Author: Hassan Gimba

AS long as I remain the minister of defence, our soldiers will marry the prettiest women, live in the best houses, eat the best food, wear the best clothes and drive the best cars because when war comes, they will be the ones to die first. – Muhammadu Ribadu. If I did not get the above quotation right, I would not be far off the correct one. I vividly recall reading the book Power of Powers, A Biography of the Late Alhaji Muhammadu Ribadu, in which the above quotation was narrated the year it was published. The 100-page book, published…

THAT is the question. Perhaps we should first take a look at Lake Chad and Mai Mala Buni, the governor of Yobe State and current chairman of the Lake Chad Basin Governors’ Forum. The Lake Chad Basin is an area of about 2,434,000 square kilometres (940,000 square miles), roughly 8 per cent of Africa. It includes parts of Cameroon, Chad, Nigeria, and Niger and is fed by the Chari, Logone, and Yobe Rivers. There are around 30 million inhabitants and over 70 ethnic groups, with their primary sources of livelihood being farming, fishing, and animal husbandry. The lakeside is rich…

THERE have been pressures on me from pro – and anti-Abdourahamane Tchiani elements to weigh in with my two-pence opinion, whatever that will avail. I deliberately said pro – or anti- because it was all about him. It is either you agree with his assertions or not. Now, in a matter as pressing as this, there is always the fear that you will either be a little to the left or a little to the right. This is because there is a tendency for you to go straight to support it or to go against it with no equivocation; after…

THROUGHOUT history, men have been under immense societal pressure to produce male heirs to carry on their names and legacies. This expectation has often led to strife, stress, and sometimes untoward actions. The preference for male heirs is deeply rooted in many societies, possibly stemming from the belief in male superiority. Historically, patriarchal families believed that women were economically dependent on men and thus became their subjects as daughters married, lived in their husbands’ homes, and did not carry the responsibility of caring for their parents. Despite these societal norms, women have shown remarkable resilience, often challenging these beliefs and…

SOME time ago, I had an oblique conversation with Governor Mai Mala Buni about my health condition, and something related to the topic of this piece came out. Sometimes, I get amazed at how he recalls things we see as inconsequential or forgotten because of time and relates them to everyday life. Because of this and many others, I always believe the creator blessed him with so much wisdom that he could pass for a sage. Thanks to present realities, I mostly stay at home throughout the week, going to the office only on Mondays. However, I sometimes stay in…

IN 1984 there was a universal review of the dystopian novel Nineteen Eight- Four, sometimes written and published as 1984, written by George Orwell. More known for his satirical book Animal Farm, George Orwell is a pen name adopted by Eric Arthur Blair, an English novelist, poet, essayist, journalist and critic. According to Wikipedia, “his work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to all totalitarianism, and support of democratic socialism.” Published in 1949, after the Second World War, Nineteen Eighty-Four, as earlier observed, is a dystopian novel that warns against totalitarian governments that control every aspect of citizens’…

THERE is no doubt that trust was the main determiner in making earlier citizens pay taxes willingly. There was trust in the leadership of the day and the knowledge that the taxes collected would not be misappropriated. Now, even the gate man in a motor park or market sees the tax he collects at the gate as his. Some have their tickets. When such collection points take the remaining proceeds to the next point, it gets “edited” until the process reaches its final pool, where a large number is collected and pilfered in large measure. With the taxes willingly paid,…

THERE is this hullabaloo that has enveloped the country, with debates all over, in some instances threatening to degenerate into fisticuffs. It is all about the Tax Reform Bills. Even though, after all is said and done, it may end up as an issue that signifies nothing but being blown out of proportion, it made me recall Macbeth’s speech in William Shakespeare’s Macbeth. In his speech, he surmised that there is no meaning or purpose in life. Understandably, with his wife dead and armies marching against him, he came face to face with the transience of life. He visualised his…

THE North and its leaders seem happiest and satisfied when led by the nose. As in every election cycle, vote seekers would come and put a black liquid in a syrup bottle and, with fanfare, tell you they have gotten “crude oil” so we can re-elect them or that they should elect leaders based on tribe or religion. Because we have become so allocation-dependent, sheer laziness has become our lot because of the easy money that the monthly allocation has become to us. Our brains have frozen in time. We lack the imagination, the initiative, and the drive for enterprise,…

THE topic on everybody’s, well, almost everybody’s, lips now is tax reform. Everybody has become an expert, so everyone is discussing it: the experts, the neophytes, and even those who do not give a hoot. Nigerians love to talk, dissipate energy, joke about it, and then move on as if nothing happened. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu knows his countrymen well; perhaps that is why he never loses sleep over our vituperations; he gets what he wants when he wants it. In faraway France, he promised to continue with his policies without losing focus. Did you not see that barely a…

