From Grass to Grace: A Father’s Reflection on His Son’s Matriculation

Today, my heart is overflowing with emotions. My beloved son, Muhammad, has just been matriculated into 100 Level, B.Eng. Aerospace Engineering at the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT), Kaduna. Watching him take this remarkable first step into his future fills me with both pride and nostalgia — it has taken me back more than 26 years, to the day I myself was matriculated into B.Eng. Water Resources and Environmental Engineering at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, in 1999.

That moment in 1999 remains one of the most defining experiences of my life — and it was nothing short of a miracle. I can never forget how it all began. Just two days before my JAMB examinations, I fell seriously ill — struck by stomachache and diarrhea that left me weak and helpless. Somehow, I still managed to drag myself to the exam hall at Alhudahuda College. I struggled through English and Chemistry, barely touched Mathematics, and didn’t even open the Physics section. By all human reasoning, I had failed before I began.

But Allah’s mercy is beyond comprehension. When the results came out, I was stunned to see 30 points in Physics, and the other subjects making up an aggregate of 180 — the exact minimum score required for university admission. It remains one of the lowest JAMB scores ever admitted into ABU that year. Yet, with that “impossible” score, I made it into the second admission list of the 1998–1999 session.

And the story didn’t end there — with that humble beginning, I went on to graduate at the top of my class, another miracle that could only have been made possible by Allah’s grace. Indeed, my journey has been a living testimony of the saying, “From grass to grace.”

Looking back today, as I watch my son take his first steps on his own academic journey, I am filled with gratitude. Alhamdulillah for Allah’s unfailing mercy, for the unseen hands that lifted me when I could not stand, and for every stage of grace that has followed since.

I can humbly say that by Allah’s mercy, I have fulfilled all my life ambitions. Yet, my greatest joy today is to see my children beginning their own journeys with hope, faith, and purpose.

So, as I celebrate Muhammad’s matriculation, my heart overflows with dua — that Allah, the Most Merciful, grants him the same divine grace that carried me through, and blesses him to fulfill his ambitions just as I have fulfilled mine. And may this prayer extend to his 10 younger siblings, that each of them may find success, peace, and purpose in all their endeavors.

Indeed, when Allah decrees a thing, He only says to it: “Be,” and it is.

Alhamdulillah for His mercy, guidance, and grace that never ends.

I’m Not a Stock Market Expert — Just a Curious Engineer on a Journey of Financial Discovery

After my recent article encouraging people to consider investing in stocks, I received several messages from individuals asking me to mentor them in stock investing. That really humbled me — but let me be honest with you: I am not a stock market expert.

By profession, I am an academic and a civil engineer, specializing in environmental and water resources engineering. My journey into the stock market didn’t begin with any formal financial background — it began with curiosity.

In May 2024, I decided to start buying a few shares, not with the intention of becoming an investor overnight, but simply to experiment — to test whether it’s really possible to diversify income through passive means.

Eight months later, when I checked the values of those shares, I was pleasantly surprised. Some had grown between 17% and 84% — without me lifting a finger! After a full year, a few of them had appreciated by more than 400%, with an average gain of about 100%.

That experience completely changed my perception of the stock market. I realized that while it’s not a “get-rich-quick” system, it rewards patience, observation, and informed decision-making.

So, in September 2025, I made a personal decision: to study the stock market seriously — not as a trader, but as a lifelong learner who loves to understand how systems work with the hope of becoming an investor.

Every day, I now take time to monitor stock movements, study charts, and try to understand how numbers rise and fall in response to:

•⁠  ⁠Investor sentiments

•⁠  ⁠Government policies

•⁠  ⁠Company reports and earnings

•⁠  ⁠Market corrections and global trends

I’ve also developed an interest in understanding how professionals use upside and downside potentials to issue BUY, SELL, or HOLD recommendations. I try to identify their strengths and practical limitations, and how these metrics evolve based on market realities.

To enrich my understanding, I regularly:

✅ Attend paid webinars hosted by expert traders and stockbrokers

✅ Watch YouTube channels that simplify investing concepts

✅ Read financial reports, analyses, and commentaries from credible sources

All of this, not because I want to become a professional stock analyst — but because I believe that financial literacy is no longer optional. Whether you’re an engineer, teacher, doctor, or student, you owe it to yourself to understand how money works, how it grows, and how to make it work for you.

The stock market may look intimidating at first, but with consistency, curiosity, and a learning mindset, it becomes one of the most rewarding classrooms you can ever enter.

So, no, I am not an expert — but I am a student of the market, and every day brings a new lesson worth learning.

When Engineering Meets Accounting: My Humbling Encounter with Debit and Credit

When you study a science or an applied science-based discipline like engineering, you often develop a subtle tendency to look down on non-science-based courses such as business, arts, or humanities. You feel, perhaps unconsciously, that since you’ve survived the “hard stuff,” everything else should be easier to grasp.

