The Nation Newspaper

Category: Friday

  • Risky path to theocracy (2)

    Risky path to theocracy (2)

    That the House decided to even consider “a bill to set up the Ecclesiastical Court of Appeal in the country” is a puzzle. That the bill passed a second reading is a shock, in view of all the serious issues that the country has on its lap at this time.

    It is a puzzle because, the idea of a religious court within a secular constitution is an anomaly. It is true that the Sharia Court has been adopted in the constitution since 1979. But the Muslim argument with regard to that clause is that there is no unbridgeable gulf between the religious and the political in Islamic faith. But this is clearly at variance with the Christian doctrine as exemplified by Christ himself in his divine intelligent reaction to the tricky question of the Pharisees: Give unto Caesar that which belongs to Caesar and unto God that which is God’s. This acknowledges the church-state dichotomy and the need to keep them as such. It is especially more critical in an environment of religious pluralism that we inhabit.

    Since this new attempt at aggravating the sensitive issue of the politics of religion, there have been observations to the effect that the constitutional provision for a Sharia Court and the acceptance of the Sharia judicial system was an original sin which should not have been condoned. Let us assume that this is a cogent argument. But is that why we should proceed to commit more constitutional sins? Should we continue to multiply sins without necessity? What next? An Ogun judicial system in deference to Ogun worshippers? Or a Shango judicial system? How about an Ala judicial system? Indeed, did it ever occur to our lawmakers that the Common Law system which is the foundation of our constitution and judicial system has its ancestral roots in the so-called Christian jurisprudence?

    Let us assume that Ecclesiastical Courts are needed. On whose authority are they to be set up? By definition, these are courts or tribunals “set up by religious authorities to deal with disputes among clerics or with spiritual matters involving either clerics or laymen.”(Encyclopedia Britannica). These courts also have Bishops or Archdeacons with knowledge of Christian Law as officers. In the system proposed by our lawmakers, who appoints these officers? The church or the state?

    In the bill sponsored by Honourable Gyang Istifanus Dung, the courts will “adjudicate matters of personal Christian Law and civic matters, which shall be prescribed in the rules of practice and procedure of the Ecclesiastical Court.” Such matters are to include marriage and its dissolution, guardianship of infant, will, and the “guardianship of a Christian who is physically or mentally infirm.” The rationale for the provisions of the bill is the “constitutional guarantee of the right of every citizen to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, including the freedom to propagate his religion or belief in worship, teaching, practice and observance.”

    We have been on this ridiculous and dangerous path for some time. It is more like sibling rivalry between immature kids. One child is diagnosed with a slanted vision and she needs prescription glasses to correct it. Her older sibling is envious and fakes vision problems so she can also have prescription glasses. Muslims get to visit Mecca and Medina on holy pilgrimage as part of the recorded pillars of their religion. Christians have no such injunction. But there must be equality of rights and privileges for all religions! Therefore, parity requires that Christians also visit Israel on holy pilgrimage. And if Sharia is allowed in the judicial system, why not Ecclesiastical Court?

    The reasoning is troubling to say the least because it has reduced our discourse in the public sphere to absurdity. At a time of high rate of joblessness, runaway inflation and mass poverty, all that our lawmakers care about is the creation of a religious court that has no meaning whatsoever in view of the Christian origins of our civil law tradition. When Paul chided the early Christians for going before non-believers to adjudicate conflicts between them, he did not instruct them to request the civil authorities to help them set up courts. His instruction was that they—Christians—had the obligation to resolve differences between them internally. They were to set up an internal conflict resolution system managed by spiritual elders. Our People’s House has turned that instruction on its head.

    It is gratifying that the Northern wing of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has distanced itself from the sponsorship of the bill. It is hoped that the national body will also do so.

    Our secular constitution has no room for state religion or the adoption of a sacred religion by the state. That is logical. Even if a disproportionate majority of citizens embrace one religion, it would still be unfair to the minority with a different religious leaning to have them succumb to the religious will of the majority.

    Thankfully we have a multi-religious system and it presents the nation with an unusual opportunity for the development and promotion of a Nigeria-wide civil religion, a secular celebration of our national history, values and institutions. This is the cause for which leaders in the executive and legislative branches should commit to, instead of their current obsession with the propagation of divisions in the religious realm.

    The private religious leanings of citizens must not be allowed to stand in the way of a national civic orientation that nonetheless uses religious symbolisms as tools. From the triumphs and failings of the past, we could assemble a mix of notable and memorable events to which we can all relate and which can serve as a solid framework for our common allegiance. The national day is one of such events. Even those significant events that a large number of us have come to disparage as the beginning of our collective misery- the amalgamation day- could be turned around in the hands of purposeful and visionary leadership. After all, what is in a day but for the rudderless leadership and unjust and callous policies that make its memory infamous! The pride of citizens in their nation is a function of many factors not least of which is how it nurtures their sense of belonging and their idea of fairness.

    The point is that it takes an exceptional leadership who is able to rise above the pettiness of ethnic chauvinism and religious bigotry to create the environment for a disparate people to see themselves as one indivisible nation and to rally round their flag and other symbols of their common heritage. Following the clarion call to national greatness, patriotic citizens will eschew the divisiveness of private religion, and embrace a national civil religion that prioritises commonality over differences. Thus if prayer is warranted at the opening of the Federal Executive Council meeting or the National Assembly, they can creatively pray in the name of Providence or Creator of the Universe instead of God or Allah or Ogun. To these they can freely revert in the privacy of their homes or the sanctuaries of worship.

    I should be remiss if I do not here acknowledge the reasonableness of some of our moderators at special events who initiate opening and closing prayers by asking the audience to recite the last verse of our National Anthem. That is what civil religion is about. It is a recognition of and respect for our common bond.

    A national public adoption of civil religion and a private allegiance to our various sects is not only desirable, it is required if private religion will not continue to be the clog in the wheel of national progress. If nations with a predominance of one religion can afford the risk of unfair theocracy that deprives minorities of their religious freedom, this nation of plural religiosity cannot. The leadership of every branch of government therefore is morally obligated to creatively steer the wagon of the state away from the risky path to archaic theocracy and to                                                                                       wards the peaceful thoroughfare of civil religion, which celebrates our common political heritage and summons us to embrace same, beckoning us to a hopeful future.

    (Concluded)

  • Why this ‘great’ budget may fail

    Of Growth and recession: one small question first: who is it that christens our budgets? Must we go through that ritual of naming our budget every year? For instance, this outgoing year 2016, we named it “Budget of change.” But as we all have witnessed, not much changed for good. Instead we soon lapsed into the worst kind of recession ever witnessed in our history.

    And we wonder if it is the same fellow who christened the 2016 budget who has also announced so gleefully that this one would be “Budget of Recovery and growth?” Pray what are the bases of his optimism? If he failed so woefully in envisaging the current crushing economic condition that has roiled Nigerians in the last three quarters (and still rages without let), how can we now trust his judgment that the next one year will usher in recovery and growth?

    What this suggests is that ab initio, the requisite rigour has not gone into this budget yet again. Yes the figures look nice and the content reads well, but many basic assumptions are poorly thought out and terribly flawed. To assume that Nigeria and her economy will move from the current pits of recessional mire into recovery and growth in the next 12 months is preposterous.

    Further indications of a lack of rigour and hard-headed analysis of prevailing economic trends are inherent in the indices applied in the budget projections. First, when was the last time anyone bought dollars in the open market at N305, which this budget is predicated upon? The current budget was premised onN197/$, which was a near-fatal error. Funding the wide (indeed wild) margin between the artificial budget rate and the real thing was enough to torpedo the entire budget.

    We have made the same mistake again this time. Has anyone bought dollars in the open market for less than N400/$ in the last six months? In an economy that thrives almost 90 per cent on imports, the difference between N305 and N400 will damage any budget projections. Why don’t we keep it real, why not benchmark the budget at 405/$ and we brace ourselves and take the punch on the chin?

    Similarly, what is the basis for using crude oil production estimate of 2.2 m barrels per day? When was the last time Nigeria hit the two million barrel mark? With the uprising in the Niger Delta not abating soon and so many shut-ins already recorded, what magic are we going to apply to produce this quantity of crude oil in 2017? With our refineries still not amenable to repairs, massive importation of numerous petroleum products will continue in 2017. Power outage, which is at the lowest ebb now, is likely to persist since solution is tied to pacifying the militants of the Niger Delta.

    It is a tough new year ahead in which we think the government will continue to be bogged down by a shortage of foreign exchange. Importation of common staple food, such as rice, poultry products and vegetable oil, fish and sea food will keep pressure on lean forex.

    Then again, the management of the little resources available to the government is starkly inefficient. The treasury still leaks like a bad basket in spite of the much-vaunted fight against corruption. Civil servants, politicians and their collaborators have rewired the system and are back to their sordid business.

