Northern Nigeria

• 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.

By Mubarak Shu’aib

Ask most people why countries break apart, and many will say that different groups sharing a single country naturally dislike and distrust one another. For example, Yugoslavia fragmented because the Serbs and Croats and then the Bosnian Muslims started to fight each other after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Ethiopia recently descended into civil war because its various ethnic groups – the Tigrayans, Amharans, and those from the Sidama region- each wanted government control. So fundamental ethnic and religious differences must be the cause of all these conflicts.

Nigerians have a lot at stake in answer to this question. Our country has become increasingly divided, with ethnicity now playing a central role in debates over where the presidency should go come 2023. Could the country travail through these adversaries and polarisations?

It turns out that the differences themselves do not lead to violence. This is the finding of political scientists who have studied hundreds of ethnic conflicts worldwide. Almost all countries are multi-ethnic and religious, yet few experience crises.

For a society to fracture along identity lines, you need mouthpieces – influential people willing to make discriminatory appeals and pursue discriminatory policies in the name of a particular group. They provoke and harness feelings of fear as a way to lock in an ethnic constituency that will support their scramble power. These mouthpieces are often politicians seeking to gain or maintain control. Still, they can also include business elites (seeking brand loyalty), religious leaders (seeking to expand their followers), and media figures (seeking to grow their audience). 

Separate and hostile ethnic identities don’t exist in a vacuum; they need to be crafted, and these individuals rise to do just that. They’re often at a high risk of losing power or have recently lost it. Seeing another route to securing their futures, they cynically exploit divisions to try to reassert control. We see such figures on our social media platforms (Twitter, Facebook etc.). And they’re more dangerous than what we’ve been led to believe.  Experts have a term for these instigators of conflict: ethnic entrepreneurs.

The term was first used in the 1990s in Yugoslavia, but ethnic entrepreneurs have emerged many times over in all parts of the world. Though the catalyst for conflict is often ostensibly something else – the economy, freedom of religion – ethnic entrepreneurs make the fight expressly about their position and status in society. Harnessing the power of media, they work to convince citizens that they are under threat from an out-group and must band together under the entrepreneur to counter the threat. They also try to persuade those in their group, often with incendiary language, that they are superior and “deserve” to dominate. They (ethnic entrepreneurs), at rallies, symposia, places of worship and town hall meetings, cast aspersions on some ethnic and religious groups.

So why do average Nigerians let themselves be swept along this rhetoric? Perhaps surprisingly, they are often clear-eyed about ethnic entrepreneurs. They know these individuals have their agenda and are not telling the whole truth. Many Igbos did not trust, let alone love, Peter Obi, who was a running mate to Atiku Abubakar a few years earlier (2019). But they’re now willing to show support after a mounting threat to their lives, livelihoods, families, or futures. Over time, the OBidients’ rhetorics and increasing ethnic biases steadily sowed doubts. After silencing the disloyal journalists and media outlets, they plied their audiences with unrelenting messages of fear and suspicion.

These ethnic entrepreneurs are now thriving. But they emerged out of nowhere. In fact,  from the #EndSARS protesters, some of these ethnic entrepreneurs have metamorphosis into #OBIdients. Unfortunately, Mr Obi is relying on their appeals to win the presidency. Albeit with a coded language.

Religion is next. To secure the support of Evangelical leaders and their increasingly mobilised voters, the ObIdients stake more and more pro-life positions. Moral imperatives and cultural identities are now, more than ever, driving voting patterns. 

From appealing to core policy concerns and stoking anxiety where it’s not required, these ethnic entrepreneurs are using different tools to upset the country’s political atmosphere. 

They rightly do so by exacerbating issues on social media. Deborah’s murder is a case study. Twitter exploded, Facebook went mainstream, and social media became an ever-present part of our lives.

Critically, a network of these gleeful ethnic entrepreneurs realised that they could gain ratings and influence by emphasising online tension. As a result, media titans such as SAHARA Reporters, who rely on ratings and clicks, feed us increasingly polarised content.

