Our friendship, forged in the crucible of the School of Basic Studies of Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, was a…
Browsing: Prof. M.K. Othman
As the university system continues to deteriorate, ASUU, the nation’s conscience, the primary stakeholders’ union is struggling to reverse the trend that has led to persistent industrial action in the last decade. The union has consistently pushed for implementing the United Nations Fund of Population Activities (UNFPA), which specifies a 15% to 20% annual education budget for underdeveloped countries like Nigeria. However, the national budgetary spending on education has remained below 10%. It is imperative that the nation wakes up and addresses the issues raised by ASUU for a promising, glorious future.
The period from 1st to 10th August was the most challenging time for our nascent democracy and President Bola Ahmed…
Pressure is mounting, the time is ticking, and the atmosphere is pregnant with flammable air waiting for a minute spark to explode, marking the arrival of Doom’s Day. The inferno of Doom’s Day may consume all of us and our belongings. In the inferno, there would be no king or enslaved people, as all would have one status: fire victims.
Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) is a byproduct of biotechnology. In medicine, biotechnology existed many centuries ago as an innovation. Hitherto,…
On our return trip, my journalistic instinct forced me to find out if the area was as dangerous as we believed. It was hazardous enough, but the farmers negotiated to cultivate their farms.
Still, on the considerable investment to become a governor, I have to quote the words of Dr. Abba Sayyadi Ruma…
The people in Bindawa and other local government areas within the Daura Senatorial Zone are the political underdogs and play the role of grass when the two emirates, Katsina and Daura, flex their muscles. Their muscles flexing has always been subterranean but visible enough to imbalance the political equation in the state. Senator Ahmed Babba Kaita and the people he served in the ninth assembly were victims of the muscle flexing and political shenanigan of Nigerian politicians in the 2023 election.
BAT is the only President to have made such a declaration on food security, the most critical security for human survival. I can imagine BAT’s feelings when he declared a state of emergency on food security as a quick fix to address the monster of hunger and squalor. He was virtualizing every hand to be on deck to make agrarian Nigeria achieve food security in a matter of months with excess for exports.
Another sin of the governors is their failure some to pay their employees’ salaries as of when they were due. Their recent hesitation to accept a minimum wage above N60,000 is worrisome. Why are they refusing to pay workers a living wage? Since the withdrawal of fuel subsidies, the statutory allocations have increased by a significant percentage. Except for Borno, Yobe, and one or two other states, there is nothing to show that states receive higher statutory allocation under this dispensation compared to before fuel subsidy withdrawal. Several roads remain in shambles, hospitals remain consulting clinics with no drugs, and there is a dearth of health professionals as they have massively moved abroad. Insecurity is fatally devastating rural communities and travelers.