The Nation Newspaper

Category: Friday

  • Celebrating JMA at 70

    Celebrating JMA at 70

    By Segun Gbadegesin

     

    In the day that we celebrated the risen savior’s victory over death, Mr. Jacobs Moyo Ajekigbe (JMA), former MD of First Bank, Plc, quietly marked reaching a milestone of 70 years. With Nike, his loving wife, by his side, they sang praises and gave thanks to the One who teaches us to number our days so as to put our hearts in the path of wisdom. My request, yeah, demand, is that once this nutty pandemic is over, we must roll out the drums and celebrate this community hero, our Olu-Omo, who has repeatedly refused our offers of a well-deserved cape.

    JMA is a homeboy, solidly grounded in the age-old ethos of Okeho, before becoming a national treasure. Attending public primary and secondary schools in Okeho and higher school in Ado-Ekiti, with a brief teaching stint in Okeho prior to university matriculation, he was thoroughly baked in the values of community.

    An inspiring feature of his life is that, even with his national and global profile, JMA is still well-grounded in those values, which have also been instrumental to shaping his approach to success. As we celebrate Moyo’s becoming a septuagenarian in the land of the living, it is fitting to remind ourselves of the significance of some of those values for a successful and meaningful life.

    But first, what is success? And in what sense is JMA a successful person? The answer to the first question is to be gleaned from the answer to the second. And the answer to the second question is visibly encoded in the trajectory of Moyo’s career.

    From a temporary teaching job at Okeho-Iganna Grammar School prior to university matriculation, Moyo attained the retirement age as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of First Bank of Nigeria, Plc. As temporary teacher, he inspired his students, who were not much younger than himself and many followed in his footsteps. As Managing Director, he inspired staff, directors and shareholders, and the growth of the bank was spectacular.

    In between teaching and directorship, JMA didn’t rest on his oars. He retrained and remade himself many times over, adding an MBA from the University of Lagos, an MA in Global Affairs from the University of Buckingham, UK, and courses of study at several institutions, including Harvard Business School, to his repertoire of educational accomplishments.

    This constant effort at retraining and remaking conforms to one of our traditional ethos of self-improvement: I have been made. But I will continually remake myself. An uncomplacent head is sure to inspire subordinates to aim higher, thus enhancing the prospects for the success of an organization. That was what Moyo achieved in the various pre-retirement positions he held. It is part of his success story.

    As Managing Director and CEO of the foremost first generation bank, Moyo earned the trust of shareholders and staff in part because they saw him as a God-fearing and humble person. His tenure was free of drama and devoid of controversy or scandal. Most importantly for shareholders, they had good returns for their investment. The late Aare Musulumi of Yorubaland, Alhaji Azeez Arisekola Alao once praised JMA’s stewardship for enabling shareholders to take huge dividends and bonus shares incrementally for six years.

    A businessman of Chief Arikekola Alao’s status must know his onions. His was not just sentimental effusion of praise. It was backed by the impressive figures publicly accessible:

    Moyo moved the First Bank of Nigeria, Plc from a Total Assets of N266.356b in 2002 to N1.3 trillion in the first 6 months of 2008. In the same period, the deposits of the bank jumped from N166.176b to N838.479, while Share Capital rose from N1.016 billion to N12.431 billion. Shareholder Funds rose from N17.747 billion to N315.979billion. In 2002, Gross Earnings was N41.717 billion; in 2008 however it doubled to N80.903 billion. In 2002, Profit before Taxation was N5.087 billion; in 2008, it was N23.027 billion. In 2002, the bank had 328 branches, in the first six months of 2008, it had 475. Number of Shareholders jumped from 211,628 in 2002 to 1,327,837 in 2008, and the number of shares in issue jumped from 2,032 in 2002 to 24,863 in 2008.

    If this is not a success story, nothing qualifies for that appellation. Were these numbers to move in the opposite direction, shareholders and observers won’t hesitate to stamp the effort with a label of failure, no matter how likable they found JMA!

    A most important and ultimate goal of a banking institution in a capitalist setting, and the determinant of success, is to make profit and make shareholders happy. As MD, Moyo succeeded in achieving this goal. But he also did much more by making the First Bank a key vector for corporate responsibility in the matter of giving to worthy causes as well as in making banking accessible to rural communities. The increase in the number of branches during his watch is commendable, especially because many of them were located in rural areas.

    Just as JMA is a successful person in the corporate world because he leads by example, achieves set goals, and is a strong force for justice and fairness, he is just as successful in the non-corporate world, pre-and post-retirement.  For while some may excuse moral failings in the corporate world for reason of its focus on profit maximization, the non-corporate world typically judges success especially by the metrics of morals and values. And in these, he is an exemplar.

    An enduring mark of our common humanity is the ability to empathize, to understand that life can deal a heavy and unkind card to others, that while those we start out with on the journey of life may not be as successful, their humanity is still intact, and that a stream that forgets its source will dry up. Moyo imbibes these lessons from the cradle and lives by them. His contributions to the ascendancy of community life is legendary.

    I have written extensively about Okeho community efforts to make progress and accelerate development educationally, economically and infrastructure-wise. Moyo has been in the forefront of these efforts even before his retirement. The Okeho Centenary celebration was a huge success thanks primarily to the Moyo Ajekigbe-led Committee. Funds raised were well-accounted for. Projects initiated under his watch were duly funded and completed. And he continues to be a veritable source of inspiration for the youths. He’s the go-to person for advice.

