This is the week in which Nigeria’s renowned ‘Citadel of knowledge Emeritus’, popularly known as Markaz, Agege, celebrates scholarship in full regarlia in the month of May, every year. In the first week of May every year,  great men and women of letters from all walks of life, and from most countries of Africa, Europe and Asia, assemble on the campus of that great institution for a whole week.

This unique innovation began in 1998, six years after the demise of Sheikh Adam Abdullah Al-Ilory, the great founder of Markaz.

The ingenuous idea initiated by the current Rector of the Institution Sheikh Habibullah Adam Abdullah Al-Ilory, is aimed at keeping aglow, the illuminating touch of learning, which was the hallmark of the late Sheikh Adam Al-Ilory’s lifestyle while alive.

Presentation of Papers

In the week, scholarly papers on various issues of interest and of concern to Islam and the Muslim Ummah are presented. Debates and symposia are also organized to resolve some knotty contemporary and primordial questions hitherto unanswered even as plenary sessions are held to deliberate and decide on further way forward.

Markaz Alumni

For the alumni of Markaz who often come from various parts of the world,    ‘Scholars’ Week’ is a reminding forum of the good old days to update their knowledge and broaden their views of life. It also serves as an interactive session for professionals, clerics and scholars in other fields of learning. The week is like a modern day ‘Ukaz’ of yore in the Arabian Peninsula, where all valuable elements of scholarship used to compete for global intellectual attention.

Languages of discussion

The primary language of discussion, while the celebration lasts, is Arabic. This does not however limit the exercise to Arabic language alone. Presentation of papers in English, French and Yoruba is also welcome since no particular language has monopoly of knowledge. Nevertheless, Arabic is made the primary language of discussion for two obvious reasons. First is to provide scholars with an avenue to exhibit their Arabic knowledge and thereby boost their scholarly horizon in the language of the Qur’an and Sunnah.

Second is to encourage the current students of Markaz and those of other Arabic and Islamic Institutions of learning who may be interested in imbibing the culture of scholarship par excellence which helped the founder of Markaz to pave scholarship way for others in life.

The 100 Greatest Nigerians of the century

At the twilight of the 20th century in 1999, the management of that magazine, led by Mr. Bayo Onanuga, (now the Director Geneal of News Agency of Nigeria), thought of putting together in a chronicled document, the most prominent 100 Nigerian men and women of the 20th century. The publication was entitled ‘PEOPLE IN THE NEWS 1900-1999: A SURVEY OF NIGERIANS OF THE 20TH CENTURY’.

Contributors

Some prominent Nigerian newspaper, editors, columnists and other versatile (but non-journalists) writers were selected and commissioned to write about the selected great Nigerians. Yours sincerely was one of them. And the two personalities assigned to me as an Islamic columnist were the late Sheikh Adam Abdullah Al-Ilory and Sheikh Abubakar Mahmud Gumi. The 498 page book which was publicly presented with pump and pageantry at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs in Lagos can be called Nigeria’s 20th century ‘Hall of Fame.

Who is Sheikh Adam Abdullah Al-Ilory?

To know who this colossal personality was, please, read elow what I wrote and was published in that book about Sheikh Adam Al-Ilory and his established famous Institution called Markaz:

“To Muslim communities of West Africa, two names (Sheikh Adam Abdullah Al-Ilory and Markaz are synonymous and often used interchangeably. Only a few people know that Markaz is a name of an Institution while Sheikh Adam is the name of its founder. Both names jointly symbolize revolution not only in the method of propagating Islam in the sub-region but also in entrenching the divine language of the Qur’an in the heart and brain of those Muslims. The late Sheikh Adam Abdullah Al-Ilory was both an Islamic scholar of international repute and a revolutionary.

 Profile of Markaz

With the establishment of Markaz in 1952, Sheikh Adam introduced unp[recedented modernity and standardization into the study of Arabic and Islamic learning in West African sub-region, especially Nigeria.

No 20th century Muslim scholar, dead or alive, has had such a profound impact on West African Muslim communities, in terms of Arabic scholarship and Islamic propagation as Sheikh Adam. Before he established Markaz, there were scholars and there were madrasahs, (Qur’anic schools) no doubt, but such schools operated within a very narrow scope as their teaching methodology was very primitive and anachronistic

The old methodology

In the old madrasahs pupils were merely handed over to muallims clerics by their parents for tutoring without any agreement on what to teach them and for how long. Thus a pupil could serve his teacher for as long as 20 years or more in the name of learning to recite the Qur’an.

The Great Revolution

Sheikh Adam, who also passed through this pseudo servitude, noticed the anomaly and resolved to change it. To succeed in doing that however, he realized that he needed to equip himself educationally. Therefore, he moved from scholar to scholar, as a student, searching for any relevant knowledge that could assist him in fulfilling his dream. Two of his teachers in that process were Alfa Namaji (a Nupe cleric from Niger State) and one Alfa ‘Esin nio bi wa’ an Ilorin man who settled down in Ibadan, (now Oyo State). He also studied under a number of other knowledgeable Islamic clerics.

His academic sojourn in Cairo

He arrived in Cairo, Egypt, in the early 1940s, where he had an academic sojourn at the prestigious Al-Azhar University which is the oldest University in the world today having been established about 970 C.E by one Jawhar, a ‘Fatimid’ front liner.

In Cairo, Sheikh Adam saw with admiration how well organized madrasahs were and dreamt of estabkishing one on his return to Nigeria. He studied the Egyptian curricula of education and methodology of teaching both at the elementary and secondary schools levels.

Establishment of Markaz

With just meagre financial resources but relentless determination, he established his dreamt Markaz in Abeokuta, now Ogun State, on April 16, 1952. The Institution which was to become the centre of revolution  in the teaching of Arabic and Islamic education in Nigeria, started with just 19 pupils and four teachers including Sheikh Adam himself. The founder’s foresight, however, would not allow Markaz to remain in Abeokuta for long. He moved the Institution to Agege in 1955.

Uniqueness of Markaz

The uniqueness of Markaz is not to be seen in the quality of education taught to the students alone. The modern teaching methodology and reformation with which the Institution is characterized confirm that uniqueness. It was in Markaz that the use of chalk and blackboard for teaching Arabic and Islamic education was first introduced in Nigeria. Hitherto, the teaching instruments were wooden slates and local ink. It was in Markaz of all madrasahs, that a curriculum was first introduced which classified studies into subjects while pupils were distributed into classrooms according to their levels. It was in Markaz that pupils of Arabic and Islamic education first wore uniform and sat on chairs rather than on floor while writing with pencil or pen in notebooks. It was in Markaz that written examination was first conducted as a means of assessing and promoting pupils from class to class while certificates were issued to successful madrasah graduates as a measure of their level of education. It was in Markaz that such facilities as dormitories, library, printing press and clinic were first provided for students.

Antagonism

However, for doing all these and for teaching students such subjects as syntax, morphology, logic, semantics, philosophy, geography, History, mathematics, and literature, Sheikh Adam was confronted with implacable hostility by the local, traditional Alfas who saw the new revolution as a cultural affront. That hostility became aggravated when Sheikh Adam added a Central Jum’at Mosque different from that of Agege Township to Markaz where he translated the Friday Arabic sermon into Yoruba language. But the courageous scholar remained undaunted.

First graduation ceremony

With the first graduation ceremony of Markaz in 1957, however, which many people watched with admiration, Sheikh Adam won a landmark victory for his revolution. Following that graduation, some ambitious local Alfas swallowed their envy by shelving their pride and enrolled in Markaz as students to improve their knowledge and undergo tutelage in the modern teaching methodology.

Some of these Alfas came from various parts of Nigeria as well as neighbouring countries like Benin Republic, Togo, Ghana, Cote de Voire, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Cameroon as well as Sierra Leone and Senegal. After graduation, each of them went back to their home countries to establish similar Institutions in their domains under the umbrella of Markaz.

Products of Markaz

Today, thousands of products of Markaz and those of the affiliate Institutions are University graduates in various fields of discipline. Scores of them are highly placed in their professional callings.

Today, Markaz can proudly regale in the galaxy of its products who are holding sway in virtually all fields of human endeavour. Among these are Professors such as Professor Ishaq Olanrewaju Oloyede, a former Vice Chancellor of the University of Ilorin and now the Registrer of JAMB; Professor Abdur-Razak Deremi Abubakar, a former Vice Chancellor of Al-Hikmah University, Ilorin, Kwara State; The late Professor Shuaib Uthman, formerly of Usman Dan Fodio University, Skoto; Professor Murtada Aderemi Bidmus, a former Dean of the Faculty of Education, University of Lagos, to mention but just a few. There are many other Markaz products with Ph.D. degrees. There are also Medical Doctors; Lawyers; Engineers; Ambassadors;  Journalists (including yours sincerely), Architects; Accountants; Bankers; Pharmacists; Surveyors; Civil Servants; Business men and women as well as Secondary School Principals and teachers; name it. They all exemplify the great Institution’s anthem which we often chant emotionally with relish.

His ascetic lifestyle

Despite Sheikh Adam’s financial constraints, and his close relationship with the Arab world, he never sought financial aid from any foreign country. Not only did he believe that such a quest was capable of diminishing one’s social status and dignity, he also resented begging in whatever form as a means of fulfilling an ambition. Naturally, Sheikh Adam was an ascetic person who shunned avarice in all its ramifications. And due to his ascetic nature, he was highly respected by personalities like the late Sir Ahmadu Bello, the late General Murtala Muhammed, the late Bashorun MKO Abiola, the late General Abdul Baqi Babatunde Idiagbon and even Chief Olusegun Obasanjo.

League of Imams and Alfas

In 1963, Sheikh Adam initiated the formation of the League of Imams and Alfas of the South West of Nigeria. He was a co-founder of that League to which he served as Secretary General till his demise in 1992 after turning down his nomination as President. He was also the initiator and leader of the ten man team that translated the Qur’an from Arabic into Yoruba.

Awards

He was the first black African to win the coveted Egyptian intellectual Gold Medal Award in Arabic Literature, which was presented to him by President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt in 1989. He had earlier, in 1975, won the Muritanian International Award for Islamic Scholarship, which was presented to him by the late President Moukhtar Ould Dada of Mauritania.

Sheikh Adam traveled far and wide in the Arab world, Europe and Asia attending many academic and Islamic conferences where he often presented scholarly papers. He was a member of many international academic and Islamic bodies in Africa, Middle East and Asia.

Born in Ilorin to Alfa Abdul Baqi and Madam Aisha, in 1917, Sheikh Adam who died on May 3, 1992 was married and blessed with many children. One of those children, Sheikh Habibullah Adam Abdullah Al-Ilory, is the current Rector of Markaz.

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All praise is due to Almighty Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful and the Disposer of all affairs. May His peace and benediction be showered on the soul our exemplary prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him), his household members, his faithful companions and this blessed gathering, amin.

O brethren! Here comes another golden opportunity for the seekers of Allah’s pleasure and the Garden of al-Rayyan to make strategic preparation to receive and relate with this blessed month of Ramadan. Wise and conscientious Muslims would consider preparation for Ramadan important, but ignorant folks among us will foot drag and refuse to make preparation for this precious annual visitor. Allah urges believers to make preparation thus:

“And take provisions, but the best provision is At-Taqwa (piety, righteousness). So fear Me, O men of understanding!” Q2:197

Ibn Kathir commented on the Hadith collected by Al-Bukhari and Abu Dawud as narrated by Abdullahi Ibn ‘Abbas that, “The people of Yemen used to go to Hajj without making enough preparation in terms of basic supplies with them for pilgrimage. They used to say, ‘We are those who have Tawakkul (reliance on Allah).’ Allah thus revealed the above Ayah instructing: And take provisions (with you) for the journey, but the best provision is righteousness.

Before discussing further, let us look at the virtues of Ramadan.

On the virtues of Ramadan, Abu Huraira (RA) narrated that Allah’s Messenger said: “When the month of Ramadan starts, the Gates of the Heaven are opened and the Gates of Hells are closed and the Devils are chained” (Al-Bukhari). This statement is an indication that Allah provides enabling environment for believers to maximise the bountiful rewards of Ramadan, thus attaining the desired level of Taqwa.

In another narration Abu Huraira (RA) reported that: The Messenger of Allah (SAW) said: ‘’Whoever observed salat (supererogatory prayer) on the night of Qadr (in Ramadan) with sincere faith and hoping for a reward from Allah, then all his previous sins will be forgiven; and whoever observe sawm (fasting) in the month of Ramadan with sincere faith and hoping for a reward from Allah, then all his previous sins will be forgiven” (Al-Bukhari). This narration underscores the importance of Ramadan as the month of forgiveness and compensation.

Another virtue of Ramadan is acceptance of supplications. Let us therefore supplicate to witness this blessed month. Mu’alla bn al-Fadhl said: “Our predecessor used to supplicate for six months that Allah spares their lives to witness another Ramadan, and supplicate for another six months that all their efforts therein be accepted as meritorious deeds.”

Yahya bn Kathir said: among their prayer is: “O Allah, spare my life to witness Ramadan, and enable us to be righteous therein and accept it from us’’.

Further on the virtues, Allah says:

The month of Ramadan in which was revealed the Qur’an, a guidance for mankind and clear proofs for the guidance and the criterion (between right and wrong). So whoever of you sights (the crescent on the first night of) the month (of Ramadan, i.e., is present at his home), he must observe fasting that month, and whoever is ill or on a journey, the same number of days which one did not observe fasting must be made up from other days. Allah intends for you ease and He does not want to make things difficult for you. (He wants that you) must complete the same number (of days), and that you must magnify Allah for having guided you so that you may be grateful to Him.  Q2:185

Lastly, Allah honoured Ramadan by revealing the Glorious Qur’an therein, just as He did for all other Divine Books revealed to some Prophets (Peace and blessing of Allah be upon them). The Prophet (Peace be upon him) said: “The Suhuf of Ibrahim was revealed during the first night of Ramadan. The Torah was revealed during the sixth night of Ramadan. The Injil was revealed during the thirteenth night of Ramadan. Allah revealed the Qur’an on the twenty-fourth night of Ramadan” (Imam Ahmad)

How prepared are you? There are several aspects of preparation for Ramadan. These include:

1. Spiritual preparation: Muslims, as fathers, mothers, matured boys and girls are implored to prepare themselves proactively before the blessed month approaches. Spiritual preparation entails cleansing ourselves from past sins, misdeeds, wrongdoings and iniquities by seeking swift repentance (Tawbah). The prevalent sins and excesses in human society especially Nigeria include adultery, alcoholism, drug addiction, peddling narcotics, fornication, gambling, fraudulent sales, dirty businesses, and dishonesty by artisans, rigging election, imposition of imbeciles as political leaders, counterfeiting, harmful businessmen and corruption by public servants. Other aspects of spiritual preparation include: constant and regular Salat, charity and Zakat, modest in dressing, shunning tribalism, envy, jealousy, backbiting, rumour-mongering, gangsters and frivolities.
2. Physical preparation: Physical preparation entails a cursory examination by every Muslim of his/her state of health in readiness for 29 or 30 days of spiritual retreat and fasting. It is also a deliberate move to seek the advice of a honest Muslim medical doctor on fitness to fast especially by the sick, aged and those suffering from ailments such as diabetes, high blood pressure, fever et cetera. On this, we recommend malaria test, ulcer counseling, high-blood pressure test et cetera. A strong Muslim is better than a weak one.

3.Organisational preparation: Islamic organisations, masajid, business organisations, NGOs, Charity-based association and Muslim Communities are all requested to have well-designed programmes and projects for implementation in the Month of Ramadan. Organisational preparation include setting up committee on Moon Sighting for Ramadan, engaging in Mosque rehabilitation/decoration, environmental sanitation, printing of pamphlets/leaflets for awareness, sponsorship of lectures on Radio/TV, establishing Fund Raising activities for public Lectures, Laylatul Qadr, Eidul-Fitri Get-together, Zakat-ul-Fitri collection, sensitization on Zakat assessment, collection and distribution. On the preparation to monitor the crescent of Ramadan, which unfortunately is one of the causes of disunity in Nigeria, we recommend the counsel of the Prophet (Peace be upon him): He said: “Do not begin fasting until you sight the moon, and do not break your fast (for ‘Eid) until you have sighted it.” (Bukhari Muslim).

“Count well the crescent of Sha’aban because of Ramadan” (al-Tirmidhiy).

“Start to observe fasting when you see it (crescent of Ramadan) and give up observing fasting when you see it (crescent of Shawwal) and if the sky is overcast (and you cannot see it, complete the counting of Sha’aban to be thirty” (Bukhari and Muslim)

4. Financial preparation (Budgeting): As individuals, groups, masajid and organisations adequate financial preparation is imperative and non-negotiable. Budgeting has been defined as a financial plan embodying an estimate of proposed expenditures for a given period and the proposed means of financing them.  Financial preparation through budgeting therefore entails making adequate estimates of proposed spending in Ramadan (on programmes and projects) and how to raise the required funds would be sourced from halal channels. Allah says:

“O mankind! Verily Allah is pure; He will not accept nothing but the pure. And verily Allah commanded the believers with the same command issued to the messengers saying: O messenger, eat from what is pure and work righteously” (Imam Ahmad)

5. Intellectual preparation: Intellectual preparation entails readiness of Imams, Islamic scholars, Radio/Television preachers and students to acquaint themselves with knowledge, rules, regulations and jurisprudential verdicts on fasting (Sawm) and related religious issues. This is required to provide the needed guidance to Muslims. Ramadan is month on unquantifiable blessings, which can be optimised only if adequate intellectual preparation is made by the learned and learners. Allah says: “O you who believe! Fasting is prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before you, that you may acquire Taqwa. Fast for a fixed number of days, but if any of you is ill or on a journey, the same number (should be made up) from other days. And as for those who can fast with difficulty, they have a choice either to fast or to feed a poor person for every day. But whoever does good of his own accord, it is better for him. And that you fast is better for you if only you know.” Q2: 183 – 184.

In conclusion, The Congress urges all Muslims to use this 1438 AH Ramadan, as an opportunity to sensitise the public against all the attacks and tantrums directed at Islam and Muslims in Nigeria especially issues like Hijab, Terrorism, Feminism and demonisation of Sha’riah. This is a divine responsibility that all Muslims must discharge within the scope of our knowledge. Let us also pray for our dear President Muhammadu Buhari.

“We affirm that there is nothing strange in having a president who is sick or recovering from sickness. What matters is the handling. We urge the Federal Government (FG) not to allow mischief makers and corruption-friendly opposition parties to capitalize on the situation” (Professor Is-haq Akintola). May Allah grant President Muhammadu Buhari the required strength and sound health to be able fight corruption, terrorism, bad governance and other socio-economic ills that have captured Nigerians as hostages for years.

O Messenger! Proclaim which has been sent down to you from your Lord. And if you do not, then you have not conveyed His Message. Allah will protect you from mankind. (Q5:67)

Abul ‘Ala Maududi had long ago lamented our refusal to proclaim the beautiful message we have. He said: “We are surrounded by treasures, but how do we treat them? We play with them in the same way as that ignorant child who, surrounded by diamonds, regards them as stones. My heart bleeds when I see us frittering away such tremendous wealth and power through ignorance and foolishness”.

I wish all Muslims a blessed Ramadan.

• Dr AbdurRaheem is Amir of The Muslim Congress (TMC) and Senior Lecturer & Professional Trainer, Centre for Entrepreneurship Development, Yaba College of Technology Lagos (YABATECH).

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Preamble

Today’s article is starting with apology to the readers of ‘The Message’ for the inability of their beloved column to float on this page last Friday. It was due to a fortuitous failure of technology which yours sincerely was unable to prevent.

About Ramadan

Ordinarily, if ‘The Message’ had been out in this column last Friday, it would have been about the divine month that seasonally comes into the world to serve as the month of all months and the global guest of all seasons.

Regrettably however, today’s article is still not about Ramadan and that is due to a development, last week, that called for and deserves an urgent attention in this column today. A whole month is ahead of us, commencing from next week, in which we can address Ramadan from all conceivable angles. We pray the Almighty Allah to spare our lives.

‘Opium of the People’

In spite of the quoted maxim (by an American poet) at the opening of this article, there doesn’t seem to be an end in sight for religious acrimony and malice in the Southwest of Nigeria.

The battle for peoples’ souls in the name of God continues to rage unabatedly between the Christians and the Muslims in the region albeit on a disguised platter of materialism. It is difficult to pinpoint with certainty, a dominant colour in a rainbow. The eyes that saw clearly in the dark yesterday may become dim in sighting an object through a bright light today. Thus, in a world where religion has virtually become Karl Marx’  “opium of the people”, it may be difficult to prove that the rampant, deafening noises over religion in contemporary Nigeria is more about obedience to God than loyalty to material wealth. Otherwise, why is a choice of the path to Paradise or to Hell not left to the liberty of every individual without any interference? If genuinely embraced, religion should be a matter of conscience which no mortal being should endeavour to Judge upon. But the contrary is the case in Nigeria. And the real problem area is the Southwest region where no business thrives better than religion. It is quite evident that the foremost industry in the Southwest of Nigeria today is a religious solo with different choruses.

Strange ‘Muslim’ Group

Last week, the attention of ‘The Message’  column was drawn to a media altercation between a famous Non-Governmental Organization called Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) and  a fake group named ‘Oodua Muslim Coalition’ (OMC).

The Director of MURIC is Ishaq Lakin Akintola a Professor of Islamic Eschatology at the Lagos State University (LASU), whose versatility in the propagation of Islam through  human rights advocacy is  well known nationally and inyernationally.

Oodua Muslim Coaliition’

The so-called Oodua Muslim Coalition (OMC), on the other hand, is so obscure and so fraudulent that no Muslim of note will want to associate with it because of its vague antecedent. Its name alone is

questionable.

To which Oodua is the amorphous group claiming to be related or affiliated? Is it Oodua, the acclaimed primogenitor of the entire Yoruba tribe who was never related to Islam in any way or Oodua People’s Congress (OPC), which lays no claim to any religion?

The Mission of OPC

To the best knowledge of all Yoruba sons and daughters all over the world, OPC is a trbal youth pressure group in Yoruba land, just like Egbesu of Ijaw tribe, or Massop or IPOB in Igbo land or ACF in the north. And, like those of others, OPC has  no religious inclination in its agenda. It is rather a conglomeration of all comers in Yoruba land irrespective of religious convictions or dialects. If religion has truly crept into OPC, then Christian counterpart of OMC would have emerged. And that would have signaled an albatross for Yoruba as a

distinct tribal entity.

The fact that some people choose to be Christians while others choose to be Muslims does not confer superiority on some people as an instrument of oppression over others.

The faceless elements behind the so-called OMC must have lost any memory of the possible consequences of their fraudulent plot to use Islam as an instrument of balkanization of the Yoruba land along religious lines. Such is often the case with shallow-minded people whose only focus is the momentary crump they would pick under the dining tables of their masters.

