lady always threatened to deduct it from her annual payment.

I asked Blue why she stayed despite this visible maltreatment, and she said it was because she had to earn to support her family. She never returned after she left this lady’s house, but I am almost certain that she was taken to another home.

On the other hand, Ash is a bit older than the rest of them, and she is the one whose mum I know. Financial hardship made Ash’s mother send her to her neighbour’s house as a house help in exchange for Ash’s school fees. When this neighbour decided to relocate to a new environment, Ash’s mother pleaded with her to take her daughter along to get an education. But this neighbour is a difficult one.

If Ash doesn’t finish her chores on time, she won’t be allowed to go to school. If the neighbour’s children don’t go to school, Ash won’t go too. If they are sick, Ash cannot go to school. Ash will also have to miss school if their school is on break. And because Ash does everything in the house, including cooking for about eight to ten kinds of dishes a day since the neighbour loves varieties and always have guest around, Ash is consistently unable to do her homework and often fails her tests and examinations. Not considering all the extreme labour Ash is carrying out, this neighbour told Ash’s parents that she is a dumb girl and only wastes her money on Ash’s education. She refused to allow her to attend extra lessons organized for students like Ash, who are left behind academically, especially since they are about to write their SSCE. Ash was only enrolled in Islamiyya when the neighbour’s kids were old enough to attend. 

Ash felt she couldn’t take it anymore, so she sought respite in marriage. She decided she wanted to get married as soon as she completed her WAEC and NECO, so she brought home a man she chose for herself. He is a young man who owns a kiosk close to Ash school. He asked Ash out when she was in SS2. But Mrs Neighbor said that Ash could not marry an illiterate. That Ash should either bring an M.Sc. or at least a degree holder or no one. She told Ash’s parents that it is in the girl’s best interest that she is trying to make sure Ash has both social and financial security.

Although Ash is not very far from her parents’ house, she seldom visits them because, according to this neighbour, no one will do the house chores while she is gone. Therefore, if Ash’s parents wanted to see her, they would go to the neighbour’s house. Ash’s mother, on several occasions, goes to this neighbour’s house while the neighbour is at work to relieve her daughter of the overbearing labour.

These are a few out of a hundred horrible stories of such girls. I’m not saying there are no house helps who have attained success or are in the process of achieving their life goals with their initial job as a stepping stone. There are!

I know someone who owns a fashion designing shop. I also know someone who has graduated from a higher institution and is already starting a career. Some are still pursuing their education at different levels. But, there are only a handful of such girls, they are rare, and their rarity proves the point that house help business as conducted in my locality especially is just typical child labour and abuse.

How do we curb this dangerous abuse that has been going on in almost all parts of the country?

Since the growing number of working-class women in our society means that mothers can no longer take care of their children 24/7, entrepreneurs can use this opportunity to create niche markets. They can then form a house help agency in or around areas where mothers with such needs are residing.

Again, we have thousands of graduates from the department of ECCE (Early Child Care Education) both from our various colleges of education and our universities. These entrepreneurs can implore their services. These agencies can then employ older women willing to take care of children. Young individuals, both men and women, can also be engaged as either part-time or full-time employees depending on such a person’s financial needs.

The agency can also run a temporary employment program for college students who are on holiday to earn money before resumption. These agencies can have two or more departments; those involved in housekeeping, those responsible for babysitting etc. That way, hopefully, these teenage girls whose parents have been taking advantage of them can also have a life of their own. 

Maimuna Abubakar is a Sociology Student at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. She sent this article via maimunaabubakar200@gmail.com.

By Ishaka Mohammed

The Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development has fixed the first batch of NEXIT training for February 2022.

In a statement through its verified Twitter account late Saturday, the ministry asked exited N-Power beneficiaries to check their eligibility and confirm their availability within a week. 

“Kindly dial *45665# on or before Friday 4th February to check your eligibility and indicate your availability to take part in the programme,” the statement reads in part.

