The Learner

  Will Nigeria break up? By Muhsin Ibrahim Yes, Nigeria will someday break up. It may not be in our lifetime, but that is very likely to happen. It's a matter of time before the bomb explodes. Our disunity is more deeply entrenched than many people imagine. No country can progress while its people harbour hatred of this magnitude towards one another. The only way to avoid the above is to launch a massive yet well-crafted societal reorientation programme nationwide. Nigerians of all walks of life need reeducation on patriotism. We need to place our Nigerian identity above and beyond any other ethnic profile. We need to see and regard our neighbours as humans as we are. As things stand, our future is doomed. Call me a pessimist, alarmist or anything you want. Unfortunately, it's our sad reality. Look around you. Every accident and incident is viewed via an ethno-religious and regional prism. It's also treated as such. Why, for God's sake? Many of our so-called leaders and...

By  Muhsin Ibrahim muhsin2008@gmail.com Nigeria’s diversity cuts across many things, chiefly cultures, ethnicities, religions and regions. Although several commentators consider the northern part more Islamic and the southern one more Christian, Muslims and Christians, followers of traditional belief systems and non-religious folks may be seen everywhere. Due to these complexities, the country is home to two significant film industries – Kannywood and Nollywood – with many smaller ones operating under these brands. Kannywood , the name given to the “local” Hausa film industry with Kano State as its epicentre, is a distinct and autonomous film industry in northern Nigeria.   Nollywood   has its root s  in the South, has mainly Christianity and Western-influenced motifs as themes and produces films primarily in English or other southern Nigerian languages. For Kannywood, however, Islam is arguably the trademark, and the East remains their vital source of influence ...

By Muhsin Ibrahim   muhsin2008@gmail.com The abducted Dapchi schoolgirls were released and brought back to the beleaguered village of Yobe state, Nigeria in the early hours of Wednesday, 21 st March 2018. As reports indicate, the Nigeria Army paused operation in and around the village to allow a peaceful passage for Boko Haram fighters in charge of returning the girls. They came, preached for about 20 minutes to the would-be freed girls, embarked their trucks and left. The village soon erupted in celebration with women ululating, men smiling, girls dancing, youth shouting and so on. It’s Eid. In the midst of all this, however, an unsettling picture and later a video clip emerged wherein some townspeople hailed the militants as they departed. It is not all hanky-dowry after all. Five of the girls died. They gave up the ghost, according to one of the freed girls, as a result of a stampede when they were whisked away by their abductors in overcrowded trucks. The girl ...