The Nation Newspaper

Category: Friday

  • Recapping Apero 2

    Recapping Apero 2

    While Apero 1 focused on education, Apero 2 was on Health, Social Welfare and Public Health: How was it done successfully in the Golden Era of the Yoruba. How can it be done now? With a panel of healthcare researchers and providers with a lifetime of experience in public health, Apero 2, like Apero 1, did not disappoint.

    The Chairman for the session was Professor Funsho Famuyiwa, a pillar of the Apero project. A retired professor of medicine with more than forty years of experience in healthcare delivery, Professor Famuyiwa was one of the first three Board Certified Endocrinologists in Nigeria. The panelists included Professor Oyewale Tomori, Past President of the Nigerian Academy of Science, former Vice Chancellor, Reedemer’s University, a distinguished virologist, and a recipient of the Nigerian Order of Merit. Dr. John Mabayoje has specializations in internal medicine, family medicine, geriatric medicine and emergency medicine. Now he is devoted to building a new model of healthcare.

    However, before the discussion of healthcare which was the topic for Apero 2 on June 18, there was an unfinished business with Apero 1 on June 11. Due to a scheduling conflict, Pastor Muyiwa Bamgbose‘s presentation on education had to be moved to June 18. An expert in E-learning, Pastor Bamgbose has been ranked as the #9 in E-learning in the world. Actively involved in the reform of education in Oyo State, where he is based, Pastor Bamgbose is also an advocate of entrepreneurial education.

    Bamgbose identified three categories of problems with the educational situation in the Yoruba nation: government, teachers, and society. The quasi-unitary structure imposed on the country has been a serious challenge. So are corruption, inadequate budgetary provisions, and lack of vision and focus. On teachers, Bamgbose identified inadequacy in numbers and quality, remuneration, training and commitment, many being in the service because they couldn’t get more satisfying jobs. Bamgbose then highlighted leadership deficit, parental ignorance and poverty, celebrity role models with drug problems and yahoo-yahoo connection, peer influence, inadequate facilities, and low literacy in the general population as societal challenges.

    The question, then, is what to do? Pastor Bamgbose emphasized the need to change with changing times. We must move education delivery to the technological age that we are in. Benefits of technology include, speed, automation, detailed analysis, and lower costs. He identified available technological resources such as flipped learning, flipped classes, dual language instruction, especially with lower classes, and the use of library and archives. He saw beneficial cooperative efforts between the diaspora and the homeland in the matter of dual-language instruction. Apero is looking closely into these ideas for execution.

    Turning to healthcare, Professor Tomori led the discussion with a passionate presentation on the constitutional provision and the strong and committed leadership that made the Golden Era possible. He argued that politics of selfless service was the instrument that led to the various achievements during the first republic and we must not sideline the ideological orientation of democratic socialism and the Action Group (AG) political party that facilitated it. The AG leadership was renowned for its in-depth policy analysis in education, health, and rural development. The result was a robust educational system that translated into an informed citizenry which also led to achievements in health for the people.

    Tomori identified the issues militating against adequate health care today as including a volatility in political structure—from a federal to a quasi-unitary one—which has made healthcare reforms impossible. Alongside are infrastructural deficits, due to inadequacy of funding and corruption, health inequity, and shameless dependence on foreign aid.

    To redeem the Golden Era’s exploits in the area of healthcare, Professor Tomori suggested that Yorubaland must fight inequity with action, not by whining and weeping before donor agencies. We must establish good governance, accountability, and transparency. And we must learn again to be producers and not just consumers, using our resources wisely. He ended with a challenge to Apero to avoid being just a think tank of boilers, plastics, and containers. Rather Apero must be action-oriented. We take up the challenge.

    Dr. Mabayoje had a great pedigree, his father being the first Board certified Physician in Africa and the first cardiologist in Nigeria. Following in the footsteps of his eminent father, he went into medicine with a social conscience. We have always asked the question, “Where did the rain start beating us?” Dr. Mabayoje’s answer, as far as healthcare delivery is concerned, is when we stopped the regional arrangement, when we abandoned federalism.

    General Hospital, Lagos was the best hospital in Nigeria in the early 1950s before the University College Hospital, Ibadan started in 1957/58, and became the standard of excellence in teaching, research, and health care delivery. Rural Medical Service (RMS) was compulsory for new doctors and they were well-paid with provisions for car loan and other benefits. That was until 1972 when Brigadier Adefowope was replaced by Col. Ahmadu Alli as the Armed Forces Medical Service representative on the Nigerian Medical Council.

    Colonel Alli saw the effectiveness of RMS, took it to the Supreme Military Council, and recommended its nationalization as National Youth Service for all university graduates. That, according to Dr. Mabayoje, was the beginning of the crisis of healthcare in the country. It led to the perception of insecurity in the medical profession, and naturally, to brain drain.

    Dr. Mabayoje also provided an answer to the question: How do we improve the situation? He echoed Buckminster Fuller’s prescription for real change which is to “build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.” This was what led him to the idea of a brand new system of Rural Medical Care, which involves the physician as the head of a team that includes mechanical engineers, electrical engineers, agriculturists, and architects. Thus, he started a rural development venture with a 50-acre land on the outskirts of Oyo. It is the model of a healthcare cooperative, the template of which is replicable across Yorubaland. Apero takes seriously this model, which doesn’t rely on handouts from government.

    Finally, the Chairman of the session, Professor, Famuyiwa made a presentation along the same lines, starting with historical anecdotes similar to Dr. Mabayoje’s. Professor Famuyiwa reiterated the importance of Rural and Divisional Health Centers during the Golden Era, as well as the contributions of Public Health Inspectors (Wole Wole) to public health, a point which Professor Tomori also emphasized. It was during the era of the Public Health Inspectors that pit latrines were a feature of every large market and city. This took care of the prevalence of the menace of open defecation. Today, unfortunately, Nigeria has become No. 1 in open defecation.

    Professor Famuyiwa identified the Ibarapa Health Project of the University of Ibadan as a model worthy of replication. With this model, people took ownership of how and where they were taken care of. Primary Health Centers (PHC), which now appear as the replica of the Ibarapa model, are unfortunately not really so, because PHC facilities are almost always likely to be abandoned by government as soon as they are completed.

    Professor Famuyiwa suggested that lack of knowledge and understanding about healthcare, lack of access to healthcare, and lack of financial resources for healthcare cost, are the major challenges to healthcare in Yorubaland. To meet these challenges, he recommended a three-way partnership between government, the people, and third parties including NGOs, Corporations, voluntary institutions such as mission hospitals, secondary and tertiary health facilities, and institutions such as the Ibarapa Health project, with Primary Health Centers as the base of the healthcare pyramid with a health Insurance scheme that is affordable. Apero is looking into these suggestions.

    Apero will next focus on “Rural Development and Employment Generation: How was it done then? How can it be done now?” That is, after Professor Isaac Adewole gives his presentation on healthcare, which he was not available to give last week due to a conflict of schedules.

    No political drama. No sectarian intolerance. No sexism. Just a passionate commitment to the good of the homeland. Join us on a fully liberalized Zoom platform:

    Saturday 25/6/2022

    11 am EST; 4 pm Lagos Time

    User ID: 87834935009

    Passcode: 690337

     

     

     

  • Takeaways from Apero 1

    Takeaways from Apero 1

    Saturday, June 11, saw the beginning of a much desired renaissance and rebirth of Yoruba nation. About two hundred patriots who assembled virtually for Apero on education were not hopeless wanderers. They are dreamers and visionaries looking for the best outcome for their beloved homeland.

    Among these visionaries was an Ori Ade, a Royal Father who has shown how to be an authentic blue blood with a passion for one’s people. HRM Oba Adedokun Abolarin, the Orangun of Oke-Ila, has walked the talk in the matter of providing quality education for needy children. Apero participants were inspired and motivated by Kabiyesi’s address and royal blessings.

    With veteran broadcaster Sola Yussuf, the anchor and producer of Yoruba Gbode Radio, as Moderator, the plenary session featured intellectual giants with wide research and teaching experience in the field of education.