Into this political morass stepped in Peter Obi. In his bid for power, he realised that appeals to identity could galvanise his political base.  So now, he embraced identity politics explicitly and with gusto.

Obi intuitively understood that the deep feeling of alienation among many Igbo voters could carry him to power.  Although he’s too clever to factor much into the division like other ethnic entrepreneurs, he resorted to radicalising the previous administrations he’s part of as a two-time governor of Anambra State.

Although he remained an underdog in the race, his movement is a future incentive for other ethnic entrepreneurs who are now studying his playbook and will, without a doubt, use it to try to catapult themselves into the Villa in the nearest future. They will build on the momentum, and they will do so by manufacturing threats, fomenting even more ethnic fear, and convincing Igbos that they genuinely are in the midst of an existential fight. How far will these ethnic entrepreneurs go? How far will we let them?

Mubarak Shu’aib writes from Hardawa, Misau LGA, Bauchi State, via naisabur83@gmail.com.

By Muhammad Sabiu

The Borno State chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), under the leadership of Bishop Mohammed Naga, has expressed its joy over the emergence of a former governor of Borno State, Kashim Shettima, as Bola Tinubu’s running mate in the 2023 presidential election.

Recall that Mr Tinubu announced Kashim yesterday as his prospective vice president if the All Progressives Congress (APC) emerges victorious in the next year’s election.

Reacting to the development in a statement, Bishop Naga described Kashim as an unbigoted person, stressing that “those who are not from Borno State may not know, but you and I know better.”

His statement reads, “Gov. Shettima, in the history of Borno State, is the only Governor that has sponsored the highest number of Christian Pilgrims every year since 2011.

“I am speaking boldly without fear or favour because as CAN Chairman, I don’t receive salary or kobo from the Government or any institution, but the facts need to be told.

“For example, when Gwoza people were driven from their ancestral homes, they fled to Maiduguri, and the Governor personally came to CAN Centre in Jerusalem ward two times in June and July 2014. He gave N10 million for their upkeep at first instance, but the victims weren’t many. By the end of October 2014, the IDPs from Gwoza increased to 42,000 in that camp alone. Governor Shettima came again and gave another N10 million.

“He also gave an additional N5 million to Christians from Borno who fled to Cameroon to be returned home.

“Sincerely speaking, as a Christian and a preacher, absolutely, I have nothing to fear about Asiwaju’s picking a Muslim as his running mate because he is not a religious bigot, and I am happy he has made his mind known to the public in the person of his preferred running mate.

“Seeing another presidential candidate applauding him is a plus for him and supporters of Asiwaju. Congratulations to the awaiting president and vice president.”

However, the coming of a Muslim-Muslim ticket from the APC has caused a lot of reactions, with several social media-based activists vigorously kicking against it, citing the sensitive religious atmosphere of the Nigerian society as their reason for resistance.

By Mukhtar Jarmajo 

Mao Zedong, the founder of the Peoples Republic of China, once said, “Politics is war without bloodshed while war is politics with bloodshed.” By inference, thus, there is so much correlation between politics and war, the only difference being that the former isn’t bloody while the latter is. Therefore, the art of politics is the same as that of war, where two or more opposing parties contest for supremacy either in terms of votes for political power as with politics or territorial control as with war. Additionally, politics and war involve strategies to subdue the opponent through deceptive techniques. 

Perhaps this is why Sun Tzu, the great Chinese writer, philosopher and war strategist, noted that while differentiating victorious warriors from defeated ones, “Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win.” Aside from that, Sun Tzu emphasised the importance of strategy in war. He also meant that only warriors who adopt strategies in defining the means to conquer the enemy are victorious. The third import of Tzu’s quote is that strategists conquer their opponents well before the offensive is launched. 

So just as wars can be won and lost before the first Salvo is released, elections too can be won and lost even before any vote is cast. Meanwhile, it bears no repeating that only strategic politicians achieve such excellence. They study the prevailing political circumstance, analyse it based on the ambitions of the time, and then meticulously plan the best strategy to be used in conquering the opponents. Politicians such as the Bauchi state APC governorship standard bearer, Sadiq Baba Abubakar, are victorious political warriors simply because they understand the art of political warfare. 