The Press Conspiracy

Using the Southwest media to baptize the arrival of its clandestine but nefarious plot under the cover of Islamic religion, this amorphous group recently issued a hateful press statement in which it attacked and blackmailed the entire Southwest Muslims calling them names and labeling them  ‘Agents of Hausa Fulani of the North’.

Unfortunately the same Southwest media has never seen the association of the Southwest people with those of the Southeast and South-south in their joint campaign for secession from the commonwealth of Nigeria in the same vein.  OMC’s press statement which was aimed at attack Professor Lakin Akintola of MURIC was foolishly turned into a general tool with which to throw away Islam’s baby with the bathwater in the Southwest.

Even the duo of one Mallam Lateef Adeyera and an Alhaji Ambali Olubodun Noibi who sheepishly but mischievously signed the obnoxious statement as Chairman and Secretary General respectively could not delineate between the sensible and the insensible  if only for firming up their flanks of tribal pedigree.

Clarification

For clarification, the Muslim Ummah of the Southwest which is the umbrella body for all the State Muslim Councils/Communities as well as Organizations in the six State of the Southwest reagion. And, if as the Southern counterpart of Jamatu Nasril Islam (JNI) in the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), which has the record of all legitimate Muslim Organizations in the Southwest, does not know the so-called ‘Oodua Muslim Coalition’ what is the antecedent of that fraudulent group?

It is therefore necessary here to warn all genuine Muslim Councils, Communities and Organizations as well as indiduals in the region to beware of certain evil elements who are now parading themselves as Muslim groups or Associations  with the intent of constituting a spiritual virus in the region, Their objective is to break the ranks of the Ummah in order to subject the Muslims to the manacle of Satan..

Press Statement

In the press statement that the so-called OMC issued recently, the faceless but highly diabolical group adopted the well known tactic and vulgar language characteristic of certain self-acclaimed Yoruba

leaders.

These elements and their cohorts are notorious for creating amorphous proxies and using them for their anti-Islamic agenda and other evil machinations. Thus, whenever such proxies raise their heads and attempt to dance like a dragon on the surface of a brook, we should automatically know where the drummers are hiding.

Evil Agents

The contents and language of the said press statement by the so-called OMC could not have come as a surprise to any genuine Muslim Organization  because it has become a recurrent decimal in from their

masters.

As a divisive gimmick, in the said press statement, the amorvous group, like those of its senior brothers in their clandestine game, told the Southwest Muslims generally, to stop cooperating with the northern Muslims whom it described as enemies of the Yoruba people. It also went ahead to ask them to drop their Islamic identity for a new toga of Yoruba irredentism of the primitive era.

Unity as Headache

Apparently disturbed by the progressive unity between the Northern and Southwestern Muslims, under the banner of NSCIA, the YSF proxy calling itself OMC ignorantly insinuated that accepting the leadership of the President General of Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) and Sultan of Sokoto, His Eminence, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad

Abubakar, CFR, mni, could not profit the Southwest Muslims. It will be recalled that a similar press statement was issued in November 2015 in which one obvious renegade by the name Yinka Odumakin singled out  the venerable personality of the Executive Secretary of MUSWEN, Professor D. O. S. Noibi, OBE, DSc. FISN for a venomous attack just because the latter signed a MUSWEN press release that objected to Afenifere’s threat of secession bid at that time.

Putting the Record Straight

Ordinarily, MUSWEN, as a responsible Islamic body with millions of Muslim members, would not have reacted to such frivolities, but when some bread and butter parasites in the society attempt to distort plain facts and replace truth with falsehood, ‘The Message’ as an Islamic column will be left with no choice than to put the records straight.

It is immoral for those who in their actions, utterances and body languages, swallow the Christian doctrine hook, line and sinker to hide under unbridled tribal irredentism   to want to prevent  the Muslims of the Southwest Nigeria from associating with their brothers and sisters in other parts of the country.

Not a Secular Country

Nigeria is a multi-religious and nor a secular country as often claimed by mischievous elements to suit their evil desire. In a country where all citizens are at liberty to choose and practice their religions, no religious bigots have any right to want to prevent other religious groups from practicing their faith.

Euphoria of the past

Those who are still basking in the now forgotten euphoria of the colonial era should wake up from their slumber and face the reality of the moment. Nigeria is not the the lad of anybody’s father and nobody can claim ownership of it.

Language of Communication

English language is no longer anybody’s monopoly and it can no longer be used to bamboozle any group into a new slavery or colonialism as in the past. We are all Nigerians. The meaning of the opening poem in this article should suffice for people who can correctly reason. Islam is not for sale in the Southwest Nigeria. Ramadan Karim in advance!

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Preamble

To most pious Muslims around the world, the month of Ramadan is Allah’s special blessing with which to rescue mankind from the dragnet of Satan.

This blessed month has always come to the earth annually for the past 1438 years or thereabout. And its mission has invariably been to liberate all willing Muslims from the scourge of Satan.

Repackaging life 

Whenever Ramadan comes, all Muslims and non-Muslims alike repackage their lives in a way suitable for the sacred month even as Muslims welcome it  with the best spiritual  hospitality while  chanting a sprcialn chorus of blessing. Ramadan Karim!

Nigerian Muslim preachers

It is quite unfortunate that this great month of Allah’s unsurpassable blessings has become the choice of some Nigerian Muslim clerics/preachers to feather the hat of Satan through abuses, curses and counter curses on radio and television stations sometimes using vulgar languages. By such preaching, most of those clerics often strip themselves of Allah’s bounteous blessings as much as they smear the religion of Allah on a platter of sheer whim.

Warning

The Message column hereby warns such preachers to desist from such satanic acts and fear Allah if they are truly Muslims. Otherwise, they may face the wrath of Allah. A Muslim without piety, particularly in the month of Ramadan is like a snail without shell.

Status of Ramdan

Ordinarily, Ramadan is one of the twelve Islamic months. But spiritually and psychologically, it transcends the status of a month having become the custodian of a whole pillar of Islam. Thus, from all indications it has assumed the posture and characteristics of a season.

 Characteristics of seasons

Seasons are like the tides of an ocean. They roll out spirally in quick succession and reshape the world’s environment from time to time. They come in multiples of months as no one can measure a season in the absence of months.

Seasons in the West

The people of the West have so much respect for seasons that whenever  they have an important guest they call him an ‘August visitor’. The month of August is the peak of summer season in Europe where the season called Summer contains the most comfortable months of the year. In that season, the Caucasian race of Europe do treat their guests with maximum hospitality.

Venerable guest

In Islam, the most venerable guest is Ramadan. Its visiting time is not restricted to any particular season of the year. It may arrive in the world in any season. That is why it is called a guest of all seasons in this article.

With Ramadan as a dignified guest, not only the Muslims but also, the entire humanity are consciously or unconsciously engaged in non-such hospitable activities in the sacred month. Those who do not fast in the month because they are not Muslims do take advantage of its blessed presence to engage in one business or the other. Farmers, manufacturers and service providers, all prepare their products for the arrival of the month thereby confirming that there can be no indifference to the awful presence of the sacred month in any part of the world. Perhaps nothing else is as captivating as this unique month.

Ramadan’s voyage

Although Ramadan perches on the earth every year, no one knows its port of embarkation. No one knows its destination. All we know of it is that of a guest that is so vividly present in our world and yet so invisible. It is through the Qur’an that we came to know ‘RAMADAN’ as the name by which the sacred month is divinely christened.

Ramadan’s coming is often heralded by a retinue of envoys.

Ramadan’s Entourage

The months of ‘Rajab’ and ‘Sha’ban’ are the immediate signals that alert mankind of Ramadan’s imminent arrival. Thus, like the sun in the midst of stars, Ramadan ascends the throne in full regalia and all other months, (lunar and solar) quickly take their bow.

If you call Ramadan the king where other months are mere chiefs you will be quite right. If you call it the medical doctor in a world of sick people you will not be wrong. If you call it the compass in the wilderness of straying humanity you will be speaking the absolute truth. If you call it the reformer of human soul or the sterilizer of human spirit or the purifier of human body you will not be disputed.

In its entourage also are invisible ministers such as piety, knowledge, truth, justice and peace all of which usher it into the world with splendour.

Meaning of Ramadan

The name Ramadan is derived from the Arabic word ramad meaning hot ashes. The name had evolved since the time before the establishment of Islamic calendar. But it was not attached to any religion. And due to ignorance, humanity did not know the benefit of this month until the arrival of Prophet Muhammad (SAW) who opened the eyes of the world to it.

The Sacredness of Ramadan

With the advent of Islam, the entire month of Ramadan is spent in fasting from dawn to dusk. Such fasting is not only an abstinence from foods and drinks alone. It is also about self-restraint from all sinful acts and repackaging of one’s destiny through a new but sincere resolution.

Fasting during this month is believed to figuratively burn away all sins.

Ramadan’s relationship with the Qur’an

It was in the glorious month called Ramadan that the revelations of the Glorious Qur’an to Prophet Muhammad (SAW) first began. It was in this month that all the previous divine revelations to Prophet Muhammad (SAW) were divinely renewed and repackaged not only as a reminder but also as a reconfirmation of the authenticity of the Qur’an as Allah’s anchor message to mankind.

In this month, all gates of paradise, (according to a Prophetic Hadith), are open while those of hell are closed.

Segments of Ramadan

Ramadan is divided into three main segments of ten days each. But the third segment may sometimes be limited to nine days. The first ten days in this sacred month are blessings galore for those of the Muslim Ummah who need Allah’s blessings and seek them. The second ten days personify forgiveness for those who realize the gravity of their sinful acts, repent on them and resolve never to return to such acts again. The last ten or nine days are meant for the liberation of mankind from the manacles of Satan. Whoever is so liberated automatically becomes like a newly born baby arriving in a new world with a clean slate (tabularasa).

The Night of Power

In the last ten days is a particular night called Laylatul Qadr in which the secret of human destiny is encapsulated. It is otherwise known as the ‘Night of power’. Meeting that night consciously and spiritually is like securing the key to one’s own apartment in Paradise. But one needs to remain awake throughout those nights to be fortunate to receive the blessings of the night.

Searching for the Night

Allah did not disclose the particular night called Laylatul Qadr even to Prophet Muhammad (SAW), But by asking the Muslims to look for it in the odd nights of the last ten days, the Prophet had assisted us tremendously. However, who can be so sure of the odd nights when the issue of sighting the crescent before starting Ramadan remains a subject of heated controversy?

That is why some willing Muslims, in accordance with the tradition of Prophet Muhammad (SAW), go for Umrah in Makkah or take to I’tikaf (spiritual seclusion) locally, in the month of Ramadan to reaffirm their total submission to the will of Allah.

Zakatul Fitr

Within the last ten days of Ramadan is also a common charity made compulsory for all Muslims irrespective of age, gender and status, to be given to the poor and the needy. This is called Zakatul Fitr or Sadaqatul Fitr. It is given out in the very early morning of Ramadan Festival Day or the night before it to enable the poor and the needy celebrate the festival with the rest of the Ummah.

Vital questions

Ramadan never perches on earth without certain vital questions such as the question of sighting the crescent before commencing the fast in it; the question of how to prepare for it socially, physically and spiritually; the question of what to do and what not to do in it; the question of who should fast and who may not fast in it; the question of how its days and nights can be spent; the question of what to benefit from Tafsir and how to observe Tarawih; The question of I’tikaf (seclusion) and what to do therein; the question of Laylatul Qadr that is said to be more beneficial to genuine Muslims than 1000 months; the question of Zakatul Fitr, Eidul Fitr and the features that characterize them as well as many other questions including marriage, divorce and sexual intercourse in this sacred month.

Conclusion

Where else can a guest like Ramadan be found? Where else can one meet a guest that hosts his host and heals him of his ailment of ignorance and other diseases? It was probably more to Ramadan than to man that Prophet Muhammad (SAW) referred when he said: “whoever believes in Allah and the ‘Last Day’ should venerate his guest” That guest is Ramadan. That is why Muslims often say in this unique month: ‘RAMADAN KARIM’. Read the details of the features of Ramadan in a dauly column called ‘RAMADAN GUIDE’. It is written daily in The Nation newspaper by yours sincerely.

The post Guest of all seasons appeared first on The Nation Nigeria.

Preamble

At no time in the life of man can the true nature of human existence be more manifest than in Ramadan. It is in this sacred month that Muslims reflect mostly on this. Some people fasted actively last year but are no more today. Some put their feet at the door step of Ramadan this year but never entered it. Some fell by the way side along the line.

Human life

Human life cannot be measured in history by the time or manner of his or her death. In Islam, death is neither the consequence of sin nor the repercussion of ignorance. There are instances when the sinless dies and the sinful lives. There are also instances when the learned dies while the ignorant lives.  The schedule of life and death is not in the custody of any human being. Death is a debt which every living being owes and must pay.

Not even Prophet Muhammad (SAW) was spared of death or given a foreknowledge of its time.

Spiritual value

Some people look but never see. Some claim to see or know in falsehood even when and where it is humanly impossible to see or know. The factors that determine the time, the place and the manner of death are known only to the the Almighty Allah, the omnipresent, the omnipotent.

It is only in the imagination of man that age should be a factor of death. We shall all die at our scheduled time. Therefore, whoever is privileged to pass through this year’s Ramadan successfully should endeavour to add spiritual value to his or her life and not diminish in faith after the sacred month. We shall all account for that value before Allah.

Reassessment

After Ramadan, in a few weeks’ time, we shall start looking back, with nostalgia, not only the essence of Ramadan but also the good things we have done in the sacred month. For instance we shall remember that in no other month of Hijrah calendar is the role of Muslim women more pronounced than in Ramadan. Like in other months, they often exhibit the roles of wives, mothers as well as that of their husband’s confidants. But more than in other months, they also display their religious dedication in Ramadan.

Women’s resilience

In that sacred month Muslim women fast like their men counterparts. They pray five times daily. They join those men counterparts in observing Tarawih. Some of them even attend Tafsir and public lectures. Yet they never relent in carrying out their daily official daily duties just like men either in the offices, shops, or farms. And all these are in addition to their permanent matrimonial duties.

Even as they assist their husbands financially in maintaining the homes, these women still take care of those husbands as well as the children and relatives domestically.

Tireless in nature

At the time of the day when their husbands are knocked out by fatigue arising from fasting, these wives are still busy in the kitchen preparing Iftar for the household. And at the time in the night when some husbands are engaged in Tahajjud, or are snoring in bed, the wives are already up in the kitchen preparing the Sahur for the family.

Some of these women are carrying pregnancy. Some are suckling their children. Some of them are knowledgeable enough to do the Tilawah (recitation of the Qur’an) like their husbands.

Their financial assistance

Some of them are rich enough to finance their matrimonial home fully or partially.

And, in all these activities, they never feel tired. Where and when they feel tired, they never show it. If any month has ever depicted the virtues of women, it is Ramadan and the women activities in it.

If for the reason of their activities in Ramadan alone, they deserve tenderness and dignified treatment in the hands of their husbands.

 How children thrive

Also after Ramadan, we shall recall the role of our children in the sacred month and then endeavour to ensure the continuity of those rewarding activities.

At that time, it will occur to us that children are Allah’ greatest gift to man. Their presence in a house is blessing. Their contribution is immense. At times,  they can act like teachers just as they can play students. They learn fast, they teach fast. They are a major security for parents in any given environment.

Children have both temporal and spiritual roles to play in a matrimonial life. And with such roles, they sometimes create hope for humanity and sometimes, they signal despair. They are the greatest asset in the possession of parents in time of peace.

Children as weapons

They are also the greatest weapon for those parents against the forces of Satan.

Because of their innocence, children pave way for God’s forgiveness and quick acceptance of prayers. And, most importantly, children guarantee the continuity of man’s existence on earth through heritage. It is only with them that the fulfilment of today’s promise is possible tomorrow.

The Qur’anic children

In the Qur’an, children are mentioned many times and most often with reverence. They are treated in that glorious book as a major issue in the life of man. As orphans, they do not only have a role to play, they also compel some adults to play a role relating to them.

As heirs to their parents, they have substantial shares in inheritance. Muslim children are like cubs. They follow the footstep of their parents or guardians a scrupulously. They are often with their parents during the five daily prayers. They watch their parents as the latter give charity to the poor. They accompany them to public lectures and Islamic social gatherings.

And, in Ramadan, children are part of the Muslims’ total spiritual package. They wake up with them at night. They fast with them in the day. They break the fast with them at sunset and observe Tarawih with them in the evenings. They join their parents at Tafsir and night lectures. They participate in Laylatul Qadr and in giving Zakatul Fitr to the poor.

Encouragement

In all these activities, they are supposed to be spiritually nurtured and encouraged. At the tender age of seven, they should be guided to fast even if for half a day. And when they reach the age of 10 they should be strengthened in faith and in religious deeds. They should be provided with necessities of life both of the temporal and spiritual means. With these, they will grow up to become the fulfilment of their parents’ dreams.

Good or bad

Most children grow up as good or bad by emulating their parents. A child is therefore what his parents make him. If advantage of Ramadan is not taken by Muslim parents to mould their children into good Muslims what other platform will be used? Your child is your sun. Make hey with it while it shines.

We shall also recall how we related to our neighbours especially the non-Muslims among them in that month.

Like family, like neighbours

In Islam, neighbours are as important as the next of kin. And, Islam attaches so much respect to them. According to Bukhari and Muslim, Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) was reported to have once sworn by Allah three times saying: “he does not believe in Allah whoever creates fear in his neighbours atrociously”

In another Hadith also reported by Bukhari and Muslim, the Prophet was quoted as saying that “Whoever believes in Allah and the last day let him be nice to his neighbours and respect his guests”

New Toga

In the month of Ramadan a good Muslim is expected to wear a new toga of sobriety and repentance. He doubles his good deeds to his neighbours extending generosity to them and cultivating a new atmosphere of friendliness and trust with them. He genuinely gives them as much impression of love and brotherhood as he does with his consanguine relatives.

It does not matter whether the neighbours in question are Muslims or non-Muslims. Neither does it matter whether they are tribesmen or non-natives. The Prophet did not discriminate in his Hadith when he was admonishing on neighbours. And that is the inalienable position of Islam on neighbours.

Therefore, whoever might have quarrelled with his neighbours go and settle the quarrel No one knows which Ramadan will be his or her last.

Purpose of Ramadan

Ramadan is not made a pillar of Islam by accident. Its purpose is to return man to the original state of purity into which he was born. That Allah entrusts the world to man is also not by accident. Allah consulted widely and far before entrusting this great responsibility to man having volunteered to bear it. This much is contained in Qur’an 33:71 thus: “We offered the trust (of the world) to the heavens; the earth and the mountains they all turned it down and were afraid of it. Man undertook to bear it but he has proved to be insincere and deceitful”.

Reconfirmation

For man to re-examine himself, repent his misdeeds and be redeemed, therefore, Allah brought Ramadan as a means of rescue.

It is in the month of Ramadan that Muslims reconfirm NEEDS rather than WANTS as the necessities required for the sustenance of their lives.

Needs and wants

Muslims, by their faith and orientation, are not, ordinarily, given to WANTS. They are more concerned about NEEDS than WANTS. The reason for this is not far-fetched. With NEEDS come contentment and satisfaction while WANTS are the cause of greed and avarice.

Divine provision

Allah, the Creator and Sustainer of the universe, had divinely provided the needs of every living creature even before its creation. But then, He knew that of all those creatures man alone would go beyond NEEDS into the realm of WANTS. That was perhaps what informed the negative role which Satan assumed in the life of man shortly after the creation of Adam.

By introducing WANTS to man, what Satan did was to create a permanent job for himself in the life of man. Without WANTS the world would not have been what it is today. Blood would not have been shed. Money would not have been deified. Hatred would not have been known to man. And, man’s inhumanity to man would have been totally averted.

Effects of wants

The effect of WANTS first became known when Qabil (Cain), the first son of Adam preferred his brother’s wife to his. In the argument which ensued, Qabil (Cain) killed his brother Habil (Abel) and combined the latter’s wife with his. Thus, greed and avarice became ingredients of man’s culture. And WANTS rather than NEEDS became the domineering factor in the life of man.

Youths and Mosques

One delightful thing in the sacred month was to note that Nigerian Mosques were full of Muslim youths. By this, a silent Islamic renaissance seems to be going on especially in Nigerian society. It looks like a repeat of the situation that led to the formation of the Muslim Students’ Society of Nigeria (MSSN) in 1954. With this development, two great possibilities are expected to sail Islam through the coast of good hope in the 21st century. One is the return of the Mosque to its original objective. The other is the inalienable continuation of Islamic dynamism in reshaping the destiny of mankind.

Ultimate hope

The hope that these two possibilities are achievable in the hands of today’s teeming Muslim youths is in fulfilment of a fundamental prophesy about the signs of the last days. One of these signs is that ‘the sun will start rising from where it used to set’. The reference here is not to the physical sun. The Prophet was referring to the spiritual photosynthesis of the souls of mankind for the ultimate metamorphosis of those souls from mortality to immortality. The instrument of photosynthesis in this case is Islam. And, the fulfilment of this prophesy is gradually being confirmed today either by technology or science.

When Prophet Muhammad (SAW) established the very first Mosque in Madinah (Masjid Al-Qubah) in 622 A.C, the purpose was more than just Salat.

Functions of Mosques

Ordinarily, the Mosque is not supposed to be just a house of worship. It should also be a school, a library, a hospital, a court, a media centre and a parliament. Without the Mosque, the unity of the Muslim Ummah would have been impossible.

A Mosque is the meeting place for offering Salat five times a day. It is the centre of congregation for Jum’at prayer every Friday. It brings the Muslims together twice in a year for congregational observance of Eidul-Fitr and Eidul-Adha. Yet, the meeting place called ‘Arafah which is the climax of Hajj and at which the largest human congreagation meets one a year is a Mosque.

The great Mosques in Makkah, Madinah, and Quds (Jerusalem) serve the same purpose as those in Cairo , Jakarta and Sydney . And, there is no difference between the Mosque in Sokoto and the one in Rio de Janeiro .

Fortification

Generally, the Mosque plays a central role in fortifying the unity of the Muslims wherever they are. But unfortunately, with time and with crave for personal benefits, the Mosque has been relegated to just a place for Salat alone. That is the real cause of the backwardness in which the Muslim Ummah is now wallowing. With the experience of the sacred month of Ramadan, fasting Muslims have gained bounteously. Such gains must not be allowed to slip off their hands. An opportunity may not come twice.

The post The Ramadan Family appeared first on The Nation Nigeria.

This was not the article meant for this column today. The original plan was to continue the theological analysis of Ramadan in continuation of last Friday’s article. But since the circumstances of life are not the same, the need to change gear becomes warranted here.

Yoruba Adage

An axiomatic Yoruba adage was rekindled last week when some self-seeking elements called Biafra agitators came forth with a fabricated quotation from no source and credited it to the first Premier of Northern Nigeria, Sir Ahmadu Bello. The deliberate fabrication was meant to be a justification for their evil agitation

in a restive inconsequential game of rebellion. The Yoruba adage goes thus: “Any slave that wants to illegally hijack a bequeathed estate (of an orphan) will surely want to fabricate a rootless history to justify his dubious but inordinate claim”.

