Kano Govt Should Produce Killer Of Sheikh Ja’afar – Ado Mohammed

For the first time since his arrest, and subsequent release, for an alleged complicity in the murder of Kano based cleric, Sheikh Ja’afar Mahmoud Adam, Alhaji Ado Mohammed, the executive vice chairman of the Kano-based independent radio station, Freedom Radio opens up on his ordeals. He tells LEADERSHIP correspondent, ABDULAZIZ A. ABDULAZIZ his own side of the story as he responds to questions on criticism of the programmes of his radio station and his hitherto cordial relationship with Governor Ibrahim Shekarau.

Can you tell us what prompted the idea of establishing Freedom Radio?

A friend of mine who was, and still is, working with the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission drew my attention to the fact that private licensing were being granted, but even before then, I have been buying second hand equipments and I have been working with Engr. Dahiru Ibrahim, as my adviser, in my aspiration to establish a television station. Then came this employee of NBC who guided me on how to apply for the private broadcasting license.

We applied for the radio broadcasting license and six months later we applied for a television broadcasting license and it took us six and a half years pursuing it before we were granted the radio broadcasting license. This was how we came to be the first indigenous private broadcasting organisation up in the northern states.

Of course, even before we establish, Ray Power had been here but this (Freedom) is the first radio station by somebody from the north of the river Niger other than probably the Elwa, belonging to the Christian Association of Nigeria broadcasting from somewhere.

What of the TV license which you also applied for?

We are still pursuing the TV license. Any day the NBC give us, we will accept it. It is like extending our coverage to Abuja, we are still pursuing the license to go to Abuja being the national capital, and we have seen so many other stations especially those operating from the south. From the north we are not many so little wonder if none of the others have been trying but we have been pursuing this Abuja license for almost four years now but is still not with us but we hope we will get it soon so we will extend our presence to Abuja.

To what extent did you record success for the past five years that you have been in existence?

O, Alhamdulillah, with all sense of humility, being the first we made it such that we would be able to hit as many locations as possible. We bought a 10 kilowatts transmitter and a 400 foot mass that could cover about 200 kilometers in leno site. This made it possible to reach up to Damagaram and Maradi in Niger republic as well as Katsina. I traveled to Sokoto and monitored it up to Talatar Mafara, in fact, through Niger I was monitoring from Maradi until we got near Konni which is like overhead Sokoto, we were monitoring it in a car which is different from the normal small radio set people use.

Also, we were reaching somewhere around Potiskum, Yobe State. Our signals reach up to Hadejia in Jigawa State but because Hadejia is in a depression, about 130 below the altitude of Kano, the signals reach Hadejia but because they are FMsignals that do not bend, you may not get it until you use an aerial.

We reached Zaria in fact up to now during the rainy season or harmattan when the signals travel very far we are monitored in Kaduna. and there was time, I was monitoring I heard some people participating in a phone-in programme from Minna in Niger State and another person, though not audibly clear, calling in from Abuja.

Beside that we broadcast in about eleven languages; English, French, Arabic being the foreign languages. The rest are local Nigerian languages; Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba, Kanuri, Fulfulde, Ebra, Igala, etcetera.

We have touched the lives of so many people. We were projected to start with about 40 people when we were on the drawing board, now we have over 260 employees.

About 60 per cent of our airtime is dedicated to Hausa language that is because our listeners are predominantly in the Hausa territory. For the private outfits that monitor our transmission for advert agencies, we were told that we commend 80 per cent of the listenership in our area of coverage. We must have been doing reasonably well to the expectation of our listeners for them to keep listening to our station. We thank God for that, it is not our making, is the help of Almighty Allah and we thanked him for that.

Your station has often comes under criticism for what some people see as its anti-government policies. Why is it so?

There is nothing anti-government. We carry out programmes for anybody. By our licensing we are suppose to give fair hearing to everybody, we have to balance. We are not like the state government stations where they can decide to go one way and nobody can bring them back. We are a private station subjected to various kind of sanctions if we default and the condition of our license is that we have to fair hearing, a fair view and fair representation of all parties.

Therefore, if you have to talk about this one, you have to talk about the other. It is there on record we carry programmes and jingles of all the tiers of government; federal, states and local governments who are from different parties.

We carry so many of Kano State government activities which is ANPP and we carry several programmes and jingles for federal government and its agencies here. Bauchi State patronises us, and if you have been monitoring our Ramadan programmes, the governor of Sokoto State and that of Zamfara are sponsoring programmes here. Kano State government officials are sponsoring programmes so there is nothing like being anti-government but of course if somebody hear us talking he would say we are anti-federal government and when we come to play federal government programmes it is like we are anti Kano state government which is in the opposite camp of the federal government. There is nothing like anti-government in our policies.

Can we have a glimpse into your relationship with late Sheikh Ja’afar Adam?

Sheikh Ja’afar was a friend and my malam. I drew inspirations from him, we were involved in the Shari’a advocacy deeply. The team of the malams were our guide. I was the leader of the independent hisbah group so I interacted with almost all the malams there. I was at home with all of them.

We fought for Shekarau to become the governor of Kano State. I am sure, I will be in the upper 20 people who painstakingly put whatever we had to fight and alhamdulillah, Allah gave us success he became the governor because we wanted him to implement the Sharia.

You explained how through the pro-sharia groups you sponsored the candidacy of Malam Ibrahim Shekarau but people would wonder how your relationship deteriorates to sour one?

Well, really, there is only one issue. First of all, I am older than Malam Ibrahim Shekarau, we were not born in the same location, we did not go to the same school, we did not live in the same area therefore whatever kind of relationship that can emanate between two people never connected me with him. In fact, it was only when the sharia movement started that I come to know Shekarau personally.

I have been hearing his name but there was nothing that brought us together; he was a teacher while I have been a banker and a businessman, so even in the business world, we were far apart. Therefore, there was nothing that could bring me and him.

It was only the issue of the sharia. When we found he was not really keen in implementing the Sharia this was what made us to withdraw from the government, but I was in the Sharia implementation advisory committee which the government appointed in the first place. However, when we realise he wasn’t really keen on implementing the Sharia as he promised in his campaigns, we decided to withdraw. This was the only reason.

But voices from the side of the government say you drew line between you and the governor when he kicked against your choice to be the leader of the government-constituted, Hisbah Board.

