Abdulsamad Rabiu has donated N1 billion to Ahmadu Bello University, ABU, Zaria, for the construction of additional students hostel and Department of Building in the university campus.

The Businessman made the donation through his Abdul Samad Rabiu Africa Initiative (ASR Africa Initiative).


Mr Rabiu, represented by Aliyu Idi-Hong, said the donation was part of the foundation’s education-based intervention for 2021.

He disclosed that the foundation had earmarked $100 million annual fund for social development and renewal, which is expected to support various interventions in education, health and social development within Nigeria and Africa.

Rabiu explained that of the $100 million dollars annual grant, $50 million was set aside for Nigeria while $50 would be for the rest of Africa every year.

“Therefore, ASR, Africa Initiative is making the provision of a one billion grant each to ABU Zaria and five other universities one from each geopolitical zone of the country.

” The other five beneficiaries are University of Nigeria Nsukka, University of Maiduguri, University of Ilorin, University of Ibadan and University of Benin.

“We intend to commence the project soon,” he said.

Mr Rabiu said five universities could also quickly identify such projects with their team to fast-track the project initiation process.

He added that the grants were expected to go a long way in bridging the infrastructure deficit in education in Nigeria and other African countries.

In his remarks, Prof. Kabir Bala, Vice Chancellor, ABU, expressed appreciation for the donation.

Mr Bala noted that ABU was one of the largest universities in Nigeria with over 60, 000 undergraduates and post graduate students.

“We are accommodating less than 30 percent of the students and that is grossly inadequate considering the security challenges in the region.

“We would like to accommodate all our students especially the undergraduates, that is what informed our decision,” he said.

He also noted that in the master plan the University, Faculty of Environmental Design would move to Phase 2, adding that the last five vice chancellors had attempted to do that in various ways.


He added that there were four buildings in the Environmental Design faculty, which had eight departments and university would want to continue with building the faculty and subsequently move to the new site.

“The next department we are building is the Department of Building,” the vice chancellor said.

Arrewa:
Nice!

LATE ALHAJI MAI DERIBE Was A Famed Billionaire of Borno, Who built Gold-marble house In Maiduguri and Customized (owned) A Gulfstream G550 Model Of private jet in 80s.

Late Deribe was extremely wealthy is a fact and even more factual is his action of dazzling others with his luxurious wealth. And many other Nigerians remember him more for the trappings of his wealth.

In the 1980s, he was one of the very few people on earth who were cruising around in the newly-released Gulfstream G550 private jet.

It is believed that he was among the first 12 people to purchase the customized version of this jet in the early 1980s, putting him in the same league with Yoshiaki Tsutsumi of Japan who was the richest man in the world at that time and other billionaires like Khalid Ibn Mahfouz of Saudi Arabia and Robert Edward ‘Ted’ Turner, the owner of CNN.

-There is also the Deribe Palace (Gidan Deribe) in Maiduguri, the state capital. Sprawling and vast, the building’s majesty was enough to impress the late Princess Diana and her husband, Prince Charles, King Juan Carlos I of Spain who stayed in the palace for two days in 1986 (the Spanish king was said to have been amazed with such opulence right in the middle of a vast desert) and even a son of an American President (George Bush would later become the US President himself), all of whom were hosted in the gold-marble building which was so exquisite that its commissioning was done by military president, General Ibrahim Babangida.

IBB was also a guest at the palace, while another high-profile guest is a retired army general, Muhammad Saad Abubakar, now the Sultan of Sokoto.

Many Nigerians were flabbergasted at the majesty of the Deribe Palace when Ovation magazine did a feature on the man and his wealth in early 2000.

How much did the palace cost him? Just $100 million. And cleaning his house was said to have cost N5million per month.

This is what Dele Momodu, the publisher of Ovation has to say on the Mai Deribe piece, which he said was one of the most memorable
for his company:

After that, I think the Mai Deribe in Maidugri. I also flew in Colin Ramsey from London to do p the photography for us and this is a man who has photographed Imelda Marcos (former First Lady of the Philippines) and all the top stars.

MAI DERIBE THE PHILANTHROPIST...

Mai Deribe was known and is still revered by the people of Borno for his charitable activities while alive. He pumped money into various ends, and these include:

-Construction of the Deribe Central Mosque, Old Maiduguri, Jere Local Government, Borno. It was commissioned by General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida.

-In the early 1980s, Mai Deribe upon returning from overseas (most probably the US or the UK) came with gifts of ultramodern gadgets and equipment for the staff of NTA Maiduguri. NTA is the Nigerian Television Authority. The gadgets were so advanced that it took the staff two years to master it, even after inviting their seniors from NTA Channel2, Victoria Island, Lagos.

-On the 1 st of January, 1987, Mai Deribe gave a sum of N5million naira to the Maiduguri Central Mosque on behalf of his family and that of his brother, late Alhaji Kuli Deribe.

-His neighbours were the people of Fezzan and Old Maiduguri, and they also benefitted from his largesse, he sent money and food to them, one bag of millet per family every month of Ramadan, the Muslim holy month of fasting.

