Northern Nigeria

By Ibraheem A. Waziri

1. As against the postulations of some, who think Nigeria to be a fantastic, British-contrived social experiment. Many believe it to be purely a product of inevitable historical processes that ordinary mortals should only play along with. So, it is said that statesmen and cultural priests cum social philosophers must – by the spirit of the time, fair universal human values and exigencies of frequent unassailable moments – always create and promote a narrative of a reasonable sociocultural balance for the country to continue to thrive.

2. In this, since religion is adjudged, by scholars of identity in history, to be the strongest factor in social mobilisation. It is safe to assume that the crème de la crème of the Nigerian military, who ruled the nation between 1983-1998, although mostly Northerners and Muslims, had good intentions; to have worked hard to ensure the provision of religious balance, between mainly Muslims and Christians, in the general administration of the national and sub-national units of the country.

The Justification

3. A casual review of both the 1st and 2nd Republic is enough to show tendencies to Muslims’ domination of the Nigerian political space. Also, since Islam is consistently found to be deeply expressive in the discourses and practices of its adherents daily, especially in Northern Nigeria, non-Muslims may not help but feel threatened – even if only imagined, not real – with marginalisation when individual Muslims are in power. This, regardless of whether their predilections do not suggest inclinations to any assumed extremist tendencies. Because often politics and politicians ride on only prevailing narratives and popular sentiments as major currencies during elections and subsequently in forming finer details of general governance policy direction!

4. This may have been why people like the late Capt. Ben Gbulie would maintain this in his book, Nigeria’s Five Majors, and much later when he responded to questions by late Barrister Yahaya Mahmood SAN during a session at the Oputa Panel. That one of their reasons for staging the January 1966 coup d’état that killed mostly Northerners Muslims in power was intel, they got and rigorously verified to confirm, by some standard, that the then Nigerian government, led by mainly Northern People’s Congress (NPC), was clandestinely planning a Jihad with the hope of Islamising the country.

5. The measures of balancing taken by the military may not be favourably viewed by modern reviewers, depending on the angle of vision one takes. But it is unmistakably clear that had the prevailing rhetoric of the Nigerian Muslim communities of the late 80s and 90s – that were even celebrating as heroes on various pulpits, figures and ideals of contemporary Islamist movements in Egypt, Iran, Algeria, Afghanistan and Sudan – met with a popular narrative of Muslim majority populated Nigerian state, the results would have been better imagined now. 

6. Thus, during both the two aborted electioneering processes of 1992 and 1993, to usher in a democratic government, General Ibrahim Babangida (IBB), the Head of the Nigerian state, deliberately tried to ensure political parties presented bi-religious tickets for elections into offices of governors, everywhere there is a significant population of people of differing faith, and ultimately that of the Presidency.

7. Many scholars and pundits alike have concluded that it was the failure of the southern Muslim, Moshood Abioĺa, Social Democratic Party’s candidate, who is said to have won the election, to respect IBB’s wish to select Paschal Bapyau, a northern Christian, as Vice Presidential candidate that led to the annulment of June 12 1993 elections! The Quest for such religious balance was that important to IBB, as we can conveniently presume it to be part of his insight and blessed wisdom clinging to higher moral flanks, advancing the standard of a fair, indivisible Nigerian nation.

8. Fast forward to the events preparatory to ushering in the fourth republic in 1999. It was the same cream of former Northern Nigerian top military generals who insisted on a power shift to the South, particularly to a Christian president, who would, in turn, have a Muslim running mate from the North. Thus, Northerners or Muslims from the South were cajoled to stand down their ambitions in the name of peaceful, regional and religious balance!

To Every Action…

9. Yet, as the timeless law of physics stipulates, there is an equal and opposite reaction to every action taken. So also the decision to premise all the sociocultural discourses on Nigeria on the narrative of religious balancing. Religion as a determinant of who gets what, in the string of the political equation, and ultimately down the line on the food chain of the country’s rentier economy, also became the cheap tool providing the impetus for persistent conflicts and unending violence, particularly in some subnational units in Northern Nigeria.

10. In Kaduna, my state, there has been a wave of religiously motivated crises, coupled with agitation for territorialism and territorial expansion, more resource allocation and political representation, since 1987. After the ushering in of the fourth republic in 1999, it continued assuming an alarming direction, characterising every aspect of the policy discussion in the state. Every single appointment, political or otherwise, must factor in religion. Yet the wave of the crisis did not show any sign of going away. It kept consuming many lives and properties, casting a blight on every possible future of progress and development. Refugee camps became a distinct feature of satellite towns in the state.

