The neglect of vulnerable children is not far removed from some of the crises that have overwhelmed us as a region.
Last week, I sat with my brother Ydeen on his podcast, where we discussed some of the issues we encounter every day working in remote communities across Northern Nigeria.
When children are abandoned to hunger, illness, illiteracy, and the streets, we are not only failing them; we are endangering the future.
This is why government, civil society, traditional and religious leaders, parents, communities, the private sector, development partners, and security institutions must work together to address the overwhelming issue of street-connected children.
Leaving children to fend for themselves on the streets is a keg of gunpowder.
In March, I saw something that has refused to leave me.
We had an accident in Lekki. It was around 10pm. One of us was injured, and in that moment nothing else mattered except getting him help. You assume that once you get to a hospital, the worst is behind you. You assume someone will take over.
But that is not what happened.
We rushed to the first hospital. They looked at us and referred us elsewhere. No urgency, no attempt to stabilise him, just directions to go somewhere else. We got to the general hospital, hoping things would change. Instead, we were told they do not treat emergency cases. At that point, it felt unreal. A hospital… saying they do not handle emergencies.
We asked for an ambulance. There was none.
So at about 11pm, we stood outside, trying to book a ride like it was a normal night, except it wasn’t. Someone was in pain, and we were running out of options.
We got to the Federal Medical Centre. This time, we thought, surely this is it. But we waited. And waited. Over two hours, no one attended to us. When someone finally came out, they told us there was no bed.
No bed.
We left again. Another hospital. Same pattern. Delay. Indifference. Movement with no progress.
The accident happened at 10pm. He was not admitted until about 7am.
Seven hours of moving from place to place. Seven hours of hoping. Seven hours of wondering if we were about to lose someone simply because we could not find a system that would take responsibility.
And the most painful part is this: if the injuries had been internal, if it was something we could not see, that delay could have been the difference between life and death.
You start to ask yourself uncomfortable questions. What exactly are you supposed to do in an emergency? Where do you go? Who is actually responsible for saving a life in that moment?
That night stripped away any illusion I had about how things work. It showed me how exposed we really are.
And it also explains something else. Why people hold on to faith so tightly. Because when you cannot trust that a hospital will save you, you turn to God and hope He will.
But it should not be this way. It should never get to the point where survival depends more on hope than on a functioning system.
The truth is simple, and it is painful: in this country, one health emergency can change everything. And sometimes, it is not the injury that takes you, it is the delay.
When terrorists, bandits, criminals attack you, but then you turn to innocent travelers, and people that didn't know what was happening & attacked/killed them, you're a coward. Born coward and a killer. You're also a Terrorist. If you're brave, and you have balls, go after those armed Terrorists and attack them.
@ezekieldachomo0
There's always been only ONE @Stylebender 🥷
Israel Adesanya has always brought out some of the best moments in UFC history & wants to add another tomorrow!
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And they would be 100% right. Look at it this way: when referees and VAR make mistakes during matches, bodies like PGMOL and others don’t hand out a red card or allow a disallowed goal to stand after the match has ended. They simply admit that a mistake was made and insist that everyone moves on to avoid similar errors in the future.
On one hand, Senegal shouldn't have refused to continue playing, but when they did, they shouldn't have been allowed to return and finish the match. The fact that the authorities permitted the game to proceed to its conclusion means they validated the result on the pitch. You cannot retrospectively apply demand the return of trophies and medals once the final whistle has blown and the winners have been crowned. The result must stand.
Senegal is right to stand their ground
@kvzxxm Allah yajiqan Baba da rahma yasa mutuwa hutuce a garesa, Allah yasa Aljannah ce makomarsa, muma idan namu yazo, Allah yasa muyi cikawa kyakyawa irin nasa a ranar Jummah kuma a cikin wata mai tsarki na ramadan 🙏🏽
@SirJarus RMK 🔴 is exactly who he thinks he is. There was a time when nearly every private university in the Southwest had more than a thousand students benefiting from his scholarship program. I personally know more than 10 friends that benefited from his Msc program.
@Muhamma06454798@Abdul_Ahmad_ Dark days bro, I still remember vividly when we lived in Dogon Dutse, Jabal-un-Noor burned, Al-Imaan burned, Al-Bayan too including those innocent boys all burnt to ashes
🧵 THREAD: THE MAJOR JOS CRISES SERIES
Part 3: November 2008 & January 2010 – When Jos Became a Slaughterhouse Again
If you think 2001 and 2004 were bad, by 2008 the killings had become routine, almost seasonal.
But the November 28–29, 2008 crisis shocked Nigeria because of its brutality and the way it was triggered by something as simple as a local government election.
Trigger
Results of the Jos North Local Government election were being announced.
The PDP (mostly supported by indigenes) was declared winner.
Hausa youths claimed massive rigging and went on to protest.
Within hours, it became Muslim vs Christian again.
Human Rights Watch Report (2009) – “Arbitrary Killings by Security Forces”:
- At least 700 people killed in two days.
- Hundreds burnt alive inside churches, mosques, and homes.
- Machetes, petrol, and tyres became the weapons of choice.
- Bodies were so many that mortuaries ran out of space; mass graves were dug at Bukuru and Bauchi Road.
But the most damning part of the HRW report:
Nigerian security forces actively participated in the killings.
Soldiers and mobile policemen were seen shooting indiscriminately, burning houses, and in some cases, executing people based on their religion.
That was when we have CAN Soldiers all over Hausa dominated areas killing Muslims.
And that was what lead to the change of the Army uniform from Grean carmour to Desert in the whole plateau so as to differentiate the fake Soldiers from the real ones.
HRW documented cases where soldiers stopped people, checked their names or asked them to recite Christian prayers, then shot them if they “failed.”
January 2010 – The Repeat
Less than 14 months later, January 19–22, 2010, Jos bled again.
Trigger: rebuilding of destroyed Muslim houses in Dutse Uku area.
Over 300–500 people killed,
KURU KARAMA GENOCIDE IS A SPECIAL CASE I WILL TREAT IT SEPARATELY.
The pattern was now clear:
- Election or political appointment → tension
- Small spark → full-scale massacre
- Security forces either absent or complicit
- Government sets up another commission
- Report gathers dust
- Cycle repeats
Justice Bola Ajibola Commission of Inquiry (2009) – Plateau State Government Set up after the 2008 crisis.
Key findings:
- The crisis was planned and sponsored.
- There were external fighters brought into Jos.
- Some politicians and traditional leaders were directly mentioned as sponsors.
- The Commission named names and recommended prosecution.
White Paper was never released.
Nobody was prosecuted.
HRW concluded in 2009:
“Until the Nigerian government ends impunity for these cycles of violence, Jos and surrounding areas will remain a tinderbox waiting to explode.”
They wrote that in 2009.
We are in 2025.
Jos is still exploding.
Sources:
- Human Rights Watch – “Arbitrary Killings by Security Forces” (2009)
- Justice Bola Ajibola Judicial Commission of Inquiry Report (2009)
- International Crisis Group reports (2009–2010)
We have had over 12 Commissions of Inquiry since 1994.
All of them said the same thing:
SETTLE THE INDIGENE/SETTLER QUESTION OR MORE BLOOD WILL FLOW.
Both Federal and Plateau State Government ignored all of them.
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#JoscrisisSeries
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