Northern Nigeria

Widening the Margins of Inclusive Education in Africa: The Case for Almajiranci in Northern Nigeria



For postcolonial African societies like Nigeria, whose education systems still struggle to make room for marginal groups schooled in alternative settings, there is a need to widen the margins and definitions of what exactly constitutes an education.

In such contexts grappling with various colonialities, narrowing what counts as valid knowledge to fit a Western Eurocentric definition of it, has meant that millions of Nigerians educated through the Almajiranci system of education are not only considered as ‘uneducated’, but also regarded as unfit for the modern Nigerian citizenry. Almajiranci is a classical form of Qur’anic schooling which has an estimated 8-10 million boys within it, and which is subject to various negative (mis)representations.

Slee (2011) states that Inclusive Education when framed as a tactic for reducing exclusion through recognising structural disadvantage and injustice, may be recruited as an ally in the decolonial project. This paper therefore argues that reviewing the place of the Almajiranci system by engaging critically with its conditions of marginalisation through coloniality, will allow for a more inclusive, equitable and epistemically just Nigerian education system. Redefining and reconceptualising education in general and schooling in particular to include other forms of schooling and knowledge, which do not necessarily conform to the narrow existing definitions of it, also ‘allows for Inclusive education to serve the broader decolonial project’, Walton (2018).


This paper asks us to make a case for inclusivity in the widest sense of the word, one that not only recognises but also prioritises ‘the destructive workings of power, privilege, disadvantage and exclusion in education’, especially through existing postcolonial processes and structures; and one which enables an analysis of coloniality of power, knowledge and being at work in schooling, that still exists.

Publisher: Abacus; Hachette Book Group; Little, Brown and Company
Published: 2008;
ISBN13: 978-0316113786;
ISBN10: 0316113786;
Pages: 368;
Format: Hardback

http://bordersliteratureonline.net/books/Say-You%E2%80%99re-One-Of-them


Say You’re One of Them is catholic priest, Uwem Akpan’s debut book set in selected countries of Sub-Saharan Africa.  Emerging out of the book’s unleashed passions, are two monsters and a wounded angel. The first monster has two heads: one is poverty, that chronic, terrifying condition of lack; moral chaos is the other: the disintegration of values when the only organising principle that society offers is survival. Towering over Africa, an ancient tree planted in her soil, the second monster bears two fearsome names: Ethnocentrism, religious fanaticism. A swooping vulture, religious fanaticism surveys endless carnage with stony eyes and ethnocentrism surveys the remains of armed conflicts erupting in his name, throughout African lands.

Marriage is an institution that guarantees the procreation, care, socialization and the stability of the family as well as the survival of human race. It is a union of relationship both mystical and physical between a man and a woman meant for long life companionship. Despite the many advantages of marriage, the separation of spouses with their children posed a traumatic danger on all parties. This, without doubt usually leads to breakdown and divorce. This study examined the causes and implications of divorce in four selected electoral wards in Keffi Local Government Area of Nasarwa State. The study investigates the most affected party by divorce as well as the extent of the effect on them. Critical literatures were reviewed on the cause and effects of divorce. Functionalist theory was adopted as theoretical framework for the study. As a survey type of study, multi-stage sampling method was used to elicit information from 378 respondents via questionnaire. 8 Key Informants comprising the District Heads were purposively selected and interviewed, their responses were transcribed. Frequency tables were used to describe the quantitative data using SPSS version 20, while regression analysis was used to analyse the data. The study found out that sexual incompatibility between couples significantly leads to divorce. Consequently, it was found that children are the most affected party by divorce in the Study areas. Based on the following findings, the study concludes that divorce is a serious social problem bedeviling Keffi Local Government. It is no gain to say that children and women suffer most by divorce. The study therefore recommends that Proper courtship should be done between a man and a woman before venturing into marriage. Parents should endeavor to socialize the children specifically girls on sex education and the importance of sex in marriage. Couples should also be encouraged to occasionally utilize marriage counseling to aid ameliorate the menace of divorce among many others.
Keywords: Marriage, Divorce, Infertility, Couples/Spouses, Family