During the governorship primary election in Bauchi state, the erstwhile Air Chief turned political czar and let his fellow contenders believe they were more political than him. Therefore only they knew what the road to winning the party’s ticket looked like. After the contest, Sadiq Abubakar won the day, with the runner-up placed at a distant 92 votes away. While they were reluctant that he was not a factor to count, Sadiq Abubakar campaigned vigorously and reached out to stakeholders and delegates to convince them of the substance and import of his ambition. 

In the end, they were convinced that aside from experience he would bring to the table, the erstwhile diplomat is one politician capable of giving the ruling PDP in Bauchi state a run for its money. Thus, he won the primary election before the first ballot was cast. And by Sun Tzu’s standard, Sadiq Baba Abubakar is a victorious political warrior. It raises no eyebrows that as a graduate of political science who also holds a master’s in strategic studies, the Bauchi APC governorship standard bearer can do even more than this. 

Jarmajo can be reached via dattuwamanga@gmail.com.

By Muhammad Abdurrahman

Ibrahim Adamu, a Microbiology student from the Federal University Dutsin-Ma, Katsina, Nigeria, has won the 2022 Wellcome Sanger Institute Prize. Ibrahim, who hailed from Ingawa Local Government of Katsina State, became the second person in Nigeria to win the prize.

The Sanger Prize is an outreach competition aimed at undergraduates studying genomics relevant courses who live and study in low or middle-income countries. This year students from 138 countries of different universities and faculties participated in the competition.

As usual, the winner of the Sanger Institute Prize will be offered a three-month internship with a research group at the Wellcome Sanger Institute, Cambridge, United Kingdom. The internship prize will cover all essential expenses, including travel costs, visa costs, training and research costs, accommodation and reasonable food costs during the three-month internship. The winner will also receive support and mentorship from the Institute, the scientific programme they work with and the team that administers the fund.

When contacted by The Daily Reality on how he knew and applied for the competition, Adamu explained that: “A friend shared a link with me in December 2021. I then contacted my academic advisor, and he encouraged me to apply. He connected me with Dr Adesoji Ayodele Timilehin and Dr Aminu Ado. These two wrote reference letters for me.

“I was also supported and mentored by Dr Adesoji throughout the process. I spent many sleepless nights reading research papers, books and reports to prepare for the essay competition. My Mentor rejected my first essay trial. So I wrote another one, and he suggested some edits for me.

“Anybody willing to apply should have a broad understanding of genomics, read a lot, and seek professional mentorship in all the application processes! Mentorship is the key! Without it, I would not have made it even to the first stage! So be focused and PRAY hard”, Adamu said.

Ibrahim concluded, “I will be available to guide any potential applicant in the future.”

By Abdulrahman Yunusa 

Upon all the existing factors that are enough to be the reasons for one’s resignation as an elected leader in Nigeria, I don’t know what often shields them from towing on to that path. Despite the gruesome killing, kidnappings, molestation and other unfavourable crimes thriving in our localities, they remain in power.

There is no “Resignation” in the vocabulary of Nigerian leaders. Because you hardly see them making resignations when things tend to go out of their control. Sadly, they prepare to die in power than live outside the power. 

Unlike our shabby mentality, those who have tried and failed in saner climes mostly took the most honourable decision by relieving themselves of the burden threatening their yoke. Some resign for reasons which we might eye as petty ones. Some quit for being unable to deliver the political promises they have made during the campaign. Some leave for failure to secure the lives of their people, which is one of the best reasons for one to vacate.

That silly mentality should be tamed with immediate effect. Else the next generation will suffer at the hands of evil beings who will soon assume the mantle of leadership and keep subjecting the lives of millions of people to excruciating pains. 

Enough is enough. Just tender resignation whenever conditions warrant that. Don’t subject the lives of millions of people to jeopardy for political greediness. Instead, learn to relinquish your position for the sake of your people. Maybe that will be the only positive impact you will ever make for your people.

