The Nation Newspaper

Tag: mirror

  • Kogi as mirror

    In March, medical doctors in the Kogi State Public Service under the aegis of the state chapter of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), embarked on yet another round of strike. Their demands specifically included the payment of the balance of 40% salary arrears owed doctors from August to December, 2017, payment of 100% of doctors’ salaries and allowances for January and February, 2018 as well as the implementation of the revised Consolidated Medical Salary Scale (CONMESS) by the state government.

    Despite having since called off the strike, apparently relying on the promise that their plight would be alleviated, it is sad that doctors in the state are still in a quandary.

    Addressing a world press conference in Lokoja, the state capital, last week, the Kogi State chairman of NMA, Dr. Kabiru Zubair, lamented that “the situation of doctors is very pathetic in Kogi civil service, starting from underpayment, irregular payment to outright non-payment of salaries for over five months consecutively and counting”. Matters were compounded for the doctors, Dr. Zubair said, by a lack of the necessary healthcare infrastructure for optimum performance and fulfillment.

    Frustrated that several industrial actions in the past to remedy the situation had been unfruitful, the NMA chairman revealed that scores of doctors had opted to disengage from the state public service. According to him “…In the last nine months alone, 27 doctors have resigned from the Kogi State Specialist Hospital (KSSH), Lokoja, including two consultants. Forty-four have resigned from the state Hospitals Management Board (HMB) and eight from the Kogi State University Teaching Hospital, Anyingba. More doctors are just waiting for the next available opportunity to leave”.

    The unsavoury scenario in Kogi State only mirrors an alarming nationwide trend with highly skilled medical specialists leaving the country in droves, to pursue more financially rewarding and psychologically fulfilling careers abroad. Thus, the Lagos State branch chairman of the NMA, Dr. Olumuyiwa Odusote, in a newspaper interview noted disturbingly that hundreds of doctors have resigned from the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, Lagos State public health facilities as well as the Ladoke Akintola University Teaching Hospital, Ogbomosho, in the last two years, to cite only a few. He warns that “seventy percent of Nigerian doctors are making plans to leave for foreign lands and are taking exams to that effect”.

    This is of course only a tip of the iceberg as 35,000 of the 72,000 Nigerian doctors registered with the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) are reported to be practising abroad, particularly in the United Kingdom and United States.  Ironically, a large number of these globally marketable experts were trained in Nigeria, only to be forced to export their skills to more developed countries despite their services being badly needed at home.

    Healthcare indices in Nigeria are worsened by the fact that nurses, pharmacists and laboratory scientists are also part of the substantial exodus of healthcare specialists from the country.

    With adequate investment in the health sector to provide modern facilities and equipment as well as competitive and attractive remuneration for medical specialists, thousands of Nigerian doctors and other health professionals abroad will be encouraged to come back home. Nigeria undoubtedly has all it takes to become a global centre of medical tourism through which she can reap humongous revenues in addition to guaranteeing higher healthcare standards for millions of her citizens, which is an indispensable condition for accelerated national development.

    This will require not just the requisite political will on the part of the respective governments but also carefully thought-out policies implemented with optimum efficiency. No less critical is the need to intensify the war against the massive corruption that drains public resources into private pockets as well as urgently enhance the fiscal capacity of the sub-national units of government to meet their responsibilities to the citizenry.

     

  • Time to look in the mirror

    I had a dog several years ago, it is often a spectacle each time it comes into the living room and looks in the mirror. My dog will start fighting the “other” dog in the mirror, scratching, barking and howling, all at the same time. It will go on and on until chased out of the room. Psychologists would tell us that we are the only ones with the innate ability to recognise our own images. So, when we look in the mirror, what do we actually see?

    Our immediate reply would be: “of course, I see myself!” But recognising yourself is more than just identifying the face in the mirror as your own. When you flip through your photo album, you see yourself in that snapshot of a toddler on a tricycle, that picture of a primary-schooler standing behind a science project, the high school yearbook portrait of an awkward adolescent, and that photo of a young adult in a university graduation gown. None of these look like the face staring back in the mirror. Yet somehow you’re able to self-tie all these disparate persons together.

    The concept of self is related to a number of ideas that include mind and consciousness. As Israeli neurobiologist Yochai Ataria points out, the subjective experience of a self that transcends the body is so compelling that it simply cannot be dismissed. And yet all evidence indicates that this experience of self somehow emerges from the electrochemical activity of that three-pound blob of fat and protein inside your cranium. When the brain dies, so does the self.

    In the last month, we have been inundated with unbelievable stories of what Nigerians are going through in Libya. Recently, CNN ran an embarrassing story about how Black Africans – mainly Nigerians – are being sold as slaves for as low as $400! Their stories are also everywhere on social media. Some of these stories, to some Nigerians, would be just what they are; stories. But they’re not mere “stories” but real life experiences that seriously calls us to look ourselves in the mirror and answer the simply – yet, not so simple – question of why our youths are risking their lives to get out of Nigeria.

    I had a firsthand experience what our youths go through from my generator technician who was a Libya returnee. After roaming the streets without jobs for years, his family got together, contributed money and said the “best” option is for him to leave for Europe. Since he could not secure visas from several European embassies, the “only” option was to go through land and sea. A friend introduced him to a “businessman” who specialises in taking people to Libya, and from there into Europe.

    They met with this “businessman” who told them “it’s just three days trip from Nigeria through Niger republic to Libya.” Unknown to him at that time, he was dealing with a well organised international criminal gang specialising in ferrying West Africans across the desert into Libya and Europe. He converted the N5 million his family contributed into dollars and began his “three days” journey to Libya. That was the beginning of this tale of misery.

    It was a smooth ride from Nigeria to Niger where they were handed over to another gang of human traffickers; mostly Touaregs, who took over from their Nigerian partners to take the illegal migrants across the desert to Libya. Here, language became a huge barrier as the Touaregs do not speak or understand English. Only about 60-70% eventually makes it to Libya. Many die along the way because of the harsh desert conditions and they are buried in the sand. He said those who thought the money they paid in Nigeria would take them to Libya got the shock of their lives when they were told a new “contract” has to be entered into with the Touaregs.

    “Two Nigerians who had no more money on them were told to disembark from the vehicle. One of them tried to argue and he was shot in the leg. They were left right there in the desert while we proceeded. I often wonder what eventually happened to them,” he said. “Going through the desert that eventually took fifteen days, and not the three days we were told, has remained the worst experience in my life.”

    He described the unbearable heat in the day and the extreme cold at night as something better imagined than lived through. “If a grain of sand touches your body, it will feel as if a hot iron has been pressed into your skin. Those of us that eventually made it to Libya were not necessarily lucky. Some were kidnapped at the border by Arab militants, turned into slaves, and asked to contact their families back home to pay ransom. The men are beaten; the women were raped. I was weeping in my soul when I saw how a young lady was being brutally raped right in front of us.”

    After suffering in Libya for four months, he swallowed whatever pride he had left after a period of serious soul searching and decided to come home. But the challenge remained how? The opportunity came when he was repatriated. He came home and decided to serve as an apprentice specialising in heavy duty generator repairs. “I will not even advise my worst enemy to undertake the trip to Libya by road,” was his conclusion.

    The images that we have seen from Libyan slave camps are sad. But, suffice it to say that Arab racism has been an issue and violence towards foreigners is not necessarily new in Libya, but it is what it is because now the issue is not strictly racism but the Libyan people’s desperation for survival in a state without a government since the fall of Muammar Ghaddafi.

    As we look ourselves in the mirror, the question to ask is why the majority of Nigerian youth would risk everything- family, comfort, parental love, childhood memories, familiarity, and others in a quest to flee their own country, hitched only to a dream of Eldorado, but sadly, inevitable disaster? Who made this country such a dreadful place in the first place, where fellow citizens that ought to salvage it are deserting in droves? Yet, these are questions we should be asking and conversation we should be having, especially now that the bells of 2019 have started ringing.

    It is estimated that about 400, 000 – 600, 000 Nigerians are trapped in Libya. Over 17, 000 were repatriated by the Obasanjo government. The Buhari government has also repatriated over 1, 000 Nigerians from Libya and counting; but there is no hope that all of them can be brought back home. It is reported that many will like to return home, but they don’t even have the means to transport themselves to the evacuation points. Those that are not enslaved are still hoping to make enough money to be able to cross to Europe at whatever cost.