Qur’anic schools exist at the margins of official educational policies in Nigeria, but they have proved capable of sustaining public demand for their core contents and values that are based on  a near-exclusive teaching of the Qur’an. Qur’anic schools have also questioned the secular basis of the country’s public education. But this paper argues that with the loss of their power as the sole legitimate authorities that mediated religious knowledge, Qur'anic schools and their clerics have to compete with several other forces in the religious and social formation of children placed under their care. This means that arguments that claim direct linkages between Qur'anic education and militant tendencies among children who attend these schools in Northern Nigeria do so at the risk of over blowing small pieces of a complex phenomenon into a single causation. The paper recommends that a better approach to understanding the connection between religious ideologies and militancy on school pupils is to interrogate the broad range of in- and out-school influences that these pupils encounter, and begin to account for how these experiences determine their religious expressions. It is possible that this approach will yield an understanding of how all children, not just those in religious schools, are susceptible to manipulations by forces that surround their daily lives but which they lack the power to control.

BOXES.......................................................................................................................................................... ..iii PHOTOS ......................................... ... ... The Role of Traditional Rulers in Conflict Prevention and Mediation in Nigeria: Final Report ... 5. Evolution of the chieftaincy system in the ...

This article provides an overview of some of the contemporary issues concerning Hausa women from Northern Nigeria, in particular their rights and daily struggles, based on contestations addressed by researchers. As they represent many fields of study, such as anthropology, sociology, history and linguistics, they draw attention
to current discourses, definitions and different examples of problematic matters related to Hausa women studies. However, much of the published literature on Hausa culture and society analyzed the activities and social practices of Hausa males. More recently, Hausa women became the specific focus of inquiry, especially in the context of gender studies, human rights, Muslim feminism as well as female literary movement in Northern Nigeria. Many observers have pointed out that the situation of Hausa women with its diversity is a difficult one. The issues discussed further in this article serve as examples of how the notion of gender operates in practice – in daily lives of women in Northern Nigeria.

Large body historical literatures on the development of education in Nigeria has not been justified in its recorded perception of educational development in Northern Nigeria as some stones had not only been left unturned but covered up completely. Hence, a majority of the present generation has been deluded to belief that Northerners, showed no interest in western education during the colonial years which is the reason for the backwardness plaguing the northern education system in contemporary times. This is however a misplaced fact which desperately needs to be refuted to further shed light on the genesis of the problem of backwardness in northern education system in Nigeria. In a bid to achieve this, this paper revisits the historical development of education in Northern Nigeria, critically from P. K. Tibenderana's (1978) standpoint. It revealed the carnages done to the northern education system since its inception, the perpetrators, subsequent efforts to salvage it prior to Nigeria's independence to little avail, the socio-cultural, political challenges that has overtime evolved and has directly or indirectly continued plaguing the system till date.

The concept of green building has extended its boundaries over the past decades as it now involves several other disciplines. Greening takes advantage of available human and natural resources, including solar access, wind patterns, accessible, and affordable construction materials. The introduction of some specific green ideas and features into vernacular buildings in northern Nigeria will not only improve the living condition of the building occupants but can also sustain, and preserve the traditional practices while also introducing new innovative design ideas into vernacular architectural traditions, thereby, saving the vernacular architecture of such regions. Geographical factors such as solar radiation and the problem of the Tropical Continental Air mass (CT) locally known as the harmattan wind, which significantly affects the daily usage of the residents. This study recommends the use of some selected green building concepts into the vernacular architectural practices in northern Nigeria with the view of identifying the impact of the proposed features on the performance of vernacular buildings in Northern Nigeria. Proposed concepts were integrated into a prototype of the existing buildings. Reviewed literature is used to determine the adaptable features, and An energy simulation using Autodesk Insight, an add-in of Revit software, and Autodesk flow simulation software are used to assess their effects on such buildings. The result shows that the adopted ideas will significantly improve the indoor environment quality and the entire livelihood of the building occupants.

This paper examines a TV series, Dadin Kowa (translated: Everyone's Delight) broadcast weekly in Nigeria on the US-supported, popular Hausa language channel, Arewa24. The study is conducted using a socio-semiotic analytical approach to demonstrate how the usual inferior portrayal of the "Other" is not only challenged but also disapproved and disproved. "Othering" does not only exist in the media but also thrives in it. Therefore, for several years now, inferiority has characterised the primary identities assigned and the roles given to the Hausa-Fulani people of Northern Nigeria cast in the country's southern film industry, Nollywood. Southern Yoruba and Igbo people are portrayed in a similar vein in the northern film industry of Kannywood. The regional artists (both in film and TV) have, consciously or not, been widening the existing difference and rivalry between Nigeria's largely divided, diverse ethnic and religious groups. This trend, however, has recently been challenged in this soap opera in which Nigerians from different regions, religions and ethnicities live peacefully in a fictional, eponymous town.