The social, political and economic vicissitudes we are facing incessantly in Nigeria are the result of our leaders’ greediness. It’s simple to get that when you analyze and evaluate the current scenario in the country. 

Recently, Zamfara State Governor openly admitted that his govt has failed to discharge its primary responsibility, which is the protection of the lives and properties of its people. He urged them to pick firearms to defend themselves against bandits.

That pathetic scenario is enough to tell you they are more concerned about their political seats than the lives of their people, which are ideally more worthy than their useless thrones. So they can’t tender resignation later to let the better hands have the chance to try their luck. Instead, they rather remain there and keep watching their people dying mercilessly in cold blood. 

No wonder, as the saying goes, “Da na gaba ake koyi“, people learn from their elders. Buhari is the president who enjoys more power than any other person within the polity. He should therefore be the best object of emulation. But, no, he too does not care about the lives of his citizens. Hence, the governors follow suit, despite the sheer incompetence and ineptitude, coupled with the I-don’t-care attitude they exhibit at the extreme. Yet, they don’t mind resigning or taking any proactive measures. God is watching!

Until we console our greedy minds to do away with that uncultured culture of political greediness by learning how to vacate position when things tend to get out of our control, we shall find it difficult to scale through the dark ocean. 

May we scale through the dark ocean soon, amin.

Abdulrahman Yunusa is a social and political affairs analyst. He writes from Bauchi and can be reached via abdulrahmanyunusa10@gmail.com.

By Aminu Mohammed

I nurtured my desire to study abroad during my undergraduate days at the Department of Political Science and International Studies, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. It was the era when ABU was the hotbed of Marxism and radical thinking in the North, led by the late Marxist historian Dr Bala Usman and others like Dr Bako, Prof. Sadiq and Prof. Ayo Dunmoye. I was fascinated by the writings of Karl Marx and Max Weber, which prompted my desire to study in Germany.

Germany is the wealthiest country in Europe and a global leader in education and research. It is the land of scientists like Albert Einstein, Max Plank and philosophers such as Immanuel Kant, Arthur Schopenhauer, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Friedrich Nietzsche, Karl Marx, Max Weber, and Goethe, among others. The education in Germany is top-notch, especially in medical sciences, natural science and engineering. Studying in Germany is also cheaper and more cost-effective compared to other countries such as the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia.

Many of you may wonder why I choose to write on this topic, considering the high cost of studying abroad. Many of you may still think that only the elite can afford to send their children to foreign universities and others from a humble background are not capable of doing so, probably due to their circumstances.

I want to tell you today that you should perish such thoughts that have limited our people, especially in the northern part of the country, making them doubt their abilities. I want to tell you that there are no limits to where you can go and what you can achieve if you believe in your dreams and work towards them. We live in an era of information technology where you can use your smartphone to search for information that will aid you in improving your life and career. There are many Nigerian students from the Southern part of the country; most do not have wealthy parents and are thriving in this environment.

Studying in German universities is tuition-free for both local and international students. There are two options: you can either study through scholarship or self-sponsorship by taking care of your living expenses on your own through a system called blocked account. The first option is highly competitive and more tedious than the second one. Therefore, I suggest that people without solid financial capacity focus on the first option by applying for a scholarship. You can check the universities’ websites offering your courses and see the requirements for obtaining the scholarship.

The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) currently offers scholarships to students from developing countries for the 2023 academic session. The scholarship covers everything, including a monthly stipend of 861 euros for master’s students and 1200 euros for doctorate students. So, you should apply as soon as possible before the deadline. It would help if you had an outstanding grade in your first degree, a minimum of two years of work experience, a good motivation letter, and volunteering experience, among others, to be accepted for the scholarship programme.

The second option, through a blocked account, requires a lot of money, which means that you are on self- sponsorship, hence will cater for your living expenses which include payment for accommodation, health insurance and other costs in Germany. This option is for those who can afford the blocked account stipulated by the German authorities, which is currently 10,332 euros approximately (N6.7 million). You must deposit this money in a German bank after getting admission before securing a study visa. Most students who arrived in Germany for studies used Fintiba bank, a financial institution based in Frankfurt, Germany.