    If the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), David Babachir Lawal, can be so accused of massive fraud by the Senate and at that level, what is going on down below can only be imagined. The President Muhammadu Buhari administration has failed to drastically re-jig the critical institutions to have them ‘fight’ corruption. Instead, Mr. Ibrahim Magu has been a one-man riot squad chasing corruption in all directions and achieving little. Where, for instance, is the crucial Auditor-General’s Office in this fight against corruption?

    There persists a leadership void; PMB appears weary if not worn out. There is no high mind with a bird’s eye view of the economy to lead it. Everyone seems to run in different directions and the Finance Minister, who came with no clouts, has been further hamstrung and circumscribed so much she may be no better than a cashier now. The cabinet is a largely uninspired bunch, weak and seemingly alienated from ‘number one’. It appears a narrow-minded cabal is currently running the affairs of the state.

    But as noted in the title above, this budget has the potential of being a great budget in ordinary times when all the elements are well mixed. For once, both recurrent and capital expenditures are almost 50-50. This must be the first time we have this parity in over a decade. It had always been in the region of 70-30 in favour of recurrent expenditure. This meant that we had been ‘eating’ our resources instead of building our economy.

    Finally, deciding a huge pay out to local contractors; paying up official debts owed power distribution companies and making it a state policy to patronise made-in-Nigeria goods are policies that will go a long way in boosting the economy if pursued to logical conclusions.

    It must be stated that much of the bottleneck lies with the president and the presidency. He must empower his cabinet to deliver and he must quickly axe the incapable hands. He must tweak his narrow mindset to be more accommodating and do everything necessary to reconcile the polity.

     

    Frazzled Fashola

    It was not the smartest move in the first place to make a combo of three large, crucial ministries including all the departments and agencies in their fold and put them all under one man. Yes, former governor of Lagos State, Babatunde Fashola, is known to have a prodigious capacity for work, but making one portfolio of the ministries of Power, Works and Housing is perhaps the dumbest move of the PMB administration.

    As it stands, it is obvious that the former governor of example is frazzled and seemingly drained both emotionally and physically. It is not that he could not have given the three-in-one task a good shot, but the times are tough and the environment treacherous. Power situation in the country is a laugh now and Fashola the laughing stock. The roads are deteriorating faster than anyone can fix them even if you have all the funds… but there are no funds.

    Solution: the earlier this ungainly combo is unbundled, the better for everyone. At least one person close to me would stop teasing me daily and asking: my friend where on earth is your friend Power Mike, okunrin metala?

  • Islam and global warming

    “We have not left anything untouched in the Book (Qur’an). Then unto their Lord shall all be reassembled”   Q. 6:38.   

    PREAMBLE

    The Allah’s last revelation to mankind called the Qur’an is the ultimate cornerstone which the ignorant ones continue to subject to undue controversy in the building of their ultimate homes. This Book is like the beaming Sun the existence of which some blind people continue to query. Whether they see it or not, the Sun remains scorching in its effect and magnanimous in its photosynthesis. Yet, the denial of its existence cannot stop the blindness in the blind. The Qur’an is the mother of all encyclopaedias without which the existence of humanity will be a mere anathema.

    Reviewing the esoteric connotation of the above quoted verse of the Qur’an with divine guidance any thoughtful and sincere human being will nod his/head in absolute agreement. Nothing is left untouched by Allah in the Glorious Qur’an.

    Meteorological explanation        

    From its very inception, Islam has been very explicit on the issue of environment and meteorology. This further confirms the fact that this divine religion is not for a particular time or people. It is a religion of knowledge for all times and all races. The meteorological explanation rendered by Islam is not meant for this column today. It will be brought in full in the very near future In sha’ Allah. But at a recent international conference on global warming an Islamic scholar gave some Qur’anic insight into the causes and effects of global warming thus:

    “One of the issues that give the world a concern currently is global warming. Experts around the world have been warning about this for decades and have been urging governments to act faster in slowing down the rate of global warming. They warn that there is a 75% risk that global temperatures will rise a further two to three degrees in the next 50 years. The consequence of this would be dramatic. In fact a rise of just one degree would melt the Greenland ice sheet and drown the Maldives, but a three degree increase would kill the Amazon rainforest, wipe out nearly half of all species facing extinction and wreak havoc with crop yields due to weather changes”.

    Whilst the global climate goes through hot and cold cycles, what is worrying about the current phase is the pace of change that could send humanity first into a final spin. Although man has certainly benefited from technological advancements that have given us plastics, air travel and cheap food – what is important is to maintain a balance so that excessive consumerism does not ride roughshod over nature’s harmony.

    The role of man

    In Islam man is given the role of trusteeship over the earth, which is a huge responsibility. In the past, man had to be careful how he treated his local environment since excessive grazing or agriculture could bring ruin to his livelihood. His knowledge was also limited but in the event of a disaster either through ignorance or abuse, he could at least resort to moving elsewhere and start all over again. Now we should have no excuse for ignorance and we should have learnt from our past to avoid misuse. But what is worrying is that the impacts of our behaviour are not just local anymore, they are global. If we fail to act in a responsible manner then we cannot simply relocate because there will be nowhere to go. It is therefore vital that as producers, manufacturers and consumers, we ensure that we give due consideration to the impact of our actions. Such a responsibility is not just that of the east or the west but a responsibility for all across nations and continents.

    Qur’anic teaching

    Islam teaches us that God has continued and will continue to provide us with ample resources for all time. But through man’s misuse, this balance may change. It is this personal greed of man that makes them squander these resources and deprive others who may need those resources. The Holy Qur’an warns mankind in Chapter 7, verse 32 “O children of Adam! Eat and drink but exceed not the bounds; surely He (Allah) does not love those who exceed the bounds”

    The overall message of Islam is that it promotes harmony by advising moderation. It accepts that we need to use resources for our progress but this should be done wisely and in a sustainable manner, so that a satisfactory medium is found. Allah alluded to this in Chapter 25, verse 68 where He made reference to: “those who, when they spend are neither extravagant nor niggardly but moderate between the two”.

    Thus, as individuals, we should act on the Qur’anic injunction that promotes balance and prohibits excess even as nations need to be more willing to share knowledge for the sake of the planet rather than for profit and take collective action in line with their collective responsibility. By doing so we shall be able to win the pleasure of God and honour our trusteeship of the earth for the benefit of the present and the future generations”.

    Conference of world scientists

    A few years ago, a top scientist conference in Britain raised the stakes for the dangers of global warming, with concerned scientists outlining a timeframe for the massive horrors awaiting the globe unless swift actions were taken at the right time. The findings in that conference were not in any way different from the position of Islam on the subject over 1430 years ago.

    The three-day conference held in the south western British city of Exeter focused on scientists’ latest assessment of the global warming problem, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).

    The conference was bluntly told that global warming would boost outbreaks of infectious diseases, worsen shortages of water and food in vulnerable countries and create an army of climate refugees fleeing uninhabitable regions.

    Scientists even gave a detailed timetable of the destruction and distress that global warming was likely to cause to the world, according to the British daily ‘The Independent’.

    Impacts of Environmental Degradation

    The scale of these impacts varies according to the speed and degree with which fossil fuel pollution is tackled as well the growth rate of the world’s population and how well countries can adapt to climate shift.

    Whole species of animals from frogs to leopards, living in vulnerable areas and with nowhere else to go, face extinction due to global warming, they said, according to the daily.

    “The study pulls together for the first time the projected impacts on ecosystems and wildlife, food production, water resources and economies across the earth, for given rises in global temperature expected during the next hundred years.

    “The resultant picture gives the most wide-ranging impression yet of the bewildering array of destructive effects that climate change is expected to exert on different regions, from the mountains of Europe and the rainforests of the Amazon to the coral reefs of the tropics.”

    What out for Year 2050

    According to a study quoted by Rajendra Pachauri, Chairman of the UN’s top scientific authority on climate change, by 2050 as many as 150 million “environmental refugees” may have fled coastlines vulnerable to rising sea levels, storms or floods, or agricultural land that may become too arid to cultivate, AFP said.

    In India alone, there could be 30 million people displaced by persistent flooding, while a sixth of Bangladesh could be permanently lost to sea level rise and land subsidence, according to the study.

    The Independent newspaper revealed that the conference was called personally by the then British Prime Minister Tony Blair as part of Britain’s attempts to move the climate change issue up the agenda during the UK presidency of the G8 group of rich nations, and the European Union.

    Disturbing warnings

    There were already disturbing warnings from the latest climate research, including the revelation from the British Antarctic Survey that the massive West Antarctic ice sheet might be disintegrating – an event which would raise sea levels around the world by 16ft (4.9 metres) per daily if it really happened.

    “Hare’s timetable shows the impacts of climate change multiplying rapidly as average global temperature goes up, towards 1C above levels before the industrial revolution, then to 2C, and then 3C.

    “It is when the temperature moves up to 2C above the pre-industrial level, expected in the middle of this century – within the lifetime of many people alive today – that serious effects start to come thick and fast, studies suggest.”

