The Nation Newspaper

Category: Friday

  • Celebrating a memorable life

    Celebrating a memorable life

    With his transition to the great beyond, General Robert Adeyinka Adebayo has assumed a new title. He became an ancestor, an enviable title that everyone looks forward to. It is the most that humans can become, short of deification.

    Back in the days of ancient warriors, powerful kings and graceful queens, the likes of Oduduwa, Obatala, Ogun, Sango, Oya and Osun, when valour enjoyed recognition and uncommon attributes had an other-worldly character, deification was the loyalists’ answer to the physical loss of the icons of the tribe. It was also an expression of our implicit acceptance of the belief that humans are godlike creatures, participating in varying degrees in the pursuits of the spiritual and physical realms.

    We have since jettisoned deification not because there are no longer worthy candidates. Rather, we no longer deify because, on the one hand, we have come to embrace our humanity and mortality as more germane to our essence than spirituality, and on the other hand because we have accepted the truth of two new religions both of which originated from the Middle East and effectively remind us of our human vanity. Of course, we know that while one of the two religions absolutely condemns deification and symbolic representations, the other rewards human goodness with sainthood, a shade above ancestorship, at death.

    Significantly, our language expresses our outlook on life and the ironic upside of death which elevates us and relieves our human misery: Ni ojo ti a ku laa deere; eniyan ko sunwon laaye (death idolises us; alive, we are less than worthy). And to gain the reward of idolisation, we are counselled to be remain humane, gentle and generous, so that our offspring can proudly give us a befitting burial (Ka rin gbede, ka lee ku pele, komo eni lee fowo gbogboro gbe ni sin.)

    The lesson is obvious. For traditional Yoruba, death is the final arbiter of a life well-lived. How we die is a testimony to how we live. And since we can predict the experience of the other world from the experience of the last days,    a good death is a signal of a good life beyond. The logic of this belief is clear: Live well to die well. Die well and your life beyond is certain to be good.

    We should be thankful to death then, especially when it comes after a life that is memorable and productive. For with such a life, there is an assurance of immortality, which is to live on in the legacy of one’s accomplishments and in the memory of those left behind.

    Death has another role in the being of the living. In the Yoruba worldview, the reward or punishment is not necessarily deferred to the other world. It starts with ojo atisun— the last day on which wickedness, treachery, community betrayal are punished and goodness rewarded. Thus, we are reminded of the death of Gaa, the one-time wicked strongman of Oyo Empire, whose reign of terror ended in infamy as he suffered terribly at death: Boo laya koo sika, boo ranti iku Gaa ki o sooto.

    When, therefore, we are fortunate to celebrate the passing of an icon, who traversed both the traditional and modern facets of our nation, and did so with uncommon bravery, elegance, devotion and grace, we have evidence of a good life. But second, we are witnesses to a good death, which is peaceful in the waiting hands of loving children and family. We must roll out the drums in gratitude to God and the ancestors whom he has joined.

    The contributions of General Adebayo to modern Nigeria are well-known to my generation and those before me. But our younger patriots need to be reminded. First, on the modernity side. Professionally, General Adebayo served the country meritoriously and gallantly as a gentleman and an officer of the Nigerian Army. Commissioned as an officer in 1953, he was one of the first Africans to join the Royal West African Frontier Force. He was also one of the first Nigerian Commissioned Officers of the Nigerian Army, attaining the N7 identity as the seventh Nigerian officer at the end of his Cadet Training in the United Kingdom.

    With the need for further training taking him to the Staff College in Surrey, England and the Imperial Defence College, London, he sometimes found himself the only African among his peers, earning a first in several positions to which he was appointed.

    General Adebayo was the first Nigerian General Staff Officer at the United Nations Headquarters (1961); the first national General Staff Officer Grade 2 at the Nigerian Army Headquarters from 1961 to 1962; the first Nigerian General Staff Officer Grade 1, 1962-63; and the first Nigerian Chief of Staff of the Nigerian Army from 1964 to 1965. It is safe to suggest, therefore, that with his pioneering efforts in his various posts, General Adebayo helped to lay the foundation of a Nigerian Army that was professional and patriotic before it got derailed from its mission.

    It is also significant that when the Army was to derail, General Adebayo was not around because he was on a course in England. Perhaps, if he was around and his counsel was sought, the coup and its aftermath might have been prevented. Just maybe! However, he did offer his counsel against the civil war:

    “I need not tell you what horror, what devastation and what extreme human suffering will attend the use of force. When it is all over and the smoke and dust have lifted, and the dead are buried, we shall find, as other people have found, that it has been futile, entirely futile, in solving the problems we set out to solve.”  How prophetic! For speaking truth to power, even if ineffective for preventing the tragic outcome, he was vindicated. “It has all been futile, entirely futile.”

    In view of his position on the war and his counsel against it, General Gowon used good judgment in appointing General Adebayo as the Chairman of the Committee on the Reconciliation and Integration of the Igbo Back into the Nigerian Polity, at the end of the war. With the resurgence of Biafran sentiment, however, it is doubtless that much still needs to be done and the nation has a long way to go. This is not the responsibility of any individual. Whether we end up as one indivisible nation or many separate entities, is a question for all to answer. General Adebayo did his best as a reconciler.