    Professor Kunle Akinyemi, currently serving as Chairman of the Governing Council, Ibadan Polytechnic was Chairman of the session. Speakers included Professor Clement Kolawole of the University of Ibadan, Professor Biodun Akinpelu of Lagos State University and Dr. Oyinkansola Jinadu, Founder/CEO, HD Pro Global Beauty $ Career Institute. Due to time conflict, Pastor Muyiwa Bamgbose will deliver his address at a later time.

    The focus of the session was on Education as the Bedrock of Human Capital Development. We wanted our people to know how it was done successfully in the Golden Era, and with an understanding that times have changed, how it can be done now. This was why we turned to these four educationists with varied experiences in traditional and contemporary approaches to education.

    In his opening remarks, Professor Akinyemi emphasized the need for us to seek the future that is best for our children and our nation, observing that the future cannot be good if we do not pay serious attention to quality education. The 1950s and 1960s were good because our political leadership at the time made a selfless effort to build a solid foundation for the education of the children. Needless to add, those times were a lot better than the present for that very reason. Finally, Professor Akinyemi observed that even if we had Yoruba nation now, it cannot be sustained with our present educational system.

    Professor Clement Kolawole focused his contribution on education between 1952 and 1966. He observed that the great achievements in education during that period paved the way for the development of Yorubaland because of its emphasis on human capital development. But this was also possible because leaders of the region were effectively in charge, and they were well-prepared and well-focused. They developed policies and programs and provided the needed infrastructure for education to thrive. What made all these possible, however, according to Professor Kolawole, was the appropriateness of the constitution to regional efforts.

    The 1951 Macpherson Constitution, which took effect in 1952, provided for regional autonomy which allowed each region to develop at its own pace. It guaranteed fiscal federalism, with wide powers to regional legislatures and a process for electing members of the Houses of Assembly. Education, healthcare, and agriculture and rural development were regionalized. All these made it possible for the Western Region to introduce and implement its various developmental programs starting with free education.

    Western Region, under the leadership of Chief Obafemi Awolowo, decided to emphasize education as the bedrock of human capital development. The seed of the 1955 Universal Free and Compulsory Education was sown in 1952 with adequate plan for its success, including training of additional teachers, providing for feeder schools such as modern schools, secondary schools, trade schools, technical colleges, and teacher training colleges and universities. This initial investment in education gave the Yoruba a head start that other regions had to struggle into the 1990s to catch up with.

    Unfortunately, however, as Professor Kolawole also noted, the story today is totally different. With the corruption of the original federal system of governance which Macpherson introduced and which the various military governments and subsequent civilian governments have bastardized, every imaginable evil have occurred and education in Yorubaland has suffered tremendously. In conclusion, therefore, Professor Kolawole urged for a new path to governance based on a true federal system in order to revitalize education in Yorubaland.

    As the elders note, the wise have a meeting of minds on fundamental issues. Thus, the remarks of Professor Biodun Akinpelu of Lagos State University are not at variance with those of Professor Kolawole.

    Professor Akinpelu noted that in Yorubaland, 1952 to 1966 were truly the best of times during which the pillars of progress and service were established. He noted that the Awolowo administration took seriously the United Nations Resolution 217 which gave every child the right to education, and they directed their efforts toward the full development of the personality of each child with an emphasis on the ethos of Omoluabi. It was a system that produced generations of teachers, professionals, and civil servants, an embodiment of professionalism and patriotic zeal. As Professor Akinpelu puts it, at the height of the Golden Era, Western Region was competing favorably with many independent nations.

    Now we have a system that is the complete reverse of its glorious times. Whereas a Standard 6 student of 1956 could serve effectively as a teacher upon graduation, today a High School student may not be able to write a complete sentence. Examination malpractice is the poison that the system has ingested to its detriment. Public schools have been abandoned by the elite, which means that our governments may not be inclined to invest in them.

    Professor Akinpelu left with the audience some recommendations going forward. First, Yoruba nation must prioritize quality education. Second, we must incorporate the Omoluabi ethos in our school curriculum. Third, we must recognize science and technology as engines of productivity. Fourth is the importance of history in school curriculum. Fifth, Yoruba language must be a priority. Sixth, Professor Akinpelu recommends that emphasis must be placed on entrepreneurial education so that students are potential job creators.

    Professor Oyinkansola Jinadu stole the hearts of participants with her youthful passion for educational revolution and the effective delivery of her points of view. For her, the education of the 21st century cannot replicate the education of the early 20th century and must respond to the changing circumstances of life even as it meets the needs and yearnings of people. Education must develop specialized skills and solve problems facing humanity. In her judgement, a downside of the 20th century education is its limitation of expanded worldviews and lack of emphasis on creativity and the creation of gap between haves and have-nots.

    With the understanding that time is money, Professor Jinadu urged that our education system must seek to meet students at their points of need with innovations in technological education, through various modes of learning, including virtual online models. For her, if schools don’t lead to solution of problems and creation of wealth opportunities, their relevance will be questioned. We are already seeing this play out. When acquiring diplomas and certificates doesn’t lead to employment, talk less of creating wealth, the incentive to go to school is diminished.

    It is for the above reasons that Professor Jinadu recommended skill-based learning to meet consumer needs, alternative means of education through faster producing and shorter learning time institutions, and the need for more thinkers not stifled by formal education.

    Apero on education was a festival of ideas with many questions and comments from the virtual audience. Apero Planning Committee will now sift through this wealth of information and recommendations and determine where it can make a difference.

    Now it is time for Apero on Health, Social Welfare and Public Health, coming up tomorrow, June 18 at 4pm Lagos time, chaired by a strong pillar of Apero Planning Committee, Professor Funsho Famuyiwa. Among the speakers are renowned Professor of Virology and former Vice Chancellor, Redeemer’s University, Professor Oyewale Tomori, former Minister of Health and former Vice Chancellor, University of Ibadan, Professor Isaac Adewole, and Dr. John Mabayoje.

    The zoom link is provided below:

    User ID 87834935009

    Passcode: 690337

     

    Looking forward to your participation. Something good will come out of this for the Yoruba nation.

     

  • The words of Elders

    The words of Elders

    “The words of elders are words of wisdom. If those words do not materialise in the morning, they will surely materialize in the evening”.

    Monologue

    The above quotation is an axiomatic Yoruba adage that can only be faulted at one’s own peril. The dastardly massacre that occurred at a Catholic Church, in Owo, Ondo State, penultimate Sunday, which devilishly terminated dozens of human lives, was a vivid reminder of the altruistic feature of the above quoted Yoruba adage.

     

    Analysis

    Because of the special intuition with which they are distinctly endowed, elders are classified as sages of their respective times. Their utterances and actions are mostly influenced, not only by their exposure to a wide range of events and occurrences, but also by the experiences which they were privileged to have garnered, for years, through that exposure. Thus, the combination of their past experiences with those of the present, in their life’s odyssey, is capable of giving them a futuristic vision that can make them ‘pseudo prophets’.

     

    Preamble

    Elderliness, in certain distinguished human beings, is not necessarily due to old age. It is quite possible for a middle aged person or even a relatively younger one, to be classified as an elder because of the wisdom with which he is naturally endowed, based on experience.

     

    Example

    Given the understanding of the above analysis, it becomes convincingly acknowledged that one of the foremost elders in Nigeria, today, is His Eminence, Dr. Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, the 20th Sultan of Sokoto, who is also the President-General of Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA).

    This exemplary monarch is one of the three charismatic Sultans in the entire world today. The other two are those of Oman, in the Gulf Region of the Middle East, and, Brunei in the South West of Asia. However, the peculiarity of Dr. Abubakar as the only Sultan in Africa, can be vividly seen, in the combination of certain distinguished qualities, in him, which are not common in his peers.

    Incidentally, despite the royal blood in him which was not known, even to many of his close friends and associates, until he ascended the throne of his forefathers in 2006, came to accentuate exemplary humility. Before he became Sultan, he was only seen, among his kinsmen, either as an ordinary military man or a common diplomat. It took the contents of a well researched thesis which he wrote on ‘Conflicts and Peaceful Resolutions’, during his postgraduate studies, to expose his naturally endowed leadership qualities. And, that was one of the factors that gave him an edge over other contenders for the exalted seat of the Sultanate at the most appropriate time that Nigeria needed a national bridge builder.

