Northern Nigeria

By Ibrahim Musa

Education is a critical component of a child’s development, and a lack of quality education can have lasting consequences. The Jigawa state government’s “free education” program was intended to improve educational standards and make education more accessible. However, the so-called ‘free education’ program in the state may be doing more harm than good. While it’s true that the program removes the financial burden of education from parents, it also has hidden costs that may outweigh the benefits.

Students in the government’s “free education” program are not motivated to succeed. They know their education is already paid for, so they don’t need to study or work hard. This has led to declining grades and test scores, and students are unprepared for the future. Without motivation, students are less likely to engage with schoolwork and may have difficulty developing skills and knowledge. This can lead to a downward spiral where a lack of motivation leads to poor performance, further decreasing motivation.

Along with a lack of motivation among students, the “free education” program has led to a lack of accountability for teachers. Teachers are not motivated to do their best without the incentive of student performance. They are not held accountable for their student’s progress, which has led to a decline in the quality of teaching, and students may not reach their full potential. Without good teachers, students cannot learn the skills they need to succeed.

In addition to the issues with motivation and accountability among students and teachers, there is also a lack of motivation and accountability among parents. Since parents are not directly paying for their children’s education, they may feel less invested in their child’s success. This lack of investment can hurt the child’s education and the overall quality of education in the area.

In conclusion, the Jigawa state government’s “free education” program has serious hidden costs. It has led to a lack of motivation among students and teachers, leading to a decline in educational standards. This decline has serious implications for the future of the state, including economic decline, social problems, and an overall loss of competitiveness.

The government needs to re-evaluate the program and find a way to improve education without causing these negative consequences.

Ibrahim Musa is a primary school teacher at Egyptian Modern Model schools, Hadejia, Jigawa. He can be reached via imhadejia95@gmail.com.

By Uzair Adam Imam

The World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY), a famous Saudi-based non-governmental organisation, has pledged to construct a prestigious Islamic university in Jigawa State.

The Jigawa State Chief Press Secretary, Hamisu Mohammed Gumel, who disclosed this in a statement on Sunday, said the decision was unveiled during a visit by the state governor, Umar A. Namadi, to the WAMY office in Kano on Saturday.

According to the statement, WAMY also plans to construct a mosque with an Imam’s residence in a strategic location within the state.

Gumel stated that Governor Namadi was received by the Director of WAMY, Hashem Mohammed Abdelsalam, who said their purpose was to contribute to the spiritual well-being of the local communities of the state and beyond.

The statement read in part, “In line with their mission to empower communities and promote education, WAMY is now embarking on a monumental project to establish an Islamic university in Jigawa State. 

“Following the success of Alhikmah University in Ilorin, the organisation aims to replicate this model of excellence in Jigawa, fostering educational growth and uplifting the state’s educational landscape.

“Additionally, WAMY plans to construct a mosque with an Imam’s residence in a strategic location within the state, further contributing to the spiritual well-being of the local community,” the statement added.

By Muhammad Abdurrahman

In this interview with The Daily Reality, Ismail Hashim Abubakar, who finished his doctoral program at Mohammed V University, Rabat, in the Kingdom of Morocco, gives a synoptic picture of his PhD thesis titled “Contemporary Islamic Thought in Northern Nigeria: Shaykh Ja’far Mahmud Adam as a Case Study”. The thesis, which appears in 4 volumes, was written in both Arabic and English. Enjoy: 

At the beginning and as a background, the reader would like to know what propelled you to embark on academic research in this area and to select this topic with the personality of Shaykh Ja’afar as your case study.

I was propelled to undertake this research by many factors. Perhaps the most current and academically engaging factor was the aftermath of the 2009 Boko Haram uprisings when documentation of the saga started outflowing in different forms, including academic studies and media reportage. I observed that the Boko Haram saga was used by many writers – local and international – to, in the process of researching the evolution, growth, ideological base and all other issues associated with the insurgency, direct their attention on the late Shaykh Ja’afar Mahmud Adam and devote some portions in their works on the relationship between Shaykh Ja’afar and the founder of Boko Haram, Muhammad Yusuf.

While I acknowledge that these writers have relevant information and facts regarding this dynamic, I can confidently assert that many facts have been twisted, distorted and misrepresented. In fact, too much attention on Ja’far’s interaction with the leader of Boko Haram would certainly swerve readers’ attention to the grand reform mission Ja’afar had carried out in his career that spanned about two decades.

