While we knew and respected each other from a distance, I first met Ja’afar Ja’afar in 2015 when I was serving my second stint as the editor of Friday Leadership. Journalists have a way of knowing themselves through various networks even if they had never met. Journalism is a profession like any other that builds one’s reputation in the eyes of the world. Knowing the hassles one goes through to put a paper to bed or produce an article, colleagues rate themselves even from afar. Ja’afar, with his equally double-barrelled named journalist twin brother, AbdulAzeez AbdulAzeez, is one of those…
Author: Hassan Gimba
Decree 33 of 1977 saw to the birth of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) on April 1 of that year through the merger of the Nigerian National Oil Corporation and the Federal Ministry of Mines and Steel. The main purpose was for it to add value to the nation’s hydrocarbon resources “for the benefit of the nation’s economy…” NNPC’s Kaduna, Warri and Port Harcourt Refineries, among others, were built solely for the “benefit” of the Nigerian economy. Completed and commissioned in 1980, the Kaduna Refinery was meant to be a modern conversion refinery having two parts: 50,000 barrels of…
This week, Muslims the world over will celebrate the eid-ul-adha or the “big eid” or “big Sallah”. We are, however, more interested in its meaning, implications and bearing on us as a nation. We need to look at spiritual milestones, hoping to find the seemingly elusive panacea for our ills. Eid means feast, festival or celebration, while adha loosely means “sacrifice” (animal sacrifice), “offering” or “oblation”. It so got its name because it commemorates Prophet Ibrahim’s (AS) devotion to Allah (SWT) and his readiness to sacrifice Ismail, his son, for His love. The Qur’anic story has it that Ibrahim (AS)…
“If we are true to ourselves, we cannot be false to anyone.” – William Shakespeare. Recently, there have been people saying they regret not voting for President Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. To them, he has performed beyond expectations. In just three weeks? This is quite unprecedented because what we used to have were people either jumping off from a rudderless boat or dropping down from a driverless bus. Many people who despaired yesterday are hopeful today. The nation’s confidence in the presidency is replacing the gloom that was there three weeks ago. There is a feeling of assurance that tomorrow…
“So many people are hanging on by the thinnest of threads. Treat people with kindness, you could be that thread.” – John Pavlovitz The above proverbial expression, which alludes to an occasion between Damocles and King Dionysius, may define the situation between Nigerians and their president. Without a doubt, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu took the oath of office amidst significant concerns expressed by many Nigerians. Apart from that, the courts are still hearing challenges to his emergence as president. He is also, so far, the only president with a minority of votes in an election in Nigeria. Every president since 1999 has…
“The measurement of a man is what he does with power.” – Plato Today marks the end of the two-term tenure of a man who came with tremendous goodwill, the kind never before witnessed in Nigeria’s chequered political history. One can still remember some young Nigerians trekking from one end of Nigeria to another in high hopes of the new president. However, unlike Caesar, it is doubtful if he can thump his chest and declare “Veni, vidi, vici”—I came; I saw; I conquered. General Muhammadu Buhari was the first to beat an incumbent president in a free and fair election…
In the system of governance we practise, there are three arms – the Legislature, Executive and Judiciary. The Legislature is said to be the first among the three. The arms are characterised by the principle of separation of powers as each is supposed to be independent of the other. The doctrine of separation of powers was first formulated by one of the most important 18th Century political scientists, the French political philosopher, Baron de Montesquieu, in his work De l’esprit des lois, or ‘The Spirit of the Laws’ (1748), which states that “There can be no liberty where the legislative…
This writing was first published on 6 July 2020. With changes of leadership soon at the federal and state levels, I see it as relevant. The first part in particular. However, do we forget the lessons in the second part? The world is changed by your example not by your opinion – Paulo Coelho, Brazilian Lyricist and author of The Alchemist. Allah (SWT) said in the Qur’an that He does not change the condition of a people until they change what is in their hearts. It is a verse widely quoted out of context by people wanting to give their…
My column of last week with the title “Like Mamu, like Abdulsalami and the billion naira firefighter” drew the attention of Colonel Dangiwa Umar (retd). The respected senior citizen was more particular about the first part because I mentioned him. In the piece, I pointed out that Tukur Mamu, publisher of Kaduna-based Desert Herald and an aide to Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, a popular Islamic cleric, was arrested in September last year and taken to court on a 10-count charge bordering on terrorism financing. He was accused of receiving ransom payments from families of hostages on behalf of the Boko Haram…
In a move normally seen in Hollywood spy thrillers, Tukur Mamu, publisher of Kaduna-based Desert Herald and an aide to Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, a popular Islamic cleric, was arrested in September last year at the Cairo International Airport on his way to Saudi Arabia for lesser Hajj, and detained for 24 hours before he was repatriated back to Nigeria. Perhaps Mamu’s arrest was not because of negotiations for the release of the passengers abducted during the attack on a Kaduna-bound train in March 2022. Perhaps. The Department of State Services (DSS) which describes the outcome of its investigation on him…
