Did You Love Medicine Like Me? The Story of a Passion That Engineering Stole Away

 Medicine is arguably one of the most sought-after courses at most universities, despite the extremely limited admission slots. At Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), my alma mater, the story is no different. For many students, the ambition to become medical doctors begins as early as primary or secondary school, particularly at the senior level. Many parents equally nurture the dream of making doctors out of their children, to the extent that any brilliant child is almost automatically considered a potential medical doctor.

It goes without saying that it takes brilliance to complete an MBBS degree. However, brilliance alone does not necessarily make someone a medical doctor, just as being brilliant does not automatically make medicine the most suitable course for everyone.

My love affair with medicine started in Zaria in the 1990s

During my early years in the 80s and mid-90s, there were hardly any medical doctors in Zaria City, where I lived. I can recall only one, Dr. Bello Abdulkadir, Salanken Zazzau, who is married to my cousin and owns a private hospital in Tudun Wada, popularly known as Asibitin Dr. Bello. Other professionals, including engineers, architects, economists and accountants, were also relatively scarce, but medical doctors were particularly scarce.

I encountered the second medical doctor in my circle, Dr. Lawal Halliru (Dr. Daddy), who was then a medical student, in 1995 when I joined SS1. We met at the Muslim Refresher Course Program (MRCP), popularly known as Refresher, where he taught us Chemistry. Refresher was a tuition-free weekend extra-mural programme that played a tremendous role in addressing the educational backwardness of Zaria and its environs.

If you want to see brilliance with your naked eyes, look at Dr. Daddy! He was exceptionally brilliant and deeply passionate about teaching Chemistry. In the course of his lessons, he would occasionally tell us about his medical studies. Gradually, I became fascinated by medicine through his stories, even though I struggled to understand his Chemistry lessons in their entirety until later in SS2. That, however, is a story for another day.

Seeing another medical doctor, albeit a medical student, as my teacher and listening to him speak passionately about medicine ignited my interest in the profession. When he noticed my growing interest, he gradually drew me closer and became a mentor. I would sometimes visit him at home, where he shared more about medicine and guided me academically.

I became his mentee. He encouraged me to sit for WAEC in SS2, which I did, obtaining an A2 in Chemistry, his favourite subject and the subject he taught us.

He also organised an additional weekend lesson for a small group of us: Engr. Idris Nuhu Malami (Major), Dr. Shuaibu M. Bala, Bashir Muhammad and my humble self. He taught us Biology from 4 pm.

My weekends were quite eventful. I would attend Refresher from 9 am to 1 pm, proceed to Bashir's house to rest until 4 pm, and then head to the lesson venue at Junior Secondary School, just after the bridge leading to Tudun Jukun.

He also organised a separate weekday lesson exclusively for me. Immediately after closing at my conventional school, Government Day Tukur-Tukur, at 1 pm, I would head straight to his room, where he would teach me until around 3 pm. I would then return home and come out again after 4 pm to Alhuda Huda College for Mal. Ibrahim's Physics lesson. My days were fully occupied with learning, while my nights were reserved for personal studies, sometimes extending deep into the night when there were no distractions. I was a night owl.

Then came the third medical doctor who further cemented my love for medicine.

Somewhere in SS2, I met late Dr. Ahmad Ismail. He was Dr. Daddy's mate at ABU but had moved to Bayero University, Kano (BUK), and subsequently to the University of Maiduguri (UNIMAID), where he was undertaking his housemanship.

He organised another special weekend Biology class after our regular Refresher lessons. I loved his passion for Biology - and, by extension, medicine - more importantly, his unique method of imparting knowledge.

We made presentations and lysed. His teaching method was so effective that I would attend his classes without a pen or notebook. Yet, when I returned home at night, I could reproduce everything he taught us - including sketches, labelling and explanations, entirely from memory -and form my notes. That experience further strengthened my determination to study medicine at university.

My passion was so intense that I would write Dr. Salihu Lukman on virtually all my WAEC question papers after completing them!

How Further Mathematics eventually stole my heart from medicine

After graduating from secondary school in 1997, I started teaching at Refresher the same year for free like any other teacher, exactly one week after our send-off ceremony. I was awaiting my WAEC results before proceeding to write JAMB.

During this waiting period, Dr. Daddy, being my mentor, advised me to start learning Further Mathematics. His argument was that medicine involved a course called Biostatistics, which required advanced mathematical knowledge.

In fact, I bought my first Further Mathematics textbook from him for just N120. It was titled Additional Mathematics, by Godwin and Talbert. I started studying it independently before joining lessons organised by Mal. Baban Jummai (Mal. Zubairu Rilwan) and late Mal. Hassan Sabo at Baba Ahmed Primary School. Prof. Abubilal Kabir Ahmad, Engr. Abubakar Suleiman and Engr. Jamilu Sahabi were also among us.

I became so engrossed in Further Mathematics that I would spend hours solving problems. Whenever I encountered a difficult question, I would visit Mal. Baban Jummai at his residence for assistance. Later, I exchanged my Pure Mathematics 2 by Backhouse for Intermediate Pure Mathematics by J. Blackey with him to access more challenging problems and advanced topics.

I have deliberately mentioned these details because I want readers to appreciate the invaluable contributions of these Refresher ‘angels’ in human form. They did not merely direct us to good textbooks; they went the extra mile to help us acquire those rich learning materials and understand their contents.

After experiencing the sweetness of Further Mathematics, I reached a rather unusual conclusion: I could not imagine a life without the combination of Further Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry. Before long, Further Mathematics had mixed with my blood to such a concentration that medicine could no longer contain it!

Engineering eventually won the battle

By the time I was preparing to fill my JAMB form in 1998, Dr. Daddy realised that his dream of making a medical doctor out of me was gradually slipping away. Engineering had successfully wooed me over, largely because of my growing passion for Further Mathematics. I simply could not imagine studying any course that did not involve intensive advanced mathematics. Biostatistics alone was not enough to quench my thirst for mathematics.

One day, before I filled the form, he called me aside and made one final passionate attempt to convince me to choose medicine rather than engineering. His arguments were convincing, and for a moment, I was almost persuaded. Then, suddenly, a question crossed my mind:

Would Dr. Daddy be the one studying for me at the university, or would I be the one doing the studying?

Of course, I was the one!

So, I followed my passion and chose Chemical Engineering, driven by my love for Chemistry, Physics and Mathematics. However, I was eventually admitted into the Department of Water Resources and Environmental Engineering at ABU. The rest, as they say, is history.

My passion for teaching continued at university

While at ABU, I frequently returned to Tudun Wada, particularly during weekends, to teach at my alma mater, the popular Refresher, and Muslim Potential Doctors (MPD), now known as the Muslim Special Training Centre (MSTC).

MPD started as a special class under Refresher before gradually developing into a full-fledged extra-mural programme similar to Refresher. 

Interestingly, none of the founders of MPD were medical doctors. Most of us were engineering students with a common ambition: to prepare secondary school students academically so they could qualify for admission into medicine at university. We deliberately designed the programme to mimic certain medical school practices. Students wore white laboratory coats, and results were published in three separate categories: Passed, Repeat and Withdrawn.

Some of the students who passed through the programme eventually studied medicine, while others pursued engineering and different disciplines. Our objective was to prepare them for academic excellence and help them achieve their ambitions. 

Dr. Abdullahi Usman Kilaco was among the pioneer students of MPD whom I taught at both Refresher and MPD. Our academic paths would cross again when he became my undergraduate student in the Department of Water Resources and Environmental Engineering (WREE), where I eventually supervised his undergraduate project. We met yet again at KFUPM, Saudi Arabia, when he joined the university while I was pursuing my PhD. He also participated in a research project with me. After completing his master's degree, he later joined me at the University of Hafr Al Batin.

Another student of mine was Ibrahim El-Caleel, who would later establish a similar extra-mural programme in Tudun Wada, known as the Muslim Intellectuals Training Program (MITP), inspired by the Refresher and MPD model.

Medicine in Zaria today: A different story

The scarcity of medical doctors that characterised Zaria in the 80s and 90s is no longer as pronounced. Today, Zaria has many medical doctors, and one of my wives is among them, a consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist at ABUTH.

There was no human medical doctor in our Refresher set, although we had a veterinary doctor, Dr. Saidu Muhammad, who is now a Deputy Director at NAPRI, ABU. Interestingly, the set immediately preceding ours produced three medical doctors. One of them, Prof. Muhammad Ibrahim (MIZ Guy), is currently the Chairman of the Medical Advisory Committee (CMAC) of ABUTH, the second-highest-ranking official in the hospital.

Nevertheless, we still need more medical doctors in Zaria and Nigeria at large. The mass migration of Nigerian doctors abroad under the Japa phenomenon remains a serious concern, with reports indicating that about 16,000 doctors left Nigeria within the past two years. We must continue to encourage young people to study medicine and other critical professional disciplines in the sciences, arts and social sciences. However, there is one important lesson I would like parents to take away from my story.

