Columns
Re: The craze for easy money in Nigeria and the Hanifa story, by Prof M. K. Othman

Re: The craze for easy money in Nigeria and the Hanifa story, by Prof M. K. Othman
Deep Thought with Othman
Again, it is time to allow the esteemed readers of this Column to air their views. There were varieties of views on almost every topic I presented in this Column. Today, I am presenting some edited views on the topic “The Craze for Easy Money in Nigeria and The Hanifa Story”.
The Hanifa saga continues to hunt our psyche until justice is done and preventive measures taken against repeat and replication of the saga in our society. Happy reading:
Prof, your article speaks volumes of the moral decay in our society. The safe school initiative of the Government has a lot to contribute in controlling the excesses of these criminals masquerading as Proprietors. Government must continue to seek means of revamping our educational institutions to make these private schools dysfunctional, as they have become avenues and catalysts for crimes. While these may be isolated cases, the regulatory institutions must be up and doing and appropriate the right sanctions to erring institutions.
The roles of parents in the upbringings of their wards need not be overemphasized; Hanifa was too young to be entrusted to go to school all by herself. She should have been under the care of her parents or guardians when she was not in class. This lacuna is what was responsible for this dastardly act and gave the criminal in the name of Proprietor to find her a soft target.
Thank you Sir for sharing with me, once again your various interventions through the pen are making modest contributions to our society.
Musa Aliu, Zaria.
Fantastic, Prof, may your pen ever be flowing with the ink of wisdom, amen. Nigeria is a nation where nobody or government questions the source of your wealth, the use of BVN is just existing without being used for verification, where underage are swimming in resources not worked for, where law enforcement agents share the proceeds of crime with criminals, where people celebrate rich people with untraceable sources, where intelligent and hard work are no longer celebrated, where the good name of the family is no longer preserved and cherished, where all manner of things can be done for money. It is only God of genuine revival that can cure this nation.
Prof Olakojo Samuel Adelow, Ibadan.
My Prof. You have said it all. But I fear that, if this barbarism continues to spread like a great cyclone as it is doing now in Nigeria without any security upsurge, we will soon go back to the age of troglodyte. We made laws, which only work on the poverty-stricken individuals while the criminals that have amazed Haram’s wealth are celebrated across the country. Thus, only Allah can save us from this serious schizophrenia.
Well done my Prof. You continue to ring the golden bell of alarms, but I don’t know whether the listeners are sleeping or are just political sycophants? My Prof, I suggest that the death of Hanifa should be used as a deterrent to the others by executing her culprit in a market square of Kano.
Yakubu Yunusa Sakpe, Bida.
When people with ill-gotten wealth are praised and given red carpet treatment in society. The craze to get rich quickly by feeble-minded members of society will take a calamitous dimension. Only God will help us out of this ugly trend. Many thanks for this educative piece, sir.
Jonah Attah, Abuja.
May Almighty Allah protect us from the hands of the evil ones. And may we be contented with what we are destined to have.
Your write-up is very educative, Sir.
Aliyu Yakubu, Kaduna.
Great piece Prof. More wisdom Sir. It is a painful and unbearable tragedy to Hanifah’s family and the world at large. We hope that justice should be served. A similar case was Soffiyah’s case in Abeokuta who was beheaded by her boyfriend.
Dr Adams Tijjani Zaria.
Innalillahiwainnailaihiraji’un. Ya Allah continues to protect us from known and unknown evils planned or unplanned by Shaytan, humans, jinns, and their accomplices. This is indeed a sad part of our national history which if allowed to continue can lead to complete lawlessness in society.
What could be the possible causes of this craze for easy money? In my opinion, it may be a result of corruption and corrupt tendencies in all our basic institutions of school, family, religion, government, and economy. Admission into our institutions of learning was considered on merit. That merit was defined by the number of credits or combination of subjects provided by the various regulatory bodies such as JAMB. To meet these basic paper qualifications, parents, students, school administrators strive to get results from WAEC or NECO by all means. This effort led to the proliferation of magic centres that are well known across the country. The authorities are doing nothing or governing bodies to deter the creation of those centres due to interests and corruption. The students end up in higher institutions with little basic knowledge of the requirements for higher education. All they are after is the certificate; hence all forms of malpractice, buying of grades with money or through sexual gratification are done to pass exams. This is the basis for corruption in Nigeria.
I remember in our secondary school when we were writing exams, black Maria used to be stationed by the side waiting for an exams malpractice case. Everyone was careful not to be involved. The craze for certificate and the corrupt ways through which it was obtained drive the people to the craze for money from their investment. Any window of opportunity, the result is beyond imagination. The cases of security operatives aiding the corrupt practices and compromising are well documented. Check roadblocks along the highways, the cases of Magu and Kyari, etc all in the name of quick money-making.