The true manifestation of that adage cannot be better experienced at any other time in Nigeria than now. In a desperate effort by some incurably tribal political marauders claiming to be Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) and their Igbo partners in arms named Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) to find reason for their rabid desire for secession, an historically injurious fabrication was hurriedly added to the existing cyber garbage with the

intent of forcing it down the throats of innocent Nigerians who are expected to consume the poison and swallow it hook line and sinker.

Tell us another

The fabricated lie credited to Ahmadu Bello is as follows: “The new nation called Nigeria should be an estate of our great grandfather Othman Dan Fodio. We must ruthlessly prevent a change of power. We use the minorities in the north as willing tools and the south as a conquered territory and never allow them to rule over us and never allow them to have control over their future.”

Now, take a second cursory look at that quotation and any rational human being will ask rational question.

The statement was said to have been made as a by the late Northern Premier as a Christmas message to Northern Nigerian Christians on October 12, 1960. Haba!  Why would a well-informed personality like Ahmadu Bello give a Christmas message in October when he knew that December was the time of Christmas in Nigeria? Even if he was not a politician, could he have presented such a recklessly venomous statement to his followers as a goodwill message? When blatant liars are fabricating lies, they hardly think of the situation of listeners or readers. What kind of Christmas message would a Premier of Ahmadu Bello give give in October when he knew that that Christmas season was invaraiably December in Nigeria? Were the Northern Nigerian Christians of the 1950s and 60s so idiotic that they could not understand the Premier’s message and distinguish the wheat from the chaff? What was their response to the message? Liars hardly think of the implications of their lies while fabricating them. These so-called Biafra agitators will need a new fabrication for the generation of their age bracket to justify their thoughtless claim. The fabricated one as become stale and unsellable.

Facts of history

“The truth has come and falsehood has vamoosed; surely, falsehood is meant to vamoose (in the presence of the truth)”.  Q. 17: 81 History is like a phenomenal weather which all people of an area feel at once and which no individual or group can unilaterally alter by sheer whim. The more you try to alter it the more it firmly re-establishes itself. Whether it is interpreted and relayed positively or negatively, the fact remains that history is not anybody’s personal property and cannot be anybody’s monopoly. The dramatic personae in the amphitheatre of history are too many and too variant to be taken for granted. For instance, we know as a matter of historical fact that the Nigeria handed over to Nigerian politicians by the colonialists at independence was a loose federation of regional units. Each unit was constitutionally at liberty to grow according to the magnitude or limit of its economic resources.

We know, and we have not forgotten that the first shot at the Presidency of Nigeria in 1963 was taken by an Igbo man, Dr. Benjamin Nnamdi Azikiwe who occupied the office of Mr. President until January 15, 1966 when Nigeria’s first republic was forcefully terminated via an all Igbo planned military coup.

We know that the preparation for that coup had started in 1953 when a frontline Igbo politician allegedly expressed with delight, at a State banquet in Lagos, that “Ibos domination of Nigeria was a matter of time”.

We know that a part of that grand design was the sprouting of the people of Igbo origin to all parts of Nigeria in readiness for taking over when the time was ripe for the execution of the plan.

We know that the episode of 1954 election which gave victory to Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe in both the Eastern and Western regions and which would have made it possible for the Igbo people to rule the West in addition to the East was also part of that design.

But for the astute and political sagacity of Chief Obafemi Awolowo, who moved with alacrity to engineer cross-carpeting as a new political paradigm in Nigeria at that time to preempt the impending slavery of the Yoruba people to their Igbo counterparts surreptitiously, Yoruba people would have remained under the serfdom of Igbo economic and political hegemony till today in a winner takes all tango.

Further developments

Yet, we know that following the Igbo military coup of 1966 which saw people of other ethnic groups massacred, it was another Igbo man, Major-General Johnson Agyui-Ironsi who assumed office as Nigeria’s first Military President. Thus, an Igbo civilian was Nigeria’s first President who was succeeded by an Igbo military President. The agenda was to ensure that whatever political situation could become of Nigeria, an Igbo man was to be at the helm of affairs. And that was hurriedly as certained by a daring decree 34 of 1966 enacted by Ironsi to perpetuate his tribesmen in power. That decree obliterated all traces of federalism and turned Nigeria into a unitary form of government where power was to start flowing down to the regions from the centre which he manned.

Incidentally when Ironsi’s regime collapsed after six months in office, it was the Igbos who first coined the non-existent word ‘MARGINALISATION’ and cried to the world for rescue from the persecution of Hausa and Yoruba tribes of Nigeria. That cry of the owl remains on course till today. The truth is that Igbos of Nigeria can never be satisfied with any post other than that of the President.

They believe that Nigeria is made for them and others in the country are only to serve them.

The killing of Ahmadu Bello

One of the foremost political icons in Nigeria’s first republic and a patriarch of the political party called Northern People’s Congress (NPC), was Alhaji (Sir) Ahmadu Bello, the first and only Premier of Northern Nigeria. He became Premier of Northern Nigeria in 1954 through a popular election and was killed as Premier in January 1966 in a tribal/religious military coup plotted mainly by soldiers of Igbo extraction led by one Major Patrick Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu. The plotters had killed this icon in cold blood before looking for reasons to justify their heinous crime. The three reasons they later gave were corruption, tribalism and religious bigotry. It was a matter of calling a dog a bad name in order to hang it.

Premier Bello’s flanks

Among the four Premiers in Nigeria at that time, only Ahmadu Bello could not in any way be evidently linked to corruption. Unlike others who lived opulently, Ahmadu Bello was an ascetic personality who served his people patriotically without any blemish. He left only a small residential bungalow in his home town of Sokoto at the time of his death. Who else left such a flank? Sir Ahmadu Bello could also not be singularly accused of tribalism because tribalism was the basis of all the existing political parties of the time. No Premier from 1954 to 1966 could be exonerated from tribalism directly or indirectly. They were all guilty of it.

It can be recalled that certain tribal groups such as Ibiobio State Union (IBU), Ibo Federal Union (IFU) Egbe Omo Oduduwa (EOO) and ‘Jam’iyyar Al-Ummar Nigeriya ta Arewa’ translated as Northern Elements Progressive Association (NEPA) which later transformed into Northern Elements Progressive Union (NEPU) were all tribal socio-cultural organizations that metamorphosed into political parties. All those parties preceded ‘Jam’iyyar Mutane Arewa’ meaning Northern People’s Congress (NPC) to which Ahmadu Bello belonged. Many other ethnic-based political parties later emerged to broaden tribalism in Nigerian politics. If anything, Ahmadu Bello was the least tribally inclined Premier of his time. Why did his killers link him alone to tribalism?

His 1959 Christmas message

Of the four Premiers in Nigeria’s first republic, only Ahmadu Bello was bold and sincere enough to allay the fear of the minority groups in Northern Nigeria by making a public policy statement about his government’s stand concerning tribalism and religious bigotry. Here is an excerpt from what he said while sending a Christmas message to northern Christians in December and not October 1959 as fabricators want Nigerians to believe: “…We are people of many different races, tribes and religions, who are knit together by common history, common interests and common ideals.

Our diversity may be great but the things that unite us are stronger than the things that divide us. On an occasion like this, I always remind people about our firmly rooted policy on religious tolerance.

Families of all creeds and colour can rely on these assurances. We have no intention of favouring one religion at the expense of another.

Subject to overriding need to preserve law and order, it is our determination that everyone should have absolute liberty to practice his belief. It is befitting on this momentous day, on behalf of my ministers and myself, to send a special word of gratitude to all Christian missions”.

“Let me conclude this with a personal message. I extend my greetings to all our people who are Christians on this great feast day. Let us forget the difference in our religion and remember the common brotherhood before God, by dedicating ourselves afresh to the great tasks which lie before us….”

Any sensible reader who can compare and contrast the two speeches above will surely be able decipher the truth from the falsehood.

Years, after Ahmadu Bello’s unjustifiable assassination, some evil elements in the media, in active conspiracy with certain political demagogues went to fabricate another statement and credited it to the late Norther Premier as a justification for killing him. The concocted statement was culled from an unknown newspaper called ‘The Parrot’.

Truth and falsehood

The Premier’s Christmas message quoted above was made on Thursday, December 24, 1959 (the eve of Christmas) through a radio broadcast and it was published by all newspapers in the country including the vociferous ‘West African Pilot’ owned by Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, the boisterous ‘Tribune’ owned by Chief Obafemi Awolowo, the clamorous ‘Daily Times’ jointly owned privately by certain prominent individuals at that time on Christmas Day. It was equally published by many other smaller newspapers in Nigeria. All those newspapers are identifiable in Nigeria’s media history even though most of them are now defunct.

On the other hand, the place and occasion of the fabricated statement credited to Ahmadu Bello was not indicated and cannot be traced in Nigeria’s newspaper history.

Evidence of fabrication

The first time any genuinely existing newspaper ever made reference to that fabricated statement was on November 13, 2002 (42 years after it was purportedly made. And ‘The Tribune’ newspaper that published it only claimed to have culled it from an online column published on October 24 2002 by a purported Yoruba Journalist (name withheld) who entitled it ‘the northern Agenda’. It can therefore be deduced that the statement was actually fabricated not in the 1960s but in October 2002, by the so-called columnist who credited it to a newspaper that never existed. The objective was to give it an undeserving credibility. What a country! What a people! What a shame! This is a typical case of an obvious mischief by heartless mischief makers just to fetch ephemeral fame and illegal income.

The belief was that once such a fabricated article appears on the internet and is ignorantly quoted by some inconsequential writers, it would automatically become a document of facts and authority. That is Nigeria for you.

The coup episode

January 15, 1966 was a Saturday like no other one in the history of Nigeria. It was on that day that the bitter seed which germinated and grew into the thorny tree that now feeds Nigerians with unpalatable political fruits was planted. The evil planting marked the beginning of an agonizing political voyage of destiny on which Nigerians embarked without a compass. Coming up in the sacred month of Ramadan, the day actually came to confirm the axiomatic thought of an Arab poet who once asserted in a couplet that: “Nights are heavily pregnant; they give birth to wonders in the days….”

The major casualties

The heartless rascals in Nigerian military who struck in the January 1966 coup to terminate a democratically elected government must have foreclosed the consequences of their criminal action. They killed virtually all the major key players in the then Nigerian politics except those of Igbo extraction and of course, some non-Igbo people who were then in prisons. The Prime Minister, Alhaji Sir Abubakar

Tafawa Balewa and the Minister of Finance, Chief Festus Okotie-Eboh were killed in Lagos. The Premier of Northern Nigeria, Sir Ahmadu Bello, was killed with his wife and some other people in Kaduna, the then Headquarters of Northern Nigeria. The Premier of Western Nigeria, Chief Samuel Ladoke Akintola was killed in Ibadan, the then Headquarters of the South Western Nigeria while some military top brass of non-Igbo extraction were killed in different military barracks across the country.

Except for Lt. Col. Arthur Unegbe (an Igbo military officer) who was killed for being too close to Maimalari and could not be trusted, no other Igbo man of note, politician or military, was killed in that coup. As a matter of fact, if there was any feeling of the coup in the Eastern Nigeria at all, it was that of victory and heroism. The top military officers who were killed in the senseless coup included: Brig. S. A. Ademulegun; Brig. Zakari Maimalari; Col. Kur Mohammed; Lt. Col. J. Y. Pam ; Col. S. A. Shodeinde; Lt. Col. Largema; Lt. Col. A. G. Unegbe; S/Lt. James Odu and a host of others.

Coup planners and executors

That overwhelming majority of the planners of that coup as well as its executors were of Igbo extraction could not have been a mere coincidence. It is particularly notable that the chief beneficiary of the coup (Major-General Johnson Aguiyi Ironsi) was also of Igbo extraction. Almost all the military appointments after the coup were

for men of Igbo extraction and none of these, except Hassan Katsina and Muhammadu Shuwa was a Muslim. How else could a coup be tribal and religious?

The post Biafra: The unchangeable history appeared first on The Nation Nigeria.

“While man’s desires and aspirations stir, he cannot choose but err; yet in his erring journey through the night, instinctively, he travels towards the light.” Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

Preamble

This The writing of this article was motivated by a programme on an Ibadan-based private radio station last Monday. In the programme, an erstwhile foremost Minister of Education, the late Prof Aliu Babatunde Fafunwa was taken to a public laundry for dry cleaning. It was a clear case of professional malady.

Generally, most private radio stations in Ibadan, are notorious for flagrant abuse and decimation of professional norm in which the practice of electronic journalism lacks decorum as much as it is bereft of professional ethics. This is evidence that Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) is negligent of its supervisory duty.

In the programme

In the referred programme presented with the usual passion for open incitement and defamation of character, Prof Fafunwa was thoroughly lampooned and called the main enemy of the people in Nigeria’s education sector. He was accused of introducing the 6-3-3-4 system of education that came to disrupt what they called Awolowo’s education legacy.

The most ridiculous aspect of that programme was to ask the audience to comment on the Professor’s regime as Minister of Education. And all the comments were based on the presentation which was evidently based on rumour and tendentious political cacophony.

Who was Babatunde Fafunwa?

Yours sincerely had written a commemorative article on the life and time of this honourable gentleman shortly after his demise in 2013. The article is brought here again on his towering personality in especially Nigeria’s education sector. Here it goes:

“Perhaps no words can capture the life’s odyssey of Nigeria’s most qualitative, most prominent Minister of Education ever, Prof Fafunwa, as the quotation above indicates. The confirmation of this assertion is contained in the Professor’s own autobiography entitled ‘UP AND ON’. And this is emphasized in Qur’an 31:34 thus: “No mortal being knows what he will do tomorrow. No mortal being knows in which land he will die. Only Allah is All-knowing. All-Aware”

Thus, when Prof Fafunwa was travelling to Abuja on the Thursday preceding his demise in 2012, hardly did he know that he was embarking on his very last journey on earth. His mission in Abuja on that occasion was to receive the Honorary Doctoral Degree (Doctor of Letters) which was to be conferred on him by the National Open University (NOUN). And incidentally, that conferment did not take place after all.

While alive

While alive and even in death, Prof Fafunwa was like a proverbial elephant surrounded by blind men. You can only describe the part you are able to touch on that mammoth animal and not the whole of it. Born on the 23rd of September 1923, the year Nigeria’s first President, Dr Benjamin Nnamdi Azikiwe travelled out to the United States in search of the ‘Golden Fleece’ Prof Fafunwa had very early in life identified education as the greatest human pursuit. And he pursued it to the very apex. But like Zik, Fafunwa was to face educational discrimination on his return to Nigeria as his PhD from America was not recognised by the British colonialists who were then suffering from self-elated ego. The man had to accept appointment as a secondary school teacher at Ahmadiyyah College, Agege from where he was posted to Ahmadiyyah Teachers’ College, Ojokoro, as Principal. It took the University of Nigeria, Nsuka to acknowledge his educational value and offered him a befitting lectureship appointment at that University in, 1961, where he rose to become the acting Vice-Chancellor until he had to move to the University of Ife due to the 1967 outbreak of the civil war which made his continued stay in the newly declared State of Biafra unsafe.

At the University of Ife

At the University of Ife, Prof Fafunwa had to put his fervour in the burner to be able to confront fiercely, the conservative orientation of the British trained lecturers who had joined that university from the University of Ibadan, in order to properly position himself for shooting through the iron gate of life for Nigerians to benefit immensely from a dynamic rather than conservative and anachronistic curriculum of education.

During his academic sojourn in Nsuka, Prof Fafunwa in cooperation with some of his colleagues in the Department of Education drafted a proposal for the admission of Grade II teachers into a two year Higher Certificate programme in the Faculty of Education. This proposal, the first of its type in Nigeria, paved way for the emergence of what came to be known as Nigerian Certificate of Education (NCE) as well as the establishment of Colleges of Education in other universities in the country.

His educational contributions

Hitherto, there was nothing like Faculty of Education in any Nigerian University. But for Prof Fafunwa’s steadfastness and unflinching commitment to education it would have taken the country many, many years to produce qualified and professional teachers at the tertiary level.

From the University of Ife where he rose to become Deputy and Acting Vice-Chancellor, Prof Fafunwa vehemently advocated for teaching primary school pupils’ in their mother tongues at a time when speaking vernacular language in Nigerian schools was virtually an abomination courtesy of British oriented education. Thus, Prof Fafunwa became the first Nigerian ever to engage in the advocacy for native language as foundation for education in Nigerian schools. And his experiment on that proposition proved to be a great success.  Also in his richly comprehensive book entitled ‘History of Education in Nigeria’ Prof Fafunwa called for the teaching of religious and moral education as bedrock for social discipline and moral decency in the country. If that proposition had been faithfully implemented Nigeria would have been quite different from what she is today.

His worth

Prof Fafunwa was virtually everything any gentleman would have wished to become education-wise in life. Were it possible to have a President of Education in Africa, he would have been. But as a fervent believer in Daniel Webster’s school of thought about life, he never saw anything extraordinary in becoming a Minster or a Governor or a President. To him any such position was only worth occupying when it was meant to serve humanity. Thus, like Webster, he believed that every material position in the life of man was a vanity which could be consigned to the debris of life especially when not used to serve mankind. For this reason this ‘nonsuch icon’ considered his greatest achievement in life as the footprint he was to leave behind by the time he would have been no more.

Webster’s philosophy

For those who are lettered enough to know, Daniel Webster’s school of thought is vividly reflected in one of his poems which goes thus: “If we work marble it will perish; if we work upon brass, time will efface it; if we rear temples, they will crumble into dust; but if we work upon immortal minds and instil in them just principles, we are then engraving that upon tablets which no time can efface but will brighten into all eternity”.

At a time when it was extremely difficult to become educated in Nigeria and still remain a Muslim, Prof Fafunwa courageously brought his natural obduracy, superstitiously believed to be characterised of September children, to bare thus daring all prevailing odds and breasting the tape where his pares fell by the way side. He never allowed the Islamic glorious flag handed over to him at his tender age to slip away from his hands. He held on tenaciously to that flag even far away in the United States where racial discrimination and religious apathy held sway at that time.

Not about education alone

Prof Fafunwa was not all about education alone. He was also as much about religion especially Islam believing rightly that the former was only a formidable foundation for the latter. Thus until his demise, he was involved in many Islamic matters affecting the lives of Nigerian Muslims.

His religious role

He was not only a one time President of Jama’atu Islamiyyah Society and Chairman of its Board of Trustees, he was also a founding member of the Muslim Association of Nigeria (MAN) as far back as 1959. He later became the President of that organisation and remained a strong pillar of its Board of Trustees till his demise in 2012. Also, at the formation of the Muslim Ummah of Southest Nigeria (MUSWEN) in 2008, Prof Fafunwa was not just a founding member but a key player and because of his role, he was unanimously elected as the first President-General of that umbrella body, the position he held till his death.

Impression

To people who value only Prof Fafunwa’s worldly activities, what matters might be his paper qualification and positions he occupied. But to the Professor and the Muslim brothers and sisters who were close to him, those qualifications and positions were just a part of the needed prerequisites for serving humanity and a possible avenue for admission into Al-Jannah.

Besides playing such great religious roles as listed above, he also played highly beneficial role in the lives of millions of people through education and social service irrespective of their religious convictions. It was such intimidating role he played in religion that qualified him for radio prosecution by his fanatical detractors as the presenter of maligning programme did not hide his morbid hatred for him. He said “the man (Fafunwa) was not known as a Muslim before he became the Minister of Education. It was thereafter that his Muslim name (Aliu) came out”

Membership of educational institutions

For instance, he was the President for Teacher Education in Africa (1971-1973) and an Executive Committee Member, Anglo-Afro-American Teacher Education (1964-1979). Prof Fafunwa was also a member of the Editorial Board, Journal of West African Education (1964-1979) and Co-Chairman, African Primary Science Workshop of the Educational Development Centre, Newton , Mass, USA , (1965-1975).

His areas of stewardship

Prof Fafunwa’s areas of stewardship are inexhaustible. But a few may be mentioned here for the benefit of those who may aspire to be like him without exhibiting tendentious envy. They are as follows:

He was an Executive Member, Nigeria Union of Teachers (1965-1975).

He was Co-Chairman, EDC-CREDO Conference held at Queens College, Oxford (September11-15, 1967).

He was a Director, Comparative African Education Study Tour to East and Central Africa (summer, 1966).

He was an International Member, Kenya Commission on Teacher Education, 1967-1968

Member, Review of the Educational System in Eastern Nigeria and Chairman of the Sub-Committee on Teacher Education (1963)

He was University Representative, West African Examination Council (1963-1975)

He was a Member, Vice-Chancellors’ Committee on the Sixth Form and University Admission (1965-1967)

Member, University of Ife Delegation to the Founding Conference of the Association of African Universities, Rabat, Morocco (1967)

Member, Sierra Leone Commission on Higher Education (1969-1970)

Member, Keppa Delta Pi-Honour Society, New York University Branch, a Professional Society in Education (1955)

National President, Nigerian Experiment in International Living (1957-1980)

President and Founder, Nigeria Association for the United Nations, (1957-1961)

First President, Association of University Teachers, University of Nigeria, Nigeria, Nsukka (1965-1966)

Member: Vice-Chancellors’ Sub-Committee on Students Admissions, Loans and Scholarships (1963-1964)

Member, Northern Committee of the West African Examinations Council (1964-1966)

Chairman of the Research Committee and Governing Board member of the Nigerian Aptitude Testing Unit (1965-1966)

He was a Member, Certificates Awarding Committee: West African Examinations Council (1965-1968)

He was Chairman University of Nigeria Senate Committee on Examinations (1964-1966)

He was Chairman, Board of Examiner and Member of the Governing Board of the Advanced Teacher Training College, Owerri (1963-1966)

He was Consultant, Franklin Book Publications, Nigeria (1963-1966)

Member Steering Committee, African Science Programme of the Educational Services Incorporated, Watertown, Mass, U.S.A. (1968-1970)

He was a member of the 4-Man Committee Investigating the Western Nigeria Development Corporation (1967-1968)

Member, Primary Education Review Panel, Western State (1967-1968)

He was Adviser, Lagos Delegation to the Ad-hoc Conference on Nigerian Constitution (1966)

He was a Member, Udoji Commission’s Sub-Committee on Teachers Conditions of Service Review Panel (1973-1974)

Prof Fafunwa also pioneered Elementary Science Teaching in Nigeria 1963-1968. He pioneered the University of Ife Six Year Primary School Education in Yoruba (1970-1985). He established Esso West Africa’s Employees in Public Relations Department (1957-1961).

He established Faculty of Education & Institute of Education, University of Nigeria Nsukka (1963-1966).

