By Amah Chinyere Esther

What kind of Nigeria will our children inherit?

Will they inherit a nation where effort is rewarded, opportunities are accessible, and education serves as a true ladder of social mobility? Or will they inherit a country where dreams are gradually eroded by poverty, insecurity, unemployment and fragile institutions?

As a student of Development and Strategic Communication, these questions are no longer abstract reflections. They are daily realities that shape how young people interpret their present and imagine their future. They should equally concern policymakers, educators, parents, and every citizen invested in the survival of this nation.

Nigeria remains a country of striking contradictions. It is richly endowed with natural and human resources, yet millions of its citizens struggle to access basic needs. It has one of the largest youth populations in the world, yet many of its young people are trapped in cycles of uncertainty, underemployment, or complete exclusion from opportunity.

Nowhere is this contradiction more visible than in education. According to UNICEF, Nigeria has one of the highest numbers of out-of-school children globally, estimated at over 18 million. Behind this figure are not just statistics, but real lives children whose potential may never be developed, whose futures remain uncertain, and whose absence weakens the country’s long-term development capacity.

For those who are in school, the struggle is equally demanding. Across tertiary institutions, students are confronted with rising tuition fees, increasing transportation costs, expensive accommodation, and limited access to learning materials. Many students attend lectures under financial strain, skip meals, walk long distances to campus, or engage in small jobs to remain in school. For a growing number of young Nigerians, education is no longer just academic it is economic survival.

The reality becomes even more troubling when considered alongside graduate unemployment. Each year, thousands of graduates enter the labour market with hope, only to encounter limited opportunities, underemployment, or prolonged job searches. This reality has contributed to an increasing trend of skilled migration, as many young Nigerians begin to see opportunities abroad as more viable than those at home.

This raises critical questions: What is driving the loss of confidence in local opportunities? At what point does a nation begin to lose its most valuable resource its young people? And what urgent reforms are required to reverse this trend?

The Nigeria we hope to become must be fundamentally different from the one we experience today.

It must be a nation where access to quality education is not determined by income level, geography, or social status. Rural and urban children alike must benefit from well-equipped schools, trained educators, and learning environments that encourage creativity, critical thinking, and innovation.

It must be a nation where leadership is defined by accountability and service rather than personal enrichment. Public institutions should function as engines of development, not instruments of privilege.

It must also be a nation that deliberately creates opportunities for its youth. Education without opportunity leads to frustration. Therefore, investment in technology, entrepreneurship, vocational training, and innovation-driven industries must become national priorities rather than policy slogans.

Security remains equally central. No society can develop under constant fear. Students should not fear travelling to school. Communities should not live under threat. Economic activity cannot flourish where insecurity dominates daily life.

Yet, the responsibility of building this future does not rest on government alone. Citizens also bear responsibility. Corruption, indifference, and division weaken national progress just as much as poor governance does. Nation-building requires collective discipline, civic responsibility, and shared commitment to the public good.

As students, we must also recognise our role beyond the classroom. We are not only beneficiaries of national development we are participants in shaping it. The knowledge we acquire, the values we uphold, and the choices we make will influence the direction of this country.

The Nigeria we hope to become will not emerge by chance. It will emerge through deliberate reform, courageous leadership, responsible citizenship, and sustained investment in human development.

The future is not waiting in the distance it is being shaped by today’s decisions.

The children who will inherit this nation are depending on what we choose to fix, ignore, or transform today. They are depending on whether we strengthen our institutions or allow them to weaken further. They are depending on whether we build systems that reward merit or continue to tolerate inefficiency.

If we fail, we inherit a cycle of missed opportunities and declining trust in the nation’s future.

If we succeed, we create a Nigeria where dreams are not only possible but protected, nurtured, and fulfilled.

A nation where dreams thrive is not a fantasy. It is a responsibility.

Amah Chinyere Esther
200 Level Student, Department of Development and Strategic Communication, University of Abuja.

By Ibrahim Olaide Mariam

As a student navigating the intersections of development and communication, I have come to realize that the truest measure of governance is not found in the pages of budget defense documents, but on the very streets our people walk every day. Living in Kwara State offers a front-row seat to a fascinating transition. Walk through parts of Ilorin today, and you are greeted by the tangible impacts of the state’s Urban Renewal Agenda—visible road constructions, flyovers, and modernizing touch-ups that make the state capital look ready for business.

Yet, strategic communication teaches us to look past the surface and listen to the unspoken narratives. While the sounds of caterpillars and pavers echo loudly in our urban centers, a quiet hush still lingers over many of our rural communities and foundational sectors. The infrastructure push under Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq is undeniable and commendable. However, if we are to communicate true, inclusive change, the trajectory of development must shift from being central-heavy to being balance-driven.