    In the words of the elders, eefin ni iwa (character is like smoke). This suggests that one cannot hide the core of one’s character. Like smoke from a burning fire, it will escape into the surrounding environment. The smoke that is the core of Moyo’s character, which he grew up with in the foot of Okeho hills, filled the boardrooms of corporate world in and outside the shores of Nigeria, and helped his rise as a successful person in and out of that world.

    The former Chairman, Board of Directors, First Bank, Plc. Alhaji (Dr.) Umaru A. Mutallab, confirmed as much in his remarks upon Moyo’s retirement from the bank:

    “With over 32 years of meritorious service and working life in the bank, it is indeed to his (Moyo’s) credit that his transparency, honesty, integrity, humility, justice, and fair play in the discharge of his duties earned him geometrical progression in the Bank.”

    “Transparency, honesty, integrity, humility, justice, and fair-play in the discharge of one’s duties” are the marks of Moyo’s personality. They are the ingredients that ensure his success and they continue to open doors of new opportunities for him after retirement, and to shape his success in his new engagements.

    Since retirement, JMA has served or continues to serve on several boards, including Keystone Bank (Chairman), FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria Ltd. (Chairman), Opticom Leasing Company Ltd. (Chairman), Nycil Ltd. (Member), Baptist Theological Seminary (Chairman),  Nigeria Leadership Institute (Vice Chairman), and Institute of Directors Governing Council (Member), among others.

    Moyo’s loving wife, Nike, has been his solid pillar of strength over the years. I pray for both of them and the children as they enjoy this new age in God’s grace.

    Happy 70th JMA! Igba odun, odun kan.

  • ABOUT TAFSIR

    ABOUT TAFSIR

    By Femi Abbas

    From the beginning of Ramadan, every year, Muslims congregate in various Mosques or Learning Centres where the exposition of the Qur’an (Tafsir) is rendered by learned Muslim scholars. This is in accordance with the Prophetic tradition which encourages better understanding of the Qur’an.

    Linguistically, Tafsir means exposition. But technically, it means the comprehensive analysis of the Qur’an, spiritually, linguistically, logically and semantically. In other words, Tafsir is the comprehensive exposition of the contents of the Qur’an, as usually done by learned Muslim scholars especially during the month of Ramadan throughout the Muslim world.

    Because of the coded language of the Qur’anic revelation, it became necessary for the verses of that sacred Book to be decoded for the purpose of thorough understanding by the Muslim Ummah when the Prophet was alive. And, the example of this was laid by Prophet Muhammad (SAW) himself to the great delight of his companions.

    From the explanation above, it therefore becomes clear that the revelations of the Qur’anic chapters and verses were the immediate causes of intellectual research in Islam. For instance, Arabic, the original language of the Qur’an, had no grammar prior to the revelations of the divine message. The grammar of that language evolved only from the contents of the Qur’an.

    With time, the challenge which the Qur’an threw to humanity in all spheres of life led to serious competition among scholars. Thus, each time a revelation came, the Companions of Prophet Muhammad (SAW) were always eager to know why and how of every what. And this led to their very close association with the Prophet who paved the way for them towards that intellectual research.

    Although the formal study of Tafsir as an independent intellectual discipline did not begin until many years after the demise of Prophet Muhammad (SAW), he (the Prophet) nevertheless, started its process. He did not only educate his companions about the exoteric and esoteric meanings of the revealed verses of the Qur’an, he also explained their applications to the daily life of man as well as the implications of same.

    It was the prophet who decoded most of the coded areas of the Qur’an for proper understanding of the ordinary Muslims. Through his utterances and actions which were later to be known as Hadith and Sunnah, the contents of the Qur’an became more and more understandable to the Muslims even as further researches continue today.

    Thus, after the prophet’s demise, Hadith and Sunnah together became an independent subject of research paving man’s way to higher firmaments in civilization. And, this has helped, in no small measure, to expand the scope of Tafsir. It is from Qur’anic researches that, all new discoveries and new frontiers in knowledge became adapted to the study of Tafsir until Tafsir itself became an estuary through which every stream of knowledge was passed to mankind. But what problems does Tafsir face in the contemporary time? Read the answer to this question in this column tomorrow in sha’Allah. RAMADAN KARIM!.

  • TEMPTATION

    TEMPTATION

    By Femi Abbas

    Nigeria is a home of temptations. The agents of Satan are many and ubiquitous. They are most active in the sacred month of Ramadan. You will meet them in the neighbourhood, in offices, in commuter buses, in the markets and on the roads. Like Satanic rainbow, they come in various colours carrying with them, all sorts of tempting arsenals. Some of them are men. Most are women.

    Their temptations come in different forms and shapes. Some will make jest of you in a provocative way. Some will deliberately bring food to your presence and start eating right in front of you. Some will pretend not to be aware that you are fasting and, therefore, offer you prohibited drinks. Some women will tempt you with the most sensitive contours of their bodies. The powders on their faces and other cosmetic materials on their faces alone are enough to disarm you spiritually if you are not a formidable Muslim. Their antics are many. But your resistance to all these is the most vital ingredient for the acceptance of your fast by Allah. This is a situation in which Muslims are expected to close their eyes and their minds at the same time. They should close their eyes to any eyesore and close their minds to all spiritual irritants.

