The Nation Newspaper

Category: Friday

  • Diagnosing the Nigerian malady (1)

    Diagnosing the Nigerian malady (1)

    The question is not whether some malaise afflicts Nigeria. This is disheartening and embarrassing, not just for leaders, but for citizens as well. How do you go around the world, no matter who you are, with your heads high up, given the common knowledge concerning the troubled state of your homeland?

    Not many now doubt that something terribly ails the country. The question on the lips of those who have given thought to the distressing condition of dear country is about what it can possibly be. And a vibrant industry is rapidly growing around the risky but attractive business of answering this question and diagnosing the Nigerian national ailment.

    Diagnosing too has not been a cakewalk. Where there are many physicians, there must be multiple diagnostic theories. There are at least three such theories: super-naturalistic theories, humanistic theories and structuralist theories, each with a prognosis of full recovery provided its prescription is fully followed. I will focus on the first of these theories today.

    The super-naturalist diagnosis is the most ancient and by the same token, the most simplistic. It starts from the premise that God deliberately created Nigeria, using British empire builders to do his bidding. But somewhere along the way, the handwork of God derailed, querying the superior wisdom of God and disobeying his instructions. The nationalists pressured the imperialists to leave because they wanted independence. And independence led to a variety of ills, including a bloody fratricide.

    On this diagnostic analysis, it is not that God was against Nigeria’s independence. It was just that we fought for it and won it prematurely. God would have preferred us to be patient. And that was why, in his judgment, God decided to have power handed over to those who counselled patience.

    Unfortunately, however, God underestimated the self-centred motivations of the creatures of his hand. The counsellors of patience cannot fathom patience with fellow country folk, and soon intolerance of opposition led to unrest, and to a bloody intervention by the military, and ultimately to civil war.

    The death of innocent souls, creatures of God, in that madness called civil war, was too much for even the Almighty to handle. He has since been expecting a formal apology and atonement from us. But we have failed to show remorse. We have even continued with callous acts of murder and maiming of innocents. Now we are wondering why, despite God giving us all that we need to thrive, we have failed to move forward. It is because he has turned his back against us until we come back to our senses and follow his direction.

    You ask, as Opalaba would, “how does the super-naturalist physician know all these?” That question is a betrayal of your ignorance about God’s mysterious ways. Of course, God reveals his message through his priests and priestesses. Preachers, clerics, imams, babalawos and mediums have been admonishing us for more than 50 years to get our path straight. We failed to listen and now we are collecting the wages of our sins. The prescription is obvious: “If my people who are called by name humble themselves and repent their sins, then I would hear them from heaven above and heal their land.”

    Arguing with a diagnosis that relies on an indemonstrable superior knowledge that is revealed to only a few is an exercise in futility. Still, there is one or two takeaways from the super-naturalistic diagnosis.  One can urge a commonsensical approach to our ailment without denying the role of God in the coming to being of Nigeria or any other entity.

    For instance, whether the human carnage of the civil war had a spiritualistic causation or a social explanation, we cannot deny the significance of a collective memorialisation of the civil war victims and victims of other incidents of mass violence. We would have also been better served by making genuine efforts for the full integration of every war victim toward a renewal of our common purpose.

    Secondly, we may even concede what is not proven, namely, that God has hands in the coming to being of Nigeria. From this, we must commonsensically infer that the God that facilitated the founding of the country also kindly made adequate provisions to sustain and prosper the new entity. Furthermore, God also gave his Nigerian creatures the knowledge and wisdom to utilise those material and mental provisions for their good. How have we fared in this matter? If we didn’t fail, there would be no ailment! The question why we fail needs an answer.

    A dangerous assumption is at the core of the super-naturalistic diagnosis and it is one that those in position of authority have accepted without question. It is the assumption that God’s work is unchangeable because it is as good as it gets. Therefore, we are urged not to tamper with the beauty of God’s creation.

    Now, if we follow this through to its logical conclusion, it would certainly undercut the basis of the argument that Nigeria is a creation of God. After all, no one denies that before Nigeria, there were God’s naturally created ethnic and linguistic entities including the Yoruba, Hausa, Fulani, Igbo, Edo, Tiv, Efik, Ijaw, and more than 200 others. If this is true, what is the basis of the claim that Nigeria was created by God? In the absence of a valid argument, we are left with the illogical argument that “Nigeria exists as an entity; therefore, God must have created it.” This is not different in form from the argument that “the ground is wet; therefore, it must have rained.”

    From the fact of its existence, the super-naturalist goes a step further if not in words, then in action and policy position: “What God has created must not be tampered with”. This may take two forms. First, you cannot redo or correct what God has done because, by nature, his work is perfect. Second, what God has put together for his own reason, which is always good, no human being or group must dismantle or dissolve. Neither of these will work if in fact in the case of Nigeria, its existence cannot be attributed to God’s original work of creation.

    But let us assume for the sake of argument that God caused or at least facilitated the creation of Nigeria. The first argument in the preceding paragraph will also not work because God is not against works that contribute to the advancement of his purpose. That is why parents have a divinely ordained responsibility to take care of their children. That is why God puts it in our mind to build health facilities to take care of the sick. Indeed, that is why God gave us the intellect to improve ourselves so we can live better lives. In the same manner, it is not straying away from God’s purpose to improve on the governance structures of the nation that he created.

    The second argument will also not work. Indeed, as is obvious, the argument here is a close cousin of the injunction to newly-weds and their families and friends: “what God has joined together, let no man put asunder.” If the establishment of a nation is like a marriage, then if a marriage cannot be dissolved, a nation cannot be disbanded.

    We know, however, that the belief in the indissolubility of a marriage is not always true. Not all marriages are divinely ordained or voluntarily entered. But even in the case of those voluntarily entered, any number of issues can arise that makes dissolution not only excusable but also mandatory. We understand that when there is imminent danger to the life of one or both parties to a marriage, it is time for the courts to intervene in favour of life. The same is true of nations put together by humans after God had created them as separate entities.

    We may conclude that the super-naturalist diagnosis is as wrong-headed as its prescription. The wise God rightly insists that faith without work is dead. Our work is to find the right prescription for our national ailment.

    (To be continued)

    Follow me on twitter:

    @SegunGbadeg2002

    @HarvestDayPubs

  • Hush! Our President is resting, don’t disturb

    This column had gotten into trouble early in the life of this administration. A crippling inertia had bedevilled the President Muhammadu Buhari (PMB) administration early in the day – from inauguration day on May 29, 2015 up to the end of that year. But not many noticed.

    The first 100 days often marked with fanfare and a showcasing of early results by most governments was dismissed gruffly as a no event by the PMB people.

    All the low-hanging fruits most new governments pick and process quickly were all lost on the new regime. The appointment of a new cabinet which often signposts the character and substance of any new helmsman as well as critical appointments to strategic positions could not be achieved in the first 100 days. Even some key agencies that drive socio-economic activities are still void of boards till today – almost two years of the PMB era.

    This column, befuddled and nonplussed at this crippling slow pace and loss of clear opportunities, wrote many pieces about it. Numerous easy wins were glaring but painfully neglected. One must have been branded to be among the ‘wailers’, who are impatient and seeking to stampede the new administration into derailing from its ‘methodical’ approach. Many readers all but branded this column a saboteur.

    One hundred days rolled into 200, and to one year going on to two. And everything goes from bad to worse. The exchange rate, the most critical indicator of the state of health of Nigeria’s economy galloped from N198 to a dollar to about N500 currently. And still rising. What this means, it must be said, is that in 18 months of PMB, the economy is in a complete mess. There is absolutely no justification for this ruinous slide other than sheer incompetence. Our expectations crashed, we wanted to see pithy changes happening quickly but, zilch!

    From the foregoing prognosis, every jigsaw may have fallen into place now with the ill-health of PMB becoming protracted and obvious. What all this betokens is that the President must have been seriously ill all this while. Recall that Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State raised the alarm about the President’s health in the heat of the 2015 electioneering, but Nigerians railed at him, drowning his (wake up) call in the politics of that moment. But the point remains that if PMB battles with a serious health situation he could never function at the optimum. This must explain the months of inertia when basic things seemed so difficult to execute and the country bled profusely.

