The Nation Newspaper

Category: Femi Abbas

  • Facts about Zakah

    Facts about Zakah

    Preamble

    Perhaps no institution in Islam has brought as much harmony to human societies as Zakah. Its divine decree and revelation to Prophet Muhammad (SAW) in the 5th year of Hijrah was a social revolution coming to mankind with an ecstasy of delight. That decree was the Fatwah that ushered Zakah into the world and made it the third pillar of Islam.

    Hitherto, there was no organised system of redistribution of wealth for the purpose of alleviating poverty in any society. Although the Prophet had introduced Sadaqah (voluntary charity) as a pecuniary bridge among the Muslim social strata, this was only done according to the whims of the rich. And it had a specific neither time nor a specific measure.

    While in Makkah, the Prophet was limited to only two pillars of Islam. These were ‘Iman’ (Faith) and Salat (observance of five daily prayers). The three other fundamental pillars of Islam came to him through divine revelations in Madinah. Of the three, Ramadan was the first to came in the third year of Hijrah. It was followed by Zakah which came in the fifth year of Hijrah. These two pillars were finally anchored by Hajj in the 7th year of Hijrah. However, Zakah is our immediate concern here.

     

    Essence of Zakah

    Zakah is not about redistribution of wealth between the rich and the poor alone. It is much more about social interaction of individuals and groups in any society for the purpose of boosting tolerance, security, peace and harmony. With the coming of Zakah as the third obligatory pillar of Islam, the mutual suspicion between the rich and the poor in Madinah was reduced to its barest minimum and the instrumentality of governance was formidably strengthened.

    Zakah is the only pillar of Islam that affects other people’s lives through the giving hands of the rich and the receiving hands of the poor. Other pillars of Islam such as Iman (Faith), Salat (Worship), Sawm (fasting) and Hajj (Pilgrimage) are all personal to whoever observes them. They cannot be shared with any other person. It is only Zakah that requires the giver and the recipient to interact heatedly to the benefit of the latter.

     

    Controversy over Nisab

    The main problem of Zakah in the world today is in the controversy over the interpretation of Nisab (i.e. the minimum taxable amount from which Zakah is supposed to be paid) as prescribed by Prophet Muhammad (SAW).

    Some modern scholars have become so lazy and perhaps so intellectually retarded that they only rely on research carried out by primordial scholars some centuries ago. Such modern scholars believe that the research carried out according to the situation of those primordial periods should suffice in projecting Islam to eternity. They have forgotten that Islam is a dynamic and not a dogmatic religion. Thus in matters of Zakah, such scholars are so rigid on using gold as the measure for determining Nisab that they do not even care if Zakah is no longer paid and the five pillars of Islam are technically reduced to four. They  have ignored the fact that the same Prophet Muhammad (SAW) who prescribed gold as a measure of Nisab for sellers and buyers of gold also prescribed silver (as a measure of Nisab for dealers in silver as well as the majority of Muslims who are engaged in other businesses). That same Prophet even went further to prescribe the specific amount of money that can be termed as Nisab in certain currencies available during his time. He said, as reported by Ali Bn Abi Talib, that if you have 200 Dirham or 20 Dinar you are liable to paying Zakah. This means that if you are in possession of a net income that amounts to 200 Dirham or 20 Dinar, Zakah payment becomes obligatory on you.

     

    How the Jews influence Nisab

    Since payment of Zakah is not about money alone, subjecting the Nisab of Zakah to the market price of gold is like surrendering a whole pillar of Islam to the whim of the Jewish gold dealers who invariably determine the price of that commodity to the detriment of Zakah as a pillar of Islam. It is generally known throughout the world that the principal traders in gold are the Jews. And they are the ones determining its price from time to time. While some scholars insist on waiting for the current price of gold to be able to determine Nisab of Zakah only a few people know that as of today it requires just a minimum of about 200 UAE Dirham (according to the Prophet’s prescription) which is an equivalence of $54 or N10,744 as the net amount of money from which Zakah is to be paid in a year. And only two and a half per cent of this amount which is now N268 (according to current rate of exchange) is payable from it. The figure here is based on 200 UAE Dirham in accordance with the Prophet’s prescription. By this, only those who have less than N10744 as net income in a year will not pay Zakah. Yet Nigerian Muslims prefer to spend thousands of dollars on Hajj every year without ever paying Zakah.

     

    Due Process

    In Islam, everything is done by due process. And Zakah cannot be of any exception. The process of paying Zakah includes the following:

    •Being a genuine Muslim

    •Attainment of the age of maturity

    •Intention to pay Zakah and not Sadaqah;

    •Timeliness (the amount must have remained in custody for one year);

    •Correct amount (i.e. to pay according to Nisab);

    • Ensuring that the paid Zakah reaches the intended recipient;

     

    Explanation

    The wealth on which Zakah must be paid are basically seven. These include: gold and silver; cash income; agricultural products; livestock; property and mineral resources.

    Every male or female Muslim who has a net income of at least N10,744 which is an equivalence of 200 UAE Dirham prescribed by the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) as reported by Ali Bn Abi Talib, the third Caliph should pay Zakah. The Prophet was quoted as saying that if you have a net income of 200 Dirham or 20 Dinar you are liable to the payment of Zakah. The fact that he mentioned Dirham which was coined in silver before Dinar which was coined in gold confirms his preference for silver over gold as a measure of Nisab. And based on the quoted Hadith, Umar Bn Khattab also laid emphasis on silver during his caliphate and provided opportunity for most working Muslims to pay Zakah.

    Both Dirham and Dinar are still very much in use today in some Arab countries. For instance in countries like the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Syria and Morocco, the currency in use is Dirham while countries such as Jordan, Iraq, Libya and Kuwait use Dinar.

    Most of the prescriptions of Nisab by today’s Nigeria’s Islamic scholars are based on the current global market value of gold as determined by the Jewish gold traders. This is contradictory to the position of the second Caliph (Umar Bn Khattab) who adopted 200 silver-based Dirham prescribed by the Prophet to enable majority of the citizenry pay Zakah even as he did not prevent those who preferred gold as Nisab measure from using it.

     

    Personal Comment

    Insisting on gold as a universal measure of Nisab in today’s world is nothing but a dogmatic ambush for Zakah as well as a clandestine collaboration with some enemies of Islam to ditch the third pillar of that divine religion. The Prophet had guarded against this by considering the implications of not paying Zakah before he prescribed Dirham and Dinar. Now, going by the current market price of gold, which has put Nisab at over N600000, more than 85% of Nigerian Muslims may not be able to pay Zakah. And this has been the case year in and year out for many past decades. The implication of this is that most Nigerian Muslims will never be able to pay Zakah throughout their life time. Yet, some Nigerian scholars insist on Nisab based on gold price not minding the plight of those who are technically excluded from the payment of Zakah.

     

    Using Dirham for Nisab?

    This column (The Message) chose the UAE Dirham as a measure of Nisab for Nigerian Muslims because of their familiarity with Dirham. Many Nigerians either travel to Dubai for business transactions or pass through that city which is globally acknowledged as an international transit on their ways to some countries in Asia or Australia. By that, they have become familiar with the UAE currency called Dirham which the Prophet recommended as a matter of priority. The argument that the Dirham of the Prophet’s time was different from today’s Dirham as being advanced by some so-called scholars is as pedestrian as saying that since the Prophet did not mention Naira as a measure of Nisab, Zakah should not be paid in Naira. Can anybody prove that the available gold or silver during the Prophet’s time was different from that of today? Just as gold is gold whether during the Prophet’s time or today so is Dirham or Dinar remains the same.

     

    Payable Amount

    What is statutorily payable from N10,744 = N268 (which amounts to 21/2% or 1/40) of that amount. Today, the Dirham used in the United Arab Emirates is globally recognised as denominated in silver just as the Dinar used in Jordan or Iraq or Kuwait is recognised as denominated in gold. It is therefore grossly erroneous to impose the price of gold as determined by the Jews on Nigerian Muslims as the only yardstick for measuring Nisab.

     

    Zakah of Property

    With regards to landed property, no Zakah is paid on a residential building that is not commercialised fully or partly. If however, a part of it is commercialised and made a source of income (i.e. a part of it is let out) Zakah should be paid on the amount realised from the income generated from the commercialised part. If an open land is rented out commercially, Zakah should be paid on the amount realised from it provided that the net amount there from reaches the prescribed Nisab of N10,744 per annum. But if the property is completely sold out the payable sum on it should be 21/2% or 1/40 of the amount realised from its sale.

    Other properties on which Zakah should be paid include machinery leased out which generates income or a plot of land leased out on commercial basis or a well of water used for commercial purpose. Whatever is realised from any of these should be assessed according to the prescribed measure and   21/2% or 1/40  of its net balance should be paid as Zakah after deducting all expenses incurred on its process as well as payment of any debt.

     

    Agricultural Products

    As for the agricultural products, the prescribed minimum quantity from which Zakah should be paid is 653 kilograms. Such products include cash crops, legumes, fruits as well as tuber. There is no payment of Zakah on anything less than that weight. And the measure to be paid on agricultural products generally is 10% if the farm is not irrigated. But if irrigation is involved, only 5% is to be paid. This is to enable the farmer to cater for the cost of irrigation. The Zakah on farm products is paid immediately after harvesting. Payment of Zakah on agricultural products, especially crops, may be more than once in a year because it is a matter of pay as you harvest.

     

     Livestock

    In the case of livestock, the quantities from which Zakah should be paid vary from animal to animal. For instance, one cow is given as Zakah out of every 30 cows. One goat or one sheep is given as Zakah out of every 40. One year old goat or sheep is given as Zakah on every five camels.

    The minimum taxable Nisab on gold is 20 Dinar. Out of this, half of one Dinar, which amounts to 1/40 of 20 Dinar is payable. Anything in excess of 20 Dinar is calculated accordingly. Besides gold and silver, there is no Zakah on mines until they have been converted into cash or cash-able values. Zakat may also be paid on expected payment of debt if the debtor is reliable and trustworthy.

     

    Beneficiaries of Zakah

    The statutory beneficiaries of Zakah are contained in Chapter 9 verse 60 of the Qur’an as follows:

    “Verily, Sadaqah (obligatory alms) are only for the poor and the needy and those who work on its collection and those whose hearts are to be reconciled (i.e. new converts) and to free those in bondage (debtors and prisoners) as well in the path of God (building of Mosques, orphanages etc) and the wayfarers; a duty imposed by God; God is all-knowing, all seeing”.

    The administration of Zakah to these people should be done by the State authorities in Islamic societies or a committee headed by Muftis of each locality with Islamic scholars as members.

    It is better to disburse Zakah within the extended family or in the neighbourhood than to carry it outside one’s environment. In countries such as Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Pakistan, Indonesia, Iran and the likes, the time for paying Zakah is set to coincide with Ramadan period. This does not however mean that every Zakah time must fall in Ramadan.

    Generally, the business of Zakah is as serious with Allah as it is in the lives of the poor masses that will benefit from it. Thus, it is not a topic to be fully treated in a single day column of this type. It may therefore be continued in this column in the near future.

  • The Qur’an and Ramadan

    Preamble

    Here is the month of the Qur’an. The revelation of the Qur’an in the sacred month of Ramadan confers the status of a habitat on the latter. But on the other hand, it is the Qur’an that enables humanity to know the significance of the month called Ramadan. Thus, the relationship between the Qur’an and Ramadan is as symbiotic as the one between the egg and the hen. It is difficult for the one to claim an origin that is different from that of the other.

    The word Qur’an means continuous recitation. It is so defined because of its inimitable origin which makes it a compelling daily recitation throughout the world, across nations and centuries. Qur’an contains the unsurpassable words of Allah not only in the grandeur of its diction and splendour of its rendition but also in the depth of its meaning, substance and profundity.

     

    Revelation

    The revelation of this sacred ‘Book’ to mankind through an unlettered desert Arab, Muhammad (SAW) the son of Abdullah and Aminah, began in 610 CE. It lasted 22 years and three months (12 years in Makkah and12 years plus three months in Madinah). The book contains 114 chapters and 6236 verses (not 6666 verses often erroneously quoted by most Nigerian Muslim clerics). Of these 114 chapters, 86 were revealed in Makkah and 28 in Madinah. But the 28 chapters revealed in Madinah constitute two thirds of the Book. And this is because the Makkah chapters are short and rhythmic while those of Madinah are long and prose-like.

    Although the Qur’an was revealed orally, its writing began as soon as its revelations commenced. The writing was however done on primitive materials like wood, animal hide, back of trees, tablets of rock and others of the like which were then readily available. It was only a year (633 C.E) after the demise of Prophet Muhammad (SAW), that those writings were rendered into a book form not in a foreign language as in the case of the Bible but in Arabic which was its original language of revelation. And one of the wonders in documenting the Qur’anic revelations is the classification of those revelations into chapters and verses by the Prophet himself despite his unlettered status.

     

    Manner of presentation

    The manner of presenting the Qur’anic revelations is simple and direct. It employs neither artifice nor conventional poses. Its main appeal is to man’s intellect, feelings and imagination. It does not only touch the anecdotes of previous Prophets and nations in different ages and even the accounts of earlier revelations, it also covers the entire period of human existence from the beginning of creation to the very last Day of Judgment.