    This reminds me of an undercover documentary I watched on CNN years ago. In his quest to “live” the experience of real immigrants, a CNN reporter joined the quest giving detailed description of the journey. At the end of the journey, he asked one of the immigrants who made it from France to the UK by hiding under a truck what his next move is now that he has arrived London. “I don’t know,” was his surprising reply.

    Back home, the promises of creating millions of jobs have started flying around. But Nigerians should not be carried away by politicians who are now “focusing” on the youths. Ask anyone promising jobs to tell you how he intend to create the jobs and from where he would get the money in a depressed economy. A businessman once told me that Nigeria is a “high risk” country to invest in despite of what we are being told. It’s time to have a hard long talk about getting out of the mess that allows a vibrant section of our population to risk everything to get out. Look in the mirror again and tell me what you see.

     

  • The mirror of life

     “Do you not see how Allah has set forth a parable of a meaningful ‘WORD’   like a fruitful tree which roots are firmly planted in the earth while its branches sprout magnificently into the firmament of the sky, yielding delicious fruits every season by Allah’s grace? Allah gives parables to men (of reason) that they may ponder and be mindful…” (Q. 14: 24).             

    Preamble

    It is rather ironic that even in this age of internet, many Africans (including ignorant Muslims) still perceive Islam as a mere dogma in which riddles, rituals and superstitions thrive. This is quite far from the reality. But it takes only people with functional eyes to perceive the light. Ignorance is a disease which knowledge alone can heal.

    Since the creation of Adam, man has continuously enjoyed the guidance of Allah in one form or another. Prophets have been sent to various societies. Books have been revealed through those Prophets. Parables have been used with references drawn from the past. And warnings as well as admonitions have been divinely issued in those Books. Practical lessons such as the great deluge, the cataclysm of Sodom and Gomorrah, the defeat of Jalut (Goliath) by Daud (David), the doom of the tyrannical Pharaoh, and most recently, the waterloo of Adolf Hitler of Germany have come to man as lessons through which he can re-assess himself.

    All these and many other occurrences have been used as allusion by Allah to remind man of human mortality and to see him through a successful life’s odyssey. But unfortunately, man has always been blind to genuine divine guidance. He has been deaf to warnings and resistant to reasoning as much as he is insensitive to thoughts and inflexible to ideas. In his choice to form freemasonry with Satan (the custodian of ruins and deception), man has ignorantly strayed into a quagmire of sorrow through the millennia. Taking Satan for his best friend, man refuses to use the long spoon with which he is provided by Allah to dine with the damned Lucifer. This was the situation until 610 CE when  Allah decided to chronicle the activities of man from the very beginning of human existence and make it an eternally concrete ‘MIRROR’ through which the descendants of Adam can continue to see life in its past, its present and its near and far future. This ‘MIRROR’ is the Qur’an, the anecdote that heals man’s blindness, the manure that fertilizes the brain and the greatest treasure in possession of mankind.

     

    Features of the Qur’an

    For the rightly guided minds, Qur’an is the eyes with which to see, the ears with which to hear and the sense with which to reason. It is the bridge across the valleys of life, the insurance against damnation, the passport for salvation and the only reliable redeemer of man.

    Qur’an leaves no aspect of life untouched. It leaves no privacy unprotected and no secret unexposed. Problems and solutions; history and lessons; crimes and penalties; justice and righteousness; discipline and courage; friendship and trust; governance and methodology; marriage and divorce; widowhood and orphanage; childhood and inheritance; poverty and wealth; politics and economy; opinion and reason; facts and figures; life and death; darkness and light; war and peace; leadership and power; angels and man; heavens and earth; all these and many other matters form subjects of discussion and guidance in the ‘Divine Diary of Life called ‘Al- Qur’an’.

    For people on the right path, therefore, life begins and ends with the Qur’an, Allah’s own tradition and the only authentic fountain from which man can draw wisdom with which to solve any problem. The sense that reasons with the Qur’an makes no mistake. The mind that thinks with it is never bedevilled. The eye that sees with it incurs no sore. The tongue that talks with it never stammers. The power that rules with it never falls. And the Almighty Allah warns in the Qur’an thus: “But whosoever deviates from My tradition, verily for him is life of subjugation and We shall raise him blind on the Day of Judgment” (Q. 20: 124).

     

    Proof of the Qur’anic revelations

    Charlatans who perceive Islam as a dogma continue to ask for the proof of the genuineness of Qur’anic revelation as if other revelations before the Qur’an do not require proof. In reason and logic, asking for the proof of the Qur’an is like asking the sun to prove its rays. Can anybody reasonably ask for the proof of the hair growing on his head? It is the nature and character of unbelievers to deny the truth and refute the manifest. But does it ever bother the sun in any way that a blind man denies its rays? Or can a brook be affected if a herd boycotts its water?

    To Muslims who deeply understand the tenets of Islam, all the genuine Prophets are from Allah and all the revealed ‘BOOKS’ are series of the same ‘MESSAGE’. This fact has been firmly established in the Qur’an and that is why Muslims are not known for maligning any Prophet or revealed ‘BOOK’.

    Right from its very first day of revelation, the Qur’an has come with undeniable proof. But it takes only a divinely cleansed heart to acknowledge such proof. Qur’an itself is the proof of all other celestial messages that preceded it. It is the final divine revelation which has no human interference or human tampering. Neither Prophet Muhammad (SAW) who brought that ‘MESSAGE’ to mankind nor any of his associates and disciples had a say in it. This Book of the greatest divine message contains no chapters or verses according to anybody besides ALLAH.

     

    Doubting ‘Thomases’

    During the revelation of this Book, Allah had foreseen the reaction of doubting ‘Thomases’ across generations of races whose hymns of denial would come from the abyss of falsehood even as they would cling pathologically to the chord of ignorance. To such ‘Thomases’, the Qur’an owes neither explanation nor apology.

    Qur’an is like gold which everybody seeks directly or indirectly because of its immeasurable value but which only a few can recognize in its raw form. It takes geologists to identify the soil in which gold is buried. It takes miners to mine it out just as it takes smelters to smelt it before the goldsmith can transform it into a beautiful ornament. In the same manner, it takes categories of pious intellectuals to pursue the reading, understanding and interpretation of the Qur’an to a loftily appreciable level.

     

     Islam’s contribution to civilisation

    That the Qur’an is the only revealed ‘BOOK’ in the world today which retains the originality of its language and contents for over 1445 years is enough a testimony to the proof of its divine origin. That also confirms Arabic as one of the oldest languages in the world today.

    If the proof of the Qur’an is not seen in the social, economic and political context of its exegeses, it must be seen in its scientific hypotheses through which Europe came in contact with civilization. It is from those hypotheses that the modern world zoomed into technological advancement through the adoption of ‘Al-Jibrau (called Algebra), Al-Kaymiyau (called Chemistry), Al-Fisiyau (called Physics) as well as the introduction of ‘ZERO’ into numerals which led to the replacement of Roman figures, in the 13th century, with Arabic numerals that brought about decimal system and paved way for scientific breakthrough in Human life. It should be recalled that the numerals used in schools today are called Arabic numerals as a mark of their origin.

    Before adopting the Arabic numerals, Europe had relied upon the clumsy system of Roman numerals which called for enormous expenditure of time and labour. For instance, while the Arabic numerals makes it easy for the world to write such date as 1948 in only four figures within a second, it requires eleven figures to write the same number in Roman numerals thus: MDCCCXLVIII. Even if Islam has contributed nothing more than the decimal system to the modern civilization it has done much more than any other religion. And what is more, the idea of what is called UNIVERSITY today originated from that divine religion. The very first University in the world (University of Cordoba) was established by the Muslims in Spain in the late 9th century based on their Qur’anic guidance. And the three oldest existing Universities in the world today were established by Muslims in the 10th century. They are Al-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt; Qarawiyyin University in Fes, Morocco and Zaytuniyyah University in Tunis, Tunisia. Yet, Prophet Muhammad (SAW) who brought that wonderful ‘MESSAGE’ to humanity was unlettered. However, despite his unlettered status he remains the greatest human being that ever lived throughout the history of man.

     

    Attestation

    It was in reference to this non-such Islamic contribution to human civilization that the renowned French historian of the 20th century, Gustav Le Bon wrote in his book: ‘The Civilization of the Arabs’ thus:

    “At an epoch when the rest of Europe was plunged in the darkest barbarism, Baghdad and Cordoba, the two great cities where Islam held sway, were centres of civilization which illumined the whole world with the light of their brilliance”.