    Today, it has all come to a head. The President’s illness cannot be concealed anymore and here we are told to watch and pray while he recuperates. Do not disturb, our president is resting: that is the bold sign place in our face. Yet we would naot be apprised with the true situation of our President’s health. From taking a 10-day annual leave to waiting for test results and now, to needing further time to rest.

     

    Of plastic rice and Indian ‘gari’

    The first point to note about the Indian garri discovered in a super market in Nigeria is that it is incorrectly spelt as ‘gari’ instead of garri. Last December, we were assailed by rumours of plastic rice emanating from China and dumped on our shores. But let’s not be overly alarmed as this place has long been the dumping ground of the world.

    From toxic waste to smelly fuel. Go to any supermarket or the new mega ones; they are filled with imported items – about 90% of over a thousand items you find in them are from other countries.

    While we feign alarm at the novelty of Indian ‘gari’, do we have a cassava industry or value chain? No. Do we not import over 80 per cent of what we eat still? Do we have a serious agric sector? No. Let’s get serious.

  • Breaking the chain of violence

    Breaking the chain of violence

    The nation is mired in crises. The economy is in shambles with runaway inflation and an unsustainable high rate of unemployment. There is a growing population of hungry men, women and children, hopeless and utterly dissatisfied with the status quo, a veritable breeding ground for pent-up anger, which on eruption, can generate irrational response from a populace on edge. This is the context of much of the chain of violence that has entangled the nation since the beginning of the present republic.

    There was the Ikeja cantonment bomb explosion that killed scores of citizens. There were the senseless ethnic clashes that caused the death and maiming of innocent citizens who were caught in the middle. There were protests and rallies which started peacefully but quickly escalated into rampage due to unprovoked violent intervention by security agents. In many of these cases, the maturity of citizens’ response prevented the crises from going from bad to worse.

    When maturity takes leave, however, the consequence is predictable. It is unfortunately the case with many of the incidents of protests involving young students reacting to some official conduct. Violence is almost always the first and last response.

    It is safe to assume that such a response, where and when it has occurred, has not always been deliberatively chosen by most participants in a rally or protest. It has always been a sizable minority that initiate the violence, presumably in angry reaction to frustrated expectations.

    In such cases, thoughtful adults have wondered aloud about the rationality of such responses which have only caused more harm to victims without any visible redeeming outcome. We try to understand the psychology of protests and the youthful appetite for disruption that they feed. Now these adults also need to take our young citizens seriously. We need to engage them in thinking through the choices that they make in their response to the choices that those in positions of power make.

    Thinking through our choices requires us to ask probing questions concerning the rightness or wrongness of the course we contemplate taking. Two ethical approaches can be brought to bear on the question of the justifiability of violence as a response to social disappointment. Is it ever fair and just? And does it work?

    The question of the justice or fairness of violent response to social disappointment emanating from unacceptable policy, conduct or inaction by government agents can be easily answered. Almost always, the victims of violent reactions are innocent citizens who have also been victims of the original wrong that is being protested. With the violent reaction of colleagues purporting to right the original wrong, the innocent victims of the original wrong are doubly impacted. Consider the case of petty traders who get their stores vandalised and looted during protests. That is certainly unfair.

    Perhaps we should not bother about fairness or injustice. Following the Chief Priest who insisted on the execution of innocent Christ Jesus, we might justify the suffering of the innocent by appeal to the disproportionate amount of benefit that accrues to society as a result. In other words, the suffering of innocent victims of violent protests would be adequately compensated for by the good outcome of the violence for many members of the society.

    That would be the utilitarian argument. From this perspective, the justifiability of violence comes down to its effectiveness as a response to social disappointment. But does it work? The answer to this question can only be empirically determined and unfortunately for the utilitarian supporter of that cause of action, it doesn’t.

    If violence works it would have effected drastic changes in our society a long time ago and there would be no need for the kind of protests and rallies that have turned violent in recent times. And the fact that such cases keep recurring despite our predilection to violence, appears to suggest that violent response has been ineffective in forcing change.

    I do not want to be misunderstood. First, I am fully conscious of the fact that occasions that force protests and rallies that turn violent can be particularly offensive and inhuman, ranging from a military personnel’s abuse of power leading to the death of an innocent student, or a careless commercial driver killing an innocent pedestrian, or the uncaring attitude of a hospital staff towards a critically sick person leading to a preventable death. These are demonstrably unfair and thus condemnable. My point, however, is that as odious as such conducts are, violent reaction does not work and it could be counter-productive.

    Second, I also know fully well that peaceful protests and rallies are the bedrock of public engagement with their government. This was clear in my submission on democracy and dissent in this column a couple of weeks ago. And what is more, I am fully aware that violence is not the intent of protests and rallies against unacceptable official policy or conduct. However, due diligence is warranted on the part of protest organisers to avoid the degeneration of peaceful protests into violent disturbance which ends up taking the centre stage in the aftermath of the original incident. Violence is blamed while the original social harm takes the back seat.

    The immediate impetus for this discussion today was the tragic death of a young student of the Federal University of Minna. Mr. Olalekan Emmanuel slumped on the soccer pitch and was rushed to the university’s health centre where he unfortunately died. While the health centre authorities claimed that the student was pronounced dead upon arrival, his peers accused the workers of the centre of negligence. The students claimed that the workers left Emmanuel unattended for 30 minutes before he died.

    There is no denying the fact that our public institutions, including health, security, and government are incubators of human monsters whose only claim to humanity is their physical appearance. Many of those who voluntarily sign up for positions that require compassion as key quality have no milk of mercy in their veins. This is especially true of some nurses and physicians. What the students allege in the case of Emmanuel is certainly not beyond what can happen in situations where human life means nothing to those who have trained and sworn to an oath to promote health.

    If the allegation of the students turns out to be true, it will not be the first time. It may also not be the last time. Meanwhile, a young soul with a future ahead of him would have been cut down prematurely. Therefore, if it was true, the action of the health centre workers is reprehensible and whoever is found responsible must be punished. But this is something that cannot be decided without an adequate investigation, which takes time. And because cases of negligence have become rampant in our society, the patience of young people can be tasked beyond their capacity for tolerance.

    The students’ reaction, however, leaves much to be desired. They were alleged to have gone on rampage, set ablaze the school’s clinic and “vandalised the school libraries, lecture rooms, a female hostel and a microfinance bank on the campus.” In the first place, the vandalism disrespects the memory of Emmanuel. A decent candle light vigil that honours the departed student and calls attention to the state of the health centre and the offending workers would have been a dignified response to the tragedy.

    In the second place, the burning down of the clinic, while it may satisfy some irrational urge for revenge or expression of anger, is unfair because innocent students will continue to suffer if the clinic remains inoperable, and it has no utilitarian value. If any worker is found culpable and is to be punished it will not be because the clinic is burned down. Therefore, the violent response has no deterrence effect.

    In the specific case of the death of Olalekan Emmanuel, the authorities of the institution need to conduct an open investigation. There is also the need for an investigation into the rampage that erupted thereafter. The chain of violence needs to be broken for the good of society and citizens.

     

    • Follow me on twitter:

    @SegunGbadeg2002

    @HarvestDayPubs

  • America’s ‘corrupt’ era, lessons for PMB

    Simon Cameron was a godfather during the civil war American politics. He was the lord, so to speak, of his home state Pennsylvania. His political machine held the state spellbound for decades making him both the king and kingmaker in state and federal politics.

    As a testimony to his dominance of his territory, he was a three-time senator over a cumulative 18 years; making him probably longest-serving senator in his days. In fact, he left the seat only when he had made sure that his son would succeed him.