    In the realm of public administration, General Yakubu Gowon assigned General Adebayo to serve as the second military governor of the Western Region after the assassination of Col. Adekunle Fajuyi in July 1966. He served in this position until 1971 when he was assigned to head the Nigerian Defence Academy. His governorship years were eventful. The West was still reeling from the political crisis of 1965. Division was deep and mutual suspicion was rife. On top of this was the Agbekoya Farmers’ crisis over taxation. It took exemplary act of political leadership and the support of Yoruba political leaders to solve the crisis and for there to be lasting peace.

    General Adebayo retired from the military in 1975, after serving for 22 years. But he soldiered on in civilian outfit, serving his local, regional and national communities, and accumulating numerous accolades in the process. He was Chairman of the Yoruba Council of Elders, a non-partisan group that sought to bridge the divisions created by party politics in Yorubaland.

    There is no doubt that General Adebayo lived a memorable life. He has also earned immortality, having been survived by children whose great achievements he witnessed. A former governor was survived by a former governor! How common is that? More importantly, his proud heirs, among who are the current six governors of the Southwest, are much more than his biological offspring. That he passed on at a time when the Southwest appears to achieve a rare unity of purpose is a divine reward of his pioneering efforts. This is what it means to rest in peace!

     

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  • Dino: How to corrupt a country

    Now let all good men in the land rise and join hands in retrieving our country from Dino Melaye and his ilk. The handshake now seems to have reached the elbow and it is of course, no longer felicitation as the Igbo would say. And the Yoruba admonish that if you hesitate in apprehending the thief in your farm, he will promptly arrest you. A season of pernicious role reversal seems to be creeping fast into our polity and this is a wake-up call.

    The looters of our national treasury are now flaunting their booty in our face and indeed deploying it against us. The Minna parade of private jets last week is one example. In 2014, Nigeria was ranked 30th  of the world’s top 50 countries with private jets. Even though it’s a most impoverished country, it ranks ahead of such highly developed countries like Japan, Sweden, the Netherlands, Hong Kong, Finland among others.

    Here is another example of corruption getting emboldened and acting up. This time it grows into a monster and threatens to eat us raw. It’s as concerns the power conundrum in Nigeria. Recall that Nigeria’s power sector was privatised a few years ago so that it would enjoy the fillip of the private-sector efficiency and growth. But three years down the line, the new owners who are mainly part of Nigeria’s corrupt political cabal now practically hold the nation hostage.

    Power supply remains at pre-divestment era when the government controlled it. Apart from getting the plants and installations at near non-competitive rates, new owners have not invested in commensurate measures, especially in the distributive stock. In spite of various credit facilities from the government and banks, consumers seem to reap only fresh excuses from power investors. It now appears to have resolved to hold the nation by the jugular. Metering which is the major plank of the new power roadmap has been stalled. Such is the extended dynamics of corruption plaguing the land today.

    With President Muhammadu Buhari voted into office on the strength of his anti-corruption stance now critically ill and the anti-graft agencies much flawed in their systemic and operational contradictions, the auguries are dark.

    What this means is that the country may have returned to her crass licentious state where public officials did not seem to know the difference between public funds and private bank account; we may be back to our inglorious years when public officials gloried in stealing and were honoured based only on how much of our treasury they could hijack.

    This explains the two troubling events that happened last week: the Minna display of private jets by former public officials and their contractor allies and the supposed book launch by a supposed senator. If the feast of locusts which took place in Minna is excused as one of those natural aftermaths of the depravity of the elite, the so-called book presentation is an affront and a present danger; it was cynical show redolent with un-nuanced insult on our collective psyche.

    The indisputable enfant terrible of the NASS, Senator Dino Melaye, representing Kogi West, is said to have written a book: “Antidote for Corruption: The Nigerian Story.” The book in itself is a fraud going by what is reported. It is said to be a 600-page compilation of media reports, bills and motions relating to the anti-graft campaign and major corruption cases under the current administration.

    One would have thought that Melaye was presenting Nigerians with a fresh distillation from the deep recesses of his mind, insights and knowledge about this canker that is eating up our polity. Why would a senator of the Federal Republic compile reports from the public space, tag his name to it as author and go ahead to make huge pecuniary gain of it at a public presentation? Is there a worse corruption? Yet he titles the so-called book “Antidote for Corruption…?

    Prominent at the public launch were Mrs. Patience Jonathan, wife of immediate past president, Goodluck Jonathan. She who is currently in court over tens of millions of cash in foreign currency traced to her numerous bank accounts among other indiscretions. Yet she would have sat there and probably proffered a few tips on the ills of corruption.

    Just in the same way the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, seized the moment to sermonise and teach us the basics and correct modalities for tackling corruption. He who is facing trial for money laundering, not mentioning the matters and allegations surrounding the collapse of Societe Generale Bank among others, took the podium and obliged us a disquisition on how not to…

    As my former lecturer would say, these fellows are really sucking it to us. Now we the victims of mindless corrupt practices are prostrate, taking lessons from our tormentors. We think Senator Melaye should write a book on how to suborn and loot a national treasury – that is the book he owes us. At a time like this, one would expect the legislature to stand in the gap; but the National Assembly, especially the 8th Senate, is even much more mired in its muck of sleaze and odious beginnings which have refused to blow away.

     

    It’s a grey republic!

    You may also call it the grey republic – that part of government in which impunity, fiscal irresponsibility and gross abuse reign. This is what happens when government agencies refuses to prepare budgets. This is especially troubling when such agencies control more funds than some state governments.