Do not impose medicine on your children!

Your responsibility as a parent is to encourage, guide and expose your children to opportunities. It is not to dictate what they must become. A brilliant child does not necessarily have to study medicine. If your child develops a genuine passion for engineering, physics, economics, psychology, business, law or any other discipline, allow that passion to flourish. There are medical doctors who spend years studying rigorously, earn their MBBS degrees and eventually change careers to pursue what their hearts truly desire.

The point is simple: Guide, don't dictate!

As for me, I still have an enormous passion for medicine. Whenever a medical condition piques my interest, I can easily hyperfocus on understanding it, researching its underlying mechanisms and demystifying the science behind it. 

Interestingly, I eventually specialised in Public Health Engineering, another name for Environmental Engineering. Although I did not become a medical doctor, my profession still intersects with public health and human wellbeing in many ways.

I have absolutely no regrets about abandoning medicine for engineering. I found my passion, pursued it and built a fulfilling academic and professional career around it.

Looking back, I remain grateful to Dr. Lawal Halliru (Dr. Daddy), late Dr. Ahmad Ismail, Mal. Ibrahim Physics, Mal. Baban Jummai, Major, and all the other teachers and mentors who shaped my academic journey. They may not have succeeded in making a medical doctor out of me, but they certainly helped make me the engineer and teacher I am today.

Now, let me ask you:

Did you love medicine as passionately as I did? Did you eventually become a medical doctor, or did another discipline steal your heart along the way?

What is your own story?

From Failing Maths to Loving Maths: How Medicine Changed Me

I had a very poor educational background, I must confess. I went to public primary and secondary schools, far from the best at the time. It did not come as a surprise that my foundation in mathematics in primary school was very poor. That poor foundation followed me into junior secondary school. And to be honest, I was not serious about learning it. There was no motivation. There was no drive. I just carried on with a nonchalant attitude.

Fast forward to SS1, I still chose science. I wanted to become a medical doctor. That was my dream.

I remember when I took the entrance exam in English and Mathematics for Refresher in 1995 to join SS1. My English scores were very good. My mathematics scores were very poor. I still gained admission because my average was above the minimum required. Refresher is an extra-mural, tuition-free weekend lesson held to this day at Nurul Huda Primary School, Tudun Wada, Zaria. It was the best educational intervention program in Zaria that complemented the conventional educational system.

After joining Mal. Ibrahim’s Physics lesson in SS1, I fell in love with physics. I loved its wider applications in our everyday life and the excellent way he explained it. But I would usually disregard the calculation aspect of physics. Whenever we were given a physics assignment from Refresher, I would seek the help of my childhood friend and one of my mentors, Engr. Idris Nuhu Malami (Major), to help me solve it. He was one year ahead of me.

In my conventional school, I would not even sit for the mathematics exam during the end-of-term exam, because I knew I would fail it and I did not want to see an F on my report card. It was not that I had a phobia of mathematics. I would attend its classes, but because of my poor foundation, I would not understand it fully. Sometimes, I would understand it, but I could not solve a problem. I would not practise anything. I would not put any extra effort into learning it well. Yet, I wanted to study medicine and become a medical doctor.

I continued with this nonchalant attitude towards mathematics until the end of 2nd term, SS2. I went on vacation to Sokoto to visit my late elder sister, and I missed some Refresher classes, including mathematics. That was when I sat down and asked myself a hard, introspective question.

Can I pass Mathematics in WAEC? NECO was not born at the time.

I knew the answer. An emphatic and capital NO.

If I did not pass mathematics in WAEC, would I be able to secure admission to study medicine at the university? Again, I knew the answer was no, because one needs at least a credit in mathematics for MBBS.

That was when I did a reality check for myself. Was I not deceiving myself by aspiring to study medicine? I told myself that I had deceived myself earlier, but it was not too late to correct it.

My passion for medicine changed everything, including my mindset. I said, fine, I would put in effort now to understand this mathematics from the beginning of SS1 mathematics. Remember, I had just finished SS2, 2nd term at the time.

I started by covering what I missed during my short absence, from the Refresher mathematics teacher (Engr. Bello Atiku) in his room at Layin Lawandi Tabako. I learned mensuration. It was very clear. I loved it.

I had been in possession of an SS1 mathematics textbook called New General Mathematics, but I never used it. I brought it out. I started learning the first lesson in the book, which I had already learnt but was not serious about. I solved the exercises, attempted all, and consulted Major on those I could not solve.

I hyperfocused during the break – one of my greatest gifts, alhamdulillah - and with Allah’s help, I became mathematically sound before we resumed for the 3rd term. My classmates in school were shocked when they saw me, now interested in and good at mathematics almost overnight.

Determination, hyperfocus, ambition and dreams changed my mindset, and I have been mathematically sound ever since, alhamdulillah. Not only that, I developed a strong passion for it and began to like any subject that has mathematics. That strengthened my position in physics also, another mathematically based subject.

In my subsequent write-ups, I will share with you how my strong passion for mathematics made me change my ambition after graduating from secondary school, and how I gave up medicine for engineering.

So, were you mathematically dumb like me in secondary school, to the extent that you stopped taking the periodic termly mathematics exams because you knew your grade already?

If you or your kid faces a challenge understanding mathematics, then it is not too late.

One topic I found very important when learning foundational mathematics is the change of subject of a formula. Master it well, and you will be on the path to becoming a mathematics guru.

The idea that all science-based students must be mathematically good is wrong. They should be, otherwise they cannot pass physics. But it is not a given. Some science students struggle hard with mathematics. You can actually find an arts student to be better than a science student in mathematics. It boils down to individual passion, background and understanding. The same way a science student can beat an arts student in English.

When I ventured into stock investment, I came to appreciate my sound mathematical background in performing some simple calculations in stock analysis. The mathematics of money is very crucial. We apply mathematics in our everyday life, in the market, in discussions, and in understanding figures and statistics.

While some could have a mathematics phobia, I assure you that it can be cured, as I cured mine.

Mathematics is the language of nature, the language of the universe. Learn it now.

Tell me about your own struggle to learn mathematics and how you overcame it. Maybe people can learn also from your experience.

Choose ABU Zaria. Choose Water Resources and Environmental Engineering

ABU's first round of admission has just been concluded. If you did not get the course you applied for, this is not the end. This is the beginning of another door. ABU has said it clearly in its Special Bulletin: many programmes are now filled up. Architecture is filled. MBBS is filled. Pharmacy is filled. Civil, Computer,  & Mechatronics Engineering— filled.

But other programmes are still open. And one of them is my department — Water Resources and Environmental Engineering, WREE.

I am writing this not purely as an advert, but as a testimony. Because in 1999, twenty-seven years ago, I was exactly where you are now.

My Journey 

I knew inside of me that a life devoid of the combo — Further Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry — was not something I could imagine.

Well equipped by my mentors to start university to study either medicine or engineering, I followed my heart and at the young age of 18, I started a bachelor's degree in Water Resources and Environmental Engineering at the popular Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, after miraculously scoring 180 points in JAMB. 

Yes, I said miraculously scoring 180 points because I went to write the exam when I was ill and could not finish answering all the 4 subjects — English, Chemistry, Mathematics and Physics. I could manage to answer English and Chemistry fully and stopped while answering Mathematics due to colic and could not attempt even a question in Physics. Almighty Allah in His infinite mercy, gave me 30 points in Physics to make my aggregate 180 points — the lowest entry JAMB points into any undergraduate programme in Nigeria at the time — yet, I went on to graduate on top of my class.

The Struggle To Leave WREE

I will be honest with you. I did not want WREE at first. I applied for Chemical Engineering but did not get it. In my 200 level, I attempted to change my course from WREE to Chemical Engineering. Unfortunately for me, all change-of-course applications were rejected that year.

In my 300 level, I tried again — this time to change to my mother department, Civil Engineering. Civil gave me a condition: that I should agree to be a lecturer in the department after my graduation. I rejected the condition. I chose to remain in WREE. Little did I know that Allah had a bigger plan.

I graduated as the best student in WREE in 2004 and was employed during my NYSC as a lecturer in the same department. I assumed duty immediately after I finished my NYSC.

I did my MSc in Water Resources Engineering — Hydraulics and Engineering Hydrology option — in ABU in 2009, before gaining a scholarship from the Saudi Arabian Government to do my PhD in Civil Engineering, Environmental Engineering option, at the prestigious King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM) — the best university in the Arab world and one of the best in the world, ranked 63rd globally by QS.

I was fortunate to finish in a record time of 3 years with a first-class and an outstanding number of publications in international journals and conferences.

The Departments That Slipped Away Came Under Me

KFUPM immediately absorbed me to serve as a pioneer Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering in its branch at Hafr Al Batin, now the University of Hafr Al Batin, where I would later have the privilege to head the departments of Mechanical, Civil and Chemical Engineering.

