Northern Nigeria

By Salisu Yusuf

Musa Abubakar, 29, was born a full-sighted child in Daura, Katsina State. He came from a low-income family, though his mother teaches at a primary school. Her job helps her support a family that lost their breadwinner 18 years ago.

At 9, Musa started feeling some discomfort and strain in his eyes. When his mother took him to a hospital, he was diagnosed with “retinitis pigmentosa,” a rare inherited degenerative eye disease. Initially, he witnessed vision decrease and impairment, especially at night or in low light. While Musa went through this predicament, his father was bedridden with a terminal illness. So, he was loaded with the dice at a tender age.

At 11, he lost his father and, later, his sight. Life had taken its toll on him as he grappled with going to school, looking for a guide and contending with walking with a blind cane. Musa felt lonely, isolated and disillusioned; he needed a company that proved elusive. Sometimes he would want somebody beside him with a gentle nudge, but nobody was around to whom he could unburden and escape from his loneliness. So he started meditating on an escape route.

Later, Musa discovered that education was the only antidote against loneliness, boredom and disillusionment. So he went back to school. In the beginning, his classmates served as his guides. However, social stigma forced him to opt for a blind cane as his guides were insulted or maligned daily. Whenever he reached class, his classmates would take notes and dictate to him. His mother had attested to his precocious talent; he demonstrated extra guile and quick-wittedness during his childhood.

After his primary education, he also joined another conventional junior school, obtaining a junior school certificate with flying colours. His potential was realised when in 2015, he joined Katsina School for the Blind. He learned how to use his “embosser typewriter” to take braille (a form of written language for the blinds, in which the characters are represented by raised dots that are felt with the fingertips). He also learned to use his emboser printer to convert conventional texts into braille for easy manual reading. He artfully mastered the skill of manual reading. Whenever I visit him, I am bewitched by the power, beauty and manual dexterity of his tactile reading. 

Musa Abubakar completed his ABU diploma in English Education at the College of Arabic and Islamic Studies, Daura, with a merit pass in 2020. 

His academic activities were wonderfully exceptional; he didn’t only surpass many full-sighted coursemates, but he mastered a good command of English during class presentations.

While studying for his diploma, Musa proved exceptional and combined conventional and unique learning methods. He used the braille writer to take notes, a recorder to record the lecturer’s voice,  and would later use the braille printer to write his notes and unorthodoxly use the braille writer to convert longer texts into braille for easy manual decoding. 

Musa is currently a 200-level undergraduate of English at an NTI degree satellite centre in Daura. He weaves baskets and local chairs to earn his daily bread and support his education. He can teach and perfectly write on the board. He can also assess his students by converting their works into his embosser and grading them. He’s also computer literate. 

Katsina State Government should not leave this talented blind man to waste. Instead, he should be employed so that his intellectual treasures are explored. His likes shouldn’t be left to beg. They should, like his braille, be converted to help the human cause. 

Salisu Yusuf wrote from Katsina via salisuyusuf111@gmail.com.

By Lawi Auwal Yusuf

The unfortunate attack on the advance team ahead of President Buhari’s visit to his hometown, Dura, Katsina State, made the day of so many people. Indeed, it’s unarguable that, initially, the administration commanded deep respect. It was the most liked, revered and popular in this country’s history. But, of course, today, it’s the most loathed, and people solemnly disown it with an excessive feeling of hate. What stimulated such offensive aversion and malice? Why did this esteem veneration turn a disgust overnight? What made such immense support go swiftly on the wane? These are questions we need to ask ourselves.

For over a decade, people gave their lives, wealth and resources for the success of the assumed emancipator to wipe out the woes and salvage the country that came within the whisker of a failed nation come rain, come shine. People expected the saviour to be whiter than white, demonstrate ingenuity and were very optimistic that he would make life far better off than in the previous regimes. Instead, failure to create a framework for his success led to an embarrassing fallacy change, contrarily making life worst off. Moreover, forging policies behind the times really ravaged people’s lives, making the poor poorer.

