Opinion

The Odyssey of Professor Amidu Sanni in Arabic-Islamic Scholarship

Published

8 months ago

September 17, 2025

Eric

By Toyin Falola

On September 16, 2025, the ambience in the Lagos State University auditorium had a different turn than usual. Naturally, it is expected that Inaugurals are usually ceremonial and conducted in an atmosphere that speaks of academics and celebration. Instead, the atmosphere was contemplative as guests and well-wishers all gathered at the Buba Marwa Auditorium for a lecture that had been long overdue with anticipation. Unlike the usual, this edition was not just another episode of academic ritual, but an encompassing trajectory of a lifetime expanded in defending a discipline often treated less seriously. On this day, Distinguished Professor Amidu Olalekan Sanni, a renowned Arabist and cultural historian, took to the podium for his professorial inaugural lecture titled “The Odyssey of a Theorist In Arabic-Islamic Scholarship: The Pain, The Gain, and the Twain.” I was one of the privileged ones to have received an advance copy.

It is not an exaggeration to say that Professor Sanni’s lecture towers above any mountains scaled, so far, because it has been long overdue, in the past six decades of devoted service to academia and scholarship. Notwithstanding, it came, and one presumes with measured grace and a palpable sense of satisfaction. To the discerning, it was more than a lecture. What ensued after the recitals and rollcall of the presenting Don, which encapsulated and interpreted over the years, was more than an exegesis of those studies; it was a purposeful unfolding of a layered itinerary of memory, language, culture, and nationality by one who has, through his life, enacted the history of Arabic studies in Nigeria. With emphasis, Professor Sanni’s lecture was truly a journey through memory. The lecture started with insights into personal and ancestral history. Just like many others, Professor Sanni’s sojourn into Arabic was premeditated by circumstances that proved beneficial in the end. His transition into Arabic and Islamic scholarship was not an academic convenience. Instead, it was born out of familial conviction and premeditated thoughts by generations before him. This is evidenced by his grandfather’s conversion to Islam during World War I, his vow to transmit the baton of Islamic scholarship to his protégés and then the Professor’s father who insisted that his son inherit a legacy of Arabic books instead of a career in accountancy which he believed would predispose him to financial misappropriation and greed, setting the tone for a lifetime of scholarly devotion.

During delivery, Processor Sanni recounted the defining career decision that would have allowed him a level of stability in agricultural research. Yet, he chose the uncertain, murky terrain of Arabic studies against professional advice and cultural expectations from employers, mentors, and senior colleagues. It was a challenging yet pivotal choice that demonstrated a rare willingness to venture, learn, and defend a discipline for its significant value even when clarity was still uncertain.

At the onset, it was a tedious run within the society, then going to lingering stereotypes and cultural misinterpretations. Debunking these fallacies and reengineering societal thoughts to a correct version began the core values of his work. One of the most compelling features of Professor Sanni’s lecture was her readiness to confront stereotypes plaguing Arabic studies in the country. With a keen sense of humor and bits of personal experience, he took a bold, yet gradual step in dismantling notions that Arabic is foreign or exclusively religious. For emphasis, he recalled a memory from the past with the story of a student who misheard the Arabic phrase “Arāka yā Sālim” as “Thunder killed Salem’s mother,” a far cry from the initial meaning. This was a clear display and a commentary on how poor language instruction and existing social misconceptions alter clear understanding.

Beyond humor, the professor raised salient concerns on the marriage of Arabic with Islam, which translates into the relegation of Arabic scholarship as a study interest for clerics and the failure of educational institutions to appreciate Arabic not as the language of the “Islamic world”but as a global language deeply rooted in historical African societies. Through practical examples, Professor Sanni explained how these stereotypes have played a significant role in marginalizing Arabic in mainstream curricula, despite its evident usage in law, trade, diplomacy, and cultural expression within indigenous contexts.