Censorship is an age-old practice around the world. Many countries regulate what their citizens watch on television and in films, and sometimes what they read in books. Following the introduction of Sharia law across the Muslim states of northern Nigeria, the government in Kano, the epicentre of a struggling film industry called Kannywood, established a sturdy censorship board. The Board debates, negotiates and even clashes with filmmakers, artists and writers over what is permissible and what is not. However, the emergence of the internet and the subsequent exponential popularity of social media has made the Board a proverbial toothless barking dog, with no mechanism for controlling what the citizenry watches in their private spaces, on their mobile electronic devices. Viewing uncensored, free, and “explicit” content has become more accessible and commonplace. Based on a survey we carried out, we discovered that these highly mobile contents include some hitherto tabooed topics such as sex and intimacy. This article studies this controversy using the cultural reader-response theory, to understand the functions of swearing words and bad language in Hausa culture, among Muslim-Hausa audience.

BOXES.......................................................................................................................................................... ..iii PHOTOS ......................................... ... ... The Role of Traditional Rulers in Conflict Prevention and Mediation in Nigeria: Final Report ... 5. Evolution of the chieftaincy system in the ...

This paper attempts to answer the question: what accounts for the persistence of Koranic schools as separate schools operating at cross-purposes with the Nigerian state in the provision of education to millions of Muslim children officially reported ‘out of school’? To answer this question, the paper traces the long years of mutual isolation between the state and Islamic institutions, particularly in northern Nigeria, that was at first a product of colonisation, but subsequently a reflection of state failure to meet its obligations towards a people struggling to come to terms with the loss of their cultural/religious values as western influences became pervasive. The paper submits that by remaining faithful to those values, ideas and practices that hold together the cultural/religious essence of life, Koranic schools and their owners fill a void neither the new religious elite nor the post-colonial Nigerian state has been able to recognise. The paper however worries that although culturally-relevant, this bond between Koranic schools and their communities further isolates young generations of Nigerian Muslims from constructively engaging with state. An inclusive state policy on education based on constructive engagements with the hidden clients of Nigeria’s submerged Koranic schools is what the country needs if these schools are to play any future positive role in education.

The paper presents the jihad of Muhammad Yusuf, a charismatic Muslim preacher and the main ideologue of a movement known as Boko Haram, in the light of Mahdist ideas, which have a long history on the territory of present-day northern Nigeria. In his teachings, Muhammad Yusuf criticised the current condition of Islam in its religious and political dimensions, preaching the necessity to revive Muslim faith, oppose secular government and eradicate western influences in northern Nigeria. He used the discourse of an Islamic eschatological tradition to express the ultimate nature of the current problems faced by Nigerian Muslims.

Based on linguistic classification, Kupto and Kwami are part of the Southern Bole-Tangale group of West Chadic. Geographically, however, they are separated from the other members of this group. While Kupto and Kwami are settled roughly to the north of Gombe town, the majority of peoples representing the Southern Bole-Tangale group live predominantly in and around the Muri Mountains to the south of Gombe State.
An interesting question to ask in this context is: besides the linguistic relationship, are there also cultural continuities between those representatives of Bole-Tangale living in the south and the two off-shoots Kupto and Kwami in the north?
In this paper I want to address – with reference to the Kupto and Kwami – the relationship between language, culture and ethnicity. In an earlier article (Adelberger 1995), I addressed this topic with reference to the bulk of groups representing the Southern Bole-Tangale language group, as well as other ethno-linguistic groups living in the Muri Mountains.
In respect of their current culture, the Kwami and Kupto are hardly dis-tinguishable from the surrounding Bolewa, and have merged into the mainstream Islamic culture of Northern Nigeria, dominated by Hausa and urban Fulani.

