hajia

MAULUD: TIME FOR DIALOGUE WITH THE MULLAHS

2008-04-17T14:47:00.002+01:00

Maulud celebration across the north is a big issue now. It is celebrated with pomp and pageantry and definitely with an acute sense of vengeance. I say vengeance because virtually all the celebrants belong to the Darika and Shiite sects. These sects were at one time muscled and stopped from doing things they otherwise would have done in the realm of what they considered part of Islamic worship. The mainstream sect, Izala, on the other hand remained stead fast in its opposition to Maulud celebration and several other things they considered as bidi'a. In fact the stiff opposition they showed in earlier years may have triggered the vengeance we see now among those who celebrate it. But vengeance it is and it even borders on intimidation. This is seen largely in their simplistic analogy that maulud equals deference and love for the prophet and that those who frown at maulud are enemies of the prophet.

But my main grouse with the celebration is the attendant confusion. First they are yet to agree on a common date for the event. So in theory and practice we see maulud celebration going on throughout the month. Today it is this house, tomorrow it is that section of town and the next day that half of town. In KT we saw individuals celebrating on different days, then staunch Darika families like Iron Baba's doing their own on different days, then we witnessed that for the Darika sect and Shiites doing their own also on different days and at last there was a joint celebration by all covering the whole town. This duplication of efforts serves no purpose but disrupts activities and traffic in down town section of KT. Imagine a month long disruption and the loss to the economy.

A sincere dialogue with the principal actors can go along way in streamlining these celebrations and especially curbing the excesses of the irate youths involved. It is on record that provocative statements had been chanted against the Izala sect and their position on Bidi'a. Imams of all the sects in every state should be brought together to find a way to settle the differences on the issue. It has gone beyond maulud as it is threatening the peaceful existence of the Ummah. A code of conduct must be fashioned out for the maulud and indeed other thorny areas that have proved to be flash points.

I dont know who will call for this dialogue as our political leadership lack the merit to delve into this issue. The politicians as we all know have their principal interests and things like the long term welfare of the people rank low in their calculations. So every community is on its own here. But lest we forget, this year many people were caught off guard. Come next year we might see a fire for fire strategy adopted across the north. God forbid bad thing

WATER SHORTAGE

2008-04-16T18:12:00.003+01:00

KT is witnessing its worst water shortage in decades. The taps are dry most of the time and the wells and bore holes only provide brackish water that is unfit for human consumption. But this situation is in the midst of plenty as large bodies of water in dams are within reach. Ajiwa dam provides most of the drinking water for KT but the water works there is not sufficient and has aged. The water pumped from there arrives in huge pipes to booster stations inside town. These then distribute to smaller pipes that eventually takes the water to homes. The supply is now erratic and to make up for the short fall water carriers sell their stuff in yellow jerry cans. And they do not come cheap. Zobe and Jibia dams are all within reach but are yet to be harnessed to supplement what is available from Ajiwa.
The state government has so far kept mum on this important issue and we might suffer this shortage for years on end.

FREE EGGS SOON!

2008-04-16T17:28:00.004+01:00

Egg consumers in KT are chuckling to themselves as they buy crates at rock bottom prices. A crate now goes for a mere four hundred Naira. Yes N400 which is a little over three US dollars. With this kind of price these eggs can be sold on the international market. This is the cheapest price you can get anywhere in Nigeria. The same crate however had sold for more than seven hundred Naira during the recent avian flu epidemic. What could be the cause of this big drop?

Well when the price was high the few producers on the ground made super profits and this attracted many to join the poultry business. Among them were many housewives who had collected poverty alleviation loans to raise layers inside their houses. The big players whose birds were completely culled as a result of the avian flu, equally saw the opportunity and prepared themselves for it. Slowly the supply began to ease pressure on the price and we noticed a slide to 600 and then 500. The price stabilised at 500 but quickly nose dived when the biggest chicken farmer intervened. Paki Masha farms is often described as the Coca-Cola of poultry farmers in KT and this is no joke. His farm has more than ten thousand birds that produce tons of eggs every day. The eggs were piling up in the stores as the small producers cornered the market. This situation prompted Paki Masha to slash his price to 400. They made it public through the local TV station KTTV and it was a big relief to consumers. But not so to all the other egg producers in town.
A situation like this ought to have triggered a price war but the other big time producers like Bilya Rimi, Hamisu Gambo etc all decided to sheath their swords. They were said to have sent a delegation to Paki Masha asking for an equal slash on the price of feeds. Their pleadings fell on deaf ears.
Meanwhile the household producers are watching the situation and hoping that something will bring back their profits. As for the consumers, well, we shall continue to consume more eggs while the situation lasts. And also hope for a price war that will push the price to 300, then 200 then 100 then ....who knows?

FREE FOUAD NOW

2008-03-22T22:59:00.007+01:00

For three months now one popular Saudi blogger has been in jail for criticising some influential people in his country. Fouad al Farhan is 32 years old and a father of two. His long incarceration has forced his nine old daughter, Raghad al Farhan, to come out with a plea for her father's release in this clip. I am joining Saudi bloggers and others in the blogosphere to demand his immediate release. As bloggers we have a right to express our opinions in all matters under the sun. Or don't we?

Update: Pressure is still mounting in the blogosphere for the release of al Farhan. So far KSA authorities are not budging. They have even blocked the blogsite created to give info on the case. This kind of thing has set my mind thinking: it could happen in democratic Nigeria! Those who doubt me would do well to check this report by reporters sans frontiers. Journalists are the targets now but believe me bloggers will soon be the next to be targetted...

HOW AFGHANISTAN CAME TO BE

2008-03-20T12:37:00.005+01:00

My attention was drawn to the above book written by Zbigniew Brezinski who was the United States National Security Adviser to former president Jimmy Carter from 1977 to 1981. That was the time of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the rise and rise of the resistence movement known as the Mujahedeen. Without doubt the Americans played a key role in the arming of the Mujahedeen and the ouster of the Soviets from the country. It is instructive to note,however, that among the many Saudis recruited for the Mujahedeen job was a little known millionaire who goes by the name of Usama Bin Laden. The Americans must have noted his potentials and showed him one or two tricks that turned him into a billionaire, among other things. But no sooner the war was over than the Mujahedeen and the new government they helped to set up turned into a frankenstein monster for the USA. Many Americans are not aware of this shady side of their government largely due to what is described as their willful ignorance.

I am searching for this book and would be surprized if Mr Brezinski did not reveal the cloak and dagger job the CIA did in recruitig and arming sundry Arabs for the Mujahedeen insurgency against the Soviets which direcrtly culminated into the present American invasion of and the quagmire now in Afghanistan.

DOUBLE STANDARD AT FIFA

2008-03-20T12:00:00.004+01:00

Reverbrations from the last African Cup of Nations football tournament in Ghana would be with us for a long time. This is judging by the selective punishments that FIFA refrees doled out on the pitch. I am no great football fan in the true sense of the word and therefore missed what amounted to a double standard by some of these refrees. The above picture of an Egyptian player was sent to me with the explanation that he was shown a yelow card for displaying the above writings on his inner shirt. FIFA HQ was said to have defended the action by saying that it was against the habit of players displaying political and religious statements. Well by this statement FIFA has argued against itself since several players have engaged in this kind of thing and they were not sanctioned. In the same tournement a Ghanian player was said to have waved a Jewish flag in response to the Gaza statement, but he was not given a yellow card. If this is not double standard then I dont know what is. Is FIFA fast deteriorating into a neo con zealot?
Thanks B.

WHERE CONSENSUS EQUALS DEMOCRACY

2008-03-03T13:15:00.004+01:00

Local Government elections are over in KT and all but three of the previuos office holders were returned. Likewise the elections for the ruling party's officials where all of the party executives were eleted un opposed. For both so called elections though the same "democratic" rule of consensus was put into use. My dictionary defines consensus as a broad unanimity or a widespread agreement among members of a group. Now if indeed this were the case one would not bother much. But the reality was that several members of the group were not allowed to partake, least of all agree with the candidates so elected. And they made this known in variuos fora including the media.
This definitely puts democracy in great jeopardy in the state. And indeed the whole country.
But here is praying that the rule of law would one day come to be respected by our leaders.

BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA

2008-03-01T15:28:00.013+01:00

I have always known that as the campaign for the US presidential primaries got nastier and nastier some one would hit Obama below the belt. Right at the onset they had been saying that his last name rhymes with Osama, even if no one really paid any attention. But now that he appears unstoppable they are reaching for the last salvo. I am surprized though that the Clintons were not involved. Nor the religious far right candidate Huckabee or even people with extreme jewish views like Abe Foxman.
It was in Cincinnati, Ohio, when some one billed to introduce John McCain mentioned it. The guy pointedly repeated Obama's middle name (Hussein) in a way that sought to ridicule the name. Perhaps he wanted Americans to link it in some arcane way with the dead Iraqi leader, or perhaps make Americans to think Obama was a Muslim and so not suitable to become the next president. But McCain was quick to see where that kind of name-ridicule could lead to and he put a stop to it immediately. He cautioned the guy and aserted that Hussein was an American name just like Benjamin Franklin and Omar Bradley. Denigrating people's names, he said, was a form of racial and religious bigotry.
Perhaps this is the last we shall hear about it, but lest we forget, Obama, is not a Muslim. His father was a Kenyan Muslim and the middle name Hussein given to him belonged to his grandfather. Believe it or not in America your religion matters in presidential choices. JFK was the first Catholic and perhaps the last to occupy the White House . This makes the chances of Mitt Romney, a Mormon, to be so daunting. But for a black man to be the president of USA it is now a possibility and the country would surely turn a new leaf both domestically and on the international scene.

BOOKS I HAVE READ

2008-02-27T11:36:00.004+01:00

A review of this excellent book will soon be made available in a different site. pls bear with me.

You can now view my reviewed books here.

NEW PRAYER FROM MSO

2008-02-27T10:09:00.004+01:00

Muslim Sisters Orgnisation (MSO) has joined the battle against corruption by teaching its members a brand new prayer. MSO is a kind of sorority or salon made up of married women who meet on sundays in cities across the nation. Its not a highbrow organisation like Rotary club with its dress code and weekly takings and is not based on tribe. In fact its open to all women but the beauty of it is that messages can be passed along to several men and husbands. Which makes the organisation to have a huge potential in areas like mobilizing for a cause.
Now the prayer in question is very simple but members are asked to utter it in the mornings when their husbands are leaving the house for work. It goes like this: Please bring back to us things that are halal". Pretty simple eh? But already reactions have been reported where some husbands frowned at the practice.
If you dont get my drift then imagine how these set of Nigerians would react to such a prayer; Customs officers, local government chairmen, and politicians. We can expand the list to include all others but the bottom line is that many husbands will be sore at their wives for saying this prayer and will demand an immediate stop to it.

VALENTINE OR LARABGANA DAY

2008-02-13T17:03:00.007+01:00

I was pretty amazed to learn that KSA has banned red flowers with the hope of stopping Saudi youths from using them for valentine. The story is sure to make headlines around the world with comments of all shades attached. The Saudi Imams naturally preach against clebrating all un-Islamic festivals but the fact of the matter is virtually all muslim youths, the world over, do aknowledge and "celebrate" valentine. And its not so much because it is a christian celeb but rather because it gives them an opportunity to engage in some romantic activity. I did look forward to februarys and valentine in my youthful days but stopped on my accord many years ago. So its like a fad with most muslim youths and this points to the futility in using draconian measures to stop it. But I do partake in celebrations with my christian friends, as they do with me in mine, and dont see anything particularly wrong with that.

But lest we forget, there are indeed some christian sects that frown at festivals devoid of christian roots, like halloween, and could equally ban them if given the chance.

The most intelligent thing to do is to go back into history and find an event or person or day that could epitomize the youthful hunger for love. Something that could be seized to give the youth the same opportunity they get during valentine. I dont know what the purists will say about this but I want to believe that doing this is far better than fighting a losing battle with the ban on valentine.

I have actually searched back and recalled an event in my part of the world that could serve as a valentine equavalent. Its called Larabgana. I remember when I was a kid how, on that day, small girls used to take rubutu with onion leaves inside to their boy friends. The ones they really loved who in turn gave them small coins. It was not a big deal then and it was never institutionalized. But I know it happened in those days and it can be revived and made to replace valentine in my part of the world.

I will continue my research on this and when I am satisfied will take it to local media houses for publicity. First though I may have to consult the liberal Imams in my community.

Update: So the first wednesday of the new year is our Larabgana, i.e. in the month of Al Muharram. Now instead of taking rubutu around why not use cards and sms messages. Also why not encourage evrybody to partake in the activity on that day? Both males and females, young and old.
Sounds simple? Many of my friends liked the idea. But wait for the difficult part. I discussed the idea with a few local people: one Ustaz, one Imam and a lay person. The first two were dead against it, saying it tantamounts to an invention in the religion. While the third was all for it. The stiff opposition has scared me and I have shelved the idea for now.

KT LG POLLS RUMPUS

2008-02-07T11:57:00.001+01:00

Chairmanship elections for the 34 local government councils in KT are round the corner but with daggers drawn for the primaries. Contestants from various parties are jostling to clinch their parties' nominations. In the PDP (the ruling party), the bad blood created in selecting the candidates to contest is threatening to split the party. Three caretaker chairmen were jettisoned while the rest were given the party ticket to contest. These decisions were critisized as undemocratic and reported by Daily Trust newspaper here.
Here is what appears to be at stake: an elected chairman would be at liberty to use an average of about 40 million Naira every month the way he wants. Naturally this kind of money comes in handy and ready to be pilfered for personal instead of peoples' oriented projects.

OBAMA RULES OK

2008-02-05T13:09:00.000+01:00

The international media is bombarding all of us with stories of the US elections. The coverage is so thick that you feel some fatigue every time you watch the news. It reminds me of how CNN covered O. J. Simpson's case a few years ago.
My main concern in the US elections is Barack Obama. Somehow I want him to clinch the Democratic ticket not so much because he is black, but because of what he says he will do about Nigeria's number one enemy: the anopheles mosquito. He said he will spare no effort to eradicate malaria, the killer of children and adults in Nigeria. I have already reached the conclusion that it is only with US assistance that we here can combat malaria successfully. Remember how they came in heavily on the Polio issue. It is this that endeared me to him.
Senator Hilary Clinton on the other hand chose Alzheimer or cancer disease and this does not bother me at all. Besides no matter how many times she cries I remain opposed to her candidature. Not that it matters anyway but I hated the foxy little tears she sheds whenever the going gets tough for her. I don't know much about the other hopefuls still in the race.
So Obama I say good luck to you.

RESOLUTIONS? WHAT RESOLUTIONS?

2008-02-05T11:31:00.002+01:00

A friend asked me last week about my new year resolutions. When she noticed my incredulous look she quickly yanked out a piece of paper that contained her own. I went through it quickly and it was the usual stuff I used to write down and forget. She confessed that she had broken some already.
Well to me resolutions are supposed to be alive throughout the year and to be revised every now and then. For the past two years I have kept a list of such resolutions handy and added to it when the need arose. Perhaps this should be called a "To Do List" because they are written with achieving a goal in mind. Whenever one is achieved then an annotation is made. This gives you a nice feeling whenever you go through the list again.
Here is a part of my list for this year which really contain some items that were carried forward from last year. They are in no particular order:
1. Perform Hajj.
2. Perform the Umra.
3. Say all my 5 daily prayers on time.
4. Read 50 books. Update; Finished three, 47 to go.
5. Complete the first draft of my book on KT history 1905-1950.
6. Write the draft of a book of short stories
7. Switch to vegetarian diet once a week.
8. Travel to Lagos for a feel of the ocean. Its been long since I smelled it.
9. Visit members of my family in Kano, Kaduna, Kwara and Lagos states.
10. Read the Qur'an from cover to cover every month.
11. Wake up for Tuhajjud during the last ten days of Ramadan.
12. Make the rounds to my relations in KT once every month. Done in Feb
13. Donate 5% of my total income to motherless children and other institutional charities.
14. Keep my desk free from the usual clutter. Done
15. Visit Dubai and see what all those people going there see.
16. Subscribe to the electronic version of Readers Digest. Done
17. Give more attention to car maintenance ie check engine oil and water every morning.
18. Write a review of all the books I have read on another blog site.
19. Do simple exercise every morning within the house.
20. Switch to brown sugar.
21. Buy a Mac Laptop.
22. Clear my wardrobe of all clothes not worn for more than six months.
23. Buy new clothes for myself every quarter. two sets will be fine and must be the latest fashion.
The original list is much longer than this and I would be lucky to accomplish half of what is in there.

WHITHER KSU? 2

2008-01-26T12:19:00.000+01:00

Back in August last year I wrote a piece on the progress of buildings at Katsina State University (KSU). Well its more than six months now and things have improved in one area while deterioration is the word in others. The picture above shows the same Senate building that I captured last but looking almost complete now. There is a new vigour now and contractors handling all the different buildings are busy on site. Note however that there is no way the students can relocate to this permanent site this year.

However, in the academic front, there is tension between the mangement and the teaching staff and, if what I hear is true, a showdown is iminent. The lecturers are loudly demanding payment of promised salary increase but the school authorities are claiming there was no money. I beg your pardon? What hapened to the billions stashed as investments so as to provide a stream of income for the school? If I remember correctly we were told then that the school would never have a cash flow problem. But if it can not pay the salaries plus the arrears then it means only one thing: the school is broke. No more no less. And this begs the question as to what hapened to the billions earmarked for the school by Yardy? Why did the governing council of the school allow the matter to reach the level it has reached now? What prevented them from intimating Yardy if Shema refused to cooperate as it is been alledged?

