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Where is Dadiyata? By Muhammad Abdullahi Sani. It doesn’t matter you’re in good termsbefore you stand by someone in a criticalcondition, humanity matters irrespective ofrace, tribe, religion or political affliation.The story of Abubakar Idris Dadiyata is atouching one not only to his parents but toany person that have a good heart. He maybe good to you and rude to others, he wasnot only a friend but someone that weshared so many things in common,whenever Kannywood musicians released anew song; Dadiya would be the first toshare it with me via WhatsApp.Like me, he is a lover for Kannywood songs,he was the first to share with me ‘RuwanDare’ and ‘Zan Rayu Dake’, these werepopular songs among fans of Kannywoodfew months ago.I must testify that he is a good friend that isgood to go, he holds a degree in MassCommunication, Masters Degree from UZAMalaysia and currently a PhD student inCommunication Strategy in the sameMalaysia.Abubakar is a committed and brilliantacademic with Federal University Dutsinma.When i was on a phone call with him lastyear, he advised that i should further mystudies in communication which ivehemently answered to the possibility ofdoing such.Dadiyata was a loving husband to his wife,obedient son to his parents and devotedfather to his two daughters. I could recall awonderful moment where i invited him tojoin me at Ado Bayero Mall Cinema towatch a new kannywood film titled: ‘RuwanDare’, unfortunately he didn’t make it.Myself and Dadiyata were frontlineKwankwasiyya activists and critics ofgovernor Ganduje’s anti masses policies butthings fall apart when i decided to quit fromthe Kwankwasiyya camp for personal andpolitical reasons.They said politics is dynamic, it has nopermanent friend or enemy but permanentinterest. Yes it is true but the likes ofDadiyata refused to respect my personaldecision despite our personal relationship.As a die hard Kwankwasiyya adherent then,i never thought that a day would comewhere i will be critical to Kwankwaso’s wayof politics, i never thought that the people iwas chatting, dining with would turnagainst me for a personal decision. I thoughtwe have become brothers from differentmothers.I thought they would respect my thought,they would engage me constructivelywithout calling me all sort of names butthey unfortunately ended in the oppositeand my very good friend Dadiyata was notin exception.I could vividly recall a day that he gave mea call advising that i should reverse mydecision of quitting from the Kwankwasiyyacamp, if that’s not possible, it would bebetter that i stop the criticisms againstKwankwaso which i vehemently rejected. Iasked myself on why should someonedictate my freedom of conscience andthought as enshrined in the constitution ofthe federal republic of Nigeria?That’s the beginning of how we parted wayswith Dadiyata, i deleted his phone numbers,blocked him on WhatsApp and Facebookafter he rained series of abuse on myperson but i forgot to do such on twitter.He later engaged me there and abuse myperson, insulted me in a very rude manneras if he never knew me in this life,whatever, it has all pass. I have forgivenhim.Our friend Abubakar Idris Dadiyata’swhereabout is still unknown, the DSS hasdenied any knowledge of his whereabout,he was whisked away by unknown gunmenon August 2 at his residence in Kaduna butto this moment, no any good news about thewhereabout of this father, husband and sonof his beloved parents.We need to raise our voice and ask theNigerian Police this question: Where isDadiyata? It is the duty of the force to toprotect our lives and properties, it is theirduty to rescue Dadiyata healthy and freefrom all harm.If Dadiyata was kidnapped, why are hiskidnappers not in contact with any of hisrelatives or friends talk less of to demandfor ransom? The whereabout of this youngman is a testimony of our failed securitysystem.The Nigerian Police should come out andmake a clarifying statement on thewhereabout of this young man, they shouldtell Nigerians the efforts they are makingtowards ensuring that he returns to hisfamily safely and in good health.Criticisms is not an offence, opposition isnot an offence but healthy to democracy. Nodemocracy will develop without a strongopposition.While the police are intensifying moreeffort to know his whereabout and rescuehim if he is in the den of kidnappers, wewill continue to pray for him that mayAllah protect him with his divine powerswherever he find himself.May He grant him freedom and reunite him with his family. Muhammad Abdullahi Sani. msaniabdu22@gmail.com +23408126365219