Furthermore, some writers made absurd and explicit allegations that should not be allowed to pass without a solid, verifiably intellectual response. Besides, the career of Shaykh Ja’afar was full of captivating and interesting episodes that would add up to the history of postcolonial Islam, contemporary religious movements, the interplay of Ulama with civil society and authorities in northern Nigeria and the Hausa-speaking world in general. In other words, if you like, confining the career of Shaykh Ja’afar to an engagement with an estranged disciple is an act of cruelty and tyranny to history.

If this is the case, how does your work differ from the previous works on Boko Haram, and what do you particularly object in them?

In my thesis, I review the representation of Ja’afar and his engagement with Boko Haram as cited in studies and reportages. I endorse what appears to be true and verifiable, while I counter what is a distortion of facts. For example, I tackle the question of Muhammad Yusuf’s studentship and mentorship under Ja’afar; here, there are two visible opinions. One opinion suggests that Yusuf was the mentee, star, protege and possible successor of Ja’afar, while the other view objects to the point of almost debunking any teacher-student relationship between the two men. I seek to stand in between these positions. Based on fieldwork I carried out in Maiduguri in 2019 and in addition to the literature I consulted, I draw a conclusion that Yusuf had, of course, studied under Ja’afar.

Nonetheless, as confirmed by several informants, Yusuf was never punctual during Ja’afar’s lessons; in fact, he did not study a complete book under Ja’afar. Consequently, I re-examined the assertion of the closeness of the two men; it manifested to me that Yusuf was never formally or informally considered Ja’afar’s heir, nor was he considered intellectually capable of taking over from Ja’afar.

Meanwhile, I make reference to Yusuf’s ideological trajectories and terminals of religious activism, starting as an ambitious young man looking for fame. As such, he took a leading position in Muslim Brotherhood, Jama’atu Tajdid al-Islam, before finally joining the Izala, which he would also break from within a couple of years. Finally, on this point, I compare Ja’afar and Yusuf, what the two figures represent to Nigerians and the legacies each one has left behind. 

What else do you address besides the Boko Haram phenomenon in your project?

Hmmm. Like I said initially, Boko Haram is a small (though most popularised) aspect of Ja’far’s career. I set a background where I give a snapshot of the state of Islam and Muslims in postcolonial Northern Nigeria, highlighting the engagement of Muslims in politics and governance while appraising the debates of Shari’ah implementation and discourse on secularism which characterised the Nigerian public sphere after the turn of the 21st century.

I also look at the relations between Muslims and Christians, pointing to the areas of divergence, which are quite many, but also the few areas where Muslims and Christians united in pursuit of a common goal. I also survey the fragmentation of Islamic society along sectarian lines by first tracing the emergence of major and minor religious sects, groups and movements and their major views and arguments. I also illuminate the interplays between these two groups and what brings/brought them together to speak in one voice. All these are meant to give much insight into the religious and landscape sociopolitical contexts in which the figure of my study lived and conducted his mission. This represents the first significant section of the work, which, as you can see, represents the first epithet in the thesis title. 

I supply a relatively detailed biography of Ja’afar, focusing on his family background, the phases of his knowledge acquisition and the factors that contributed to his public visibility as a young man, all before his sojourn to the Islamic University of Madina. 

The work dwells on Ja’afar’s reunion with the Da’awah arena after his study at Madina and how unlike before, he concentrated on the transmission of knowledge and cultivation of disciples while minimising open-air preaching. In this regard, I supply comprehensive information on the major sites and centres of Da’wah, which used to host and coordinate Ja’far’s public engagement and private study circles.

In Kano, for instance, I reserve sections in which I discuss in detail the majalis of Ja’afar, such as the Triumph Mosque in Fagge, the Beirut Road Mosque, Usman Bin Affan Mosque, Gadon Kaya, Almuntada Mosque in Dorayi and the majlis in Ungogo Road. I explicate all the activities Ja’afar conducted, such as leading prayer, teaching for open and private audiences and presentations of sermons, lectures and seminars.

In Bauchi, I make reference to sites that hosted Ja’far’s mission, such as Gwallaga Jumaat mosque, Shaykh Awaq mosque at Old GRA, Baban Godi Mosque in Mallam Goje Street and Women Centre of Bauchi located at Gombe Road. Moreover, in about thirty pages, the thesis unpacks the mission of Ja’afar in Maiduguri, with a particular reference to the activities he conducted within the Indimi Mosque, hinting at the challenges Ja’afar confronted at the beginning and the strategies he adopted in the process of consolidating his Da’wah. The work here emphasises the Qur’anic interpretation exercise Ja’afar led during Ramadan at the mosque and how it became an annual conference that attracted audiences from different parts of northern Nigeria.