All the above questions are relevant and would come to the fore if and when the University is closed as a result of a strike action. That time it will be on record that KSU is the first state university in the country to be closed on account of strike by agrieved lecturers. One step forward, you might say, but two steps backward after a while. Tsk, tsk, tsk.

ADIEU BENAZIR BHUTTO

2008-01-22T12:47:00.002+01:00

So much as been written about the late Benazir Bhutto and this rare picture is my way of saying good bye to her. The loss to Pakistan is enormous but so also the only super power around - USA.

SNOW IN KT?

2008-01-22T12:18:00.000+01:00

Temperatures are dipping so fast that the thought of snow actually falling in KT is really a possibility. Room temperatures have of late plunged to 16 degrees Celsius while outside the mercury nudges around 8 degrees. I am hoping that a very cold wind will collide with another cold breeze above KT skies and presto, we see snow falling down from the sky. And thats the exact explanation for a recent snow fall in Baghdad captured in the this picture.
Of course snow had never fallen in KT but neither did it ever fell in Baghdad.

LIVING LIKE THE AMISH

2008-01-22T11:33:00.001+01:00

Since the disappointment I suffered along with the people of KT during Sallah, and the journey to Daura which was a fiasco, a trail of setbacks trailed me. My car broke down in the middle of no where and had to be abandoned there for a day. By the time I went with my mechanic some urchins had removed one tyre and traffic lights on the body. As if that was not enough, my cell phone was also stolen at the garage. These two mishaps nearly made me to flip over.
The loss of the cell phone was particularly devastating seeing that I bought it not more than a month before. And it was a high end gizmo with all the bells and whistles you can think of: bluetooth, wireless LAN, 3.5 mega pixel camera, digital recorder, memory card etc. I shelled out more than 50 thousand to acquire it and some nut case took it away from me. And it went along with all the contact numbers of my friends and relations! I asked everybody in the garage but no one saw anything. I went home and cussed some more but to no avail.
I calmed down towards midnight and thought the whole thing up objectively. First I wanted the phone to be blocked so that it would be rendered useless to the thief. Unfortunately my service provider MTN does not have a blocking software for stolen cell phones. In fact there are so many things they don't offer to us, their customers, including hassle free calls. Perhaps thats why some people coined Matsala Tazo Najeria. I thought of my numbers inside the phone and decided to visit the garage the following day perchance the thief threw it around the place. He did not.

The following day word went out that I lost my phone and some asked me to buy another one. And thats when I made up my mind to stay without a handset. Why buy another only to lose it again some day? Already the car was to stay in the garage for a month or so and what an opportunity to also for go the cell phone? And while I was at it, I also thought I had had enough of high tech anyway and so my laptop will have to go too, along with browsing. I would rather start living like the Amish? No car rides, no calls of whatever kind, and no browsing. It will be a thrill, I thought. So I packed my Acer and locked it in the closet.
Let me just say that it was not easy at all but thank God I have done it for a number of days and its all over. I am back and know I have missed a lot. But above all I apologise to my readers for not updating as usual. Life now continues as usual...

Eid, X-mas, Hannunkka, Soltice and New Year wishes

2008-01-02T21:15:00.000+01:00

The last quarter of the year 2007 was packed full of all sorts of celebrations. First we had Eid el Kabir for Muslims and then came along the Christmas which normally coincides with the solstice (when the sun is farthest from the equator) and then comes the Hannukka (a Jewish festival). And all these within a space of one month. I want to believe that as humans we all celebrated these occasions. And as if that was not enough, we first had a new year according to the liturgical calendar and another one soon according to the Hijra calendar.
So here is a belated wish to all my readers for a happy Sallah, merry Christmas, light filled solstice, happy hannunkka and a prosperous 2008 and 1328.

Update: I have been corrected with regard to the Islamic year (1328) which I quoted above. Correction accepted as the year is actually 1429 and my thanks to Big Abdul.

Sallah Celebration

2007-12-24T11:36:00.000+01:00

There are quite a few experiences that humans of all races and cultures share. Among them is celebration or merry making on particular days for particular events. These celebrations must have originated from the early days of humanity and they serve as a kind of reunion events for family members. Judging by their history it is safe to say that such celebrations predate all religions. But today most of our celebrations are based on religion. And here is a roll of those we have in my part of the world:

Babbar Sallah or Eid el Kabir
Karamar Sallah or Eid el Fitr
Cika ciki or Thanks Giving
Taku Tuha or Maulud

The first two are by far the most important and as such are packed with more activities. It is akin to a carnival complete with processions and brightly clothed horsemen parade. At home the occasion is marked after careful planing. Long before the d-day families budget the gifts to distribute, who to invite, the clothes to wear and the food to prepare. Relations coming down for the event are also ascertained.
Gift giving has become a norm but with apparels dominating the budget. Relations and family members form the bulk of the beneficiaries. Giving gifts to friends is mostly restricted to occasions like weddings or naming ceremonies. Children have clothes sewn for them as a rule and except for the fancy kid glasses or kid wrist watch, toys are out of the question. Wives too would have clothes given out to them long before the event and husbands will sew for themselves.
In the area of food every house cooks variety of dishes to fit the occasion. Most of the night would beused to do the cooking but normally with the help of those relations who have arrived forthe occasion. Rice dish features prominently in various forms ranging from plain white with stew to jollof and tuwo balls. Meat range from beef to chicken in roasted and cooked in stew varieties. Cakes, donuts, spring rolls, meat pies and other snacks would also be prepared. All these will be laid out along with the fruits in season.
No one eats in the morning until after people return from the praying ground. The food is then laid on the carpet for the family to sit down and eat. And then the banter starts with relations and friends.
Immediately after the meal those wishing to watch the parade and the horses will leave the house for strategic locations that give good a view. This is called durba and it is the main attraction for Sallah.

STILL ON MARYAM HIANA

2007-12-22T16:39:00.001+01:00

This signboard speak volumes of the irony behind the BORYAM scandal which had to do with a short video clip of a Kannywood film star (Maryam Hiana) having intercourse with her male friend. Circulation of the clip caused an upheavel in the North and in the local film industry that culminated in the draconian measures adopted by the Kano state government to curb the excesses of the players. But believe it or not the above clearly shows what pundits call "one man's food is another man's poison". The signboard stands by a busy side street in KT and whenever I drive by, I wonder what those irate youths in Bauchi, who were said to be looking for Hiana, to kill, would do when they see it. In fact they once trailed a Hiana look-alike and nearly butchered her. It never occurred to them to equally look for Bobo, the man who shot and acted in the porn clip.
Many bloggers from the North commented on the scandal and most were sympathetic to the girl. You may check this and this and this and this.
You may also check this out and while you are at it, haven't you noticed some spelling mistakes on the signboard?

OFF TO DAURA FOR SALLAH

2007-12-20T18:33:00.000+01:00

I wish all my Muslim readers a happy Eid el Kabir. Those in Nigeria and elsewhere must now be busy with the slaughtered ram for the occasion. I am battling with my own too in the various ways we usually do: we fry, pot cook, barbecue, grill, rotisserate, morsel dry and grind for meat balls. Over the years we in KT have developed several exotic ways to use such meat and preserve it for long.
However the Sallah celebration has been stifled in KT: no horses, no march past, no costumed artists, no processions and naturally there was forlorn look everywhere. It is just unbelievable that a Sallah will come and pass in KT without the usual carnival atmosphere. But its true as days before the event stories leaked that there will be no horses or parades. And the only reason advanced was the failing health of the traditional ruler or emir of Katsina.
Initially I thought it was a huge joke especially after knowing that someone can easily be made to ride the horse on behalf of the emir. Several district heads who are advanced in age appoint others to ride and the show had always continued. This stopped me from making alternative arrangements. On the eve of Sallah it downed on me that it was no rumour and I made a hasty decision to go to Daura with my friends to watch the Sallah show there.
So to Daura we went in a 3 car convoy but this is another story. Let me however hasten to add here that the decision to put-off the horse parade etc was criticized across town. And the argument posited is that the Sallah festival is too big to equate with one individual. It is a pageant that is enjoyed by locals, visitors from other parts of the country and beyond our borders. For centuries the festival was celebrated and people enjoyed the show regardless of who mounted which horse.
Here is commiserating with KT people and their visitors who had come from far and near for having a black Sallah devoid of flutes and drums.

HAJJ

2007-11-26T15:33:00.000+01:00

I almost forgot to mention that the journey to Saudi Arabia for the hajj has commenced in earnest. And for the first time the newly constructed KT International Airport is among the departure points. So far four planes have airlifted KT pilgrims and they are all in Medina now.
Am not traveling this year but already I am regretting it.
Above shows one of the pictures i came back with during last year's hajj.

ABBEY'S BLOGS

2007-11-23T16:17:00.000+01:00

This meal was prepared from a recipe as long as my arm. Its from Abbeys' first blogsite. But if not for the cans behind I would have sworn its good old rice and plantain. No more no less. But its not as the dish is called Joshua Chicken Curry. Which means those things that look like plantain that you see on top are actually chicken nuggets. And there are green beans and several other things whose names are new to me. The blog is full with such pictures of mouth watering dishes and is described as "Recipes from the Kitchens of People who love Food". Yummy Tucker is the blog's other name. Abbey also maintain another blog called Random Thoughts of Life here.
This other blog is on things generally and has lots of pictures, some bizarre, and other blog stuff.
Hope to try some of the recipes as soon as I assemble the items required.

KSA RAPE VICTIM JAIL SENTENCE

2007-11-23T15:46:00.000+01:00

The western media, led by the CNN, is busy with the Saudi girl rape story. Condemnations are sought from everywhere so as to put pressure on the Kingdom's rulers. But here is my understanding of the story: a Shi'ite girl was about to get married and was bent on getting back her pictures etc from her previous boy friend. She went to an agreed rendezvous in a public place to meet the boy and collect her items. She entered the boy's car and both were abducted and abused sexually. She was said to have been raped 14 times. Her husband was not happy and he encouraged her to take up the case with the rapists in a local court. She did and the rapists were sentenced to between 2 and 9 years. Curiously enough though the Qatif girl was also found guilty and sentenced to six months and 200 lashes. What could have been her offense? Well it turned out she violated what is called the Khalwa ruling which states that being with unrelated man in a private place is a culpable offense. That is by entering the car the girl had unwittingly stepped into some private area with the boy. And so judges passed her the above sentence.

I believe there is nothing wrong in putting pressure on the KSA authorities to let the girl off the hook. She has suffered immensely and the trauma of what she went through is enough for her. But the western media has some agenda in covering this story the way they are doing.

Update: Saudi media reported that King Abdallah has granted pardon to the Qatif girl which brings the whole saga to a happy end.

2007-11-23T14:17:00.000+01:00

The Indian baby born with eight limbs and a an extra torso. Indian doctors performed quite a feat when they surgically removed all the extras successfully.

KT HOSPITALITY

2007-11-21T11:29:00.000+01:00

Hospitality is associated with KT for several reasons and perhaps that is what informed the choice of the phrase on the state car plate number. The plate number screams HOME OF HOSPITALITY and this begs the question of how the people do it. What do they do to show hospitality? Or put another way, what kindness do the people show to visitors? And how friendly or welcoming are the people to visitors? A littler story would suffice here.

Karkarku is a Fulani settlement on the outskirts of Daura. I was there on a social visit with some relations and what transpired there actually made me to write this post. No sooner we arrived than the woman of the house started bringing out things for our comfort and stomachs. First she brought out a fine mat, a carpet and pillows. We all made ourselves comfortable. Then she gave us Fura or millet porridge with lots of undiluted nono or milk. Karkarku is particularly noted for these two things: milk and fura. You wont see any cows roaming about but their milk is the best in KT state. In between the usual greetings she sensed that we wont stay for long so she sent out for a full meal to be bought from a neighbouring house. Quite a meal considering the environment. After two hours or so we left the place for Daura town where we drove around aimlessly. Around the Emir's palace I remember looking out, hoping to catch a glimpse of Zahra.

On our way back to KT we made a detour after the airport and sped to Abukur, a small town along Katsina- Kano road. The intention was to drop a message only, but we were delayed with the usual entertainment. Fura was served and some snacks and the greetings went full length.

From these two examples we can conclude that entertaining visitors is a tradition in KT. They are welcomed and offered something to drink and eat. This aspect of hospitality appears to be universal and exist in all cultures. Where we difference is in terms of the offering. The Chinese offer tea to their visitors while Americans offer coffee. The Fulanis among us, especially those close to their cattle, offer milk and fura to their visitors.

But what do they entertain visitors within KT proper? Something to drink is usually the first thing to be offered and could be followed by a solid meal. Fura and milk are no more in vogue even though there are houses in the town where they could be offered. Like in the downtown areas. Kola nuts too were popular at one time, but no more. In most middle class houses what you get is juice, soft drinks and snacks. This is really a lazy man's way out but provides a quick fix to the problem of unexpected guests. After the usual Marhaba the visitor is shown a seat and is followed by greetings and, defending on the situation, some banter. The entertainment then starts.

I usually keep some juice and can soft drinks handy in my house. The traditional fura and milk has been abandoned for obvious reasons. Would this be changed one day and we see people serving tea and coffee in KT? Only time will tell but the advantages of both could be a factor for any changeover.

SUGGESTION BOX

2007-11-08T18:02:00.000+01:00

I checked the map of a site meter I installed on this blog and was pleasantly surprized to discover that readers of this blog are spread around all the continents except one - South America. The site counter also indicated that more than 1000 readers have so far visited my blog. I was elated by this development.
Now as a mark of respect for my readers I have been thinking of ways in which I can improve the blog. In this regard I am now asking you, my readers, to please drop in suggestions or ideas that could take the blog to new heights. For example if there are specific topics you would like to read more about in Hajia, I would be happy to write on them. Personally I view this blog as an interactive dialogue between you and me and in which we both can learn from each other. So if there is any topic or area that you would like to know more about regarding life, views and perspectives from KT or Nigeria, please feel free to let me know. You can either leave a comment here on the blog or send it to my e-mail box at hajirufa@yahoo.com.
I want to thank you for visiting my blog and I truly hope you find the postings fair, educative, informative and at times entertaining.

2007-11-08T17:38:00.000+01:00

Good news from Kaduna state as law makers there will soon pass a bill that will make it mandatory for all children to enroll in school. Such a bill is long overdue in virtually all the states in the far north. I am talking about Sokoto, Zamfara, Kebbi, Katsina, Kano, Jigawa, Yobe and Borno states. These states have record levels of young boys roaming the streets and claiming to be engaged in Quaranic education. In fact these boys, hungry and dirty as they are, are found virtually everywhere in the federation and they are often a menace. Its really good news that a law will now force them to either enroll in school or else pack their bags and go back to where they came from. Incidentally most of them come from a neighbouring country - Niger.

CALIFORNIA FIRE

2007-11-07T14:05:00.000+01:00

US investigators have finally closed in on the arsonist who started the California fires. And he is a mere 10 year old boy! The fire destroyed property worth a billion US Dollars and destroyed several homes and 38 acres of prime land in the buckweed district of Los Angles. However prosecutors are at a loss whether to file charges because the boy was under age. He was said to be playing with some matches when the fire started accidentally.
Above picture shows fire fighting helicopter dropping water on the thick smoke and raging fire below.

2007-11-07T11:14:00.000+01:00

It appears that PHCN (aka NEPA) is really confused about the correct voltage to supply to Nigerians at home and offices. Sometimes what you get is close to 220 but in most cases it is far below that. In fact these days the voltage is so low you cant even re-charge your handset battery. It is that bad! My stabilizer has once indicated the incoming voltage to be less than 100 volts. What do you do with this voltage that cant power anything?
I don't know whether PHCN is trying to change the country's official voltage from 220v to 110v or the vagaries of old transformers is the problem. Could it be the high demand or the corrupt nature of Nigerians at play.
All of the above have some role to play in our plight but it is worth mentioning that investment in the power sector stagnated for more than twenty years. As a result of that now we need close to ten years of massive investment by way of new thermal plants and hydro electric turbines before power and energy would be available 24/7.
So up to your necks in forbearance Nigerians.
Above shows a house in western California with electricity generating solar panels on the roof. It has been my dream project to sever PHCN power lines to my house and instead generate my own electricity using similar solar panels. Perhaps one day I will realise my dream.

HARMATTAN IS HERE

2007-11-07T10:44:00.000+01:00

The harmattan season is already with us in KT. You just feel and see the transition. My thermometer has recorded temperatures as low as 18 degrees Celsius around Subhi prayer time but it usually rises quickly to above 22 by say ten o'clock in the morning. Blankets and sweaters are back in demand and hawkers of these items are already on the prowl. Dusty strong winds have started blowing thereby complicating the woes of those with asthma. Most people now suffer acute catarrh and cough (or cold and flu) including yours truly. There is a surge in clinics and hospitals for these ailments and the usual drugs prescribed are antibiotics and vitamin C. I am still taking mine. And you need handkerchiefs, tissue paper or Kleenex box beside you. Its battle time with running noses, watery eyes, sore throats, light coughing, insomnia etc.
Perhaps as a result of global warming the temperature rises quickly to 38 by 2.00pm. This scorching heat continues to till around five o'clock when it starts to go down again.