-Construction of the Bulumkutu Central Mosque, Borno, the Aminu Deribe Mosque, the Doggon Masalanchi in the Fezzan Ward of Maiduguri, Deribe Hotel Mosque, School Mosque, Government College, Maiduguri and Fillin Polo Mosque, Airport Mosque. This is in addition to 27 smaller mosques all across the country. In total, he erected 78mosques.

-Deribe Arabic and Islamic Schools.

-For 44 years, Mai Deribe sponsored people to the hajj, the Muslim holy pilgrimage in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Atimes, he would ferry the pilgrims in his own Gulfstream private jet.

-Deribe Hospital along Bulumkutu Road. It was commissioned by Admiral Augustus Aikhomu, the-then Chief of General Staff, the second-in command to General Babangida.

-Construction of the Baga Road Central Market and Shopping Complex.

-In the mid-1980s, Alhaji Mai Deribe dropped the sum of $1million for oil prospectors looking for crude oil deposits in the Gajiganna and Kukawa areas of Bornu State.

Some geophysicists believe that there is a considerable quantity of oil in the Nigerian part of the Chad Basin and that is quite feasible as the Chadians have already started drilling oil in their own part of the basin.

In a recent NTA programme hosted by the suave Cyril Stober, Governor Kashim Shettima said the Federal Government of Nigeria is the one stalling progress on the exploration of crude oil in the Chad Basin.

-Mai Deribe’s company, Preussag Drilling Company, built and donated more than 60 boreholes in rural districts across Borno and Yobe State.

-Mai Deribe sponsored numerous indigent students from Borno State to study abroad, giving them scholarships to England where some of them stayed at his palatial residence in Gloucester, London.

-Mai Deribe was regarded as a patriarch for the people ofvBorno State and that explains why his people ran into his open arms at various occasions. During the devastating flood disaster in September 1994, thousands of displaced residents camped at his house where they were catered to.

Although he was not in the country when the flood happened, he sent a sum of 135million naira (about $375,000) to the Borno State government to assist them with the relief efforts to purchase food items, shelter materials and other accessories for them.
May His Soul Rest In Perfect Peace.

Pictures
Rabi'atu S. Tijjani
M Nasiru

Adamu, told Daily Trust that when he was 9 years, his father enrolled him into a primary school at Nbamnga, some few kilometres away from his village.

Unlike other Fulani, for the pastoralists in the Mambilla plateau in Sardauna Local Government Area of Taraba State, education is a must.

The Fulani in the Mambilla plateau combined cattle rearing and going to school as a serious business.

The young Adamu would join other children in the village and trek to school in faraway Nbamnga to attend classes every morning, and back at home after school hours, he would lead the cows till late evening.

He told Daily Trust that after school hours, he would lead the herds for pasturing and that had been a daily duty as required by the tradition among the Fulani.

Born on October 10, 1985, Adamu said after completion of his primary school in 1998, he proceeded to Government Day Secondary School, Gembu, the headquarters of Sardauna Local Government Area, in 1999, and completed his secondary education in 2005.

“Even after my secondary school, l was leading the herds of cattle of my father and l enjoyed doing that because it is culture and at the same a venture that sustains the family economically,” he said.

After his secondary school and his success at WAEC examination, according to him, he gained admission into Taraba State College of Education, Jalingo, and obtained National Certificate of Education (NCE) in 2009.

“After my studies at college of education, l was told that Federal University, Wukari, was recruiting security guards and l decided to apply and luckily l was employed as a security guard in the university,” he said.

He said he was employed as security guard in 2012 and worked for four years as a guard in the university before gaining admission to read sociology in the same university.

Adamu further stated that the former Vice Chancellor of the University, Professor Abubakar Musa Kundiri, introduced a system which encouraged non-graduates working in the institution who had required entry qualification for degree to apply.

He was inspired by the encouragement given to them by the former vice chancellor and applied for B.sc sociology and got admission in 2016 and graduated in 2019 with good results.

Adamu told Daily Trust that he was employed as graduate assistant in the university soon after his graduation and he is working hard to obtain more academic qualifications.

“My ambition is to become a professor and by the grace God, l will realise my dream,” he said.

On how he is feeling by attaining this height considering his background in cattle rearing, and now a university lecturer, Adamu said, “Nothing is impossible with the help of the Almighty Allah.”

He said education is a must for the Fulani of Mambilla plateau and everyone  is working hard to see their children and wards acquire high level of western education as well as Islamic education.

“We have professors, lawyers, medical doctors, engineers and other professionals all among the Fulani of Mambilla plateau,” he said.

He said when he was a security guard, he was never ashamed of being a guard but inside him, there was an ambition he wanted to achieve.

“I remain grateful to all those that encouraged me to work and become what lam today and will never forget the encouragement of the former vice chancellor and the university for my first appointment as security guard and for allowing me to enroll for a degree course while l was working,” he said.

He said working as a graduate assistant now, he is putting in his best to justify the confidence and encouragement given to him by the institution.

Adamu also said he has now got sponsorship from the university to go to Malaysia and read for a Master’s Degree in sociology.

According to him, the opportunity given to him was very rare for being one of the very few security guards to move to lecturing.

“I think we are only two from security unit to get that opportunity; the first one was a Master’s degree holder who was employed as security guard and is now lecturing and in my own case, I joined the service with NCE and later obtained a sociology degree,” he said.