    In no Islamic society can such temptations be experienced. In any sane Muslim society, it is a punishable offence to deliberately tempt or provoke fasting Muslims in the month of Ramadan. As a matter of fact, all food vendors and restaurants are statutorily prohibited from operating in the days of Ramadan. They can only trade in the nights. And, of course, there is nothing like alcohol or nudism in such societies even outside the sacred month.

    Resistance to temptation in Ramadan is a function of two things: high level of discipline and strong faith in Allah. Any Muslim who lacks these two is surely bereft of the necessary armour against temptation. Ramadan in the life of a Muslim is like a delicious food given to a hungry man. If he handles it carelessly, it may end up in the belly of a goat. Satan is always on standby to snatch any reward accruing to pious Muslims from good deeds. To avoid becoming a victim of satanic machination therefore, do not be careless with Allah’s bounties for you in this sacred month. RAMADAN KARIM!

  • Forgetfulness

    Forgetfulness

    By Femi Abbas

    For the first few days in the month of Ramadan, every year, there is tendency for some Muslims to forget that they are fasting and thus break their fasts inadvertently during the day. Naturally, the possibility of eating or drinking accidentally due to sheer forgetfulness in the early days of Ramadan is apt. This often occurs to Muslims who hardly fast outside the month of Ramadan.

    If it happens to you, there should be nothing to worry about. As soon as you remember, just recondition yourself to the regulations of Ramadan fasting and continue your fast. Do not tell anybody. Let it remain a secret between you and your Lord. It does not matter whether you remember while eating and drinking or thereafter. In Islam, actions are judged according to intentions. And who else judges both actions and intentions other than Allah, the All-seer and All- knower. Even in the five obligatory Salats observed daily by all genuine Muslims, provisions are made for rectification of errors committed through forgetfulness. This is done in terms of ‘Sujudus-Sahwi’. Thus, like in Salat, the forgetfulness in Ramadan involves neither drunkenness nor sexual intercourse nor cheating of any kind.

    Read Also; The rule of Sahur

    As a Muslim, you are not supposed to eat any forbidden food or drink any intoxicant in the first place, Ramadan or no Ramadan. To be drunk, therefore, in the month of Ramadan, under the pretext of forgetfulness is a confirmation of hypocrisy or infidelity.

    As for sexual intercourse which should only occur legitimately between a husband and his wife, it is impossible to be done out of forgetfulness. At least if the husband cannot remember Ramadan, the wife should. Sexual intercourse cannot be done unconsciously.

    But if intercourse occurs in your dream and you suddenly wake up to discover that you are already wet, all you need to do is to clean up with purification bath (Janabah). And, then, you continue your fast. Fasting, especially in Ramadan, is a means of rejuvenating spiritual consciousness and renewal of good intention. Anyone who   breaks his/her fast in error due to forgetfulness should immediately repent and abstain from any situation that can cause its repetition. Allah is forgiving and merciful. RAMADAN KARIM!

  • Who is rooting for national unity?

    Who is rooting for national unity?

    By Segun Gbadegesin

    Who is really rooting for national unity? I don’t mean enforcing. And I certainly don’t mean imposing. What’s the difference?

    Between 1967 and 1970, the Gowon military administration fought a civil war against secessionist Biafra. “To keep Nigeria one is a task that must be done” was the rallying battle cry. Biafra lost. But even with a compassionate “no victor, no vanquished” declaration, winning had consequences. National unity was enforced on the battle field and imposed on the country.

    Half a century later, we know how that enforcement and imposition worked. Agitation for Biafra has never been louder. The nation now faces deepening disaffection across other zones and agitation for self-determination and declaration of autonomous republics in the Southsouth and Southwest.

    How is it that fifty years after a devastating civil war with two million souls lost, we are still this much divided? And the political leadership, and yes, the military leadership that fought that war and supervised the nation for much of that time, have failed so woefully in forging national unity?

    There have been two approaches to addressing these questions. One is the pessimist’s “what do you expect?” shoulder-shrug answer. “Have you come across a nation-state such as ours begotten by a colonial or other external imposition, ruled under a divide-and-conquer strategy, survive and prosper as one nation? If not, why do you expect a miracle in Nigeria?”

    The second approach, a combination of philosophical and metaphysical-religious answer, is an attempt at addressing the rhetorical query of the first. It argues that the past is not a guaranteed evidence of the future. That the sun has risen every day in the past millennials isn’t sufficient to conclude that it will rise tomorrow. By extension, the fact that colonial imposition of nationhood on disparate entities has not succeeded anywhere, if true, isn’t sufficient for the inference that it will not succeed in any one particular case. From the failure of nation-state in former Yugoslavia, USSR, or Czechoslovakia, it doesn’t follow that it cannot succeed in Nigeria.

    Following from the philosophical answer, the metaphysical-religious answer then hits us with a fait accompli. God was the reason for the British colonization of the pre-Nigeria entities. God was responsible for the amalgamation of 1914. Without God the British would not overpower 250 nationalities and force them into one nation. And what God joins together, humans must not try to put asunder. This approach, incidentally, has been favored by our political, military and religious leaders, especially in trying times.