2007-11-03T16:55:00.000+01:00

This is a home made helicopter built by a University student in Kano. Mubarak Abdullahi, 24, said it took him 8 months to build from old car parts and the carcass of a B747 plane that crashed along time ago near Kano. The machine was flown on six occasions rising to an altitude of seven feet. One of the demonstration flights was made in KT.
This budding engineer hopes that the federal government would show interest in his chopper. So far no one has said anything to him government or private organisation.
Read more here http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/nigeriahelicopteroffbeat

2007-11-03T14:16:00.000+01:00

Hawan Bariki fell on Friday, a short day, and was shifted to Saturday. That day the procession of horses and men started from the Governors house in GRA to Kangiwa square. Unfortunately the Emir could not mount and the crowds lining the streets were contented with the district heads. It was colorful and full of pageantry.
President 'YarAdua breezed into town same day. The presidential jet made its maiden touch down on the brand new tarmac of KT Airport. His first port of call was, oddly enough, the permanent site of KSU. I found that odd but on second thoughts it might be a good idea after all. We all know that work has stopped on the site along time ago and Yardy had promised relocating the university from its temporary site inside HUK Polytechnic to its permanent site by January 2008. This can not happen if the contractors continue abandoning the site. His visit could just provide the tonic the contractors need in order to resume.

2007-11-03T14:12:00.000+01:00

Governor Shema has abolished the payment of school fees by secondary school students in the state. He said this in his Sallah message. This is some good news but perhaps it should be followed by an order to run shift to all schools in the state(both primary and secondary). This is so as to de-congest the classes. Presently all these 4-story classes built by Yardy are full with between 60 to 70 students. Such an atmosphere does not augur well for learning and running shift could be the only way out.

2007-11-03T12:18:00.001+01:00

Above shows King Abdallah of Saudi Arabia and Laura Bush. The latter was on a tour to the Middle East countries to create breast cancer awareness. For the King to extend his hand and shake this woman in front of cameras is a feat his predecessors would never have done. I have high hopes for this man- the custodian of the two holy mosques. His country is going through a tough time, what with Osama bin Ladin people popping up every now and then, USA pressure to democratize and the local activist and bloggers on his neck. And this is not to mention the clerics - the disciples of Bin Baz and his counterparts in the Saud family who are itching to have a shot at the throne.
I want to believe that very soon the King would allow Saudi women to start driving cars in the Kingdom. I believe the King might be trying to send a message to his subjects and indeed the whole world with this picture. On the democratization front the King has done marvelous things on the Shura Council, succession law and judicial reform. He also has a brand new hi-tech university soon to be built- King Abdallah University of Science and Technology (KAUST).
By doing all these the King has shown his commitment to reform the Kingdom for the better. I wish him good luck.

FITR MUBARAK

2007-11-03T12:18:00.000+01:00

Ramadan came to an end and Sallah was celebrated along time ago (on thursday 11th October) . Here is a belated Fitr Mubarak to all my Muslim readers!
News from the United states indicated that this year's Ramadan has been very eventful. First the United States Congress passed a resolution recognising Ramadan as a holy season for Muslims. Secondly the Empire State Building in New York was for the first time lit up in green to honour the Eid holiday. The illumination continued till the end of the weekend. I consider these two things to be remarkable. (Thanks M.)
KT was agog with the activities and Kofar Soro was as usual adorned to match the mood. The procession of horses, artistes and costumed groups was the best ever.
Above picture shows Kofar Soro by Kangiwa square where the Sallah parade converged.

2007-10-09T17:40:00.000+01:00

Its 6.17 pm now which means breaking the fast is close by. As I type these words my mouth is dry and my stomach is cringing. The day has been hot like yesterday with room temperatures hovering near 40 degrees Celsius. A chemical message has been sent repeatedly to my brain urging me to do something. Pictures of delicious foods have flashed in my mind and smells of rich foods have been recorded by my nose. All these have made me to salivate in torrents but I still refused to budge to any temptation. I will wait till I hear the Muazzin's call to prayer. Like I did yesterday and the day before .. since the beginning of the Ramadan. God bless all those fasting. Amen

2007-10-07T15:57:00.000+01:00

2007-10-05T12:59:00.000+01:00

Harvest season is just round the corner and KT may witness yet another locust invasion. The advance party of these insects have already arrived. And they are everywhere, brownish all and they fly energetically in short courses. Here is praying they will not devour our crops that are still sitting in the farms.

2007-10-05T12:09:00.000+01:00

The number one best seller item in KT today is ....wait for it....ice block. Yes plain, old ice block that is made by pouring water in to a plastic bag and allowing it to stay long in the freezer. Ice block hawkers have taken over the retail trade and they display their wares at spots along the road stretching from steel rolling mill roundabout up to the old market. In short, IBB Way is now the place to patrol if you want to quench your thirst with cool water this Ramadan. Temperatures rise to 38 degrees Celsius and naturally, for someone fasting, cold water could be the first thing into the mouth. No wonder the commotion by eager ice block buyers have caused traffic jams on various locations along the street.(thanks J.)

Above picture shows the first customers to spot an ice block seller. Those near by start the crowd followed by those on motor cycles and lastly those in cars join. The commotion caused in this instance did not block the road as the cars were parked neatly on both sides of the road. This scene was captured on Lawrence Onoja road by IBB way as the seller bent down to collect the ice blocks from her sack . The Water Board pump station is in the background.

2007-10-03T15:27:00.000+01:00

I combed the whole of KT city limits looking for places or events that a native or visitor can really find interesting this Ramadan. For example places one can go to have sumptuous meals to break the fast with ie iftar. Or places to go and pass the night playing games or watching some event.

I am sorry to say that there are no special meals in all the restaurants I visited for the Ramadan. They claimed that people do not eat out during Ramadan and this could be true judging by the answers I got from the few people I polled on the issue. A new bride of less than one month found the suggestion of eating out ridiculous by saying "impossicant". She said she preferred cooking at home and claimed that her husband also wanted it that way.

Again there are no places one could go to watch plays or drama, or hang out in a floodlit park. If you want to watch the Ramadan opera I mentioned below you have to squeeze yourself in the crowd and watch it standing.
So what leisure time do we have in this month? None but note that one is fully engaged with live Tafsir in the mosques and in the air waves - radio and television. There is only satellite television to break the monotony for me. Theres MBC channels, Aljazeera, Saudi channels, CCTV, fashion tv and a host of others to while away time.

KATSINA STATE FOUNDATION

2007-10-03T14:11:00.000+01:00

I want you to consider this scenario first: they have given you 51 million naira and after fifteen years you report that the money has ballooned to 760 million naira. This is really good news and perhaps you deserve some mention in the Guinness book of world records.
Well that is exactly what one Suleman Dauda Karohi (SDK) claims to have achieved for the KT Foundation. This foundation was established after money was collected in the state back in 1991. The foundation has the benefit of having General Buhari (yes, same Buhari of ANPP) as its chairman. This could mean among other things that prudence, transparency and accountability are the watch words.
Well in a press conference recently, SDK announced to the world his feat and even gave a breakdown of sorts. Initially I wanted to write a congratulatory message to the foundation and to SDK but questions kept popping up in my head that made me to change my mind.
First what was the main objective of setting up the foundation back in 1991? Was it to make money through investments in share certificates? And why shares only since there are other avenues that could give a higher yield?
I do not believe that building wells in rural areas and donating money to Islamiyya schools is such a worthy objective that required KT people to launch the foundation fifteen years ago. If I recall correctly educational development for the state was part of the objective. So SDK ought to have told us what they did in that sector. What schools did they build? What textbooks, scholarships etc.
The long and short of it is that this foundation is swimming in money with no one to supervise them. General Buhari has many things in his hands and may have even attempted to resign the chairmanship. He hardly attend to the affairs of the foundation. As Nigerians we know how such a situation can easily lead to misappropriation of funds at a large scale.
I am calling on the state government to look into the affairs of this body and streamline its conduct in accordance with the original objectives.

2007-10-03T12:44:00.000+01:00

Being the first lady in a state could be very interesting - perks apart. Among other things you have the chance to sit on cozy seats with the governor during public functions or even represent him on occasions. But in Adamawa state, playing the part has become a game of wits. The governor there happen to have four wives and it has now become a race to the podium for the quartet.
Soon after the governor was sworn-in, the problem surfaced as each wife sought to occupy the role to the exclusion of the others. And naturally some less-than-first-lady-like scenes must have been created to the chagrin of the governor and on lookers.
Now how do you solve this kind of problem amicably? Who would accompany the governor and act as the first lady today or this week?
The governor acted swiftly and I am not surprized since he was once a general in the Navy. In the true fashion of the military he assigned the wives different portfolios or areas where each can serve as a first lady to the exclusion of the others.
So Adamawa now has a first lady for political and moblisation affairs, a different first lady for home affairs, another first lady for health and yet another first lady for Abuja affairs. Four different first ladies but all wives of m'lord, the governor.
Problem solved amicably. Unless you have another bright idea, I am giving the governor an "A" rating for coming up with this solution.

KARO BA SHAWARA

2007-10-03T11:56:00.000+01:00

Twelve days into Ramadan and its time for drums and drama sketches and short plays all over town. Small boys however get into the act on the tenth day day by acquiring their small drums and beating them silly soon after Asham prayers. These are aged from five to sixteen and they parade the streets stopping at shops, entering into houses with the belief that they are entertaining the audience. Handing them a few coins usually save one from the noise and they move on. For virtually all of them its the first time they handle a musical instrument. And for many of them it would be the last. However the most interesting are the drama sketches that are performed outside or inside houses.These boys pick many themes and use all sorts of make up to assume different roles. Some could dress up as girls or as old men playing out specific roles that rhyme with the chorus and drums behind.
By far the most serious and elaborate is that performed by grown up men and called Karo Ba Shawara. It is a full blown opera that depicts the typical life of the people and in the process teaches a lot of things to the young. Characters sing their lines and comprise of the lead actor and his back ups who respond in a chorus. They use huge gourds laced with beads mainly as the musical instrument. The opera uses themes like the rainy season where the farming activities therein are portrayed. From clearing the farm to the first rains when land is cleared up to harvest time. Marriage, divorce and runway brides are also thrown into the whole drama so as to vary the performance.

2007-09-20T12:43:00.000+01:00

BREAKING NEWS. It was revealed that KT has eleven billion naira in its coffers. The governor made the revelation in a newspaper report. Well this is some good news seeing that not many governors trust revealing such info to the public. For one it could make mouths to water in torrents and before you know it, important people could start putting pressure for their share. I therefore doff my hat for Shema for making the announcement.
But the revelation begs the question as to what to spend the money on? Eleven billion is a whole lot of big money and it may not be off the mark if someone asks for a referendum in the state to determine what to do with it. I would support such a move even though I know it would never come to fruition.
What we the citizens of the state are left with is not more than mere discussion among ourselves on how best to spend the money. I list below my contribution to this discussion after a careful analysis of the problems facing the state:
1. education sector should have 30 percent of the money allocated to it.
2. health sector should have 20 percent allocated to it.
3. industrial sector should have 20percent allocated to it.
4. another 20 percent should be shared among the other sectors.
5. The remaining 10 percent should be set aside for emergency.
Perhaps someone should start a YouTube chat where we tell the governor how best to spend the money.

TRADITIONS OF RAMADAN

2007-09-20T12:07:00.000+01:00

I have been reminded of other practices that have become traditions during the month of Ramadan. Flying east to Saudi Arabia for the lesser Hajj or Umra has now become fully entrenched as a Ramadan past time. All manner of people jostle for the journey and by far the biggest sponsor for the trips are state governments. Very few pay for the journey from their pockets.
Here is how the racket operates - in the early days of Ramadan you make it a point to get your name slotted in the list. The governor decides who goes and so your campaign should be directed at him. How you do it is left for you, but no one can guarantee you the flight except the governor.
Who jostle for government sponsorship? Well, traditional rulers are top on the list. Followed closely by the local clerics or religious leaders, top government officials (commissioners, special advisers etc), sundry politicians and the governor's relations. All in all the total number could be anywhere between 200 and 500 people. Now if you multiply this number with the token sum of 500,000 naira then you begin to see why this is important to talk about.
Is this sponsorship in accordance with the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria? I can not answer this question since I am neither a lawyer nor a constitutional expert. But there is a sure way we can find out.
Governor Shema of KT is a lawyer and has in various forums asserted that his actions as a governor will be guided by the rule of law. So all we need to do is watch out whether he sponsors these people to the Umra or not. If he does then it is constitutional and the reverse holds if he refuses to approve any contingent. Fair enough eh? (Thanks Maimuna)

2007-09-16T14:13:00.000+01:00

I have always wondered what goodies people use to break their fast with during Ramadan. I want to believe that many like me take the trouble of making sure nice and delicious things are laid on the table. This is considering the huge amounts spent by all in preparation for the month. But does that translate into a deliberate plan to gorge ourselves with the best food?
I conducted a short survey of the food items that my friends and I usually have for breaking the fast. Here is the list of items below:
1. Fruits - mostly dates, fruit salad for few
2. Pap and Kosai - this is a standard menu in every home
3. Roasted meat (chicken or beef or mutton or fish) - the average family have this on alternate days
4. Peppersoup of either of the above meats - on alternate days mostly
5. Potatoes and eggs and plantain - the average family could two of these daily
6. Fura - standard menu for some during sahur
7. Milk and beverage -standard for breaking or sahur time for the average families.
Now the question here is whether the above represent a real delicacy in the true sense of the word. If people make sure they eat the above during Ramadan then what do they eat in months other than Ramadan? A much less richer diet?

2007-09-13T11:30:00.000+01:00

Fasting is not exactly my favourite form of worship. But I cherish and always look forward to Ramadan period. Indeed we all eagerly look forward to the Ramadan season. But personally I think this has more to do with the goodies we eat to break the fast than perhaps any religious penchant. Look at the statistics I gathered yesterday: the average family makes it a point to have roasted meat or chicken, potatoes and lots of fresh fruits on the table to break the fast daily. Of course there are those who can not afford a descent meal in the period, I hasten to add. But records from markets indicate that huge sums of money are spent to accommodate the demands of Ramadan fast. More than half of that amount goes to food items.

Incidentally my favourite form of worship is the Hajj. I love to go to Saudi Arabia for the Hajj and have been there four of five times. Nigerians love to go on Hajj and perhaps this too is for the little taste of life in the first world and the shopping spree. I like to think that Saudi Arabia is at par with western countries in some respects. Some respects because there are areas they can improve like in sanitation and garbage collection.
But this year the fare is so outrageous I am boycotting the journey completely. Half a million naira is no joke.

RAMADAN KAREEM

2007-09-12T12:38:00.001+01:00

Today is the first day of Ramadan fast. The announcement for the commencement was made yesterday by the Sultan of Sokoto. Many will go by the announcement but there will be others who will not.
I did my Ramadan shopping about a month ago and am better off for that because prices have gone up since. I visited KT central market yesterday and it was a beehive of activity. Shoppers were in droves buying all manner of items. Top on the list included sugar, beverages, flour, apparels, and shoes. Apart from buying what to consume tradition dictates that one buys clothes for the coming Sallah Eid. And of course one buys things for gifts to relations and in-laws. Another thing that has almost become a tradition is the Ramadan text messages to friends on their mobile phones. I have received four of such messages so far and more are coming. And they can be quite interesting to read.
I wish us all a happy Ramadan season.

2007-09-03T18:49:00.000+01:00

As a third world country that is fast sliding back to stone age, Nigeria is yet to get rid of mosquitoes. In fact I will not be surprized if someone theorizes that all the mosquitoes of the world are slowly but surely migrating to Nigeria. This is judging by such things as the rising number of mosquitoes in our houses and rooms, the rising large number of people reporting to hospitals and clinics with malaria, and the rising number of people who actually die from the disease. Mosquitoes in our country are just so many and so brazen that fleeting your room daily does not protect you from a bite or two in the wee hours of the morning. Thats the time when mosquitoes regain their energies and go into action with vengeance. And this leads me to the question of what to do in order to make your room mosquito-free?
I asked a few friends what they do to protect themselves from mosquitoes and the answers I got would shock officials of the World Health Organisation (WHO). By the way this is the only organisation that seem to bother about the mosquito scourge in Nigeria. This is because federal, state and local governments do not as a matter of policy bother and do not talk about malaria at all. Their budgets on health does not have any Kobo for checking the insects. here is are the responses:

More than sixty percent said they do not bother and do not buy anything to check mosquitoes in their bedrooms. They cited the cost of mosquito repellents as one reason.
Others said they use the cheap mosquito coils from China but admitted that they do not use them it on a daily basis.
No wonder malaria is on the increase.
Above is the picture of a pack of cheap mosquito coils that are imported from China. They have now saturated our markets and millions of Nigerians now inhale the smoke for eight hours during their sleep. This pack has no NAFDAC or FDA certification or number thereby suggesting there was no test conducted to ascertain its effect on human health.

2007-08-26T12:52:00.000+01:00

Like most Nigerians the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) is not happy with the conduct of last elections. They are now calling for a fresh election to hold next year ie 2008. Good suggestion you say? But hold it, what did the organisation say about 2003 elections? I want to know the comments they made then so as to gauge their consistency or otherwise. Please can someone dig the archives and find out for me?