     

    Voice of Reason

    Perhaps, the devastating specter of terror that is now implacably chasing the ghost of Nigeria, would not have arisen if the Nigerian government had been akin to the ‘words of the elder’ in him, when he first started to dish out those words of wisdom.

     

    Reminiscence

    As far back as October 3, 2011, this Sultan of Sokoto had delivered a lecture entitled ‘Islam and Peace Building in West Africa’ at an international forum. It was not surprising that the echo of that lecture widely reverberated through the international media waves, across countries and continents of the world. The lecture was delivered at Harvard University, in the United States. When that lecture was published in this column a few weeks after its delivery, 11 years ago, it was re-entitled ‘A Voice from Harvard’.

     

    The Lecture

    In the 33 page historic 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, especially in democratic dispensations

    (2) Bad governance on the part of the ruling class and

    (3) Primordial ethno-religious sentiments in most countries in the region.

    The most prominent of these three issues, according to His Eminence, is bad governance which often engenders corruption, joblessness, poverty, exploitation, mutual suspicion and general bitterness in the land. Yet, today, 11 years after that lecture, Nigeria is still roaming aimlessly on a mission of uncertainty in her pursuit of an unreachable oasis that is a mirage in a wild desert.

    For the benefit of those who did not read the article, as published in this column, at that time, here is another opportunity for reading it in a summary form.

     

    Excerpt

    “….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 more than 150 million (at that time), which was about half of the population of West Africa, its over 250 ethnic and language groups, its regional and geo-political configurations, its landmass as well as  its diversity in religion and culture, we may be constrained to reach different conclusions.

    Nigeria may, after all, be a paragon of stability which, as God Almighty has willed, shall undergo all the trials allotted it early enough in its national history.

    But, in all fairness, systemic ethno-political and religious crises, like the ones we have witnessed persistently, in recent years, or are witnessing currently, the conclusion will be that, though we do not have a long history, as a country, the short one we have has been quite turbulent. These crises 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 that of Zangon Kataf and others, all in the same vicinity.

    The democratic dispensation, which began in 1999 also came with its own set of problems, the most visible one being the Shari ‘ah crisis and the first Jos crisis which led to the declaration of a state of emergency in Plateau State.

     

    Primacy of Politics

    “….We often witnesses the primacy of politics in almost all conflicts in Nigeria because of the primordial culture which we inherited.  In the struggle for power and political supremacy, we exercise no restraint in aggravating the socio-religious and ethnic cleavages, which characterise 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.

    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.

    Besides, 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.  Incidentally, most of the disenfranchised Nigerians in these crises happen to be Muslims. Whereas as Nigerian citizens, people have full right to reside wherever they wish and pursue their legitimate businesses without let or hindrance, this fact is never taken into consideration in the actions and reactions of conflict instigators.

    After all, no one can be a settler in his/her own country.

    The third dimension of Nigeria’s ethno-religious crises in any region is its potential to become a systematic national crisis.  When a person is killed in any of the areas of conflict, his co-religionists, especially in cities and towns react violently and begin to kill anyone they think is related to the killer(s).  This often triggers further reprisals from 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.

     

    Poor Leadership

    “…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 much of the damage might have been done…

     

    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, improved communication and understanding as a way of changing the dynamics of the conflicting situation of our environments to that of mutual trust and confidence…

     

    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 have become a challenge not only to our common humanity but also to our self-worth.

     

    Recommendation

    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, it 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 also 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. I always remember, with happiness, the seminar organized by the CAN in April 2010, on ‘Knowing Your Muslim Neighbour’, where I presented a paper on the topic. The Nigerian Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) gracefully reciprocated by inviting CAN members to its formal meeting in Kaduna, where the CAN representative gave a lecture on Islam in the eyes of a Christian and both Muslim and Christian scholars, gave inspiring responses on the scriptural basis of mutual co-existence. Despite serious setbacks in recent months, many of us remain committed to this positive engagement and to the promise that dialogue offers the resolution to Nigeria’s ethno-religious crises.

    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.  It is, therefore, important for us to appreciate, first and foremost, the importance of consensus building within the polity, with a view to ameliorating the current state of political polarization in it.  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….

     

    Governance

    “….Also, governance, at all levels, must translate into tangible benefits for all Nigerians, regardless of their ethnic and religious affiliations.  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 per cent 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 seriously its security responsibilities and effectively contain 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 the 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 specialisations 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.

    The happenings in the United States, Iraq, Afghanistan, Norway, Netherlands, the United Kingdom and France are as current and relevant as the events in Jos, Maiduguri and Abuja (at that time). We must preach tolerance internationally and moderately. 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 (eventually) shape the fate of humanity….”.

     

    Comment

    More from that lecture may be published as may necessarily be required, in the near future in sha’Allah.

     

     

     

  • Welcoming APERO

    Welcoming APERO

    You have probably been overwhelmed with its audio and video jingles. Perhaps, you have come across its Press Release. Flyers have been flying around. You have watched the APERO roadshows. And you have obviously been a victim of Aperomania on your various group platforms.

    Yet, you wonder, what is it? What motivates it, you ask innocently. That is, if you are not sold on one conspiracy theory or another: is APERO a political ploy funded by some errant politician? Is it a mischievous plan to scuttle the Yoruba nation agitation? And you’ve got no answers, even from the torrent of information available online and in-person from APERO advocates and media gurus. If you are in the state of mind just described, this piece is for you.

    APERO YORUBA NILE LOKO (Yoruba Global Summit) is the initiative of Egbe Omo YORUBA, North America (EOYNA), an association of homeland loving individuals, which has, since 1994 devoted the mental and material resources of its members to the cause of the emancipation and development of our people. Inspired by the outlook of the sage Chief Obafemi Awolowo, these patriotic men and women have appropriated the philosophy of Freedom for all, Life more abundant which he propagated and actualized in the middle of the last century. Now they are experiencing a debilitating heartache at the sad turn of events in the same land that was celebrated for its amazing pace of development in the 50s and 60s. And they wonder aloud: WHY?

    With a view to doing something about the distressed state of our homeland, President Durojaiye Akindutire convened a mini summit of the Yoruba in the Diaspora from September 16 to 17, 2021. The theme of that summit was “The Yoruba in a Federated Nigeria: The challenges and the way out. With a kind invitation of the president, I gave a keynote address titled “The Yoruba in Federal Nigeria”. My address was later published on this page on October 8, 2021.

    In October 2021, President Akindutire, Professor Ropo Sekoni, Mr. Femi Odedeyi and I had a discussion on the summit and the way forward. Based on the group’s reflections on my submissions to the summit, President Akindutire decided that we should engage more of our people in further discussions and planning for a more inclusive summit. He wanted me to chair the planning committee. I couldn’t say No to him because I was convinced of his zeal for the good of our land. Thus was born APERO Planning Committee, with members drawn from across the United States, including members and non-members of EOYNA, Europe, and Yorubaland.

    Our first meeting was held on October 30, 2021, and if I had any doubt getting involved before that meeting, such a mindset was effectively laid to rest at the end of the meeting. I was inspired not only by the caliber of Yoruba patriots in attendance, but also especially by the quality of their contributions and the passion of their commitment. It was at that first meeting that we arrived at our guiding principle with the contribution of a remarkable man of science and medicine, Professor Funsho Famuyiwa.

    In the preamble to his prepared remarks, Professor Famuyiwa observed as follows:

    “Chief Obafemi Awolowo, an Avatar of the Yoruba Race, who through the grace of God, carried the equivalent of their “Abrahamic Covenant” has provided the TEMPLATE for our Self Governance. At its core is the Principle of Egalitarianism–The Greatest Good for the Largest Number. An “Equal Opportunity” dispensation. Good Governance married to Sound Moral Values and the Fear of God! Ethos of OMOLUABI, BIBIIRE and ALAJOBI.” Professor Famuyiwa then asked the question: what will Awolowo do if alive today?”