    Going by the famed religiosity of all the ethnic nationalities that people the Nigerian geographical space, the preceding approach should normally click in our consciousness. We should accept the verdict of the Almighty in our lives and trust that the One who caused it has the power to fix it. Why has it not worked that way? Is it because the human spirit tends to rebel against its creator? Or is there more to the will of God that has not been reflected in our national experience and which we earnestly seek after?

    The attractiveness of God in every religious persuasion is that God, as a God of justice and fairness, abhors injustice, hates oppression, is contemptuous of discrimination, and condemns marginalization. Every Holy Book attests to this nature of God. And prophets of old who were much closer to the Divine mind and through whom the will of the Almighty was revealed from time to time, not only attested to this, they also engaged in real struggle for justice. “Let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream”, Prophet Amos preached.

    If God requires justice of his creation, then where it is lacking, the people have a right to seek redress, and in the event that redress is denied, the struggle for separation may be justified. Thus, the elders of Israel approached King Rehoboam, begging him to lighten their burden. They rooted for unity and were reluctant to seek separation. It was when the King denied their appeal that they retreated to their separate tents.

    Our leaders embrace the metaphysical-religious approach stated above. For them, Nigeria is destined to be a nation. But we have experienced crises of injustice and unfairness. We are at a breaking point of malaise. From complaints about growing insecurity, too much centralization and lopsided political structure, to marginalization in federal appointments, ethnic nationalities have raised their voices separately to high heavens. What has not happened is a national synchronization of voices on a multi-nationality, multi-religion, multi-professional basis in the search for answer and resolution.

    Let me explain with an example from our recent experience. The struggle for the return of civil democracy in the depth of military abuse of political power in the 1990s was fought on many fronts. But we cannot deny that the most effective of these fronts were the national ones when various political and professional groups coalesced into formidable national groups that cut across ethnic and religious divides. In the homeland there were NADECO, UAD, CD, G34, and others. In the diaspora, there were WCFN, UDFN, NADECO-Abroad, and others.

    Such national coalition of forces, made up of concerned citizens from diverse backgrounds, ensures that their agitation is taken seriously and political leaders are not paranoid about ethnic or sectarian bias against them.

    Who are the stakeholders in the project of national unity and what influence do they have?

    Traditional rulers surely have a stake. But they do not have a constitutional role, which they have been seeking. Besides, the national entity representing them is a government creation. What credible independence can they have to make a difference? Clerics who ought to do more by combining their voices as oracles of the divine being are only after increasing their size of followership, thus acerbating the gulf of division. Elective officials don’t always behave as if they have a huge stake in national unity. They are after winning elections and ruling, especially at the center, where the resources are. Many pay lip service to unity without lifting a finger to make it happen.

    Youths certainly have a stake in what becomes of Nigeria. Unfortunately, they are handicapped and therefore ineffective, because their present itself is mired in uncertainty as the group most negatively impacted by the trajectory of the nation. Professionals have a stake in the success of project Nigeria. They are nationalistic in outlook with pan- national organizations such as NBA and NLC.  They are in a strong position to do more to impact the discourse on what must be done to ensure unity and avoid another civil war.

    This brings us to zonal elders. When an elder is around, a new baby is not born with a crooked head, is the Yoruba view of the role of elders in a community. And when elders are missing, then a community is not far from destruction. Elders and zonal leaders across the country have been vocal in articulating their various nationality concerns, be it on marginalization, kidnapping, farmer-herdsmen attacks, or cultism and banditry. They have held separate nationality summits where the S-word has sometimes featured.

    What they have avoided thus far is to follow the example of the elders of Israel in their petition to Rehoboam. Ethnic nationalities must now mobilize their representatives from various zones, get together, and work out a proposal on the conditions for national unity for the deliberation of Mr. President, NASS, and the National Council of State.

    I do not see why there can be no agreement on such conditions. Through various organizations and outlets, Northern zones have indicated that they are not against restructuring. Characteristically, Southern zones have always insisted on restructuring as basis for national progress and advancement. While frustrated groups have been vocal about secession, the major organizations across the Southern zones have focused demands on restructuring.

    These Southern zonal leaders must now get out of their comfort zones, reach out to their Northern counterparts for inter-zonal meetings to resolve this perennial problem. Then we’d know who’s rooting for national unity. Otherwise, such a meeting may also determine the terms of peaceful separation. Heaven will not fall!

     

     

  • The rule of Sahur

    The rule of Sahur

    By Femi Abbas

    Sahur is an Arabic word meaning ‘awaking the night’. Its verb root is ‘Sahira’ which means to keep a night vigil. Connotatively, Sahur, as related to Ramadan, is, statutorily, an obligatory Sunnah (Sunnatul-Muakkadah) introduced by Prophet Muhammad (SAW). It is one of the major components of Ramadan fasting which, unlike Tarawih, cannot and must not be treated as a matter of choice. The essence of Sahur during Ramadan is not just to wake up for eating and drinking but also, to observe Nawafil and recite the Qur’an for the purpose of Ibadah and thorough understanding. (Nawafil is the plural of Nafilah).

    Sahur is an indication of the high level of discipline injected into true Muslims during the month of Ramadan. Within the period of Sahur, Muslims are allowed to engage in all legitimate activities including spiritual and social exercises that are generally permissible in Islam. Sahur may commence from the midnight and end before Dawn (Fajr). During that period, eating and drinking legitimate edible substances are permissible in moderation.