Unfortunately, things went downhill after taking over the big office; life became an epic struggle for the masses to earn a living at a push. The economy is flat on its back, while markets are dead. We also witness a significant rise in unemployment, inflation, heinous crimes and terrorism. The security forces were overwhelmed and couldn’t check the horrific security threats, lest dancing to the tune of politicians and remain only specialised in molesting those that come out against the status quo or political opponents.

Moreover, to add insult to injury, tertiary institutions were closed for almost a year, whereas no society can develop unless its citizens are well educated. Regrettably, the country descends deeper into crisis. Hence, no one enjoys life at the moment, and hopes of a better life have faded.

As a result, the administration fell flat on its face, fell from favour due to corruption and mismanagement, disappointing even the most loyalist cohorts. They should have taken the great expectations, faithful confidence, and trust reposed on them seriously, not an indifferent attitude.

However, taking a leaf from the books of other dynamic leaders who made history was a good idea. They should have picked the brains of successful personalities like Lincoln, Mandela, Lee or Mao. But instead, they show a great zest for life, spend public funds like water, engage in swanky trips that break the bank and award lavish contracts for self-enrichment and kinsmen. Indeed, the damage done in those few years will surely take decades to repair. Today, people are not out of the woods yet and have realised that the wolf in sheep’s clothing and the past malignant regimes are but six of one and half a dozen of the other.

Not realising the long-lost potential of this nation and forging a global superpower blew their best chances of becoming great leaders without equality. This consequently irritates people and turns their back on them for achieving nothing important. It is so vexing that they cannot be courteous enough to return such favour, going down in history as the worst actors.

This abnegation has shown that people are in hot water. They are on the wrong side of the people and have pushed them too far. They are in their bad books for stabbing them in the back and no longer run the country’s affairs with their consent. However, it manifested the frustration, anxieties and disparagement that depict the lives of the citizens of this dystopian country. Thus, they are worn out of the cruelty and no longer anticipate any help. They are only anxious to survive to the end of this hardship.

As they are still blind to their faults, they will soon realise the error of their ways when given the push come 2023. The future of the party hangs in the balance, while history will always show them in an unfavourable light. However, we will never despair because we honestly believe that where there is life, there is hope.

Lawi Auwal Yusuf wrote from Kano, Nigeria. He can be reached via laymaikanawa@gmail.com.

By Alkasim Harisu Alkasim

If you are eating like a horse, learn to eat like a bird because once in the abductors’ den, you will never gain enough to eat. Your thighs, hips, and cheeks will slenderise. Recently, nothing devastates me like the story of three abductees. Still, I was wondering how in this world a person would choose to win his living either by robbing, kidnapping, etc. and feel okay notwithstanding. This huge misfortune leaves me wallowing in confusion. 

The story opens with a taxi driver, a mother, and her daughter chartered to convey them to some place in Kaduna. The woman was also in the company of a young man, her close relative. The woman is a do-gooder because her trip was bound for a place populating the poor. She was travelling there to distribute goods and other gifts to the needy. But, alas! The goody-goody gesture of this fortysomething mother suffered the sabotage and heartlessness of a cruelty-ridden lad who also doubles as a relative. He has made his bed and must lie in it because he must reap what he has sowed when the authority arrests him.

The incident communicates a misfortunate and the truth we are no longer safe even in the fellowship of friendly people, our blood included. Society abounds with criminals starving and drowning in the urge to make megabucks. We are just between Scylla and Charybdis. Our desire to live beyond our means transforms our societies into hell. And all hell breaks loose when people choose to not live within their means. We want to cut ties with poverty by living a prostitute life. This is the path many youths have picked and chosen for themselves. 

One of the kidnap kingpins, to whom money means nothing, told the kidnapped driver that should he get a house to buy in the G.R.A, he would buy it no matter how expensive, provided the government would let him walk alone. That an abductor had such an intention demonstrates what a menace kidnap is. The kidnapper obviously envies the life his kidnappees will continue to enjoy once he releases them. This afforded him the idea of thieving out of the kidnapping den at the slightest opportunity. To hell with such a life of people abductors.