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Will Nigeria break up? By Muhammad Abdullahi Sani Yes, Nigeria will someday break up. It may not be in ourlifetime, but that is very likely to happen. It's a matter oftime before the bomb explodes. Our disunity is more deeplyentrenched than many people imagine. No country canprogress while its people harbour hatred of this magnitudetowards one another.The only way to avoid the above is to launch a massive yetwell-crafted societal reorientation programme nationwide.Nigerians of all walks of life need reeducation onpatriotism. We need to place our Nigerian identity aboveand beyond any other ethnic profile. We need to see andregard our neighbours as humans as we are.As things stand, our future is doomed. Call me a pessimist,alarmist or anything you want. Unfortunately, it's our sadreality. Look around you. Every accident and incident isviewed via an ethno-religious and regional prism. It's alsotreated as such. Why, for God's sake?Many of our so-called leaders and several educatedcitizens think, write and speak like illiterate touts. Theycovertly or overtly call for more disunity, water prejudiceand dehumanise others from different ethno-religious andlinguistic groups. What a people! What a country!I love Nigeria and wish to come back later, in sha Allah.However, the pathetic situation on the ground is everythingbut encouraging. While we, of course, pray, we need towake up and do better. Think, please.PS: I used to think differently about this topic. I was wrong.

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By Muhammad Sani Abdullahi. If not for Islam, Arabs might be the most primitive ethnic group in the world. People often cite Qatar, UAE, KSA, Oman, etc., as the best examples of how Arabs can also progress. I swear the human rights violations some Western media and groups talk about are real. Add this to their unending, disgusting racism.Blame the West for all your ills as much as you like, and they are not guiltless. However, they are still way more accommodating than most others, such as our Arab Muslim brothers and sisters. It's high time the Arabs grew up. They not only need to stop fighting each other (in Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Libya, etc.) but also learn to accept and respect diversity.I will write more on this, in sha Allah. May we be guided, amin.