    In the second half of the century

    According to the paper, when the temperature moves up to the 3C level, expected in the early part of the second half of the century, these effects will become critical. There is likely to be irreversible damage to the Amazon rainforest, leading to its collapse, and the complete destruction of coral reefs is likely to be widespread.

    The conference, however, ended up on a positive note, with the forum showing how far the argument for carbon sequestration has come, with a series of experts insisting it could be transformed from fiction to fact. Whole species of animals from frogs to leopards, living in vulnerable areas and with nowhere else to go, face extinction due to global warming, they said, according to the daily.

    “The study pulled together for the first time the projected impacts on ecosystems and wildlife, food production, water resources and economies across the earth, for possible rises in global temperature expected during the next hundred years.

    Historical evidence of global warming

    “The resultant picture gave the most wide-ranging impression yet of the bewildering array of destructive effects that climate change was expected to exert on different regions, from the mountains of Europe and the rainforests of the Amazon to the coral reefs of the tropics.”

    The Earth’s climate has changed throughout history. Just in the last 650,000 years there have been seven cycles of glacial advance and retreat, with the abrupt end of the last ice age about 7,000 years ago marking the beginning of the modern climate era – and of human civilization. Most of these climate changes are attributed to very small variations in Earth’s orbit that change the amount of solar energy our planet receives.

    The current trend

    Through advanced researches, scientists have come to realize that the current warming trend is of particular significance because most of it is very likely human-induced and proceeding at a rate that is unprecedented in the past 1300 years.1

    Earth-orbiting satellites and other technological advances have enabled scientists to see the big picture, collecting many different types of information about our planet and its climate on a global scale. This body of data, collected over many years, reveals the signals of a changing climate.

    The heat-trapping nature of carbon dioxide and other gases was demonstrated in the mid-19th century.2 Their ability to affect the transfer of infrared energy through the atmosphere is the scientific basis of many instruments flown by NASA. There is no question that increased levels of greenhouse gases must cause the Earth to warm in response.

    Ice cores drawn from Greenland, Antarctica, and Tropical Mountain glaciers show that the Earth’s climate responds to changes in greenhouse gas levels. They also show that in the past, large changes in climate have happened very quickly, geologically-speaking: in tens of years, not in millions or even thousands.

    The rise in global sea level

    Global sea level, according to scientific research rose by about 17 centimetres (6.7 inches) in the last century. The rate in the last decade, however, is nearly double that of the last century.

    All three major global surface temperature reconstructions show that Earth has warmed since 1880. Most of the warming occurred in the past 35 years, with 15 of the 16 warmest years on record occurring since 2001. The year 2015 was the first time the global average temperatures were 1 degree Celsius or more above the 1880-1899 average. Even though the 2000s witnessed a solar output decline resulting in an unusually deep solar minimum in 2007-2009, surface temperatures continue to increase.

    The oceans have absorbed much of this increased heat, with the top 700 meters (about 2,300 feet) of ocean showing warming of 0.302 degrees Fahrenheit since 1969.

    Shrinking ice sheets

    The Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets have decreased in mass. Data from NASA’s Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment have shown that the Greenland lost 150 to 250 cubic kilometers (36 to 60 cubic miles) of ice per year between 2002 and 2006, while Antarctica lost about 152 cubic kilometres (36 cubic miles) of ice between 2002 and 2005.

    Both the extent and thickness of Arctic sea ice has declined rapidly over the last several decades. Glaciers are retreating almost everywhere around the world – including in the Alps, Himalayas, Andes, Rockies, Alaska and Africa. If by year 2050 nothing significant is done to save this situation what will become of human existence? That is a food for thought.

     

    New Chief Imam for Folawiyo Mosque

    all is set for the decoration of Alhaji Imam Alli Olukayode Atanda with the turban as the Chief Imam of Abdul Wahab Folawiyo, Surulere (New Lagos) Central Mosque.

    The event will hold today at the mosque’s premises in Surulere.

    Imam Atanda will succeed the late Sheikh Abdul Quadri Moyosore.

    He was until his appointment the Imam of Oluwatoyin Mosque, one of the twelve Ratibi Mosques that are registered owners of the Abdul Wahab Folawiyo, Surulere (New Lagos) Central Mosque.

     

    Muslim Media holds lecture on good governance

    Good governance, among others, will dominate the 11th annual lecture of Muslim Media Practitioners of Nigeria (MMPN) Abuja chapter on Monday in Abuja.

    A statement by its chairman Alhaji Abdur-Rahman Balogun said the lecture, entitled “the Islamic position on good governance’’ will hold at National Mosque Conference Hall, Abuja.

    It would be delivered by the Chief Imam of the Nigerian Navy, Shaykh Taofiq Miqdad Gidado and chaired by Director-General, National Orientation Agency (NOA) Dr Garba Abari. Other guests expected include Voice of Nigeria (VON) former Director-General Alhaji Abubakar Jijiwa, FCT Minister Alhaji Muhammad Bello and Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) Secretary-General Prof. Is-haq Oloyede.

     

    10, 000 to attend Aqsa Day

    No fewer than 10,000 people are expected for this year’s Aqsa Day.

    The event, organised by the Muslim Awareness International (MAI), will hold on Monday at the National Stadium Surulere, Lagos.

    Federal Government yesterday declared Monday December 12 as public holiday.

    Alhaji AbdurRazaq AbdusSalam, a Deputy Director at Voice of Nigeria (VON) and Dr Odukoya Adelaja Odutola, a Senior Lecturer from the Department of Political Science, University of Lagos and institution’s Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) Chairman are the guest speakers.

    MAI Director Luqman Balogun said the programme will also feature exhibitions as well as drama and ballad presentations which will centre on the unity of the Muslims as the panacea to Palestinian problems.

    He decried the occupation of Palestinian land by Israeli government.

    “The state of Israel was created on the basis of lies and deceit and has continued to struggle to sustain a half-century occupation over the land of the Palestinians in the face of universal opposition and condemnation,” he said.

    Balogun accused Israel and her allies of employing varying “ludicrous narratives and deplorable actions to defend their illegal activities in the occupied settlements.

  • Risky path toward theocracy (1)

    Risky path toward theocracy (1)

    In the past week, I had two divergent emotional experiences, no thanks to the uneven messages contained in the substance of our national discourse.

    On the first occasion a week ago, I received the full text of an inspiring lecture given by Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN, the Honourable Minister of Power, Works, and Housing. It was the Convocation Lecture he delivered at his alma mater, the University of Benin. Coming from a Minister of the Federal Republic, a distinguished lawyer, and a former Governor of the Centre of Excellence, who is also a practising Muslim, I felt so elated about his position on religion and the affairs of the state that I quickly sent a note of congratulations to him. Over the years, Fashola has intervened in important matters with his signature clarity and commonsensical approach to issues.

    Fast forward to this past Tuesday, I perused the Internet for the news of the day, and I couldn’t be more depressed with the first item that caught my attention on the web site of Premium Times. It read: “Bill to establish Christian Court scales second reading”. “Is this a joke?” I asked myself repeatedly. I tried to surf more pages on the Internet thinking, perhaps, Premium Times got the whole story wrong. Seeing no other related news at the time, I wanted to be reassured that it was not true. I sent a message to my good friend, Distinguished Senator, Professor Sola Adeyeye, who promised to find out and get back to me. However, before he could get back, I got a confirmation from The Nation, which carried even more details, including some of the main clauses of the bill and its rationale.

    Juxtaposing the inspiring lecture of Minister Fashola and the depressing news of the legislative priority of the People’s Representatives was a hard nut for me to crack.

    Fashola’s message is “most profound”, to quote Senator Sola Adeyeye, a born-again Christian, who kindly sent the text of the lecture to me and who had himself had his share of frustration as a member of the House years ago, also on the matter of religion and our national obsession that sometimes defy logic and commonsense. We resort to prayer sessions and leave unsolved the clearly mechanical problem and human errors that cause motor accidents. Fashola’s objective was to encourage the graduating students to free themselves from fear or what Francis Bacon referred to as idols of the theatre—the menacing impact of false beliefs from orthodox doctrines on our private and public lives.

    It is important to keep distinct and separate three issues in this discussion: religion in private life (within and beyond the limits of reason), religion in public life, and civil religion. My position is that every human being has a right to have a religious belief in the privacy of their lives as well as a right to freely worship whatever is the object of their beliefs. Of course, should they choose, each also has a right to not hold a belief in God or Gods. And society has no right to punish anyone on account of his or her belief or lack thereof. Francis Bacon who warned against the Idols of the Theatre also famously defended religious belief: “a little philosophy inclineth man’s mind to atheism but depth in philosophy bringeth men’s minds about to religion.” Fashola’s philosophy professor is probably deep in this Baconian understanding of life.

