Dr Salihu Dasuki

One thing I wish to leave behind for my kids is a habit of reading and a study full of books. That’s what my father did. I grew up in a house with a room full of books, and I became obsessed with them, stealing books to read. When he was ill and mostly away, I spent my days in his study, reading all types of books. At some point, I began to imitate what I read by writing down my own thoughts and ideas. Even though I grew up with my native language as the primary language in our household, the books were my escape, and I never had to struggle with basic grammar. I have never struggled with an English language test or exam even as a science student. By the time I was reading Brighter Grammar, I had already absorbed the rules from the books I had read. So, reading is your surest bet. The AI age may seem to have rendered these skills obsolete, but in-person exams, whether IELTS or exams in any subject taught in English, will always be there to expose you.

So, 22.42% of the undergraduate graduating class, or approximately one in every 4.46 students, earned First Class honours. This is an encouraging performance and a record the university should be proud of, because it reflects far better on the school than the culture of glorifying low numbers of First Class graduates, low pass rates or mass failure as proof of academic rigour. And Covenant University has consistently distinguished itself as a competitive institution.

I resisted the urge to engage with this disturbing post, but it kept appearing on my feed, and each time, it bothered me even more. These are supposed to be the finest among us: a trained medical doctor dispensing such crude reasoning that you would mistake him for a practising Boko Haram ideologue. A man known for preaching religious tolerance and peace was assassinated for simply disagreeing with certain people’s sectarian views, and you claim he posed a greater danger to Islam than the terrorists and bandits butchering people across the North. What sort of moral reasoning leads an educated person to such a conclusion? I do not disagree that we, as a nation and as a region, are badly governed, and that the historical disparities are well documented. But there is a reason why, despite our shared dysfunction, the South has fared better than we have. We cannot build a peaceful society while harbouring this dangerous ideology, this disease of rejoicing over the murder of another human being just because you consider his religious convictions incompatible with yours. There is something profoundly disturbing about a society in which even the educated can rationalise such barbarism, and where sectarian intolerance has so completely corrupted our moral judgement that we can no longer recognise the humanity of those with whom we disagree. You do not have to agree with a man’s interpretation of religion to defend his right to live. And if your understanding of faith leaves you more outraged by theological disagreement than by the slaughter of innocent human beings, perhaps it is your understanding of faith that deserves the closest scrutiny.

If you were in Kaduna today, you would understand that campaign mode has been fully activated, and Governor Uba Sani has been a gracious host for the flag-off of the presidential campaign. The opposition may continue consoling themselves with AI-generated images, but the streets and the venue were packed, and the atmosphere was electric. We were on the ground to witness it all. The elections are upon us, and it is left for the opposition to match this energy and allow Nigerians to decide. Hats off to #ArewaForAsiwaju #A4A.