    We took this rhetorical question seriously, and it has been the basis of our deliberations on what to do. We decided to have critical reflections on Yoruba in the past, Yoruba in the present, and Yoruba in the future.  Pending an opportunity for a physical summit, we agreed to have a series of Virtual Summits on zoom focusing each on different topics under each of the three phases of the trajectory of the Yoruba since 1952. Phase 1, from 1952 to 1966 was the Golden Era of the Yoruba. Phase 2, from 1966 to date are the Years of the Locust. Phase 3 is the future that we must seek.

    Discussions on Phase 1 will focus on the topics of Education, Health, and Social Welfare, and Rural Development and Economic Development. The questions we ask on each topic are two: How was it done in the Golden Era? How can it be done now? Experienced professionals, including men, women, and the youth, will deal with each of these topics.

    In Phase 2, we ask our speakers to zero in on the culpability of the federal government in the matter of bad governance, the failure of successive Western regional governments since 1966, and the neglected cornerstone of local government misgovernance. We will also deal with the complicity of the people as followers in bad governance, the decline of cultural values, and the youth as endangered species.

    In Phase 3, we engage the future and its challenges. Here we ask our speakers to debate the contending issues of the political pathways for the Yoruba moving forward. Proponents of Yoruba Sovereign Nation and advocates of Restructuring will have the floor to trash out the issues for the benefit of our people. The highlight of Phase 3 however is a robust discussion of two important matters: internal security and alleviation of poverty. On the latter, proposals for a new paradigm of community development will be unveiled. We appreciate all our speakers who have volunteered their time.

    These zoom meetings will be held every Saturday starting tomorrow, June 11, 2022 until Saturday August 6, 2022. The grand finale will be a hybrid of in-person and zoom at the EOYNA National Convention in Atlanta on August 20, 2022. At this convention, the crucial topic of Political Leadership will be the focus of discussion. Finally, there will be a physical meeting of APERO in Yorubaland in the near future.

    Let me end this piece by quoting from the APERO Press Release which sums up the ultimate goal of APERO:

    The point of these discussions is to ….map out a future that is deserving of the labours of our heroes past and the aspirations of future generations. This future mapping, with practical ideas of community development, is the highlight of APERO, and it promises a new paradigm which the planners of APERO expect to implement with the support of the Yoruba, both young and old, at home and abroad, especially in the private sector.

    I hope that the foregoing recollection of how APERO came about and the kind of patriots involved in it, will disabuse the minds of those who have been sold pathetic conspiracies about politicians sponsoring these efforts or even hijacking it for their benefit. Indeed, it is not as if the members of the Planning Committee didn’t anticipate such conspiracy theorists. Thus with divine wisdom as their guide, they took a firm decision at the very first meeting that politicians were not going to be invited as speakers and that APERO will not involve any politician.

    That decision led to a debate on how the proposals coming out of APERO will be implemented without the involvement of politicians. To which our young members with professional bona fides responded firmly that they were development professionals and will implement the proposals with the support of willing compatriots in the private sector. Again, being involved in Yoruba affairs since at least the last 30-plus years, I cannot ask for a more dedicated and passionate compatriots to work you on this important matter of the future of Yorubaland. And neither naysayers nor conspiracy theorists will discourage us.

    Every worthy compatriot is invited to join fellow compatriots in APERO YORUBA NILE LOKO starting tomorrow, June 11, 2022 and continuing every Saturday as indicated below.

     

    Time:

    4:00pm Lagos Time

    4:00 pm London Time

    11:00 am New York Time

    10:00 am Central Time

    8:00 am Pacific Time

     

    Zoom Link:

    Meeting ID: 87834935009

    Passcode: 690337

  • Oloyede’s Double Wreath of Honour

    Oloyede’s Double Wreath of Honour

    Monologue

    Today is another day of historic glory in Lagos. All ways from different parts of Nigeria will lead to the Centre of Excellence. At the instance of ‘Vanguard Newspaper’, a gathering of Nigeria’s who is who will take place, once again, and, the venue is ‘Eko Hotel and Suites’, at Victoria Island, where a glorious recognition session will be held in honour of some great Nigerians who deserve honour. Among those to be honoured are some outstanding personalities in various fields of human endeavour. The occasion is meant to be a show of recognition to certain patriotic Nigerians, as an incentive for their relentlessness in excellent performance, in public or private service. The most likely personality to be focused, at today’s occasion, is the current Registrar/CEO of the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Professor Is-haq Olanrewaju Oloyede, OFR, FNAL, who is being honoured as the Most Stabilizer of Nigeria’s education sector in the current dispensation. Oloyede has consistently won similar awards from the topmost Nigerian newspapers, since the past five years. As a matter of fact, it has become a fierce annual competition among the foremost Nigerian newspapers, to crown this enigmatic icon with a glorious honour.

    This article is similar to what yours sincerely wrote, in this column, five years ago (2017), when Daily ‘Graphic’ newspaper first garlanded him with a wreath of honour, as the ‘Most Outstanding Personality’ in Nigeria’s public service. Incidentally, this is the time which the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), considers most appropriate to honour the same Oloyede with the prestigious international award of the Most Outstanding Advocate of Equal Opportunity of Higher Education in Africa. He was rated far above his African competitors in this unique educational sphere.

    Professor Oloyede’s incomparable honesty and unique patriotism at this period of epic corruption, especially among public servants, in Nigeria, have become a special historic point of reference that can never be effaced by any historical adulteration.

     

    Particles of History

    For every age of human life, there are particles of history that relay to us the successes or failures of the previous ages. And, from such successes or failures, humanity may endeavour to draw a guide for itself, which may serve, either as a warning on the vanity of uman wishes or as encouragement or both.

    At a time like this, when anything new and progressive is a great reminder of the sad flight of hope in Nigeria and its replacement by despair, it only behooves some die hard optimists to take a positive and progressive leap as an indication that all is not lost in our country, after all.

    One of such optimists is Professor Oloyede who does not see patriotism as a mere theory but rather vigorously practicalizes it as a template of permanent hope. The international honour, which was announced, a couple of days ago, by a Nigerian Professor Emeritus, who is also the Chairman of JAMB Equal Opportunity Group (JEOG), Professor Okebukola who a former Executive Secretary of National Universities Commission (NUC), said, in the process of selecting the most qualified person for this international honour, at UNESCO, Oloyede towered far above his fellow contestants from Africa.

     

    Oloyede’s Intellectual Prowess

    From his early age, Oloyede has consistently been a bookworm as there was no book within his reach that he would not want to read and digest. His excellent academic performance at  the University of Ilorin, as well as his exceptional administrative acumen, when he became the Vice-Chancellor of the same University of Ilorin, could therefore, not have come as a surprise to those who knew him closely.  But besides academic brilliance, what actually lifted him in life is his genuine goodwill and sincere selfless service which he is always eagerly ready to render towards helping others. His sacrifices in this sphere are quite legendary and his phenomenal rise can only be classified as a justified reward from the AlmightyAlla.

     

     His Tenure as VC

    If, during his tenure as Vice-Chancellor, the University of Ilorin could rise so astronomically from a very modest foundation and tower so loftily above many other Universities that preceded it, in Nigeria, then, the hope that with people like him in sensitive positions, a new Nigeria can still emerge from the debris of the old, should not be lost.

     

     The Worth of Institutions

    Perhaps, no Nigerian, other than Professor Oladipo Olujimi Akinkugbe, the pioneer Vice Chancellor and Professor Emeritus in Medicine, at the Univrsity of Ilorin, had foreseen the above assertion long before Oloyede zoomed into the firmaments of the citadel of his Alma Mata. Below was what Professor Akinkugbe said in a speech he once delivered as the first Vice Chancellor of the University of Ilorin in the late 1970s:

    “Institutions are worth no more than the men who work them”.