     

     The prophet’s biography

    Perhaps from the creation of Adam, the first human being till today, no man’s biography has been as much written and read as that of Muhammad (SAW) the Prophet of Islam. This man’s biography has been globally written from all perspectives by various men and women of diverse backgrounds in the past 1445 years or thereabout. And the biography is still being written and re-written authoritatively and un-authoritatively today in uncountable languages.

     

    The message and the Messenger

    Through the writing of his biography, some people have zoomed into undreamed fame. Others have sunk into permanent oblivion. No other Prophet’s biography has attracted as many writers from believers and non-believers, from friends and foes alike as that of Prophet Muhammad (SAW). Every aspect of his life including the dresses he wore, the food he ate, the way he spoke and the wives he married has come to form chapters in his biography. In short, next to the Qur’an, no book is as much read daily in the world today as the biography of Prophet Muhammad (SAW) in one form or another.

    Why is the concentration so much on this unlettered Prophet from Arabia? The answer to this Question is not far-fetched. The world has never produced another personality like him and it will not. He is the seal of all Prophets and the epitome of human exemplariness. In him alone are found all traces of what a decent man should be. From him alone can the obedience to genuine law be learned from all conceivable angles.

     

    Evidence of greatness

    If Prophet Muhammad had not been an orphan, he would not have been able to guide mankind on how orphans should be treated especially with regards to inheritance.  If he had not been a husband, his marital life would not have been an example for sensible people to emulate and women’s rights would have been permanently over-sighted. If he had not been trustworthy, the value of trust would have been lost totally on humanity. If he had not been a father, the care for children by parents would have been totally relegated to the background.

    If this great man had not been an emigrant, the culture of hospitality universally imbibed today would not have been championed by Islam. If he had not been a warrior, the law of war, armistice and peaceful resolution would not have come into existence. If he had not been a conqueror, the word magnanimity would not have found a place in the dictionary of man. If he had not been a negotiator, perhaps there would never have been anything called diplomacy. If he had not been an arbiter, the virtue of justice would have probably been thrown to the winds and survival in all societies would have been for the fittest alone.

    If Prophet Muhammad (SAW) had not been a ruler, the relationship between the ruled and the rulers all over the world today would not have been different from that of slaves and their masters. If he had not been a democrat, dictatorship in governance would have known no bounds. If he had not been poor, the policy of social welfare adopted in civilized societies in the world today in favour of the poor would not have been possible. And, if, despite all these great qualities in him, he had not been humble and affable, arrogance would have dominated the characters of all privileged people.

     

    Challenge

    Who else can be compared to this man in history? In which other single person have all these qualities ever been combined in history? There can be little wonder then why the concentration is so much on the person of this extraordinary man especially by ordinary foes. Prophet Muhammad (SAW) alive and in death is like a living elephant surrounded by blind men. If every one of those blind men is to give a description of the elephant he would only be able to do so from the perspective of the part he is able to touch on the mammoth animal and not the whole of it. That is Prophet Muhammad (SAW) the like of whom the world had never seen before his arrival and can never see again after his departure.

     

    History’s greatest man

    After centuries of complimentary and uncomplimentary remarks about his person, the Prophet of Islam was finally named the greatest man that ever lived. This was done, not by his followers or admirers but by his critics among the non-Muslims (see ‘The100: A Ranking of the most Influential Persons in History’ by Michael H. Hart). One of the ways of recognising true greatness in a person is the array of criticism hauled at him from time to time by those who are envious of him but can never attain his height in glory and fame. Thus, defamation of character and denigration of personality as perennially being done to Prophet Muhammad (SAW) in some parts of the West are not peculiar to this non-such Prophet of Islam. After all, Prophet Isa (Jesus) before him was subjected to similar denigration and humiliation even as he was rejected in his own country by his own people. And what became of Galileo Galilei and Isaac Newton who paved the way for Europe’s technological advancement at their different times through their deep knowledge of Physics? Were they not called liars, maligned and disgraced? Yet, those whose ancestors committed the heinous atrocities continue to enjoy the benefit of the historic inventions of those great men today. Truth is like a lily by the mossy stone. It can be trampled upon by anybody but it can never, never die. Perhaps, no definition of Truth is more appropriate especially in contemporary time than the one given by a great Scholar Uthman Danfodio who said: “conscience is an open wound which only the truth can heal”.

                              

  • Fighting the mirror

    If you look into the mirror and see dirt on your face, you clean your face and leave the mirror alone. Even, if you choose to ignore the dirt on your face, as revealed by the mirror, you still do not bother the mirror. For in revealing the smear on your face, the mirror only did its work. To pick quarrel with the mirror for showing dirt on your face and to proceed to break it will smack of lunacy. In politics and public life, the opposition and critics are our mirrors. Like the mirror, they reveal to us things about ourselves that we may never get to know on our own. In doing so, they are doing their jobs, which are of immeasurable importance to the public good. To persecute the opposition and critics is tantamount to fighting and breaking the mirror.

    In his book, “Remembering America”, a onetime aide to President John F. Kennedy, Richard Goodwin, wrote that straight out of law school, he worked for a Supreme Court judge, Felix Frankfurter. Frequently, Frankfurter told him about his opinions on the different legal issues he debated with the other judges of the Supreme Court. And, for the most part, he agreed with Frankfurter’s positions on the legal debates. Frankfurter demurred, saying, “I did not get one of the best graduating students of the Harvard Law School to agree with me on every issue. I want you to disagree with me. I want you to argue with me”.

    Frankfurter was one of the greatest legal minds of the 20th Century and, like most great minds, he appreciated the immense good a mirror – criticism or dissenting view – does for a man. For his own good, he needed to see his reflection through the fecundate mind of a distinctly brilliant and youthfully idealistic, fresh law school graduate. Mahatma Gandhi made a similar point when he wrote; “Through such dialogues, systems of knowledge are both challenged and enriched”. Dialogues come from contending views and systems of knowledge include ideas, beliefs, institutions, etc.

    The most successful countries of the world are the Western democracies, where respect and tolerance for divergent views make possible the continuous challenging and enriching of human ideas, ideals and standards. On the other hand, history has furnished the instructive precedence that those that fight the mirror tend to always bring trouble on themselves and their peoples. One of the most barbaric fighters of the mirror in history was Adolf Hitler. He was in Warsaw to celebrate a military victory. On that day at Warsaw, he ranted and raved, as he trumpeted his achievements. At a point he bellowed, “I am indispensable. I will therefore tolerate no opposition. I will therefore spare no effort in liquidating any opposition”. He was indispensable, and will therefore tolerate no mirror, and will therefore fight the mirror and break it. Less than six years after his Warsaw swash, millions of Germans lay dead, the whole Germany laid in ruins and Hitler took his own life.

    With military intrusion into Nigerian politics, a prodigy – a sensation with a streak of oddity – emerged at Enugu. The Oxford educated son of a multi-million personified the Igbo’s concept of success – knowledge and wealth – but paradoxically, was a soldier, a profession that, as of then, commanded little respect amongst the Igbo. He was reputedly a dashing, sybaritic playboy but the aura about him revealed nothing self-indulgent or frolicsome. He looked subdued, solemn, and even melancholic. His melancholic bearded face made him look as though he was sorrowing, may be sorrowing for the recent death of his father and the thousands of Igbo and the other peoples of Eastern Nigeria mass-murdered in northern Nigeria. The canard that trailed him was that of a swank, arrogant narcissist but his calm demeanour, reflective mien, and two arms clasped behind the back, gave him the look of a broody, selfless crusader acutely conscious of the enormous responsibility thrust upon him by the unfurling political events of the time.

    With his words hesitant and his cadence measured, he was seemingly reticent but could soar into electrifying oratory. His spellbinding oratory inspired his people to sacrifice, selflessness and self-reliance. They built air strips and refineries (and refined their own petrol), and manufactured their own guns, rockets, bombs and land mines. His intoxicating blend of centrifugal nationalism and determined optimism got them believing they could achieve extraordinary, if not, impossible feats. They believed that their ill-fed, ill-clad and ill-equipped army could traverse 300 miles of tortuous and treacherous terrains and capture Lagos. Although outgunned, cornered, and ravaged by hunger, they still believed that their victory over Nigeria was not only possible but imminent.

    Chukwuemeka Ojukwu was a great leader but he had a serious problem: he fought the mirror. He suppressed alternate, opposing and dissenting views. He refused to see himself and his stance reflected through the circumspect minds of the elderly, knowledgeable and experienced. He discouraged his father’s visits to the State House because his father had alternate views, he counseled restraint. He punished and discredited the Igbo political elite, most notably, Nnamdi Azikiwe, because they opposed or criticized his positions and methods. And like those that fought the mirror, he got himself and his people into trouble. Finally, Ojukwu scampered into exile, while, the erstwhile Biafra land, overwhelmed by death, devastation, pains and sorrow, laid powerless and helpless at the mercy of Yakubu Gowon.