“Moving with cattle from one place to another is now old fashioned due to so many reasons, so l advise the Fulani to embrace Western Education because with education, you can do livestock business better and safer,” he said.

He said he has his herds of cattle in his village and maintaining them in Simi ranch.

Born in 1897 in Borno, Nigeria, Chari Magumeri enlisted in a colonial unit of the Imperial German Army at the age of sixteen during The Great War and was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd Class for bravery in the field against the British in Northern Cameroon.

The Germans promoted him to the rank of sergeant. When the British occupied part of that territory, Magumeri was inducted into the West African Frontier Force in 1917.

He served in 5th Bn The Nigerian Regiment, in which his father had served for twenty-six years, and has been described as distinguishing himself, which would have pleased his father, presuming the latter were still alive.

One wonders what Chari Magumeri's father would have thought of his son's enlistment in the German army. In the photo (posted below because of dynamic page link problems), RSM Magumeri is wearing the ribands of the MM, BEM, BWM, VM, 1939-1945 Star, Africa Star, Burma Star, Defence Medal, War Medal with MID Oakleaf, 1937 Coronation Medal and the Army LSGC Medal.

He clearly qualified for The Defence Medal during his time in India and in Abyssinia. One wonders if he still had his German documents and his 1914 EK2 or if these were confiscated from him in 1917 after the WWI.

He would have had every right to wear the 1914 EK2 as Civilian after he retired. He would also have been eligible for the 1934 "Hindenburg Cross". One wonders if any former Askari applied to the Nazi government for their 1914-1918 “Ehrenkreuze”.

By 1928, Magumeri was RSM of 3rd Battalion The Nigerian Regiment. During WW2, RSM Magumeri won the MM in the 1940-1941 Abyssinian (Ethiopian) Campaign.

The regiment was later transferred to India with 81st West African Division, fighting in the Naga Hills and in Burma with the 14th Army, where RSM Magumeri MM picked up an MID.

He also received the BEM in 1944 for his long and excellent service. Returning to Nigeria after the war, RSM Magumeri MM BEM MID was involved in training duties and was promoted to Captain on retirement from the service in 1953.

His name remains revered in Nigeria amongst those Nigerians with a sense of pride in their nation and its history but until recently, there were no military establishments named after him, perhaps because his achievements pre-dated independence, his part in the shaping of a new generation of Nigerian soldiers aside.

What an impressive-looking soldier Maigumeri was! An Army barracks has now been named after him in Lokoja.


The below photograph was snapped on the 21st May 1953, Royal Sergeant Major Chari Magumeri, a member of the Nigerian Regiment, with Lieutenant Colonel M M Davie, at Woolwich Barracks, London.

The regiment is part of the colonial contingent which took part in a parade during the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain.
May His Gentle Soul Rest In Prefect Peace.

Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State has approved the appointment of the 28-year-old Kalil Nur-Khalil as the Director, Investment Intelligence at the Kaduna Investment Promotion Agency, KADIPA.

DAILY NIGERIAN reports that until his appointment, Mr Nur-Khalil was the acting head of Investor Relations at the agency.

He also doubled as a Technical Adviser to the Executive Secretary of the agency, Umma Yusuf-Aboki.

Mr Nur-Khalil holds a First-Class bachelors’ degree in Economics and was the best graduating student with a 3.98/4.00 CGPA.

Meanwhile, the state governor has also inaugurated the Board of the investment promotion agency with his deputy, Hadiza Balarabe as the Chairperson.

Recall that on March 10, Mr El-Rufai had appointed the ex-Kano emir, Muhammadu Sanusi II, as the vice-chairman of the board.

Speaking during the ceremony, the governor stressed that the agency was established to compete with all emerging markets within and outside Nigeria.

Mr El-Rufai, therefore, welcomed the members of the Board, especially Mr Sanusi for accepting to “serve the people of the state”.

According to Mr El-Rufai, KADIPA has been an “important and successful vehicle” in the investment drive of the state, helping to attract “over $2.1 billion in actual and pledged investments since 2015.”

The governor urged the board chair to “double its efforts in making the state the topmost investment destination in Nigeria by improving its ease-of-doing-business ranking”.

On her part, Mrs Balarabe assured the governor of the boards’ commitment to improving the record KADIPA holds, “given the calibre of persons on the board”.

The Mambilla Plateau is a plateau in the
Taraba State of Nigeria. The plateau is Nigeria's northern continuation of the Bamenda Highlands of Cameroon.



The Mambilla Plateau has an average elevation of about 1,600 metres (5,249 ft) above sea level, making it the highest plateau in Nigeria. [1] Some of its villages are situated on hills that must be at least 1,828 metres (5,997 ft) high above sea level.


Some mountains on the plateau and around it are over 2,000 metres (6,562 ft) high, like the
Chappal Waddi (more appropriate name: Gang) mountain which has an average height of about 2,419 metres (7,936 ft) above sea level.

It is the highest mountain in Nigeria[3] and the highest mountain in West Africa if Cameroon's mountains, such as Mount Cameroon , are excluded.
The Mambilla Plateau measures about 96 km (60 mi) along its curved length; it is 40 km (25 mi) wide and is bounded by an escarpment that is about 900 m (2,953 ft) high in some places.