    Is it possible that parastatals like NNPC, CBN, FIRS and about 35 others are yet to submit their budget proposals for this year?  Is it true that such agencies have been living on huge extra-budgetary expenditures with the year nearly half gone?

    Deputy Senate Majority Leader Bala Ibn Na’Allah raised this point on Tuesday on the floor of the Senate, noting that it was wrong and indeed illegal for any government agency to spend funds not appropriated by the legislature.

    This matter of unbudgeted expenditure has been with us for a long time and these are some of the systemic abuses we expected this government to curb in its bit to combat endemic corruption in our polity.

    Apart from budgets, statutory agencies of government, especially the revenue-yielding one, are also supposed to render and publish financial accounts annually and promptly too. This is among the most critical ways of reducing the corruption in the system.

    But it is a grey republic we live in.

  • Alert! Fake muslim group emerges

    Preamble

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

     

    About Ramadan

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

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

     

    ‘Opium of the People’

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

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

     

    Strange ‘Muslim’ Group

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

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

     

    Oodua Muslim Coaliition’

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

    questionable.

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

     

    The Mission of OPC

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

    distinct tribal entity.

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

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

     

    The Press Conspiracy

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

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

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

     

    Clarification

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

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

     

    Press Statement

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

    leaders.

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

    Evil Agents

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

    masters.

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

     

    Unity as Headache

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

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

     

    Putting the Record Straight

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

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

     

    Not a Secular Country

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

     

    Euphoria of the past

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

     

    Language of Communication

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

  • The Benue bomb

    This is a whale of a bomb no doubt and anyone who can ‘see’ would ‘hear’ the tick-tock of the timing device. This column was on the verge of interrogating the now intriguing Chibok girls’ episode but the Benue time-bomb ticks so very eerily that it can not be ignored anymore.

    Last weekend, about 82 of the nearly 300 students hijacked from their hostels in Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State were released in what is said to be an official swap with Boko Haram (BH) prisoners. Deep skepticism has trailed the action and a dozen questions crave answers.

    For instance, if the Boko Haram insurgents have been defeated as the Federal Government claims, yet we negotiate with Boko Haram? There is a benumbing incongruity here which suggests that BH still lives within the confines of our country not only in body but in spirit; with links in high places and among top-notch officials who make cameo appearances as negotiators.

    As to the physical conditions of the released girls, the unmistakable tell-tall of shall we say, tales untold, would be told another day. So many strands are dangling in the Chibok script but suffice to say that no lie can be hidden forever, not when the sun still shines. But today, Benue beckons with latent urgency.

    The Benue conundrum (that is what it is now) may erupt soon if the Federal Government does not act quickly to check the military-cum-security-shenanigans at play there. The situation has become hopeless to the point that the governor, Samuel Ortom, had to cry out last Friday.

    During a reception for the President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Ortom lamented that his state was under a siege. Twelve, out of 23 local governments  in his state were under the control of the Fulani herdsmen, he said plaintively. If it were true that the governor is the chief security officer of the state and he sounds hapless and utterly victimised, then there would not be much conjecture as to the state of mind of his subjects.

    Benue State and north central Nigeria were on the mind of Rev. Olasupo Ayokunle,  National President of the Christian Association (CAN), while speaking last Sunday in Ado-Ekiti. He warned of a dire consequence if the herdsmen-farmers imbroglio were not handled with fairness and equity. “We are calling on the Federal Government to prosecute the herdsmen arrested in connection with the recent killings in Benue and Southern Kaduna because this will ease tension in the two states.

    “We also want the Federal Government to investigate through intelligence gathering, those unpatriotic Nigerians supplying the herdsmen with weapons being used to perpetrate evil.

    “If the government fails to stop the provocation by the Fulani (herdsmen), they should be prepared for war. No ethnic group has a monopoly of violence and no ethnic group should be a monster to others.” Strong words there but as Rev. Ayokunle spoke in Ekiti, more killing were being enacted in Benue. By last Monday, deaths in the on-going feud between the Fulani herdsmen and Tivs have reportedly tolled up to 15 lives and numerous injuries. The fighting is said to be in three communities in Logo Local Government Area of Benue State. According to reports, villagers were waylaid late Sunday afternoon as they returned from evening service. Many are displaced as they fled into neighbouring villages.

    And no day passes without sad stories of Fulani herdsmen terrorizing one community or the other in Nigeria.

    In Benue however, the dynamics are diverse. The former governor of Benue State, Gabriel Suswam was in DSS detention for upwards of 70 days having been arrested on February 25, 2017. The Department of State Services, DSS detained Suswam for allegedly being in possession of three prohibited lethal weapons. He is also accused of being responsible for the killings in the state and not herdsmen as he is said to have allegedly vowed to make the state ungovernable for the incumbent.

    And this one too: recently a detachment of soldiers raided the house of the Catholic Bishop turning his parish it upside down purportedly in search of arms.

    Here is how the Rt. Rev. Vesuwe Benjamin puts it: “Today, my house and the entire parish was turned inside out by the military in search of weapons. They say I keep weapons; for heaven’s sake, I don’t do weapons. The Fulani herdsmen go about with heavy weapons killing innocent people and never a day has anyone of them been harassed by the military. There have been instances where the military have even assisted them to carry out their attacks on defenseless citizens. The soldiers we have in this country are one-sided. Why are they trying to divide the very country they are called upon to defend on religious line? Would they have done this to an imam or the mosque?”