The kidnappers are exceptionally talented at weaponsmithing. They manufacture local double barrels that can gun down five people at a time should they vertically line up. When asked about the number of the kidnappers at the den, the driver-cum-abductee said, after swearing, that they amounted to a thousand. I am still reeling from the zinger of hearing this harrowing story. 

Rest assured, the desire to make beaucoup bucks overnight is the Newton apple pushing these low-IQ people into kidnapping. The kidnappers’ den is not a home away from home. But instead, a Jahannam on earth. The lust for money triggers kidnapping to catch fire in the North. Bitten by poverty, many youths choose to become repeat-offending abductors.

If their prey misbehaves, the abductors eat him for breakfast. Nobody can dream of getting a breakfastcupful of tea or milk in the morning, never mind chips or fried yam. When their hostages are hungry, these wrongdoers give them a small mango to lick and a bottle of water to share among the five or even more. There is always not enough to eat. When everybody is silent, nobody should break the silence. Otherwise, the kidnappers will break his balls. 

Certainly, kidnapping makes a song and dance about our wobbling social structure. What a prettily dilemmatic situation that destroys our social fabric! This menace is never a job in which one can make a name. The government should make an example of them to the teeming public when it arrests them. The police should feel their collar and take them to court for proper sentencing. Frankly, from the perspective of readiness and sufficiency, we are still in dire need of security agents. But, of course, we need enough sense to pound sand into the rathole. 

According to a victim, a few security personnel would underwhelm the outpouring number of the kidnappers because they are enough to choke a horse. The situation is enough to make the angels weep. Thus, the government should provide its people with enough security to avoid throwing them to the wolves. The kidnappers are armed to the teeth while the hostages are naked as the day one entered the world. These baddies have got screaming guns fit to wake the dead. 

The driver said there was a time when the kidnapppers narrowly escaped soldiers’ arrest, which compelled them to change den by forcing their victims to walk to a distant place on foot. In the kidnappers’ den, no one can stand on their two feet because horror looms. The den presents a panorama of difficulties. The kidnappers deny the hostages water as if they were drought-tolerant trees. The faculty of these people must not be intact due to their bestiality and inhumanity. The driver, who shares no blood with the woman and her daughter, established a kindred spirit with them. The trio began to bear the undertreatment they were suffering. 

The kidnappers cannot eat, wear, or sleep where they want. They are only trousering, potting and sacking money they cannot enjoy. They do their utmost to herd the kidnapped by being all eyes and ears with them. They do not give ear to anything unless it is relevant to their job. The kidnappers’ lair is where the sexy ladies cannot hussy up, nor can they keep themself to themself. It is where everybody contemplates escaping, and one can quickly get gunned down if they fail to fall to command.

It is also where the hostage is to eat out of the palm of his master’s hand. A place where no one should drive the kidnappers up the wall. A place where downpouring of torture is a common occurrence. A place where everybody is constantly at a loss for words. Maltreatment and suffering are the only hood of this hell on earth. These abductors rape female hostages in a very unacceptable way, even to women selling sex.

The driver said that he had absolutely lost hope in living when they were relocated to another hideout as the security agents nearly ambushed them. More so, in the early days of their kidnapping, the kidnappers swore to kill him and the daughter of the Hajiya on account of I.D cards they saw them carrying. The abductors mistook the cards for police I.D cards. The driver and the girl insisted that they were not police officers and that his card was a driving licence card and the girl’s was a school’s. They did not leave them alone until they asked one abductee to clarify the situation for them. Still, they partially agreed with the cards. 

To be continued.

By Muhammed-Bello Buhari

Claim: Atiku, Nigeria’s former Vice President and the Peoples Democratic Party presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, claimed that 90 per cent of northerners are not on social media while responding to a question in an exclusive pre-recorded interview on Arise TV aired on Friday, July 22.

Atiku made the claim, suggesting that the Labour Party cannot make inroads in northern Nigeria. He played down the possibility of Labour Party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi, causing an upset to his presidential ambition during the next year’s general elections.

His words:

“It is very difficult to expect a miracle to happen simply because Peter Obi is in the Labour Party. After all, they were saying through social media [that] they had more than one million votes in Osun state.