Think about it. The Chemical and Civil Engineering departments that slipped my hand at the undergraduate level were then placed under my leadership, while I belonged to the Civil Engineering Department.

Allah did not deny me Civil and Chemical. He gave them to me at a higher level — as their Head.

What Is WREE, Really?

Let me tell you what I have learnt after 27 years in this field.

A WREE graduate is also a civil engineer. WREE is a specialisation under Civil Engineering.

Today, I am a member of the Nigerian Institution of Civil Engineers, as well as the Water Engineers and Environmental Engineers, in addition to belonging to the main bodies of NSE and COREN.

And this is not only about WREE.

Think of engineering like a pyramid. Wide, separate and distinct at the base level — undergraduate. But as you climb up towards the apex — Masters, PhD, professional practice — they tend to fuse into one another.

WREE is essentially a specialized Civil Engineer in Water Resources and Environmental Engineering.

Just like Metallurgical, Mining and Agricultural Engineers are specialized Mechanical Engineers. Computer, Telecom, and Electronics Engineers are also specialized Electrical Engineers.

The world is now moving towards graduating specialised people with higher-than-normal expertise compared to their counterparts who studied basic engineering courses like Mechanical, Civil and Electrical.

The basic engineer knows a little about everything. The specialised engineer knows everything about one thing the world desperately needs. And today, the world desperately needs water, environment, and sustainability.

My Advice To You

So, aspiring students, think widely.

Do not cry because you did not get Civil. Changing your course to WREE, gives you back the slipped Civil Engineering in disguise.

If your JAMB combination is English, Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry, and you have credits in your O'Levels, you can change to WREE in ABU Zaria now.

I entered WREE with 180 — the lowest possible score — sick, unable to even attempt Physics. I graduated best in my class. I became a lecturer in that same department. I earned a PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering. I became Head of Civil, Chemical and Mechanical Engineering.

What Allah has written for you in WREE may be bigger than what you are chasing in Civil.

Choose ABU Zaria. Build a Greener and Water-Secure Future.

Choose Water Resources and Environmental Engineering.

The Different Faces of Polygamy Around The World

When people hear the word polygamy, most of them think of one thing only: a Muslim man married to four wives.

But polygamy has many faces today. And if we are honest, the West has its own version — only it does not call it marriage.

Let me explain what I have observed.

1. The Classic Muslim Polygyny

In Islam, polygyny is permitted — one man, up to four wives — with a very strict condition: justice. If you cannot be just, marry only one. Polygyny or monogamy, the rule is the same: financial capability is a prerequisite; otherwise, fast.

That is the theory. The practice today is different.

In Turkey, a Muslim country, you cannot practice polygyny officially at all. The law is monogamy. To marry a second wife officially, you must first divorce the first one. So there is no legal polygyny. If you marry a second one unofficially, she cannot inherit from you. Case closed!

In Malaysia, the law allows it, but you need the consent of the first wife. In practice, that consent is almost impossible to obtain. Many men try; many fail.

In Egypt, the law allows it, but the culture does not. The moment many men marry a second wife, the first wife leaves. She packs and goes for good. So the man ends up with one wife again, only with a broken home behind him.

In the Middle East— Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, Yemen — and North Africa (Algeria, Tunisia, etc.), polygyny is legal, but it is now rarely practiced. Cost of living and social pressure. The younger generation is mostly choosing one wife.

In Pakistan, even if the law allows it, you face strong opposition — sometimes even from your own family. It is rarely practiced. 

In India, it is almost non-existent. The Hindu practice is monogamy, and that is the law and the culture which has influenced the Indian Muslims and Pakistanis also. Many Indian Muslims have never seen a polygynous family in real life. Dr. Zakir Naik, an Indian himself, once said he has never seen a polygynous family.

And we all remember the famous case of Dharmendra (Dram), the strong, famous Hindu actor, who converted to Islam just to marry Hema Malini as a second wife, because Hindu law would not allow him to marry her while still married to his first wife. That tells you how difficult it has become.

So the classic polygyny is still in the books, but in practice, it is shrinking in most Muslim nations but expanding in Nigeria. No wonder our population is increasing significantly — and by 2050, Nigeria will become the 3rd most populous country in the world.

2. The Modern Western Polygamy

Now let us look at the West, especially the US.

The West has largely abandoned the marriage system in favour of the couple system — without any legal implications.

What do I mean? A man and a woman can live together for 10 years, have children, share a house, share money, and never go to court or church to marry. They are a couple, not husband and wife. If they separate, there is no divorce. There is no legal process. They just pack and leave.

And inside that couple system, and sometimes even inside the marital system, we now have three new faces of polygamy in which mutual consent dictates the rule:

Open Relationship 

A couple agrees that one or both can sleep around outside with anyone, but not love outside. The primary couple remains central. Sleeping around is allowed; falling in love is not. But there is a rule: you don't have to tell your partner who you slept with, and your partner doesn't have to meet that person. It is separate. It is private. What happens outside stays outside. Married couple Will Smith and Jada are suspected to be in an open relationship. 

That "In an open relationship" on Facebook profile relationship status is not a mistake. It is not "my account is open." It is not "I am open to dating." It means: I am in a relationship, but we have agreed that we can also have other romantic partners. 

Many of our people choose it wrongly, mistaking what open means. They see "In an open relationship" on Facebook and they think it means "I am open to new relationship." Or "My account is open." Or "I am free, come and talk to me."

They do not know it means: I already have a partner or spouse, but we have agreed to be with other people.

Swinging

Couples, married or not, exchange partners together, as a recreational activity. They may do it as a team, in the same room, at the same party. Emotional exclusivity remains. It is a romantic adventure, not love. 

Wuddadu: Busted Nigerian pseudo-swingers in Azare, Bauchi

In May 2026, Hisbah in Azare, Katagum LGA, Bauchi State, busted seven members of a group called Wuddadu for wife-swapping. They were exchanging wives among themselves, claiming one of them had a dream that endorsed it.

The group leader disowned them, saying it was not their teaching. The women said they only agreed because their husbands told them it was normal. The suspects later showed remorse and promised to stop.

This is pseudo-swinging in Nigerian form — not open, not recreational, not by free consent, but done in secret and hidden behind religion.

'Cire Gashin Minkiri'

There is another thing people used to talk about in the North, called 'cire gashin minkiri', i.e., removal of the evil hair.

It was said that a muridi (sect follower) would send his own wife to his visiting leader, so that the leader would sleep with her and, by that, remove the evil hair (gashin minkiri) from her. The belief was that the woman had a spiritual problem, and only the leader's intimacy could cleanse her. He was the only one who knew where that hair was.

It was swinging for spiritual cleansing and honoring the sect’s leader. The husband was not sharing his wife because he wanted fun. He was giving her away because he believed his leader had spiritual power to locate the evil hair and remove it.

I do not think this happens now. At least, I have not heard of it happening in recent times. But the story remains, and it shows how the same act — a man giving his wife to another man — can be dressed up in different clothes: in the West, as freedom; in Bauchi, as a dream; here, as spiritual cleansing. The name changes. The act remains similar.

Polyamory

This is the most complete form. Multiple romantic, loving relationships at the same time, with the consent of everyone. Love is allowed to be plural. A person can have two partners, wives or husbands; both know each other, both are loved. Sometimes they live and sleep together in the same bed, sometimes they share finances, sometimes they raise children together. 

These are not secret affairs. They are open, discussed, agreed. There are many short documentaries about them. When someone says, “I am poly”, then that is what he or she means. They are Western polygamy, but without the name marriage, and without the legal responsibility that comes with marriage.

3. Where Does Queer and Fluid Come In?

This is where it becomes even more complicated. Western polygamies are closely related to queer and fluid sexual orientations. Because once you remove the idea of classic monogamy, that marriage is between one man and one woman for life, you open the door to many other forms.

Fluid means: I am not fixed. Today I may love a man, tomorrow a woman, tomorrow both, tomorrow neither. Queer means: I do not fit into the old categories of straight or gay. I am something else, a true definition of sexual inconsistency and uncertainty.

So in the West today, you can have a polyamorous triad of two women and one man. Or two men and one woman. Or three women. Or a couple where one partner identifies as non-binary. The structure is not based on religion or law. It is based on feeling, consent, and identity. Nasara uban asara!

In Islam, polygyny is structured: one man, up to four women, with rights, with maintenance, with inheritance, with responsibility. In the West, polyamory is unstructured: any gender, any number, any combination, with no legal obligation. If it ends, it ends. That is the biggest difference.

4. The Age Question — Marriage and Consent

We cannot discuss this without discussing age. In Islam, marriage could be tied to puberty, like the beginning of menses, and maturity, and to the consent of the girl’s guardians and the girl herself. Some Muslim countries use 18 years as the minimum age of marital consent, while other countries do not tie marital consent to any minimum age limit.

