Concerned with the ills of ethnic profiling and cultural infiltration in Nigeria, the Center for Information Technology And Development (CITAD) has presented a book to the public to enlighten against such negativities in a multicultural and multiethnic country like Nigeria.
Addressing newsmen Thursday in Kano at the public presentation of the book titled ‘Ethnic Profiling And The Challenges Of Inclusion In Nigeria: A Survey Of The Literature’ authored by Ibrahim Muazzam, the Executive Director of CITAD, Yunusa Zakariya’u expressed the need for critical thinking especially among the academics.
He explained that that there was a three day study with 46 participants from various institutions across Nigeria who meet with the author to learn how to continue with scholarship that is critical and analysis issues, devoid of sentiments.
“We celebrate Malam Ibrahim Muazzam because he is one of the most famous critical scholars that Bayero University Kano (BUK) had ever produced.
“In his time he ran various philosophy classes as well as political theories, it is such that there is no one in BUK today that can teach such theories as he did.
“So those opportunities that other people had that have been lost is why we see it as important to create an opportunity for younger university lecturers who never met Malam Muazzam when he was teaching at BUK, because he retired many years ago, we called young lecturers from various universities across the country to come and spend three days with him to learn a lot” he explained.
He said that the book was written many years ago by the author about ethnic identities in Nigerian politics and how such identities influence Nigerian politics and governance.
He said that Malam Muazzam has contributed towards the understanding that identities are social constrictions and are not natural, that people only inscribe themselves with it and use it to hate themselves.
Also speaking on behalf of the author, one of his students Professor Ibrahim Bello of BUK said the Ibrahim Muazzam Institute of Philosophy has been ran by the author for six years successively.
“We are here to attend the school for the past three days and to read this book he has just published. He has grossly influenced our intellectual lives.
“The issues the book raises are clearly relative to this country, and even other countries like Cameroon and South Africa among others.
“The book will contribute to two things, firstly to researchers, as students who are writing their citations. It will also contribute to resolving issues of ethnic and religious profiling and will as well enlighten the people.
“People will come to realize that somebody these things are offensive or a negation of our actual humanity. I think we should see Malam Ibrahim Muazzam as contributing along that line” he said.