    Orphaned early in life and with little education, he moved to Washington where he was self-trained, working as a printer, newspaperman, editor and publisher; buying and running the Republican at only 25. He later veered into business, building railroads and owning a bank in his early 30s. Having made much wealth, he joined politics, moved to Pennsylvania and began a public life that was at once remarkable and infamous.

    Cameron was notable for being corrupt and he made no bones about it. His famous quote is; ‘An honest politician is one who when bought, remains bought.’ He started out as a Democrat but soon crossed over to a smaller party from which he joined the Republican Party in 1856.

    When President Abraham Lincoln was to make him Secretary of War as part of a political deal, there was public outcry considering  Cameron’s corrupt ways. This had elicited the famous quote from Thaddeus Stevens, a Pennsylvania congressman, who in counselling Lincoln about Cameron had said; ‘’I don’t think that he would steal a red hot stove.’’

    To buttress Cameron’s odious public image he had sought a retraction from Stevens who then made the famous retort to the president, ‘’I believe I told you he would not steal a red hot stove. I will now take that back.’’

    However, because of his overwhelming influence in his state, Cameron got the job anyway but he lasted barely one year.

    He got other appointments but none lasted because his public persona was quite suffocating even in that era. Notwithstanding, he remained the kingpin of Penns politics till the end of his life.

    The original title of this piece was to be ‘’Salvaging the Buhari presidency.’’ But the above illustration from the American environment of the Lincolnian era – 1861-1865 — is to illustrate that the Nigerian situation of today may not be unlike USA of 1800. There was a civil war and institutions were still at formative stages. It would thus appear like a jungle setting in which only the fittest survived.

    It is not unlike Nigeria of today and our situation seems to deteriorate rapidly with successive governments. Then Muhammadu Buhari came along.

    Many of us had sworn by the Buhari presidency. Some of us were so sure that if this was not the ‘messiah’, it must be something quite close. We had been starved of honest, principled leadership for so long that we would have pledged our manhood to have one. One more tenure of a rudderless presidency was unthinkable.

    The Buhari presidency and his party’s change chant was refreshing to anyone who had an ounce of love for this land. However, about three to six months after inauguration, it became apparent that we had made a mistake once again in the quest to find a capable captain for our wind-tossed ship.

    It wasn’t that PMB had become less principled and honest overnight or that the fabled ghouls of Aso Rock had seized the soul of the president upon his stepping across that rarefied threshold of power. We simply found out that we were victims of our own zeal – the blind desire to install a president according to our own image.

    Most of us thought that stellar personal character, honesty of purpose and stoic lifestyle were the touchstones for successful national leadership, but alas, how mistaken, if not foolish we have turned out to be. We all must accept responsibility and indeed culpability for this debacle. We have proved to lack discernment, insight and the requisite ingredients for critical leadership selection.

    Character may indeed be key, but other variables, such as political pragmatism, efficiency, sense of urgency and a single-minded focus on results all must combine to deliver that wholesome broth of leadership needed to build a nation. PMB has been all about character in the last 20 months and his presidency has floundered, seeming to fail irretrievably if he continues on the current trajectory.

    To safe the Buhari presidency; it is bad enough that PMB is assailed by ill health but he should simply delegate and indeed devolve power as he did in his first coming. He has a vice president who can do much of the leg work and even work from the shop floor. He must retreat a little to the background and allow his cabinet run.

    Two; he must reshuffle his team quick. Apart from a couple of them like the minister of power, works and housing, most other appointees look like they still can’t find their way around the sprawling federal secretariat. There is an urgent need to press brighter minds and nimbler feet to work.

    Three; we must immediately change tactics in the current anti-graft war. Enough of Ibrahim Magu’s cops-and-robbers approach to solving a grave national malaise. It is not working and it never will work. It has indeed become counter-productive. For the umpteenth time let us re-work the system to make stealing from the treasury become nigh impossible.

    Four; some of the critical factors for driving change in the economy are still not being activated. Agriculture sector remains tepid and we still import major food and staple, such as rice, wheat, poultry, fish, milk, cooking oils and tomato paste. We must drastically cut the importation of these essential items by all means. That task force on price ought to be a task force to produce, preserve and package food.

    Five; the economy and the oil and gas sector need fresh pep. The management of our currency has been less than plucky. Oil and gas remains in the doldrums with no fresh ideas or projects in two years.

    But more debilitating is that the mindset of the rump of administration is warped. Not delivering much about two years after but continues to escape into yesterday, blaming the past government for its inability to think through the woes of the populace today.

     

    Babachir and the pro-Buhari crowd

    The other day, some compatriots led by music star, Tuface Idibia, who sought to protest the excruciating hardship that has become pervasive in the country were harangued and denied. But Tuesday, a pro-Muhammadu Buhari rally nearly marched straight into the Exco chamber until someone remembered how ridiculous an act it was.

    It was bad enough that they were allowed near the precincts of the Presidential Villa, the remarks by the SGF Babachir Lawal was most troubling.

    He said: ‘’Baba Buhari did not anticipate the problem that we are in. I am sure you all are aware. The people who caused this problem are the ones challenging the government… I tell you they will fail… in fact they have failed.

    ‘’You are aware of the economy that the president inherited, the economy in which revenues have virtually collapsed. The infrastructure is nowhere to be seen. The roads were dilapidated. The schools were dilapidated. Hospitals were abandoned…

    On and on, the same banal excuse is what we have harvested in two years but alas, even the articulation of these are vastly depreciated if not dilapidated as can be gleaned from the quote above. We must raise the game.

  • The corner stone of the house

    The corner stone of the house

    It was a conglomerate of crème de la crème of Nigerian Society in Osogbo, Osun State Capital, last Sunday. The scene was that of a galaxy of royal fathers from all parts of the country, high caliber Muslim clerics, top serving and retired government functionaries, prominent Southwest spiritual and temporal chieftains, distinguished heads of Muslim organisation,  reputable professionals and Muslim women of timber and caliber.

    The occasion was that of a prayer for Nigeria’s peace, security and development as well as for President Muhammadu Buhari’s health recovery. It was at the instance of Osun State’s Muslim Community in honour of Alhaji (Dr.) S. O. Babalola, OON, the President of the Muslim Ummah of South West Nigeria (MUSWEN) and President General of Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA). The Sultan of Sokoto and President General of NSCIA, His Eminence, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar CFR, mni was present as the special guest of honour. He was accompanied by the Secretary-General, NSCIA, Professor Is-haq Olanrewaju Oloyede and a retinue of Emirs, Obas and Obis.

     

    How it went

    The Governor of the State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola  was the Chief Host. He was accompanied by his wife, Alhaja Sherifat Aregbesola, His Deputy, Mrs. Grace Titi-Laoye and a number of government functionaries. The Chairman of the Occasion was a onetime Inspector-General of Police, Alhaji Musliu Smith while the Chief Missioner of Ansar-Ud-Deen Society of Nigeria, Sheikh Abdur-Rahman Ahmad delivered the moving lecture of the day. The multipurpose Hall that served as the venue of the occasion (the first of its type in the South West of Nigeria) is an evidence of the dynamism of Osun State Muslim Community. The history of that Community will be presented in this column in the foreseeable future, in sha’Allah.

     

    Who is Dr. Babalola?

    The question on the lips of many people who attended the occasion was the one above: Who is Dr. Babalola? This one million naira question can be best answered by the citation of the great man written by yours sincerely and entitled ‘THE CORNER STONE’. It went thus:

    “This is a citation and not a summary of a biography. It is the citation of one of our iconic leaders who is eminently qualified to be cited from the pack. This citation is unconventional. Unlike other citations, its emphasis is neither on the date and place of birth nor on the schools attended and the certificates obtained. It is rather a citation from which most of us are supposed to learn how to keep the track of life without falling by the way side.

    If, on an occasion like this, we come up with a citation that talks about the date and birth of a personality we gather here to honour today, it will just be a repetition of what we had been hearing. If we talk about schools he attended or certificates he obtained, it will be a mere rhetoric as usual. If we talk about his marital status or business life, it will only remind us of others like him. If we call him a philanthropist and list his chains of philanthropic gestures we may only end up clapping with a standing ovation and pouring a flattering encomium on the cited personality. Any of the above can only lead us to losing sight on the real essence of this unique citation.