But Ja’far’s mission was also characterised by other features: teaching, presenting lectures and seminars and rigorous engagements in civil and political issues. Does your work take a look at this also?

Yeah, of course. I dedicate a full and lengthy chapter that surveys and appraises Ja’far’s interactions and engagements with some events that affected Nigerian contemporary developments, Islam and Muslims, and Ja’afar’s relations with various government and public figures, religious groups and individuals. It focuses on Ja’afar’s role in the return of Shari’ah in northern Nigeria, how he collaborated with religious leaders of other groups, and how this resulted in the implementation of Shari’ah in some northern states. It also refers to Ja’far’s participation in the implementation of the Shari’ah process in Kano.

The chapter further lays bare Ja’far’s engagement with Nigerian politics, governance, politicians and public figures, taking a look at his criticism of General Obasanjo’s administration and different political and government institutions, including Kano state, his base, but also figures such as Muhammadu Buhari, Atiku Abubakar, Ahmed Yarima, Ibrahim Shekarau, Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso, Ahmed Adamu Muazu, Ahmed Makarfi, Abubakar Habu Hashidu, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, Baba Impossible, among others.

The work also relates Ja’afar’s interplay with traditional institutions, which connects to his position on the royal fathers of the northern emirates and how they disagreed with some and collaborated and had cordial relationships with others. Still in the chapter, Ja’afar’s engagement with religious groups is narrated, beginning with Salafi networks to which he belonged, the Sufi brotherhoods with whom he disagreed most of the time and the peripheral groups like the Shia, Boko Haram and others. 

As a complement to a cleric biography, the chapter categorises Ja’far’s disciples and followers into four tabaqat, just as it mentions some of his colleagues, teachers and role models. It also provides insightful information relating to Ja’afar’s assassination, including the events that preceded the tragedy and what followed it, such as the posthumous attraction of the Muslim public toward the legacy and mission of the murdered cleric. 

The final chapter in the thesis extracts the thoughts, ideas and philosophical views and visions of Ja’afar on a plethora of issues such as education, economy, sociocultural topics, marriage and women issues, politics, global politics and international affairs, relations between Muslims and non-Muslims and the prospects of peaceful coexistence. The chapter presents at the end what the researcher believes is the central position of Ja’afar on Jihad, which further unravels the extent to which he conceived violent extremism in a world and time when Islamophobia was rising high.

But how have you encountered all this stuff, which appears to involve huge materials you had to engage?

Yes, I gathered my data through multiple sources. First, I laid my hands on the available recordings of Shaykh Ja’afar, including cassettes and online content. I listened to his entire Tafsir tapes, available Friday sermons, and many of his lectures and public and private lessons on Islamic texts. I also conducted fieldwork where I travelled to many states in Northern Nigeria and met about a hundred informants. Needless to say, I consulted a great deal of literature that ranged from published books, journals, newspapers and magazines, and reliable internet pages.

What challenges did you face while undertaking this research?

A lot of daunting challenges, but a researcher must always be ready to confront them. It suffices to say that one has to be away from family to a distant land to carry out this task. But before then, I faced challenges as regards accessing some informants. For example, although the work discusses Boko Haram, I could not interview any Boko Haram members to hear some things from him directly. But the most appalling of all the challenges was the lack of positive cooperation from some of Ja’afar’s colleagues and disciples. While some of them delayed, procrastinated and even cancelled my appointments with them, some of them even avoided me and refused to give me any audience at all. Paradoxically, I got positive responses and warm accommodation from personalities who might be well counted among Ja’afar’s rivals and competitors, including Sufis and Shiites.

Which plan do you have now for this work after you have been awarded a doctoral degree?

I just remembered that the work is bilingual and in four volumes, or if you like, two volumes in Arabic and two in English. My ambition is to publish it as a book or as two books. I will be glad to edit the Arabic version and publish it in a press in an Arab world like Egypt, Lebanon, Qatar or any other country, while the English version is to be hopefully published by a Western (preferably university) press.

Is there any point you disagree with Shaykh Ja’afar in your work?

Of course, there are. I can count almost ten. 

Can you give an example?

Certainly! During one of his lessons to women at Gadon Kaya, a woman asked if it was permissible for her to make a supplication – a prayer – to ask God to prevent her husband from marrying a second wife. Shaykh Ja’afar answered that it was not permissible since marriage is lawful, and no one has the power to make unlawful something that was made lawful by God. My argument here is that in a situation where women have turned adding a second wife into their earthly hell, so much so that they go to any extent, including dangerously deadly means to thwart their husbands from the second marriage, giving a fatwa with the permissibility of praying against this wish seems to be safer for all the parties involved. If God wishes, he would answer, and if He doesn’t answer, the woman would accept fate like that. 