“But how many voters turned for the Labour Party? And then again, mark you; you’re talking about social media. In the north, 90 per cent of our people are not tuned to social media.”

With this claim, social media was awash with all sorts of counterclaims. Nigerians on Facebook and Twitter knocked the former vice president out for his comment, alleging that such a claim is untrue.

Verification:

According to the Digital Report 2021 by Datareportal—one of the world’s most trusted sources of social media data, insights and trends—the number of social media users in Nigeria was equivalent to 15.8% of the total population (208.8 million) in January 2021. This means there were 33.00 million social media users in Nigeria in January 2021.

This same report recorded the total population of the northern region to be 128.17 million. This is also in line with the National Bureau of Statistics figures on Nigeria’s demographics, using data from the National Population Commission.

So assuming that the divide of the social media users in Nigeria between the south and the north is 50-50. i.e. of the 33 million users, 16.5 million are northerners. This means that of the 128.17 northerners, only 12.9 per cent are on social media, representing 87.1 per cent are not on social media.

And given the apparent disparities in internet usage between the north and south due to market size, urbanization, economic development, income, telephone density and employment, which are the major contributory factors to the divide as reported in the research conducted on the digital divide in Nigeria, there’s at least a 60-40 percentage divide between the south and north in terms of internet and social media usage.

As such, 40 per cent of Nigeria’s 33 million social media users is 13.2 million. This means that of the 128.17 northerners, only 10 per cent are on social media, which also means that 90 per cent are not on social media.

Verdict: Atiku’s claim that 90 per cent of northerners are not on social media is backed up by data. Findings have shown that only 10 per cent of northerners are on social media. Therefore, the claim is valid.

Muhammed-Bello Buhari is a freelance fact-checker based in Kaduna and can be reached via embbuhari@gmail.com.

By Hassan Ahmad

The term “Japa” is slang used by Nigerians to refer to the continuous exodus of young Nigerians to the developed countries in search of greener pastures with the intent of not returning home. Japa is widely accepted in southern Nigeria, with many youths leaving Nigeria in the last decade. The justification for this mass departure is not farfetched. They include unemployment, insecurities, incessant strike actions by university teachers enabled by the government and other social problems cumulatively, among others. But on the other hand, the direct opposites of these push factors are the pull factors that also encourage it.  

The southern region of Nigeria housed the larger percentage of industries available in this country, with a better literacy rate and a better standard of living. 

However, in the North, the story is by far worse. Topping the list is insecurities from the Boko Haram ravaged northeast to the bandits’ taking over of northwestern villages and the ethno-religious conflicts in the north-central states. Don’t forget farmer-herders’ conflicts, too. 

Aside from insecurity, the poverty rate in the North is alarming – constituting 86 per cent as of 2021. In addition, illiteracy is prevalent, and there is high existence of unemployment as well as under-employment.  

From the above, we’ll understand that northern youths have more reasons to Japa and never look back, but that has not been the case. This can be understood to play out this way for obvious reasons: deep kinship relationship, lack of understanding of the evolving nature of the 21st century, fear of the unknown, ill contentment and others. 

The underlying issue is that it’ll no longer take long before the northern youths follow the footsteps of their southern counterparts and get fed up with Nigeria, and look beyond the seas and deserts to better their lives. Oh!  It has started already. Thousands of youths are already risking their lives through the Sahara desert with the hope of reaching Europe or the Middle East. Many others who were chanced to have acquired scholarships overseas ended up staying in those countries to pursue a living. This creates two scenarios.

While the educated northern youths get out of the country legally through scholarships and fellowship, the less educated and uneducated look for their ways illegally and, in most cases, lose their lives or ending as sex slaves. We lose our best brains to the developed world while losing our uneducated ones who can alternatively be a source of labour to the graves.  This means that the youths who are supposed to carry the northern and Nigerian dream (if there is any) are giving up already.

Where is the Northern Governors Forum? Have they provided a roadmap for the development of the North, how to tackle insecurity, unemployment, poverty or even improve education? 