No. there was nothing like that. In fact, one evening my deputy in the independent Hisbah called me, I had even retired to bed. He said there was an emergency meeting at Malam Umar Sani Fagge’s house. I asked what the meeting was about, he said he (Fagge) being the chairman of the Shar’a movement said there was need for us to meet that night and he said I should inform three other people with whom we were in the board of independent hisbah. We had just parted about an hour so I tried their telephones but I could not reach them so I just went to Malam Umar Sani Fagge’s house.

When we gathered; Umar Sani Fagge, Rabo was there, then Malam Yahaya Faruk came. The four of us waited but nobody came so we started the meeting. Malam Umar Sani said the governor wanted us to advice him on who and who would be members of the Sharia commission, the Zakat commission and Hisbah board.

He gave us the criteria for the position of the secretary to the Hisbah board; he must be a lawyer with at least five years post-call experience and he must have some knowledge of the Sharia law and Arabic. Unanimously, we agreed that that should be Mahboub.

Then it comes to the commander of the Hisbah, I said, no, if he wants to be fair to us, like he gave us this criteria, then we should also get criteria for the commander, I don’t want to look stupid to name somebody and they later say he is not qualified. If the committee is really taken serious, we should have some criteria also so that from the rank and file we would be able to determine who became what in the hisbah because Rabo and myself operated the hisbah more than anybody else in the Sharia movement so we knew who should go where. They insisted and a number of names where juggled but at the end of the day they decided who they want to appoint.

At the meeting, Malam Umar Sani particularly said if we should be realistic, you should be the commander. I declined. He said why, I told him “look, I have not organised my office to appoint a successor, I can not do it.” Simple as that. Then they brought in one person. I said “no, lets not look ridiculous. If there is anybody after me, if I want to be selfish, see Rabo here. He should be the commander general. Don’t bring selfish interest that will destroy all the good work we have done so far.”

At the end of the day, they conveyed the information, I don’t know what they took to him (the governor) but some days later it was announced that I was going to be the second in command in the hisbah. By then the Freedom Radio has been established and I had the first meeting with the editorial board that same day. I did not know they were going to swear in any other person. They kept calling me, I said “look, I told them I didn’t want so there was no point calling me to say come. I am not coming because I have some other serious business too.” Eventually, they decided to appoint Rabo as the second in command in the Hisbah. This was how it all went.

Sir, recently, out of the blues there emerged a petition that led to your arrest and detention by the police in connection with an alleged forgery which was linked to the assassination of Sheikh Ja’afar Adam. May we have your own side of the story?

It was one Friday morning around the hours of 7:30, some police officers came to my house with their car parked outside and my house is the dead-end of a street; it is a close. My son who was leaving next door saw this car, he was a bit security conscious, and he came to find out because he saw somebody entering my house and the car was parked outside. He asked the man, I was then having a shave, the man said he was not with the car people so he went out and started making trouble.

By then they have finished shaving me, the man came to say he was a police and they were together with his boss. I questioned him on why he concealed his identity knowing well the security implication. I said “if these guys shout and people out there came and started attacking you, are you going to shoot them?” anyway, the matter was settled then they said they came to invite me to the police station, there was a complaint. I doubted them. I said are you sure is me? They said yes.

I said all right, are you here to arrest me or are you here to invite me. They said we are here to invite you. I said ‘are you going with me or am I going alone’ they said ‘we are going with you.’ I said then this is an arrest. Where is your arrest warrant?’ they said there was none. I agreed to go with them nonetheless. Then I asked, ‘are you allowing me to change my cloth?’ they said ‘yes, go and change’. I went in and changed my gown and told my family that I have been invited to the police station they said there was some complaints against me. Nobody sought it was that magnitude of a complaint, so I went.

When we reached their office they brought a letter, handed it to me, and said this is the compliant, read. There is a covering letter and there is an attachment of a photocopy of a cheque. In the letter which is bearing the office of the secretary to the Kano State government and signed by an officer, permanent secretary, REPA (Research, Evaluation and Political Affairs), the letter started; ‘I am directed…’

There were two issues to inform the police, this letter was addressed to the police. “I am directed to report that some unknown persons went in to the office of the permanent secretary, REPA and stole a letterhead and forged a letter addressed to the commissioner that N100 million be released on the instruction of the governor to be paid to MESSRS NAIS BK.” (copy attached).” This is one complain.

The second issue is also “here attached is a photocopy of a cheque of N100 million”. The two have no relationship. This was paid to AK BAT; the last letter I could not fill it even in my statement to the police because it was blunt whether it is BATA, or BATO or BATI or whatever, but BAT was definitely there and eligible. They said, “you are expected to answer this”, “I said what is it about?” they said “the cheque is from your company”.

So I called my office manager, Nasiru, and directed him to go to the office and crosscheck the cheque book of the FILAPS account on which the complaint was based. I said “I want you to confirm, here is a photocopy of a cheque, with this account number and cheque number, can you confirm whether it is from our stock and it is our account?” He confirmed in the positive.

The cheque has N100 million on it so I asked what was the last cheque we issued. He said “it is ending with 7 and it was issued on April 6, 2007”. So I said do you know of any deposit of N100 million into our account?” he said “no”. I then directed him to go to the bank to request for our statement and bring it to me at the police station.

The two of us, Nasiru and myself, sign on our cheque. This cheque has only one signature and it did not correspond to either mine or Nasiru’s, so even from there the police knew all these was ruse. The total credit turnover was below N4 million and we have stopped using this account two years earlier.

This particular cheque was issued one year after we have stopped using the account; it was dated April 3, 2008. even from then the police knew it was all a ruse but probably because this is a government and the government wants me punished, that is why the police decided to go ahead pressing they are charging us.

I inferred in my statement that the BK NAIS has nothing to do with me, I don’t know what is it. So the forgery of N100 million has nothing to do with me. This cheque might have been stolen from our chequebook and I don’t know anything about it. The signatures does not correspond to that of any of us. We operate on a dual signature so since this is a forged cheque, under the banking laws, a forged cheque is not the mandate of a customer. As such, it will not be debited to his account. Besides, we stopped using this account one year ago, so it could not have been there and this cheque has still not gone to the bank until that day, that cheque has never been presented to the bank.

