Deep Thought

Rice Pyramid in Nigeria and Matters Arising By Prof M. K. Othman In the early part of the year, 2013, the Agricultural Complex of Ahmadu Bello University Zaria received members of the Joint House Committee on Agriculture who came for an oversight function. During the introduction of personalities, the then Executive Director of the Institute for Agricultural Research (IAR), Professor Balarabe Tanimu of blessed memory was introduced as professor of groundnut agronomy, and IAR, a research center with the mandate of genetic improvement of groundnut among other agricultural commodities. During the opening remarks, the leader of the delegation, a distinguished senator enthusiastically challenged the distinguished scholar, Professor Tanimu, and the Institute to bring back the “great” Kano groundnut pyramid of the 1960s and 1970s. After eulogizing the tireless efforts of the groundnut farmers of that epoch, he pledged a sturdy House support to the Institute with enough budgetary allocation to

 The Craze for Easy Money in Nigeria and The Hanifa Story II By Prof. M K Othman In Nigeria, the Hanifa's case is neither a common one nor an isolated one as there are few other Hanifas murdered by their supposed protectors such as guardians and trusted neighbours in the last five months. Cases of 12-year old Sylvester Oromoni in Lagos and 8-year old Asma’u Shuaibu Wa’alamu in Zaria were reported in the first part of this piece last week. The craze for easy money has turned out to be the most adaptable and adorable trade to some people irrespective of gender and age differences. Last month, security personnel paraded a housewife, 39-year old Maryam Abubakar who was deeply involved in running errands and sex racketing to bandits for money. She was audacious enough to confess before newsmen  "Bandits paid me between N30,000 and N50,000 naira for a round of sex. I helped them do their shopping to prevent them from arrest, I knew they were into kidnapping, banditry, and arm robber

 El-Rufa’i Versus ABU Zaria: How Not To Giveback To Alma Mater By Prof. MK Othman Governor Nasiru El-Rufa’I is no doubt a political household name across the entire nation. My readers may recall my article, “Kaduna State, El-Rufa’I and His Political Shrewdness” published in this Column early last year. As stated in the article El-Rufa’I is not a “roadside politician”, nor a political pushover. He is bold, courageous, and dexterously accomplishes his political agenda not minding the consequences. I cautioned that El-Rufa’I’s zealousness in making history must be adorned with milk of human kindness. The article generated several reactions for and against. Another one was written when there was a seeming stalemate between NLC and Kaduna state government, titled “NLC Vs El-Rufa’i: Fight of the two Elephants” published in the middle of the year, 2021. Since then, a lot of water has passed under the bridge; so much infrastructural transformation has taken place. Road networks and markets in

 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 setti