    Besides the above, the Qur’an also gives insight into some natural phenomena like spherical objects and revolution of the earth (Q. 39:5) the formation of rain (Q. 30:48); the fertilisation of the wind (Q. 15:22); the revolution of the sun, the moon and the planets in their fixed orbits (Q. 36:29-38); the aquatic origin of all creatures (Q. 21:30); the duality of the sex of plants and other creatures (Q. 36:35); the collective life of animals (Q.6:38); the mode of life of the bees (Q. 16:69) and the successive phases of the child in the mother’s womb (Q. 22:5 & 23:14). All these can be found only in the Qur’an, of all the revealed Books. Or can anybody point out anything similar to these in any other revealed book?

    Yet, the purpose of this Qur’an is not to teach history, astronomy, philosophy or sciences. It is rather to guide mankind in their pursuit of knowledge towards achieving the benefits of each of these fields throughout human odyssey.

     

    Language of the Qur’an

    Most Muslim clerics read the Qur’an in its original language (Arabic) without understanding what they are reading because they do not speak that language.  Some read it as a means of solving their imaginary problems thus taking the Qur’an for a charm which must yield result if manipulated towards their whims. The Qur’an is not meant for that purpose. It is rather the manual of life for man by which he lives his daily life and conducts his daily affairs.

    The word Qur’an means continuous recitation and understanding. It is so called because of its inimitable origin which makes it a compelling daily reading throughout the world and across ages. It contains the unsurpassable words of Allah not only in the grandeur of its diction and the splendour of its rendition but also in the depth of its meaning, substance and profundity.

     

    Originality of language

    That the Qur’an is the only revealed ‘BOOK’ in the world today that has consistently retained the originality of both its language and contents for over 1400 years is enough a testimony to the proof of its divine origin. That also confirms not only the genuineness of the prophet-hood of Muhammad (SAW) as a Messenger of Allah but also the lucidity of Arabic as one of the oldest languages in the world today. Thus, just as there can be no proof of the identity of a messenger without the authenticity of the message so can there be  no proof of the genuineness of the prophetic mission of Muhammad (SAW) outside the proof of the Qur’an.

     

    Proof of divine origin

    It cannot be strange to see anybody who perceives the immortal God in the image of a mortal being perceive Islam as a mere dogma like any other religion. It is such people who keep asking for the proof of Qur’anic revelation as if other revelations before the Qur’an do not need proof. In reason and logic, asking for the proof of the Qur’an after all the manifest evidences in its contents is like asking the sun to prove its rays. However, it is the nature and character of unbelievers to deny the truth and refute the obvious. But does it really bother the sun that a blind man denies its rays? Or can a brook be assaulted in anyway if the herds boycott its water?

     

    Features of the Qur’an

    Qur’an leaves no aspect of life untouched and it leaves no secret unrevealed. Problems and solutions; history and lessons; crimes and penalties; justice and righteousness; discipline and courage; friendship and trust; governance and methodology; marriage and divorce; widowhood and orphanage; childhood and inheritance; poverty and wealth; opinion and logic; facts and figures; life and death; darkness and light; war and peace; leadership and power; angel and man; heavens and earth; all these and many other  matters relating to man and his environment form the subjects of discussion and guidance in the ‘Divine Diary of Life called the Qur’an’.

     

    Profile of the Qur’an

    The revelation of this Book to mankind through an unlettered desert Arab, Muhammad (SAW) son of Abdullah and Aminah, began in the month of Ramadan in year 610 CE. It lasted about 23 years (10 years in Makkah and12 years plus a few months in Madinah). The book contains 114 chapters and 6246 verses (not 6666 verses often announced by most Imams and Alfas). Any individual can verify this by checking the number of verses in each chapter and adding them together. It does not take more than one hour to do this.

    Of the 114 chapters contained in the Qur’an, 86 were revealed in Makkah and 28 in Madinah. But the 28 chapters revealed in Madinah constitute two thirds of the entire Sacred Book. And this is because the Makkah chapters are short and rhythmic while those of Madinah are long and prose-like.

    Although the Qur’an was revealed orally, its writing began almost immediately the revelations started. The writing was however done on primitive materials like wood, animal hides, back of trees and others of the like which were then readily available. It was only much later, after the demise of Prophet Muhammad (SAW), that those writings were brought together and rendered into a book form.

    One of the wonders of recording the Qur’an in writing is the classification of those revelations into chapters and verses by the Prophet himself despite his Inability to read and write.

    The manner of presenting the Qur’anic revelations is simple and direct. It employs neither artifice nor conventional poses. Its main appeal is to man’s intellect, feelings and imagination. It does not only touch the anecdotes of the past Prophets in different ages and nations as well as the accounts of earlier revelations, it also covers the period from the beginning of creation to the very last Day of Judgment and beyond.

    Not only that, Al-Qur’an also gives insight into some natural phenomena like sphericity and revolution of the earth (Q. 39:5) the formation of rain (Q. 30:48); the fertilisation of the wind (Q. 15:22); the revolution of the sun, the moon and the planets in their fixed orbits (Q. 36:29-38); the aquatic origin of all creatures (Q. 21:30); the duality of the sex of plants and other creatures (Q. 36:35); the collective life of animals (Q.6:38); the mode of life of the bees (Q. 16:69) and the successive phases of the child in the mother’s womb (Q. 22:5 & 23:14). Yet, the purpose of this Book is not to teach history, astronomy, philosophy or sciences.

     

    Qur’anic Lessons

    In this glorious Book are practical lessons such as the great deluge, the cataclysm of Sodom and Gomorrah, the defeat of Jalut (Goliath) by Daud (David), the doom of the tyrannical Pharaoh, and similar catastrophes that had afflicted iniquitous people of the past. All these are taught to man through the Qur’an that he (man) might know how to re-assess himself continually and properly akin to the guidance of Allah.

    Apart from the facts mentioned above, many other devices were adopted from time to time, by Allah, to remind man of his mortality and to see him through a successful sojourn on earth. But unfortunately, man has always been blind to genuine divine guidance just as he has been deaf to warnings and deviant from reason as much as he has persistently been insensitive to rightful thoughts even as he remains unreceptive to positive ideas. In his choice to form freemasonry with Satan (the custodian of ruins and deception, the inventor of arrogance and vanity and the master of avarice and woes), man has ignorantly and continuously strayed into a quagmire of sorrow. Taking Satan for his best friend, he refuses to use the long spoon with which he is provided in the Qur’an by Allah to dine with the damned Lucifer.

     

    Testimony

    To Muslims who understand the teachings of Islam through the Qur’an, all the genuine Prophets, including Musa (Moses) and Isa (Jesus) are from Allah and all the divinely revealed ‘BOOKS’ are series of the same ‘MESSAGE’. They are like Ambassadors of a nation to another nation. Changing them from time to time does not change the nation from where they come or the foreign policy of that nation. This fact has been firmly established in the Qur’an itself thus:

    “The Messenger of Allah (Muhammad (SAW) believes in what has been revealed to him from his Lord; and every true believer also believes in Allah and His Angels and His revealed Books and His Messengers; We do not discriminate against anyone of them (those Messengers) as they say we hear and obey (the contents of the revelation) oh God, we seek your forgive, to You is our return” Q. 3:285-286

     

    Discipline

    That is why Muslims are not known for maligning any Prophet or genuinely revealed ‘BOOKS’ that have not reflected any traces of human tampering. Right from its very first day of revelation, the Qur’an has come with undeniable proof. But it takes only a divinely cleansed heart to comprehend such proof and acknowledge its authenticity. Qur’an itself is the master proof of all other celestial messages that preceded it. It is the final divine revelation which has no human interference or human tampering.

    Neither Prophet Muhammad (SAW), who brought this Sacred Book to mankind nor any of his companions (or disciples) had a say in it. The Book contains no chapters or verses according to anybody. And unlike some other books no one speaks in the Qur’an on behalf of Allah in the name of revelation. Even the personal expressions of Prophet Muhammad (SAW) about mundane life which are generally known as Hadith were not to be mingled with the verses of the Qur’an despite his endowed divine inspirations. And where such expressions seem to contradict any part of the Qur’an they automatically become superseded by the contents of the latter.

     

    Mirror of Life

    Qur’an is the extraordinary compendium in which the activities of man from the very beginning of human existence to the end of human life are chronicled. It is the eternally concrete ‘MIRROR’ through which the descendants of Adam and Hawau can see life in its past, its present and its near and far future. This ‘MIRROR’ is the spectacle that heals the blind, the natural manure that fertilises the human brain and the greatest treasure in the possession of mankind.

    For the rightly guided mind, the Qur’an is the eye with which to see, the ear with which to hear and the sense with which to reason. It is the bridge across the valleys of life; the insurance against any damnation; the passport for salvation and the only reliable redeemer of mankind.

    For any divinely tamed mind therefore, life begins and ends with the Qur’an, Allah’s own tradition and the only authentic fountain from which man can draw and sip from the living spring of wisdom. The sense that reasons with the Qur’an makes no mistake. Any mind that thinks with the Qur’an can never be devilled. Any eye that sees with it can never incur sore. Any tongue that talks with it will never stammer. Any power that genuinely rules with it will never falls. Meanwhile, the Almighty Allah warns in this non-such Book (the Qur’an) thus: “But whosoever deviates from My guidance, verily for him is life of subjugation and We shall raise him up a blind person on the Day of resurrection” (Q. 20: 124).

  • Crescent University @ 10

    Do you not see how Allah projects a parable of a single valuable word like a gargantuan tree which roots are firmly planted in the belly of the earth while its foliages sprout magnificently into the firmament of the orbit? It yields fruits every season by the grace of Allah. Thus Allah sets forth parables for humans that they may be mindful (of their Creator’s grace)”. Q.14:24

     

    All roads will lead to Abeokuta tomorrow (June 13, 2015) where people of meaningful life will witness, in concrete terms, the similitude of the above quoted verse of the Qur’an. That similitude is the Crescent University a modern FIRST among equals in the realm of knowledge and civilisation. Tomorrow’s occasion is to celebrate the 10th anniversary of that young but vibrant University with gratitude to the Almighty Allah. And whatever supplications are made there will surely arouse the consciousness of the pious world into chorusing AMEN!

     

    History and Man

    History and man are like Siamese twins. The one cannot do without the other. History makes man just as man makes history but the latter is deemed greater than the earlier. This is because it takes little or no efforts at all to be made by history. But on the contrary, it takes man a lot of efforts, sometimes guts, to make history. A Nigerian of rare breed and unique personality is currently exhibiting this assertion. Through the royalty of his birth he became a product of history. And through the aristocracy of his intellect he turned round to be a maker of history.

    His Excellency, Prince Bola Jabbar Ajibola, SAN, KBE, LLD, D. LTT, CFR is that unique Nigerian who does not need to be introduced before recognition in any part of the world. By all standards, he stands out vertically in a global garden where most others of his peer are dwelling horizontally. As a product and a maker of history this man is qualified not only to be a proverbial confluence of knowledge and civilisation but also a manifest signpost in the world of intellectualism the like of whom the world seldom rears in centuries.

     

    Philosophy

    Looking closely at Prince Ajibola’s background and comparing it with his lifestyle, one may tend to believe that he shares his philosophy of life with that of another great Nigerian of blessed memory who became a model for thousands of others even long after his demise. That other great Nigerian is Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, Nigeria’s first President. While revealing that philosophy in his autobiography entitled ‘My Odyssey’, which he published in 1970, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe wrote thus:

    “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 to those of the living who may need guidance either as a warning on the vanity of human wishes or as encouragement or both”.

    Prince Ajibola might not strictly be a contemporary of ‘Great Zik’ but he surely shares the qualitative life that granted the latter the qualitative history that put his footprint on the sands of time. Like the colossus of the 1940s, 50s and 60s called Zik, Prince Ajibola has personified intellect and integrity since   the 1970s through the 80s and the 90s for the world to behold with admiration. Like a summer rainbow giving a treasured delight to its beholders, Prince Ajibola’s mark of intellectual influence cuts across all spheres of humanity in an indelible manner.

     

    Like UNN like Crescent

    In Dr. Azikiwe’s philosophy intimately shared by Prince Ajibola, there is an angle that believes in giving more to the world than what has been taken from the world. That angle was what prompted the Great Zik to establish the first private University in Nigeria (University of Nigeria, Nsukka) in 1960 which he dedicated ‘to all those who continue to do good in spite of man’s inhumanity to man’. It is the same angle that prompted Prince Bola Ajibola to singularly establish Crescent University in a country where ignorance still thrives and at a time when the pessimistic word ‘impossibility’ was and is still in vogue on the lips of many.

    Today, there is a historic ‘Crescent University in Abeokuta established in 2005 as much as there is the ‘University of Nigeria in Nsukka, established in 1960’. While the two Universities coexist albeit in different parts of Nigeria the only difference so far remains between them is the age gap. And who says the young cannot grow? After all, UNN also started one day and has now outgrown the teething age.