On this note, the Professor made a daring, bold claim, asserting that Arabic was indeed a Nigerian language. This assertion was simple yet powerful. It is central to his thesis and a careful attempt to get the message across. While maintaining the fact that Arabic is indeed not foreign to Nigeria, he went down memory lane, landing proofs from the court records of the ancient Sokoto Caliphate, the Yoruba Ajami manuscripts, the Hausa and Nupe heritages, amongst others, in affirming how Arabic has been around, shaping a part of Nigerian linguistic and intellectual history for centuries.

Before the colonial era, Arabic served as the medium for judicial documentation, interstate correspondence, and religious education. Even in present times, visible inscriptions in Arabic remain on Nigeria’s currency, and the Army’s Logo, which was credited to an Easterner who believed in the contextual meaning of the inscription for a modern military force. What these points point to in all is the quiet nod to a deep, clear, and evident heritage. At this point, the able professor called for a redirection, challenging the audience to see Arabic not as a relic of religion or colonial curiosity, but as a living language that has shaped Nigerian society tremendously. He challenged the audience to view and see the language as one with untapped potential for diplomacy, translation, literature, and global communications.

In recognition of the linguistic, historical, and emergent relationships between Arabic and African communities, Professor Sanni broadened the topic, integrating his recent work with his long-term research on Arabic literacy among enslaved Africans in the Americas. Examining the Arabic writings of Africans from both 18th-century Brazil and 19th-century North Carolina, Professor Sanni’s work has contributed new insights into the lives and writings of Alfa Rufino, an Oyo prince who composed Arabic in Portuguese America, and Omar ibn Said, the author of a slave narrative written in Arabic in the United States. Their stories were not just anecdotes but evidence of intellectual prowess and resilience for survival under harsh working conditions in the plantations of Bahia and the streets of Louisiana. Arabic at this time was more than a language. It was a tool of memory connecting enslaved people with their homelands, creating a sense of survival and dignity. Through these individuals, Professor Sanni repositioned Arabic studies as an essential component of African Diaspora studies and a testament to the fact that Africans authored their own stories long before colonial historians thought of it.

Even though the professor tailored his lecture around historical facts, he did not fail in projecting the lecture to look into the future boldly. He unequivocally pushed and advocated for the radical restructuring of Arabic studies across Nigerian learning institutions. He believed it is of no benefit if Arabic continues to be trapped within the walls of religious learning tools or clerical activities only. Instead, he posited an interdisciplinary pairing where Arabic could merge and play alongside modern learning innovations like Arabic and programming, Arabic and finance, Arabic and international studies, amongst various innovative interplays between disciplines as a way to make them relevant in a dynamic modern world.

In this regard, he lauded Lagos State University for being at the vanguard of this change. He cited the liberalized template it has set up for the study of Arabic, where all interested students of all faiths and backgrounds are welcome, without forgetting the department’s own interesting origin as having a non-Muslim as a founding donor. The professor also gave success stories of alumni who, whether Muslim or Christian, have established for themselves practical and successful careers in the multidimensional areas of diplomacy, media, local education, and as translators and interpreters in the international scene. It is this new generation, he thought, that would be the best people to portray the objectives of what it would mean to be a versatile, competent, and globally relevant speaker of Arabic.

At the same time, Professor Sanni did not fail in calling out the anomalies within the university system as an institution. He pointed out valid concerns, noting the fragile state of higher education in Nigeria. The university environment, as he mentioned, ought to be free from the inequities seen in other systems. He heavily criticized politicized promotions, inadequate research visibility, and outdated curricula. He lamented the absence of digitized archives and the absence of institutional memory across many universities.

He mentioned policy failures, particularly the futility of scrapping diploma programs in Arabic that once helped bridge the gaps for students with traditional learning backgrounds. Instead, he opted for structural reforms that allow sub-degree programs to be packaged with modern content such as entrepreneurship, digital literacy, and interdisciplinary engagement to foster inclusivity.