     

    The words of an elder

    In the introduction to his autobiography entitled ‘My Odyssey’ and published in 1970, the first President of Nigeria, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, had the following to say about human sojourn on earth:

    “Man comes into the world and while he lives, he embarks upon a series of activities absorbing experience which enables him to formulate a philosophy of life and to chart his courses of action. But then, he dies. Nevertheless, his biography remains a guide to those of the living who may need guidance either as a warning on the vanity of human wishes or as encouragement or both.” That philosophical assertion is not about an age group or a gender or an era. It is about all of these together. The elders’ words shall never cease to be words of wisdom.

     

    The rejected stone

    “While man’s desires and aspirations stir, he cannot choose but err; yet, in his erring journey through the night, instinctively, he travels toward the light”. By Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe.

    The above poem is the parable of a rejected stone that has turned out to be the cornerstone of the house. Those who can still remember the history of Prophet Ismail, (the first son of Prophet Ibrahim) should be able to recall that he was once rejected from his parents’ home and banished to a desert asylum.  Today, see the outcome of that episode in the everlasting uniqueness of Hajj as the fifth pillar of Islam. As it was in the primordial time, so it is in the contemporary time.

    We have a man in our midst here today, whose rising profile has enabled us to know that the purpose of human life is not just to live and be happy. Beneath many days of happy mood are some nights of tears. That is the secret of human experience which should serve as the first lesson for future leaders. That man is Dr. Babalola, OON, who combines humility with conscience to form an identity by which he is generally known. That is an identity that clearly distinguishes a man of honour from men of wealth. We should all know that humility based on conscience is the most active cursor of piety.

     

    His rising profile

    Perhaps, if Dr. Babalola had not been rejected as a local chieftain he would not have emerged as the President of the Muslim Ummah of the South West Nigeria (MUSWEN) which is the umbrella body for all Muslim organizations in the South West region of this country. And if he had not become the President of MUSWEN, he would probably not have risen to the post of Deputy President-General (South) of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA). What could have made this possible besides destiny through the guidance of Allah?

    Now, if, in the course of reading citation, we trace the background of this man to any school or any madrasah he attended at his early age of his life, what lesson are we to learn from that? If we describe him as one of the foremost but quiet philanthropists currently, and list the chains of his philanthropic gestures, what uniqueness can we derive from that for him? If we say here that he is married with children and he gave those children qualitative education how does that make his life different from the lives of his peers? All those are a common feature of common citations often presented publicly, sometimes, to the boredom of the audience.

     

    The difference he makes

    What actually makes conspicuous difference in this man’s life, which only a few people are able to focus, is his ability to identify, early in life, the factors of equanimity in human life. Those factors are contained in a poetic axiom succinctly coined by an American statesman and intellectual of renown, Williams Webster, who had the following to say in a stanza:

    “If we work marble it will perish; if we work upon brass, time will efface it; if we rear temples, they will crumble into dust; but if we work upon immortal minds, and instill in them just principles, we are then engraving that upon tablets which no time can efface but will brighten into all eternity”.

    That is the guiding principle adopted by Dr. Babalola who rose from the dungeon of obscurity to a high pedestal of limelight despite all odds. But he added an addendum of his own to that principle. That addendum is that to be happy in life, you must make others happy. And to live in peace, you must ventilate a peaceful environment for others. Happiness is based on peace and peace from man to man is reciprocal.

    Thus, Dr. Babalola, rising to become a towering leader was not by fortuity. He had painstakingly studied the qualities of a good leader and he has patiently imbibed those qualities through self-discipline and divinely guided inspiration.

     

    Qualities of  a good leader

    If you care to know, the qualities of good leadership which together form the ladder that this great man has mounted to this stage of his life, here they are: Meaningful focus, interminable patience, relentless confidence, untamable courage, inspired innovation, natural humility, irrepressible endurance, insubordinate assiduity, divinely-guided self-motivation, impeccable resilience, enviable transparency, unequaled generosity, plausible accountability, undeniable authenticity, intractable decisiveness, absolute contentment and of course, unpolluted conscience.

     

    Questions

    Now, which of these qualities cannot be found in this man? And which of them should not be emulated by young men and women who are aspiring to be leaders tomorrow? This reminds one of a stanza in the poem of an Arab poet thus:

    “He is not a man whoever relies on the achievements of his parents to exhibit pride; a man indeed is he who can stand out of the pack with his head raised, and say: here I am today, despite all odds of life”.

    Today, at the peak of his ladder of excellence Dr. Babalola has become a school for those who want to study the ladder of life and how to mount it to the peak. You can now see why this citation is said to be unconventional.  This is what a citation should be to enable future leaders to learn from it in preparation for the mantle of leadership.

     

    Conclusion

    Your Excellency, the Governor of the State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola; Your Eminence, the Sultan of Sokoto and President-General of Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, CFR, mni; Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, distinguished guests here present, kindly permit me to round off this citation with a prayer that was once offered poetically by an American woman (J.Walch) who dedicated her entire life to the service of humanity and died on it. That prayer has since become a daily rhyme for Baba Babalola in words and in action. It goes thus:

    “God make my life a little staff, upon which the weak may rest, that what so health and wealth I have may serve my neighbours best”.

    We pray the Almighty Allah to preserve Baba’s life and imbue him with continued sound health, guidance and protection, that he may serve the Muslim Ummah for long. Amin.

  • Purposeful unity

    Purposeful unity

    The continuing public show of unity by Southwest governors is a thing of joy. This is especially because unity is what has eluded the zone for so long even at those times, in the current republic, when the zone was (or almost) under the control of one party, first between 1999 and 2003 and then between 2003 and 2007.

    Of course, we cannot afford to overdramatise, or be sheepishly carried away by, what is happening at the gubernatorial level. It may just be a case of ardent political enemies presenting a common front in public to deceive the electorate. Or maybe it is probably just a group of self-interested politicians selling themselves to the public as self-consciously concerned with the progressive development of the entire zone when in fact they are simply each looking out for self. Is Fayose not seeking a way out of his present troubles with EFCC? Or is Mimiko not just seeking redemption?

    The cynics who indulge in such thoughts are not to blame. The environment in which politics has been conducted in the last 17 years leaves much to be desired. What is coming out of various investigations and prosecutions confirm the suspicion of many that some individuals go into politics simply for personal gains. And so, we cannot expect that the selfless efforts of some are going to change many minds.

    But there is a clear danger inherent in such attitude. As our forebears know so well, if you choose to close your eyes to avoid witnessing the passing of the evil ones, you may also miss it when the good ones pass by. More to the present discourse: if you are tuned off by past disappointments, you may miss out on optimistic outlook for the future.

    Despite the misgivings of the cynic, there are good reasons for a positive reaction to the new development. First, that politicians could be self-interested is not just an old cliché; it has always been the belief of far too many citizens and electorate. In the Southwest, especially, we tend to rule out the possibility of genuinely honest people-oriented politicians until they are no longer with us. That was the fate of Chief Obafemi Awolowo, who, despite his self-denying attention to the public good, was loathed by the self-centred ones. But the people got to know his intention for them, that it was good and not evil.

    Second, we must not be too cynical as to rule out the possibility of a change of heart even in those that we may have given up on. If a Saul could become a Paul, there is nothing beyond the capacity of the one who is beyond human comprehension. And when he is ready to use his creatures for the purpose that he created them, they have no right of refusal. I believe that this is the time. And what is needed from the rest of us is encouragement.

    Third, our governors have held two meetings. The first was hosted by Governor Ajimobi of the All Progressives Congress (APC), while the second was hosted by Governor Fayose of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). At both events, the focus of the meeting was on the development agenda for the Southwest.