The NEXIT empowerment programme is designed for exited N-Power beneficiaries and will provide skills and funding to start up a business or support existing businesses.

Recall that 390,000 applicants were shortlisted for the programme in September 2021. 

Book Title: Kwaraption

Editors: Khalid Imam and Ola Ifatimehin                                                                                   

Type: Anthology of poetry written in Engausa

Publisher: Whetstone Art and Information Service

Pages: 72

Year of publication: 2021

Introduction:

Although not simple to define, corruption is a major impediment and barrier to Nigeria’s progress. For many years the country suffers a lack of infrastructure and poor condition of living because of corruption, which not only stagnates the nation but also derails it from the path of progress. Although more endemic now than ever before, the story of corruption in Nigeria is at least very old.

A missionary teacher in Kano, Madam Ethel Daniel Miller (who came to Kano in 1917) in her book The change here in Kano complained of a prince from the emirate that gifted her a set of clothes for the simple reason that she is a sister to Dr Walter Miller, thinking that she could influence his choice as a successor to the throne.

Other examples can be found in fictional works such as Magana Jari Ce (1937), where Dan’iya bribed a police officer to deceive his friend, Daudu, in a story titled “An ƙi cin biri an ci dila.” The case of Obi Okonkwo in Achebe’s No longer at ease (1960) and that of The Incorruptible Judge (1962) by Olu Olagoke were just a few out of many similar cases. These are clear indications of how writers used their pen to expose and sometimes fight corruption since the beginning of Nigeria formation.

This anthology of poetry edited by indefatigable Khalid Imam and awesome Ola Ifatimehin contains 51 poems contributed by 45 poets. Nearly half of the contributors are female writers, which is a clear indication that females have come of age in terms of literature in northern Nigeria.

The title of the book “Kwaraption” is a Hausa and English attempt at pronouncing corruption. While the first, “kwara” part is just the Hausa sound of the first four letters, “corru” (in a word corruption), the second part was derived from the last for letters (ption) of the original word. In other words, kwaraption is a corrupt way of saying corruption. Instead of the editors using Hausa translation of the word corruption which is loosely translated as Cin-hanci or Rashawa, or just writing Hausa variant of corruption as kwarafshin, they decided to retain part of the original English words. This is to portray the uniqueness of the work as an anthology of poems written using Engausa which involves coding switch or mixing of languages (English and Hausa) with a view to achieving artistical beauty and increasing richness of literature.

An Appreciation of Some of the Poems in the Collection

Looking at the anthology, one can understand that the poems covered a wide range of issues of interest as far as corruption in Nigeria is concerned. Some of the issues covered are:

1. Recognizing Nigeria as a rich country which is very blessed with both human and material resources, but whose citizens are poor because of corruption and other social vices.

“ƙasa mai albarka da albarkatu,

mai attajirai, masu ilmi da ‘yan siyasa” Hafsa Ja’afar in a poem titled Rashawa (p. 30). 

• The state of the country as far as corruption is concern. For example, Ameer Nasir in Cutar Zamani described the country as one having expertise in corruption to the extent that it is difficult to separate us from corruption “tamkar jini da hanta” (p.17). Basheer Adam Gobir assumes that ‘almost everyone’ in the country is corrupt (p.23). Similarly, Farida Mohammed Shehuin Abin Takaice (p.24)and Khalid Imam (p.37) see corruption as a hazard whose impact is everywhere; mosque, church and in all places, and Khalid particularly described corruption as ‘flood’ that destroys (Corruption Everywhere, p.39). Khadija Hanga in her poem titled Despicable Diseases sees corruption as marriageable girl, however dubious whose main goal is to deceive “a fool”. In fact, as captured by Ola in his allegory, “Kukan Kurciya”, corruption is now “new education”. Because we are so accustomed to corruption that we are given it good names and the corrupt person were assumed to be philanthropist as captured in a poem Philanthropist na gangan (p.26) “barazanar ɗan ta’adda ba ta mayar da shi gwarzo”. Also, YZ Ya’u corroborates this in his “Sai Mai Taimako”. Umma Aliyu educates us on different forms of corruption that we don’t see as such due to level of societal decay.
• Looking at corruption as a cause to many problems this country witnesses.  For example, in a poem “Tick” byAbubakar Isah Baba, corruption is responsible for poverty and insecurity;

