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The Craze for Easy Money in Nigeria and The Hanifa Story By Prof. M K Othman

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The Craze for Easy Money in Nigeria and The Hanifa Story, By Prof. M K Othman

It was like a tale, told by a joker to spice an enjoyable gist but turned out to be unspoken truth. This is a story of a rural community located in an accident-prone busy highway, which links two capital cities of prominent states in Nigeria.

The accident-prone spot is nicknamed “Kwanar Mutuwa” because of the high frequency of road mishaps with astronomical fatalities and injuries. When such accidents occur, residents of the community rush to the spot under the pretense of aiding and rescuing the victims but end up stealing the properties (cash, phones, etc) of the victims.

In this very community, a resident could borrow money with a promise of repayment after robbing the next accident victim. Unfortunately, this dastardly act is fast becoming a norm in most accident scenes when victims who cry for help are being robbed.

These criminally-minded elements of society have gone to the extent of setting traps to punch/burst the tires of motorists on the highway to rob them when such motorists unsuspectingly stopped to find what is amiss.

This practice is common on almost every major highway in Nigeria. One of the most potent pieces of advice to drivers of today is “do not stop on a highway, no matter what happens with your vehicle until you reach a destination safe enough to stop”. All these things are done to make “easy money” or “get rich quick” without working for it. How did society reach this lowest ebb decadence?

Over ten years ago, kidnapping in Nigeria was just a story in the “action” movie and a few isolated cases in the Niger Delta. When President Umaru Musa Yaradua, granted amnesty to the restive youth of the Niger Delta, we all went to sleep, thinking that kidnapping and similar violent crimes would become part of our ugly history.

However, as the amnesty was being granted with all the lucrative packages, the seed of Boko Haram in the North East germinated. We did not take it seriously, we thought BH could just be crushed as we did to a similar organization called “Maitatsine” in Kano in the early 1980s.

Then, cattle rustling emerged in 2014 or so as one of the violent crimes, we were so lackadaisically unconcerned and did almost nothing to stop it. Some thought aloud, how could a bulky body frame animal, called cow be stolen in multiples of 40 to 100 and moved from one location to another without a trace?

How could they be sold in an open market without being uncovered by our intelligence system? Some felt, it was a Fulani affair, and they should be left to sort themselves out? In that early stage, I was moved to tears when I paid a sympathy visit to the father of my friend whose 43 cows were rustled.

Then, the guard of the cows, a Fulani man with his family, vehemently protested and opposed the rustlers who became frustrated and vicious, after overpowering the elderly guard, he was asked to say his last prayers as they were to instantly execute him before his wives and children. The execution was precisely what they did, left with cows and it was the last thing without a trace. Seeing the sadness, sorrow, and melancholy on the faces of those orphans and widows, I couldn’t resist shading drops.

Today, cattle rustling has transposed into full swing kidnapping and kidnapping of victims on transit has been incubated to poaching people from their residence. Time and places are no longer barriers for kidnapping as the incidence can happen anytime and anywhere with impunity without qualms.

No place or time is safe; one has to be prayerful at all times. Kidnapping is an organized, sophisticated, and all-inclusive crime, which includes cash exchange between the victims’ families and the kidnappers. Can’t it be nipped in the bud? Is it a failure of the intelligence system or operating system or both? Corruption and craze for easy money are the motivational factors nourishing and flourishing this crime. Some people lost their lives and many others sold out their capital assets to regain their freedom.

It is under this circumstance, the Hanifa episode hit the central nerve of society. There were spontaneous outcries from all angles as the Hanifa with her pretty innocent face, was not only heart-rending but could touch even the stonehearted people in the society.

Hanifa was a 5-year old pupil of Nobel Kids School, Dakata quarters, Kano state. She was chillingly murdered in cold blood and her body was shredded to pieces and buried in a shallow grave. The callous murder, cutting to pieces, and burial of the body parts were all perpetrated by the proprietor of Hanifa’s primary school.

READ ALSO: Maiduguri Law School: The Senate Approval And Senator Kashim Shettima’s Voice

The main motivator of this dastardly act of murder of an innocent child was to make easy money. We were all shocked, as no one could believe that this kind of atrocity actually took place in Nigeria. A school proprietor entrusted with 100s of children for imparting knowledge, good upbringing, and modeling for a brighter future; became a callous, cold-blooded murderer of one of the children under his care.

What a calamitous tragedy!

Hanifa’s case is not a common one but it is also not an isolated case as there are few other Hanifas murdered by their supposed protectors such as guardians and trusted neighbors.

In the last five months, bad news children killed in schools or kidnapped and killed have been devastating. The story of Sylvester Oromoni from Dowen School Lagos is similar to that of Hanifa. A petition from Oromoni’s family with 65 signatures reads “On Tuesday 30/11/2021, we lost our brother, 12 years old Sylvester Oromoni Jnr.