Or the Forum is meant for negotiating power between the ruling elites? So why must it be far away Lagos that’ll have the foresight to partner with Kebbi in producing Lake-rice? Why not Kaduna, Kano or Nasarawa?  

Why is the same Forum quiet while their young people are out of school for an avoidable strike?  North is the most hit by the ASUU strike because 90% or more of her students depend on public universities for their education. Is this too hard for the governors to understand? Have they ever intervened? 

Northern leaders should rise to their responsibilities before it’s too late. The outside world is open to all but cannot afford to embrace us all. So it is either they make the North a home for the younger ones, or we look for another home. There is no sense in sticking to the parents that humiliate you all your life. 

As things are, if there is an opportunity, let’s Japa too, legally. 

Hassan Ahmad Usman writes from Lafia, Nasarawa State, Nigeria. He can be reached via basree177@gmail.com.

By Aisar Fagge and Uzair Adam Imam

The House of Representatives has urged the federal government to come to the rescue of Darazo community in Bauchi State affected by a devastating flood a few days ago.

The Daily Reality gathered that the devastating flood disaster destroyed more than 200 houses, farmlands and other sources of livelihood.

The lawmakers made the call through the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), the North East Development Commission (NEDC) and other relevant agencies.

However, reports disclosed that this was coming Wednesday at the plenary after the adoption and passage of a motion moved by the member representing Darazo/Ganjuwa Federal Constituency, Mansur Manu Soro.

Soro expressed deep concern over what happened in the community that the flood had displaced thousands of citizens.

Therefore, The House has called on the NEMA to provide support to the victims and to also engage the Bauchi State Government with a view to resettling those who were displaced by the flood disaster.

By Usman Ibrahim

For a long time, Kano State has battled the enormous increase in drug abuse and trafficking of illicit drugs. Most commonly, many people directly or indirectly abuse drugs. In the past, only male youths aged 18 years and above were the major players in the business. But these days, it is more heart-aching that underage boys and girls, including married women, are into drug abuse, and it is increasing by the day and assuming top spots on the statistics.

People often see drug abusers as jobless who consume the drugs to forget their problems of unemployment and poverty. The precarious situation makes them steal from their families, friends, and even their communities.

Drug addicts are particularly vulnerable to politicians who utilize them to cause havoc during elections and protect them from the wrath of the law after their arrest. When they don’t get the opportunity to become the “boys” of the politicians, they resort to their communities and continue to cement their legacies as the greatest criminals of their time.

In addition, they sometimes make it uncomfortable for people in their communities to commute to some streets. Unfortunately, though, others see drug abuse as something one chooses to do due to peer group influence. Unfortunately, even teens living in stable and affluent homes are also into this drug addiction – many rich teens are into drug abuse despite all the care their parents have shown them.

Badawa in Kano State is one of the communities notorious for drug abuse. It is an intensely multi-ethnic setting harbouring diverse ethnicities but deeply troubled by illicit drug sales and consumption for over a decade. In an interview with a teenager into selling these intoxicants, he admitted that he couldn’t stop selling illegal drugs because he earns a lot from it, and many people from distant places come and buy from him at expensive rates. I also asked him whether he was aware of the anti-drugs agency or the vigilante groups who would arrest him, and he said he was aware. Still, he cannot stop because it is the only way to source his income.

But a philanthropist defies all odds to change existing narratives in the community. Seeing the height of the problem has made the anonymous Good Samaritan solve the menace. With his own money, he purchased three cars, walkie-talkies and uniforms to help arrest hard drug dealers and employed some men in the community’s vigilante group to assist in the fight.

According to Badar, one of the vigilante members, “At least we have arrested more than ten drug dealers in which some of them are in prison”. However, he also states that their work involves too much risk because some drug dealers walk along with knives, sharp horns and machetes, among other dangerous local weapons. So they are always cautious in handling their operations. And they work hand in hand with NDLEA to give them more information about the community.