He established Dept. Of Education, Faculty of Education & Institute of Education University of Ife, (1967-1972)

An Academic of high repute, Prof Fafunwa had 35 published scholarly papers and articles as well as 19 professional books. He also had many distinguished honours here on earth and we believe he will have more in the Hereafter. Most of these earthly honours were from various communities in Nigeria and abroad including the academic circles.

Prof Aliu Babatunde Fafunwa was married to Mrs. Doris Fafunwa and blessed with four children. We pray the Almighty Allah to repose his soul in eternal bliss. Amin.

The post Not Prof Fafunwa we knew appeared first on The Nation Nigeria.

Yoruba language, being a phonemic language written in morphemic script, may not be philologically rich in vocabulary and grammar. Its adopted script may may have limited its ambition to spread beyond the shores of its native speakers. But this kwa ‘linguistic bud’ in the armpit of Congo-Bantu family of languages is exceptionally rich in proverbs and adages. It is quite capable of serving as the jewel of African languages if serious and dedicated efforts are made to enrich it through a redesigning of its script and thereby wean it from the ladle of a dead language like Latin.

Readers may be at sea relating today’s article in this column with the context it carries. The immediate motivator of this article is the thought of an axiomatic Yoruba adage that goes thus: “If, in a games forest, trees fall severally upon one another, the clearing should start from the top”.

Change of topic

At the point of writing this article a patriotic Nigerian of Arewa origin sent a thought-provoking article into my box which I found sharable and decided to share with other numerous readers of this column. The article was written by Nurudden Lemu, a supposed prominent member of Arewa Youths who entitled it:  RE: 1ST October Igbo Evacuation: Just thinking Aloud

Here it goes unedited: Attachments

I honestly believe, or choose to believe that the call by some of my Northern/Arewa brothers and sisters for the evacuation of Igbos from the north by the 1st of October was probably only meant to demonstrate to the authorities that Hate Speech is game they can play too.

I also think it was meant to help drive home the point that Igbos have major economic interests across the North which they should admit, appreciate and be grateful for, and stop behaving as if everyone else is their parasite. That we should each respect our mutual interdependence and dignity, and stop behaving as if we are a nation better off without each other.

“I believe that the call for an actual evacuation was in no way meant to be taken literally and seriously. Or so I hope.

However, it seems that some are taking the “game” a little too seriously and are even looking forward to business opportunities, job vacancies and promotions as a result of an Igbo-free Arewa.

It is for this reason that I’d like to do ask some questions with the hope of getting us to think through and more deeply about the possible consequences of such an ultimatum, even if it was notmeant to be executed.

What the longer term political and economic arrangements will finally look like is very important, but that is not my present concern in this piece.

So, and just for the sake of argument and enquiry, I’d like you to please ponder over the following questions:

”How would a call for the evacuation of all our peaceful Igbos brothers (Christians and Muslims!) be carried out? Are they all hostile “pro-Biafrans”? Are they not still “innocent until PROVEN guilty”? Are there any plans for equitable compensation? By whom? Can the target of this operation be justified by any ethical or religious principles? Do fairness and justice matter to us?

“Who will conduct the evacuation operations in the various towns and villages across Arewa and how? Would it be by the army, police or our ever-ready hooligans? Do hooligans know how to identify the difference between the various tribes of the South-South and South East? Or are they simply all “Igbos”?! Can you guess who would be more eager, and in fact not be ready to wait for the October date? Should we please not lift the October deadline while a more peaceful and less risky solution is worked out by our leadership?

“Would any Igbos want to defend their property and life savings? What if they rightfully defend themselves and resist evacuation? Then what? What happens when one Arewa hooligan gets injured or killed? On whose hands is the blood of any of the innocent dead victims? How many victims should be expected? Who called for it?

“How do you think the Nigerian Army and security services will respond to a “security situation”? Have we seen them in action before? Who will they target once they land? Will the Army target the GRA parts of town and those who started this, or will the victims once again be the poor and already wretched talakawa and almajiris? Haven’t these people not suffered enough in life already? Should we please not denounce the October “deathline” while a more peaceful and less risky solution is worked out by our leadership?

“What’s the duration of this evacuation operation? A few hours, days, weeks, months or years? When, where and how will it end? Will there be any violent reprisals in other parts of the country? Who will prevent these?

“Would an opportunist wait for October 1st, or will fake news and exaggerated rumours start a chain reaction earlier than that date? Who else is interested in anarchy in the North or in Nigeria as a whole? When will some fool or evil genius start that ball rolling? Should we please not denounce the October dead-line while a more peaceful and less risky solution is worked out?

“Will any perpetrators be taken to court or prison? Will those who called for this be able to call it off once there is blood on the ground? (God forbid!) Will they even still be in the country?

“How many more widows, orphans and IDPs nationwide? Who will support the new IDP camps? You?! The government? Have we really thought this through? Is this godliness, reason and conscience at work? Do we really want to go down this road?! Is it worth it from any positive angle? Should we please not denounce the October deadline while a more peaceful and less risky solution is worked out?

“Have you been involved in sharing Hate Speech through any social media? Has the ball started rolling? Were you involved? Who should help stop it? What if we don’t? Who will it hit, or not hit? Who are the ultimate victims of this approach to “ending insults”, “better justice” and “the dignity of Arewa”? Do these ends justify these means? Should we please not condemn the October deathline?

“Hmmm…. Are all these questions just silly pessimistic and impossible speculation? Is this a real, imminent and very possible scenario that has actually played out in this exact way in other societies? How did genocides and “ethnic cleansing” start elsewhere? Was it not also “like play, like play!?” – “June 12th 1993”?, Southern Sudan, South Africa, Rwanda, Sri Lanka, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Germany, Poland, the Balkans, Zimbabwe, Central African Republic, Northern Ireland, Everywhere!, etc., etc.!?

“Are we somehow immune to the laws history and of social cause and effect? Have we really thought this issue through?

“What is it that is said about wise people learning from other people’s mistakes? What kind of people will we be tagged as, if we make the same mistake twice? Can as many of us as possible (yes, you too!) rise above the ethnic-tribal sentiments that has been the bane of many political and economic instability of failed or failing countries.

“What are our religious obligations regarding this – irrespective of your faiths? Or is it not a “religious” issue?! Should it be of interest or concern to faithful Muslims, Christians and anyone with a conscience?

“Should we put this “little” fire out ASAP or should we wait a bit? For what, and for whom? What is the value of any religion, religious leader or religiousity if it can’t help prevent primitive tribal instincts from over-riding our virtues, beliefs and value systems of justice, compassion, wisdom, goodness and humanity? What is God-consciousness for if it can’t correct wrong with the “hand,… tongue,…or heart”?

“Could calmer and more pragmatic minds like yourself (by God’s will!) go ahead and plan and prevail in your own neighbourhoods, organisations and institutions, etc.? Can you go ahead and reassure the Igbos you know?

“If one person is being unreasonable, should that justify others behaving in a similar manner? It’s said, that it is easy to blow out a fire while it is still on the matchstick. But once it meets fuel…!!!

“Should ALL OF US not please DENOUNCE and CONDEMN the October DEADline ASAP, while a more peaceful and less risky solution is worked out?

My sincere prayer?

May God guide how we answer these questions?

May God grant us the wisdom to learn from the painful mistakes of others, and not repeat these ourselves.

May God show us the truth for what it is, and give us the strength to follow it.

May He also show us falsehood for what it is, and give us the strength to avoid it.

Wassalamu ‘alaikum – and may PEACE be with you, and upon Nigeria. Ameen!”

The post Biafra: Nuruddeen Lemu’s posting appeared first on The Nation Nigeria.

In journalism, what makes news are uncommon incidents in uncommon places at uncommon times. These days, most news stories, are rather sad than pleasant because of their common identities. The phenomenon that dominates news stories nowadays is generally tendentious and prone to sadness. That is why the hitherto uncommon news stories have become common even as the usually known common stories have become uncommon. Thus, any pleasant news these days may sound like no news at all even if is to the benefit of mankind. The topic here today is a typical example of a good news with a sour taste.

MDG and SDG

How many Nigerians know what Milennium Development Goal (MDG) or Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) means? These two concepts were initiated by deep-thinking people from outside the African Continent who felt pity for the less privileged people especially those of Africa. It was meant to be the turning of the scew for the downtrodden masses of the developing countries. MDG was initiated at the commencement of the 21st century in year 2000. Its aim was to introduce a new, favourable economic and environmental trend to the poor people of Africa and the rest of the world through a new empowerment era in the new millennium. As a new idea MDG was test run for 15 years from 2999 to 2015. But unfortunate, very few people knew of it and its benefit until about 2015 when it was almost rolling off.

Thus, when it became clear that the 15 year programme was rolling off without the knowledge of those for whom it was meant, a new precept was coined as an addendum to mdg. That new precept was called SDG.  And except for such efforts as the conference under report here, the 15 years of SDG too may roll out unnoticed.

Conference of religious leaders

Two weeks ago, (June 21, 2017), Some representatives of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) and those of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) met at Osun State University, Osogbo, to commonly deliberate on an uncommon subject that is common to all Nigerians irrespective of tribe, faith and political affiliations. It was a rare conference. The forum that brought those religious leaders together was facilitated by a popular Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) called United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network, Nigeria (SDSN) coordinated by Professor Labode Popoola, who, incidentally, is the Vice Chancellor of Osun State University, Osogbo. Each of the Muslim and Christian bodies was represented by about 10 clerics while the traditional religionists were absent for a reason best known to them. The NSCIA delegation was led by Prof D. O.S. Noibi, a member of the General Purpose Committee of NSCIA and the Executive Secretary of the Muslim Ummah of the Southwest Nigeria (MUSWEN). Yours sincerely was on that delegation.

Observation

The issue here is not about religion per se. But in the wisdom of the organisers of the conference, religion is a veritable means of mobilising Nigerian citizens for any good and beneficial venture in the contemporary time.  This is because religion has virtually become the last bastion of hope for most Nigerians as an aftermath of economic failure in the country. Thus, any idea that requires quick dissemination and popular support must involve religious leaders who control the minds of Nigerian worshippers in Churches and Mosques. The objective was to allow for spiritual inputs into human social services for the wellbeing of mankind. What does the Qur’an or the Bible say about Sustainable Development Goa? And how can these help the growth of the society?

 Why the Religions?

According to Professor Popoola who explained the involvement of religious leaders:

“The recognition of the engagement of religions in the sustainable development agenda is that of their commitments to fundamental service to humanity and serving communities.

These commitments are through divine preaching and exemplary leadership in the expression of respect for the creatures, protecting nature, reinforcing people’s trust and confidence at good deeds and rewards”.

Motive of the SDG           

Analysing the real motive of the SDG, Professor Popola said: “The SDGs were developed as a road map for inclusive growth, economic prosperity and environmental sustainability, to succeed the former Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) that started in 2000 and ended in 2015.

These goals were based on a common knowledge that our world is faced with very many complex challenges, ranging from socio-economic, environmental challenges; and natural disasters. The 17 SDGs became operational since January, 2016

How much do we know about these goals and how do we spread the knowledge about them to inspire actions at all levels and across regions.

The past experiences on developmental agenda implementation revealed many gaps, including lack of effective stakeholders’ mobilization and participation, which is addressed by the new shift to inclusiveness and ownership.

In response to, and in recognition of the above facts, we note that Nigeria is a religious country and in fact it is very rare to find a Nigerian without religious inclination.

In other words, every citizen has one or more religious leader (s) he or she is attached to. More so, statistics show that there are more worship places in every settlement and cities than socio-economic structures.

Evidence of facts

Evidence reveals that every class in our society respects religious leadership even more than government institutions.

Therefore, engagement of religions in the process of implementation of, and action on SDGs is very crucial to achieving the deliverables of the Agenda at all levels.

Priority

The United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network, Nigeria (SDSN Nigeria) prioritizes holding this high level forum with religious leaders in the country under the umbrella of Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and Traditional Religion Groups.

“We believe that this choice of ours is very strategic, timely and relevant to all of us especially at this period when our country is making progress in the war against extremism, terrorism, corruption, intolerance, insecurity, economic recession, unemployment and all sort of humanitarian crises.

Sustaining the momentum

More than ever before, we need to maintain the tempo and sustain the progress for increased momentum in peace, economic recovery, socio-welfare and security, human prosperity and safe environment

We hope that the forum will help in propagating the ideas of SDGs for optimization of its benefit to humanity. The space here does not allow for details.

History of Sustainable Development

In a paper delivered through Power Point by Dr. S.O. Jimoh of the Department of Forest Resources Management, University of Ibadan and entitled: ‘The Roots of the Concept of ‘Sustainability’, the idea of ‘progress ‘ as the antecedent to the notions of ‘development’ became known.

In the lecture, Dr. Jimoh, quoting one Bury 1932,  explained that the idea of progress as emphasizing ‘that civilization has moved, is moving, and will move in a desirable direction’ .

“Thinking about progress slowly started surfacing during the classical Greco-Roman period (Guthrie, 1950)

The Roots…

The French scientist, Fontenelle first articulated the Idea of ‘Progress’ in 1683 saying that mankind, with the new science and improved technology had entered on a road of necessary and unlimited progress’ (Von Wright, 1997).

“The idea reached its peak in the Western civilization in the period between 1750 and 1900. During that period, the link between progress and modern, empirical, and exact science was consolidated according to Nisbet,1980 and Von Wright,1997.

The Revolution

The Industrial Revolution started unfolding on the world stage from the 18th century; irrevocably transforming human societies (Worster,1993). According to Worster (1993),Industrialization caused ‘the greatest revolution in outlook that has ever taken place’.

It led people to think that it was right for them to dominate the natural order and radically transform it into consumer goods.

The benefits and rewards of the world economic system flowed primarily to the industrial countries, the gap between the rich and poor societies widened.

Environmental degradation

A big issue linked to industrial development, was environmental degradation caused by an unprecedented exploitation of raw materials on a global scale as indicated by Goudie, 1986 and Boyden 1997. This led to a growing concern universally, about ‘sustainability’.

Emergence of the term ‘Sustainability’

Landmarks in Sustainable Development Since 1968 when the International Conference for ‘Rational Use and Conservation of the Biosphere’ held in Paris, France was organized by UNESCO, series of similar conferences have been held on ecological sustainable development.

1987 Report on Environment

In 1987, the report of the World Commission on Environment and Development popularized the term ‘Sustainable Development’. The report now known as Our Common Future  Brundtland Report defined ‘sustainable development’ as “…development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”

Also, in 1992 the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; and known as Earth Summit was established as a common goal of human development for about160 countries that attended the meeting.

It recognized sustainable management of forests as key component to sustainable development and included non-binding Statement of Forest Principles that provided guidelines for sustainable forest management. Many other conferences were held around the world to salvage the world from the threat of environment.

Conclusion

The evolution of the concept of Sustainable development is born out of the compelling need to balance the human drive for better living with the necessity to preserve the environment which provides the required resources to power the drive.

Therefore, for our development to be sustainable, we must manage and utilize resources wisely so that those coming behind can remain useful perpetually.

The conference was just a first step for religious bodies to get familiar with the SDG and environment. More may be written in this column on this subject as further efforts are made along this line to educate Nigerian public through religious leaders.

The post SDG: The turning of the screw appeared first on The Nation Nigeria.

Lagos State government and some renowned Islamic scholars have paid glowing tributes to the founder and Mudir of Dharu-Dawa-Wal Irshad in Isolo, Lagos, Sheikh Mustapha Sanusi Zuglool.

The eminent Islamic scholar died last Wednesday and was buried the following day, according to Islamic rites. He was 80.

Commissioner for Home Affairs, Dr AbdulHakeem AbdulLateef, who represented the state government at the burial, described the deceased as scholars’ scholar.

According to him, the mammoth crowd at the burial attested to Sheikh Zuglool’s good character.

AbdulLateef said: “It is unfortunate we lost such a good person at a time the nation needs people of wisdom to guide the youths. He was a great scholar, who has also brought up many other scholars. He is also survived by good children.

“Some pray to die in the Holy Land (saudi Arabia) so that many could gather for their Janazah, but Sheikh Zuglool’s burial also attracted thousands of people. Allah has really blessed him.”

Ansar-Ud-Deen Society of Nigeria (ADSN) Chief Missioner Sheikh AbdurRahman Ahmad said Sheikh Zuglool’s death came as a rude shock but death is inevitable.

Sheikh Ahmad said: “His death is such a very great loss to the Ummah. By all standard, Sheikh Zuglool was an intellectual giant and when learned people like him dies, the light of the community starts to diminish, then darkness gradually takes over. This is because learned people are the light of the society, they illuminate, spiritually, physically and mentally. So, the death of leaned people like Zuglool is worrisome. It is a great loss to the society, it is not an ordinary death, it is the death of a leaned man; not even an ordinary learned man but a giant among the learned men.”

Conference of Islamic Organisations (CIO) Mufti Sheikh Dhikrullahi Shafi’I described Sheikh Zuglool’s death as a colossal loss to the nation especially the Muslim ummah.

“He was a great historian, whose knowledge of Middle East can’t be doubted. One can call him an encyclopaedia of Middle East knowledge. He was one of the few that were very versed on the issues in that region. He lived a fulfilled life and was exemplary in conduct. His lifestyle was moderate despite having wealthy people around him. We pray Allah grant him paradise,” he said.

Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) Director Prof Ishaq Akintola said: “He was a great Islamic Scholar, an indefatigable preacher, a mentor primus inter pareil and a humanist par excellence. He stands on the same pedestal as the late Shaykh Adam Al-Ilori.”

According to Sheikh Abdullah Akinbode, “Baba was a colossus of virtues, citadel of knowledge and epitome of morality.”

NASFAT Acting Chief Missioner Sheikh Abdullazeez Onike said: “We have lost a scholar! Sheikh Zuglool was a scholar by all standards. His style of tafsir was unparalleled; you will think he was a professor of History. We in NASFAT will never forget him because he kicked-off our Ramadan Tafsir and since it has been wonderful. Indeed, we have lost a great scholar in Nigeria.”

Secretary, Muslim Media Practitioners of Nigeria, (MMPN) Lagos Chapter, Haroon Balogun described late Zuglool as a respected scholar, a stockroom of knowledge, an erudite Historian who contributed tremendously to development of Islam particularly among the youths.

“Like Sheikh Adam Al Ilori, he mentored a lot of younger Muslims leaving behind enduring legacies for the generation unborn. May Allah forgive him and admit his soul into Aljanah Firdaus.”

The post Lagos govt, scholars mourn Sheikh Zuglool appeared first on The Nation Nigeria.

A Nigerian foremost University popularly called Premier University (the University of Ibadan) will be 70 years in 2018. Yet, despite its popularity and age, this highly revered institution has consistently lacked certain essential amenities, including water, in the past few decades. This situation has randomly caused students’ unrests thereby forcing the University to close down for months.

Philanthropic Gestures

It takes the efforts of some conscientious Nigerian philanthropists to respond to occasional beckons from some concerned dons in the institution.

One of such beckons got a response penultimate Tuesday, July 11, 2017, when a borehole donated by a well known philanthropist, Dr. S. O. Babalola was commissioned. Dr. Babalola is the Deputy President-General (South) of Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) and President of the Muslim Ummah of Southwest Nigeria (MUSWEN).

Donation of the Borehole

The Head of Department of Arabic and Islamic Studies, Professor K. K. Oloso had appealed to Dr. Babalola to donate a borehole to the three departments that have become a tripod in a proverbial academic siberia having been fused together and detached like boys’ quarters of a mansion. And, characteristically, the well known philanthropist gladly obliged.

Commissioning

While commissioning the borehole, at the request of the University, Dr. Babalola who was accompanied by his wife, Alhaja Halimat Babalola, said inter alia:

“,,,,The borehole that we are commissioning today is a donation in memory of my beloved mother, Alhaja Muniratu Abeje Babalola and on her behalf.  She brought me up with affection and with compassion along the path of righteousness.

The least I could do by way of appreciation is, among other things, to fund beneficial projects in her name with fervent prayers and hope that Allah accept these as Sadaqatun Jariyyah (Perpetual Charity) for which she would be rewarded richly and eternally in her Barzakh before Judgement Day and in al-Jannah(Paradise). This borehole is one of such humble projects.

It is my wish and hope that it will further facilitate the acquisition of  beneficial knowledge and promote God-consciousness and religious harmony both of which, obviously, our country is badly in need of.

I have taken note of the demand that I provide an electricity generator to ensure constant supply of power and thus maximize the use of the borehole. I will get back to you on this demand in due course, in shaa’aLlaah (God willing)”.

Essence of Water

Water is life. It is only with water that man, animals, birds, plants and insects can be deemed to be in existence. Without water, no living organism can survive. One fastest means of providing portable and durable water these days is borehole. The amount of water contained in a borehole and the natural purity of such water are unprecedented. Thus, whoever provides or facilitates the provision of pure, drinkable water is a provider of life. It can therefore be concluded that with the provision of a borehole for the mentioned three departments at U. I,  Dr. S. O. Babalola has brought life not only to the people in those Departments but also to the entire Faculty of Arts and even some other adjoining faculties on the campus.

The Like of ZamZam

In his opening prayer at the commissioning of the borehole, Professor Abdul Hafeez Oladosu of the Department of Arabic and Islamic Studies hypothetically likened the borehole to the world’s oldest and purest well called Zamzam. He  beseeched the Almighty Allah to enable the commissioned borehole become a mini Zamzam that could serve the University of Ibadan community today, tomorrow and forever just like Zamzam. The word Zamam meaning ‘stop, stop’ is originally Coptic, which was the language of Prophet Ibrahim’s second wife (Hajarah). She was from an empire called El-Kipt which the Europeans later corruptly pronounced as Egypt. That empire was situated in Africa confirming that human civilization began from African continent.

History of ZamZam

Historically, Zamzam was a product of necessity. It sprang miraculously some thousands of years ago at the sacred House of Allah called Ka’abah in Makkah. Zamzam became a blessing for the people of Makkah and later for the entire mankind through Hajj, at the instance of Prophet Ibrahim’s first son (Ismail). At infancy, Ismail needed water badly with his mother, Hajarah, in the scorching heat of what later came to be known as Arabia where they (mother and son) were left to fend for themselves without any matrimonial assistance.

Hajarah was Prophet Ibrahim’s second wife who was brought down to Makkah with her son by Prophet Ibrahim to sojourn permanently in the Sacred valley of Makkah with a view to safeguarding the Sacred House under the guidance of Allah.

Hajarah’s Entrance

Prophet Ibrahim had to seek a second wife on the advice of his first wife, Sarah, when he reached the age of 86 years without any hope of child bearing. Sarah herself had then attained the age of 70. As a reflection of love and faith, she recommended her house maid, Hajarah to her husband for marriage. But characteristic of women, Sarah, along the line, became uncomfortable with Hajarah’s position as a co-wife of her husband especially after the latter became a mother, and requested for her relocation to a far distance with her son. Prophet Ibrahim had to relocate Hajarah and her son if only to have matrimonial respite. Today, the rest is history.

Location of Zamzam

Zamzam is located some 20 metres or 66 feet away from the entrance door of the Ka’abah. It is well  located within 20 m (66 ft) east of theKa ‘ba in the Haram.