    Benue has remained a hot bed for herdsmen/farmers bloody encounters in the last two years. Recall the massacre at the St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, Egba, Agatu in 2015. Recall also the gruesome butchering in Agatu last year in which over 400 people were killed and about 7000 displaced.

    One has laid out these incidences at length to highlight a curious trend in the Benue carnage and the obviously skewed handling of the situation by the Federal Government and her security agencies. Indeed the Fulani herdsmen’s killings will remain a major taint of the Muhammadu Buhari administration unless a solution is found quickly.

    We suggest the setting up of a commission of inquiry to probe all killings in the last two years. There is also a need to institute a task force on the total revamp and modernization of livestock value chains and animal husbandry in Nigeria. Northeast and northwest state governors must also lead the way by immediately creating pilot ranches and grazing grounds.

    Why does this government look on so helplessly while what ought to be a huge economic advantage is quietly creeping up on us a religious and ethnic disaster? Let it be known that Benue is a bomb waiting to go off soon.

     

    Way to go, NB PLC

    Nigerian Breweries PLC may well be on to something big in agric development, local sourcing of raw materials and large scale job creation. At a recent briefing in Lagos, Nicholas Velverde, the giant brewer’s chief, said his firm has achieved about 48 per cent local sourcing of raw materials as well as packaging inputs.

    Through its backward integration programme (BIP), about 60,000 farmers are engaged in the cultivation of sorghum, while its investment in cassava and sorghum value chains will yield 60 per cent raw material by 2020. This is impressive and worthy of commendation. Imagine Nestle, Unilever, Cadbury, Guinness, PZ, UAC, to name a few, all in aggressive BIP.

    The import and magnitude of this manner of BIP on the economy is huge. Every major food manufacturing firm must be encouraged to look backward for its raw materials.

    Government on the other hand, must keep a good eye on BIP and support it closely with a view to banning in about five years, importation of raw materials that can be produced locally. This is one key strategy to diversify and grow the economy. Kudos NB plc.

  • Sensitisation message towards Ramadan

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Further on the virtues, Allah says:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    I wish all Muslims a blessed Ramadan.

     

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

    Tragedy of for-profit shepherding

    The other day Opalaba called to check on his “true friend”. Whenever he starts a conversation with a flattering gesture such as “my own true friend”, I know he’s up to something sinister. As the elders know so well, you don’t have a tree in your backyard without the ability to predict the fruit it will produce.

    My friend announced to me that he finally made it to Sunday School on the last Sunday of April. I was shocked. The Opalaba I know never cared about Sunday School when we were growing up. Unlike my poor self, he grew up in a home with parents whose religiosity was on the moderate side. His father subscribed to Johnueli Owo’s popular aphorism: a kii se gbagbo da gbese (Christianity should not force one to indebtedness). Therefore, the old man usually ensured that he arrived in church after collections had been taken. He would tell everyone, “mo ba oore-ofe”(at least I was early enough for the benediction).”

    My father, on the other hand, was the extreme opposite. Provided he was well, my old man never missed any church programme on Sundays and weekdays. He was there for Sunday School, for Christian Training Union (CTU), the evening equivalent of Sunday School. He was at Monday morning and Wednesday evening prayer meetings. And if any child of his failed to make it to any of these programmes, the devil in them must be cast out with horse whip. I was subjected to that treatment once and it was unbearable.

    Therefore, the time that I lived in my father’s house, I forced myself to Sunday School. And the habit forcefully stuck with me even after I was on my own. I am therefore one confirmation of the truth of Solomon’s wisdom: Teach a child the path he will take and when he grows up, he will never depart from it. But Opalaba never had to endure Sunday School or even church attendance. The surprise declaration from him therefore also confirms the truth of the song writer’s words: God works in mysterious ways, His wonders to perform. However, I wondered aloud whether, as shocking as his making it to Sunday School was, he had more to tell me.

    “Congratulations, my good friend”, I said. “I am pleasantly surprised. But what more should I know about your adventure?”

    “Sure, it was a pleasant experience”, he replied.

    Now, I had sometimes told Opalaba that, of all services, Sunday School and CTU are the most exciting because they are interactive. If you have a good teacher, he or she will engage the members in the lesson. Besides, these are the only programmes in which members can freely express themselves and ask probing questions. Part of his mission going to Sunday School this time was to confirm the veracity of my claim.

    As Opalaba spoke, I was almost sure what excited him about the Sunday School lesson of April 30. I was at Sunday School that day myself, only 3,000 miles away. The good thing is that we use the same resources provided by the Nigerian Baptist Convention for Sunday School classes.

    ‘The topic of the day was “God’s preserving love”, and it was the story of the good shepherd as told by John, the apostle’, Opalaba recalled. “The lesson addressed the fact that a good shepherd knows his sheep and cares for them. In turn, the sheep recognise the shepherd as their benefactor. Even when thieves steal the sheep from their pen, they are always struggling to be back with their good shepherd”.

    Then my friend quoted verbatim from the lesson a statement that I figured captured his imagination and which he was going to harass me with: “As a representative of the true Shepherd, every shepherd that has been called to lead God’s flock must speak the truth of God’s Word to the people and guide them in the path of righteousness. There are many strangers around who have not been called of God. They are only interested in their personal gains and have come to steal the sheep and exploit them.”

