UNVEILING A SILENT ACHIEVER

(Modest Thoughts with Ayuba Yilgak'ha, February 26, 2024, 08116181263)

Yesterday, February 24, 2024, history was made as Honourable (Hon.) Doctor (Dr.) Iliya Gomam Goyit satisfactorily bagged a PhD in Agronomy and was successfully convocated at the prestigious Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU), Bauchi. This made him the third, in the list of PhD holders (academic doctors), in my small but mighty community, Gochom, which is poised to make credible and global difference in all noble fields of human endeavour!

With this great achievement, the Hon. Dr. has added another feather to the list of his achievements. He was one time Secretary, Kanke Local Government Council (LGC); Head of Department, Agricultural Science Education and currently the Dean, School of Vocational and Technical (Voc. & Tech.) Education, Federal College of Education (FCE), Pankshin where he has been a lecturer for over a decade.

By virtue of his status as a lecturer and Dean of the school of Voc. and Tech. he is a broker of technical knowledge and, a superintendent in a premier citadel of learning and, particularly, in key areas of need in a country that is battling hunger and starvation with huge deficits in technology and entrepreneurial skills.

Hon. Dr. Iliya Goyit, popularly known as "D.O." or "uncle I", is an embodiment of hard and soft skills. He is uniquely skillful in agricultural production (hard skill) and, a practical index of great importance in horsemanship. Horsemanship is a soft skill that is centred on service and social networking at the wow level!

A man with such technical combination of skills (hard and soft) is a catalyst and great potential in human and community development on a sustainable scale. No wonder, when Dr. "I" was the secretary of the council, though briefly, he positively touched his and impacted many lives. To his incontestable credit shall we place substantial part of the great influences that brought electricity and, a model clinic to our community.

As the, then, council secretary, he faithfully documented the affairs of Kanke LGC with superlative distinction. This earned him the nickname, "Kofi Annan" from some of us. This is all about appreciating his secretariat stewardship in the order of the difference Kofi Annan, the Ghanian born and well respected former Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN). The only difference was in the scope of influence. Given the global stage, this man cannot do less!

As a lecturer, he has not only secured admission for many students but making sure that none default in measuring up to expectation in their academics. Therefore, he has helped in graduating many.

As a researcher, Hon. Dr. I had written and published widely in both local and international peer review journals; he has contributed chapters in books and have successfully supervised student projects in numbers that cannot be counted on our ten (10) fingers!

Hon. Dr. Iliya Goyit, to say the least, is a developing story. The future looks even more promising for a middle age man who has silently and diligently invested on his capacity to serve humanity. He is always in the business of building bridges of understanding and support for progress wherever he finds himself.

This man is a man with an excellent spirit; decent sense of humour and, highly calculative in all he does. He is good at initiating processes and, with prowess and distinction, follow through will energy and diligence to ensure they come to fruition. He can practically market any good and sellable product. Therefore, he is a master strategist and, a goal getter!

Hon. Dr. I has trained eyes for spotting opportunities and will not delay in seizing them promptly. But that is not the only story, the man could sacrifice his today to have his tomorrow if the latter holds better promises. Show me a man who orders his life in that fashion and I will show you a man that is steadily and surely on the way to the top. In other words, the last is yet to be heard of a man that is visionary and highly resourceful in many ways than one. Dr. I is on the way to the top and he is doing so silently without attracting any unnecessary attention.

Hon. Dr. Iliya Goyit is a reference point, a man to be recommended anytime anyday because he has prepared himself and has the mental gumtion and capacity to deliver on any task. He is compassionate,  trustworthy and, has the tempered steel to make a difference and, to make great things happen. When he believes in a course, he pushes it and will be the last to back out. There is no better winning way in the life of a man than this.

Nothing can hinder, Hon. Dr. I unless he chooses to concede, because, he has laid his foundations on solid rocks that cannot be shaken. He loves God and God gots his back. I can only pray for him to live long to fulfill his lofty heart plans and to use same to impact his generation. The journey has just began and the world awaits his, potentially, great manifestations.

