Learned we are indeed!

   How often have you heard lawyers saying that they are the most learned among all professionals? Or that theirs is the only learned profession on earth? And also for how long their profession has been in existence in this world? Some will even tell you that the law profession is older than the world itself, and they will give an account of some mythic and unsubstantiated history which tend to support their claim. If you have ever heard of lawyers boasting about being the most learned and also their profession being the oldest and most honourable, have you then ever cared to ask why do they believe so? As a lawyer, I know some of the reasons advanced by lawyers in defence to their claims. You often hear them saying that they are the only professionals who poke their noses in all those professions when the need arises and not just that but to even try to beat them in their own professions. How many times have you seen a very qualified medical doctor or other professional been confused in a court of law when they come to give an expert opinion in their particular field of expertise? A lawyer who does not necessary match the experience of the expert (year wise) will try to confuse the expert in order to lure them make a contradictory statement which will consequently result in the court not admitting their testimony into evidence.

   When we were at the university and even at Law school, we were told that we are the best of man kind and as such there are some particular ways that we are expected to behave. To make this look so important, Rules of Professional Conduct were made for the lawyers to observe to the fullest. These and many more things you won't hear from me have made the lawyers become so pompous, so big headed, and so full of themselves that they feel every other person or professional is second to them.

   The question now is: are lawyers right to believe so? Shouldn't they be more humble to at least admit that there are other professionals and professions that are more important? Yesterday, the 26th day of March 2011, I wrote an aptitude test for employment in one of those Federal Government Corporations. And as we all know, there is no way one can write an aptitude test without having has to answer questions on mathematics. I am a lawyer and I don't have anything to do with maths, in fact I hate maths so much so that I opted to study law and become a lawyer and bids bye bye to mathematics. Un known to me we will one day cross roads again, and that day was yesterday. When I was preparing for the exams there was need for me to know at least some basic things in maths. Having at the back of my mind the belief that I am learned, I decided to study it on my own. However it didn't take me long before I realised I was just wasting my time as there was no way I could do it on my own. So I decided that I really needed help. I sought the help of my friend who is a maths teacher. I went for the lesson on those basics and simplest of mathematics, things like Ratio, Rate, Proportion, percentage and etc. You can of course expect me to have an idea on those things having at least gone to a secondary school. I had to wonder when my maths teacher made some tricks to solve one ratio problem what exactly did I do in secondary school that I didn't learn those things? I was so confused that my teacher friend had to mock me by saying (bakace kai lauya bane, saboda haka kasan komai ba?) Meaning: haven't you said that you are a lawyer and you know everything? We laughed and I said abeg make we forget that one for now.

   Well, to cut the story short, I actually learned those things and wrote the test. And this is exactly why lawyers are different. As it is now, I am more learned in mathematics. Yeah, I know that you will say "oh God, they have done it again"! But that is the truth. I saw my teacher friend later in the day after the test and said to him,  when I was having lesson on maths you mocked me that I should know everything, well now I am happy to inform you that I am now more learned in maths than I was before. And he said: "LEARNED YOU ARE INDEED!"

Ps: the blogger could not post anything on last Sunday, this is because as I stated in this article I was preparing for that aptitude test and I was seriously making efforts to become learned in mathematics which I have become now.

Could This Be The Beginning?

   We are all living witnesses to the unprecedented regime change revolutions that are currently going on in the Arab world. It all started in Tunisia when the police confiscated fruits and vegetables belonging to one Mohamed Bouazizi who was hawking by the road side to earn a living and whom the police alleged did not have proper hawking permit. Having been denied his only source of living by the security forces of his country and the country that has done nothing to better his life, the young Bouazizi (just 26 years old) decided to end his life by setting himself on fire in protest to the injustice committed against him by his own country and eventually died.

    Alas! The unprecedented mass protest by the Tunisian people began and which lasted for weeks and which ultimately led to the overthrow of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali who had run vicious dictatorship for more than 23 years! The protest spread to neighbouring Egypt and Yemen, and after a more intense and rigorous protest in Egypt with the resulting consequences of many people having had to lose their lives, the Egyptian leader of 32 years on the throne had to finally leave! Though the consequences are different in Yemen to that of Tunisia and Egypt, but the Yemeni people too managed to force the government of their country to make far reaching reforms both economically and politically in the country obviously in order to avoid the consequences that followed such uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt.

    Most recently, the people of Libya having observed the change that people's power can bring in those countries,started what can potentially bring down the longest serving dictator in the whole world today - Colonel Muammar Gaddafi. Though in the case of Libya, there is a genuine fear that the consequences that come with those regime changes are likely to be for more damning than in those other countries. Libya's case has already turned into a bloody civil war where armed forces teamed up with pro Gaddafi people fighting on the one hand and pro democracy fighting on the other hand! Thousands of people were reported to have been killed in the country! Gaddafi vows not to go without a fierce battle!

