The Nation Newspaper

Category: Friday

  • Encountering evil as the storms rage

    Encountering evil as the storms rage

    The storms are raging here, there, and yonder. And No, it’s not what you are thinking. I know it’s that season–with politicking and the storm that comes with it. But just as man is not made for bread alone, so the thinking one is not made for politics alone.

    It’s a different storm that I have in mind. It’s the storm of life with its unknown source but what surely appears to be its unfair destination. Strong, fierce, and hostile, they are unrelenting. They hit with ferocious precision. They strike without mercy. But why? Why is it our desert? Unpardonable sin, is it? But don’t the Holy Books assure that sin is the lot of everyone? So why target some but leave others untouched if in fact the billows are tools of divine judgment?

    Evil abounds! That’s an uninspiring cliché, you say. And I agree. After all, we have been warned ad nauseam that the world is evil. If that is true, what new knowledge is added by simply stating the obvious that evil abounds? I give you that, for sure!

    Can the world ever forget Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the modern reenactment of Sodom and Gomorrah, except that one was divine judgment for sin and the other was human punishment for what? A utilitarian justification of the least evil? But for the bomb, the Second World War would have continued indefinitely with unquantifiable tragedy, they argue. How’s that for the innocent victims of the bomb?

    How about the millions of innocent women and children that our own civil war took away from us? The slow death of starvation and disease occasioned by the atrocities? And to what end? We chanted “to keep Nigeria one is a task that must be done.” I need someone’s heartfelt and boldfaced assurance to me that we are now more united than we were back then. Any takers? And those lost lives? We don’t even have the moral conscience of a grateful memorialization of their sacrifice.

    Remember the Ogunpa flood disaster of 1980 when more than 250 people lost their lives during a rainstorm that lasted twelve hours? Even President Shagari was so moved that he paid a visit to Ibadan to commiserate with the people. That is so long ago. Nowadays, disasters no longer move us, including leaders in high places, to compassion. Again, many of the victims were innocent babies and children, without blemish. Was the sin of their forebears visited on them? But didn’t God promise long ago that he would no longer punish children for the sin of their parents and grandparents?

    And of course, we are living witnesses of evil in our time. Hundreds of the Chibok girls are still unaccounted for, wasting away in the wilderness of despair in the evil clutches of their captors. Evil Boko Haram says Western education is evil and they are out to redeem for Allah the soul of anyone so possessed. But aren’t they the evil ones for not trusting Allah to do the work of soul redemption for himself? There’s a good reason that many faithfuls have taken exception to Boko Haram’s unilateral interpretation of the divine injunction to redeem souls.

    From the above historical and contemporary illustrations of evil, we can see that it is not of one piece. There are typologies and varieties of evil. For instance, our people talk of amuwa Olorun, literally “what God has ordained or brought into existence”. Can we then talk of divine evil? But this is anomalous because evil is incongruent with the nature of God. If God is by nature good, how can God allow, not to even suggest, cause evil?

    There is a Yoruba verse that we learnt in the primary school which confirms this point about God’s goodness. It is a repudiation of the “amuwa Olorun” idea:

    Bi omode ba ku, won a ni amuwa Olorun ni

    Bi agbalagba fo sanle ti o rehin eku, won a ni amuwa Olorun ni

    O wa dabi pe Olorun ko ni ohun ti yoo se mo

    Afi ki o maa sebi kale aiye kiri.

    Bee Olorun ko sebi

    Ire lo nse.

    When a child dies, they’d say, it is God’s doing

    When an adult passes on, they’d say it is God’s doing.

    It would appear that God has nothing else to do than

    Commit atrocious evil around the world.

    Yet God doesn’t cause evil.

    God executes good deeds.

    Of course, believers of all faiths understand that there is punishment for sin. That was the justification for the Great Flood in Noah’s time and the Sulphur and acid rain that destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah in Abraham’s time. There was forewarning in both cases. There were other cases however when God is deployed as pretext for a preconceived self-regarding action. It’s hard to come to terms with such as divine punishment.

    Natural evil, as in evil caused by nature, is another type. Many would classify Ogunpa Flood disaster and Katrina hurricane of 2003 as natural evil. Yet it is unclear how we can attribute evil to nature. Evil not only presupposes agency, it also implies intent and motive. We talk of natural evil then just as a manner of speaking.

    What we refer to as natural evil is nature functioning in its own way according to its character. If humans don’t domicile close to the ocean, they won’t experience flooding from hurricanes. If they don’t build on rivers and block river basins, they would not experience flooding from the movement of the water. And if they don’t ignore warnings of climate change, they would be prepared for nature’s conduct of its affairs.

    As for famine, Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen has demonstrated that “no famine has ever taken place in the history of the world in a functioning democracy.” So, again, even when rain is natural occurrence, if it ceases for a while, the evil of famine is averted by functioning democracies.

    What about human-made evil? This is the heart of the matter and if the above observations make sense, it is what we need to worry about. For even what we usually see as natural evil, aka natural disaster, can be pinned down to human agency at work. Add this then to clearly human-made evil, and you begin to understand the potency of human evil.

    Let us also break human evil into its two classes: self-inflicted and other-inflicted. The former would include, for instance, suicide. Suicide is evil because it is taking one’s life. To observe that it is evil, we don’t even need a Kantian argument on the self-contradictory nature of its motive. We only need to see that it is not natural for anyone to want to end his or her life. It almost always has to do with mental sickness or emotional anguish arising from some life’s circumstances. A well-ordered society will have a functioning system that mentally disturbed members can have access to in times of need.

    For other-inflicted human evil, we may also classify further into two: intended and unintended. An example of the latter is a strayed bullet killing and innocent bystander. We know that this happens a lot in our society with gang and cult activities as well as with our trigger happy police and military officers. The incessant episodes of killing by stray bullet can only be because we have little or no regard for human life.

    The above observation doesn’t apply only to our society. As I tap the keyboard now, the trending news on mainstream and social media in God’s Country is the killing of a young man in Minneapolis by police officers with a “no-knock” warrant to search. The man was sleeping in his bed covered by a comforter. Within 9 seconds of police entry, he was a dead man.

    If human life has value, such extrajudicial killings cannot be justified. But assume that, somehow, the police had reason to shoot in the course of discharging their duties, how about ordinary human beings emptying bullets from AK47s into the bodies of fellow human beings? Bandits, kidnappers, and hired assassins kill without hesitation. Evil abounds indeed!

  • It’s all making sense now!

    It’s all making sense now!

    The following is the first bullet point on APC’s Manifesto in 2015:

    “Initiate action to amend our Constitution with a view to devolving powers, duties and responsibilities to states and local governments in order to entrench true Federalism and the Federal spirit.”

    After two years in office, and no proposals were forthcoming on constitutional amendment to devolve powers, duties and responsibilities to states, pressure was mounted on the party and the administration, reminding them of their promise restated above. Perhaps feeling the pressure, the then party Chairman, Chief John Oyegun, set up a Committee on Devolution with Governor Nasir El-Rufai as Chairman. The committee did its work and submitted its report. And since then nothing has been heard about that report. What happened to the report?

    Now, we are getting some answers. Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, a former National Publicity Secretary of APC, and a former Minister of the Federal Republic, who was also a member of the El-Rufai Committee is talking. Here was him responding to an interview question on what happened to his committee’s report:

    “I think what happened is that the manifesto of the APC had long been disowned by the government itself. The government felt it was the South-West wing of the party that inserted this into the manifesto of the party and the other wings didn’t believe in it; that was where the breakdown happened. So it was seen more or less as ACN South-West agenda, rather than the Buhari government agenda.…….

    “I remembered that one of the first things the government spokespeople did after the inauguration was to say some of the promises were made by overzealous members of the party. Some of those agendas were disowned by the government. I think it was the nature by which the party was put together.”—- Punch Newspaper interview with Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi.

    So, let’s get this straight.

    • Three parties, Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), All Nigerian People’s Party (ANPP) and a faction of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) came together and formed the mega party, All Progressives Congress (APC).
    • APC came up with a manifesto which it marketed to voters as the party’s contract with them. Presumably, the legacy parties, which had by then dissolved their identities into the mega party, collaborated for the formulation of the manifesto.
    • APC won the presidential election on the basis of its promise of change and the progressives’ ideas included in its manifesto.
    • That manifesto included, as stated in my opening quote, the promise to amend the constitution to devolve power to the states.
    • However, the APC manifesto was disowned by the APC government after it was elected on the strength of that manifesto, according to Abdullahi, because “the progressive agendas were coming largely from ACN.” Therefore, it was considered a Southwest agenda.
    • n particular, according to the former APC National Public Secretary, the “government felt that it was the South-West wing of the party that inserted this (i.e. devolution of power) into the manifesto of the party and the other wings of the party didn’t believe in it.” (my emphasis).
    • How were the “progressive agendas coming largely from ACN”? At least two of the four legacy parties, namely CPC and APGA claimed some affinity with progressivism unless they just faked the names. CPC is Congress for Progressive Change. APGA is All Progressives Grand Alliance. Even ACN (Action Congress of Nigeria), which is now accused of inserting progressive agenda didn’t carry the tag “progressive” as a banner on its sleeves!
    • Naturally, then, it is not unreasonable to want to find out what CPC especially believed in. As a progressive party in its own right, what did it contribute to the manifesto of APC? So, I looked. But here is what I found:

    “The party’s manifesto insists on the amendment of the Nigerian Constitution with the view of devolving powers, duties and responsibilities to states and local governments in order to entrench federalism and the federal spirit.