In the 21st century where knowledge is the new currency, the world is in dare need of resourceful men and women who have expertise in the areas of entrepreneurship and vocational training which Dr. I fits perfectly. Higher he goes as the young ones who draw inspiration from him follow with confidence to make a unique difference too.

'A golden fish has no hiding place', they say. A silent achiever has been unveiled. Let me quickly congratulate this dynamic scholar, social networker and entrepreneur. I am very proud of your achievements and, I am sure our community is too. If I had had literary licence like our Prof. Wole Soyinka, I would have said, ngo diryil, a dardung, meaning, community developer or transformer, well-done. You have done a great thing(s) and your name shall definitely and boldly be written in gold on the belly of our "Nhiknyi Hall of Fame"!

CELEBRATING A JINX BREAKER: DR. SILAS JIKIBIS BADI

( Modest Thoughts with Ayuba Yilgak'ha, February 26, 2024; 08116181263)

Thank God for granting me life to make the comments I about to make. This is because the comments I will be making mean a lot to me and, possibly they will too for the community the man the piece refers hails from. I am referring to Tabulung community, headquarters of Tabulung State Ward which I love dearly and, unsuccessfully, aspired to serve as a councillor back in 2008.

Dr Silas Jikibis Badi, the man in the mirror, hails from Tabulung community, one of the most communities in Ngas land that is exceptionally rich in both material and human resources. Because the community is relatively populated with people living both at home and abroad, I cannot be sure if anyone from the community has bagged the PhD title ahead of Silas. He appears to be the first, therefore, he is a trail blazing factor!

So much is expected from Tabulung community as far as the gift of nature and the prospect of Ngas land is concerned. For obtaining a PhD that, successfully, culminated in the convocation yesterday, Dr. Silas Jikibis has broken a jinx and trailing the blaze in this community that has so much potential and have made unique statements in other fields of human endeavour but defaulting in exploring the frontiers of knowledge at the highest level in a knowledge economy. With this great feat, he is setting new standard that will inspire the younger ones to explore great opportunities through the pursuit of higher knowledge.

Dr. Silas is a quite fellow with a maim disposition. However, hidden in his disposition is the can-do-spirit. He has the capacity to pull through very difficult situation and, gallantly too.

Dr. Jikibis Silas is a deliberate force for good. I have met this man for almost two (2) decades plus but I know of no time this tall academic giant has been mentioned in wrong places. In fact, he tailored his energy toward propagating positive virtues amongst youth everywhere he goes.

Dr. Silas Jikibis is a thorough breed and a very deep fountain of knowledge who rose from a humble background to shatter the glass ceiling in the field of education. When Silas teaches a student, there is every possibility that the student will measure up and excellently too!

Dr. Jikibis is not only an intellectual giant but a dedicated servant of God. Unlike many who are intellectual rich without God, this versatile man is a tested intellectual with character. This makes him an exemplary teacher who is, also, determined to lead multitudes in the way of God. In fact, at the moment is more of a minister of the gospel, a reverend per excellence, than an academic professional. 

Dr. Silas, is an articulate public speaker. He is a man with strong conviction and the passion to add and/or create value anytime any day. With the likes this intellectual, the future holds great promises for Tabulung community, Ngas nation, Plateau State, Nigeria and the world. There is hope for humanity!

This is supposed to be a tribute for a man that has proven a point; a man that is sending positive signal that our humble family backgrounds are never permanent limitations if we are determined to make difference!

Rev. Dr. Silas, wherever you are, my family and I congratulate you sincerely for your successful convocation. You deserve a civic reception, this is not only to celebrate you but, to take stock of what has become of the youth back home and, use the occasion to assure them that, because you did it, they can too!