In the West, there are two different ages: age of sexual consent, and age of marital consent — and they are often different.

In America, the age of sexual consent is 16 to 18 depending on the state, but you cannot marry until 18 in most states without parental consent, and in some states you cannot marry until 18 at all. So, by and large, 18 is usually the age of marital consent.

In the UK, the age of sexual consent is 16, but marriage is 18. In France, sexual consent is 15, marriage is 18. In Germany, sexual consent is 14 with conditions, 16 generally, but marriage is 18. In China, sexual consent is 14, marriage is 22 for men and 20 for women — one of the highest in the world.

Here is that point inserted, in your voice, for the Nigeria section:

Of particular note is Nigeria.

The age of sexual consent in Nigeria is 14 years. Meaning, any consensual coitus outside marriage below that age is classified as rape in our laws.

If a girl is 14 and has consensual coitus outside marriage, what happens depends on the applicable law — the Penal Code or Shari’ah Law in the North, or the Criminal Code in the South.

That is the confusion we live in now. We have stopped marrying our daughters at 12 to 14, but we have not stopped them from being exposed at 14 to 20. We have protected them from early marriage, but we have not protected them from early coitus.

Hisba can arrest. The law can punish. But the phone has already taught them that romance is normal, marriage is old-fashioned, and consent is enough.

So a 16-year-old girl in the West can legally sleep around with anyone with her consent, but she cannot legally marry. The system separates coitus from marriage. Coitus is allowed early, marriage is delayed late. 

If you can sleep around with whoever you want, with the person's consent, and nobody will arrest you, nobody will shame you — then what is marriage for?

If you can live together as a couple just like husband and wife once you are both 18, cook together, sleep together, raise children together, without any paper, without any wedding — then why bother about marriage?

And if you do marry, and it ends, the court could take away about 50% of the man's wealth in a divorce settlement. Half of what he worked for, gone. Just like that.

So the Western man asks himself: Why should I marry? To lose my freedom and to risk losing half my property? If I can get everything marriage gives — coitus, companionship, children, a home — without marrying, why should I sign a paper that only puts me at risk?

That is why marriage is dying there. Not because people don't love each other. But because marriage no longer gives them anything they cannot already get for free, while it takes away so much if it fails.

Yes, that is another sign of the change.

Even the language has changed.

In the old West, a child born outside marriage was called a bastard or an *illegitimate child. The word itself was a shame. It told the child: you are not proper. You are not legal. Your father did not marry your mother.

Today, those words are no longer used. They are considered insulting, old-fashioned, cruel.

Now they say: "child born out of wedlock." Or "child born outside marriage." Or simply, "my child." No difference. No shame. No label.

A child is a child, whether the parents are married or not. Whether the father is known or not. Whether the mother was a wife, a girlfriend, or a one-night partner.

That is why marriage is no longer important for children either. In the past, you married so that your child would be legitimate. Today, legitimacy does not matter. The law gives the child the same rights. Society gives the child the same respect. So one more reason for marriage has disappeared.

In the Muslim system, the opposite was intended: coitus is only inside marriage, so marriage should come early to protect from coitus outside. But today, with education, with the economy, with modern life, marriage is also being delayed in Muslim countries — to 25, 30, 40 — while puberty comes at 12, 13 and the urge for intimacy peaks around 15 - 18. That gap is creating a new crisis we have not solved. 

While our mothers were married off at around 12 to 14, this early marriage hardly happens now, especially in the cities. The culture has changed. The thinking has changed. A girl of 12 is now seen as a child, not a wife.

But something else has taken its place.

Romantic relationships, open cuddling and caressing between boys and girls of 15 to 20 years old, have now become something normal on social media. They post it. They film it. They show it to the world without shame, while dressed in Hijabs. What used to be hidden is now content.

Hisba, from various Northern states, is trying its best to curb such immoral behaviours. But it is fighting social media, and social media is faster than Hisba.

Many people blame this new openness on people like Soja Boy from Sokoto — who had been romancing white women openly in a reality show filmed in Nigeria and Tanzania, and has now brought that same style into the Hausa-phone media space. Whether he started it or not, he has made it popular with his famous song, which he wanted to release in Ramadan 2025, but postponed it when people shouted about it. Young boys and girls now copy what they see him do, and they call it love, content creation, and a need to trend and go viral overnight and become famous.

So early marriage has gone down. But early romance and even coitus outside marriage have gone up. We did not stop the boy and girl from meeting. We only stopped them from marrying. And now they meet without marriage, in front of the camera.

Conclusion

Polygamy did not die. It changed its clothes.

In Muslim countries, polygyny is becoming difficult — by law, by consent, by culture, by cost. A man who wants a second wife must now ask permission, face the court, face his first wife, face his pocket, and face society. Many simply give up.

In Western countries, polygamy is growing — but under new names: open, swinging, polyamorous, queer, fluid. Without marriage, without law, without responsibility, only mutual consent.

And now we see the same clothes being worn in Nigeria too by Wuddadu sect followers and in the past, ‘cire gashin minkiri’.

At the same time, marriage itself is losing its meaning in the West. 

And in our own cities, we have made the same trade without knowing it. Women now openly beat their chests and say marriage is not compulsory. Feminist ideology has been crawling into our girls’ minds knowingly or ignorantly, and they have been spreading it everywhere. Materialism has taken center stage. Our people will do anything for money.

So we are all moving in the same direction, from different sides. One system has law but no practice. The other system has practice but no law.

One system once protected the woman by marriage, but now leaves the girl to romance without marriage. The other system once shamed the child born outside marriage, but now calls every child equal, while removing the father from responsibility.

The question we must ask ourselves is not: which one is trending? The question is: which one protects the woman, protects the child, and protects the family?

Because in the end, marriage is not about coitus. Marriage is about responsibility.

And any system — old or new, Eastern or Western, Bauchi or London, Hausa or American — that removes responsibility from love will eventually produce broken hearts, broken homes, and broken children.

That is what my curiosity has taught me.

I Thought It Was A Scam — Until ₦50,000 Entered My MoMo PSB Account

Let me tell you what happened to me this week. Because if it happened to me, it may have happened to you too.

On Sunday evening, I got an SMS from MoMoPSB:

“Relief! FGN has selected you to receive ₦50,000 under NERSI to help with living costs. This is FREE. Enq? Call 07000222222. Dial *671*0# to accept”

I looked at it and I laughed. Scam. Another one.

In Nigeria today, if you are not careful, you will lose your money before you even finish reading the SMS. So I ignored it.

On Tuesday, the second one came. Same sender. Same message. This time clearer:

“Relief! FGN selected you for FREE N50,000 under NERSI... To consent to open a MoMo account and receive the money, dial *671*0#”

I still thought it was a scam. But something kept telling me to check. There’s no harm in opening an account with MoMoPSB after all.

Just as a trial, I decided to dial the USSD code, since I read in the news that MoMoPSB is one of the fintech channels to be used.

I did not click any link. There was no link to click. I did not give any PIN, OTP or BVN to anybody. I just dialled *671*0# to see what would happen.

I told myself: if it asks for money, I will stop. If it asks for a PIN, I will stop. If it is a trap, I will know immediately.

It did not ask for any of those things. It only opened a MoMo account and asked for my consent, and allowed me to create a PIN. I downloaded the app later.

That was the trial. And that trial is what brought the ₦50,000. 

Then yesterday, the third one came:

“FREE N50,000 FGN NERSI Relief is waiting for you! Create your MoMo account to receive it. Dial *671# or download the MoMo PSB NG app!”

Three messages. Same story. At that point, my curiosity — that same curiosity that took me from skipping Business News to investing in the stock market — started to worry me.

What if this one is real?

So I did what I always tell people to do: I checked before I clicked. I did not click any link. There was no link. I did not give any PIN, OTP or BVN to anybody. I only dialled the USSD code that was in the message — *671*0# — to open a MoMo account and give my consent.

And then yesterday, 5th November 2026 at 3:14 pm, this came:

“MoMo Credit Alert

FROM: FG Relief NERSI

AMT: N50,000.00

BAL: N50,000.00

REMARK: GOVT_DISBURSEMENT”

₦50,000. Real money. In my account. Confirmed!

Now I have questions. And I know you will have the same questions.

How did my number get into the list of poor and vulnerable households?

I am definitely not rich. By Nigerian standards, I can say I might belong to the middle-income class, definitely not anywhere near the top, somewhere around the bottom of the lower-middle-income earners. But poor and vulnerable? I am not sure I qualify for that list.

The last time I received FGN ‘largesse’ was around 2003 — 23 years ago — when I received a one-off 50k FGN Scholarship in my final year, 500 level, undergraduate. I was in the 2nd batch. The scholarship was introduced around 2001. I don't even know if that scholarship still exists today or students loan via NELFUND has replaced it.

So how did my name enter this list? Could there be a mistake somewhere?