He was taken from us in the most gruesome of manner beaten by five senior boys in his hostel in Dowen College, Lekki, Lagos state. The students are from influential families and the school is trying to bury the case”. Another case was that of Asma’u Shuaibu Wa’alamu, an 8-year-old girl, allegedly abducted and killed by neighbor of the family in Zaria, Kaduna State, despite payment of N3m as ransom. Why are we crazy for easy money? Does money solve our problems or bring happiness to our lives? To be concluded next week

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NSE: Capital Market Investment for Dividend and Capital Appreciation 

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NSE: Capital Market Investment for Dividend and Capital Appreciation 

By: Balami Lazarus 

The piece is written with an understanding of the capital market, the Nigerian Stock Exchange and the Nigerian Group Exchange (NGX).  I am a part owner of some listed companies, a bona fide shareholder, and a member of the Independent Shareholders Association of Nigeria (ISAN). Therefore, I believe that this will open the eyes of someone out there to this profitable and protected business investment through the laws, rules, and regulations under the watch of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of Nigeria. 

Recently, my friend and I were listening to the Network News on NTA at 9 a.m. when business news came up on the capital market of the Nigerian Stock Exchange. My friend was not following the simple breakdown of the transactions known as deals, which quickly informed me he was a novice in the activities of the capital market, its transactions, and the lush investment opportunities that abound therein. 

However, students of business and financial management are aware of shares, common stocks, bonds, and other securities instruments available on the floor of the capital market for investors to take positions in the shares of the companies listed for daily trading at the stock exchange market. To my knowledge, some people are ignorant of the investment windows in the stock market and how they are done and carried out, where your money, time, and patience work in your favor depending on how you position yourself in the market as either a long-term, mid-term, or short-term investor. 

There are differences between capital markets and financial institutions. Financial institutions are the banks, while capital markets are the stock exchange floors where sellers and buyers transactions are expressly carried out on their behalf by brokers through securities firms, provided that they are mandated to do so by their clients, who are the investors. 

Common stocks have been the backbone of the capital market. Owership of common shares by individuals, directly or indirectly, has built individual wealth, which has helped in the expansion of the Nigerian Business Environment (NBE)..     

Therefore, investment in the capital market is safe and secure because investors are highly protected by the laws of the land. Interestingly, as a shareholder, you are a part owner of the company. “When you invest in common stock of a company, you become a part owner of the company.” This makes you a direct owner of a portion, with the privileges thereof provided by law.

Balami, a Publisher/Columnist: 08036779290

NSE: Capital Market Investment for Dividend and Capital Appreciation 

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Presidency: Why Tinubu and Kashim Shettima’s partnership will continue beyond 2027

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Presidency: Why Tinubu and Kashim Shettima's partnership will continue beyond 2027

Presidency: Why Tinubu and Kashim Shettima’s partnership will continue beyond 2027

Dr. James BWALA

Some politicians and their calculations of events, incidents, and expectations leading to the 2027 presidential elections have so far exposed their wicked agenda against the Tinubu-Shettima partnership and the recreation of good governance in Nigeria. History has recorded beautiful scenarios that this administration has brought to play in changing the old narratives of governance in Nigeria. And we have seen these numerous plays, from the dollar narratives to market trading and the ideas of price control. Tinubu and Shettima’s table of governance has been full of ideas, and the partnerships have been supportive of mutual respect. But evil hunters in the political domain would always prefer the idea of scattering the table to put leaders afar just to gain their mutually conceived and derailing ideas into play.

It is laughable to compare reasons for Tinubu’s needs as Governor of Lagos State when he replaced Kofoworola Bucknor as Deputy Governor with Femi Pedro in 2002, who served with him until 2007. That was Lagos, and this is Nigeria, for which the ground and outlook are miles apart and the North is not against itself. For sometimes, some politicians in the game of Troy have fashioned for themselves a belief on the contrary to Mr. President’s thinking towards achieving many goals he had been working alongside his vice president to achieve and make history not only for Nigeria but also for themselves.

Never in the history of Nigeria have the two first families been seen coming together from the days of struggling to power to governance, as demonstrated by the Tinubu and the Shettima families. Long before now, the two leaders had built a relationship of trust and respect that fortified their wine of understanding despite forces from within and outside the party they are leading today. The calls from such separatists did not start today, and nothing they do can amount to this administration losing focus on giving over two hundred million Nigerians the desired dividends of democracy, and neither Tinubu nor Kashim Shettima are losing focus on their promises to Nigeria.

The idea they are circulating on social media for 2027 and the possibility of the vice president being replaced by Kwankwaso from the Northwest by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was a fabrication of their own imagination. Who are those powerful people around Tinubu who got his mind on what they were trying to sell on social media? And what also do they know about the discussions Tinubu and Kashim Shettima are having when they meet behind closed doors to share their views on governance? 