Even though it was never explicitly stated, the Inaugural Lecture carried the heavy weight of a reflective farewell along the way. After over four decades at LASU and six decades in the field of Arabic studies, Professor Sanni used the platform to share a teacher’s joy of seeing his former students become professors, entrepreneurs, and public figures. He reminded the audience of how success is not simply in titles, but in the legacies we cultivate—speaking so little about the long wait for his professorial inaugural, not with a heavy heart but a deep understanding of time and its essence. “Icould have been a great agriculturist,” he said quietly. “But I chose this and I have no regrets.” It was a soft declaration of a scholar often overlooked within yet revered across continents.

In the end, Professor Sanni had carved out an image on the consciousness of his listeners, of Arabic not as a dead language but as a language of opportunity, a language of the present and the future, even as it is grounded in a cultural and intellectual history, which is fully capable of meeting the challenges of a modernizing society. The final passage that he recited, a passage of poetry from the Qur’an, is an eloquent summation of epistemological affirmations of a tranquil and composed self, and a life with purpose and praise. In the end, the man who inherited his father’s books has become the guardian of languages, the linguist who does not simply safeguard a patrimony but instructs us on how to bear it.

Opinion

A Vindicating Truth: A Factual Presentation on the Supreme Court’s Intervention in the ADC Leadership Matter

Published

23 hours ago

May 4, 2026

Eric

By Comrade IG Wala

To All Nigerians, Party Stakeholders, and Lovers of Democracy,

In the life of every great political movement, there comes a moment where the noise of confusion meets the silence of the Law. For the African Democratic Congress (ADC), that moment arrived on April 30, 2026.

For months, the ADC was held in a state of judicial paralysis caused by a lower court order that froze the party’s activities. This order did not just affect a few leaders, it threatened to delete the ADC from the Nigerian political map and disenfranchise millions of supporters ahead of the 2027 General Elections.

Today, we present the facts of the Supreme Court’s intervention to ensure that every Nigerian, from the city centers to the grassroots, understands that Justice has spoken, and the ADC is alive.

The Three Pillars of the Supreme Court’s Ruling:

1. The End of Paralysis (The Status Quo Order)!

The Supreme Court, led by Justice Mohammed Garba, was clear and firm: the Court of Appeal’s order to maintain a “status quo” was improper and unwarranted. The apex court recognized that you cannot freeze a political party indefinitely without a trial. By setting this aside, the Supreme Court rescued the ADC from a leadership vacuum that was being used to justify de-recognition by INEC.

2. The Restoration of Administrative Legitimacy.

By nullifying the appellate court’s freeze, the Supreme Court effectively restored the David Mark-led National Working Committee to its rightful place. This means that for all official, administrative, and electoral purposes, the ADC now has a recognized head. The party is no longer a ship without a captain; the doors of the headquarters are open, and the party’s name remains firmly on the ballot.

3. The Order for a Fresh Trial on Merits.

True to the principles of fair hearing, the Supreme Court did not simply gift the party to one side. Instead, it ordered the case back to the Federal High Court for an accelerated hearing. This is a victory for the Truth. It means the court is not interested in technicalities or stopping the clock, it wants to see the evidence, read the Party Constitution, and deliver a final judgment based on the Right vs. Wrong.

Note: I will drop the 7 prayers made to Supreme Court by ADC in the comment section.

A Message to Our Members and Supporters.
To our members who have felt a sense of fear, apprehension, or a lack of confidence in the Nigerian courts, let your hearts be at peace.

It is a delusion to believe that gross injustice can simply walk through the doors of our highest courts unnoticed. This matter is currently one of the most publicized and people-centric cases in Nigeria. In such a bright spotlight, the Judiciary acts not just as a judge, but as a shield for the common man.

The Law is not a tool for the crafty, it is a searchlight for the Truth.
Inasmuch as they say the Law is blind, it sees with perfect clarity the difference between a lie and the truth, between right and wrong. The Supreme Court’s refusal to let the ADC be strangled by procedural delays is proof that the system works for those who stand on the side of justice.

Our confidence is not in personalities, but in the Process. We are returning to the Federal High Court not with fear, but with the armor of Truth.

The Handshake remains strong, the vision is clear, and our participation in the 2027 elections is now legally anchored.

