LATE 'DAN MASANIN KANO'S SPEECH

Today we are no longer what we were; what is happening today is not in our character. The norms and values left by Sardauna and our founding fathers are no longer with us, they are not with us.

Today as I have often described the situation, the institution of family has broken down, respect for elders and constituted authority which used to be our cardinal principle in our society, is now at its lowest ebbs.

Honesty, where it does not pay has become meaningless; symptoms of revolt loom large in the horizon.
In short, there is
Meaninglessness in philosophy,
Insecurity in polity,
Chaos in politics,
Immorality in society,
Corruption in economy,
Frustration in art
And lack of creativity in literature.

This is not what North used to be or Nigeria as a whole, ours was a decent country whose leaders respected one another in spite of their political differences.

Ours was a society that was morally sound, was a society in which all of us were our brother’s keepers; it is not the same today.

Perhaps, some people say we have been brain-washed by our erstwhile colonial masters, it is true to a certain extent, but we are to a very large extent to blame, because we are masters of our faith, we should be captains of our souls.

Today, as I have said we are no longer ourselves, our cultural values has been thrown overboard, if a people lose their culture – culture is the identity of the people, people often mistake culture as mere dancing and singing, it is much more than that.

Culture is the customs and costumes,
The characters and characteristics,
The manners and mannerisms,
The philosophy and ideology of a people,
Culture is the totality of a people’s experience,
Culture is the way of life of the people.

In those days we adhere to the culture of the people, we had an identity, we had respect for one another, our society was morally sound, there was little corruption and so on and so forth.

However, in spite of the ugly picture I have painted, I believe we can still get out of the woods, I am not a pessimist I am an optimist, I believe that if we can revive the glory of the past, by reminding us of the good achievements – the success Sardauna and his likes, of our founding fathers, if we recall what Sardauna did and emulate his example, we can certainly revive the glory of the past.

Sardauna was a great man. He was born great; he had greatness thrust upon him and he achieved greatness. Sardauna was a leader in the true sense of the word. All his life, he was devoted to the service of his fellow man. He lived for the people and died for the people- A great leader who led his people with the philosophy of the herdsman.

The philosophy of the herdsman, you may have observed and may have seen is that the Fulani herdsman is always in front of his cows, leading them.

He is not behind them driving them from behind. He is in front leading his cattle.

The Fulani herdsman hangs a stick over his shoulders. That stick is not for beating them. It is for guarding his cattle.

That Fulani herdsman can make his cattle do everything he wants them to do. While he is leading them in front, if he stops anywhere, they all would stop. If he should jump into the water, they all would jump into the water. If he starts running, all of them would run after him. He names all of his cattle.

In those days, people of Northern Nigeria did not identify themselves by their tribes or religion, they were all “yan Arewa
Sardauna’s physician was a Christian; Dr. Ishaya Audu.
His personal doctor was a Christian.
His right hand man and indeed his next door neighbor, Michael Audu Buba, the Minister of Trade, he was a Christian from Plateau.

There was a time when Sarduana went to the Kingsway Store in Kaduna to do some shopping. And he met some students going round in the shop doing some window shopping.

And he asked them what they were doing and they said that they were going round looking at things. And he said alright, let each one of you go round and pick one item, I will pay. He asked his servant to go and settle the bills. His servant did and unfortunately, his servant asked one of the boys,’ what tribe are you?’ What religion are you following? And unfortunately for that servant, the Sardauna overheard him. And he turned round furiously “Why should you ask him his tribe and religion? What has that got to with that? He is my son.

Don’t you ever do that to me again? , If you do it again I'll dismiss you ".... That was Sarduana.

His Chief of Security, Sunday Awoniyi was a Christian, a Yoruba man. So you could not fault Sarduana as a religious leader.

I am beginning to see a light at the end of the tunnel… and
I DO HOPE THE STRUGGLE WILL CONTINUE.

