My Mode of Thinking

Image by Getty Images via @daylife This topic was originally slated for last Sunday for its proximity to the time the date slated for the southern Sudan to cast their votes to either remain as part of Sudan as a country the mission General John Grang the first Sudanese rebel leader sacrificed his life for, or secede to form a country on their own. After last week’s digression, which lead us to touch on some general issues that has to do with symbolic presence of important African names and titles in Sudan and the political manipulations of the current Sudanese government, let us today try to look at what it means to the southerners decide their fate themselves today. 9 th January marks the most important date in modern history of southern Sudan for it came to put permanent stop to the about fifty years of war, poverty, humiliation, lack of education, embarrassing lack of social infrastructure and the general fate of second class citizenship of a whole people whose region produced ...

There are just too many things happening around me here in Sudan that I don’t even know which is supposed to be the topic of the day. I started writing about the serious cracking effect the southern secession left on the well being of northern Sudan. I suddenly realized that southern Sudan needs more attention from any serious African writer than the northern part of the country especially that the region has only recently seen the light of freedom and independence and has to deal with the hazy future of the oil, power and foreign interest games. But with that, I am most likely to postpone that issue to the edition of the next week in favor of the meeting that took place between the envoy of the Nigerian Arabic village, Ngala which include the Director in person of Professor Tijjani Al-Miskeen, the Registrar and a host of their staff members with the Director of the Center of Researches and African Studies, a branch of the International University of Africa in Sudan. It took pla...

I have been following the recent developments in CPC; the Kano, Katsina and Kebbi saga. I am particularly disappointed by the national chairman Barrister Rufa'i Sani Hanaga. His actions revealed vividly his original self and his desperateness to secure himself the seat of the governorship in Kano at the expense of all and sundry. Particularly I have the feelings that Buba Galidima's expressions that he may leave the party which by implication means that Buhari may also leave the party is also wrong. This revealed nothing more than Buhari's weakness and inability to politically outmanoeuvre the people who might be plotting against him. As a chairman or member of the Board of Trustees, one is expected to be last in leaving any party as well as being the last decision one may ever make concerning the party. I was since, critical about Buhari's decision of leaving ANPP. I wish Buhari stayed there, hijacked the party and made it served his purposes. With his reput...

Whenever the concept of Shura is mentioned, attention goes very quickly to the Quranic chapter titled Shura, in which the concept is mentioned as one of the qualities of the believers and without any specification of how, when and where to be used. The second mention of "Shura" in the Quran which draws attention is the one in the third chapter (Aal-Imran), the historical context of which was purely political (has to do with war). This may sound a chauvinistic style of reading the Quranic text that clouds men from readily remembering the mentioning of the same concept in Chapter Baqara, in relation to weaning a child (I acknowledge a woman drew my attention to it). But I don't think this would be(more than partially) true. The first reason is that the (most prominent) practical explanation of Shura concept through the actions of the Prophet (PBUH) in his interactions with the people around him was purely political and mostly to do with war. The second reason is ...

By Muhammad Kabir Yusuf It is barely two years since I had this interview session with late Binta S. Mohammed which happened to be her last interview. Binta was a notable poet and novelist based in Kano. Her two works, Contours of Life, a collection of poems, and A Clean Break, a novel, were received with acclaim upon their publication. She was up to the time of her passing away some time last year a lecturer in the Department of English at Bayero University, Kano. At the time of the interview, I do edit the literary pages of LEADERSHIP Newspaper in Abuja. The Interview was published on 16 September 2008. Excerprts Readers may want to know your literary background and your earliest experience with the world of writing. I started writing when I was in secondary school. That was in the mid 80s; and I got inspired through reading. I read so many books written by both European and African writers. I started with poetry. The first poem I wrote was titled Tree. That time I was just sitting...

Zandam, I didnt misconceive you. You declared bad and and good as universal but I am not even talking about that. I am not even talking about the structure of the national identity you proposed. Pherhaps I am trying to arrive at theoretical frame work of your own thesis which I seem to find not in the thesis itself but in Waziri's contribution. The word (likely) in my contribution carries some weight. You may wish to go through it again if you don't mind. Waziri: I always know that intellectuals are seldom polite for nothing. When I read your compliments I wasn't too quick to jubilate for I expected you to say something like this "I actually can relate to an idealism..........." What we have here Mallam Waziri is not Idealism. We are talking about real situations in the world around us and what they have resulted into. I am happy that you are student of trends and from the way you make your points you sound to me like a very good historian. But the issue here is...

