7iddique Galadanci

Lawyer! A W-I-P! Incommunicado!

[🛸 @mvcciido_szn]

“until you have the money to finance your temptations, do not brag about morals. a lot is hidden in poverty”

[Elnathan John @elnathan_john]

Repeated claims like this show how little Nigerians know about their own country. There is enough scholarship on these issues to not make broad and widely debunked claims like this.

First: The claim that the almajiri system functions as a conveyor belt to terrorism and banditry is contested by the most rigorous scholarly work on the subject and there is the work of Dr. Hadiza Kere Abdulrahman @dj_kere whose doctoral research "The Men They Become": Northern Nigeria's Former Almajirai: Analysing Representational Discourses of Identity, Knowledge and Education (2018), involved years of fieldwork and direct engagement with former almajirai. Assuming I read her work correctly, she found that the mainstream representation of the system (which has been repeated in the tweet below) is only "one possible set of articulations and that alternative meanings exist." Other research she has done found no operational extension of say Boko Haram in almajiri Qur'anic schools, and that almajiris themselves "vehemently rejected any moves to join Boko Haram activities." @dj_kere has also argued that the almajiri system's deterioration, is a product of colonial disruption and post-colonial governance failure, not an inherent feature of Qur'anic education itself.

Even in the case of Boko Haram, where the almajiri connection is most often asserted, the evidence does not support a direct causal line. We have the work of @HannahHoechner for example. She has argued in this piece here (https://t.co/XuohhpnSfN) about this. In the article she mentions that "correlation is not proof of causation: That almajirai joined does not automatically mean that almajirci made them join." There is also the 2017 paper, "The Almajiri System and Insurgency in Northern Nigeria: A Reconstruction of the Existing Narratives for Policy Direction," where research shows that "the Almajiri system in itself does not radicalize the Almajirai cohort," but that decades of bad governance have produced a large, alienated, and economically destitute youth cohort who become targets for recruitment — a crucial distinction between vulnerability and causation.

Meanwhile, Boko Haram's founder, Mohammed Yusuf, was not himself a product of the street almajiri system: according to Hussain Zakaria (for example in the US Institute of Peace report "Why Do Youth Join Boko Haram?", 2014), Yusuf had the equivalent of a graduate-level education, having studied theology at the University of Medina in Saudi Arabia, where he absorbed Salafi-jihadist ideology from transnational networks — not from classical Qur'anic schooling.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the conflation of Fulani banditry with the almajiri system is especially unsupported. There is ample research here. For example, in "The Other Insurgency: Northwest Nigeria's Worsening Bandit Crisis" (published in Security and Defence Quarterly 2021), the research establishes that that northwest banditry is driven by land-use conflict, Fulani pastoralist "grievances" (quotes mine- you can call it something else), climate-driven competition over grazing routes, and governance collapse — not by Qur'anic schooling of any kind.

Added to that, the Fulani ethnic militia phenomenon has its own distinct social base. If you read the War on the Rocks analysis by @jh_barnett and Murtala Rufai, they have noted that "the majority of bandits have shown little interest in adopting" jihadist ideology, with alleged cooperation between bandits and jihadists being "less meaningful than many observers assume." You can read that analysis here: https://t.co/YM22c3fPhn

As for Boko Haram's actual membership profile, the documentary record points in the opposite direction from the almajiri narrative. Again I urge people to read the USIP report "Why Do Youth Join Boko Haram?" of 2014 which documents that as early as 2004, "students, especially in tertiary institutions in Borno and Yobe states, withdrew from school, tore up their certificates, and joined the group." This account is corroborated by Human Rights Watch in "They Set the Classrooms on Fire": Attacks on Education in Northeast Nigeria (2016), which records testimony of a local imam urging believers to destroy their educational documents, with university graduates complying publicly. @HannahHoechner's own work confirms that "some members of the group used to be university graduates who tore their university certificates at the beginning of the Boko Haram propaganda" — a fact that fundamentally complicates any simple narrative linking Islamic street education to the rise of the insurgency.

Please people, read, read, read. Especially at a time like this when people are angry and making broad claims.