I learnt that this is NERSI — National Emergency Relief and Stabilisation Intervention — run by the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction. According to the government, beneficiaries are selected from the National Social Register and verified national identity records. You cannot apply. You cannot pay to enter. You are selected in batches through five approved providers: ALAT by Wema, MoMo PSB, NairaGram, OPay and Moniepoint.

Is this one for all Nigerians? Did you receive a similar SMS?

Please tell me in the comments. Did you get the MoMoPSB message? Or ALAT? Or OPay? Or Moniepoint? Or did you dial the code and it said "NOT SELECTED"?

I want to know if I am alone in this confusion, or if many middle-class Nigerians like me are also getting it.

Anyway, I am not returning the money. Neither am I spending it. It is a grant, not a loan. The government itself says you do not need to repay it. But please, be careful. Because scammers are at work again.

The real NERSI message will *never* send you a phishing link to click. It will never ask you for your PIN, OTP or BVN. It will never ask you to pay money to release the money. It will only come from one of the five approved providers, and it will only ask you to dial their official USSD code.

If anybody sends you a link and says "click here to claim your ₦50,000", delete it. That one is a scam.

My own three messages came from MoMoPSB, no link, no fee, and the helpline given was 07000222222 — which is the official NERSI helpline. That is how I knew to take the risk to dial the code.

I thought it was a scam. It turned out to be real.

Life has taught me one thing again: Do not dismiss everything because many things are fake. Check. Verify. Ask questions. Then decide.

Curiosity saved me from missing this ₦50,000. Ignorance would have made me delete all three messages.

Have you checked yours?

How to Use WhatsApp Meta AI as Your Everyday Personal Assistant

 Preamble

I will be honest with you. For years, I used WhatsApp only to send multimedia messages. I did not know that the small blue circle at the bottom — Meta AI — was sitting there waiting to work for me.

Just like I used to skip the Business News segment because I did not understand the terminology, I was skipping Meta AI because I thought it was just another AI chat tool like ChatGPT, Gemini, etc.

To me, it was just another blue circle. Another chatbot. Another thing to ask questions and get answers.

I was wrong.

ChatGPT, Gemini, and the rest are general chat tools. You ask, they answer, and then the conversation ends. Meta AI in WhatsApp is different — because it lives where you already live.

It lives in your WhatsApp. It remembers your format. It remembers your watchlist. And most importantly, it can be scheduled to come back to you — every morning at 9 am, every weekday at 4.30 pm, every Sunday, every Monday — without you asking again.

That is not a chatbot. That is a personal assistant.

I did not understand Business News until I stopped skipping it and started learning it. I did not understand Meta AI until I stopped treating it like ChatGPT and started giving it a job.

Once I gave it a job, a format, and a time — it started working for me.

Then I learned one thing: Don't ask it vague questions. Give it a job.

Give it a job, a format, and a time. That is all.

And once I learned that, I stopped scrolling for news. The news started coming to me.

You can schedule up to 10 different routines on WhatsApp. I use mine every day. Here are the ones that changed my day — you can copy them and edit them to fit your own goal.

1. Your Morning Briefing — Instead of Opening 5 Apps

I used to open one app for NGX, another for the US market, another for Nigerian news. By the time I finished, my morning was gone.

Now I just ask for one digest:

"Give me a morning briefing for today, Thursday. In 5 short sections: 1) NGX close yesterday and live today, 2) US close last night, 3) Top 5 Nigerian business headlines, 4) Top 5 Nigerian general headlines. Keep it factual, in bullet points, with links."

Then I tell it:

"Use this same format every morning at 9 am."

And that is it. Every morning at 9 am, I get the latest version automatically. I did not need to be a tech expert. I just needed to be curious enough to ask.

2. Your Market Watcher — Don't Watch 20 Stocks Yourself

This is where most people under-use it. I learned this the hard way.

When I started investing in 2024, after stumbling on Lions' Den Nigeria on TikTok, I was checking stocks one by one. It was exhausting.

Now I give Meta AI my watchlist and my rules, once:

"Track these 20 NGX stocks for me: NAHCO, NASCON, UNILEVER, UACN, SEPLAT, MTN, ARADEL, TIP, JAIZBANK, ZENITHBANK, GTCO, FIRSTHOLDCO, UPDCREIT, CWG, HBMNG, DANGCEM, AIRTEL, FIDSON, MAYBAKER, PZ. Flag any that drop -8% to -10% in a day as BUY-THE-DIP. Tell me the price, % change, and why it dropped. Generate this report every weekday at 4.30 pm."

If I want it cleaner, I add:

"Summarize this in a table: Stock | Price | Daily % | YTD | vs 52-week high."

Every evening at 4.30 pm, I get the analysis. I don't chase the market. The market report comes to me. I may still double-check a few numbers for accuracy.

That is what I mean by beyond your discipline. I am an engineer. I was not trained in finance. But curiosity + a good prompt closed that gap.

3. Your News Curator — Don't Ask "What's Happening?"

"What's happening?" is too vague. You will get everything, which means you will get nothing.

Ask for a filter instead:

"Find me only new Nigerian business headlines from Nairametrics, Proshare, BusinessDay, Punch, and Vanguard for today. Skip anything from yesterday. Give me title + 1-line summary + link."

You are not asking for news. You are asking for your news. Schedule it daily at your convenient time to receive a daily update.

4. Search Anything — Website, Facebook, Instagram, Threads

This is the part that surprised me most.

Remember how I told you I used to skip Business News because I didn't understand it? Searching was the same. I would paste a link, and it could fail. I would give up.

Then I learned: don't just paste a link. Give it the platform + the title + what you want.

To search a website:

"Give me the latest article on salihulukman.blogspot.com and provide the key takeaways."

To search Facebook:

"Search Facebook for this title and summarize: Beyond Your Discipline: The Power of Curiosity and Lifelong Learning"

Meta AI will find the Facebook post, even if the blog link was not indexed yet, and summarize it for you.

Instagram or Threads? Same way. Just change the platform.

Always give it:

a) The platform — Facebook, Instagram, Threads, website

b) The title or exact topic

c) What you want — "summarize", "give key takeaways", "find the latest"

And here is the most powerful part — you can ask it to keep checking for you:

"Every Sunday, check magarya.wordpress.com and fetch any new article on NGX, then give me the key takeaways."

"Every Monday morning, check investdata.com.ng for any new NGX market update and summarize it for me."

"Every Friday, check @drsalihulukman Facebook page for any new post and send me the key takeaways."

You set it once. Meta AI checks on that day, every week. If there is a new article, you get the summary. If there is nothing new, you get nothing — no noise.

In 2005, after NYSC Camp in Keffi, I asked a friend for reading materials, and I didn't get them. Today, I don't need to wait for anyone to give me materials. I ask Meta AI, and it goes and finds them. I also do my due diligence to fact-check some important information. Because AI is not a perfect machine. 

5. Watch a YouTube Video For You

It can also watch a YouTube video for you if you give it the link or channel address, summarize the key takeaways, and then keep checking that channel for new uploads to do the same thing again automatically.

You don't have to press play every time.

"Watch the following YouTube video at the link below and summarize the key takeaways from the discussion."

One warning from my own experience: Because Google indexing takes days or weeks, Meta AI sometimes cannot access the very latest videos immediately. That is still a challenge. But for older videos, and for channels you follow regularly, it could work.

6 Rules That Make It Work Better

I learned these by trial and error, not from a manual:

i. Be specific about output: Say "table", "5 bullets", "no long paragraphs". If you don't tell it the format, it will give you a long essay.

ii. Give it your numbers: Your buy zone, your watchlist, your sources. It remembers context in the same chat.

iii. Ask for a follow-up: End every prompt with "What should I watch next?" — it will suggest the next check.

Try this today as an exercise.

Open Meta AI in WhatsApp and paste this — just provide your own 5 stocks:

"Act as my personal assistant. Every day, give me: NGX + my 5-stock dip check, US close, Nigerian business + general headlines. Keep it short, with links, and flag only fresh -8% to -10% dips."

Once you use that one prompt, you won't go back to scrolling for news.

I started as an engineer who skipped Business News. I did not get there by knowing everything. I got there by staying curious, by learning, relearning, and unlearning — and now, by letting Meta AI do the checking while I do the thinking.

Your assistant will bring the news to you. You can have up to 10 different routines on WhatsApp.

Start with one today. Tell me your experience in the comment section.

Beyond Your Discipline: The Power of Curiosity and Lifelong Learning

 Twenty-two years ago, when I graduated from university with a bachelor’s degree, I would regularly watch the news but habitually skip the final segment, The Business News. Although I understood the English spoken by the presenters, I could hardly make sense of the business terminologies and issues being discussed. As an engineer with no background in business, it simply felt like a different world.

I recall reaching out to a friend with a business background, whom I met during the 2005 NYSC Orientation Camp in Keffi, Nasarawa State, requesting reading materials that could help me understand the business news. It was purely out of curiosity. Unfortunately, he never responded. Ironically, YouTube was born that same year. Ironically, YouTube was launched that very year. Had it existed earlier, it would probably have been my ultimate learning companion, teaching me everything I needed to know.