It causes abubuwa masu yawa,

Poverty mai kashe gwiwa,

Insecurity mai karkatse rayuwa,

Ga misalan scandals nan da yawa.”

In “Lamentations for a Country,” Adesina Ajala blamed corruption for dividing the country along many social layers “Corruption is the common denominator that divides this land without fractions.” The division is along religious, ethnic, regional and even occupational strata. In “Gobarar Daji” Yahaya Abubakar sees corruption as “alpha and Omega”, hence, the chance of getting out of the current quagmire is very slim,

“ta yaya za mu yi rayuwa sustainable,

tattalin arziƙinmu disabled.”

Bashir Umar blames corruption for bankrolling the country such that it cannot meet its basic needs, he sees it as embarrassing that the country now relies on foreign aid for its development “wai yau ni ke neman aid from foreign organization”. The writers believed that Nigeria has taken a poisonous venom, whose effect transmitted to the children, making them engaged in killing one another “mun ɗauki kansakali, maimakon magani.” Ajuji in his “Bragging da Kayan Sata” captures an attribute of a corrupt person.

“there stand akimbo…

carrying pot belly,

like expected mother.”

• Trying to understand the dynamism and causes of corruption is one other focus of the poets in the anthology. Amatullah Saulawa in her “We shall not be afraid” boldly says:

“yes, it is our faults,

if dictators shift gears,

we bring them back” (p.15).

This is a similar submission of Maryam Baffer in the poem “Har da ni”. However, the politicians are most blamed in the collection because they stand for it

“ko da tsiya ko da tsiya tsiya

sun kasa

sun tsare,

sun raka,

sun rabe”

as stated by Hafsa Ja’afar in Rashawa (p. 30). Lynda Mustapha in her two poems “Write it down” and “Buhu-buhun Iskanc”i blamed politicians for perpetrating corruption in the country. Moses Odozie writes on corrupt civil servants whom he nicknamed “Ɓarawo mai Biro”. Murtala Uba Mohammed, in his poem “Corrupt Nation”, believed that corruption is not limited to politicians, there is also the police, court and parents (p.51).  

• The writers are tense of corruption and eagerly want it to end. Adesina Ajala said;

“Yaushe zamu warke daga wannan ciwon ne?

Wa zai haska fitilar gaskiya cikin wannan duhun baƙi?”.

Corruption is here seen as a wound that needs to be cured and darkness of a night that should be put in the light. In “The Oak Tree”, Aliyu voices out; “yet we hope for betterment”

• The authors not only lamented over the problem, they also recommended some solutions to the problem. Madinah Abdussalam in his “Yours and Mine” sees the solution as public, that every person should do it himself.  He says “who will end corruption in ba mu ba”.

In “Soyyayar Corruption” by Elizabeth Zephaniah, the public is seen as a solution, she metaphorically states “yaushe za mu ga eagle na fighting corruption”. Musa Adam was also having a similar view in his “My father’s 61st Rebirth”. Some of the poets expressed unity as an important factor in the fight against corruption, “dole we have to be united” as stated by Haneefa Musa Isah in her poem “Mu haɗa kai” (p 31). Also, Sani Abdullahi Salisu in his Kwarapshin (p.61).      

