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Opinion

My First Encounter with Nasiru Gawuna, the Humble Deputy Governor

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By Sabo Abdullahi Guri

Penultimate, October 1979, the month we reported to Government Secondary School, Gwaram, which was the beginning of our journey of a lifetime in search of Western education after completion of our respective primary seven certificates.

On arrival at the school, I headed to the staff room for the necessary documentation.

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While waiting for the duty master to receive us, a Peugeot saloon arrived and parked in front of the staff room. The driver and an elderly person together with a new student came out from the car, and I heard one of the teachers telling his colleague that another student has reported. I saw a fair complexioned, slim, calm and composed young man within my age bracket alighting from the car.

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After the necessary documentation, the duty master asked me to wait for the lanky student who arrived in the Peugeot to finish so that both of us can be escorted to our respective hostels. Thereafter, both of us carried our boxes and headed to the dormitory area.

On our way, I asked him his name and where he came from. He replied that his name is Nasiru Yusuf Gawuna from Kano City, I equally introduced myself and where I came from

That was the day I met Dr Nasiru Yusuf Gawuna in 1979 and it was the beginning of our relationship. Since then, we have maintained this relationship and contact through mutual respect as classmates and friends.

At the dormitory, we were allocated our respective hostels. Nasiru Gawuna was taken to House Seven and I was sent to House Ten, but we were allocated the same class; that was Form One D.

I was appointed the class monitor while Nasiru Yusuf was appointed assistant monitor, and we served as liaison between the staff, school authority and our colleagues in the class.

I remembered with nostalgia that first day, as we also met in class during evening prep, which was observed after every Asr prayers during week days.

When we closed, he asked me to join him and see his hostel. I can vividly recall that when we arrived, he opened his locker and offered me biscuits and a sachet powdered beverage drink known as Treetop. I instantly rejected and thanked him for the gesture, but insisted that I must take.

After staying for some few minutes, he escorted me to our hostel, and on our way, he said he initially got admission at Kawaji Secondary School but his parents insisted that he will go to boarding school and luckily his admission to GSS Gwaram came before reporting to the Kawaji Secondary School.

Gwaram Secondary School was newly established at that time, and our set was the first to be admitted after the school’s relocation to its permanent site in Gwaram, though there were other senior students who transited at both Kauzare and Sumaila.

At that time, incessant cases of bullying and seniority by senior students forced a number of our classmates to transfer to other schools because they cannot withstand the maltreatment, but we stood our ground and endured the hardship.

Boarding school life during our days was memorable, eventful and historic. It was also a great opportunity to meet people from different backgrounds. As new school and pioneer students that did not pass through the transit system, we were also opportune that the population of our sets numerically was the highest at that time with students from almost all the nooks and crannies of the old Kano State, and others from Kaduna, Bauchi, Benue, Plateau and some South Western States.

At that time, classes were not over crowded, as the average number of students per class was between 30 and 35. There were also adequate teaching and learning materials.

Apart from academic activities, students were fully engaged in extra curriculum activities. After school hours, the sporting arena was a beehive of activities after school hours. Even the dormitory side had table tennis facilities within the balcony, while weekends were slated for members of social club, drama society, and many more recreational activities.

With his football and table tennis skills, Gawuna was also an active member of the Boys Scout brigade, and he was subsequently appointed the Scout Troop Commander.

His passion for Scout and ingenuity in commanding Scout parade made us think he might either join the military or police after leaving school. Gawuna mastered the art of rolling scout stick while leading parade and students cheered him up during Scout events at the school.

He encouraged most of us to participate in Boys Scout, he taught parade to both old and new members as a tall and lanky person he was also extremely good in jogging.

In terms of academic performance, he was among the best five students, competing favourably for first or second position in examinations.

Not only that, he was also an active member of the Muslim Students Society. I can vividly remember that Gawuna was among the few of our classmates who initiated the present Gwaram Girls Unity Secondary School mosque which started as prayer area and eventually became the school mosque.

His simplicity made him command the respect of all among our classmates and other senior students. For that reason, he was nicknamed as brothy, meaning a friend and brother to all.

His name traversed Gwaram to Dawakin Kudu Science Secondary School where he completed his secondary school in 1984.

One other quality of Dr Gawuna was his sharp and good memory of almost everything he came across. He can remember names, faces, and events no matter how long it takes. Our 2020 GOSA 84 reunion meeting in Kano was a good example. He remembered everyone’s name.