"Islamic schools in Nigeria have undergone transformations from a position of monopolistic control over spiritual knowledge, to one of competition and subsequently struggle for survival as they encountered missionary and colonial incursions. The post-colonial state that emerged had to endure weakened Islamic schools which nonetheless retained legitimacy in the eyes of observant Muslims as culturally and religiously valued institutions. This paper describes a fluctuating pattern of mutual isolation, engagement and competition that characterise the relationship between the state, Islamic schools, and an influential corps of Islamic cleric (‘ulama’) operating outside the spheres of state bureaucracy. Northern Nigeria, where these schools are prevalent, has endured a long list of developmental challenges including a low level of educational attainment which places it at a competitive disadvantage in its relationship with Southern Nigeria. The paper submits that although both the state and a section of the Ulama realise that a reform of Islamic schools is vital to the development of Northern Nigeria, a long period of mutual isolation and the weak position of Nigeria’s educational bureaucracy has made finding a common operational framework difficult. A strong state-driven education delivery mechanism is what Nigeria needs in order to control the unregulated growth of different brands of Islamic schools from compounding its many developmental challenges.
"

Over the years and around the world, both documentary and feature films have been used for critical social reflections, transformation as well as propaganda. As Nigeria battles endemic drug abuse and misuse of codeine syrup recently, its blossoming film industries have so much to contribute towards curbing the scourge. Kannywood, a film industry based in the predominantly Islamic northern Nigerian region, is reportedly established for not only entertainment but also as a medium for cultural expression and preservation. The industry has, therefore, produced films that aim to educate, enlighten and moralise its audience. However, the issue of drug abuse that has bedevilled the region, especially the youth population, is treated only passively. This paper is set to examine this gap, deploying the theories of technological determinism and social learning to suggest roles that the filmmakers can play towards promoting social changes through content.

This study evaluated the effectiveness of a Non-Formal Education Curriculum (NFEC) designed by the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) and UNICEF in integrating students of Traditional Qur'anic Schools (TQS) into the Universal Basic Education (UBE) programme. TQS provide early religious socialisation and training focused on the study of the Quran to several categories of Muslim children including many who are also enrolled in formal primary schools. But the most valued students of TQS, in terms of their potentials of contributing to the continuity of culturally valued religious traditions, are the boys that devote full-time attention to the exclusive study of the Qur'an and other Islamic subjects under the tutelage of Qur'anic teachers (malammai , in Hausa). On the other hand, these boys (called almajirai ) are considered by the Nigerian state as largest category of out-of-school children. The problem addressed by this research is how effectively has the NFEC been in mediating these conflicting perceptions of the almajirai and encouraging their participation in the UBE? In order to answer this question, data were collected on three main variables (institutional capacities of the schools, students’ participation rates, & social acceptability) regarding the implementation of NFEC using a questionnaire, classroom observation, and Focus Group Discussion (FGD). These instruments were administered on samples drawn from malammai and facilitators the participating TQS (PTQS) in Katsina, Sokoto, and Zamfara states. The study found that the effectiveness of the NFEC was hampered by constraints of poor quality of teaching personnel, inadequate supply of instructional resources, and inadequate provision for the welfare of the almajirai. In addition, negative indicators such as high dropout rates, declining enrolment of girls, and low transition to formal schools suggest that PTQS are not enabling the full participation of their students into the UBE. On their part, the malammai showed little enthusiasm for NFEC going beyond providing the almajirai with basic rudimentary knowledge that will enhance their performance of social, economic, and civic routines.

A reflection on some of Northern Nigeria's most conservative religious voices legally justify outlawing child marriage (ijbar) in an environment where strict constructionist shariah is not only fettishized, but (somewhat) the law of the land.

"This volume as a whole explores the tensions between canonization,
methodological foundations, and lived reality in the Islamic interpretive tradition, with the focus on gender justice. The strange story of
how the stoning punishment came to be legalized in the Islamic tradition falls squarely within this problematic. This chapter offers one
perspective (there are several) that can help us understand how the
stoning punishment, despite being a contingent, ambivalent, and
unstable one in the Islamic tradition, nevertheless became law. I focus
here on the labyrinthine intellectual history that resulted in the punishment being legalized in the four major schools of Islamic law.3 In
particular, I focus on the role ascribed to ʿUmar Ibn al-Khaṭṭāb
(d. 644/1244) (hereafter ʿUmar), Islam’s second caliph, in legalizing
the stoning punishment for the crime of zinā, or illicit sexual activity.
First, stoning occurs in an abrogated “verse” that does not appear in
the Qurʾan in recited form yet has retained its legal implications (naskh
al-tilāwa dūna al-ḥukm). The Qurʾan does prescribe a punishment –
flogging – for the same crime of zinā (Q. 24:2), creating a contradiction
that needed to be resolved. This peculiar form of abrogation is only
applied – and hence, I would surmise, was only developed – to legalize
stoning. Second, Islamic intellectuals applied the concept of takhṣīṣ
(specification) to resolve this contradiction. Takhṣīṣ is applied in such
a way that the punishment for zinā found in the Qurʾan – flogging – is
applied to virgins (bikr), whereas stoning is applied to married adulterers. These hermeneutical tools, developed solely to legalize stoning,
are noteworthy for their intellectual “acrobatics.” That ʿUmar is the
protagonist of this verse in important aḥādīth (that work to legalize
the punishment) is notable for what it tells us about this historical
figure and how (hegemonic) Sunni Muslim intellectuals have read and
interpreted him. This, in turn, focuses the lens on the gender values,
among other values, of ʿUmar’s interpreters, if not the gender values
of ʿUmar himself – at least insofar as we can accurately assess them."

