Subversion of Iman

…..also published in Daily Trust

In Muslim-dominated northern Nigeria, there are four major ideological trends; mysticism, “liberalism”, extremism and Salafism. Obviously, Sufi mystical orders spearhead the first trend; the so-called liberal Muslims advocate for the second, extremist groups pursue the third and the Salafi revivalists propagate the fourth. 

    

However, at the moment, I am not dissecting the respective ideologies of the parties representing these trends; I am, instead, highlighting the impact of the trends on the Iman (i.e. Faith) of unsuspecting Muslims.

Before switching to indigenous language

…also published Daily Trust

Obviously, in addition to the obvious lack of political will by successive federal and state governments to check the persistent deterioration in the quality of education in Nigeria, there are other challenges peculiar to various geopolitical zones and states.

In the northwest and northeast geopolitical zones, for instance, the English language as the main language of academic instruction is regarded by many as one of the challenges hampering the development of education. It’s increasingly, albeit largely tacitly, portrayed as one of the impediments to education penetration in the regions.

Conspiracy theory, between two extremes

…also published in Daily Trust

As a belief that some self-centered and extremely cunning vested interests manipulate situations, incidents or phenomena in some ways too clandestine for the average observer to observe, conspiracy theory remains one of the most controversial issues.

Though there is hardly any aspect of human endeavour that’s spared of conspiracy theory-based explanations, the politics of internal, regional, continental and global power struggle attracts most of such controversial explanations.