Engausa

It was not surprising when I saw this anthology. This is because of my prior knowledge of the debate that started on the page of APNETi when Dr Ola began to release his poems in a fashion of code switch, mixing English with the Hausa language which Khalid and some other members called ENGAUSA and opined that it is new and welcomed development. Some members of the group, most especially Professor Yusuf Adamu objected to that saying that language blend and code switch is not new in poetry particularly among Hausa poets citing a popular line of late Nai’ibi Sulaiman Wali in his poem Damina

“… su yi kasuwa su yi kantuna,

kowa busy sai su damina.

Yaran gari ko sai bal suke,

kowa ka duba very happy…”.

Khalid and his likes were not convinced arguing that the example given is INGAUSA, different from ENGAUSA. They said INGAUSA is a Hausa poem where words and phrases are used to complement the writer’s inability to come up with the right words based on context or meaning as opposed to ENGAUSA which is a poem written specifically with two languages blending and it is purely artistical. In the introduction of this book, the editors maintained this view indicating that they had not shifted their position, more so, in an interview conducted by Ola stated that this Engausa is almost his own daughter.

While this anthology may certainly be the first collection on the ENGAUSA poem, the view that the ‘new ENGAUSA’ is different from the ‘conventional INGAUSA’ is very weak. This is because language swap in Hausa poetry is not just triggered by weakness or inability to come up with the right phrase or word in a context, it is equally deliberate. Also, when we look at recent popular Hausa songs we can see Engausa. In particular hip-hop singers such as Billy’o in his song “Rainy Season” wherein he said:

“Mosoyiya, farkon ganinki na yo confusing,

sai da zuciyata tai ta squeezing,

sai da temperature ta tai rising,

jiri nake sai ka ce na sha poising,

ni ko so nake a san ina da reason”

is a good example of Engausa. In recent, northern Nigeria’s film series such as “Son of the Caliphate” and “Gidan Danja” are also full of Engausa. In addition, Aliyu Idris aka Abdurabbihi is another example, whose poems are in a mix of Hausa, English and Arabic languages even before seeing Ola’s “Sarauniyata” which appeared first in APNETi platform. Agreed, Ola and to some extent. Khalid can take the accolades of popularizing the Engausa and APNETi for holding the first workshop to teach it. It is another issue as to whether the new Engausa has a rule or not. But it is important to state that Engausa is an attempt to mimic how we (particularly the educated elite among us) talk at home and other places.

Finally, I wish to congratulate the editors for the first Engausa anthology and the All Poet Network International (APNETi) and Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) for sponsoring the publication of important literary work that can help in Nigeria’s corruption crusade. The text is truly a noble of a kind. While wishing to see more literary work of this format, I wish the editors will do more in editing the Hausa language in the subsequent publications. I noticed many orthographic errors with respect to the Hausa language, which our indefatigable Imam will share the larger blame for his expertise in the area. I also conclude with the following lines:

Mai biɗar gane corruption,

To ya ɗau wannan collection,

Hausa tare da Englishin,

Sandwich kuma conjugation,

An zubo concatenation,

Kar ku ce contamination,

An yi ne don education,

Tun da Ola ya yi motion,

Ka ga Khalid zai yi action,

An yi  don inganta nation,

Yau kwaraption mun rejection.

The reviewer, Dr Murtala Uba Mohammed, is with Geography Department, Bayero University Kano, and can be reached via murtalamuhammadu@gmail.com.

By Tahir Ibrahim Tahir Talban Bauchi. 

As intelligent, hardworking and technologically advanced as we brag about being, it is ironic that at the end of the day, we fail to show up for patriotism and country — and choose to dwell on the divides that do not crystallise into the positive building blocks of our national development. Instead, we tow the lines that harp on our differences and rhetorics based on political party apathy.

We often embrace the gulfs of ethno-religious segmentations of our society and deliberately fail to show up for our country. We are absent when it comes to celebrating the country’s achievements and progress. We instead converge to mock her, even when she has birthed something fruitful and prosperous. However, anytime we find ourselves stuck or in need of a dear country, our voices are gravelly with echoes of her name and her might.

