Author: Hafsat Salisu Kabara

“The children of the poor you failed to train ( educate) will never let your children have peace” – Chief obafemi awolowo. It was like he saw the future. THAT is a powerful quote from Chief Obafemi Awolowo, a Nigerian statesman and former Premier of Western Region. His words resonate deeply, highlighting the consequences of neglecting the education and well-being of disadvantaged children. By failing to provide them with opportunities and support, we create a cycle of poverty, inequality, and social unrest that can haunt us in the future. Indeed, political thuggery in Nigeria has become a means to an…

THOSE who run our affairs are far too unserious wearing asoebi at any given opportunity and flying agbada all over the place other than concern for our welfare. That’s another reason why real development will continue to elude this nation. After 60 years of independence and 25 years of democratic rule, there is no stable power in the country, undilapidated road all over, good health is a thing of admiration to us, quality education – it’s either you have the money to take your wards to an elite school or take them to a public school that the teachers always…

“Before you acquire power, you should acquire the wisdom to use it well”  – Tywin Lannister TYWIN Lannister character of Game of Thrones said this, as one of his less famous quotes in the hit TV series. A highly capable administrator. He is a master strategist and is extremely skilled in manipulating people in getting what he wants. This quote came to mind when the drama in Kano over claims to the commercial city’s throne played out significantly few days ago. Muhammad Sanusi II was reinstated as the 16th Fulani Emir of Kano by Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf on Friday, …

EARLIER this week, I was having an academic discussion with my niece, who is a 200-level student of one of the private universities in Kano. She wants to change her course of study from Biochemistry to Cyber Security Engineering but she seem indecisive about it because people around her thinks she can’t make it in Engineering and she is reluctant to discuss her options with her Level Coordinator because according to her, the lady is a “mean” somebody. Mid discussion, I told her If she wants to, she should. People will always discourage you until you make it, and then…

THERE is a need to take an analytical look at the recent released results of the UTME (Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination) for university admission seekers by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB). JAMB’s Registrar, Ishaq Oloyede, announced the release of the UTME results in a press conference held at the board’s headquarters in Bwari, Abuja a few days ago and according to him, over 1.94 million candidates registered and sat for the examination in 118 towns and over 700 centres across the nation. This is significantly higher than the 1,595,779 candidates who registered for the 2023 edition. The examination,…

NIGERIA’s Naira has officially been declared the world’s best-performing currency by global investment bank, Goldman Sachs and the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Governor, Yemi Cardoso. And there are reliable reports that the Naira will continue to appreciate. Not only has our currency been declared the best-performing currency globally, but the Naira is also now trading at N900 to a $1 – one of the biggest news of the year for me. Before I proceed, I want to lament the ‘small silence’ in the media about this naira progress. When the naira depreciated, every sector of the media was awashed with…

EVERYONE will answer in the affirmative. Yes, absolutely. No doubt. Are you kidding me? Of course, I love me. But to what extent? How many times do you feel ashamed because of what people say about you? How many times have you let people weigh you down because of how you look? Either fat or skinny. Dark or light-skinned. Constantly body shamed, how many times? How many times did you hide because of what people will think? How many times have you suppressed a passion because of what people will say? Succumbing to immorality and indecency, just so you could…

BEFORE dwelling into this week’s piece, I will like us to fully understand the subject of this write-up, which is Palliative. According to a modern dictionary to ‘Palliate’ is to reduce the intensity or severity of a disease or to ease the symptoms of a disease without curing the underlying disease itself. This entails administering pain-killing drugs to a patient to downplay the pain. Another meaning reads, to “palliate” in everyday language may also connote “to cover an error or an undesirable situation by use of excuses and apologies”. If you ask me, nothing best delineates the Nigerian way of…

REMEMBER, all thoughts—good or bad—tend to cloak themselves in their physical equivalent. Fears are a state of mind conditioned into us. By recalibrating our minds, we can start to focus on what we truly desire and begin a life of extraordinary achievement and fulfillment. If we choose to waive our right to take ownership of our lives, we must be willing to accept whatever fate has in store for us. The things we fear fall into two categories: what we can control and what we cannot control. Developing the ability to tell them apart is a valuable skill, as American…

FEAR – The obvious emotion of mankind. The greatest enemy or closest friend. Not because one is weak but because it is a primitive human behavior that perceives triggers. Fear becomes unhealthy when it prevents us. The fear of God is a good advantage of fear, the fear of tarnishing one’s reputation, the fear of living all alone, the fear of meeting the wrong person to mess with your emotions, and the fear of poverty. That which you fear may come upon you. Fear can be described as “a future expectation of being worse off than you are now.” you…