    In view of the well-known character of philosophy, Fashola’s narration of his encounter with his philosophy professor should not come as a surprise. The mission of philosophy in the Socratic tradition is to critically examine issues from an objective perspective and not be satisfied with an opinion that has not been subjected to the crucible of fiery questions. But we are also wired to believe in non-demonstrable and non-evidential ideas, including spiritual and religious ideas. We easily traverse the universe of science that is evidence-based, and the world of religion that is faith-based. As long as we are aware of the difference and we are able to navigate the chasm between them, we should be fine.

    The challenge is that, out of an irrational anxiety and a tragic deficit of self-reliance, many fail to use their natural endowments and acquired skills and would rather indulge the attitude of dependency on others, and in the ultimate, on the unseen, which is variously named. And in case the expected help from the unseen doesn’t materialise, the human mind easily settles on a soothing explanation that appeals to the irrepressible presence of destiny at best, or fate, at worst. What will be will be!

    There is a more productive way of navigating the chasm. Belief in a divine being does not negate the need for hard work and the use of the intellect which is our gift from the divine. Apostle Paul was clear about this. Neither does faith in a good God negate the struggle for justice in the face of oppression. The prophets of old understood this very well. Therefore, the easy resort of our people to the search for miracles where hard work and intelligent strategising matters is a proven path to failure.

    Unfortunately, the laziness and obsession with shortcuts that characterise our private lives regularly finds its way to the conduct of our public affairs. No public institution is immune from the recourse to the occult, including our citadels of learning where sacrifices often litter cross roads and participation at prayer vigils surpasses class attendance.

    In a passage of the lecture that is especially pertinent to my interest here, Fashola observes as follows:

    “…at least the two faiths are not original to us. They are inherited. The propagators of the faith have made them personal affairs and not public ones.” Then he recalls how the meetings he has attended in the West and in the Middle East had never started or ended with prayers because such meetings for them “represent public undertakings and places of work and productive undertakings to deliver prosperity.” On the other hand in this country “the heads of governments, heads of ministries, and businesses, devote early mornings at work to prayers with their staff while productive man hours tick away.”

    Let me make a friendly modification here, which in no way diminishes the import of the minister’s point because his critique of fear as a motivation of conduct will be applicable wherever it is observed. My modification is that, perhaps unlike other Western nations, the United States, after decades of productive engagement with nature and acting as the leader of the free world is also, no thanks to a substantial vocal segment, becoming progressively engrossed in the deification of superstition and fear.

    Congress has a Chaplain who leads the opening and closing prayers when it is in session. Here, however, despite the extremism of some, a commonsensical balance is maintained between reason and faith. And though the United States is a predominantly Christian country, her leaders are uniformly aware of the diversity of religious sensibilities including the various denominations of the Christian faith. Therefore, most public prayers end “in the name of God”, the common denominator of all faiths, instead of “in the name of Christ” or “in the name of Allah”. Note that I have not denied the existence of extremists of any faith and their mission of spreading hate in public places. Thankfully, most public servants are moderates in the matter of faith and they take seriously their obligation to uphold the constitution in its secularity.

    The difference between Nigeria and the United States is not in the private practice of religion and faith. Just as the majority of believers of different faiths have been moderate in the practice of religion, many citizens in both countries have also embraced a form of religiosity that goes beyond reason in their embrace of fear. But while individuals have the right to believe what they may, it is utterly irresponsible for the public arena to be the locus of fear. But that is precisely what we seem to have turned our nation’s People’s House into.

    To be continued

  • Boko Haram plc?

    Numerous titles assailed me, so to speak, as I was about to start this piece. In fact, the issue on my mind was something to do with the need for President Muhammadu Buhari to tweak his cabinet quickly (we may yet return to this someday soon) but this Boko Haram (BH) puzzle suddenly seemed to fall into place and one dove into it.

    The news of the fall of Lt. Col. Abu Ali supposedly in a BH fire fight recently, once again brought to the fore, a thought that had tortured one since this so-called terror insurgency took a fierce turn in 2009. In fact one had actually written tangentially about all these over this period.

    “So there are elders in Borno?” (The Nation Friday, July 29, 2011), is a peek into the roles of the elite and elders of Borno. Way back then, Boko Haram had made one of the early peace overtures. They had demanded that 12 states be ceded to them to govern under Sharia law. They asked that the Joint Task Force in the Northeast be withdrawn.

    Following on the heels of BH demands, a group known as Borno Elders and Leaders of Thought (BELT) emerged from its shadowy corners to support BH’s demand for the withdrawal of troops as a condition for peace. Not a few were distraught by the intervention of this group that had maintained an ominous silence in nearly two years of wanton blood-letting and human carnage in the Northeast.

    And many kicked not because of the outrageous statement of this group, but the weight of its membership. Here is a roll call: Babagana Kingibe, Mohammed Goni, Abba Kyari, Maina Ma’aji Lawan, Ahmed Alghazali and Ibrahim Bunu. In their self-deprecating chicanery, they compared BH to the Niger Delta militants.

    But speaking about BH at that time and lending credence to my thoughts, the then governor of Niger State, Babangida Aliyu, noted that “the social insecurity that has engulfed Nigeria is planted and perpetrated by the elite against the majority of the population.” Late last year, the Chief of Army Staff, Gen. Tukur Buratai, had cried out, accusing Borno elders of sabotaging the ongoing military operations in the Northeast of Nigeria in order to prolong the BH insurgency.

    Buratai said: “The Nigerian Army wishes to inform the public and send a very strong and serious final warning to some prominent individuals and political groups who hail from Borno State in particular and Northeast generally that there is information of plans by some highly placed individuals and political groups to undermine and scuttle the fight against terrorism and insurgency in this country.

    “It has come to our knowledge that they are employing every means to see that the operation does not succeed in order for them to continue to enjoy certain benefits.”

    Until the Buhari administration gives a thought to the possibility that BH may well be a huge scam being perpetrated by half smart people in a semi-failed country, he would spend his term, wasting our time and resources, yet this voodoo would outlive his office. Until you probably diagnose an ailment, you may well be treating a boil instead of cancer and vice-versa.

    The fact of BH which we all know (including PMB) is that it is the brainchild of a certain Governor Modu Sheriff and some of his aides and acolytes. After the death in police custody of the ring leader, Ibrahim Yussuf, the gang was fiercely militarised and all sorts of carpetbaggers joined the bazaar.

    In a situation where the government at the centre was weak and stupid; and had lost control of a large swathe of its territory in the Southeast, the place was left open to be plundered by anyone who could acquire sizeable quantity firearms.

    Since the situation was badly compromised, even government agencies and institutions joined in the pillage. It therefore became Boko Haram plc. That is how come the office of the National Security Adviser under the late Gen. Owoeye Azazi and Col.Sambo Dasuki became the honey pot of the federation. Out of desperation, the government of the day in fact wayward, merely played around with the cash.

    Thoroughly exasperated at that time, I had asked on this page (March 7, 2014) “Where on earth is Dasuki?” “Where is the NSA? becomes urgent and strident if we consider that in the attack in Mafa Local Government of Borno last Sunday, it was reported that the locals got information about the impending mayhem about two weeks earlier. It was indeed for this reason that just about 35 people were killed when the marauders came rampaging, otherwise it would have been the mother of all slaughter, we learnt. Most women and children were said to have vacated the community.

    We cry in disgust because despite about two weeks’ notice, the terrorists overran and torched the military camp in Mafa as our soldiers reportedly fled. How many innocent Nigerians (including military and security personnel) have been slaughtered in the Northeast in the last two weeks and hurriedly dumped in mass graves like mere dirt?” This was over two and a half years ago.

    This column wagers that the racket of Boko Haram has continued even till now. So many unanswered questions support this supposition: one, why are we still buying jets and even more jets if we are told that BH has been technically defeated? And why would the West not sell arms to Nigeria again; are they seeing massive corruption?

    More questions: who are the financiers of Boko Haram; how come not one person has been traced? Kabiru Sokoto was once arrested in a state government’s liaison office in Abuja, what was the connection? Why is there no expedited and public trial of some arrested kingpins like Sokoto?

    More questions on Chibok and Sambisa: who were the negotiators in the recent? Who did they negotiate with? Does this suggest that the core of BH is still active and resident somewhere in Nigeria? Are we to believe that the rest of the Chibok girls are still being kept in some camp somewhere in Nigeria?

    Finally, why has this so-called Sambisa forest proved impregnable and so difficult to wire up and combed through. Are we to believe that the Nigerian military, security and intelligence establishments are so worthless that a band of hoodlums would camp in a forest and terrorise the nation for seven years without let?

    Honestly we are sick of this Boko Haram racket. I suggest the President must do one of the following quickly: order that Sambisa forest be cleared or set ablaze; cede the forest to Cameroun; or disband the entire Nigeria military and get a battalion from Israel to clean up the Northeast in three weeks flat.

    I am sure that one of these options will work!

     

    Where is the Aviation Minister?