“We can forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.” – Plato “There are only two people who can tell you the truth about yourself – an enemy who has lost his temper and a friend who loves you dearly.” – Antisthenes John Campbell, a member of the American Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) and former U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria prophesied in his book, “Nigeria: Dancing on the Brink,’’ that Nigeria was going to disintegrate by 2015. But even before him, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA),…
This is a repeat as it was first published two years ago, precisely on 19/04/2021. Has anything changed? The reader should say. Ramadan is a month synonymous with fasting in the Muslim world. In Islam, fasting is the practice of abstaining from food, drink, smoking, and sexual activity between dawn and nightfall. At present, the world over, adult Muslims of sound mental and physical health are observing it, being the fourth of the five pillars of Islam. Muslims observe it in the month of Ramadan, the ninth month of the Muslim lunar calendar. The name of the month has supplanted sawm, or…
Maiduguri, the capital and the largest city of Borno State, was founded in 1907 as a military outpost by the British colonial authority. It consists of two cities – Yerwa to the west and Old Maiduguri to the east. While Yerwa was founded in 1907 by Sheikh Abubakar Garbai as the capital of the Bornu Kingdom, old Maiduguri was selected by the British as their military headquarters, replacing Mafoni. The same year it became the location for the British Resident Commissioner over British Bornu. In 1957 Yerwa became the designated name for the urban centre while Maiduguri was officially applied…
This is not what I had intended to discuss this week, but circumstances have given it priority. Yobe is a state that is blessed. Here, I am not talking about how blessed it is with peaceful and peace-loving people. No. Nor am I talking about the natural resources the Maker buried there. No, not at all. I am not even going to talk about the abundance of human resources in Yobe State. I want to look at it from just one aspect – the political angle. Politics, from Greek (politiká – ‘affairs of the cities’) can be defined as the…
One of the factors that determined the just concluded elections in Nigeria is religion. Oh, agreed, in our politics, religion has always been a factor in determining winners and losers. But never before was it flagrantly flaunted and made to be the driving force than in 2023. Unfortunately, shepherds led their flocks by the nose, feasting on their ignorance of their faith. What happened buttressed the fact that where there is ignorance, charlatans make hay or, more succinctly put, the one-eyed leads in the country of the blind. The constitutional democracy we are practising is neither Islamic nor Christian. No…
This general advice to every elected Governor, was first published on May 27, 2019. I feel the need to republish it now that we have concluded the gubernatorial elections in concerned states of the federation. Your Excellency, this is unsolicited advice, of course. You got elected presumably for your ability to convince the electorate that you will serve them better than those you contested against. No doubt you promised to make the lives of the people better than they are at the moment; that at the end of your tenure, they would look back and acknowledge that you have taken…
This was first published on 20/08/2018 but it is still relevant, more so now that the presidential election held on 25/02/2023 has exposed our weaknesses. Outsiders, especially foreigners and Nigerians in Diaspora, may think that the bubble could burst any time soon and Nigeria could go to war with itself. They may well be forgiven for thinking so, especially if social media is their only means of gauging what obtains in Nigeria. In the Nigerian social media space, battles are fought 24/7. Politically, those who stand with President Muhammadu Buhari are at daggers drawn with those who think the apostle…
Mai Mala Buni, the governor of Yobe State, is one of the most promising visionary nationalists, bridge-builders and democrats we have in this country. I am not speaking of, nor would I dwell on, how he brought back the All Progressives Congress (APC) from the brink of disintegration two years ago. No, everyone knows that. Everybody is aware of how he stabilised the party and made it grow in numbers. He attracted the grassroots, who trooped into the party in numbers as well as the high and mighty who could make things happen. Still, I am not going to talk…
As you read this, the nation is awaiting the results of the presidential election held two days ago – some anxiously, some eagerly, and some with their hearts in their mouths, but all are hopeful for a new dawn because, depending on the results, hopes for a better nation can either be actualised or marred. There are 18 presidential candidates, out of which we have the “big four”, among whom we expect the next president of Nigeria to emerge. They are Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Atiku Abubakar of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Peter…
The death of a thousand good men is not as tragic as having an unfit man in a position of national leadership – Usman dan Fodio. The above quote by Sheikh Usman Ɗan Fodio, a Fulani philosopher, Islamic religious teacher, revolutionary, and leader who founded the Sokoto Caliphate and ruled as its first Caliph, is quite true. This is so because an unfit leader can cause the death of millions and plunge a nation into chaos, anarchy and civil war. We are just about five days away from a presidential election, an important one because it is to usher in…