    The speech quoted here is partially in tandem with a verse of the Qur’an that reads thus: “Allah will not change the condition of a people until they change the evil contents of their minds…” Q. 13:11

    Who could ever think, even as recently as a decade ago, that the same JAMB which was a mere academic mess up and a laughing stock in Africa, could become what it is today?  It was on the premise of Professor Akinkugbe’s  pregnant statement, quoted above, that Professor Oloyede, a student and mentee of Professor Akinkugbe, built his unsurpassable achievements as the Vice-Chancellor of the same University of Ilorin, between 2007 and 2012, as a way of encouraging the Nigerian youths of today on pleasant possibilities of tomorrow.

    For some of those youths, that tomorrow has earnestly begun with the same Professor Oloyede today, as their exemplary model. The great men briefly described by Professor Akinkugbe in his referred speech, are not by any means ordinary. And, the soil from which they sprang, are not by any standard restricted to any particular area of study or style of life. Thus, since the tree of life has many branches and roots, no topmost twig should presume to think that it alone has sprung from the mother earth. There is no restriction of the genuine signpost of life to any particular person, place or time.

     

    The Parable of Greatness

    In all its ramifications, greatness is like a magnet which attracts only the relevant metal elements to itself. It was because some people, including a British writer and poet, Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936), who won Nobel Laurel in 1907 were unmindful of the above assetion that the world is in turmoil today. In the conclusion of one of his poems, Rudyard Kipling once asserted thus: “Oh! East is East and West is West; never the Twain shall meet…”

    That poem later came to intensify the perennial hostility between the East and the West, which the latter came to adopt as a permanent policy to the detriment of global peace and harmony. But what neither Kipling nor the West, for which he coined his infamous poem, did not understand about the natural divide, in the contemporary world, is the existence of an abstract confluence similar to a knuckle that holds the blades of a pair of scissors together.

    Just as the scissors cannot operate effectively with one blade, so can no man with one focused educational eye, correctly claim to be the main signpost in any field of human endeavour. That is what distinguishes Prof Oloyede from many others of his peers. Unknown to many, this man combines the Eastern and the Western education together with the intention of jointly utilizing both, maximally, to the benefit of mankind. And, that is now manifesting vividly, not only in Nigeria, but in the entire continent of Africa.

     

    As JAMB Registrar

    Prof Ishaq Olanrewaju Oloyede is a household name in the academia, throughout the entire world, today, just like the University he was privileged to head for five years in Ilorin over a decade ago. What qualified him for such a vertical position is an interesting question for which some inquisitive minds may earnestly want to seek an answer. And, the answer to that question is not far-fetched.

     

    Binocular View

    Like some rare men of letters, in the primordial time, when education was clearly distinct from mere literacy, Professor Oloyede wears an intellectual binocular with which he sees life from a bird’s eye view. And, this is evident, not just in his management of the University of Ilorin, for five years, but also in the humility, selflessness and patriotism with which he demonstrates civility in all its ramifications. The difference between a man of letters and a man of knowledge is quite clear. While the one sees life through the common eye, the other sees it through an uncommon but natural binocular.

    In the days of Socrates, Aristotle and Herodotus, when education was an adorned virtue used as a yardstick for measuring civility and value, no one cared about the material gains accruing from it. Bastardization of education only began when certificate was introduced as a means of evaluating its material worth. Thus, with certificate, mere literacy began to be misconceived as education. Whereas, literacy is just an added value to education, the modern day man has ignorantly but arrogantly interpolated the one for the other. This is what Prof Oloyede resented at the early stage of his academic odyssey when he chose to combine Eastern education with that of the West and backed up both with rare determination to take advantage of their combination, as a fertilizer for the academic soil of Nigeria’s future which was why he specialized in Arabic and Islamic Studies even at the professorial level.

    Many ignorant Nigerians, including some uninformed journalists, had queried Oloyede’s educational background, even as Vice-Chancellor, in their vainglorious belief that Arabic and Islamic studies had nothing valuable to offer a progressive nation. Apparently, such blind skeptics did not know that some other Nigerian celebrities like the renowned literary man, Professor Kole Omotosho, the author of ‘Just Before Dawn’ and the current Alake of Egbaland Oba Adedotun Aremu Gbadebo, as well as Prof Isaac Ogunbiyi who retired as a Professor in the Lagos State University (LASU), and, even the former First Lady of Ondo State, Mrs. Funke Agagu, obtained their first University degrees in Arabic and Islamic Studies from the University of Ibadan, proudly called the Premier University.

    Yet, all of them, and several others, not mentioned here, are Christians by faith. Looking at these mentioned personalities and many others, like them, no sensible person can show how their educational backgrounds diminished their greatness in life.

    Arabic which is naturally spoken by more than 500 million people, in the world, today, is one of the few languages used to conduct meetings and conferences at the United Nations. It is only in a country like Nigeria, where ignorance is a garland of pride that such naivety, with which to denigrate a person for making a choice of career, can thrive vaingloriously.

     

     Oloyede’s Philosophy of Life

    Professor Is-haq Olanrewaju Oloyede’s philosophy of life seems to tally with that of Daniel Webster, an American intellectual and Statesman, who, in a memorable poem stated as follows:

    “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 to all eternity”. This is the philosophy that propelled Oloyede to adopt contentment as his personal principle, right from his early age.

     

    Evidence of His Patriotism

    As the President of African Vice-Chancellors, when he was still the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ilorin, he noticed that the position of the Executive Secretary of the Association of African Universities (AAU) was more important and more beneficial to Nigeria than that of the President which he occupied, Prof Oloyede, therefore, encouraged some of his Nigerian colleagues to apply for that post, promising that he would resign his Presidential position in that Association to enable a Nigerian to emerge as Executive Secretary. But typical of Nigerians, most of his colleagues did not believe him. However, when the time came and one of them reluctantly applied, Oloyede surprisingly resigned from his Presidential post, just after two years in an office where he was supposed to spend four renewable years. Following that patriotic display of strategy, Nigeria began to benefit greatly from the post of Executive Secretary which was then held by Prof Jegede, a former Vice- Chancellor of National Open University (NOUN). And, to show appreciation to Prof Oloyede over his large heart and patriotism, the AAU Board appointed him as a Board Member of that Association. Only a few Nigerians in the academic field can surpass this humble man’s record when it comes to the ‘nitty gritty’ of academic prowess, discipline and integrity. Yet, you can hardly notice it in his demeanour.

     

     His Ladder to the Top

    Prof Oloyede was not only the first ‘FIRST CLASS’ graduate of the Faculty of Arts in the University of Ilorin and the very first alumnus of that University to obtain a PhD in that same University, he was also the first Director of Academic Planning and first alumni President to be a member of the Governing Council of the University. Oloyede is the first Unilorin alumnus to become a Deputy Vice-Chancellor and subsequently the first alumnus to become the Vice-Chancellor of the University.

    Not only that, he is the first Vice-Chancellor in Nigeria to introduce Computer-Based Test (CBT) as a means of screening applicants for admission into the University, an invention which institutions like WAEC and NECO later adopted. This ingenuous personality was also the first Vice-Chancellor to lead a second generation University to the number one position in Nigeria, based on external ranking.

    He was also the first Nigerian Vice-Chancellor to combine the Board membership of International Association of Universities (IAU) with those of the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU) and Association of African Universities (AAU).

    With the above listed ‘FIRSTS’ he was able to make Unilorin the first Federal University in Nigeria to run an uninterrupted academic calendar throughout his tenure and this made it possible for Unilorin to become internationally ranked as one of the very best 20 Universities in Africa, during his time as Vice Chancellor. Also, through Prof Oloyede’s astute academic administration, the University of Ilorin was able to maintain the first position among Nigerian Universities for three consecutive years (2009, 2010 and 2011).

    While giving his first annual report entitled ‘I BELIEVE’ barely one year after he became the Vice-Chancellor, he reflected on that determination thus:

    “History tells us that Julius Caesar, with his legions, sailed over the channels from Gaol and arrived in today’s England. He did a very clever, yet, incongruous thing to ensure the success of his army. Halting the soldiers on the chalk cliffs of Dover, he burnt every ship by which they had crossed, leaving them with nothing but determination to succeed or perish, with the only means of retreat consumed by the red tongues of fire. It was that determination, powered by courage that made the legions to advance and conquer Europe. They did not look back and the rest is history”.