     

    How it all began

    The dream of Crescent University began in 2002 when the Educational Board of Islamic Mission of Africa (IMA) recommended the establishment of a University to be named Crescent in Abeokuta. The academic committee set up for that purpose later submitted its recommendation to IMA. And the National University Commission (NUC) approved the establishment of that University in 2005 while the academic programmes commenced in earnest in December of the same year.

    According to a published media interview with the Proprietor of the University, Prince Ajibola, this institution is out to assist Nigerians in closing the widening gap between attainable potential student population and limited space in Nigerian education system. Thus, the University hopes to produce the kind of graduates that will fit into the current economic and social agenda. It hopes to gradually ensure total quality assurance of consciousness in terms of its staffing, its teaching and learning environment, its equipment support base and its infrastructure and super structural development.

    In addition, the university is designed to build a new generation of graduates imbued with industry and diligence as well as to inculcate spiritual reawakening and moral uprightness in the development of humanity. As a unique element, this University is designed to assist in the global quest for accelerating the education of the girl child towards the build-up of intellectual Womanhood.

     

    A University for All

    Towards this end, all students are welcome in the university irrespective of colour, race, tribe and creed. Along this line, the administration of the university shall be guided by Islamic tenets and practice. Meanwhile, in the said interview, Prince Ajibola as the proprietor of the University said: “I have pledged my life to developing this vision and I hereby use this medium to invite you all to join several others that are supporting this mission. May Allah guide us on the right path and grant us paradise”.

    Prince Ajibola’s mission is perfectly in tandem with Crescent University’s philosophy which includes the following:

    To provide access to education for the increasing population of eligible candidates

    To create a new breed of Nigerians imbued with loyalty to God, the nation and the fellow men.

    To motivate candidates to develop entrepreneurial skills for men in an ever changing society

    To equip and prepare an enabling environment in which teaching and learning shall be conducted in an atmosphere of harmony, peace and love.

    To imbued our graduates with character and make them learning, consciously about the fear of God in their daily lives.

     

    Objectives

    The real objectives of the University are as follows:

    1. To produce graduates empowered with knowledge for sustainable living in an ever changing world. This requires adequate and up to date physical facilities including lecture rooms, laboratories, studios, healthy officers and comprehensive use of information technology.

    2. To offer education guided by Islamic principles and tenets of spiritual and moral discipline. The intention here is to employ the teachings of Islam as a variable tool for ordering life with the consciousness of doing good and shunning evil deeds and for interacting with others in harmony, peace and love.

    3. To promote exemplary research and services piloted towards the achievement of human development.

    4. To encourage and promote higher education for women. The strategy here is to place emphasis on the enrollment of female students in the ratio of 60:40 (female: male) subsumed in the overall 60:40 (science: arts) ratio as prescribed by the National University Commission (NUC).

     

    Motto

    The motto of the university is knowledge and faith which emphasises the principles of pursuing academic excellence in a Godly way as envisioned in the mission statement and the Founder’s Day shall be celebrated or marked on the 22nd of March of every year.

     

    Great Reminder

    Crescent University has come to remind us of the world’s oldest University in existence today. That University is called Al-Azhar. It is one of the most important Centres of intellectualism and Islamic civilisation in the world. Al-Azhar University was established as a Mosque in Cairo, Egypt, in about 960 CE by one Jawhar, a liberated slave and an army General during the regime Caliph Muiz of the Fatimid Dynasty. It became a fully fledged University in about 977 through the influence of a Muslim convert, Ya’qub Bn Qillis, and it eventually developed as a major center for Islamic scholarship, providing education for students of all ages. But during the 12th century, a Muslim leader, Salahud-din Al-Ayubi converted the university into an agency of orthodoxy forming a part of his war-planning centers during the war of Crusades. And until about 1924, the university offered only courses based on Islamic theology, the Prophetic traditions (Hadith) and interpretations of the Qur’an (Tafsir).

    It, however, became liberalised in 1924 by certain reforms instituted under the auspices of the Egyptian government. Thus because of recommendations set forth by the reformers and adopted by the Egyptian government in 1962, the university began to include the study of foreign languages and engineering as well as agriculture, commerce, science, and medicine. These did not however change the use of the older curriculum which included Islamic jurisprudence (Fiqh), Prophetic Tradition (Hadith), Islamic Theology (Tawhid), the principles of Islamic Law (Saharia’h) as well as rudimentary arithmetic, and elementary geography.

     

    Evidence of Determination

    Out of determination to impact positively on the lives of others in life and to show gratitude to Allah, Prince Ajibola sold out all his properties for the purpose of using the proceeds there from to establish the Islamic Movement for Africa, IMA, which gave birth to projects like IMA Nursery and Primary School, IMA Colleges, the Crescent University and the newly established IMA Hospital, also in Abeokuta. This is a confirmation that real men think more of what they can give to the world than they can gain from the world. Perhaps it was to such men that Williams Webster referred in his famous axiomatic oration when he said:

    “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 instill in them just principles we are then engraving that upon tablets which no time can efface but will brighten into all eternity”.

    Al-Azhar University celebrated its 1000 years of existence in 1977 and yours sincerely witnessed that celebration as a student then in Cairo. It is our wish and prayer that Crescent University too will one day celebrate a millennium of existence and more by the grace of Allah. Long live Crescent University, long live its proprietor.

     

     Watch Out

    While the month of Ramadan is fast approaching, the venerable readers of ‘The Message’ column are hereby advised to watch out for the usual daily column called ‘Ramadan Guide’ in ‘The Nation’ . Ramadan Guide is a small column specially designed and dedicated to the month of Ramadan for the purpose of educating the Muslim multitudes and guiding them in their daily lives throughout the sacred month. The column 3 x 6 column has been a daily Ramadan tonic for well-meaning Muslims and even non-Muslims in the month since the inception of ‘The Nation’  nine years ago.

    Ramadan Guide addresses social, ethical, economic and educational lives of Muslims as well as their health concerns. Through Ramadan Guide, many Muslims who may not be privileged to attend daily Tafsir in their localities or elsewhere may gain access to the needed knowledge in a summarised form. Watch out for the column from the 17th of June 2015 and you will not regret you do.

     

    Sponsorship

     

    The column is an opportunity for men and women who are dealing in commerce or professional products and want to advertise them in the month of Ramadan. For further inquiry, interested persons may reach out to this columnist through the telephone number or email address on top of this column. Please note all contacts by telephone should be by text messages.

  • Guest of integrity

    Guest of integrity

    Preamble

    In a few days time, a unique guest will arrive in the world with the grandeur of integrity. Its arrival will be the divine catalyst with which the long awaited human respite will be ushered in.

    Guests, everywhere in the world, are of different types. Some are of honour and treated with integrity because of their acknowledged dignity. Some are bereft of honour but merely tolerated for their nuisance value. Each time we talk of guests, people invariably think only of humans in the erroneous belief that no other creature could be qualified for that title. What they don’t seem to know is that humans are just a fraction of Allah’s creatures. There are millions of others not often noticed by man. One of such creatures is environment of which season is a part. The phenomenon called season comes in different forms with different intensity and at different times of the year.

    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 as they come in multiples of months. No one measures a season in the absence of months as there can be no seasons without months.

     

    August Visitor

    Europeans have so much respect for seasons that when they have an important guest they call him an ‘August visitor’. The month of August is the peak of summer season and the most comfortable month of hospitality for the Caucasian race of Europe hence the term.

    In Islam, the most venerable guest is Ramadan. Its visiting time is not restricted to any particular season or Gregorian month. Its arrival in the world may coincide with that of any season. It is therefore a guest of all seasons.

    With Ramadan as a guest, not only the Muslims but the entire humanity is consciously or unconsciously engaged in hospitable activities. Those who cannot fast in it do take advantage of its presence to sell or buy some relevant needs and wants. Thus, there can be no indifference to the awful presence of Ramadan in any part of the world.

    I recall the vivid description given this sacred month in ‘THE MESSAGE’   column sometime ago which is still as relevant now as it was then. It went thus:

    Once every year, something creeps into the world like the early morning light. It moves kaleidoscopically into an arena where the centre becomes its stool. It lifts its veil and beams a focus on the world with an arresting attention in the days. It envelops the nights in a shroud of covenant linking the dream of man with his fulfilment.

     

    Its journey

    No one knows Ramadan’s 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. RAMADAN is the name by which it is divinely christened. Its coming is often heralded by a retinue of envoys. The months of ‘Rajab’ and ‘Sha’ban’ are the immediate escorts that alert mankind of its imminent arrival. 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.

    Call it the king where other months are chiefs and you will be dead right. Call it the doctor in a world of sick people and you will not be wrong. Call it the compass in the wilderness of straying humanity and you would have spoken the truth. Call it the reformer of human soul; the sterilizer of human spirit as well as the purifier of human body and you will not be disputed. In its entourage are equally invisible ministers like piety, knowledge, truth, justice and peace all of which usher it into the world with splendour.

    Deriving its name from a natural healing phenomenon, this ninth lunar month is truly baking in effect. The word:  Ramadan is derived from the Arabic word ramd (meaning baking). The name had been in existence before the advent of Islamic calendar. It was coined from a baking summer that immediately followed a freezing winter. Ever since, Ramadan’s mission has been to firm up all loose ends in the life of man. And it does that with a touch of perfection.

     

    Its mission

    In Ramadan, the entire month of 30 or 29 days is spent fasting from dawn to dusk. Such fasting is not about abstinence from foods and drinks alone. It is also about self restraint from all sinful acts. More importantly, it is about repackaging one’s destiny through a new but sincere resolution.

    Fasting during this month is believed to figuratively burn away all sins. It was in this glorious month that the revelation of the Qur’an to Prophet Muhammad (SAW) first began.

    In this month, all gates of paradise, according to the Prophet, are open while those of hell are closed. The first ten days in it are blessings galore for those of the Muslim Ummah who need blessings and seek for them. The next 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. Thus, Ramadan is far beyond a month. It is a season.

     

     Its anchor leg

    The last ten days constitute the anchor leg of Ramadan which is meant for the liberation of mankind from the manacles of Satan. Whoever is so liberated automatically becomes like a new born baby arriving in a new world with a tabula rasa (clean slate).

    In these 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 meet the D night.

    Allah did not disclose even to Prophet Muhammad (SAW), which particular night it is. But by asking the Muslims to look for it in the odd nights of the last ten days, the Prophet has helped us tremendously. However, who can be so sure of the odd nights when the issue of sighting the crescent before starting Ramadan remains controversial?

    Also, during the last ten days of Ramadan, some willing Muslims, in accordance with the tradition of Prophet Muhammad (SAW), do go for Umrah in Makkah or take to I’tikaf (spiritual seclusion) locally, to reaffirm their total submission to Allah. Following this is a session of charity made compulsory for all Muslims irrespective of age, gender and status, to give to the poor and the needy. This is called Zakatul Fitr or Sadaqatul Fitr. It is given 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 Ummah in a festive mood.

     

    Anticlimax

    The first day of the month of Shawwal immediately after Ramadan is the anticlimax traditionally spent in great celebrations with rejoice and observed as ‘Fast-Breaking Festival’ (Eidul Fitr).

    Where else can one find a guest like Ramadan? Where else can one meet a guest that hosts his supposed host and heals him of ignorance and 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’ which means ‘Venerable Ramadan’.

     

    Preparation

    To start or end fasting in Ramadan, sighting of the crescent is just symbolic. The indices of recognizing when to start or end the month are naturally vivid to those who care.

    Ramadan is not preceded by two glorious lunar months of Rajab and Sha’ban for fun. The number of days in those two months is to enable any serious Muslim know the time of arrival of Ramadan and prepare for it. No lunar month exceeds 30 days and none is less than 29 days.

    Crescent or no crescent, it is very possible and easy to know when to start Ramadan every year. The confusion often created by the sighting of the crescent is therefore avoidable. If Rajab is 30 or 29 days, no one looks for the crescent before starting Sha’ban. As soon as Rajab ends, Sha’ban starts.

     

    Dynamism

    Islam is a dynamic religion and nothing should be rigid about the sighting of the crescent before starting Ramadan. Sighting the crescent is not the only condition for starting the great month. After all, the new crescent is not necessarily visible to all eyes at any given time in any locality. That is why a few who may be privileged to sight it are implored to invite some others to witness it and then inform the recognized authorities who will in turn, announce the arrival of Ramadan to the Muslim community in the locality or region.

    Besides Faith (Iman) and Hajj (which are the first and last pillars of Islam), nothing else is really globally uniform in practical terms with regards to timing. The variation in the geography of the earth has legitimsed the variation of time in the observance of Salat, Sawm and Zakat. Iman is global because it resides permanently in the hearts of the believers irrespective of their localities. Hajj is equally global because it is performed in only one place at a particular time.

     

    Geographical factor

    Where a gap of about nine to eleven hours exists between one part of the world and another, talking of global uniformity in starting or ending Ramadan can only border on sheer ignorance. For instance it is impossible for the Australian Muslims living in Australia and their South American brethren residing in Brazil or Argentina to start Ramadan on the same day. Even within Nigeria, all Muslims can start Ramadan on the same day, only if they have equal access to information. And even with that, it is not possible for them all to start or end daily fasting at the same time of the day. That is why the announcement or publication of Ramadan timing according to the various localities is necessary.