You are a jinx breaker and pathfinder who is on the way to the top. You are a great source of inspiration and motivation. This is just the beginning of great things to come. Let the skite continue to fly and the star rise higher and higher. Press on, doyen of the upcoming generation and touch bearer for transformation!

FACING EXISTENTIAL REALITIES IN NIGERIA

Modest Thoughts with Ayuba, Yilgak'ha, February 19, 2024; 08116181263)

Most likely, this piece will trigger sour emotions amongst Nigerians but, I cannot help it. It is the reality of things that must be represented as it were. As far as our current situation is concerned, nothing can be far from the truth. This is piece is a public lamentation!

The best way to capture the presently sorry state of our existence is captured in a post which had a dead lactating bird with its 'children' expecting who were without knowing that their bread winning and dependable mother is gone forever.

The dead of the mother bird means a lot. It was just the matter of time, the young birds will, also, die of truama and hunger because there will be no one to bring food and warm to them. This is the Nigerian situation and nightmare today.

So many people, children, relations, dependants whose bread winners left house with the intention of coming back never saw them again. Their hope were dashed. The pillar of support of these ones have either been killed by kidnappers, bandits, arm robbers or held captive by hostage takers demanding huge ransomes!

What is going on Nigeria? Just last Saturday, one popular business mogul, Sunday Okonkwo alias Sunny Best and the very vocal Publicity Secretary of the All progressive Congress (APC), Hon. Sylvanus Namang were killed by men of the underworld in Pankshin town.

Nigeria is in deep trouble. It seems men of the underworld are having a field day perpetrating evil. The blood thirsty vampires are becoming more emboldened in going after their targeted victims which are persons who who are rich or have the potential to be rich and can contribute to wealth creation in the society. They are poisonous people who are cowards and mediocres who hate healthy competition.

The issue at stake in Nigeria is that life is so fragile but some amongst us are so brutal. Nothing gives these deadly criminals joy except to maim, kill or destroy. These ones are sadists!

Our killers do not believe in natural or organic laws that guarantees the right to life. They have no morality in their dictionary but to still, kill and destroy. 

Murderers live in total depravity. In them is the reality of what a writer calls "sleep of reasons." Their minds are altered and totally debased.

These are not the best of times for us. As Morris Gleitzman will put it, "The Nazis are shooting people. They could be shooting our parents. A story isn't going to help." These are sounds of lamentation not time for merry making or story telling. There is nothing amusing about life in Nigeria again!

Our case is like that of the Israelites who sang while in captivity. Ours is more or less life in captivity: "By the river of Babylon, there we sat down and, there we wept, when we remember Zion." Now we know better, we live in our country as though we are in strange lands. With nostalgia, we weep remembering the land of milk and honey our founding fathers and mothers envisioned and told us about at independence on October 1, 1960.

The omious signs are here. The situation in Nigeria is a though our dead warrants have been signed. David Seltzer in the novel "Prophecy" put it this way: "The prophesy will come true .... Your death is about to be born." The beginning of our journey to the slaughter has commenced by the pulling of the trigger by the 'men in long black coat', the Sicilly Mafias that are on rampage in Nigeria! There are gun and bomb sounds everywhere. Except something miraculous happens, we are altogether doomed to be consumed by a fate we never bargained for!

In this country, our Killers are visiting from two directions - the direction of general insecurity and the direction of abject poverty. Nigeria has become one of the most terrorised nations in the world; it is, equally, the poverty capital of the world after overtaking India in 2019. Here, those who escaped death occasioned by food insecurity fall victims of the snare and cruelty of armed bandits, kidnappers or Boko Haram insurgents.

There are trouble here; trouble there and troubles everywhere. Where else do we run to, who will help us out of these sorry state of our existence? You stay at home they come for you; you stepped out to look for food only for the family you left behind and expecting your return with something for them to eat to be called for payment of ransome which is always outrageous!