I made my statement and called my lawyer who went through it and okayed it. The police here in Kano started going from one office to another without telling me what was the next action. The next thing, they called my lawyer and said “this is more than just a forgery issue. The payee of this cheque is the man who killed Mallam Ja’afar and because the case of Malam Ja’afar has been transferred to Abuja that is why we are taking him to Abuja now.”

There is nothing in my statement relating me to the issue of Malam Ja’afar, this was just a verbal information from the police and before I am given any chance to defend myself, I was conveyed to Abuja. Before we even leave this town, according to the information I got later, the Kano State Radio has started airing that the killer of Sheikh Ja’afar has been caught, in my person. This was put on air intermittently trying to incite the public to come and destroy Freedom Radio and our family members; alhamdulillah none these happened. People didn’t even believe them. In fact there was a counter effect on the government. Nothing has happened. I thank God for putting me on trial and making it easy.

Considering that you were taken to Abuja and later released. What is the status of the case now?

The police said they are still investigating, that’s all.

Are you ready to take any action in order to clear your name and claim damages?

(silent)

It was reported that your company actually lost three cheque leaves of the same account one of which was used in the said petition. How comes you missed those cheque leaves?

We later traced that three of our cheque leaves were torn. We did not know because we are no longer using the account. Until that day the police arrested me, we did not know that they have been stolen because we have stopped using the account, we are not using the cheque.

But a government official later came out to say that they got all those documents from somebody in Kaduna.

As far as I am concerned, our cheque leaves were stolen and the government took the cheque to the police. And since the police told me that this cheque was paid to the killer of Malam Ja’afar, this cheque can only be available from one of three sources: the issuer of the cheque, the person to whom it is issued or the bank in the event the cheque has been cashed; the bank became the custodian of the cheque.

Obviously, the cheque never went to the bank so it couldn’t have been from the bank neither it is from us. Since the government brought the issue of this cheque, they know where the killer is. They should produce the killer because the government official on behalf of the Kano State government, and, I insist, on behalf of the Kano State government because the letterhead of the office of the secretary to the state government was used to say “I am directed” and signed by permanent secretary, REPA.

So, it must have been an official compliant. Whoever says it is unofficial is deceiving himself may be he does not know the content but the letter is there with the police if you can, go and check it out. If they wish, they can even give you a photocopy to publish.

What they are saying is that it was a kind of a move to blackmail the government that later bounces back…

(cuts in…) it bounces back to the government! The government should produce the killer of Malam Ja’afar. All these, like I narrated the story, the two things do not even tally. N100 million was forged from the government made payable to BK NAIS, our cheque was stolen and N100 million payable to AK BATU or BATA was written. Where is the conformity? None! Only at the last minute, the police came to say, “O, this BATA man is the one who killed Malam Ja’afar so we are taking you to Abuja”.

So if I am being accused, like Radio Kano and some dallies they invited to connive with them confirmed that I am the killer even before I am tried, then they should bring out the killer because the cheque is from the government. If the police will do justice to me, those people; the person who signed the letter and the person who directed him should have been arrested because they should have been the first suspects.

Kano Clerics In Seccret Talks Over Ja'afar's Murder

My hands are clean – Shekarau

Following the controversy that greeted the sudden arrest of a senior radio station director in Kano last week in connection with the murder of a prominent Islamic cleric, top Islamic scholars in the state have held secret talks at the weekend.

The situation virtually forced the Kano State governor, Malam Ibrahim Shekarau, to go on live radio yesterday and took an hour to exonerate his government from any blame in the matter.

Sheikh Ja’afar Mahmoud Adam, a very influential cleric with a huge following, was gunned down two years ago as he led the dawn prayer inside his mosque in the Dorayi quarters of Kano metropolis.

Ever since then, accusing fingers have continued to be pointed at various directions, with the police failing to find the killers. A recent posting on the Saharareporters website accused the state government of complicity in the killing, a charge hotly denied by the government.

Last week, the police in Kano arrested the Executive Vice Chairman of the Kano-based Freedom Radio, Alhaji Ado Mohammed, in connection with Ja’afar’s assassination. He has not been released.

In an interview with LEADERSHIP, the force public relations officer, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Emmanuel Ojukwu, confirmed the arrest, adding that the police were investigating the circumstances relating to the death of Sheikh Ja'afar and promised that they would leave no stone unturned on the issue.

Mohammed’s arrest has caused further recriminations.

The police were reportedly petitioned by a Kano State government official, who accused Mohammed, a close confidante of the late cleric, of withdrawing vast sums of money allegedly in order to help fund the assassination. The 60-year-old Mohammed was a leader of the Sharia vigilante group known as Hisba during the days of voluntary Hisba committee in the state prior to its incorporation as an official agency by the Shekarau administration.

LEADERSHIP

gathered yesterday that some clerics have been in consultation over his arrest. Our correspondent reports that special prayers beseeching God to expose those behind the murder were held on Friday night during the usual Islamic class session at the Usman Bin Affan Islamic Centre, which used to be chaired by Ja'afar.

The meetings, attended by the scholars mostly of the deceased’s creed of orthodox Sunni, were held in secret and no details were made available for journalists. But LEADERSHIP gathered that the arrest of Mohammed and the turn of events in the investigation of the murder were in the forefront of the discussions.

On Saturday, the management of Freedom Radio had said it planned to take legal action against the Kano State government, alleging that its findings showed that the office of the Secretary to the State Government authored the petition to the police that named Muhammad as being involved in a transaction that led to the death of Ja'afar.

Disclosing this during a press conference, the Executive Director of Freedom Radio, Alhaji Bashir Dalhatu, said that in the letter, the government official had stated that the government’s letterheaded paper was stolen and his signature forged to withdraw the sum of N100 million from the account of the Research and Documentation Directorate of the government, which they claimed had been allegedly traced to the account of FILAPS, the mother company of Freedom Radio, in which Mohammed was also vice-chairman.

Dalhatu said the claim that the said money was traced to FILAPS' account was "false, malicious and irresponsible."

He explained that the account, which was domiciled in Bank PHB at No.17/18 Bello Road, Kano, with No. 0091020000216, was opened on August 21, 2006 with N2,280,000. The last transaction on the account, he said, was a withdrawal of N7,000 on April 19, 2007 vide cheque No.10196587, while the total turnover throughout the duration of the account was N3.9 million before the account became dormant.