     

    Universality of Ramadan

    That Ramadan fasting is prescribed as a universal obligation for all Muslims in a particular month is deliberate. Allah who did the prescription is not oblivious of the geographical variations in the world. Neither is He unaware of the possible invisibility of a new crescent to most eyes. The design is to allow for the reverberation of the effect of Ramadan across the world. And time variation in worship or celebration of festivals is not peculiar to Islam. Even in Christianity, neither Easter nor Christmas is globally celebrated in one day. And, there is no media noise about it.

    What is global about Ramadan fasting is the month and not the time. Dawn and dusk vary from locality to locality. It is therefore possible for the Muslims in one part of the world to be breaking their daily fast at a time when their brethren in another part are commencing theirs. Thus, the genuineness or otherwise of Ramadan fasting is not to be judged by man. That is why Allah is reported by Prophet Muhammad (SAW) as saying in a sacred Hadith (Hadith-ul-Qudsi) that: “Fasting is mine and I am the One to grant rewards on it.”

    Welcome to the coast of Ramadan. This sacred ‘ship’ must not leave the coast without you on board. Ramadan is like an institution of learning. A good Muslim must not just pass through it he must also allow it to pass through him. Who knows when the last time to witness the month will be?

    RAMADAN KARIM!

     

     Where is Gawat?

    Retrospectively, Tuesday, July 10, 2012 can be described as a shocking day for Nigerian Muslim Ummah. That day, the Nigerian electronic media waves throbbed with a shocking and unbelievable news saying: the popular Islamic programme (e dide e mu sari je) presenter was missing. The waves added that whoever knew his whereabouts or heard any information about him should report to the nearest police station or any other relevant authorities. The breaking news sent jitters to millions and puzzled millions of others. Here was a well known human being and not a chattel. Where and how do you start looking for him?

     

    Action and Rumour

    Brothers and sisters immediately went into action by taking up the matter as a knotty task that must be unravelled. Text messages and phone calls, e-mails and face-book communications began in earnest. In less than one hour after the outbreak of the news the entire world had known of it. And that evidently confirmed the global village created by the modern technology called internet. Thus, the search for ‘a golden fish’ in a turbulent ocean became a task for all and sundry.

    Thereafter, the Nigerian factor set in. Rumours began to fly across boundaries as evil agents added their inputs. First, we heard that Gawat had been found and taken to his family. Then, a devilish rumour came in insinuating that the episode was a complicity in which his wife’s hand was vivid. The evil rumour mongers even had the audacity of sending text messages to me saying that his wife was already in police gulag. I immediately called the innocent woman (Hajiya Fatima Gawat) to inquire about her whereabouts. And when she told me that she was in her husband’s home with her children I heaved a deep sigh of fervent relief. It was one moment of embarrassment at its topmost peak.

     

    Mysterious Puzzle

    It is possible to be dead suddenly by whatever means but the body will be seen and the grave will be a witness. However, in a jungle-like country like Nigeria, it is possible for a prominent person of Gawat’s status to be kidnapped for a ransom by hoodlums and their godfather. But in this case, what is unimaginable and which remains a puzzle is for a person of Gawat’s personality to suddenly disappear so mysteriously within the city of Lagos without any trace.

    And now, all said and done, three years after that agonizing episode, the common question that remains on the lips of all well-meaning people is: ‘where is Gawat? And the answer lies with Allah.

  • Returning to the drawing board

    Returning to the drawing board

    Allah has surely ascertained His servant’s dream with truth; you shall definitely enter the sacred Mosque with the pleasure of Allah and (the hair of) your heads shaven or trimmed; do not entertain any fear as Allah knows what you do not know and He has prepared (for you) better openings for success very soon”. Q.48:27

    Prologue

    In the mood of joy and hope, ‘The Message’ column welcomes all Nigerians with positive minds to a ‘NEW NIGERIA’ as despair and impunity are expected to take a permanent leap from the shores of our dear country as from today by the grace of Allah.

    Preamble

    In a deeply thoughtful poetic stanza, an Arab poet coined some philosophical wordings that have since remained axiomatic by all standards. It was a tutorial for people who can reason and draw the best lesson through the benefit of their reasoning. The stanza read thus in part:

    “We persistently blame our era for implacable calamities afflicting us; whereas indeed the only blame ascribable to our era is actually our own misdemeanour…….”

    Looking retrospectively at the various steps that brought Nigeria to the present level of uncertainty, this column, (The Message) quickly dusted its archive once in search of facts about the wreath of thorns that littered our way to this stage of our common odyssey as a nation. And no document came more handy than a lecture delivered by His Eminence, Alhaji Muhammad Sa‘ad Abubakar, the Sultan of Sokoto at Harvard University, in the United States of America on October 3, 2011.

    The title of the 33-page lecture which had once been fully analysed in this column under the topic ‘A voice from Harvard’ was ‘Islam and Peace Building in West Africa’.

    In that lecture, His Eminence enumerated the causes and effects of violent crises in the West African sub region with particular reference to Nigeria.

    He blamed such crises on three major issues: (1) political struggle for supremacy between the elite and the poor masses (2) bad governance on the part of the ruling class and (3) primordial ethno-religious sentiments. The most prominent of these three issues according to him is bad governance which engenders corruption, joblessness, poverty, exploitation, suspicion and general bitterness in the land.

    Observation

    Looking at the situation of Nigeria as a nation abundantly blessed with enormous wealth, one will surely find a puzzling irony in the fact that some citizens of such a nation can be paid a paltry sum of N5000 by some agents of Satan to kill innocent people mercilessly and burn their property with impunity as in the case of Boko Haram. Also, the abysmal level of penury and squalor in the land seems to be a sharp contradiction of what Nigeria ought to be as against what she currently is vis a vis her wealth especially as the so-called ruling class lives in extravagant affluence while the masses live in abject poverty.

    The words of elders

    There are many questions on this hopeless situation to which His Eminence’s lecture had proffered solution since 2011. The summary of the lecture is that no smoke can be found where there is no fire. However, while the Federal Government and its agencies focus on the effect of violence, His Eminence believes that it is only by tracing the root cause of our calamities that we can find a permanent solution to them.

    Excerpts from the lecture

    “….Many people (outside our country) consider Nigeria as a theatre of absurd conflicts and interminable crises. They may be justified in holding this view; with the Jos crises festering for years, with post-election violence and suicide – bombings, it is difficult to think otherwise. When we consider Nigeria’s population of about 150 million, half the population of West Africa; its over 250 ethnic and language groups; its regional and geo-political configurations; its landmass and its diversity in religion and culture; we may be constrained to reach a different conclusion. Nigeria may, after all, be a paragon of stability which, as God Almighty has willed, shall undergo all the trials allotted to it early enough in its national history”.

    “But in all fairness, systemic ethno-political and religious crises, like the ones we have been witnessing in recent years, do not have a long history in Nigeria. They all began in the late 1980s following the intense competition for power and influence especially among the western educated elite; the Kafanchan crisis of 1987, in Southern Kaduna, was quickly followed by the Zangon Kataf and other crises; all in the same vicinity. The democratic dispensation, which began in 1999 also came with its set of problems, the most visible being the Shari’ah Crisis and the First Jos Crisis which led to the declaration of a state of emergency in Plateau State”.

    “But these crises, varied as they were, only came to reveal the multi-dimensional nature of Nigeria as a political entity. We witness the primacy of politics in almost all these conflicts. In the struggle for power and political supremacy, politicians exercise no restraint in aggravating the socio-religious and ethnic cleavages, which characterize the geo-politics of the Nigerian state. It should not be forgotten that the Second Jos Crisis of November 2008 was also ignited by a botched Chairmanship election in Jos North Local Government”.

    Second Dimension

    “The second dimension to these crises, especially in Kaduna and Plateau states, is the indigene/settler dichotomy, which is yet to be addressed properly by the Nigerian State. Many ethnic groups in these conflict areas see the other ethnic groups as foreigners who should not enjoy the full rights of bona fide residents… However, those who oppose this dichotomy argue that these so-called settlers had spent more than two hundred years in the areas they reside. Moreover, as Nigerian Citizens, they have the full right to reside wherever they wish and pursue their legitimate business without let or hindrance. After all, they cannot be settlers in their own country”.

    Third Dimension

    “The third dimension of Nigeria’s ethno-religious crises is their potential to become systematic national crises. When a person is killed in any of the areas of conflict, his co-religionists, especially in the cities react violently and begin to kill anyone they think is related to him. This often triggers further reprisals in other parts of the country where victims come from. It took a lot of efforts by the Nigeria Inter-Religious Council [NIREC] which I co-chair, and other state authorities, to treat each crisis independently and reduce the risk of systemic reprisals”.

    Fourth Dimension

    “The fourth dimension of Nigeria’s crises is poor leadership and the bad governance usually associated with its management. Many of those charged with authority in the states where these conflicts occur are also parties to the crises. They make feeble efforts to control the violence and do so only when the damage has been done…”

    Governance

    “….The issue of poor leadership and bad governance also explains how the Boko Haram movement has been able to transform itself from a small Hijrah group in Yobe State, escaping from the uncertainties and contradictions of the Nigerian State, to a militant movement able to wreak havoc and destruction once provoked.

    Those in authority were prepared to court the leaders of this group when it suited them and to trample on them like flies when they were no longer useful…However, the bombing of the United Nations Office in Abuja has introduced an international dimension to terrorist’s activities, a development, which was hitherto entirely new to Nigeria”.

    The promise of dialogue

    “….When I became the Sultan of Sokoto in November 2006, some of the major problems I found on ground were the after-effects of the Riots, especially in Kaduna, Jos and some parts of the North East as well as a disturbing atmosphere of mistrust, fear and hostility, especially between the leaderships of Nigeria’s two major religions: Islam and Christianity. To resolve these knotty issues we chose the path of positive engagement, which we thought would engender meaningful discourse, improve communication and understanding and change the dynamics of our operating environment to that of trust and confidence…”

    “….The Nigeria Inter-Religious Council [NIREC] provided the right platform for this engagement. The Council, itself a product of Nigeria’s ethno-religious crises, was composed of 25 members each from the two religions and co-chaired by myself, in my capacity as the President-General of the Nigerian Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs, and the President of the Christian Association of Nigeria [CAN]….

    Duties of NIFAA

    “I must point out that it was also our view that inter-faith action should transcend conflict resolution. For it to be effective, it must affect the life of the common man. NIREC floated the Nigeria Inter-Faith Action Association [NIFAA] to take up this challenge and NIFAA has been very active in the control of the dreaded tropical disease: Malaria. We also find that we must act together to address issues related to electoral reform, good governance and anti-corruption. I am therefore glad to state that the goodwill and understanding which these activities were able to generate, have given impetus to the development of inter-faith dialogue to a new level.

    Looking ahead

    ‘’…Understanding the multifarious nature of Nigeria’s ethno-religious crises should strengthen our resolve and determination to deploy all the energies and resources at our disposal to see to their resolution. Our inability and reluctance to take meaningful action go to challenge not only our common humanity but also our self-worth… The Nigerian political class must be able to speak and understand one another as well as to develop a minimum national agenda to chart the way forward. The political class must also be able to open dialogue on a variety of national issues, including the perennial problem of power rotation and willingly enter into agreements that they can honour with dignity….”

    “….Also, governance, at all levels, must translate into tangible benefits for all Nigerians, regardless of their ethnic and religious affiliation. Nigeria has the resources to make life more pleasant for its people. It is equally imperative to address the poverty problem as well as the needs of the youth population both in all the geo-political areas of the country. In a situation where over 50% of our population is jobless at less than 19 years of age, we are definitely sitting on a time bomb much deadlier than that of Boko Haram unless we take urgent action to defuse it….”

    “….Furthermore, there should be renewed determination to address both the Jos and Boko Haram sectarian crises. The Federal Government must take its security responsibilities seriously by effectively containing these crises. But beyond that, a genuine dialogue must be initiated, to begin healing festering wounds and to bring genuine understanding and reconciliation amongst the entire people of Plateau State and beyond. The social dimension of the Boko Haram cannot also be resolved by mere use of force. This is the reason why I have consistently suggested dialogue and education to counteract its message, especially those aspects dealing with modern education. Millions of Muslim pupils are already outside the school system. Millions more will definitely follow if urgent intervention is not undertaken to enlighten the younger generations. And the question I have always asked is What kind of society can we build in the 21st century when our youth turn their back on Science and Technology and are unable to produce the next generation of doctors, engineers and other specializations necessary for sustaining the socio-economic development of the society?….”

    Conclusion

    “….Finally, we should not neglect the impact of the International environment on Nigeria’s ethno-religious crises. Happenings in the US, Iraq, Afghanistan, Norway, Netherlands, the UK and France are as current and relevant as events in Jos, Maiduguri and Abuja. We must preach international tolerance and moderation. The fight against extremist groups should never be perverted to become a fight against Islam and its doctrines. We should all remember that in the final analysis, it is not what the perpetrators of violence do that really counts. It is the actions we take, individually and collectively, that would shape the fate of humanity….”