    When one looks at the recent protests that were held in Kano and Zaria in the north western zone of this country, one will begin to wonder could it be the beginning of those revolutions in Nigeria? Especially considering the fact that it all started like this in those countries. Some few weeks ago students of Kano State polytechnic staged a peaceful protest to the Kano state government house for them to register their grievances over nonchalant attitude of the government towards their lecturers' legitimate needs. Perhaps at this stage I should make it clear that I do not in anyway think that the situation really called for the students to take to the streets. I believe the students could have engaged the government on dialogue through leaders of their associations. But what is even more appalling than the decision of the students to embark on that protest is the manner of the excessive force used by the police to disperse the protesters. The police ruthlessly beat up the protesting students with sticks and used tear gas on them and even shot at them with live ammunition which as a result a boy who was identified as a secondary school student was hit by the police stray bullet and died! Such is the horrific manner that the police went about trying to stop the unarmed students from expressing their grievances in a very peaceful manner!

    Also more recently in Zaria there was a protest by some youth in one particular part

of the city over the non availability of power and water supplies in their areas. According to the protesting youth as reported by various newspapers, they were without power supply for more than nine (9) months! And without water supply for more than twenty (20) years! The police as usual used tear gas to disperse them although there was no report of casualties there.

    When one reflects on these happenings and taking into consideration what is currently going on in the Arab world and the fact that it all started like this, one can safely conclude that Nigerians are testing the waters too to see if such revolution is indeed possible in a country many believe its citizens are living in a worst condition than those where the revolutions have taken place! With the general elections just around the corner and with the fear that the long awaiting and desired free and fair elections may not actually be witnessed, the peace enjoyed by the rulers of this country might seriously be tested if the electorates' expectations have not been met with regards to the conduct of the elections!

"Female Freedom Fighters"

    The caption of today's topic was a programme aired on ABC News Channel recently and which was anchored by a seasoned international journalist-Christian Amanpor. The programme featured some prominent female members of various civil societies around the world that are fighting for the female rights. Of course, as you should know, whenever you see a caption like that and the disposition of the people discussing it in such a programme, you can for sure predict the issues that are going to be discussed there. If you had thought of issues like women's emancipation, greater political participation by the women, then I have to say, you have thought exactly what this group of women discussed throughout the one hour programme! For the past few decades there have been growing calls by Civil Societies around the globe for more women's participation in the political arena in their respective regions and countries. While it is right when one looks at what the impact made by those calling for greater women political participation in some western countries to say that those agitations have yielded positive results, I think the reverse is the case when one looks at the situation in Africa and Nigeria in particular.                                                     

   Nigeria came back to this current political dispensation in 1999 after an interval of more than 25 years! Some people will of course make reference to the Babangida's camouflage we had in the name of democracy in the early 90's, that in my opinion does not count at all. We are now in the 12th year of our so called "nascent" democracy, however, when you look at the statistics of women participation in these years, it is dismal to say the least! When you compare the number of female "honourable" members of the House of Representatives and the "distinguished" senators in the Senate with their male counterparts there, the figure is not so pleasing to write! The situation is even worse when one takes a glimpse at the Houses of Assemblies of various states across the federation. Some states have one, two, or up to three or slightly more female members, however, some are not so fortunate. In my state, since the beginning of this dispensation, the "Arewa House" never admitted a female member for the whole of 12 years! I can as well bet my last kobo that the situation is not likely to change in the forth coming elections as non of the major political parties has nominated a single woman for the state House of Assembly!

   The question here is: why is it that women in this part of the world and in Nigeria in particular don't get so involved in politics? The answer to this poser was intelligently and succinctly provided for by one the women discussing the issue in the programme. According to her the problem faced by the female politicians especially in the third world countries are "lack of mobility and access to resources"! When she said that I didn't know when I shouted "YES" in agreement to what she said. This is exactly it! This is the exact problem that has bedevilled Nigerian female political class for long! The fact that Nigerian politics is solely driven by money, or in other words, it is "money politics" needs not be recounted here. The most recent incident that highlighted that fact like never before was the recently conducted PDP presidential primaries that was held at Eagle Square earlier this year. There was widely report of massive usage of money by the two leading contenders in that primaries in order to be able to get the delegates' votes. The other candidate, who is a female and who by no means is not in the same league with the other contestants in terms of resources, was humiliated having gotten only one single vote which many believed was her own vote. Meaning, nobody voted for her but herself!