The water came into existence when the little boy, Ismail was thirsty and kept crying. His mother became restless and started running up and down especially between the two symbolic Hill of Safa and Marwa. It was at this anxious moment that the innocent boy scratched the floor with his feet only for a spring to miraculously surge out with pure, drinkable water to the greatest surprise of Hajarah who had to shout at the spring saying Zam, Zam meaning stop, Stop to suppress the gorge of the spring water. Ever since, the spring has never sopped flowing. Today, millions of pilgrims visit the well each year while performing Hajj  and Umrah pilgrimages.

Quality of Zamzam Water

Zamzam water is unique in its hydrogeological features. It is not only  colourless and odorless but also has a distinct taste, with a pH of 7.5-7.7, indicating that it is alkaline to some extent. Its mineral concentration, according to a report of research carried out

at  King Saud University in Riyad is as follows:

Mineral                                               Concentration

mg/L      oz/cu in

Sodium                                   133       7.7×10″5

Calcium                                  96         5.5×10″5

Magnesium                             38.88    2.247×10″5

Potassium                              43.3      2.50×10—5

Bicarbonate                             195.4    0.0001129

Chloride                                  163.3    9.44×10—5

Fluoride                                  0.72      4.2×10—7

Nitrate                                    124.8    7.21×10—5

Sulfate                                    124.0    7.17×10—5

Total dissolved solids          835       0.000483

Impact of U. I’s  Borehole

Small as U. I’s  borehole project may seem, its impact will surely be bigger than any imagination attributable to it. When it becomes fully operational, the borehole will eliminate the messiness of the toilets around and reduce unnecessary agitations by students to the barest minimum.

Zamzam Research Centre

The Saudi geological survey has a “Zamzam Research Centre” which analyses the technical properties of the well in details. It is through this Centre that water levels were monitored from time to time in the past with the use of hydrograph now has changed to a digital monitoring system that tracks the water level, electric conductivity of pH and as well as temperature.

All of this information is made continuously available to other research institutes and other interested people of the world through the Internet.

To preclude any possible abuse, the Saudi government has prohibited any commercial export of Zamzam water from the kingdom.

Destination

The Zamzam well is a destination for millions of pilgrims each year, who visit specifically to drink the holy water.

The Zamzam well is a destination for millions of Muslim pilgrims who go for Hajj each year. Some of those pilgrims do visit Zamam specifically to drink from its holy water for spiritual solution to their problems.

It is believed that the well had two cisterns in the past, one for drinking and the other for ablution.

Universality of Zamzam

In virtually all the countries of the world, Zamzam water is in use for one spiritual purpose or the others. Thus,, it is evident that there is no country in the world today without a token of Zamzam directly or indirectly since the world’s population of the Muslims is over 7 billion spread across nations and continents.

Conclusion

Today, if any water is considered absolutely potent socially and spiritually it can only be Zamzam. Its miraculous origin as well as its age and continuity of flow have confirmed this assertion. There is no water like Zamzam in the world and there can be no water like it till the end of time. Zamzam is the wealth of nations and not just that of Makkah.

Peculiar Features of Zamxam

1. It has never dried up. Rather, it has always fulfilled the thirsty yearning of people for water.
2. It has consistently maintained the same divine aquatic composition and taste ever since it came into existence. Its portability has always been universally acknowledged as pilgrims from all over the world visit Ka’aba every year for Hajj and Umrah and none has ever complained about the purity and durability of its water.
3. The usual biological growth of vegetation around all wells is alien to Zamzam well. This is an indication that Zamzam water cannot be naturally polluted. Today, over 173 million people are presumed to be direct or indirect consumers of Zamzam water annually. And that is about 10% of the world’s Muslim population. Where else can such a natural well be fund?

We pray the Almighty Allah to repose the soul of Mama Babalola in eternal bliss and reward her worthyson, Dr. S. O. Babalola, OON, abundantly here on earth and in the hereafter. Amin.

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Preamble 

This is the season of Hajj. It comes up in the month of Dhul Hijjah every year. Hajj means aspiration towards a higher pedestal in spirituality. It is, divinely, a pillar of Islam made obligatory by Allah for Muslims who can afford it once in a lifetime. Hajj is an ordained pilgrimage based on piety and not a manmade tourism. Thus, the visa issued to Muslims who perform Hajj annually is that of pilgrimage and not one of tourism. Whilst pilgrimage is a spiritual exercise, tourism is a mere pleasurable journey. A whole chapter in the Qur’an is is divinely named after Hajj. And that is where the Muslims derive their spiritual authority to perform Hajj drom.

Similitude of Hajj

The similitude of Hajj in the life of a Muslim is like that of pregnancy in the womb of an expectant mother. The experience may vary from woman to woman as the foetus in the womb undergoes various stages of development before it reaches the stage of delivery. By the time the child is finally delivered, the mother feels a relief of her life while the child assumes a tabula rasa (clean slate) that makes him absolutely innocent.

Spiritually, a pilgrim is like a newly born baby if he strictly performs Hajj as prescribed by Allah. But if he returns into the world of iniquities after Hajj, he automatically becomes like a person in snow-white attire who finds himself in a palm oil market. Unless he spiritually guides his loins, he may immediately become a tainted person both in body and in soul.

Rigours of Hajj

Muslim pilgrims who are going on Hajj must be prepared to go through series of rigour both spiritually and physically. The rigour of getting the money with which to perform Hajj; the rigour of getting the travelling documents including visa; the rigour of taking care of the home front before embarking on the Holy journey; the rigour of boarding the plane with a sense of high risk; the rigour of going through the security checks at the embarkation point from home  and disembarkation point in Saudi Arabia;  the rigour of performing the Tawaf and Sa’y; the rigour of moving from Makkah to Muna on the 8th day of Dhul-Hijjah, then to Arafah on the 9th day of Dhul-Hijjah, and back to Mina via Muzdalifah on the 10th of Dhul-Hijjah; the rigour of locating the tents at Arafah; the rigour of throwing the pebbles at the Jamrat in Mina on the three or four days known as Ayamu-t-Tashrik; The rigour of performing Tawaful Ifadah at the Haram in Makkah after the first day of throwing the pebbles; the rigour of shaving the head (by men) and slaughtering the rams by all; the rigour of performing the farewell circumambulation otherwise known as Tawaful Wada’i,  all in the midst of millions of people can be too much to forget easily after Hajj.

Whoever is not bothered by the money spent on Hajj should at least be bothered by the various stages of the rigour involved including that of visiting Madinah. To lose all these efforts to the forces of Satan after Hajj is like losing one’s travelling passport after obtaining visa. The prayer of every genuine pilgrim is to retain the validity of Hajj and its spiritual value forever.

Prerequisites for Hajj Performance

Performance of pilgrimage must be based on certain fundamental conditions. These include genuine intention and high spiritual standard. Attainment of puberty. The sincere practice of the first four pillars of Islam: (Salat, Zakah, and Sawm) all of which are fervently based on faith (Iman). Hajj without these pre-requisites is like a tree without roots. Money is a major pre-requisite for Hajj but it is not absolute.

Hajj, the last pillar of Islam shows, very vividly, the similitude of what mankind will experience on the Day of Judgment. Looking at the unique way in which pilgrims dress for Hajj and how they assemble at Arafat leaving their luggage behind in Makkah, one will realize how ephemeral this world is. Some of them never return to their luggage.

Purpose of Hajj

The various stages of preparation through which pilgrims pass before arriving at Arafat are symbolic of our peregrinations in life as human beings. Like the Day of Judgment, Arafat is the climax of Hajj performance. Anybody who misses Arafat misses Hajj. But Arafat is not by physical appearance alone. It takes a combination of factors to participate effectively in that great assembly at Arafah which serves as the climax of Hajj.

Steps to take

For Hajj to serve its spiritual purpose in the life of a pilgrim, certain steps must be taken before leaving home. They are as follows:

Fine-tuning the first four pillars of Islam very sincerely; Packaging one’s intention to perform Hajj; Ascertaining the security of the way; Providing adequately for the family and dependants

at home; Paying all outstanding debts including promises; Ascertaining the condition of health; Perfecting immigration  procedures;  Undergoing all necessary medical services including inoculation; Assuming a mood of humility like that of a servant approaching his Master; readiness to endure hardship and to tolerate fellow pilgrims’ attitudes. All these are the necessary steps to take by any genuine pilgrim.

Admonition

While admonishing Muslims on spiritual journey including Hajj, Prophet Muhammad (SAW) once said: “Actions shall be judged according to intentions. Whoever embarks on a spiritual journey for the sake of Allah will be adjudged on that basis. And whoever intends pilgrimage or Hajj for the purpose of marriage or material gains should not expect any reward beyond that for which he intends”.

Step by Step of Hajj

The spiritual steps to follow in the performance of Hajj are as follows:

The Miqat

Miqat is the specified place for the wearing of Ihram dress. There are five of such places in all. But the one earmarked for pilgrims from Nigeria cannot be reached by those travelling by air. It is over-flown while crossing the Red Sea. What most Nigerians do therefore is to wear their Ihram dress in Jeddah which has now been adjudged right through a Fatwah issued by highest scholarly authority in Saudi Arabian. Thus, Nigerian pilgrims can now wear their Ihram dress on arrival at the pilgrims’ airport in Jeddah if they fly directly to Jeddah. However, pilgrims whose first destination in Saudi Arabia is Madinah have no problem with Miqat. Such pilgrims should just wear their Ihram dresses at the Miqat in Madinat.

Tawaful-Qudum

Tawaf means circumambulation of the Ka’bah. The very first Tawaf to be performed by any pilgrim on entering Makkah is called Tawaful Qudum (meaning welcoming circumambulation). It is performed before the pilgrims settle down in their residences. Tawaful Qudum is an obligatory Sunnah from which only pilgrims from Makkah are exempted.

Residence in Makkah or Madinah

Most Nigerian pilgrims often seek their accommodations in Makkah or Madinah close to the Haram. This is to enable them to walk to and from the Haram conveniently at the times of any Salat. To minimize pilgrims’ regular occurrence of missing their ways, they are provided with hand bands bearing the addresses of their residences. And this enables official Hajj guides to show them the way. Pilgrims are therefore advized to wear such bands at all times. It is also important for pilgrims to always be with their identity cards provided by Nigeria’s National Hajj Commission (NAHCON).This is to enable them to be identified in case of sickness, accident or even death.

Movement to Muna

Pilgrims’ statutory movement to Muna is on the 8th of Dhul Hijjah. Such pilgrims must spend the night of the 8th of Dhul-Hijjah in Muna where they must observe Salatus-Subhi of the 9th day of Dhul Hijjah, which is Arafah Day, before proceeding to the Plain of Arafah.. Such movement must commence from Makkah after Tawaful Qudum. There is no movement to Muna from Madinah since there is no Tawaf in Madinah.

The Day of Arafah

All pilgrims proceeding to the Plain of Arafat are advised to stay under their tents and concentrate on the spiritual activities that take them to the place. They must reach Arafat before the mid day when Salatu-d-Dhuhr and ‘Asr should be observed combined and in congregation. Any pilhrim who is not at Arafat by mid day is considered not to have taken part in the assembly and therefore missed Hajj.

Immediately after observing the combined Salatu-d-Dhuhr and ‘Asr the Imam who led the two Salat is expected to give a sermon. Listening to such sermon is as compulsory as giving it by the Imam. The great assembly of Arafat terminates shortly before the sunset (Magrib) while the pilgrims return to Muna via Muzdalifah.

Muzdalifah

At Muzdalifah, pilgrims are expected to halt their journey to observe Magrib and ‘Ishai combined. They are also expected to pass the night there and observe the Salat-s-Subh of the following day before proceeding to Muna. Muzdalifah is adjacent to Muna and it is a walking distance to the Jamrat (the stonning place).

Jamrat

Stoning of the devils (Rajmu Jimar) begins a day after Arafat and continues for the next three or four days that the pilgrims are supposed to spend at Muna. This exercise is obligatory and without it Hajj is considered incomplete except when and where a pilgrim is hindered by certain inevitable conditions. There are three points at which stones are to be thrown. Seven pebbles are to be thrown at each point on every one of the three or four days to be spent in Muna. Only seven stones are to be thrown on the first day at Jamratul Kubrah.

Picking such pebbles at the point of throwing them is forbidden. All pebbles must have been picked before leaving the tent for the ‘Jamrat’ or on the way to the ‘Jamrat’. For pilgrims who deside to spend three days in Muna, the total number of pebbles to be thrown is 49 (7 for the first day, 21 for the second day and 21 for the third day). For pilgrims who choose to spend four days, the total number of pebbles to be thrown is 70.

Majzarah (Abattoir)

Slaughtering of all sacrificial animals is done at the abattoir in Muna. Pilgrims do not need to bother themselves by going to the abattoir for the purpose of carrying out this compulsory obligation. They can simply buy the guaranteed ticket sold by designated Saudi agents. The receipt is the evidence that one has performed that duty. The slaughtering is done on behalves of the pilgrims by some authorized artisans who are paid by the Saudi Hajj authorities from the money paid for those animals. The animals to be slaughtered at Jamrat range from rams to camels. A pilgrim should slaughter one ram or more while seven pilgrims may combine to slaughter one camel or five of them may jointly slaughter on cow.

Tawaful Ifadah

Tawaful Ifadah is compulsory fpr all pilgrims. Without it, ahajj is invalid.

Any pilgrim who chooses to go for Tawaful Ifadah on the fist day of Ayamut-Tashrik must return to Muna before the sundet. Such a pilrim must not break the camping rule at Muna by going to Makkah without performing Tawaf-ul- Ifadah. With the completion of the camping days in Muna which is climaxed by Tawaful-Ifadah and the arrival of all the pilgrims in Makkah, Hajj has come to an end except for Tawaf Wada’i  otherwise called farewell Tawaf. That Tawaf is also obligatory.

Conclusion

Throughout the Hajj exercise, what should be uppermost in the mind of a pilgrim is the spiritual benefit. Hajj is made compulsory only once in a life time for those who have the wherewithal to undergo it and can satisfy the conditions attached to its performance.

On arriving home finally, pilgrims are not expected to start organizing parties in celebration of a successful Hajj performance as ignorantly done by some Nigerians. Maintaining Hajj is a necessity for those who know the value of doing that. Whoever is privileged to perform Hajj once should forever be grateful to Allah as no one is sure of getting another chance.

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Today, ‘The Message’ chooses to migrate psychologically from the insanity of Nigeria’s political/ religious rigmarole to the global political tempest if only for a change. After all, elasticity has its own limit. And by so migrating, if  temporarily, some relief may come to the readers of this column over the current suffocating economic heat in the country. That is a way of ventilating a peaceful atmosphere for peace-loving Nigerians.

Genesis of Today’s Global Crisis

Some years ago, Al-Jazeera Television throbbed with   breaking news, saying that a United States military aircraft strayed into the airspace of Iran and the latter promptly responded by shooting it down. Iran announced another incident of the like a few days later. This disturbing development has further aggravated the tension between both countries, which had started with the Iranian revolution since 1979. That revolution had uprooted the country’s imperial despotism which had despotism had caged the citizens of that country for decades.

U.S.’ Reaction

In reaction to the fotuitous incident, the US authorities explained that the destination of the shot aircraft was Afghanistan and not Iran. They explained that its pilots accidentally lost control and strayed into Iranian territory.

Threat to British Embassy  

Shortly before that incident, Some Iranian students had besieged the British Embassy in Tehran, protesting the meddling of David Cameron’s government in the internal affairs of Iran. And in retaliation, Britain quickly evacuated her diplomats in Tehran and sent the latter’s diplomats in London packing despite Iran’s regret over those students’ action.

Genesis of faceoff

The genesis of the faceoff between Iran and the West took roots in the latter’s unexpected revolution of 1979. The faceoff actually started in February 1979 when Iran jumped onto the world stage with a surprising revolution. February 11, 1979 was the precise climax of a struggle, in that country, which began in 1963 between the oppressed people who were seeking emancipation from the shackles of imperialism and the implacable oppressors who wanted to keep that country’s innocent peasants in perpetual subservience. The success of that revolution has since changed the grand design of the Western powers for the Muslim world.

The Grand Design

That grand design was first expressed in 1902 by a British Prime Minister, Sir H. Campbell-Bannerman when he observed as follows:

“There are people who control spacious territories teeming with manifest and hidden resources.  They dominate the intersections of world routes. Their lands were the cradles of human civilizations and religions. These people have one faith, one language and the same aspirations. No natural barriers can isolate them from one another….If, per chance, these people were to be unified into one state it would then take the fate of the world into its hands and separate Europe from the rest of the world. Taking these considerations seriously, a foreign body should be planted in the heart of this nation to prevent the convergence of its wings in such a way that it could exhaust its powers in never- ending wars. It could also serve as a spring board for the West to gain its coveted objects”.

Follow Up

Sir Bannerman’s observation was in further pursuit of an earlier demand by one Theodor Herzl, a leader of the Zionist movement founded in 1879. Herzl, an Austrian Jewish lawyer and journalist demanded thus:

“Let sovereignty be granted us (Jews) over a portion of the globe large enough to satisfy the rightful requirements of a nation; the rest, we shall manage by ourselves…”

In response to that clandestine demand, another British Prime Minister, James Arthur Balfour issued a devastating declaration that now bears his name, which conceded a major part of Palestine to the Zionists as a home. That (Balfour) declaration has since put the Middle East in an incessant turmoil. The declaration read thus in part: “His majesty’s Government views with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people and will use its best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this objective…. The rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country shall not be prejudiced by the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people”.

Implementation

To facilitate that objective effectively, some other Middle East countries had to be decapacitated economically and politically by excising from them, a juicy chunk of their lands. Thus, Lebanon was excised from Syria and Kuwait from Iraq. The strategy was to cause a dissention among the citizens of those countries with the intention of breaking the yoke of the Muslim unity which Bannerman had targeted in his infamous observation of 1902 quoted above.

Now, how does Iran come into this picture when she is not an Arab country?

That is a logical question that anybody who is not quite familiar with the Middle East and the intricacies of its political and economic set up would ask. Naturally, Iran is affected by three major factors: Politics, economy and culture. And by culture here, we mean ISLAM. Iran is a foremost Islamic country even if her official language is farisi and not Arabic. And, as an Islamic Country, whatever affects other Muslim countries must affect her.

Turkey for instance

The case of Turkey is a good example of a Muslim country of no-Arabic origin. Turkey was though not an Arab country, she was nevertheless the seat of the Islamic Caliphate until 1924 when a diabolical agent of the West came on stage as Head of State. His name was Mustafa Kemal Ataturk; a man who wanted to prove to the West that it was possible for a non-Catholic to be “Holier than the Pope” especially when it came to adopting the so-called Western Civilization. On March 3, 1924, just one year after assuming office as the ruler of Turkey, Ataturk introduced a Bill to the Turkish Parliament seeking to secularize his country by abolishing the office of the caliph without any consideration for the feelings and sensibility of the people he ruled.

Presenting the Bill, Ataturk said: “Ottoman Empire was built and existed on the principle of Islam. Islam is Arabic in character and in concept. It shapes from birth to death, the lives of its adherents; it stifles hope and initiative. The Republic (of Turkey) is threatened by the continued existence of Islam in its midst….”

With the passage of that Bill, Turkey was recognized as a secular state. Politics was separated from religion and Islam was relegated to a personal matter rather than the state religion that it was before then. The caliphate was abolished and Islamic law was abrogated. Ataturk borrowed the new Turkish civil law from Switzerland, the criminal law from Italy and the international law of trade from Germany. The Muslim personal law was harmonized with the European civil law. Religious instruction in public schools was prohibited. Purdah system was abolished and declared illegal. Co-education was introduced to schools. The use of Arabic alphabets was prohibited and replaced by the Latin Script. Adhan (the call to prayer) was no longer to be made in Arabic but in Turkish language while the national costume was changed to that of the Europeans even as the wearing of hat was made compulsory. What Ataturk did not do was to abrogate the tenets of Islam completely.

Thus, by one man’s whim, Turkey lost her values and heritage of centuries in a bid to adopt the so called ‘modernity’ brought by ‘Western civilization’. One can imagine what Islam would have become today if countries like Iran, Indonesia and Pakistan had adopted the same misfortune.

The emergence of Ayatullah Khomeni

It was this same situation that prompted the late Iranian spiritual leader, Ayatullah Ruhullah Mousavi Khomeini to embark on the liberation struggle in 1963 that culminated in a successful revolution in 1979. Unlike Ataturk, however, Imam Khomeini knew that the greatest virtue that could be lost in the life of man was culture. He knew that without a clear-cut culture man couldn’t be better than a beast. He knew that such values as law, education and religion, which guide man in his peregrinations on earth, are the attributes of culture. He knew that a nation, which surrenders its culture and adopts that of another nation, has enslaved herself permanently to the caprice of the latter nation. Thus, Khomeini saw Islam, (the culture of over one billion Muslims in the world at that time), as the target of the Western imperialists, which needed defence and protection.

The Revolution

No one believed in 1979 that a mass protest which started like a small political billow, engendered by the country’s unarmed Mullahs could eventually grow into such a great magnitude of political ‘earthquake’. By the time the foggy dust finally settled, a new Iran had emerged from the debris of the old. Against the wish and expectation of the capitalist West, the secular, monarchical Iran became an Islamic republic. The drama was quite electric.

Characteristic of the West, all hands were put on deck, at that time, to ensure that an Islamic republic did not succeed the tyrannical monarchy headed by the Shah Pahlavi and heavily backed up by the oppressive West. America was most active in that ambitious but vain effort. She would not easily allow the massive benefit she had been enjoying for decades in that oil-rich country, under the Shah regime, to slip out of her hands just like that. Thus, under the pretext of wanting to rescue her citizens from the siege laid by Iranian students on that country’s embassy, in Tehran, the US attempted an invasion of the country.  The espionage activities by the American diplomats, inside that embassy, against the new Islamic government in Iran had warranted the siege.

The American strategy

While a number of US F15 bomber jets were approaching Iran, President Jimmy Carter engaged his country’s press in a chat without giving any hint of the impending military operation in Iran. The tactics was to divert the attention of the press and that of the country from the illegal Pentagon’s military expedition. But no sane person can ever fault the contents of the Qur’an. More than 1400 years before that incident, a verse of the Qur’an had been revealed to Prophet Muhammad (SAW) thus: “They (the unbelievers) schemed, and Allah schemed. Allah is the supreme schemer”. Q. 3:54.

Jimmy Carter’s thought was that by the time he would be finishing his press address, the news would have reached him that America had successfully invaded Iran. He had therefore intended to announce the news of his ‘great’ successful scheme to the press as the epilogue of his address. And that would have served as his impetus for wining that year’s election for a second term in office. But, as Allah would have it, instead of the expected news, what he got was a shocker of his life.