    Comment

    For those who can deeply comprehend the above excerpts from His Eminence’s lecture of 2011, there can be no better choice than returning to the drawing board for a permanent solution. In no part of the world has any wound inflicted by sectarian crisis been healed in the contemporary time through the barrels of guns. Nigeria cannot be an exception. The causes of our crises are much more fundamental than their effects. And addressing the effects alone to the exclusion of the causes may be an approach too far from the solution. It is hoped that our new President, Muhammadu Buhari, will take a second look at this article and give its contents positive thoughts and actions to prevent any unnecessary diversion of his government’s attention. God save Nigeria

     

  • Memo to legislators

    Dear legislator,

    “Let there become of you a nation that shall call for righteousness, enjoin justice and forbid evil. Such men shall surely triumph”. Q. 3: 104.

     Let me start this letter with a congratulatory message and a prayer. I congratulate you for becoming our ‘Honourable’ lawmakers an organ that is most crucial in a democracy. With your legislative role the destiny of Nigeria will be determined or reshaped. But more importantly, I pray the Almighty God to grant you listening ears and tamed minds against greed and avarice that became the undoing of your predecessors. Amen.

    Just as it happened to the session before yours, this letter is coming to you both as a counsel and an admonition. What qualifies this column (The Message) for writing it is that like you, ‘The Message’ is a stake holder in the great project called Nigeria. This country is like a ship in which we are all voyaging together. And we must all be vigilant enough to ensure that the ship conveying us does not hit the rock.

    A similar letter was twice written in this column to the legislators of the sixth and seventh National Assembly. The first was in 2008 barely nine months after some of them resumed in their respective legislative houses. The second was a reminder in 2012. But like a dog destined to end up in perdition would not hear the hunter’s cautioning whistle, they refused to heed the admonition contained in those letters. You all know the consequence of their refusal today.

     

    Role 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 it has not become cancerous. Prophet Muhammad (SAW) told us in one Hadith that hypocrites are known by three signs: “When they talk they lie; when they promise they renege and when they are trusted they betray”. Most of your predecessors so much typify that Hadith as if the Prophet had Nigerian legislators in mind when he expressed that axiom. I hope you learn a lesson from their case.

    You will recall that when you started nursing the ambition to become legislators, whether at the federal or state level, or even as chairmen or councillors in local governments, your first announcement was that you wanted ‘to serve your people’. Based on that announcement, people rallied round you and embraced you as their representatives.

    That announcement was your first political covenant. It was not between you and the people in your constituency alone. Since it entailed your promise and the trust of the people, Allah’s hand was in it and He will surely hold you accountable for it because you made such promise voluntarily. It does not matter whether you were genuinely elected or rigged into office thereafter usual.

     

    Deception

    Your original intension for making the announcement will be weighed against your action on getting to office. And you will be judged accordingly when you leave the office. That is quite different from a possible rigging that fetched you the status of a legislator as well as the title of ‘Honourable’.

    In the process, some of you deprived your fellow politicians of those positions which rightfully belong to them. Just as you will call on God for justice if you were in their shoes so they will take your case to God’s court. And the prayer of a cheated person, according to Prophet Muhammad (SAW), never suffers divine denial.

    You must remember that it is only God’s judgment that can neither be manipulated nor appealed. And no matter how long it may take, Allah’s judgment will be executed perhaps when you least expect. On that, you are left to your conscience if you have one.

    In Islam, two issues are exceptionally fundamental which Allah does not treat lightly. These are sacredness of life and justice. It is a great iniquity for any human being to engage in murder and injustice under any guise. Thus, anybody who kills fellow human beings extra-judicially in the name of religion is nothing but a pagan. In Islam, killing of a fellow human being deliberately is such a grievous sacrilege that cannot and should not occur without commensurate punishment.

    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 to kill a person mentally, psychologically and spiritually by denying him his right.

    In Islam, rule of law is the foundation of justice but legislation is the material with which that foundation is built. Those who voluntarily chose to legislate for others must see themselves as the foundation layers of justice who should not, advertently or inadvertently, betray the course of justice. Can this be said of you?

     

    Where is your Honour?

    Honourable legislators, you are addressed as honourable today 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 is sheer expediency arising from queer inadequacies sadly fostered by our so-called political system which has not been perfected against gerrymandering.

    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 Nigeria even after two decades of licking the wound.

    That covenant is to serve them (the people). And those who serve are nothing but servants. But no sooner had your predecessors been sworn into office than they started calling themselves leaders. That is why most of them found it difficult to bend a little backwards and report back to their constituencies. Today, where are they? And their constituencies remain intact albeit backward.

     

    Surrogate spouses

    Since most of your predecessors resumed in Abuja or their state capitals without their spouses, the first thing they did after settling down was to search for alternative but illegitimate sexual partners who acted as their surrogate spouses. And the cost was borne by the same betrayed electorate. Not only that, they also began their primary duty of legislating by first fixing their own salaries and allowances against all norms of morality and at the expense of those who made it possible for them to become legislators.

    You turned the privilege of legislating into a right and used it to intimidate the poor masses and ride roughshod over them. When they occasionally pretend to interact with those masses it was for the purpose of preparing their minds for the next election in which they hoped to be returned to Parliament where sharing money was the priority.

    Some of them spent about eight years in those legislative houses without any sign in their immediate constituencies that anybody was representing the people of those constituencies. It is hoped that your session in this era of ‘CHANGE’ will show a remarkable difference.

    Self Aggrandisement

    When your predecessors travelled abroad officially, with people’s money, they were never alarmed by the way political and economic systems worked in those countries. Rather, their primary concern was the latest cars plying the roads of those countries and the most magnificent mansions that they could copy back home to match new status as legislators. That is why virtually every political office holder in Nigeria between 1999 and 2015 was either riding or eager to ride the newest vehicle from Europe, America or Asia even as they owned Nigeria’s choicest estates. In a nutshell, politics to them was a short term business that must bring profit by all means.

    Thus, at their instance, Nigeria was held to a standstill as they doctored the annual budget presented to them by the executive arm in order to share the national cake with the Executives in the spirit of ‘rub my back I rub yours’.

    Most of them were fathers and mothers who would want their children to grow up as responsible men and women, yet, refused to serve as good examples for those children. How could Nigeria be good?

     

    Reminder

    As new legislators, perhaps it is necessary to remind you that everything in this world is based on condition. The world itself did not come into existence without condition. Man was originally created and appointed as Allah’s vicegerent of Allah on earth on condition that he would serve Allah. And all other living or unloving things were divinely ordered to obey and serve man on condition that he (man) would also obey and serve Allah. That service was not an imposition. It was voluntary.

    Before putting man in charge of the world at all, Allah had consulted far and wide with all the stake holders concerned. Each of them declined responsibility except man who, out of greed and arrogance, volunteered to take charge and be responsible for it.

    Allah states this clearly in Q. 33 V. 72 thus: “We offered the ‘TRUST’ (of the world) to the heavens; to the earth and to the mountains; but they refused to bear it and were afraid of it. Man, who undertook to bear it, has proved to be unjust, foolish”.

    By consulting so far and wide, Allah had elicited and got covenant from every creature. Those among them, that declined responsibility cannot and will not be asked to account for the occurrences therein. Accountability of the world solely rests on man’s shoulder according to the covenant he reached voluntarily with Allah.

    Covenant with Allah is the most fundamental law of existence. It is not one sided. As man has responsibilities to bear so does Allah has obligations to fulfil. It is from the covenant with Allah that all other covenants in the life of man, including those of marriage, trust and confidentiality, are derived. That covenant is what others call oath.

     

    Oath of office

    In Islam, oath, whether private or public, does not necessarily require Muslims to carry the Qur’an in one’s hand as done in Nigeria particularly at this time when oath of office has become a meaningless symbol. No oath is ever made without Allah being a witness to it. Besides, He has assigned two Angels (Raqib and ‘Atid) to every human being as secret police officers. The duty of these Angels is to record all utterances and secret actions of each person to whom they are assigned. The one records good deeds, the other records evil deeds. Their recordings are both in video and audio forms.

    This fact is contained in Q.50: 16 where Allah states that: “We surely created man and ‘We’ know the promptings of his mind and are closer to him than his jugular vein. We assign two guardians to watch him, one on his right and the other on his left. No utterance (from him) or action shall escape the records of these vigilant guardians….”

    It is from the functions of these invisible police that researchers  came about the idea of video, audio and other technological devices used especially for espionage.

     

    Rare opportunity

    Legislating is a rare opportunity to serve one’s nation meritoriously. But most of your predecessors turned that opportunity into one of self-enrichment as well as that of securing the future of your own children at the expense of the lives of other children. All these are done at the expense of the wretched people around them whose role in democracy was relegated to voting once in four years. They forgot that wealth is Allah’s endowment which cannot be inherited except by Allah’s will.

    My dear honourable legislators; search your conscience and fear God. Remember that some people had legislated for this country in the past. Some usurped 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?

    Legislation, like governance, has its tenure. Today, four years may look endless, but for the wise, it is not more than a flash of lightening  which only a fool may want to rely upon while walking his way through the darkness of the night.

     

    Peculiar factor

    You are in the legislative houses to make laws for today’s generation and that of tomorrow. Ordinarily, that duty should be on part time and not full time basis in a serious country where patriotism holds sway. But since everything in Nigeria has a peculiar factor, it has become a rule that those who are legislating for us must take the lion’s share of our national cake even through the budget. That is why your predecessors randomly roared to the total embarrassment of the country that the President or the Governor must be impeached.

    Such impeachment became a serious business only when their salaries, allowances or social welfare were not provided as at when due or at the expected volume. It did not matter to them whether or not the entire workforce in Nigeria remained unpaid for years or all the Universities in the country closed down completely and permanently. And in all these charades, religion had no role to play an indication that politics is indifferent to God’s ordinances in Nigeria.

    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 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 such a nonentity that can even choose to strip naked in the market place. That was some of your predecessors did while in office.

     

    Service to humanity

    Honourable legislators, let it be kept permanently in your hearts 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. The rest is left to you. While wishing you a memorable era in in Nigeria’s democracy, I pray Allah to guide you aright that you may not end up like your predecessors. Amin.

  • Muslim workshop on fiscal governance

    Muslim workshop on fiscal governance

    Deliberate collectively; surely collective deliberation is full of advantages for the Muslims”.

    Hadith of Prophet Muhammad (SAW)

    A workshop on Islam and Fiscal Governance was organised by Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) with the support of the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA) on April 29 and 30 at Grand Ibro Hotel Annex, Abuja. Participants in the workshop drawn from various geographical zones of Nigeria included Islamic Scholars media experts and non-governmental organisations. The Christian counterpart of the workshop had earlier been organised by the same CSJ.

    The workshop was aimed at building Muslim scholars’ capacity in public finance management with emphasis on link between good fiscal governance and the teachings of the Qu’ran and Sunnah.

    The objective was to strategise on the means of spreading the message of fiscal governance in Islam across the length and breadth of areas in Africa, particularly Nigeria, where Muslims interact with other religious adherents.

    Following extensive deliberations and debates at the workshop, participants issued the following concluding statement addressed to the incoming Federal Government being led by General Muhammadu Buhari:

    Insecurity

    The experience of the last two months in which Nigerian military forces, in collaboration with their colleagues from neighbouring countries, dealt serious blows to the insurgents in the north-east of Nigeria shows that the Boko Haram challenge is quite surmountable. The workshop therefore recommends as follows:

    That the government should intensify the military campaign against the insurgents without relenting; rehabilitate and rebuild the destroyed communities.

    The government should also launch a poverty alleviation programme in the affected areas; set out a de-radicalisation process that can soften the minds of radicalised groups with a view to curbing the spate of extremism in the country; proactively attend to security challenges across the federation as soon as such challenges arise and overhaul the security architecture to make it more effective.

    Niger Delta and environment

    The government should continue to solve the environmental and poverty challenges in the Niger Delta region through continued funding of the NDDC; evaluate and review the value for money on federal programmes in the Niger- Delta for enhanced transparency and accountability in the expenditure of resources accruing to the region. Government should take steps to mitigate the effects of climate change including desalination and erosion.

    Cost of governance

    With regard to the Niger Delta region, the workshop recommended as follows:

    That the incoming administration should review and implement the recommendations of the Steven Oronsaye-led committee on restructuring of federal Model Driven Architecture (MDAs) and Agencies while retaining agencies like the Fiscal Responsibility Commission review the formal and informal income of political office holders so as to bring them in line with societal standards.

    The government should cut down the cost of bureaucracy in the National Assembly, the Presidency and MDAs as well as official overseas trips and medical tourism.

    The workshop also recommended improved fiscal transparency in public budgets to income and expenditures of government on capital projects. In addition, the government should set up a National Council on Public Procurement, reduce the number of aircraft in the presidential fleet and scrap public funding of pilgrimages.