Stand tall. The ADC has been tested by the fire of the courts, and we have emerged not just intact, but vindicated.

Signed,
Comrade, IG Wala.
02/04/26. — with Shareef Kamba and 14 others.

Opinion

The Police is Your Friend and Other Lies We No Longer Believe

Published

1 day ago

May 4, 2026

Eric

By Boma Lilian Braide (Esq.)

There was a time in Nigeria when the phrase The Police is Your Friend was not a national joke. It was a civic assurance, a symbolic handshake between the state and its citizens. It represented the ideal of a civil security architecture built on trust, service, and protection. Today, that once reassuring slogan has decayed into a bitter irony. It no longer evokes safety; it provokes fear. It no longer signals partnership; it signals danger. What should have been the soul of Nigerian civil state relations has become a cruel parody of our lived experience at checkpoints, stations, and on the streets.

The Nigerian security apparatus has undergone a transformation so profound that it now resembles a predatory machine rather than a protective institution. The sight of a police patrol vehicle, which should ordinarily bring comfort, now triggers anxiety. Citizens instinctively brace themselves, not for assistance, but for extortion, harassment, or violence. We are not merely witnessing isolated incidents of misconduct. We are watching a pattern of state enabled brutality unfold in real time, a pattern so consistent that it feels like a televised execution of the social contract. In this grim theatre, the Nigerian state often appears not as the protector but as the principal aggressor.

On Sunday, April 26th 2026, the quiet air of Effurun in Delta State was shattered by the crack of a service pistol. What should have been an ordinary Sunday afternoon became the final chapter in the life of twenty-eight year old Mene Ogidi. A viral video, barely two minutes long, captured the horrifying scene. Ogidi sat on the dusty ground, his hands tied behind him with a rope. He was unarmed, exhausted, and pleading in his mother tongue for a chance to explain himself. Standing over him was a man in plain clothes, a man sworn to protect the very life he was about to extinguish. Assistant Superintendent of Police Nuhu Usman raised his pistol and fired two shots at close range into the body of a restrained, helpless citizen.

This was not a confrontation. It was not a crossfire. It was not a struggle for a weapon. It was an execution. A daylight assassination carried out by a state paid officer who felt so insulated by impunity that he performed his violence in front of a digital audience. The collective outrage that followed was not simply about one death. It was the eruption of a nation that has watched this script repeat itself far too many times.

Barely days later, in Dei-Dei Abuja, another life was cut short. A National Youth Service Corps member was shot inside his father’s compound. Authorities described it as a mistake during a crossfire, but the silence that followed spoke louder than any official explanation. These tragedies are not anomalies. They are symptoms of a deep institutional rot, a rot that has turned the badge into a license for violence rather than a symbol of service.

Extrajudicial killings in Nigeria represent a direct assault on the fundamental right to life and the presumption of innocence. When a law enforcement officer assumes the roles of accuser, judge, and executioner, the very foundation of the state begins to crumble. In the case of Mene Ogidi, the Delta State Police Command admitted that the officer acted in gross violation of Force Order 237, the regulation governing the use of firearms. This admission is significant because it reveals that the problem is not the absence of rules. The problem is the collapse of discipline, the erosion of accountability, and the entrenchment of a culture of impunity.

Between 2020 and 2025, Nigerian security agencies were implicated in nearly six hundred violent incidents against civilians, resulting in more than eight hundred deaths. The Nigeria Police Force accounted for over half of these fatalities. These numbers paint a disturbing picture. The institutions funded by taxpayers to provide security have become one of the greatest threats to their safety.

The psychology behind this brutality is rooted in the absence of consequences. When officers believe that nothing will happen after they pull the trigger, the threshold for using lethal force drops to zero. In the Effurun case, reports suggest that the suspect was even transported to a station after the initial shooting, only to be shot again. This level of cruelty reflects a complete dehumanization of the citizenry. The victim is no longer seen as a person with rights. He becomes a disposable suspect. This mindset is a legacy of the defunct SARS unit, whose methods and mentality continue to shape policing culture. Rebranding SARS into SWAT or the Rapid Response Squad means nothing if the same men, trained in the same violent ethos, continue to operate with the same predatory instincts.