The failure of the American strategy

Two of the F15 fighters deployed for the operation miraculously collided in the air, crashing with their contents, just at the point of entering Iran and consuming the lives of 16 top air force officers while the other jet fighters had to turn back having run into confusion. When this devastating news reached Carter, it was too much to hide and it quickly became a public knowledge.

Thus, the mighty America failed woefully, with her technology, in circumstances she has never been able to analyze and explain convincingly. With that scheme, it became obvious that Jimmy Carter of the Democrat Party had dug his own political grave. Of course, he lost the election to the cowboy turned Politician, (Ronald Reagan) of the Republican Party. For about 444 days (well over a year), the 52 American hostages remained under the siege of the Iranian students. It took high-level diplomacy, through third party countries, to get them released.

Yet, America was not done. She went ahead to freeze Iran’s foreign reserve of $80 billion in addition to imposition of economic sanctions with the intention of running that country’s economy aground. The only Iran’s offence in this case was to chart an independent political course that could liberate her citizens from the manacles of the Western imperialism. Ever since, the relationship between America and Iran has remained icy.

That relationship however, further deteriorated recently when Iran started a nuclear project with which to prop up her economy. America responded with a threat saying the United States would not tolerate any nuclear project in Iran because she could not trust that Islamic nation. And of course, America’s voice was re-echoed by the United Nations, through the mouth of the latter’s Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon.

 Greyhound

Only a fool will not know that the UN, as presently constituted, is the greyhound of the US through which the latter barks randomly at the rest of the world.

But for the recent Iraqi episode that became regrettable for the self-appointed policeman of the world, and of course, the North Korean case, which has become a cancerous sore on the head of the US, another Gulf war would have either ensued or been in plan by now. The secret of America’s military successes in various parts of the world is neither in technological advancement, nor military superiority per se. The failed rescue mission in Iran can confirm this. That secret is rather in her ability to cause schism among some other nations and races.

Iran has never been a prey to America’s direct military aggression, even when the Shah Pahlavi was in power, because she has never played a fool dancing to the sour music of that predatory country in a seeming open market.

Sanction as weapon

Now, with the threat of invasion of Iran by Israel on the one hand and economic and political sanctions against her by the Western NATO allies on the other, will history repeat itself? One fact has become clear about the US political trend ever since that country withdrew from her self-isolationism in 1945. Her internal politics has been regularly dictated by her foreign policy. Thus, many American Presidents have won or lost elections at home due to the foreign policy of the concerned President. Will this also repeat itself? The days ahead will answer this fundamental question as events continue to unfold even as the ongoing crisis between Israel and Palestine also remains a cog in the wheel of global peace. But with the objection by China and Russia to any economic sanctions against Iran, the US and her allies will have to watch their steps carefully especially with respect to any planned invasion of Iran before embarking on a military action. Iran is neither Iraq nor Afghanistan. The world cannot afford another World War now. No one should attempt to plunge it into one. A word is enough for the wise.

Coup in Saudi Arabia

In the same 1979, some disgruntled elements fortuitously staged a coup against the monarchical government of King Khalid. The aim of the coup was not to change the system of government but to hijack the monarchy in the name of a Mahdi (a promised messiah). That incident caused a stoppage of salat and Umrah for almost four months.

Invasion of Afghanistan

Also in 1979, the now defunct Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan with the intention of annexing her and that incident led to an unprecedented jihad that paved way for the emergence of the Taliban government of that country.

All these incidences of 1979 jointly formed the foundation for the global turmoil of the 21st century now pervading the world and threatening human existence. The details of the coup attempt in Saudi Arabia will be discussed in this column at another time soon. Watch out for it.

The post 1979 in contemporary history appeared first on The Nation Nigeria.

“And your Lord has decreed that you should worship none except Him and be kind to your parents (especially) when one or both of them attain old age. Do not ever bully on them or shun them. Address them with gentle voice and humility. And always pray Allah to be compassionate with both of them as they were compassionate with you at childhood”. Q. 17: 22.

Man after demise
“Man surely becomes a subject of talk after his demise. Whoever is privileged to be alive should therefore endeavour to become a pleasant talk for those coming behind”. -By an Arab poet.

Preamble
Inna Lillah, wa inna ilayhi raji’un. We are all from God and to God we shall all return. Those whose fathers are still alive should conscientiously abide by the above quoted verse of the Qur’an. I just lost my own father. It is after such demise that one realizes that a father in the life of his children is like a sun beaming its rays to a farm and photosynthesizing the crops therein for nourishment and fruitfulness. At a stage, the scorch of such rays may become unbearable for the crops. But without the rays, those crops may lack the energy for growth and nourishment. Until the sun sets, the crops may not know its value in their lives.

The Book of life

Human life is like a book of many chapters. Each chapter often opens to another in what may constitute a smooth reading for those who are left behind to read it. Every human being is, consciously or unconsciously, a writer of a book and the readers are free to analyze or interpret the chapters of the book according to their understanding.

Man’s Journey in life

In the introduction to his autobiography, Nigeria’s first President, the late Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe wrote thus about human life:

“Man comes into the world and while he lives, he embarks upon a series of activities absorbing experience which enables him to formulate a philosophy of life and to chart his causes of action. But then, he dies. Nevertheless, his biography remains a guide for those of the living who may need guidance, either as a warning on the vanity of human wishes or as encouragement or both”.

Pa Abbas’ resume

At a time when birth records were hardly available, Alhaji Muhammadul Awwal Oyelola Makajuola Abbas Abioye was born in Iwo, Osun state in about 1913. He was the second of his parents’ eight children, all of whom except one were males. Pa Abbas was one year older than the country called Nigeria. He was not just a contemporary of Nigeria’s first indigenous rulers; he was actually a friend of some of them. Despite his limited literacy, he was particularly close to Obafemi Awolowo and Samuel Ladoke Akintola but more to the latter than the former. There was no official record for his birth but we (his children) were able to determine his age when he told us that his friend, Chief S.L. Akintola was older than him by one year. And since the latter was born in 1912, we concluded that our father, Pa Abbas was born in 1913, a year before the amalgamation of what became Nigeria. Though, born in Iwo, he settled down for a living with his parents in Afaake, Ejigbo local government of Osun State.

Through his peregrination in life, Pa Abbas came across many useful instances and met many people of substances. At a time, he was an apprentice in carpentry which became his first calling in life. It was he along with some of his artisan colleagues who carried out the carpentry work of our family house in 1954. He also led some other carpenters into fixing the carpentry works of our elementary school, Tajudeen primary school, Ilawo of which he was a board member.

His travels

Besides his brothers who sojourned in Abidjan and other cities and towns of Cote d’Ivoire, no villager from Afaake can claim to be more travelled than Pa Abbas whose journeys through apprenticeship and political traverses took him across regions in Nigeria including the North, the South-West, the then Mid-West and South-East. By the local standard of the 1950s and 1960s, he was a traveler par excellence. He climaxed those journeys with a pilgrimage to Mecca in 1975, the year in which a onetime Head of State, Murtala Muhammed performed Hajj.

His artisanship years

Apart from his engagement with carpentry, Pa Abbas was also involved in produce buying of cocoa and palm kernel which encouraged him to establish a big farm of cocoa plantation in Ondo state. That was in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

Some years later, Pa Abbas discovered that the farmers in the village including his own father were not prosperous in cocoa farming because they depended fully on wild cocoa plantation that yielded few profitable products. He therefore invited some agriculturists to introduce cocoa nursery to his village, Afaake. With this, he gathered all the farmers in the village for tutorial on how to plant and nurse modern cocoa trees. From there, a cooperative emerged which was named ‘Egbejoda’ (short form: Egbeda), meaning ‘cooperative farming’. It was also Pa Abbas who introduced tobacco farming to Afaake farmers.

Impact

This adjusted the focus of those farmers against the mono-product cash crops that cocoa represented in the late 1950s. Tobacco farming turned out to be so profitable that most farmers in the village almost forgot about cocoa. Yet, in the early 1960s, it was also Pa Abbas that introduced commercial pineapple farming to Afaake village in which both men and women were assiduously engaged. The pineapple farming reigned for quite some time as merchants came from Moore plantation and other relevant companies in Ibadan to purchase the products in bulk. All these activities opened the eyes of the village farmers to the value of agricultural commerce.

Contribution to manpower development

Pa Abbas’ inquisitiveness in life was not limited to agricultural endeavour alone; it extended to the building of human intellect and manpower. For instance, when adult education was introduced by the Action Group government in 1954, Pa Abbas was the one who invited the mobile teachers to Afaake village to teach the male and female farmers how to read and write in what was called adult literacy classes. Through that skill, some farmers in the village were able to read and write. Foremost among them was Pa Abbas himself. And when the same Action Group government introduced free primary education in 1955, it was the same Pa Abbas that championed the sighting of one of those schools in Ilawo to serve the three adjacent villages of Ilawo, Afaake and Inisha-Edoro. That was the beginning of civilization in the area. The school was named Tajudeen primary school, Ilawo. After the establishment of that school, Pa Abbas took it upon himself to ensure the enforcement of attending the school by every child in Afaake. And he did not stop there, he also wrote to those who settled in Cote d’Ivoire to send their children and wards home for enrolment in the school.

Effect of education

Many children who attended that school including yours sincerely have risen in life to become men and women of positive identities. Through those invaluable efforts, the family of Abbas Abioye has become a towering citadel of knowledge that no tempest can wipe off the scene. At least, there is no notable profession today in which the children of Abbas are not found. Among his children, his grandchildren and his great grandchildren and their spouses are professionals like Lawyers, Accountants, Doctors, Engineers, Lecturers, Civil servants, Farmers, Businessmen and women, as well as communicators like yours sincerely. If any human tree of value can be regarded as a reference point in both Western and Islamic education in Osun state today, Abbas family will be foremost courtesy of Pa Abbas’ effort, despite his half-literacy. This confirms the verse of the Qur’an which goes thus;

“Have you not seen how your Lord has planted a seed of words like a gargantuan tree standing gorgeously with its roots firmly planted in the belly of the earth and its foliages sprouting gorgeously into the firmaments of the sky…?”  Q. 14: 24.

His contribution to religious development

It was the same Pa Abbas who initiated the idea of building a mosque in Afaake and led a team of other carpenters to package the carpentry apparel of the mosque. He also introduced madrasa system of education into the mosque and championed the hiring of a mu’allim (malim) to teach the village children who were attending Tajudeen primary school. Pa Abbas’ contribution to human and material development of the village was quite legendary and the evidence is still vivid today. He did not only encourage children to attend school for Western education, he also geared them towards acquisition of Islamic education through attendance of Madrasah. Thus, most of the children who attended Tajudeen primary school also attended Madrasah as Pa Abbas believed that acquisition of Western education was incomplete without Islamic education.

His philosophy of life

In his philosophy of life, Pa Abbas believed that no matter how much was realized from farm products, it could not be as valuable and as lasting as education. He does advised all other farmers in the village to invest in the education of their children, pointing to them that the future of those children would depend on the education they were given. He therefore invited the then headmaster of Tajudeen primary school, Mr. Bisi Akande, who later became the governor of Osun state to enlighten those farmers on the importance of education. And the latter did that dedicatedly in style.

Although Pa Abbas was not quite literate, his exposure through travels made his philosophy of life a pattern of that of an American statesman and intellectual, Williams Webster who stated thus inter alia:

“If we work marble, it will perish; if we work upon brass, time will efface it; if we rear temples, they will crumble into dust. But if we work upon immortal minds and instil in them just principles, we are then engraving that upon tablets which no time can efface but will brighten to all eternity”.

Were it possible for the demised to look back and evaluate his contribution to human growth and development, Pa Abbas would have heaved a sigh of relief even while approaching the gates of paradise with confidence.

“Who shares his life’s pure pleasure and walks the honest road; who trades with heaping measure and lifts his brother’s load; who turns the wrong down bluntly and lends the right a hand; he dwells in God’s own country and tills the Holy Land”. We are living witnesses.

The old man (Pa Abbas) passed on quietly in his sleep at about 4 a.m. on Thursday, August 10, 2017 at the ripe age of 104 and he was interned at about 3 p.m. same day.

God bless the souls of way-pavers. God bless the rightly-guided followers who handed over the baton to other rightly-guided men and women. God bless the soul of Pa Abbas and his likes.

 Conclusion

That is the legacy of a father who had a vision not only for his own children but for the children of others as well as adults who aspired to make the world a pleasant place to live in. That vision was not just a dream, but also the realization of a dream. As a worthy son of this great father, if I did not write this article in commemoration of a man who left a footprint on the sands of time to show gratitude for good deed, who else should do it? If this is an ode to a gold mind who continues to live in glorious history, let those who value glory read it again and again. This legacy is indelible and we thank Allah for it.

 Appreciation

The entire family of Abbas Abioye home and abroad seizes this opportunity to thank all relatives, friends and well-wishers who attended the Janazah or attempted to attend it despite the short notice. We also thank those who sent messages of condolence praying Allah to stand by them all in all circumstances of life. God bless you all.

The post Pa Abbas: A father’s legacy appeared first on The Nation Nigeria.

Preamble

This article is a follow up to that of last Friday in which the bee was described as ‘The Insect that Heals’. Both articles are a deliberate diversion of readers’ attention from the economic and political   madness of this moment in Nigeria.

Such diversion becomes necessary as a relief from the current overwhelming tension in a country where every news item is sad and every hope turns forlorn. A worthy columnist must know when to bite and when to blow editorially if only to sustain the readership of his/her column. This is the time of mental, physical and psychological trauma in Nigeria for which there must be a soothing medicament.

Appropriate medicament

Incidentally, the most appropriate medicament for all ailments including trauma is the one prescribed by Prophet Muhammad (SAW) about 1,440 years ago which still remains as potent today as it was when it was prophetically prescribed. And it will keep remaining relevant for the rest period of human existence on earth.

Prophet Muhammad’s prescription was a practical fine-tuning of the coded medicine primordially prescribed by the first human being who bore the name Adam.

Prophet Adam, the primogenitor of mankind, was hardly one hour old when he started prescribing medicine against ailments. He was commanded by Allah to teach the Angels the names of all things which they (the Angels) had confessed not to know. By teaching the Angels, Adam thus became a teacher to the Angels and this made teaching the very first profession of man. But, those in the information sector could, as well, argue that what Adam did was more of information dissemination than teaching or prescription.

First human profession

There is tendency that a fierce debate might ensue between teachers and journalists on the one hand and both of them and the medical experts on the other over what can be called the first profession of man on earth. But the truth is that all the three professionals are right. By teaching, a teacher informs. By informing, a journalist teaches. And by medicating, a doctor helps to dispel ignorance. Thus, the three professions are mutually complimentary.

Prophet Adam as a doctor

By teaching the Angels, what Prophet Adam really did was to cure the worst disease in them as well as in man. That disease is ignorance. Shortly before the creation of Adam, Allah informed the Angels that He was going to create a new living being and put him in charge of the garden to be called the earth. But, feigning knowledge, the Angels kicked against the plan and advised their Lord not to do it. Allah then told them in a tone of finality that “I know what you do not know”. (Q.2:31). It eventually took Adam, by Allah’s command, to heal those Angels of the disease of ignorance in them.

If Adam had not taught them the names of all things on earth, as revealed in the Qur’an, the Angels would have remained ignorant forever. And, Allah’s messages to mankind, as contained in the divinely Revealed Books, would not have come mankind through them.

Categories of medicine

In ordinary man’s view, medicine is the substance required to cure an ailment. Such substance may be natural or artificial. It may also be as crude as herbs or as sophisticated as surgery. However, it is generally believed that a person does not need medicine unless he is ill. That is why the Western conventional medicine is rather curative than preventive. Illness resides in the body just as ignorance makes the mind its abode. Today, in most cases, people neither go to the hospitals nor take medicine unless they are sick.

Prophet Muhammad’s prescription

Though unlettered, Prophet Muhammad (SAW) had known the different types of medicine before he diagnosed two basic ailments and prescribed two fundamental medicines for them. The first of these ailments is ignorance. The second is poverty. And poverty in this case is not lack of material wealth alone as many people erroneously believe. It is also lack of many things including health and conscience. Thus, in Islam, ailment is basically of two classes: ignorance and poverty. Many people are victims of one. Many more are victims of both.

Analysis

A person is said to be poor-sighted when he cannot see well without artificial aid. He is deemed poor in memory when his remembering ability becomes weak. He is also pronounced poor in health when some of his body organs malfunction or when he loses some active enzymes or minerals or vitamins. Thus, man may be poor, not in terms of money or material needs but despite his possession of both.

As an antidote for ignorance, Prophet Muhammad (SAW) prescribed the Qur’an. And for body ailment, he prescribed honey.

The role of the Qur’an

Qur’an is the encyclopedia of life which personifies knowledge in all its ramifications. There is nothing about knowledge, whether spiritual or mundane, in this world or the hereafter that is not fully explained in the Qur’an.

By recommending the Qur’an as medicine for ignorance, therefore, the Prophet simply provided cure for the ailment of the mind. And by prescribing honey for body ailments he encouraged elongation of life expectancy through a boost to human immune system. It is not by accident that a whole chapter in the Qur’an (chapter 16) is named after the insect that produces honey. Verse 68 of that chapter reads thus:

“And your Lord revealed to the bee (saying): Build your homes in the mountains, in the trees and in the hives which men shall make for you. Feed on every kind of fruit and follow the trodden path of your Lord’. From its belly comes forth a fluid of many hues as healing (drink) for mankind. Surely in this, there is a sign for those who can reason….”

Products of the Bee

Contrary to general belief, honey is not the only product of the bee. There are six others so far known to man. These are: propolis; pollen; royal jelly; bees wax; bee venom and bee bread. More can be discovered as research continues in line with the Qur’anic challenge. Each of these products has specific functions in maintaining and immunizing the human hormone system.

Characteristics honey

Honey is one of the products of the bee. It is the most popular of the bee products. It is a special fluid with various hues odours and flavours. For instance there are bitter, white and granulated honeys which most people do not know of. Honey is the foremost known natural product that serves as both food and medicine. Hippocrates, the father of medicine, once reportedly told his patients while prescribing honey for them thus: “let your food be your medicine and your medicine your food”. There is no known nutritional value in terms of vitamins, minerals and enzymes that is not proportionately present in honey.

Composition of honey

A raw, pure honey contains about 80 different substances that are most important for human nutrition. Besides glucose and fructose, honey contains all of the B-complex minerals like vitamins A, C, D, E and K as well as trace elements such as magnesium, sulphur, phosphorus, iron, calcium, chlorine, potassium, iodine, sodium, copper and manganese. The enzyme content of honey is one of the highest of all existing foods. Honey also contains and antimicrobial and antibacterial factors.

The composition and nutritional value of honey differ in relation to the floral sources from which honeybees do pick their raw materials. For example, a recent research supports the claim that dark coloured honey has larger amount of antioxidants than brown. The inorganic contents of honey, minerals and other trace elements, play a significant role in human metabolism and nutrition. Owing to its chlorine content, honey is appreciated as an excellent tonic and helps people to overcome suffering from constipation and other enteric problems.

Doses of honey

Whereas no synthetic medicine can and should be taken by any ill person without doctor’s prescription, honey requires no such prescription for anybody who is not allergic to it because it has no side effect. The suggestion in certain quarters that honey can cause piles is based on ignorance. As a multipurpose natural food and medicine, honey can be taken alone or along with other foods albeit in moderation.

And as an antiviral and antibiotic substance, honey is the best medicine for the eye and the ear diseases as well as tooth ache, insomnia, staphylococcus, constipation, whitlow, burns and wounds. After many centuries of disputing these facts ignorantly, conventional doctors finally came to realize that no medicine is as effective in sealing up surgical wounds and healing sores as honey. Today, honey is used for these purposes in most public hospitals in various parts of the world including Nigeria.

Products of the Bees

As mentioned above, the products of the bees are seven. These are: honey, propolis, pollen, royal jelly, beeswax, bee venom and bee bread. Each of these products has a potent value in the life of man. For instance, royal jelly is the secret of the longevity of the Queen of England and even that of her mother called the Queen mother just as pollen was the secret behind the strength of a onetime American President, Ronald Reagan at old age.

Honey

To produce honey alone, the bees make contact with about 250,000 plants picking and metabolizing their flower nectars. It is possible for them to contact more plants depending on the richness of the vegetation in which they dwell. (Nectar is the main raw material which the bees use to produce honey).

Propolis

Propolis is produced by the bees from the resin of certain specific trees identifiable only by the bees themselves. Through research, propolis has come to be known as the strongest anti-biotic ever discovered by man. This product is used not only to protect the living but also to preserve the remains of the dead as well. At least it is on record that the famous historic Egyptian mammies were embalmed with propolis several millennia ago. This same propolis is the product used by the bees, themselves, to sterilize their bodies against bacteria and secure their hives against viruses brought in by predators. Whenever they sting such predator to death, it is propolis they use to embalm it to prevent its decaying body from polluting the hive.

Pollen

Pollen is the secret of strength in old age.  It heals almost all the old age diseases like prostate, arthritis, pneumonia and bronchitis. It rejuvenates the nerves and reinvigorates the hormonal glands especially in the aged.

Royal jelly

Royal jelly is the bee product that prolongs life and solves the problem of infertility in men and women. It is the exclusive food of the queen bee which enables her to lay an average of 2000 eggs per day.

Bee venom

Bee venom is a natural antibiotic vaccine which strengthens human immunity against all diseases. It works like magic in the human system especially when applied through the natural acupunctural points in the body.

Beeswax

Bees wax, as distinct from other products, is used to produce non-chemical cosmetics and to coat pharmaceutical and capsules like multivites to protect the potency of the substances used to produce the.

Bee bread

Bee bread is the lava of the young bees. It is used by the apitherapists to prevent or heal children’s diseases.

The use of each of these products to heal human ailments depends on the extent of knowledge of apitherapy possessed by the user. (Apitherapy is the use of bee products to prevent or heal human or animal ailments). A specialist in this field is called apitherapist.

The uniqueness of using these products for healing or prevention of diseases is in the fact that they do not entail any negative side effect because of their natural potency. And that is a major sharp difference between them and the synthetic drugs manufactured chemically by the conventional pharmacists.

Summary

If most people were knowledgeable about the efficacy of the bee products in preventing and healing diseases, hospitals would have been less congested and substantial percentage of their incomes would have been saved to enhance the quality of their lives. The world of bees is a wonderful world. It takes only those who know it to appreciate it and benefit from its healing miracle.

Through divine instinct, Prophet Muhammad (SAW) had known this almost one and a half millennia ago and he had recommended it to mankind for their survival. The case of the bee and honey is like that of the hen and the egg. No one can tell with precision which of them first came into existence. The fact that honey is still a subject of scientific research today is a further confirmation that the prophecy of the unlettered Arabian man called Muhammad (SAW) is truly divine.

Conclusion

Without the bee there can be no honey. And without honey, the bees cannot exist since honey is the food upon which they depend for survival.