Dalhatu, who holds the traditional title of Walin Dutse, added that there had neither been a deposit nor withdrawal of any amount above N3 million from the account.

He added that he was aware that in the last two weeks the police had visited the bank but had not found anything wrong or suspicious. He said after the commencement of the police investigation, FILAPS had discovered that three cheque leaves, nos. 10196588, 10196589 and 10196590 of the said account, were missing, presumably stolen, one of which was used to pretend to have been used in the alleged transaction leading to the death of Ja'afar.

The executive director described the allegation as a "crude, clumsy and utterly despicable attempt to smear the good name of FILAPS, Freedom Radio and Ado Mohammed," adding that this showed how far their enemies were willing to go in order to set them up against their teaming listeners and the general public.

He said it was up to the state government to come out and clearly confirm whether or not their account was actually debited with the sum of N100 million and name the beneficiary of the withdrawal. "It is also up to them to explain how one of the three missing cheques whose photocopy was attached to their petition came in their possession", he noted.

He explained that "this official high-handedness started since 2004 when Freedom Radio did the most basic journalistic work by reporting the fertilizer scandal in which the Kano State government was embroiled."

He assured that the radio station would not relent in its effort of discharging its professional duties to the society responsibly, despite all the odds.

In an apparent response to Dalhatu’s comments, which were aired on the usually vocal Freedom Radio, Governor Ibrahim Shekarau went live on the Kano State Radio yesterday and explained that his government had no connection whatsoever with the arrest of Ado Mohammed.

He said his government only learnt about the matter from the media, saying the issue of the arrest started when a civil servant in the government personally petitioned the police complaining that a letter was posted on the Saharareporters website in which he was alleged to have instructed the office of the state Ministry of Finance to release the sum of N100 million to someone, while a cheque in the like sum was attached.

Malam Shekarau stated that the civil servant told the police in the petition that he was alleged to have issued a cheque of N100 million to someone who confessed to have undertaken the assassination.

According to the governor, the government official, who never wrote such a letter or directed anyone to do so, discovered that his signature was forged, adding that he never had an account in the bank in question.

Shekarau said the man had asked the police to investigate the matter.

The governor said the police were now investigating the issue, saying the government was not at war with Mohammed or Freedom Radio.

The police, he said, were not directly under the state government. "Three years ago, the police arrested and detained some officials of the State Hisbah Board for three months. If they were under our control, I might have directed their release, but it did not happen. The issue, then, had to be thrashed out in the court of law", he said.

Shekarau regretted that many people lacked knowledge on the way government worked and therefore damaged the reputation of its officials, including that of the governor.

"I swear by Allah that neither the governor nor the government has a hand in this matter of Alhaji Ado," Shekarau said. "It was an allegation made against somebody, who then petitioned the police in the pursuit of his rights. It is up to the police to question Alhaji Ado and see if he could assist them in their investigation; if he is innocent, then, they would release him."

The governor said that inviting people to answer questions by the police during investigations was not a new thing, adding that many people in the state were questioned over Ja'afar's assassination. "I know them. Some are very influential, some even spend a day or two and go back home," he added.

Shekarau said, "Even our brother Bashir Dalhatu has said that he would never forget about his arrest during the era of Nuhu Ribadu for about fourteen days or fourteen weeks - I cannot remember - but he was later released after the police and the EFCC were satisfied with his explanations. So in view of Alhaji Ado's case, to me it is a simple matter. By tomorrow if the police are satisfied with his comment, he will be released."

Also clarifying the matter further yesterday, the Director of Press and Public Relations to the state governor, Malam Sule Ya'u Sule, said, "Somebody posted a letter purportedly from the office of the Secretary to the State Government that he is instructing finance ministry to release the sum of N100 million to someone and a cheque of N100 million was attached. The person that was said to have written this letter is the Permanent Secretary, Research, Evaluation and Political Affairs Department in the Cabinet Office, Malam Bello Shehu Usman.

"Again, a cheque was said to have been issued of N100 million to someone who allegedly or who confessed to have undertaken the killing of late Sheikh Ja'afar. That letter and the cheque were posted on the Saharareporters website. Having seen the letter and the cheque, Malam Bello Shehu, the permanent secretary, denied that he never instructed, he never wrote, such a letter, he never directed such a letter to be written, and the signature was forged; it wasn't his signature and he never had an account in Bank PHB because the cheque that was said to have been issued is a cheque of Bank PHB of the sum of N100 million. The account of Kano State government is with Unity Bank, not Bank PHB. He was said to have directed that N100 million be paid from the account of the state government in Bank PHB with a cheque posted on the Sahara website.

"It was said to have been this permanent secretary who instructed that money on the instruction of the governor that a person whose name was written on the cheque be paid that amount so that he will go and carry out that act. Based on that, Malam Bello Shehu, having seen that, wrote a petition letter to the police commissioner, saying that his signature was forged and that he has never written such a letter and he has never known such an account. Government has never operated an account with Bank PHB, government has never issued such a cheque because it doesn't, and therefore asked the police to investigate.

"It was Malam Bello Shehu in his person as Malam Bello Shehu that has written the letter, not Kano State government because he was said to have done that. Based on this letter police embarked on investigation. They sought for legal clarification, they went to the said bank and requested for detailed information of that account and discovered the identity of the owner of that account and discovered the identity of the cheque issued and the police briefed the press about their discovery, not Kano State government.

"I am not here to respond to anybody or join issues with anyone but rather I am here to tell you the actual fact as it is. I know many of you are confused."

Meanwhile, the family of Ado Mohammed has raised alarm over what they called the detainee’s old age and deteriorating health condition.

Speaking to LEADERSHIP last night, Alhaji Faruk Dalhatu, who spoke on behalf of the family, said Mohammed was suffering from backache, hence he was placed on permanent medication.

He said: "Alhaji Ado Mohammed is very sick. We are very much concerned about the state of his health because when they arrested him they did not allow him to take his medications along. He was supposed to fly out for surgery on his back last week but it was postponed, and now we don't even know when he can go. He has a very bad back for which he had a surgery a few months ago."

Dalhatu also debunked a claim made by the state government that the said petition for which Mohammed was arrested was written by a permanent secretary in the government in his personal capacity. He said the fact that the said petition was written on the government's letterheaded paper meant that it was official.