11. Government, civil society and faith-based organisations became very busy and active daily on the issues of conflict resolution and rehabilitation and resettling of refugees more than any other thing. From 2013 to 2014, Reverend Joseph Hayeb, the present Kaduna State Christian Association of Nigeria’s Chairman and a Muslim cleric, Shaykh Haliru Maraya, served as Special Advisers to the then Kaduna State governor, Mal. Mukhtar Yero on Christianity and Islam, respectively. They partnered with an international peace promotion non-governmental organisation, Global Peace Foundation, in a state-wide campaign for peace and conflict resolution in the state. Malam Samuel Aruwan, who was to become the first Commissioner of Internal Security and Home Affairs in Kaduna 2019 – 2023, and I joined them on the invitation. We wrote essays and appeared with them at conferences, engaging in the discourses of why Muslims and Christians must find ways to live in peace!

2015!

12. the deployment of superior vigilance technology, by the Independent National Electoral Commission, in the conduct of the 2015 elections exposed the fallacy of the premise ascribed to the religious balancing narrative that has lasted for 30 years in Kaduna. Instead of the entrenched assumption that the religious demographic spread in the state is almost 50-50 between Christians and Muslims, it was realised that it was at most 30 – 70 in favour of Muslims!

13. This, unfailingly, was to give room to so much reflection, on the utility of the religious balancing narrative, in providing the needed peace and stability for the general administration of the state. In that, a fair and dispassionate assessment could be said that over the years, it has proven to be a burden to the state and is threatening the overall peace and stability of the Nigerian Nation! Even if it has once been useful in keeping peace and maintaining justice, providing stability and strengthening the foundation of the Nigerian Nation.

14. More so, the assumed justifiable reasons that made the northern military elite deploy it then can be said to be no longer there now. As Samuel Huntington projected in his 1993 seminal work, The Clash of Civilisations and the Remaking of World Order, the appeal of the universal call to Jihad among Muslims would lose its popularity in about 25-30 years. That Muslims world over would gradually appreciate and align with the values of democracy and its prescriptions in the rule of law and freedom of expression.

15. Global war on terror and the experience of the Muslims here, home to Boko Haram, has helped make Huntington’s prophecy real. It significantly changed the perspectives and disposition of the Muslim elites in the country. Many scholars and clerics have stopped identifying with Jihadi rhetoric and, in many cases, withdrawn or dissociated themselves from the earlier ones they once made. There has been a wide-ranging consensus among a larger section of them to work with the present multi-religious composition of Nigeria and support its established institutions!

16. Also, the era now is not a military era, where the earlier conceived balancing narrative can be sustained by fiat nationally and sub-nationally. Democracy is here, and its promises, based on the premise of popular participation and will, are bound to force the hands of society in a particular direction.

17 In 2019, the Pew Research Centre, an independent American think tank that specialises in social sciences, demographic research and analysis, published that, in 2015, Muslims in Nigeria constituted 50% of the population as against Christians who are less. And by 2050, Muslims will constitute about 60% of the people, while Christians will be less than 40%. 

18. When I wrote about this on the 11th of July 2022, in a message wishing fellow Muslims well during Sallah celebrations, I also called them out to reflect on what Nigeria they would want. Many experienced pundits and senior citizens in my list submitted that the 60% per cent figure is most likely the population of Nigerian Muslims now. We are only hindered from knowing that for a fact because the past Nigerian military leaders had struck out religion as a variable in all official national headcounts. They believe that by 2015, Nigeria’s Muslim population will likely be 70 – 75%. 

19. All these should point to the reality of the futility of struggle, for a just social order, in Nigeria while clinging to the religious balancing narrative. 

The El-Rufai Example of 2019!

20. Malam Nasiru El-Rufai was elected into the leadership of Kaduna State on top of events significant to unravelling the wave of fallacies that made operational in the state, the religious balancing narrative. He was equally confronted with the reality of the non-viability or even risks associated with any attempt to perpetuate it.

21. In 2019, he won the election after confronting the operational, religious balancing narrative and crushing it. Amid cheers by the Muslim community, who are excitedly displaying an air of triumphalism, some of us must have assumed that the winner takes all maxim will be deployed. Yet Malam Nasiru went ahead in his acceptance speech on the 11th March 2019 to state: _“Let us all see and value each other as human beings descended from Adam and Eve. Let us end the misuse, abuse and manipulation of religion for personal gains. Religion should be a private matter. Our identities should not become barriers to common humanity. Our doors are open to a new chapter of concord.”

22. Subsequently, appointments and responsibilities were allocated based on merit, trust, commitment, party loyalty, and clearly outlined cause. Thus, many so-called sensitive positions, like the Accountant General, Commissioner of Internal Security and Home Affairs, and many others, go to non-Muslims!