Fast-forward to 2024, nineteen years later. I stumbled upon business pitching presentations called Lions’ Den Nigeria on TikTok. That gradually led to stock market investment videos appearing on my feed, which I began watching almost by chance, eventually leading to my first stock investment in the same year, which I held for about a year before deciding to go all in in 2025.

As I immersed myself in reading and watching materials on stocks and the capital market, something remarkable happened: I began looking forward to the very Business News segment I had once habitually skipped. Today, I not only understand what is being discussed, but I am also deeply interested in virtually every aspect of it. What once seemed foreign has become familiar and relevant. Such is life!

The Lesson: Never Stop Learning!

Remain curious. Be willing to learn, relearn and unlearn. Curiosity broadens your horizons, drives personal growth and enhances productivity.

Understanding the complex world we live in requires much more than a tunnel vision of your chosen profession or area of specialisation. Be adventurous enough to explore unfamiliar territories, experiment with new ideas and step outside your comfort zone in pursuit of knowledge.

If you are a pure or applied scientist—an engineer, medical scientist or otherwise—make an effort to understand the social sciences, management and business. The same applies in reverse. No discipline exists in isolation, and a broader understanding of other fields enriches your perspective and effectiveness in your own.

Keep learning. Stay curious. Explore anything and everything within your capacity and interest. Aspire to become a polymath. Being a polymath is not about being a Jack of all trades and master of none; it is about developing the intellectual breadth to understand, connect and apply knowledge across disciplines.

Never allow your area of specialisation to become the boundary of your knowledge! Let it be the springboard that sparks your passion for exploring other fields of interest.

GOOD ENTRY POINTS FOR TRADING & INVESTING

Looking at the All-Share Index (ASI) chart below, it is clear that the Nigerian market has been undergoing a correction since 14 May 2026. Following the strong rally from December 2025 through May 2026, many fundamentally sound stocks have retraced significantly and are now finding new support levels.

For me, this correction is creating interesting entry points for both traders and long-term investors.

Stocks I Find Attractive for Trading

Some of the stocks whose current prices I find particularly interesting for short-term trading include:

• TIP — ₦23 – ₦24

• NAHCO — ₦129

• DANGOTE SUGAR — ₦69

• PZ — ₦74

• CWG — ₦17

• UNILEVER — ₦99

• BUACEMENT — ₦269

The figures in brackets represent the entry prices I am watching.

My thinking is to trade some of these positions for potential short-term gains in the region of 10 – 30%, depending on how the market and individual stocks behave. Of course, price targets are not guarantees, and the market can always move differently from expectations.

Stocks to Consider for Longer-Term Holding

Beyond the stocks listed above, there are also several fundamentally sound companies whose prices appear to have stabilised following the earlier rally, with relatively minor fluctuations.

These include Aradel, MTN, HBM (Lafarge), GTCO, Zenith, Jaiz Bank, Seplat, Airtel, UPDCREIT, Dangote Cement, Fidson, NIDF (dividend king), UACN, and others.

Depending on your investment objectives, risk tolerance and research, some of these may also present interesting opportunities for longer-term investors.

Meanwhile, I Am Also Watching the Dangote Refinery IPO

One important consideration is the timing of the Dangote Refinery share allotment. Based on the information provided, the allocation is not expected until around November–December.

It was also mentioned that subscribers with applications of ₦50,000 or ₦100,000 could potentially receive their subscriptions in full. If this happens, larger subscribers may not receive their entire requested allocation, at least initially, until the minimum allocation threshold determined by the company is satisfied.

This is not meant to discourage anyone from investing millions in the IPO. Rather, it is simply a reminder to be realistic about the possibility of receiving less than the number of shares applied for—and therefore not tying up all your available capital in an investment whose final allocation is still uncertain.

There is another interesting dimension.

It was mentioned that approximately 10 million people could subscribe to the IPO, while the company can absorb about 30% oversubscription. With 5.33 billion shares available, dividing that number by 10 million potential subscribers gives approximately 533 shares per subscriber (₦280,000), if everyone were to receive an equal allocation.

And then came the astonishing early demand.

Within just a few hours of the offer going live yesterday, almost ₦1.5 trillion had reportedly been received in subscriptions—even while several fintech platforms, including Bamboo, Cowrywise and Afrinvest, were experiencing difficulties.

If we use the estimated oversubscription threshold of approximately ₦2.795 trillion, the ₦1.5 trillion received within those first few hours already represents roughly 54% of that amount.

Imagine what the subscription figure could look like after the full 30-day offer period.

Please, do not panic if your subscription channel is not working.

As I explained during the live video, IPO allocation is NOT done on a first-come, first-served basis. So, there is no need to rush or worry that you will lose your allocation simply because you could not subscribe immediately.

Relax, take your time, and try again later. You have a 30-day window within which you can subscribe.

Remember: subscription is one thing; allocation is another.

So, stay calm and avoid unnecessary pressure. You will have enough opportunity to complete your subscription within the offer period.

My Personal Approach

For this reason, I am personally considering applying for a relatively small number of shares—perhaps around 1,000+ shares—with the expectation that I could potentially receive a meaningful portion of the allocation.

Rather than committing a very large amount of capital to the IPO and waiting until December, I would prefer to deploy part of my capital into fundamentally sound stocks at attractive entry points, trade some of them for potential short-term gains, and also build longer-term positions where appropriate.

In other words, while I wait for the Dangote Refinery allotment, the market correction itself may be presenting opportunities worth exploring.

As always, do your own research, understand the risks, and invest according to your own financial goals and risk tolerance.

Disclaimer: This is my personal market analysis and strategy, not financial advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any stock. Do your own research before making any investment decision.

Fahimtar Kasuwan Hannun Jari da Dangote IPO

Menene Hannun Jari (Equity)?

Hannun Jari (Equity) yana nufin rabon mallaka da mutum yake da shi a cikin wani kasuwanci ko kamfanin da yake samun riba. Muddin ka sayi hannun jari a kamfani, to ka zama daya daga cikin masu gidan sarautar kasuwancin (masu gida)—ko da kuwa rabo mai matukar kankanta ka ke da shi.

Alal misali. Muhammad and Maryam ne suka bude shagon siyar da wayoyi da jarin ₦100,000, a inda kowannen su ya bada ₦50,000, wato 50 % (Equity) kenan. Idan an sami riban ₦20,000 a shekara, haka za a raba riban ₦10,000 ga kowa. Idan kuma shagon ya bunqasa ya koma ₦1,000,000, ka ga kenan kowa hannun jarin shi, ya koma ₦500,000 kenan (50%). Haka lissafin zai kasance idan ma darajan shagon ya yi qasa.   

Hanyoyi 2 da ake Samun Kudi a Hannun Jari

Rabon Riba (Dividends): Idan kamfani ya yi riba a cikin shekara zuwa karshen, yakan raba wa masu hannun jari wani bangare na ribar. Wasu kamfanin na yin rabon a sau daya ne kawai a karshen shekara (Final Dividend) kaman Dangote Cement, wasu kuma sau biyu – a tsakiyan shekara (Interim Dividend) da qarshen shekara (Final Dividend) kaman MTN, wasu kuma har sau hudu, bayan duk watanni uku (Quarterly Dividend) kaman UPDCREIT.

Karuwar Daraja (Capital Gain): Idan ka sayi hannun jari na kamfani a kan ₦90 kowace tsagi (share) kaman MTN a 2019 sanda ta fara siyar da hannun jarin ta ga mutane, sannan kamfanin ta bunkasa har farashin ya koma ₦800 a yanzu wato 2026, ka samu ribar ₦710 (789%) a kowace tsagi idan ka sayar.

Hanyoyin da za ka iya Zuba Jari a Kasuwan Hannun Jari (Stock Market)

Kasuwan Hannun Jari ta Farko (Primary Market): Wannan ya ƙunshi sanda kamfani za ta fara siyar da hannun jarin ta na farko ga gamagarin mutane domin ta tara kuɗin bunƙasa ayyukan ta wato Initial Public Offering (IPO) kamar yadda kamfanin matatan man fetur na Dangote zai fara siyar da hannun jari ga mutane a 14 ga watan Satumba na 2026.

Kamfani zata iya siyar ma masu hannun jari a cikin ta tsagi mai arha a garesu domin ta bunqasa kamfanin ta hanyar Rights Issue ko Rights Offering (RO), kaman yanda kamfanin sukari na Dagote suka siyar da tsagi a 2026 ga kowane mai riqe da hannun jarinta akan ₦60, bayan a lokacin ana siyar da kowace tsagin hannun jarin kamfanin a kasuwan hannun jari na NGX akan ₦75.