    “I believe”, he continued: “that with the caesarean determination of avoiding destruction and being focused on the set goals, the University of Ilorin, by all standards, a great University can be greater. Our goals are to fulfill our mission, attain our vision and engrave the name of our University on the psyche of global reckoning through the adoption of best practices. I believe that this is possible along the dictum that says “whatever human mind can conceive and believe in, man can achieve”. “I believe that we can do it if we are determined”. It is that courageous belief that is now seeing him through the hitherto turbulent voyage of JAMB in Nigeria today.

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

     

    Conclusion

    If Professor Oloyede’s citation were to be re-written by yours sincerely, it will not be different from what you have read here. We pray the Almighty Allah to spare the life of this man as well as the lives of other forward-looking Nigerians who see value in his life and are ready to emulate him for Nigeria’s prosperity. AMEN!

  • Nigeria’s Scripted Year

    Nigeria’s Scripted Year

    ”…Beware of a calamity that may afflict, not only the transgressors amongst you, but also the innocent ones, and, know that Allah’s retribution can be very severe…..” Q. 8:25

     

    Writing a drama is like conceiving a pregnancy in the womb of a woman. For the drama to be practically actable, the writer must take into consideration, not only the theme, the setting and the characters, but also the complications in such a drama as they build up spirally to the climax. The writer must also think of the anticlimax of the drama as well as its possible denouement.

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

    Brilliant students of literature must have perceived today’s entire world as a paradoxical theatre in which about eight billion human beings, including over 200 million Nigerians, are watching varieties of drama, in a single theatre. For either ecstasy or dismay the viewers may randomly roar into controversies or zoom into anxiety, as the drama progresses. But the main concern of each viewer is what may become of his favourite character.

     

    The Dramatic Colony

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

    Today, it is evident that the federal government of Nigeria is not prepared to work for the country’s existence as a unified entity.

    Meanwhile, the colonialists who designed and imposed the guidelines of this country on its inhabitants had technically predicted the length of her existence as a country. The centenary anniversary of Nigeria, as a country, was expected to have come up at the beginning of 2014 when the country attained the age of 100 years. But, having gone beyond that predicted age, no one except the Almighty Allah, is sure of what may become of Nigeria subsequently. This is because the same deliverers of Nigeria as a country have prepared a mausoleum for her in anticipation of her funeral. A clandestine script was unveiled in 1995 predicting a tragic absurdity awaiting the most populous African country.

    The contents of the script revealed that this heart of Africa called Nigeria was heading for a break up by the year 2015 when she would be 101 years old. The designers of that devilish agenda had set a timeframe of 20 years for its execution without suggesting any positive alternative. And, to portray their dream as a realisable one, they kept hammering the probability of the success of that obnoxious project citing some hazardous occurrences in the land as reason. Incidentally, that was the year in which the evil proposition began to receive a helping hand by the government that proposed a dubious national confab with a hidden agenda.

     

    Imperialist Strategy

    For students of International Relations, such a prediction cannot be strange. It is part of the strategies often used by the imperialists, either to re-colonize some old colonies that had been granted partial freedom, or to scoop on, and, dominate the economies of such countries with a typical capitalist tendency. As a result of such an imperial strategy, Poland had once ceased to be a country for about 123 years when it was partitioned about four times by Russia, Prussia and Austria in 1772, 1792 and 1795. And, for well over a century, thereafter, the country was not in existence. But the Polish people never gave up the resilient spirit of regaining their independence until the country was fully revived after the World War I in 1918.

    In contemporary time, the modern day imperialists have been doing the same successfully in some other countries none of which is now firmly on her feet. Countries like Vietnam, Korea, Yemen, China, Iran, Syria, Iraq, Libya, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Yugoslavia, Somalia, Sudan, Palestine and lately the entire Arab nations, all of which have had their bitter share of the subtle pillage, can testify to this assertion.  It is a modern day equivalence of the 1884/1885 partition of Africa carried out in Berlin, Germany, by the European imperialists, which led to the colonization of the black continent.

    If any of the above countries had resisted that obnoxious project at the planning stage and stood their grand in objection to colonial imperialism, perhaps the world would have been spared the throat-cutting threats posed today by the United States and her NATO allies against what they perceive as lesser nations.

    Incidentally, the US had, once, been a victim of this same imperialists’ guillotine especially in the hands of Britain. Yet, the cult of capitalism which has now become their common bond would not allow the duo of Britain and US (which had been mutually antagonistic) to dwell differently because it is only in such collaboration that the gains of their common interest can be accomplished. Unfortunately, Nigeria doesn’t seem to have learned any lesson from countries that had been tricked into toeing the imperialists’ path hook, line and sinker.

    Rather than looking inwards for solution to our domestic problems as the US did in her time of resistance to oppression, our own government does not only beckon to Uncle Sam for solution even to a minor problem but also cries out randomly to the collective body of imperialists for help. The official behaviour of Nigerian government is just like that of a baby who has fully adapted to being spoon-fed, at all times, even while asleep. Today, Nigerian government can hardly think on anything without reference to American or European example.

     

    Deceptive Propaganda

    Whereas some progressive countries like Japan, China, India, Brazil and even the United States in their days of search for growth and development shut their doors to the world and made do with whatever they could produce internally which was why their sudden zoom into the limelight came to the world as a surprise, this has never taught Nigeria any lesson. Now, all that matters here is empty and monotonous noise about becoming one of the biggest economies in uncertain years even when it is crystal clear that such wishful aspiration can only end up in a forlorn. No truly progressive country in modern time has ever indulged in such wishful but empty propaganda without failing. What would have ordinarily justified such propaganda is a surprise zooming into the global economic stage as the above listed countries had done.

    It is only an intellectually handicapped country, which is ironically wealthy, materially, but lacking in vision, that can blindly embark on such hopeless propaganda, even when over 75% of her citizens wallow in penury.

    Rather than indulging in deceptive propaganda, what our government ought to have told us is how billions of Dollars allegedly voted for revamping our moribund electricity vamoosed without any resultant iota of power. Or better still, how was the billions of dollars allegedly recovered from General Abacha’s loot shared among the national thieves called leaders? At least we are yet to know what happened to multi-billion naira realized from the so-called privatization policy that threw our national economy into taters. We also need to know something about the scandalously embezzled billions of naira realized from the callous increase on fuel price in January 2012 and many others of the like.

    On the other hand, the government ought to have shown Nigerians the blueprint that triggered us to embark on an empty propaganda about year 2020, which ended up in another forlorn.

     

    Foreign Interference

    Now, by inviting some foreign imperialist powers including the US and Israel to help resolve the internal problem of insecurity in Nigeria, has the government not   admitted its incompetence in protecting the citizenry and thereby surrendering its authority to the invited countries while awarding contracts for image laundering abroad? And, with such plan has this not also begun to compound the existing problems by externalising those internal affairs? After all, these invited countries have their own internal problems which they endeavour to solve without contracting it to any foreign country. Security of a country is like the heart in human body. Handing it over to someone else is like paving way for one’s fortuitous death. No serious government will ever trivialize the existence of its nation to that extent. We all know that whoever pays the piper must surely dictate the tune. Iraq, Libya and Pakistan are living examples confirming that in diplomacy, a friend today may become an enemy tomorrow.

    Yes, in the name of solving Nigeria’s problem even when they have been unable to solve theirs, the invited countries may bring their arsenal to subdue some government’s perceived and imaginary enemies. But what is likely to happen thereafter is the question which many generations of Nigerians may not be able to answer for decades, if not for centuries, in future. This has happened in most of the countries which solicited for military intervention of the imperialist countries. Today, those countries are biting their fingers in total regret. Yet, Nigeria’s ruling class which sees power as a matter of life and death is bent on forcing the country into the league of hopeless nations through desperation.

    A government is said to be in power only if it is believed to be capable of protecting its citizenry and defend the territorial integrity of the concerned nation. Any government that is incapable of doing this, but rather decides to throw the gate of the nation’s security open to foreigners for whatever reason, is unfit to be called a government.