    Merged into: All Progressives Congress”

    (Credit: Wikipedia. Accessed January 25 2022)

    In other words, the only manifesto attributed to CPC and President Buhari is the APC manifesto since CPC has merged into APC and it was on the strength of this manifesto that the party’s presidential candidate was elected in 2015.

    Now, in view of the rejection of the “progressive agendas” by the “spokespeople” of the administration as alleged by Abdullahi, it occurred to me that either of two things might have occurred. First, the Southwest, through ACN, may have unilaterally inserted power devolution into the APC manifesto without the concurrence of the other wings of the party. But with the strong men and women from the other wings of the party, including its Presidential candidate himself, would this have been allowed? What magic would ACN have performed to make that fly? This allegation makes no sense.

    Second, the Southwest ACN may have suggested devolution of power as an important manifesto agenda, and the other wings may have concurred because they felt that they needed the votes of the Southwest and could not afford to alienate them at that point. But in their heart of hearts, they knew that they were not going to implement it if they succeeded at the polls. I believe that this is a more likely scenario.

    Now, of course, not a few commentaries have averred that what APC did amounted to false promise and deceptive advertising. Some have even unfairly, in my view, alleged that ACN was a party to the deception. I think this is unfair for two reasons. First, the ACN wing of APC lost out once a President from the CPC wing took the reins of power. The latter has been calling the shots since 2015 and that is visible to the blind. But second, John Oyegun, the first permanent Chairman of the APC, is from the ACN wing of the party. And he was credited with setting up the El-Rufai Committee on Devolution of Power, which did a good job and submitted its report. But the Chairman had no power of implementation.

    What does this all tell us about the future of restructuring or devolution? I am beginning to feel that we cannot rely on APC as it is currently structured. It appears that the dominant and domineering wing of the party is vehemently against any form of restructuring. President Buhari once described the advocates of restructuring, including the ACN wing of his party, as “naïve and mischievously dangerous.” Really, Mr. President!

    But I also don’t think that we can trust any political party with a promise to implement a restructuring agenda. PDP has no history of fulfilling campaign promises anyway, and restructuring was never on its agenda through its first, second, and third presidential leaderships. We have been fooled once. To be fooled twice will seal our fate as fools indeed.

    Here’s the way forward that I proposed on this page on July 13, 2018:

    “As a way out of this depressing record of unfulfilled promises, the electorate should demand to be in the driver’s seat of the issue. We need a ballot initiative in 2019 with three options.

    1. Do you want a change in the political structure of Nigeria? Yes/No
    2. If yes, do you want a change that returns Nigeria to the pre-1966 parliamentary system with modification to the number of regions? Yes/No
    3. If no, do you want a presidential system of governance and strong regional governments with control over their resources and payment of tax and royalty to the federal government? Yes/No

    If a majority answer yes on the first question, whichever party wins the election has an obligation to execute the will of the electorate. Majority answers on either question 2 or 3 will determine the form the new structure will take.

    What about the logistic of a ballot initiative with a population that is largely illiterate? Where there is a will there is a way. If we get them to vote their preferences on candidates, we can get them to vote their preferences on the ballot initiative.”

    I still believe this is the way to go.

  • A Nigerian Light Bearer

    A Nigerian Light Bearer

    Monologue

    Promise is a debt. Whoever makes a promise and refuses to fulfill it is definitely a hypocrite. Prophet Muhammad (SAW) once gave a succinct definition of hypocrisy in a way that was never known in history before his time. He said: “A hypocrite is recognizable by three factors: when he talks, he lies; when he promises he reneges and when he is trusted, he betrays”.

    Mindful of that axiomatic Hadith, as a Muslim, yours sincerely always tries to avoid a situation whereby my attention would be drawn to the above quoted Hadith as a reminder. I am always conscious that death can come at anytime and, to avoid falling into the dragnet of hypocrisy, I always stand out for truthfulness in words and in action.

    Although, it is against the policy of ‘The Message’ column to serialize articles, nevertheless, continuation of an article under a different title is not antithetical to the norm of journalism as a profession, hence, the continuation of last week’s article, in this column, today, under another title is quite in order. Please, read on:

     

    Preamble      

    It must have been puzzling to many ardent African students of Islamic history that though, the three oldest Universities in the world today, (Al-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt; Qarawiyyin University in Fez, Morocco and Zaytuniuyyah University in Tunis, Tunisia), are based in Africa, this continent of the black people is still trailing far behind the rest of the world in education and civilization. Not only that, it is also puzzling that two of those three mentioned Universities were christened, either in direct connection with names of women, or that of their actions. Al-Azhar University, in Cairo, for instance, took its name from that of ‘Zahrah’ (meaning bright rose) which was the alternative name for the last daughter of Prophet Muhammad (SAW), called Fatimah. Qarawiyyin University, on the other hand, was directly founded, first, as a Mosque, between 857 and 859 CE, by a woman called Fatimah Al-Fihri, before it became a teaching Centre that eventually paved way for what was tagged the golden era of Islam in education and knowledge. Linking those institutions to women’s names and activities could not have been by accident. It was rather an affirmation of the global recognition accorded those primordial women for the roles they played in the educational upbringing of children especially at tender age. It is also an historical confirmation that certain African women had played leading roles in the field of education in the past and they deserved to be emulated. Thus, as it was in the past, so it is in the present.

     

    Explanation

    Perhaps naming those institutions after certain women because of their dignified pedigrees or in recognition of the educational roles they played may somehow explain why the unique Islamic Centre named ‘Ayisat Aweni Raji’, which was recently commissioned in Iseyin, is named after a woman.

    For the information of thiose who care to know, ‘Ayisat Aweni Raji’ is the name of the mother of the provider of that Centre sited in Iseyin. Incidentally, however, the woman demised early last year (2021) while the project was rapidly progressing to advanced stage and, she could, therefore, not live to witness the commissioning of the Centre. Allah Akbar!

    Who is the Provider of this Centre?

     

    The visionary provider of ‘Ayisat Aweni Raji’ historic Islamic Centre is a Nigerian Lawyer with a unique mindset. His name is Ahmed Adeniyi Raji, a senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN).

    He graduated from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, and, was called to Nigerian Legal Bar at the Nigerian Law school, Lagos, in 1988. He later proceeded to Kings College of the University of London in the United Kingdom (UK), for a Master’s Degree in Law.

    Barrister Raji practiced law in Shinkafi Kusamotu, Olojo and Co. Chambers for about 11 years including the one year of Nigerian Youth Service Corps (NYSC). During that time, he convincingly proved his mettle as a brilliant young man before he went ahead to   establish his own Law firm in 1999. That was the time he started alleviating poverty in Nigeria, in his own little way, by employing younger Lawyers for training and as partners in his Chambers. Today, that Chambers, which is vivid in Abuja, Lagos and Kano, has become a frontline model in the practice of Law in Nigeria.

     

    Areas of Practice

    His areas of Law practice include: Litigation; Arbitration; Mediation and Conciliation; Criminal Law; Banking and Corporate Finance; Election Matters; Capital Market; Administrative and Constitutional Matters; Maritime and Admiralty as well as Telecommunication and Debt Recovery.

    Barrister Raji is not just a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, he is also a Fellow of Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (UK) and Certified Capital Market Solicitor.

     

    Other Activities

    Besides the practice of Law, Barrister Ahmed Raji also served the country as an appointed Resident Electoral Commissioner for eight years from 2003 to 2011, in five different States. His decision to    found an Islamic Centre is not just a way of showing gratitude to the Almighty Allah for endowing him with bountiful resources but also a confirmation that elevation of Islam to a lofty height in Nigeria has consistently been by the elite rather than the clerics. Virtually all the Muslim Organizations in Nigeria today were founded by elites and not by clerics.

     

    Why Founding Islamic Centre?

    One of the most probing questions that are likely to throb the minds of certain inquisitive people about ‘Ayisat Aweni Raji’ Islamic Centre is why did Raji opt for such a non-profit-making venture with such huge resources. The answer to that question is not far-fetched. In every well-meaning man or woman of substance, there is a combination of instinct and foresight which often culminates in a worthy legacy, if well managed. Barrister Ahmed Raji cannot be exempted from that class of people. With the establishment of a glorious Centre like ‘Ayisat Aweni Raji’, in Iseyin, he has wonderfully killed two birds with one stone. Not only has he lifted Iseyin, which is his city of birth, from national obscurity to international limelight, he has also illuminated the tunnel on the way of his mother’s journey to eternal life through her transit in the grave. There is a great lesson in this for all blessed children who are yearning for the mercy of Allah.

     

    Iseyin Before and Now

    Before now, Iseyin was only known, mostly in the South West region of Nigeria. But with the provision of this historic Centre, which is accorded a website that is reachable in all parts of the world, the expectation of a crescent graduating into a full blown, illuminating moon, has become an irreversible reality. And, with that, the insignia of the provider of that Centre is indelibly being assured on the rock of life. If a crescent of hope could grow into a full blown moon without experiencing an eclipse, who says the moon itself cannot flow beneficially in its orbit without encountering an eclipse? For those who are sincerely interested in this historic Centre and are ready to benefit from its global tentacle, the link of its website is as follows:

    https://ayisatawenirajiorg/about/

    Meanwhile, the grandiose photograph with which this article is illustrated is just a part of the wonderful project and not the whole of it. To ascertain its complete outlook for now, the Centre’s website is the right compass with which to find the way facts and figures.