    I asked him what he thought about the quoted passage and what he took away from the lesson.

    “I should ask you, Mr. Know-All” was my friend’s provocative response. “You are the one that is always defending the indefensible, aren’t you?” he kept shouting to the phone. Of course, I was not perturbed. I knew he had something to say.

    “Calm down, Opalaba” I entreated him.

    Then I asked a different question: “How did the Sunday School lesson go?”

    “It went extremely well”, he responded.

    “Did you get a chance to contribute to the discussion”, I asked.

    “You bet I did”, he replied.

    “I trust my friend”, I intoned.

    “Tell me more”, I pleaded.

    “Well, it was a long story. The teacher did not like what I had to say.”

    “How come?” I asked.

    “I told the class that we should bring the lesson to the concrete reality of our time and place”, Opalaba explained. “The challenge about these issues is that our servants of God tend to present them in abstract terms. The parable of the good shepherd is apt. But who is the good shepherd now? In what context does the good shepherd demonstrate his or her essential attributes? These are the questions that must agitate our minds today. Thousands are dying of hunger even in our own country. Poverty is on the rise. Politicians have no clue. Men and women of God are not raising their voices on behalf of their sheep,” Opalaba observed.

    On my end, I nodded in agreement but, of course, Opalaba couldn’t see me. And true to type, he lashed out at me: “You are not listening to me, are you?”

    “I am all ears, my good friend”, I replied.

    “Don’t ‘good friend me!’ Just listen”, he bellowed.

    “I don’t see how the teacher can disagree with your contribution thus far”, I stated.

    “Well, I am not done yet”, he replied.

    Opalaba then asked if I recalled receiving a WhatsApp message sometime ago about higher institutions established by religious bodies in Nigeria. He was not the sender. He had also received the message from a common friend.

    “Yes, of course, I remember and I still have it on my phone”, I replied.

    My friend told me that he brought up that issue. To my question what the relevance of that issue was to the matter of the true shepherd, Opalaba blew so hot I felt the reverberation on my end of the phone.

    “How dare you ask that stupid question?” he shouted. “I knew all along that you are not to be trusted with good critical discourse. You have been indoctrinated not to question the so-called earthly shepherds who are only professionals….,” he continued until I threatened to hang up if he was not going to play the gentleman for once.

    “I asked a simple question. Can you please give me a simple answer as a gentleman?” I replied.

    “Do you remember the old missionaries that brought Christianity to our shores?” he asked.

    “Yes, of course.”

    “And you remember that the first educational institutions, including primary, secondary modern, teacher training colleges, and high schools, were established by them?”

    “Yes, indeed. You and I benefited from those institutions”, I replied.

    “And so did many of the modern representatives of the true Shepherd”, Opalaba added. “We were all beneficiaries of the large heart of the missionaries and their home churches who took seriously their calling as representatives of the true Shepherd. They tried to feed His sheep with knowledge.”

    “Now, what is our reality”, Opalaba reasoned. “We have higher institutions established by our local representatives of the true Shepherd and many of the sheep they are called upon to tend have no access to those institutions because they are too poor to afford the exorbitant fees. Yet the institutions were established with collections in various forms from these poor sheep. This is the unfortunate tragedy of for-profit shepherding”, my friend concluded.

    On my end, it was mum.

     

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  • Thinking aloud

    Thinking aloud

    How did we start? What have we become and why? These are questions that challenge the mind.

    Up to 1962, especially in the Southwest, we still had a very good educational, political, economic and moral value system due in large part to the vision of Chief Obafemi Awolowo and his group. The development of the human being was the driver of social policy. It mattered a lot that they focused on education and social development. The foundation of the Southwest was laid in those years.

    The unfortunate negative transformation started from the time Awolowo left the Western Region. It was good to have an alliance with others, but they went about it in a way that jeopardised what was already working. The Action Group as a political party was working and everything was moving in the right direction. Then we opted for a mainstream approach because we saw others sharing the national cake from which we were left out.

    But even before independence, the West was doing much better than other regions and that was because of the vision of Chief Awolowo. And, of course, as they say, the rest is history. The gamble led to the collapse of the First Republic and we have never recovered from that.

    Now, why does this matter? It matters because, that was the beginning of the abandonment of a true federal structure. When the military came, it reverted to a unitary system that effectively destroyed the federal system. And when in 1979 the civilian government came back, it was never the same again. The Shagari administration even initiated the appointment of Presidential Liaison Officers (PLO) for states.

    It is incredible that a country of our complexity does not allow true federalism to work because of the interest of some particular groups. How can right thinking people, with all the economic and political indices that show that it is the best option for this country of diverse people, jettison the practice of federalism?

    It is simply mind boggling and unless we get that straight, even with a strong two party system, we will still be wandering in the political wilderness. We are certainly far from where we ought to be; and we are not making progress towards that end. The structure is the most important thing. If we get the structure right, everything will follow. If we don’t get the structure right, we are doomed.

    One of our major challenges is for those who accept positions of responsibility to carry out the requirements of those positions. Whether it is the president of a voluntary organisation, a director of a state-owned company, the governor of a state, or the president of a country, an occupant of any position of responsibility must constantly ask himself or herself: what can I do better? What will be my legacy? And in asking those questions, he or she will be challenged to do better. This has always been my own approach to the responsibilities that I have been saddled with, whether as president of Egbe Isokan Yoruba or Egbe Omo Yoruba, USA, as teacher, chair of an academic department or as dean of a college.