LATE YUSUF MAITAMA SULE.
May Allah (SWT) forgive him, May his soul rest in a perfect peace, ameen.

ALUMNI ASSOCIATION

    ESSENCE OF ALUMNI ASSOCIATION:

The practice of College Old Boys or Old Girls Associations recognizing,honoring and celebrating only those who attain political,professional or material status in life is selective and discriminatory.

We should be human and spiritual,to equally appreciate those among us whom were once our childhood colleagues, but unable to rise to the material heights of life.

We should recognize and honor as well as help those who ‘couldn’t make it in life’. They are not failures in life,they are those not privileged by fate to acquire or assume the vanities or the ephemeral I ties of life.

Old Boys and Old girls Association should be a reunion of souls, to recount the good old days of brotherly or sisterly unconditional love and celebrate the wrinkles,baldness and the grey hairs that marked our mileage.

It should be a place to recall history with jokes and smiles and prayers for those who departed earlier than us.

The prevailing situations in most old Boys and Girls meeting is that in which the ‘rich old boys or girls’ comes to show off and the ‘poor old boys or girls are intimidated’. This must change.

Yes,fingers are not equal and life has been good to some,but let not those attainments kill that comradely spirit we shared in our classrooms and hostels, as young people unaware of what life has for us in the future we now live.

Memories and particularly Childhood memories are the priceless treasures of all alma mater. School life was our raw and innocent stage in life before we became processed and possessed.

On the final note,life will always be busy and packaged with its challenges,but try and spare a moment to visit the orphans and widows left behind by your once good school friend.

You may not have anything to give, but your presence matters most to his spirit and they will see him in you. Lets be human once again. Lets keep the spirit.......

President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua

   Umaru Musa Yar'Adua was the 13th President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. He was then governor of Katsina State in northern Nigeria from 29th May, 1999 to 28th May, 2007. He was declared the winner of the controversial Nigerian presidential election held on 21st April, 2007 and was sworn in on 29th May, 2007.
  In the Country’s history it is the first time an elected civilian head of state transferred power to another.
  His father, a Minister for Lagos during the First republic, held the chieftaincy title of Matawalle (or custodian of the royal treasury) of the Katsina Emirate, a title which Yar'Adua inherited.

Umar Musa Yar'adua Died on the 5th May 2010 (aged 58) in Aso Villa, Abuja Nigeria.

ANOTHER CHAPTER OF THE CONTINUED DISCUSSION

There's no TIME like the present, 

A

Alhamdulillah, it is my great pleasure and also delighted to inform🎙 you that I'm ADMITTED 📝 in to a MASTER'S DEGREE program of 2019/2020 academic session in Gombe State University (GSU). This was the most competitive admissions process of my school life as I have made my self into culture of inquiry 📚🖊(knowledge and experience).

      Today been 30th January, 2020📆, I'm moving vigorously into the Fifth journey of my Institutional Revolution, into Department of Business Administration 💻.
      I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere thanks to all people who have taken out some time from their busy schedules to work, pray and advice me since the beginning of admission process to the end.
   Finally, I consider it as a great opprtunity to seek for your prayers🤲 as usual. As I entered into a newly, CHALLENGING, lively diverse, and warmth community in Gombe state, Nigeria. May Allah granth me the ability and capacity to acquired the knowledge and blessings in this journey and all make it a chance of a higher success of my life.  Ameen
 What we only have is today, yesterday have past, tomorrow is yet to come.     I hope TOMORROW will be better than today, because what ever Allah has caused its occurrence, most surely be (Destiny)
Thank you all once again!!

The History of a great Merchants

Nine years away from the caravan of grains

By Turaki A. Hassan.