In Nigeria, the northern region accounts for the largest population with 53.4 percent and it is noted for various communicable and non-communicable diseases. The region is also noted for the highest prevalence of HIV/AIDS, malaria and polio-the three global scourges. Statistics further indicate that the north has the highest level of illiteracy in Nigeria. It is, therefore, noteworthy that the region is strategically important as its state of affairs has overbearing effects on the socioeconomic and political systems of Nigeria. In view of this, this study investigates the newspaper coverage of health issues in relation to the north with particular emphasis on HIV/AIDS, malaria and polo. The author performed content analysis on four national newspapers in Nigeria from 2010-2013 and found a medium correlation coefficient value of .308 between newspaper coverage of HIV/AIDS, malaria and polio and northern region. This correlation value (r = .308) implies that Nigerian newspapers have given a moderate attention or coverage to northern Nigeria in their health coverage. However, the study concludes that if this region can enjoy more coverage from Nigerian newspapers, this may influence policy makers in the health sector to focus more attention on the north. The paper then recommends that more national newspapers may need to be established in the north because location of newspaper organisations has great influence on the coverage of health issues among Nigerian newspapers.

BOXES.......................................................................................................................................................... ..iii PHOTOS ......................................... ... ... The Role of Traditional Rulers in Conflict Prevention and Mediation in Nigeria: Final Report ... 5. Evolution of the chieftaincy system in the ...

A symposium on Shari'ah on Trial: Northern Nigeria's Islamic Revolution, with review essays by Professor Elias Bongmba, Professor Corey Williams, and Professor Dianna Bell.

Based on a live book symposium held in Lukasa, Zambia in August 2018.

Background: 'Almajiris' are children and adolescents sent far away from their homes to study in Islamic schools under the care of Muslim scholars. Over the years, there has been a decline in the capacity of the scholars to cater to these pupils. Consequently, Almajiris spend significant periods of time on the streets begging and carrying out menial jobs to earn a living thereby increasing their risk for physical and mental disorders. The aim of this study was to compare the prevalence of psychiatric disorders among Almajiris and public primary school pupils in Zaria. Methods: A comparative cross‑sectional design was utilized to compare 213 Almajiris and 200 public primary school children and adolescents aged between 5 and 19 years. All participants were administered a Socio‑demographic questionnaire and the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School‑aged Children Present and Life‑ time Version (K‑SADS‑PL). Data were analyzed using Chi square tests and logistic regression. Results: The current prevalence of psychiatric disorders among Almajiris and public school pupils was 57.7 and 37.0% respectively. After adjusting for age and family characteristics, Almajiris were significantly more likely to have any psychiatric diagnosis, depression, enuresis, substance use, and post traumatic stress disorder but less likely to have separation anxiety disorder than the public school pupils. Conclusion: Psychiatric disorders are more prevalent among Almajiris and public primary school pupils in Northwest Nigeria than found in other prevalence studies with a significantly higher rate among the Almajiris. Joint efforts need to be made by the Government and Civil Society organizations including religious groups towards reforming the Almajiri education system and the provision of programmes aimed at reducing the prevalence of psychiatric disorders in both Almajiris and the school pupils.