    Our values come from various sources: family, religious institutions and educational institutions. My generation can boast of strict parental discipline. Our parents were sticklers to values. They introduced us to the importance of being responsible in whatever position we find ourselves. We must now reflect on our own legacy. Have we passed on those values to our children? Or are we giving them a new orientation to the negative values that ruin individuals and nations?

    Moderation, which has not been a strong value that many people hold dear, is important in everything we do, especially in the area of material possession. The craze for material possession is driving us to the precipice in this country. How much can anyone expect to own and what does one make of it in the end?

    Again, we can all relate to the moderation of our parents in terms of material possession. The most they left us is investment in our education. I can never forget that. I don’t have material possession to leave for my children, but they have good education and they will make it with divine assistance. Why does one need to jettison values to accumulate illegally in order for children to have material inheritance? Will those children be able to stand on their own? What will be their value system?

    That is one of the drivers of the craze for the corrupt material accumulation that we are spending useful time combating: “My children and my grandchildren must not suffer. My great-grandchildren must not suffer, etc.” Why don’t you give your children the educational resources they need to work on their own? Then, equipped with such values, they can be in a good position to live their lives the way they would like it to be.

    I do not want to belittle the importance of wealth. The fact that I don’t have it doesn’t mean that it is not good. My emphasis here, however, is in terms of the development of children. They need to be imbued with the value of hard work. Every child needs to work hard to make things for him or herself and the nation would be a lot better off.

    I applaud wealthy individuals abroad, especially those who give out their money to charity because they would like their children to work hard and create their own wealth. Therefore, these philanthropists make contributions that benefit needy people who do not have the background that the children of the wealthy have. So, if you are a child of a wealthy person, your education will be invested in and that gives you a head start, and that’s all anyone needs.

    As it is with individuals, it is with society. We missed the point initially and that is why we are suffering now.  When Chief Awolowo asked the nation to invest in human capital from the national bounty, he made sense. But the authorities did not take him seriously. If we had invested our national resources in good educational structures, if we had built up our educational institutions when we had the means, we should now be way ahead. We will not now worry about cultists in our universities and in secondary schools. But we missed that opportunity; and now we are paying dearly for it.

    There used to be a time when oil sold for more than $100 per barrel. Now it is about $50 and we are still having many children born on a daily basis, minute by minute. So we compound issues because first, we don’t invest wisely, and second, we have not taken seriously the need to control our population.

    You cannot miss the sea of heads on our street corners, markets and airport lobbies, for whom we don’t make provisions. But have you ever wondered when this ticking bomb will blow up in our faces? I hope that we will get it right before a violent revolution erupts like a volcano and consumes all of us. How is it that we bring children into the world and we don’t care for them as a nation? And what do we expect of them? We condemn militancy; but do we ever pay attention to the common saying that the devil finds job for idle hands? What do we expect hopelessness to breed?

    All Progressives Congress (APC) appealed to everyone as a party of change, but APC now needs to change. Change should mean more than just replacing an inept government with a new government if that new government also becomes inept.  There is still a chance for APC to reboot. But I wonder whether the spirit is there for rebooting or whether it’s just the competition for material accumulation and for selfish aggrandisement that is driving the party hierarchy. Thinking about these things is depressing. Is this the change that drained everybody’s emotional and material resources?

     

    • This is a revised version of excerpts of an old but relevant interview with The News.

     

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  • Scholars’ Week

    Scholars’ Week

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

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

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

     

    Presentation of Papers

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

    Markaz Alumni

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

     

    Languages of discussion

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

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

    The 100 Greatest Nigerians of the century

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

     

    Contributors

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

    Who is Sheikh Adam Abdullah Al-Ilory?

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

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

     

     Profile of Markaz

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

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

     

    The old methodology

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

     

    The Great Revolution

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

     

    His academic sojourn in Cairo

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

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

     

    Establishment of Markaz

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

     

    Uniqueness of Markaz

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

     

    Antagonism

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

     

    First graduation ceremony

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

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

     

    Products of Markaz

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

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

     

    His ascetic lifestyle

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

     

    League of Imams and Alfas

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

     

    Awards

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

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

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

  • Kongi, herdsmen and specialists

    You may be excused if you haven’t read or have not even heard about the book or play, Madmen and Specialists. But if you didn’t know who is fondly called Kongi in Nigeria, then you may have no business reading this column. This 47-year old play is one of Wole Soyinka’s arcane works which does not yield easily to simple minds. But we have taken liberty on the title in this moment of Fulani herdsmen torment and indeed ferment.

    Herdsmen who had been with us since creation (of Nigeria) seem to have earned more impetus recently after the ascendancy of President Muhammadu Buhari two years ago; gaining in impunity and derring-do. And their latest victim is Professor Soyinka, who lamented over the weekend that he returned from a trip abroad to find his sanctuary in Abeokuta, Ogun State violated – again.

    “… this time, the herders not only went through my abode, but took their cows to my door step.” He noted that the herdsmen in the country were going about with conqueror mentality, suggesting there is a movement to enslave the entire nation.