2007-08-26T12:34:00.000+01:00

Last week there were rumblings from Aso Rock as President Yar'Adua relieves three top officials of their posts. For the CBN governor, one Charles Soludo, the government went out of its way to convince the public by quoting all sorts of laws and provisions. I wrote a piece on this guy below and had always known that he would soon land on a banana peel.
Next was Nuhu Ribadu the EFCC strong man. I was surprized by his removal as he has just started warming to the hearts of Nigerians by jailing corrupt ex-governors.
The Customs and Exise boss was also removed.

Update: I was wrong above on the CBN governor's sack. Professor Saludo apparently chickened out on his naira re-denomination theory and backed down by apologising profusely.

2007-08-18T14:37:00.000+01:00

The story of salary increase for teachers is thick in the air in Katsina state. Governor Shema has concluded plans already thereby taking after his predecessor Umaru YarAdua. The later effected handsome increases for Nurses and other health workers. However it is on record that no improvement in service delivery occurred in the hospitals. It was business as usual as nurses and other sundry workers still behaved and worked the way they have always done.
Would this increase for teachers really bring a change in the education sector of the state? Would it lead to more students getting admissions to Universities?
Unless the increase is somehow tied to performance we shall have a repeat of what happened in the health sector.
Perhaps the state will be better off if hardworking teachers are paid to mount summer classes and daily extra lessons in their schools. Minimal contact hours appear to be the bane of education in the state. If both primary and secondary schools adopt this I believe it will go along way in improving the standard of education in the state.

WHITHER KSU?

2007-08-17T17:59:00.000+01:00

For along time now work on the permanent site of Katsina State University (KSU) has stalled as few labourers hang around the uncompleted structures. Only road construction appear to be going on. And the obvious reason is lack of funding. If only they awarded the entire contract to Julius Berger ........and not these mushroom local contractors. The leaking state House of Assembly should have informed them of futility in giving local contractors such a huge project. Picture left shows the main Administrative block looking empty and deserted. Note the time it was snapped by clicking to enlarge.

Lecturers recruited from other universities may also be preparing for their return journey to their original schools as KSU authorities continue to renege on their promises. The bait of further training overseas actually attracted these people in the first place, but now the authorities are talking about University of Ibadan as the destination for all. The talk of linkage to an Indian University is now a mirage. Likewise other incentives and motivations.

Are we doomed to scuttle every opportunity that lands on our laps as a people? Why should the selfishness of few continue to be tolerated by the majority?

OBASANJO: THE COME BACK KID?

2007-08-10T12:43:00.000+01:00

When former president Olusegun Obasanjo lost his third term bid for power due to the ferocious opposition from a large majority of Nigerians, he vowed to have the last laugh. And soon after President Umar Yar’adua was sworn-in, Nigerians woke up one day to learn that Obasanjo had clinchéd the post of chairman of the ruling party’s (PDP) Board of Trustees. By virtue of this position, Obasanjo now has a say not only in the party but also in the affairs of government. This in a way makes Yar’adua to look like a lame-duck president. Indeed Obasanjo is having the last laugh but it wont last that long. It’s nothing but a mere pyrrhic victory for him, at least if history is anything to go by.

Obasanjo’s insistence to hang around made me to dust my history books and go through them with a digger and powerful flashlight. I was bent on finding an instance in history where an elected leader chose to stay around after completing his tenure. I wanted to find out such a leader or leaders and especially the role they played in the new government headed by their successors. I even re-read The Prince with a view to finding out whether Machiavelli had given advice to rulers to always hang around their successors and the reasons.

Well my search ended up in vain. No elected leader in history had chosen to remain put after his tenure. Neither did Machiavelli give such an advice. The closest scenario I came up with happened in Haiti where the wife of the deceased president remained in the government house long after her son was sworn-in as president. But soon enough she was kicked out by the new first lady. Then why did Obasanjo decide to transform himself into a Trojan horse inside Aso Rock? Why?

It appears to me there are two reasons:

1. He does not want a replay of Chiluba’s (Zambia's ex-president) drama to happen to him.

2. He wants to make sure that policies and contracts he considers extremely important are not reversed by a new overzealous president.

Well first of all let us be clear about this aberration in politics. It is wrong for Obasanjo to hang around the party or tread in the corridors of power at Aso Rock beyond his term of office. He should have gone back to his farm at Otta and resume raising chickens like he did before he became president.

Secondly the chiluba drama is already playing itself out and we are witnessing reversals of both policies and contracts by Yar'adua now.

Thirdly the party (PDP) has recently appointed a reconciliation committee charged with the responsibility of wooing back party stalwarts who were kicked out by Obasanjo. Foundation members that included people like Abubakar Rimi, Musa Musawa, Iro Danmusa, Ghali NaAbba, Lawai Kaita etc were sidelined by Obasanjo during his tenure. This committee will bring them all back and when that happens, Obasanjo would do well to seek for cover.

These people represent Obasanjo’s nemesis and Achilles heels rolled into one.

OPERATION SHAVE YOUR BEARD?

2007-08-05T11:19:00.000+01:00

Since the alleged 2billion naira scam (dubbed Aminchi-gate) broke out after Governor Shema was sworn-in, the reaction of people in the state varied. Some preferred a state of denial, others resorted to mere condemnation but there were those who called for the total recovery of the looted money from the duo – i.e. the former deputy governor (Garba Aminchi) and the former Secretary to the State Government (Inuwa Mohammed).

People discussed the issue among themselves but not a single person or organization made comment publicly. This includes the state government. Neither did the press (local or national) write anything on it. What a pity. One would have expected the local Izala Chapter to at least make semblances of protecting Aminchi, since he was known to be their member and major benefactor. They did not and perhaps that provoked some of the youthful members to react in their own unique way.

Now information reaching me suggest that beard is fast losing its appeal among youths in KT. Spotting a goatee has been a favourite past time with members of Izala religious organisation to the extent that it rivals the five pillars. But since the story of the allegations started filtering out a kind of frenzy of beard shaving was let loose in KT.

Now what would be the connection between the beard shaving spree and Aminchi-gate? Well it so happens that the former deputy governor spots a well groomed goatee – a truly designer beard. His beard appears to have white spots of grey hair at times and sometimes it looks like a patch of zebra skin got grafted under his chin. If the gentleman had been so exposed, like Governor Shema is, one would have thought that a designer like Giorgio Armani or Calvin Klein was involved in trimming the beard. The beard appears to change with every outing. Its polka dot today but tomorrow its pin stripe or zebra-skin like. Indeed the beard had become his trademark during his tenure.

By shaving their beards these youths are probably trying to distance themselves from the embattled deputy governor. Perhaps they are also sending a statement to their leaders in Izala to distance themselves also. Whether the leaders of this religious sect would follow the example of the youths is left to be seen.

In order to tie up the matter neatly I asked my brothers to get me the names of all the big guns in Izala and also the names of heavyweight Imams in Katsina. Here is the list I got:

1. Yakuba Musa Kafanchan

2. Liman Abba

3. Husamatu Abbas

4. Sani Kerau

5. Surajo Kofar Durbi

6. Harisu Dikke

7. Habibu Kaura and

8. Yammawa.

My question here is who amongst these eight could really have the guts and the moral rectitude to condemn or distance himself from the alleged impropriety described above? Who? If the answer is none of the above, then is it not time KT people started looking for a new set of Imams?

THE INVASION OF WORMS

2007-07-24T14:33:00.000+01:00

Killer worms have invaded KT in millions. On contact with skin these worms makes one to itch and serious rashes soon develop in the area as a result of scratching. Worst of all however is when they are swallowed or eaten by mistake: death follows. And that is what makes the worms killers.
No one knows from where they came but speculations are rife that they were blown by breeze from neighbouring Niger republic. After all similar invasions by queela birds and locusts all originate from that area. But how could these hairy little worms travel the distance? Did they crawl the distance or flew?
Lucky for us in the town these worms preferred the suburbs where they could feed on vegetation. When stories started filtering about them I went out to Poly to see for myself. And I saw them: on the back of leaves, hanging from trees on silky threads and crawling on the ground. Hairy little worms that move with twitches. Very energetic and can swing from trees using their silky thread like spider.

Students of Poly and KSU have refused to move to their hostels because of these worms. They do attend lectures but most of them are wary of these worms. It would be wise of them to start using turtle neck sweaters in order to avoid stray worms that fly to the neck.
Above picture shows two worms busy devouring leaves on the shrub beside one classroom at KSU. Click on the picture to enlarge so as to see them properly.

YUSUF ISLAM LIVE?

2007-07-11T13:11:00.000+01:00

When the former British rock star, Cat Stevens, converted to Islam he changed his name to Yusuf Islam and auctioned his guitar. But his love for music apparently remained intact.

The tunes never dried up because just a few months into his new life as a Muslim, Yusuf Islam the singer celebrated the birth of his son by recording a song; A Is for Allah. He also sung several Islamic nursery rhymes. He did not sing before crowds as his public appearances were mostly restricted to talks in which he explained to other London Muslims the reasons why his old life had left him unfulfilled. The last time he performed in front of an audience was in 1979 at the Unicef Year of the Child Concert at Wembley.
Well Yusuf may have auctioned is guitar then but he is back with it again as the above picture shows. He is planning a new Islamic cultural center for which the Brent Council had recently granted approval. The building was controversial as it will be on the grounds of an old church.
He is also planning to go to South Africa, where he will record his parts for a forthcoming children’s album. This not to mention the parts he recorded for the Live Earth.
This is wishing Yusuf Islam success for all his musical endeavours. And by the way, I posted a piece on Yusuf Islam a long time ago on this blog. You may scroll down to see it.

HAJIA IS ONE YEAR OLD

2007-07-10T20:45:00.000+01:00

Today marks the first anniversary of hajia, the blogspot. One year is probably not such a long time, especially when you consider some blogs that have been there for long. There are many who have been blogging for the past ten years or more like Dave Winer and Jason Kottke. But for someone like me who started blogging as a kind of experiment it is a big deal. I never expected myself to keep on doing it for this long. Surprisingly, I still enjoy writing on this blog and I truly believe this is the main reason why I keep on maintaining it. Of course, it is not always easy to even decide on what to write. It takes a helluva of an effort to write and it is certainly discouraging when you realize that very few read what you write. Much less appreciate it. At any rate I can say that I am somewhat satisfied with the experience so far.

However there are a few topics I would have loved to write on but somehow could not. Here are some of them:

Soludo’s CBN- I mauled over writing something on the Central Bank of Nigeria under Soludo’s stewardship but could not just put pen to paper and get it done with. I wanted to write about his failure and the failure of his so-called banking reform. The mega-banks he created are still lying in the shadows of the old ones they replaced. Nothing, repeat, nothing has changed with regard to their behaviour towards customers and in the way they conduct business generally. The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) has concurred with me on this when they said in a newspaper report that “…a year after bank’s consolidation SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises) are yet to reap any benefits from it”. This story was on the front page of the Daily Trust of Wednesday 14 March 2007.
Again I wanted to write on the systematic way and manner Soludo eased out Northern interests in all the banks thereby tightening the poverty-knot on all of us living on this side of the Niger. I wanted to also examine the staff distribution by states of the bank since he took over. Likewise the consultancy firms he gave jobs to during his tenure.

Dikko dynasty (1906-2006)- I wanted to write a congratulatory piece on this topic back in March, but always got taken away by million dollar questions regarding the events leading to the change of sarauta baton in Katsina. That is from Dallazawa who reigned since the Jihad (1804-1906) to Sullubawa. Of course the Sullubawas had always been around holding the title of Durbi up to 1893. But the jump to full emir by Dikko (in 1906) within a fourteen year period was phenomenal to say the least. And it appeared Dikko went after the title solo. As a student of history I am interested in what happened in those days. For example, how did Dikko manage to carry out the coup? Who helped him in the process? And what qualities in his possession helped him along?

Well my preliminary investigations revealed that several people helped him along. And they included a powerful prince and heir apparent, members of the emir’s household and majority of those holding various sarauta offices. This is not mentioning the then Emir himself, Abubakr Boyi, for doing and not doing things that somehow seemed to have encouraged Dikko tremendously.
However the whole saga appear to hinge on the relationship that existed then between Yarima Abdu, the crown pronce, and Dikko. They were about the same age which begs the question: were they bosom friends? It looked so if we recall that when Dikko advised Yarima not to go and buy camels for the colonial masters, he (Yarima) agreed and told the Europeans he was not going. But when they asked Dikko to go and buy, he willingly went and bought the camels. What did Yarima do after that? Apparently nothing, but why? Was Dikko having a hold on him?

And what about special qualities Dikko posessed that enabled him to swing the sarauta baton to his side? Well fore one Dikko was obviuosly a loyalist not only to Abubkr but also to the colonial masters. Perhaps too loyal beacause even Abubkr preferred dealing and confiding in him than in his own son.

Other questions that are reeling in my head include: who killed Sani, and ba-Dallaza? Sani was the first son and ba-Dallaza, the first daughter of Abubakr. Both were killed in mysterious circumstances and the killer or killers were never found. It looked like an insider job executed with the knowledge of a high ranking person or persons. Who could that person be? Again why did Abubakr Boyi appoint Dikko to be his intercessor with the Europeans? Was he trying to punish Yarima in the process? Why did he, Abubakr, also turban Dikko with his own head gear? But most important of all, what crime did Yarima Abdu commit to deserve all these seeming acts that were in breach with the norm?

All these questions have challenged me in a way that makes me feel like writing a book that will fill this void in the history of Katsina.

ICT palaver in Nigeria- This is another area I wanted to write on but always got bogged down with the sheer amount of research that is required. The provision of internet services for offices and schools have now become a goldmine for senior civil servants in Nigeria. Every year fat budgetary allocations are made for ICT but ordinary connectivity to the internet remains a mirage for such offices and schools. From federal to state, ministries and institutions squander money in the name of ICT but little or nothing is seen on the ground. The same thing occurs in our schools, polytechnics and universities. No office or school in Nigeria today can boast of having had internet connectivity 24/7 on a continuous basis. But huge amounts continue to be spent every year with little or nothing to show for it. Still on the broad definition of ICT, I wish to put on record that our GSM companies are performing below standard. Lack of connectivity, call drops and voice lss are the order of the day. Which reminds one of the old days when the ineptitude of NITEL ruled the communication industry. Are we back to those days?

You can dig in the archives at the end of this page to follow the evolution of this blog over the one year period. I want to thank you all my dear readers, and I want also to thank all those who helped me with my endeavors on the web. I will also mention Saudi female bloggers, especially Farah Sowaleef, for initiating me into the wonderful world of blogging.

ISIOMAH DANIELS RE-INCARNATE?

2007-07-06T11:47:00.001+01:00

Whenever my friends click through my collection of Miss World 2007 pictures they make comments about Isiomah Daniels. The name Isiomah (pronounced eye-sore-mar) belongs to one girl who was at one time a cub reporter at This Day newspaper. Their comments border on a kind of resemblance between Miss Tanzania, Flaviana Matata, pictured left and Isiomah Daniels. I really find that odd. This is because the picture of Isiomah which has been in my head since her careless remarks about the Prophet, is of a pygmy-short, pitch black girl with a typical African nose and frizzy hair. In my mind Isiomah is a far cry from the tall, slim beauty we see in Flaviana. Also as far as Isiomah is concerned, beauty pageants are only there to write about.

Here is a little recap: Isiomah's article in This Day newspaper sparked off unnecessary bloody riots across the North by mostly rogues and vagrants. She was, of course, wrong in mentioning the prophet in an article on beauty pageant that involved nudity, but to go on rampage for that beats my imagination. All the same I believe that if she had equally mentioned Jesus in the same article, tempers might have been doused somewhat.
At any rate the deed had been done but the handling of the event by Obasanjo and Jerry Gana left much to be desired. They quickly relocated Isiomah to the USA thereby sweeping everything under the carpet. That was a dumb thing to do. Unfortunately that strategy appears now to be the standard response to all similar cases where Muslims are slighted.

But do we really see any resemblance between the two or are my friends just pulling my leg in order to bring back the issue?

SEX AND THE UMMA

2007-07-06T11:47:00.000+01:00

I can hear voices inside me saying, " writing on this topic is abominable". I was only encouraged after visiting MuslimsWakeUp blogsite which among other things, has an interesting column with the above title. The column, written by mostly women, talks about relationships between men and women within the Umma. Inside and outside wedlock. They are fictional stories that ring true in any society. But such relationships, as we all know, mostly border on hypocrisy, cheating and lust. Certainly not love. And I am talking about the Nigerian Muslim context.

SHEMA AND THE RULE OF LAW

2007-07-04T18:57:00.001+01:00

Governor Shema is a lawyer who knows more than many people what the rule of law stands for. It is for this reason that I don't envy him in his new job as the governor of Katsina state. Since the day he was sworn-in, the new governor has come across tons of incidences of injustices, undemocratic practices, human right abuses and outright cases of mis-carriage of justice across the state. If you are a lawyer this can bring tears of sadness to your eyes and Shema's training as a lawyer abhors this kind of situation.
Take the issue of the motley crowd of youths (known as Kauraye boys) who collect five thousand naira every month but do nothing for it. Muttaka Rabe coordinated these payments when he was commissioner in the hey days of Yar'Adua's tenure. Shema stopped the payments straight away. Little wonder these youths rained abuses at the governor last Saturday after the wedding fatiha of the president's daughter. Instead of bowing to their cheap blackmail Shema announced a committee that will identify areas where these youths will be helped to establish small businesses throughout the state. This sounds good to me. It would be interesting to see how YarAdua will arbitrate on this issue.