[Safiyya Maijama'a ❤️‍🔥 @Jost_Jefa]

On the issue of state sponsored mass weddings in kano and across the core northern states, gaskiya, we need to stop hiding under the convenient banner of "curbing prostitution." It is time to look inward and admit that arewa is falling drastically behind. We are now the epicentre of out of school children and multidimensional poverty in this country. It makes no sense to spend state resources marrying off individuals who cannot fundamentally afford to fund a household. Subsidising marriage without a plan for economic survival simply fuels a demographic crisis. These unions drive up birth rates in environments that completely lack social infrastructure. When couples fail to feed or educate their children, they push them into the streets under the fractured guise of almajiranci. Honestly, as much we'd love to shy from it ,it creates a vast pool of abandoned youth who become easy recruits for criminal networks. It hurts deeply when these realities are pointed out, but until we prioritise human capital and mass education over state funded marriage ceremonies, this cycle will only worsen.

[Enyinnaya @enyinna_]

You can mock Nigerian girls all you want for lacking communication skills, but the truth is that Nigerian society is generally hostile to honest conversation.

The more Nigerians you deal with, the more you notice a pattern: people avoid saying things directly. They deflect, suppress, and sidestep difficult discussions until, seemingly out of nowhere, there's an emotional outburst.

Many of our siblings, parents, lecturers, bosses, and peers exhibit this trait to varying degrees: avoid, deflect, avoid—then suddenly, get mad.

[NNPC Limited @nnpclimited]

Rooted in Resilience

He had me at:

“I have over 100 plants in my office.”

Mahmood Sani said it matter-of-factly as he addressed colleagues at an event, as though having a miniature forest at work was perfectly normal. Naturally, I had questions and knew his was a story worth telling.

Park that.

In a year when World Environment Day focuses on “Urbanisation and Climate Change: Building Resilient Cities for a Sustainable Future,” it struck me that Sani may have been building his own resilient ecosystem for decades.

A bona fide plantophile, his love of plants began as a child in boarding school in Kano. Surrounded by forests and bush, he became fascinated by the beauty and variety of nature. He convinced his mother to buy plants for their home. Then curiosity turned to extensive reading about plants and their health advantages.

He says that passion became a life saver when he developed a serious illness. As he researched the relationship between plants and health, he became convinced of their ability to improve wellbeing and create healthier living areas.

“They neutralise air pollutants like benzene and other impurities...For me, plants are no longer just decoration. The are anti-inflammatory, anti-carcinogenic and part of my healing, health, and prevention,” he said.

Today, Sani lives among more than 350 plants at home, about 70 percent of them over 18 years old. Some of his bamboo plants have been with him for almost two decades. He sleeps with plants by his bedside and surrounds himself with greenery.

His favourite is the snake plant.

“This is known for superior air purification and produces oxygen at night,” he said enthusiastically.

He is also fascinated by research on H. pylori, the bacteria linked to stomach inflammation and ulcers, and believes plants contribute to his physical and emotional health.

Sani’s office (in the C Tower—you must visit to believe it!) tells the same story. Having joined NNPC as an IT intern in 1988 and becoming a permanent employee in 1992, he has spent much of his life at work. So, brought nature there too. Today, more than one hundred plants transform his workspace into a green oasis.

Although his wife and three children have no interest, he says they have learned to live with it and let him indulge in this green obsession.

In his words: he adapts to the rich variety of life that encompasses all living things, whereby they interact symbiotically to give meaning to life.

Sani’s message for a rapidly urbanising world on World Environment Day is simple: Resilient cities are not built just with concrete and steel, but with living things.

One hundred plants in an office may seem unusual. To this plantophile, it is simply his way of making the world greener, healthier, and more sustainable—one plant at a time.

#WorldEnvironmentDay
#HumansOfNNPC
#EnergyForToday
#EnergyForTomorrow

[Foundational Nupe Lawyer @egi_nupe]

From all indications, none of the people supposedly arrested as suspected bandits actually fits into the kind of people we have seen in different videos and pictures as bandits. What’s currently going on is manifestation of ethnic profiling; and I do hope this does not lead to ethnic cleansing, such that only innocent people get to face the punishments od the actual criminals who are behind terrorism and banditry.