Haka zalika, kamfani zata kuma iya neman qarin kudin gudanarwa ko bunqasa ta ta hanyar siyar ma wadanda ke da hannun jari a kamfanin dama wadanda basu da hannun jari a kamfamin tsagin ta a rahusa ta Public Offering (PO) kaman yanda kamfanin MTN tayi a 2021 a inda siyar da tsaginta akan ₦169.

Sai kuma na qarshen su, wanda kamfani ke siyar da hannun jarin ta a cikin sirri wato Private Placement (PP) ga kebabbun mutane masu kudi sosai ko kuma wata kamfanin a farashi mai rahusa domin su tara kudin yin wasu ayyukan kaman yanda kamfanin matatan man fetur na Dangote ta yi a watan Juni 2026 a inda ta sayar da kowane tsagi akan dala 0.35, a yanzu kuma zai sayar da kowane tsagi a IPO akan dala 0.4 wato ₦525. Kudin da aka samu daga dukkanin wadannan hanyoyi guda 4 wato IPO, RO, PO, da PP suna zuwa lalitan kamfanin ne domin yin wani aiki dashi.

Kasuwan Hannun Jari ta Biyu (Secondary Market): A wannan kasuwan ne kuma mutane suke iya yin hada-hadan hannun jarin da suka siya ta hanyar kasuwan hannun jari ta farko (Primary Market) domin su siyar ga wasu mutanen daban kuma su iya siyan hannun jarin wasu kamfanonin wato Stocks domin amfanuwa da su ta idan sun raba riba (Dividend) ko kuma idan farashin su ya tashi wato Capital Gain. Kudin da aka samu ta wannan hanyan, baya zuwa wajen kamfanin da aka siya ko ka siyar, tana shiga aljihun wanda ya siyar ne kawai wato gamagarin mutane masu riqe da hannun jarin kamfanin ko kuma ma’aikatan kamfanin idan su ne suka siyar da hannun jarin su.

Kasuwannin Hannun Jari Guda Nawa ne?

Akwai kasuwannin hannun jari guda biyu a Najeriya. Wanda tafi shahara kuma babban, it ace Nigerian Exchange (NGX) mai dauke da kamfanoni kaman 144 masu jumillan darajan da ya kai naira tiriliyan 157. Mafi yawancin manyan kamfanonin da muka fi yin hada-hada da su suna NGX ne.

Sai kuma ta biyu, wanda qarama ce ana kiran ta da NASD OTC wanda ke dauke da kamfanoni 46 masu darajan da ya kai naira tiriliyan 2.7.

Yanda za ka iya Siyan Hannun Jari

Dillalan Hannun Jari (Stock Brokers): Zaka zabi daya cikin dillalan hannun jari daga cikin sama da 500 domin bude akawunt da su amma fa ka tabbatar wanda ka zaba, yana da rijista da SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission). Sanannu daga cikin wadannan dillalan sun hada da Afrinvest, InvestNaija, Cowrywise, Bamboo, CardinalStone, APT, Trove, Atlass, United Capital, Meristem, da dai sauransu. Yawancinsu zaka iya sauke manhajar su a waya, kadan daga cikin su kuma dole sai dai kayi amfani da komfuta wajen amfani dasu yanda ya kamata kaman Atlass da United Capital.

Bude Akawunt: Kafin ka iya siyan hannun jari, ana da buqatan da ka bude akawunt wato Brokerage Account ko kuma abinda yanzu akafi sani da CSCS Account a wajen dillalan hannun jari wato Stock Brokers. Irin wannan akawunt din ana bude shine kaman yanda zaka bude akawunt din banki a inda zaka cike bayananka tare da adireshin ka, da bayanan bankin ka irin su BVN, sannan kuma ka tura musu da shaidan adireshin ka wanda yake dauke a kudin wuta ko ruwa da bai wuce watanni uku a baya ba. Dole akawunt din bankin da zaka bayar ya kasance banki ne wanda yake Deposit Money Banks kaman irin su GTB, Zenith, UBA, banda irin su OPay ko Moniepoint. Idan ka kammala dukkanin wadannan, za ka jira kwanakin aiki 2 zuwa 7 kafin a fitar maka da lambobin akawunt dinka guda biyu, wato CHN (Clearing House Number) da CSCS (Central Securities Clearing System). Shi dai CHN kaman BVN din ka ne na banki, baya canzawa, koda kuwa ka qara bude wani CSCS akawunt din da wani dillalin daban. Shi kuwa CSCS kaman lamban akawunt dinka ne na banki, wanda zai iya canzawa idan ka bude wani akawunt din a wani bankin daban. Da zaran an kammala buda maka akawunt dinka, sai ka sa kudi, daga nan kuma ka zabi duk kamfanin da kake son siya a NGX domin ka siya a lokacin hada-hadan hannun jari wato, kwanakin aiki, daga 9.30 am zuwa 3.50 pm. Akwai kamasho wato commission da ake biya idan ka siya ko ka siyar da hannun jarin ka. Kudin kamashon ya danganta ne da dillalin da kake amfani da shi. Amma mafi yawanci, suna cire 1.8% ne idan zaka siya, sannan kuma su cire 2.2% idan zaka siyar, jumla ya kama 4% kenan. A sani na, Atlass ne wanda ya fisu sauqi a inda yake cire make 0.8% idan za ka siyar, jumla yak ama 2.2% kenan, sannan kuma ya cire make 1.37% idan zaka siyar. Sai kuma United Capital wanda yake cajin kusan 3.2% gabadaya siye da siyarwa. Zaka iya siyan tsagi daya kacal, ko kuma da yawa wato iya kudin ka iya shagalinka. Amma idan dillalin da ka zaba shima yana aiki ne da wani dillalin kaman Cowrywise, Bamboo, ko Yochaa, to dole tsagin da zaka iya siya na kowane kamfani ya kasance ya kai qiman ₦5,000. A irin su Afrinvest, Meristem, Atlass, ko APT kuwa, zaka iya siyan tsagi daya kaman na Jaiz Bank wanda ake siyarwa a kan ₦8. Saboda haka, da talaka da mai kudi dukkanin su za su iya cin riban hada-hada a hannun jari. Idan kana son siyan hannun jarin NASD OTC, shima sai ka bude akawunt da dillalin ka, idan yana hada-hadan NASD OTC kafin kafa siya da siyarwa a kasuwan. Shi NASD OTC yanada manhaja ne guda daya a inda akeyin hada-hadan kamfanonin shi.

Babban Darasi Kafin Ka Fara Siye Da Siyarwa

Ilimi (Knowledge): Ka tabbatar ka nemi ilimin kasuwan hannun jari kafin ka fara hada-hada a kasuwan domin gudin yin asaran kudin ka saboda akwai sarqaqiya a kasuwan sosai. Ilimi ne kadai zai sa ka iya cin riban da ya kamata ba tare da asara ba. Akwai masu karantarwa da yawa a YouTube (Nairametrics, Wealthcoachomiete, Salihu Lukman) da dai sauran su. Ya zama dole ka laqanci yanda ake siya ko siyar da tsagi (share) ta Limit Order ko Market Order. Idan ka laqance su, zaka fahimci cewa Limit Order ne ya fi dacewa ka dunga amfani da shi a kodayaushe domin yafi samar da rahusa wajen siya da kuma riba wajen siyarwa. Dole ka fahimci yanda zaka harhada kamfanoni domin su tabbatar da cewa samun riban ka ta yanda ko da daya daga ciki yayi qasa, to wani zai tada shi domin ka sami riba a koda yaushe wato Diversification.

Manufa (Objectives: Dole ka qudurce manufan ka a yayin hada-hadan hannun jari. Shin kana so idan ka siya ka riqe ne na lokaci mai tsawo kama shekara 3 ko 5, wato Long-term Investor ko kuwa kana jujjuya hannuwan jarin ka ne domin samun riba ta yanda za ka siya idan sun sauka, sannan ka riqe na zuwa lokacin da za su farashin su zai tashi sai ka siyar ka nemi wani mai sauqin farashi ka qara siya wato Trader. Zabin manufanka tun ran gini ran zane zai taimake ka wajen zaban ire-iren hannuwan jarin da za ka siya. Shin Trader ka zaba ko kuwa Long-term Investor, dole kuma ka laqanci yanda zaka sami hannun jari a rahusa idan za ka siya wato Entry Price. Alal misali, kasuwan ya fara tashi daga Disamba 2025 har zuwa Maris a sa’ilin da ya dan fara hutawa har zuwa Afrilu, daga nan kuma ya qara yin wani goron zabin tashin har tsakiyar Mayu a dalilin sanarwan da FTSE Russell sukayi na daga martaban kasuwan hannun jarin Najeriya tare da qara ma masu jujjuya kudaden ‘yan fansho daman siyan hannayen jari fiye da yanda hukuma ta qayyade musu. Tun daga nan y afara sauka kadan-kadan, har izuwa qarshen Juli, ya cigaba da sauka a Agusta har zuwa 27, wato ranar da FTSE Russell ta tabbatar da cewan zata daga martaban NGX a 21 ga watan Satumba 2026 bayan dakatar da wannan qudirin da tayi a watan Juni. Dole ka laqanci ire-iren wadannan hawa da saukan da hannayen jari keyi sannan ka laqanci daidai lokacin da yakamata ka siya mai rahusa ko kuma ka siyar domin ka sami riba mai kyau.