It is a well-done job. Well composed and well presented. How I wish those who read your note will do justice to it by getting deep into the epistemological bases of your assumptions in order to give their comments the same depth you gave... to your note. I exceptionally liked Waziri's comment for its depth. I totally agree with you in your presentation of the Nigerian problem of lack of national identity and that there is a need for one if Nigeria has to forge ahead. It is equally a time-bomb that many young Nigerians did not realize the venom in promoting sectionalism in whatever form; regionalism or religious. But I do have a problem with your presentation of the solution. You seem to take the concept of good and bad for granted and declare them universal. In the version of the national identity you may want to be promoted, you are likely to buy the ideas of Waziri of the domination of one cultural identity on the rest and which I don't find politically moral. It soun...

Professor Jega Against a monster proceeds an intentional unfortunate is the statement that should best be used to epitomize the case of Professor Jega and his new assignment as the boss of Independent National Electoral Commission. From the direction things are taking in the recent developments, Jega and INEC is a clear case of a lion in the zoo cage where he still holds onto the title of the King of the jungle but can absolutely not act like one. In the very first week of Jega's appointment, I registerd my doubts that Jega upon all the roars can hardly be able to achieve what is expected of him in his new office at Maitama District in Abuja a few meters away from the Aso Villa; the very corridor of the power in the strict literal meaning of the  term. When I first posted my comment on my wall of the facebook, I said I quote " I am trying to believe that Jega's radicalism 'll deliver Nigeria. But whenever I put the puzzling pieces of the picture together I see some...

By Muhammad Kabir Yusuf “He was a man full of life, and he obviously wanted to live a full life; but he saw no contradiction in denying others theirs when according to him, they stood in the way of national progress. That was the irony….” Obasonjo Nzegwu Kaduna Chukwuma Nzegwu Kaduna Chukwuma was the young military officer who permanently changed the cause of the political history of Nigeria. The guy is being remembered in the East as a hero for an attempt on an abortive coup d'etat which favors the Igbo people. In Northern part of Nigeria Nzegwu’s name is synonym to betrayal, remembered for having assassinated the northern premier, the Sardauna of Sokoto, Sir Ahmadu Bello, the then Governor of the Northern Region who stood to the northerners as the statue of the very core essence of the progress of the North. In between the two extreme ends of the continuum, with Nzegwu the hero at one end and Nzegwu the villain at the other lie a lot of contradictions and con...

Image via Wikipedia By Muhammad KabirYusuf  The director of Centre for Hausa Cultural Studies, Kano , professor Abdallah Uba Adamu explained that the identity of Hausa man is a controversial issue which is not yet resolved and subject for continuing discussion among the stake holders. The professor who explained this while presenting his paper Hausa da Hausanci (Hausa and Hausanism) at the 1st international conference on Hausa literature and culture yesterday in the republic of Niger explained that the linguistic traits previously considered by the scholars to determine the identity of a Hausa man can no longer holds sway. This is because, according to him the most important thing to consider is what he termed ‘the core value of Hausa man’ which he believed gives Hausa man the inner sense of belonging and psychological proximity to the Hausa community as a whole. In response to the controversy, many scholars of internationally acclaimed standing discussed the identity issue of...

By Muhammad kabir Yusuf “Fate leads the willing and drags along the reluctant” From the word “Destination”, destiny means what we do, achieve or what happens to us in our lives, more especially the one that we cannot change no matter how we strive to. Destiny is believed to be the power behind the series of episodes in our lives. Mostly used with negative connotation, the word “fate” is sometimes used interchangeably with the word destiny. For example, it was his destiny that he lost his parents at a tender age and his fate that he remained uneducated. Against this background, one may assumed that this life is just like a movie, pre-recorded and being played back by the forces of destiny. The meaning one easily deduces from the above analogy is that; the success one attains in life is pre-determined by the forces of destiny and therefore, no amount of obstacles could otherwise be hindrance against one’s attainment of such success. It also implies that it will not only be useless bu...

By Muhammad Kabir Yusuf When last did you meet a personality of this calibre? The man, Abdalla Uba Adamu became a professor of Science Education in 1997 at the age of 41. He is now a cultural anthropologist, studying popular culture, media and Hausa society. He single-handedly developed internet journalism in Bayero University for which Mass Communication department of the university employed his services. From 2003 when he convened an International Conference on Hausa Home Video, he became internationally acclaimed authority in the field with a number of paper presentations in Germany and U.S.A. He is currently the director of Volkswagen Centre for Research. In this interview with Muhammad Kabir Yusuf, he explains how flexible his personality is which allows him to explore art, literature, popular culture and media. For quite a long time you have been a very good friend of popular culture. What is the history behind that? Well, the only history is that I have always been intereste...