When D’Tigers made waves whacking USA’s Dream Team, it was called Igbo or IPOB teams. When it wobbled, it was Nigerian again. When the Super Eagles didn’t score, the striker is labelled gateman because he is of a particular demographic. Still, when he does, the Super Eagles are flying again and are the only team in AFCON 2021 to make the group stages on a stainless slate. 

The CBN and RIFAN (Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria) unveiled the pyramids in Abuja as seeds of the long and aggressive Anchor Borrowers Programme. Many rose to blindly and sheepishly discredit the programme. An old image from a certain state, which showed the assembling of rafters, as if constructing a roof, with rice bags placed as tiles, to simulate a huge pyramid, was shared to disillusion gullible ones, that the CBN/ RIFAN event was dubious and unreal. Some said the bags were filled with sand, while some dissected the event as a waste of resources and energy. Some didn’t want to credit the administration due to party affiliations, and others didn’t want to have any of it because of their own biases. Most couldn’t put Nigeria first and all other differences aside and be happy that the motherland has achieved this milestone, despite the overwhelming and depressing global environment for business and governance. 

In our importation bills, it is more than evident that the importation for food, especially rice, has stepped down many notches. This is because government intervention in rice importation has also dropped astronomically. One million bags which is just a percentage of what RIFAN has produced, were unveiled at the event, being an aggregation of the 2020 dry season and the 2021 wet season. They are the commitment from farmers in the repayment of their loans from the Anchor-borrowers programme.

No fewer than 230 small, medium and large scale rice mills have emerged all over the country from 2015 to 2021. A Kano-based lady has a 160 ton per day capacity rice mill, while another, one of the biggest, has a 32 metric tonnes per hour capacity built-in Lagos. From averaging less than 3 million metric tonnes per year, in 2015, an outstanding 7 to 9 million metric tonnes per annum was achieved in 2021. The rice revolution is unbelievable but far away from being a hoax. 

Ado Hassan, the Secretary of the Kano chapter of RIFAN, had said that their move was towards engendering the twin benefits of food security and economic diversification. Agriculture contributed over 21% of our GDP. This is incontrovertible evidence that a lot has actually been achieved in this sector. Nigeria has become the largest rice grower in Africa, and neighbouring countries are coming in to educate themselves on how Nigeria is dominating Africa, as the giant of any continent should rightly do. 

Nigeria is gradually achieving food security, which we should be proud of and glad to attain. Unfortunately, the vociferousness of global inflation is biting the most developed countries too, and not just developing nations like dear country. A Briton was lamenting that the cost of parking, which was just £.10 a few months ago, had risen to £.50! Perhaps if Nigeria were not hindered by insecurity and a pandemic for the last three years, we could have been celebrating a lot of such pyramids across the country.

The Nigerian military does a show of force, so does the NAF with jets in formations over our skies. Lecturers have conferences, and the NBA has annual conferences as well. Every sector of our economy has players coming together under one roof to showcase their achievements and discuss prospects. So why can’t our dear farmers, under the auspices of RIFAN, do their own show of rice? Isn’t it an important part of accountability?

We pray that their efforts will directly affect the market price of rice in the coming weeks, as the mills get busy husking the rice that was showcased. We also pray that unscrupulous marketers will not deny the everyday person the fruit of this labour. Those ones are a whole chapter of those unpatriotic ones we so have to live with. 

Tahir is Talban Bauchi.

By Hussaina Sufyan Ahmed

President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, has today, Tuesday, January 25, 2022, kick-started the National Policy on Fifth Generation technology, which is widely known as 5G technology, for the development of Nigeria’s Digital Economy.

He said this at the presentation of the national policy on 5G, approved at the Federal Executive Council meeting.

He also directed all security institutions to make use of the new technology to ensure an enhancement towards curbing the insecurity in the country.

He said that the Federal Government would ensure the nation’s well-being by taking full advantage of opportunities provided by the 5G.