Halayyan Cinikayya (Investment Personality): Ya kamata ka fahimci irin halayyan cinikayyan ka. Shin zaka iya siyan hannun jarin da yake sama da ƙasa ko da kuwa mai qarfi ne kaman MTN, ko Dangote Cement, ko kuma yake iya tsayuwa ba tare da ya daga ba na tsawon lakaci kaman Airtel (sai da ya tsaya na kusan shekaru 2 a wuri daya), ko kuma wanda yake tsayuwa na wani lokaci kafin ya dan daga kadan kaman Seplat?

Bangarori 5 Masu Kawo Riba

Halal: Wannan bangaren yana qunshe da manya-manyan kamfanoni ne har guda 12 wadanda aka tantance ayyukan su kuma a tabbatar da cewa suna bin abin da Shari’an musulunci ya gindaya wajen harkokin su wato Shari’ah-Compliant. Ga wasu daga cikin su tare riban da suka kawo a cikin wannan shekaran kawai wato Year-To-Date (YTD) Sun hada MTN (59%), Dangote Cement (70%), HBM Lafarge a da (153%), Jaiz Bank, Aradel (111%), NASCON (49%), PRESCO (41%), BUA CEMENT (56%), da dai sauran su. Amma fa ka sani cewa riban da aka samu a baya ba ya nuna cewa haka za ayi ta samu a nan gaba ma saboda kasuwan taba caccanzawa. Ka sani cewa ba wai guda 12 dinnan ne kawai suke Halal ba. Bincike ya nuna sun kai 53 daga cikin 144 wadanda aka tantance su da cewa Halal ne.

Mai Da Gas: Wannan bangare na dauke da kamfanoni guda 7, mafi kawo riba daga cikin su sune Seplat (157%) da Aradel (111%). Ina son Seplat sosai saboda yanda yake tsayawa cik na dan wani lokaci sai kuma ya tashi. Hawa da saukan kasuwan bai cika shafan shiba. Na fara siyan Seplat shekaru biyu da suka wuce a 2024 akan ₦3,300 kowane tsagi daya, a yau ana siyar da kowani tsagi akan ₦16,000 wato ya kawo riban 385% kenan ga wanda ya siya ya riqe har shekaru biyu kacal. ₦100,000 ta koma ₦485,000, haka nan ₦1,000,000 to koma ₦4,850,000, bayan riban da ka kwasa wato Dividend, ba tare da ka yi komai ba. Wannan ya ninka kusan sau 5 kenan a cikin shekaru 2 kawai, shin idan ace gida ne ko fili ka siya, za su iya ninkawa haka a cikin wannan dan qanqanin lokacin?

Banki: Bankunan da suka fi qarfi daga cikin bankuna 14 sune Zenith (103%) da GTCO wato GT Bank (43%). Sauran sun hada da First Bank (184%), Ecobank (77%), Jaiz Bank (69%) da kuma Stanbin IBTC (54%).

Kayayyakin Amfani: Akwai kamfanoni da yawa a wannan bangaren, sun kai 15 – 19. Wadanda suka fi kawo riba a wannan shekeran kuma masu qarfi ne sun hada da PZ (87%), NASCON (49%), Unilever (53%), Vitafoam (111%), Nestle (43%), da UNIONDICON (244%) amma na qarshen bata da qarfi kaman sauran, a kula da kyau.

Sadarwa (ICT): Akwai kamfanoni guda 9, amma manya a cikin su sune Airtel (178%)  da MTN (59%). Daya daga cikin marasa qarfi a cikin su shine NCR (122%).

Me Ya Sa Aka Bar ‘Yan Arewa A Baya A Kasuwar Hannun Jari?

A ganina, abubuwa 2 ne suka sa a ka bar ‘yan Arewa a baya a fannin hannun jari. Na farko dai idan za ka yi la’akari da sauran fannonin rayuwa na karatun zamani kaman irin su lauya (Law), likitanci (Medicine) and jinya (Nursing), injiniya (Engineering) da ilimin tattali da banki (Banking and Finance) zaka ga cewa ‘yan Kudu sun yi ma ‘yan Arewa nisa sosai a baya kaman shekaru 30 – 40. Amma a hankali, sai ‘yan Arewa suka fara yin boko ka’in da na’in, har suka kai ga zama manyan malamai na jami’o’i a Arewa wanda ada mafi yawanci ‘yan kudu ne. A yanzu ‘yan Arewa suna karantan dukkanin fannonin ilimin boko sosai wanda ya hada darussa kaman su Economic, Accounting, Banking and Finance, da dai sauran su.

Dalili na biyu kuma shine addini. Za ka samu wadan su malaman a baya suna yin nuni da cewa musulmai su guji gabadaya kasuwan jari (Capital Market) ko na hannun jari (Stock Market) domin a ganin su haramun ne saboda suna amfani da kudin ruwa (Interest). Haka ya sa mutanen mu da yawa suka guje ma duk wani darasi na Accounting, Banking, ko Economics tare da guje ma duk wani aiki a banki ko inda ya shafi jari (Investment). A hankali, sai aka fara fahimtar cewa ashe za ka iya yin kasuwancin ka a cikin kasuwan hannun jari bare da yin mu’amala ruwa ba. Wannan shiyasa na fara daukan bangaren da yake na Halal ne a sama domin yin qarin bayani. A hankali kuma, wasu na ganin yanda wadanda suka sa hannun jari suke diban garabasa a cikin sauki ta hanyan siya da riqewa kawai na tsawon lokaci ba tare da shan wani wahala ba. A hankali a hankali sai mutanen mu suka qara qaimi wajen fahimtar kasuwan da kuma qin bin hanyoyin macuta wato Ponzi Schemes a inda za a ce wai za a dunga ribanya maka kudinka duk sati ko duk wata.

Shin Ya Kamata Ka Siya Hannun Jarin Kanfanin Mai Na Dagote?

Kamfanin man fetur na Dangote zai fara siyar da hannun jari ga gamagarin mutane kaman ni da kai a ranar litinin, 14 ga watan Satumba, har izuwa 13 ga watan Nuwanba, wato har tsawon wata guda cir ta hanyar IPO. Ya fara siyar ma manyan kanfanoni da masu kudi ta hanyar Private Placement a cikin wat Yuni a inda ya tare $2.5 Biliyan. A yanzu kuma, yana son tara $1.6 biliyan ne ta hanyar siyar da tsagi 4.1 biliyan ga mutane. Wannan kamfanin, zata kasance mafi girma a Africa, sannan kuma tana kan hanyan zama matatan man da tafi kowane girma a duniya a nan ‘yan shekaru kadan. Wannan wata dama ce ga kowa da kowa domin ya sami siyan wannan hannun jarin, saboda dai wannan kamfani tana da riba sosai, kuma bisa ga dukkanin alamu, masu jari a kamfanin za su ribauta a nan gaba. Kada ka bari a bar ka a baya. Yi maza-maza ka bude akawunt kaman yanda na yi bayani sama, sannan ka tanadi ‘yan kudin ka domin siyan wannan hannun jarin. Mafi qaranci shine ₦5,250 wato tsaguna 10, daga nan kuma, zaka iya qarawa goma-goma har izuwa kudin ka.

Shin Zan Iya Sayen Dangote IPO Idan Bani Da Akawunt Din Dillalai (CSCS Account)?

Eh, za ka iya siya wannan IPO din ko da kuwa ba ka CSCS Account a yanzu. Daga baya idan bude akawunt din, sai ka tuntubi masu riqe da hannun jarin kamfanin gabadaya wato Coronation Registrars, ka basu lambobin CSCS Account din ka, domin su saka maka shares dinka.

Sauran bayanin da ke qasa, na tattake wuri wajen yin sharhi mai tsawo a game da su a bidiyon da nayi a Zoom. Za a iya sauraron cikakken bayanai ta YouTube:

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rW1qTFPCyY8&lc=UgwoE6GhfBXRoJYn1vN4AaABAg

Hadari (Risk)

Hawa da Saukan Farashi (Price Movements)

a.    IPO (Aradel, Seplat, MTN, etc.)

b.    Sauran hannun jari (ASI)

c.    Fixed income market (Sukuk, bonds, CP, etc.)

Jari (Capital)

a.    Ajiya (Savings)

b.    Kudin haya (Rent)

c.    Kudin makarantan yara (School fees)

d.    Bashi (Loan): Private, Bank, Loan apps

e.    Yanda zaka iya siyan tsaguna (shares) da yawa.