    There are other incidences that highlighted this problem as well. We all know how crowds are "rented" by politicians in this country for political rallies. These crowds apart from giving false belief to whoever buys into it that they are actually supporters of those that "rent" them, also give some measure of security to them so that the opposition thugs can not come close to those politicians to even think of harassing them. In a more recent incident in Kano, a female politician was going around campaigning for the forthcoming elections when she was harassed by some thugs who took advantage of the fact that she was not moving with such crowd probably because she did not have the resources to "rent" it!

  Now having highlighted the problem faced by these women, what then could be the solution to this predicament that our female politicians are now? The solution to this also as for the first question was provided by one of the ladies discussing the topic in the programme. According to her there are civil societies around the world that are working in partnership with local based Non-Governmental Organisations in some countries especially in the middle east and Africa with the sole object of empowering and assisting those women financially and otherwise to be able to compete with their male counterparts in the political arena in those countries. This of course, is a laudable initiation, but however, in my opinion there is another alternative. Why won't the women resolve to vote for their female counterparts in various political posts? From the census figures we have in this country there are more women than men in this country. So they can't tell us it is not possible. If the women had agreed to do that at the Eagle Square at least, Mrs Sarah Jubril could have gotten more votes as there was considerable number of females delegates at the primaries. our first lady (who is the initiator of women empowerment project) was there too but, even her vote could not be secrificed for the women cause! It's shameful indeed! It makes one question the sincerity of our leaders. In my opinion, this is one of the few solutions for the women and until they are ready to do that, they will keep on distancing themselves to the corridor of power in this country and which we all know at least in Nigeria, it is the key to the resources that they lack at the moment!

introduction

    I believe it is proper to introduce my self first to my readers before saying anything I planned saying here. Let me start by saying my name is AbdulMumini Shuaibu AbdulLahi. I was born in Kano state of Nigeria and grew up here. I am a lawyer by profession (I was just called to the Nigerian Bar in November 2009), so as you can see, very inexperienced lawyer indeed. I don't think I have much to say about my self apart from the little I have said above. Ok, honestly, it is not that I don't have much to say about my self but rather, I wouldn't say more, because I do not believe it is right for me to, instead of saying more important things but, waste my and your time writing about my biography which is not the topic of this discourse. So, forgive me, but that is enough I can supply about my self.

   Done with the introduction stuff, so it is now time to tell my readers the whole idea behind this blog and what it seeks to focus on and the goals it seeks to achieve in the long run. I must admit that this whole thing was inspired by a friend. Although I have always been interested in public affairs and public commentaries, but I have never given it deeper consideration until recently when I got to read some interesting articles written by a very special friend of mine, then I became convinced that this is what I really want to do. So that's how the idea of creating this blog came about. Perhaps I should add that, she (my very special friend) played a significant role in creating this blog as she helped with getting some necessary internet stuffs fixed! For that I will like to say: thank you very much mademoiselle!

   As I said earlier on, I have always dreamt of been a public commentator, and I think this has to do with the fact that I have always been a critical observer of happenings in my surroundings! I observe and make sure that I comprehend, and form my opinion on anything that happen in my community and which I come to know about. I just don't let things pass me by like that, and if one is like this, it is only natural to start looking for avenues where one will start translating those opinions in forms of criticisms, observations and suggestions to the general public for us to have a better informed community! There is no better time in my opinion that the people of this nation need information about certain things happening in various parts of this country than this particular time! And this is exactly what this blog seeks to provide to its readers - information!

   The writings in this blog intend to cut across many spheres of our public life. It is not intended in anyway to restrict it to particular fields; for instance, politics, law, romance and etc. The blogger will touch as it is necessary and relevant any pressing issue that is of importance to the public irrespective of the category of human endeavours it falls into. The post on this blog will appear each Sunday of every week barring any unforseen circumstances that may either alter such arrangement or prevent altogether the blogger from posting anything on any particular Sunday. Your comments, criticisms (constructive of course), and suggestions are welcomed, that I believe is the only way we can make this blog achieve its goals of informing and educating the public. I would like to say also that as this blog has just been created, there should be some modifications in terms of beautification and other improvements to be made to the site from time to time.  I only hope that the readers will appreciate those modifications as they are made. Thank you and see you on Sunday for the full debut!

   Your faithfully,

   

   The blogger.

 

ps:

If some pressing issues arise that it is considered by the blogger too important to let them pass by, the blogger will, if circumstances permit, write on them and post even during the week. However, such special posts will only be appearing on Wednesday. So it is suggested that the readers should be visiting the site on Wednesdays for such postings.