Opinion
A Tribute to late Sarkin Gobir of Ilorin, Captain Muhammad Ahmad Yusuf -Gobir
Opinion
The Movement (Tafiyar Matasa) and the Very Big Questions to Answer
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
Opinion
Time to Move on at the University of Abuja
By Alabi Lut
In the past four months, the University of Abuja has been in the news over the appointment of a substantive vice-chancellor. Controversies and disagreements surrounding such appointments are not necessarily unexpected, particularly in a university situated in the Federal Capital Territory, near the seat of power. What is unusual and unnecessary, however, is that those who feel aggrieved that they or their preferred candidates were not appointed have refused to wake up to the reality of Professor Aisha Sani Maikudi’s leadership. Instead of accepting the decision, they have continued their attacks on the University and the person of the Vice-Chancellor.
Despite these persistent attacks, Professor Maikudi has continued to receive accolades and congratulatory messages from both within and outside the University community. The University Senate, which comprises Deans, Academic Directors, Heads of Departments, and Professors, has congratulated her as well and thrown its weight behind her leadership by passing a vote of confidence in the Chairman of the Governing Council, Air Vice Marshal Saddiq Ismaila Kaita. This should send a strong message to the small clique of dissenters that she is well accepted.
What is even more significant is that the management of the University and the Vice-Chancellor herself have refused to be distracted by this orchestrated smear campaign. Instead, the vice chancellor has remained focused on academic and administrative activities to ensure the growth and development of the institution.
One of the major events on the University’s calendar is the upcoming matriculation ceremony. Following a commendable admission exercise, thousands of newly admitted students are set to be officially welcomed into the university this week. For these students and their parents, guardians, this ceremony will be quite memorable to them.
Also, the University has already scheduled its 29th convocation ceremony for this month. It will be a momentous occasion for students who have successfully completed their academic programmes and are now set to graduate.
Since assuming office, Professor Maikudi has met with virtually all key stakeholders to give them a sense of belonging. She appreciates the importance of bringing the University community together to actualise her vision and move the University forward. Her appointment continues to resonate with the whole world. No wonder that on Friday 31st December 2025, when she turned 42, she was celebrated as that leader who means a lot to the University community. At the occasion which attracted great personalities, including the governor of her home state, Katsina, Dikko Umar Radda; Governor Uba Sani of Kaduna State, and former governor and speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Bello Masari, and other prominent personalities, one guest noted jocularly, “Maikudi shouldn’t be celebrated just because she’s now Vice-Chancellor or because she’s hit the big 4-2. She should be celebrated because she’s got the brains to take the university to greater heights—and let’s be honest she is beautiful too!”
Managing a tertiary institution, especially a big one like the University of Abuja, is no small task. Established in 1988, the University has come a long way, still it has much ground to cover in terms of infrastructure and academic development.
While past leaders played their own part, there is no doubt that more work needs to be done. I think the University community understands this as well as the vice-chancellor.
At a recent town hall meeting with student leaders, Maikudi was met with both congratulatory messages and pressing demands. The students, while pledging their support, shared their various expectations, which included need for increased hostel accommodation and transportation. Indeed, the current demand for hostels far exceeds available space, and many have had to seek alternatives. However, her promise to expand accommodation facilities through public-private partnerships has given a lot of hope to both students and staff.
The need to revise the university’s academic calendar is another crucial task. Disruptions caused by previous Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) strikes and the COVID-19 pandemic have left the institution struggling to maintain a stable academic schedule. Thankfully, the University Senate took a welcomed decision for a structured, well-maintained calendar that will help the smooth running of academic programmes in the coming years.
One of the biggest challenges that will face the administration of Maikudi will be funding. Like most Nigerian public universities, the University of Abuja operates on a lean budget. The issue of inadequate funding is compounded by other challenges, such as encroachment on the university’s over 11,000 hectares of land.
However, Professor Maikudi is no stranger to leadership. She has steadily risen through the ranks—from being a Head of Department to Deputy Dean of Law, Director of the University’s International Centre, then Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Acting Vice-Chancellor — to become the substantive Vice-Chancellor. Her experience so far means she understands the University’s workings inside out, and this puts her at a vantage position to handle its challenges effectively. As an administrator with impressive networking skills, the issue of funding particularly should be well mitigated.
At this point, those who remain opposed to her appointment should acknowledge her competence and level of preparedness, and accept that it is time to move forward. Sure, leadership comes with its fair share of obstacles, and history has shown that great leaders often face certain resistance before achieving success. Perhaps the opposition she has encountered so far are simply part of the journey meant to fortify her and edge her toward changing the University of Abuja for the better.
One of her key strategies, which has been widely welcomed, is working with a new team of competent individuals who can help her achieve her vision. The recent appointment of Abubakar Sadiq Abba as Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic) by the University Senate is praiseworthy. Abba, a professor of political science will hold this position for another two years and will be expected to help the vice chancellor, along with other management members, towards realising the strategic objectives of her administration.
The University of Abuja needs at this moment, a leader like Professor Maikudi to move it beyond the present point. Now is the time to focus on building a stronger, more vibrant University of Abuja. And she deserves every support to actualise this vision.
Those who have resisted her leadership must now recognise the need to collaborate in this important journey. There can be hardly any progress without unity. The University, its students, and the broader academic community stand to benefit far more from such a collaborative approach than from continued division.
Alabi Lut writes from No 42B Federal Housing Lugbe, Abuja.