    The secessionist activist, Nnamdi Kanu, enjoys the fantasy that he is the Chukwuemeka Ojukwu of our time. Unfortunately for him, he lacks the essentials of Ojukwu: knowledge, powerful ego, oratorical grace and riveting presence. But, terrifyingly, like Ojukwu, he fights the mirror. He tolerates no criticism and countenances no opposing view. He is heedless of the advice, and ridicules the views, of Igbo traditional and political leaders. He insults Igbo kings, disrespects Igbo governors and threatens fire and brimstone on anyone that disagrees with his objectives and methods. Like those that fight the mirror, Kanu seems headed for trouble. My prayer is that he does not bring death, pains and sorrow to the Igbo in the process.

     

    • Ezukanma writes from Lagos.
  • Mirror mirror on the wall

    Mirror mirror on the wall

    Title: What it Takes
    Author: Lola Akande
    Reviewer: Samuel Oluwatobi Olatunji
    Pages: 316
    Publisher: Kraftgriots books limited, Ibadan, Oyo State

    Lola Akande’s What it Takes is a bold, moving fiction written with literary grace. This novel mirrors the ugly reality that characterises the PhD experience of probably most Nigeria’s universities. The story is so touching that it can draw tears out of one’s eyes; tears for the tortuous tale of the protagonist’s attempt at earning a PhD. Akande, who happens to be a lecturer in the Department of English, University of Lagos, has captured a saddening story that most PhD students or graduates don’t want to recount or remember.

    This is a story of Funto Oyewole, a seemingly narcissistic single mother, who seems to be obsessed with the vainglory of her facial finesse, as she regularly appraises herself using usually more than one mirror. After losing her job, she decides to earn a PhD. This decision becomes almost regrettable as it drives her into the disheartening politics of Nigeria’s ivory tower. She encounters her first major challenge in her attempt to get a supervisor in the National University of Nigeria, where she has “just secured admission for a PhD programme in Literature.”

    Her attempt to get a supervisor becomes almost a mission impossible. She is first directed to the raunchy Dr Durojaiye, who brings “his manhood out of his boxers” and wants her to “duro”, sexually “jaiye” with him before he can agree to be her supervisor. Irritated by this, she scrambles out of his office, and she is further directed to Prof. Lara Owoyemi, who, like her surname echoes, “demand[s] financial compensation.” Afterwards, there is Dr Raphael Douglas, whose amicability must have earned him the maximum required number of students and cannot supervise her. Her last resort becomes the ethnic bigot and eccentric, Prof. Charles Ephraim, who is said to be “an exceedingly hostile man with infinite capacity for hate.” Although, he agrees to supervise her, he ensures that she does not evade the hell it takes to get the possibly heaven of a PhD.

    As Akpabio, who spends about six years to get his PhD informs her, “no one gets a PhD without a story.” This makes one wonder the kind of stories other PhD students have to tell, maybe something more gruesome. Mr Oragui, “a clerical staff in the departmental office” succinctly summarises the PhD process in his definition of PhD to be “Prostrate, Hard work and Dobale.” According to him, as a PhD student, “you’ll do more of prostrating than hard work.” Funto soon proclaims in anguish that “my professor has become a god who I must not only hold in reverence but in absolute obeisance.” Her attempt for a PhD, which started in September 1998, only becomes successful in December 2009; that means it takes her over a decade to get a PhD.

    Fortunately, she is surrounded by characters that brim with kindness. Such characters include her closest friend, Folake, who chooses to sponsor her PhD programme and Shettima, who later becomes her lover. These characters become her fortress from the PhD frustration. And she appreciates their effort when she says, “perhaps I would have the opportunity to write my story some time, and it would be an amazing success story of a helpless parent flown sky-high by friends and associates.” Truly, hers is a success story amidst other “unsuccess(ful)” stories.

    Interestingly, there seems to be a strong interplay of fact and fiction in this novel. This leaves one wondering how much of the author’s personal life has been interwoven into this story. To what extent is it fiction? This however brings to mind, Bessie Head’s A Question of Power and Karen King-Aribisala’s The Hangman’s Game, and the words of Ralph Ellison, as he admits that “good fiction is made of what is real.”

    Therefore, apart from a few typesetting errors (like an irregular font on pg 13 and an open quotation on pg 293), this novel is indisputably good fiction that should be a recommended read in every university.

  • A teacher in the mirror

    A teacher in the mirror

    The owl is known to be cryptic but it will come as harmless. That, perhaps, is the summary of this memoir, My Life: Memoirs of a Fulfilled Teacher, which Mrs Omolade Oludare, a retired Tutor-General in Ondo State, has written. Assuredly, there is beauty in innocence, for as long as it is contemplative. Written in simple and courageous prose, the book remains a watershed, leaving individuals with various posers as to why the author chooses so, and so expressions.
    It is in about the life of Omolade Ogundaisi, who later in life got married to Dr Patrick Dele Oludare, a surgeon. She looks back with deep contemplation on her early days as a child to the family of the urbane, with the book reaching a crescendo at the period of adulthood, a period when she was in the service of the Ondo State Government.
    She retired last year as the Tutor-General for Ondo Senatorial District of Ondo State, crowning her career with a clean bill of health. But as in ‘Homage to Catalonia’, a war-account written by world-acclaimed author, Eric Arthur Blair, popularly known as George Orwell of the Animal Farm fame, My Life, Memoirs of a Fulfilled Teacher, preaches endurance in the face of hardship and sundry frustration. It also talks about focus, of how didactic it is to live under authority with humility.
    In this book, there is no hiding place. The author, herein simply referred to as Omolade, has lain bare, the fact that everybody has secrets, many of which some will opt to take to the grave. In this memoir, the author comes short of expressing the features of her nakedness, edifying all with the rare quality of sound home-training that gets expression in a no less rare morality.
    To wit, she has not found any reason to hide the fact that she protected her virginity till the marriage era. To find a replica in Nigeria of nowadays, to a large extent, is no more than looking for a virgin among nursing mothers. The author recalls the days of yore as a girl-child and makes no pretension that she is patently paranoid. How about the fact that Dad took his dog, Bingo, to a beer parlour simply because he had a baby boy after having christened two babies that happened to be girls? Omolade was the second baby girl, and so did not have the luxury of putting Dad in the right mood.
    Yet, Omolade was loved and cherished by both Dad and Mum, giving her the leverage and composure that prepared her for the challenges ahead in life.
    Again, the memoir presents the changing times; how some awkward primordial sentiments have been rendered effete by advancing modernity. In her days at the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State) she wanted to change her course from Biology to Dentistry. But her mum, who was also on campus for an advanced diploma course, was averse to it. Mama then told her that ‘how many people suffer from tooth-ache’? Meaning that, Mama did not want her daughter to go for a course that would not fetch her enough money.
    The author is, indubitably, not a female chauvinist. She states of how supportive her husband has been, with a preposterous vow that if she has to re-live her life, she will be married again to Dr Patrick Oludare. In the realm of the surreal and to tinker with pun, that is predicated on the possibility of another earthly existence re-match; of nationality and locality recur, and of love and affection re-consummated!
    In her career as a teacher, Omolade got to know that politics is everywhere, and the survivor is the one who knows how to play it. Playing the politics of the teaching profession, which is an arm of the civil service, requires tact, discipline and native intelligence. An incorruptible teacher that she is, she was transferred to a school as principal in Oda, a community in Akure Local Government Area of Ondo State, with a bait as red carpet. The entire money contributed by the Parent-Teacher Association was handed over to her for safekeeping. And safely it was kept.
    Though Omolade had been a principal in elitist schools, her transfer to the grassroots, which ordinarily would be seen in some parlance as victimisation, became to her, challenges that must be met. In this same Oda, she sought audience with the community’s stakeholders, having observed the dwindling pupil enrolment plaguing the school. In no time, there was transformation.
    Apart from that, the author has seen it all, having been posted to first-rate secondary schools as well as the fairly graded ones. Indeed, the story of her experience as a secondary school girl is interesting enough to make the book a compelling reference point for all students.
    Omolade is not perfect, and that she has been able to demonstrate with the fact that she was queried in the course of her career. But the query was also well answered with the panache of the obedient, diligent teacher.
    No doubt, this memoir is potentially volatile, as some individuals with unendearing acts and who have been exposed will be naturally hurt.  But she deserves forgiveness for the decency and plainness of her expressions as the cases may apply.
    The author also owes a lot of gratitude to the Christian community, especially her Catholic Church setting, where devoted clerics made much impact in her life’s moral and spiritual upswing. Head or tail, My Life, Memoirs of a Fulfilled Teacher, is a must read.