Written by me and my colleague, Mansur Sani Malam published on page 1, 4 & 6 of today's LEADERSHIP (29/6/09).

The Death and the Writer

In this picture snapped late 2008 in red and cap is Abdullahi Yaron Malam (one of the writers that died recently) with me in t-shirt on the Kwatarkwasi inselberg Zamfara State during the last (2008) convention of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA).

Death, my grandfather once told me, detests the hubbub and hullabaloo around its prey when it comes calling. He said, death does not come amidst clattering and chatting by what he called sinful occupants of this earth and it always shies from the eyes of close relatives. “mutuwa na jin kunyar idon mahaifi” he told me in Hausa, typical of his wit-laden conversation.

The angel of death, or so I thought, has his device of keeping people mute and sending away those relatives on whose eyes he could not pick his target. Perhaps he has some agents whom he sends to clear the way for him – to send away all the unwanted persons and circumstances. They whisk away talks and suspend the mind for some time, and make the relatives leave willy-nilly or, at worst, get their attention off the terminal corpse.

As I am grow, I hear of many confessions that only vindicate grandpa. Many a people would come to lament how they vacate the bedside of an ill person only to come back to see corpse in her substitute. The bereaved relatives normally make these confessions when one goes to condole with them.

‘He just insisted that I go and call the doctor for him but as I came back, he is no more’

‘She asked me pressingly to come back home and take one more wrapper for her but when I went back I met her corpse’ you would hear this again and again.

Therefore, as a child, whenever I went to makarantar allo, the local Qur’anic school, or when playing with my peers, I developed a habit of enmity towards silence. I hate silence, hence, I always cherish murmurs of some defiant pupils when our teacher – an old bearded learned Fulani man asked us to keep quite for one announcement or the other or for sacrificial or closing prayers.

“It passes!” we would say when we observed some silence in our group and that instinctively arouse thunderous noise. This was a device to block the death’s chances.

But how does the death picks a writer? Writer, at least he who merits the tag, is a symbol of engagements. Does the writer stay idle? Many writers enter toilet with books to capture some aroma away from the defecation. Others say their muse is at best when taking shower or on transit. And for many writers detention in prison or hospital means solitary compartment to ponder on issues and, if possible, write.

If she is alone, a writer is either pondering over a plot of a new story or how best should rhyme and rhythm of a poem be. Therefore, writer, you could say, gives no chance to death. However, when it comes calling, death has many tricks and devices to wrap away its target: it stops the mind, momentarily, to enable it snatch away the soul.

When it intended to pick Malama Binta, it followed her to the airport, to the aircraft and afraid not to meet Binta’s relatives, it gripped her in the plane. It was at that time when everybody is tired and awaiting landing; probably in an innate state of mind. The same with Yaron Malam. The executioner dragged him to where it wanted to take him away – the state library and the agents of the angel of death detained him there until the angel came for his soul. He could not be picked when he was speaking, when he was drafting something in the laptop until the time he was glaringly glancing at the screen absentmindedly.

Death too has extraordinary task in bringing a writer to book.

However, I have a solace. Malama Binta is here with us! Yaron Malam is very much alive! After all, does a writer die? Look at Pythagoras, Socrates, Aristotle, Ibn Sina (Avicenna), al-Ghazzali, Malik bin Anas, Einstein, Nicolo Machiavelli, Shakespeare, Wordsworth, Ibn Hazm, Ibn Arab, Abubakar Imam, Sa’adu Zungur, name them, are they not living still in our midst? Death only takes away the body and the breath. Writers live to eternity.

If I want to see Binta or Yaron Malam, I can see them in between these black inscriptions of their works. In the same way that I can still see Abubakar Imam in Magana Jari Ce, Okigbo in Labyrinth, or Shakespeare in As You Like It. English metaphysical poet, Dr. John Donne could not be more apt in his “Holy Sonnet 10” in describing the relationship between the death and man – writer especially when he writes with artistic bravura:

Death be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so;
For those whom thou think'st thou dost overthrow
Die not, poor death, nor yet canst thou kill me.
From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be,
Much pleasure; then from thee much more must flow,
And soonest our best men with thee do go,
Rest of their bones, and soul's delivery.
Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men,
And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell;
And poppy or charms can make us sleep as well,
And better than thy stroke; why swell'st thou then?
One short sleep past, we wake eternally,
And death shall be no more; death, thou shalt die.

That is the virtue of writing. Writers are special creatures. Don’t we say/write; “He writes”, “He observes” while quoting Plato or Bala Usman but “He said”, “She observed” in the case of others? That’s writing! Writers do not expire they live to eternity with their words quoted in perfect (eternal) tense always! Therefore, write and write what you think is right you will get the right rite even in deathly hallucination.
6:05pm 6/6/09, Kano
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*Soliloquy in memoriam of Malama Binta S. Mohammed and Abdullahi Mukhtar (Yaron Malam) presented at a special reading in memory of the two writers at Murtala Mohammed Library, Ahmadu Bello way, Kano organised by ANA Kano. Sunday, June 7, 2009.

Court Bans Circulation of 11 Hausa Songs

A Kano chief magistrate presiding over a mobile court attached to the state Censorship Board has banned listening, sale and circulation of 11 Hausa songs, describing the songs as obscene, confrontational and amoral.

The songs, according to the presiding judge, Chief Magistrate Muhtari Ahmed, include: Oyoyo by Adam A. Zango, Billy O's Martani, Ibro Sankarau, Ibro Sauka a Babur and Walle-walle.

Others are; Gari Ya Yi Zafi, Auta, Hasbunallahu, Girgiza Kai (master), Kowa Ya Ci Ubansa/Uwarsa, and Wayyo Kaico.

Magistrate Ahmed said, the court is going to prosecute anyone found circulating the songs. According to him, selling the songs, playing them, and downloading them by any means are also banned.

He said the order was issued by the court in accordance with section 97 of the state Censorship Board Law 2001 Cinematography and Licensing Regulation of the same year.

Ahmed explained that by the provision of the said sections of the law, any person who for the purpose of or by way of trade, makes produces or has in his possession blasphemous, pornographic or obscene writing or object that will corrupt public morale can be charged under the law, among others.