Ideally: "Everybody deserves to have something good in their life, at least, once", as observed by Morris Gleitzman. Yes, this is the ideal and the fact. No one is born to be a perpetually live in the frying pan of pain and frustration. No. Whoever pursue a good life is entitled to have it if he persist and never give give up. Yes. You are part of the pilgrims' progress of life but our system not helping matters at all. The good life we desire is eluding us!

Let me borrow from the words of Kathleen Windsor's novel, "Star Money",  to say: "I'm so afraid! There are no beginning and no end to fear: The primitive fear of dark and of hunger, of growing old or failing sick. Of being alone. The fear of pain. Fear of death. Fear of being laughed at. Fear of failure. Fear of doing or saying the wrong thing. Fear of embarrassment. Fear of poverty. Fear of work and play. Fear of not knowing enough. Fear of being beautiful as someone else. Fear of others, fear of yourself. Fear of being asked to do something you can't do and letting it be known you can't. Fear of the past, and fear of the future. Fear of making enemies and making friends. That's been my whole life, she told herself. I'm terrified!" There is varied and endless fears in Nigeria.

Again, in the novel of Lewis Carroll titled, "Alice's Adventures in wonderland", a decisional conversation ensueds between an anonymous character and a cat. The character asked the cat: "Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here? The cat promptly replied: "That depends a good deal on where you want to get to." In the face of these current realities, we must understand that how and where we end, as a nation, will depends solely on our leaders' patriotic and true sense of mission for the country. How genuine and deliberate is the mission of our leaders as a nation?

Any nation that craves help and solutions from life threatening existential problems must surmount the political will and courage, especially, at the leadership level, to ruthlessly confront the to do so prayerfully too. It has to be deliberate about it. This is what Nigeria should be doing. There is no any other way!

My deepest condolences to the Nigerian family, Plateau state the immediate families of all those who have been directly or indirectly consumed by the criminal activities of men if the underworld. Oh lord God almighty, have mercy on Nigeria and come to our national rescue. Without you, we are helpless. We cannot help ourselves. Our security architecture and economic policies are no longer promising. Only you alone can save. Save our Souls (SOS), master of the universe. This, I pray, in Jesus' Name!

PLATEAU STATE COUNCIL OF NIGERIA UNION OF JOURNALISTS CONDEMNS KILLING OF STATE APC SPOKESMAN, MR SYLVANUS NAMANG.

The Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Plateau State Council has received with shock news of the gruesome murder of Mr. Sylvanus Namang,  a veteran journalist and politician who was shot in Pankshin over the weekend.

A thorough bred practitioner, Mr. Namang had a distinguished career that saw him serving as Editor of The Nigeria Standard, General Manager of Plateau Publishing Corporation (PPC), Director with the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN), aide to some key Nigerian statesmen, with his last duty post being the Publicity Secretary of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Plateau State Chapter.

The late Sylvanus Namang contributed in no small measure to the growth of journalism in the state and beyond, and dedicated his life towards the progress and development of the country, both as a public servant and a politician.

The Union is greatly saddened by the security situation in the state, which has seen unwarranted attacks in Mangu, Bokkos and other Local Government Areas of Plateau that left hundreds dead. The recent killing of Mr. Namang and other victims attest to the precarious situation under which Plateau people live.

The NUJ State Council finds the Press statement by the Plateau State Command of the Nigeria Police on the incident worrisome as it raised more questions on the tragic end of the veteran journalist, thereby making it difficult for media men to report on what happened from an informed position.

The Union calls on the Police and other security agencies not to leave any stone unturned to apprehend the perpetrators of the dastardly act and make them face the full wrath of the law, as well as double efforts to bring the pain in the land to an end by restoring security, law and order across the length and breadth of the state.

The Union commiserates with the immediate family of the deceased, the League of Veteran Journalists, the Plateau State Chapter of the APC, and citizens of the state over this irreparable loss.

Ayuku M. Pwaspo

Chairman

Mary Domtur

Secretary.