     

    The Qur’an Speaks

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

    The real problem of Nigeria is neither the destructive anti-economic activities of the South-south militants, nor that of the greedily callous South East Kidnapers nor even that of the heartless bloodletting vandalism of Boko Haram. It is rather the willingness of the so-called government to reduce the country into an incubator of problems while relying on foreign imperialists for solution, even when such imperialists cannot solve their own domestic problems. It is like the case of an infamy who consumes poison while depending on an antidote for safety. In an axiomatic stanza, an Arab poet once opined thus:

    “We all blame our time for our misdemeanour; whereas, the misdemeanour blamed on our time is actually in us; We smear time with all types of iniquities and yet expect time to cleans us of any blame; Were time endowed with mouth to comment about us; it would have blamed us for generating all crimes; No hyena eats the flesh of fellow hyena; as human beings eat the flesh men that eat fellow human beings with impunity”.

     

    Governmental Atrocities

    The truth of the matter is that the roots of the multi-dimensional problems confronting Nigeria, today, are traceable mostly to the corridors of our government. Of all the vices that currently constitute insuperable problems for Nigeria, particularly corruption and injustice, none originated from a source other that of the government. The calibre of people involved in various high profile corruption cases since 1999 have confirmed this assertion. How, on earth, can any sensible person justify the case of immunity clause deliberately injected into our constitution to protect stealing of public funds either by the President or Governors in a country where overwhelming majority of people are so wretched that they can hardly afford even one meal per day despite the enormous wealth with which we are naturally endowed? And this so-called constitution was never subjected to any referendum as a way of assessing its general acceptability in the first instance.

    The real absurdity in that immunity clause is not just in chasing around the protected public thieves after vacating office but also in setting up anti-corruption agencies as a political camouflage. For God’ sake if a person aids a thief in casting away his property has he not become an accomplice in stealing that property? What justification will such a person have in wanting to prosecute such a thief? Those who injected immunity clause into our constitution as well as those who are in positions to remove it but rather choose to retain it are together accomplices in the entrenchment and spread of corruption in the land. Ordinarily, such people should never have moral right to talk of fighting corruption because they are its creators and sustainers but we live in a shameless country where conscience does not matter.

    We are our own problems. We know the sources of what we call problems and we incubate them.  We know how to proffer solution to those problems but like ‘lotus eaters’, we are so much drunk of illegality that it has become so difficult, if not impossible, for us to part with it. Now, as we are planning to start importing imperial mercenaries into the country to solve our immediate problems, we must not forget the social and financial implications of such a venture. And, we must remember that those mercenaries will like to find a permanent seat here even if they will have to invent new problems for us in order to justify their profitable stay.

    This admonition may taste bitter, especially, to those in government, who may have hidden agenda, but Allah’s words will never be in want of relevance. They are regularly accompanied by relevances. Allah warns us in Qur’an 13:11 thus: “Surely, Allah will not change the situation of a nation or a community until the citizens therein have resolved to change their obnoxious attitudes that warrant the need for change”. Whoever wants equity to prevail must come up with clean hands. Inviting certain imperialists to come and act the imperialists’ evil script, in Nigeria, as a way of obliterating insecurity, will do no one any good.

    Think before you act. God save Nigeria!

     

     

     

  • SELF ASSESSMENT

    SELF ASSESSMENT

    Like any aspect of human life, Ramadan is a test which every Muslim should endeavour to pass. Without waiting to be asked, a good Muslim must be able to sincerely ask him or herself in this sacred month the following vital questions? What was my spiritual status at the commencement of this year’s Ramadan and what is it at this stage of the sacred month? There are many reasons for this:

    Ramadan has become a transit period for most Muslims especially in Nigerian society.Whenever the month of Ramadan comes around most Muslims just dust up their instruments of observing Salat and pretend to be genuine Muslims. At least for the first few days in the sacred month Mosques are full of worshippers to the brim. Such nominal Muslims come from all strata of the society to join serious Muslims in observing  Salatu-t-Tarawih in the Mosques. They endeavour, if pretentiously, to do away with drinking alcohol publicly even as they discard fornication or adultery as well as other crimes temporarily during the days of the sacred month.

    Even when some of such pseudo Muslims do not find Ramadan fasting interesting, they do pretend and play along. Such people are easily recognizable by their uncultured attitudes in the sacred month. For instance, most of them do not wake up for ‘Sahur’ in the night. Neither do they involve their mental and physical beings in fasting. To them, abstaining from eating and drinking should be enough as fasting. Thus, as long as they go about with empty stomach, fasting is on course.

    Such people are like self-deceptive students who believe in marking their own scripts after writing examinations. The question is this: can they award themselves the needed certificates? If they can, who will recognize such certificates? Thus, sincere self-assessment in the month of Ramadan is a way of of reassuring oneself of right performance in the sacred month of Ramadan.

    The first ten days of the month were for free blessings of Allah. The second ten days were for forgiveness against all sins and iniquities and, the third ten days is for full spiritual emancipation of man from the manacles of Satan.

    If Allah can grant unlimited blessings to fasting Muslims in those first ten days of Ramadan, one should, at least work for forgiveness before the last ten days when fasting Muslims will be granted total spiritual liberation fom the shackles of Satan. Therefore, to be sure of being on the right course, during this spiritual journey, a self-assessment at this stage is a sine qua non.

     

    • RAMADAN KARIM!
  • Zakatul Fitr

    Zakatul Fitr

    Linguistically, the Arabic word Zakah simply means charity. But semantically, it means the spiritual purification of wealth in one’s possession which some other people are not endowed with.

    In Islam, there are two types of Zakah. One is called Zakatul Mal (meaning charity paid on possessed wealth), the other is Zakatul Fitr (meaning feasting charity). The one is a whole pillar of Islam while the other is an attribute of another pillar of Islam called Ramadan fast.

    As for Zaatul Fitr which is an organ of Ramadan fast, its payment is obligatory on all Muslims (adult or minor, male or female).

    This Zakah is called Zakatul Fitr (feasting charity) to facilitate a festive mood for the poor once in the society.

    Zakatul Fitr can be doled out in grains or in cash. Although the preference is for grains, nevertheless, if you give grains to a wretched person who cannot afford any amount of money to turn it into an edible meal how will grains alone be useful for him? This is why some jurisprudential Islamic scholars thought of applying the principle of Qiyas (analogical deduction to it) and it is not illegal in Islam. To say that Zakatul Fitr must be paid only in grains is to be extreme especially when the recipients of such charity may be forced to sell the grains given to them for cash.

    The Prophetically recommended measure of grains to be given as charity is called Muddu and each person must give four of it out in terms of valid grains.

    Zakatul Fitr must be given out either on the eve of ‘Idul Fitr or before observing Salatul Fitr on ‘Id day. Completing Ramadan fast without paying Zakatul Fitr is a spiritual question mark which a Muslim must be ready to grapple with before Allah.

    • Ramadan Karim!
  • MATING IN RAMADAN 1

    MATING IN RAMADAN 1

    This article ought to have been published at the beginning of this year’s Ramadan. But an oversight as a human factor set in as a cause of delay. However, it is still very much relevant even at this stage.

    One of the most important aspects of marriage is mating. It is the means of procreation of children as legitimized by consummation of marriage. Across nations, tribes and cultures, legitimate mating serves as the lotion of love. It is also perceived as the natural balm with which to soothe the aching areas of matrimonial conflicts. A matrimonial home without sexual intercourse is like a wild desert without an oasis. Therefore, Ramadan should not be used as an excuse to abdicate legal matrimonial responsibility by abstaining from the matrimonial bed.

    In Islam, sexual intercourse in the matrimonial home is so important that its constant denial by either party without any cogent reason is classifiable as a sin.

    Mating in Islam is not just for procreation of children. It is also a reconfirmation of love and fulfilment of nature’s promise. With matrimonial intercourse, paradise is attainable And, without it, paradise is deniable.