Kano: The Malam's Scorecard

ABDULAZIZ A. ABDULAZIZ reviews the last six years of the Ibrahim Shekarau-led administration assessing interventions of the government in some key areas of human life. He reports that though Shekarau has performed above average a lot wait to be seen.

As some governors, and the presidents are marking their two years in office, for the Kano State governor Malam Ibrahim Shekarau, it is a double celebration as he marks six years at the apex office of the state governor and mid term of his second coming. It is on note that Shekarau is the first to break a perceived jinx for two terms in Kano . However, while his critics views his first term as “colossal waste of goodwill” judging by his performance, it could be said that the governor has now risen to the task.

Many have the opinion that for Shekarau, there is no reason to fail especially after this second coming. Available data show that he has the most conducive chance of performance compared to all his predecessors. First, he commandeers so much goodwill from the lowly masses at the grassroots, a support that saw him through in 2007 despite alleged attempts at snatching the mandate from the top.

The second and most important advantage of the Shekarau administration is his coming at the right time, resource wise. His government collected the largest amount of money received by any administration in the past. These, coupled with his seeming populist ideology and the experience he garnered as a permanent secretary in various ministries including the cabinet office for a period of close to a decade, could be the right parameters to weigh Shekarau.

Education:
To begin with education which is his own constituency, Shekarau has performed creditably in this sector especially with the establishments of scores of post-primary schools all over the state and employment of over 4000 teachers. This development, according to official figures has increased secondary school intake by about 40 percent. Similar intervention is also in place for the primary schools with new schools and additional classrooms being constructed. Of recent, the state government okayed the intake of 1000 NCE holders for the same purpose. \

For the tertiary institutions, the Kano State University of Science and Technology (KUST, Wudil) could not said to have paired better due to starve of infrastructure that hinders academic activities in the university. Though millions of naira were pumped to the institution, LEADERSHIP check revealed that the university has nothing to show for it as many uncompleted buildings dots its premises. This development has necessitated students to resort to using accommodation outside the school.

Our correspondent however discovered that a number of tutors at the institution are currently under the state government scholarship for further studies abroad. This may explain the reason why the school is starved of infrastructure as the authorities prioritized training of staff rather than physical development. This however paid in another way as the university enjoys full accreditation of its courses by the National Universities Commission (NUC).

In other state-owned high institutions of learning, lecture halls and theatres are constructed to cater for the increasing population. However, this intervention is yet to quench the craving needs as in most institutions students still squat for lectures under the trees like at Sa’adatu Rimi College of Education or cramped in hundreds in small lecture halls as in the state polytechnic and other institutions.

Furthermore, in its bid to perfect a conducive teaching and learning environment, the state government has purchased and distributed 1, 278 laptop computers worth over N270 million. The intention of the government, according to the governor while launching the computers, is to acquaint lecturers with modern implements of teaching. He therefore directed all the institutions to purchase other accessories to be used with the computers for modern teaching. This brilliant idea, LEADERSHIP can confirmed, was hitched by the schools who show no readiness to take the new development.

Health:
In the healthcare sector, the government has taken giant stride for its ongoing projects for the construction of two modern hospitals which if completed will cost the state about N5 billion. The hospitals in reference are general hospital at Giginyu and a pediatric hospital sited at Gyadi-gyadi quarters. Already the Abubakar Imam Urology centre founded by the government is fully functional. In addition, certain renovations are performed at various hospitals even as health personnel are also engaged.

The Shekarau administration has equally adopted free medical care for pregnant women to the time of childbirth as well as free accident and emergency care in all government hospitals. Many people welcomed it as a populist policy that will ameliorate the suffering the in the masses. The policy however encountered a setback no sooner its proclamation as it is rendered a ghost by lack of supervision.

LEADERSHIP checks indicate that though the policy is still officially enforced, the fact that patients still have to buy the prescribed drugs in such situations has made the initiative a shadow of its supposed image. Our investigation reveals that in most hospitals the patients received only the commonest drugs free and buy others outside. The nursing mothers and accident victims are mostly entitled to painkillers and vitamin c as against the designated package.

Water supply:
With the construction of multi billion naira Tamburawa water treatment plant, the Shekarau administration intended to nib the perennial water scarcity in the bud. However, from all indications, the problem has defied the solution. But the government seems all out to plush it out with recent commencement of another water work at Watari dam at Gwarzo local government and with laying of new pipes that will take water to the city for distribution.

When LEADERSHIP visited Tamburawa water works, the water discharger was pumping out 150 million liters of potable water – the exact quantity it meant to provide that notwithstanding the water problem persists. As at this time, about 60 per cent of residential areas of Kano metropolis do not have access to pipe borne water. The concerned authorities are, however, always promising prompt solution.

Infrastructure:
One obvious area that Shekarau channels his attention now is the infrastructural development which he failed to capture in his first tenure. Kano State is now witnessing massive overhaul especially in the construction of roads. The government has earmarked billion of naira under it Economic Road Map for the redesign of the city which includes expansion of existing roads and construction of new ones.

At present apart from the numerous completed road projects, which include the expansion of France Road , about six other roads are being reconstructed to three lane dual carriageways. These projects are giving the metropolitan Kano a new facelift, which, according to the government, will attract investors to the city and open up other opportunities.

Staff welfare:
Perhaps no other person enjoys the Shekarau administration in Kano as do the working class. This is evident because apart from many packages which the governor initiated for the welfare of the civil servants, he has always being in the forefront of implementing any salary increase approved for the workers. This may explain why the civil servants in Kano State seldom do go on strike, as is the mores in some states.

Aside the enhanced salary of the civil servants in tandem with nationally approved scale, Shekarau brought the idea of two annual bonuses to all workers in the state civil service namely; Ramadhan bonus and ram bonus. The Ramadhan bonus is given at the beginning of Muslim fasting month of Ramadhan and the ram bonus at the time of Muslim celebration of Sallah, the eid Adha. Each bous is half a person’s monthly basic salary.

General Administration:
On the general administration, while Shekarau is regarded as a toothless leader who is often indecisive, it is commendable that this time around the governor has come on with something of his own by cracking the unhealthy handling of tax collection by the state Board of internal Revenue with engaging skilled consultants on tax collection. This yielded positive result as the reaped bumper harvest of increase on internally generated revenue.