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency’s (NDLEA) significant role is exterminating illicit drug trafficking and consumption in Nigeria. And also, it is for the sake of protecting the country from the dangers of hard drugs. Since the agency’s establishment in 1989, the war against hard drugs has been increasing yearly. The agency tries its best to tackle drug trafficking and importation of hard drugs such as cocaine, marijuana, cough syrups and other hard substances. However, the activities of philanthropists cannot be underscored because of the rapid increase in violence, especially during elections and among drug addicts in communities.

Therefore, combating drug abuse as well as securing the lives and properties of Nigerians needs collaborative efforts between security agencies, community leaders as well as philanthropists. If there is a time when these collaborations are desperately needed, it is now.

Usman Ibrahim is a level 200 student from the Department of Information and Media Studies, Bayero University, Kano. He can be reached via usmannibrahim66@gmail.com.

• Director: Hafizu Bello

• Producer: Abubakar Bashir Mai-Shadda

• Screenplay: Naziru Alkanawiy

• Language: Hausa

• Company: Mai-Shadda Global Resources Limited

• Release Date: 9/7/2022

• Cast: Amal Umar, Nura Hussaini, Adam A. Zango, Sani Danja, Shamsu Dan Iya, Sani Mu’azu, Kanayo O. Kanayo, Sadiya Umar, Abdurrazak Sultan, etc.

You can hardly see a ‘thriller’ or a ‘crime mystery film’ in Kannywood’s archive. Recently, however, the trend has begun to change, as the rare genre is being explored by the veteran director Hafizu Bello. After presenting the murder mystery film HIKIMA in 2021, he came again with another one entitled AISHA. It revolves around the eponymous character, a rape victim who eventually dies, and her parents’ struggle for justice.

Aisha (Amal Umar) is a university student from a low-income family. Her father, Malam Balarabe (Nura Hussaini), tries his best to see her success. However, one fateful day, she is found lying, raped and wounded on campus. The police soon arrive and take her to the hospital. Meanwhile, the university management is more concerned about the school’s reputation. They, therefore, conspire with the police officer in charge of the case, SP Audu Makera (Adam A. Zango) and the doctor (Abba El- Mustapha) to hide the embarrassing incident.

Aisha’s parents are upset and anxious to know the cause of their daughter’s critical condition, but the doctor refuses to tell them. Therefore, her father questions the official report issued after she dies and files a petition to get justice. The audience is then taken to the courtroom, where everything is unmasked at the end.

Typical of mystery films, the plot is uncommonly twisted. Many sequences are cut before they end and later continued as flashbacks, particularly when the suspects are interrogated. There are more flashbacks as the defendants and witnesses talk during the court sessions. But all are flawlessly pieced together. The credit should go to the director, Hafizu Bello, who handles the film with the finesse of a devoted artist. Other crew members also did remarkably well. The cinematography is top-notch, and the locations are beautiful. There is also good use of costumes and props.

The film exposes the grim reality in some higher institutions where the students commit serious misconduct. It can also be a wake-up call for parents to be extra cautious about their female children. We see how Aisha duped her father into believing she would spend her night in the hostel but ended up in her boyfriend’s room, where the tragedy later befalls her. The film also highlights how the elite plot against the masses to protect their selfish interests.

Indeed, Aisha is a decent, well-crafted movie with a strong message and realistic narrative. However, the University setting and courtroom dramas make it somewhat formulaic, resembling the director’s previous film Hikima. It would’ve also been more intriguing if it had begun from the scene where Aisha is shown lying on the ground.

The film has an all-star cast, and the actors fit their respective roles. But some of them, like Yakubu Muhammad and Baballe Hayatu, are wasted as minor characters. The eponymous heroine (Amal Umar), the prime suspect (Shamsu Dan Iya) and the security personnel (Sani Danja and Adam A. Zango) all try to pull off good performances. However, it’s Nura Hussaini that steals every scene he features. The courage and anguish he communicates as Aisha’s hapless father seem extremely real. The lawyers (Sani Mu’azu and Sadiya Umar) and the judge (Kanayo O. Kanayo) also play their part with remarkable capacity.

Although Aisha is not a masterpiece, it’s better than the fluffs Kannywood churn out regularly. I, therefore, strongly recommend it—rating 3.5/5.