Look at the issue of local governments caretaker committees. Again Shema found fault in the appointment of twenty councillors for each LGC instead of the five as stated in the constitution. Likewise the appointment of LG administrators who will later contest for the chairmanship without resigning from their positions as was the understanding at the party secretariat. Would Shema allow this travesty of justice continue or would YarAdua again prevail on him for the party to continue?
But the mother of all is in the area of elected representatives who did not follow the dictates of the constitution before winning. Several local government chairmen contested for elections while in office and are now in the the state assembly. It is good the opposition parties have gone to court on this and we shall see what happens soon. At the federal level some representatives were screened with mere secondary school certificates but on reaching the house submitted what amounts to fake diploma certificates. I am surprized this story is not picked by any national daily because it is a replay of what happened in 1999 and people want to hear it. the courts are however the best avenue to solve these misdeeds and set a precedent for the future.

Shema's training in business will also be at odds with what he sees on the ground: wastage of government resources left right and center. Extreme inertia by civil servants in all the ministries and parastatals. Imagine KUPDA being more interested in new building start-ups than how roads are misused for example. Dual carriage ways reduced to single lane roads and KUPDA is doing nothing about it. Or the Zonal offices of Ministry of Education showing no concern at the large number of pupils in private primary and secondary schools.
What about the rumoured missing two billion from the treasury? Garba Aminchi and the former SSG are said to coughing out the money now? Would that be all? People need to hear about these stories.

Shema has promised to give education its rightful place and doing this alone can go along way in helping the state by entrenching qualified people not only in the state assembly but also elsewhere. This too is part of the rule of law. Dim witted secondary school leavers should not be allowed to partake in the running of the state. These people are essentially a bunch of ignoramuses. They should not be allowed to be LG chairmen, members of state assembly, federal reps or senators.

GREAT SATAN MEETS AXIS OF EVIL

2007-06-03T19:20:00.000+01:00

When pundits said there are no permanent friends or enemies in politics, many people thought they were joking. But here is a clear proof of the statement: George Bush has sent emissaries to meet Iranian delegation to talk about the insurgency in Iraq. Of course he resisted this move for the past three years but eventually The Gates report and the rising dissenting voices of the American people made him to change his mind.
Bush it was who described Iran and North Korea as the axis of evil simply because they disagreed with the his government on their nuclear intentions. Of course it was a white house speech writer who coined the phrase and Bush only voiced it out in a speech. But right from day one the phrase sparked off resentment in the EU because of its religious undertones. Who was Bush to declare evil and good in the commity of nations?
Well Bush has apparently swallowed or eaten his words as his aides talked and shook hands with delegates from the axis of evil. Iranians must have been chuckling to themselves at this turn of events. Newpapers around the world had a field day as they came out with screaming headlines like "Great Satan Sits Down With the Axis of Evil" by The Times of London etc.
Above picture shows the US Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker and his Iranian counterpart Hassan Qomi or shall I say Bush and Ahmedinejad.

MISS UNIVERSE 2007

2007-06-03T15:32:00.000+01:00

Here is congratulating Japan for producing Miss Universe 2007. Above was the moment when the coveted head gear or crown was put on the head of RiyoMori the winner on all the criteria used for the selection. The lady is also the current Miss Japan. The pageant took plce recently in Mexico.

Miss Brazil and Miss

Korea

were in second and third places respectively.

From Africa we have a tall, beautiful girl from Tanzania who defied the odds and tradition by shaving her hair completely. She went into the competition with a bald head! Her name is Flaviana Matata and of course she did not win the contest but if a poll were to be conducted many would have voted for her. She is tall, black and typical African…

KT: THE REIGN OF LAWYERS

2007-05-29T18:10:00.000+01:00

Today will go down in the annals of Nigerian history as the day a civilian government handed over to another civilian government at the federal level. And this is no mean task considering how rotten leadership has always been in the country. I salute Obj for accepting defeat at his third term bid and finally handing over to Umar Yar'adua.
In Katsina the deputy governor handed over to Ibrahim Shema in a colourful ceremony at Polo ground. Everything went on smoothly.
However Barristers or shall I say lawyers appear to have taken over the reigns of power in KT. The governor is a lawyer and so is his deputy, Damari. As if that is not enough you also have the senate seat for KT central going to another lawyer, one Ibrahim Ida.
I call this the reign of lawyers after the title of a book by Sven Hassel: The reign of Terror. The book is about world war 11 and the author has many titles on the same theme. Excellent books all.
Now the question on everybody's lips is whether these learned trio will actually perform or not. What are we going to witness in KT in the next four years? A reign of terror or reign of improved freedom and more protection of rights ( human and all)?
It is on record that the governor has promised to give education top priority. This is good but we live to see. I hate to see an encore of Bola Ige's six months promise to provide power 24/7.

MAULUD CELEBRATION IN KT

2007-05-10T09:11:00.001+01:00

Believe it or not Maulud is now a big deal in KT. Bigger than the two Eids (Sallahs) combined. Yes, bigger, much bigger. What might be the cause of this? A little history is necessary here.

About two decades ago Izala (aka JIBWIS) came into being and it wasted no time in knocking off several activities and practices they deem un-Islamic. The list of such things is long and includes Wazifa, lehe, music, bowing down to greet parents, and of course celebrating the Maulud. Note that in Daura, Maulud had always been celebrated by way of Sallar Gani. In Katsina, Izala held sway somehow and people stuck to what they pontificated. Things broke loose however when the ban on music was scuttled by none other than the governor. Music was allowed during the marriage ceremony of his daughter. Many heaved a sigh of relief and quickly reverted to the old ways with vengeance. Musicians came out of hiding as invitations for performances tripled for all occasions.

But in no area was the response as massive as in Maulud celebrations. It started imperceptibly wth a few Islamic schools controlled by local Darika sect in Katsina but quickly spread to similar schools like a wild fire. Soon enough the Islamiyyas in rural areas were also brought to the fold. The celebration was carried out in sallah fashion and followed particular routes that converged at the central Mosque. Some were said to have converged at Kangiwa square.

This year’s main Maulud celebration took place on Sunday, April 8 and was essentially a long march by men, women, boys and girls from Polo ground. These people carried all sorts of musical instruments and chanted religious songs as they walked the odd 5 or so kilometres. They were organised in contingents based on their respective schools. And they wore different colourful costumes and displayed different musical insruments. I was amazed by the commitment of these people considering the fact that none of them received payment for the effort. Compare this with sallah for which millions are spent on the logistics and sundry payments to horsemen, musicians, performers, etc.

No doubt there is an organisation behind this even if it is not all that efficient in planning the marches. This adequately explains the different dates of the marches or celebrations. It also explains the different routes and different convergence points. And the biggest of all is the absence of a personality to greet the different contingents at the end of the march.

Without doubt Maulud is a crowd puller and in this regard it rivals Sallah in all respects. The sheer crowd and the entertaining marchers all combine to provide a carnival-like atmosphere. And people of all shades of religious beliefs loved that. The crowd that lined the routes looked happy and eagerly waited to see more and more groups passing by with their unique displays.

The state government must have been surprised at the popularity of the Maulud celebrations. The emirate council on the other hand must be sore at this new development and they may be thinking of ways to get a piece of the action. In a few years time we shall see what happens: whether the government comes in to regulate these Maulud marches for the good of everybody or the emirate council hijacks the celebrations in order to consolidate their hold on the people.

ABOMINABLE ACT

2007-05-10T09:11:00.000+01:00

Here is a fresh twist to the horrendous tales of heinous crimes that Nigerians are getting used to. Stories of child abductions, mutilated corpses with removed body parts and activities of hired assassins are stale news in Nigeria today. This is something new.

Last week media houses were agog with the story of a house wife in Rafin Dadi quarters, Katsina, who murdered her junior sister on the grounds that her husband was having an affair with the girl. Or rather, the girl was having an affair with the husband. Good Lord where are we heading to in this age of promiscuity and polygamy? Why didn’t she confront the husband or better still asked the girl to check out? I just can’t understand why some women go to extremes in these matters at all.

This junior sister was putting up in the house and some how the woman of the house noticed the amorous advances her husband was making towards the girl. Or was it the reverse, i.e. the girl was making the amorous advances to the husband. Two and two were quickly added and decision reached to end everything at the speed of light. The house wife closed the house one day and dealt with the junior sister by beating her silly with a pestle and then suffocating her to death. Neighbours broke into the house when they smelled something fishy had happened inside. What they discovered shook them to the bones and the Police were invited.

I think someone had just got herself a place in the slammer for the rest of her life. Now how about the husband? I don’t want to speculate on the behaviour of a dead person but the husband should be investigated. And if it’s found that he actually played some hanky-panky, he should also be jailed.

JESSICA LYNCH

2007-05-09T10:11:00.001+01:00

The Story of Jessica Lynch could have been yanked from a Ludlum novel. The American defence department (the Pentagon) had been looking for a handful of soldiers whose macho deeds could embolden American support for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. For long they had search everywhere on the two battle fronts without coming up with a genuine case of some heroic deed by one of their soldiers. Soon enough two candidates landed straight on the laps of the generals at the Pentagon. Not exactly good cases, but the Pentagon thought it could turn them around to serve its purpose. And using their powerful PR machinery and the global media at their disposal, the whole world was bombarded with the “heroic deeds” of two soldiers: Jessica Lynch and Pat Tillman.

Well Jessica, pictured above right, was a US female army private, who probably needs a refresher course on how to clean guns. This is judging by her admission of her jammed gun during a gun battle with Iraqi insurgents. That’s the worst nightmare a soldier can ever face. She was badly injured in the exchange of fire with the Iraqis during an ambush and when her gun jammed Jessica lied down and began to pray. She was picked by the Iraqis and taken to hospital. Much later she was found at the hospital by another platoon of American soldiers.

The pentagon turned this story upside down by saying that Jessica fought the Iraqis until she was captured. They also said American soldiers organised a dare devil rescue mission that gallantly freed Jessica.

Well that was the story back in 2003. In 2004 Pat Tillman was shot by friendly fire ( read: a fellow American fired the shot) but the Pentagon hid the facts and turned the story up side down so as to portray him as a hero.

The US Congress got a hint of these lies and is now investigating the issue under the eagle eyes of Henry Waxman, Chairman of the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee. His committee has accused US government of inventing sensational details and stories regarding the two soldiers. Of course Jessica Lynch had let the cat out in her testimony during the congressional hearings and had distanced herself from the attempt by Pentagon to portray her as a war hero.

Check out this Aljazeera page for the whole story.

RAINS AT LONG LAST

2007-04-27T11:35:00.000+01:00

A friend phoned to tell me that it rained in KT last Wednesday. The town has cooled down since then. Here is praying the rains will continue to fall so as to minimize the intense heat. The hot temperature actually made me to leave town of late. See what I wrote on the excessive heat in KT below under the title “KT to catch fire?”

A TOWN WHERE WOMEN RULE?

2007-04-27T11:25:00.000+01:00

Trust the Chinese to come up with something out of the ordinary. And it comes right from the heart – of their wallets.

The tourism industry in China is building a city where women will rule while men are obliged to just obey. Sound kinky eh? Well it’s for real and is part of a plan to attract more tourists to the Chongqing municipality. While in the town female tourist will be dominant and generally will dictate to the men what to buy, where to stay and stuff like that. Read more here.

Sounds interesting to me. Imagine this idea stretched to a situation where women run the affairs of a town or local governments in Nigeria. We will definitely see changes, lots of changes. For example there will be less corruption and violence and more productivity and prosperity.

2007-04-27T10:15:00.000+01:00

KT TO CATCH FIRE?

This is the time of the year when life in Katsina becomes unbearable because of the stifling heat. The temperature rises steadily in the mornings and by 12 noon it climbs to 38 degrees Celsius. You call that real hot but by about 2 pm the mercury rises to 40 degrees. And that’s the time folks restrict themselves to any available shade. People desert the streets and engage in reverse hibernation.

This year the heat is particularly intense and perhaps that has to do with the on going global warming. Temperatures go beyond 40 degrees outside thereby forcing room temperatures to go beyond 30 degrees. In my upstairs room it is a bit cooler and that’s where I usually retire to from 12 noon. What about the air conditioner? Well, they make sure I don’t use it by supplying low voltage current all the time. I am talking about NEPA here.

The bad thing about excessive heat is the prospect of diseases like CSM (cerebro spinal meningitis) outbreak.

Ay any rate judging by the way everything gets hot, it is really not far off the mark to conclude that KT might just catch fire.

WELCOME TO NEW PLANET

European astronomers have reported discovering a planet that resembles our earth in several ways. They said it’s located in the constellation Libra and is more than 22 million light years away. The European southern observatory telescope based in Chile detected the planet. You may click here for more details.

This is good news considering the fact that we are on the verge of destroying this earth with either a nuclear catastrophe or the incessant depletion of the ozone layer. Both of these are imminent in the world we live today and so what a relief to know that some of us could actually escape to another far away planet in future.

I only wish that people like Carl Sagan and the others who pioneered SETI were around. SETI is the abbreviation for search for extra terrestrial intelligence, a body established by astronomers and others interested in finding life elsewhere in the universe.

ELECTIONS? WHAT ELECTIONS?

It’s no more news that an exercise which some people call elections took place recently in Nigeria. I have already forgotten the dates they took place but not the events leading to them. Especially the Thursday preceding the elections.

That day ANPP was to wrap up its campaigns at Polo ground in Katsina. Trouble broke out somehow and property and lives were destroyed. Irate youths from both parties roamed the streets burning old tyres, smashing cars and creating mayhem along the way. They chanted war songs as they moved in mobs. Buhari did come that day but was as soon shepherded out of town along with his entourage. By evening the mood of the town had changed dramatically and troops in full military gear were drafted to man the streets. Soldiers brandishing AK47 rifles mounted road blocks and checked every one passing with a menacing face. That really scared many people including yours truly.

On Friday the town was still tense and that made my family to stock foodstuff and beverages against Saturday. We believed then that violence would erupt across town during the elections.

The house remained locked through out Saturday and no one went out to vote. The same thing happened the second Saturday of voting. Of course no violence broke out. The only activity that was rampant that day was ballot box snatching and ballot box stuffing and the sudden appearance of alien ballot boxes at collating centres.

Well, no sooner the election results started coming out than condemnations broke out from left, right and centre. The opposition parties led the charges. The elections were indeed marred by all manner of fraud. International observers have attested to that and even Obasanjo himself has concurred. Indeed elections all over the world are fraught with fraudulent practices. However it remains to be seen what Nigerians will do about that.

The opposition parties are calling for an interim government while the winning and ruling party is asking for those aggrieved to go to court. The opposition has also called for a massive peaceful rally on Tuesday to coincide with May Day. The winning and ruling party replied by banning all rallies, marches, groupings, meetings etc henceforth. The die appears to be cast and the question on peoples’ lips is “Whither Nigeria?” Within a month we shall know …..

Meanwhile many Nigerians must be amused by the litany emanating from the embattled Vice president. He is crying blue murder now thereby forgetting completely what happened in 2003. But we Nigerians are afflicted with chronic mass amnesia. We forget so quickly and completely that criminals who had served time roam the streets with us holding their heads high. And so Atiku ride on.

MATRICULATION AT KSU

2007-04-12T18:44:00.000+01:00

Above picture shows a section of Katsina State University (KSU) students during their matriculation ceremony. Take note of the new design academic gown - green with yellow landing on the sleeves and cap. There was huge standing ovation when Umaru Musa YarAdua, the state governor, climbed from his Toyota Jeep clad in a similar gown but with a wide brimmed professorial cap. The clappings went on and on. It was the moment of truth as the University cut its first tooth at that occasion.
After a lul the registrar went to the podium to introduce the first Vice Chancellor in the person of Professor Abdullahi Mustapha. It was an historic event as the governor promised full support for the institution in order to make it compete with others in the country and beyond.
More than one thousand student matriculated that day at both 100 and 200 levels.
Here is my prayer for the students to read hard and earn the confidence reposed on them by the governor and people of Katsina state.

2007-04-11T19:46:00.000+01:00

KT POLITICAL TERRAIN

PDP: SHEMA RULES OK?

A lot of water has passed under the bridge and now Ibrahim Shehu Shema is the PDP gubernatorial candidate for Katsina state. A lot of water indeed, since many people, big and small, contested for the primaries. Aminu Masari, Magaji Mohammed and Muurtala Safana were the most prominent. These three were often referred to in PDP circles as the three musketeers who fought tooth and nail to thwart Shema’s bid for nomination at the primaries. But Shema had YarAdua and the PDP national machinery behind him. The musketeers probably did not see the handwriting on the wall. When the going got tough these three formed an alliance to fight Shema’s candidature and actually tried to mobilize Katsina people by calling for a general meeting in Kaduna. That could not get them anywhere.

At long last every one of them capitulated by abandoning the race for the primaries. Magaji went back to Dutsin-Ma while Masari went back to his Speaker job in Abuja. Murtala turned out the lucky guy among them as he decamped to ANPP where he recently clinched the deputy governorship ticket.

Shema himself faced a lot of tough times. First he had to contend with his mentor Magaji Mohammed. In the early days of the race Magaji had confronted him but Shema denied any political ambition vehemently and actually cried openly to support his argument. Magaji was obviously not fooled as he told Shema that he (Magaji) was ready to contest with any body including his own biological son.