Once you get admission, you can check the website of the German embassy in Abuja or Lagos, look for the requirements for the study visa, and then apply for a visa appointment. I will advise that after getting admission, you check the official website of the German embassy in Nigeria or visit the embassy in Abuja or Lagos to get information on how to deposit the money in Fintiba bank. Don’t give your money to anybody.

You can go to any Nigerian bank to do the international transfer to Fintiba bank once you get the details on how to go about it from the German embassy. The money belongs to you and is for your living expenses here. Once you arrive in Germany and go through a system referred to as legitimization at the bank, Fintiba bank will then transfer 848 Euro monthly to your account for 12 months. The money will not be transferred in bulk to your account but bit by bit.

.Of course, you can work here and earn money to support your living expenses. Students are entitled to 20 hours per week and can work more than 20 hours during holidays, especially when the university is on break. Most international students work here and earn good money. An hourly wage depends on cities, but it is mainly between 10.45 to 16 Euro per hour (N6, 500 to N10, 000) depending on the city and company you work for. Wages in bigger cities like Munich, Frankfurt, Berlin, Hamburg, Cologne and Dusseldorf are higher than in smaller cities like Kiel, Flensburg, Cottbus, Magdeburg, etc.

Public universities do not charge tuition fees in Germany. Depending on the University, you only pay a semester fee (alias social fee) ranging from 200 euros to 380 euros per semester. For instance, students in my university pay 264 Euros per semester. This covers dues for the student union and transportation. In other words, students do not pay whenever they board a bus or train, as the semester ticket covers the fare for buses and trains within the city of Kiel and up to Hamburg. So, our semester ticket covers movement throughout the state of Schleswig Holstein and Hamburg.

Most Nigerian and international students I have met here are on self-sponsorship. Theystudy and also work to take care of their living expenses. There is always a part-time job available for students, especially in big and smaller cities, and you can take advantage of that to earn money for your upkeep. Some students focus on studies only during the semester and only work during holidays, while some attend lectures on weekdays and only work part-time during the weekend. The choice is yours.

I must emphasize that studying in Germany is tough, and you must put much effort to succeed. People fail here quickly, especially students who focus on work without paying much attention to their studies. But the main thing is to strike a balance between your studies and part-time work, if you want to achieve your goals. Of course, many students have been able to secure jobs after their studies here. A lot of Nigerians that I know here work after completing their studies.

Moreover, for those apprehensive about their religion, there is a large population of Muslims in Germany, mainly from Turkey, Syria, and Egypt, among others. There are mosques everywhere. At least we have six mosques in my city, with even a mosque mainly for Africans to perform their prayer.

I still reiterate that you can do everything independently with your computer or laptop. You do not need the help of anybody or an agent to assist you in applying for admission, scholarship or the visa process. Don’t fall for any scammer. You can do this from beginning to end on your own until you find yourself in Germany. You don’t need to know anybody to be able to secure admission, scholarship or visa to Germany. I arrived in Germany in 2018 without knowing anybody or even a friend. My communication was with the University strictly. If I can do it, you too can do it. So, believe in your abilities and go after your goals. I wish you all the best in your endeavour.

Aminu Mohammed is at the School of Sustainability, Christian-Albrechts Universität zu Kiel, Schleswig Holstein, Germany. He can be reached at gravity23n@gmail.com or 219013@mail.uni-kiel.de.

By Nusaiba Ibrahim Na’abba

The ongoing unexpected outrageous hike in prices of goods and services stringed by inflation is not all new to our survival in Nigeria as we’ve learnt the hard way to navigate through hurdles and thorns to manage our lives. Simply put, things are at the moment not falling apart but in their right places – exactly where we want them to be. And by extension, we are reaping the seeds our predecessors sowed.