    The situation may well be an uncanny replay of the Nobel laureate’s Madmen and Specialists. In a fresh rush of blood-thirstiness, no fewer than 3,000 Nigerians may have been killed by these itinerant cattle-rearers in the two years of PMB’s government. Many of the people killed in their abode or farmlands; many of them accompanied by the maniacal fury of night raids and conflagrations that sometimes razed entire communities.

    They started with poor farmers and decrepit communities, then they got brazen and broke all bounds, picking on anything in sight. Chief Olu Falae, monarchs and community heads were all trampled.

    Kongi in his play wrote about the abusers, the abused and a wacky Doctor Bero deeply engrossed in his sinister experimentations. Has art embraced life in the ongoing Kongi and the herdsmen saga? If our comatose presidency and gamboling governors are the abusers, then Kongi and thousands of Nigerians caught up in the herdsmen deathly impunity must be the abused?

    Before our eyes; including kongi’s eyes: We all have watched this gory drama play out in the last two years; just a few scenes would suffice here: according to report, on March 15, 2015, about 100 worshippers were murdered in cold blood in St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, Egba, Agatu LGA of Benue State. The victims were mainly women and children. After the well planned gruesome bloodfest, the church was set ablaze apparently to incinerate the evidence.

    Eleven months later, on February 26, 2016, Fulani herdsmen struck again in Agatu, to commit what is to date, the mother of all murders in Nigeria’s peace time history. In a dawn raid, herdsmen ransacked about seven villages killing no fewer than 400 people. The community was razed and about 7,000 people displaced.

    A few weeks after Agatu, (April 25, 2016) the herdsmen struck in Ukpabi-Nimbo in Uzo-Uwani LGA of Enugu State. They left about 48 dead and 56 injured. Sixty houses were razed in a dawn raid that displaced most of the community. It didn’t help that security agencies had prior intelligence of the attack. In fact, the attackers were said to have out-gunned a combined force of soldiers and policemen drafted to quell the mayhem.

    On January 5, 2016, a Delta State monarch, HRM Akaeze Edward Ofulue 111 of Ubulu-Uku, was abducted by Fulani herdsmen. His decomposing remains were found under a tree in a bush in Umunede about three weeks later.

    Three more monarchs have fallen to the herdsmen after Ofulue. In May 2016, Bala Madaki, the traditional ruler of Fadan Karshi district in Sanga LGA of Kaduna, was killed in cold blood with his nephew, Emmanuel Tanko. Ironically, it was Madaki who received former Governor Mukthar Yero when he visited Fadan Karshi in 2014 and the women of the community bared their bodies in protest over the scale of herdsmen killings at the time.

    Two months later (July), a first-class traditional ruler in Plateau State, the Sat Ron Kulere, Sir Lazarus Agai, who was chairman of Bokkos Council of Traditional Rulers, was murdered in his home village, Sha, by suspected Fulani herdsmen.

    He was reportedly killed with his driver and police orderly as he returned from his farm in Sha.

    And last March, yet another traditional ruler was killed in Buruku LGA of Benue State  with about a dozen of his subjects in yet another night raid by suspected herdsmen. According to reports, about 12 villages were attacked and destroyed as the marauders were said to have left nothing in sight.

    These are just a few cases in a harrowing litany of madness by the so-called Fulani herdsmen. Apart from the case involving Chief Falae, hardly in any other situation were culprits apprehended nor were investigations carried out. The specialists in the form of the police and other security agencies were only adept at downplaying the extent of casualties and making vague promises about getting to the bottom of the matter. But most of the incidents have gone unquestioned.

    Specialists in the guise of  governors have watched over this insanity with characteristic idiocy and confounding ineptitude. Now they say the herdsmen are foreigners, and at another time, they rationalise why they have to kill fellow compatriots because they value their cows more than humans.

    Governor Nasir el Rufai has presented himself as the most supporter and encourager of this beastliness.

    The presidency, the chief specialists has carried on in benumbing lethargy if not tacit support. Where you would expect a declaration of emergency and a shoring up of the rule of law, you get a tepid condemnation and a lecture on the psychology of the Fulani herdsman.

    If the governments at all levels do not suffer mental block, they would have long realised that this is simply a case of a business model that has become out-moded and now inimical even to the very survival of the country unless it is urgently changed. The state simply needs to encourage cattle owners to build ranches and grazing grounds. As farms and built up areas expand, the itinerant pastoralists must learn to be more in situ in doing their business.

    And since the herdsmen’s commodities are in demand all across the country, state governments must encourage business people to invest in ranches and grazing grounds which the herdsmen can hire or lease. Instead of the stupidity of taking grazing grounds by fiat, business owners can be encouraged to see the benefits of developing ranches.

    There is no running away from restructuring our archaic mode of animal husbandry. Well, now that Kongi’s sanctuary has been breached, perhaps we may want to call for a national conference to rethink this huge business of beef, milk and leather.

     

    Much ado about Obi’s watch

    Just as they say with the now wretched cliché about corruption fighting back, this column would want to tweak that a little to say that: bad governance is fighting back! It has become common knowledge that Mr. Peter Obi, the former governor of Anambra State, was a model of prudence and fiscal responsibility during his time in governance.

    This must explain why twice in just about six months, he has been brought to the Platform series of the Covenant Christian Centre to speak on responsible management of public office. The first was on October 1, 2016 and the second this last May Day.