Secondly in the course of entrenching Shema as the PDP candidate many party stalwarts were sidelined or jettisoned and this could easily boomerang. Many however are in the campaign trail and God knows what they can do to sabotage the effort. Right now tongues are wagging in Katsina about huge amounts of money for campaign being held up by Shema himself.

Again Shema was in the early days told to consummate a proper marriage in order to consolidate his position. It was a tough decision for him but eventually he married. Who did he marry? No other than the governor’s daughter.

IMMORAL SWAPS

Is it morally right for elected office holders to swap their positions in order to remain relevant? This is the dangerous development we see happening in Katsina and elsewhere in this country. The electorates are been taken for a ride besides denying more suitable persons the chance to serve the people. Look at this example:

Tukur Shagumba is ther Chairman of Batagarawa

Local government while Gide Sani is the representative at the state assembly. These two gentlemen have now struck a deal that allows them to swap their positions. This means Shagumba will go to the state assembly while Gide will be the chairman of the local government. I find this practice contrary to the tenets of democracy and the earlier it is stopped the better. Or are we saying that these two are the only qualified people in the local government for the two positions. And what stops them from swapping again and again and again in future.

ANPP: DEN OF CHAOS

This is the opposition party with the best prospect of winning the gubernatorial elections in Katsina. But the way things are going, the party has thrown away its good chances to the dogs. This is because they have two candidates running neck to neck for governor. How did this happen?

Well, the party’s primaries returned Nura Khalil as the candidate. But a list of barred candidates was soon circulated by INEC/EFCC and Nura’s name was included. The party quickly replaced his name with that of Abu Ibrahim thereby giving this new man permission to parade himself as the new ANPP candidate. Nura went to court to challenge his inclusion in the list and the court declared its verdict in his favour. With this Nura also hit the campaign trail by parading himself as the bona fide ANPP candidate. So now we have Abu Ibrahim/Murtala Safana on the one hand and Nura Khalil/Hamisu Gambo on the other all claiming to be ANPP flag bearers and their deputies.

Of course the ANPP party secretariat caused this mess though some newspaper columnists had heaped the blame squarely on Mohammadu Buhari himself.

A meeting has been slated for the resolution of this problem but no matter what happens the prospect of cementing the party behind one candidate is really remote.

AC: E TU BUGAJE

The AC is the party Atiku Abubakar revived in order to contest the presidential elections. All his supporters have left PDP and are contesting for various posts under the party. Usman Bugaje is one of such people, and is contesting for the governorship position.

But who would have thought Bugaje will flag off his campaign at the Emir’s palace? The answer is no one. And that is because Bugaje has earned a good reputation for himself as the true friend of the masses. Consider these accolades for example: he has the best manifesto among all the candidates, he is the most learned and most humble, he has the best grasp of issues and displays good knowledge of how to tackle KT problems. Now with all these things in his kitty, people wonder why he went to the Emir at all. Was he seeking for permission or blessing? And assuming he wins the race, wouldn’t the palace be his first port of call? And one thing can lead to another and Bugaje would as soon be offered a traditional title. Perhaps then he would as soon be turbaned with some other crazy title.

At any rate one has to admit that Bugaje lacks political finesse as he commits one gaffe after another. The first was when he made unguarded remarks in the early days of the Shari’a debates. That earned him a lot of invectives and asinine prayers at various mosques across the North. He survived all those and came out up right largely as a result of his positive and pro masses contributions on the floor of the house. Now it appears he is risking everything as he hobnobs with an archaic and anachronistic institution.

WHERE IS FARAH SOWALEEF

2007-04-09T20:43:00.000+01:00

You may not believe this, but all the above girls are Arabs, Saudi Arabs. They are students of KSU ( now don’t confuse this abbreviation with Katsina State University, it really stands for King Saud University) Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Of course they cant walk the streets in that kind of attire. Perhaps thats why they hold their index fingers to their mouths which indicates a do-not-tell gesture. Among the girls is Farah Sowaleef who is an accomplished Saudi blogger. I culled the picture from farooha.buzznet.com where she uploaded a few of her pictures. She started her blog back in January 2005 and had published a lot. Here is the way she describes her blog:

“The every day nattering of an exhausted, repressed and bored Saudi Arabian Chic: A professional KSU geek, nonconformist wannabe, qualified gossip and reality tv junky. (Hey! everyone's got guilty pleasures, this one's mine)”

The above are her own direct words and the reason I am interested in the girl is because of the issues she writes on in her blog. She chronicles the life of a college student but occasionally touches on both local Saudi and international issues. Some of the issues could be pretty touchy in Saudi Arabia, like the thorny issue of driving cars by women. She is an intelligent girl no doubt. But the blog has of late disappeared without any trace. Yes, without any trace. Whenever I try to get to the web site using the address: http://farahssowaleef.blogspot.com a blogger site tells me PAGE NOT FOUND. Why is that so?

Well I have recently been theorizing that may be Farah has got herself into trouble with Saudi authorities and they just wiped her page into oblivion. This is in fact possible. Bloggers get into trouble with authorities every now and then. Moreover Saudi government has a high tech facility in Jedda that has the technical capability of doing that. They call it the King Abdulazeez City for Science and Technology (KACST). At one time they banished another blog site known as Saudi Eve and the blog remained un accessible in the kingdom for some time. That action drew sharp criticism from liberal bloggers who successfully exerted pressure on the Kingdom's Internet watchdog, KACST to unblock the site.

Was Farah’s site blocked by KACST? I don’t know for sure but what irks me most is the deepening silence on the issue by other Saudi bloggers. None of them is talking about the disappearance of Farah’s blogsite. Blogs like Saudi Jeans, Rasheed's World, eveksaI and all the rest are keeping mum. Now I find that odd.

I publish this story with the hope that one of you out there would have information on the disappearance of this fine blog site or information on the whereabouts of the woman involved ie Farah Abdulazeez (aka Farahssowaleef), knowing that there are ICT gurus among you. Pls solve this puzzle for me.....

2007-04-05T13:23:00.000+01:00

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY

This is a post I wrote on March 8 but could not publish it till now.

On this International Women's Day, I want to pay homage to all the women in Katsina and Nigeria for working hard under difficult conditions in order to survive and also bring about gender equality, justice and progress for our country. I particularly want to pay my respects to our female ancestors and grandmothers and pioneers in various fields. These women are many in our history and in our midst now who have really made and are making a mark. From the early days of our history we have Daurama (who married the man said to have come from Iraq, Bayajidda and she later gave birth to the founding fathers of the Seven Hausa City states), Queen Amina of Zaria ( a warrior led men in wars and whose campaigns took her thousands of miles from Zazzau and eventually died in Likoja), Nana Asmau ( the erudite daughter of Sheik Usman Dan Fodio who authored hundreds of books), Ba Dallaza ( the first daughter of Sarki Abubakar who was murdered in cold blood in an epic power struggle in Katsina), Hassu Wangam ( the first truly business woman in Katsina whose line included trade in commodities, jewellery and livestock), Ladi Kwali ( the Abuja pottery expert who preserved culture through her work), Hassu Iro Inko ( the first woman educationist per excellence in Katsina), Dr Halima Adamu (the first female doctor in Katsina whose radio broadcast on maternal and child care have now become classics), Dr Binta Sanusi ( a highly gifted KT gynecologist medical doctor), Professor Dora Akunyili ( NAFDAC no-nonsense strong woman who has now made our drugs safe to use), Mariya Dantata ( the mother of Dangote – the Dangote, and philanthropist who value, preach and practicalised women education). I also want to mention Sheikh Dahiru Bauchi’s mother who was said to have taught him the quran at a tender age.

The contributions of all these nwomen and indeed others too numerous to mention here made a difference to the world we live in today in several small ways. I admire the sacrifices they made and the examples of courage they set.

Here is an excerpt of what the United Nations said about the day:

“International Women's Day (8 March) is an occasion marked by women's groups around the world. This date is also commemorated at the United Nations and is designated in many countries as a national holiday. When women on all continents, often divided by national boundaries and by ethnic, linguistic, cultural, economic and political differences, come together to celebrate their Day, they can look back to a tradition that represents at least nine decades of struggle for equality, justice, peace and development.

International Women's Day is the story of ordinary women as makers of history; it is rooted in the centuries-old struggle of women to participate in society on an equal footing with men. In ancient Greece, Lysistrata initiated a sexual strike against men in order to end war; during the French Revolution, Parisian women calling for "liberty, equality, fraternity" marched on Versailles to demand women's suffrage.

The idea of an International Women's Day first arose at the turn of the century, which in the industrialized world was a period of expansion and turbulence, booming population growth and radical ideologies……”

Hurray all as we pray for the new generation of women to do more.

2007-03-05T12:03:00.000+01:00

New notes and coins

February 28 marked the day new currency notes and coins were introduced in Nigeria. And it was high time because the lower denomination notes in circulation are so mutilated that people had started rejecting them. The banks offered no help as their supply of new notes from the CBN dried up completely.

We now know the reason as we welcome these new notes and coins. The notes are in 50, 20, 10 and 5 naira denominations. As for the coins, it was a big relief as people have started forgeting them completely. And the issue of getting your balance for any transaction does not arise at all. The new coins would therefore definitely ease transactions in several ways. As for bringing down inflation as some people claim, I have my doubts.

However these new notes are generating a lot of controversy in the North. Islamic groups have noted the absence of the inscription in Arabic that tells the denomination of all the notes for those who can read Ajami writing. They are wondering why the inscriptions were removed and generally see a conspiracy against Islam in the action by CBN.

Well, I refuse to join these groups largely because Chukwuma Saludo, the CBN Governor had made his intention known along time ago. He went round the Palaces of all the Emirs and the Sultan where he minced no words about the removal of the Ajami script. No one among these important personalities protested. Again the deputy governor, Shamsudeen Usman went to media including the BBC Hausa services and said pretty much the same thing. Again no one protested. Is it now that the notes are out that they are knowing about all these things? Is another case of Fargar Jaji?

At any rate I do subscribe to Saludo’s argument that allowing the Ajami inscription would tantamount to serving the interests of Muslim Hausas only. Not Islam mark you, because Yoruba or Ibo Muslims can not read the Ajami writing at all.

In this instance I support Saludo. However I do not support his argument for the banking reform at all. It is preposterous and illogical to claim that only mega banks are capable of transforming the Nigerian economy. More on this later.

2007-02-23T17:43:00.000+01:00

The invasion of Iraq by the US is still generating lots and lots of controversy both in the USA and outside. Above is an evidence pointing to the unpopularity of the war now raging in Iraq. it is a protest march by ordinary Americans in Washington DC. No sooner the protesters went home than a respected Newspaper in the USA - The Nation, wrote a powerful editorial condemning George Bush for both starting and sticking to the war. Below are exerpts of the editorial.

"World opinion is against the U.S. escalation in Iraq. The American people are against it. Congress is against it. The Iraqi people are against it. The Iraqi government is against it. Can a single man force a nation to fight a war it does not want to fight, expand a war it does not want to expand? If he can, is that nation any longer a democracy in any meaningful sense? If not, how can democratic rule and the republican form of government be restored? .."

And the full editorial is here.

THUMBS UP FOR ARNOLD SCHWARZENNEGER

2007-02-14T10:50:00.000+01:00

Now who would have thought Arnold Schwarzenegger would make such a fine politician? Let alone a good governor?

The answer is no one. Not even David Letterman, a CBS talk show host that lampooned Arnold during the gubernatorial campaigns. Well the ex-actor is riding the waves as he churns out one populist bill after the other. And the one good thing I admire him for is the way he parted ways with the crowd in Washington DC.

During the last campaigns for House elections in USA, George Bush once breezed into California for his last minute push in support of his fellow Republicans. The President thought Schwarzenegger will receive him at the Airport seeing they belonged to the same party. But trust Arnold, he went out to meet the other George of Hollywood: George Clooney!

Here are some of the issues Arnold has tackled successfully on behalf of the state of California;

1. Global warming – he jettisoned the position of Washington by coming up with a plan to cut emissions in line with the Kyoto Agreements. George Bush was against Kyoto from day one.

2. Minimum Wage – he quickly approved a new minimum wage that favours the lower rung workers.

3. Prescription Drugs – he acted decisively on this issue that affect the senior citizens (old and retired) of California and made them to smile once again.

4. Stem Cell Research – he approved for his state to house laboratories that will carry out stem cell research. George Bush and his neo-conservatives refused to give approval for this research at the federal level.

So for all the above I say thumbs up for the body builder turned actor and now governor of California.

Ride on Your Excellency Arnold and I will be back!

2007-02-12T18:23:00.000+01:00

The above bill board says it all. The Temporary site of Katsina State University is alive with students. With nearly 1,500 students to register it was a beehive of activities a foortnight ago on the campus. The sight of these students: all young, dashing and eager to start learning, almost brought tears of joy to yours truly. And when you consider that it took ages for Katsina to have a University my emotions were not for joke. Waliyyi Dan Masani must be filled with joy too.
The actual number of students is 1,322 admitted for 2006/2007 session and in three faculties: Education, Humanities and Sciences. Its important to note that 54% of the students are in sciences while the remainig 46% are in the other faculties.

APOLOGIES

2007-02-07T14:41:00.000+01:00

Apologies folks for remaining silent for quite a long time. Its unlke me and once more a thousand apologies. It was never intentional....
Actually I got myself mired in the chaos known as Hajj travel. I unwittingly got involved in the free for all version known as "international". That is I refused to go it through the Pigrims Board. I was made to believe that it would be better that way and got stuck before I even smelled the tarmac. The disappointments I suffered in Ngeria trailed me up to the Holy Land. Getting out of Saudia was also a tug of war.
Thank God I am back in one piece and the show will continue.

FUTUROLOGY OR CRYSTAL BALLS?

2006-11-22T13:10:00.000+01:00

It is always interesting to read about what the future may bring in various spheres of life. Experts in all fields often engage in this exercise and we, the lay men, have no choice but to devour what they pontificate. People like Bill Gates have been known to engage in this exercise and they often turn out to be correct. The Economist magazine is good at this in its end of year edition by inviting experts to write in their fields. In one of such editions a top zoologist predicted the demise of the male specie in our evolutionary march. He predicted the emergence of a female sorority that will roam the earth and procreate without a single male!
Well ten or fifteen years ago I read several books on this and two of them came to my mind immediately. I remember one book written by Paul Ederman (on the future of finance) and another by Alvin Toffler (on technology). The latter was titled “The Third Wave” and in it Mr. Toffler correctly predicted the idea of people working from their homes through the use of computers. Some people are now working from the comfort of their living rooms and we are now living witnesses to this phenomenon. Note that the guy did not peer into any crystal ball, neither did he go into a trance before reaching the conclusions. He just analysed the then current events and extrapolated by taking into consideration the current technology and the potential capacity for successful R&D. And he got it right.
Now another guy named Jacques Attlai has looked closely at the institution of marriage and came up with what he thinks it will turn into. The article was given to me last year by a friend who at that time was working in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA. The piece below is an excerpt from the article and it is mind boggling to say the least. Already some of the seeds of change in marriages are already visible in Western societies and some are rearing their heads in Nigeria and elsewhere. Divorce rates are rising globally and women are winning economic independence at an unprecedented rate.. These two factors are fast eroding the relevance of the domineering male specie. The article zeroes in on a typical Christian concept of marriage complete with monogamy and alimony at the centre. But parts of it are applicable to Muslim societies. Read on……

MARRIAGE: HERE TODAY, GONE TOMORROW?
Two hundred years ago, few people foresaw legalized divorce or open homosexuality—let alone gay marriage. Abstract art and jazz were unimaginable. Aesthetics, morals, and family relationships, it seems, are the bane of the futurologist. We constantly speculate about the future balance of power, looming conflicts, and emerging technologies. Yet somehow, we imagine that morals and aesthetics are immutable. So we forget to ask how conceptions of good and evil, acceptable and unacceptable, beauty and ugliness will change. And they will.
Monogamy, which is really no more than a useful social convention, will not survive. It has rarely been honored in practice; soon, it will vanish even as an ideal. I do not believe that society will return to polygamy. Instead, we will move toward a radically new conception of sentimental and love relationships. Nothing forbids a person from being in love with a few people at the same time. Society rejects this possibility today primarily for economic reasons—to maintain an orderly transmission of property—and because monogamy protects women against male excesses.
But these rationales are dissolving in the face of powerful new trends. The insatiable demand for transparency, fueled by democracy and the free market, is placing the private lives of public men and women under greater scrutiny. The reality of multiple lives and partners will become more apparent, and society’s hypocrisy will be revealed. The continued rise of individual freedom will permanently change sexual mores, as it has most other realms. Likewise, jumps in life expectancy will make it nearly impossible to spend one’s entire life with one person and to love only that one person. Meanwhile, technological advances will further weaken the links between sexuality, love, and reproduction, which are very different concepts. Widely available birth control has already stripped away an important obstacle to having multiple partners.
Just as most societies now accept successive love relationships, soon we will acknowledge the legality and acceptability of simultaneous love. For men and women, it will be possible to have partnerships with various people, who will, in turn, have various partners themselves. At long last, we will recognize that it is human to love different people at the same time.
The demise of monogamy will not come without a struggle. All the churches will seek to forbid it, especially for women. For a while, they will hold the line. But individual freedom, once again, will triumph. The revolution will begin in Europe, America will follow, and the rest of the world will eventually come around. The implications will be enormous. Relationships with children will be radically different, financial arrangements will be disrupted, and how and where we live will change. To be sure, it will take decades for the change to be complete and yet, if we look around, it is already here. Beneath our hypocrisies—in movies, novels, and music—the shape of our future is visible.