    Do we still have an Aviation Minister? How come I do not even know his name after one year in office? How come he does not seem to know that his sector is in turmoil and may well be on the verge of a major calamity if nothing is done quickly?

    It is plain (plane) madness in most of our airports recently as there are probably more rescheduled and cancelled flights daily than those accomplished. Arik Air, Nigeria’s major domestic carrier, is so enmeshed in crises that its offices are invaded by angry passengers daily. On some occasions, flights are physically disrupted.

    Where is the minister in the midst of all this? Talk of square pegs in round holes in this administration. In one year of her appointment in 2012, Mrs. Stella Oduah had gone far in a simultaneous massive re-construction work of over 12 airports across the country. In 18 months, Oduah had completed most of what will stand today as the most revolutionary turnaround of the aviation sector in Nigeria since independence.

    Three years after she was removed, a few projects she had yet completed remain uncompleted. Even air conditioners in departure lounges can no longer be maintained…

  • Still on true federalism

    Still on true federalism

    Six months ago, I called for a deliberate movement toward “a more perfect union”, which respects the federal structure that the founding fathers of the republic envisioned. Here I quote from the first two paragraphs from my July 3, 2016 column:

    “We have been speaking pass each other for a long time. Especially since 1966, we have used terms and concept that different groups interpret as fighting words. As often as it does happen, the natural reaction of everyone is to flee to their corners to fight back and the hope of one nation bound in truth and freedom has been the loser.

    “While one group takes a stand for true federalism and argues therefore for restructuring the country to bring about that change, another mocks the idea and instead calls for strong leadership. (At a point in the present republic, a senator actually argued boldly for unitarism). While one voice advocates for resource control and fiscal federalism, another argues that to avoid disintegration, the centre needs to corner the most resources. It appears from the pattern we have seen thus far that whichever party controls the centre sees itself as the protector of the nation’s unity at all cost and cannot be expected to give an inch, even when that inch is going to yield a mile in terms of lasting unity.

    I emphasise the last sentence of the paragraph above to affirm that my understanding of the pattern of support for and opposition against the idea of true federalism has been precise. The ruling party has generally seen itself as the defender of unity, which it wrongly assumes is threatened by true federalism. On the other hand, the opposition has been in the vanguard of the demand for true federalism. I do not intend to impute any motives but it is amazing that the party positions turn out this way.

    One reason that many progressive-minded citizens gave their unflinching support to the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the last presidential election was their belief that it shared their values about a true federal structure as the best way to advance the nation.

    The “Manifesto of the All Progressives Congress (APC)”, which was publicised as the contract between the party and Nigerians, is still prominent on its web page. In the first bullet point of the manifesto under the first heading, “The Constitution”, the party promised to “initiate action to amend our constitution with a view to devolving powers, duties and responsibilities to state and local governments in order to entrench true federalism and the federal spirit.”

    I hope that I am not alone in deducing from the quoted item on APC’s manifesto the following conclusions. First, I inferred that APC is committed to entrenching a true federal structure in the country. Second, the party and its members, especially those in leadership positions, understand the fundamentals of a true federal structure. Third, I deduced that once Nigerians gave it their mandate, APC intended to educate those of its members, who are given positions of authority in government so that they are in sync with its resolve to fulfil its promise to the electorate.

    I did not infer, nor did I expect any dissension within the party hierarchy regarding the meaning of true federalism or the need for its entrenchment as the pillar of governmental policy in an APC administration. That was what the logic of the statement of the manifesto led me to believe. To the extent that a different conclusion has been inferred and acted upon, it is not unusual, but it is not a validly drawn conclusion. It is not unusual because the phenomenon of akrasia or weakness of the will is a familiar one. That which is known to be right is avoided because at the point of action, the knee buckles.

    My inferences gave me reason for shock and embarrassment when I read a screaming headline from the Nigerian Tribune of November 11, 2016: “Minister tackles govs over true federalism.” Prior to reading the content, I had imagined the minister encouraging governors to do more to implement the party’s manifesto. But I was wrong.

    I am still unsure if Minister Adebayo Shittu was quoted correctly by the media. But I have waited for a rebuttal, which has not been forthcoming. Here is what the minister was quoted to have said at a forum at the University of Ibadan: “A lot of people have been talking of true federalism. But it is always a problem when you ask them to define what true federalism is. The question I ask is what is the definition of true federalism? What are the expectations? A lot of times they talk about the fact that the federal government takes more money from the federation account.”

    The reason this is embarrassing is that it is coming from a minister of the All Progressives Congress, which has as its first platform a strong commitment to true federalism. Is there such a fundamental ideological division within the APC-led federal government?

    The minister went on to tackle the governors to do more about local government autonomy, a legitimate observation, which ought to be kept separate. It would make more sense for the minister to proceed as follows: “The APC government is committed to a true federal structure and intends to deliver on its promise. However, the states must help in this effort especially by granting local autonomy as an important strand of true federalism.” Why, for heaven’s sake, do you have to contemptuously dismiss true federalism just because you have issues with state governments on local government elections? I don’t get it!

    Interestingly, it was a PDP stalwart, the Secretary to the Ondo State Government, who had called for true federalism and suggested that “the federal government was holding the jugular of development across the country.” It confirms my observation above.

    To answer the minister, I quote again from my July 3 submission about the primacy of true federalism in our type of political structure:

    “Just as the establishment of a legitimate political authority is the answer to potential anarchy in situation of absolute individual freedom, so federalism is the panacea against potential chaos where ethnic nationalities cohabit and each has an abiding interest in the protection of its inherited values and ideals of life and feels compelled to repel perceived encroachments on such values. This is what the advocacy for true federalism understands intimately.

    “While true federalism does not espouse national disintegration as its adversaries wrongly assume, a pseudo-federal structure lends itself to resentment and thus political crises of the kind that we have witnessed in our recent history. For even when there is no intention to impose values or to marginalise, “mind-readers” are pretty much in the business of psycho-analysing and drawing conclusions, right or wrong. Whether it be in the matter of grazing reserves versus private ranches, or in the issue of revenue sharing, or in national language policy, there is plenty of room for diversity of positions and thus of mischief getting in the way of rational adjudication.” 

    In other words, the first point of interest for advocates of true federalism is not about granting more funds to the states. That is secondary. The first question is what areas of governance are best left in the hands of the states or regions. Once that is resolved, the question of how those areas are funded can then be determined. I also observed in the submission under reference as follows:

    “In the matter of revenue sharing, the central government has its obligations just as do the states. And while the nation has to determine the matter of what accrues to the centre and what to the states, it is not a matter of conjecture that states, being closer to the theatre of action regarding the welfare of the people, have a huge responsibility to bear. Therefore, states must explore all available sources of revenue and generate as much as possible for the discharge of their obligations.”

    True federalism is leaving for states what rightly belongs to them, and to the centre its areas of responsibility.

  • When python dances in Igbo land

    “So the Lord God said to the serpent:

    “Because you have done this,

    You are cursed more than all cattle,

    And more than every beast of the field;

    On your belly you shall go,

    You shall eat dust

    All the days of your life.

    And I will put enmity

    Between you and the woman,

    And between your seed and her seed;

    He shall bruise your head,

    And you shall bruise His heel.”

    -Genesis 3: 14-15 NKJV

    Pythons are among the biggest snakes in the world and Christians know that our Lord has an especial revulsion for snakes. In many instances in the Bible Jesus laments the vileness of sinners and likens them to generation of vipers; another species of snakes.

    As in the opening quote above, early in creation, the serpent had got itself caught up in the mix between God and man and a severe, eternal curse was promptly placed on the creepy creature. The legless reptile is man’s spiritual albatross; an agent of the enemy and a virile member of the kingdom of darkness. The snake is therefore not in any guise, a pet to man.

    What then would anyone make of a dancing python? Encountering a python is ominous enough, to find one dancing would be a most menacing sight.

    Why on earth then would the Nigerian Army (NA) declare “Operation Python Dance” on a section of the country? It was early in the week that we heard that the NA had imposed this macabre dance of the python on the entire Igbo land from November 27 to December 27, 2016.

    Though apparently directed at the Biafra agitators, it is said to be designed to achieve more. According to Army spokesman: “The prevalent security issues such as armed robbery, kidnapping, abduction, herdsmen-farmers clashes, communal clashes and violent secessionist attacks among others would be targeted…”

    It is also suggested that the exercise would be a multi-agency one, to encompass a civil-military component and finally engage in such humanitarian functions as medical outreach, school and road repairs, among others.

    Laudable objective it seems, but a snake is a snake and a python kills by suffocation. The last time the Army garrisoned the Southeast in this manner supposedly in pursuit of IPOB agitators, the result turned out bizarre as recently reported by Amnesty International (AI). An alarming 150 people were reportedly killed and perhaps buried in secret graves across Igbo land.

    It must be said that this so-called operation is in itself an affront and an assault on the good people of the Southeast coming only a few days after the AI report. NA has not offered the world a coherent response on that allegation.