There is something about Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Jagaban of Borgu and the presidential candidate of the All Peoples Congress (APC), and Abeokuta. Whenever he feels threatened or that things are not going the way he wants them to, he goes to Abeokuta and delivers what we can term a declaration – in Yoruba. Appealing to the sentiments of the Yoruba, he plays the victim of a conspiracy. True or false, it somehow pays for him. Agreed declarations are not legally binding but they show certain aspirations. That he finds solace in making what we could term declarations in the…
President Muhammadu Buhari’s followers, therefore, created in him an image of an ascetic, beyond reproach, and so canonised him as a saint. And he also did his best to fit into that picture. Ramrod, shed of any fat and wearing the cheapest materials around, the story was that he had seen it all yet refused to be tempted into taking anything from anywhere he worked. He was a military governor with executive powers over what are now six states and then a federal commissioner of petroleum and later a military head of state. Yet he depended on nothing other than…
Many governors who finish their two terms in Nigeria retire into the red chamber and become ‘distinguished Senators’. But not so His Excellency, Chief Barrister Ezenwo Nyesom Wike, CON, the sixth governor of Rivers State and a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) strongman. When he refused to follow the traditional path taken by governors finishing their tour of duty, many thought he wanted to make a career in dancing to the beatings of a live band. There were arguments on where he would ply his trade – clubhouses or political gatherings – and whether he could attract a large audience that…
Is it not enough to know the evil to shun it? If not, we should be sincere enough to admit that we love evil too well to give it up – Mahatma Gandhi I wrote this on 22/10/2018. The only change is in the headline where I changed 2019 to 2023. Now that the primaries are over with about 99% of the registered political parties having concluded their primary elections and names of candidates that emerged finding their way to the Independent National Electoral Commission, all eyes are on the two major parties – the ruling All peoples Congress (APC)…
It is no longer news that Hon. Muhammed Gudaji Kazaure, a House of Representatives member representing the Kazaure, Roni, Gwiwa and Yankwashi constituency of Jigawa State, has been trending over some papers he made public and a story that sounded like a tale by moonlight. The lawmaker is claiming that President Muhammadu Buhari appointed him and some other distinguished Nigerians into a secret committee with the mandate to investigate, reconcile and recover all stamp duties, which he said amounted to N89.09 trillion, realised from deductions by banks but was misappropriated. Neither the Central Bank, the Federal Ministry of Finance, the…
For the past two weeks, the gregarious Muhammed Gudaji Kazaure, a lawmaker representing Kazaure, Roni, Gwiwa and Yankwashi Constituency of Jigawa State in the House of Representatives and one of the most vibrant members of the House, has been trending. He came out with some papers and a story that sounded like a tale by moonlight. In an interview with BBC Hausa two weeks ago, the lawmaker disclosed that he was the secretary of a Presidential Committee on the Reconciliation and Recovery of All Stamp Duties. He also alleged that critical institutions such as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN),…
By Hassan Gimba I believe the yet-to-be-found Chibok girls and all their loved ones can say the above words about their fatherland. All Nigerian children and their loved ones kidnapped or killed by Boko Haram in the North-East or its other arm, the bandits in the North West and North Central, can borrow these words. All Nigerians who believe more could have been done will be at home with these words. Do you think those appalled at how Boko Haram terrorists who were “rehabilitated” and released into society disappear will not see these words as apt? The policymakers believe such…
There is nothing more touching than watching fans at the ongoing World Cup shedding tears when their national anthem is being sung, or crying when their national team loses a game or even wins. Such a show of intense emotion comes as a result of substantial love for one’s country. It is a sign of unbridled patriotism. You begin to wonder if a Nigerian would cry on hearing our national anthem or cry if we win or lose a game. But you must ask yourself whether such love for country has something to do with the anthem or with how…
Now that we’ve found love, what are we gonna do with it? – The O’Jays. While the title of this work might have been spurred by the above verse from The O’Jays R&B group’s 1973 hit, the title of the year 2000 film, Finding Forrester, was an inspiration. Finding Forrester, an American drama written by Mike Rich and directed by Gus Van Sant, featured a black teenager, Jamal Wallace (Rob Brown), who was invited to attend a prestigious private high school. By chance, Jamal befriends a reclusive writer, William Forrester (Sean Connery), through whom he refined his talent for writing…
Cornucopia, a word with Latin origin and Greek history, comes from the Latin cornu copiae, which translates literally to “horn of plenty.” Cornucopia is believed to represent the horn of a goat in Greek mythology. Legend has it that it was from this horn that the god, Zeus, was fed as an infant. Later, the horn was filled with flowers and fruits and given as a present to Zeus. The word first appeared in English in the early 16th century; a century later, it developed the figurative sense of an overflowing supply. And so, cornucopia means abundance, plenty, an inexhaustible…