    While elucidating on the gains of Sadaqah, Prophet Muhammad (SAW) once told his companions that mating is Sadaqah if it is legitimately done. And legitimacy here means doing it with ones legitimate spouse. The prophet’s position on this is confirmed by Allah in Qur’an 2: 223 thus: “Your wives are your fields, enter them as you please…”. Denial of matrimonial intercourse to a spouse without reason is a violation of a fundamental marital right. Even where both spouses have tested positive to a disease like HIV/Aids, sexual intercourse should not be ruled out. And where only one of them is tested positive, the couple should reach an understanding on how to go about it medically.

    In Ramadan, a couple can be as sexually active as outside Ramadan provided it is done between dusk and dawn.

    It is, however, assumed that no serious Muslim will ever want to indulge in any unwarranted circumstance like intercourse to skip Salatus-Subh (early morning obligatory worship) by not taking Janabah bath at the right time. Allah judges deeds by intention. Whoever claims to be a Muslim must embrace Islam totally.

    However, necessary as sexual intercourse may be in a matrimonial home, it must not hinder any obligatory worship of Allah.

    • Ramadan Karim!
  • History of Ramadan Lecture in Nigeria

    History of Ramadan Lecture in Nigeria

    Preamble

    For every activity of man that yields success or ends up in failure, there must be a history from which others can learn a lesson. Sometimes, it is man that makes history and some other times, it is history that makes man. Whichever is the case, however, the symbiotic relationship between history and man is a confirmation of the fact that none of them can be separated from the other.

     

     Analysis

    There can be no history without man just as there can be no man without history. The genesis of Ramadan Lecture in Nigeria is one historic contribution of Nigerian Muslims to the popularity of the third (not fourth) pillar of Islam, called Ramadan Fasting. For Nigerian Muslims who have attained the age of 50 or 45 years, it will be noticed that one of the most prominent components of Ramadan month today is Ramadan Lecture. That component which was not in existence before 1984 is so rampant today that most African Muslims can hardly think of Ramadan without Ramadan Lecture. it has virtually become a spiritual phenomenon strongly waxed into the fabric of the sacred lunar month called Ramadan. Whether in Lagos, Sokoto or Calabar or even in Abidjan or Harare or Kinshasha, once Ramadan arrives, every year, most African Muslims engage themselves passionately in Ramadan Lecture, either as preachers or as programme sponsors or as radio audiences or television viewers.

     

    Genesis

    Incidentally however, the genesis of that phenomenon does not seem to be of any concern to many Muslims who see it as just an addendum to the sacred month of fasting. Even when it is an undeniable fact that Ramadan fasting, as a pillar of Islam has been in existence for almost one and a half millennia, it hardly occurs to most African Muslims of today, that Ramadan Lecture which began in Lagos in 1984 is Nigeria’s own contribution to the enhancement of the liveliness of the third pillar of Islam called Ramadan Fasting.

     

     Question

    How did the idea of Ramadan Lecture, which many African Muslims are now taking for granted, come about? Who were the inventors of this ingehuous idea that has become a global heritage and, what was actually the role of Bashorun MKO Abiola in this historic invention?

     

    How Ramadan Lecture Started

    The world is dynamic, not just intellectually or religiously, but also environmentally. Its dynamism varies from time to time and from place to place. The tendencies for that dynamism are what have perennially come to constitute the accessories of human progress in the act of worship in Islam. This is not peculiar to a period in history or a section of the earth in the geography of the world. Without such tendencies, the rapidity of human progress, spiritually, would not have been in synergy with the propensity of man to attune to the genesis of Ramadan lecture.

    Incidentally, however, the genesis of that phenomenon does not seem to be of much concern to many Muslims who see it as just an addendum to the sacred month of fasting. Even when it is an undeniable fact that Ramadan fasting, as a pillar of Islam, has been in existence for almost one and a half millennia, it hardly occurs to most Nigerian or African Muslims of today, that Ramadan Lecture, which began in Lagos in 1984, is Nigeria’s own contribution to the enhancement of the liveliness of the third pillar of Islam called Ramadan Fasting.

     

    Ramadan Glamour

    Perhaps, nothing gives more glamour to the month of Ramadan in Nigeria today than Ramadan Lecture. But only a few Muslims know that the idea of that concept emanated fortuitously from a probing question once raised by the late Alhaji Saka Fagbo, the late General Manager of NTA Channel 7, in Tejuosho, Surulere, Lagos, in 1984.

    It was the needed answer to that question that prompted the actualization of that concept, to the amazement of most old cadre Muslims in Nigeria.

     

     In Retrospect

    The whole story started with the gathering of some Muslim brothers, including the late Alhaji Saka Fagbo, Alhaji Mojeed Sofola, Alhaji Abdul Kabir Ayomaya (#ll the three were then staffs of the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA). And, yours sincerely from Concord Newspaper was in that accidental gathering. At that occasion, Alhaji Saka Fagbo raised an inquisitive question that engendered what came to be called ‘Ramadan Lecture’ in 1984. The group was later to be joined by Alh. Tunji Mojeed and Abdur-razaq Gawat (both of NTA).

     

    The Historic Question

    The Historic question that sparked off the glorious idea of ‘Ramadan Lecture’ went thus: “What can we do to give seasonal happiness to Nigerian Muslim children that would be similar to that of Christmas Carol which Christian children enjoy in December every year?” Ater some hours of deliberations on that challenging question, the brothers harmonized their thoughts and concluded that festive happiness could not be meant for children alone and, as such, an Islamic programme would be more beneficial to all and sundry if it was well packaged with Islamic knowledge and intellectualism that could enhance Muslims’ understanding of Tafsir. To give that new idea a befitting publicity, yours sincerely was mandated to brief the then Baba Adini of Yoruba Land, Bashorun MKO Abiola, who was also the publisher of Concord Press. At that time, yours sincerely was also Bashorun Abiola’s Special Adviser on religious Affairs).

    After briefing Bashorun Abiola, on the new idea, I also advised him to take up the sponsorship of the proposed programme. And, as expected, Bashorun Abiola did not only accept to sponsor the programme, on television and radio stations in Lagos State, he also voluntarily offered to be the permanent sponsor of Tafsir on radio and television stations throughout the 30 days of the month of Ramadan every year in all the Southwest States plus Kwara and the then Bendel states, for as long as he was alive.

     

    Catalyst

    Bashorun Abiola’s historic acceptance to sponsor that programme became the catalyst for the mobilization of Muslim groups and communities in the southwest of Nigeria where Ramadan lectures were being organized. And, with time, the idea of organizing ‘Ramadan Lecture’ was adopted in other parts of the country and thus became a National affair that some other Countries in the West African Sub region started to emulate.

     

    Spiral Effect

    Today, ‘Ramadan Lecture’ is like a summer rainbow beautifying the Islamic Sky across the Continent of Africa in the sacred month every year.

     

    First Ramadan Lecture

    The very first Ramadan Lecture in Nigeria was delivered by the late Alhaji Abdus-Salam Olatunde, then of the National Hajj Commission, at the main auditorium of the University of Lagos. Thereafter, some other Muslim philanthropists joined the train by organizing and sponsoring similar programmes during the month of Ramadan, in their respective vicinities.

     

    The Innovation

    The innovation called Ramadan Lecture is a further confirmation that the real bastion of propelling Islamic religion in Nigeria is in the Southwest, particularly Lagos. It should be recalled that some of the most prominent Islamic organizations in Nigeria today, such as the Muslim Students Society of Nigeria (MSSN), Ansar-ud-deen society of Nigeria, Anwar’ul-Islam society of Nigeria, Naiwa-rud-deen society of Nigeria, zumratul Islamiyyah society of Nigeria, NASFAT, Fathu Quareeb, FOWMAN, The Criterion, The Companion and many others emanated from Lagos.

     

    Prayer

    It is our prayer that ALLAH should preserve the souls of those who have demised among the innovators of ‘Ramadan Lecture’ as well as the originators of the above mentioned Muslim organizations and grant them all everlasting bliss while guiding the only living one amongst the inventors of ‘Ramadan Lecture’ (yours sincerely), towards further progressive efforts in projecting Islam in Nigeria.

    RAMADAN KAREEM!