    Both lectures were huge for those who seek wisdom and who love rectitude in governance. But instead of his nuggets of advice trending, some detractors have found joy in trying to prove that Obi does not own only one wristwatch as he claimed. What pettiness and what a pity?

    For a man who was already a wealthy businessman before he got to office; a man who never borrowed a kobo all his eight years in office as governor and one who left about N75 billion in the kitty for his predecessor, wristwatches would be like toy stories to him, wouldn’t they?

    Let’s not miss the lesson; Nigeria needs men like Obi now more than ever.

     

  • A season so brittle

    It may sound impolitic, if not sinister to say that our country is  currently at end-stage inertia. But that is what it is if the harsh truth must be told. It is indeed a very brittle time we are in, but the larger danger is that most of the populace would rather deny that fact or live in benumbing denial.

    This column raised the red flag early in the life of this administration, warning that the delay in its take-off was nothing to do with any grand planning or reflection upon the desired roadmap, but pure, plain absence of acumen. One had been roundly attacked as impatient and indeed anti-government. But the jury is abroad now.

    The obduracy of President Muhammadu Buhari has met with a failing health; a dishevelled ruling party mates with a debauched National Assembly. And what we have is a very brittle situation. But the graver danger is that many of us don’t seem to realise the magnitude of our troubled state. A few illustrations will suffice:

    A president in retreat: Our most gnawing worry today is that our President is out of circulation and the presidency is being run by proxy. It is troublous enough that he is ill, the nation does not know the nature or extent of the illness and we do not have a way of knowing. For the third week, the President has been absent from most public functions. He only appears to us like an apparition and officials can only weave lies and even more lies to cover previous ones.

    The result is a confused presidency with no clear-cut head. While the Vice-President is statutorily in charge, close presidential and security aides play the cabal to the hilt, peddling influences and seizing undue advantages.

    If the State House is caught in such a bind, the country is only akin to a headless body thrashing about, feigning life but is in reality, in the throes of death. It is unfathomable why the entire country would have to go down with one man in a most abominable manner as this.

    And again, which corruption is worse than a President not coming clean with his people on his state of health; where is the integrity and honour in a President holding the entire country down when he ought to step down. Let it be on record that as things stand now, the greatest legacy PMB can possibly bequeath to this country is to resign honourably. History would be kind to his era if he resigns now.

    A confused state: While the President is ill, it is apparent that the cabinet is in a flux, to put it mildly. Let us consider a few incidents. First, the so-called Ikoyigate cash haul. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in its normal run of duty, uncovers a huge cache of cash (N13b) in a private flat owned by the wife of a serving boss of an intelligence agency.

    Then the chief spook who ought to have fallen on his sword or escaped the country through the nearest footpath comes forward to insult the rest of us. First the cash was for covert operations; no it was a small leftover of a huge slush fund meant for the last election. The last president authorised it. Oh, the current Defence Minister is aware of the fund. Now what is to be done? A presidential panel made up of the Vice-President, the Attorney-General of the Federation and the Defence Minister was hurriedly set up. It is to determine why a sitting intelligence boss was hiding cash large enough to raise an army. It is also to determine why the deposed Secretary to the Government of the Federation, long fingered for fraud, should be fingered for fraud in the first place.

    But to cut the long, tacky story of this panel short, it is the best illustration of a much waning presidency, divided and lacking in verve or initiative. Is it not trite that persons, high or low, suspected of fraud or any malfeasance should be sidelined and handed to the appropriate authorities to investigate, prosecute or set free as the case may be?

    To set up a special presidential panel on cases that represent the very test of the administration’s integrity is ab initio tainted. And let it be put on record also that the so-called presidential panel is a bloody waste of the nation’s time and resources especially at a difficult time the presidency needs all the focus and concentration it can muster. But most remarkable is that whatever report the panel presents would only be received with a pinch of salt. Pity.

    The zealot CSO and the rudderless NASS: The fascist action of Bashir Abubakar, the Chief Security Officer (CSO) to the President, in summarily dismissing a correspondent from the Presidential Villa may seem minor, but it is a bold pointer to the current state of dysfunction. Everybody simply morphed into a small president in his own corner!

    And what about the merrymakers in the National Assembly? As they furiously pursue a bill to eradicate tribal marks, the country bleeds and grinds with no rudder. The latest great news from that quarter is that the Appropriation Bill will not be ready soon as the police raided the home of Sen. Danjuma Goje, Appropriation Committee chairman, disrupting proceedings and truncating their deadlines. Hmmn…

    And finally, a ruling party has never been in so much disarray. For nearly two years since it has been in power, the All Progressives Congress (APC) has been unable to meet to manage its affairs not to mention helping to stir the ship of state. And we say all is well?

     

    As Nigerian editors convene

    Today, the best of Nigeria’s media converge on Lagos for another of her two-yearly convention. This year’s disquisition is on: “A Nation in Recession: Wither the Nigerian Media.” The Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE), the leading media influence group in the country, will among other matters, hold election to pick members who will run its affairs for the next two years.

    The Guild has over the years grown in strength and stature, as it continues to impact more on the state of the nation. In like manner, its elections have continued to be keenly contested in a manner, not unlike what transpires in national politics.

    A five-man strong Election Committee has been inaugurated, made up of eminent Fellows of the Guild. It promises to be a successful convention which will usher in a fresh new season for the Guild. This is wishing all delegates from across the country a most fulfilling and safe outing.