Connect with us

Opinion

The Day My Mouth Was Left Agape at an Abeokuta Restaurant

Published

on

Abdurraheem Saad Dembo

 

By AbdurRaheem Sa’ad Dembo

In June, 2015 I was in Abeokuta on an official assignment but my experience at a restaurant around Panseke has remained memorable. It was a day my mouth was left opened in dismay. It was also a moment I was dumbfounded going by what I had witnessed at that restaurant.

I am from Ilorin but I lived in Kano throughout my secondary school and University education, even though I visited Ilorin at the end of every semester. So is as good as I may not know what is obtainable among the young people in the Southern part of Nigeria.

As usual, I entered the restaurant and requested for rice and beans with two meats; meanwhile, a group of young boys who were gorgeously dressed in polo shirts and three quarters came in. One of them said they should sell three wraps of Amala with forty pieces of meat. The next person requested for two wraps and thirty meats and so on. They came along with big plates or I can call it a slightly big cooler. I looked at my left and right side perplexed.

That was the first time I had witnessed such a scenario since I was born. The woman fetched my food and I did justice to it. But as I was eating, it kept ringing in my head. Haba! Forty pieces of meats.

After I retired to a place I was putting up in the evening, I shared the strange experience with a brother.

“Eyin ara oke oya” meaning you people from the North. He said those boys I saw were Yahoo boys. He explained in detail how they operate, even though he lamented the ill development.

In the same year, I was in Ijebu-Ode on another official assignment and I lodged in a hotel. On a weekend, a group of boys drove in an exotic car and I overheard them telling the hotel receptionist that they would need steady light overnight and he assured them.

As early as 5:30 a.m. the following day they left the hotel and I quickly went out of my room, asked the receptionist who were they. In affirmative tone he disclosed they were Yahoo boys. I then sequentially narrated by experience at a restaurant in Abeokuta to him. He said,” Ema wo Bross, last night when they asked for alcohol upstairs; the ponmo i counted when they were eating may be up to 50 pieces”. That perfectly corroborated my strange experience in Abeokuta.

This piece is not all about my astonishment at the restaurant but uncovering the audacity of the young boys who are supposed to be the pride of our Nation. It is also significant to establish that Abeokuta is a cool city, where one can have good time, so explaining or sharing my experience about Yahoo boys there is not in any way to disparage the city and the people. The city has a special face lift in recent years due to the sagacity and good governance provided by former Governor, Ibikunle Amosun in the instances of expanded roads and bridges that would avail the eyes beautiful glimpse.

Significantly, the prevalence of Yahoo boys is now in almost every geopolitical zones in Nigeria. As parents we must teach our children the way of God so that they won’t go astray. We must not shy away from our primary responsibility of catering for them and monitoring them properly. Parents should not be too occupied to not having time for their children. At the end of one’s career, a person’s success is largely measurable, among other things, within the context of how well one’s children are doing.

*Causes of the Menace*

*Impatience*: The youth of today do not want to do the right thing. They want to cut corners. Get-rich-quick syndrome is what some of our youths believe in. They believe strongly that “Yahoo Yahoo” is the way to go. In fact, there is another level of it which is termed “Yahoo plus” , that is likened to rituals.

*Bad parenting*: This is the stage where “Yahoo Yahoo” is unconsciously nurtured by parents. As a parent it is your responsibility to provide for your child. But once you fail in this regard, you have exposed your children to dangerous or ruining tendencies. Once they see someone who is providing for them, thus they are susceptible to getting unwholesomely influenced. Some parents have indeed contributed to the waywardness of their children .

A social media Influencer, Ayekooto Akindele opined recently on his Facebook post, “Home Training is the greatest thing you owe the country as a patriotic citizen. Give it to your children before you give them smartphones”. Giving them smartphones early in life could lead them to such an unpalatable enterprise, if they are not properly monitored. It is better you don’t even give them.

I have read it online where mothers of Yahoo boys are calling themselves Association of Yahoo boys mothers Association. This is heart-wrenching and despicable. I have also heard that some parents advertently took their children to learn “Yahoo Yahoo”. This is also another sad one. Sometimes in 2020 in Ado Ekiti, the day the soccer maestro Diego Armando Maradona died, I was sitting in front of a restaurant with other colleagues and a young man was driving in an exotic car with some guys with him. Then one of the men who were also sitting close to a Vulcaniser spotted the young man and said ” him head dey there now, na Yahoo boys him dey drive. I was shocked and concluded that he was one of the bad parents contributing to the proliferation of Yahoos.The man by my observation could be in his 60s .Apparently, such a man does not see anything bad in such an unholy enterprise.

*Government attitude*: Our government laxity in providing jobs and enabling environment for private sectors to engage the youths is largely instrumental to the ugly social trend. Of course, the government can’t employ all her citizens; but can provide an enabling environment for private sectors to absolve many citizens.

*Get-rich-quick syndrome*: The youths of today want to cut corners and get rich quickly, forgetting the consequences of such excessive ambitions.

*Quest for luxury and freedom*: They want to belong to certain class in the society who are using exotic cars, Living in mansion and romancing beautiful women around them ,and lavishing the ill-gotten wealth on them uncontrollably.