23. In this, as an independent observer not speaking for Mal. Nasiru, I will say that one can see that if the Muslim-Muslim ticket has any purpose, it is only for burying the religious balancing narrative, which has proven to be cancer, in the body of our journey of development, into a just and prosperous society. It is also to serve as a teachable moment, to Muslim leaders, politicians, and the teaming youthful population, on operationalising the new narrative of the Muslim majority Kaduna and Nigeria, which is soon to be the new order of the day.

The Controversial Speech of 28th May 2023!

24. Nigeria’s 2023 elections, which saw the much-maligned success of a Muslim-Muslim ticket at the national level, had reasons to give Nigerian Muslims a feeling of triumphalism again. It has confirmed their numerical superiority and harbours the tendency of permanently killing the religious balancing narrative in our national politics. It also came with the risk of making some elements among Muslim politicians, clerics, and scholars alike start using it, in future, in a manner that would be inimical to the interest of their fellow Muslims, non-Muslims and the idea of the Nigerian nation.

25. The farewell dinner, Imams, clerics and Islamic scholars organised for Mal. Nasiru Elrufai, the 28th of May, 2019, in my opinion, was the best place for him to kick start the conversation about what the victory of the Muslim‐Muslim ticket should mean to the Muslims and the country in general. Both mark the end of the religious balancing narrative, religious politics and what future clear Muslim dominance or leadership should mean. 

26. From the clips of the recordings circulating in social media and the translation of the entire speech by various news outlets. It is clear that though Elrufai spoke appealing to his audience’s sentiments and good feelings, he was also unequivocal that the Muslim leadership across history and his, in Kaduna, did not and shall not try to discriminate against non-Muslims. This is a call and a subtle cautionary appeal to those who may think otherwise to reflect and reconsider as an exemplary guide in future.

The Ways Forward

27. Nigeria has moved into a new era in its history and evolution. Not that it has only seen the futility and, ultimately, the end of the religious balancing narrative; it has also come to the era where the influence and wisdom of its retired military generals in its democracy is about to cease altogether. All hands must be on deck to help chart a new cause and craft a fresh narrative for its sustenance and maintenance on a just and equitable pedigree.

 28. The country’s new reality of a sociocultural composition needs the attention of scholars, pundits and policymakers to ensure that the nation moves with reasonable speed on the lane of development. And this is what that speech by El-Rufai on that day should be seen to have helped to transit the national conversation quickly!

Ibraheem A. Waziri wrote from Zaria, Kaduna State. He can be reached via iawaziri@gmail.com.

To wash, or not to wash: that is the question

‘Whether it is nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous’ servitude,

or to take a stand against a sea of troubles, mediocrity and ‘by opposing, end them?’

Since washing the husband’s clothes has found its way to the topmost topic worthy of discussion amidst many other issues ravaging our dear region, let’s talk about it then. We are unserious, first of all, I must admit. After wasting time and energy on such trivial topics, I wonder how we still expect an actual transformation to occur. How is that possible?

By the way, washing the husband’s clothes is not a crime; it fetches rewards from Allah and love from (some) husbands. If you want to be a diligent wife and conquer his heart by washing his clothes, please do, as there’s no user guide to a successful marriage. Just do what works for you. But remember, no good husband will wish slavery and suffering upon his wife. If he/she has the means to make life easier for you and they are not doing that, then dear, you are probably with the wrong partner.

Who are you married to? A lover or a husband?

Yes, because it’s about time we differentiate between the two. But I was married to both in one person, so to say that I washed his clothes out of love shouldn’t be surprising. We were newly married then. I was young (and not naive, thanks), energetic, and most of all, wanted to prove the ‘I am a good wife’ point. We both were pursuing our masters in India, so whenever he had classes and I didn’t, I would wash and iron his clothes before he returned. I love to see him appreciate me. That ‘Allah ya yi miki albarka‘ meant a lot to me, and I would do anything to get those blessings.

So while I was washing, he would try to dissuade me. Other times he would join when he was around, and because I wouldn’t stop, he searched, found and patronised dry cleaners in the neighbourhood until we got our washing machine. So, whether or not to do these little things is absolutely perspectival. I washed not just his clothes but those soiled with poop and vomit (when he was sick). It doesn’t make me feel lesser, and I would do that again if necessary because if I don’t, who will? I did it diligently, with enthusiasm and so much pride.

Moreover, that made us happier; it fetched me lots of love and admiration and earned me a good repute. As such, he washed mine and the kids’ too. We were abroad without any other relative, so whenever I put to bed, he’d be fully in charge of the laundry – and other domestic chores. What is love and compassion in marriage for?

I have seen similar arguments about cooking as well. So if you say women shouldn’t care for or serve their husbands in these little ways, how else should they do it if he is not rich enough to afford such services? Just how?

I am not saying being a slave is the only way to a man’s heart; instead, I want to rebuke the adamant claims that rule out the possibility of making these little gestures. If care is not taken, someday, women will argue about whether to have intercourse with their husbands. Hello!