  • Man in the mirror

    Today,the 25th of June 2016, the world witnesses the seventh year anniversary of the death of the greatest, most successful and influential entertainer of all time. This time seven years ago when news broke that Michael Jackson had passed away after suffering from a cardiac arrest, an unprecedented outpouring of grief barraged every corner of the globe. Seven years on since that tragic day, his life, achievements and legacies has been the subject of much focus. Apart from his achievements as a great father and philanthropist, Michael left behind the sound of great music. With his intrinsically spectacular story and sensational genius, he taught people what real music was and spread the message of love patience and peace through his work.

    In my annual tribute to the King of Pop, I would like to consider one of the most powerful and beautiful messages he left in that work. In the song, ‘Man in the Mirror,’ Michael advises each of us to make an individual change if we want to make the world a better place. In the lyrics of the song, Michael sings:

    “I’m starting with the man in the mirror,

    I’m asking him to change his ways

    No message could have been any clearer

    If you wanna make the world a better place

    Take a look at yourself and then make a change.”

    This song is indeed about suffering and the cruelty of life, but it goes way deeper than that by saying that the only way we can change the world is by changing ourselves. Essentially, the message that each and every individual has the responsibility of changing themselves in the interest of the greater good is one that would benefit any society. In societies such as ours in Nigeria, the scepter of individual and petty interest has totally infiltrated and completely submerged our way of life and our mindset, invariably characterizing the crux of our tribulations.

    As we toil from day to day, wobble through our democracy and union, Nigeria’s future continues to loom on the precipice as a result of the fact that the majority of our people do not give priority to the highest interest of the nation over their own. But what is even worse than our vice of self-serving interest is the transferred aggression we harbor and lurch at each other.

    With so much finger pointing and vilification being hurled across to each other on just about everything in Nigeria, one thing is becoming increasingly clear: No one wants to accept responsibility for the state that we, as Nigerians, are in or the pains that we go through daily as a nation. Whether it’s about sectarian violence, ineptitude, marginalization, extremism, crime, leadership or Nigeria’s tattered international image as a scamming hub, no one wants to take responsibility or admit that each and every one of us has contributed to the state that we find ourselves.

    In essence, everyone is pointing the finger at everyone else. No one wants to declare: “the buck stops here!” No one seems ready to imbibe the message given by Michael in ‘Man in the Mirror,’ which also happens to be the same as the advice of inspiration that was so eloquently quoted by Mahatma Gandhi when he said, “be the change we want to see in the world.”

    When I first came across this great quote by Mahatma Gandhi, I knew it held a great deep meaning but I don’t think I fully grasped the real meaning behind it. But over time, I have come to appreciate that, whether through outlook or behavior, it is important for us to change ourselves first before we can expect and see the change we want to see in the world. If we desire non-violence, peace, love and unity, then we, ourselves, have to reject violence, and embrace peace, love and unity! Putting enormous stakes on the notion of personal responsibility and by extension using that self-responsibility to change ourselves in the interest of our nation is, if I’m not mistaken, one of the things we desperately need in this country.

    Whatever change we want to see in our motherland, instead of laying blame on everybody else’s doorstep, first we have to be that change ourselves before we can expect others to be the change. Each and every one of us has a role to play in that respect. And if each and every one of us imbibes this, we will have a totally reinvigorated society.

    There is no reason why the advice given by Mahatma Ghandi or Michael’s message in the ‘Man in the Mirror’ should not be a starting point for all Nigerians to scrutinize their different options and the responsibilities we each have in building a change into a nation that is very much in need of change. If, as a society, we were more sympathetic to others around us and the future generations to come after us, a positive change will occur in the interest of the greater good.

    Michael Jackson was my favorite singer! His inspirational songs and strong lyrics are still very powerful and he is still greatly missed. As I analyze some of the greatest songs that MJ has bequeathed to us, I see the instinctive kindness of being the person he was. He cared for people and yearned to be the catalyst to initiate change in the world. He was willing to look through the mirror and be an instrument for recreating positive changes.

    One wishes the people in this country, especially the leaders would imbibe such a perspective. If Nigerian politicians make themselves the motivators of change and stopped presenting scenarios that tend to be in their benefit as opposed to that of the nation as a whole, they would have given this country the greatest gift of all; The true gift of ‘positive change.’

    Without a doubt, realizing the true meaning of and embracing the message in the ‘Man in the Mirror’ is highly liberating and a vital concept for Nigerians to adopt. It is a fair evaluation of simply getting young and old Nigerians to look at the possible things we can each offer in making Nigeria a better place.

    At this stage, it should not really matter whose turn it is to rule Nigeria or what the insulated agreementsmade in the various political parties. What does matter to the vast majority of us is the sincerity of ‘we’ the people and our desire to help make ‘Our Nigeria’ better.

    As long as all the rhetoric and political negotiations continuously taking place comes with a proviso that suggests the advocates are purely working towards their personal gains, political intrigues and machinationsor the government appointments and positions still to be filled, then Nigeria will forever remain in the doldrums that it is in now.

    If we want this country to be a better place than it is at present, then, in the great words of ‘the late, grate and dear Michael, we have to; “take a look at ourselves and make a change.”

    I will continue to pray for and fondly remember the great work of Michael Jackson. “Peace to you Brother!”

  • Mirror of Life

    Preamble

    Here is the month in which the revelation of the Qur’an began. The revelation of the sacred Book in this sacred month called Ramadan is quite symbolic as it confers the entire habitat of human existence. It is the Qur’an that enables humanity to know the significance of the month called Ramadan. Thus, the relationship between the Qur’an and Ramadan is as symbiotic as the one between the egg and the hen. It is difficult for the one to claim an origin that is different from that of the other. Ramadan brings the Qur’an into life just as the Qur’an gives Ramadan its divine identity.

    The word Qur’an means continuous recitation. It is so defined because of its inimitable origin which makes it a compelling daily recitation throughout the world, across nations and centuries. Qur’an contains the unsurpassable words of Allah not only in the grandeur of its diction and splendour of its rendition but also in the depth of its meaning, substance and profundity.

     

    Revelation

    The revelation of this sacred ‘Book’ to mankind through an unlettered desert Arab, Muhammad (SAW) the son of Abdullah and Aminah, began in 610 CE. It lasted 22 years and three months (12 years in Makkah and12 years plus three months in Madinah). The book contains 114 chapters and 6236 verses (not 6666 verses often erroneously quoted by most Nigerian Muslim clerics). Of these 114 chapters, 86 were revealed in Makkah and 28 in Madinah. But the 28 chapters revealed in Madinah constitute two thirds of the Book. And this is because the Makkah chapters are short and rhythmic while those of Madinah are long and prose-like.

    Although the Qur’an was revealed orally, its writing began as soon as its revelations commenced. The writing was however done on primitive materials like wood, animal hide, back of trees, tablets of rock and others of the like which were then readily available. It was only a year (633 C.E) after the demise of Prophet Muhammad (SAW), that those writings were rendered into a book form not in a foreign language as in the case of the Bible but in Arabic which was its original language of revelation. And one of the wonders in documenting the Qur’anic revelations is the classification of those revelations into chapters and verses by the Prophet himself despite his unlettered status.

     

    Manner of Presentation

    The manner of presenting the Qur’anic revelations is simple and direct. It employs neither artifice nor conventional poses. Its main appeal is to man’s intellect, feelings and imagination. It does not only touch the anecdotes of previous Prophets and nations in different ages and even the accounts of earlier revelations, it also covers the entire period of human existence from the beginning of creation to the very last Day of Judgment.

    Besides the above, the Qur’an also gives insight into some natural phenomena like spherical objects and revolution of the earth (Q. 39:5) the formation of rain (Q. 30:48); the fertilization of the wind (Q. 15:22); the revolution of the sun, the moon and the planets in their fixed orbits (Q. 36:29-38); the aquatic origin of all creatures (Q. 21:30); the duality of the sex of plants and other creatures (Q. 36:35); the collective life of animals (Q.6:38); the mode of life of the bees (Q. 16:69) and the successive phases of the child in the mother’s womb (Q. 22:5 & 23:14). It is only in the Qur’an, of all revealed Books that all these can be found. Or can anybody point out anything similar to these in any other revealed book?