The Nigerian police system has evolved from a flawed institution into what many citizens now describe as a state sponsored cartel. The Zero Tolerance mantra often repeated by the Inspector General of Police, Olatunji Disu, has become a public relations slogan that evaporates at every checkpoint. The immediate dismissal and recommended prosecution of ASP Usman and his team may satisfy the public’s immediate hunger for justice, but it does not address the deeper institutional vacuum that allowed an officer to believe he could execute a restrained suspect without consequence. If accountability only occurs when a video goes viral, then we are not being policed. We are being hunted by a uniformed gang that is occasionally caught on camera.

This raises critical questions. Where were the superior officers? Where was the Area Commander while this culture of execution was taking root? Command responsibility in Nigeria remains a myth. Until a Commissioner of Police is removed for the actions of their subordinates, there will be no internal incentive to reform. The decay is structural. We are recruiting frustrated individuals, training them in aggression rather than professionalism, and unleashing them on a population they are conditioned to view with suspicion and contempt.

The mistake narrative used in the Abuja NYSC shooting reflects this tactical incompetence. A professional force does not mistake a youth corper in his bedroom for a combatant. Nigerians are effectively subsidising their own endangerment, paying for the bullets that cut down their brightest young citizens. A nation cannot survive this level of uniformed recklessness. The state has lost its monopoly on violence to its own agents. When police officers fear the citizen’s camera more than they respect the citizen’s life, the system has failed.

Five years after the historic 2020 End SARS protests, the systemic reforms promised by government remain largely unfulfilled. Only a handful of states have implemented the recommendations of the judicial panels or compensated victims. The National Human Rights Commission reported in July 2025 that it had received over three hundred thousand complaints of abuses. This staggering figure reflects the scale of the crisis. While the current Inspector General has introduced new regulations to align the Police Act of 2020 with operational realities, the gap between a gazetted document in Abuja and a patrol team in Delta remains vast.

The solution to this bloodletting must be radical and structural. First, police oversight must be decentralised. Relying on Force Headquarters in Abuja to discipline an officer in a remote community is inefficient and ineffective. Each state should have an independent, citizen led oversight board with the authority to recommend immediate suspension and prosecution without interference from the police hierarchy.

Second, Force Order 237 must be overhauled to strictly limit the use of firearms to situations where there is an immediate and verifiable threat to life. Under no circumstances should a restrained or surrendering suspect be shot.

Third, Nigeria must address the mental health and welfare of police officers. Men who live in dilapidated barracks, earn inadequate wages, and operate under constant stress are more likely to lash out at the public. However, poverty cannot be an excuse for murder. Welfare reform must go hand in hand with strict accountability.

Finally, justice must not only be done but must be seen to be done. The trial of ASP Usman and others like him should be public, transparent, and swift. It must serve as a deterrent that resonates in every police station across the country. The era of secret disciplinary rooms must end. Nigeria must invest in technology driven policing, not only in weapons but in body cameras and digital accountability systems. When officers know they are being recorded, hesitation replaces recklessness.

A NATIONAL CALL TO ACTION

The era of Orderly Room secrecy must end. Nigeria must decentralise police disciplinary trials, moving them from closed sessions in Abuja to open, civilian led inquiries in the states where the abuses occur. A National Firearms Audit is urgently needed. Every officer must account for every round issued, and any missing ammunition should trigger automatic suspension for the entire chain of command.

The National Assembly must fast track the Victims of Police Brutality Trust Fund, ensuring that compensation becomes a legal right funded directly from the budgets of offending commands. Nigeria must stop being a nation of post script outrage. Command responsibility must become law. If an officer under a Commissioner’s watch executes a handcuffed suspect, that Commissioner must lose their job alongside the shooter.

The blood of Mene Ogidi and the NYSC member in Dei Dei is a stain on our national conscience. It is a reminder that as long as one Nigerian can be tied up and shot without trial, no Nigerian is truly safe. Silence is no longer an option. Waiting for the next viral video is no longer acceptable. The time to demand change is now.