It saddens me every time I see women following a so-called ideology trashing the institution of marriage – in the guise of ‘woke-ness’, for we may escape the traps of their unwavering criticisms, but what about our kids? The louder their voices, the more sceptical the next generation would be about marriage. Many youths are now feeling pessimistic about the whole idea of marriage – thanks to influencers and bloggers. Remember, if we continue to applaud life without marriage, we will watch our societies relapse into lethargic savagery.

I am not saying being a slave is the only thing about marriage; no, there’s a lot more. But please, let’s engage in marital discourses more positively and always keep in mind that the younger generation is watching. Marry, wash or cook if you want to, and if you don’t want to, just shut up! We shouldn’t be accomplices to the tacit agenda infesting our region.

Please do not misconstrue my opinion. Being servitude isn’t the key to every man’s heart. It depends on the man and the circumstances. Also, washing his clothes (among other courtesies) wouldn’t keep him, if you like wash his clothes and all of his village people’s, he will replace you in a snap if he wants to. No amount of endurance, sacrifice, compassion and diligence would guarantee that you have won him, my dear; only a man that wants to be kept can be kept.

So, as you put all your efforts into building your home, do everything for Allah’s sake to earn His pleasure only because man is naturally dynamic. Wash if you want to, I reiterate, but remember, it’s not your religious duty as a wife. However, you may do it for the fun of it. Be a bloody Samaritan. It’s fun! What is love without compassion and foolishness? Although my ‘breakfast’ was just recently served, I choose to say objectively: Marriage is sacred and an achievement, take it or leave it!

Yours humbly,

Dr Sadiya Abubakar

 By Zayyad I. Muhammad

On October 17, 2022, at Arewa House, Bola Ahmed Tinubu presented to the north his blueprint for the region. He said he would fight bandits and terrorists with the technology the Buhari administration began to use in 2022. Tinubu pledged to turn the North’s fertile land into grain fields- the North would become the agriculture hub. The dairy economy and agro-allied industries would be promoted as he accelerates the Mambila Project and rejuvenates existing power stations. He vowed to exploit the gold in Zamfara and iron ore in Kogi State. Tinubu also promised to bring millions of North’s out-of-school children back to school through incentives. He further pledged to create a special commission for Almajiri education, including employing Almajiri teachers.

So far, President Tinubu has appointed eight (8) Special Advisers (SAs), appointments seen by many political pundits as the direction of his administration’s policies and programs. Of the portfolios of the eight SAs, agriculture gets none.  Has Tinubu forgotten agriculture, or has he major policies and programs planned for the sector?

The North needs a unique recovery program in the agriculture sector- the mainstay of the region’s economy is now devastated by banditry, insecurity, floods, and corruption. Some of the previous administrations’ beautifully designed programs for agriculture have been abused.  Many ‘real’ farmers have tearfully complained that the custodians of the programs and projects have hijacked the benefits.

The Anchor Borrowers Programme, Presidential Fertilizer Initiative (PFI), Youth Farm Lab, Paddy Aggregation Scheme, Agricultural Trust Fund, Presidential Economic Diversification Initiative (PEDI), Food Security Council, etc., including other CBN interventions programs, are good. However, the implementation and targeting were not 100 per cent successful. For example, under the Presidential Fertilizer Initiative (PFI), fertiliser blenders benefit from government resources and smile to the banks, while the farmers for whom the scheme was primarily designed to buy fertilisers through their noses.   Instead of the 5,000 Naira per bag, as envisaged by the programme, a bag of fertiliser now costs between 20,000 to 25,000 Naira.

Despite the shortcomings of some of the programs,  Nigerian agricultural production has improved. For instance,  rice milling created many productive jobs.  The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said the Anchor Borrower Programme (ABP) supported about 4.57 million smallholder farmers who cultivated over 6.02 million hectares of 21 agro-commodities nationwide. The programme has helped to improve the national average yield per hectare of these commodities, with productivity per hectare almost doubling within eight years of the programme’s implementation.

Also, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) statistics indicated that some of these programmes contributed significantly to the increased national output of commodities, with maize and rice peaking at 12.2 and 9.0 million metric tons in 2021 and 2022.

However, one of the fundamental bottlenecks that these projects and programs faced was their managers. For instance, the last two Ministers of Agriculture were somehow ‘disconnected’ from agriculture. Moreover, some programs and project managers are not agro-enthusiasts or farmer-friendly.