Are there journal articles that have been published out of this thesis?

Yes, two articles have been published so far. One was published in a journal at an Islamic University in Uganda. I examined the thoughts and ideas of Shaykh Ja’afar on education. It is available here.

The second one was published in an Indonesian journal, and it talks about Ja’far’s views on women, marriage and family institutions. It can be accessed via this link.

I expect to publish two more before the end of the year, in sha Allah. One of them presents a contextual analysis of a sermon that Ja’afar delivered at Almuntada Mosque in Kano in the aftermath of the OPC massacre of northerners in Southwestern Nigeria. In the essay, I argue that the sermon, despite its strident nature and use of highly harsh language, served as one of the rhetorical instruments that calmed frayed nerves and tensions amid the possibility of reprisal attacks. The second essay examines Ja’afar’s engagement with Boko Haram and violent extremism. 

What are your concluding remarks?

I will conclude by stressing that the clerical career of Shaykh Ja’afar has provided one of the most interesting and attractive pages in the history of Islamic activism in contemporary Nigeria and Hausa speaking world. With millions of followers and his ideas circulating within public domains, Ja’afar’s mission is worth reading and researching. I proposed in my work what I call “Jafarology”, which refers to the process of studying the legacies of Ja’afar in different dimensions and from different perspectives.

I will close by expressing my immense gratitude to all the people who supported me in one way or the other. I must thank my parents for putting me through this path early. I thank my mentor Professor Salisu Shehu, to whom I dedicate this work. I still recall his visit to Morocco in June 2022 and consider it a fatherly concern that gave some moral comfort to a son away from home. In the same vein, I thank Professor Alexander Thurston, who read my chapters and offered me invaluable suggestions and recommendations. My success in this work owes greatly to his mentorship. The same gratitude goes to Dr Abdullahi Abubakar Lamido, whose mentorship and frank counsel encouraged and motivated me to delve into this research area. I also thank a colleague of mine here, Osho Iskil Kehinde, who has greatly supported me.

I also use the medium to appreciate the Federal University Gusau management for releasing me to undergo this program. In this vein, I must thank Dr Abubakar Masama, the Dean, Faculty of Arts; Dr Qasim Badamasi, the former HOD, Islamic Studies; Malam Abdallah Bashir Bakori, Dr Ja’far Agaji, the present HOD, and all the colleagues within the Department of Islamic Studies and Faculty of Arts of the University.

Last, I must reiterate my thanks to Dr Anas al-Shaykh Ali, the Director of the IIIT London Office. Sister Shiraz Khan, a coordinator at the Office, the Director of the Institute of Epistemological Studies Europe (IESE) in Brussels, Dr Beddy Ebnou al-Murabity and Dr Naima Daoudi for being of great help to me. It was these institutions that sponsored my entire studies here in Morocco.

Najeeb Ibrahim

Peace is not just a state of mind which is personal but also that which could be an inter-personal, inter-communal, inter-regional, and global phenomenon.

Kano State is free from bandits and kidnappers in contrast to other northern states like Zamfara, Sokoto, Katsina, and Kaduna. Thus, the state becomes an asylum for many people from different parts of Nigeria. A single issue that bedevils the tranquillity of the state is thuggery (dabanci).

Thuggery has been a threat to the people of Kano for an extended period. It costs many people’s lives and prompts the distraction of many properties. Recently, the abominable act has arisen, forcing people indoors before dusk.

In parts of Gwale local government, two warring parties from Hausawa quarters and their opponents in Kofar Naisa disrupt our peace. They have been fighting each other for a long time. Very recently, Hausawa thugs ventured into the community of Kofar Naisa around 1 am to take revenge for their brother, who was wounded by one of Naisa’s ruffians.

Police tried to quell the fight. They fired several tear gases. One of the tear gas canisters dropped fell in our neighbourhood. The family of the house, including children and a two-month-old baby, wept; the baby even fainted at night. Many car wind glasses were broken, several kiosks were burgled, and the thugs stole many things.

The Kano State police commissioner has been working hard to ensure that thugs and thuggery have no hidden place in the state. In the last two weeks, the commissioner announced some names of thugs’ leaders to surrender themselves. Otherwise, he resolved to fish them out by himself. We are deeply in debt to the enormous effort of the commissioner.

Civilians also have roles to play to surmount the situation in the state:

First, if anyone is known to be in the dirty business of thuggery, offer a piece of useful advice to him. Cite him some references with those who have long been in the messy business. Ask him whether they achieve anything worthwhile in life or not. Tell him soothingly that most end their lives in misery and sycophancy.