This corruption has also depleted our economy, as the government can no longer afford to provide those free education, basic health care, employment, security, etc. Parents can no longer afford to provide basic needs of their families. Children drop out of school to be engaged in menial jobs. Some end up in the company of bad friends that introduce them to crimes and related activities.
The religious institutions were also not spared by corruption; we see cases of diversion and personalization of funds by the leaders, buying private jets, luxury apartments, and Ferraris with the sweat of their followers. Therefore, all that we think about the craze for quick money is deeply rooted in our basic institutions. We have to look back and reflect on this for a lasting solution.
Dr SaniIsiaku, Zaria.
Unfortunately, the new generations of leaders are not helping. The previous leaders were more visionary, less materialistic, self-sacrificing, not greedy, valued human lives, unlike today direct opposite. It’s worrisome and to me, the future seems bleak, especially for the majority of youths that are left stranded with no proper education, involvement in reasonable ventures or connection to society is already an indication of bitterness, inequalities in terms of social welfare, etc.
Good morning my amiable Prof. I am impressed with the cutting-edge articles that touch the ills of our society especially as it affects the youths.
Dr Anlade Yakubu, Aliero.
Salam Prof. Thanks for the concluding part of your article on the unfortunate circumstances, in which children find themselves nowadays, of being abducted and killed by their supposed protectors even after ransom payment. The craze for easy money is the root cause of all these kinds of vices.
Prof Abdulhameed Y. Umar, Kano.
Prof Othman writes from NAERLS, ABU Zaria and can be reached via email: mkothman@gmail.com.
Columns
In Marriage Nest, Spouses Are Dying, Ignoring Red Flags, and The Panacea (1)

In Marriage Nest, Spouses Are Dying, Ignoring Red Flags, and The Panacea (1)
By: Balami Lazarus
In the quite beautiful town of Zhimbutu, where men held sway, lording over their wives, some with brutality, few with love,
care and romance others in different ways. While some women are also lords over their husbands with impunity. Fear of getting married gripped young ladies seeing the ways their mothers were being treated and relegated to the background in the affairs of their homes as married women.
The home of Mr. and Mrs. Kwanchinkwalo Xhosa is full of regrets, anger, and bitterness, where Mrs. Xhosa has been treated as an object in the marriage partnership. The red spots were obviously fermented with bubbles ready for brewing.
Similarly, some good number of marriage homes are full of regrets where love, peace, and understanding
and harmony are strangers rejected and kept in a labyrinth of doom where one of the parties is placed in a perpetual tan of unhappiness surrounded by fear in the thickness of smoke, a forced resident.
Long before, now as a young man, a legitimate product of marriage. I took marriage as a mere secular social contract of partnership bounded in love and understanding where two have agreed to live together as husband and wife in matrimony.
However, I have never taken marriage to be a do-or-die affair, which has been the stock of some persons, even when and if the two—husband and wife—can no longer live together, having exhausted reasonable avenues to no avail. Here I am.
for outright divorce as a panacea for the final dissolution of the marriage.
To this day, I have been asking myself, why did I even get married in the first place? For sex, procreation, companionship, norms, tradition, or obligation? While marriage to a larger extent has deprived me and many others of some air of freedom and liberties to do or not to do at any space of time, I suppose. Moreover, the enterprise called marriage has taken away the ‘who’ in many men and
women and made them something else. It has further forcefully taken the lives of many spouses who ignored the red flags and fear of divorce. And besides, many have taken upon themselves to live or die in an unhappy/venomous venture of marriage that is infested with ‘dysentery’ and ‘cholera,’ where death is lurking because husbands or wives lack the guts, will , ability, and/or capacity to invoke the dead-end solution.
Let me now punctuate the work with some questions: Were you forced into it? Was it under duress? Was it at gunpoint? I believed the answers were all no. What will then prevent an individual from liquidating his unprofitable marital interest in such an intense business called marriage to be free from wahala that may likely result in crime?
In such a situation, I advocate for divorce as the only and final panacea, which has a comfortable place as a clause in my dictionary of marriage. Divorce is rarely used in some quarters, no matter what. While my wife and I have sincerely agreed in the course of our marriage journey that at any point in time, with or without any reason/cause, either party can quietly and peacefully walk out of the marriage to avoid who knows what?
In the history of failed marriages and crime findings, it has been shown that one of the parties is forcing his/herself on the other spouse because one of them has a profound and compounded emotional or spiritual attachment to the marriage. The case of the late Mrs. Osinachi Nwachukwu (2023), the gospel singer, was a classical example. Patience and excessive spiritual attachment led to her being killed by her husband, one Mr. Nwachukwu. The same is also applicable to men who fall victim in the hands of their wives. This situation has created two prime suspected killers living in a marriage cocoon.