During our last Old Boys meeting, which he personally hosted, he interfaced with old friends freely without the routine of his aides as a deputy governor.

Although Dr Nasiru Yusuf Gawuna was in Gwaram Secondary School for only two and a half years before proceeding to Science Secondary School Dawakin Kudu, he always identifies with the school and old class mates from Gwaram Secondary School which was his stating point in secondary school life.

Some of our old classmates that passed the Science School Examination includes Hafiz Muhammad who is now the Special Adviser on Agriculture to the Executive Governor of Kano State Office of the Deputy Governor. They are best of friends and brothers from Gwaram and they went to Dawakin Kudu together and also proceeded to UDUS together. They are like twin brothers.

The rest are Pharmacist Bala Garba Gwaram of FMC Birnin Kudu; Salmanu Isyaku Kiru; Suleiman Talle Galamu Katanga, presently a Deputy Commissioner of Police to mention but a few who are all are presently professionals in their own rights.

Our colleagues who sat for and passed the Science Secondary School Examination to both Dawakin Kudu and Dawakin Tofa left a great vacuum at that time. Almost everyone of us felt their exit from Gwaram because we started together after leaving our respective primary schools. We experienced school life together, we became so intimate and now they have been moved to a new environment away from their old friends.

For Nasiru Gawuna, even at Dawakin Kudu Science, he was exceptional. We understand he was made a Deputy House Captain, a responsibility that was for only senior students. It was like record breaking to see a junior student holding such a responsibility.

Nasiru Yusuf Gawuna as a Deputy Governor can best be described as a bridge builder with uncommon character and discipline.

He is a generous, honest and trustworthy person who can be entrusted with a higher public responsibility, as a loyal deputy governor.

Gawuna is also a reliable, dependable and straight forward individual with wealth of experience in public administration, economics and diplomacy. Indeed, he is a kind of material needed in our present day political arrangement

The recent wedding fatiha of his daughter again proved to many people that indeed Nasiru is a bridge builder. Dignitaries from different parts of the country and beyond were in attendance. Politicians from different political backgrounds were also there to rejoice with him for attaining such a big stride in life. To see the marriage of your biological daughter is a great opportunity for every parent, and indeed Dr Nasiriu Yusuf Gawuna is a making a difference

Sabo Abdullahi Guri Writes from Dutse, Jigawa State

Opinion

Locating Nigeria in the Global Digital Landscape by Y. Z. Ya’u, CITAD

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Late last year, the Portulans Institute, an independent, nonpartisan research and educational institute based in Washington, DC, released the 2024 Global Network Readiness Index (NRI 2024). The NRI annually ranks countries across over 100 indicators grouped into four broad areas or pillars: technology, people, governance, and impact. The extensive data used for the ranking allows for an assessment of countries’ progress (or lack thereof) in the preceding year.

In the 2024 ranking, Nigeria is placed 112th out of 133 countries, positioning it near the bottom of the ladder. This ranking indicates a lack of progress, as the country dropped from 106th last year to 112th. Nigeria is not even among the top 20 performing countries in Africa.

The results show that Nigeria’s performance declined in three of the four pillars. For instance, in the Technology pillar, the country dropped from 88th last year to 94th in 2024, while in the People pillar, it fell from 96th to 112th. Similarly, in the Impact pillar, Nigeria moved down from 116th to 118th. The Governance pillar also reflects a low ranking, holding steady at 114th.

Among the three sub-pillars of Technology, Nigeria performed relatively well in Content, being ranked 49th. However, in Access and Future Technologies, it was ranked 110th and 99th, respectively. Access remains a key challenge to the effective utilization of digital technology in the country. With the arrival of Starlink, there is presumably universal coverage, which should improve access. However, affordability has worsened over the year due to predatory pricing by Starlink and the collapse of the national currency. This situation is expected to worsen as telecom operators plan to increase tariffs. Additionally, there have been no significant efforts to improve both connectivity and accessibility in the country.

Despite advocacy for community networks as a means to bridge the digital divide in underserved communities, the country has yet to embrace this solution. While the recent launch of the National Broadband Alliance includes an ambitious plan to roll out more fiber, the reality is that fiber deployment without initiatives to reduce costs will not effectively bridge the connectivity gap.

In the Governance pillar, Nigeria’s rankings are 119th, 113th, and 114th for Individual, Regulation, and Inclusion, respectively. In the Impact pillar, the country is ranked 98th in the Economic sub-pillar, 105th in Quality of Life, and 112th in SDG Contribution.