    The communiques at both events point to their sense of urgency about this matter. Even if belated, they have come to the realisation that the Southwest must not rely on old glory which appears to have faded but must now embrace the future that is beckoning. That future is not one in which there is a prominent role for the black gold to play. Rather, it is one in which the stone of agricultural revolution that had been unwisely rejected must now be the corner stone of the new industrial building.

    The communique from the last meeting of the governors is especially heartening because it demonstrates the commitment of the governors to regional integration, an indispensable strategy for development in an age of dwindling and disappearing federal revenue. The present national economic malaise is just a constant reminder of the fragility of a federation in which the constituents are forced into a dependent relationship which unfortunately they have each embraced as long as the revenue keeps flowing. Now that it has stopped, it is time each addressed the question of its identity and survival.

    Unfortunately, however, each state cannot adequately address that question because of the significant issue of economies of scale. On the other hand, for every challenge, there is also a redeeming feature. The balkanization of natural entities into artificial administrative blocks, which captures the military exercise in state creation has been responsible for the precarious situation in which many of our states exist today. That is coupled with the emergence of leaders in the guise of emperors or lords of the manor who see their states as fiefdoms. A third force has been the hypocritical position of some who, insisting on a one-nation policy, nonetheless vigorously pursue their regional or zonal interests while discouraging same approach on the part of others. It is not too late that the Southwest is only now waking up to the reality.

    According to the communique from their meeting, the governors agreed to set up a Regional Technical Working Group (TWG) on Integrated Infrastructural Development to facilitate the development of transportation in the region. This is a no-brainer. They also approved the report of a Lagos State-hosted workshop on security and law and order. We will not raise the pertinent question: what took so long? For again, it is better late than never.

    Significantly, the governors also adopted the Southwest Regional Integrated Commercial Agriculture Development Programme and assigned to Lagos State the task of championing a structured regional food exchange programme. It is remarkable that a state with limited land acreage is saddled with this responsibility. But it is not a surprise in view of how Governor Ambode has determined to make food sufficiency a priority for the state. Think LAKE Rice. Now the future of LAYO Rice, LASUN Rice, LODO Rice, LOGUN Rice, indeed ODUA Rice! is within the realm of reality.

    Apart from bread and butter issues, it is gratifying that the governors also zeroed in on the declining moral standard across the land and agreed to put in place “structures to manage the loss of values and virtues in the society.” While some may find the language of “managing the loss of values and virtues” escapist, I understand the ultimate purpose as the promotion and rejuvenation of values and virtues that had seen the region through and underwritten its triumphs in the face of serious obstacles. We did not win in the competition for the first place in all development indices without due attention to the requirements of moral virtues and the standard of omoluabi.

    The governors are up to a new start in regional development and the rebirth of a renewed sense of pride across the region. The question remains: what can go wrong?

    As far as I can see, there is only one monster that can scuttle all these efforts. It’s called partisan politics and it is lurking around the corner. The first test of the resilience and determination of the current players will come from Ekiti and Osun states when the gubernatorial elections sneak in. How will they fare? Will they succumb to the politics of self-interest? Or will they think big and embrace the politics of the common good of the region? This is the question that each must have to answer.

    At the first meeting of the governors in Ibadan, Governor Amosun of Ogun State placed his hands right on the elephant in the room. He urged the governors to “shed their political differences” and noted that “the political differences of the governors of the region should not be a hindrance to exploring the economic possibilities in each state using comparable advantages as measuring index.” These are pleasant words to the ears.

    The new resolve of Southwest governors promises a new era of purposeful unity in the zone. They must not let partisan politics stymie their efforts.

     

    Follow me on Twitter:

    @SegunGbadeg2002

    @HarvestDayPubs

  • Wike and the Rivers conundrum

    The situation in Rivers State in the last few years doesn’t lend itself to rationality or even commonsense. The bitter rivalry between leading personalities in the state has blossomed into political, ethnic and even communal feuds the wounds of which would take some time to heal.

    It may be inelegant to state that Rivers over these years, is akin to a gang land enclave but the state is like no other in the land and it has been so for quite some time. It is as volatile as a tinder go. Elections are zero-sum, winner-takes all game. It has been so for some time.

    It is perhaps the most buoyant corner of Nigeria with over five decades of rich crude oil mining. It boasts of a mixed race of Igbo, Kalabari and Ogoni stocks with historical enclaves known as War Houses. But the stupendous wealth occasioned by vast crude oil dollars has seen warlords replace the hitherto well-structured community War Houses.

    In the last two decades, armed gangs, abductors and militants spawned in the paved streets of Port Harcourt have coalesced in the creeks and waters of the oil-rich Niger-Delta from whence they create republics of their own – abducting expatriates, disrupting flow-stations and bursting oil and gas pipes.

    Mercantilist international oil companies in cahoots with weak and narrow-minded leaders have ensured that Rivers State (as epicentre) and the entire delta zone of Nigeria remains a living Golgotha. It is in the light of this grim background that one attempts a review of the state of Rivers State today.

    Exactly six months ago, one had been part of the Nigerian Guild of Editors conference held in Port Harcourt. No few than 200 editors gathered in the heart of the city for about a week brainstorming over the affairs of the nation and the Guild and eventually doing a guided tour of key projects of Governor Nyesom Wike’s administration.

    We were shown huge impressive projects at various levels of formation. Personally, leading editors to some of these sites across the state, the governor was quite boisterous and elated showcasing his busy sites.

    And they were indeed busy and more remarkably, large work sites. He came across to me then as a man who likes his things large and even gross. Bridges cutting through creeks (I still retain images of piles and piles of pipes and iron rods littering various such site); dual-carriage roads cutting through virgin hinterland areas; an expanded and modernised multipurpose sports centre and a vast recreation park.

    These are a few of the images one still remembers after a long day of touring projects. Gov. Wike and his cabinet members were happy with themselves of course; members of the Guild were impressed by what may be descried as an impressive array of work-in-progress. But I was not impressed. I had been inured by numerous such great sights and sites that ended up a farce. Of course I couldn’t bring myself to write on such exploits then. Let’s wait and see, was the self-counsel.

    There was also a much strenuous effort to show that Port Harcourt was secured and safe in negation of rampant reports of violent crimes and kidnapping. We were literaly made to walk about the city-centre unchaperoned- some of us with our hearts in our mouth. But nary one of us hit his foot against a rock.

    It was a tale of glory and triumph as we departed to our various destinations. Governor Rauf Aregbesola was there also and he sang the same pleasant tune about peacefulness in a land marked to be far-removed from paradise. Aregbe’s trepidations must have found succor in the silky embrace of Port Harcourt welcome and hospitality. By his admission he didn’t feel less at home and he was indeed, minded to stay overnight.

    All these happened about six months ago. Who can fathom how much difference a few months can make in the life of an enclave? A most turbulent one at that. Apart from the 2015 general election which can be denoted as a blistering battle of giants, the National Assembly rerun elections last December is no doubt something of a final epiphany which nonetheless is still simmering. Accusations have welled up to counter even more accusations. There was fire and firings; there was blood and blood letting in an epic turf battle that defied method or logic. Rivers is a seething conundrum or cauldron if you like.

    But sandwiched between the gladiators are Rivers people – beleaguered and hapless. Now cannon fodder, now fodder cannon. Strangers in paradise; parched in a land suffused with milk and honey. Who is minding the gap? How adequately?

    The last time one checked with folks in Port Harcourt, the people seem to be happy with their ebullient, rambunctious governor. This is of course a tough call, but residents and those who know Port Harcourt attest to a visible transformation happening at a speed some of them did not expect or imagine – not from a man under a whirl storm.

    It sure would be difficult for people outside Rivers State to accept that anything good would come out of Rivers State now, but the reality, one can confirm, is a pleasant surprise. Zamfara State Governor, Abdullaziz Yari, who is of a different party was awe-stricken upon a recent visit to Port Harcourt the point that he became effusive in his laudation of Wike.