Reviewed by:

Habibu Maaruf Abdu

Kano, Nigeria

habibumaaruf11@gmail.com

By Ibrahim Uba Yusuf

Since I arrived in Germany to complete the last lap of my PhD studies, I intended to start a travelogue on cultural shock. Unfortunately, my quest suffered a setback for two reasons. Firstly, I have a tight working schedule for writing my thesis on the Culture Industry (Hausa home videos) and their contribution to peacebuilding in northern Nigeria. Therefore, dealing with various raw data, literature, doctoral colloquium, and conferences was overwhelming. Secondly and sadly, I lost my stepmother Hajja Aishatu (may Allah have mercy on her soul), who has cared for us, including our aged father, since my mother died in 2002. Her death threw me into a state of confusion and thus compelled me to suspend it.

Now to the issue: the journey to Kassel. It was Eid-el Adha globally. Since it is not the first time I am experiencing Sallah outside Nigeria, I envisaged it would be dry. So, after observing the two voluntary Eid Prayers at about 6:10 am (German time), I proceeded to Hauptbahnhof (the central train station). The journey is about an hour on the ICE train (the fastest train in Germany) and about three hours on regional trains (which are slow but relatively cheaper) from Hildesheim. The journey to Kassel marks the end of a week-long UNESCO Symposium on Artistic Interventions in educational and social contexts organised by the UNESCO Chair, Professor Julius, who doubles as my German Supervisor.  

Documenta is one of the largest art exhibitions in Germany, which started in Kassel in 1955 with the sole aim of displaying a variety of contemporary artworks such as sculpture, film, photography and painting, among others. Held every five years, this is the fifteenth edition of the International engagement for arts. During the walk to various exhibition stands, I became interested in the open cinema in Karlswiese. This is due to my bias in broadcasting and film studies. The open cinema, a work by The Nest Collective, is tagged ‘Return to Sender—Delivery Details 2022’. It was locally constructed from dystopian waste to mimic the Global North. The dystopian waste was carefully packaged to serve as acoustic panels for the cinema walls to control external noise and echo.

In all honesty, this is my first time seeing such an amazing innovation. Scraps of electronic devices imported to the Global South were packaged and displayed for exhibition. The message embedded in this tag, ‘Return to Sender’, of course, suggests the frustration by the Global North and the radical position taken to mitigate not only importation but waste management. This dystopian waste introduces a new alternative to the existing acoustic panels in our television and radio studios, which is economical and easy to construct. In contrast to other acoustic panels, the installations offer a better aesthetic and sound control. I strongly recommend this innovation to our local cinemas (viewing centres), public and private broadcast stations, and Departments of Mass Communication and Performing Arts. I am not unmindful of the digitisation drive. While we continue the digitisation plan, I believe this can serve as an alternative that may be attuned to the sustainability discourse.

Unfortunately, Nigeria is among the countries with poor waste management. The Environment Performance Index (EPI) 2022 ranked Nigeria 168 out of 180 countries. Also, a United Nations Industrial Development Organization report shows that Nigeria produces 32 million tonnes of waste annually. With this record, Nigeria stands a chance of changing the negative discourse on environmental health, hygiene and sustainability.

Nigerians must change their nonchalant attitude toward indiscriminate waste disposal. As I write this article, one of my greatest challenges living in Germany is separating the waste into the appropriate trash cans. In Germany, paper, plastic and organic bio-waste are separated. Waste separation is comprehensive and taken seriously by both Germans and the government.

 While there is no Recycling Plant in the country, all those Baban Bola (scavengers) can be utilised and strengthened to ensure a clean environment. The services rendered by those people deserve special recognition. We must begin this campaign from our homes, schools, worship places, media and markets. Nigeria deserves to be clean.

Ibrahim Uba Yusuf wrote from Germany and can be reached at itsibrahimsite@gmail.com.

By Hassan Idris

In discussing sexual and gender-based violence, it is of utmost importance to distinguish between sex and gender. Sex is the biological predisposition of being a male or female, while gender refers to a social construction which is socially created. It’s sexual and gender-based violence because it’s violence against the sexual predisposition of somebody, accompanied by social and cultural norms against one’s gender. Sexual and gender-based violence can be violence against men by men, men by women, women by men or women by women. But I’ll be more concerned with violence against women by men. 