Opinion

Kwankwaso-Obi Anti-Coalition Alliance and the Perception of the North

Published

2 days ago

May 3, 2026

Eric

By Dr. Sani Sa’idu Baba

Let’s not sugarcoat it, what is unfolding is not just political maneuvering for 2027, but a carefully calculated roadmap to 2031. Anyone who believes Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso is acting out of patriotism or prioritizing Nigeria above his personal ambition is simply ignoring the pattern before us. His willingness to deputise Peter Obi is not born out of ideological alignment or national interest, it appears to be a strategic move aimed at one target weakening Atiku Abubakar and ensuring he does not emerge as president in 2027.

Kwankwaso’s real calculation seems anchored in 2031. He understands that as long as Atiku remains active and contesting, his own presidential ambition struggles to gain traction, especially in the North where Atiku’s influence remains deeply rooted. By positioning himself in a way that could undermine Atiku now, he potentially clears the path for himself later, when he can conveniently lean on the “it is the turn of the North” narrative with stronger moral leverage. This is not about helping Obi win, it is about ensuring Atiku is completely removed from the equation.

It is also important to state plainly that Kwankwaso is fully aware of his electoral limitations in this arrangement. He knows he cannot significantly attract Northern votes for Obi beyond a few pockets, even within Kano State. And even there, the good people of Kano are far more politically aware and discerning than to be swayed purely by sentiment. This makes the entire proposition even more questionable, if the electoral value is limited, then the intention behind the alliance becomes even clearer. It suggests that even if he joins an Obi ticket, it is not driven by a genuine commitment to Obi, the Igbo, the South-East or Nigeria but by a broader personal calculation.

Northerners must understand that this is a long game, and every move appears deliberately designed. Kwankwaso seems cautious not to overtly confirm growing suspicions that he is working, directly or indirectly, to the advantage of Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Yet, many are beginning to connect the dots. The belief that there is an underlying alignment is gaining ground, especially when actions repeatedly result in one outcome, a divided North that weakens its collective electoral strength, a repeatation of 2023 in a different style. The alignment of Kwankwaso’s political godson and the governor of Kano Abba Kabir Yusuf with Tinubu only fuels this perception, suggesting a dual-front approach: one operating directly and visibly, the other indirectly and subtly.

This is not the first time such a pattern is being observed. Many Northerners still recall similar dynamics from 2023, and recent developments have only intensified the conversation. In fact, within just the last 24 hours, the level of criticism and open dissatisfaction directed at Kwankwaso across Northern Nigeria has been unprecedented. What was once dismissed as mere suspicion of a quiet alliance is now, in the eyes of many, being confirmed by actions seen as disruptive to any meaningful coalition.

For Kwankwaso, this moment carries significant weight. The long-circulating “sellout” label, which many had hesitated to firmly attach, now appears to be finding a resting place in public discourse. Should he once again position himself outside a collective Northern arrangement, that perception may become permanently entrenched.

The implications for the North are serious. Voting Obi because of Kwankwaso, which is unlikely, could fracture an already consolidated political base, reduce its bargaining power, and ultimately produce outcomes that do not reflect its true strength. The North has never historically rejected a dominant figure like Atiku in favor of a subordinate position, nor has it embraced a configuration where its most established candidate is sidelined. The idea that the region would choose Kwankwaso as a deputy while overlooking Atiku as a president is not just improbable, it runs contrary to established Northern political behavior.

What is at stake goes beyond individual ambition. The North is fully conscious of the stakes and increasingly resolute in its direction. There is a growing determination to stand firmly behind its own Atiku Abubakar, to protect its collective political strength, and to resist any arrangement that appears designed to divide it. The signals are clear, the North has decided, and it will not fall into what many perceive as calculated traps, whether from Kwankwaso or from forces seen as working against its cohesion and democratic leverage….

Dr. Sani Sa’idu Baba writes from Kano, and can be reached via drssbaba@yahoo.com