    There is a litany of completed projects – roads especially. Innovations have been imbued the revenue collection system and IGR has reported doubled to about N10 billion, added to Federal allocation, this is enormous cash by any measure – far more than many State earn per annum.

    It is said that adversity brings out the best in us. But whether Wike is driven to work like ‘crazy’ by a chequered environment or he is in his true element, time shall tell. However, of importance is that Rivers people get their ‘deliverables’ delivered.

    More important however, the man in the arena, Governor Wike, has ample opportunity to repair the State and heal her wounds. What’s to be done? Since poverty and privation remain at the root of so much strive and internecine feuds. The governor must do more by being more accountable and transparent. He must adopt an inclusive and integrated approach to the development of the State. What this means is that he must put the local councils at work and make them work furiously and accountably as possibly. The result of this will not only be most salutary to the State but to his career and legacy. Quality governance is the antidote to most of Nigeria’s problems.

    Rivers State needs not be a conundrum; a perpetually boiling cauldron. Can Wike break the duck?

     

    Fashola: The trial of ‘Power Mike’

    This tag is my wife’s special badge for Babatunde Raji Fashola since he was handed three large epaulets in this administration. The immediate past (exemplary) Governor of Lagos State now heads three merged Ministries of Power, Works and Housing.

    Each time power snaps when you are needing it the most, she would exclaim: Power Mike, how far?

    Power supply has been at its nadir in the new year and one has never seen BRF so harried. The more he explains, the more people yell and whimper at the same time. Listening carefully to him though, it is apparent that he is on top of the situation. From BRF’s antecedent, he is not one to sleep and snore when there is a pressing issue at hand. He says many transmission projects are completed or nearing completion; he says government is working on the debt overhang bedevilling the power sector especially in the gas end of the value chain. Suffice to say that if anyone can fix Nigeria’s power sector, it’s BRF.

    Those who are observant can see work going on frantically in the Works sector: not in a long time have we witnessed many highways under construction in Nigeria.

  • Democracy and dissent

    Democracy and dissent

    Let us start with some obvious facts which are nonetheless too easy to overlook. First, this country has been operating an unsustainable model of development for a long time. We have behaved as if we can survive and prosper on a mono-economy even when we have evidence that points to the insanity of such a belief.

    Second, in what appears as a deliberate decision to tempt God, we unwisely live beyond our means. We breed without moderation, we consume what we do not produce, and the nation and citizens are not ashamed of our dependence on others.

    Third, at the beginning of the present republic, the leadership realised that a reset button needed to be pressed and efforts were made to reorient the public to a new economic reality of saving and economic diversification. But it was not a huge success.

    Fourth, in the last six years, the administration only engaged the reverse gear in the matter of savings and diversification such that most of the foreign reserve was gone and we had nothing to show for it.

    This was what the present administration inherited and is now saddled with correcting. The Buhari administration knows that as of May 29, 2015, it was in charge and the left-overs from the past administration, including its liability and credit, are now its responsibility.

    To its credit, the administration has taken up the challenge even if it has not succeeded to get the economy back to normalcy. What the administration sees as the fundamental problem is the mono-economy that it inherited, and the question it has attempted to address is “how can this situation be fixed and turned around?” Its answer, as far as I understand, is that we have to not only diversify but also localise.

    More to the point, localisation is construed as a component of diversification. First, we need to go back to our agricultural roots, and encourage production for both internal consumption and exportation for much needed foreign exchange, which must be used not for conspicuous consumption, but for investment in industrial production.

    Second, from the play-book of the administration, we know that it is also focused on the exploration of other mineral resources such that we have additional foreign exchange earning power. Finally, it knows that neither of these can succeed without waging a successful war against the foremost enemy of progress, namely, corruption in all its ramification.

    Now, none of the listed agenda items is a quick fix, as the administration has come to realise. Almost two years into its four-year term, the government is still battling a head-wind in each of its areas of focus. And the deleterious effect of the inherited liabilities, including unemployment, hunger, crime, and apathy, is still biting hard. It is therefore understandable that dissatisfaction with the status quo is as intense as it is.

    In the circumstance, what should be the attitude of a progressive government to the kind of protests that recently erupted in parts of the country?

    To my mind, progressives should unapologetically and unflinchingly support organised protests and dissent on matters of importance to citizens simply because democracy thrives when citizens are actively engaged in the political process. The height of engagement occurs when, notwithstanding their support for the government, citizens publicly demonstrate their objections to certain of its policies.

    A government that is not progressive in name only, but is also truly committed to the fundamental ideals of progressive governance, cannot consistently antagonise or discourage such protests. There will be various interpretations of the performance of the Buhari administration with regard to its handling of the last protests. Did it pass the test of consistency? Did it fall into the temptation of muscle flexing and rolling out the tanks? The fact that Acting President Osinbajo and his team did not succumb to that temptation is meritorious and it deserves commendation.

    The suggestion that democracy thrives with the active engagement of citizens is consistent with the fundamental understanding of democracy as the government of the people by the people and for the people. This definition implies that democracy is people-centred. If it is a government of the people, then the people must take full control, albeit through their representatives. But those representatives may fail to represent their interests adequately. Should the people then resign themselves to their fate or fall on their swords? None of the founders of liberal democracy thought so. They understand that the people have a right to take control.

    The justification for the active engagement of citizens does not rest only on the vested interest they are assumed to have in good governance. It is also anchored in the belief that government functionaries do not have the monopoly of wisdom and are as subject to mistakes as are citizens. At every level of government—federal, state, and local—policies are developed for the benefit of the people. But the proponents of those policies are humans without a justifiable ground for pretentiousness. The people, on whose behalf they initiate those policies, reserve the right to correct them, and true democrats must have the humility to acknowledge their mistakes and change course.

    Consider, for instance, the case of the economic policies—fiscal and monetary—in the wake of the fall in oil revenue and the attending consequences for business and employment. There is no denying the fact that there is suffering in the land and government has acknowledged that the economy is in recession.

    For citizens, however, this acknowledgement is only the beginning. The question on their mind is: what is government doing? And is it working? They understand that the Buhari administration is not responsible for the acts of the last administration that created the condition. They worry, however, if government is prepared to change course toward a more effective approach.

    Hungry people are angry people, and there is a limit to the patience that can be expected of them. Hunger displaces every other potential occupant of the mind, giving way to rage and fury. This is what we have been witnessing across the land from local government buildings to state legislatures and now to the centre. There is nothing strange or unwholesome about it.

    There is, however, much more that can be accomplished beyond rallies and protests. If it is true that citizens do not buy the idea that government functionaries have a monopoly of wisdom in the matter of policy-making, and if those functionaries also have the sense of humility to admit their limitations, then, citizens have a duty not just to protest but also to offer alternatives for consideration.

    It is not too much to expect, for instance, that one of the positive outcomes of the last protests and rallies would be a presentation to the National Assembly and to the Office of the President, a well-reasoned memorandum that presents an alternative proposal for the recovery of the economy. Surely, the government has the responsibility for setting the economic agenda. But we all have a stake in it since the pursuit of particular agenda has outcomes that affect everyone. It is not therefore out of line for a concerned citizenry to present thoughtful proposals for the consideration of those in power.

    What is being suggested here is not out of the ordinary. In the tumultuous days of nationalist struggles for independence, the fertile minds of our nationalist forebears, even prior to the establishment of political parties, were always ahead of the colonial masters in the formulation of ideas for the governance of the country. The Nigerian Youth Movement was a veritable source of virile agitation backed by thoughtful proposals that the government had to struggle to reject.

    In our time, we tend to leave every aspect of governance to government, probably also because experience with military dictators have discouraged us from active involvement. But a democratic government is, or at least ought to be, different. A progressive administration must especially be humble enough to know that the people have a reservoir of wisdom from which it can benefit. Needless to add, government’s success is measured by the peoples’ well-being.

     

    Follow me on twitter:

    @SegunGbadeg2002

    @HarvestDayPubs

  • Iran versus Trump’s U.S.

    Information

    All roads will lead to Osogbo, the capital of Osun State this Sunday.