    Yet, the purpose of this Qur’an is not to teach history, astronomy, philosophy or sciences. It is rather to guide mankind in their pursuit of knowledge towards achieving the benefits of each of these fields throughout human odyssey.

     

    Language of the Qur’an

    Most Muslim clerics recite the Qur’an in its original language (Arabic) without understanding what they are reciting because they do not speak that language.  Some read it as a means of solving their imaginary problems thus taking the Qur’an for a charm which must yield result if manipulated towards their whims. The Qur’an is not meant for that purpose. It is rather the manual of life for man by which he lives his daily life and conducts his daily affairs.

    The word Qur’an means continuous recitation and understanding. It is so called because of its inimitable origin which makes it a compelling daily reading throughout the world and across ages. It contains the unsurpassable words of Allah not only in the grandeur of its diction and the splendour of its rendition but also in the depth of its meaning, substance and profundity.

     

    Proof of Originality

    That the Qur’an is the only revealed ‘BOOK’ in the world today that has consistently retained the originality of both its language and contents for over 1400 years is enough a testimony to the proof of its divine origin. That also confirms not only the genuineness of the prophet-hood of Muhammad (SAW) as a Messenger of Allah but also the lucidity of Arabic as one of the oldest languages in the world today. Thus, just as there can be no proof of the identity of a messenger without the authenticity of the message so can there be  no proof of the genuineness of the prophetic mission of Muhammad (SAW) outside the proof of the originality of the Qur’an.

     

    Proof of Divine Origin

    It cannot be strange to see anybody who perceives the immortal God in the image of a mortal being to perceive Islam as a mere dogma like any other religion. It is such people who keep asking for the proof of Qur’anic revelation as if other revelations before the Qur’an do not need proof. In reason and logic, asking for the proof of the Qur’an after all the manifest evidences in its contents is like asking the sun to prove its rays. However, it is the nature and character of unbelievers to deny the truth and refute the obvious. But does it really bother the sun that a blind man denies its existence? Or can a brook be bothered in anyway if the herds boycott its water?

     

    Features of the Qur’an

    Qur’an leaves no aspect of life untouched just as it leaves no secret unrevealed. Problems and solutions; history and lessons; crimes and penalties; justice and righteousness; discipline and courage; friendship and trust; leadership and governance; education and methodology; marriage and divorce; widowhood and orphanage; childhood and inheritance; poverty and wealth; opinion and logic; facts and figures; life and death; darkness and light; war and peace; leadership and power; angel, jinn and man; heavens and earth; all these and many other  matters relating to man and his environment form the subjects of discussion and guidance in the ‘Divine Diary of Life called the Qur’an’.

     

    Profile of the Qur’an

    The revelation of this Book to mankind through an unlettered desert Arab, Muhammad (SAW) son of Abdullah and Aminah, began in the month of Ramadan in year 610 CE. It lasted about 23 years (10 years in Makkah and12 years plus a few months in Madinah). The book contains 114 chapters and 6246 verses (not 6666 verses often announced by most Imams and Alfas). Any individual can verify this by checking the number of verses in each chapter and adding them together. It does not take more than one hour to do this.

    Of the 114 chapters contained in the Qur’an, 86 were revealed in Makkah and 28 in Madinah. But the 28 chapters revealed in Madinah constitute two thirds of the entire Sacred Book. And this is because the Makkah chapters are short and rhythmic while those of Madinah are long and prose-like.

     

    Writing of the Qur’an

    Although the Qur’an was revealed orally, its writing began almost immediately the revelations started. The writing was however done on primitive materials like wood, animal hides, back of trees and others of the like which were then readily available. It was only much later, after the demise of Prophet Muhammad (SAW), that those writings were brought together and rendered into a book form.

    One of the wonders of recording the Qur’an in writing is the classification of those revelations into chapters and verses by the Prophet himself despite his Inability to read and write.

    The manner of presenting the Qur’anic revelations is simple and direct. It employs neither artifice nor conventional poses. Its main appeal is to man’s intellect, feelings and imagination. It does not only touch the anecdotes of the past Prophets in different ages and nations as well as the accounts of earlier revelations, it also covers the period from the beginning of creation to the very last Day of Judgment and beyond.

     

    Qur’anic References

    Not only that, Al-Qur’an also gives insight into some natural phenomena like sphericity and revolution of the earth (Q. 39:5) the formation of rain (Q. 30:48); the fertilization of the wind (Q. 15:22); the revolution of the sun, the moon and the planets in their fixed orbits (Q. 36:29-38); the aquatic origin of all creatures (Q. 21:30); the duality of the sex of plants and other creatures (Q. 36:35); the collective life of animals (Q.6:38); the mode of life of the bees (Q. 16:69) and the successive phases of the child in the mother’s womb (Q. 22:5 & 23:14). Yet, the purpose of this Book is not to teach history, astronomy, philosophy or sciences.

     

    Qur’anic Lessons

    In this glorious Book are practical lessons such as the great deluge, the cataclysm of Sodom and Gomorrah, the defeat of Jalut (Goliath) by Daud (David), the doom of the tyrannical Pharaoh, and similar catastrophes that had afflicted iniquitous people of the past. All these are taught to man through the Qur’an that he (man) might know how to re-assess himself continually and properly akin to the guidance of Allah.

    Apart from the facts mentioned above, many other devices were adopted from time to time, by Allah, to remind man of his mortality and to see him through a successful sojourn on earth. But unfortunately, man has always been blind to genuine divine guidance just as he has been deaf to warnings and deviant of reason as much as he has persistently been insensitive to rightful thoughts even as he remains unreceptive to positive ideas. In his choice to form freemasonry with Satan, man has ignorantly and continuously strayed into a quagmire of sorrow. Taking Satan for his best friend, he refuses to use the long spoon with which he is provided through the Qur’an by Allah to dine with the damned Lucifer.

     

    Testimony

    To Muslims who understand the teachings of Islam through the Qur’an, all the genuine Messengers including Musa (Moses) and Isa (Jesus) are from Allah and all the divinely revealed ‘BOOKS’ are series of the same Allah’s  ‘MESSAGE’ to mankind. They are like Ambassadors of a nation to another nation. Changing them from time to time does not change the constitution of nation from where they come or the foreign policy of that nation. This fact has been firmly established in the Qur’an itself thus:

    “The Messenger of Allah (Muhammad (SAW) believes in what has been revealed to him from his Lord; and every true believer also believes in Allah, His Angels, His revealed Books and His Messengers. We do not discriminate against anyone of them (those Messengers) as they say we hear and obey (the contents of the revelation). Oh God! We seek your forgiveness. To You is our return” Q. 3:285-286

     

    Discipline

    It is evident that true Muslims are not known for maligning any Prophet or genuinely revealed ‘BOOKS’ that have not reflected any traces of human tampering. Right from its very first day of revelation, the Qur’an has come with undeniable proof. But it takes only a divinely cleansed heart to comprehend such proof and acknowledge its authenticity. Qur’an itself is the master proof of all other celestial messages that preceded it. It is the final divine revelation which has no human interference or tampering.

    Neither Prophet Muhammad (SAW), who brought this Sacred Book to mankind nor any of his companions (or disciples) had a say in it. The Book contains no chapters or verses according to anybody. And unlike some other books no one speaks in the Qur’an on behalf of Allah in the name of revelation. Even the personal expressions of Prophet Muhammad (SAW) about mundane life which are generally known as Hadith were not to be mingled with the verses of the Qur’an despite his endowed divine inspirations. And where such expressions seem to contradict any part of the Qur’an they automatically become superseded by the contents of the latter.

     

    The Qur’an as Mirror

    Qur’an is the extraordinary compendium in which the activities of man from the very beginning of human existence to the end of human life are chronicled. It is the eternally concrete ‘MIRROR’ through which the descendants of Adam and Hawau can see life in its past, its present and its near and far future. This ‘MIRROR’ is the spectacle that heals the blind, the natural manure that fertilizes the human brain and the greatest treasure in the possession of mankind.

    For the rightly guided mind, the Qur’an is the eye with which to see, the ear with which to hear and the sense with which to reason. It is the bridge across the valleys of life; the insurance against any damnation; the passport for salvation and the only reliable redeemer of mankind.