     

    Prayer

    Let us pray the Almighty Allah to repose Mama’s soul in eternal bliss and grant his children and family the fortitude with which to surge ahead smoothly in life with His divine mercy. Amin!

  • Iseyin: The renaisance city of Yoruba land 2

    Iseyin: The renaisance city of Yoruba land 2

    Monologue

    One of the most remarkable characteristics of history, which makes it an all-time teacher for mankind, is random repetition of facts and figures.

    Without such repetition, man’s natural forgetfulness would have shown the way of permanent oblivion to history. It can therefore be concluded that history is not just a master teacher but also a nonesuch reminder of events and occurrences. Brilliant researchers and genuine seekers of knowledge can gracefully testify to this assertion.

     

    Preamble

    On Tuesday, the 16th of November, 2021, all roads led to Iseyin, in Oke Ogun area of Oyo State. That was the day on which a galaxy of foremost traditional rulers, notable Imams and Alfas, frontline professionals including justices of the various Courts in Nigeria as well as sundry prominent men and women of distinction from Yoruba land and other parts of Nigeria assembled in that city with an unprecedented  sense of history. The most vertical personality that conspicuously stood out of the pack, on that occasion, was the Sultan of Sokoto and President General of Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), His Eminence, Dr. Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, CFR, mni. He came all the way from Sokoto accompanied by a retinue of scholarly elite from all parts of Nigeria. And, the frontline traditional rulers of Nigeria’s South West region, led by the Alaafin of Oyo, His Royal Majesty, Oba Lamidi Olayiwola Atanda Adeyemi III, were readily on hand to welcome His Eminence and his entourage to Iseyin city at a least expected time and, for an undreamt purpose.

     

    Muswen’s Role

    On the other hand, the President of the Muslim Ummah of South West Nigeria (MUSWEN) who is also the Deputy President General (South) of Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), Alhaji Rasaki Oladejo, FCS, also led a large group of South West Muslims to the occasion as part of His Eminence’s entourage. It was an elaborate carnival of a sort, never to be forgotten in Yoruba land.

     

    The Purpose of the Occasion

    The purpose of that unprecedented occasion was the rekindling of the glow of Islamic renaissance, in Iseyin, as facilitated by a ‘son of the soil’. The occasion was also meant for the commissioning of a unique Citadel of knowledge named ‘Ayisat Aweni Raji Memorial Islamic Centre’.                                                  Hosted by Iseyin city, that historic Citadel is a vivid reminder of the first Institution of Higher learning, in Islam, which was christened ‘Baytul Hikmah’ (House of Wisdom), and sited in the city of Baghdad, Iraq, about 200 years after the demise of Prophet Muhammad (SAW). Just as Iseyin, in Oyo State of today’s Nigeria, is now aspiring to zoom into a global intellectual limelight, with this newly established Citadel, it was Baytul Hikmah that brought the name of the city of Baghdad into the archive of historic reckoning in intellectualism. Now, Iseyin is on the its way to making a similarly noticeable historic mark on the world map.

     

    Reminiscence

    Baytul Hikmah was founded in 830 CE by the seventh Abbasid Caliph, Abul ‘Abbas Ibn AbduLlah, popularly known as Caliph Al-Ma’mun, in Baghdad, during the golden era of Abbasid Dynasty. It was from the establishment of Baytul Hikmah that the idea of the first University in the world, the University of Cordoba, in Spain, germinated under the rule of the second Umayyad Dynasty, in the early 10th century.

    Baytul Hikmah was not just a Centre for theoretical learning. It was also an intellectual institution where literacy was practically transformed into effective education for the purpose of ushering civilization into the world, based on Islamic ethos. Built on the campus of that Institution was a functional library that later became the biggest library in the world and served as the main reservoir of references in knowledge. Even, as at that time (the 9th century), that library contained about 400,000 books, most of which were translated into Arabic from other languages of Hellenic and Assyrian sources. In fact, there was no field of discipline in sciences, arts, philosophy, theocracy and social sciences that could not be richly found in those books as references. And, it was due to the establishment of that Institution that the exigesis (Tafsir) of the Qur’an became sophisticatedly boosted for thorough human understanding. In summary, the University of Cordoba, which happened to be the very first University ever established in the world, was an offshoot of Baytul-Hikmah. University of Cordoba itself was established by the Muslims of Umayyad dynasty, in Spain in about the early 10th century.

     

    Genesis of Baytul Hikmah

    For quite some time, before the founding of Baytul Hikmah, there was a very strong intellectual competition between two cities of Basrah and Kufah, in Iraq, which later paved way for the thought of establishing a citadel that came to be named ‘Baytul Hikmah’. The leader of Basrah group was Abu Bishr Amr Bn Uthman Bn Qanbar Al-Basri who was popularly known as Sibawayh. And, the leader of the Kufah group was Abul- Hassan Ali Ibn Hamzah Ibn Abdullah, Ibn

    ‘Uthman, who was popularly known as Al-Kisai. The latter was one of the seven reputable memorizers and readers of the Qur’an and he was a frontline seeker of permanent solution to the complexity of the exposition (Tafsir) of the Qur’an. While the Basrah group specialized in the syntax (Nahw) aspect of Arabic grammar, the Kufah group specialized in the morphology (Sarf) aspect of the same Arabic grammar. The two scholarly groups constituted themselves into two separate schools that were always at intellectual loggerhead. In every seeming problem there must be a divinely blessed way out.

    The fierce intellectual rivalry between the two schools in Basrah and Kufah was what gave the world tertiary level of knowledge acquisition that became known as University. And, the formation of grammar for Arabic language was the foundation of that feat to the benefit of the Quran and its exegesis.

    It must be remembered that the revelation of the Qur’an did not come with grammar because Arabic language, which was the language of Qur’anic revelation, had no grammar prior to the revelation of the Qur’an. It was the revelation of that sacred Book that led to the formation of Arabic grammar championed by Sibawayh and Al-Kisai.

    From this historical background, therefore, it can be inferred that the intellectual rivalry between two renowned  grammarians (Sibawyh and Al-Kisai), which strengthened the Umayyad and Abbasid Dynasties intellectually and culminated in Europe’s eventual renaissance, that led that Caucasian continent to industrialization that introduced technology into the contemporary world.

     

    Comment

    Today, we can read or talk about ‘Baytul Hikmah’ as a point of intellectual reference because there was a Caliph Al-Ma’amun who valued intellectualism and had an appropriate foresight to back it up with the intent of establishing the citadel called Baytul Hikmah for posterity.

    Here in Nigeria, especially, in Yoruba land, there is cause for the Muslims of today and those of tomorrow to say Alhamdu liLlah for gaining free access to a citadel like ‘Ayisat Aweni Raji Memorial Centre’ in Iseyin, at the instance of a single person whose way of thanking Allah for His merciful bounties is to provide a citadel named after his demised mother for the benefit of today’s Muslim generations and those of the future.

     

    The Centre

    ‘Ayisat Aweni Raji Islamic Memorial Centre’ is an institution that tacitly speaks volumes in intellectual language to those who understand the language of knowledge and can sensibly interpret that language to suit the purpose of this ephemeral life and

    that of the life hereafter.

    While most Yoruba Muslims unnecessarily keep arguing and boasting on the precedence of their cities or towns in gaining access to Islam, Iseyin indigenes simply kept quiet while thinking of exhibiting genuine Islamic faith and practical adherence to it without any verbal boasting. That is a way of confirming, in practical terms, that only empty barrels make the loudest noise.

    Meanwhile, rather than inviting fellow indigenes to join hands together in providing a unique citadel that can propel Islam practically aloft to make Iseyin a special template, the provider of ‘Ayisat Aweni Raji’ citadel just decided to hold the bull by the horn, all alone. This is because he knows that embarking on such a spiritual venture by a group or groups of people may take decades if not a century. To invest in such a gargantuan, non-materially profitable venture, in today’s material world, therefore, is a glaring exhibition of absolute faith in the Almighty Allah, the reward of which can come only from that same Allah alone.

     

    The Provided Facilities

    The facilities provided in that citadel are obviously legendry. Which of those facilities is not positively lamentable? Is it the Mosque that looks like a mini Haram of Makkah or the Shariah Court complex that favourably competes with most of the modern day model courts which form the wings of pride for most advanced countries in the world?

    Like in Baytul Hikmah of Baghdad of yore, a historically distinguished library is provided in ‘Ayisat Aweni Raji Memorial Centre’ to cater for the needs of all strata of knowledge seekers, irrespective of age, gender, tribe or religion. The books stored in that library may not have attained the lofty height of figures in thousands, but the few available therein, have no exclusion in fields of learning. Interestingly, there are as many books in that library for professionals, academic scholars and even students of secondary schools, as anyone can imagine. And, the big, two storey building, which harbours that unique library in that Centre, is so well equipped with effective computers that the only question that an unbiased visitor is likely to be “what else is not here”.