    Government revenue

    Apart from incomes from the oil sector and other public enterprises, the government should standardise revenue collection and public accounting using the Lagos State model that improved Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) from less than N5billion a month some years ago to the current N23billion a month thereby making the state a viable one. Thus, all income-earning Nigerians are brought into the tax net through sensitisation even as blockade on leakages is imposed.

    Corruption

    Government is seriously urged to break the myth of corruption by tackling impunity in public and private life through linkage of crimes to punishments. In this direction, while the seeking rejuvenation of the anti corruption agencies and their Codes of Conduct the workshop implores the government to ensure public declaration of assets by all public officials while special courts should be set up to try corruption.

    As a sign of seriousness in its determination to curb corruption, government should stop national awards and honour to people of questionable character,  block the current leakages in oil theft which is projected in the region of 400,000 to 600,000 barrels per day and launch a cultural orientation against corruption in partnership with faith-based organisations.

    Economy

    As a matter of urgency, the Federal Government should diversify the Nigerian Economy vertically and horizontally away from sheer concentration on oil and gas sector and assist the legislative arm to pass the Petroleum Industry Bill into law as a way of overhauling the oil and gas industry. Also, it is necessary to invest heavily in gas gathering for domestic and export markets especially by taking advantage of the West and Central African regional markets which may involve appropriate pricing of gas to motivate investors and stoppage of gas flaring.

     Education

    That the government should endeavour to refocus the country’s educational system towards national building rather than the current meal ticket that it stands to be. For education to entail the valued modern day utility it must be tied to productivity rather than mere bureaucracy and Nigeria must key into this.

    Agriculture

    To add value to agriculture and drastically reduce hunger in the country there is dire need to intensify governmental approach to the value of raw farm products before export by providing necessary incentives for small scale farmers who are helpless in their endeavours. This will ensure commercial agriculture and guarantee food sufficiency and security in the land.

    Power, employment and infrastructure

    The workshop also deliberated extensively on the situation of power, employment and infrastructures in the country as well as their implications for general security and concluded as follows:

    That the Federal Government should reform the energy sector by decentralizing the national rig and taking advantage of the abundant gas available in the country to partner with some serious private investors in putting the Nigeria on the path of industrialisation with a view to generating jobs for the multitude unemployed Nigerians.

    That as an oil-producing country, Nigeria’s establishment of petro-chemical industries as a major booster of modern economy is now a sine qua non especially at the States level. And the populace should be encouraged to buy locally made products to serve as incentive for the local industrialists and entrepreneurs. An example should be drawn from Saudi Arabia, a fellow OPEC member in this sphere.

    That with stable electric power and effective utilisation of oil and gas to turn Nigeria into an industrial nation the problem of unemployment will automatically be solved and the fear of insecurity will become a forgotten issue especially if agriculture is formally put on the front burner of the national economy.

    Profile

    Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) is a non-governmental, non-profit and non-partisan organisation registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission as a Company Limited by Guarantee.

    It was established to introduce professionalism in civil society work and to use social entrepreneurship to provide cutting edge services to enhance and deepen economic, social and political change.

    It is a Company Limited by Guarantee under Nigerian law. Its vision is that of a Nigeria where social justice informs public decision making. And its mission is to mainstream social justice in all facets of public life.

    Objectives

    The main objectives of CSJ are to:contribute to the development and implementation of national laws and policies on social rights and justice in accordance with international best practices;promote accountability, transparency and value for money in public finance management;monitor the extent of Nigeria’s compliance with ratified international standards on social rights and justice;provide a resource base and enhance the exchange of information on matters related to social justice;promote popular participation and gender mainstreaming in public decision making;promote wealth creation and poverty reduction strategies as tools for social justice;broaden the constituency of professionals interested in development, wealth creation and poverty reduction by maintaining a multi disciplinary network of professionals committed to work for the realisation of these objects.

    The key programme focus of the Centre include: Public Finance Management; Fiscal Responsibility; Public Procurement; Audit Reforms; Pro-Poor and Rights-Based Approaches to Budgeting; Political Finance Reforms; Power Sector Reforms and Rights Enhancement.

    A responsible government must be for the people and not for the ‘peckers’.While wishing the incoming administration a pleasant tenure the workshop reminds the President-Elect of the promises he made during his campaigns and urged him to fulfill those promises with the fear of God in mind.

    The Communiqué was jointly signed by Eze Onyekpere, Lead Director, CSJ Alhaji Femi Abbas, Chairman Media Committee, Nigerian Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs (Resource Person), Mallam Umar Rufai (Author of the Islam and Fiscal Governance Manual) published by CSJ.

  • The Hornet’s Nest

    Preamble

    This article is not new. It was first published in this column in 2013 as a reaction to an outburst of some Nigerian political demagogues whose aim was to strengthen the confusion in the land. It is being repeated here today due to popular demand by ardent readers because of its relevance. Here it goes:

    “Conscience is an open wound; only the truth can heal it”.  By Usman Dan Fodio

    Nest, to the hornet, is a sanctuary. Whoever wants to stir it must be ready for some painful stings. It was the words of Nigeria’s lotus eaters against those of the former American President, Bill Clinton, in Abeokuta, Ogun State, sometime in December 2013 where the latter was the guest speaker at ThisDay’s award ceremony. The theme of the lecture was something like ‘Causes and Solution to Insurgency and general insecurity in Nigeria’.

    When Bill Clinton opened up on the causes of insecurity in Nigeria, particularly concerning Boko Haram, hardly did he realise that he was stirring the hornet’s nest. As a man who knew because he was in a position to know, Clinton emphatically identified poverty as the main cause of insecurity in Nigeria. He was frank in canvassing some ways by which Nigeria could effectively deal with Boko Haram insurgency and other forms of insecurity in the country without caring about whose ox might be gored.

    Among the ideas he suggested as solution were poverty alleviation, thorough education at all levels, equitable distribution of wealth and job creation for the nation’s teeming unemployed youths. Highlighting some desired programmes urgently necessary for curbing the spate of violence and general insecurity in the country, Clinton said:  “You have to somehow bring economic opportunity to the people who don’t have it. You already have all these political problems — and now violence  — that appears to be rooted in religious differences as well as all the rhetoric of Boko Haram and others, but the truth is that poverty rate in the North is three times that of Lagos”.

    Economic Management

    Counseling on the need to re-design the country’s economic management to the delight of all and sundry while pointing out that “too much inequality” was capable of limiting growth and opportunities among the citizens of a country, Clinton stressed that only a redistribution of wealth would go a long way to address the prevalent violence and insecurity in Nigeria. He went further to say: “You have about three big challenges. First of all, like 90 per cent of the countries who have one big resource, you have a number of ways with your own money. It shows you have different ways. Now you are at least not wasting the natural gas, you are developing and selling it through the pipelines. You have to do better job of managing the natural resources…..”

    “Secondly, you have to somehow bring economic opportunities to the people who don’t have. This is not a problem peculiar to Nigeria. In almost every place in the world, prosperity is heavily concentrated in and around urban areas. So you have all these political problems for now even violence. There appears to be political and religious differences and now, the rhetoric of Boko Haram and all that. You have to build a powerful state and local governments as well as a national policy that works along. If you just keep trying to divide the power into loosening strategy, you have to figure out a way to devise a strategy that will help share the prosperity.” The President-Elect may find some of these ideas useful in his blue print on governance in Nigeria.

    Clinton then went further to advise that education should be used as a tool to tackle poverty among Nigerians, saying that if citizens were well educated  they would be economically empowered and hence have less inclination towards violence. He added that: “Nigeria, which earns billions of dollars from her oil industry and is a major supplier to the US, must not take a “divide the pie” approach towards attacking poverty”. He therefore advised that governments at all levels needed to tackle youth unemployment which, according to him, is a major source of instability across the world.

    Bill Clinton was not the first experienced international figure to make such truthful but painful comments about Nigeria and her style of governance. As far back as January 27, 2010, the former US Secretary of State, Mrs. Hilary Clinton, who incidentally is the wife of Bill Clinton had spoken in the same manner about Nigeria in Nigeria. And the reactions that followed her statement were not in any way dissimilar from those that greeted Bill Clinton’s statement of 2013. While the wife spoke in official capacity, the husband spoke in private capacity. But the coincidence in their speeches was not just in the similarity of their thoughts but also in the similarity of the reactions that greeted both speeches. Speaking in blunt terms at a “town hall” in a meeting with Nigeria’s State Department officials in Abuja Mrs. Hillary Clinton said:

    “….The most immediate source of the disconnect between Nigeria’s wealth and its poverty is a failure of governance at the federal, states and local levels … Lack of transparency and accountability has eroded the legitimacy of the government and contributed to the rise of groups that embraced violence and rejected the authority of the state.”

    Government’s Failure

    “Nigeria”, she continued: “Africa’s biggest energy producer and second-largest economy, “faces a threat from increasing radicalization that needs to be addressed. Describing corruption in Nigeria as unbelievable, she reiterated that the government’s failure to deliver basic services helped foster extremism in young people…adding that: “The failure of the Nigerian leadership over many years to respond to the legitimate needs of their own young people, to have a government that promoted a meritocracy, that really understood that democracy can’t just be given lip service, it has to be delivering services to the people, has meant there is a lot of alienation in that country and others”. She lamented poor governance and deteriorating living conditions which she said made Nigeria’s disaffected young people ripe targets for militants looking for recruits to attack the West.

    Substantiating her assertion, Mrs. Clinton said, when she met with a group of Nigerians in the capital city of Abuja, “people were … standing and shouting about what it was like to live in a country where the elite was so dominant, where corruption was so rampant and criminality was so pervasive”. And “that”, according to her, “is an opening for extremism that offers an alternative world view”. After all, poverty knows no tribe, religion, gender or age. It cuts across all strata of human life. That was the idea imbibed by one time Chinese leader, Mao Zedong, in the 1960s, which came to transform China into a formidable nation today.

    Official reaction

    However, rather than pontificating on Mrs. Clinton’s analysis some members of the then ruling party virtually told her to shut up and mind her own business by leaving Nigeria alone. The arrogant resentment particularly came through the mouth of the then Publicity Secretary of the party, Prof. Rufai Ahmed Alkali, who, in a swift statement, said Mrs. Clinton’s remarks were baseless.

    In his words: “Although the ‘ruling party’ saw Mrs Clinton’s “visit to Nigeria as a further expression of the age-long strong cordial diplomatic relations between both countries, we are at the same time concerned that some of her remarks are not only way off the mark but also based on misinformation. Her sweeping statement on what she calls a ‘failure of leadership’ does not correspond with the reality of present day Nigeria where a committed leadership operating within the realm of the rule of law holds sway”.

    Professor Alkali said the ‘ruling party’ found Mrs. Clinton’s “condescending statements against our country and leaders not contextualised,” adding that she “seems to have taken her briefs from individuals or groups and other failed politicians who have an axe to grind with the government of the Federal  Republic of Nigeria”.

    He added: “It is a fact that the present administration inherited a lot of challenges that were entrenched in the body polity for a long time since assumption of office in May 2007, President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua has demonstrated a rare but firm commitment to right the wrongs of the past, using constitutional instruments in order to strengthen democratic governance in the country”.

    Observation

    Despite leaving a bad taste in the mouth, Alkali’s statement did not bother Mrs. Clinton who knew Nigeria better than the respondent Nigerians. Her reaction was a reminder of a Yoruba adage which says ‘a dog that refuses to respond to the warning whistle of the hunter is surely destined to stray into permanent perdition’. That adage has now proved to be a prevailing destiny on the then so-called ruling party that took impunity for law.

    Were Bill or Hillary Clinton a Muslim, some fanatics especially in Nigerian media would have characteristically accused him/her of wanting to ‘Islamise’ (sic) Nigeria just for telling the naked truth. However, to the great delight of reasonable and patriotic Nigerians, the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), in a statement signed by its then President, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu (SAN), said it wished “to align itself with the statement credited to the US Secretary of State the summation of which was that corruption, amongst other factors, has caused failure of governance in Nigeria”.

    Akeredolu concluded that: “We cannot agree less and note that President Yar’Adua admitted that Nigeria was facing challenges in its war against corruption and bid to reform its electoral system, which has underscored failure of governance at the federal, state and local government levels,” it said, adding: “This intervention could not have come at a better time than now when agents of the government are on the prowl, deploying viciously the weapon of blackmail against the leadership of the NBA who has long identified this and continues to clamour for change”.

    He continued: “Secretary Clinton having reiterated the position of the Bar, it would, perhaps, not be out of place for those who are quick to stand logic on its head to satisfy greed, to conclude that the top diplomat, being a lawyer, must also belong to Action Congress or any of the opportunistic organisations dubbed parties.”

    Nothing is strange

    It is not strange therefore, that the comments by Bill Clinton in 2013 drew similar parochially partisan reactions from those who are benefitting directly from the then ongoing rot in the country. It seems that politics in Nigeria is like an animal carcass on which idle vultures must feast without caring about the pollution which the odour there from would cause to the environment. Even a blind person can perceive the poverty in Nigeria or smell its odour. It is rather an added assault on the public to say that Mrs. Clinton in 2010 and Mr. Clinton in 2013 must have been briefed by certain individuals who were antagonistic to the ruling government. Such a statement could only have come from people of feeble minds who exemplified the ineptitude of Nigeria’s government of the time.