    The big event is a national prayer for Nigeria’s security and development. It is organized by Osun State Muslim Community in honour of His Excellency, Alhaji (Dr. S. O. Babalola recently, the President of the Muslim Ummah of South West Nigeria who also became the Deputy

    President General (South) of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA).

    His Eminence Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, CFR, mni, the Sultan of Sokoto and President General, of NSCIA will be present at the Occasion as the Special Guest of Honour while a former Inspector General of Nigeria Police, Alhaji Musliu Smith will be the Chairman of the occasion.  The Governor of the State, His Excellency, Ogbeni Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola will be the Chief Host.

    Other prominent personalities expected at the occasion are Judge

    (Prince) Abdul Jabbar Bola Ajibola, the Proprietor of Crescent

    University and Chairman, Board of Trustees of MUSWEN. Also to be present are traditional rulers from all parts of Yorba Land, including His Royal Majesty, the Ooni of Ife.

    The League of Imams and Alfas of Yoruba Land will be led by its President General, Sheikh Jamiu Kewulere Bello, who will accompanied by a retinue of Muslim scholars.

    The grand prayer which will be held at the secretariat of the Muslim Community of Osun State at Ring Road, West ern Bypass will commence at 10.am prompt.

     

    Background of the faceoff

    About two years ago, Al-Jazeera Television Cable Network throbbed with breaking news, saying that a United States military aircraft strayed into the airspace of Iran and the latter promptly responded by shooting it down. Iran announced another of the like a few days after.

    This disturbing development further aggravated the tension between both countries which started in 1979 with the Iranian revolution that uprooted the country’s imperial despotism that had caged the citizens of that country for decades.

    In reaction, the US authorities explained that the destination of the shot aircraft was Afghanistan but its pilots lost control and strayed into Iranian territory.

    Shortly before that incident, Some Iranian students had besieged the British Embassy in Tehran protesting the meddling of David Cameron’s government in the internal affairs of Iran. And in retaliation, Britain quickly evacuated her diplomats in Iran and sent the latter’s diplomats in London packing despite Iran’s regret over those students’ action.

     

    The grand design

    That grand design was first expressed in 1902 by a British Prime

    Minister, Sir H. Campbell-Bannerman when he observed as follows: “There are people who control spacious territories teeming with manifest and hidden resources.  They dominate the intersections of world routes. Their lands were the cradles of human civilizations and religions. These people have one faith, one language and the same aspirations. No natural barriers can isolate them from one another….If, per chance, these people were to be unified into one state it would then take the fate of the world into its hands and separate Europe from the rest of the world. Taking these considerations seriously, a foreign body should be planted in the heart of this nation to prevent the convergence of its wings in such a way that it could exhaust its powers in never- ending wars. It could also serve as a spring board for the West to gain its coveted objects”.

     

    The Iranian Revolution

    No one believed in 1979 that a mass protest which started like a small political billow, engineered by the country’s unarmed Mullahs could eventually grow into such a great magnitude of political ‘earthquake’.

    By the time the foggy dust finally settled, a new Iran had emerged from the debris of the old. Against the wish and expectation of the capitalist West, the secular, monarchy of Iran became an Islamic republic. The drama was quite electric.

    Characteristic of the West, all hands were on deck, at that time, to ensure that an Islamic republic did not succeed the tyrannical monarchy headed by the Shah Pahlavi and heavily backed up by the oppressive West. America was most active in that ambitious but vainglorious effort. She would not easily allow the massive benefit she had been enjoying for decades in that oil-rich country, under the Shah regime, to slip out of her hands just like that. Thus, under the pretext of wanting to rescue her citizens from the siege laid by Iranian students on that country’s embassy, in Tehran, the US attempted an invasion of the country.  The espionage activities by the American diplomats, inside that embassy, against the new Islamic government in Iran had warranted the siege.

     

    The strategy

    While a number of US F15 bomber jets deployed by President Jimmy Carter were approaching Iran, the American President engaged his country’s entire press in a chart without giving any hint of the impending military operation in Iran. The tactics was to divert the attention of the press and that of the country from the illegal

    Pentagon’s military expedition. But no sane person can ever fault the contents of the Qur’an. More than 1400 years before that incident, a verse of the Qur’an had been revealed to Prophet Muhammad (SAW) thus: “They (the unbelievers) schemed, and Allah schemed. Allah is the supreme schemer”. Q. 3:54.

    Jimmy Carter’s thought was that by the time he would be rounding off his press chart, the news would have reached him that America had successfully invaded Iran. He had therefore intended to announce the news of his ‘great’ successful scheme to the press as the epilogue of

    his address. And that would have served as his impetus for wining that year’s election for a second term in office. But, as Allah would have

    it, instead of the expected news, what he got was the shock of his life.

     

    The failure of the Strategy

    Two of the F15 fighters deployed for the operation miraculously collided in the air just at the point of entering Iran. The two planes crashed with their contents, and consumed the lives of 16 top air force officers aboard, while the other jet fighters had to turn back having run into confusion. When this devastating news reached Carter, it was too much to hide and it quickly became a public knowledge.

    Thus, the mighty America failed woefully, with her technology, in circumstances she has never been able to analyze and explain convincingly. With that scheme, it became obvious that Jimmy Carter of the Democrat Party had dug his own political grave. Of course, he lost the election to the cowboy turned Politician, (Ronald Reagan) of the Republican Party. For about 444 days (well over a year), the 52 American hostages remained under the siege of the Iranian students. It took high-level diplomacy, through third party countries, to get them released.

    Yet, America was not done. She went ahead to freeze Iran’s foreign reserve of $80 billion in addition to imposition of economic sanctions

    with the intention of running that country’s economy aground. The only Iran’s offence in this case was to chart a politically independent

    course that could liberate her citizens from the manacles of the Western imperialism. Ever since, the relationship between America and Iran has remained icy.

    That relationship however, further deteriorated recently when Iran started a nuclear project with which to prop up her economy. America responded with a threat saying the United States would not tolerate any nuclear project in Iran because she could not trust that Islamic nation. And of course, America’s voice was re-echoed by the United Nations, through the mouth of the latter’s Secretary General, Ban Ki-moo.

     

    The vicious sanction

    Now, with the threat of invasion of Iran by Israel on the one hand and economic and political sanctions against her by the  NATO allies on the other, will history repeat itself? One fact has become clear about the US political trend ever since that country withdrew from her self-isolationism in 1945. Her internal politics has been regularly dictated by her foreign policy. Thus, many American Presidents have won or lost elections at home due to the foreign policy of the concerned President. Will this also repeat itself? The days ahead will answer this fundamental question as events continue to unfold with President Donald Trump’s fingers are set on the reprisal buttons of American arsenal.

  • Islam’s future in America

    Looking at Islam globally today vis-a-vis the multifarious problems being faced by its adherents, there is tendency that some ignorant and parochial people will think vaingloriously that the end has come the religion. This tendency is particularly manifest in Nigeria where religion is a big business and, like a vulture waiting to descend on the carcass of a prey, its merchants will do anything, no matter how devilish, to profit from it.

    Because of their untame-able avarice based on ignorance and parochialism, such merchants cannot understand that when a gargantuan  institution like Islam is about to take an unprecedented leap to further a progressive civilization, it must undergo a trying moment. Such a moment is an indication that an arrogant power somewhere is about to fall.

    Those who are lettered enough to be familiar with world history will recall that a similar scenario occurred to the old Roman Empire as it occurred to the ancient Greek Empire. At least, if the once so-called Great British Empire was not eclipsed at a stage, America would not have emerged as a foremost modern day world power. More will said about this, in this column, in the near future.

     

     Preamble

    Instinct is the main cursor of vision. It is the indicator of where today’s ship will anchor tomorrow. A man without instinct can be likened to a blind bull struggling to pass through the hole of a needle. An example is now being exhibited in the United States. Without instinct there can be neither projection nor premonition. All visionary prophecies are based on instinct.