But life has a way of humbling us.

While it’s true that sharp and versatile minds can pick up concepts from outside their domains quite easily, I must confess — venturing into non-science territories hasn’t been that easy for me. Yet, in this complex and interconnected world, thriving requires at least a basic understanding of ideas drawn from multiple disciplines.

Recently, my growing interest in the stock market has pushed me to explore business news, company financial reports, and market analyses more deeply. That curiosity led me to take a closer look at economics and accounting fundamentals — and that’s where I met my match! 😅

One of the most basic accounting concepts — debit and credit — that I thought I already understood from my bank alerts suddenly became confusing in the accounting world. In banking, when money leaves my account, it’s shown as a debit; when money enters, it’s a credit. Simple, right?

But in an accounting balance sheet, these terms take on an entirely different meaning! Now I’m scratching my head trying to reconcile my “bank alert understanding” with the “T-table accounting reality.”

So, my dear friends in accounting and business — I officially call for reinforcements! 😂

Please come to my rescue and help me harmonize these two worlds of debit and credit.

The journey of learning never ends — and sometimes, it takes stepping outside your comfort zone to realize how much there’s still to learn.

Yes, I’m Back to Encourage You to Invest in Stocks

Before anything else, let me be clear — this is not financial advice. I’m only sharing some mind-blowing experiences I’ve gathered from closely monitoring the stock market from September to date.

I’m not a big investor. In fact, earlier this year (January), I wrote an article sharing my six-month experience of simply observing how stocks behave. But something happened in August that reignited my curiosity — a friend told me that some stocks can actually appreciate by more than 50% in just three months.

Honestly, that sounded like a scam to me. I mean, I know stocks can double (or more) in a year, but 50% in three months? That felt like a stretch.

So, I decided to test it myself — monitoring stock prices daily to verify his claim. And guess what? The reality turned out to be even more shocking than what my friend said.

👉 I found out that some stocks can surge over 50 to 100% in just one month!

👉 Some have even soared over 600% in just 9 months!

These aren’t random numbers — they’re real figures drawn from actual stock performance data in January, August, and September, as well as top gainers from January to September this year. Don’t take my words for it. Carefully study each of these factual figures yourself.

Of course, prices fluctuate daily — some rise while others fall — but with patience, discipline, and the right knowledge of fundamentals and technicals, the stock market can reward you beyond imagination.

The key is simple: choose wisely and think long-term.

With the right mindset, your money can literally start working for you while you sleep.

So, if you’ve been sitting on the sidelines, this might be your reminder:

The earlier you start learning and investing, the earlier you can start earning from the power of compounding growth.

Lafiyar ‘Ya Mace Jari

Wannan shiri mai suna a sama, sabon shiri ne wanda daya daga cikin mata na Dr. Fatima Mahmud, kwararriyar likitan mata da haihuwa wato Consultant Obstetrician and Gynecologist take gabatarwa duk ranar lahadi tare da Hannatu Aminu Yero, kwararriyar malaman jinya wato Nurse. Dukkanin su su biyun, ma’aikata ne a asibitin koyarwa a ABU wanda ke Shika wato ABUTH.

 

Shirin ya shafi lafiyar ‘ya mace ne, lalurorin mata na yau da kullum tare da lalurorin su wanda ya shafi haihuwa. Mata, ‘yan mata har da iyaye manya za su qaru sosai da bayanan da ake tattaunawa a cikin wannan shirin. Kai har ma maza za su qaru da wasu daga cikin bayanan. Ga lamban wayan da za a iya tura tambayoyi ta WhatsApp: 08143646953 domin a karanta su a cikin shiri mai zuwa.

 

Izuwa yanzu, sun gabatar da shiri guda tara (9) wadanda suke tare da wannan saqon, sannan kuma za ku iya samun wadannan shirye-shiryen tare da wasu shirye-shiryen da suka shafi mata da haihuwa a shafikan sada zumunci mai suna Meet the OBGYN (MTO) a Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, da TikTok a adireshin su ko page kamar haka.

 

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Two Touchpad Shortcuts I Wish I Had Known Earlier

Getting my first MacBook opened my eyes to something I completely overlooked on my old Windows laptop — two-finger gestures!

1️⃣ Two-finger scroll – Instead of dragging the side scroll bar, you can simply slide two fingers up or down on the touchpad.

2️⃣ Two-finger pinch to zoom – Just like on a phone screen, you can pinch in or out to zoom on documents, browsers, or images.

These two simple shortcuts have completely changed how I use my laptop. In fact, they’ve made me stop missing my Samsung touchscreen — the touchpad feels just as intuitive now!

If you’re still unaware of these gestures (like I was 😅), take a few minutes to learn and practice them properly. Trust me, once you get used to it, your touchpad experience will feel fantastic — and you might even find using a mouse less appealing.