    The last time the region was garrisoned it was such tale of sorrow and angst. If it took six hours to get to the head bridge at Onitsha, you spent another 12 hours from there to your village. It was so tortuous that travellers cursed and cursed…

    Igbo land is among the most peaceful part of Nigeria, especially during Christmas holidays; what they need is not a garrison of the Nigerian military in any guise. In fact, the NA is over-reaching itself in the Southeast and indeed going beyond its call of duty across the country. The NA is usurping the powers and duties of the Nigeria Police and Civil Defence.

    The Federal Government must review the current activities of the Army; it must call them back to the barracks and deploy them only in armed combat situations. If the Nigeria Police is properly briefed and well mobilised, it has capacity to maintain the peace and ensure internal security in all parts of the country.

    Finally, someone in the NA seems to be enjoying some gallows humour of the grim kind recently with all these so-called “operations”. Why would any army seem to gleefully declare a military “operation” within the borders of a country in a time of peace?  But suffice to say that we do not want to see pythons dancing in Igbo land please; it’s a taboo.

     

    New statement from Guild of Editors

    Come Tuesday, December 6, 2016, at Abuja Sheraton, the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) will break new grounds with the public presentation of its book, “8 Evils of Human Trafficking”. It is the first in the NGE’s new, advocacy initiative.

    The book is a creative and exciting compendium on the ills of human trafficking and by it the Guild seeks to bring a fresh fillip to the campaign against this scourge of our society. The book is especially suitable for teenagers and young adults who are most vulnerable.

    Mr. Peter Obi is the chairman of the day; Governor Nyesom Wike is the chief presenter, while all the 22 governors of trafficking endemic states are expected to attend. NAPTIP D-G would be on hand to give a keynote address, while Mrs. Funke Egbemode, the hard-driving president of the NGE, is the chief host. It’s a new dawn for the NGE.

  • Hope rising for Southwest

    Hope rising for Southwest

    My heart is full of joy today. No, I did not win a lottery and nothing has changed in my personal circumstance. Indeed, given the uncertainties of life following the general election in my adopted and beloved country, there is plenty to worry a reflective mind. But with the one who can take control of everything and calm the tide and turbulence of life in charge, worrying is unwarranted.

    I have joy in my heart because something great and desirable is finally happening in my native land as hope rises for the West. “It is God’s doing and it is marvellous in our eyes.”

    Between October 7 and October 21, 2016 I did a three-part series on “Rethinking Southwest priorities.” In the second part, I argued that our political leaders, who have been favoured by providence as the Joshuas of our time, must lead our people with vision to the Promised Land. The best way to do so, I observed, is to remove the artificial boundaries that stand in the way of regional development. I submitted as follows:

    “It was because I believe strongly that we must find a creative way of blurring the sharp and dangerous edges that the artificial boundaries between states have created, and remove the wedges that had effectively blocked the development of the entire region that I and other well-meaning citizens welcomed the emergence of the Development Agenda for Western Nigeria (DAWN) a bold initiative of the Afenifere Renewal Group (ARG) a few years ago.

    For no matter the divisions, the people of Southwest are one and their leaders, no matter what the temptations are, must refrain from putting them asunder. States are supposedly created for administrative purposes. They must not be used in a way that retards growth or limit the opportunities for the people, and certainly never in a way that tears apart the fabric of the Yoruba nation.

    In the light of the difference between the past and the present Southwest in terms of the transition from one region to six states, what adjustments need to be made to ensure that the people still matter and their social and economic interests are enhanced?

    Voluntary regional integration must be the policy objective of the leaders of the states and region and party affiliation must not stand in the way of this important ideal. Years ago, I made this point in a keynote address to Egbe Omo Yoruba National Convention that took place in Baltimore, Maryland. It was also part of my submission when I gave the Bola Ige Memorial Lecture a few years ago. DAWN had not been established in those days, and the partisan war over rigged elections was still very much fierce. The challenge was for victims to accept the leadership of those who stole their mandate and work with them for the integration of the region. Happily, that war is over and political enemies of the past now wine and dine together on the same political table. 

    What needs to be overcome now is fiefdom mentality and leadership temptation to resist cross-fertilisation of ideas and practices across territorial boundaries.”

    I never doubted the leadership credentials of our governors and political leaders. Neither did I question their patriotic fervour. The joy in my heart today is that my assumptions have been proved true and my argument in the series has been determined to be valid and sound.

    I had challenged our political leaders on the general issue of regional integration for economic development.  I also challenged my dynamic governors Ajimobi and Aregbesola of Oyo and Osun states respectively on the LAUTECH crisis. A week later, I read about their meeting which resolved the crisis with an affirmation of the joint ownership of the institution by their two states. I sent both congratulatory messages in appreciation of their mature leadership. That was another excellent example of responsive governance.

    On the general issue of regional integration, I have always been aware of the strong commitment of our leaders to the concept. The challenge has been the frustrating combination of a willing spirit and a weak body. Yet the real solution for finding strength for the weakness of the body has ironically been to take the plunge and challenge the body. That is what has just occurred, thanks again to the recognition by the governors that a desperate time such as this needs a desperate solution.

    As I browse gleefully through the communique issued at the end of their conference on November 21, 2016, I could not resist calling our leader, Chief Adebisi Akande, to share my ecstatic state of mind with him. I was particularly thrilled that the governors affirmed the principle championed by Chief Obafemi Awolowo that the sole purpose of government is the welfare of the people. This is expressed brilliantly as the first item on the communique: “That the optimum interest of the Yoruba people should be the prime focus of the six state governments at all times, and that all politics within the region must henceforth be guided by the philosophy of politics of development.”

    Governor Ajimobi’s welcome statement set the ball rolling: “Let’s face it. We cannot continue to pretend that we can deal with the issues confronting our region and her people on a case-by-case, insular State basis. It will not work…State by state solutions, desirable as they might seem, are no longer enough. The capacity to optimise the space for development lies in collective thinking and actions, as well as effective collaborative governance.”

    Other resolutions in the communique are equally noteworthy and praiseworthy:

    “That regional cooperation, synergy and economies of scale are critical to the development of the region.

    “That good intentions are not enough unless backed by sincerity of purpose and commitment to action.

    “That the prosperity of any constituent part of the region is ultimately negated if other parts are not similarly prosperous.

    “That political difference should no longer be a barrier to the economic development of the region where the aggregate welfare of Yoruba people is concerned. All the states consequently agreed to work together within the framework of a people-centred development strategy.

     

    “A regime of continuity, regularity and urgency of interaction was canvassed and agreed upon by the meeting. The present crop of governors therefore agreed to bequeath to their people a good legacy reflective of the visions of our founding fathers and common ancestors.

    “The states also agreed to jointly embark on collaborative programmes in areas of common interest that require immediate action in the region. These include security, education, transportation infrastructure (roads, rail and water transportation), trade, commerce, agriculture and sports.

    “That the DAWN Commission (the regional development agency for pursuing the regional integration agenda of the states of Western Nigeria, comprising Ekiti, Lagos, Ogun, Ondo, Osun and Oyo) should be vigorously strengthened to coordinate the regional development process.

    “That the current Chairman of the Southwest Governors’ Forum, Senator Abiola Ajimobi, should also serve as the chairman of the commission.

    “DAWN Commission shall consequently develop programmes and activities along the identified areas of cooperation and bring them up for cooperative implementation.”

    In a clear message of deviance to agents of destabilisation, and a courageous stand on the unity of the West, the governors boldly declared that “politics and external influence will not divide us.” What blood and historical ties have joined together, let no one attempt to put asunder.

    This is what progressives have urged since the beginning of the Fourth Republic. That Governor Fayose saw it fit and morally obligatory to sit with his peers in the All Progressive Congress, and that Governor Mimiko, despite the partisan bickering that fills the air of Ondo can send his SSG to meet with his political opponents because they all recognise their blood ties and place a premium on the welfare of our people, must go down as the beginning of another glorious era of the Southwest.

    I hope and pray that the new spirit of unity is sustained for the sake of the masses of our people whose lives would be positively impacted. The ball is now in the court of DAWN!

    HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

  • Mosque leadership & management

    The title of today’s article in this column is not the coinage of yours sincerely. It is rather an adaptation of the title of a book recently published by the University of Lagos. The book was jointly written by some Muslim scholars and edited by Professor M. A. Bidmos (the Chief Imam of the University of Lagos Mosque) and Dr. I. A. Musa. Both editors are renowned scholars and contributing experts to the contents of the book.

    What actually motivated the writing of the book is the concern in many quarters about the methodology of managing the Mosque especially by Nigerian Imams and the effect of such methodology on the contemporary Muslim congregations. In its determination to put round pegs in right holes the University of Lagos decided to establish a special course through which prospective Imams could be properly trained on leadership and management of the Mosque. It is the very first of its type in Nigeria.