    For any divinely tamed mind therefore, life begins and ends with the Qur’an, Allah’s own tradition and the only authentic fountain from which man can draw and sip the living spring of wisdom. The sense that reasons with the Qur’an makes no mistake. Any mind that thinks with the Qur’an can never be devilled. Any eye that sees with the Qur’an can never incur sore. Any tongue that talks with the Qur’an can never stammer. Any power that genuinely rules with the Qur’an can never fall. Meanwhile, the Almighty Allah warns in this non-such Book (the Qur’an) thus: “But whosoever deviates from My guidance, verily for him is life of subjugation and We shall raise him up a blind person on the Day of resurrection” (Q. 20: 124).

     

    Controversy

    Meanwhile, there is a raging controversy among Muslim scholars over the first and last revelations in the Qur’an. Much as this controversy is unwarranted, it may be necessary to clear the coast here (without claiming authority) if only for the purpose of authenticating history.

    It is almost a consensus that the first revealed chapter in the Qur’an is Suratul ‘Alaq (Chapter of the Clot). But the very first revelation reaching   Prophet Muhammad (SAW) through Angel Jubril is ‘BASMALAH’ (In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful) which precedes every chapter in the Qur’an except one (Suratut-Tawbah) .

    As a Messenger of Allah to another Messenger of Allah, Angel Jubril couldn’t have commanded Prophet Muhammad (SAW) to read anything without doing so in the name of Allah who sent him with the message. Thus, Suratul ‘Alaq, as preceded by ‘BASMALAH’, could only have been the first revealed verse but not the first chapter.  And that is logical.

    As for the last revelation in the Qur’an majority of Nigerian Muslim scholars believe that it is chapter 5, verse 3 of the Qur’an which says: ‘’Today, I have perfected your religion for you and completed my favour on you. And, I am pleased with Islam for you as religion’’.

    That verse of the Qur’an that was revealed to Prophet Muhammad (SAW) at ‘Arafah while performing his farewell Hajj couldn’t have been the last revelation because came 81 days before the demise of the Prophet (SAW). Another revelation came thereafter which about nine days before the Prophet fell sick and died. This can be found in Qur’an 2: 281 which says: “And fear the day when you shall all return to Allah; the day when every soul shall be requited according to its desert and none shall be wronged”.

     

    CLARIRFICATION

    The earlier verse was an accentuation of Hajj as the last pillar of Islam. And that was why it came on ‘Arafah Day. The latter is a reminder of man’s final destination and the account of his worldly activities. These and many more are what readers of the Qur’an should know inside out. But the big question is this: who will teach them when the supposed teachers have sold out to money and ignorance? To Muslims who are conscious of their spiritual affinity and retain their conscience for the day they will meet their Creator and account for their deeds on earth ‘The Message’ says RAMADAN KARIM!

     

  • England rugby star Adeniran-Olule, 20, dies in auto crash

    England rugby star Adeniran-Olule, 20, dies in auto crash

    England U-20 international and Young Harlequins starlet Seb Adeniran-Olule has died at the age of just 20.

    According to the Mirror, the hooker, one of the club’s most promising players, died in a road traffic accident, the club has announced.

    A statement on the club’s official website said: “Harlequins is deeply saddened to learn the news of the untimely death of Seb Adeniran-Olule in a road traffic collision.

    “Seb was one of the Club’s most promising youngsters and an Academy member, who has been involved with the club since the age of 13.”

    Conor O’Shea, Harlequins Director of Rugby, commented, “Our thoughts and prayers are with Seb’s family and friends at this difficult time.

    “Seb was an incredible talent and had already represented England at under age level as well as making his senior debut for Quins at just 20.

    “He will be sorely missed by the whole squad as well as by the wider club.”

    London-born Adeniran-Olule had been a member of the Harlequins Academy since the age of 13.

    He played a major part in the England Under-20s Six Nations win last year.

    RFU national academy development manager John Fletcher has paid tribute to Adeniran-Olule, hailing him as an “absolute pleasure to be around”.

    “I’m devastated, he was a fantastic kid,” said Fletcher.

    “He was one of the most skillful players in his position I have ever seen. He always played the game with a big smile on his face and could do some phenomenal things with the ball.

    “As a character he was quiet, had an incredible work rate, was popular and first to learn.

    “On the pitch he would get you off your seat and as a front-row player that is fairly rare. He had some outstanding moments with the ball in hand. He should be remembered as a great kid, I loved coaching him. It’s a tragic loss.”

  • Your nail as a mirror of your health

    Mother Nature is wonderful and kind. There is nothing which goes on inside our bodies that is not mirrored, one way or the other, by some organs outside the body. The nails of the hands and the toes do this every day without many of us, including many of our doctors, knowing it. But in Asia, the nails are about the first parts of the body that a doctors examines when a patient sits before him or her in the consulting room. The tongue, eyes, hair and skin are also evaluated. Until recently in the Western World when hair and nail analyses became popular, for detecting nutritional deficiencies or elevations, which may be the root causes of ailments, eye, skin and tongue examinations were carried out in orthodox medical clinic for a limited range of ailments. Being aware of the mirror that the nail is, I became naturally concerned for my health recently when I noticed changes in some of my otherwise healthy nails. Thank goodness, there were no white spots on any of the nails. As children, we stupidly believed that white spots on the nails were decorations by the cattle egret which flow in flocks, sometimes seasonally, sometimes around a flock of itinerant or grazing cattle. We sang, beseeching the white birds to lift us unto themselves in the sky.

    Whoever found white spots on his or her fingers considered himself or herself favoured and blessed. Alas, white spots on the nails mean Zinc deficiency in the system. And Zinc deficiency implies that something may go wrong in the more than 250 processes in which the body required zinc. One of these processes is the absorption by the eye of Vitamin A for good vision. Some people may, therefore, consume an excess of Vitamin A in the search for healthy vision, especially at night, without the effort paying off because there is not enough Zinc in the body. The same goes for smooth, supple skin. When the hair is matted at birth or later on in life, Zinc deficiency is suspected. When the immune system is weak, when sores do not heal normally and quickly, Zinc deficiency may be at work. When the growth of a child is stunted, check the Zinc level. When the breast and the penis do not grow well, the outcome of an Egyptians study shows that supplementation of zinc in the diet may help. For people of my age, and perhaps younger people, the fear of prostate gland problems is the beginning of wisdom. While a leaking colon dispatching fecal poison on the nearby prostate gland may be a root cause of prostate enlargement or prostate cancer, Zinc deficiency, too, cannot be ruled out. It is in the prostate that about 80 percent of the zinc in the body of a man is stored. This high store inhibits activities of an enzyme called 5–Alpha Reductase. This enzyme may overstimulate the cells of the prostate to overgrow when zinc deficiency occurs in the prostate gland, because an adequate zinc storage in these organ prevents these enzymes from malfunctioning. These days, when men, young and old, cannot easily take their eyes off women, frequent ejaculations drain or deplete zinc reserves in the prostate gland, exposing it to the havocs of an uninhibited 5-Alpha Reductase. To worsen matters, many sexually active men ignorantly fail to add zinc supplements to their diet. Being a fertility mineral as well, supplementation of the diet with Zinc has helped many couples to become parents. As a matter of routine, I take 15mg of Zinc with my meals every day. That is the minimum daily allowance or requirements in many countries.

    THE CHANGES

    Recently, I noticed on my nails vertical ridges on some fingers in both hands. There are no abnormalities in toe nails. An orthodox doctor friend of mine who incorporates nutritional medicine in his practice, suggests a new study links vertical ridging of the nails to an onset of the formation of stones in the liver, or more precisely in the gall bladder, and says the study also links these development to low blood pressure.

    The liver? Respect for this organ may also be considered the beginning of health wisdom. For the liver is the central clearing house for all biochemical processes in the body.

    s you would soon read, a nail “mirror”view would need to be corroborated by other checks the doctor may consider necessary to do. Often, these conventional checks corroborate what the “mirror” of the nail is telling us. In the search for an authority to lead us on an excursion into the language our bodies speak to us through our nails, I could not find some well treasured books in my library. But in ANNE PIETRANGELO I find interesting and simple explanations. Her work on this subject was reviewed by GEORGE KRUCIK, M.D., in www.healthline.com. Anne Pietrangelo says:

    “What are nail abnormalities? Normally, healthy nails appear smooth and have consistent colouring. As you age, you may develop vertical ridges or your nails may be a bit more brittle. This is harmless. Spots due to injury should grow out with the nail. “Abnormalities such as spots, discolouration and nail separation can result from injury to the hands and fingers, viral warts (periunguan warts), infections (onyechomycosis) and some medications, such as those used for chemotherapy.” Certain medical conditions can also change the appearance of your finger nails. However, these changes can be difficult to interpret, and your finger nails appearance alone is not enough to diagnose a specific illness. A physician will use this Information along with other symptoms and a physical exam to make a diagnosis. You should always consult your doctor if you have any questions about your nail problems.

