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The Craze for Easy Money in Nigeria and The Hanifa Story By Prof. M K Othman
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.
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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
Simon Bako Lalong: Where Are The 400 Deutz Fahr Tractors? (1)
By: Balami Lazarus
As young schoolboys in Zaria, we were privileged to spend our time interacting with our peers within and around the academic environment of Ahmadu Bello University (A.B.U.) main campus at Samaru. This period gave my peers and me a wide range of exposure to various facilities, faculties, departments, schools, colleges, and units of the university. Being boys full of life, adventures, and events, we were not bored with their academic programs but more interested in their social and practical activities.
Institute of Agricultural Research (I.A.R.), Division of Agricultural Colleges (D.A.C.), and the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and other related units are where we were more attracted to because of their implements/tools and equipment. The tractors and their components, like harrows, ploughshares, and harvesters, have awakened the aspirations of some of us to be agricultural experts, farmers, and university dons in agricultural sciences, and others as researchers.
Agricultural tractors have been one of the most important machines in the cultivation of commercial and mechanized farmland, providing food/cash crops and agro-allied raw materials for industries and factories, hence the economic development of Nigeria.
Therefore, tractors like Massey Ferguson, John Deere, Ford, Fiat, and Styre were common sights for us.
When I decided to do some investigations on the whereabouts, or to say disappearances, of the 400 Deutz Fahr tractors belonging to the state government and the people of Plateau State. It was really not easy for me because individuals who were in the stream of affairs, past and present, are not willing to speak on this matter. And I began to suspect there was connivance/conspiracy in the disappearances of these tractors by some collective individuals.
Questions are being asked over and over by the citizens of Plateau State about the 400 Duetz Fahr model tractors made in Germany, which were procured by the state government during the administration of former Governor Simon Bako Lalong (2015-2023), whose tenure was nothing to write home about except for his poor performance in governance. Unlike the beginning of the good governance of the present administration of Governor Caleb Manasseh Mutfwang.
In the course of my investigations and findings, I was told that the one and only person who had asked questions severally and was still speaking on the matter was one Ehis Akugnonu of JFM 101.9 FM. Jos (aka Osama), whom I met on this matter, our discussions lacked adjectives to qualify the disappearance of the 400 Deutz Fahr tractors on the Plateau, a state blessed with fertile land for farming and production of food and cash crops in all seasons.
Agricultural programs have always been the priority of the government, both state and federal. Institutions of learning—universities, institutes, and other research centers—are not left out of the scheme of agricultural activities. Individual and organized private sectors are also playing significant roles in the development of the nation’s agricultural economy, adding value to the agricultural food chain.
Former Governor Simon Bako Lalong of Plateau State procured the 400 Deutz Fahr tractors to boost agriculture to enable farmers to cultivate more farmland through the utilization of these tractors. Surprisingly, they were never distributed to farmers in the 17 local government areas. Sources within Government House Little Rayfield Jos told this writer that “there was a clandestine arrangement that played out in the disappearance of the 400 Duetz Fahr’. In simple arithmetic, if and only if these tractors were distributed to the 17 local government areas, each would have gotten 23, leaving 9 tractors for other purposes, but the disappearance has dampened the spirit of the state farmers. “No single individual is happy about this matter.”. We will continue to ask questions until these tractors are brought back to us’. Said a concerned citizen.
Recently, the Executive Governor of the State, Barr. Caleb Manasseh Mutfwang, in his good governance programs, procured 200 new tractors of the Massey Ferguson model that were immediately, without delay, distributed to organized farmers’ groups across the 17 local government areas. This gave hope, wiping away tears on the faces of small and medium-scale farmers on the Plateau.
In tidying up this write-up, I was informed that the disappearance of the 400 Deutz Fahr tractors paved
way that saw the carting away in a thievery manner and the gleaning of government house items at Little Rayfield Jos. While fingers are pointing to Senator Simon Bako Lalong on the whereabouts of the 400 Deutz Fahr tractors worth hundreds of millions of naira, which could have changed the agricultural landscape of Plateau State.