The overall picture becomes even more worrisome when examining the scoring details. Nigeria’s overall score dropped from 35.73 in 2023 to 34.87 in 2024. Similarly, the Technology pillar regressed from a score of 34.42 in 2023 to 32.50 in 2024. Notably, the Access sub-pillar score fell from 55.57 in 2023 to 38.87 in 2024. The People pillar also saw a decline, from 33.89 to 32.50, while the Governance pillar score fell from 37.40 to 28.40. A slight improvement was observed in the Impact pillar, which increased from 37.20 to 39.89.

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Among the indicators where the country performed relatively well are Regulatory Environment (ranked 46th), Cybersecurity (55th), Data Capabilities (55th), Annual Investment in Telecommunication Services (27th), AI Scientific Publications (13th), and Domestic Market Scale (26th). However, indicators such as e-commerce, where Nigeria scored 75.00, reflect a ranking of 87th, indicating that most countries performed well in this area.

It is concerning that several of Nigeria’s higher-ranked indicators are not directly related to digital technology. For instance, the highest score of 86.90 for Regulatory Environment reflects the policies and regulations in place rather than technological achievements. Similarly, the scores for Domestic Market Scale (69.39), AI Scientific Publications (61.77), and Annual Investment in Telecommunication Services (63.90) emphasize the size of the population, academic activity, and speculative investment rather than tangible technological outcomes.

Once again, as in the previous year, many indicators for Nigeria had no data available, which negatively impacted the country’s score. These include critical areas such as Internet Access in Schools, Robot Density, Gender Gap in Internet Usage, AI Talent, Government R&D Expenditure, and Quality of Education.

It seems that as a country, we have not learned lessons from previous rankings. No deliberate efforts have been made to ensure data availability in areas where zero scores were recorded in prior years. Despite advocacy and repeated commitments from the government to bridge the gender digital divide, there is still no relevant data to determine whether these efforts are yielding results. This lack of interest or inability to collect disaggregated data along gender lines highlights the absence of a genuine commitment to addressing the gender digital divide. Progress cannot be achieved within a gender-blind framework.

The government has developed a National Artificial Intelligence Strategy, but it has yet to move to the implementation stage. Meanwhile, two bills are currently before the National Assembly, both aimed at ensuring the “proper control of AI usage.”

Rather than progressing, Nigeria appears to be falling behind, as several countries have overtaken it, pushing it further down the rankings. After the release of the 2023 NRI, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) convened a stakeholders’ meeting to review the ranking and made recommendations to improve the country’s performance. One of the key suggestions was for Nigeria to localize the NRI process, conduct state-by-state assessments, and provide incentives to high-performing states to encourage competition. Unfortunately, this suggestion was never implemented, and the release of the 2024 NRI did not even elicit a press statement, let alone a stakeholders’ forum.

While the NRI itself does not fully reflect how countries use and benefit from digital technology, it provides valuable insights into areas for improvement. To address these challenges, the Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD) offers the following recommendations:

1. Convene a stakeholders’ forum to review Nigeria’s performance and implement recommendations from last year’s forum. This would help the country develop strategies to improve its ranking and address the digital divide’s various dimensions.
2. Learn from global best practices by licensing a new tier of last-mile connectivity providers to address gaps while considering affordability. Community networks, managed by communities to meet their communication needs, should be promoted.
3. Reform the Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF) to support community-based communication operators with loans, grants, and technical assistance rather than relying solely on private sector subsidies, which have proven ineffective.
4. Prioritize data collection and management. The lack of data for key indicators significantly affects Nigeria’s ranking. The government must take data seriously across all sectors, not just ICT.
5. Focus on inclusive policy-making through consultation with key stakeholders to address critical gaps, such as bridging the gender digital divide and improving connectivity. The Ministry of Communications, Innovation & Digital Economy must pursue more inclusive processes to steer the country’s digital transformation effectively.

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Opinion

Izala Sect: Crisis of Leadership, Accusations of Shiism Meddle in Polarising Its Members, History Repeats Itself

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By Yakubu Nasiru Khalid

Formally, the Izala sect was formed in 1978, created to eradicate innovation (bid’a) within the Islamic doctrine. It has a modern structure and leadership both at the state and national levels. Therefore, the leadership of the Izala has come with a well-structured and hierarchical bureau and the feeling that they are different from who they see as the “Conservative Islamic Group.”

The structure comprises three arms: the Council of Ulama, the Administrative Council, and The First Aid Group. Each of the councils has its own head and followers to achieve designed goals. Even with this structure, the sect experienced crises at both levels, which polarised its leadership.