The Daily Reality has gathered that the arrival and usage of the new technology will enhance Nigeria’s networking activities and equally make Nigeria compete in the technological race in the world.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Kano State, has issued a press release applauding the security agencies for the quick and perfect response to the murder of a five-year-old Hanifa by her primary school teacher. In the statement, the opposition party also warned and cautioned the state government over what it alleged as “extorting” the private school owners over the sad incident. According to them, the good ones among the private school owners should not be punished or penalised based on the evil wrongdoings of others.

The full release:

“The Kano state chaper of Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) has applauded the efforts of security agencies for their swift response in investigating, arresting and arraigning the kidnapper and killer of Kano school girl Hanifa Abubakar.

The party wishes to acknowledge the successful operation that led to the arrest of the suspected culprit Abdulmalik Tanko and his cohorts through strategic intelligence gathering and tactical security operation.

As members of the opposition in Kano, we wish to join other well meaning Nigerians to also commend the prompt prosecution/ arraignment of the suspects before a senior magistrate court in the state to pursue justice on late Halifa without any delay.

On reforming the private education, the PDP therefore advised Kano State government under the leadership of Abdullahi Umar Ganduje to follow the necessary due process in accordance with law establishing Kano state Private School Board which regulates the activities of all non public schools in the state.

“We learnt that Governor Ganduje has withdrawn the operating licence of all private schools in the state, with all sense of humility and patriotism, we will like to caution the state government not to use this opportunity to extort money from the proprietors of private schools in the state”

The party noted that there have been a standard operating procedure provided by the law establishing the private school board developed by the previous administration of Sen. Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso.

Despite the importance of reforming the private education sub-sector which has been long overdue, the Kano state government should not see it as a window of opportunity for extortion of money from the hands of the schools proprietors.

The party is hereby extending its heartfelt condolence to the family of late Hanifa and the good people of Kano on the unfortunate incidence that have put people in deep sorrow and sympathy.

Signed

Shehu Wada Sagagi
PDP Chairman
Kano State Chapter

By Salisu Uba Kofar-Wambai  

Functional education is the key to solving most of the joblessness and unemployment predicament Nigerians face today. Therefore, the philosophy of education matters a lot. Moreover, the kind of philosophy under which a particular curriculum operates determines the quality of graduates a particular system of education breeds.  

The idealism philosophy, which Nigeria’s education system subscribes to, contributes grossly to the condition of our graduates. They frequently end up chasing shadows, seeking jobs when in reality, there’s none. This is because the idealism philosophy emphasizes and dwells so much on book knowledge. The students are made to jampack and cram all the knowledge and ideas in their heads, but practising the knowledge is ultimately zero.

In other words, the idealism philosophy thrives in theoretical aspects. And this British model has since been abandoned by many countries of the world, as it has no successful ends and doesn’t suit 21st-century challenges.  

However, more innovative countries like China, Germany, and Japan that adopt a pragmatic philosophy of education in their curriculum are getting it right regarding employment issues. Most of their graduates are fully equipped with the specific skills required to handle jobs effectively and efficiently. Moreover, even before graduation, their students are already into temporary employment. 

The functional education practised in such countries has made their graduates vibrant job-providers instead of perpetual job-seekers we see here in Nigeria.  

It is a mammoth challenge for our education policy formulators to do the needful. They should help us migrate from idealism to pragmatism as a system. Students will then have practical skills or functional education that will enable them to establish their businesses based on their acquired skills, not just memorizing books and blowing grammar all over.

When a mechanical engineering professor could not repair a simple technical fault on his car until he refers it to a local technician, you know there’s a massive challenge with such a system of education.

I think these entrepreneurial studies and industrial training introduced by our institutions of learning are equally astute and sagacious towards achieving the desired goal. But they’re not close to where we’re aiming at. So, we must change the philosophy in its entirety first to have enough roadmap on the ground.   

The sooner we migrate, the better for us.

