The Learner

Muhsin Ibrahim @muhsin234 First, I use the word "ideology" in its broader sense to include 'non-ideological' thoughts like agnosticism and atheism. These two are equally eerily on the rise amidst our people. It's chilling, to say the least, reading a typical Hausa man denying the existence of, and cursing, Allah and His beloved Prophet. The case of one Mubarak Bala  has recently made headlines. There are several others who have just yet to ‘come out of the closet’, or have not got the guts he gets to declare their new found ‘religion’ to the public. This is largely, as I think, the failing of our Islamic scholars for not widening the scope of their preaching to the contemporary, and very troubling issues such as atheism. They concentrate their efforts to Sunnah vs. Shi’an; or Sunnah vs. Dariqah (Sufism), or the like. Agnosticism and atheism pose a rather an existentialist threat to all religions, not just Islam. The wars in Syria and Iraq, and ...

By Abubakar Atiku Alkali pullozagga@yahoo.com It’s in the news that the IMF is pressurising Nigeria to further devalue its currency. It’s equally in the news that former CBN governor and HRH the Emir of Kano has advised the FGN to withdraw petroleum subsidy, devalue the Naira and raise VAT! With due reverence to the Emir, I personally find these pills unbearably bitter to swallow. I defer to the fact that he’s unquestionably sagacious in matters of finance and economics – I know nothing about either – thus, my arguments may be impressionistic, but I’m sure I know more than the Emir does, how agonisingly painful it would be for the ordinary Nigerian when such policies are implemented. Therefore, even if no one will ever read this, my conscience would have been satisfied that as a Nigerian – one of the potential bearers of the burden of these unfriendly policies, I have cried out. Concerning fuel subsidy removal, I still recall what the Emir said at a debate on this very topic ...

By Muhsin Ibrahim @muhsin234 A fact known to some of my readers is that: praise-singing of individuals, especially politicians of whatever party, is not what I do. Yes, it is still the same. Today’s article is no different; for, I actually see nothing that extraordinarily admirable with the person of Rotimi Amaechi. He’s much like, below or a little above, his mates such as Engr. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso (Kano), Malam Ibrahim Shekarau (Kano; to PDP) Aliyu Wamako (Sokoto), Kashim Shettima (Borno; from ANPP) and other PDP renegades. To me, and I don’t stand to be corrected, they all deserted their former party after a meticulous foresight that, among other things, they would not get what they wanted in the party, and that could cost them very dearly to the extent of losing relevance in the nation’s polity. Thus, to avoid anything of the sort, they renounced their loyalties and found a niche in APC. Today, many people (supporters) think high of Amaechi as well as others. The re...

Muhsin Ibrahim @muhsin234 Lives were lost; people were wounded; minds were, and are, troubled; all as a result of the just concluded Hajj pilgrimage in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). Nobody could undo what's already done. Nothing could be done. Those victims need prayers and their loved ones require our compassion. No more, no less. Nonetheless, a fierce argument has been raging on since then. It began like a drama, instigated mainly by the Shi'ite-Iran, blaming the Sunni-Saudis for EVERYTHING. The argument has come to our doors now. Adamu Adamu is doubtlessly an intellectual, a writer par excellence. Dr. Sani is incontrovertibly equally an intellectual and a scholar worth every salt. They differ on this issue. The former, an unapologetic Shi'ite; the latter, a renowned Sunni scholar.

Muhsin Ibrahim @muhsin234 I think I have not been busier, more disturbed and unorganized for a very, very long time as I have been in the past few days. Life is often a trial, futile and temporal. Thanks to Allah for creating us the way we are: oxymoronically determined, forgetful and seldom ignorant of what is going on around us and beyond. It’s His mercy. Else, the whole life would be uninteresting, tiring and, perhaps, worthless. The Trial We ‘celebrated’ this Eid-el-Kabir with literally empty pockets. Most of us thought the salaries of September would be paid as the day fell on the 24 th , a date when salaries could normally be given. It wasn’t. Moreover, known to all, salaries are paid prior to the due date if the time coincides with any feast like the Eid or Christmas. More so, being President Muhammadu Buhari is Muslim, some people thought, erroneously though, that he would ‘ favour’ his fellow faithful and pay the salaries. He didn’t. They (we, in fact) now w...

Muhsin Ibrahim @muhsin234 I came back to Nigeria after a two-year-stay in India. There has been so much to write about as so many things have happened, and more are happening since my return. Yet, procrastinations wouldn’t allow me. I balked on whether or not to write on this, that and numerous other itching issues. I have also been so busy: getting settled, resuming work and frequent visits from and to family and friends. And, above all, there’s no uninterrupted power supply, no reliable internet access and much more that were readily available while in India. I had never thought things would be that tough, in fact worse, prior to my return. Anyway, I heartily thank Allah as I am happy against all odds. I was contemplating on which and which topic to concentrate my first blogpost on after more than a month ‘break’. They range from the accusation of some people that President Muhammadu Buhari is now “Baba Go Slow”, or that he’s a northern president, or his anti-corruption c...

Muhammad Muhsin Ibrahim muhsin2008@gmail.com This article first appeared on Prof. Farooq Kperogi's column (his famous blog and the Daily Trust newspaper on Saturday) on 31st May, 2015. You may want to see it there:  Guest column: Incredible Indian English In both India and Nigeria , English is used as a second language. I couldn’t however resist being driven to write on Indian English— called Indianism or, more informally, “Hinglish”, which is a blend of Hindi and English—since my early days in the country some two years ago. Like in other nations where English is spoken as a non-native language, English usage in both India and Nigeria differ from British or American varieties in terms of phonetics, phonology, lexis, structure, etc. The distinctiveness of Indian English, though, is as incredible as the country itself. I am not here to disparage theirs and extol ours . I don’t subscribe to linguistic imperialism. But polishing our English to the level of intellig...