    Nawafil or supererogatory genuflexions may be observed severally according to the ability of the observer. Recitation of the Qur’an may also be done for as long as the concerned Muslims are able to do it. Meanwhile, for effective utilization, the Sahur period may be divided into three segments whereby one segment may be dedicated to the observance of Nawafil and another to the recitation of the Qur’an, while the third may be dedicated to the essential consumption of food and drinks in moderation. Whichever of these segments engages a Muslim during the Sahur must come to an end with the arrival of salatus- subhi at dawn. The observance of salatus- subhi at its right time is such an obligation that must not be interrupted by any other activity. Muslim women who may have no time for recitation of the Qur’an or observance of Nawafil because of their cooking activities during sahur will also have full reward for taking care of others in the family. In a Nutshell, Sahur is a compulsory component of Ramadan fasting which cannot be sacrificed for whatever reason.

    RAMADAN KARIM!

  • Muslim Marital Homes

    Muslim Marital Homes

    By Femi Abbas

    Monologue

    Today’s article is not new. It is only being republished here due to popular demand. When it was first published in this column six years ago (2015), many Muslim couples, in Nigeria and abroad, saw it as a true mirror of their matrimonial homes. Many others took it for a matrimonial handbook capable of serving as a guide for the conduct of their homes. Yet, many who missed it at that time but only heard of it from those who read it have severally called for its repetition in this column. Thus, because of the value it may add to Muslim homes and the role it may play in resolving conflicts in those homes, ‘The Message’ decided to re-publish it here today for the benefit of all and sundry. Here it goes:

     

    Preamble

    “A radical 20th century India-born British journalist and novelist, George Orwell, wrote a famous allegorical novel entitled ‘ANIMAL FARM’ in 1945. His focus in that novel was mainly on the Russian revolution of 1917 which he satirized venomously. While writing the novel, that social critic never thought that any possible ripples could arise from it, which might have a backlash effect on the entire human social life in the 21st century. But ironically, with the collapse of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR), in 1991, the application of that book became manifest on the entire social life of today’s mankind. This will be explained shortly.

     

    Institution of Marriage

    Perhaps no institution in human life is as temporally or spiritually valuable as marriage. This is an indisputable fact across nations, races, cultures and religions. Marriage is the main axis around which the continuity of human existence on earth rotates. It is either a pivotal source of decency or a clear cause of malfeasance in any given society. Without marriage, human societies would have been like Orwell’s Animal Farm. And were Orwell alive today he would have probably redirected the focus of his novel towards the matrimonial homes globally rather than to condemnation of socialism.

     

    Rate of Marital Dissolutions

    Nowadays, the rate of dissolution of marriages is by far higher than the rate at which marriages are consummated. At least, going by the local customs of the various tribes in Nigeria one can conclude that marriages are conducted weekly throughout the country as against the daily occurrences of their dissolutions.

     

    Definition

    Some people define marriage as a legalization of intercourse and procreation of children without any reference to its divine sanctity. Others call it a social contract culturally or legally consummated between two consenting mature people of opposite genders. The latter definition is also silent on the obligation and responsibilities of such a union. In Islam, marriage is much more than both definitions. It is on the one hand, a promise made by the male gender who is soon to become the husband and on the other, a trust personification by the female gender who is soon to become the wife in the custody of her husband. Thus, marriage is an agreement between two families aimed at creating an avenue for continuity of social life through a common social venture jointly managed by the two representatives of both families in their bid to set up a home of their own.

     

    Essence of Marital Life

    In the life of any serious-minded human being, three events are fundamentally essential. These are birth, marriage and death. The three events form the main social axis around which the entire human life rotates. All other events in human life are merely peripheral.

    Throughout the world, today, (Nigeria inclusive), marriage has become a balloon which can be casually inflated in one minute and thoughtlessly deflated in the next minute. It has been taken for a mere chess game played for the fun of the players as well as that of the onlookers. To most Nigerians of today, marriage is not more important than dining, wining, singing and dancing. It has been reduced to mere fun and entertainment which many young couples see as a legitimate means of actualizing sexual urge that would have been perceived as a social aberration without passing through a formal matrimonial communion.

     

    Parable of Marriage

    While conducting a marriage in Lagos sometime in 2012, yours sincerely compared a marital couple to a pair of scissors which has two blades. Each of those blades faces a different direction. The one faces the right side whilst the other faces the left side. These positions are not naturally interchangeable. Yet, with the nuptial knot tying them together in the middle to seal their common destiny, the two blades jointly work assiduously in their move to certify the essence of that togetherness.

    Looking at a pair of scissors very carefully, one will discover that the two blades therein sometimes stick closely together and sometimes stand out separately. Their meeting and parting randomly accentuate the essence of their togetherness. Through those meeting and parting moments, the two blades of the pair of scissors communicate effectively and mutually function dutifully. When they stay apart, the tendency is for some intruders to assume that they cannot jointly function again and therefore attempt to penetrate the gap between them. But as soon as those intruders try to come in, the two blades of the scissors quickly come together to crush them. There is a marital lesson for human beings to learn from this.