    Some changes in your nails are due to medical conditions that need attentions:

    “ONE: Discolouration (dark streaks, while streaks or changes in nail colour).

    “TWO: Changes in nail shape (curling, or clubbing)

    “THREE: Changes in nail thickness (thickening or thinning)

    “FOUR: Nails that become brittle

    “FIVE: Nails that are pitted

    “SIX: Bleeding around nails

    “SEVEN: Swelling or redness around nails.

    “EIGTH: Pain around nails

    “NINE: Nail separating from skin.”

    Anne Pietrangelo explains what these symptoms may indicate. In her words:

    BEAU’S LINES

    Depressions that run across your finger nails are called beau’s lines. They are also known as transverse linear lesions. This can be a sign of malnourishment. Other conditions that cause beau’s lines are (1) Measles (2) Mumps (3) Peripherals Vascular diseases (4) Pneumonia (5) Scarlet fever (6) Uncontrolled diabetes (7) Zinc deficiency

    “CLUBBING” is when your nails thicken and curve around your fingertips, a process that generally takes years. This can be the result of low oxygen in the blood and is associated with……

    (1) AIDS

    (2) Cardiovascular diseases (3) Inflammatory bowel disease (IBS) (4) Liver diseases (5) Pnemonary diseases.

    “KOILON YCHIA” is when your finger nails have raised ridges and scoop outwards, like spoons. It is also called “spooning”, sometimes, the nail is curved enough to hold a drop of liquid. Spooning can be a sign that you have (1) heart diseases (2) hemochromatosis (a liver disorder that courses too much iron to be absorbed from food). (3) iron deficiency anaemia (4) lupus erythematosus (an auto immune disorder that causes inflammation) (5) Hypothyrodism (6) Reyriaudi’s diseases (a condition that limits blood circulation)

    “LEUKCONYCHIA” Non uniform white sports or lines on the nails are called leukonychia. They are usually the result of a minor trauma and are harmless”.

     “MEES LINES” Mees lines are transverse white lines. This can be a sign of arsenic poisoning. If you have this condition, your doctor will take hair or tissue samples to check for arsenic in your body.

    “ONYCHOLYSIS” When the nail plate separates from the nail bed, it causes a white discoloration, this is called Onycholysis. This can be due to infection, trauma, or product used on the nails. Other causes for Onycholysis includes Psoriasis and thyroid disease.

    “PITTING” Pitting refers to small depressions, or little pits in the nail. It is common in people who have psoriasis, or a skin condition that causes the skin to be dry, red, and irritated. Some systemic diseases can also cause pitting.

    “TERRY’S NAILS” is when the tip of each nail has a dark band, it is called Terry’s Nails. This is often due to aging, but it can be caused by congestive heart failure, diabetes, or liver diseases.

    “YELLOW NAIL SYNDROME” is when the nail grows thicker and does not grow as fast as normal. Sometimes, the nail lacks a cuticle and may even pull away from the nail bed. This can be the result of (1) Internal malignancies (2) Lymphedema (Swelling of the hands) (3) Pleural Effusions (fluid build-up between the lungs and Chest County) (4) Respiratory illnesses such as chronic bronchitis or sinusitis (5) Rheumatoid arthritis.

    “These are just some of the signs of abnormal finger nails.”

    HERBS FOR NAIL HEALTH

    When we have problems with nail health, we naturally seek a solution to them. Women in particular do not joke with finger and toe nails that is why pedicure and manicure are worldwide big business, slow growing nails may be evidence of some nutritional deficiencies. Traditionally, Horsetail and stinging Nettle have been used for improving nail health. This is because they are high in Silica, which is immensely beneficial to the health of the hair, nail and skin and connective tissue. Today Diatom has joined the league, being between 92 and 96 percent Silica.

    Silica is a hardener and needed by the connective tissue. For people who suffer from brittle nails, Biotin may be all they need. Veterinary (animal) doctors give Biotin to horses to make their hoofs stronger. Nature makes these hoofs from Keratin from which the human nail is also made; Biotin is a vitamin, Silica, a mineral, both underscoring the importance of vitamins and minerals to nail health.

    If human health discomfitures reflects on the nail “mirror” and these discomfitures can be resolved through a resolution of these deficiencies, resolving them will naturally impacts positively on the unhealthy nail. Thus, resolving nail problems through the diet may resolve the internal problems this nail problems mirror.

    Brittle and flaking nail may also be indicators of essential fatty acid (EFAs) deficiency. This can be connected by eating fatty dish such as Titus or by supplementing the diet with flax seed oil. There are many other useful cals rich in EFAs. These include Coconut oil, Olive oil, wheat germ oil (rich in Vitamins A, D and E, Vitamins B, B2 B3 B6, F and EFAs, protein and minerals), Amla Oil, Vitamin E, Jojoba cal Almond oil and pumpkin seed oil. Ingrowing nails can be a nightmare. Naturally, nails grow from the back of the nailbed outwards. But, sometimes, they may reverse this direction, culling through tissue and coursing inflammation, redness, pain, and infection.  Podists (foot care experts) advise against tight and pointed shoes.

    According to the official consumer website of American foot and ankle surgeons: “When a toenail ingrown curved and grows into the skin usually at the nail borders (the sides of the nails), this digging in of the nail irritates the skin, often creating pain, redness, swelling, and warmth in the toe.

    “If an ingrown nail causes a break in the skin, bacteria may enter and cause an infection in the area, which is often marked by drainage and a foul odour. However, even if the toe isn’t painful, red, swollen, or warm, a nail that curves downwards into the skin can progress to an infection. Causes of ingrown toe nail include heredity. In many people, the tendency for ingrown toe nails is inherited. Sometimes, an ingrown toe nail is the result of trauma such as stubbing your toe, having an object fall on your toe or engaging in activities that involve repeated pressure on the toes such as kicking or running. The most common cause of ingrown toe nail is cutting your nail too short. This encourages the skin to fold over the nail. Ingrown toe nails can result from wearing socks that are tight or short. They can also be caused by nail problems such as nail infections or losing a nail due to trauma”.

    he college discourages home treatment where infections have occurred in such medical conditions as “diabetes, nerve damage in the foot that put the foot at risk”.

    “Where these conditions do not apply, the foot may be soaked in room temperature water (adding Epsom’s salt) may be recommended by your (doctors), and gently massage the side of the nail filed to help reduce the inflammation”.

    “Avoid attempting surgery or repeated culling of the nail can cause the condition to worsen over time. If your symptoms fail to improve, it’s time to see a foot and ankle surgeon”.

    “To prevent ingrown toe nail, it is suggested that the nail be cut not too short but in a fairly straight line”.

    “According to the website, every day roofs Nail fungus, be it on your toe nails or finger nails is an unpleasant business to leave to deal with, officially known as onychomycosis, it is most often caused by moisture trapped in warm dark place (because of shoes, that is why it so commonly affects toe nails which is the environment fungus thrives in. In some cases it can be caused by mold or yeast but is still collectively called nail fungus-nail mold or nail yeast. Tea tree oil is a natural disinfectant possessing fungicidal and antibacterial properties that make it popular in treating toe nail fungus”.

    “Orange oil has also shown promising result when it comes to getting rid of fungus and can be added to the mixture as well. Always remember to dilute the essential oil before applying to the nail. You will need one teaspoon of tea tree oil half teaspoon of orange oil (optional), half teaspoon of grape seed oil or Olive oil, cotton baits”.

    “As soon as you notice the tell-tales, signs of nail fungus, mix together, soak a cotton ball in the mixture and apply to affected nail, pressing it on gently but firmly so the liquid comes quietly. Let this dry naturally, then, alternatively, you can place four to five drops of tea tree oil in enough water to soak your feet in and do that for 15 to 20 minutes. Both treatments should be done faithfully morning and evening”.

    Also recommended is vinegar and Baking soda soak. Coconut oil gets a good mention also. It has medium chain fatty acids which destroy the cell membrane of the fungi or mold. This destroys the fungus. This is why coconut oil has been used to destroy parasites in the intestine, especially in HIV patients who are prone to opportunistic diseases. Let us thank the Creator for the Wisdom which makes our nails and other parts of our bodies mirror to us what is going on in this bodies, and for the gifts of foods and herbs which help us to solve this problems.