Another important decision is the creation of additional ministry for science and technology. The ministry, according to the governor while swear-in its commissioner, is passion out modalities for the state to harp into the goodies of the science and technology. One specific and visble task for the science and technology ministry is the handling of the state ICT Park located at Ado Bayero House. With the caliber of the person entrusted with the ministry, many people are words of mouthing hope for the ministry at this age of technological innovations and development.

Looking Ahead…
With Shekarau’s mid-term result looking okay, one thing however is the uncertainty of continuing on the same track especially looking at the prevailing situation. One visible pointer to this is strong fear of encroaching politics and its tricks. Whereas he is strongly tipped/vying for the presidency, the intrigue of who will/should succeed him is another riddle waiting to be solved.

Available evidence shows that Shekarau is salivating at the presidential position as his moves and that of his confidents show. This intention has, no doubt, affected the running of Kano in the last few month a development some begin to interpret as the beginning of the worse if at all the governor is to run for the post. Another implication is allegation already expressed by the opposition that the governor is using the state coffers to sponsor his ambition for the presidency.

In the home front, as the leader of his party in the state, Shekarau is expected to recommend somebody who will succeed him at the end of his tenure, a task that is no mean a small action. At present, the horn is locked between politicians from different orientation on who should succeed him. Notably, a larking disagreement between ulamas and actual politicians on this issue is likely to give Shekarau a major headache hence distraction.

PUBLISHED IN LEADERSHIP, FRIDAY MAY 29, 2009.

Triumphs and Travails of a Traditional Bonesetter

As conventional orthopedic hospitals tend to worsen instead of ameliorate bone injuries, even as the expertise of physiotherapists is becoming out of the reach of the poor, ABDULAZIZ A. ABDULAZIZ reports that people are turning to relatively efficient local bonesetters for succour. This is based on an encounter he had with Dr. Sardauna Halidu, a local bone setter in Kano who wants to modernise his trade.

As one approaches the area - an inner suburb of Tudun murtala quarters of Nassarawa Local Government in Kano municipality, one does not have to be told that one is in the domain of a master bonesetter. Even before reaching the house of this remarkable man, one may likely see some of his recuperating patients strolling on the streets. His name rings a bell not only in his immediate surrounding but also in the whole of Kano State and beyond.

The man, Dr. Sardauna Halidu, popularly known as Dan Gara Mai Dori, is a 45-year-old Igala indigene of Kogi State. The title "Dr." is added to his name not because he attended any conventional medical school but because be acquired the expertise to do what, according to him, the conventional doctors cannot do. He is called gracefully as Dr. Sardauna. Though not of Kano origin, Halidu has invariably become a Kano man, having lived a great chunk of his life living and helping Kano people.

The unique attribute of Halidu is his ability to do what conventional orthopedic hospitals cannot do by accommodating and healing people who tried the modern bonesetting method but did not succeed. His other peculiar practice is his effort at improving what he knows best. As against the practice of most local bonesetters, who discharge patients immediately after the broken bone is set, Halidu established a sort of clinic where he accomodates patients till they are healed.

When LEADERSHIP visited the house cum clinic of this man of wonders, many patients were seen nursing their various injuries at different stages of healing. Similarly, POP, a wrapping used in hospitals in mending fractures, were seen everywhere. Halidu said it is what they removed from patients who dumped conventional medical care to his traditional medical centre in search of cure for their broken limps.

"You can see, it is all over," he said, pointing at the stocked POP casings. They come from the hospital when they see no healing in sight after spending long time in the hospital," Halidu said. According to him, the trend of patients fleeing hospitals to him for rescue is not without problems. "Doctors are always full of envy any time they come to my clinic, asking for proof if what I claim is right", he said. As he goes round from one admission room to another, patients gladly greet him, crack some jokes and complain of one or two things, if any.

According to Halidu, that gives him pleasure and satisfaction. He said people always troop to him on a daily basis and from all parts of the state with cases of fracture or dislocation. "They are uncountable. People come every time." On what it takes for a treatment in his increasingly patronised "clinic", Halidu said he does not charge a fixed amount.

"We don't charge. If a person comes we just collect money to purchase materials for the work and with God's help we discharge him if he becomes normal. I do not ask for anything. If a person brings it, fine, if he does not, we move on. Thank you is more than money", he stressed. Halidu explained that as he heals people on a daily basis so also he gets patronage from well-known personalities. "People come with fresh cases or those that defied hospitals and with God on my side I treat them to recovery" he said.

He considers the bonesetting venture as a philanthropic enterprise. Though he has prominent personalities who patronise him, including a movie star, Sani Danja, who recently suffered an accident, Halidu said he did not see that as an opportunity to extort money from patients to enrich himself. Halidu said bone-setting is his family trade. He inherited it from his forefathers. He posited that it is not in their ethic to charge people for their service, hence despite over twenty years of practice, he does not have any material benefit to show for it except satisfaction of the mind.

His clinic, which has about eight 'wards', is located among three neigbouring houses in the locality. The main building, which doubles as his house, has three rooms accommodating patients. The remaining 'wards' are around the main house with various patients in each. The main problem to Halidu is getting a better place to transfer his clinic and give it a befitting face even as he is now facing a quit notice.

"I just manage here. Sometimes the rooms could not accommodate the people, that is why Sani Danja had to be taken back to his house because we couldn't accommodate him here. "Moreover, now that I am talking to you, I am on notice to quit this building. The owner has died, so the heirs want to sell it but I cannot afford it. If the government can help me as it used to help other people, then it would be for the good of all. I have no alternative than to start searching for another place now for rental", Halidu explained.

A patient who identified himself as Mr. James Oliya, spoke to our reporter at the 'clinic'. According him, he had a car accident two months ago and was promptly admitted to a hospital. The hospital could not do anything about the two fractures he sustained, so Halidu was called who set the bones immediately. "I now feel better. I thank God that I came here because in the hospital they over-charge (exploit) people. Look, for these teeth that they set for me I had to spend a hundred thousand, but here it’s very much cheaper", the 36-year old James-Oliya confessed.

Day Students Stormed British High Commission

Yes, scores of youthful students stormed British High Commission’s residency in Kaduna. They invaded the gigantic building located along Independence Way in the heart of the town; chanting, chatting, clasping, hobnobbing and all that. They were there for hours under the night shower.