My primary observation lies in the growing disconnect between our urban face and our rural backbone. Not far from the newly interlocked urban roads are agrarian communities like Agbeyangi in Ilorin East, alongside various outposts in Kwara North and South, where the pace of development seems to have slowed to a crawl. Farmers still struggle with the perennial nightmare of evacuating their produce to the markets because the inner link roads remain unmotorable. When rural infrastructure gaps persist, the economic ripple effect hits everyone—driving up food prices in the urban markets and widening the poverty gap.

Furthermore, economic development is only as resilient as the digital and physical security of its citizens. Kwara has long prided itself as the “State of Harmony,” but harmony requires constant maintenance. With the government recently rolling out its 2026 Action Plan for the Ease of Doing Business, the intentions are bright. But you cannot easily do business if the local micro-entrepreneur feels choked by a lack of steady power or if political friction dominates local headlines more than community-level empowerment.

If I were to sit across the table from the state executive council, my recommendations would be rooted in sustainable, equitable growth rather than cosmetic progress.

First, the administration needs to urgently decentralize its infrastructure machinery. It is time to pause the heavy concentration on city-center face-lifts and redirect that energy toward a “Rural Renaissance.” Reconstructing critical agrarian axes like the Panada-Agbeyangi-Yarun road network, for instance, would do more for Kwara’s food security and local economy than another urban roundabout.

Second, the government must aggressively bridge the gap between policy and the grassroots. The newly launched land digitization systems via kwara state geographic information service (KWGIS) and the Ease of Doing Business frameworks are excellent on paper, but they remain abstract concepts to the average market woman or small-scale factory owner in Omu-Aran or Kaiama. The Ministry of Business, Innovation, and Technology must translate these reforms into localized town hall engagements and accessible micro-incentives.

Kwara is standing on the threshold of massive growth. The foundation is being laid with asphalt and concrete, but the superstructure must be built on human capital, rural inclusion, and economic empathy. By balancing the scales between the capital city and our rural communities, the government can ensure that the “State of Harmony” becomes not just a political slogan, but a lived reality for every Kwarand.

Ibrahim olaide mariam
Department of strategic communications university of Abuja

By Alhaji Bashir Hayatu Gentile

The military is an institution all over the world that is synonymous with discipline and due process. It has made an impact in running nations and institutions throughout the world.

With both old and modern warfare at hand, no nation will pride itself or exist without facing existential threats if it lacks a military.

It is these military ethos and discipline that are passed from generation to generation for the effective running of state affairs.

Without much digression from the main subject matter at hand, the Emir of Kano, Muhammad Sanusi II, with due diligence and humility, is the most modern Emir in the history of Kano and the Dabo dynasty. He is the first Emir in Kano to combine two systems of education, both Islamic and Western. The world has testified that the Emir is making every effort to uplift the status of the Kano Emirate.

It is on this note that the Emir of Kano, Muhammad Sanusi II, will, on Friday, 26 June 2026, turban the former Chief of Air Staff, retired Air Marshal Muhammad Dikko Umaru, as Sarkin Fulanin Jaidanawa of Kano.

Since his ascension to the throne of Kano and that of his forefathers on 8 June 2014, 12 years ago, the Emir has been making appreciable efforts to ensure that learned technocrats who have distinguished themselves in their careers become part and parcel of the movers and shakers of the ancient Kano Emirate.

Sarkin Fulanin Jaidanawa is a great traditional title, and the Emir decided to carefully analyse and select one of the most suitable heirs to the traditional title in the person of the retired Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Muhammad Dikko Umaru.

Without much ado, let us cruise into the profile of the newly turbanned Sarkin Fulanin Jaidanawa, Air Chief Marshal Muhammad Dikko Umaru, and see how Emir Muhammad Sanusi II separated the chaff from the grain.