With workable and real farmer-friendly agricultural policies, programmes, and projects, President Tinubu will have a golden opportunity to directly ‘talk’ to millions of northerners. What should Tinubu do?- First, his Minister of Agriculture should be an agricultural enthusiast and an agile practising farmer who understands the entire agricultural value chain, politics, and markets.  A personality who understands the needs and global trends in agriculture and has a connection with real farmers and private initiatives. Tinubu’s agriculture minister should see agriculture from the prisms of entrepreneurship, wealth creation, and national GDP growth. Tinubu should also appoint a  Special Adviser on agriculture and an agricultural advisory team, which should be populated by competent real farmers. The Forum for Agricultural Commodities Association Chairman, Sadiq Darewa, once said: The Tinubu administration should sustain and improve upon programs and projects that have clear benefits for Nigerians. At the same time, those that have wasted Nigerians’ time should be rejected.

Tinubu may wish to sustain but redesign all the current agricultural policies, programs, and projects.  He needs to remove the apparent opacity which characterises most of the programs.

Tinubu should bring real farmer associations and groups on board to assist the government in redesigning the programs. They have a good grasp of what went wrong with the schemes, programmes, and projects and how to rejuvenate them for millions of real farmers in the country.

The redesigned and improved programmes should incorporate livestock production and the establishment of more herbicide and pesticide factories. Nigeria has no business spending billions of naira on importing water mixed with some chemicals; it should work on reducing the cost of seeds, fertilisers, and other inputs, including labour and transportation costs.

 Zayyad I. Muhammad writes from Abuja and can be contacted via zaymohd@yahoo.com.

By Maryam Shehu

I write with a heavy heart and bleeding eyes to the extent that my sights are closed, and I can’t catch a glimpse of the words that percolate through my pen.

Zaria is known as the heartbeat of its state, moving from its social amenities and the acuity of its residents and advocates. It won the best award for breeding leaders and world scientists with excellent records of surveillance and stateliness.

Its leaders have incentives for every eclipse and malady, but I am yet to have a vision of the sad situation of its library. Does that spell another prestige or a paralyzing facet of its artistry and reading culture? Only God knows how much a lack of a library plays in the eruption of the educational sector and traditions.

 ‘Mostly students within Zaria from the 1980s used the Public Library, but now it remains only the building’; this was what I saw as a description of a group named ZARIA PUBLIC LIBRARY FRIENDS on Facebook… A very disheartening description, indeed! Does that mean education ended in Zaria after those days, or is it only for those in the 1980s? Oops, I can’t uphold the irritation!

Everyone that often visits the place is a bystander to how barren and malodorous the place is, the books are outdated, and the shelves are scanty and scattered to the magnitude that one can not confidently point to a visitor or a person who has been reading about or watching notable libraries.

I write for the government or any other personnel responsible for the library to reminisce, if forgotten, about the virtues and diamonds behind refurbishing the library and its roles in developing a state/LG with few ravines of mine. These are:

First, it supports the educational sector: Education is the bedrock of every progressive state. It soothes every rough wall for governance. Whenever/ wherever a state owns a gear of education and capitalize its residents with the necessities, that administration is said to have grappled with every hole of unemployment, insurgency, and other suppressed deed that might lead to the tumult of any governance. It can contribute to nation-building and reconciliation. As said by Nelson Mandela, “Education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world”.

Second, it preserves the cultural heritage of the society: A rich cultural heritage defends how the residents maintain its distinctiveness and sets it as a mirror to look at by young ones. We have different skin colours, languages, and marks, and our clans mingle with others (good/bad), but the pictures we sow in their hearts and books are those that could reflect and defend their susceptibilities. The library is the only place where those scrapbooks and photographs could be carefully salvaged.

Third is the provision of useful textual materials: The availability of a standard and substantial library provides advantageous scripts and materials for self-development and implementation of a basic constitution… It helps especially those from underprivileged backgrounds.

Fourth, it also provides an avenue for recreation and relaxation. Libraries are one of the most significant factors that lead to the development of arts and crafts; they create seats for all crawling and professional clubs and carve stages. It composes words for artists and other microphones partners.

Furthermore, it also provides and enhances reading culture. As the slogan says, ‘Readers are leaders’; likewise, writers and other mellow people, we succeed by reading from the served letters of our antecedents. And many people strive to be voracious readers but the lack of money to buy books drag their necks back and turn their faces from the papers by furnishing the library; that surely could be a buzzer to the sleeping readers.

With the above few ravines of mine, I hope the government and other related personnel are persuaded and forecast how much renovation of the public library could make their governance suitable and memorable and how lack of it will keep draining the administration. We hope you listen to our dried throats and reconstruct our shattered floors.

Maryam Shehu wrote from Zaria via maryamshehu6354@gmail.com.

By Sulaiman Maijama’a

In recent times, the most vicious of all vices in our society is phone snatching. This dastardly act is perpetrated by gangs of youth of 15 to 25 years who carry weapons and terrorise people. Sometimes, these youth injure their victims or even stab them to death.

