Sahelian Times Marks First Anniversary, Unveils Editorial Board

Sahelian Times, an online newspaper, Sunday, unveiled its editorial board as it marked its one year anniversary.

As contained in a press statement signed by its Managing Editor, Ismail Auwal, the board comprises experienced professionals in the field of journalism, communication, and social engineering.

According to the statement, these professionals are also persons committed to steering the affairs of the paper and taking it to greater heights.

They include the Chairman, Editorial Board, Dr. Abubakar Umar Kari (Associate Professor; a Physcian, diplomat and politician, Dr Nuruddeen Muhammad; and Lecturer, Department of Languages and Linguistics, Faculty of Arts, Bauchi State University, Ms. Furera Adamu Garba, PhD.

Others are: Faruk Sarkinfada, a Professor of Medical Microbiology; a lecturer with the department of Information and Media Studies, Bayero University, Kano, Ruqayyah Yusuf Aliyu; a barrister and solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, Ndubuisi Nwafor.

Among the list are: An entrepreneurship, financial and management consultant, Ode Amedu Idoko; Professor of Accounting and Taxation, Bayero University Kano, Professor Kabir Isa Dandago; medical practitioner, Dr. Zainab Sulaiman.

Meanwhile, Sahelian Times recalled that from inception, the newspaper ha9s recorded tremendous growth in followership and recognition of its credible and reliable news reportage.

See full statement:

Sahelian Times celebrates first anniversary, unveils editorial board

Sahelian Times, an online newspaper, was launched a year ago. From its inception, it has recorded tremendous growth in followership and recognition of its credible and reliable news reportage.

On its first anniversary, the Sahelian Times is unveiling its editorial board, consisting of experienced professionals in the field of journalism, communication and social engineering. These professionals are also persons committed to steering the affairs of the paper and taking it to greater heights.

Below are the members of the Sahelian Times Editorial Board:

1. Chairman, Editorial Board: Dr. Abubakar Umar Kari (Associate Professor)

Academic, activist, journalist, writer and political/public affairs commentator; he was educated at the University of Abuja and the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. He had earlier bagged a Professional Diploma in Mass Communication (with a Distinction and as Best Overall Student) at the International Institute of Journalism. He has attended leadership training programmes in South Korea, Israel (Hebrew University of Jerusalem) and the United States.

Prior to his appointment as a lecturer at his alma mater (University of Abuja), he had worked as a copy writer, reporter and editor at several media outfits (notable among which are News Express, THISDAY and Daily Trust newspapers and The News magazine). He was at various times a columnist with Leadership, Economic Confidential, Africa Development and Nigerianow and has served as Deputy Chairman, Editorial Board of the now rested Daily Stream.

As an undergraduate he was a one-time President of the Students Union Government. He has also been very active in ASUU, the umbrella academic staff union of Nigerian universities, and once headed (Convener) its National Political Committee. Currently, he is Dean Students’ Affairs as well as Member of the University of Abuja Governing Council (Congregation Representative).

His areas of academic interest include Politics (both local and international), Media, Conflict and Social Research. He has participated in numerous funded studies, sponsored by the UNDP, World Bank, Mc Arthur Foundation, and was once the National Expert on Political Parties and the Legislature for the US-based International Republican Institute. He has attended and presented papers at many academic conferences within and outside Nigeria.

2. Dr Nuruddeen Muhammad is a physcian, a diplomat and a politician.

The former Foreign Affairs Minister between 2011 to 2015 had an oversight of Africa in the Ministry for fours years on the background of a specialist training in Psychiatry and a keen interest in communication and information management, which he pursued as a hobby.

Dr Muhammad was also the Minister of Information, Federal Republic of Nigeria from October 2014 until he resigned both appointments to contest a local election in Jigawa State in the 2015 general election as a deputy gubernatorial candidate of one of the political parties.

3. Furera Adamu Garba, PhD

Lecturer, Department of Languages and Linguistics, Faculty of Arts, Bauchi State University, Gadau, Bauchi State. She is a linguist by profession, a researcher, an activist and a columnist.

Born in Dass Local Government Area of Bauchi State, she attended Ahmadu Bello University where she obtained a B.A. in Linguistics before proceeding to the International University of Africa, Khartoum, Sudan, where she obtained an MA in African Studies (linguistics) and also PhD in linguistics from the department of English and Linguistics, Kenyatta University, Nairobi, Kenya.