Balami, a Publisher/Columnist
08036779290
Simon Bako Lalong: Where Are The 400 Deutz Fahr Tractors? (1)
Simon Bako Lalong: Where Are The 400 Deutz Fahr Tractors? (1)
By: Balami Lazarus
As young schoolboys in Zaria, we were privileged to spend our time interacting with our peers within and around the academic environment of Ahmadu Bello University (A.B.U.) main campus at Samaru. This period gave my peers and me a wide range of exposure to various facilities, faculties, departments, schools, colleges, and units of the university. Being boys full of life, adventures, and events, we were not bored with their academic programs but more interested in their social and practical activities.
As young schoolboys in Zaria, we were privileged to spend our time interacting with our peers within and around the academic environment of Ahmadu Bello University (A.B.U.) main campus at Samaru. This period gave my peers and me a wide range of exposure to various facilities, faculties, departments, schools, colleges, and units of the university. Being boys full of life, adventures, and events, we were not bored with their academic programs but more interested in their social and practical activities.
Institute of Agricultural Research (I.A.R.), Division of Agricultural Colleges (D.A.C.), and the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and other related units are where we were more attracted to because of their implements/tools and equipment. The tractors and their components, like harrows, ploughshares, and harvesters, have awakened the aspirations of some of us to be agricultural experts, farmers, and university dons in agricultural sciences, and others as researchers.
Agricultural tractors have been one of the most important machines in the cultivation of commercial and mechanized farmland, providing food/cash crops and agro-allied raw materials for industries and factories, hence the economic development of Nigeria.
Therefore, tractors like Massey Ferguson, John Deere, Ford, Fiat, and Styre were common sights for us.
When I decided to do some investigations on the whereabouts, or to say disappearances, of the 400 Deutz Fahr tractors belonging to the state government and the people of Plateau State. It was really not easy for me because individuals who were in the stream of affairs, past and present, are not willing to speak on this matter. And I began to suspect there was connivance/conspiracy in the disappearances of these tractors by some collective individuals.
Questions are being asked over and over by the citizens of Plateau State about the 400 Duetz Fahr model tractors made in Germany, which were procured by the state government during the administration of former Governor Simon Bako Lalong (2015-2023), whose tenure was nothing to write home about except for his poor performance in governance. Unlike the beginning of the good governance of the present administration of Governor Caleb Manasseh Mutfwang.
In the course of my investigations and findings, I was told that the one and only person who had asked questions severally and was still speaking on the matter was one Ehis Akugnonu of JFM 101.9 FM. Jos (aka Osama), whom I met on this matter, our discussions lacked adjectives to qualify the disappearance of the 400 Deutz Fahr tractors on the Plateau, a state blessed with fertile land for farming and productionof food and cash crops in all seasons.
Agricultural programs have always been the priority of the government, both state and federal. Institutions of learning—universities, institutes, and other research centers—are not left out of the scheme of agricultural activities. Individual and organized private sectors are also playing significant roles in the development of the nation’s agricultural economy, adding value to the agricultural food chain.
Former Governor Simon Bako Lalong of Plateau State procured the 400 Deutz Fahr tractors to boost agriculture to enable farmers to cultivate more farmland through the utilization of these tractors. Surprisingly, they were never distributed to farmers in the 17 local government areas. Sources within Government House Little Rayfield Jos told this writer that “there was a clandestine arrangement that played out in the disappearance of the 400 Duetz Fahr’. In simple arithmetic, if and only if these tractors were distributed to the 17 local government areas, each would have gotten 23, leaving 9 tractors for other purposes, but the disappearance has dampened the spirit of the state farmers. “No single individual is happy about this matter.”. We will continue to ask questions until these tractors are brought back to us’. Said a concerned citizen.
Recently, the Executive Governor of the State, Barr. Caleb Manasseh Mutfwang, in his good governance programs, procured 200 new tractors of the Massey Ferguson model that were immediately, without delay, distributed to organized farmers’ groups across the 17 local government areas. This gave hope, wiping away tears on the faces of small and medium-scale farmers on the Plateau.
In tidying up this write-up, I was informed that the disappearance of the 400 Deutz Fahr tractors paved
way that saw the carting away in a thievery manner and the gleaning of government house items at Little Rayfield Jos. While fingers are pointing to Senator Simon Bako Lalong on the whereabouts of the 400 Deutz Fahr tractors worth hundreds of millions of naira, which could have changed the agricultural landscape of Plateau State.