Contextualizing the global outrage on inflation unveils how our population crises are highly influential to the inflation catastrophe we are recently experiencing in Nigeria. Conversations around our incapacitated population have always been cumbersome. People keep reproducing to demonstrate their selfish reasons and associating them with religion, even when they’re fully aware of their inability to cater for their needs – a lifetime debate. Due to cultural and religious reasons, overpopulation is always quite a sensitive issue. Religious gatherings, cultural discussions and even governmental activities deliberately skip them to avoid chaotic scenes.

For reasons best known to the Nigerian government, the census that was supposed to take place a year after President Buhari assumed office in 2016 was unfortunately not prioritized in the list of essential development activities. There wasn’t even a convincing explanation for why it did not occur. I buy that the President was out of office as he severely fought to regain sound health. Still, his deputy, Prof. Yemi Osibanjo, was acting President until he recovered. He also didn’t give it the much significance it deserves. The worth of a National Census isn’t that shabby to escape their radar, as it assumes an unchallenged role in catalyzing the development of every society and nation-building.

Well, as it stands, many international sources now place the Nigerian population to have surpassed 200 million. But, referring to our precedents, the past administrations were unwilling to manage rapid population increase by corroborating it with needed economic, financial and health opportunities, among others. Instead, they were more or less obsessed with starting gigantic projects to leave them halfway done when leaving offices. Regrettably, from budgets, policies and programs among myriad activities, the population is often not carefully factored in.

At this point, explaining the statistical representations of our ailing population is almost unnecessary, especially since we are gradually failing to comprehend the magnitude of our plight in statistical terms. Presently, there exists a colossal number of youths that are desperately seeking jobs. Not only that, they are unemployed. Some are drug addicts, miscreants, and even kidnappers and whatnot. Their realm also includes people still hopeful for job opportunities, including a handful employed but in deep struggles, as they continue to shoulder countless responsibilities. This fraction is the largest among the demography of our country and, sadly, the most ineffective.

Then we have children, who contribute a fair share to the general population. A disturbing figure is that of out-of-school children due to their being part of the lower class and a lot who are quadrupling in number as insecurity is not slowing down in forcing them out of their communities. Visibly, most of them embrace street hawking and begging while others aimlessly litter the streets and little girls into forced labour. Picturing our population from a pie sketch, we also have the elderly, many of whom have delivered relentless service to the nation but have only been rewarded unkempt wretched feet as they search for their legitimate hard-earned pensions. And I don’t forget that we have People Living with Disabilities (PLWDs) who wallow in poverty. This is a fair elucidation of Nigeria’s population pie sketch.

Indeed, how inflation is ripping us apart in this country is an incredibly devastating experience. Development activities here have always journeyed long, and even more terrifying is that slow processes in everything aren’t much valued in today’s fast-paced world. As frightening as it appears, the race to the 2023 general elections is already painting a horrible scene for us. The primary elections recently concluded with alleged countless irregularities and corruption aren’t appealing. Hence, it becomes challenging to collate one’s thoughts regarding how life will likely be as we fight to forge ahead.

In a way, this current plight provokes the young minds who are already out of viable options to embark on deadly voyages to Europe. They risk their lives in search of a better life there. It is terrifying to know that the number of youths clamoring for these voyages includes graduates and those earning petty stipends and are well conscious of the dangers involved. However, they aren’t blameworthy for viewing their lives from angles of their responsibilities.

Many optimists, including myself, are hopeful about Nigeria’s transformation for the best. But, until alternative routes to utilizing our teeming population for efficient development are incurred, we’ll keep chasing the uncertain light at the end of the tunnel. Nigeria is behind schedule on capitalizing on effective strategies to breed an efficient population, opposing its self-anointed maxim of “no dey carry last”. We must reinvent this unfortunate wheel of inefficiency by adopting a knowledge-based economy model to harness the enormous potential of our massive population for the best.

Nusaiba Ibrahim Na’abba is a master’s student from the Department of Mass Communication, BUK. She is a freelance writer and researcher. She can be reached via nusaibaibrahim66@gmail.com.