In fact, the energetic crowd invaded the residency and took hold of the British High Commissioner, His Excellency Mr. Bob Dewar for hours before they set him free. However, surprisingly, you would say, this rather hot news was not in the papers and if indeed it were, it was not given screaming headlines by the editors who are always anxiously waiting for such scoops. However, it has actually happened.

Hold your breath! The cream of students was at the British High Commission’s residency for the good reason. It was not another case of kidnapping of expatriates, which Kaduna recently midwifed for the northern part of the country. They were at the residency on Monday May 4, 2009 to share in the cake of tolerance, understanding, mutual coexistence and peace as the unifying code for the country and, indeed, the prerequisite for meaningful development.

Like cultic initiation, it was, for want of a better word, a sort of solemn gathering where a team of young, ambitious and equal minded young people with shared mission, yearning and aspiration for better Nigeria were brought together. The young men, and women, were drawn from various higher institutions of learning from across the country with some dominance of the north. They traveled from as far as Edo, Sokoto, Ibadan and Maiduguri to rob minds on a common subject; peace – an indispensably inevitable condition for human existence.

The occasion was meant to serve as an interactive dinner with young students from diverse religious and ethnic background. The students interacted freely, friendly and happily with one another for about three hours the event lasted and the session the subsequent morning. To many students that Monday night, it was an exciting lifetime experience – to be in the midst of such hybrid gathering this thus invoke an innate emotion within each and every participant as it manifested the following morning when moderated group discussion was held.

It was gently raining out there so all of us, the participants, were tamed indoors and got clutched in the lounges and parlour of the residency as against the outdoor event that it should be. The session, at the end, turned to a sort of cocktail party everyone was standing throughout the hours. Midway to the eating and drinking comes the blaring voice of Malam Mahdi Shehu, over the mic. Like young people around a performer in the ancient village square, we all gathered around him and a few other personalities, among them the British High Commissioner, Bob Dewar.

According to Mahdi Shehu who delivered what you can call a welcome address, the mission behind the event is to sensitise a group of young Nigerians on the task waiting them out there – the task of taking this country to the next level with peace as the stepping stone. He confirmed that the gathering was in no way coincidental, it was deliberately planned to achieve this purpose and serve as a foundation for intensive advocacy and sustained effort at the grassroots level especially among youth population.

Mahdi Shehu’s wity welcome remark was followed by an impromptu speech by the High Commissioner who espoused on the British High Commission’s aim of boosting peace through grassroots engagements and sensitization of the relevant stakeholders. This, according to him, has been going on for some years now through a collaboration with Kaduna-based, Bridge Builders Association of Nigeria. He said, the commission and indeed the UK government realized the position of peace for national development hence the intervention in the area.

The British High Commission in Nigeria and the Bridge Builders Association of Nigeria share that common goal which in turn gave birth to the joint initiatives. The main preoccupation for the duo is to have more informed society that appreciates the essence of diversity, multiethnicity and socio-religious differences. Agreed that Nigerians are exceptionally religious but I wonder if the fanatic killing in the name of religion is the byword for religiousity.

Bridge Builders Association, like its other counterparts especially in Kaduna state, is a child of circumstance that emanate after series of ethno-religious crises. When I battled to kill you and you retaliate in equal measure and one succeeds over the other but later realized that there are still remnants of his/her enemies, that the enemy’s children and kinsmen are not eliminated in toto then one should think twice. No matter how we yearn to extinct the ‘opposite’ group, we have little chance of inching towards ‘success’.

Would anybody claim that no Bosnian Muslim remained after the Serbian onslaught or that all the Serbs have gone? Did the Hutus think no Tutsi breath as at now after the 1990s ethnic cleansing? Far from it! Fratricide or ethnic cleansing, or any other euphemism you use to call it is an exercise in futility that will make the two sides tired and, after all the fatigue, forced to accept the reality.

It is akin to a Hausa folkloric narration of a fight between two men who after fighting for a long time with nobody to mediate between them, became exhausted that they resolved to stop the fighting but the climax of it is when it comes to taking off each other’s hand from the collar of his partner. “Take your hand off” said the first person, “but if I release you I will fell down,” replied the second person thus they embrace realizing that no one could stand without the other.

Back to Kaduna, the next morning after the high commission’s dinner, it was another mind robbing exercise. That morning, Mahdi Shehu again led the group in another mind robbing exercise where everybody’s personal passion and qualities were explored. The discussion was centered on mission and vision especially its importance for young people who, to borrow that clichéd axiom, are the leaders of tomorrow.

In exceptionally brilliant inspirational talk, Mahdi took the bemused students into an intellectual voyage on what it takes to have mission and vision in life and how beneficial it is to both the visionary person and his/her society. But he threw caution to the air when he explained conditions and steps necessary for informed vision. Mahdi was critical of the young people for their gullibility as he was of the society for feeding them up with information and training that can be best described as garbage.

He hit the nail on the head when he challenged the youth of acute credulity and lack of creativity and critical reasoning. He fenced this point by asserting that most young people these days could be liken to the proverbial description in Hausa of a camel which despite its huge physique follows he who drags it by a small robe wherever he wants to take it. “Check your sent items, all the messages you sent out, you will find out that 40 per cent of them are messages sent to you by others and you forwarded them unedited” he challenged.

The implication of this, according to philosophically sounded Mahdi, is that if one lacks adequate and reliable information to make a decision then he stands the possibility of crashing into mistakes and wrong decisions. To get good product as the output, equally good raw materials should be pumped into the system. He cited numerous examples of visionary individuals and institutions who, like chameleon feces, stamped their indelible presence on the page of history in gold ink.

The like of this interactive session is a good avenue that will make the youth to be conscious of the task ahead of them and the challenges be put across to them. It is high time that young people be considered as the real engine growth of the nation and be included in all gainful initiatives to mot only prepare them but also let them participate to get first hand practical experience.

I have heard it times and again young people expressing their disgust over such pejorative phrase as “leaders of tomorrow”, if the youths are not prepared (practically) now, what sort of leaders will they be tomorrow? A young people once hissed as he complaint to me, “when will the tomorrow come?” I say, the tomorrow is now. It is in this light that the British High Commission and Bride Builders’ initiative deserved commendation. Youthful population is useful for meaningful development.