Kabiru Danladi Lawanti

All over the world, the university is regarded as a centre of learning. It is a place for advancement of knowledge through research and teaching. The university serves as a place where elite are trained, who can eventually become the managers of the society and these individuals trained, ensure the ultimate good, well-being and development of the society in which they live. However, in Nigeria regrettably, the university system has been turned into a direct opposite. The system has been enmeshed in a series of crises since early 1980s to the present day from funding to students unrest and Academic and non-academic staff strikes. The crises in 80s and 90s were under military dictatorship and started with the issue of improve allowances and salary for staff to issue of funding the system to the University autonomy. Specifically in 1988 the union crises and confrontation reached its peak and they organized a National Strike to obtain fair wages and university autonomy. As a result,...

Since the return of democracy in 1999, northern Nigeria has found itself in a dilemma. Rift between ethnic minorities and the major ethnic groups widened, occasioned by Muslim/Christian conflict in several states of the region. The crisis in the region was compounded by loss of power in the centre, bad leadership from the region’s political elite and the Boko Haram insurgency, which turned Borno and Yobe states into an Afghanistan of a sort. So many things happened in the past that drove the region to where it is now and still few of us think beyond the box. Instead, the region and its elite are busy fighting an unwinnable battle. We may be lucky to return power to the region in 2015, but will that be the end of the region’s hive of problems? As all attention is now shifted to 2015, few of us are paying attention to the incessant carnage in Borno and Yobe. Just 2 weeks ago, the Maiduguri Air Force base came under attack. Attackers, numbering hundreds, who 2 years ago killed th...

Dankwambo vs Goje: the battle of supremacy in Gombe PDP Since handing over power to Alhaji Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo in May, 2011, the former Governor of Gombe State, Alhaji Danjuma Goje remains in the headlines. For close to 3 years now, the governor is shuttling from one court to another trying to defend his alleged diversion of state funds and other charges. Initially, the state government has distanced itself from the travails of the former governor; however, recently, the State Governor came out publicly to declare that the sum of N5.7billion, being a refund by the federal government to complete some of the projects undertaken on its behalf by the state could not be located in any of the state's accounts. This is the first time that the state Governor was coming out publicly to accuse his predecessor of fraud. In his remarks after he was presented with reports of committees set-up to analyze the problems of the state and advise him on how to move the state forward, Gov...

Agitations by individuals and groups, especially from southern Nigeria for a Sovereign National Conference over the years have put pressure on the President to cave in. On 1 st October, 2013, the President, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan in his independence speech agreed to set-up a committee to look at the modalities of organizing a National Conference. For many, the conference is the only panacea to the litany of woes plaguing the country. The belief is that there is need for all sections of the country to come to a roundtable to discuss the continued existence of corporate Nigeria. With over 300 ethnic nationalities and close to a 1000 distinct languages and dialects, those who hold that view consider the entity called Nigeria as a fraud. These calls are as diverse as the people making them. Some of the calls are as genuine as those making them, while some are as fraudulent as the people making them. The calls initially were for a Sovereign National Conference, but realizing the im...

There is a growing concern among progressives and technocrats in Gombe State that the Dankwambo-led administration in the state might have derailed. Having started positively, the administration is seen as people-oriented and a complete shift from its predecessor’s, which was militant in nature and vindictive. On coming to power in 2011, Governor Dankwambo met a pathetic situation in which virtually all the development sectors in the state were in a deplorable state that experienced years of neglect. He started by setting up ‘Needs Assessment’ committees that went round the state to assess possible intervention and sectors that needed urgent attention. Those identified included the health and education sectors. In fact, the two sectors were in a very pathetic state and needed urgent attention. In one of the girls’ school visited, immediately after he was sworn in, Governor Dankwambo could not hold his tears, as students were seen sleeping on mattresses placed on top of stones becaus...