This evil act usually is plotted and carried out at night, but sometimes, in broad daylight, the youth disguise themselves as tricycle operators and unleash their cruelty against people. There is hardly a week that would pass on without a report of a victim of phone snatching.

This activity becomes a nightmare for people and poses a great threat to the freedom of movement of innocent citizens, making it difficult for them to go about their everyday business, especially at night, without the fear of being attacked by phone snatchers.

It is common knowledge that phone snatching continues to be pervasive in different states of the North. It assumes a higher degree in states like Kano, Bauchi, Plateau, and Gombe.

The nefarious activity can be directly or indirectly attributed to a lack of proper parental care and broken homes. The youth who lack good parental care or come from broken homes usually move with the wrong people, and their movements are not queried or followed up, thus having the freedom to do anything without being probed.

Peer pressure is another cause of youth involvement in social vices. The youth who spend more time with their friends easily get influenced due to their weak nature and tender age.

Youth have a high level of curiosity to learn, have fun and practice new things, thus making them deviate. And as the saying goes, “Show me your friends, and I will tell you who you are” The significance of friends and how they influence lives is so enormous that many youths were conscripted into phone snatching.

Parents’ negligence also makes the wards turn to their friends for love, emotions, care, and advice, who can lure them into deadly acts. An abandoned child can look up to their friends for love and affection. Some maids, house helpers, and family members who are always around children without parents can introduce these vices to them.

Not only that, but unemployment has also added intensity to immorality that graduates to this monster called phone snatching that threatens the social well-being of the people. 

According to the report by a Global consulting firm KPMG, titled “Global Economic Outlook”, Nigeria’s unemployment rate was projected to rise further to 40.6 per cent this year. This revelation is alarming and must be uppermost in the mind of every responsible citizen. “An idle mind”, as an adage says, “is a devil’s workshop”.

Drug abuse is another social determinant. Despite the pronouncements of the efforts by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency to curb the menace, the percentage of drug abusers is on the rise, and they quickly and freely access the hard drugs of their choice. This allows the youth to be intoxicated before they carry out their devilish act of phone snatching.

It is pertinent that all stakeholders should rise against social vices. Youth that engage in these dangerous acts need help, advice and rehabilitation for the addicted ones.

Parents need to know their children’s friends, status, and other people the children associate with. This is majorly the role parents should play in their children’s lives. Mothers should, in particular, be close to their children. Close monitoring and time should be given to children by parents. Children should be taught the moral values that might help shape their cognitive abilities.

The media ought to be playing their roles of education and information by organising forums to enlighten people about the dangers associated with social vices. Similarly, they should be playing surveillance by warning early on of any potential danger.

Security operatives, government and all stakeholders must be active and alert to caution, rehabilitate or punish (where necessary) any person seen as a threat to others.

All hands must be on deck to combat the menace of phone snatching in our societies.

Maijama’a wrote from the Faculty of Communication, Bayero University, Kano. He can be contacted via sulaimanmaija@gmail.com.

By Lawan Bukar Maigana 

Maimunatu Suleiman, 21, stabbed her husband, Aliyu Mohammed Gidado, to death on July 5th, 2023, in their residence at Kofar Dumi in Bauchi State, Nigeria. 

Since then, I have read different narratives about the tragic incident. Some said she killed him because it was a forced marriage, while others said she murdered him because of his willingness to remarry. 

As a trained journalist and fact-checker, I needed to investigate the narratives’ source, save the public from being misled by merchants of misinformation and fake news, and feed the crowd with authentic information.  

Using Facebook, I identified his neighbour and demanded that he send me his phone number so we could talk about the incident, and he did. He told me that Aliyu and his wife married in January 2020 and have one child—a boy. 

“Their marriage was out of love. Everybody knows them, and most people in their area have admired them because of their love for each other which culminated in their marriage. 

“And they never had any serious issues until recently when Aliyu realised that Maimuna had been going out without his permission as her husband.

“Aliyu returned home three days ago and expressed sadness about her deviant conduct, which later resulted in a serious misunderstanding between them that nearly broke their marriage, but his father and older brother intervened”, the neighbour explained.

On the day the incident happened, Gidado’s father saw Maimunatu’s friend coming out of their house after they spent hours in her room holding her plasma TV, but he didn’t talk to them. 

It is a tradition in their house that the last person who comes in after 10:00 pm ensures everyone is around before closing the gate. 

Wednesday night after 10 pm, his older brother called his name and asked if he was around so he would lock the gate, but Aliyu didn’t answer. His brother asked thrice but to no avail. 

Worriedly, his brother approached his room and observed that he was gasping for breath. He quickly got back to his room and took a touch and entered the room and saw his brother soaked in blood while his wife, the prime suspect, was facing him. 

That was when he quickly called their father to see what happened and subsequently sought help from their neighbours to rush their brother to the hospital. Unluckily, Gidado died before they got to the hospital. 