    Definition of Mosque

    The word Mosque is the corrupt English pronunciation of the Arabic word ‘MASJID’ (otherwise called ‘MASGID’ in Egyptian dialect) which literarily means a place of prostration. Contrary to the general misconception here in Nigeria, Mosque is not meant for SALAT alone. Therefore leading Salat alone does not really make a Muslim an Imam. Any Muslim who can recite Suratul Fatihah and some other Surahs or Verses very well can lead Salat. The Mosque, on the other hand, serves many purposes each of which has a fundamental significance. For instance the very first Mosque established by Prophet Muhammad (SAW) in Madinah was a multipurpose one. That Mosque named the ‘Mosque of Qubah’ did not serve as a place of worship alone. It also served as a school, a library, a bank, a clinic, a court of law and even a parliament for the Muslim community. Whoever will manage such a vital institution, therefore, must be adequately trained for it.

    Mosque as a source of

    knowledge and civilisation

    The very first University in the world, (University of Cordoba), established in the 8th century CE by the Muslims in Spain, started as a Mosque. And, it will be recalled that even the three oldest Universities in the world today: Al-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt; Qarawiyyin University in Fez, Morocco and Zaytuniyyah University in Tunis, Tunisia, (each of which is well over 1000 years old) started as Mosques. Thus, it becomes clear that one cannot seriously talk about human civilization without a fundamental reference to the Mosque as well as the Imams who happen to be its managers. Actually, nothing is called Mosque in the absence of Muslim congregations and their Imams.

    The Mosque and the Imam

    Mosque and Imam are like the message and the messenger. There can hardly be any access to one without going through the other. And if the one is afflicted by any disenchantment the other will surely feel the pain. In Islamic doctrine, the functions of a Mosque are both spiritual and temporal. For Muslims, none of these can be taken for granted or handled with levity.

    Imamate by Scholarship

    When Prophet Muhammad (SAW) described learned scholars as the heirs to the Prophets he was referring to Imams. This is because no genuine Muslim can statutorily be an Imam without first being a learned scholar. However, there is a sharp difference between a scholar and a learned scholar. The one can be self-arrogated. The other is intellectually evident.

    Becoming an Imam, if due process is followed, is like becoming a judge after a period of certified experience acquired subsequent to graduating from the Law School. It is not enough to graduate from a Qur’anic school and teach in a Madrasah for a few years to be qualified as Imam. Neither should attainment of Imamate be by heritage through a consanguine lineage. Lawyers do attend the Law School after graduating from the Universities and even practise in law chambers for a number of years before they become qualified for appointment as judges.

    Doctors undergo Houseman-ship after their graduation from medical colleges before they are formally admitted into the medical Profession. Other professionals also undergo practical industrial training in their respective fields of discipline before they can be qualified as practising professionals. Now, apart from graduating from Madrasah, where do our Imams undergo training to be statutorily qualified as Imams? This question indicates that a glaring vacuum exists in the methodology of Mosque management which Nigerian Muslim Ummah is yet to fill.

    Problem of Appointing Imams

    One of the first problems arising from appointing Imams in Nigeria is lack of leadership training. People are made Imam or assume the office of Imam only on the basis of what they learned from the Qur’anic schools. Besides the preliminary general Islamic knowledge which most Muslim clerics often claim to have acquired what else can be said to make a Muslim an Imam? In reality, the aspect of dealing with the complexity of human nature and the competent management of that aspect is the quality that is supposed to make a person an Imam. But incidentally, that is the real aspect that is missing in Nigerian Mosques today.

    Even after coming into office as Imam, no special training is ever organized to enable the Imam know the enormity of his duty and map out the strategy with which to handle it. It is a well known fact that no written documents are ever handed over to the new Imam to show where the last Imam stopped and where the new one should commence from. In other words, no records of activities or achievements are available in our Mosques except by oral transmission. How can there be progress?

    The need for training

    Whereas the intellectual sophistication of Imamate is such that requires periodic workshops, seminars, conferences and trainings, none of these is ever arranged to update our Imams and improve their quality. Thus, our Imams remain ignorantly static in the belief that they have reached the peak of Islamic knowledge having become Imams. This is not the case with the Christian counterparts who as a matter of obligation must undergo tutelage in Christian doctrines and Church management at specialized seminaries before becoming qualified as Pastors or Bishops. In the case of Imams, there is no such training and thus, imamate is seen as a meal ticket which provides the Imam an opportunity to cheapen the title and abuse the office. Perhaps that is why most Nigerian Imams shun self esteem as they struggle for crumbs under the tables of moneybags in the society. With such a degrading status, how can the leadership of an Imam be respected and his supposed guidance be followed?

    The Prophet’s recommendation

    Whereas Prophet Muhammad’s recommendation for Imamate is that one should only become an Imam when legitimately chosen and appointed as such, based on intellectual capability and exemplary mannerism, the situation in Nigeria today is the direct opposite of that recommendation. In the cause of appointing an Imam, factions of Muslim groups often gang up against one another just as families pick quarrels and hostilities against families having turned Imamate into an inheritable title within a clan. Yet, the claim is that they want to serve Allah. Must Allah be served desperately with ignorance and degradation?

     

    Implications of Imamate

    If those fighting to become Imams knew the implication of serving in that office and reporting back to Allah in the Hereafter, they would never have presented themselves for the post. An Imam is the spiritual guarantor of his congregation. He takes responsibility for any spiritual misdemeanour of that congregation before Allah.

    But like any other Nigerian public office, Imamate has been so grossly commercialized that the process of putting people in that office has been seriously corrupted. That is why most of our Imams are half-baked intellectually and even bankrupt morally.

    Though, the Prophet’s recommendation is for dedicated Muslims to compete for the office of the Muadhdhin (one who calls people to Salat and practically manages the Mosque), Nigerian Muslims prefer to slog it out with one another over the office of Imam just because of the pecuniary benefit accruing from that office.

    The objective of the training course

    It is in order to correct the anomaly in appointing Imams in Nigerian Mosques and to forestall the entailed danger embedded in that anomaly that the authorities of UNILAG came up with the idea of a training course for Nigerian Imams and invited experts to write the concise book entitled ‘MOSQUE LEADERSHIP & MANAGEMENT’ for the course. The book is both a curriculum for the training and a compendium of factors of knowledge and dignity in leadership and management.

    The Book

    The 165 page book consists of eight parts with each part classified into chapters. There are 21 chapters in all. Every Part in the book serves is a reference point for the tutorials to be provided in the classrooms at the end of which each enrolled Imam will be awarded a Diploma Certificate if successful. The eight parts are as follows:

    Part One: Imams and Imamate Responsibilities. Under this part are chapters such as: An Imam and Self Esteem; Qualifications and Qualities of an Imam; The Duties of Imam in the Light of ‘Maqasid Al-Sharia’ah. Under this part are chapters like:

    Part Two: Arabic Grammar for Khutbah Writing and Delivery. Under this Part are chapters like: The Importance of Arabic to Imam; Essential Nahw Concepts in Khutbah Writing and Delivery.

    Part Three: Noon of Islam. Under this part are the following chapters: An Overview of Umayyad and Abbasid Caliphates; Appraising the Golden and Silver periods of Abbasid Era; Towards Restoration of Spirituality and Morality of Education.

     

    Part Four: Qur’an and Hadith Texts. Under this parts are the following chapters to be found: Ethics and Mechanism of flawless Reading of the Qur’an; Selections from the Sihahus-Sittah and other Collections of Hadith on Imamate.

     

    Part Five: Communication Skills in English. Under this part are chapters such as: Nature and Relationship between Language and Literature; Time and Tense in English; Essentials of Public Speaking; Guidelines for Essay Writing.

     

    Part Six: Approaches and Ethics of Da’wah. Under this Part are the following chapters: Approaches to Islamic Propagation; Conditions and Ethics of Da’wah Practice.

     

    Part Seven: Conducting Tafsir. Under this Part are chapters like: Qualities of the Mufassir and Types of Tafsir; Model Tafsir.

     

    Part Eight: Conducting Islamic Ceremonies. Under this part are to chapters such as: Overview and Methods of Conducting Nikah, ‘Aqiqah & Janazah Ceremonies to be found.

     

    It is necessary to hint here that getting a copy of the book and reading it inside out does not make a Muslim cleric a qualified Imam. There is much more to learn in the classroom than the book contains. The hood does not make the Monk. There is no short cut to knowledge.

     

    About the course

    For the first time in Nigeria, a University course for training Muslim clerics in the art of leadership and management of the Mosque debut at the University of Lagos. The course which is designed for a period of six months and hold every Saturday within the period commenced sometime in 2015. It is strictly meant for graduates of Higher Madrasah who possess at least Thanawiyyah/Senior Secondary School Certificates as well as University graduates who aspire to become qualified Imams. The cost of the course is N120000 and the cover price of the book is N1000. This course is a great opportunity for serious Muslim Organizations with Mosques to train their Imams or prospective Imams.