The NNPP presidential aspirant, Engr. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, has made it crystal clear during his campaign that he cannot be VP to anyone given his pedigree and belief in the political circle, even at a time when he has a better opportunity to bargain with the APC. Despite the outcome of the 2023 general election and the crowd he seemed to have pulled for the NNPP, the Ganduje factor still speaks loud even as of today. And politics in Kano has many faces, which has recorded a time when great politicians have failed to deliver even the Almighty Kwankwasiya movement. As such, Kwankwaso, even though he is not speaking publicly, cannot have an effect on the Tinubu and Kashim Shettima relationship and partnership in leading Nigeria to the Promise Land.

READ ALSO:https://newsng.ng/the-plight-of-farida/

I believe these mischief makers are already putting Tinubu and Kashim Shettima’s administration on trial, as they did promise to do so both in court and in public opinion. The court case that the former governor of Kano State and National Chairman of the APC is having has nothing to do with the presidency and the administration of Tinubu and Kashim Shettima except that Ganduje belongs to the APC family and holds a vintage position in the party. These criminals in political circles are trying to pin the case on the party or the presidency to the effect that they are claiming that the move to dethrone Ganduje was equally a move to replace Kashim Shettima as VP in 2027.

The 2027 presidential election will come and go like any other election before it, and we shall be witnesses to the fact of history that the Tinubu and Kashim Shettima administration have recorded, which shall speak for them in the deciding factor. No one, either in person or group, can change the destiny of Tinubu’s golden boy.

** James BWALA, PhD writes from Abuja

Presidency: Why Tinubu and Kashim Shettima’s partnership will continue beyond 2027

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Borno: Why would an NGO sponsor a fire outbreak in IDP camps?

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Borno: Why would an NGO sponsor a fire outbreak in IDP camps?

By: Dr. James BWALA

Although the commissioner for information in Borno State refused to mention in his statement those NGOs trying to malign the Zulum administration’s efforts towards the internally displaced people, IDP, a video in circulation with the confession of one of the arrested suspects alleges that an international INGO with the name ALIMA and others are behind the numerous fire outbreaks being experienced at various IDP camps across the state lately. 

It could be recalled that on one of his outings, to support the IDPs in Borno, the governor, Professor Babagana Umara Zulum, received hurtful news of such experiences that made him lose it. But I ask again: why would an NGO sponsor a fire outbreak in IDP camps? A statement reads:

PUBLIC NOTICE ON SUSPECTED CASES OF FIRE INCIDENCES IN IDP CAMPS IN BORNO STATE 

The Borno State Government has received situation reports (SITREPs) from reliable sources regarding suspected cases of fire outbreaks in some IDP camps within the state. This recent rise in the frequency of infernos in IDP camps has been a matter of concern, and all hands are on deck to forestall any further occurrence of fire outbreaks in the state. The government has been investigating the occurrence of the infernos on a case-by-case basis, with a view to establishing the remote and extant causes and developing a strategy to stem future occurrences.

On March 29, 2024, the Ministry of Information and Internal Security received a report in which a suspect admitted that he and his “co-conspirators” were “hired” by some NGOs (names withheld) to set IDP camps on fire. This matter is under investigation, and further necessary action shall only be taken on the basis of the outcome of the investigation. Those arrested are in detention undergoing intensive interrogation, while the NGOs who were pinpointed in the alleged violent practice have been summoned for preliminary interrogation.

The government assures members of the public that this matter will receive appropriate and expedited attention, and any culprit will be dealt with according to the law. 

Meanwhile, members of the public are urged to be calm, peaceful, and law-abiding. Any breach of security should be reported to the nearest law enforcement agency or traditional rulers for transmission to the relevant authority.

*Announcer*

Prof. Usman Tar,

Honourable Commissioner, 

Ministry of Information and Internal Security, Borno State

READ ALSO: https://newsng.ng/police-witness-tells-iip-sars-how-peter-ekwealor-slumped-after-allegedly-confessing-to-killing-asp-akoh-ude/

I have worked in a camp while working with some INGOs in Maiduguri, sometimes before returning to the field as a journalist. I can say without mincing words that some INGOs can do everything possible to keep their jobs. However, I am pained by such a move at the detriment of the efforts and support of the people of Borno State and Governor Babagana Umara Zulum. If there are such NGOs, they must be exposed! 

The government of Borno State and its resilient people have suffered enough in the last 13 years of insurgency. It is not a palatable experience for the governor to be moving from one point to another, trying to see that his people are met with the needed support and shelter after having fled their homes in the wake of the death harvest by agents of darkness. Governor Zulum has become a touring governor on mines fields with sweat-sucked clothes, trying to reach out to the needy across the landmines field. As such, he does not deserve this sabotaging move by the organization, which should also come to help as well.

The suspect, who made mention of the names of INGOs sponsoring the outbreak of fire in IDP, should be thoroughly investigated because some are also alleging that he could have actually been under duress to mention the names of some organization as a result of the beating he received. If at all that was the case, these partners alledgedly in crime can be acquitted; otherwise, they actually should not have a place to operate in the state or anywhere else on Nigeria’s soil because the need for them is to help our people and not to add salt to injury in a place where deaths mounted.

James BWALA, PhD, writes from Abuja.

Borno: Why would an NGO sponsor a fire outbreak in IDP camps?

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