     

    Implications

    Unfortunately, today, marriage has become like the country called Nigeria where projects are hurriedly executed to satisfy the momentary secret (under the table), in terms of contract, without any consideration for the quality and maintenance of such projects. When two young people of different genders and backgrounds are coming together to form a couple, they hardly think of the implications of such a union in terms of individual differences and the possible challenges that may emanate from those differences. Young couples of today perceive love, either from beauty point of view or from endowed wealth or even from pleasure of sexual intercourse. And, that is a way of turning infatuation or possession of material wealth or sexual enjoyment into love, which is usually the cause of early marital collapse.

     

    Love or Infatuation

    In marriage, love develops only gradually with mutual understanding, especially when it becomes evident that one spouse accommodates the weaknesses of the other through tolerance and compromise. The attraction which beauty or wealth or intercourse engenders can only, at best, generate tentative LIKENESS and not LOVE in the real sense. This is where the foundation of divorce is often laid even before the consummation of marriage. There is nothing called love in a matrimonial home in the absence of sincere communication and thorough mutual understanding as well as compromise and tolerance. It is not enough to claim mutual understanding through mutual study during courtship. No matter how long it may last, the period of courtship can never be enough for any couple to fully understand each other. That period is usually to impress each other while the tendency to pretend is often disguised. That is why an Arab poet once coined a couplet thus: “A liking eye sees nothing wrong in the conduct of the liked one; but a hateful eye only searches for the faults in the hated person”.

     

    The Seriousness of Marriage

    Marriage is a serious business which must be seriously negotiated initially by the concerned couples and their parents or guardians. At the courtship stage, the concerned couple must not only discuss the modalities of coming together as husband and wife they must also negotiate the factors of sustaining their marriage through proper sustenance of the home. Any marriage without a program of sustenance is likely to become like dew used by a farmer to water his crops into fruition. Can dew function like rain?

     

    The Prophet’s recommendation

    In his recommendation to Muslim men who are searching for wives, Prophet Muhammad (SAW) was reported as saying: “Wives should be married on the basis of four factors: beauty, wealth, family background and faith”. He, however, emphasized (Islamic) FAITH as the strongest factor for Muslim couples. He did not recommend such factors to women because he knew the difficulties that women might face in making choices of husbands but he strongly recommended that a woman’s consent in the process of her marriage is germane. The Prophet then concluded that any marriage without such consent is invalid. This means that forcing a girl into marriage without her consent is illegal in Islam.

    Marriages are globally collapsing at an alarming rate today because couples and their families have closed their eyes to two key factors in sustaining the matrimonial home. These factors are COMMUNICATION and MUTUAL RESPECT. No marriage can ever survive or succeed without a thorough pre-marital counseling by parents, guardians or religious clerics who must not only tutor potential couples but also demonstrate practically to them how marriages are sustained using their own marriages as examples. Newly married couples often dream of building their homes in a floating castle without remembering that it is possible for a dream to end up in a nightmare.

     

    Communication

    There can be no matrimonial peace in the absence of adequate communication between husband and wife based on mutual respect. Nothing signals the collapse of a marriage more than a absence of communication. A marriage without effective communication is like a house without doors. Of course, the children from such homes are mostly the victims of any ensued divorce. If a marriage is initiated and consummated without communication, how can anybody think that such a marriage can be genuinely sustained?

    The real essence of marriage is for husband and wife to disagree in order to agree and not the other way round. In the process of disagreeing or agreeing, communication is the only key instrument. Without it, the home can never be solidly intact.

    Any couple that closes the matrimonial door to communication has surely opened that door to marital dissolution. Even divorce, whether through mutual agreement or through court injunction, must be a subject of communication in one way or another between both parties.

     

    Togetherness in Worship

    In Islam, one of the most potent ways of ventilating communication in the home is to worship and pray together at least twice in a day (morning and evening). A Muslim husband must at least be knowledgeable enough to lead his family in Salat and to preach and pray for such family daily. Through such worship and prayer, many knotty matrimonial issues can easily be untied. Besides, the children will learn to be good-mannered and to resolve disagreements among themselves. That is one of the reasons why Muslims are urged to acquire knowledge about their religion.

     

    Spate of Divorce

    The spate of divorce in any society today is much higher among the ignorant couples than the knowledgeable ones. It must be noted here that literacy does not necessarily amount to knowledge as erroneously believed in Nigeria by most elites.

     

    Matrimonial Conflicts

    Matrimonial conflicts are not new to any modern society. What seems to be new and worrisome about them is the geometric leap they are taking these days.

     

    Conclusion

    Today, Nigerian society is prone to danger of insecurity mostly because of matrimonial instability. And the more marriages are consummated, the more matrimonial homes crumble. Who, then, will save the society by saving our matrimonial homes? That is the biggest question of this time which is begging for a very positive answer. The security of Nigeria as a country depends very much on the stability of matrimonial homes. That is why emphasis should rather be laid on stability of homes than on distribution of contraceptives for the purpose of reducing procreation. There can be no peaceful nation without peaceful homes. This is a panacea for national insecurity. The battle for Nigeria’s future peace is rather in the matrimonial homes than in the Sambisa forests of this world, which is the enclave of the evil agents called Boko Haram. God bless Nigeria.

     

    NOTE:

    THIS article was first published in this column on August 21, 2015.

  • TARAWIH

    TARAWIH

    By Femi Abbas

    Whenever the month of Ramadan comes around, its first port of call is Tarawih. That is the famous supererogatory Salat that entertains Muslim congregations with special hospitality in virtually all Mosques across nations and continents in the evenings of the month.

