Ibrahim Yakubu Hali, a man who by history had been a failure in Mathematics, has now turned out to be an author and teacher of Mathematics. In this interview with IBRAHIM RAMALAN, author Hali, after x-raying his ordeals as a Mathematics student and the greatest turn of event in his life, has as a take home for us this quote: “If you want to make a difference in life, then you must resolve not to follow the crowd.”
Please introduce yourself to our readers:
Hali, I mean Ibrahim Yakubu Hali are the names given to me by my parents. I was born to the family of Mr and Mrs Ibrahim Nameli Karyo on the 10th June 1980 in Minna, Niger State. I am Tangale by tribe and hail from Billiri Local Government area of Gombe State.
My education background to date is as follows: I started my primary education at Army Children School, Ojo, Lagos but passed out at LEA Primary School Badarawa, Kaduna. I then proceeded to Government Art Secondary School Gombe (which was formerly known as TC Gombe and which is now presently known as Gombe State University GSU), where I completed my post primary school education. I then proceeded to study mathematics as a course at the Federal University of Maiduguri and after that graduated with a BSc in Mathematics.
By history you have been consistently failing mathematics during your secondary school days, what has been your driving force?
I do have a personal philosophy that said, ‘If you want to make a difference in life, then you must resolve not to follow the crowd, and you must be consistent persistence in pursuing your dreams until they become realities”. This philosophy has helped me to believe in the greatness that God had deposited in me right from birth.
Learning from the biographies and autobiographies about men and women who developed the habit of consistent persistence to turn their lives around from zeros to heroes, on the other hand, is another driving force that helped me in shaping my philosophy and in believing that one day it will become a history as it is today.
What do you think are the factors militating against your success in Exams?
Poor background and underprivileged foundation in mathematics as a subject is factor number one. Factor number two is not being privileged to get in touch with the right teacher who knows mathematics as a subject and who knows how to pass its knowledge to such neglected collection of pupils or students. Factor number three is not having mathematics textbooks that are written for pupils/students with underprivileged foundation in mathematics. Factor number four is not having any source of encouragement.
What is your source of motivation?
My friend and teacher, Professor Simon Daniel, happened to be the pointer to the Source. He made me to understand that everything depends on God’s timing, and that God’s timing is the best time for me to succeed and to make a success story. He further said that, I should never allow God’s timing to pass me by quitting.
Professor Simon Daniel, then, used the power of encouragement to encourage me and to stir up the consistent persistence power that was dormant in me even after I had given up about schooling and even after I had started learning how to repair refrigerators.Thus, my source of motivation is God’s timing.
Why did you decide to author books on the subject that has been giving you headache?
Failure in mathematics during my secondary school days is what motivated me to start authoring mathematics textbooks. I repeatedly scored F9 in mathematics for a long period of 6 years but on the 7th year I scored A1. This bitter experience was what inspired me to start writing textbooks for pupils/students with learning difficulties in mathematics.
H mowany books do you have to your credit?
For now, I do have sixteen mathematics books to my credit. However, as a single author, I do have thirteen mathematics books to my credit. The other three mathematics books were authored with a Professor.
What are the titles of the books you authored as
an undergraduate?
Well, the titles of the first three books I single handedly authored are:
Understanding Intermediate Mathematics Appreciate Intermediate Mathematics
Understanding University Mathematics
They are all A-level mathematics textbooks that are written for colleges and universities.
Why did you choose to begin writing from top to bottom instead from bottom to top?
As I said earlier, if you want to make a difference, then you must resolve not to follow the crowd. After much inspection, I observed that most A-level books that are used in teaching Nigerian students in Nigeria were authored by foreigners, and I also observed that no Nigerians has picked up the challenge to write A-level books that covered the whole NUC approved course outlines for mathematics as a course.
Thus, I decided to be the first Nigerian to do so as I love doing what others don’t love doing. This was how I deviated from the traditional way of writings (from the nursery mathematics to the university mathematics) to the modern way of writings (from the university mathematics to nursery mathematics).
As of then, my decision was to write A-level mathematics textbooks only. But after the A-level books get to the hands of the targeted users, they wanted more of them for their children and younger ones. So they started pleading me to write books for the lower levels which at first I turned down their request. Not until I remembered the pains of failing O-level mathematics for consecutive 6 years, and the saying I said then to my friends during those bitter years of failure, “… one day my generation will write some of the best mathematics textbooks because it seems all the ones we have are not reader friendly; they do not make it easy for students with learning difficulties to understand, much more to appreciate and embrace mathematics as a subject.”
What makes your books different from other books?
There are about three things that made my books only one of its kind; the simplicity, the use of simple English language in driving out the technicality in mathematics and the step-by step style.
EasyRead Mathematics books are the only mathematics books that are written for children or pupils or students with learning difficulties in mathematics.
EasyRead Mathematics books remain the only secondary school mathematics books that a pupil/student who knows how to read can read and understand mathematics on his/her own without the aid of an instructor.
EasyRead Mathematics books are the only mathematics books that are written in simple English language that are extremely easy to follow and easy to understand and easy to practice.
EasyRead Mathematics books are the only mathematics books that have a step-by-step approach in explaining mathematics concepts and problems solving.
EasyRead Mathematics books are the only mathematics books that took nothing for granted while teaching mathematics and that create friendly interactions with pupils or students.
How can you motivate persons who have found themselves in the same shoes with you in terms of mathematics failure?
I will tell them to believe in the greatness that God had deposited in them right from birth and to trust God’s timing for their individual lives. I will as well tell them to be motivated by my own success story and by the success stories of many others they have heard, read about, or known in persons.
What are you currently doing for a living?
At present, writing of books and mentoring other young writers is what I am living for but not what I am doing for living.
What was support from your parents like?
At first, I got nobody support when I started writing, even from friends and family. But at the present, my parents only give me what they can afford; and that is their continually parental blessings and prayers.
There has been a general phobia for mathematics, how have you been able to overcome it?
And how can you advice those with mathematics phobia to go about overcoming it?
The phobia for mathematics is a global problem that needs to be addressed not only in Nigeria but in other countries as well. Personally, I was able to overcome the phobia for mathematics through developing a love for the subject and through daily consistent persistence practice of mathematics for no less than two hours.
I will advise persons with phobia of mathematics to let go of the fear and doubt of mathematics, and to show a love for the subject and its teachers. I will also advise them to start seeking for the right mathematics textbooks or mathematics instructor, and to develop a habit of consistent persistence practice of mathematics for more than two hours daily.
Do we see Hali becoming an Emeritus Professor of mathematics in future?
Publications are what determined one’s promotion to such a high-flying ranking position within the academia. Writing of books or publishing books is my self-sacrificing duty to humanity and apparently, it has become my life. If it is true that writing of books has become my life, then I can’t stay away from it. Thus, whether the high-flying ranking position of Professor, Emeritus Professor or Professor Emeritus is attached to my name or not, it does not matter. All that matter is that I do enjoy writing of books and I will continue to write more books as years come and go.