Salisu Kofar-Wambai wrote from Kano. He can be reached via salisunews@gmail.com.

By Aliyu Yakubu Yusuf

The group stages have come and gone at the ongoing AFCON in Cameroon, with Algeria and Ghana being the biggest casualties. For the 2-time winners Algeria, it was nothing short of a travesty that they failed to qualify from their pool. After all, they were on a 33 game unbeaten streak before the tournament. They were also odds-on favourite to go all the way. And to be fair, they crafted more than enough chances to win their opening two games against Sierra Leone and Equatorial Guinea before they met their waterloo against Ivory Coast. But unfortunately, their tournament can best be summarized as a combination of poor finishing, complacency and rotten luck.

As for the 4-time champions Ghana, the least said, the better. They played some of the most dreadful football in the tournament. Add this to their ill-discipline, and you have the Ghanaians knocked out in the first hurdle. That they couldn’t defeat the debutant Comoros is a damning indictment of the once-proud footballing nation.

Now that the group stages are over, the margin for errors is entirely gone. Our own Super Eagles have been the team of the tournament so far, but that counts for nothing if we fail to get the job done in the subsequent tournament rounds. Our reward for winning three out of three games is a tantalizing tie against former champions Tunisia, who have largely underwhelmed in the tournament. On the evidence of what has been seen so far, bookmakers would have Nigeria as the firm favourite to advance to the quarter-finals; and rightly so. However, I earnestly pray that our fantastic showing does not get our players and coaching staff complacent. The winner takes all nature of knockout rounds makes it an unforgiving business. It only takes an avoidable error by a player or a coach for a team to book the next flight home. Besides, the Tunisians are no pushovers. On the contrary, they have the experience and the pedigree to cause an upset.

Often, a team performs wonderfully at the group stages only to be undone by their heralded opponents. I always remember the 2002/2003 UEFA Champions League quarter-finals in which Juventus sent Barcelona parking. At the time, Barcelona got 16 points from the second group and had won a total of 11 out of 12 group stage games (there were two group stages then, in case you were wondering), and Juventus managed to crawl their way out of the second group with 7 points. When they were paired against Barcelona, many football fans and pundits regarded it as a foregone conclusion. Against all odds, Juventus not only defeated the seemingly unbeatable Barca, but they went all the way to the final, where AC Milan narrowly defeated them via penalty shootouts. The biggest lesson I have learned from that encounter is that as long as a team is still standing, it stands a chance to win a tournament. I hope our players think the same way.

The round of 16 fixtures has drawn up the path to the trophy, with Nigeria, Senegal, Mali and Tunisia as the biggest teams on the same half of the draw and Egypt, Morocco, Cameroon and Ivory Coast on the other half. If (not when) we overcome Tunisia, we are scheduled to play the winner of Burkina Faso and Gabon. And if we win that tie, we would be facing one of Senegal, Cape Verde, Mali and Equatorial Guinea before the final showdown at Yaoundé. So here’s wishing the Super Eagles all the good luck in the world.

Aliyu is a lecturer at the Department of English and Literary Studies, Bayero University, Kano. He can be reached via aliyuyy@gmail.com.

By Abdulrahman Muhammad, PhD

A friend recently left Facebook after his friends were duped through his hacked Facebook account. The hacker took over the victim’s Facebook account and sent messages to the latter’s friends asking them to deposit money into an account and get double the amount deposited in two weeks!

Because of sheer trust and gullibility, they first transferred monies into the bank account given to them by the hackers before even contacting my friend via phone. A total of about 450000 naira was lost this way, one of the victims being a student.

Lessons:

1. A simple phone call to confirm the true source and authenticity of the message would have saved the victims the trauma of losing huge sums of money.

2. The susceptible can be found even among the educated. While working in New Bussa, a colleague excitedly showed me a text message from an ordinary number informing him that he had won a lottery in which he was a random passive participant. I warned him that it was fraudulent, but another colleague convinced him it was genuine. The most painful thing was that the fraudsters asked him to go to an ATM and called them from there so that they could instruct him on how to redeem his prize. He inserted his card into the machine and followed their instructions sheepishly, which led to the emptying of his bank account.

