Umar Aminu Yandaki

I had always thought that the main reason for occupying a house was needing somewhere to live. In three related encounters, the world’s metropolis would correct this misunderstanding. “August 16 – Abuja. Warm and sultry. Brother Kassim sent me photos and costs of various rental apartments in Evanston, and I began to wonder whether the World grows more exorbitant the closer one moves towards it. This evening is one of re-education.

Decades of failed governance, banditry and economic collapse are driving young men from northern Nigeria across the Sahara in search of gold, dignity and a version of manhood Nigeria no longer offers them. Written by Umar Yandaki Sep 6, 2026 Photo-illustration by Toluwalase Onilede / THE REPUBLIC. Chicago had lulled us into thinking winter was behind us, but true to its restless nature, the windy city kept sending cold snaps and flurries deep into March.

A terrorist group recently stormed the Kurya-Madaro community of Zamfara, where they took away herds of cattle and sheep. But one animal they did not take with them was a large, healthy, valuable bull. “A bull, too big to move fast, was gunned down by some sadists among members of the group, while they carted the rest of the animals away,” narrates Bello Ibrahim, 35, a resident of the neighbouring Kasuwar-Daji community.