Nigeria, May 24 -- In the symbolic and political nucleus of the Sokoto Caliphate, an imperial, illiberal, power-drunk governor who is held hostage by what seems like politically conditioned rejection-sensitive dysphoria (i.e., unhealthy hypersensitivity to even the mildest, most well-intentioned criticism, often associated with sufferers of ADHD) is oppressing an 18-year-old critic identified as Hamdiyyah Sidi Sharif.

I first became aware of Hamdiyya's woeful plight in the hands of Sokoto State governor Ahmad Aliyu when respected former Kaduna State governor Colonel Dangiwa Umar (retired) called attention to it in a November 2024 BBC Hausa interview, which caused the Sokoto State Government to launch caustic personal attacks against him ...