The Learner

Muhsin Ibrahim @muhsin234 The trending entrepreneurial business in Kano used to be the so-called Computer Learning Centres a few years back. There is, nonetheless, a remarkable shift today to the so-called English Academy, English Learning Centre or other variant names. I am not against the idea entirely, but I am not happy with the vogue for some solid reasons. If you can remember, at the noontime of computer centres in the state, many a time a student would obtain a certificate, a diploma or even an advanced diploma in the computer without knowing or knowing very little on how to use as simple as the Microsoft Word, Excel and other elementary computer applications. The business was hijacked and stalled by quacks.  The quacks plunged and polluted computer learning centres to make one thing: quick money. In no time, many people realised that they were indirectly primarily duped. They stopped their patronage. Nowadays, several people are self-taught computer experts...

Muhsin Ibrahim @muhsin234 The world has consistently, for the past few weeks, seen carnage. The yesterday’s one in Nice, France has mainly left me very appalled, for it engulfed the lives of small children. The earlier one in Saudi Arabia, especially the one near the Prophet’s mosque in Medina, has had an effect on the collective consciousness of the Muslim faithful more than whatever words can describe. Baghdad’s deadliest attack since the American invasion a day or two before was no less devastating, for more than 250 innocent souls were summarily murdered by a lone suicide bomber. Dhaka’s, too, deadened minds and shattered dreams, for it was unprecedented in the country that has already been going through a lot with the rise of the filthy, nihilistic doctrine of “kill whosoever professes different ideology”. Syria’s genocide shows no sign of ending. Libya has long become a den. OMG! I am not here to defend Islam again. I have done that one hundred and one more times alrea...

Muhsin Ibrahim @muhsin234 ‘Personal’ In accordance with a pseudoscience called Astrology practiced and believed by many people, I should consider June 1 as a lucky day in my life. I don’t. I won’t. I don’t believe in superstition. But no doubt, the day stands unique in my life for at least two life-shaping, life-changing events: both my dream job and my dearest wife came to my life on this day in 2012 and 2013, respectively. Thus, I think the day, annually, deserves a particular remembrance and commemoration, even though in, strictly speaking, a non-ritualistic style. That is why I write to, among other things, thank the Almighty Allah. I generally have a lot to thank Him for, not only these days. Alhamdulillah . This year is unforgettable, though quite tough. I and my wife returned to Nigeria from India after a two-year postgraduate study on June 24, 2015, less than a month into the new government of President Muhammadu Buhari (PMB).  We couldn’t believe what we me...

By Muhsin Ibrahim @muhsin234 The recent infamous sodomy case of Hassan Ibrahim Gwarzo Secondary School, Kano did not happen in a vacuum. Many similar other cases occurred and continue to, but they are unfortunately seldom reported, for they did not affect the children of the affluents. For instance, about a week or so ago, I heard on Rahama Radio program that a young man had sexually defiled about 5 boys in their neighbourhoods. While interviewed by Fagge Hisbah Command, the amateur homo said that nobody had ever taught, or had similar contact with him. He, I learned, wanted to say that that was something inborn to him.  Is homosexuality innate? As far as I can tell, sex attraction is physiologically between opposite sexes. Another horrendous, even more horrible, happening is the spate of rape cases of underage girls in the state. A doctor at Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital disclosed that in the hospital alone they, on an almost daily basis, get more than ten rape cases...

Muhsin Ibrahim @muhsin234 I persevere, but I don’t pretend; I deride double standard and declare the truth as I see it. I wholeheartedly believe that nobody is infallible. Thus humans, including myself, can be right or wrong. I also think that nobody can do anything to satisfy everyone. An old saw on politics, however, states that “majority carries the vote”. A politician wins or loses an election by the sole decision of the majority, the masses. I practically believe that whatever a government does should be pro-masses, for they duly deserve the reward. It is not a privilege; it is their right. For nearly a year now, Nigerian masses have been seeing things contrary to their expectations. They are merely suffering, though their lives are, mostly, more secure now than before President Muhammdu Buhari’s government. The Buhari they knew is no longer the Buhari that rules this country. That one was an agile and sturdy soldier who was pro and for them. Today’s Buhari is a polit...

Muhsin Ibrahim muhsin2008@gmail.com So many things are happening around as a result of which so many people are missing their track by i) questioning their beliefs, though indirectly or subconsciously; or ii) by taking things for granted. I am not here to offer a solution to that effect nor am I here to solve the mystery. I nevertheless still feel it appropriate, if not necessary, to contribute to the discourse. And the discussion is the inevitability or otherwise of destiny, and the test and taste of life. Two reasons, sincerely, bluntly speaking, goaded me to (re)write and develop this piece into a full-length article. It was initially posted on Facebook with little elaboration and vague contextualisation. First; I have been married for almost three years – our third anniversary is on June, 1 – but we are not yet blessed with a child. My wife and I are happy, very happy in fact, for we are confident that The Creator of Everything does not forget or abandon us for anythi...

Muhsin Ibrahim muhsin2008@gmail.com Jealousy is, to an extent, encouraged in marriage in Islam, and so it is in many religions and cultures around the world. While some are born jealous, others are made so. Yet, some defy the religious, cultural, even commonsensical precept and choose to be unenvious. They care not for their wives, daughters, wards, sisters, etc. I was told a story of a man, an ardent fan of Bollywood, the Indian films. He every day says to his wife while watching the movies that the most beautiful and sexiest women are in India. The wife doesn't like that, yet she keeps mum. It disturbs her a lot for obvious reasons. One day, the wife told the husband that even the most handsome men are in India. He was quickly aghast. He though repressed his infuriation but decided to never watch any Indian film henceforth. That's to avoid what he could have done to the wife should she repeat what she's just said. A professor at Bayero University, Kano...