    If there was anything provided for enhancement of knowledge in Baytul Hikamah, which qualified it for a vintage position of reference in the archive of history, ‘Ayisat Aweni Raji’ citadel has surely surpassed that. This is not only in terms of computer but also in terms of website and internet facilities that makes that Centre a global outfit for knowledge and dissemination of correct information with easy online accessibility. Besides the grandiose Mosque that is gorgeously decorated therein, the Shariah Court and the library, in that Centre are also modern by all standards. And, to give that Centre a befitting comfort of intellectual requirement, a superb hotel is also provided for accommodation within its premises of as a way of making it comfortable for visitors and other travelers to Iseyin. The proviso, however, is that every provision therein is that of Halal alone.

     

    Irony of Events

    In the primordial time, when Baytul Hikmah was provided for knowledge seekers, there were scanty facilities with which to access knowledge. Today, when the facilities are available in abundance, the world is confronted by the dearth of readers. It is, however, hoped that Nigerian Muslims will wake up from their reading slumber and brace up for an effective utilization of the great opportunity provided, free of charge, in that historic Centre, by a unique philanthropist.

     

    The Facilitator

    Ever since the commissioning of ‘Ayisat Aweni Raji Centre’, tongues have been wagging just as inquisitions have been surging in a bid to know who provided such a Centre for the sake of Allah. For the information of those who want to know, this column, ‘The Message’, will unmask the provider of that historic Centre next Friday, in sha’Allah, and give the details of the personality of that provider. Pease, be on the lookout for it. God bless you.

    Most people who have been privileged to see ‘Ayisat Aweni Raji’ memorial Centre

    Physically, have been wondering about who the facilitator of such a such ,

    The facilitator of that unique glory is Barrister Ahmed Raji.

  • The Kaduna Declaration

    The Kaduna Declaration

    With its creative conjugal metaphor, the Nigerian amalgamation story is an interesting one. Conceived as an arranged marriage between “the rich wife of substance and means (the South) which was expected to provide for the “poor husband” (the North), the two were expected to live happily ever after!

    This metaphor of wife and husband, respectively rich and poor, has been critically analyzed over the years, with contestations over the reality of the wealth of one versus the poverty of the other. Let us not be distracted by that controversy. Still, one issue continues to amaze. How did Lugard even come about the metaphor of husband and wife? How did he come to conceive of the North as husband and the South as wife? Was it a prophetic utterance about what was to come?

    In our various ethnic and religious traditions, being a husband comes with a heavy weight of recognition and enormous rights and responsibilities. Conferring that title on one and wifehood on the other implies a huge responsibility and rights for the husband, i.e. the North, for the progress and development of the family, i.e. Nigeria, even if the wife, i.e. the South, is the wealthy one. Furthermore, following the traditional marriage practice, it also means that, as the family head, the husband determines the terms of the union. As the wedding officiating minister, Lugard not only sealed the new union with this analogy in mind, he also ensured that as the Governor-General, the North remained the dictating husband and senior partner. It has been so since 1914.

    As the favorite of the British administration on the ground, the North had an inherited advantage in policy matters. It was officially protected from the educational influence of missionaries and from the nationalist agitation of southerners, thus maintaining a purist indigenous ethical and religious tradition. More importantly, the North also had an inherited advantage politically, being the British favorite in the predetermined outcome of succeeding population census. And since democracy is a game of numbers, the husband North became the King and/or Kingmaker. It has been so since 1959.

    As consequential as these inherited advantages are, however, they do not guarantee desirable longevity as husband or as king or kingmaker. Marriages are often broken and dissolved even in our traditional family settings. And a husband must possess good native intelligence to lord it over the wife for such a long time without the threat of divorce. And even when that threat occurs, he must be endowed with indefeasible power and unparalleled wisdom to overcome. The North has shown that quality since 1960.

    So aside from the inherited advantages, what have kept the North as the powerful if not loving husband and the South as the subservient wife this long in their relationship?

    First, it appears to me that one of the often unappreciated facts about the North is that it knows what it wants and goes after it with considerable energy and tact. And what it doesn’t want, it refuses without mincing words. Recall the 1953 Motion for Independence debacle. Northern leaders in the Federal Legislature knew that they weren’t ready for independence. They asked for more time and when they were rebuffed, they staged a walkout, ensuring that whether the South liked it or not, independence was not going to happen in 1956. Also, federalism didn’t become Nigeria’s system of constitutional governance until the North agreed. And since 1967 a quasi-unitary system has been imposed on Nigeria because it is the new preference of the North.

    Second, the North has the advantage of a united front that the South cannot boast of. This advantage is not inherent; it was built up by years of political engineering, especially during the nationalist years into the First Republic with the unparalleled political skills of Sir Ahmadu Bello, the first premier of Northern Region. Granted, with the benefit of religion and Fulani hegemony, Bello could have run roughshod over the North. But he just strategically spread his influence through the entire north including the Middle Belt, educating all and sponsoring many to higher education and military training. Thus now, even with tension over Farmer-Herder conflicts, there’s still an enduring political relationship across the entire north.

    Compare the foregoing observation with the South and we may conclude that there’s not really a North/South dichotomy, but a North/Souths dichotomy, there being many Souths as opposed to one North. Recall how a supposed Southern solidarity against the North with a proposal for an Azikwe Prime Ministership in 1959 ended up. It has been so ever since, becoming worse with the outbreak of the civil war. Even when it was perceived as a war instigated by the pogrom of Igbos in the North, the Igbo ended up blaming the Yoruba for their predicament. Mistrust has been the bane of the relationship between the two major Southern nationalities.

    Third, the North is particularly focused on the North while many Southern nationalities see Nigeria as a whole as their object of concern. You would ordinarily expect the husband to see the entire family as his responsibility. Here, however, is a husband concerned mostly, if not solely, about himself. That takes an excessive dose of rational egoism. The symbolism of the naming of the first political parties in the country bore this out clearly. While the two parties emerging from the South had such non-sectional names as National Council of Nigerian Citizens and Action Group, emerging from the North was the Northern People’s Congress. (It was later changed to Nigerian People’s Congress.) Note that this is by no means a criticism. It’s just a comment on the difference between the focus of the North vis-a-vis the South and how it has paid off for the North.

    This takes us to the latest communique of Northern Leadership meeting on current affairs and what lessons it has for the South. The meeting, held at Arewa House in Kaduna on the historic day of January 15th, with intellectual, business, professional, religious, and political leaders and Northern-based NGOs and CBOs present, centered on the theme “Rebuilding the North”.

    Among others, the meeting highlighted the state of insecurity and poverty in the north with an appeal for the prioritization of spending in these areas. It insisted on the equal rights of Northerners to aspire to all offices and political parties to field candidates of their choices across the zones. It advised the Federal Government to postpone the 2022 census because of the challenges of citizen IDPs. It urged voters to prioritize competence and integrity in their choice of candidates. In particular, the communique invited Northerners to recreate the North handed over by Bello, Balewa, Ibrahim and other leaders gone by. Encouragingly, it urged Northern groups to engage with Southern groups to improve understanding and lower tensions.

    It’s an impressive array of ideas and suggestions for rebuilding the North from the ruins of educational, economic, and social collapse over the years. Part of what is impressive about it is the realization that despite the North having held on to the levers of power for the better part of the first and second republics and during the military interregnums, the region is in worse shape compared to other regions and zones. If the husband is in control and he’s in such a terrible shape, how do we evaluate his leadership of the household?

    Southern groups have also found their condition challenging. But whereas for the South, the culprit is the reversal from federal to a quasi-unitary constitution and the centralization of power, the North leaders have blamed their condition on leadership incompetence and greed. Therefore, while the South has insisted on restructuring as the solution, this did not even feature in the Kaduna declaration.

    Two takeaways from the Kaduna declaration. First, let the South also focus on rebuilding the South. Second, with respect to the disagreement over the cause of their unacceptable conditions, the husband North has proposed a North-South engagement. It’s a call for a family meeting, a commendable initiative of the husband. It’s about time to make it happen for the sake of the family’s future. Let the wife respond positively.

  • Legacy matters

    Legacy matters

    Running for political office at any level is a big deal. It requires thoughtful deliberations. Why do I want to run? What do I want to accomplish? Do I have the zeal for the office? Do I have the physical and mental capability the office requires? Can I make a difference?

    Ideally, a potential candidate for office should do a self-analysis of these issues before stepping into the murky waters of politics. Late General Colin Powell, former United States Secretary of State famously turned down the invitation of big league party operatives to run for the President of the United States in 1996 on the ground that he didn’t have the inner zeal. That was the epitome of integrity and personal responsibility.

    Not many candidates for office or office holders have that kind of integrity. Many run for reasons of ego. They compare themselves with those who are also running and ask “why not me too? If he can do it, so can I.” Or they want to settle score with perceived enemies and if they succeed, that would be their preoccupation. We see it even in so-called “mature” democracies. Some others like the status that comes with political office. It’s great to be called “His Excellency” “Distinguished Senator”, “Honorable”. Even “Hon. Chairman” is a respectable title. And of course, the perks of office mean a lot, especially in a clime where material possession, no matter how acquired, is still a basis for homage and respect.

