-
Sheikh Lawal Abubakar: Eight long years on
Thursday, May 24, 2012 marked exactly eight years since the painful but inevitable demise of my late father, Sheikh Lawal Abubakar (May Allah have mercy on him and on those before him). All the memories I have of my late father are sweet ones. Like every responsible father, Malam never compromised as far as our…
-
Imam Dahiru Lawal Abubakar: 1970-2022
When our father died in May 2004, he led the funeral prayer as our father instructed. Through that singular act, he became the face of our family, with many thinking he was the eldest son of our father. But he was the seventh of the 30 children that survived our father.
-
Environmental Pollution: Rivers in Asia are turning black
When Haji Muhammad Abdus Salam looks across the trash-filled river near his home in one of Dhaka’s major garment manufacturing districts, he remembers a time before the factories moved in. “When I was young there were no garment factories here. We used to grow crops and loved to catch different kinds of fish. The atmosphere…
-
Trump, Vicar of Fear and Violence
The use of white fear and white victimhood as potent political weapons is as old as the country itself. Donald Trump is just the latest practitioner of this trade. As Robert G. Parkinson wrote in “The Common Cause,” his book about patriot leaders during the American Revolution, politicians used fears of insurrectionist enslaved people, Indian…
-
Buhari: Alternate Power Generation For Homes And Industries
We cannot afford to fail again on generation of electricity to homes and industries in Nigeria. But we certainly need a new approach without dislocating the enormous investments made by previous governments. A good example is how affordable cell phones are in Nigeria these days, compared to petty traders that acquired them in Benin Republic…
-
The Scandals Buhari Cannot Ignore, By Muhammad Al-Ghazali
In a little over a month from now the President-elect General Muhammadu Buhari is scheduled to be sworn into office. His road to the presidency was not an easy one and should one day inspire a Hollywood movie. In terms of perseverance and human endurance, Buhari’s tenuous route to the presidency can only be compared…
-
GEJ: Between “Persecution” And “Prosecution”
By Muhammad Al-Ghazali When the history of the presidency of Goodluck Ebele Jonathan (PHD) is written, one of the most enduring legacies of his tenure will undoubtedly be the incredible liberties the man and his wife took in their choices and application of the English language. Another of such legacies will also be his frequent…
-
Growing Up Fearful in Nigeria
ABA, Nigeria — Horror calls down to us from northern Nigeria. Most of the 276 schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram rebels last spring are still unaccounted for. On Nov. 10, Boko Haram bombed a high school in Potiskum, killing at least 48 children. Last month, the group killed 48 fish vendors near the border with…
-
Vladimir Putin: The rebuilding of ‘Soviet’ Russia
The world was stunned when Russia invaded Crimea, but should it have been? Author and journalist Oliver Bullough says President Vladimir Putin never kept secret his intention to restore Russian power – what’s less clear, he says, is how long the country’s rise can continue. On 16 August 1999, the members of Russia’s parliament –…