The plateau covers an area of over 9,389 square kilometres (3,625 sq mi). [5] Gang ('Chappal Waddi') Mountain is found at the northeastern flank of the Plateau.

LOCATION

The Mambilla Plateau, somewhat to the north of the cradle of the Bantu-speaking peoples (Zeitlyn & Connell, 2003; Griffith, 2007; Martin, 2009),and continuously inhabited for over four millennia by a developing Mambillobantu culture, is found in the southeastern part of Taraba State of Nigeria under Sardauna local government area

(the former Mambilla District set up in January 1940, which became known as 'Mambilla Local Authority' of Mambilla Division in 1970, and then as 'Mambilla Local Government Area' in 1981).

The current 'Sardauna' title is believed to be an inappropriate cognomen for this historically famous spot in Africa, given that the combination of three local government areas in one, which was the tenuous basis for the new appellation, has since ceased to exist.

The false premise of a "sardauna" "discovering" the area is untenable, since the entire former Northern Cameroon Province headquartered at Mubi has since reverted to the use of their various true names.

The people of the Mambilla Plateau are equally entitled to their ancient and historical identity and to be appropriately named, just as all other areas in the defunct "Sardauna" Province.

The name "Mambilla" is a derivative of the ancient name "Mamberre" which has been used for the Mambilla Plateau from ancient times and which concomitantly denotes its inhabitants.


The plateau has its south and eastern escarpments standing along the Cameroonian border , while the remainder of its giant northern escarpment and its western slope are in Nigeria.


CLIMATE
The climate of the plateau is comparatively
cold . Daytime temperatures hardly ever exceed 25 °C (77.0 °F) making it the coolest region in Nigeria.

Strong winds prevail during the daytime, and the rainy season lasts from mid-March until the end of November. A

s a result of its high elevation, the plateau experiences temperate weather conditions but on a smaller scale due to its location in a tropical environment.


RAINFALL

The rainy season on the Mambilla Plateau is associated with frequent and heavy rainfall due to orographic activities on the plateau involving moist winds from the south Atlantic Ocean in southern Nigeria and the steep edges and escarpments of the plateau.

The Mambilla Plateau receives over 1850 millimetres of rainfall annually. It is also mosquito and tse-tse fly free.


TOPOGRAPHY

The Mambilla Plateau is hilly with deep gorges and travelers are constantly passing from one
panoramic view to the other.

The plateau is entirely covered by soil with occasional occurrence of granite .
Drainage

The plateau is dissected by many streams and
rivers ; notably among them are the Donga River and Taraba River, with both having their sources on/from the Mambilla Plateau.


VEGETATION

Vegetation on the plateau comprises low grasses with trees being noticeably absent except for man made forest planted by German colonialist during the period of German administration of the cameroons (c. 1906-1915)and other Nigerian government tree planting programs.

The plateau is the only region of Nigeria that grows the tea plant on a large scale, and there are several tea farms, although the sector remains mostly underdeveloped.

It is also home to the
Gashaka Gumti National Park , which is the largest national park and protected area in all of Nigeria, as well as the Majang Forest known officially as Ngel Nyaki Forest Reserve , both of which harbor rare and endangered West/Central African plant and animal species endemic to the area.

The eucalyptus tree is the dominant tree is these man made forest as a result of the easily adaptability of the eucalyptus tree to the height and the cool climatic conditions on the plateau.

The abundance of low lush green grasses on the plateau has attracted a large number of cattle, whose advent beginning during British rule affected the plateau's vegetation.

This has resulted in overgrazing and widespread erosion on the plateau and has created problems between the cattle herders, referred to as the
fulanis , and the indigenous people, the
Mambila.


TOWNS

The Mambilla Plateau constitutes one of Taraba State's largest local government areas.

There are numerous towns on the plateau with populations ranging from 2,000 to 20,000 people except for Bommi (Gembu), Nigeria|Gembu]]), which is a sprawling ancient Mambilla city with a much higher population.

The latter contains the headquarters of new-christened "Sardauna" Local Government Area which is synonymous with the Mambilla Plateau.

Other important towns on the plateau are Liimil (Mbamga), Mvurr (Warwar), Bang, Mbuk (Tapnyia), Ndik (Kabri), Gam (Vakude), Mbar, Kara, Mang, Dembe, Nge (Leme), Mbun (Kakara) (Which is home to Mambilla Beverages Company Ltd, the only Tea Production Company in West Africa), Furu (Yerrmaru), Yirrum, Ngumbun, Kuma, Kerke (Titong), Mbungnu (Nguroje), New Ndaga (Mayo Ndaga), Benene (Maisamari), and Mamal (Hainare). According to Percival (1938), the Germans met some 200 villages on the Mambilla Plateau,all being of Mambilla origin then.


Today, there are, besides the Mambilla towns and villages, Kaka-Yamba settlements in the southwest along the Cameroonian border which are believed to be of recent emergence (Connell, 1997; Hurault, 1998; SIL ethnologue,2010) and include Anterre and Inkirri established by splinter groups from Mfumte area of Cameroon's North-West Region, both being place names still in use in Mfumte area.