THE PROFILE

1.
Air Marshal Muhammad
Dikko Umar (Rtd) was born on
June 20th, 1955, in Dambazau,
Kano Municipal Local
Government Area, Kano State into
the family of Umaru Babura, the
Sarkin Fulani Ja’idnawa of Kano.
His parents, Umaru Abdulaziz and
Salamatu Muhammad Dikko were
cousins and direct descendants of
Malam Inusa Dabon Dambazu the
leader of Dambazawa Fulani clan.
Dabo Inusa was one of the
prominent leaders of Sokoto Jihad
which culminated in the
appointment of Suleiman as the
first Emir of Kano. Malam Inusa
was the only one amongst the Kano
leaders that fought alongside Sheik
Usman bin Fodio in the battle of
Tsunsua that led to the victory of
the Jihad. Dabo Inusa was the
military arm of the Jihad in Kano
which is one aspect of his
grandfather that Air Marshall
inherited. Umaru, father of Dikko
was the son of Abdulaziz, son of
Umaru and son of Dabo Inusa. His
mother Salamatu Muhammad
Dikko was the daughter of
Muhammad Dikko the fifth Sarkin
Bai of Kano, whose name Air
Marshal inherited, was the son of
Abdurrahman who was the son of
Dabo Inusa. His grandmother
Hauwa from the father’s side was
the granddaughter of Emir
Suleiman and his grandmother
Asama’u from the mother’s side
was the granddaughter of Sheik
Usman bin Fodio. DISTINGUISHED MILITARY
CAREER
2. Muhammad Dikko Umar
started his school at Victory
College, Ma’adi, in Cairo, Egypt in
1963 following the grant of
scholarship slots by President
Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein to
the Emir of Kano, Alhaji
Muhammad Sanusi I, which
Muhammad Dikko Umar
benefited from. After completing
his primary education in 1969, the
young Muhammad Dikko Umar
returned to Nigeria to continue his
secondary school education at
Sheik Sabbah College Kaduna
later renamed Sardauna Memorial
College. In 1976, the young
Muhammad Dikko Umar enlisted
into the Nigerian Air Force as a member of the Short Service
Course 12 Special Pilot Enlistment
Exercise to begin the process of a
distinguished military career.
3. On completion of his basic
military and pilot training in
Kaduna and the United Kingdom,
he was posted Benin in 1980 to
begin his flying career. He returned
to Kaduna in 1982 to serve as a
Flying Instructor and later rated a
Qualified Flying Instructor. In
December 1983, he received his
posting to the Presidential Air Fleet
where he not only spent 16 years
out of his 23 years of flying career
but unarguably where he
distinguished himself as a pilot and
professional of repute. From 1983
to 2000, when he served at the
Presidential Air Fleet, he flew all
the Presidents and Heads of State
including their deputies. He had
the singular privilege of flying Mr
Kofi Anan, the 7th Secretary
General of the United Nations as
well as Mr Sepp Blatter, the
President of FIFA. He held many
positions in the Nigerian Air Force
during his distinguished career. By
the special grace of the Almighty
Allah, these successes were
crowned with the appointment of
Air Marshal Muhammad Dikko
Umar (Rtd) as the 17th Chief of the
Air Staff on the 8th September
2010.
HIS FAMILY
4.
Air Marshal Muhammad
Dikko Umar (Rtd) is married to
Hajiya Aisha Uwani Umar from
the family of late Alhaji
Muhammad Bello Bature
(Garkuwan Wazirin Sokoto) and
Hajiya Aishatu Muhammad
Bature. They were married on the
24th March 1989. The marriage is
blessed with five lovely children:
two boys, Faisal and Farouk; three
girls, Salma, Aisha and Maryam.
NATIONAL HONOURS
5.
Air Marshal Muhammad
Dikko Umar (Rtd) was awarded
the Distinguished Flying Star
(DFS) and the National honour of
Commander of the Federal
Republic (CFR) by President
Goodluck Jonathan GCFR for his
meritorious service to the
nation.
FIKA EMIRATE AND
SOKOTO CALIPHATE
6.
The Fulani and Fulani
settlements have existed in the old
Emirate of Fika for many
centuries. This co-existence
engendered inter-marriages,
scholarship and monumental
commerce. It is well known that
the cattle market in the Emirate is
by far the largest in the West
African sub-region, which also
attracted the hides and skin market.
Most importantly, we must not
forget the show of uncommon
solidarity, love, faith, support and
courage by Moi Suleiman of Fika
to Sultan Muhammadu Attahiru I,
the last independent Sultan of
Sokoto Caliphate even when war
with the British colonialists was
imminent. Indeed, the war at
Bormi, 5km east of Bajoga in
present day Gombe State in 1903
was the fiercest battle against the
colonialists in Northern Nigeria
and its impact was monumental in
many respects. Sultan
Muhammadu Attahiru I was
martyred in the battle while Moi
Suleiman of Fika had to abdicate
his throne to avert the siege on Fika
by the colonialists’ forces. This
close bond of friendship between
the Bolawa and Fulani has
continued to manifest in the
honours and titles like Sarkin
Fulani, Hardo etc the Emirate
bestows on its worthy sons.
JA’IDANAWAN KANO
7. The title of “Sarkin Fulani