    The above is true of a vast majority of political candidates or elected officials across the globe and in our own neck of the wood. Thankfully, however, we must also acknowledge that there are some, no matter how few they are, whose purpose and motive is noble. They genuinely want to make a difference for the better. They see a need which they believe they can satisfy and fulfil. They see their community, state, or nation, drifting and tearing at the seam and they believe that they have what is needed to mend it. They don’t care for the title. They don’t care for the accolades. They are prepared to make personal sacrifices for the good they think they can effect.

    If they succeed, such individuals leave behind an unforgettable legacy. In modern times, the United States still remember with appreciation Franklin D. Roosevelt, a wheelchair-bound president whose New Deal agenda bailed the country out of the Great Depression and was elected to an unprecedented Third Term. And though his life was cut short while serving, President J. F. Kennedy left a legacy of visionary leadership that landed America on the moon eight years after his assassination. These ones entertained bold thinking to lead their nation in troubled times and with a mind set at a future glory.

    On our own continent, the encounter of our nationalist forefathers with the wickedness of colonialism motivated their passion for public service. They suffered persecution but were undaunted. Quite a few of them didn’t even seek political office but were content with the agitation for freedom and independence from foreign rule. How can we forget their sacrifice! Those who sought political office did so with integrity and a laser beam focus on the development of their nations. Some of them stayed too long with the unfortunate consequence of marring their legacy.

    Note, however, that those whose legacies remain intact till date succeeded where others failed because they focused on policy matters that had a long shelf life. Many young ones may not have any idea of the presence of Nigersol Construction Company and the network of roads across Yorubaland in the 50s and 60s. So they probably don’t remember Chief Obafemi Awolowo for that accomplishment in infrastructure. But they have lasting memories of the sage’s focus on political structure as the apostle of true federalism. They appreciate his economic agenda with his unprecedented achievements in human capital development. They know that their parents’ head-start in education was the reason that they also had a shot at the good life. And both old and young continue to applaud Awolowo’s legacy of good governance. Therefore, they are resentful of military administrations for their deadly assault on federalism and the consequence it has had for their own progress which has been stunted.

    Read Also: ‘Bola Ige embodied Awolowo School of Politics’

    Reflections on this matter have inexorably led me to wondering about the prospective legacy of President Muhammadu Buhari. Here is a man who has been highly favored by fate and divine providence. A war hero and one-time military head of state, he lost out in the power struggle in 1985. At the time, he was known as a no nonsense military officer with a particular resentment against political office holders because he believed that they were all corrupt. For him, the principle of “innocent until proven guilty” was turned on its head. They all had to prove themselves innocent. This anti-corruption DNA appears to have been one major motivation of his coming back to power in 2015. (Full disclosure: I vouched for him then.)

    Prior to his success in 2015, President Buhari had tried and failed thrice. Thanks to the new political horse on which he rode, he became a “comeback kid” as President and Commander-in-Chief in 2015 and was reelected for a second term in 2019. On several occasions, he has told the nation that he will honor the constitution, hand-over to an elected successor in 2023, and retire to Daura at the end of his second term. It is therefore a timely question to ask: what will be President Buhari’s legacy? And how long will it last?

    Knowing that he cannot accomplish everything, President Buhari wisely chose to focus on a few issues, among which are security, the economy, including infrastructure, and war against corruption. For acknowledging that there is a limit to what he can successfully accomplish, the president must be applauded. The question then is whether his specific choice of items to focus on are legacy-enhancing and how successful he has been in accomplishing the task he set himself.

    Let us not be distracted by the criticism that the four major items on the president’ boiler plate-security, economy, infrastructure, and corruption-are ordinary jobs of government. They are, but what if they are not considered important by a particular government. A president that prioritizes them should therefore be encouraged. But the question of performance in these areas is a pretty relevant one. Thus far, it is fair to say that the president’s efforts on security haven’t been as successful as he might wish. And if this goes on for the next 15 months, he may leave a legacy of unfinished business in this sector. That would be a demining record for a former military general.

    The economy has also proved resistant to every medication thus far. High level of unemployment among the youth, high rate of inflation, and a general climate of economic malaise continue to dominate the news cycle on a daily basis. The silver lining here is the fast pace of infrastructure development, especially road and rail networks. The president can expect to get good grades on this and to be remembered for the investment, which hopefully will be maintained and sustained by subsequent administrations.

    Unfortunately, we cannot be as positive about the president’s anti-corruption policies and achievement. While the president has declared that political prostitution will not save decamping politicians from investigation and prosecution for corruption, words aren’t enough to persuade observers of the goings on in the corridors of power. And so, the verdict thus far is that the president’s anti-corruption efforts have been largely unsuccessful.

    A lasting legacy that the president has resisted even considering, for reasons best known to him, is in the matter of political structure. And he has done so at the peril of his legacy. Pretending that he has no idea what restructuring means and what needs to be done to get it right will haunt his legacy for life. Leaving behind a unitary constitution, when he has eight years to lead for real constitutional reforms that can stand the test of time doesn’t bode well for a lasting legacy.

     

  • An interminable path to nationhood

    An interminable path to nationhood

    In his January 2020 New Year Message to the nation, President Buhari, in a prophetically optimistic mood, declared the 2020s as Nigeria’s decade:

    “Today marks a new decade. It is a time of hope, optimism and fresh possibilities. We look forward as a nation to the 2020s as the opportunity to build on the foundations we have laid together on security, diversification of our economy and taking on the curse of corruption. These are the pledges on which I have been twice elected President and remain the framework for a stable, sustainable and more prosperous future.”

    ——President Buhari’s New Year Message, January 1, 2020, paragraph 1

    It was his first New Year message after his reelection to a second and final term as president. Upbeat in his assessment, he saw it as a time of “fresh possibilities” with a hope of “the opportunity to build on the foundations we have laid together on security, diversification of our economy and taking on the curse of corruption.” And in case they forgot, the president reminded the nation that these were the pledges on which he was elected twice as President and they “remain the framework for a stable, sustainable and more prosperous future.”

    That January 2020 message was by my count, 23 paragraphs long. The president talked about democratic elections, security and safety, including the challenge of violent extremism, the economy, including agricultural revolution and the African Continental Free Trade Area, infrastructure development, including power and the new deal with Siemens, and tackling corruption, rounding it up with a list of the infrastructural projects lined up for 2020.

    What was missing in that speech was any mention of the challenges of nation-building and the action that might be warranted. Was it an oversight? Was it deliberate? After all, nation building was not one of the pledges on which the president was elected twice according to his declaration.

    I am not sure of what to make of that declaration and the apparent denial of the nationality question and the attendant issue of restructuring, which has been pressed since at least 1994. The massive support that APC received in 2015 especially from the South was anchored on its promise on devolution of power, which was an acknowledgement of a problem with the structure of governance.

    On the other hand, however, the president was right. If the people really cared about restructuring or at least power devolution, and the president’s party didn’t keep its promise for four years, they wouldn’t have voted for him a second time in 2019. In other words, the national question, restructuring or power devolution, did not appear to be on the boiler plates of a critical mass of voters. With victory in hand in 2019, the president may have concluded that it was only a few noise makers that agitate for restructuring.

    A year later, in his January 2021 New Year message, President Buhari appeared to acknowledge the country’s “difficult journey to nationhood”:

    “We must remember that we also celebrated the historic occasion of our sixty years as an independent and sovereign country on October 1st 2020. In the spirit of hope and gratitude, I would like to remind us again that as a country on the difficult journey to nationhood and greatness, we have confounded the many pundits at home and around the world who never gave the newly-born country that emerged unto the world stage on 1st October 1960 a chance of surviving much longer than a few years.

    “Yet, here we are, 61 years by the next anniversary in October,…. we are standing tall in the comity of nations as one country united under the will of God and also actively growing that indivisible Nigerian spirit that has enabled us, year after year, decade after decade, to weather all stormy waters and emerge stronger and better where others have fallen and disintegrated. This nation, this Nigeria, will survive and thrive.”

    -—President Buhari’s New Year Message, January 1, 2021, paragraphs 5 & 6

     

    But as can be seen from the above excerpt, he mockingly stuck it in the face of the many pundits who doubted the survival of the country beyond a few years. And with hands proudly beating the chest, he noted that at 61, “we are still standing tall in the comity of nations as one country united under the will of God and also actively growing that indivisible Nigerian spirit”, declaring that “this Nigeria will survive and thrive.” With this conviction, Buhari moved on to his favorite litany of pep talk on “security, economy, and anti-corruption.”

    It is possible that the national question was not even in the president’s mind when he made that observation on the “difficult journey to nationhood.” Just a few months before his January 2021 speech, the country witnessed a nationwide anti-police brutality youth protests, which threatened the legitimacy of his government. His message was a direct response to “the understandable protests” and “ongoing challenges” which he promised to face “head-on”, not with answers to the question of structure, which he didn’t acknowledge to be a genuine question, but with ideas “to secure the future of our youth.”

    Indeed, President Buhari not only implicitly disregarded the national question and agitation for restructuring or self-determination, he explicitly and boldly affirmed our indivisibility with a shout-out to our “constant readiness to invest faith and hope in the destiny we share as a united country built on the diversity of its peoples.” For him, there is “the Nigerian spirit of oneness, togetherness, and unity.”

