The gruesome murder of five-year-old Hanifa Abubakar has once again painted Nigeria as a country where life is short, brutish and meaningless. The little girl would never have imagined that the man paid to teach and protect her would be her nemesis. The man, Mr. Abdulmalik Tanko, was the proprietor of Hanifa’s school, Noble Kids Academy, Kwanar Dakata, in Nassarawa Local Government Area of Kano State. He reportedly kidnapped Hanifa late last year and took her to his house. He later demanded a ransom of N6 million from her family. The family was able to pay an initial sum of N100,000. This did not assuage the killer who reportedly said he killed her with rat poison, dismembered her and buried her remains in a shallow grave on the school premises. He was arrested when he tried to collect the remaining part of the money. 
It is pathetic that Nigeria has continued to fail her young ones. This evil against children started with the kidnapping of 276 girls from their school in Chibok, Borno State, by Boko Haram terrorists in April 2014. These girls spent over two years in captivity before over 100 of them were released. Many of them are still in captivity. Some have since died.
No doubt, evil people exist in some other parts of the world. The other day in Britain, for instance, a 49-year-old woman snatched and stabbed a five-year-old boy to death at a house in Earlsdon, Coventry. But, I’m not sure there is anywhere in the world where children are kidnapped and killed in the manner and frequency it is done in Nigeria.
These terrorists had a bumper harvest in 2020 and 2021. Some of the schools they attacked were Government Science Secondary School, Kankara, in Katsina State, Government Science Secondary School Kagara in Rafi Local Government Area of Niger State, Girls Secondary School, Jangebe, in Zamfara State and Greenfield University in Kaduna State.
In these attacks, hundreds of children were kidnapped and tortured. Some of them died in the process. The United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) recently estimated that, in 2021 alone, bandits and terrorists in Nigeria attacked at least 25 schools, kidnapped 1,440 children and killed 16 of them.
It is often said that unemployment and hardship push some of our youths into criminal activities. To an extent, this is true, especially for petty thieves. But I doubt if it is lack of job that pushes these hardened bandits and terrorists into the business of kidnapping and killing innocent kids. It couldn’t have been what propelled the proprietor of Noble Kids Academy into killing Hanifa. It couldn’t have been what made the terrorists in Sokoto to kill 23 innocent travellers last year and burn them to ashes.
Our major problem is pure wickedness and greed. It is said that the heart of man is inherently evil. This statement must have been made with Nigeria in mind. It is not that some of those who kill their mothers for rituals don’t have money. Many of them do, but they want more. They want to be like Aliko Dangote, the richest man in Africa, overnight. They want to ride the latest posh cars in town. I doubt if the bandits in Niger and Sokoto states will drop their weapons if you offer them jobs in the Central Bank of Nigeria.
Besides, many motorists quarrel and fight over nothing on the roads. Most of them do not want to give way to the other. This is in sharp contrast to what we see in most civilized societies where someone can open a door and hold it for the person coming after him to pass first.
From the look of things, the future looks very bleak. The children we are kidnapping and torturing today will turn out to be our nemesis tomorrow. And when they start, theirs will be more ferocious. I pity the future generation who will bear the brunt of the next atrocities that will envelope our land.
I also sympathize with the families of the victims of different crimes in Nigeria. Hanifa’s mother reportedly fainted and was admitted to the hospital. Many of us who have not experienced this type of tragedy will not appreciate the trauma the victims’ families face in situations like this.
My major worry now is that school enrolment in the North may be affected by the desecration of Noble Kids Academy. The Kano State government has closed down the school. It has also shut down all private schools and asked them to come for re-validation. These schools may come back to discover that many of their students are gone. And this will add to the huge number of out-of-school children, which is said to be over 13 million in Nigeria. We will all suffer the consequences because the educated child cannot function effectively in a society where many others are illiterate. And this is how the cycle of banditry and terrorism will continue.
One can understand the anger of many Nigerians with regard to the killing of Hanifa. Angry youths in Kano have set the school ablaze. Some advocated capital punishment for the culprit. The wife of our President, Mrs. Aisha Buhari, is in this group. Yes, the measure one gives should be the measure one gets.
I wish the First Lady would advise her husband to be more serious with the issue of security in Nigeria. His primary duty as our President is to ensure that our lives and properties are protected all the time. It is not enough to order security agents to crush bandits and terrorists, as he is wont to say. He should go a step further to ensure that these security agencies are well equipped to carry out the onerous task of securing all of us, including our schools. The Safe Schools initiative launched in 2014, aimed at promoting the safety of pupils, teachers and facilities in our schools should be revived.