The story of the insect called bee is inexhaustible despite centuries of research on it. It is therefore impossible to tell it all in a one page column of this type. That Prophet Muhammad (SAW) knew this much even as an unlettered person at a time when the world was assailed by blatant ignorance and primitivism is a further confirmation of Michael Hart’s classification of him as the greatest human being that ever lived.

Information

Four Muslim brothers across three Universities successfully delivered their inaugural lectures recently. They are Professor Lai Olurode of the Socology Department, University of Lagos; Professors Ishaq Lakin Akintola and Lateef Adetona of Religious Studies Department, Lagos State University, Lagos, Nigeria and Professor Fehintola of the College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Nigeria. The Message Column joins many well wishers in congratulating them all and in wishing them further higher pedestals in their respective academic careers. Amin.

The post The Prophet’s medicine appeared first on The Nation Nigeria.

Preamble

Two monotous and meaningless words are frequently used mischievously in Nigeria. One is Islamization. The other is maginalization. The one is used religiously while the other is used politically.  None of the two words can be found in any English dictionary because they are  coinages of some Nigerian mischievr makers who find religion and politics as tools for their game of mischieve. Thus, the two words are sometimes interchangeably used as missiles either as a way of disarming their perceived opponents or as a form of psychological intimidatton against them. Invariably, the two ridiculously monotonous words often used as hate speech are from the same source. Were the users of those words well informed, they would have known that such monotony is like an old song with a sour taste  that is unfitting to a civilized society and its continuity is clear evidence of blatant ignorance on the part of those who still cling to it.

MUSWEN’s Reaction

In a reaction to the use of the word Islamization by the Chritian Association of Nigeria (CAN), in reference to Nigerian secondary school curriculum recently,   the Muslim Ummah of Southwest Nigeria (MUSWEN) issued a press statement to put the record sreaight. Excerpts from the statement are as followa:

Blackmail

“The allegation of Islamis zation of the country is not a novelty. Whenever the Christian leaders find it difficult to constructively engage with an issue that relates to Muslims in the country, they readily resort to the false allegation of Islamization as blackmail. Unfounded claims of Islamization have now assumed such a ridiculous that it is now a laughing matter in the comity of nations.

CAN’s belligerence

We have watched with calmness how the leaderships of both the CAN and the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) have, in recent times, taken such a combative posture in their seeming hatred for Islam and the Muslims that the once pwaceful coexistence between the adherents of Islam and Christianity in Nigeria have become mutually suspicious on any issue. Most worrisome is the recent pronouncement by the National Christian Elders’ Forum (NCEF) which paraded a number of retired Christian Generals including the hitherto  respected elder statesman, General Theophilus Danjuma.

In a communiqué issued at the end of its meeting held in Abuja on Thursday, 13th July, 2017, which was reported in several newspapers (eg The Punch, July 14, 2017; Page 14), NCEF referred to what it regarded as “stealth/civilization Jihad” (whatever that was supposed to mean) and “violent Jihad”. The body accused those it called “Islamists” of plotting to impose what it described as “Sharia ideology” on the country. Furthermore, their understanding of the term “taqiyyah” to which they made reference was, to say the least, misinformed and an indication of their wrong perception of    Islam as a religion and a way of life.

It was obviously mischievous for Nigerian Christian elders to ignore the fact that Boko Haram group chose a predominantly Muslim region as its theatre of war and devastated  its economy as much as it killed its people. At least, an overwhelming majority of those attacked were Muslims, and most of the places bombed were Mosques. What further evidence does anyone need to be convinced that the agenda of the Boko Haram group is largely targeted at mainstream Islam?

Christian Generals

MUSWEN is very disappointed that most of the news reports on the meeting of the NCEF highlighted the presence of retired Christian Generals at the meeting. Was this a deliberate act of intimidation? And what signals were those retired Christian Generals sending to the entire world?

The Curriculum Issue

The allegation, reportedly made by the National Christian Elders’ Forum (NCEF) at the same meeting, that the introduction of Religion and National Values as part of the revised curriculum for Basic Education “denigrates Christianity and promotes Islam” cannot be credited with evidence.

In the same vein, the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria’s (PFN) claim made at its meeting held in Benin City on 29th June, 2017, that the Nigerian Education Research and Development Council (NERDC) was used as an instrument of religious indoctrination in favour of Islam (See: The Punch, Friday, July 14, 2017; Page 9) is false and highly misplaced.

We are, however, delighted by the statement credited to the Senate President, Senator Abubakar Bukola Saraki, when a delegation of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) visited him on Wednesday, 12th July, 2017. Senator Saraki was reported to have said to the delegation:

“You will remember that in 2010, the past administration came up with reforms on how to reduce the number of subjects at the basic education level… There were about 20 subjects at that time, and subsequently they were reduced to 12… In the process of implementing those reforms, we have this problem. Why I am saying this is so we don’t leave here and believe that it was done to favour one religion over the other… Now the reform is clearly not working. So our responsibility is to look into that reform and make it work.” (See:http://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/top-news/236774- saraki-speakscrk-irk-curriculum-controversy.html)

When religious leaders can no longer address issues dispassionately without resorting to blackmail, blatant lies and falsification of facts to promote hatred against others, then the very foundation of the moral values of such leaders is largely questionable. “If gold should rust, what will then become of iron?”

In Retrospect

It should be recalled for posterity sake that the revised curriculum in question was approved in 2014 during the time of the former President Goodluck Jonathan, a Christian. It is also instructive to note that the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Education Research and Development Council (NERDC) at the time was Prof Godswill Obioma, a Christian. (See: http://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/166030-nigeria-revises-basic-educationcurriculum.html). What more, the Minister of State for Education, who superintended over Basic Education matters at the time, was no other person than Barrister Nyesom Wike, the current Governor of Rivers State who is a Christian! The question then is: why are the Christian leaders making a mountain out of a mole hill now that we have a Muslim President? If there is a need for policy change why can’t they say so without resorting to name-calling?

The Misinformed CAN President 

The CAN President, Rev. Samson Ayotunde, during his visit to the Acting President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo was reported to have referred to the Arabic language in the curriculum as “Islamic Arabic Studies”. (See: http://thenationonlineng.net/can-visitsosinbajo-demands-five-point-agenda/). For CAN President’s information and others like him, there is no such subject as “Islamic Arabic studies in Nigeria’s curriculum of education. Arabic is a language, like English, French or German, and not a religion as mischievously claimed by CAN’s President.

Arabic is not only spoken by over 700 million native and non-native speakers across the world including many Christians and it is also one of the six major languages used for the conduct of official bussiness of many international organizations including the United Nations (UN).

Sultan speaks

In a recent pronouncement, the Sultan of Sokoto and President-General of  Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), His Eminence, Alhaji Muhammad Sa‘ad Abubakar, vehemently refuted the claim of ‘Islamization’ of Nigerian polity saying that Muslim leaders had been in the forefront of the demand that the study of religion should be made compulsory in public schools. In fact, Muslims have always insisted that every child should be taught the religion of his or her parents in line with the relevant provisions of the Constitution of Nigeria. (See Section 38 (1), (2) and (3) of the 1999 Constitution). We stand by this.

It is, therefore, a welcome relief that the Federal Government has announced that both Islamic Studies and Christian Religious Studies should now be taught as stand-alone subjects throughout the country. We hope this will finally lay to rest all the avoidable insinuations, blackmails and falsehood being disseminated to Nigerians by CAN and its agents through the media.

Christianisation Rather than not Islamization

It is ironic that those who inherited and perpetrated the imposition of a colonial Euro-Christian educational system on Nigeria are the ones now mischievously alleging Islamization of education in Nigeria. It is a fact of history that for more than a century, particularly in Yorubaland, educational system was the potent instrument employed to “catch them (Muslim children) young” by Christian evangelical teachers who subject those Muslim school pupils to Christian indoctrination and force them to drop their Islamic identities for those of Christianity. Thus, ‘Christianization through education’ agenda was been consistently pursued with vigour for decades even though virtually all the schools were grant-aided by governments. Virtually every Muslim family in Yorubaland has a story to tell about the historical subjection of Muslim pupils and students to a crude but brutal Christianization agenda through education.

Even today, many Christian teachers and school administrators still deny Muslim pupils  their religious rights as Ministries of Education in many States refuse to employ teachers of Islamic Studies apparently as a way of forcing those pupils to take Christian Religious Studies .

CAN’s hypocrisy

CAN’s bellicose objection to anything Muslim, such as the provision of access to interest-free financial services, is held with shock and amazement. Ironically, the governors of some predominantly Christian-populated states in the country have either secretly obtained or applied for interest-free loans from the Islamic Development Bank (IDB), an institution which they  often publicly condemn or derogate. It was a onetime Christian President, Chirf Olusegun Obasanjo who facilitated the country’s membership of the Islamic Development Bank to the immeasurable benefit of all Nigerians irrespective of their religions and most of the beneficiaries of that facility are Christians. Yet, the irritating noise of Islamization of Nigeria continues to sound loud.

Conclusion

The challenges facing our nation today call for a profound spiritual and moral overhauling of the polity. Giving a child education without the fear of God amounts to making him or her a clever devil. The immoral practice of subjecting a child to instruction or participation in a religion other than that of his or  her parent’s is criminal and should be stopped forthwith. This is the only way to have a truly pluralist society and a peaceful nation. God save Nigeria!?

The post Nigeria: Islamisation or Christianisation? appeared first on The Nation Nigeria.

Preamble

This is not just an article. It is rather a letter of appeal coming to Nigerian politicians from the pulpit of ‘The Message’ column. Similar letters were written in this column some years ago to the same group of people. Letters of this type seldom come to the arena of politics where conscience is banished and everything in life is based on whim even as self aggrandizement is considered to be the ultimate goal. Coming up at this precarious period of political labyrinth in Nigeria, this letter is necessitated by the current frightening political tension that is fast becoming a bubble which may bust anytime from now unless the Almighty Allah decides to save our country by His special Grace. If you politicians think that you can escape any calamitous as a consequence of your ongoing political machination which you are tendentiously weaving around Nigeria you may be day-dreaming. Those who engaged in similar machinations before yours in the 1960s, 1980s and 1990s had ended up in a forlorn.

Functions of Conscience

Conscience”, according to Sheikh Uthman Dan Fodio, “is an open wound which only the truth can heal”. But one can talk of healing a wounded conscience only where and when it has not become cancerous.

Prophet Muhammad (SAW) once gave a vivid description of the signs by which hypocrites can be identified.

He said “hypocrites are known by three signs: When they talk they lie; when they promise they renege and when they are trusted they betray”. In other words, conscience is not an costume in which hypocrites can clad.

Most of you (Nigerian politicians) so much typify this situation that one wonders if the Prophet had Nigerians in mind when he was expressing that axiomatic Hadith.

Deceptive Motive

It will be recalled that when most of you started agitating for a return to democracy in the late 1990s while a despotic military demagogue held sway, your seeming focus was on liberation of the Nigerian citizenry from the crushing claw of military despotism. And you did that in the name of freedom fighters or human rights advocates. But hardly had you succeeded in leading the masses to drive away the military boys than some of you began to agitate for your selfish interest by claiming to want ‘to serve your people’.

Thus, based on that claim, your godfathers or godmothers warmly embraced you not minding your hidden agenda especially when such agenda did not contradict theirs. That claim, which was the bait with which you deceptively lured ordinary Nigerians into the struggle that ended up in raising your own political pedestal to the height upon which you stand today was a covenant. And that covenant was not just between you and the people you claimed to want to serve but also between you and the Almighty Allah who knows every manifest and hidden agenda. And He will surely hold you accountable for it.

To you, it does not matter whether you were genuinely elected or surreptitiously smuggled through the back door by depriving others, who were more qualified than you, of their legitimate rights.

Your original claim before you were smuggled into whatever position you occupy today will be weighed against your action or inaction in that position or after you might have left the stage. And you will be judged accordingly.

Just as you will call on God for justice if you were in the shoes of the deprived ones so they will take your case to God’s court in quest of justice. And the prayer of a cheated person, according to Prophet Muhammad (SAW), never suffers a divine denial.

Remember

As some of you once shamelessly graded figure 16 higher than figure 19 sometime ago and audaciously classified theft as a lesser crime than corruption all in the name of politics, you must remember that God’s justice can neither be manipulated nor subverted. And no matter how long it may take, Allah’s justice will take its courae perhaps when you least expect in life. When some of your colleagues were made to face the music of their criminal acts recently, you were expected to learn a lesson from their disgraceful plights. But since a dog that will die in perdition can never heed the warning whistle of a hunter it is not surprising that you are still arrogating the nation’s leadership to yourselves without thinking of the lessons that the younger ones can learn from your conduct on their way to the top. You have evidently demonstrated that you are not on antway qualified to bequeath any sensible legacy to the future generations.

If anything, your thoughtless public utterances, your shameless public actions and counter actions as well as your devilish body language are more destructive to Nigeria’s future than ever imagined. In fact, you can be called anything but patriotic gentlemen of honour which you call yourselves and as such you are unprecedentedly a disgrace not only to Nigeria as a country. But since you seem to have permanently enlisted immorality as a vital instrument of politics without thinking of its consequences and thus behaving like intoxicated horses gallivanting around without reins.

Life without Justice

In Islam, two issues are fundamentally sacrosanct both of which Allah does not take lightly. These are sacredness of life and dispensation of justice. It is a great iniquity for any human being, especially Muslims, to engage in murder and injustice under any guise. Thus, anybody who kills fellow human beings extra-judicially in the name of religion or politics is nothing but an unbeliever of a sadistic nature. In Islam, killing a fellow human being deliberately under whatever guise, without passing through a due process of law, is such a grievous sacrilege that cannot and should not be perpetrated without commensurate penalty, if not here on earth, definitely in the hereafter.

Allah’s Wrawth

Besides paganism, nothing draws the wrath of Allah as fast as these two crimes which Satan may continue to ask you to ignore at your own peril. Murder is physical termination of the life of a fellow human being. Injustice is killing a person mentally, psychologically, politically or spiritually by denying him his legitimate right. Now, which of these has not occurred officially and severally in the course of your political sojourn? How will you explain it to Allah?

Legislative Duty

In Islam, rule of law is the foundation of justice but legislation is the material with which that foundation is built. Those of you who voluntarily chose to legislate for the rest of us hardly see yourselves as the foundation layers of justice who should not betray the course of justice. As legislators, you are looked upon by most Nigerians as honourable leaders neither because you are more qualified intellectually than those for whom you are legislating nor because you are wiser and more experienced than them. What makes most of you legislators in the lower or upper chambers of the legislative arm of government is sheer expediency arising from queer inadequacies sadly fostered by our so-called political system which gives room for gerrymandering and manipulation. If such opportunity comes your way illegally, let it not be mistaken for good luck. It may rather be a calamity waiting to strike in future.

And when it strikes, no one except Allah can tell the extent of its effect. At least you can see how the consequences of the heartless annulment of June 12, 1993 Presidential election have become a draconian spectre chasing the ghost of every Nigerian even after almost two decades of licking our political wound.

Subversion

Due to lack of conscience, most of you may have forgotten, but you need to be reminded that shortly after you took oath of office either in 1999 or 2003 or 2007 or 2011 or 2015, you started subverting the covenant into which you voluntarily entered with the people who elected or nominated you directly or indirectly. That covenant is to serve them (the people). And those who serve are nothing but servants. But no sooner had you been sworn into office than you started calling yourselves leaders and not servants again. By implication, you have so dangerously promoted desperation and impunity to the front burner of Nigerian politics that whoever thinks of serving the country, today, through any public office is seen as a devil that must be kept at an arm’s length. From your public conduct, any right-thinking person can vividly see the types of families you are breeding for the nation.

Executive Duty 

As members of the Executive arm, when you travel abroad officially, at people’s expense, you are never alarmed by the way the systems work in those countries. You never bother to ask questions about the effective functions of electricity, the smoothness of roads, the flow of portable water and the excellent of educational system that promotes probity and decorum in those countries. Rather, your primary concerns are the personal ephemeral gains accruable to you at the expense of the present and the future. For the past 16 years of Nigeria’s fourth republic you have been at the saddle of government without being able to show in concrete terms what value has that length of time added to the lives of ordinary Nigerians. Your emphasis is power rather than governance and you often go about it in such a manner that gives the impression that government is much more about destruction than construction.

 Nigeria as OPEC Member

As so-called political leaders, you do not even feel ashamed that Nigeria is the only OPEC country that imports refined petroleum products for domestic consumption simply because you are beneficiaries of the corrupt device which you deliberately put in place in the name of subsidy. Even if Nigeria never had electricity before now and wanted to start one to boost her economy, is a period of 18 years not enough to provide a functional one especially given the enormous amount of wealth with which she is endowed? In modern time, no technological device provides as much opportunity for jobs and economic growth as electricity. Yet, it is that major device that you deliberately hold down to deprive the populace of the wherewithal to rise mentally and intellectually so that you can turn them into perpetual slaves to be ruled forever. In such a situation, why wouldn’t corruption be unconscientiously legislated into legitimacy? And now, Nigeria is held to a standstill because every one of you must personally have a chip of any juicy future now without caring about what may become of your own children in future.

As fathers and mothers, most of you will want your children to grow up as responsible men and women, yet, you have nothing in you that can serve as good examples for those children. You tell lies with relish. Yet you want your children to be truthful. From where do you expect them to inherit truthfulness? You steal public funds with unbridled audacity. Yet you do not want your children to be called thieves. What other names should the children of thieves bear other than thieves?

Sermon

The Message hereby implores you Nigerian politicians to search your conscience and fear God. Remember that some people had governed this country in the past. Among them were those who tried to combine the roles of the executive, the legislature and the judiciary together, in the name of military rule, made possible by coup d’état. Where are they today?

Governance has its tenure. Four years may look endless, but for the wise, it is not more than a flash of lightening  which only a fool will rely upon to walk his way through the darkness of the night. You are in government today. But remember that you will soon become former this or former that just like those before you.

Duties of public Servants

Ordinarily, the duty of Civil Servants as government officials, whether in the executive, legislative or judicial wing, is to serve your country in such a way that you can create a historical window for yourselves through which the future generations can retrospectively peep into your lives with reverence. But since everything in Nigeria has been peculiarly monetized (courtesy of Obasanjo regime), it has become a rule that those who hold sway in government, in whatever capacity, must take the lion’s share of our national cake through our lean annual budget. That is why you randomly but embarrassingly throw some damaging pebbles into our political brook to cause unnecessary ripples in the serenity of that brook to the total disadvantage of today and tomorrow.

Observation

Some of you think or talk of impeachment only when your salaries, allowances or extra budgetary largess suffers a reduction or delay. It does not matter to you whether or not the entire workforce in Nigeria remains unpaid for years. Once you are able to amass whatever comes your way legally or illegally the rest of the populace can go on hunger strike forever. It is rather shameful and disappointing that even some of you who claim to be Muslims are participating in such an evil charade despite your proclamation of Islam.

Conscience, though invisible, has a mirror which only a few people know of. That mirror is shame. A person without shame is a person without conscience. And that is the main distinction between a genuine Muslim and a nominal one.

Prophet Muhammad (SAW) admonished the Muslims thus in respect of shame: “once you are bereft of shame, you can go ahead to do whatever you like”. This means that without shame you are a nonentity who can even strip naked in the market place in readiness for a brawl. We can all see the example of this in a former President of this country who is now menstruating through his mouth at any public place.

Admonition

Dear Nigerian politicians, let it be kept permanently in your brain that the only thing which keeps people alive in history even long after their demise is service to humanity. Prophets Isa (Jesus), and Muhammad (SAW), had neither bank accounts nor estates to bequeath to anybody. Their heritage is more than any material wealth for the entire world today. That heritage is service to humanity. What is your own planned heritage if only for posterity? That is a big question which only people with conscience can answer. And, as Muslims or Christians, you should be able to answer it if you truly follow the right guidance of those noble men of impeccable character.

Remember that you are in a ship already voyaging on the high sea towards the shore. And at that shore are fierce customs officers waiting to check the contents of your cargo. Be always at alert. Remember that if you cultivate friendship with Satan he will favour your wish. But if he grants you one favour, he will take ten from you in return. Be Muslims by name, conduct and mannerism. Whatever you do as Muslims will affect the image of Islam in one way or the other. I hope you will return home as Muslims that you claim to be and not as renegades. Remember all this and adjust now that you may be able to raise your head aloft when tomorrow comes.

The post When tomorrow comes appeared first on The Nation Nigeria.

 ”…And beware of a calamity that may afflict not only the transgressors amongst you to the exclusion of others and know that Allah’s retribution can be severe”.                 Q. 8:25  

Preamble

Writing a drama is like conceiving a pregnancy. For the drama to be practically actable, the writer must take into consideration not only the theme, the setting, the characters and the complications that may build up spirally to the climax in such a drama. He must also think of the anti-climax of the drama as well as its possible denouement.

A playright’s ingenuity

Nothing shows the ingenuousness of a playwright as vividly as the crew of actors who put into action the script that gives birth to the drama in question. It is like delivering a pregnant woman of her pregnancy. If the delivery process is not carefully handled, the deliverer may end up becoming an undertaker. And that is when a drama is said to be tragic.

The world as a paradox

The entire world today is a paradoxical theatre in which over seven billion human beings including Nigerians are watching a drama. Whether for ecstasy or dismay the viewers may randomly roar into controversies as the drama progresses. But the main concern of each viewer is what may become of his favourite character.

In the current global drama against which we had been admonished in the Qur’an as quoted above, the concern of this columnist is the ‘colony’ called Nigeria. This is not just because the colony is my immediate constituency, it is also because Nigeria is the heart of Africa. And if anything negative happens to her the whole of Africa will cease to be at rest.

Hidden agenda

A clandestine script was unveiled in respect of Nigeria in 1995. Its contents revealed that this heart of Africa called Nigeria was heading for a break up by year 2015. The designers of this devilish agenda had set a timeframe of 20 years for its execution without suggesting any solution. And to portray their dream as a realisable one they kept hammering the probability of the success of that obnoxious project using some hazardous occurrences in the land as evidence.

For students of International Relations, such a prediction could not have been strange. It was part of the strategies often used by the imperialists either to re-colonise some old colonies psychologically or to scoop on and dominate their economies in a typical capitalist manner. They had done it successfully in some other countries none of which is now firmly on her feet. Vietnam, Korea, Yemen, Syria, Iraq, Pakistan, former Yugoslavia, Somalia, Sudan, Palestine and lately the entire Arab nations all of which have had their bitter tests.  It is a modern day equivalence of the 1884/1885 partition of Africa carried out in Berlin, Germany, by the European imperialists, which led to the colonisation of African continent. If any of the above countries had resisted the evil project and stood their ground, perhaps the world would have been spared of the throat-cutting threat posed today by the United States and her allies against what they perceive as lesser nations.

The cult of capitalism

Incidentally, the US which now champions the imperialists’ cult had also been a victim of this same imperialists’ guillotine especially in the hands of Britain. Yet, the cult of capitalism which has become their common bound would not allow the duo of US and Britain which had been mutually antagonistic to dwell differently today because it is only in such connivance that the gains of their common interest can be accomplished. Unfortunately, Nigeria doesn’t seem to have learned any lesson from countries that had toed the imperialists’ path .