    Tarawih is a special Salat observed voluntarily, according to Sunnah, after Salatul ‘Ishai. It contains many genuflexions (raka’at) ranging from six to twenty depending on the choice of its observers. Despite its significant role in Ramadan, Tarawih was not observed congregationally at the inception of Islam. When Prophet Muhammad (SAW) first introduced it as an attribute of Ramadan in Madinah, in 624 CE, he started observing it in the Mosque,, all alone, for the first few evenings,  immediately after Salatul ‘Isha’i.

    But when he observed that some of his companions were joining him in observing this Salat, thereby turning it into another congregational prayer, he stopped observing it in the Mosque to avoid giving it the impression of another obligatory Salat.

    However, shortly after the demise of the first Caliph, Abubakr Siddiq, Umar Bn Khattab, who became the second Caliph   walked into the Mosque one evening in the month of Ramadan, and met a crowd of Muslims observing Tarawih individually. But each of them was reciting the verses of the Qur’an aloud to the utter disturbance of the others. Umar then commanded all of them to stop reciting those verses and asked them about the Salat they were observing after ‘Ishai. When they told him that it was Tarawih, he ordered them to queue up as a norm for observing congregational Salat according to Sunnah. He then asked for the most knowledgeable person among them and told him to lead the rest in observing Tarawih congrgationally while he watched with delightful admiration.

    After the completion of the Salat, Umar said satisfactorily that “I have established a beautiful tradition”. From thence, congregational observance of Tarawih became a legitimate tradition which is today enthusiastically observed by Muslims, throughout the world, in the month of Ramadan. Tarawih is not the only precursor of

    Ramadan fasting. There others. And, Sahur is one of them. But the latter is weightier than the former because of its entailed statutory status. Please read about Sahur tomorrow in sha’Allah. RAMADAN KARIM!

     

     

  • The Dean of Lunar Months

    The Dean of Lunar Months

    By Femi Abbas

    This is the month of Ramadan, the ‘Dean’ of all lunar months. It comes into the world once in a year. Its arrival is always with fanfare despite its invisibility. The majestic splendour of this spiritually grandiose month is shrouded in the divine blessing that often heralds its readiness to storm the world.

    Unlike all other months of the year, Ramadan keeps humanity in a curious suspense even as it sends a harbinger ahead of its coming. That harbinger is the crescent of hope, which millions of Muslims globally await before commencing the annual obligatory fast in the month.

    From its name alone, Ramadan can be called the key with which to open the door to eternal pleasure. Ramadan is the solid ground upon which the formidable edifice of Islam is built. It is the month in which Islam came into the world of mankind through the commencement of the  revelations of the Qur’an in 610 CE. Yet, it did not become a pillar of Islam until 14 years later (624 CE) in Madinah. Without the revelation of the Qur’an which started in the sacred month of Ramadan in 610 CE, perhaps the world would have remained oblivious of the five pillars of Islam today.

    Read Also: Humility – your pathway to elevation!

    Ramadan is the great light that comes annually to illuminate the dark world of man and to wake up the snoring humanity from deep sleep. It is also a major yardstick with which to measure discipline in the life of Muslims individually and collectively.

    To wake up in the night and observe spiritual genuflexions (Nawafil); to take an early breakfast (Sahur) before dawn and abstain from eating, drinking and sexual intercourse as well as other pleasurable activities of life throughout the days of Ramadan is a collection of obligations which only the spiritual phenomenon called Ramadan can impose on man as an act of discipline.

    It is only with Ramadan that the hardest heart can be   softened and the wildest animal instinct in man can be tamed. No other pillar of Islam preaches patience, endurance, tolerance, sympathy and social welfare as effectively as Ramadan does. Ramadan is the month that levels the ground under the feet of the rich and the poor alike.

    Without this month in the life of a Muslim, the world would have been meaningless spiritually. Welcome on board of this cruising spiritual Yacht that is, once again, commencing a spiritual voyage on the pacific ocean of discipline towards the ‘Cape of Good Hope’.

    RAMADAN KARIM!

  • The labourer’s task is done

    The labourer’s task is done

    By Segun Gbadegesin

    The sad news of the untimely passing of Yinka Odumakin, the spokesperson of Afenifere, the Yoruba socio-political organization in the frontline of democratic and federalist struggles since 1951, hit the nation like a political tsunami last Saturday. And we are yet to recover from the shock.

    How can it be that such a young life, with yet a lot to contribute, was called home without notice or warning? Doesn’t it mean that, as Camus and several other philosophers insist, life has no meaning? That like Sisyphus, we are punished and condemned to a repetitive pursuit of meaningless tasks? Sisyphus’ task was to ceaselessly push a boulder up a mountain only to experience it roll down over and over.

    As Yinka’s life and many before him demonstrated, our condition seems no less dire. We make tireless efforts to push many different types of boulders up our mountains of life. Though Camus presented Sisyphus’ pointless task as a metaphor for modern work life, it is even more so for our more grandiose endeavors, especially for the few that take on the thankless burden of the struggle for fairness and justice in our national life.

    Will it ever end? Are we going to ever exhale? Is it really worth it? And why does the burden have to be so disproportionately shared? Go back to the earliest struggle for independence. The warriors against colonialism thought that their task was going to be done with the attainment of independence. They were going to set the country on the path of development and progress.