    It is hard to say if all this is aspirational or futuristic thinking, or if it is the reality as the president perceives it. Surely, if we focus on the agitations for self-determination around the country, we are faced with a different reality. But again, the president may be up to something. With the 2023 election fever running high, we may soon find agitators at the beck and call of political parties and their candidates. Even IPOB succumbed to Anambra election fever! So, is there truly a widespread grass-root national focus on restructuring or self-determination?

    The President’s 2022 New Year message delivered a week ago tomorrow was not substantially different from the previous two that we have just discussed:

    “We remain grateful to the Almighty God for yet another year attained as a country, united by a common destiny and resolute in our determination to overcome the several challenges along the path to build the great and prosperous nation of our d ream…

    “The path to nationhood is often fraught with unpredictable difficulties and challenges, and most tried and tested nations have often prevailed through dogged determination, resilience, concerted commitment to unity, and the conviction that the whole of the nation, standing together against all odds, is by far greater and would ultimately be more prosperous and viable than the sum of its distinguishable parts.”

    —President Buhari’s New Year Message, January 1, 2022, paragraphs 1 & 4.

    The President expressed gratitude to God for “yet another year as a country, united by a common destiny and resolute in our determination to overcome the several challenges along the path to build the great and prosperous nation of our dream.” He also acknowledged the “unpredictable difficulties and challenges” along the “path to nationhood” and that it takes “dogged determination, resilience, concerted commitment to unity, and the…whole nation, standing together against all odds” to prevail.

    Obviously, again, we have a distinct message here. The unpredictable difficulties and challenges are not unique to us. We need strong determination and commitment to unity to overcome.

    But what does this demand of us? Take another look at the root cause of the challenges? Is it the structure? Is it leadership? Is it governance system? Will dogged determination and resilience meet the challenges without paying attention to the root cause?

    Three years into “Nigeria’s decade”, are we condemned to playing the ostrich? As long as the agitation loses steam during elections, as long as elections are run, lost and won, and deep-pocket oligarchs achieve their ambitions, there will always be a country on an interminable path to nationhood.

  • COVID-19 and the Prophet’s Medicament

    COVID-19 and the Prophet’s Medicament

    Monologue

    At a gloomy time like this, when an invisible virus called ‘Corona Virus’ and codenamed COVID-19 turns itself into a merciless biological ‘hurricane’ foraging the lives of humans and threatening those lives with death, famine and poverty while turning hope into forlorn, a recourse to Prophet Muhammad’s medicament should become a matter of prioritized necessity. Now that the global focus is mostly on COVID-19 with its attritional variants, we can jointly seize the opportunity of the current global helplessness to share thoughts and ideas, through this forum, about the causes and effects of ailments generally as well as their possible prevention and cure.

     

    Ailments and Medicaments

    It is a fact, universally acknowledged, that without ailments there would have been no need for medicaments. Incidentally, however, it is the combination of both   ailments and medicaments that prompted the idea of establishing certain healing institutions, in the primordial time, that came to be named hospitals in the contemporary time.

     

    Origin of Hospital

    The word hospital itself is a mediaeval English coinage that originated from the Latin word ‘hospes’ or ‘hospice’ (meaning guest) while the word ‘patient’, used to describe a health seeker which  also came from the Latin word ‘Patior’ meaning suffering. Thus, philologically, hospital means a place where suffering guests are given proper care for normal comfort of body system.

    Ironically, today, however, despite the ubiquity of hospitals in all nations and communities around the world, global pandemics like COVID-19 still randomly perch on earth to stubbornly resist the efficacy of any synthetic antidote while rendering those hospitals helpless. Thus, humanity grows incredibly restive with no cute assurance for rescue. In such a bewildering situation where this virus has become like a stormy rain showering the entire world with acidic water, will it not be effectively meaningful and rewarding to seek a permanent solution than to keep scampering for temporary  cover? That is what motivated yours sincerely to write this article for the benefit of today’s generation and that of tomorrow.

     

    Classification of Medicaments

    Whether in the olden days or modern time, medicaments have had to be classified into natural and artificial segments. But because of the sophistication of the modern time, the one is said to be conventional while the other is known as synthetic. However, none of them enjoys the permanency of time and space in the absence of knowledge. It is with knowledge that ailments are diagnosed. It is also with knowledge that medicaments for their prevention or cure are prescribed. In other words, ailments of any type can gain access to man only in the absence of knowledge.

     

    Prophetic Medicament

    Incidentally, the most potent medicaments of all times, for all ailments, including contagious pandemics like COVID- 19, are the ones prescribed by the unlettered Prophet from Arabia, Muhammad (SAW), the son of Abdullah and Aminah almost 1500 years ago. And those medicaments remain as validly potent today as they were when theywere prescribed in the 7th century AD. And, they will continue to be as much potent throughout the remaining period of human existence on earth because they are unalterably backed up by divine authority.

     

    From Adam to Muhammad

    Prophet Muhammad’s prescription of medicament for ailments was a confirmation of the coded remedy primordially prescribed by the first human being called Adam.

    That primogenitor of mankind was the first human being divinely designated as a Prophet. From the Qur’anic historical record, Muslims came to learn that Adam was hardly one hour old as a creature when he started prescribing medicaments with which to heal ailments. He was commanded by Allah to teach the Angels the names of all creatures, which the Angels had confessed not to know when Allah asked them to name those creatures. Thus, by teaching the Angels those names, Prophet Adam became, not only the teacher of Angels, but also their Doctor and this was to spark off a fierce controversy, later in life, among intellectuals and certain professionals on what should be called the first human profession. While some scholars regard teaching as the very first profession of man, some professionals, especially those in the Information/Communication sector called journalists, believe that what Adam actually did by teaching the Angels the names of all creatures, which they (the Angels) did not know, was more of information dissemination through communication than actual teaching. And, in fairness to the proponents of that argument, there can be no effective teaching without adequate information disseminated through communication. That is why nobody can claim to be a teacher or even a Doctor without strong ability to communicate effectively.

     

    Prophet Adam as a Doctor

    By teaching the Angels the names of all creatures through the guidance of Allah, what Prophet Adam really did was to cure the worst disease (ignorance) in those Angels. If Adam had not taught the Angels the names of all things on earth, by the grace of Allah, those Angels would have remained permanently ignorant. And if he (Adam) had not healed the Angels of the disease called ignorance, Allah’s subsequent messages to mankind, through His appointed Messengers and Prophets, would not have come to mankind through them.

     

    Natural and Artificial Medicaments

    In ordinary man’s view, medicament is the substance required to cure or prevent an ailment. Such substance may be natural or artificial. It may also be as crude as raw herbs or as sophisticated as surgery. Meanwhile, it is generally believed that a person does not need medication unless he is ill. That is why the Western conventional medicine of the cotemporary time is rather curative than preventive. As a norm, physical human illness resides in human body just as an abstract illness like ignorance makes man’s mind its abode. Today, in most cases, people neither go to the hospitals nor take medicine unless they fall sick or feel ill.

     

    Prophetic Foresight

    Although unlettered, Prophet Muhammad (SAW) had known, by divine intuition, the different types of ailments and their required medicaments before he diagnosed two basic general ailments and prescribed two fundamental medicaments for them. The first of those ailments is ignorance for which he prescribed thorough understanding of the Qur’an and obedience to the rules and regulations therein in one’s own interest. The second ailment is poverty. And, poverty in this sense, is not lack of material wealth alone as many people erroneously believe. It is also lack of many things including health and conscience. Many people are victims of one of these ailments. Many more are victims of both.

     

    Prophetic Medicament

    As an antidote for the ailment of the mind which is ignorance, Prophet Muhammad (SAW) prescribed constant recitation and   thorough understanding of Allah’s rules and regulations for mankind which are contained in the Qur’an. And, for body ailments, he (Prophet Muhammad) prescribed two different medicaments. One is ‘Han’ (ie: honey) which is a product of an insect called ‘Bee’. The other is ‘Habbatu-s-Sauda’u’ otherwise known as Black Seed of a plant called ‘Nigella Sativa’. Honey is just one of the seven products of the Bee. But it is the most popular of them all. Black Seed, on the other hand, is a wonderful natural seed of a plant that is native to the Middle East, South Western Asia, North Africa   and some parts of Eastern Europe. This seed can come in three different forms: raw seed, powder and liquid.

     

    Qur’an’s Medical Role

    The Qur’an is the encyclopedia of life which embodies and personifies knowledge in all its ramifications. There is nothing spiritual or mundane about knowledge that is not contained in the Qur’an either in coded or decoded form. Thus, by recommending the Qur’an as the medicament for ignorance, the Prophet simply provided a permanent cure for the ailment of the mind. And, by prescribing Honey and Black Seed as antidotes for body ailments, he encouraged longevity through the strengthening of human immune system. It is, therefore, not by accident that Suratu-n-Nahl chapter 16 of the Qur’an, is named after the insect called ‘Bee’ which heals human ailments with its products. The contents of Verse 68 in that chapter of the Qur’an are explicit as follows:

    “And, your Lord revealed to the Bee thus: Build your homes in the mountains, in the trees and in the hives which men shall make for you. Feed on every kind of fruit and follow the trodden path of your Lord’. From its belly comes forth a fluid of many hues as a healing substance for mankind. Surely in this, there is a sign for those who can reason….”. That Qur’anic verse confirms that the Qur’an is not for humans alone. It is also for all living organisms depending on how those organisms relate to it.