4. Professor Faruk Sarkinfada, B.Sc (ABU); AMLSCN (UniCal); M Phil / PhD (Liverpool); FRSTM & H (UK)

Faruk Sarkinfada is a Professor of medical microbiology, public health laboratory and quality assurance specialist. He holds a PhD from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM), United Kingdom, under the Ford Foundation International Fellowship Programme. With over 26 years of experience in teaching, research, administrative and personnel management at the Bayero University Kano, Nigeria, and Khawarizmi International College, Abu Dhabi United Arab Emirates, Prof Faruk also served as a consultant to Nigeria’s healthcare projects such as the Global Fund Tuberculosis project and the National Malaria Elimination Programme for strengthening capacity of laboratory networks for quality-assured case detection. Most recently, Prof Faruk Sarkinfada led the Flaming Fund Country Grant Project to fight antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in Nigeria.

Prof Sarkinfada has been a reviewer to several academic journals such as the Journal of Global Infectious Disease (JGID), Journal of Infections in Developing Countries and the Archives of Clinical Microbiology. He is the current Editor-in-Chief of the Annals of Medical Laboratory Sciences, a Journal of the West African Postgraduate College of Medical Laboratory Sciences.

Though a scientist, Professor Faruk has been tutored over the years by some eminent Islamic scholars in Kano and has had rich interactions with scholars in various fields of humanities in Nigeria and around the world. Over the years, Prof Sarkinfada has taken up the challenge of bridging the gulf between science and literature by significantly combining his scientific and humanistic persuasion, first and foremost, as a biomedical scientist of repute and, more importantly, as a writer who has written in virtually all the genres: the literary and the essayistic, academic and popular reviews. He established a Foundation for the Development of Science and Technology in Hausa Language.

Prof Sarkinfada is an active member of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA), Kano State chapter over the last two decades. His literary works include poetry collected in the ‘Companion of A Captive’ (2002) and his Hausa poetry in ‘Bakandamiyar Sarkinfada’ (2010). His combined scientific and humanistic persuasion is reflected in two of his extensive review articles: “HIV/AIDS and the Islamic Belief and Practice” (2004), and “The Soul, Islamic Faith and Challenges of Science and Technology” (2014), both published in the Al-Ijtihad: The Journal of Islamization of Knowledge and Contemporary Issues published by the International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT, Nigeria), and “Poverty and the Eradication of Polio: Crisis of Perception and Methodology” (2001), published in the FAIS Journal of the Humanities, Bayero University Kano. Among his published books are: ‘Our Faith’ (2003), a short philosophical take on the teachings of Islam; ‘Microbial World: A Mysterious Journey’ (2001) and its Hausa version, ‘Wani Abu a Kan Matar Sarki….’ (2018) are science fictional novellas on public health, microbiology and the prevention of communicable diseases. ‘The Other Way Round’ (2006) and its Hausa version, ‘Zaton Wuta A Makera’ (2006), are both medico-literary books on the Vesico-Vaginal Fistula (VVF). A short biography of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (Peace be Upon Him) is presented in ‘Maulud: Birth of A Living’ (2003) and its Hausa version, ‘Marhaban da Manzo’ (2012).

He had his PhD, International Public Health, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, United Kingdom. He obtained his AMLCN, Bacteriology, University of Calabar, Nigeria and bagged his B.Sc in Microbiology at Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, Nigeria. He is a Fellow of the International Ford Fellowship (IFP) Programme; Fellow, Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (RSTM&H) and Fellow, West African Postgraduate College of Medical Laboratory Science (WAPCMLS).

5. Ruqayyah Yusuf Aliyu, PhD

Ruqayyah is a Lecturer with the department of Information and Media Studies, Bayero University, Kano. Before joining the academia, Ruqayyah worked as a reporter with Daily Trust Newspapers.

She holds a B.A. degree in Mass Communication from the prestigious University of Maiduguri where she graduated as the overall best student in 2006. She did her Masters and Ph.D in Mass Comm in BUK. Ruqayyah’s interest lies in journalism and health communication.

Currently a Masters in Public Health student with the Department of Community Medicine, AKTH/BUK, she is married and has three children. Ruqayyah cooks and reads with passion.

