Nation Builders Magazine

By Faruk Ahmed While growing up, I wasn't a conformist child. So, some members of my family felt I was stubborn and offered to take me to Almajiri schools in order to instil discipline in me. While my family thought these places would clip my wings, I felt the experiences were actually winds to my sails. I passed through the system on three occasions. I loved the experiences because they opened my eyes to the world. The first time was while I was still in primary school, and the other was immediately after I sat for my first leaving school certificate, all in Kano. Normally, I would go to the Islamic schools during holidays, and once schools were about to resume, I would come back home. Throughout the first two occasions, I was provided for by my father. But on the third occasion, I was already a grown-up. I had sat for my SSCE and gone through a two-year IJMB program. It was during the interregnum, waiting for admission into the university, that I attended another Almaji...

By Faruk Ahmed Do birds of a feather not flock together? Kano State Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf's defection back to the All Progressives Congress (APC) from the New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP) has left me reeling in pain. This is not because I am a diehard Kwankwasiyya fan. No. I had even predicted this happening almost a year ago. What breaks my heart is that Nigerian politics, as usual, is now bereft of any discourse on policies, ideologies or economics. Rather, the politicians—who behave like prostitutes—are more concerned about people. They worry, "How many bigwigs can I attract to myself or to my party?" No matter what baggage that individual might possess.

By Faruk Ahmed It began with optimism, as these things always do. We had gathered a team of passionate young Nigerians committed to something larger than ourselves—civic renewal, youth empowerment, the slow and difficult work of nation building. We called ourselves  The Nation Builders Initiative (TNBI) , a name that captured our mission: to equip citizens with the skills and awareness to rebuild their country from the ground up. Before we could do any of that work in a formal capacity, we needed to register with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC). It was a box to check, a formality. Or so we thought. What followed was a six-month ordeal that would test our patience, drain our resources, and teach us more about Nigeria's bureaucratic maze than any policy paper ever could.   The First Rejection In late 2025, we submitted our first application. The name:  The Nation Builders Initiative . The objectives: civic education, youth empowerment, advocacy for good governance, c...