Opinion
Sahara Reporters, Maikudi And University Of Abuja, By Abdulgaffar Olatumbosun
Journalism has always fascinated me for its power to reflect society, inform the public, and hold institutions accountable. My decision to study Communication and Media Studies at the University of Abuja was fueled by this passion. Over time, I have come to understand that journalism is not merely about storytelling or breaking news—it carries deep ethical responsibilities, including accuracy, balance, and integrity.
Unfortunately, these principles seem to be diminishing in many media organisations today. Rather than prioritizing objectivity and fairness, some outlets have embraced sensationalism, bias, and even outright falsehoods. This troubling trend has been evident in the recent media coverage surrounding the appointment of the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Abuja, Professor Aisha Sani Maikudi. It is almost as if the institution has been singled out for relentless attacks, with reports that are sometimes misleading, exaggerated, or outright false.
At the forefront of this media onslaught is Sahara Reporters, an online outlet that once attracted the public because of its coverage of wide range of issues. However, over time, it appears to have become simply a platform for personal vendettas, sensationalism, and in some instances, for those who are prepared to offer a price.
In just the last four months, the platform has published over 40 news stories about the University of Abuja, 38 of which are negative.
Many of these reports relied on spurious, unnamed sources, unverified documents, and unsubstantiated claims, resulting in cheap and puerile blackmail. I remember some sensational headlines such as “43 UniAbuja Profs, Members of Senate Accuse Vice-Chancellor Maikudi of Singlehandedly Fixing Varsity’s Convocation Date.” One amateur video was headlined, “Drama As Acting Vice Chancellor Prof Maikudi Allegedly Sends Vigilantes To Manhandle Professors At Senate Meeting.”
In taking a closer look at most of the stories about the University, it becomes difficult to ignore the possibility that Sahara Reporters is being used by some interests who want to run the University of Abuja down or who desire a certain candidate to be imposed as vice-chancellor by the Council, instead of Maikudi, who was appointed through a transparent and due process. Even at this moment that I write, this online platform remains notoriously unrepentant in what I will refer to as its “bring them down journalism.” One of its most recent stories published on 29th January 2025 cried, “UNIABUJA Crisis: Vice-Chancellor Maikudi Removes Senior Academics Opposing Her Appointment From HOD, Director Positions –Sources.”
The story went on to state that “Maikudi has replaced these experienced individuals with inexperienced junior lecturers, some of whom have been assigned to head departments unrelated to their field of study.” The so-called sources went ahead to describe the University as “being in a state of decay, with academic culture deteriorating rapidly,” and reported that the staff were replaced because they “rejected the ‘illegal’ vice- chancellor.” I have never seen this level of subjectivity in news reporting and writing. These subjective frames are thrown carelessly with high level subjectivity.
But the University of Abuja and individuals like Professor Aisha Sani Maikudi would not be the first victim of its attacks. The platform’s credibility has nosedived and been called into question numerous times, with a growing number of individuals and organisations filing lawsuits over defamatory and libelous reports. Some notable individuals that it has attacked include former Senate President and Governor of Kwara State, Bukola Saraki; Senator Dino Melaye over claims that he had not graduated from Ahmadu Bello University; and Dr Daniel Olukoya, General Overseer of Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries, over a defamatory report published in 2013. In 2023, the Nigerian Army threatened legal action after Sahara Reporters published an article alleging that the military was planning a coup. There is litany of such and related cases in the public domain, where the outlet was sued for libel.
Of recent, it is embroiled in legal tussle over its libellous report on the Inspector General of Police.
Yet, there are many other individuals who have been maligned and defamed by Sahara Reporters that never considered going to court as an option. I think the University, and indeed its vice-chancellor, Professor Aisha Sani Maikudi is in this group. They will probably be contented with the fact that except for the unsuspecting public, many take the Sahara Reporters stories about the University with a pinch of salt. A glance at the comment sections of the SR Facebook posts reveals a growing scepticism about their journalism. Readers are calling out the platform for its obsession with attacking the Vice-Chancellor and the University and asking them to get their sources and news verified. For instance, one Josephine Adama asked, “Why won’t you guys leave this young beautiful woman alone? Do you hate her because she is a woman, or because she is not your candidate? What I read about her in other platforms speak highly of her.”
Another commenter, Jonah Simeon said, “SR, please can you be more ethical in your reporting? Stop maligning the Vice Chancellor of the University of Abuja, you have a duty to be honest and objective. Not running fake stories on her.”
And I quite agree with some of these commenters. Though there are a few who are deceived by the stories in the SR, and joined to castigate the university, media platforms have a duty to inform the public truthfully and uphold the highest ethical standards, not hiding under advocacy to assassinate the character of reputable people and institutions in the country.
But does the SR care about ethics? It is unlikely. In fact, more of these childish, blackmailing reports about the university will make their headlines because it seems that it is through blackmail that the medium makes its name.
As a student of communication and media studies, I will always see journalism as a noble profession built on accuracy, fairness, and transparency. And I advocate that those who stubbornly violate it should be sanctioned appropriately by regulatory bodies, like the ombudsman.
As for the so-called sources who are busy trying to destroy their university by attempting to tarnish their image, I am happy that the Senate of my university has made a bold decisive pronouncement against them. The management of the University has now been empowered to deal with them, if they continue to destroy the image of the university and attack the head of this institution unjustly. It is not that any amount of negative press can erase the progress being made at the University of Abuja in the last six months or so or tarnish the leadership of those genuinely working to improve the institution. It is just that because of the respect the profession has, and those of us who look up to practising it do not get discouraged by the few unprofessional platforms such as the Sahara reporters.
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