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By Muhammad Abdullahi Sani. ASUU strike, FG declared war on ASUU, and the questions we have refused to ask...The parents are angry over the strike. I can understand their frustration. Nobody can be happy seeing their kids at home while they are supposed to be in school studying. The lecturers are parents too and ain't happy. Some are supposed to have graduated but can't because of the strike. So, who should the parents vent their anger on? The government or the union of lecturers?It is called a public university, funded with public funds, and we are all stakeholders. We are all meant to be concerned about the state of our public universities. But they are closed for the last six and a half months. Meanwhile, there are questions we are not asking as we take the side of the government or the lecturers.Why is ASUU on strike? Where is there funding for other things but education? Why will the government set up committees, invest resources in them for weeks to work, and reject the report after the conclusion of their work? Why is FG not bothered about students spending months at home instead of being in school? ASUU is on strike. Why will it take FG 6 months to make an offer? What is the content of the Nimi-Briggs committee report that they are hidden? Why are they not ready to make our universities attractive to international students and scholars like they use to be in the 80s? Other countries including small African countries are getting forex from international students, why is ours different? The VP recently told people below him that "we" need to do something about the ASUU strike and the only person (the president) that he should be talking to was not there. So, who is the "we"? Are we in a hopeless situation?Why are we not asking these questions? Let me briefly review the situation.There was a strike in 2020 just before the COVID-19 lockdown. The government refused to deal with the issues that led to the strike till after the lockdown. After a series of negotiations, ASUU and FG had a signed agreement they both called the Memorandum of Action (MoA). One of the items on the signed MoA was the renegotiation of the 2009 ASUU-FGN Agreement. Then, the Emeritus Prof Munzali's renegotiation committee was inaugurated in December 2020. The committee concluded the renegotiation with ASUU and submitted the report around June 2021.There was no action after the committee submitted the draft agreement. ASUU lobbied for the implementation of the 2020 MoA and to take action on the submitted report by the FG renegotiation committee without result. ASUU reached out to NASS leadership. They promised to intervene without any result. ASUU members in December 2021 wanted the strike to be declared but the executives pacified the members to exercise patience as religious leaders (NIREC) are intervening and meeting schedule. The intervention did not yield any results in January 2022.Since all the lobbying failed, ASUU has to activate the last option. "Strike".Then, ASUU declared the 4 weeks warning strike on the 14th of February. The government did not take it serious. On its expiration, it was extended by 8 weeks. That was when they picked up the Munzali's committee report to have a look and said it is not implementable. They inaugurated the Nimi-Briggs's renegotiation committee for another round of negotiation. ASUU agreed. By then the guys in the government were more concerned about the APC internal crisis and the primary elections. The 8 weeks elapsed without anything serious and it was rolled over for 12 weeks. By the end of the 12 weeks, the Nimi-Briggs report was ready with the Minister of Education.Shortly after then, Ngige and Keyamo were everywhere blackmailing ASUU of some N1.3trn that nobody knows the source of the information. They were even blackmailing the committee that FG set up. It was so embarrassing that the Briggs Renegotiation Committee had to respond. I am sure you read the paid advertorials from the committee on national dailies.Then, the Nimi-Briggs committee report was also set aside. And the minister came up with an "Award" of N30k to N60k salary increase on gross for lowest to highest level respectively on a take-it-or-leave-it basis. It was an arrogant presentation like he was talking to small boys. The ASUU team politely said they will present the offer to members for deliberation and revert even though it was obvious that it will be rejected outrightly by all the branches. The withheld salary was not discussed as it was not seen as an issue. You can only discuss that after the members accept the offer.Adamu Adamu was a fan of ASUU and had written several articles justifying the previous strike actions by the union. He is very familiar with how ASUU operates. ASUU usually doesn't disclose any discussion with the government to the Press till the offer is presented to members at the branches for deliberation. The minister took advantage of that principle and attempted to blackmail ASUU to the public. You are aware of his misinformation during the press briefing. He surprised everyone.So, whose fault is the prolonged strike?Meanwhile, for these last 6 months, the public was supposedly with ASUU on the struggle, a support they said ASUU is losing. So, the public supported ASUU but watched FG drag the strike for 6 months before making an offer. There was no outcry from the public. So, what is the impact of public support then? If that public support is withdrawn, what will be the effect? It is not very likely to have an impact. ASUU seems to be in the fight alone like they have always been. In March after the strike was declared, a member of the House of Reps raised a motion that will make it compulsory for public servants to patronize public schools for their kids. His reason was that if that happen, attention will be given to public schools. The motion was rejected by the House instantly. There was no outrage from the public. Unlike the rejected bill on women that attracted protest from women for weeks in the NASS complex, there was no protest from the public to sustain that motion on education. It appears we are enjoying the slave-master relationship that is between the public and the supposed public servants.But then, has the public ever been on the side of ASUU during any strike? What steps did they take for a quick resolution? The public never really supports ASUU's struggles for the universities and I feel their pain. They want their kids to go get a degree. They are unconsciously not bothered about the quality of teaching in the university. The state of their lecture rooms, lecture facilities, available learning resources, and hostels is not important. They are expected to MILT. After all, as long as they know somebody or have the cash to buy a job, the kids don't need to know anything to get a job. They just want a graduate to be celebrated. You can't be happy seeing that your child at home due to ASUU strike. Since you can't afford a private university and those emperors in government are too big for all of us to fight against, it's natural to transfer the anger to the oppressed side, the lecturers.Dear parents, ASUU did not keep your kids at home but FG. If FG is sincere and does the needful instead of threats, ASUU members are willing to return to class tomorrow. The whole crisis is shrouded with insincerity. If the government is sincere, the strike would not have lasted a month. They know the minimum to offer that will be acceptable if they want the strike to end. As Dele Ashiru, the Chairman of ASUU Unilag, rightly stated, the Federal Government declared war on ASUU, and lecturers in public varsities are only responding to the unacceptable treatment with the indefinite strike.To my colleagues, there is an invitation for a meeting in Abuja on Tuesday. Expect anything. But whatever happens in Abuja, you have 2 choices: to give up, get nothing after the 7 months of hardship, lose your withheld salaries, or endure and get what you are on strike for and get your withheld salary released.Dear Mall Adamu Adamu, please remind Mr president that Nigeria is still a developing nation and education is key to our developmental pace and must be placed on the priority list. No serious government will keep their universities inactive for 6 months and still counting. That displayed ego that shocked everyone must be set aside for a serious discussion to end this crisis. It can be resolved in a few days. The declared war against ASUU won't end it but dialogue.Education must be properly funded.

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By Muhammad Abdullahi Sani. It's popularly said, 'there's no such thing as bad publicity.' So, the more you talk about Safa and BBC Hausa - or anyone else that promotes her - the better for her career and the media house. Unfortunately or otherwise, no social media 'outrage' can change anything in your favour. It may even do the contrary, as I pointed out above.What do you do then? If you are genuinely concerned about Safa's influence on your kids and others, raise them well and supplement that with prayers. Globalisation is real and powerful. Some people disapproved of my description of Safa's rise as the new normal a few days ago. Her explosive interview with the mighty BBC Hausa corroborates what I said.Frankly, I see nothing wrong in what BBC Hausa does academically, even professionally. However, when you bring morality into it, you are talking about something else. So, I frowned at it as someone born and raised in a socio-centric, Islamicate society.May Allah (SWT) forgive us and guide us, amin.Muhammad Sani Abdullahi.

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Muhammad Abdullahi Sani is a freelance journalist, Democrat And human rights activist. based in Kaduna.

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