The police in Kano deserve commendation for apprehending the suspects in the murder of Hanifa. This is where intelligence-sharing comes to play. The suspects have been charged to court in Kano and remanded in correctional centre custody. The hope of many Nigerians is that justice will be served in this matter. This will show that though there will always be crime, there will also be punishment that comes with it. If criminals realize that the days of impunity are over, it may make them think twice before committing their criminal acts.
In all, I can only say, goodbye dear Hanifa. No one can bring you back to life. But I believe, as a little angel, you are already resting well in the bosom of the Lord.
Tinubu, MURIC and 2023 presidency
Oga Casmir! Finally someone has had it enough with that ‘Prof’ gibberish who delights in issuing ridiculous statements on every issue. Ishaq Akintola is just a clear example of a meddling interloper. We need more people to speak up against his continuous rabble rousing.
– Dr. Daniel Nze, +2348068658950
Dear Cas, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu’s gift for spotting technocrats and seasoned administrators towers above his age. Most of the shining stars in this government testify for his ability to discover seasoned technocrats. Raji Fashola, Sunday Dare, Lai Mohammed, Kayode Fayemi, Rauf Aregbesola, etc, bear eloquent testimonies to the Jagaban of Bogu.
– Chinedu Adumekwe, Urualla, Imo State, +2348117419520
Dear Casy, in a land where anything goes, injustice thrives; bad products sell faster than good ones. Drawing the aforesaid notion into the Nigerian political horizon, you find out that injustice really thrives, bad political products become easy sell, especially, when there are obscene quantities of cash to throw around in order to attract hordes of people like Prof Akintola who would stand reason on its head in an effort to turn the bad product into an easy sell.
– Steve Okoye, Awka, 08036630731
Mr. Casmir, I am a regular reader of your column. It is important we throw away sentiments and deepen the content of our debate about who becomes our President come 2023. Asiwaju Bola Tinubu is not the only person who is interested in the race, it is an open contest and anybody who can satisfy the provisions of Section 131 of the 1999 Constitution can also contest. The contest is also not limited to APC alone, all other parties that are still registered by INEC e.g. PDP, APGA etc can also field candidates for the election. The person may be a Muslim, a Christian, a Catholic, an Anglican, Pentecostal etc. Everybody is free. A single individual should not be the only and the single issue to be discussed all the time.
– Anonymous, +2348033951445
Casmir, the antics of the likes of Prof Akintola don’t freak the likes of us who are familiar with the murky waters of politics in Nigeria. We will be waiting for his ‘Yoruba Muslim candidate’ if he makes it. He would be given the 1980’s MKO Abiola treatment of ‘APC is not for sale’ ‘the north cannot be bought’. The next president should be someone who can make ‘progressive/positive changes’ and not ‘retrogressive/negative changes’ in vital areas of our lives such as economy, security, education, corruption & power.
– Mike, Mushin, Lagos, +2348161114572
If and when a professor behaves less than one, pity him if you can. I am in agreement with you as to what qualities our 2023 president should possess. But we can’t have an ‘unblemished’ Nigerian on all scores having all ‘sinned’ and are short of the glory of God. We should look at the direction of a president who is not a captive to tribe and religion, one who can honestly tackle the very embarrassing security challenges of the country, one who can turn around our now comatose economy and generally bind the festering wound of disunity and suspicion that has greatly ravaged our beloved Nigeria. Without sounding immodest or audacious, I particularly urge all the parties to field and fully support candidates of South East descent. Ambitions of the likes of Tinubu, Atiku, Bello, Saraki etc must be buried for the country to move forward.
-Edet Essien Esq. Cal. South, 08037952470
I will be forced to agree with Mazi Nnamdi Kanu that Nigeria is unsalvageable if come 2023 either Tinubu, Atiku or any of their peers wins the Presidential election. It will confirm our imbecility as a people and affirm Buhari’s assertion that the Nigerian youths are lazy; we are men without manhood.
-Hon Aloy Uzoekwe, 08038503174.
Dear Casmir, one is very surprised at the inciting remarks made by Akintola. Has he forgotten that Islamic Presidents have been recommended by Christian preachers? He is sad that Christians are ahead in the West forgetting that Awolowo the political god of the Yoruba was a Christian. This year is very fragile, so volatile statements should be avoided.
– Cletus Frenchman, Enugu, +2349095385215
Casmir, Nigeria has remained underdeveloped because the right candidate has not been allowed to lead. A right candidate, irrespective of his/her ethnicity or religious background, will be disciplined and observer of the rule of law. What Nigeria needs is any person who can believe in the rule of law.
-Pharm. Okwuchukwu Njike, +234 803 885 4922
What we need in Nigeria is a good leader with or without university degree or its equivalent, who is incorrupt and well prepared for the job and not a leader with Christian or Muslim background period. So, Prof. Ishaq Akintola should bridle his tongue.
– Mr. Chinedu Ekwuno (JP), 08063730644