DISSERVICE TO KANNYWOOD

August 3, 2012 at 11:39am

Having moved back to Kano from Abuja, I cannot but notice the fact that my siblings including the very young ones always have their eyes glued to the TV set every time they are either on break from school or every weekend . I also noticed that the most popular TV station in the house is Africa Magic and today I have decided to do a disservice to the Nigerian movie industry.
As a routine, I always come in to exchange pleasantries with my mother and siblings before leaving for work, and today being the3rd of October 2012 was not an exception, approaching the main entrance of the house, I kept hearing voices of people yelling at each other. When in the house I realised it was a scene in one of the stereotype movies that they always show in Africa Magic depicting broken families yelling at each other for tiny issues of life that you should overlook in real-life scenarios.
At that moment, it dawned on me that my siblings especially the little ones could not discern the fact that what they are seeing in the so-called home videos is actually a fiction and therefore not meant for learning purposes; and the reality.
So as of today Africa Magic and all producers of Nigerian home videos have lost the patronage of one Nigerian family, as I have with the full backing of my mother banned the viewing of any Nigerian Home Video(Hausa or any other language) in my house. I also urge on every well-meaning Nigerian who wants a crises free society to start from his or her immediate family, by making sure he does not expose his family to materials that will train them in the art of quarrelling.
Having the privilege of being raised in a home where I have never seen my father yelling at my mother in the presence of any third party not even us,( their kids), I have always intended to emulate the relationship of my parents who have been married now for thirty years when I finally settle down with my own family. With the kind of media we get exposed to on a daily basis, I have already started having reservations on the possibility of having a home as peaceful as the one I was raised in thanks to our contemporary media.
I deemed it expedient to write this piece out of the pain, anguish, and heartache I felt when I saw the level of concentration my little sister Asma’u was giving to the act of ruckus as portrayed by our movie industry.
My question for Nolly/Kanny or whatever wood they call themselves is; is this the kind of impact you intend to impart on the characters that will play a part in fine-tuning the future of our country?
Bashir Saleh Abdu

MY UNSUNG HERO

Days, events and people such as will be contained in this little tribute to one of my heroes in life, are things that make me proud of being a Muslim. Islam is a religion of simplicity and equality without the least of complications whatsoever.
Today 5th day of Shawwal 1434, equivalent to the 13th day of August 2013 during the Zuhr prayer at the BUK New Site mosque, just like many other days, the Imam and his deputy were unavoidably absent as at the time of the prayer.
As usual, the third option happens to be no other than one of my heroes in life, the subject of this write-up, a man I had admired and respected since childhood. Mal Adam- the mosque janitor.
Mal Adam rides his bicycle for over 20 kilometres everyday in order to get to his work place in the New Campus of Bayero University Kano. He has been doing that for well over 30 years as I have witnessed since the days of my childhood. He normally passed by my house in the Old Campus Staff Quarters of the University on his way from his place of residence to the New Campus, where the Mosque is located.
He is an example for every Muslim and non-Muslim in terms of the way and manner he treats people irrespective of status or age. Even as a child whenever I greeted Mal Adam whilst he passed by he always answered as if I were a fully grown adult, with a smile and always adhered to the Qur'anic teaching of returning greetings with a better greeting than the one offered to him. And after that he never parts with you without a prayer for your hereafter.
Mal Adam is always dedicated to his job, even though he is old now and finds it difficult to bend fully, he never skips the morning sweeping of the entire mosque surrounding. When ever I park my car every morning I have made it a date to always exchange the usual pleasantries with Mal Adam. Due to the decline in capacity because of his age, the University had to employ 2 additional staff to aid him in discharging the duty which he used to perform alone when he was stronger. This will tell you of his exceptional passion of working extra-hard to discharge his duties to near perfection.
Whenever he would finish tidying the mosque and its surroundings, the gentleman will always be in the company of the Holy Book which he will be with, reciting till the time for Zuhr when he will pronounce the Adhan (call for prayer) and thereafter awaits the Imam or the Na'ibul Imam (Deputy Imam) for the congregation prayer.
As I have stated earlier the duo of the Imams were not around today and Mal Adam went ahead to give a perfect example of Islamic meritocracy: as you should expect, a prayer in a University Masjid comprises of Professors, PhDs, MScs, seasoned administrators, Professionals, etc, and yet here we are all led in Prayer by someone who the secular world will consider a nobody, the mosque janitor, behold Islam considers him to be a leader in this context just because everyone in the Masjid considers him to be of exceptional piety, considerable Islamic education and good character- a perfect example for every Nigerian in exceptional dedication to work; a gentle man per excellence.

At the end of every day, after the Asr Prayer, Mal. Adam does another round of cleaning the mosque and locks it after making sure everything is in order within and without the mosque. He then rides his bicycle all the way from the New Campus back to his place of residence to complete more than 20 kilometres of cycling to get a rest and prepare for the next day.

The simplicity, dedication and good character of Mal. Adam deserves celebration and emulation. This is one of my unsung heroes and who I believe deserves to be honored.

I believe if all of us in this country will treat our jobs, our peoples, our cultures, our religions etc the way Mal. Adam does to his job, religion and the people around him, this country will be a better and greater place to be in.

I pray to the Almighty Allaah to grant Mal. Adam exceptional reward in this life and the hereafter for his service to Islam, BUK, the Nation and Humanity in general with Aljannatul Firdaus, and that He blesses us with more of Mal. Adams in every cadre of our endeavours in every place, state, or region of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Ameen.
God bless Nigeria.