    The resource persons

    Most of the resource persons for this programme who are also co-authors of the book in question are not just renowned scholars they are also men of dignity and impeccable character. They are as follows:

    Professor M. A. Bidmos (Coordinator); Professor T. G. O. Gbadamosi; Alhaji M. O.Junaid; Dr. I. A. Musa; Dr. Nurain Alimi; Dr. Tajudeen Yusuf; Dr. Abdul Hakeem Adekunle; Alhaji Bashir Abdur-Rahim; Imam Abdullah Akinbode and Imam Zakariya Muhmmad Thanni.

    The first graduating set

    The first set of aspiring qualified Imams enrolled for the course as pioneering students in 2015 and graduated on Saturday, October 22, 2016. They were 20 in number. Every participant in that set who graduated last October has now become a qualified Imam with high sense of pride.

     Similitude of the Mosque

    The similitude of the Mosque is like that of a beehive. It ventilates the activities of the Muslims to solve their spiritual and temporal problems through interactions with their fellow brothers and sisters and through the guidance of their Imams if such Imams are well educated and do not constitute liabilities to their congregations.

    That our Mosques have not lived up to expectations in this sphere even in the 21st century is however, not the end of the story. Righting the wrong is one of the foremost characteristics of Islam. It is better to be late in doing the right thing than not to do the right thing at all. We can still start to put things right as from today by ventilating our Mosque atmospheres for social welfare; for education; for health care; for conflict resolution; for Zakah management; for spiritual guidance and counselling; for economic growth and skill building; as well as for information and publicity. It is only by doing these that our Imams and clerics can rightly claim to be engaged in sensible Da’awah.

    Conclusion

    As a Muslim community, we have lived with a system for hundreds of years without achieving the necessary objective of our religious mission. In the process, we have lost most of our best brains to the other side of the bridge. We cannot afford to surge ahead with an unprofitable venture at this twilight of the world. We must change the system! The Muslim Ummah must be made to see why they need the Mosque as much as why the Mosque needs them. Experimenting with a new system will not only put a stop to basking in the euphoria of the past, it will also engender a durable legacy for the current generation of Muslims. While congratulating the University of Lagos for this historic initiative ‘The Message’ column hereby implores all forward-looking Muslim Organizations in Nigeria to take advantage of this programme to lay a solid foundation for good management of the Mosque in Nigeria. Our Imams must meet the required standards by becoming qualified.

  • Is politics all about self-interest?

    Is politics all about self-interest?

    Everyone looks after his or her own interest. There’s no other way to correctly explain human behaviour. Even the so-called altruists are interest seekers. They look after others as a way of satisfying their own self-interest. They simply derive satisfaction from helping others. You don’t do something that hurts you simply because it hurts you. It’s unnatural.”

    The sentiment captured above is a typical introduction to psychological egoism, a theory that denies human capacity for altruistic behaviour whether in politics, business, or the professions. For this theory, there is always an element of self-interest lurking beneath the surface of every other-regarding action.

    In a textbook illustration, Abraham Lincoln is credited with providing an interesting defence of the theory. Travelling in a stage coach with a friend and arguing for his belief that all human action is motivated by self-interest; Lincoln suddenly came upon a scene. Some piglets were trapped in a thicket with their mother in visible anguish and distress. Lincoln stopped the coach, stepped out and released the piglets. His interlocutor seized upon what he thought was Lincoln’s altruism and asked: “What possibly can be in that action for you, Mr. President?” Lincoln answered calmly. “That was an act of self-interest. If I didn’t release those piglets, I would never have any peace of mind thereafter.”

    Ethics students characteristically agree with Lincoln. But there are problems with psychological egoism as a sound theory. Granted, it is a very simple theory; its simplicity also makes it inadequate for understanding every human action. Jagun jumped to the back of a reversing car to save a young infant from being crushed. It was on the spur of the moment. There can be no thinking about possible success. He has no time to think about the possibility of dying himself. What can be his egoistic motivation? And how do you know my motive better than I, such that even when I tell you I have a different motive than you attribute to me, you can still suggest that I am wrong?

    In politics, however, the theory appears to have had explanatory success. Surely, not every political behaviour is reducible to self-interest. However, a significant part can be so understood. Consider voting behaviour. Voters have multiple interests and the choice they make of candidates or issues will ultimately reflect the most valued of such interests.

    The recent presidential election in the United States has been a puzzle to many analysts. How can the most educated and affluent nation on earth elect someone who exudes so much that is repugnant to the civilised world? Where are the family values once cherished by the Republican Party? Where is the transparency that has been the hallmark of the Conservative Movement?

    Based on his positions and temperament which would, they thought, give the Democratic Party nominee an easy ride in the general election, many had silently hoped and prayed that Donald Trump was the Republican Party nominee. They got their wish. But the voters in battleground states decided that their interests were better served by Trump despite his demonstrated flaws. It boils down to self-interest.

    You cannot fault a person for voting his or her own interest. It is the foundation of liberal democracy. Rousseau would have thought otherwise. For in making decisions on important matters of the state, such as the question of who should lead the most powerful nation on earth, Rousseau would have voters suppress their self-interest in favour of the general interest. They should not ask “what is in it for me?” Voters should ask “what is the good of the nation?”

    Rejecting Rousseau’s general interest as a fiction, John Locke, the father of modern liberalism, prescribed a “realistic” approach. Voting is a means of adjudicating group and individual interests. There is no general interest beyond the interest of every member of the nation. Therefore, voting is not a means of truth seeking; it is a means of aggregating and reconciling interests. Therefore, voters must approach every question from the perspective of their self-interest.

    American democracy is Lockean. Of course, individuals know that they need to associate with others with whom their self-interests are aligned. Therefore, political parties are formed. But within each political party, there are also interest-groups: conservatives, liberals, evangelicals, labour unions, moderates, etc. And each of these has specific agenda positions, which they struggle to realise within the party and ultimately in national elections.

    There is no doubt, however, that even within these interest groups, individuals have their own important ideas concerning their interests in election cycles and which candidate they can trust with realising those interests. This last election presents a good illustration.

    Considering the rhetoric of Trump on immigration, the Democratic Party and its presidential campaign were reasonably confident about massive Latino turnout for Hillary Clinton. The campaign focused on the Latino vote in key battleground states. Although Clinton received more Latino votes than Trump, Trump out-performed Mitt Romney 2012 Latino vote. This means that many Latinos saw Trump as a better candidate for the interest they considered more important for them, including abortion policy, Cuba policy and gun rights. Trump won Florida, home to the most Latino population in battleground states.

    African-Americans are another indispensable voting bloc in Democratic Party politics and the most consistent in terms of its support for the party and its presidential candidates. Again, while Hillary won much more African-American votes than Trump, she could have performed better if many of them had not stayed home on Election Day. It has also been affirmed that Trump out-performed Mitt Romney 2012 African-Americans votes. This is despite Trump’s association with the alt-right movement and Steve Bannon, who was his campaign CEO.

    Those African-Americans who stayed home, probably had their reasons. They were not as excited by Clinton as they were by Obama in 2008 and 2012. But what about those African-Americans who gave Trump their votes? Many working-class Blacks probably believed that they could trust him with pocket-book issues than Clinton. Trump spoke to the angst of many working-class Americans regarding the alleged rigging of the economic system against them. He inveighed against trade deals which he claimed subjugated the interests of workers to big business. Many Blacks agreed.

    Much has been made of the Trump appeal to the White working-class and the rural voters in mid-America, and the Rust Belt. While many of the latter have usually leaned Republican, the working-class electorate have generally been identified with the Democratic Party. Some have argued that the Obama presidency has alienated this group. Yet Obama has been great for them, especially with his economic policy, which has created millions of jobs after the 2008 recession, and Obamacare which has reduced the number of uninsured by millions. Just like African-American working-class, this group probably concluded that it can trust Trump more with pocket-book issues.

    White evangelicals, as value voters, are most likely not about pocket book. Do they see their value interests represented by Trump? Not Liberty University students who, based on moral and religious values, dissociated themselves from their President’s endorsement of Trump. Evangelicals most likely brushed aside Trump’s publicised moral flaws because they perceived a coalescence of interests on his promise to nominate conservative Supreme Court justices who would overturn Roe v. Wade.

    Is it also self-interest that drew educated White men and women to Trump despite their aversion to his ethics? Clinton won only 39 per cent of educated White men and 51 per cent of educated White women. With this group doing well in an Obama economy, what could be its reason for favouring Trump and defying the polls?  Some honestly believed that Trump’s economic and trade policies would open more opportunities for their children.

    There is a final point. Voting is a gamble. No one is sure what a candidate would turn out to be. This is especially true in the case of an unconventional candidate and president like Trump. But Trump also has self-interest in fulfilling his campaign promises. His body language, including appointing his Campaign CEO as Chief White House Strategist, against bipartisan moral counsel, provides a good evidence for the potency of self-interest in politics.