Out of patience, concern, and resilience, they rushed his wife to the hospital, thinking she was stabbed. The doctors informed them that she was safe and had only sustained bruises on her stomach. 

After she regained consciousness, Gidado’s father asked what had happened, and she told them that thieves had jumped over the fence and killed her husband when she went to the toilet to pour her child’s urine. 

She even told them that the thieves ran with her plasma TV, unknown to her that the bereaved old man saw her friends going with her plasma TV hours before the unfortunate incident but didn’t argue with her. 

Curiously, the victim’s father told her that there was no way thieves would jump over the fence without being seen by a tea seller beside their gate, whose place is always busy with people. 

After discovering that she was suspicious, they called police on her. 

The cops took her to the station, where she confessed that she stabbed him twice in his chest because of a misunderstanding in the evening. 

It was also reliably confirmed that she has a three-month pregnancy for Gidado. 

Therefore, those who said the murderer was forcefully married to him are just lying to the public. Their marriage was out of enormous love. 

Similarly, an Abuja-based lady Maryam Sanda mercilessly stabbed her husband to death on November 2017. 

Many media outlets, largely online alongside social media influencers, had disseminated unverified chronicle stories about the tragic incident without confirmation from the parties involved. 

Sharing unfiltered and fabricated information is seemingly becoming a norm in Nigeria among media outlets and internet users to manipulate people’s perceptions of facts. 

It is necessary to call on spreaders of information and netizens to please desist from sharing unverified information and cultivate the habit of digging into stories before publishing them. 

Please pray for the repose of Gidado and his mother. She died in early January 2023. 

Lawan Bukar Maigana writes from Borno and can be reached via email:lawanbukarmaigana@gmail.com.

By Aisha Yahya Ibrahim

Almajiri is a word deduced from the Arabic word “Almuhajir, “ meaning an immigrant. Almajiri is a localised Arabic word. It is from the root word called “Hijra”, which means migration from one place to another for the sake of ‘Allah’. This concept of migration implies that one could relocate from where he does find conducive for worshipping his creator (Allah) to where he could find a conducive environment for worshipping Allah.

At this height, Nigerians correlated this concept with relocating children from one place to another in search of knowledge of Islam generally or the Quran in particular. The reason could be traced to the followings:

1. We have observed the misconception and misapplication because the children are relocating to places without proper care and sponsorship. They’ve become a nuisance to society.

2. The reason for the migration is that it is not conducive due to oppression. Whether one is oppressed or violent against people seeking Islamic knowledge cannot be equated to such oppression or violence.

3. Children are moved from where the knowledge is available without care or sponsorship, e.g. moving children from Kano to Kaduna instead of remaining with their parents in Kano, where they can have proper care and support. This results in the children begging on the street for sustenance.

4. There are instances where the children are even moved from where the knowledge is available, and the environment is conducive to where the command is not open, e.g., children being moved from Kano to Abuja.

THE IMPLICATIONS ASSOCIATED WITH THE AL-MAJIRI SYSTEM NIGERIA.

The following are some of the apparent implications of the Almajiri system in Nigeria.

1. The children become vulnerable to health hazards regarding their food and clothes; in most cases, some of these children walk barefoot.

– The food they eat: In most cases, these foods are remnants, and the actual eaters are unknown how the food was cooked and kept.

– The clothes they wear: We often see these children wearing the same cloth for up to a week or more without washing them.

This can lead them to develop skin problems due to accumulated germs.

– Walking barefoot: Some of these children walk barefoot. As a result, it leads to them contracting fungal infections on the nails (Onychomycosis) or the skin of the feet (Tinea pedis), better known as athlete’s foot.

2. They tend to be influenced negatively in terms of behaviour, e.g. They become exposed to drugs, i.e., taking drugs.

There’s a high level of theft mainly carried out by these children, e.g. snatching people’s items on the road when they get the chance.

3. These children will grow into adulthood as lazy citizens who depend solely on what people give or forcefully take away from people for survival.

 In today’s society, mainly in Northern Nigeria, children living with their parents sometimes disguise themselves as Almajiris just to get free money and food from people. These children have become so lazy that they don’t want to work; they prefer to go out and beg.

It’s important to note that this is due to some parents not taking responsibility for their children. 

A CALL FOR ACTION

For a better society, it is high time the government at all levels came in and ensured that these children are taken off the street to ensure that these children don’t become a threat to society and its people.

WAY FORWARD

The government cannot do that alone to ensure that these children are taken off the streets.

A collaboration between Government at all levels, Non-governmental organisations, Islamic religious leaders and Traditional Rulers.