Others are Ndum, Warrkaka, and their satellites emanating from the Donga-Mantung Division of the same Region of Cameroon Republic.


PEOPLE

The major, original and predominant groups of the Mambilla Plateau are the Fulani fulbe with Mambilla since C19th.


Since the British occupation and thereafter, there has been immigration of other groups including the Yamba (Kaka), and trading communities of Igbo, Wimbum (Kambu), Hausa and Banso.

The major Languages spoken on the Mambilla Plateau are Fulfulde (the language of the predominant population, (used for commercial transactions by various groups), Mambila, Yamba (Kaka), Banso, Igbo, etc.


English is used as official language. Note, however, that only the Fulani,Mambilla and Kaka have existing villages while the Fulanis established cattle-farm settlements nestling between these villages in British times.

Christianity and Islam are the main religions today, having gradually displaced the Mambilla Traditional Religion based on Suu, which was the predominant religion before the coming of Christian missionaries and Hausa-Fulanis; and particularly before the 1970s.


ATTRACTIONS

The highland is home to Nigeria and West Africa 's only highland tea plantations, Located In Kakara town.


Nigeria's largest game reserves , the Gashaka/Gumti Game Reserve is found north of the Gang (' Chappal Waddi ') Mountain area just on the northern border of the Mambilla Plateau.

The Gang Peak is West Africa's highest peak (excluding Cameroon's peaks) and has a rich historical and tourist importance steeped in enthralling Mambilla mythologies and legends.


'Chappal Wadi' is a misnomer for the ancient Gang Peak, whose tradition and historical phenomena have spanned several centuries to date (see Bami-Yuno: Jumboni - History of the Mambilla Chiefdom, ms).
A hydroelectric power dam is planned to be constructed on the plateau.


A rich culture, with spectacular cultural dances across the plateau. Splendid waterfalls dot the Mambilla landscape.

JONSYN7154:
OP, is she still alive? I use to know her then in Zaria, she lives at club road or Benin street then. Very strong woman.

niyisky:
It's good they chose the path of peace. They should teach their wards how to live peacefully with others.

No one has monopoly of violence.

Some governors from the Northern region have arrived in Oyo State and are currently holding a closed-door meeting with Governor Seyi Makinde. 

The meeting is a part of the efforts being made to ensure that peace is given a chance following the recent conflict at Shasha market in Ibadan, the state capital.

Present at the meeting which is holding at the government house in Agodi are the governors Bello Matawalle (Zamfara), Abubakar Bagudu (Kebbi), Abdullahi Ganduje (Kano), and Abubakar Bello (Niger).

Details regarding resolutions at the meeting are expected shortly.

Stories from the life of Hajiya Gambo Sawaba, one of northern Nigeria’s most important female political activists, who was born on this day in 1933, have become the stuff of folklore.

According to one, her fighting spirit was evident when, as a young girl growing up in northern Nigeria in the 1930s and 40s, she would always intervene in other children’s fights on the side of the loser, telling them: “I have bought this fight from you”, before carrying on the scuffle.

The fights came frequently, and her clothes would inevitably get torn. So, the story goes, in order to minimise the frequency with which she would have to replace her daughter’s damaged dresses, Sawaba’s mother, Malama Fatima, resorted to making them out of tarpaulin.

Whether or not this particular story was true, there was no denying that throughout her life, Sawaba never shied away from a fight, particularly when it was on the side of the downtrodden.

A TEENAGE ACTIVIST

Her story began on February 15, 1933.

In 1943, when she was 10 years old, her father died. Her mother died three years later and, soon after, at the age of 13, Sawaba was married to a second world war veteran named Abubakar Dan Sarkin. At 16, she gave birth to her only child, Bilikisu.

By the following year, her political activism had begun.

At the time, the British ruled over Nigeria using a system of Indirect Rule, whereby Native Authorities (NA) administered colonial policies in the 12 northern provinces through local emirs and district and village leaders.

The Northern Region was ruled by the conservative Northern Peoples’ Congress (NPC). But in 1950, a school teacher in Kano City called Malam Aminu Kano formed a new political party, Northern Elements Progressive Union (NEPU).

NEPU supported “women’s education in both religious and secular spheres and their being given enough space – politically and economically”.


It was in sharp contrast to the NPC, which controlled the Native Authorities and whose leadership was quoted as saying: “We in the north are happy, our women are happy about their condition. There is not a single Northern woman who has told anyone that she is unhappy. We know what is right for women and our men know what is right for themselves.”

NEPU’s messages resonated with Sawaba’s sense of justice and she became an early member of the party’s women’s wing.

By this time, there were already calls for women’s voting rights in other parts of Nigeria – by the likes of the renowned feminists, Olufunmilayo Ransome-Kuti and Margaret Ekpo in the western and eastern regions of Nigeria, respectively. Sawaba would soon lend her voice to theirs.


‘FREEDOM AND REDEEMTION’

Sawaba was not her birth name. Meaning freedom or redemption, it was given to her by her political mentor, Malam Aminu Kano, after she had been elected president-general of NEPU’s women’s wing.