*Peer group and Societal Pressure*. Mingling with bad boys can encourage innocent young men into Yahoo.Some parents and even the society sometimes mount unnecessary pressure on their sons by vituperating dangerous remarks that may ginger them into Yahoo business.

The National Assembly has huge responsibility towards addressing the threat by coming up with serious legislation that would spell out punishment for those who engage in Yahoo and Yahoo plus. They should also focus on the role of security agents in combating the menace because it has been rumoured that some security agents are also accomplices.

The Role of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in combating the menace is commendable. There have been so many arrests and convictions of young men accros the country who are into Yahoo Yahoo. But frankly, what the EFCC is doing is basically a reactive approach; we must however imbibe a holistic approach that would engender both proactiveness and reactiveness.

A veritable aspect of the proactiveness is good parenting. If parents invest their energy, care and prayers, the children would be far from the various wayward tendencies, such as Yahoo Yahoo. Though we cannot rule out the fact that some parents have been dutiful in their roles, their children have chosen to betray positive moulding. Whichever way, good parenting remains the prerequisite towards ensuring that the menace is reduced to the barest minimum in our society.

The National Orientation Agency (NOA) has a role to play here. They should come up with jingles on radio,television and Internet that would dissuade young men from venturing into the menace of “Yahoo Yahoo” ; it would help the entire young population in the short and in the long run. There should also be the aspect targeted at parents, where the jingles would dramatise or explain the consequences of failing to protect and prevent their children from such evil machinations. The jingles should also focus on the Fleetingness of joy embedded in the Yahoo thing.They can equally partner other agencies in order to take the campaign to schools and other places.

It is imperative to establish that Yahoo Yahoo is more prevalent in some regions than the others. Hence, NOA should focus more on the regions where it is rampant. That doesn’t mean other regions should be disregarded. It is a serious threat to our noble existence and collective measures must be taken to addressing the menace. A stitch in time, they say, saves nine.

abdurraheemsaaddembo@gmail.com

#

Opinion

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

Published

on

 

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.

#

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

 

Continue Reading

Opinion

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

Published

on

 

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

Continue Reading

Opinion

The Movement (Tafiyar Matasa) and the Very Big Questions to Answer

Published

on

Comr. Habu Hassan Abdullahi

Comr. Habu Hassan Abdullahi

Yes, I am not some sort of social critic who would unfairly denigrate someone’s achievement for personal gain or political interest that I do not have. Thus, this is pre-eminently the right time to speak the truth to the members of my generation in Nigeria whether they care to accept it or not. But remember the truth is always truth and can stand alone.

No doubt that not everyone is happy with how leadership is running in this country, with the exception of those at the corridor of power. But this is not enough to be a raison d’etre to handle our dear nation to the hands of inexperienced youths. Forgive my pen for the use of “inexperienced”. Just because most of them have never been to real leadership. Of course, I am myself opposed to the exclusionary habit of the present politicians, they’ve relegated youths to the mantle of power but we have to cautiously control our faculty of thinking to avoid getting entangled in a lust for power.

I was very happy when I heard the idea of “The Movement” known as “Tafiyar Matasa” in the Hausa language. And of course, the genesis of the movement was attributed to the unavoidable “EndBadGovernance” protest of 1st August, 2024. The movement began immediately after the protest, in fact, it is one of the noticeable outcomes of the protest due to the unity it brought. The idea of the movement was preached and promoted by some prominent northern activists and social media influencers to serve as a last resort to the youths in their effort to bring good governance. No one can deny the fact this is a laudable effort. But the very big question supposed to be asked here is: youthfulness is the only parameter and yardstick to measure the caliber of a good leader? If yes, why Yahaya Bello (Former Governor of Kogi) and Abdurrasheeed Bawa (former EFCC Boss) were arraigned for looting the public treasury! The point I want to make here is, being young or old will not be a determining factor for an individual to be a good leader. We can have corrupt leaders within any range of age.

Another important issue to take into cognizance is the failure of some youths to comprehend the logic and existing distinction between being a good activist and being a good leader. Leadership is quite different from activism, therefore, a good activist may not necessarily be a good leader. It is common knowledge that the conveners of this important movement lack practical leadership acumen and organizational skills that are fundamental for successful leadership. Okay, should we handle our future to the trial and error leaders? We have to exercise extraordinary care when it comes to leadership.

#

Yet another problem faced by this movement is financial constraints. To be sincere and frank, the quantum resources required to run a great national political movement like this oversizes the pockets of the conveners. Another organic question to ask here is: where the movement conveners can solicit humongous financial resources? From the politicians they are castigating? If yes, this is performative contradiction!

Finally, I would like to remind my fellow youths that new breed, as the late Yusuf Maitama said, cannot solve the Nigerian problem. There must be mutual cooperation and understanding between the new breed and old breed. We must work together with them to acquire all necessary experience, knowledge, and practical leadership skills.

Written by
Comr. Habu Hassan Abdullahi
From Bayero University, Kano
Department of Education
Contact via 07065941454 or habu92hassan@gmail.com

 

Continue Reading

Trending