The reasons attached to the polarisation of Izala at the national level later descended to many states where the organization has a large following. The reasons were multifaceted, from jurisprudence, political, financial, and external meddling to sundry issues.

Initially, there was a problem regarding the leadership of the organization, especially the question of who was the supreme leader of the organization between the Administrative Council and the chairman of the Ulama Council. At the time, the head of the Administrative Council was Alhaji Musa Muhammad Maigandu, from Kaduna, and Sheikh Ismail Idris was the chairman of the Ulama Council, Jos faction recognized Ismail Idris.

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The Jos faction rejected Maigandu for not being a scholar but a businessman, arguing that an Islamic organization should be led by a scholar, not a businessman. This added more fire to the crisis.

Furthermore, the Kaduna faction was very critical of some views and fatwas of Ismail Idris, especially those that dealt with the issue of bid’a. According to Ismail Idris, the followers of Izala would not pray behind an Imam who’s not a member of Izala, they would also not marry from the family of a person who inclined to Sufism and would not eat the meat of an animal slaughtered by a follower of the Sufi group.

The Kaduna faction was outrightly against these views and opposed them. Another vital factor that played a role in the split of the Izala group was the accusations and counter-accusations of financial management. Ismail Idris was accused of organizing in the Arab countries, and he was further accused of personalizing vehicles donated to the Izala sect.

In addition, Ben Amara argued that the eruption of the Gulf War in the 1990s between the USA and Iraq was another important factor in the polarisation of the Izala. The Jos faction supported the American invasion of Iraq because of the Saudi Arabian interest, while Kaduna supported Iraq. The Jos faction called Kaduna “Saddamawa” meaning (supporters of Saddam) while Kaduna called Jos “Bushawa” meaning (supporters of American interest).

The leadership of the Jos faction blamed Shia for the internal crisis of Izala and accused some Ulama of being secret agents of Shiism who were working toward dismantling the group.

yakubunasirukhalid@gmail.com

 

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Opinion

Gov. Yusuf’s executive order extending retirement age for HoS, Kano Assembly Clerk, and others unconstitutional

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Sani Usman-DanAbdullo, a Director of Admin and General Services at the Kano State Agency for the Control of Aids, KSACA, has written to the state assembly, seeking its intervention in the
Executive Order issued by Governor Abba Yusuf.

Mr DanAbdullo, in a petition dated January 6 and addressed to Speaker of the Assembly, Jibrin Ismail Falgore, recalled that the governor had in January 2025 issued Executive Order No. 1 of 2025, extending the service period of some civil servants.

According to him, the governor extended the service year of the Head of Service, Assembly Clerk, some judicial officers, Permanent Secretaries and a host of other staff in the state health sector for 2 years after they were due for retirement as of December 2024.

The lawyer also recalled that the state assembly had enacted a law fixing the retirement of staff at 60 years of age or 35 years of service, depending on whichever comes first.

Mr DanAbdullo, therefore, asserted that the governor’s executive order was unconstitutional, “since the House has already made laws which the order seeks to alter”.

He noted that that executive order is not meant to alter, amend, modify or expand the law made by the legislature.

“This act, is, therefore, a clear violation of the principles of rule of law and separation of powers enshrined in our Constitution being not only a clear attempt to usurp the legislative powers of this Honourable House, but to contradict the existing laws already enacted by it in exercise of its powers as such,” the petition added.

While dismissing a claim that the governor issued the order in the spirit of the Doctrine of Necessity, Mr DanAbdullo said there was no justification for extending the service years of the affected retired officers since there are many competent hands with adequate qualifications to be appointed.

“And as for the staff in the health sector, they can be retained on contract arrangement in line with the existing service law of Kano State,” the petition added.

Mr DanAbdullo, therefore, warned that the provisions of the Constitution must not be subordinated to any other law, and must not be subjected to the indignity of deletion of any section or part thereof.

“In view of the foregoing, I urge this esteemed House to employ all legal mechanism at its disposal to overrule the Governor’s decision in the act complained of, which is capable of setting a very dangerous precedent that will ruin the entire public service system of our dear State, if allowed.

“TAKE NOTICE Sir, this act of indiscriminate issuance of executive order, if allowed, will cause the entire Kano State the following catastrophic effects,”

The State Assembly failed to attend to the petition even if it means dismissing it for fear of the governor, if the petition is not attended to we will have no option but to go to court”. He added

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