TODAY, I want to talk about how men need healing too. There are practical things men need to put in place. Many men are also carrying emotional baggages but don’t look like it, trying to pull through and look strong but are bleeding inside. Take a look at the increased death rate of men, you find grandmas and a few grandpas. Men carry their pain and develop sickness, facing many fears and putting on a brave face because they were raised not to show it. As a man, it’s okay to release your emotions and cry, rant, and voice out…

IT is such a shame that in a country where the present administration keeps talking about fighting corruption, the same corruption keeps coming in different forms. Let’s revisit some hilarious money/project scandals in Nigeria. I think this country is becoming a huge joke. First of all, it was the rodents that drove away the then-president, and then we have snakes consuming about N36 million and now we have monkeys raiding a farmhouse. In 2018, a sales clerk claimed that a snake had swallowed 36 million Naira proceeds from the sale of scratch cards. The clerk was working at an office…

LET’s revisit some bits of the public lecture on the benefits of tribalism by Dr. Nnamdi Azikwe at the University of Nsukka, in 1964. He said, some people seem to think that tribalism is an unmitigated evil, but it is not. Every Linguistic group has its cultural features which can have something of value to contribute to the way of life of its country or unit thereof. The first point is Tribalism. Tribalism is an anthropological phenomenon and is a universal fact. When we speak of English, French, Dutch, German, Russian, Czech, Spanish, Italian, and other linguistic groups in Europe,…

WE are all architects of our social and economic development woes. Let’s stop the blame game. Change begins with you and I. Our attitudes and unpatriotic behaviors should stop. Be the change you want to see. Until we realize the value of our dear Nation Nigeria and the average of our values, we will keep fooling ourselves. How did we come to this? When did we stoop this low? Who will I point with my full chest as my First Republic saviour? Who is yours? Here, I don’t mean The First Republic ruled by different leaders representing their regions as…

RECALL the Tudun Biri tragic incident that we still can’t get over with? We were promised a thorough investigation and since it’s a new working government, we had our hopes high. Shortly after the accidental attack, during their respective visits to the victims of the bombings, the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, the Chief Of Army Staff, General Taoreed Lagbaja and the Chief Of Defence Staff, General Christopher Gwabin Musa all stated that there will be a thorough investigation and the finding of the investigation will be made public. Nigerians believed them and believed that, considering the widespread attention and…

This is the concluding part of my article on narcissism, which was skipped last week for the ‘Betta’ piece. LIVING with someone who has narcissistic traits carries unique challenges. When living with a narcissist, you have to protect yourself and set clear healthy boundaries, Setting boundaries doesn’t mean that you expect the other person’s behavior to change, but rather that you set a limit in your mind of what is acceptable, tolerable, and behave in line with that. You have to learn about narcissism to stop blaming yourself. Identify gaslighting behaviors by a narcissist and build your confidence to avoid…

THIS week’s column was supposed to be a concluding part of my last week’s piece about narcissism but an issue came up with someone I think I have every right to talk about as a Nigerian and as someone who has supported everything she has done in the past – Dr Betta Edu. I noticed the minister of humanitarian and poverty elevation, Dr Betta Edu a few years ago, when she was commissioner for health in her state, Cross River state. She had attended an event for widows and orphans and she delivered a very heart touching speech about showing…

THE wedding was in a few days, and preparations were excitedly ongoing. Everything was sorted out. It was the finishing touches and some last-minute details that’s left out. The bride wanted a small wedding, an introduction, and tying of the knot. Who goes for a lavish wedding these days anyway? Let the ones born with a silver spoon have the dream wedding, we can all drool from behind our screens, and invest in the house we are moving to, That was the thought of this bride. Her phone rang and it was the groom-to-be, He said hey babes, can you…

A CENSUS is the procedure of systematically calculating, acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses include the census of agriculture, and other censuses such as the traditional culture, business, supplies, and traffic censuses. Therefore, this column is not enough to properly highlight the importance of Population and Housing Census. To delineate but a few; Population census gives the government an idea of the different populations in different parts of the country which will in turn aid the government in the…

IN a world obsessed with instant gratification and convenience, we often forget the true essence of relationships. We crave partners who possess a laundry list of desirable qualities, yet neglect to cultivate those same traits within ourselves. This disconnect between our expectations and our actions leads to dissatisfaction and, ultimately, disillusionment. We romanticize grand gestures and extravagant displays of affection while overlooking the simple acts of kindness and everyday effort that truly strengthen a bond. Instead of chasing an ideal that may not even exist, let’s ground ourselves in reality. Focus on fostering genuine connection, open communication, and unwavering support.…