Although folklore gives an alternative version of how she came by the name. According to this, she became known as Sawaba after attending a political rally at Jakara Market in Zaria. As the crowd waited for the official speaker, a male Zaria council member known as Alhaji Gambo Sawaba, she took to the stage to talk about voting and education rights for women.

When Alhaji Gambo Sawaba arrived, he announced to the audience that as she had been the first woman to address a political rally in the north, she would henceforth be known as Gambo Sawabiya – the feminine version of Sawaba.

If this version of the story is correct, Sawaba clearly preferred the male version as that is the one she stuck to. From then on, in Zaria’s political circles, people differentiated between the two politicians by saying: “Gambo Sawaba [male]; Gambo Sawaba [female].”

Whatever the truth behind her name, Sawaba became synonymous with the politics of freedom and emancipation in northern Nigeria, especially for women.

IMPRISONMENT

She openly advocated against child marriage, forced and unpaid labour and unfair taxes, and canvassed for jobs for women, education for girls and full voting rights.

Her husband’s family, however, were unhappy with her efforts to merge motherhood and political activism and an amicable separation soon followed. As was the custom at the time, her baby daughter was handed over to her in-laws.

But she had also attracted the ire of the authorities. As many women in the north followed the practice of purdah, a form of social seclusion, Sawaba went from house-to-house to speak to them. This displeased the Native Authority in Kano and, in 1952, she was hauled before the conservative Alkali (Magistrates) Court, on charges of “drawing out women who were in purdah”. The court sentenced her to three months in prison.

It was the first of 16 prison sentences she would serve during her lifetime. She was arrested so often, in fact, that she always kept a blanket with the words ‘Prison Yard’ inscribed on it nearby so that she could take it with her whenever the police came for her.

Later that year, the authorities in Kano ordered her to leave the city. To make sure she complied with the order, local law enforcement agents escorted her back to Zaria.

But she continued her political activism – and periods of imprisonment – in her hometown. As well as Zaira and Kano, she was also imprisoned in Kaduna and Jos.


According to the Daily Trust newspaper: “Whenever she was on trial, the courtroom was filled with her supporters.”

But it was not just jail time she endured.

The Daily Trust reported, “On two occasions she was stripped naked and given eighty lashes in Zaria Central Prison. She also endured the indignity and pain of having her hair shaved off with a broken bottle.”

In 1990, Sawaba’s political compatriot, the late Malama Ladi Shehu, told the First Nation Magazine about the abuses female political activists faced: “Gambo and some other NEPU women, very many of them who were imprisoned, had their hair shaven and were beaten up; and some of our members were even killed. Quite a number of them.”


THE VOTE

But imprisonment did not stop Sawaba and other members of the women’s wing of the party campaigning for enfranchisement. In 1956, they marched to the office of the regional premier, Sir Ahmadu Bello, in Kaduna to demand the franchise for women in the north in future parliamentary elections.

The premier said he would consider it – but his pledge came to nothing.

Women in southern Nigeria had been granted a limited franchise in 1951. In 1954, the Eastern Region followed suit and the Western Region in 1959.

But, according to the book Imperialism and Human Rights: Colonial Discourses of Rights by Bonny Ibhawoh, in 1954, the ruling NPC in the Northern Region issued a statement saying: “Women would be given franchise, only in God’s time.”

Eight years later, during a debate in Nigeria’s Senate on voting rights for Northern women, Senator Wuraola Esan, one of the two women in the Senate and a representative from the Western Region, declared: “I daresay, God’s time may never come as far as franchise for women in the north is concerned.”

Again, in 1965, she told the Senate: “I would like to remind my Northern brothers that … it is time the women of the north had the franchise. It is relevant for me to remind our Northern brothers of their promise that the women of the Northern Region will be given the franchise in due course. I am only appealing to them to make that ‘due course’ soon.”

In his autobiography, Bello, who was assassinated during a military coup in January 1966, explained his stand on enfranchisement for Northern women: “I dare say that we shall introduce it in the end here, but – and this is important – it is so contrary to the customs and feelings of the greater part of the men of this Region that I would be very loth to introduce it myself. The education of women must reach a far greater strength, and the numbers of properly educated women must be increased to many times the present, before the vote would be used to full advantage.”

Sawaba did not forget his failure to grant women the right to vote and once declared that were it not “for the fact that women in the North were not allowed to vote or be voted for” she would have stood against him in his own constituency.

Northern women would eventually get the vote in 1976.

Sawaba, however, never achieved electoral success – either with NEPU or the two other parties she joined later on in her career.

In 1998, she announced her retirement, telling the New Nigerian newspaper: “Politics in the country has lost its flavour and is no longer a game of ideology, but a game of self-aggrandisement.”


A HEAVY PRICE

But she had paid a heavy price during her 48 years in politics.

In an interview with the New Nigerian newspaper in 2000, the then 67-year-old Sawaba recalled one of her worst moments, describing how she “was beaten up by six men and left to die in a bush” while on her way to a meeting. No one was ever charged over the assault.

On another occasion, the New Nigerian had quoted her as saying: “There is no opening in my body – mouth, nostrils, eyes or anywhere else – from which blood did not gush out from because of torture.

“My front teeth are artificial. The originals were broken and pulled out.”