3. Even a smart person can be a victim if they are too trusting, careless and greedy. Nobody can double your money in two weeks. Haba! Be street-wise.

4. Some bankers seem to be collaborating with fraudsters. For example, when victims go to the bank and complain, the bankers say the bank account the victim transferred the money does not exist!

5. Some of us have not been duped only because we are too poor to be conned. Or, to put it more respectfully, we are not rich enough to be defrauded. Where is the money?

6. A simple test can expose hackers. Recently, a Facebook friend sent me a fraudulent solicitation message. I promptly suspected his account was hacked. Unfortunately, I didn’t have his mobile number, so I sent him a message via Facebook Messenger asking simple questions in Kanuri language. The hacker responded in English with wildly off-the-mark answers. I called his bluff, and he disappeared.

7. Any friend who wants to deposit money in my account is welcome, but they should get the correct account details directly from me through my mobile number. My bank account name is slightly different from my Facebook account name.

8. One can also use the Messenger voice call option to confirm the person’s identity soliciting for money.

God save us from fraudsters.

Dr Abdulrahman Muhammad wrote from Maiduguri, Borno State. He can be reached via abbakaka@yahoo.com.

By Amina Rabi’u Bako

Coconut is one of the most important and useful plants in the world. Apart from consuming the fruit and its water, many industries, such as pharmaceuticals, beverages and cosmetics, use its parts. As a rich fruit, it is encompassed with several opportunities that bring wealth to a nation. Everything about it is beneficial to man; it has economic, medicinal and nutritional value.

According to various global research findings, its uses can be seen from its components, ranging from the meat, oil, shell, coir, husk, water and lots more, making it more of a revenue economy booster. 

Coconut is nicknamed a tree of life. Nigeria established its first coconut plantation in 1876 in Badagry, Lagos State. The crop grows in over 30 of Nigeria’s 36 states, with Lagos and Akwa Ibom states having the largest production area.

With 83 per cent of Nigeria’s states into the production of coconut, the country should succeed in producing and exporting the product across the world. Unfortunately, however, according to the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), Nigeria ranks 19th in the production of coconut globally, placing the country far behind Indonesia, the Philippines and India.

As reported by Premium Times, the data obtained from the United Nations Office shows that Nigeria spent $219446.53 and $293214.22 on coconut importation in 2019 and 2018, respectively, an amount higher than $186094.58 spent on coconut importation in 2017.

The price of coconut in Nigeria today has risen by almost 100 per cent. This is not unconnected with over-reliance on coconut importation.

A coconut seller, Dahiru Umar, said, “The price keeps rising day by day. A single coconut has now multiplied its price compared to last year.”

Halima Abbas said, “the rise of coconut made me pause my coconut macaroons business for a while to see if the price might go down.”

National Coconut Producers, Processors and Marketers Association of Nigeria (NACOPPMAN) is moving towards making sufficient coconut trees in every corner of Nigeria’s states. During the flag-off and election of NACOPPMAN held in Kano, the Chairman, Fatima Abubakar, in her speech, said, “We cannot continue to import what we can produce locally! Coconut sufficiency in Nigeria is a reality.”

We need to do much better than we are doing. For, among other reasons, coconut has several health benefits. The reader may visit the Healthline.com website to see some of the benefits, which space will not allow me to describe here.

Nigeria should not afford to be left behind in the production of coconut. With the NACOPPMAN, the country can realise its dream of actualising coconut sufficiency, thereby utilising its health benefits and leveraging its economic value. Moreover, it is pertinent for the government to provide an enabling environment to attract foreign investors to come into the business. The earlier we wake up, the better.

Amina Rabi’u Bako is of the Faculty of Communication, Bayero University, Kano.