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Nigeria’s Presidential Election: The Christian-Muslim Divide Muhammad Rislan risland6@gmail.com   The above was the title of an article written by Robert Ruby and Timothy Samuel Shah for the Pew Research Centre ’s Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life on March 21, 2007. The content of the article still reverberates to date. Barely anything has changed. Never has a campaign exposed our fragility like the just concluded presidential campaign, which constantly revolves not around ideologies but the religious affiliations of the front-line contenders. This serves as a reminder of the sharp Christian-Muslim divide in Africa’s most populous country. The fact that we have a largely Christian south and predominately Muslim north does not change or help the challenges the average Nigerian faces. Here's why the warped logic of voting the President from your religious bloc seemed confusing to me: The recent ruling by the Apex Court overturning the unilateral decision of one man’s effort to ...
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  Dear Nigeria, can we leave our universities public or make them public/private?   Political changes have compelled our Nigerian politicians to be ardent supporters of privatization. We were slow to the party, but at least we are catching up. Then suddenly, we started reversing the trend before it reached the universities. There was no appetite anymore for privatizing public institutions. Apparently, the appetite is back; this time, our ivory towers' heads are on the guillotine. It was just a matter of time. It is a well-established belief that in the private sector, the customer is king. At the core of its profit-making venture, private entities have great efficiency and better customer service guarantee. In contrast, public institutions are more often than not bogged down by political imperatives, inefficiency, and intermittent strikes. In a fast-paced world where decisions are made, and goals are accomplished in record time, can we afford to be unnecessarily held bac...
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ASUU and Homegrown Solutions: UTAS to the Rescue!!!!

Nigeria, a country of 206 million people, is larger than Russia (population: 144 million), and by 2050, it is expected to pass the U.S.A. as the third most populous country on the planet. The population is primarily youthful and increasingly digital-savvy. Fortunately, Nigeria’s tech ecosystem is the envy of many of its continental rivals. Its startups attracted up to 35% of funding for African startups 2020, and Lagos has become the vibrant center of all things African tech. It was no accident that in late August of 2016, Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg made a surprise visit to Lagos. Nigeria is viewed as the “Silicon Savannah”— a rising power in the tech world. Today, Nigeria is home to the second-best Ruby developers globally and has become Africa’s most significant source of Venture capital (VC) investment for tech startups. Currently, Nigerian startups excel in e-commerce, media, and mobile money transfer. According to the Nigerian...
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WELCOME ADDRESS/BRIEF UPDATE ABOUT THE INSTITUTE FOR AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH SAMARU AT THE 2021 ANNUAL RESEARCH REVIEW AND PLANNING MEETING

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Professor Mohammed Faguji Ishiyaku Executive Director, Institute for Agricultural Research Samaru, Ahmadu Bello University Zaria Theme: Research for National Food Security And Economic Growth 29th March 2021  Venue: Mamman Kontagora Square, Ahmadu Bello University Zaria   Protocol: 1.     It is a rare privilege and honour for me to stand to address this distinguished audience and to witness another Opening Ceremony of the Annual Research Review and Planning Meeting of the almost a century-old IAR. Last year, this event could not hold owing to the dreaded coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, which began with a partial to total lockdown of activities in the country and globally. In compliance with government directives and our desire to safeguard our teeming partners and stakeholders from unnecessary exposure to risks, we deemed it fit to put on hold this important activity in 2020. 2.     This year by sheer benevolence of the Almighty, we a...
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Need For Paradigm Shift In Agricultural Research As Panacea To Attaining Optimum Economic Diversification

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  Professor Mohammed Faguji Ishiyaku                                                                  Executive Director, Institute for Agricultural Research Samaru, Paper presented at the Ahmadu Bello University Agric-Vet Complex Symposium on Agriculture at Mamman Kontagora Square, on The Need For Paradigm Shift In Agricultural Research As Panacea To Attaining Optimum Economic Diversification; 29th March 2021   Preamble Nigeria, our dear Nation is blessed with numerous resources, among which fertile arable land and a large expanse of territorial water dot our landscapes from Bayelsa to Sokoto, from the Mandara mountains to Obudu mountains; from the plains of Yusafari to the Jos plateau. Agriculture is indispensable in our dear Nation's economy, yet we have moved from a net e...
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