     

    Other Products of the Bee

    Contrary to general belief in people, honey is not the only product of the Bee. There are six others so far known to man. These are: Propolis; Pollen; Royal Jelly; Bees wax; Bee Venom and Bee Bread. More can still be discovered by man as research continues along this line in accordance with the Qur’anic challenge. Each of these products has specific functions in sanitizing and immunizing the human hormone system. And, each of them has tremendous health maintenance value in the life of man. But there is neither time nor space here to discuss them in full details now. A better chance may come in the near future.

     

    Composition of Honey

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

    Other ailments for which honey may be found appropriate as an antidote include staphylococcus, respiration, constipation, whitlow, burns and wounds.

     

    Comment

    After many centuries of disputing the above facts ignorantly, conventional Doctors of the West finally came to realize that no medicine is as effective in sealing up surgical wounds and healing sores as honey.

    Today, at the instance of the World Health Organization (WHO), honey is globally used for these purposes in most public hospitals in various parts of the world, Nigeria inclusive.

     

    Types of Black Seed

    Ordinarily, there are three ways in which Black Seed can be put to use for effective cure or prevention. One way is the chewing of raw Black Seed. Another is grinding it (Black Seed) into powder while the third is turning it into a lotion. But the three are not dissimilar in potency or efficacy. They are all the same.

     

    Governor Seyi Makinde’s Rescue

    Sometime in 2020, while the British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, who tested positive to COVID-19, was still writhing hopelessly in untold agony at the intensive care unit of a London hospital, Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, Nigeria was easily rescued from the claw of Corona Virus in Ibadan after about nine days in the isolation gulag of that deadly virus. It was a Muslim brother, Dr. Muyideen Olatunji that was said to have introduced the Prophetic medicament to him at that precarious moment of his life after almost one and a half millennium that Prophet Muhammad (SAW) had prescribed Honey and Black Seed as potent medicaments.

    But, in fairness to Governor Makinde, he 0penly confessed to that effect and gave a public testimony in appreciation of that unique gesture. That is one of the contributions of Islam to the continuity of human existence and the civilization of mankind.

     

    Conclusion

    That Prophet Muhammad (SAW) knew that much even as an unlettered person at a time when the world was evidently assailed by blatant ignorance and primitivism is a further confirmation of Michael Hart’s classification of him (Prophet Muhammad) as the greatest human being that ever lived. What else will Nigerian charlatans who are parochially claiming to be prophets say to counter this axiomatic fact? God bless the readers of this column.

     

     

     

     

  • Malami’s logic

    Malami’s logic

    President Buhari has exercised his constitutional right to withhold assent to the Electoral Bill passed by the National Assembly (NASS). NASS has worked closely and amicably with the president on many issues since the inception of the 9th Assembly. Not a few have even uncharitably described the current NASS as a rubber stamp for Mr. President. And despite this current development, the relationship between the President and NASS leadership is still very close and cordial. That is the way it ought to be for the good of the republic. This is, of course, without prejudice to the response that NASS may decide to give to the presidential declination of assent to the electoral bill.

    Let me say that I have no dog in this fight. Of course, I care about the deepening of democratic culture in the nation, and this includes principally the democratization of our electoral processes which are currently skewed in favor of money bags and against especially the youth and the poor. But I know that it is a cat and mouse game and a cascading collision of strategies between the various interest groups within and across political parties, with little or no consideration given to this larger picture of the enrichment of democratic norms and practices. Rather the focus is on what will advance the interests of the actors.

    I am not intervening on behalf of any of the interest groups. I couldn’t care less who is the victorious strategist. Rather, I am intervening on behalf of logic. It so happens that whenever I see a position of interest that is cleverly wrapped in the garment of rationality, I take a closer look and I am usually entrapped with excitement. On not a few occasions .this has gotten me into trouble.

    In my naivety, I assume that the intellect is primed to reason and probe the underlying assumptions of arguments presented for acceptance; that he or she who starts an argument in support of a position is a willing participant in a dialogue; and that a response from me or any other is in good faith to further the argument and advance our knowledge of the issues.

    But have I ever been so wrong! Time and again, I have been given the middle finger for daring. Not that someone found fault in the logic of my reasoning. Just that a response wasn’t expected of me. It is the hazard of this enterprise. Yet it hasn’t deterred me from getting entrapped. Therefore, I expect no less than another bruised nose from this intervention.

    I read carefully the President’s reasons for withholding his assent to the Electoral bill. I also read a summary of Attorney-General Malami’s radio interview as reported by The Punch newspaper on Monday December 27 2021. Putting the two together, there is no doubt that the President’s reasoning is Malami’s logic, and that, as it should be, the president took seriously the legal advice of his legal adviser, the Attorney- General and Minister of Justice of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Malam Abubakar Malami.

    It has been insinuated by many commentators that the president was also persuaded by the powerful governors who had lobbied vigorously against the stipulation of direct primary. This may be true, but it is irrelevant to my observations here. Besides, the Chairman of the Nigerian Governor’s Forum (NGF), Dr. Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State, has declared that the governors have no preference for any mode of nomination. This should settle that matter of NGF’s involvement.

    Now, what are the reason’s proffered by Mr. President based on the legal advice from Mr. Malami? The heart of the matter actually comes from the radio interview that Mr. Malami gave on a “phone-in program on Radio Kano” as reported by The Punch under the title “Why Buhari will not sign proposed electoral law—Malami”. In what appears to be his intriguing background reasoning, the Attorney-General classified and categorized the job of the president vis-à-vis the job of the legislators of NASS. I have taken the liberty of reconstructing the three paragraphs of the report on this in an argument form, which his quoted words make sure it is:

    1. The President has rights. His job is about politics, economy, business, security, legislation, politicians and non-politicians. He has oversight over all these.
    2. On the other hand, the ‘leadership of the legislators is “solely political”‘. (I understand this to mean that the job of legislators is solely about politics).
    3. “Therefore, the lawmakers are only concerned about their political inclination while the President is concerned about the entire lives of Nigerians made up of politicians and non-politicians.”
    4. (Putting 1, 2, and 3 together, it follows that) “Any bill signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari is in the interest of all Nigerians irrespective of their inclinations. He is after satisfying the interest of the over 200 million Nigerians he is serving and not a particular sector.”

    Now, this is an interesting argument and it shows exactly the kind of advice the president is getting from his foremost legal adviser. The idea that legislators are only there for politics, whatever that means, while the president is there for everything is mind-boggling. The AG is not suggesting merely that this legislation is only about politics. He is in fact arguing that all that legislators are for, what their preoccupation is about, is politics. Is this a matter of job description or is it an assessment of how they have moved tragically away from their mandate as legislators? It’s hard to say! Obviously the members of the National Assembly don’t have a good record with the AG.

    But this is not all.

    1. For while the legislators are solely concerned with politics, a super majority of Nigerians, a whopping 160 million, have nothing to do with politics. Not that they are apolitical. Not that they suffer from political apathy. More importantly, they just have nothing to do with politics. After all, what these super majority want are “good projects, good roads from Abuja to Kano, portable drinking water, good education, school feeding programme and the rest of them.”

    These are the words of wisdom from the elevated pedestal of the Attorney General and Minister of Justice. Nigerians must wonder, what have all their needs got to do with politics? After all, they can all be secured without good competent hands in leadership positions! Why bother then about people’s right, duty, or indeed any damn business in elections? With this kind of logic, what is the basis of our complaint about our developmental condition?

    With the totality of his intellectual endowment, the Attorney General asks:

    1. “Let us assume there are about 60 million politicians in the country, what about the remaining over 160 million Nigerians, who have nothing to do with politics? Are you fair to them?”

    Seriously, are you indeed fair to them by making it possible for every damn one of them to participate in the choice of candidates for elections in their party’s primary?

    Of course, the Attorney General answers his own question:

    1. “My answer to this is that, to spend this N305 billion that will be given to INEC and the about N205 billion to be given to the political parties is not fair to the remaining 160 million Nigerians who have no business about politics and political appointments. Their business is just a better life in Nigeria.”

    Why not say Amen to that! After all, “a better life in Nigeria” has practically nothing to do with “politics and political appointment”! Can anyone fault this logic?

    To think that we are heading into a new year with hearts full of hope with this kind of logic being entertained by fertile minds in the higher echelons of government is frightening to say the least. No matter where you are in the ideological divide on the matter on hand, do you really find this logic reassuring? But hey, nothing to worry about. Life goes on inside the borders of Africa’s Giant, the largest black homeland in the world, to which many look for inspirational leadership.

    Oh well, Happy New Year!

  • Consequence of Desperation

    Consequence of Desperation

    Monologue

    Unlike a wild horse that is conspicuously visible in its rage, desperation is an invisible vehicle that often runs berserk and throws its rider into a dungeon of oblivion. No individual or corporate entity that adopts desperation as a conveying vehicle can ever escape the consequence of running berserk.

     

    Preamble

    History, on the one hand, is resplendent with lessons for people whose steps in life are in tandem with Allah’s guidance. On the other hand, it is also a repetitive teacher for the recalcitrant ones who see this ephemeral life as their ultimate destination.