She also confirmed that as a result of torture she had endured in prison in 1957, she had needed surgery to remove her womb to save her life.

Having witnessed the emotional and physical pain her mother endured, Bilikisu never contemplated following in her path. Now a 71-year-old grandmother and retired civil servant, she lives in the family home in Benin Street where photos of Karl Marx, Thomas Sankara and Samora Machel had once adorned the living room walls.

“My earliest memories of her when I was growing up was she was fully engaged and involved in civic politics alongside her friends,” Bilikisu recalls. “Our home was the centre of political meetings and activities.”

It was not only political associates who were welcomed in the house.

“Throughout her life, she maintained an open-door policy that saw friends, associates and ordinary members of the public come to the house,” Bilikisu explains.

“[Our] home was never free of adopted children, house guests and visitors.”

While Sawaba was a political activist to the outside world, at home she was someone who loved to cook, her daughter recalls.

“[She] would not allow anyone to cook for her. She had particular favourites, the Nupe traditional dish of Dukuno, and also Tuwon Shinkafa or Sakwara [popular northern Nigerian dishes].”

Sawaba married – and divorced – three more times after her teenage marriage. Her second husband was a railway worker, her third a Cameroonian boxer, who was regularly threatened with deportation by her political opponents, and her fourth a businessman.

After her last marriage ended, Sawaba devoted her energies to caring for the children she had taken in.

After her death at the age of 71 in October 2001, the Daily Trust newspaper wrote: “Gambo Sawaba took on herself the task of training other people’s children. She relished the job of taking care of helpless kids. Apart from dozens of her sister’s children that she brought up and trained, she adopted many from the street … right now there are over 30 of such adopted children in her house. Among them is a baby less than a month old she had just brought from the hospital a few days before her death.”

Bilikisu says that until her dying day, her mother “never stopped hoping for a better society and remained optimistic that Nigerians, especially women, would be free from tyranny and dictatorial leadership in governance”.

Her political status was perhaps illustrated by the presence of two former heads of state at her funeral rites in Zaria.

In its tribute, the New Nigerian described her as: “Blunt, non-conformist and outspoken, the most tortured and jailed Nigerian female politician.”

fuckingAyaya:
Eye for an eye

Victims of ethnic killings in Sasa, Akinyele Local Government Area of Oyo State, have been buried in mass grave on Sunday night.

The violence, which started on Thursday, led to loss of lives, property and wanton arson.

DAILY NIGERIAN gathered that 11 bodies were buried at the local Muslim cemetery around 7pm on Sunday.

Informed sources said so far the death toll had risen to 23, but the rest of the bodies were buried at a different cemetery to “douse tension”.

In an interview with DAILY NIGERIAN on Sunday night, the chairman of the market traders union, Usman Yako, said the death toll had risen to 23, with more reported discovery of corpses in the general area.

So far 23 bodies have been found. Unconfirmed report tonight has it that more bodies were deposited at Sasa police station near Sarkin Sasa residence.

“Eleven bodies have been buried at the Muslim cemetery, while the rest were taken elsewhere in order to douse tension,” Mr Yako said.

Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State and his Ondo State counterpart, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, on Sunday, paid a visit to Sasa community in Ibadan.

The governors, while speaking with residents of the area, appealed for calm and harmonious peaceful coexistence between the Hausa and the Yoruba in the community.

The two governors, who also visited the palace of the traditional ruler of Sasa, urged residents of the community and the state in general to stop taking laws into their hands.

They implored the warring factions in the market to eschew violence and allow peace to reign.

Mr Makinde in particular, after assessing the level of destruction at the market, promised to give palliatives to those whose goods and property were affected by the mayhem.

He further stated that he was reluctant to declare curfew and close the market, “because I felt the economic wellbeing of everyone here is important and because this is where you get what you use to feed yourselves and your families.

“But to curb the crisis from escalating, I will engage your leaders this evening (Sunday).

“One thing is, if you allow those who don’t have anything to lose here to blow this matter out of proportion, no one will be able to say where the crisis will end.

“But please, I beg of you, let us stop fighting ourselves. I can assure you that we will deal with the situation.

“We must continue to maintain the peace here. Those who are hoodlums here will be dealt with but those who are law-abiding will be compensated for what they have lost,” he said.

On his own part, Mr Akeredolu, who said that he was in Oyo State on behalf of the South-West governors, appealed to aggrieved parties to stop fighting and allow peace to reign.

Violence continues in some parts of Sasa Market, Akinyele Local Government Area of Oyo State, with hoodlums defying curfew to set more shops belonging to Northerners on fire.

Over 50 shops and a mosque are affected in the new wave of arson on Sunday morning.

In an interview with DAILY NIGERIAN on Sunday, the chairman of Sasa Market Traders, Usman Yako, said looting and arson still continued in the market on Sunday morning.

“Over 50 tailoring shops have been razed down this morning. A mosque near the tailoring shop was also torched,” Mr Yako said.

Another Hausa resident of Sasa, Danlami Abubakar, told DAILY NIGERIAN that the state government was not doing enough to protect them.

He said they were also alerted on Sunday morning that the hoodlums might attack Northerners living in Sabo-Ibadan.