“Money doesn’t change men; it merely unmasks them. If a man is naturally selfish, arrogant, or greedy, the money brings that out; that’s all.” – Henry Ford. LAST week, while extending our birthday wishes to the Governor of Yobe State, we underscored his honourable character and concluded by asserting that this was but one facet of what makes him a truly admirable leader, promising to substantiate this claim with further examples. Let us, however, not dwell on his commendable efforts in reforming and repositioning Yobe’s education sector since declaring a state of emergency on it upon assuming office on 29…

LAST week, while the battle against a new security threat, the Lakurawa, and a £25,000 marriage were shaping national discourse amidst excruciating economic difficulties, an extraordinary gentleman with qualities Nigeria could greatly benefit from celebrated his birthday. Honourable Mai Mala Buni, the Governor of Yobe State, turned 57 last Tuesday. Relatively young, God has entrusted him with leadership. If it were a fairy tale, his story might have begun with: “Once upon a time, in the not-so-sleepy village of Buni Gari, a child of destiny was born to the industrious family of Alhaji Bukar and Hajiya Khadija.” Born on 19th…

THE national grid collapsed three times last month and twice this month. This year, it has collapsed at least 11 times. This underscores our long-standing struggle to have a consistent power supply, even if not for the whole nation, at least for those fortunate enough to have access to the few megawatts produced by the so-called “Giant of Africa.” While last week, Niger Republic was able to add no fewer than 18 megawatts to its national grid in just four months, Nigeria, with an installed capacity of 16,348MW, achieved only 5,313 megawatts as of September this year. Our travails with…

WHEN ideas, statements, or policies emanating from one source are opposed to one another, conflicting or inconsistent, then we have contradictions. I want to start this with something that has been bothering me for years. It made me propose that it be featured on the cover of Leadership Friday in 2016 when I was promoted from its editor to managing editor (content). I was so peeved by it, but my then Group Managing Director (GMD), Mr Cletus Akwaya (now publisher of Daily Asset), overruled me. I was concerned by the contradiction in our educational system. A student may get eight…

SEVERAL people, including Nigerian leaders, have said that democracy, as a form of government, has no better alternative. And why not, if democracy is all about a system of government in which the governed freely participate in electing their representatives? Nigeria has had a go at practising democracy even before its independence from Britain. From independence, we practised it fully for six years, though it was the Westminster system, bequeathed to us by the colonisers. It got its name from the central London area hosting the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Westminster model, which Nigeria started with, is a…

MY recent visit to the holy city was the second time I was there, courtesy of the benevolence of Honourable Mai Mala Buni, the governor of my state, Yobe. The first was when I was practically wheeled there as a result of a debilitating illness that required first-class medical treatment. The recent visit was for a follow-up treatment, and happily, my doctors attested to my improved health condition. The governor has made it a state policy to provide free medical services to anyone who can come to Yobe State. To that end, he has upgraded the state health system to…

“The trade of governing has always been monopolised by the most ignorant and the most rascally individuals of mankind.” — Thomas Paine (1737-1809) LAST week, we examined how certain leaders tend to overlook their inadequacies while scrutinising the failings of others. We likened them to individuals whose cerebral configurations had been exchanged with those of donkeys upon their ascension to leadership. Consequently, one may never succeed in restoring their cognitive faculties, no matter how fervently one endeavours to reboot their senses. One such leader endeavoured to persuade his audience that Nyesom Wike’s appointment as a minister in an opposition party…

THERE is a phrase that has gained widespread currency across the world: “Physician, heal thyself.” Not many know it is a biblical proverb and a direct quote from Jesus (AS). He said, “You will surely say to me this proverb, ‘Physician, heal yourself’: do here in your country what we have heard was done in Capernaum.” This phrase is similar to another quote from Jesus in Matthew 7:3-5: “Why do you see the speck in your neighbour’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye? Or how can you say to your neighbour, ‘Let me take the…

FROM time to time, we try to give way to our readers to make their voices heard through their input. Well, it has been quite a while since we did that. We will start serialising such inputs. Nigeria and Presidential Democracy: Any Better Alternative? I enjoyed reading this. I wish it didn’t end. Sannu da kokari, Sir. I hope and pray that everyone who reads this, including our lawmakers and other segments that make up the government, brood over this. We are a people whose identity is being lost every day, while the new one we have borrowed is yet…

“This was a lynching. Make no mistake, this was state-sanctioned murder of an innocent Black man. Governor Parson had the responsibility to save a life, and he didn’t. When DNA evidence exonerates a man, capital punishment is not justice—it is murder. Trump, McConnell, and the conservative Supreme Court justices now have blood on their hands.” – NAACP President Derrick Johnson, reacting to the execution of Marcellus Williams. LAST week, an election for the Governor of Edo State took place. Winners and losers have since emerged. All political parties, especially the two giants—All Progressives Congress (APC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)—sang…