Rather than looking inwards for solution to our domestic problems as the US did before the two World Wars, our governments do not only look up to ‘Uncle Sam’ for solution even to a minor problem but also cry out to the President of America for help in minor hitches. It is just like the situation of a baby who has so much adapted to being spoon-fed that he would hold the ladle in his mouth even while asleep.

Today’s Nigerians

Today, Nigerians can hardly think on anything without reference to America. Whereas some progressive countries like Japan, China, India, Brazil and even the United States in their days of search for growth and development shut their doors to the world and made do with whatever they could produce internally which was why their sudden zoom into the limelight came to the world as a surprise. This has never taught Nigeria any lesson. Rather, all that matters here is empty and monotonous noise about becoming one of the biggest economies in year 2020 even when there is no concret plan for such. No truly progressive country has ever indulged in such a senseless propaganda with success. What would have ordinarily justified such propaganda is a surprising zooming into the global economic stage as the listed countries had done. But Nigeria’s endemic corruption that has become a culture would not allow such a progressive leap.

Propaganda

It can only take a shameless country like Nigeria  with so much wealth but lacking to embark on such a hopeless propaganda. Now, how our previous  government spent about $16 billion allegedly budgeted for revamping our electricity remains a question which many generations of Nigerians may not be able to answer. Yet, the focus of some evil agitatus is to ensure the continuity of corruption for personal and ephemeral benefits. Even as of today, patriotic Nigerians have not been shown any blueprint that could qualify them for such empty slogan being echoed about year 2020 without our input or mandate.

 In retrospect

In the 1980s, under the self-styled military President Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida, the slogan was ‘Housing for all or education for all or jobs for all in year 2000’. And the foremost megaphone at that time was  Prof Jerry Gana of MAMSA fame. That propaganda ended up in sheer deception. And in the 1990s, under the maximum despot called General Sani Abacha, the slogan was changed to ‘VISION 2010’. It also ended up in sheer fiasco after spending billions of naira.

Then came a former military Head of State, Chief Mathew Aremu Okikiola Olusegun Obasanjo who claimed to have become a democrat without any tutelage. He started his democracy with a slot of the presidency and fooled Nigerians for eight years that became a wasted period in the history of Nigeria. It was on this man that Nigeria’s premium was hopefully placed albeit aimlessly because of his military antecedent and prison experience. His own invented slogan was that of hitting the top echelon of global economy in 2020. And the slogan was continually re-echoed until his exit from government in 2007 a few years away from the target mark. As at the time of his exit, Nigeria, like now, was without electricity, drinkable water, pliable roads, national airline, functional refineries and standard education programme that could propel any possible hope in the deceptive slogan. The pilots of that hopeless odyssey included northerners and southerners as well as Muslims and Christians. But the result, as usual, was an absolute failure. Thus, today, as an OPEC member nation, Nigeria remains the only country that exports crude oil and imports refined fuel for domestic consumption. Where are we going from here? In all OPEC countries, Petrochemical industries are a major point of hope for the citizenry. In petrochemical  industries, thousands of trained youths are employed and economic growth is vivid. But this has no place in the economic dream of Nigeria even as the noisy slogan for hopeless dream sounds louder.

Rather, what our successive governments often  perceived as the problem was the backlash of their ineptitude which paved way for misrule. But none has ever thought of a possible solution.

Implications           

By relying on imperialist countries such as the US and Israel to help resolve the problem of insecurity  Nigerian government headed by former Goodluck Jonathan did not only admit its incompetence to protect the citizenry, it  also surrendered its authority to those countries and thereby compound the existing problems. After all, those invited countries were the manufacturers of the instruments of insecurity in our land. Security of a country is like the heart in human body. Handing it over to someone else is like paving way for one’s own death. No serious government will ever trivialise the existence of its nation to that extent. We all know that whoever pays the piper must surely dictate the tune. And in diplomacy, there is neither permanent friend nor permanent enemy.

A government is said to be of essence and in control of affairs only if it is believed to be capable of protecting its citizenry and defending the territorial integrity of its nation. Any government that is incapable of doing this and would rather decide to throw the gates of its nation open to foreigners for whatever reason is unfit to be called a government. That was the prevailing situation for many years before the current government came on board. But despite all efforts by the current well intentioned regime to rectify the situation, the forces of evil are bent on the continuity of their evil machinations facilitated by indemnified corruption. Where are going from here?

Partners in crime

Globally, the tripod of the US, Britain and Israel are known for their unprovoked belligerence and implacable transgression against nations that refuse to comply with their imperialist policies. And it is probably in reference to such imperialist powers that Allah had warned mankind over a millennium and a half ago that: “…When imperialists encroach on a territory they audaciously pillage and brutally destroy it even as they subjugate the juggernauts therein to the level of servitude”. Q. 12: 22.

Nigeria’s vintage position

The real problem that Nigeria constitutes in Africa is that of serving as a regional incubator of corruption and yet connives with the engineers of Africa’s problems for unrealizable solution. In a logical poetic stanza many centuries ago, an Arab poet once opined thus:

“We all blame our time for our misdemeanour; when the misdemeanour blamed on our time is actually in us; We smear time with all types of iniquities and yet expect time to cleans us of any blame; Were time endowed with mouth to comment on us, it would have blamed us for generating all crimes; Certainly no hyena eats a fellow hyena; as some of us humans openly eat our fellow human beings”.

 The truth of the matter

The truth of the matter is that the roots of the multi-dimensional problems staring Nigeria on the face today are traceable mostly to the corridors of our government. Of all the vices that constitute seemingly insuperable problems for Nigeria today particularly corruption, none originated from a source other than that of the government. Even where such corruption happens in the private sector, it will be discovered to be a derivative of the public sector either through obnoxious policies or deliberate nepotism or religious irredentism. How, on earth, can we classify the case of a notorious so-called frontline cleric who was contracted by the government to smuggle arms and ammunition into the country from South Africa in the name of political patronage in a multi ethnic and multi religious society like Nigeria? Yet, the government wanted Nigerians to accept that fraudulent act as a normal business.

Immunity clause

The absurdity of immunity clause in Nigerian constitution is obviously an  authorisation of corruption for  some  rogues who are claiming to be political or religious leaders in the country. What justification will such rogues have in prosecuting or preaching the known thieves thereafter? Those who injected immunity clause in our constitution as well as those who are in position to remove it but rather chose to retain it are together accomplices in the entrenchment and spread of corruption in the land. Such people will have no logical reason to talk of fighting corruption because they are its creator and sustainers.

Another evidence of audacious governmental corruption in Nigeria is manifest in the position of the so-called FIRST LADY. Here is a position which has no provision in the country’s constitution but which is given such prominence that classifies the occupier over and above the elected Vice-President at the federal level and Deputy Governor at the State level. This illegal position has no official budget but it is flamboyantly provided with such paraphernalia of office that compete almost favourably with that of the President or the Governor at the expense of the public. With this kind of illegal operation how can any Nigerian President or Governor morally question any corruption in which any public officer is involved? This is one of several areas in which President Muhammadu Buari deserves commendation even if evil politicians are blind to it. And now, the judiciary which is generally acknowledged as the last bastion of ordinary people’s hope has joined the bandwagon of monumental corruption in Nigeria. Where are we going from here?

 We are our own problem

We are our own problem. We know the sources of what we call problems. But we inadvertently incubate such problems. And we know how to proffer solution to them. But, like ‘lotus eaters’ in ‘Odipuxs Rex’, we are so much drunk with illegality that it has become so difficult if not impossible for us to part with it. Thus, like the pot that calls the kettle black we continue to deceive ourselves by mischievously passing the bulk anytime the die is cast.

Admonition

Allah’s words will never look for relevance. They are foever the reference points for those who are rightly guided. Through such words, Allah warns in Qur’an 13:11 thus: “Surely, Allah does not change the situation of a nation or community until they themselves have resolved to change it through their attitude”. Acting the imperialists’ evil script as often done will do no one any good in Nigeria.

The post To where from Here? appeared first on The Nation Nigeria.

 “And fear a calamity that may afflict not only those who engineered it but also the innocent ones who had no hands in its engineering, and be assured that Allah’s punishment can be very severe.”                                  Q8 v 25              

Preamble

In the aquatic world, when a dragon dances ceaselessly on the surface of a brook, the wise sees it as a bad omen.

The similitude of the dancing dragon in this case is like that of an owl. Anybody who is familiar with the lifestyle of the owl will know why that bird lives in isolation and depends on propaganda for survival. The current brouhaha on a dubious issue called restructuring is not in any way different from the meaningless and ineffective cry of the Owl. By implication, therefore, the callers for restructuring are most likely to end up in the ineffective lifestyle of the Owl.

The Owl becomes an isolated entity in the world of Birds because of its hypocrisy and indefinable antics. Today, Nigeria’s callers for restructuring are like the Owl, in a confused state. They can neither define the meaning of restructuring nor specify its practical contents. To them, the unwarranted propaganda on restructuring is a means of getting their hidden agenda executed.

Hidden agenda

“Abstain completely from guessing, some of the guessings you are engaged in are iniquitous and do not be indulged in poke nosing…” Q49 v12

For 18 years of Nigeria’s dispensation since 1999 till date, these same callers have been alive and available in the country. They were aware of the contents of Nigeria’s constitution with its positive and negative aspects. Yet, they were silent because it suited the purpose of their hidden agenda. They knew that the 1999 constitution which is in use in Nigeria today was imposed on the country by the military.

They knew that that constitution which started with such a deceptive cliché as “We the people of Nigeria….” was fraudulent and undemocratic. Yet, they did not see any need for its amendment. They had known all along how the military changed the destiny of Nigeria from federal to unitary system and how the concurrent aspects of our 1963 republican constitution were decimated by the ruling  junta to the disadvantage of democracy. Yet, they remained silent because they enjoyed the benefits of that political absurdity.

National Confab

The callers for restructuring were also in the country in 2014 when a political demagogue in the name of President decided to constitute a National confab which was meant to accentuate his political agenda.

They were aware that the process of that exercise was dictatorial and insensitive to democracy. They knew that the demagogue resorted to selection of participants in that confab directly or indirectly to the exclusion of people who mattered but did not belong to his camp. For instance, less than one-third of those participants throughout the country were Muslims in a multi-religious country like Nigeria where Muslims are in the Majority. That tragic antique was an obvious confirmation of a hidden agenda on the part of the initiator. To correct that obvious, bias and sectarian anomaly, The Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) set up a powerful committee headed by its President-General and Sultan of Sokoto, His Eminence Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar. But after presenting its case with facts and figures the then president further exhibited his own restrained bias by trivializing the matter with another Religious bias. He queried the NSCIA which is a non-political body on why the Northern governors did not grant the Christians Land authority for building churches. Though, this same president knew that Land authorities were not granted to non-igbos in Eastern Nigeria for private or corporate business to build economic, political or religious outfits, yet he never asked the Easterners any question on that.

It can be assumed that the so called National Confab was part of the then ruling party’s agenda for self-perpetuation in Governance. Now to rise up with Owls propaganda for restructuring on the platform of illegitimate National Confab and expect a new ruling political party that abhorred that confab is a parochial oddity on the part of the propagandist.

Clarification

As a matter of reality based on sincerity, this Columnist does not and has never agreed with the unitary system imposed on Nigerian people by the military junta. And I have written severally in the past calling for either a re-writing of the Nigerian Constitution by the people of Nigeria, or a fundamental amendment to the existing imposed constitution. It is therefore a deliberate accentuation of confusion by a political clique in the land to want to impose another subjective hidden agenda on the nation in the name of restructuring. The word restructuring cannot be found in the current Nigerian constitution and it cannot be smuggled into it through the back door by some human owls who are trying to overwhelm the populace with unpalatable media propaganda.

Federal System

Ordinarily, a Federal system in any democratic dispensation must have two wings which are technically called Exclusive and Concurrent lists.

The Federal system used in Nigeria today is fundamentally different from the one adopted at the time of Independence in 1960 which was confirmed in the republican constitution of 1963. In that federal system, the Exclusive list which was to be maintained by the Federal Government contained only four items. These are The Central Bank, National Defense, The Foreign Affairs, and Immigration. Other issues such as education, prison, Police, and even constitution were concurrent. In other words, each region was entitled to having its own constitution, its own police, its own educational methodology and a substantial control on its human and material resources. Even the adoption of the American Federal System in 1979 was not supposed to make any serious difference from what had obtained in Nigeria. But like any other thing in Nigeria, the newly adopted Federal system became grossly abused through usurpation of power engendered by incessant military coups. Thus, the so called Federal Government based in the Federal capital allots much more percentage of the national budget to itself than to the states and the local governments. This is the main cause of the endemic corruption that we experience in the country today. The unwarranted enormous resources apportioned to the Federal Government are perceived as a fictitious booty by those at the helm of affairs at the federal level. And this has hindered any economic growth and infrastructural development at the state level where Governors and Civil Servants also want to live in affluence as much as those at the federal level. It was this scenario that created a platform for stealing competition and turned Nigeria into a nation of official thieves which could not be trusted with business transaction in the committee of Nations. The result is the pervading poverty and economic hopelessness which Nigerians are now passing through.

Alternative to restructuring

Calling for undefined restructuring at this time of Nigeria’s life is an obvious mischief indicating a hidden agenda. Rather than calling for unidentifiable restructuring, what reasonable people should advocate is amendment to the constitution. While the latter is straight-forward and constitutional the former is dubious and mischievous. Constitutional amendment has a legal procedure which can easily be followed on the basis of law; restructuring on the other hand is a confusion which cannot be authenticated by any sane law because of its tendency for misinterpretation and accommodation of hidden agenda. Calling for it therefore, is a glaring evidence of ignorance.

The role of southern media

The most disheartening and ridiculous aspect of the ongoing mischievous propaganda on restructuring is the role of Southern Nigerian media. In what looks like a professional bastardisation, the southern Nigeria media has thrown away the toga of professionalism and decorum while championing the propaganda on restructuring with shamelessness. The private radio stations and some state owned ones are the worst in this sphere. What they do on a daily basis is to constitute themselves into a court of law and invite sympathizers to their cause as prosecuting lawyers to discuss the matter.

Incidentally, virtually all the invited discussants and the moderators are from the same tribe and the same religion. If you tune to 20 stations especially in Ibadan, the heart of Yoruba Land, you cannot hear a divergent opinion. They all sing the same tune and dance to the same music of their call for senseless restructuring. That trend only changed briefly when President Muhammadu Buhari went on a medical trip to UK and Vice-president Yemi Osinbajo acted as president. The trend of discussion in the Southwest media at that time clearly showed the Hidden Agenda of the mischief makers. And as soon as the President arrived in the country, the hatred for his person in this part of the country became manifest once again as evidence of the hidden agenda.

The South-west media is therefore the prosecutor and the Judge on the issue of restructuring. If this kind of trend were to be followed in the Northern media according to the wish and desire of the people of that region, nobody would have been in a position to talk of peace in

Nigeria. The southwest media is the main platform for promoting hate speech in Nigeria today and that is a misfortune of immeasurable stance. In any sane society, the media stands as a moderator of issues and an arbiter of conflicts rather than a promoter of hatred.

“Surely Allah will not change the situation of a community until the people of such a community moderate their lifestyle” Q13 v11.

If Nigeria must remain a country for all, the obnoxious stance of southwest media in Nigeria must stop henceforth. Criticism must be constructive and not destructive. A word is enough for the wise.

Nothing makes America the obvious leader of the contemporary world than the great thought of some great American intellectuals and statesmen who from time to time encourage Goodness, Unity and Love among Americans irrespective of races, colours and religions. One of such men is Williams Webster who said as follows in one of his poems “If we work marble it will perish; if we rear temples they will crumble into dust; but if we work upon immortal minds and instil in them just principles: we are then engraving that upon tablets which no time can efface but will brighten to all eternity”.

That should be the principle with which to propel Nigeria from a country into a Nation that can raise its head in the committee of Nations. It is not enough to copy America’s constitution and its style of governance. To be great as a Nation, we must also copy the great principles that make America a great Nation. GOD Bless Nigeria and Nigerians.

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 “Seek knowledge even if it will take you to China.”              Hadith    

Preamble

It was a unique gathering of who is who intellectual at Fountain University, Osogbo, Osun State where intellectualism was heightened to a pinnacle last weekend. The participants were from various parts of Africa where Islamic Universities are vibrantly available. And their presentations vividly accentuated the fact that Islam is the foundation upon which human knowledge is built.

Whether in primordial or contemporary time, no historian  of note has succeeded in documenting the history of intellectualism  without a fundamental reference to Islam and Muslims. As a matter of fact, what is called intellectualism today is the principal invention of the early Muslims based on their access to the template of the Qur’an and Sunnah. It is an axiomatic fact that the first citadel of learning called university was established by Muslims in the tenth century. That citadel is called the University of Cordoba which was established in Spain by the second Umayyad Dynasty. It was from that citadel that the Europeans first had the idea of University which they copied and spread to some other parts of the world including America. And today, the three oldest Universities in the world which are offshoots of the University of Cordova were established by Muslims. They are Al-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt, Qairawiyyi University in Fez, Morocco and Zaytuniyyah University in Tunis, Tunisia. Each of these Universities is by far older than 1000 years. No other university in the entire world today can claim that age. It was through those Universities that Muslim scholars were able to introduce scientific subjects like Biology (‘Ilmul Ihyau), Chemistry (Kaymiyau), Physics (Fisiyau), Astronomy (‘Ilmul Ifalaq), Astrology (‘Ilmul Tanjeem), Mathematics (Riyadiyat), Algebra (‘Ilmul Jabr) and others.

It was those Scholars who also invented zero, a meaningless numeral that gave meaning to decimals and technological development of the contemporary world. Without the invention of zero, the world would have continued to crawl behind Roman numerals of the yore. Today, the world is advancing in Technology at the instance of Islamic intellectualism.

The tripple I&T conference.

At Fountain University, Osogbo last weekend the 4th conference of the International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT) was held. At the conference the welcome Address was delivered by Prof. Abdullateef Usman, the Vice Chancellor, Fountain University, who was the Chief Host while the Keynote Address was delivered by Prof. Ishaq Olanrewaju Oloyede, OFR, FNAL the Registrar of Joint Admissions & Matriculation Board (JAMB), Pro-Chancellor & Chairman, Governing Council, Fountain University & Secretary-General of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA). The Goodwill Messages were delivered by the President General of Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs and Sultan of Sokoto, His Eminence Alhaj Muh. Sa’ad Abubakar, CFR, mni; Dr. Ahmad Totonji of IIIT Headquarters and Engr. Yomi Bolarinwa, President of Nasrullahi Alfatih Organisation (NASFAT). And Inaugural Address was delivered by the Governor of the state of Osun Ogbeni Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola who was a special guest of Honour.

Profile of Tripple I&T

The International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT) is a private, non-profit, academic, cultural and educational institution, concerned with general issues of Islamic thought and education. The Institute was established in the United States of America in 1981. It is independent of local politics, party orientations and ideological bias.

The headquarters of the Institute are situated in Herndon, Virginia, in the suburbs of Washington DC. IIIT has established cooperation with a number of institutions and organizations in a number of capitals world-wide in order to carry out the Institute’s activities and programs. The Institute is governed by a Board of Trustees that meets regularly and periodically to elects one of its members to serve as President.

The Institute is an intellectual forum working on educational, academic and societal issues from an Islamic perspective to promote and support research projects, organize intellectual and cultural meetings, publish scholarly works, and engage in teaching and training. It has established a distinct intellectual trend in Islamic thought which relates to the vivid legacy of the Ummah (Muslim nation) and its continuous efforts of intellectual and methodological reform, principally in the field of education, classical knowledge and social science. This involves a large number of researchers and scholars from various parts of the world.

The Institute conducts its educational and training activities and courses through its institutional division, The Fairfax Institute.

Mission of IIIT

According to the contents of its website, The International Institute of Islamic Thought is dedicated to the revival and reform of Islamic thought and its methodology in order to enable the Ummah to deal effectively with present challenges, and contribute to the progress of human civilization in ways that will give it a meaning and a direction derived from divine guidance. The realization of such a position will help the Ummah regain its intellectual and cultural identity and re-affirm its presence as a dynamic civilisation.

The Institute promotes academic research on the methodology and philosophy of various disciplines, and gives special emphasis to the development of Islamic scholarship in contemporary social sciences. The program endeavors to elucidate Islamic concepts that integrate Islamic revealed knowledge with human knowledge and revives Islamic ethical and moral knowledge, through education, teaching and support of scholarly research.

Objectives of IIIT

As its Objectives, IIIT aspires to conduct courses in order to promote its objectives to reform Islamic thought, to bridge the intellectual divide between the Islamic tradition and Western civilization. In its teaching and selection of teachers and courses, IIIT endeavors to promote moderation, inter-faith dialog and good citizenship.

In its endeavour to teach and prepare teachers for the modern world and produce intellectuals who can relate their Islam to modern day challenges the Institute aims to:

• Serve as a think tank in the field of Islamic education, culture and knowledge.
• Formulate a comprehensive Islamic vision and methodology that will help Muslim scholars in their critical analysis of contemporary knowledge.
• Develop an appropriate methodology for understanding the Qur’an and the Sunnah of the Prophet.
• Develop an appropriate methodology for dealing with Islamic legacy and contemporary knowledge, in order to draw on the experiences of both past and present, to build a better future for the Ummah and humanity at large.
• Develop an appropriate methodology for understanding and dealing with the present situation of both the Ummah and the world in general, and the field of education in particular, in view of contemporary challenges and opportunities.

The Institute seeks to achieve its objectives by: Teaching, training of teachers, publication of text books.

Supporting researchers and scholars in universities and research centers, and publishing selected scholarly, cultural and intellectual works, in English, Arabic and several other languages.

Directing research and studies to develop Islamic thought.

Holding specialized scholarly, intellectual and cultural conferences, seminars and study circles.

The lead papers delivered at the conference.

The Muslim Universities and the Challenges of Integration Model: A Case study of Nigeria by Professor M.A. Bidmos of the University of Lagos.

Rooting in Higher Education: Reality and Challenges by Dr Rehab Abdul Rahman Al Shareef of the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, Sudan.

The Concept of Epistemological Integration: It’s Relevance to Reform of Higher Education by Prof. Fathi Hasan Malkawi International Institute of Islamic Thought, Jordan.

Kulliyyah of Islamic Revealed Knowledge and Human Sciences in IIUM: A Successful Story of Integration of Islamic and Human Sciences by Prof. Rahman Ahmad H. Osman, Deputy Rector (Research and Innovation), International Islamic University, Malaysia.

Closing program

At the end of the conference, the Coordinator, IIIT Southwest Nigeria Dr Abdullah Jibril Oyekan gave a vote of thanks with appreciation and this was followed by the issuance of a Communiqué which contents may be published in this column very soon.

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