Balami, a publisher/columnist. 08036779290
In Marriage Nest, Spouses Are Dying, Ignoring Red Flags, and The Panacea (1)
Columns
Birthday Celebrations: Ageless Plus One They Puke

Birthday Celebrations: Ageless Plus One They Puke
By: Balami Lazarus
As I write this piece, I was caught between the beautiful literary works of two great African poets and not knowing who to quote because they say the same thing poetically in different ways, going by their subject matter. As the writing progresses, I will definitely make reference to one of them to qualify this discourse.
The “Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead” I read recently has explicitly expressed our individual differences exhibited by man in lifestyles and even in death. The book written in spell said that even in death, individuals are different.
I hereby believe that some persons are battling with parents, relatives, friends, and acquaintances who are trying to impose their ways of life and styles on them, refusing to accept the fact that likes and dislikes make us different as humans. When I got to understand myself as an individual adult who has a mind of his own, making me positively different, that was the beginning of my journey to self-freedom as an individual.
As humans, we are physically the same, but we easily forget that you and I are entirely different. I have always tried to single myself out from the crowd to make a difference in terms of things that are personal and not against the law. With this in mind, I have developed a very strong, self-independent mindset, which has made me principled, and I don’t play to the gallery. That has also made me stand out like an inselberg mountain. However, for the purpose of family, collective responsibilities, and public interest, I must stoop with love and understanding for the sake of progress, growth, and development.
Therefore, my dislike for birthday celebrations makes me different from you or anyone out there. Moreover, it is of no value to me as I live. With this, I recalled when a young school pupil was asked at a children’s program, Would you like to be like Aliko Dangote ?
He answered and said, “No, we are different.” For me, that was a brilliant answer, for it entails so many things.
I have long disciplined and have control of my mind, body, and soul to outgrow so many things that are not necessary or important for me to either have , do, or use. This has helped me to brush aside and ignore so many things. Perhaps for the purpose of association or friendship, I might like or admire some things about the individual concerned, but the fact remains I will not and shall never be you nor do as you do because even in death—funeral/burial—we are different.
Most birthdays are celebrated empty of how old the celebrants are because they are ageless. What is the rationale behind this?. Does it make sense? . My father, of blessed memory, was good at record keeping. He taught us, as his children, to be mindful of important dates and years for future use and documentation. He further reminded us that “your birthday has been properly celebrated during your naming ceremony. Why another birthday celebratio”n?
I have seen where some people took birthday celebrations as if they were a personal achievement, and some even took offense when you did not identify with them by either phone calls , text messages, or other social media handles. Shamelessly, few among these individuals confront you with the anger of a black mamba showing all over them as if it were an obligation to celebrate with them on this self-meaningless and childish glee, which I see as generational encroachment because as a mature adult, you no longer need such celebration. This is my opinion.
I will not conclude this article without telling readers that I do attend ceremonies like Thanksgiving, graduations, award presentations, marriages, namings, and funerals, among other important events, but not birthday celebrations; that is always Plus (+) One, year in and year out. What is a burlesque? And this brings me to where I will have to quote one of the two African poets, Wole Soyinka and John Pepper Clark (Abikus). Suffice to say, Plus (+) One is like the Abiku in Wole Soyinka’s poem “I am Abiku calling for the first… repeated time , ageless though our puke.” This is the way of many birthday celebrants .
Finally, I smell the spoor of some readers saying in their minds that this writer is out of date , a bushman, socially bankrupt, and does not belong. I guess I am right . Well, in recollection, calmness, and stillness, I stand to say we are different.
Balami, a publisher/columnist 08036779290.
Birthday Celebrations: Ageless Plus One They Puke
Columns
RE: SDP ‘now Nigeria’s new bride’?

RE: SDP ‘now Nigeria’s new bride’?
By: Dr. James Bwala
This caption drew my attention as I woke up this morning. “SDP is now Nigeria’s ‘new bride’; we’re ready to unseat Tinubu in 2027.” Mr. Dogara, an official, described the SDP as “the new bride of Nigeria,” claiming the party’s membership is growing rapidly across the country. “I was supposed to be surprised, but I laughed so hilariously knowing the political landscape we are operating in and how some people can turn in their dreams and hold on to a belief that they are still kings as they were in that dreamland.