 My great-uncle, Ibrahim Dada, whom I grew to know as my paternal grandmother's oldest brother was already aged, tired, weak and blind in the mid1980s. In 1986/7, he told me he was 16 years blind.
 He was tall, huge and masculine, even in his old age. I think it was in their family gene because my grandmother was also tall and fair in complexion like her older brother, some even called her Doguwa.
 During holidays, I would visit him and he regaled me with fascinating tales of his youth, adulthood and even old age. He said in those days, there were neither cars, nor motorcycles or even bicycles. The only means of transportation were donkeys, horses and camels. But donkeys were the most used. His younger brother, Wakili, had many horses and we called him Kaka Mai Doki.
 After harvest every year, he recounted, they would mount their donkeys with tonnes of grains, millets, maize, groundnuts, beans, sesame seeds, etc and head west ward to Kano on a month-long journey, forming a long caravan of grain merchants.
 They would spend 14 days from Potiskum to Kano and arrive Kano city on the 14th day where grain dealers were always at hand to receive them. They would sell and use the money to buy clothing and other necessities; it was trade-by-barter anyway.
 In those days, he told me, there were no armed robberies and violence of whatever form or manner. On their way, wherever the sun sets, they would clear a place and lay their heads for the night. Those were the good old days
 To the best of my knowledge, Potiskum is the only town in Nigeria which five federal roads intersected through, to wit:  Kano - Potiskum road, Bauchi-Potiskum road, Gombe-Potiskum, Damaturu/Maiduguri-Potiskum road and Gashua-Potiskum road.
 These roads effectively made it the biggest commercial hub in the entire North East with the largest cattle and grains markets in West Africa.
 In Potiskum, we measure wealth by the number of articulated vehicles or trailers that one has. These vehicles transport grains, cows, goats, sheep etc to southern Nigeria and the Igbos, in particular, had established flourishing businesses from hotels, bookshops, medical stores, supermarkets, beauty shops, vehicle spare parts etc. It was a booming town.
 Sadly, in a blink of an eye, all these were grounded and Potiskum was raped, debased and almost destroyed by the activities of Boko Haram insurgents.
 The last time I went home was in 2011, the very day the terrorists launched a major and so far deadliest attack on Damaturu, the Yobe State capital 130 kilometres away, killing over 150 people.
 The next day, I left and few months after, on a certain Friday afternoon, shortly after the Friday prayers, the insurgents took over major roundabouts, junctions and streets, mounting road blocks and check points. They received applause from ignorant folks who cheered them saying, "Boko Haram, Sai kunyi", meaning, “Boko Haram, we hail thee”.
 In return, they responded, "Ku shiga gida zamuyi aikin Allah", meaning: “Go home we want to do the work of God or Jihad”.
 These were narrated to me on phone that same day by my uncle, who by a hair's breadth, survived the massacre of that day.
 A year later, a senior northern political officer holder who was among leaders that visited former President Goodluck specifically to address the insurgency recounted how the former leader accused some northerners of harbouring or supporting Boko Haram and he showed them a security report which captured people jubilating in Potiskum when the terrorists moved in. This, I confirmed to him, truly happened.
 The rest, they say, is history. From one attack to another, Potiskum became desolate, deserted and rendered barren. People fled for their lives. Those who were lucky escaped while others, including my brother, Ado, some friends and relations were murdered in cold blood through suicide bombings and targeted assassinations. Houses and businesses destroyed. People were forced give out their properties, including family and ancestral homes, at give-away prices and those who rushed to buy them thought they had hit jackpots, not knowing that their joy would soon be short-lived as the beasts had no friends or acquaintances -all were and are still enemies so long as you do not subscribe to their perverted and warped version of Islam. Soon, business activities were brought to a halt and poverty conquered the land.