Second, if you have the means, help him go back to school. If it is a financial problem that refrains him from furthering his education and he decides to enrol into the school of thuggery, but apart from you, you are not financially stable to assist him, tell someone whom you know can hepl him. It says, “Knowledge is light, and it guides us to the right path”.

Also, avoid dissociating from him, and advise your friends not to do so. Many thugs decry dissociation from their friends; they neither talk to them nor invite them to events like wedding ceremonies and so on.

A similar case happened in Makasa quarters. A retired thug got frustrated by his friends. They dispersed and left him alone if he joined them in their setting place (majalisa). Nobody showed him an appreciation for his withdrawal from his former self.  He became incommunicado in his society.  In the end, anxiety and depression led him to murder himself.

Second, to last, form a youth organisation in your locality. Assemble at least once in a fortnight. Discuss your problems, and offer solutions and pieces of advice to yourselves. Let everyone feels at home with one another.

And finally, report any thugs’ meeting point you know to the police station near you. Do not hesitate. Because as long as thuggery persists in our society, our lives and properties will never be safe.

May Allah guide us to the right path and guide those who have already gone astray amin.

Najeeb Ibrahim wrote from Kano. He can be reached via inajeeb08@gmal.com.

By Muhammad Suleiman Yobe

Hadejia Emirate Council in Jigawa State has relieved one of its traditional title holders, Alhaji Abubakar Hussain Abubakar, known as Dan Lawan of Hadejia.

This is contained in a letter sent to The Daily Reality by Muhammad Garba Talaki, a Public Relations Officer of the Council, signed by Council Secretary Alhaji Muhammad Baffale Abbas.

Baffale said the dismissal was due to his engagement with illicit drugs.

He said the council confirmed the matter through a letter from National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) Jigawa State intimating the council on the issue.

He added that the traditional title holder refused to honour an invitation letter sent by the Emirate Council to defend himself, which was found to be disrespectful to the council.

Consequently, Alhaji Abubakar Hussain Abubakar was dismissed and warned to avoid parading himself as Dan Lawan of Hadejia.

Secretary Alhaji Muhammad Baffale advised the general public, especially those interacting with him, to take note.

He said the strict measure was taken to serve as a deterrent to other traditional leaders and urged traditional leaders in the area to be sound moral.

By Salisu Uba Kofar Wambai

Atiku Abubakar made campaign promises about tackling border closure which seriously ushered hardships, especially in the North. He equally rolled out plans to liberate Nigeria from the shackles of foreign loans President Muhammadu Buhari immersed it into.

PDP is the party that has formidable and unnerving politicians who fought tooth and nail for democracy to thrive in this country. The party people know the long walk to freedom they walked, and their 16-year dispensation spoke for them. 

PDP mastered campaigns for the creditors to give us waivers, which prevented the country from such loan spells. They ensured Nigeria hadn’t been submitted to total external control like we see today with APC’s inexperienced and heartless dispensation.

PDP has think tanks that guide their foreign relations which made sure we did not accept in toto any development strategy which could undermine the welfare of citizens in the long run. Thanks to their inclusion of technocrats both from home and outside in their socioeconomic and political decision makings 

Atiku was an integral part of all these goodies mentioned; that’s why we suggested northern voters vote for him during the 2023 presidential campaigns. As a northerner who willingly gave power to the South from 1999 to 2015, I thought it was economically stagnant due to the selfish allocation of federal government projects under OBJ and GEJ. The North had expected Buhari to compensate the region for even development of the country.

However, Buhari seemed to have failed and was ignorant of why power was being rotated at the centre. He favoured the South in many aspects of development project allocations like railways, good roads, bridges and electricity. 

Most of the projects Northerners have been clamouring for, like Mumbila Power Plants, Baro Port, Ajakuota Steel Company, KKK gas pipeline projects, and roads linking states of the region, have not seen the lights of the day. And how could North continue to support power-sharing and shift these injustices, shabbiness and iniquity?

The southern PDP governors under Nyesom Wike led a mischievous campaign against their party candidate PDP to work for the southern presidency. They were not a bunch of idiots like some undesirable elements of the northern politicians who selfishly sold out the region for their egocentric notions.

Now that Nigerians are paying the price of what they had bought by bringing APC to power again, we must remind our people how to become politically smart next election season. And many folks from this part of the country cannot still see things as they are. Sad.

Salisu Uba Kofar Wambai writes from Kano State and can be reached via salisunews@gmail.com.

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.