Culture and Gender-Based Violence

The role culture plays in sexual and gender-based violence is perilous because most sexual and gender-based violence cases revolve around social and cultural norms that are culturally made by society. Social norms are contextually and socially derived uncontested intentions of ethical behaviours. Sexual and gender-based violence persists as one of the extensively prevalent and ongoing issues confronting women and girls globally.

Disputes and other humanitarian emergencies spot women and girls at heightened risk of numerous forms of sexual and gender-based violence. The Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) 2015 Guidelines for Integrating Sexual and Gender-based Violence Interventions in Humanitarian Action defines sexual and gender-based violence as “any fatal act that is perpetrated against a person’s will, and that is based on socially ascribed (i.e., gender) differences between females and males. 

What Makes up Gender-Based Violence?

Gender-based violence comprises conduct that imposes physical, sexual or mental harm or hardship, perils of such acts, intimidation and other deprivations of freedom. These destructive acts can transpire in public and in private. Toxic social norms that strengthen sexual and gender-based violence include women’s sexual virtue, conserving family respect over women’s safety, and men’s sovereignty to discipline women and children.

It’s paramount for us to know that women are at enormous risk of sexual and gender-based violence. We have seen circumstances where women are endangered by parental violence and violence during adolescence, and survivors always report adverse effects on physical, mental and reproductive health. Yet, often time hostile health and social effects imposed on women are never dealt with because often women do not divulge sexual and gender-based violence to providers or key health care or other services (e.g., safety, legal, traditional authorities) because of social norms that accuse the woman for the onslaught. 

Personal Experience with Gender-Based Violence

I can recall a friend’s elder brother who molested and beat his wife mercilessly because she served his mother food with her left hand. To him, it’s against his culture, and he had to beat his wife till she was hospitalised. Another man beat his wife because she cooked food for him while she was on her menstrual period, which he claimed went against his culture and traditional norms. There are many cases where women are badly hit because of their biological predispositions and cultural norms that give men more power.

Social and Psychological Impacts of Gender-Based Violence.

Sexual and gender-based violence have caused a lot of physiological, psychological and sociological injuries to numerous women. All indicate and enhance inequities between men and women and jeopardise victims’ health, self-respect, protection and freedom. Moreover, it incorporates various human rights infringements, including sexual exploitation of teenagers, rape, home cruelty, sexual battering and harassment, trafficking of women and girls and multiple other dangerous traditional practices.

Any one of these abuses can leave deep mental wounds; ravage the well-being of women and girls in a widespread manner, encompassing their reproductive and sexual health, and in some specimens, results in death. 

It is a Human Rights Violation

Violence against women is the most vastly yet subtlest renowned human rights intimidation in the world. It is an exhibition of historically unequal hegemony approaches between men and women, which have directed to dominance over and unfairness against women by men and to the impediment of the comprehensive advancement of women. Brutality against women is one of the crucial social tools by which women are impelled into a subordinate roles compared with men.

This violence may have contemplative effects, both direct and indirect, on a woman’s reproductive health, including undue pregnancies and insufficient acceptance of family planning information and contraceptives, unsafe abortion or damages unremitting throughout a legitimate abortion after an undesirable pregnancy, drawbacks from recurring rent, high-risk pregnancies and deficiency of follow-up care, sexually transmitted infections, including HIV, continual gynaecological problems as well as mental hardships.

Conclusion

In conclusion, to curtail and reduce sexual and gender-based violence, fundamental deterrence programs that promote change by dealing with the elementary causes and drivers of sexual and gender-based violence at a population level should be enacted. Such programs traditionally included endeavours to economically empower girls and women, enhanced legal penalties, enshrining women’s rights and gender equivalence within national legislation and policy, and other measures to promote gender equality and reduce sexual and gender-based violence.

Hassan Idris wrote from Kogi State, Nigeria, via drishassan035@gmail.com.