The efforts to expand access and improve the quality of basic education delivery have compelled governments and other stakeholders to look for alternative programmes to supplement existing structures for the realization of Education for ALL (EFA) goals. In northern Nigeria, Qur'anic schools are among the alternative programmes of learning that basic education programme intends to capitalize on for the dispensation of its tenets of access, equity, and quality designed to empower every individual for useful living. This paper examines how the curriculum integration strategy being undertaken by governments and other stakeholders can reform these schools and position them for the delivery of basic education programmes. The paper noted that curriculum integration, as it relates to Qur'anic schools, involves the fundamental logistical issues of policy, support, resources, funding etc. all directed at broadening the scope of these schools to accommodate the learning needs of the Qur'anic school pupils. The paper examined these key design issues against the Federal Government's policy framework on the integration project; it highlighted the major challenges and made appropriate recommendations for overcoming them.

The International Community have adopted the Post 2015 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).  The Nations  and Regions of the world have commenced efforts to key into the SDGs and develop appropriate policies and programmes  to achieve sustainable Development of the their societies.

This Paper is on the role Entrepreneurship can play in the Sustainable Development of the Northern States of Nigeria.

The region harbors high poverty prevalence, unemployment and drastic inequality which entrepreneurship can help to redress.

The morphological, physical and chemical properties of soils under different land uses in Hunkuyi Northern Guinea savanna of Nigeria was assessed with their suitability for maize crop production. Three major agricultural land uses identified in the area includes; rain rain-fed with irrigated land-use on upland (HK2) and rain morphological properties revealed that the soils were deep (140 cm) to very deep (>150 cm), poorly to well drained with a predominantly sub angular blocky structure. Sand was the dominant size fraction in all the land use units ranging from 320 to 680 g kg chemical properties of the soils indicated str capacity (CEC) and percentage base saturation percentage were both rated medium. Organic carbon and Total Nitrogen were generally low. Available phosphorous ranged between 0.18 and 49.88 mg kg rated low to high. The result of the non marginally suitable (S3) for maize production with the remaining 80% currently not suitable (N1), while the parametric approach revealed that soils of the entire study area were marginally suitable (S3) for maize production. Management options such as organic matter and inorganic fertilizers incorporation and improved drainage condition should be employed in the soils to upgrade the suit sustainable production of maize in the area.

Background: 'Almajiris' are children and adolescents sent far away from their homes to study in Islamic schools under the care of Muslim scholars. Over the years, there has been a decline in the capacity of the scholars to cater to these pupils. Consequently, Almajiris spend significant periods of time on the streets begging and carrying out menial jobs to earn a living thereby increasing their risk for physical and mental disorders. The aim of this study was to compare the prevalence of psychiatric disorders among Almajiris and public primary school pupils in Zaria. Methods: A comparative cross‑sectional design was utilized to compare 213 Almajiris and 200 public primary school children and adolescents aged between 5 and 19 years. All participants were administered a Socio‑demographic questionnaire and the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School‑aged Children Present and Life‑ time Version (K‑SADS‑PL). Data were analyzed using Chi square tests and logi...

In 1921 and 1924 Muhammadu Dikko, the emir of Katsina, traveled to Britain on a sightseeing trip, becoming the first emir or chief from Northern Nigeria to visit the British imperial metropole. This article analyzes the colonial relationship that put Dikko in the colonizers' orbit and favor and paved the way for him to embark on the trips, the colonial logistics and networks that facilitated the journeys, Dikko's experiences and adventures in Britain, and, most importantly, his perspectives on British society, institutions, goods, and forms of leisure. I argue that Dikko, though constrained by serving as a prop in a colonial performance of power, used travel to Britain as a platform to advance metropolitan mod-ernity as an aspirational if distant model of socioeconomic advancement and to give his peers and subjects in Northern Nigeria a textual reference for navigating colonial culture in relation to their own natal Islamo-Hausa cultural norms. This article analyzes two trips that Muhammadu Dikko, the emir of Katsina from  to , took to Britain in  and . These were sightseeing touristic adventures, but British colonizers clearly saw them as part of a broader, longstanding project of exhibiting British metropolitan civilization to allegedly impressionable African colonial subjects. Dikko, a wealthy Muslim king and colonial intermediary, paid for the trips but received permission and extensive logistical support from British colonial and metropolitan authorities. Emir Dikko paired the first trip in  with a detour to Mecca to perform the hajj, thus combining a religious pilgrimage with a political one. He undertook the second trip in  to attend the British Empire Exhibition in Wembley. Relying on Dikko's travel journal entries, his official sightseeing itinerary in Britain, metropolitan newspaper accounts, and colonial correspondence and reports, this article reconstructs the story of Dikko's metropolitan adventures, framing it as a compelling iteration of how mobility in the form of transnational travel was imbricated in Northern Nigeria's emergent colonial modernity and, more crucially, was part of a broader performance of British colonial authority. British colonizers inducted emirs in Northern Nigeria into the role of partners in colonial business, and some emirs regarded British officials as benefactors and Britain as an aspirational modernist and developmental example for their emirates. Moreover, the aristocrats were arbiters of negotiations between local identities and cultures and colonial modernity. Muslim Northern Nigerian colonial subjects