    It was only by divine instinct that Prophet Muhammad (SAW) was able to prophesy the signs of the last days when he said: “One of the signs of the last days is for the sun to rise in the West and set in the East….” This prophecy is pregnant with meanings. Which sun was the Prophet talking about? Was it the physical or the hypothetical? Only a few people of other religions in history were able to comprehend that prophecy as much as the celebrated (Christian) Irish playwright, George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950).

     

    George Bernard Shaw’s prediction

    Based on his understanding of the contents of that Prophecy, Bernard Shaw decided to study Islam through deep researches. And consequently, he concluded as follows:

    “The Medieval Ecclesiastics, either through ignorance or bigotry, painted Mohammedanism (Islam) in the darkest colours. In fact, they were trained both to hate the man (Muhammad) and his religion. To them he was anti-Christ… I have always held the religion of Muhammad in high estimation because of its wonderful vitality. It is the only religion which appears to me to possess that assimilating capacity to the changing face of existence which can make itself appeal to every age. I have studied him, the wonderful man, and in my opinion, far from being an anti-Christ, he must be called the saviour of humanity. I believe that if a man like him were to assume the dictatorship of the modern world, he would succeed in solving its problems in a way that would bring it the much needed peace and happiness”.

    “I have prophesied about the faith of Muhammad that it would be acceptable to the Europe of tomorrow as it is beginning to be acceptable to the Europe of today…”

     

    Analysis

    America was just emerging as a champion of the modern world when Bernard Shaw made his famous prediction quoted above. Western civilization was then restricted to Europe and Shaw had taken any emerging civilization from America as an extension of that of Europe. He had thought that whatever would be acceptable to Europe ought to be automatically acceptable to the emerging power of the New World, the former being an offshoot of the latter. He was right.

    Although, Islam had reached America long before Christopher Columbus arrived in what was then perceived as a New World, very little was known about the Muslims in that country until 1886 when one Moorish immigrant, Noble Drew Ali, of North Carolina started to propagate Islamic faith to the black masses in the New World. However, that Noble D. Ali’s jihad became prominent with the growth of media influence in the United States did not necessarily make him the first American Muslim preacher.

     

    A valid question

    Today, with a Muslim population of almost 10 million and over 3186 Mosques, who says Bernard Shaw’s prediction of the early 20th century has not become a reality? If there is still any country in the world where Islam is not growing that country must be very backward.  Today, the geometric growth of Muslim population in the US has confirmed Islam as an official religion in America. Today, there are about 2000 Muslim associations and over 400,000 businesses as well as about 310 regular publications under the firm control of American Muslims. These are not only providing jobs for the residents, they are also enhancing America’s social security.

     

    The real root of Islam in America

    However, the real practical root of Islam in the US is actually traceable to 1790 when the South Carolina legislative body granted special social status to a community of Moroccans, which gave that community the freedom to practise its religion. And in 1797, President John Adams signed a policy declaring that United States had no “character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquillity of Musulmen (Muslims)”.

     

    President Benjamin Franklin’s position

    Then, in his autobiography, published in 1791, President Benjamin Franklin stated that he “did not disapprove” of a meeting place in Pennsylvania designed to accommodate preachers of all religions and concluded that: “even if the Mufti of Constantinople were to send a missionary to preach ‘Mohammedanism’ (Islam) to us, he would find a pulpit at his service”.

     

    President Thomas Jefferson’s stand

    Thomas Jefferson on his own defended religious freedom in America including those of Muslims and he explicitly mentioned Muslims when writing about the movement for religious freedom in Virginia. And in his autobiography also, Jefferson wrote: “When the Virginia bill for establishing religious freedom which was finally passed,… a singular proposition proved that its protection of opinion was meant to be universal. Where the preamble declares that coercion is a departure from the plan of the holy author of our religion, an amendment was proposed, by inserting the word ‘Jesus Christ,’ so that it should read ‘a departure from the plan of Jesus Christ, the holy author of our religion.’ The insertion was rejected by a great majority, in proof that they meant to comprehend within the mantle of its protection the Jew and the Gentile, the Christian and Mahometans (Muhammadans), the Hindus and the infidels of every denomination.” Thus, as a confirmation of that policy, President Jefferson also joined the Tunisian Ambassador for an Iftar (Ramadan fast breaking) in 1809.

     

    Despite propaganda

    Despite over 60,000 publications by the Western Orientalists between 1800 and 1950 disparaging that divine religion and denigrating the personality of prophet Muhammad (SAW), Islam continued to wax stronger even as it displays dynamic tendencies on a regular basis. Today, with a global population of about 1.7 billion adherents in the world and with certain mundane ideologies and philosophies crumbling like a pack of cards, Islam has remained an unstoppable religion, the implacable hostility of the West to it notwithstanding.

     

    African American Islam

    The African American involvement in the propagation of a religion of immigrants though began in 1960s/70s in the American society, Islam had actually made its way into America in the sixteenth century when Muslims were brought as slaves from Africa but were forced to convert to Christianity. These Muslims were followed by a new wave of immigrants who came in the late nineteenth century as labourers from the Middle Eastern countries such as Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria.

    In the second half of the twentieth century, a large number of Muslims came from virtually every country of the Middle East, South Asia, and Southeast Asia who were more sophisticated than their predecessors in Islamic understanding. As those immigrants settled in large cities and small towns, they built mosques, Islamic cultural centres, and schools. Today, indigenous American Muslims, who have grown in number to well over a million, have succeeded in transforming Islam into an American religion.

     

    A Track Master

    In 1888, the American Ambassador in Philippines, Alexander Russell Webb, surprisingly became a track master by embracing Islam and becoming the first prominent Anglo-American Muslim in history. Thus, given his stats, he became the only person that represented Islam from the US at the first Parliament for the World’s Religions in 1893.

     

    New York Times

    In an article once published in the New York Times and entitled: ‘Muslim Schools in the U.S.: A Voice for Identity’, one Susan Sachs wrote on the rising demands for Islamic schools in the U.S. saying that “across the country, Islamic schools…that offer religion and Arabic classes…are expanding and flourishing, with many becoming oversubscribed so quickly that principals are scrambling for money to build more. Thus, the surge in the number of Islamic schools may be attributed to the success and determination of a Muslim community that strives “to define itself as a cohesive religious minority in the secular American society”.

     

    The World Street Journal

    Before then, an article had appeared in ‘The World Street Journal’ on August 7, 1987, which reported thus: “At a time when Marxism is so debilitated and is being shored up by capitalism; when Christianity lacks much of the missionary fire that once drove it; when Maoism is all but entombed with its founder and when democracy sounds only a muted appeal to much of the world, Islamic fundamentalism stands out as the movement on the march”.

    By and large today, not only is Islam formally recognized as the second religion after Christianity in the US, it has also become a tradition for the President and his cabinet to host Muslim leaders in that country to Iftar during the month of Ramadan.

    Today, with technology virtually reaching its climax, and backed up by over 60% of the world’s oil reserve in the Islamic world, the rising of the sun from the West as prophesied by Prophet Muhammad (SAW) is becoming undeniably vivid.

    Were George Bernard Shaw alive today he would have nodded delightedly to that fact.

     

    Conclusion

    Given the above historical account, it is unimaginable that a 21st century American President like Donald Trump, who also has personal businesses in many other countries of the world, will want to rubbish his ancestors by destroying the solid foundation which those ancestors had laid for America’s greatness. But, if, on the other hand, if he goes ahead to play a bull in the china shop it will still not be strange. Not every child who bears a father’s name can be truly legitimate.

    Through an erratic policy signed into law or a sadistic ‘Executive Order’, anything can be done to the lives of the Muslims in America but nothing can be negatively done to Islam as a religion. For the benefit of doubt, Islam is like the sun in its full regalia, any blind person who claims not to recognise its presence is only playing a fool. With or without recognition, the sun will always dwell majestically in the orbit. Today is today. Tomorrow is tomorrow. None can take the place of the other. That is a food for thought.