 The monsters also turned on banks, civil servants, teachers, school children, doctors, nurses, policemen, and anyone in the military and paramilitary services was an enemy.
 Even the rich were targeted and within a millisecond wealthy people became not only paupers but displaced, some forever.
 It didn't take long for those ignorant folks to realise that Boko Haram was and is still nothing but evil. They neither represent Islam nor any of their acts, teachings or doctrines. And soon, mothers would put a call to report their children to the authorities once they suspect and confirm their allegiance and membership of the dreaded sect. This, more than anything, helped in the fight against Boko Haram in our area because the people rejected them and helped the authorities with information.
 On January 2nd, I once again had a glimpse at Potiskum when I drove through the bypass for a scheduled appointment with His Royal Highness, Mai Tikau, Alhaji Muhammadu Ibn Abubakar Grema Shuwa. I viewed and remembered with nostalgia, how peaceful the entire north east was.
 It made me recall how my great uncle who died in 1999 at over 100 years old, kept recounting how they used to form a large and long caravan whenever they travelled with donkeys to Kano, a distance of 300 kilometres, sleeping in forests and bushes without losing a needle.
 As we passed Tike, the largest cattle market in West Africa, which also witnessed horrendous attack by the bloodthirsty terrorists in May 2012, where scores of people were killed, I reminiscenced how in the not-far-distant-past, people slept outside in front of their houses with their gates wide open and their eyes shut without entertaining any fear whatsoever. 
 As young men then, we would attend parties and return home in the wee hours without any incident. This almost became a routine as my friend Iliya B-Jans was the best DJ in town. By and large, people were non-belligerent.
  Sadly, traveling from Maiduguri to Damaturu today is likened to the Liberian jungle during their Civil War or as my brother Bilal described it, as "the Gaza Strip, miniature Tora Bora of the post 911 era or a Bermuda Triangle of some sort where people drive in but may not drive out."
 Violence has engulfed the entire northern region such that no one and no where is safe.  The other day, Mai Potiskum, Alhaji Umaru Bubaram, was attacked in Kaduna, not Potiskum, Damaturu, Maiduguri, Biu or Michika and four of his aides killed.
 Today, the beautiful history of this place has been shattered and the once peaceful north east and, indeed, the entire north region, is the epicentre of mass murder, unprecedented violence and global headquarters of poverty.
 Destinies have been shattered, families separated, children orphaned, wives widowed, while minors and teenagers are now soldiers of war and executioners of hostages. Sirs Ahmadu Bello, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa and Kashim Ibrahim must be asking, “What has happened to our estate?” These questions would be asked by generations yet unborn. Violent extremism can only be checked if we address its root cause (s). I remember in 2001 shortly after 9/11 when the United States of America launched attacks on Afghanistan, a young boy of 18 to 19 years who had just arrived from one of the local governments approached me at the motor park in Damaturu seeking information on where they were recruiting people to go join the jihad in Afghanistan. He said he learnt that they are enlisting people and he came to join.
  Nowadays, the only regular news in Nigeria is that of abduction, execution and massacres such that life has become so cheap-people are being killed like ants. These horrors we only watched in movies or images from the World War II Holocaust, Rwandan genocide, the Liberian and Serra Leone's civil wars but never ever thought, imagined or expected that these horrors would take over our land and is now our reality. May the days of our forefathers who ferried grains from Potiskum to Kano sooner rather than later.