Despite the role of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in many health issues, their role in community mental health services in parts of northern Nigeria is unknown. This study explored the availability and role of NGOs in community-mental health care services, with a view to identifying the prospects and challenges. Using the convergent mixed methods approach, a self-constructed questionnaire and in-depth interviews were used to collect data from 205 conveniently and purposively selected study participants. Descriptive and thematic analyses were done and then triangulated to meet research objectives. There is a scarcity of mental health-related NGOs in the study areas; only one NGO engaged in the mental health activities was identified (13.4%). Surprisingly attempts by the only available NGO at providing the needed community-based mental health care were "frustrated" by certain government policy directions, which appear to paralyse activities and intentions of the only existing one. NGOs for mental health care are lacking. There is a dire need for NGO activities in mental health care. Efforts should be made to attract NGOs to the study areas in view of the increasing burden of mental health issues in the communities in the setting. Governments at all levels, community-based organisations and traditional institutions can be instrumental to this. NGOs within and outside the study areas focusing on community health in general and mental health care, in particular, may also interrogate this situation further for urgent intervention.

BOXES.......................................................................................................................................................... ..iii PHOTOS ......................................... ... ... The Role of Traditional Rulers in Conflict Prevention and Mediation in Nigeria: Final Report ... 5. Evolution of the chieftaincy system in the ...

The study examines the influence of violent ethno religious conflict on residential property values in Bauchi, Nigeria. The hedonic price model was used to capture the variable determining residential property values in the study area. Following collinearity observed among the initial 40 variables observed, a careful backward elimination process was used to whittle the variables to 13. The results show that conflict free area is the most influential variable determining rent. The study recommends among others, that Estate Surveyors and Valuers need to give cognizance and incorporate market response to social disorder in their valuation and also strategize and analyse in more depth, before advising clients on real property investment.

BOXES.......................................................................................................................................................... ..iii PHOTOS ......................................... ... ... The Role of Traditional Rulers in Conflict Prevention and Mediation in Nigeria: Final Report ... 5. Evolution of the chieftaincy system in the ...

Public libraries in Nigeria have been in existence for many years. They provide information resources and services to meet the needs of the community they serve. Studies on public libraries in Nigeria have shown that most of the services provided are traditional library services either due to poor resources and facilities or poor perception of public libraries and Librarians. The emergence of public libraries as among the institutions for generating social capital necessitate the libraries to re-thing and re-invent their services for better institutions for creating social capital. This paper highlighted the need for public libraries in Nigeria to re-invent their collections, building and spaces for community meetings and social gatherings, demographics, and community focusing. The paper also pointed out inadequate fund and unmotivated workforce, inadequate collections, and dilapidated buildings as the major constraints in the creation of social capital by public libraries in Nigeria. The paper concluded with need for public libraries in Nigeria to rethink their purpose and adopt the changing community needs and expectations.

Abstract
With a vocal Internet community that projects the country among the most active in the virtual reality of global social media, researchers on Nigerian cultural diversity and national security are bound to consider online utterances (posts, tweets, comments, electronic polls, questionnaires, etc) of local Internet users to gauge Nigeria’s sociopolitical harmony, ethnic orientation and nationalism. This paper attempts to forecast what such a research would likely determine of online social tension and ethnic tolerance, based on data from the medium of the most popular microblogging site in Nigeria, Twitter. The survey used Boolean search operators, which are built-in within the Twitter search engine, to extract hundreds of tweets containing one or more of these ethnic identity markers: “Hausa” and “Hausas”; which are known to refer to a distinct geo-ethnic population in northern Nigeria. A simple analysis of the resulting data points to a palpable existence of ethnic profiling and thinly veiled cultural intolerance in the corpora of Nigerian social media, which have the potential of influencing online corpus historiography.