    But it was not to be because the crown of achievement did not go to the tested fighters. And a change of course had to ensue. From fighting externally imposed oppression to struggling against the internally generated tripartite evil of injustice, poverty and ignorance.

    Since 1960 the struggle has taken many twists and turns. It has led to the untimely passing of patriots, too numerous to mention, who took it seriously and made it their life course. Yet it has not been half won. Can it be won? Aren’t the conscientious among us condemned to a life of endless pursuit of justice which is, in the end, unattainable? Isn’t this the meaninglessness that Camus is deeply concerned about? If so, what is the answer?

    Camus rejects suicide as a response to the absurdity of individual life, a contradiction that ensues when human reason confronts an unreasonable world. By the same token, we must acknowledge the contradiction of our rational expectation of a just world and the irrational order of injustice. But we must live this contradiction, not evade it. How?

    In what may strike us as resignation to fate or acceptance of defeat, Camus thinks that Sisyphus is a free man once he realizes the sealing of his fate in the futile task that the gods assign him. At that point, we “must imagine Sisyphus happy”, Camus concludes.

    But no! How can we give up the struggle for justice? Just because it is not achieved in our lifetime doesn’t mean that it will never be achieved. Somehow, Camus himself gives us a path to this conclusion when, in an apparent acknowledgment of our human nature, he implies that we cannot permanently accept the absurdity of the human condition. We always have to confront it and revolt against it.

    Yinka Odumakin’s obsessions and struggles typified the indomitable human urge to confront and revolt, an urge that is irrepressible even with the realization of the absurdity of our condition. From his days as a student union executive to his pro-democracy struggle against military dictatorship, and his fight for a true federal democracy in Nigeria, Yinka was a passionate defender of his conviction.

    I met Yinka online before I met him in person. After he took over as the Publicity Secretary of Afenifere, he and I corresponded on issues of interest to the Yoruba, and my online communication with Baba Abraham Adesanya was mediated through him. He had a powerful understanding of the fundamental issues, and he analyzed them with surgical precision. When I finally met him at the Jibowu secretariat of Afenifere, I was pleasantly surprised by his youthfulness, and hopeful for the future of the nation.

    Over the years, Yinka threw the full weight of his intellect into the struggle for restructuring the Nigerian federal system toward a more just and equitable governance structure. While justice and equity are values worth fighting for in themselves, it is also important to understand that they are not abstract values. We must recognize them as instrumental values for peace, stability and national progress. Yinka understood this.

    The sea of young heads that roam our urban centers daily are victims of a centralized federal system that cannot possibly provide employment opportunities for its urban youths talk less of the forgotten ruralites. This is why our place in the Human Development Index has been abysmally and dangerously static in the past two decades. Yinka knew this. And a restless soul like his would not stop fighting while he still had the breath of life.

    Baba Adesanya was our hero. As president of Egbe Omo Yoruba between 1997 and 1999, I worked closely with him. He inspired us. We saw him as our pillar of strength. If he wasn’t tired at his age, we shouldn’t be. And he provided Afenifere with strong and ethical leadership.

    The murder of Chief Bola Ige, the handling of the 2003 elections, and the internal wrangling that followed, proved to be an existential threat to Afenifere.  I was distraught when Baba Adesanya became ill and died. Yinka and I discussed these matters and I shared his sense of disillusionment. I think he left Afenifere for a while before he returned. And he returned because he felt strongly that Afenifere can still lead the restructuring agenda of the Yoruba.

    In and out of Afenifere, however, Yinka did not lose his bearing. At home and abroad, he contributed superior ideas when called upon. Whether in Tampa, Florida on the invitation of Egbe Omo Yoruba North America, or on Yoruba Gbode radio program hosted by Sola Aiwinilomo, or in Washington DC with Yoruba intellectuals, Yinka stood out as a passionate advocate of true federalism. In All the Way: Serving with Conscience, I make copious references to Yinka’s activities and contributions to the continuous struggle for true and fiscal federalism.

    It is not unusual, neither should it be a surprise that such a passion, buoyed by the exuberance of age, would sometimes break out in uncontrolled utterances which may strike us as beyond the norm of decency. We know that such occurrences were unfortunate. But we also know that they were not from the heart. And we know, because Yinka said so. On the last occasion we were both on the Yoruba Gbode program, he was asked. And he thoughtfully responded that he bore no grudge against anyone. He also said that he would support whoever the Yoruba people put forward in the contest for the presidency.

    On a personal level, Yinka was a dependable ally, taking on assignments without asking for any favor. He and Hon. Wale Oshun were helpful in mobilizing members of Afenifere Renewal Group to my son’s traditional wedding in Port-Harcourt in December 2008. In 2015, Yinka was out of the country during my 70th birthday celebration in Lagos. When he got back, we couldn’t arrange a meeting before I had to head to the airport for my departure. However, Yinka made sure that he met me at the airport to say goodbye. In 2017, Okeho had its centennial celebration. Yinka personally sponsored a jingle on his Radio station. He was on his way to the ceremony in Okeho but had a vehicle breakdown. That is who he was. A friend indeed.

    With such a torrent of tributes from across the country, including the personal touch of some of those that many would consider as his adversaries, we can rest assured that Yinka’s soul is already at peace. The Great Comforter will comfort his loving wife and aged parents.

    We will understand it better by and by.