    In Islam, there is no life’s odyssey without a divine warning. Heeding or shunning such a warning is however a matter of choice. And, the consequences or otherwise of such a choice will eventually become the heritage of the concerned persons, groups or nations.

    As a reckless vehicle, desperation has no reign. But, in the contemporary time, virtually all its riders refuse to care about the role which reign plays in the movement of a reckless vehicle. To them, recklessness is key in business transactions.

     

    Business Transactions

    Business transactions in the time of the Prophet might not involve high technology or the sophistication of transportation as we have today, but the norms which guided business transactions in those days are still as vital today as they were then. Not even the introduction of mundane economic ideologies like capitalism, socialism, and communism has altered those norms. That is a further confirmation of the authenticity of the Qur’an.

    So far, the source of the wealth of the world has not changed from what it was in the past millennia. That source is the earth from which every atom of human wealth emanates. Even the materials used to manufacture satellites or space shuttle aircraft are from the earth.

     

    Economic ideologies

    Ordinarily, in any society where sincerity of purpose has effective meaning, contentment must have a pivotal role to play in the lives of the citizens. That was why an unlettered personality like Prophet Muhammad (SAW) did not need to formulate any mundane economic or political ideology to run a great Islamic government. During the ten years he spent in Madinah as a Prophet and Head of State, he never had to borrow a dime to administer the Islamic government.

     

    Qur’an as Employer of Labour

    If only one billion people, around the world, are gainfully employed, directly or indirectly, by working under the shadow of the Qur’an alone, today’s growing world economy must have been remarkably sustained by that sacred Book. Yet, apart from the Qur’an, millions of people are also engaged in various businesses relating to the Prophetic Tradition, (Hadith); Islamic Jurisprudence (Fiqh); Islamic History (Tarikh); Islamic Theology (Tawhid) and Islamic Culture (Thaqafah) among others. All such specialized learning forums which emanated from the Qur’an itself were advanced to compliment the sacred Book of Allah. Meanwhile, the desperation of some Muslims to opt for a ‘rich quick’ syndrome at the expense of Allah’s guidance is one major reason for wrong perception of Islam by most unbelievers.

     

    Reminder

    The case of rampant desperation of today’s youths reminds yours sincerely of a fortuitous encounter with a desperate supposed Muslim scholar, as far back as 1981, who sacrificed the guidance of Allah in him for acquisition of wealth through a rage. The remembrance of that unfortunate encounter keeps my heart quivering even till today. I had once relayed the ugly encounter in this column through an article entitled ‘Business made in Prison’. However, its repetition here today is not just because of the current situation of uncertainty into which desperation has plunged Nigeria but also because it is an experience from which young Nigerian Muslim men and women of today, who are seemingly desperate in their search for wealth, can draw a lesson from.

     

    Reminiscence

    In 1981, a Nigerian youth of about 30 years of age, whose name was Akram, did not have anything like poultry business in his dream when he was going into Saudi Arabian prison as a convict. His only prayer, at that time, was for Allah to influence the minds of the Saudi Authorities to temper anger with mercy for him by granting him amnesty after two or three years in prison. His prison term at that time was 15 years. He earned the sentence through drug trafficking out of blind ambition to be quickly rich by desperation.

    Akram (not real name) was a quiet, easy-going young man from one of the Southwest Nigerian cities. He had graduated, in 1979, from the Islamic University of Madinah, in Saudi Arabia, where he read (Islamic Law (Sharia’ah). I first met him in 1978 when I travelled from Egypt to Saudi Arabia in search of scholarship with which to pursue a first degree at King’s University, Jeddah. Akram left Saudi Arabia after graduating, in 1979, and decided to settle down to private business in Nigeria. His ambition was to be a big merchant of automobile and electronics. However, since there was no ready-made capital with which to start such a business, he decided to take a short cut, typical of what is termed ‘Nigerian factor’. Ironically, however, it was Saudi Arabia, the country that funded his University education, with rich scholarship, that he found most suitable for such a dirty business. Thus, he embarked on his first illicit ‘business trip’ to the country of his Alma Mata in 1981.

     

    Accidental Meeting

    It was on my way back to school from a summer holiday of that year that I accidentally met Akram at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, after we had parted in 1979. After embracing warmly and exchanging pleasantries, we decided to sit together in the aircraft (of the then Nigerian Airways) in order to have a chat on the good old days and on our expected future. Thus, from Lagos to Jeddah (a journey of five and a half hours), we really chatted to our fill. It was as if we had not spent one hour in the air when we arrived at King Abdul Aziz Airport in Jeddah.

     

    Issues of Interest

    Among the issues of interest that we discussed while on board of the aircraft was Nigeria’s micro economy and the role of small and middle scale businesses in our country compared to those of other countries with similar status, such as Malaysia, Indonesia, Brazil, Singapore, India, Pakistan and Egypt. And, without gazing through any crystal ball, we concluded that with no middle class in place, our cou try might have no hope except through an accidental miracle, which could be a mere dream ending up in a definitive nightmare. On that premise, we also concluded that oil in Nigeria was a blessing from Allah which the country’s ruling class turned into a curse. But we were not experienced enough to suggest any tangible solution which even if we did, would not have received any positive hearing.

     

    Point of Departure

    On arrival at the King Abdul Aziz International Airport in Jeddah, my friend quickly dashed into the toilet leaving his luggage for me to take care of while we queued up in the arrival hall for immigration checking. He promised to join me on that long queue, shortly after, for immigration procedure.

    It was almost my turn for security check before an instinct gingered me into consciousness. When it was about my turn for luggage checking, something just told me to abandon his baggage and I promptly did. My own baggage was checked and I went out of the arrival hall to wait for Akram at the taxi terminus. After about one hour of waiting and Akram did not surface, I decided to proceed to my hostel where he was to pass the night in my room as we had earlier agreed.

     

    Breaking News

    While still expecting him in my hostel after many hours, the electronic media waves throbbed with frightening breaking news. The Saudi Television reported the arrest of a Nigerian who smuggled illicit drugs into the Holy Land. His name was mentioned as ‘Akram’. That was at 9.00pm Saudi local time. About one hour after the breaking news, my friend was brought to the glare of the nation, live, through the electronic tube and he was paraded on the Saudi national television as the culprit in the reported drug trafficking. That was one of the most frightening moments of my life. Akram wanted to be rich quickly by all means and I was picked to be the payer of the cost of that abominable anticipated richness.

     

    Rumination

    What would have happened if I had not heeded the warning of my instinct? Who could have believed me if I had been caught with Akram’s baggage that was stuffed with illicit drug?

     

    Who was Akram?

    Akram, an introvert, handsome young man, with a seeming posture of a complete gentleman in both appearance and disposition that could be taken for a human Angel. If the incident had occurred in Nigeria, and Akram was paraded on TV as a drug trafficker, relating him to such a criminal venture would have, generated a fierce argument among television viewers. In that circumstance, anyone can now imagine what could have happen if I had been caught with his baggage. What explanation could I have given to exonerate myself? That was a question that ran through me like milk through water for quite some years thereafter and changed my mind about sentimental friendship with people, no matter how innocent such people might look.

    It was that fortuitous incident that forced me to decide never to assist anybody again in carrying luggage while on a journey.

     

    Court Trial

    After about three months of court trial, Akram was sentenced to fifteen years in jail. He was lucky that drug trafficking, at that time, in Saudi Arabia, had not attracted death as penalty. If that incident had occurred this time, or just a few years ago, the penalty would have been death sentence by beheading. I was also lucky that at that time the Saudi immigration authorities had not adopted the use of secret camera otherwise called CCTV, to monitor the passengers’ movements and activities at the airport vicinity.

     

    The Saudi Prison System

    One good thing about Saudi Arabia as a country or some other Islamic countries, for that matter, is the concept of reformation which imprisonment entails. In those countries, imprisonment was not just a punishment for crimes but also a means of preparing inmates for a better post-prison life and re-orientation for better world outlook.

    Besides, prisoners are paid a specific amount of money daily for their labour in prison. And, that gives them hope of reintegration into the society after leaving the prison. Such money is kept in a special bank account opened for the prisoners. The total amount is paid to each inmate after completing his or her prison term.

    Thus, when Akram left the prison in 1996, the 15 year prison token paid to him by Saudi government became the capital with which to establish a business of his own.

     

    Guiding Analysis

    Most of the young men and women of today do not seem to believe in crawling before walking. To them, what matters most in their lives is how to quickly get rich and not how such richness would come about. The slogan of this era, among those youths, is the Machiavellian principle of power grabbing: “The end justifies the means”. That is the main cause of the high rate of crimes, such as terrorism, banditry and illicit drug peddling witnessed ubiquitously in Nigeria today and the short life span which those criminal tendencies entail for those youths.

     

    Admonition

    In Islam, desperation for accumulation of wealth is prohibited because it encourages a focus on the end result rather than the means just as it discourages adherence to morality. In the past decades, Nigeria had sunk so deep into the quagmire of corruption that no one cared to ask about the source of any wealth even as corruption became the taproot of Nigeria’s tree of existence. Now, with parents, teachers, professionals, legislators and even Judges getting so desperate to become rich what type of future can be said to be waiting for Nigeria and Nigerians? That is a food for thought with which the essence of constructive admonition can be conveniently digested by serious minded people in a hopeless country like Nigeria.