Religious leaders: Religious leaders here can ensure the actual concept of the word is correctly explained to their followers as well as the need for these children to be taken off the streets through enlightening the general public about the negative consequences and acts of sins that are incurred as a result of the misapplication and the need to bring lasting solutions to it, at this moment working together to ensure that the real thing is established and the actual aim achieved.

The religious leaders are responsible for enlightening the Quranic teachers of these Almajiris on the danger of allowing the children to flood the streets begging for food.

The religious leaders also have to mediate between the Quranic teachers and wealthy Muslims to educate the rich Muslims on the need for charitable work to feed these Almajiris. They are also responsible for alerting the government through the Ministry of Youth and Development on the need to aid these Almajiri institutions and their Quranic teachers because that’s part of the government’s social responsibility instead of letting them become a menace to society. 

Traditional Rulers: Traditional rulers here are the closest people to this institution. They can physically mediate between the Almajiri institution and the government. They can ensure no child is found roaming about through their local security outfit. They can quickly investigate where the children came from, who the parents are, and so on since we now have parents who no longer take responsibility for their children.

Non-governmental organisation: The non-governmental organisation here can assist through some charitable work. i.e. distribution of food and other relevant materials.

Government: The federal government’s role in combating this menace cannot be overemphasised. The government here can put laws in place to ensure that no child is roaming the street as an Almajiri. The government can help shelter these children, i.e., just as we have government orphanages, we can adopt the same method and other assistance through collaboration with religious leaders, Traditional rulers and non-governmental organisations.

Above all, agitation for eradicating the Almajiri institution won’t be right, but a reformation.

And I hope this gets to the appropriate authority!

Aisha Yahya Ibrahim  wrote via ibrahimaishat432@gmail.com.

By Muhammadu Sabiu

A German-based Nigerian lecturer at the University of Cologne, Germany, Dr Muhsin Ibrahim, has taken to his social media handles to question some Nigerian governors for donating a huge amount of money to Nigerian pilgrims in Makkah, Saudi Arabia.

The Daily Reality understands that some of the governors who made the donations include Abba Kabir Yusuf of Kano State, Dikko Radda of Katsina State and Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed of Bauchi State.

According to reports, Governor Kabir gave 6,166 Kano pilgrims N65 million; Governor Radda gifted N278 million to Katsina pilgrims, while Governor Bala gave over 300 pilgrims 300 Saudi riyals each.

Questioning the governors’ actions, the lecturer asked what the essence of this is, looking at Nigerians’ critical situation.

His words, in Hausa, and translated into English: “For God’s sake, what is the essence of donating millions of naira to pilgrims by some governors?

“Giving out is good, but is this gift a “priority”, especially at this critical moment people are in? Hmm.”

Nigerians are in a critical situation characterised by the inflation of almost every consumable product nationwide.

Recall that an announcement of fuel subsidy removal by President Bola Tinubu during his inauguration triggered an increase in the prices of petrol by over 100%, leading to a significant increase in transportation fares and the prices of commodities.

By Uzair Adam Imam

Taraba State on Saturday was thrown into pandemonium and fear as fresh communal violence erupted in Karim Lamido Local Government Area of the state.

It was reported that the clash also brought tears to the eyes of many families who lost their relatives in the violence.

A witness who preferred anonymity told journalists that over 50 people were murdered and several houses burnt to ashes.

But police said the number of casualties cannot yet be ascertained due to the inaccessibility of the terrain at the time of the findings.

Usman Abdullahi, the State’s Police Command Spokesperson, said the new crisis between the Wurkuns and the Karimjos started around 3 a.m. as “guerilla attacks.”

“In the last few days, there have been pockets of guerilla attacks in some communities in the area whereby the Karimjos attack the Wurkuns, and the Wurkuns also attack in return, or the Wurkuns attack the Karimjos, and they also attack in return,” he said.

According to the police spokesperson, a joint security team of military and police personnel are already in the area to restore order.

By Uzair Adam Imam

Engr. Munnir Atiku Lamido, the National Vice President of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN), is declared missing by the association.

The National PRO, MACBAN, Alh. Muhammad Nura, disclosed this in a statement he made available to journalists on Friday.

According to the statement, Lamido left his house in Katsina State on Friday with the intention of traveling to Kaduna and has been missing since then.

Lamido’s car was discovered on Thursday between Jos and Kaduna road near Mararraban Jos town, parked with all his telephones inside but all efforts to trace him proved abortive so far.

The statement said, “We wish to bring to the notice of the general public and the security agencies that Engr. Munnir Atiku Lamido is missing. Engr. Munnir is the National Vice President of MACBAN.”

“He left his house in Katsina State on Friday 23th June, 2023 with the intention of traveling to kaduna. He has been missing since then.

“Anyone with useful information on Lamido’s whereabouts should kindly contact the nearest Police Station or reach out to its offices across the nation,” the statement read.