Ja’idanawa” was the most
prominent amongst what was
known as Kano Nine. These were a
group of village heads appointed
by the Emir to protect the boarders
of the Emirate. With the coming of
the Europeans the role of Kano
Nine was no longer required.
(Kano Emirate then include most
of present day Jigawa State).
However, when Emir
Muhammadu Sanusi 1 appointed
Umaru Babura as the Kano
Emirate Councilor of Agriculture
and Natural Resources in 1955 the
title of Sarkin Fulani Ja’idanawa
was selected for him as most
appropriate for the task at hand.
Agriculture was the mainstay of Nigerian economy and Kano led
the way with the production of
Groundnuts that made Kano
Groundnut Pyramids famous all
over the world. His role in
i mproving all aspects of
agriculture that included
conservation of forests, animal
health, fisheries and converting of
tsetse fly menace soon made
Umaru Babura noticed by
Northern Nigerian Government
when they appointed him the first
Minister of Establishment and
Training in the North that was
given the task of accelerating
training of Northern Nigerians to
catch up with southern part of the
country. His transfer to Ministry of
Social Welfare and Co-operatives
in 1964 made Ja’idanawa a
household name in Northern
Nigeria because of the nature of his
ministry that requires a lot of
travelling all over the North. It
was during this time that Ahmadu
Bello Stadium, Kaduna was built.
Dabon Dambazau was the richest
among all the jihad leaders in kano
and he used his resources to
sponsor the jihad from its inception
to its conclusion as narrated by
Dr.Uba Adamu
OTHER TITLES
In Osun State, His Royal Highness,
Oba Adeleke Agunbiade Oke,
Agunbiade III, the Ajalaye of
Ipetu-Ijesa, conferred upon Air
Marshal Muhammad Dikko Umar
(Rtd) the prestigious traditional
title of Olu Omo of Ipetu-Ijesa.
Further recognition came from the
South-South region of Nigeria,
where His Royal Majesty
AVM LO Ararile (rtd), Avwaeke I,
the Ovie of Umiaghwa-Abraka
Kingdom honoured him with the
chieftaincy title, Oyukor ‘Ovie in
Delta State. Also, the Odezuluigbo
III
of Nike Kingdom, Enugu,
South East Nigeria, His Royal
Majesty Barr Julius Nnaji, the then
King bestowed on him the
chieftaincy title of “Okenwa Ana
Amulu Oha” of Nike Kingdom.
These numerous honours and
traditional titles bestowed upon the
Sarkin Fulanin Ja’idanawan Kano
stand as a testament to his
exemplary character, exceptional
leadership, broad acceptance, and
unwavering integrity. They reflect
the profound respect, trust, and
admiration he commands across
Nigeria’s diverse communities,
ethnic groups, and regions. Such
recognitions underscore his
enduring contributions to national
development, the promotion of
unity, and selfless service to
humanity.
JA’IDANAWAN FIKA
His Royal Highness, the Emir of
Fika, Alhaji Muhammadu Abali
ibn Muhammadu Idrissa ibn
Suleiman, in keeping with the
noble tradition of his forebears,
conferred upon Air Marshal
Muhammad Dikko Umar ibn
Umaru Babura (Rtd) the
prestigious title of Ja’idanawan
Fika. This honour was bestowed in
recognition of a distinguished son
of the Sokoto Sultanate and a
steadfast friend of the Fika
Emirate.
Air Marshal Muhammad Dikko
Umar (Rtd), the Ja’idanawan Fika,
is a former Chief of the Air Staff, an
accomplished administrator, and a
consummate officer and
gentleman whose exemplary
service has earned him widespread
respect and admiration. His tenure
as Chief of the Air Staff was
distinguished by visionary
leadership, professionalism, and
f ar-reaching institutional
transformation.
Paying tribute to his leadership, his
former superior and mentor, Air
Chief Marshal Paul Dike (Rtd),
remarked:
“Umar’s leadership style has
placed the Nigerian Air Force well
ahead of other agencies and has
made the Service better positioned
to meet the contemporary
challenges confronting our
nation.”
This distinguished honour further
reflects the high esteem in which
Air Marshal Muhammad Dikko
Umar is held and acknowledges his
enduring contributions to national development.

Air Chief Marshal Muhammad Dikko Umaru’s profile and his contribution to the development of Nigeria, as someone who worked in the Presidential Fleet and flew many Nigerian leaders, make it imperative to understand that the Kano Emirate Council, as envisaged in Emir Muhammad Sanusi’s vision, will continue to soar higher in bringing development to the Emirate and the entire Kano State.

With the discipline, military ethics, and political experience acquired by Air Marshal Muhammad Dikko Umaru, coupled with his esprit de corps, it is pertinent to note that Emir Muhammad Sanusi’s vision of instilling discipline in the Kano royalty will be second to none in the entire federation.

Alhaji Bashir Hayatu Gentile is a member of the Organising Committee for the turbaning of the new “Sarkin Fulanin Jaidanawa of Kano,” Air Marshal Muhammad Dikko Umaru.