The metaphor of a “new bride” in political discourse often symbolizes freshness, hope, and transformative potential within a political landscape. In Nigeria, the Social Democratic Party (SDP) emerged as one such entity purported to represent renewal and progressive change. However, despite this symbolic promise, the SDP lacks substantive impact in Nigeria’s complex political environment. The party’s existence does not translate into genuine institutional reform or meaningful democratic consolidation. Instead, Nigerian politics remains marred by entrenched issues such as corruption, ethnic divisions, and electoral malpractice that hinder any new political actor from effecting substantial change.
Moreover, the SDP’s inability to distinguish itself from established parties suggests that it fails to embody the qualities associated with a “new bride.” Rather than offering innovative policies or an alternative governance model, it appears as another participant in Nigeria’s cyclical political stagnation. Consequently, while multiple avenues exist to identify a “new bride” politically—such as ideological novelty or reformist zeal—the SDP conspicuously lacks these attributes in contemporary Nigerian politics.
Despite its initial allure, the SDP’s platform lacks the ideological clarity and policy depth necessary to challenge Nigeria’s entrenched political norms. In essence, the SDP’s failure to articulate a distinct political vision or leverage grassroots support further underscores its inadequacy as an agent of change within Nigeria’s entrenched political system. Furthermore, the SDP’s lack of strategic alliances and failure to galvanize a broad-based coalition further diminishes its potential as a transformative political force in Nigeria.
The party’s lack of a coherent strategy to address Nigeria’s pressing socio-economic challenges further exacerbates its inability to resonate with the electorate and establish itself as a credible alternative. Without a compelling narrative or a robust grassroots engagement strategy, the SDP remains ill-equipped to navigate and influence the complex political terrain of Nigeria, leaving them in stark contrast to what one might expect from a truly revitalizing political entity.
The SDP’s inability to distinguish itself from the existing political framework further limits its capacity to attract voters seeking genuine change. Moreover, the absence of a clear and compelling policy agenda not only hinders the SDP’s ability to differentiate itself from established parties but also limits its appeal to a populace yearning for substantive political reform. Without a clear vision or innovative approach, the SDP’s efforts to engage with Nigeria’s diverse electorate remain superficial and largely ineffective.
READ ALSO: https://newsng.ng/the-plight-of-farida/
The party’s failure to articulate a clear stance on key national issues, such as corruption and electoral reform, further alienates it from voters who are desperate for meaningful progress and accountability in governance. The SDP’s struggle to resonate with the electorate is exacerbated by its lack of charismatic leadership.
Compounding this issue is the party’s inability to effectively leverage grassroots movements or build a robust network of support at the community level. Moreover, the party’s outdated strategies and lack of engagement with Nigeria’s youthful population further diminish its appeal as a viable alternative to the entrenched political entities. This is further compounded by the SDP’s failure to articulate a clear and compelling vision that distinguishes it from established parties, leaving it adrift in a sea of political sameness.
SDP’s inability to leverage its historical significance and past achievements has rendered it almost invisible in a rapidly evolving political environment. Lacking the dynamic qualities and fresh perspectives typically associated with a ‘new bride,’ the SDP struggles to captivate the electorate’s imagination or promise substantial change in Nigeria’s political discourse. In a political landscape where the electorate is increasingly seeking genuine transformation and innovative solutions, the SDP’s inability to adapt and present a forward-thinking agenda leaves it struggling to remain relevant.
Without a strategic overhaul and a willingness to embrace innovation, the SDP risks fading into irrelevance as voters gravitate towards parties that offer tangible solutions and visionary leadership. The SDP’s inability to resonate with the aspirations of a diverse and dynamic electorate underscores its struggle to remain pertinent in Nigeria’s competitive political arena.
Despite these challenges, the SDP continues to participate in elections, albeit with diminishing influence and limited success. Such circumstances underscore the necessity for the SDP to undergo a transformative renewal, one that prioritizes innovative policies and embraces the dynamic energy of Nigeria’s younger generation. Engaging with the youth through meaningful dialogue and showcasing a commitment to addressing their concerns could potentially revitalize the party’s image and reconnect it with a demographic that is pivotal for electoral success.
By fostering an environment that encourages the participation of emerging leaders and by aligning its policies with the progressive aspirations of the populace, the SDP could potentially redefine its role in Nigeria’s political future. By doing so, the SDP may not only rejuvenate its appeal but also position itself as a credible alternative capable of driving meaningful change in Nigeria’s evolving political landscape. For now, contrary to its claims and dreams of unseating President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in 2027, according to Abubakar Dogara, the party’s national vice chairman for the North-Central Zone, the party needs to look inward and look at the vast grounds they are dreaming of breaking to make an impact in 2027.
*James Bwala, PhD, writes from Abuja.
RE: SDP ‘now Nigeria’s new bride’?
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