    In retrospect

    On December 22, 2012, the Nigeria Muslim Forum,  UK, held its 22nd Annual Winter Conference at Stamford Court, University of Leicester. At that conference, retired General Abdur-Rahman Dambazau delivered a paper that electrified the Hall. The paper which was entitled ‘Poverty Alleviation, Security and Stability’ addressed the Nigerian situation from social, economic and political points of view. In the paper, he made the meaning of poverty clearer, using verified statistical indexes to buttress his arguments. The retired General also looked at the ranking of Nigeria on the poverty table which showed Nigeria as one of the 20 most poverty-stricken countries in the world; and the Northwest as the most hit and Southwest of the country as the least affected. Generally, the situation is by far worse today than it was then.

    Religious Angle

    “In his own contribution to the discussions the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto, Dr. Mathew Kukah stressed that poverty was one of the main causes of intolerance in the society, which in turn often leads to conflict and insecurity. He said people react to poverty in various manners and that they respond to conflict in ways they feel would bring them justice. He also blamed the deterioration of the situation in Nigeria on injustice and warned that injustice would continue to breed violence in the country unless something was quickly done to ensure equitable dispensation of justice. He explained that diversity should be seen as an advantage to the society as it enhances growth, “although in Northern Nigeria the reverse is the case due to the failure to manage it well in view of the crises the region now faces….”.

    Frank Talk

    In an earlier similar statement he made in January 2012 about Boko Haram and causes of insecurity, Bishop Kukah said inter alia: “We live in a state of ineffective law enforcement and tragic social conditions. Corruption has destroyed the fabric of our society. Its corrosive effect can be seen in the ruination of our lives and the decay in our society. The inability of the state to punish criminals as criminals have created the illusion that there is a conflict between Christians and Muslims. In fact, it would seem that many elements today are going to great extremes to pitch Christians against Muslims, and vice versa, so that our attention is taken away from the true source of our woes: corruption. As Nigerians, Christians and Muslims, we must stand together to ensure that our resources are well utilised for the common good. This is why, despite the hardships we must endure as a result of the strike, the Fuel Subsidy debate must be seen as the real dividend of democracy”.

    “Religious leaders across the faiths must indeed stand up together and face the challenge of the times by offering a leadership that focuses on our common humanity and common good rather than the  insignificant issues that divide us. We therefore condemn in very strong terms the tendency by some religious leaders to play politics with the issues of our collective survival….”.

    Conclusion

    With all these issues still prominent on the national table it may be interesting to ask a very vital question as the so-called National confab was put on the front burner as a matter of priority despite the overwhelming opposition to it by the well informed sectors of the society. Now, besides wasting another colossal sum of money on mere political patronage what has become of that jamboree? There is a great lesson for the incoming government to learn from all these. For things to take a proper shape, not as it is but as it ought to be, a ‘CHANGE’ for the better must be vivid and practical. The euphoria of the recent electoral victory has created such an unprecedented hope in the generality of Nigerian populace that the new government must not allow such hope to end up in another paroxysm of despair. God guide our leaders aright.

  • The Hornet’s Nest

    Preamble

    This article is not new. It was first published in this column in 2013 as a reaction to an outburst of some Nigerian political demagogues whose aim was to strengthen the confusion in the land. It is being repeated here today due to popular demand by ardent readers because of its relevance. Here it goes:

    “Conscience is an open wound; only the truth can heal it”.  By Usman Dan Fodio

    Nest, to the hornet, is a sanctuary. Whoever wants to stir it must be ready for some painful stings. It was the words of Nigeria’s lotus eaters against those of the former American President, Bill Clinton, in Abeokuta, Ogun State, sometime in December 2013 where the latter was the guest speaker at ThisDay’s award ceremony. The theme of the lecture was something like ‘Causes and Solution to Insurgency and general insecurity in Nigeria’.

    When Bill Clinton opened up on the causes of insecurity in Nigeria, particularly concerning Boko Haram, hardly did he realise that he was stirring the hornet’s nest. As a man who knew because he was in a position to know, Clinton emphatically identified poverty as the main cause of insecurity in Nigeria. He was frank in canvassing some ways by which Nigeria could effectively deal with Boko Haram insurgency and other forms of insecurity in the country without caring about whose ox might be gored.

    Among the ideas he suggested as solution were poverty alleviation, thorough education at all levels, equitable distribution of wealth and job creation for the nation’s teeming unemployed youths. Highlighting some desired programmes urgently necessary for curbing the spate of violence and general insecurity in the country, Clinton said:  “You have to somehow bring economic opportunity to the people who don’t have it. You already have all these political problems — and now violence  — that appears to be rooted in religious differences as well as all the rhetoric of Boko Haram and others, but the truth is that poverty rate in the North is three times that of Lagos”.

    Economic Management

    Counseling on the need to re-design the country’s economic management to the delight of all and sundry while pointing out that “too much inequality” was capable of limiting growth and opportunities among the citizens of a country, Clinton stressed that only a redistribution of wealth would go a long way to address the prevalent violence and insecurity in Nigeria. He went further to say: “You have about three big challenges. First of all, like 90 per cent of the countries who have one big resource, you have a number of ways with your own money. It shows you have different ways. Now you are at least not wasting the natural gas, you are developing and selling it through the pipelines. You have to do better job of managing the natural resources…..”

    “Secondly, you have to somehow bring economic opportunities to the people who don’t have. This is not a problem peculiar to Nigeria. In almost every place in the world, prosperity is heavily concentrated in and around urban areas. So you have all these political problems for now even violence. There appears to be political and religious differences and now, the rhetoric of Boko Haram and all that. You have to build a powerful state and local governments as well as a national policy that works along. If you just keep trying to divide the power into loosening strategy, you have to figure out a way to devise a strategy that will help share the prosperity.” The President-Elect may find some of these ideas useful in his blue print on governance in Nigeria.

    Clinton then went further to advise that education should be used as a tool to tackle poverty among Nigerians, saying that if citizens were well educated  they would be economically empowered and hence have less inclination towards violence. He added that: “Nigeria, which earns billions of dollars from her oil industry and is a major supplier to the US, must not take a “divide the pie” approach towards attacking poverty”. He therefore advised that governments at all levels needed to tackle youth unemployment which, according to him, is a major source of instability across the world.

    Bill Clinton was not the first experienced international figure to make such truthful but painful comments about Nigeria and her style of governance. As far back as January 27, 2010, the former US Secretary of State, Mrs. Hilary Clinton, who incidentally is the wife of Bill Clinton had spoken in the same manner about Nigeria in Nigeria. And the reactions that followed her statement were not in any way dissimilar from those that greeted Bill Clinton’s statement of 2013. While the wife spoke in official capacity, the husband spoke in private capacity. But the coincidence in their speeches was not just in the similarity of their thoughts but also in the similarity of the reactions that greeted both speeches. Speaking in blunt terms at a “town hall” in a meeting with Nigeria’s State Department officials in Abuja Mrs. Hillary Clinton said:

    “….The most immediate source of the disconnect between Nigeria’s wealth and its poverty is a failure of governance at the federal, states and local levels … Lack of transparency and accountability has eroded the legitimacy of the government and contributed to the rise of groups that embraced violence and rejected the authority of the state.”

    Government’s Failure

    “Nigeria”, she continued: “Africa’s biggest energy producer and second-largest economy, “faces a threat from increasing radicalization that needs to be addressed. Describing corruption in Nigeria as unbelievable, she reiterated that the government’s failure to deliver basic services helped foster extremism in young people…adding that: “The failure of the Nigerian leadership over many years to respond to the legitimate needs of their own young people, to have a government that promoted a meritocracy, that really understood that democracy can’t just be given lip service, it has to be delivering services to the people, has meant there is a lot of alienation in that country and others”. She lamented poor governance and deteriorating living conditions which she said made Nigeria’s disaffected young people ripe targets for militants looking for recruits to attack the West.

    Substantiating her assertion, Mrs. Clinton said, when she met with a group of Nigerians in the capital city of Abuja, “people were … standing and shouting about what it was like to live in a country where the elite was so dominant, where corruption was so rampant and criminality was so pervasive”. And “that”, according to her, “is an opening for extremism that offers an alternative world view”. After all, poverty knows no tribe, religion, gender or age. It cuts across all strata of human life. That was the idea imbibed by one time Chinese leader, Mao Zedong, in the 1960s, which came to transform China into a formidable nation today.

    Official reaction

    However, rather than pontificating on Mrs. Clinton’s analysis some members of the then ruling party virtually told her to shut up and mind her own business by leaving Nigeria alone. The arrogant resentment particularly came through the mouth of the then Publicity Secretary of the party, Prof. Rufai Ahmed Alkali, who, in a swift statement, said Mrs. Clinton’s remarks were baseless.

    In his words: “Although the ‘ruling party’ saw Mrs Clinton’s “visit to Nigeria as a further expression of the age-long strong cordial diplomatic relations between both countries, we are at the same time concerned that some of her remarks are not only way off the mark but also based on misinformation. Her sweeping statement on what she calls a ‘failure of leadership’ does not correspond with the reality of present day Nigeria where a committed leadership operating within the realm of the rule of law holds sway”.

    Professor Alkali said the ‘ruling party’ found Mrs. Clinton’s “condescending statements against our country and leaders not contextualised,” adding that she “seems to have taken her briefs from individuals or groups and other failed politicians who have an axe to grind with the government of the Federal  Republic of Nigeria”.

    He added: “It is a fact that the present administration inherited a lot of challenges that were entrenched in the body polity for a long time since assumption of office in May 2007, President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua has demonstrated a rare but firm commitment to right the wrongs of the past, using constitutional instruments in order to strengthen democratic governance in the country”.

    Observation

    Despite leaving a bad taste in the mouth, Alkali’s statement did not bother Mrs. Clinton who knew Nigeria better than the respondent Nigerians. Her reaction was a reminder of a Yoruba adage which says ‘a dog that refuses to respond to the warning whistle of the hunter is surely destined to stray into permanent perdition’. That adage has now proved to be a prevailing destiny on the then so-called ruling party that took impunity for law.

    Were Bill or Hillary Clinton a Muslim, some fanatics especially in Nigerian media would have characteristically accused him/her of wanting to ‘Islamise’ (sic) Nigeria just for telling the naked truth. However, to the great delight of reasonable and patriotic Nigerians, the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), in a statement signed by its then President, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu (SAN), said it wished “to align itself with the statement credited to the US Secretary of State the summation of which was that corruption, amongst other factors, has caused failure of governance in Nigeria”.

    Akeredolu concluded that: “We cannot agree less and note that President Yar’Adua admitted that Nigeria was facing challenges in its war against corruption and bid to reform its electoral system, which has underscored failure of governance at the federal, state and local government levels,” it said, adding: “This intervention could not have come at a better time than now when agents of the government are on the prowl, deploying viciously the weapon of blackmail against the leadership of the NBA who has long identified this and continues to clamour for change”.

    He continued: “Secretary Clinton having reiterated the position of the Bar, it would, perhaps, not be out of place for those who are quick to stand logic on its head to satisfy greed, to conclude that the top diplomat, being a lawyer, must also belong to Action Congress or any of the opportunistic organisations dubbed parties.”

    Nothing is strange

    It is not strange therefore, that the comments by Bill Clinton in 2013 drew similar parochially partisan reactions from those who are benefitting directly from the then ongoing rot in the country. It seems that politics in Nigeria is like an animal carcass on which idle vultures must feast without caring about the pollution which the odour there from would cause to the environment. Even a blind person can perceive the poverty in Nigeria or smell its odour. It is rather an added assault on the public to say that Mrs. Clinton in 2010 and Mr. Clinton in 2013 must have been briefed by certain individuals who were antagonistic to the ruling government. Such a statement could only have come from people of feeble minds who exemplified the ineptitude of Nigeria’s government of the time.

    In retrospect

    On December 22, 2012, the Nigeria Muslim Forum,  UK, held its 22nd Annual Winter Conference at Stamford Court, University of Leicester. At that conference, retired General Abdur-Rahman Dambazau delivered a paper that electrified the Hall. The paper which was entitled ‘Poverty Alleviation, Security and Stability’ addressed the Nigerian situation from social, economic and political points of view. In the paper, he made the meaning of poverty clearer, using verified statistical indexes to buttress his arguments. The retired General also looked at the ranking of Nigeria on the poverty table which showed Nigeria as one of the 20 most poverty-stricken countries in the world; and the Northwest as the most hit and Southwest of the country as the least affected. Generally, the situation is by far worse today than it was then.

    Religious Angle

    “In his own contribution to the discussions the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto, Dr. Mathew Kukah stressed that poverty was one of the main causes of intolerance in the society, which in turn often leads to conflict and insecurity. He said people react to poverty in various manners and that they respond to conflict in ways they feel would bring them justice. He also blamed the deterioration of the situation in Nigeria on injustice and warned that injustice would continue to breed violence in the country unless something was quickly done to ensure equitable dispensation of justice. He explained that diversity should be seen as an advantage to the society as it enhances growth, “although in Northern Nigeria the reverse is the case due to the failure to manage it well in view of the crises the region now faces….”.