[imran @imranye]

this is gonna go triple platinum in philly

[Hon. Red Pen ❗️ @Minikothe3rd]

Anyone in this country with even an iota of involvement to insurgency and banditry in Nigeria, may life become unbearable for them, may all their atrocities return to them in folds, may their end be seen by all.

[I Z A L A @el_uthmaan]

Sirrin Cin Nasara.

Sheikh Ja'afar Mahmud Adam Rahimahullāh.

[Abdool Moh. @abdool_moh]

I have done extensive research about Rwandan Genocide and it’s the kind of mentality that many Nigerians are portraying by profiling entire Fulani as bandits that exactly led to the Rwandan tragedy that they still regret over 30years later. This is a very dangerous trajectory that no one comes out a winner.

[Abduljalal Musa Aliyu @AbduljalaalMusa]

In Zamfara, bandits gave captives knives and forced them to fight and kill one another. If they refused, the bandits killed them themselves.

There was also a village where 38 hostages were brutally slaughtered after the full ransom demanded was not paid.

These are daily realities in communities grappling with the menace of kidnapping and banditry.

[Dakta BZ 🐺 @Lonnewulff]

This is the most honest concern on the matter of Alamin securing the ticket for the HOR under NDC. His whole marketing strategy is built on elitism and classism. National Orientation Agency had to send him a stern warning before he tuned down his career shaming. How does he intend to truly represent the people he looks down on?

Secondly, his whole life is full of desperate clout chasing skits. He fraudulently bought a honorary doctorate award from a made up “automobile training institute” in Ghana just to be adding Dr. to his name. He went on to claim the tittle of Sarkin Mota just to be wearing big agbada and turbans up and down.

My honest opinion is that he is just a playboy online celebrity and he should stick to that. He is very good at it. However, if the serious minded people choose to shy away from picking up tickets and contesting, then I don’t fault his boldness to contest. After all, na naija we dey.

[7iddique Galadanci @_Siddique_G]

@Sufaaag Epic!!!

[AUTA🥹 @___Bils]

If you’re a contributor to the Contributory Pension Scheme, make sure you receive alerts every month and monitor your pension contributions and growth through your PFA mobile app. Don’t wait until retirement or when you want to access part and you find out nothing is in the account.

If you’re not receiving alerts, it could mean your registered phone number is incorrect or your employer is not remitting your contributions into your pension account.

Don’t neglect these things.

[purpleberry 🍇🍇 @Ameenertu_]

Yan PR da hausawa ku tsaya ku saurara

[kshitij vaze @VazeKshitij]

The rot has spread so deep, the very foundations have now started falling.

[Sir J (J9) @SirJarus]

Rabiu Umar was my boss in Oando.

He started out in accounting department (which was the course he studied in school), but he somehow moved to sales and rose rapidly - from branch manager to regional manager to chief sales officer of the downstream business.

I think at some point he was moved to Oando Refinery as CEO (yes, Oando has a refining licence).

He later moved to Lafarge as chief commercial officer.

He was also the MD of Ashaka Cement at some point.

I was shocked to see him move from Lafarge to Dangote Cement, a rival.

He later became Group ED in Dangote Group, his last position I am aware of.

I used to cite him as example when talking of growth in sales vs accounting. He rose fast in sales in Oando that his boss when he was briefly in accounting became his junior within few years.

Congrats to him. He is very smart and no doubt highly experienced in the oil & gas downstream.

But this appointment will generate furore.

A Dangote executive being appointed a regulator will raise eyebrows given the history between Dangote and the regulator in recent years.

[YUA @creative_yua]

I learnt recently that plants know when they're being eaten.

They also communicate, and they send warnings to one another.

For instance, when an insect starts chewing a leaf, the plant can detect that it isn’t just an ordinary touch from the wind or a passerby.

As a result, the plant tries to save other plants by releasing some chemicals (messages) into the air.

When other plants receive this message, they start activating their own defenses before they’re attacked. They might make themselves bitter or toxic to the "attacker."

The craziest part is that they can call for backup. Some plants release chemicals that attract predators to come and attack the insect eating them.

Weird but real...

[June12 Mandate @Gen_Buhar]

If you are still blaming PBAT with this short message I have been saying over 3 years being corroborated by TAIWO it means you are just talking with full hatred for PBAT...
Basically you are either the gentleman of Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite...
Curse is real!