“This morning, we received reports that the hoodlums are planning to attack our people at Sabo-Ibadan. Unless action is quickly taken, the violence will spread to the area,” he said.

“I am appealing to the federal government to come to our rescue to avert more killings and destruction of property.”

Sources told DAILY NIGERIAN that there is no adequate security cover at residence of Sarkin Sasa, Haruna Maiyasin, who houses over 6,000 displaced Northerners.

At least 10 people have been killed, 70 sustained gunshots injuries and over 30 declared missing in the wake of the attack, according to the market union leader.

On Saturday, Governor Seyi Makinde imposed a curfew on the area and shut the market indefinitely.

A statement by Taiwo Adisa, the spokesman for Governor Seyi Makinde, indicated that the governor gave the order to forestall breakdown of law and order in the area.

The curfew is to run from 6 p.m. to 7 a.m.

The statement warned residents of the affected area to go about their legitimate businesses peacefully, stating that anyone caught perpetrating violence will face the wrath of the law.

At least 10 people have been killed, 70 sustained gunshots injuries and over 30 Northerners declared missing in a deadly attack on Sasa Market traders in Akinyele Local Government Area of Oyo State.

DAILY NIGERIAN gathered over 6,000 Northerners, mostly Hausas, are currently taking refuge at the residence of Sarkin Sasa, Haruna Maiyasin.

“I have over 6,000 displaced people packed in my house. Many people have been killed, while others injured,” Mr Maiyasin told DAILY NIGERIAN.

Witnesses said the crisis erupted on Thursday when a porter carrying a basket of tomato inadvertently nudged a Yoruba woman. The woman allegedly retaliated and organised a group of Yoruba thugs to avenge.

DAILY NIGERIAN gathered that after the fight, one of the thugs died in the hospital.

When the news of the death circulated, the Yoruba youths allegedly gathered and started attacking the Northern traders.

In a interview with DAILY NIGERIAN, the chairman of Sasa Market Traders, Usman Yako, said they informed the police immediately after the report of the death, but the police did not promptly respond to their call until the situation went out of control.

“We called the police to inform them about the issue, and possible break down of law and order, but they did not take action immediately until the situation deteriorated,” he said.

According to Mr Yako, when the operatives of the regional security outfit, Amotekun, came, they started shooting at Northern traders instead of protecting them from attack.

“When Amotekun came, they started shooting at Northerners. The hoodlums started setting houses ablaze, shooting and burning Hausa traders’ shops.

“It is apparent that it was a targeted attack on Hausas and other Northerners.

“The attack also spread to the Lagos-Ojo Expressway, which is not far from the market. Trailers belonging to Northerners were looted, burnt down, and the drivers slaughtered.

“We were invited to Government House yesterday (Friday), and two of us were delegated. Nothing was actually done to avert the crisis and safeguard our lives.

“We have so far counted 10 bodies in the hospital. Over 70 people sustained gunshot injuries. 30 people, including my own brother, are missing,” he added.

On Saturday, Governor Seyi Makinde imposed a curfew on the area and shut the market indefinitely.

A statement by Taiwo Adisa, the spokesman for Governor Seyi Makinde, indicated that the governor gave the order to forestall breakdown of law and order in the area.

The curfew is to run from 6 p.m. to 7 a.m.

The statement warned residents of the affected area to go about their legitimate businesses peacefully, stating that anyone caught perpetrating violence will face the wrath of the law.

Thattallgirl:
Also perfect for small picnics like a little cinema where u can sit on the grass or a floor covering with your partner and just enjoy, with fresh breeze blowing

Thattallgirl:
How will he watch the TV when he's cooking?

He's brilliant though. He'll entertain people he's cooking for. How romantic

-Usman Dalhatu has got people talking on social media after building a cooker that has a television
- According to the young man, the burners are powered by gas while the television is solar-powered
- Nigerians on social media have commended the young inventor for his invention


A Nigerian man identified as Usman Dalhatu has got people talking on social media after building a sola-powered cooker that has a television.



Usman shared photos of two men cooking with the invention while the television was on. While the television is solar-powered, the burners are powered by gas.


Recall that the young man was recognised by the federal government which finalised plans to collaborate with him after building a portable E-vent automatic ventilator and road sweeping machine

sman Dalhatu has been commended on social media for his brilliant invention. Photo credit: @UsmanDalhatu5 Source: Twitter

ItsTutsi:
masha Allah.. Dan gida ne ashe

ItsTutsi:
wane ne wanga?

Super Eagles left-back Zaidu Sanusi helped FC Porto defeat Benfica 2-0 to emerge champions of the 2020 Portuguese Super Cup on Wednesday night, Completesports.comreports.

Sanusi featured for 90 minutes as Porto dethroned Benfica who won the competition last year.

The win means Porto have now claimed a record 22 Super Cup title in their history.

The last time Porto were crowned champions in the competition was in 2018 when they beat Deportivo das Aves 3-1.

In Wednesday’s tie inside the Estádio Municipal de Aveiro, goals in each half from Sergio Oliviera and Luis Diaz, sealed it for Porto.

Oliviera opened scoring after converting a 25th minute spot kick before Diaz doubled the lead in the 90th minute.