    Frank Talk

    In an earlier similar statement he made in January 2012 about Boko Haram and causes of insecurity, Bishop Kukah said inter alia: “We live in a state of ineffective law enforcement and tragic social conditions. Corruption has destroyed the fabric of our society. Its corrosive effect can be seen in the ruination of our lives and the decay in our society. The inability of the state to punish criminals as criminals have created the illusion that there is a conflict between Christians and Muslims. In fact, it would seem that many elements today are going to great extremes to pitch Christians against Muslims, and vice versa, so that our attention is taken away from the true source of our woes: corruption. As Nigerians, Christians and Muslims, we must stand together to ensure that our resources are well utilised for the common good. This is why, despite the hardships we must endure as a result of the strike, the Fuel Subsidy debate must be seen as the real dividend of democracy”.

    “Religious leaders across the faiths must indeed stand up together and face the challenge of the times by offering a leadership that focuses on our common humanity and common good rather than the  insignificant issues that divide us. We therefore condemn in very strong terms the tendency by some religious leaders to play politics with the issues of our collective survival….”.

    Conclusion

    With all these issues still prominent on the national table it may be interesting to ask a very vital question as the so-called National confab was put on the front burner as a matter of priority despite the overwhelming opposition to it by the well informed sectors of the society. Now, besides wasting another colossal sum of money on mere political patronage what has become of that jamboree? There is a great lesson for the incoming government to learn from all these. For things to take a proper shape, not as it is but as it ought to be, a ‘CHANGE’ for the better must be vivid and practical. The euphoria of the recent electoral victory has created such an unprecedented hope in the generality of Nigerian populace that the new government must not allow such hope to end up in another paroxysm of despair. God guide our leaders aright.

  • Beware of friends

    Your Excellency,

    This is the first letter coming out of ‘The Message’ column to Your Excellency General Muhammadu Buhari (GCON) as Nigeria’s next President. At the least expected time in your life, the same ladder that had failed you several times in several years suddenly lifted you to the pinnacle of your life’s ambition. And by the time you are sworn in on May 29, 2015 as the substantive President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, by the grace of Allah, the reality of Prophet Muhammad’s Hadith will dawn on you that “the leader of a community is actually the servant of that community”.

    The first lesson to learn in this is that no human being, no matter how rich or famous, can occupy any position in life without the consent of the Almighty Allah. Thus, your ascension to that exalted seat is not because you are wiser, more pious, better informed or more experienced than others. It is rather a fulfilment of Allah’s promise thus:

    “Who are those that arrogate the duty of portioning out your Lord’s mercy (according to their whims) to fellow human beings? I (Allah) am the sole distributor of those sustaining bounties in this world (being their Creator) and I elevate some people above others in positions to enable some to be servants while others are masters. Surely the mercy of your Lord is better and more prosperous than the material wealth they amass”. Q. 43:32

    Power as a sword

    Your Excellency, power in the hands of a ruler is like a sword in the hands of a warrior. It can be used to attack (foes) or to defend (friends). It is also like destiny which can be used to demote the aristocrats or promote the hopeless downtrodden peasants. Power may serve as an instrument for dismantling hegemonies and enthroning hope in the hopeless masses. It is capable of being used to appoint or disappoint people across tribes, religions and interests. It can also be used to elongate or terminate lives depending on who wields it.

    But, sir, beyond every human power there is a Supreme Power which neither wanes nor ends. It is to that Supreme Power that all the power wielders in this world will finally surrender and render their accounts especially on how they used the power entrusted to them. As a Muslim sir, you must understand that everything in this world is ephemeral. The world has witnessed, in various countries and millennia, how men of ‘timber’ and ‘calibre’ ruled positively or negatively and what eventually became of them. History has always been an eyewitness.

    Basic attributes of governance

    Your Excellency, after security, law and justice, nothing else is held more sacrosanct in Islam than governance which can be likened to a magnificent canopy under which the people are supposed to take cover during torrential rains or burning sun.

    In a democratic environment, such canopy is owned, not by those who keep custody of it but by the citizenry who entrust its custody to them. Its custodians are just servants keeping the canopy in trust for the people. Perhaps that was one fact which most of your predecessors did not realise during their tenures.

    Sir, a similar letter was written to  former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo, Umar Musa Yar’Adua and Goodluck Ebele Jonathan through this column shortly after their assumption of office in 1999, 2007 and 2011 respectively. But it seems that the lotus of office was too overwhelming for each of them (except Yar’Adua) to resist. In the letter, yours sincerely reminded each of them of two important incidents in the history of Islam both of which today serve as indelible models for world rulers, especially those of the West.

    One of the incidents was a letter which the fourth Caliph in Islam, Ali Bn Abi Talib wrote to Ashtar Bn Malik whom he appointed as Governor of Egypt. The other was the practical example of good governance exemplarily demonstrated by Caliph Umar Bn Abdul Aziz who ruled the Umayyad dynasty about 85 years after the demise of Prophet Muhammad (SAW).

     Caliph Ali’s Letter

    Your Excellency, please, find below an excerpt from Caliph Ali’s letter which has since served as a code of conduct in governance for all people who aspire to rule well. You may have some benefits to derive from it. It goes thus:

    “In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful. Be it known to you Oh Malik, that I am sending you to a country which had experienced in the past both just and unjust rule. The people you are going to rule will scrutinise your actions with searching eyes just as you used to scrutinise the actions of those before you. They will speak of you just as you did speak of those before you. Note that the public speak well only of those who do well. It is they, who furnish the proof of rulers’ actions. Hence, the richest treasure that you may covet should be the treasure of good deeds.

    Keep your desire under control and deny yourself that which you have been warned against. By such abstinence alone, you will be able to distinguish between good and bad”.

    “Develop in your heart the feeling of love for your people and let it be the source of kindness and blessing to them. Do not behave to them like a barbarian in power and do not appropriate to yourself that which belongs to them. Remember that the citizens of the state are of two categories. They are either your brothers in religion or your brethren as human beings. Some of them are subjects of infirmity who are prone to making mistakes. But you must forgive them as you would like God to forgive you”.

    “Bear in mind (you Malik) that you are placed over those people as I (Caliph Ali) am placed over you. And there is God Almighty above him (Ali) who has given you the position of a Governor in order to look after those under you and be sufficient for them. You will be judged by what you do for or to them”.

    Temptation

    “Do not be tempted to use power and authority of office without exhausting investigation and facts concerning the matter at stake as that will corrupt your heart, weaken your faith in religion and create disorder in the state.”Never take counsel of a miser, for, he (or she) will vitiate your magnanimity and frighten you with poverty around. Do not seek advice from a coward, he (or she) will weaken your resolution and dampen your morale. Do not take counsel of a greedy person, he (or she) will instil greed in you and turn you into a tyrant. Miserliness, cowardice and greed deprive man of piety and push him into unbridled desperation. The worst counsellor is one who had served a tyrant before and shared his crimes. Do not appoint such a person as your adviser. He will lure you into crimes and turn you into a criminal”.

    “Great care should be exercised in revenue administration to ensure, not only the prosperity of the tax payers but also that of the masses. You should regard the proper upkeep of the land in cultivation (or economic resources of the nation) as of greater importance than the collection of revenues. He who demands revenue without helping land cultivators (or the workforce) ruins the state”.

    Plight of the Poor

    “Fear God when you are dealing with the problems of the poor who have none to patronise or protect their interest. They are forlorn, indigent, and helpless as they have become victims of the vicissitude of time. Assign for their uplift a portion of the state exchequer (Baytul Mal) wherever they may be. Let no state preoccupation slip them away from your mind for no excuse whatsoever, will be acceptable to Allah for neglecting their rights.….”

    “Finally, dear Malik, shun self-adoration. Do not indulge in self-praise nor encourage others to extol you because of all the viruses that undo good deeds of pious men, Satan relies most on praise and flattery. Breach of promise annoys God and man alike. Do not act in haste nor defer the execution of a good decision. Do not insist on wrong doing or slackness in rectifying the wrong already done”.

    “When people as a whole agree upon a thing, do not impose your own view on them just because you are in power. Note that power is transient and you will eventually exit or be forced to exit from it one day. And, remember that you will be called upon to render account to God while you remain in the negative chapter of history if your performance is abysmal….”

    Caliph Umar Bn Abdul Aziz

    Your Excellency, Caliph Umar Bn Abdul Aziz who was cited above as the second historical incident was a famous Caliph of the Umayyad dynasty. He became Caliph about 85 years after the demise of the Prophet.

    In a particular year during his reign, the state made so much money from the collection of Zakah that the problem was how to spend it. The tradition, according to Islamic injunction, was for the state to dispense Zakah to the poor among the citizenry from the much money made through the collection of zakat just as social welfare is dispensed to the jobless, the aged and weak in some sane countries today. But when this was to be done, it turned out that nobody in the entire state was so poor as to be a zakat recipient. The huge amount earmarked for zakat that year had to be returned to the state treasury. It is taken for granted here that a state without poor people is surely a state without beggars.

    Umar Bn Abdul Aziz, who became so famous in history as an ingenuous economic manager, ruled for only three years from 717 to 720 C.E. Yet, he died at the age of 37. The secret of his success was his ability to identify two major areas of economic management in governance. One was to regulate the cost of governance by ensuring that those in government were neither too many nor paid undeserved salaries even as he ascertained that the poor public employees were not enslaved (if psychologically) to the privileged political appointees or those elected to legislate for the state. And there was an independent body responsible for the determination of public workers’ remunerations.

    Second Secret

    Caliph Umar’s second secret of success was his official recognition of the middle class as the greatest employer of labour. He knew that if two million professionals or artisans in the state were able to employ three staff each, the burden of gross unemployment would be off the neck of the government because eight million people would have been effectively employed. And that would not only have ordinarily brought the rate of crime in the state to its lowest ebb it would have also enhanced the state economy tremendously.

    What he did, in emulation of Prophet Muhammad (SAW), therefore, was to use the resources of the state to encourage self-employment through professionalism and artisanship. He knew very well that whatever was spent on such a vital venture would return to the state treasury in many folds through taxation. Not only that sir, he also facilitated an education curriculum to suit that design.

    Heritage of the West

    Caliph Umar’s economic genius thus became the heritage of the Western countries and they are thriving gloriously in it today. Any government that eliminates the middle class as in the case of Nigeria automatically opens the gate of poverty and crime to the populace.

    Your Excellency, this is not the time to tell Nigerians any gory story of bad economy and a possible removal of fuel subsidy. They already know how economically ruinous the outgoing government had been in the past six years. And they do not believe in the existence any fuel subsidy which they had unwillingly accepted as an instrument of slavery.

    Oil Subsidy

    Most Nigerians are at a loss over the issue of subsidy because they are yet to know what the billions of Dollars realised annually for years from the oil sector has been used to achieve, especially when the Federal Government alone takes a lion’s share of 52 per cent of accruing oil revenue.

    To most if not all Nigerians, the year 2012 was a year of Armageddon. That was the year in which new vehicle number plates were rolled out and every vehicle owner was forced to purchase at exorbitant amount, despite the overwhelming poverty that had gone viral in the land. It was also the year in which new drivers’ licences as well as new vehicle particulars were introduced all at unaffordable prices and at a time when the removal of oil subsidy was being forced down their throat willy-nilly. Till date, the question remains unanswered about what became of the money realised from the ‘fuel subsidy’.

    Electricity

    Your Excellency, you do not need to be told much about the situation of electricity in Nigeria because you are a Nigerian living in Nigeria. Until a couple of weeks before the Presidential election that you just won, the electricity tariff had been spirally increased without the consent of the people. And that was done in anticipation of improved generation and distribution of that essential energy which was transferred to certain privileged Nigerians in the name of privatisation. All these are telling on them economically. Yet, power remains, shamelessly, a luxurious commodity today in a country where it is supposed to be a dire necessity. With stable power supply the problem of mass unemployment will be solved to a great extent and that will drastically reduce the crime rate in the country.

    Insecurity

    Your Excellency, as a retired Army General of worth, you do not need to be tutored on the issue of insecurity. It is a familiar terrain for you. But by and large sir, in steering the ship of this giant country, I pray the Almighty Allah to give you the faith of Prophet Ibrahim (Abraham), the patience of Prophet Ayub (Job), the courage of Prophet Musa (Moses), the bravery of Prophet Daud (David), the wisdom of Prophet Sulayman (Solomon), the innocence of Prophet Isa (Jesus) and the truthfulness and trustworthiness of Prophet Muhammad (SAW). Through the constant and genuine prayers of the ruled, rulers are able to measure their performance and their acceptability. Remember that the bitterest enemies are invariably found among friends. Only those who are close to you can kiss or bite you.

    Sir, gold and silver, this column (THE MESSAGE) has none to offer you. But a genuine piece of advice based on pure intention may be more valuable than all the ornaments of this world.

    As-Salam alaykum wa rahmatullah wa barakatuhu