2006-11-05T11:26:00.000+01:00

KATSINA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

At long last KT can now boast of a registered Chamber of Commerce that can organise trade fairs and things like that. There have been loud complaints from various quarters regarding the absence of yearly trade fairs. Since the creation of the state in 1987 there has never been a trade fair comparable to the one in Kaduna. And the reason is due the absence of a registered organisation for that purpose. Its good news therefore the KT Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KTCCI) has been born and registered with CAC.

As this is a private organisation it will be interesting to know the people behind KTCCI. And that’s when you begin to be surprised. Believe it or not our good old Sani Lugard of Katsina University fame is the prime mover of the organisation.

Personally I am not surprised. After all the gentleman has built a reputation for bringing good things to KT. For thia he is one man KT people love and dislike at the same time. Love because he breaks record by bringing to KT what no one has ever brought before. For example, he spearheaded and obtained the University license and the KTCCI certificate. The dislike comes as a result of his autocratic style of management. We see that daily in his management of the University. Little wonder then that the students of the school recently heckled him.

Would he behave the same way in the KTCCI? Time will tell, but when you consider the people he would be working with, you begin to feel at ease. They include Abidu Yazid and Fatahu Abdullahi. These two both live and work in Kaduna and are astute business men. They are self made men who have succeeded in their chosen fields and therefore can not just stand and watch the kingship cop commandeer the chamber to certain death.

Let me congratulate Sani Lugard for this effort. More grease to his elbows.

Meanwhile do we brace ourselves for a befitting trade fair come next year?

2006-11-04T13:03:00.000+01:00

WHICH KATSINA UNIVERSITY?

You may not believe it, but there are two Universities in Katsina now. The first is the one floated and owned by Sani Lugard with money collected from the people of the state and beyond. The other is floated by Governor Umaru Musa Yaradua on behalf of the state government and people of Katsina. This duplication often brings confusion in any discussion that involves the two institutions. To avoid this we shall use KTL University to refer to the one floated by Sani Lugard and KT University to refer to the one owned by the State Government. The existence of these two Universities in an educationally backward state like Katsina does not make sense at all. But by now we all know how it came about.

Initially the state wanted to take over KTL University but Sani Lugard would not hear of it. In fact he went to court, a move which infuriated the State Governor and made him to vow to float KT University. Well he went about it with dispatch: documentation for licensing submitted to NUC, site quickly chosen, billions allocated for initial buildings, faculties to start with selected, council appointed and VC picked. Now it would appear that all these have scared some people and they want a truce with the governor.

New information reaching me indicates that KTL backers including Sani Lugard are sending out feelers for settlement and that settlement may be in the offing regarding the merger of KTL and KT Universities. Remember initially they went to court to stop the state government from taking over the University. And by gong to court these people had thought the governor would come running after them for possible settlement. They were dead wrong. Now they are boxed in a corner as the governor continues pouring billions for the new state University. They can never hope to run their University successfully and now are bereft of any options for state assistance. They are frantically making moves to reconcile with the state government so as to facilitate the take-over of their University ie KTL. .

Well if these moves work out it will be some good news for the people of Katsina. But if they don’t then we shall happily stick to KT University and the governor. And watch with trepidation as KTL University crumbles and dies.

2006-11-04T11:38:00.000+01:00

WHY DO THEY TAKE TRADITIONAL TITLES?

I have always wondered why some Nigerians love to have traditional titles conferred on them. And it bothers me that some of these people started life normally and with even some aversion to traditional rulers but somehow found themselves trooping into palaces looking for favours. I find it difficult to fathom what happened in a space of ten to 15 years to change a person from a comrade to a so-called member of the royalty. So-called royalty because such people do not have a portfolio in the palace. Neither do they have a land or people to lord it over. And the title gets confiscated as soon as they fell out of favour. For example who would have thought that Lamis Shehu Dikko would one day hobnob with traditional rulers and emulate them by wrapping his head up in a turban? What a sight he makes? Dr Yusuf Bala Usman must be turning in his grave at this stark volte-face.

Well it is no big secret that these titles are bought and the amount can add up to a huge pile of money. Money, as someone might say, that could build a small factory and provide jobs for several people. So the question is whether it is rational for one to throw away his hard earned money to purchase a title that has no potential of bringing back a single kobo.

One can understand the motive for people like Iro Maikano, Usman Bello Kankara, Ahmadu Diddire Ahmadu and even Kohur Umme in gunning for similar traditional titles. All these four have a clear cut portfolio and domain to administer that is recognised by the traditional authorities. They play some roles in their respective constituencies viz: Jikamshi, Sabuwa, Mai’Adua, and the Emir’s palace proper. This, however, is not the case for these title holders we are talking about here.

In trying to understand the motives of these breed of Nigerians who have a relish for traditional titles I organised a discussion group that comprised professionals and sundry people from KT. We tried to agree on a typical profile for such people. Here is a summary of the profile.

The average age of such people is in the 35 to 55 bracket.

They have made lots and lots of money and in most cases not through a dint of their hard work.

They are mostly civil servants and others in the private sector who rose through favouritism.

As a result of all the above they nurse a complex and need protection and recognition. Protection in case their cover is blown and the actual source of their wealth is revealed. Or perhaps they are involved in some illicit past time like smuggling. In these and similar instances a traditional title may come in handy. Both recognition and respect in their immediate society are presumed to be conferred by the title. And God knows they need these more than any other group of people.

Now to test the veracity of the above profile we came up with a list of names of those who bought traditional titles. We also raised a list of those who could buy a traditional title but for one reason or the other refused.

List A: A small sample of those who bought traditional titles.

Lema Jibril, Ahmadu Karkarku, Tukur Mani, Sani Lugard, Ibrahim Ida, Umaru Musa Yaradua, Sani Buhari, Lamis Shehu Dikko, Ummaru Murnai, Dr Aminu Shuaibu Tama, Dr Mu’uta Na’iya, Abu Danmalam Karofi, Bala Saulawa, Hamisu Gambo, Aminu Bello Masari, Kabir Ahmed Kofa,

List B: A small sample of those who refused to buy any traditional title.

Abidu Yazid, Bala Kuki Snr., Iro Safana, Nura Na-Kano, Fatahu Abdullahi, Bilya Sanda, Muntari Lawai, Lawai Batagarwa, MD Yusuf, Dr Armiyau, Kanti Bello, Abba Jaye, Samaila Isa, and the old KT money bags AAF, ABY, and AUU.

Merely going through the two lists reveals one important fact: both contain the good, the bad and the ugly. But even then, list B carries the day as it has more of the good and serious people.

In fact I want to develop these lists and then take them round for people to select the one which contains more reasonable, level headed and honest individuals. The result will stun the whole of KT.

Anyway I might also just turn this into a full blown research and ask KT youths to look at the two lists and decide for themselves where they want to belong in future.

Any bright ideas on this are welcome

BARKA DA SALLAH TO ALL

2006-10-25T13:12:00.000+01:00

Its really sweet to celebrate Sallah at home with family. Sometimes I pity people forced to celebrate at places other than their hometowns. People like students in schools far away from home or workers forced by the call of duty to stay put at their posts. For all such people i say a big sorry and wish them a safe journey home during the coming Babbar Sallah in December.
Well my Sallah was spent at home as visitors and relations stopped me from going out. It was a big happy moment as we all ate and drunk. There was plenty of food and variety of meat to choose from. There were cakes, cookies, chinchin, scones, like wise drinks like Kunun Zaki, Forster Clarks, Dansa and Five Alive. All flowing freely.
I had friends from Kano who came down to witness the colourful Durbar by the traditional rulers. They cme with their children which made our hose a little crowded. Sallah procession was always a crowd puller in KT. This year though there was a snag to it. On the second day of Sallah (Hawan Bariki) we realised there was not going to be a procession of horses from Governors house, in GRA, to the Kangiwa square. And that destroyed my plans and disappointed my friends. This second day had always been the best and I asked my friends to forget the first day and save their orbs for the second day. I was devastated when I learnt that there would be no show on the second day. So werre thousands of KT youths.
We later learnt that the Emir decided not to have any procession because one village had died on Sallah day. A village head!I fumed at this and my friends cussed their luck. I was lucky none of them blamed me on the issue and we settled at home once again to enjoy food and watch Hausa videos. Incidentally these films or videos are improving at a fast rate. And the music is just excellent. My visitors came along with the latest films and I fell for them. I dubbed the songs on blank cassettes and bought the videos available in KT. I say kudos to Kannywood as it comes of age.
Happy sallah everyone.

BRAND NEW GYAZA MOSQUE

2006-10-01T13:21:00.000+01:00

2006-09-25T14:03:00.001+01:00

GEORGE BUSH’S BRAVE NEW AMERICA

Since 9/11 I have always thought that America was sliding into a cauldron of dictatorship and subtle racism based on us and them even in their country. Well I came a cross this confirmation of sorts from the web site of indefatigable Moorish girl. I gave her piece a befitting tiltle as below:

Martin Luther King Jr. And George Walker Bush Jr.

Forty one years ago Martin Luther King stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and delivered his "I Have A Dream" speech. Call me an idealist, a romantic, a deluded fool, but I get goose bumps every time I hear it. Maybe I wouldn't feel this way if his dream had become reality, if his ideals of brotherhood and equality, freedom and justice had stopped being just that--ideals.

Here is what King actually said and hoped to come true one day:

“I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."

[1] I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood.

[2] I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert state, sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

[3] I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character.

[4] I have a dream today.

In George W. Bush's America, there is no inspirational dream; there's just a nightmare for those who are not rich, straight, and white. In Bush's nightmare, you get all sorts of footnotes, addenda, and caveats, like this:

1. Equality for all, except for homosexuals. In Bush's America, marriage is a right reserved for straight citizens.
2. Brotherhood for all, except for Muslims. If racial profiling, snooping through library records, and tapping phone lines don't do it, surely special cards will do.
3. Freedom and justice for all, except for those who have oil. Those people will have to be bombed into submission, even if it means war with no end in sight.
4. No prejudice against anyone, except against women, blacks, browns, gays, the poor, liberals, and anyone whose definition of patriotism doesn't fit.

Let freedom ring (someday).

Hmmmmm. Thiose clamouring to gomton USA would do well to remember all the above.

NEW KOFAR KAURA GATE

2006-09-25T14:03:00.000+01:00

This brand new gate is the main thoroughfare to Katsina from Kano. It was first built when the state was created back in 1987 by the first military governor, Abdullahi Sarki Muhktar. It was narrow and became outdated after a few years. The road is now known as IBB way and is the main hub of the town. It roughly divides the town into two halves. Garama to the east and Danmarna to west. And each side at one time had its own local government. Obj quashed that dream but the indigenes still hope to get back their local government sooner or later.
If you oserve the picture carefully you will notice that the gate is still narrow by some standards but it can serve the purpose for now. All the other gates seem to have this narrowness problem which speaks volumes on the competency of our Architects in the Minstry of Works. We have to make do with what they can give us hoping that later generation of architects will doa better job.
I snapped thispicture inside a friends car and the dashboard appears slightly at the bottom. This probaly says alot about my knowledge of photography. In fact I used my handset tosnap the picture.

2006-09-23T10:36:00.000+01:00

WOMEN: TO WORK OR NOT TO WORK

A long running television discussion has been going on for sometime now on KTTV on the issue of whether husbands should allow their wives to work or not. Needless to say it is quite amusing to watch and listen to all the views. The discussants include men and women from all walks of life but the polarisation of opinion is a bit disturbing: the men are against working women while the women favour work. But the fact that this issue is still being discussed at all says a lot about how far behind we in KT are in the area of modernisation. Or shall we say zamani is leaving us behind? After all how many women are working in KT and in which organisations? The number is certainly small compared to the overall population and you find most of these women in Hospitals and in primary schools only. Yet the debate rages on with no sign of any side winning. It reminds me of the battle between the forces of light and those of darkness. Progress and backwardness.

First of all I think it is preposterous to even question the immense contribution that women are capable of giving to the society by merely going out to work. This is because by going out to work the woman gives back to society her own contribution and in the process realise her own potential. To understand it clearly imagine what will happen if all these women were to withdraw their services and stay put at home. And thus abide by the wishes of the forces of darkness. What would be the fate of all those places they work at? Won’t they all collapse due to dearth of manpower? This is not even talking about the special jobs that are best suited for women like we know them in ante natal area etc.

But the majority of the panellists hold a different view that border on negativism. The main thread of their arguments hinge on the shenanigans that working women commit at the workplace. In fact there seems to be a kind of fixation among the males on this issue but they all conveniently forget the big role that their counterparts play in these shenanigans. Research has shown that the preponderance of these shananigans occur more among men than women in all races and cultures. And biology teaches us that its all due to their overdose of testosterone. So whose fault is it here?

Of course no one denies that these shenanigans do not happen in some instances among the working women but why can’t we for once consider the good contributions that these working women give. Leave the shenanigans alone and lets for once concentrate and bring examples of the positive things associated with the work that these women are doing. Why can’t we bring to the fore the good legacy left behind by working women like our well known educationist, Hassu Iro Inko? If she had not been given the chance to go out and work, KT would have lost all the contributions she made and the other good things she did. Likewise the good work being done by hundreds of our nurses and our few female doctors scattered around our health care facilities. And the female teachers in our schools and all the other women workers in the state and elsewhere.

It is high time we understood our priorities and stopped chasing shadows.

CALL SAUDI AUTHORITIES TO ORDER

2006-09-14T20:58:00.000+01:00

I performed hajj about four times but have always wondered about the paucity of historical sites in the Mecca, Medina and Jedda areas. Mecca in particular ought to be full of historical homes and locations that pilgrims can visit during Hajj. A deliberate preservation of these important places should have been a key activity of past regimes of Saudi Arabia. The expansion of the grand Mosques may provide explanation but it appears several such locations have been deliberately destroyed to give way to Hotels and other high rise buildings atc. I have always thought it odd that the location of the Prophet’s house, and those of other important icons of Islam like Khadija, Abu Sufiyan, Bilal etc and even those of Abu Jahl have all been lost.

Ibn Saud seized power in 1925 and was the first modern ruler of Saudi Arabia. He succeeded in bringing the warring regions together through alliances and intermarriages to form the modern Saudi state. At the same time his alliance with the British thwarted possible reprisals from the Turks who were the bona fide colonial masters. It is instructive to note that all those important sites were in good shape during the time of Ibn Saud. I can not imagine why successive governments headed by his sons (Saud II, Faisal, Khalid, Fahd and now Abdallah) decided to demolish the sites.

Well I came across a plausible explanation that implicates the Saudi authorities and their Wahhabi sect set of beliefs. moorishgirl made a revelation as to the callous destructions of these important sites and suggests that a Fatwa be declared against the Saudi rulers. Read below:

Fatwa This

For the last few years, the Wahhabi regime of Saudi Arabia has been quietly, but systematically destroying several archeological sites of religious and cultural significance to Muslims. Among these destroyed sites are: The grave of Amina bint Wahb, the Prophet's mother, which was bulldozed in 1998; the house of Khadijah, the Prophet's wife, which was demolished and replaced with lavatories; the house of Abu Bakr, the companion of the Prophet and his political successor, was destroyed in favor of a Hilton hotel. Even the birthplace of the Prophet is under threat; the Saudi government built a library around it, and now they want to destroy even those remnants and build on them.

Now, the Wahhabis are mulling whether to bar women from praying at the Grand Mosque in Mecca, the world's largest pilgrimage site. The proposal is sheer misogynistic lunacy. And of course it's potentially unenforceable. I can't imagine that women pilgrims will stop turning up at the Ka'aba. But the way in which this fundamentalist sect has co-opted what should be the religious and cultural heritage of one-fifth of humanity is truly sickening.

Lest we forget though, women in Saudi Arabia lead strict lives. They are banned from driving and need permission from a male guardian to go to school, get a job, travel or stay at a hotel. This kind of regimented life is best watched from a distance …. I mean personally I would not want to lead such a life. I want to be free to live my life the way I want but within the general guidelines of my religion or perhaps my interpretation of it.

CENTER FOR ISLAMIC PLURALISM?

2006-09-08T19:12:00.000+01:00

I came across the above web site thinking perhaps I can learn something about the plurality of Islam. I was grossly disappointed. The site appears to be another Jewish attempt to hoodwink Muslims.

The site has a valid quotation from Suratul Baqra but what follows immediately begin to make your heart to race. Why should a site claiming to be Islamic recommend blog sites that have run foul with Saudi authorities? Why blog spots anyway? Have they run out of materials to recommend?

What really let the cat out is first the name of the Chief Executive of the site, one Stephen Schwarz, and then the comment he made on an article by two distinguished Harvard professors. The professors had written an article in which they criticized and described Americas foreign policy as Tel Aviv- inspired.