Balami, a Publisher/Columnist
08036779290
Simon Bako Lalong: Where Are The 400 Deutz Fahr Tractors? (1)
My Binoculars: A tribute to a former Controller of customs Borno state Joshua Angbalaga
By: Sam Kayode
Indeed Angbalaga was a reporter’s delight. Firm yet welcoming. His demise is a sudden blow to some of us who have basked in his warmth and detribalized nature. He was of a different make from the generality of uniformed personnel some of us are used to, sharp witty with a strong ability to interface from one generation to another. He was a trained sociologist from the Ahmadu Bello University Zaria where he graduated in 1984. Taught for sometime at the FCT which gave him the unique ability to understand his generation and all the ones after his.
His training as a customs official since 1988 had taken him to many States including the commercial capital of Nigeria Lagos and many other cities. Controller Joshua Angbalaga was easy going and kept an open door for most of us journalists who came into contact with him through exclusive interviews. He was open minded and was ready to tolerate most of our young colleagues who sometimes displayed slight intolerance for uniforms at news conferences because of the insurgents lurking around.
In Controller Joshua Angbalaga buried today in lafia nasarawa state, I have a personal loss of a man who was an exemplary news maker. He was a public figure who had immense knowledge about the weaknesses and strengths of the gentlemen of the pen. He was a good representative of his controller General. He understood the body languages of most of our intolerant younger colleagues and gave his subordinates in the office then a standing directive that any time any of us comes to see him, we must not be kept waiting unnecessarily if he is free. He was far different from previous controllers who had come and treated reporters like condemned criminals who should never be allowed to come close to the controllers office upstairs.
Some of them in sister agencies especially the ones in the immigration service gave standing orders that journalists should be turned away from the gate as if we were insurgents. This was because some of them were never financially transparent as we learnt from their boys so we understood why they were so vehement at stopping journalists from conducting their constitutional activities. A lot of Angbalaga’s paramilitary colleagues marveled at his dexterity with the gentlemen of the fourth estate.
Our paths met in April 2017 when he reported to Maiduguri as controller and Borno/Yobe area Commander of the Nigerian customs. That was three years after I reported in Maiduguri as correspondent of the nation newspaper.
From then on we continued to work together with him and his entire management team in making expected progresses within the war theatre.
We had several news conferences with him especially on how he had been able to make tremendous progress in turning things around in spite of the insurgency which was at its peak by then. Angbalaga was a rare news maker in uniform because of his belief that none of his officers were too rotten to resist reforms. They were all in sync with his policies to make the state better than he met it. When it was time to go, he left maiduguri on transfer to Abuja where he later retired in 2020. He was involved in stopping a lot of contrabands including hard drugs which is the main fuel keeping insurgents at alert.
On retirement, we kept our communication intact and friendly. Oga Angbalaga was a very studious officer who had already prepared himself for leadership roles by completing his master in public administration in 2000. Feeling a bit bored and not tired in retirement, he went back to school for his PhD program in University of Abuja. He told me recently that he was close to finishing his course work and was kicking to go to the next challenge as God directs. We bantered on the phone while I wondered if he was going back to teaching but he laughed and asked for Gods will to be done. We had a one hour call last year with an invitation to me to visit him during the last yuletide 2024. So with a promise that I would be in lafia to see him for the yuletide, we rounded the call. But due to certain conditions not under my control, that was the last time we would talk as friends. I missed the trip due to I’ll health. Controller Angbalaga is no more as the Lord wills. He has answered the solemn call of nature which sends all mortals back to their creator regardless of age, status, character, race or creed. Death has shown that it’s a leveler of all mankind and my friend oga Angbalaga as I used to call him lived a forthright life before bowing to immortality. May the Lord console his friends at Mount St Gabriel Makurdi, St John Bosco Doma, the entire family of the Nigerian customs service, immediate family and the entire eggon nation where the Lord used him to touch several souls before his passage.
Have a nice sleep oga Angbalaga. From Biodun as you used to call me.
My Binoculars: A tribute to a former Controller of customs Borno state Joshua Angbalaga
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