BOKO HARAM

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BOKO HARAM AND THE RELIGION OF ISLAM, WITH REFERENCE FROM QURAN.

FIRST, WHO ARE THE BOKO HARAM?.

Boko Haram are the most dangerous terrorist organization in Nigeria, The organization have being terrorizing Nigeria for almost 10 years now, and they claim that they are acting according to the Islamic teachings, and we Muslim said "no they are not acting according to Islamic teachings". Here are the difference between boko haram and the religion of islam

1. The Boko Haram kidnapped girls and forced them to change their religion.

While

Islam says: “Let there be no compulsion in religion.....” (Qur’an 2:256)

2. The Boko Haram have forcefully married off girls.

While

Islam says: ".....Do not inherit women against their will....." (Qur’an 4:19)

3. The Boko Haram are aggressive towards those who do not follow their beliefs.

While

Islam says: “IF IT HAD BEEN YOUR LORD’S WILL, all of the people on Earth would have believed [in one religion]….” (Quran 10:99)-- and "Let there be no compulsion in Islam " (Quran 2:256)

4. The Boko Haram have murdered thousands of Muslims and Christians alike in cold blood.

While

Islam says: “….If any one slew a person - unless it be for murder or for spreading mischief in the land - it would be as if he slew the whole people: and if any one saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of the whole people...” (Quran 5:32)

5. The Boko Haram use the cover of Islam to commit their mayhem and claim they are doing ALLAH'S work or JIHAD (HOLY WAR).

While

Islam says: “…… BUT DO NOT TRANSGRESS LIMITS; FOR GOD LOVES NOT TRANSGRESSORS.” (Qur’an 2:190)"

6. The Boko Haram believes once you are not with them you are an enemy to them.

While

Islam says: “O mankind! We created you from a single (pair) of a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes, that ye may know each other (not that ye may despise each other)......” (Quran 49:13)

7. The Boko Haram have unleashed tyranny and indecency in the land.

While

Islam says: “God commands justice and doing good and giving to relatives. And He forbids indecency and doing wrong and tyranny....” (Quran 16:90)

Finally, upon all their false claims its clear to see that Boko Haram do not represent Islam in any way because, they are acting against Islam.

VIRTUOUS WOMAN

SOME GOOD MEN ARE POOR, SOME ARE REACH

     Some ladies today do not want to work on any marriage. They want a ready made man who will take away all their poverty in a day. They secretly pray for a man working in an oil company or is a successful business man, earn in at least six figures, has a company car or his own personal posh car and lives in a duplex at minimum, at worst, 3 bedroom flat.
Now listen young lady, the good man you want is not in that category! What? Yes! That man who will give you the love, affection and respect you truly deserve doesn't usually come with a posh car! He comes with his vision, struggling to find his feet and hoping with your help, he will make something great out of his life.
Here are the reasons you should think twice before marrying a ready made man. That man has made it without you. You are nothing but a piece of property to him. He knows your greed.
He knows you don't really love him, if you do, you wouldn't be attracted to his success first.
Men are not daft. They know when a lady wants them for their money and nothing else. He has listened carefully to your conversation.
He knows you have nothing sensible to add to his life except to collect his money and show off.
He knows your respect is fake, it is due to the money he gives you and when the money is gone so will your respect. So he keeps working hard to feed your greed, never having time for you and the children.
He shouts you down when you talk because you do not have solution to his problems, you rather create more.
He believes you are a dummy upstairs.
He only married you because you are
beautiful, wants you to be his permanent sexual partner and raise his children, no more. Your emotional needs and problems are not his concern..
All you need is money and he has given
you in abundance. Many women are
weeping daily in such marriages! Their greed and lust for money has put them in a permanent dungeon of pain, regret and sorrow!These women had opportunities to pick the right men for their lives but they were too proud, too selective, too pompous to pick a man they will start life with. Better marry a man who sees
you as his mate than a piece of
property!
Marry someone who sees you as his
friend. Marry someone who values your
words and respects you because you add value to his life. Marry someone at your level. Don't look for someone beyond your reach. Marry a man who will listen to you, value you, respect
you and let you contribute to his life.
A virtuous woman is not indolent. She is not lazying around looking for who to rescue her. She is smart, sharp, intelligent, hardworking, generous and a great contributor to her man's success.
Don't be a liability. Be a blessing. Be a hard worker. Let God direct you to your man. Stand by him, work with him, encourage him, motivate him, pray for him and be a part of his success.
When he becomes great and successful, he
will give you all the honour, respect
and love you deserve because he knows you were in his life to give and not just to take. Without you by his side, he wouldn't have become so wealthy and successful. He knows you are the reason behind his smile. You are
his gold and he would never let you go. Behind every successful man, is a virtuous woman
and that virtuous woman is you!