Here is how “Imam” Schwartz started his rebuttal along with a portion of the editorial of one pro-Jewish newspaper:

“The time has long passed when association with Harvard University conferred an imprimatur of presumed seriousness or even common sense on the output of its scholars. Still, it comes as a shock to read a polemic as vulgar as the "working paper" penned earlier this month by the academic dean of Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, Stephen M. Walt, and John J. Mearsheimer of the University of Chicago, carrying the title "The Israel Lobby and American Foreign Policy." A shorter version of this travesty of scholarship appeared in the London Review of Books. It purports to explain President Bush's foreign policy, especially in the Middle East, as being almost entirely determined by a nefarious "Israel Lobby," which supposedly dragged this country into the Iraq war at the behest of Tel Aviv. The effort has been correctly identified as gross propaganda by the excellent reporters at the New York Sun and the Forward. The latter noted in an editorial:

"The core of the Lobby," [Mear-sheimer and Walt] write, "is comprised of American Jews who make a significant effort in their daily lives to bend U.S. foreign policy so that it advances Israel's interests." To be sure, they hasten to add, "not all Jewish-Americans are part of the Lobby." One 2004 survey found that "roughly 36 percent of Jewish-Americans said they were either 'not very' or 'not at all' emotionally attached to Israel."

"According to Mearsheimer and Walt, the Lobby (they always use a capital L) is so vast it unites not just Jews but "prominent Christian evangelicals like Gary Bauer, Jerry Falwell, Ralph Reed, and Pat Robertson, as well as Dick Armey and Tom DeLay," not to mention a group they charmingly dub "neoconservative gentiles," such as "John Bolton, the late Wall Street Journal editor Robert Bartley, former Secretary of Education William Bennett, former U.N. Ambassador Jeanne Kirkpatrick, and columnist George Will." The Lobby also infected the policies of the Clinton administration and dictates policy not just at magazines like this one, but also at the New York Times and most think tanks in Washington.”

Well in his attempt to discredit the two Harvard Professors, Mr. Schwartz has unmasked himself as a Jew. And there is nothing really new about the revelations in their write-up. The whole world knows that Jews had been running the show in America since the end of World War II. The war in Iraq is being fought by USA on behalf of Jews. Saddam and his arsenal was a threat to Israel and so had to be removed by no other than the errand boys in Washington.

Which brings me to what late Abubakar Imam calls Banza girman mahaukaci, karamin mai wayo ya fishi, in his classic book Magana Jari Ce.

KINGDOM OF LUNATICS?

2006-09-06T13:22:00.002+01:00

Young and educated women in Saudi Arabia are angry at their government. These women were allowed to go to USA and Europe to study and become professionals but on coming back home are denied the chance to continue life as usual. While they accept their ninja- mode of dressing as given, the idea of banning them from driving is completely repugnant to them. And they are fighting Saudi authorities in the cyber space. And elsewhere.
The first salvo was fired by saudi-eve in her now famous blogspot. She was followed in quick succession by farahsowaleef, classic-diva, saudi-jeans, eveksa and a host of others women bloggers.

Going through their write ups, one gets the idea of a seeming saudi hypocrisy in relegating women in all affairs in the name of religion. Apart from the issue of driving, there is also the law that stops women from marrying whom they want including non- saudis. A saudi woman is only allowed to marry the right male from the approved tribe ie Al aseel or al najd. These types are scarce and therefore a big per centage of young saudi women are forced to be spinsters for the rest of their lives. How preposterous!
The males on the other hand are allowed to generally hop outside the country, unescorted to play ball. Recently two saudi nationals were caught on a temprary marriage scam in Indonesia.

Well these bloggers paint a gory picture of a saudi society that train boys to become sodomites because of the intense seperation between the sexes. Farahs in particular had an article titled, "A thought in the Kindom of Lunacy" whcih is a must read for all those interested in the topic. Unfortunately this blog site has been removed or blocked. But one can still see some of her postings in the Buzznet ie farooha.buzznet.com.

The Saudi authorities are fighting back as you might expect. They have a high tech facility in Jeddah that blocks all such blogspots that they consider offensive. All blocked sites can not be accesssed inside the Kingdom.
Trust this bloggers to come up with something akin to a sucker punch. They recently took their case to the EEC. The European Parliament is said to be currently mooting on a law that will ban Saudi males from driving within EC countries. This move is intended to make the saudi authorities to allow their women to drive lke it is allowed all over the world.

As a muslim i can understand where Saudi authorities are coming from but as a woman I can not imagine myself holed for life in a house, barred from driving my car, barred from shopping and the like. I would as soon relocate.
Driving a car and the other little freedoms we enjoy should perhaps make us to be grateful for being born in our obodo Nigeria.

HASSAN NASARALLAH

2006-09-06T13:22:00.000+01:00

The above name shot to unprecedented prominence during the recent bombings and pogroms in Lebanon by the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF). It is the name of the leader of the Hizbollahs resistance force. Hitherto no one had ever imagined that a ragtag militia can hold off the mighty Israeli war machine, not to talk of poking it’s under belly. But that’s exactly what the Hozbollah succeeded in doing and the Arabs are cheering the guy like he was some messiah. For example the Egyptian popular press is now comparing Nasrallah with Nesser to the chagrin of the authorities there. During the Lebanon war the Egyptian Government forcefully stopped people from demonstrating on the streets. A few months earlier though, the same government encouraged people to demonstrate against those infamous Danish cartoons. All over the Arab world and elsewhere Nasarallah is the new hero.

However Nasarallahs pronouncements as reported by western media may create problems for the man. These media sources claimed that the order to kidnap the two Israeli soldiers would not have been given if the possible consequences were known. I think it would have been better for Nasarallah to apologise to the Lebanese for all the losses suffered and leave matters as they are.A true freedom fighter should be willing to lose everything for the course. Ask Che Guevara.

RAMADAN KAREEM

2006-08-31T11:26:00.000+01:00

In a month time or so the yearly fasting period will have commenced and as usual there will be arguments about moon sighting. Some people will refuse to believe in the Sultan’s announcement for one reason or another. They normally insist on seeing the moon with their own eyes before starting the fasting. Why we have the controversy every year beats my imagination, but like in all the years gone, this year again several people will begin their fasting on different dates.
Be that as it may let me point out the increased activity in KT central market. People are buying household products and beverages as if an impending hurricane was announced by the weather service. They are especially buying sugar, milk and other beverages so as to hedge against inflation. This is not a bad idea at all since most of these items will be given out as gifts to relations, friends, and in-laws. The rest will be used as a sweetener in koko, kunu, kamu, hura and sundry food items.

As for date of starting, me and several others will as usual abide by what the radio says. When the announcement is made on Radio Kaduna, I pronounce my intention and commence my fast. It’s as simple as that when you have a positive attitude towards your religion.
So here is a happy Ramadan Kareem for the Muslim Umma here in Nigeria and worldwide.

SLEEPY GUBER RACE IN KT

2006-08-27T17:23:00.000+01:00

The sun was hot and Asr time was along way off. Lunch had been eaten, plates washed, and about five or six of us were sitting idle in a friend’s sitting room. Really ten would have been the number or more. Am notso sure... We all squatted on the floor and I thought that was a weird thing to do. Our discussions gravitated to that old, old topic: men. And the things they do. This is a topic women can never really conclude or even come to terms with. It just goes on and on and on as new contributions and revelations emerge. It was going that way when I surreptitiously changed the subject. I asked the audience, who among the KT governorship aspirants was best suited for the post? I quickly added that we should assume that the election would be decided by women votes only.
Faces turned at me and a blanket of silence fell on the room. They were busy gauging the candidates using a new evaluative criterion. These women were all professionals: a doctor, a lawyer, a school teacher and two retired civil servants. There were several others whose professions I could not determine. May be I have never seen them. And as if to prove or display their professions they all mostof them donned their professional clothes. That was a bit kinky too. It took along time before responses started coming. In torrents.
Here is a summary of how it happened and our collective analysis: After some argument all of us agreed that if women were to vote for the most suitable candidate to be the Governor of Katsina State, then all the votes would go to no other than Barrister Shema. And the reason is not far fetched: he is the most handsome among the whole lot, period. But because there was a split in opinion mention must be made of the two runners up: Murtala Safana came second and then Dr. Jabir Mohammed third.
But hold it someone shouted. Shema's candidature may not even materialise if rumours about his marital status came to light. In fact this Shema fellow has a pile of problems bigger than Gobarau minaret. We turned to hear more of these.
It turned out that the parochial forces in the state had already spread word that the gentleman is not even married. Which is a euphemism for saying he did not marry a daughter of the soil. Why should that be a problem? Some of us asked. If the guy has someone he calls wife then what’s the fuss?
Well it turns out again that there is a big fuss in certain circles about these issues. If a guy refused to marry properly ie from the state, he is disqualified from a few things including the plum job. A traditional title is just out Aof the question. Someone mentioned Hamza Zayyad. He did take a second wife from the soil. Was he forced to do that before he was turbaned the Waziri of Katsina? What about Ibrahim Ida? Was he also forced to take a second wife before they gave him a title? That kind of punctured a hole in the argument but the contributor moved on unruffled. But someone gave out a roll call of all those with similar problems: Dr Kabir Mustapha, Ali Kankia, Lawai Batagarawa, Ladan Kontagora, Bolaji Akinyemi, ex-IG Shinkafi, Kofi Anan, Hosni Mubarak...she rattled away.

Secondly Barrister Shema will have to slug it out with his mentor in the person of Ambassador Magaji Mohammed of Dutsinma. Now how does one start biting the hands that fed and clothed one? I am glad it’s the barrister who will have to decide and not me.
The Ambassador enrolled Shema in to school from primary to University and also paid for his Law School fees and provided him with posh accommodation in Ikoyi. Is he trying to pay all these and the other favours back by joining issues with his mentor in the governorship race? Thirdly Shema’s performance as the state Commissioner of Justice and Attorney General leaves much to be desired. His luck lustre performance during the Sharia trials would never be lost on us. In particular his responses to a BBC reporter in an interview were scandalous to say the least. He kept mum on the issue of the man who impregnated the woman on trial thereby suggesting an official pardon for the culprit and all similar culprits.
He also refused to join issues with those local judges who banned music in the state. All these were not lost on the people of the state especially women.
Another voice took over and said Shema was never state-centric. His stint as commissioner was his longest residency period in KT since he finished secondary school. Also that his eyes are oly focussed on the United Nations. He wants to get a job there. All the degrees he collected were meant to facilitate his relocation to New York City and ……..I cut her short.
Granted all the above allegations are true, what could possibly stop him from out performing better than the present governor if he is given the chance?
A chorus of NO WAY filled the room.
Dead end here I thought.
I then gave another scenario, different question. That is, who among the aspirants is more religious, God fearing, leads a low profile life and generally identify more with the Talakawas? A long silence.
Then someone started gingerly by mentioning Garba Aminchi – the present deputy Governor. They all nodded their heads using exactly the same motion. How odd? But I wanted to get it out clearly enough on one key issue and so I asked again: Are you saying Garba Aminchi fears God much more among the whole bunch? A chorus of yes answered the question.
Holy Moses, what a bunch of women? And what a hell of a choice? Are we going to have another “Sabo Bakin Zuwo” for a Governor in KT? I shuddered at the prospect……..

Voices and commotion pierced my subconcious and I woke with a start. My eyes rivetted to the door and then I heard the shrill voice of my mother. My heart was still pounding as I realised that It was all a dream………

FOUR BILLION FOR KT AIRPORT UPGRADE?

2006-08-24T17:26:00.000+01:00

I came across this 4 billion story from sadiqs blog. Check it out at sadiqsafana.blogspot.com. Very high tech blog at that. This guy is in cyprus but gets info about KT faster than me. Isnt it an irony. Well thanks sadiq and keep it up.
Now this airport thing has been bugging KT for quite sometime. Since the time IBB promised to airlift Hajj pilgrims from the airport along time ago. Ambassador Zakari was the then Minister of State in charge of Hajj. I remember how bitter he fought to get the airlift from KT and the bitter response he gave to one FAA official who said that KT airport was not suitable. Ex Hon Sadik Yaradua also made efforts in the House of Reps to get the airport ready for hajj airlift and in the process got himself muddled in a plagiarism flak from another KT indigene in The Daily Trust. Very unfortunate. Well if only it could be ready we will all be happy. Or shall we?

The Governor will obviuosly have the last laugh if this dream come true. Remember how he received a bath from critics for his apparent failure to airlift the majority of pilgrims from the state last year? He used all sorts of fora (including Sallah) to give his version of the story but to no avail. Unlike Mantu though, he did not resort to the "GOD- decreed- it- that- way excuse".

Let me say however that personally I would have loved the airport to be left alone. I would rather have the train, in fact I love the train much more than a tarmac. A tarmac wll be in use only once a year during the Hajj. The train on the other hand will carry people and bring fresh fruits round the year. And I am sure if a referendum were to be carried the train will win. The only negative for the train: it will kill Shakka's lorry, the cheapest way to go to Kano from KT. Last time I heard it was just ten naira to Kano at the speed of a snail.

In addition I would also have loved Gov. YarAdua to cotton in on ICT and a more spatial distribution of secondary schools in the town and elsewhere. Imagine the congestion and chaos along WTC road in the mornings and when the students close for the day. Its like a riot and this is daily replicated at ATC, KTC and GCK. I would have thought decongesting these schools will help the traffic situation besides reducing the distance for these students. And also the money dished out by parents for the daily for machine or Achaba ride.

AHMADINEJAD

2006-08-24T16:37:00.000+01:00

The Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is in the news now for quite sometime. Is he the nut case of the Persian Region? I read one blog in which someone had theorized that every region has its own nut case of a leader. Gaddafi is the one for the Magreb and we know that from the macabre comments he makes everytime he opens his mouth. His comments on the recently concluded FIFA World Cup and especially Saudi Arabia’s participation is a testimony to his imbecility. First he condemned the games as a waste of money and then later admitted to watching with disinterest. On the Saudi Arabian team he had the temerity to claim that the players were all slaves of the Saud family. How preposterous of him to infer that because most of the players were black or darker than Arabs they are slaves. And slaves in this twenty first century? Come on Gadfly where have you been all these years?

Anyway Ahmadinejad was reported to have said that the state of Israel must be wiped out in order to have peace in the Middle East. I thought the remark was unwarranted and uncalled for. But just as I was getting ready to write on that, MBC 4 satellite channel advertised the CBS 60 Minutes Show in which Mark Wallace interviewed no other than Ahmadinejad. I primed myself to watch it but NEPA struck and I missed it.

Anyway I do not support the wiping of Israel one bit. And I want to believe that among the Jews there are good people as well as bad people. Euronews recently told the story of a Jewish doctor in Nasariyah town who grafted a donated eye to an Arab. The eye had belonged to a dead jew but was donated to the Arab by the jewish brother of the deceased. Now this is one good deed that is worth emulating. Also the medical wonders that the Haddasah Hospital in Jerusalem is performing for its patients including Arabs. The bad Jews could include people like Olmert, Netanyahu, Sharon and all the other hawks who are always gunning for war.

I want to believe that peace can be achieved now and both Israel and the Palestinians and the Hizbollah are all capable of working something out with the help of the International community. The EEC especially.

OUR DEPLORABLE CULTURE

2006-08-23T18:51:00.000+01:00

NIGERIAN BUSINESS CULTURE
The other day I was meditating on the culture, business ethics and behaviour of KT people in general and the picture I arrived at was so grim it is worth sharing. KT is a subset of Nigeria and so what applies to it equally applies to the whole country. There could be pockets of exceptions here and there. For example the south and Kano are places where we see less of some of the negative things described below.
As a premise consider these hard facts of KT: wilful unemployment is more than fifty percent in all age categories in, level of entrepreneurship is nearly zero and amount of hard work by the few who are gainfully employed is at the minimum. And all these are self inflicted attributes that have been entrenched largely by a wrong interpretation of religious injunctions. What then are the evidences of all these. Consider what I posit below.
In KT there is a substantial social pressure against becoming successful. Whether at your work place or in your business, people generally do not wish you to succeed. Success is gauged by the type of car you ride, the house you build and the clothes you wear. Therefore becoming a winner in KT makes you the object of envy and resentment. Your relations are usually the first to show you by making impossible demands on you. Failure to comply pitches you against them in a running battle of backbiting and character assassination.
How many people have started businesses in KT only to be brought down by those who collect on credit but refused to pay? How many budding business men and women were ruined by this general behaviour of KT people? Very few remember to pay back. And very few are willing to enter into a legitimate business deal with their counterparts in the town. Hence the journeys to Kano to buy things that may have been made in KT.
In contrast, successful people in America enjoy high esteem and respect from members of the public.
Nigerians are generally not known for their drive, boundless energy, tenacity, hard work and perseverance. This is more so in KT.
In KT business ethics and personal ethics are essentially the same. Deception, bribery and lies are the order of the day whether in business or personal affairs. These are even encouraged, expected and rewarded by the larger society.

MODEL

2006-08-20T19:47:00.000+01:00

Is she a model or movie star? Or both? Is she from Hollywood in California, USA? Or is she from Bollywood, Mumbai, India? Or is she from Riverwood, Nairobi, Kenya. Perhaps from Nollywood, Lagos, Nigeria. Or even from Kannywood, Kano, Nigeria. Where ever she is from does not matter now.
Well movie, or shall we say video, making rackets all over the world are adding the suffix "wood" to their names. Perhaps so that the magic of Hollywood will rub on them. But no name is more bizzare than KANNYWOOD. Presumably from the name of the town Kano.i would have thought KANOWOOD would have been more suitable.
At any rate Kannywood refers to films made in Hausa language in kano or elsewhere. I have never watched any of such films because of the belief that they are below average in all the ratings. A friend tells me they are getting better by the day. So one of these days i will venture to watch one.
Just feed your orbs on this diva of a star.