6. Ndubuisi Nwafor, PhD

Ndubuisi is a barrister and solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria. He is a Senior Lecturer and Acting Head of Department of Jurisprudence and Legal Theory, Faculty of Law, University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus. He is also the Associate Dean of the Faculty of Law. He earned his LLB from the University of Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, LLM and PhD from the Glasgow Caledonian University and the University of Stirling Scotland, United Kingdom, respectively. He teaches Constitutional Law and Policy, International and Humanitarian Law, Commercial Law and Competition Law. He recently completed a postdoctoral research fellowship in the School for Resource and Environmental Studies, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. He is an experienced writer and has published insightful articles in newspapers and impact factor journals.

7. Ode Amedu Idoko , MBA

Ode is an entrepreneurship, financial and management consultant with over 16 years of multi-sector experience cutting across training, operations, corporate services and business development in both private and public sectors of the Nigerian economy.

He currently serves as Managing Director/CEO of Owofu Worldwide, a business and financial consultancy firm. He was director, training and enterprise development with LAPO Institute. He was with the Central Bank of Nigeria Entrepreneurship Centre as Unit Head, Training; Senior Consultant with Michael Stevens Consulting in Lagos; Senior Manager and Group Head, with RegCharles Finance & Capital Limited; Head of Operations, Corporate Services (North) with CrusaderSterling Pensions Limited and one of the pioneer staff of SMEDAN.

His core competence spans business planning, strategic leadership, negotiation and influencing, business development, programme management, corporate services, training and capacity development, business plans, operational development and financial intermediation, etc.

His career success includes: part of the team that developed and launched the National Policy on MSMEs, One Local Government, One Product concept, partnership with Bank of Industry as Business Development Services Provider; CBN/NIRSALMFB; LAPO Microfinance Bank Ltd, securing LAPO Institute as training vendor with Fidelity Bank Plc, part of the team that secured N100, 000,000 (one hundred million naira) legacy funds for CrusaderSterling Pensions Limited from NNPC.

He serves as consultant (training) to African Refugees Foundation, AREF, (An NGO in special consultative state with UN ECOSOC); Onboarding Impact Consulting; AdaMark Foundation for Girls and Ahava Group Consulting; financial and business consultant to Ahava Consulting, Penuel Technologies and Isidore Nig. Ltd. He has undergone extensive training in financial inclusion and deepening from World Bank and Asian Development Bank of Tokyo and modern facilitation techniques, Cologne, Germany and Frankfurt School of Business and Finance on management and diploma in SMEs: Enhancing Growth through Entrepreneurship and Innovation, from Galilee International Management Institute, Israel.

Ode holds an MSc in Financial Engineering from Worldquant University, New Orleans, USA; MBA from Metropolitan School of Business and Management, London; MSc Petroleum Chemistry from University of Nigeria, Nsukka and BSc Chemistry from Benue State University, Makurdi. He has attended many courses in his professional career at home and overseas.

Ode is currently running his doctorate in business administration (DBA) degree in Germany. He is married with two children – Ehikowoicho and Oine. On the flipside, Ode is a prolific writer, publisher and author with his works published by Authorhouse, UK among other internationally renowned publishers.

8. Professor Kabir Isa Dandago, PhD: Professor of Accounting and Taxation, Bayero University Kano.

Dandago was former Dean of Faculty of Social and Management Sciences, Bayero University Kano. He also served as a Commissioner of Finance in Kano State from 2015-2018. He has published several scholarly articles and reports. He currently serves as Commissioner of the Tax Appeal Tribunal.

9. Dr. Zainab Sulaiman is a medical practitioner, Human Rights activist, Child/Women Advocate and a political analyst. She is the Vice-President, Human Rights Watch and Youth Empowerment Foundation.

She is currently the Head of Medical Rights, International Human Rights Protection, Florida, USA/Abuja, Nigeria.

She is also a writer and poet. Dr. Zainab is a Life Patroness of Hope for African Children Initiative Forum, an organization focused on expanding and extending the parent-child relationship.

Zainab has a genuine interest in the well-being of children and has committed much of her time to the cause through her unflinching communication skills and knowledge.

Prior to the child development care career, Dr. Zainab had been able to address specific aspects of children’s needs, focusing on children with special health needs and working to provide comprehensive healthcare services for children, including therapeutic and rehabilitative services management and treatment of trauma stemming from abuse.

Signed Ismail Auwal
Managing Editor