The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Welcoming

  • Welcoming His Eminence to Markaz

    ON Monday (April 16,), all roads, national and international will lead to Lagos where a centenary event will take place under the royal presence of His Eminence. Lagosians in particular and the entire Muslim Ummah in the Southwest of Nigeria will welcome a special guest to the State of Excellence. That guest is the Amirul Mu’minin of Nigeria and Sultan of Sokoto, His Eminence, Dr. Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, CFR, mni. The occasion will be the marking of the centenary event of a renowned international scholar, Shaykh Adam Abdullah Al-Ilory, the great proprietor of the unique institution called Markaz who came into the world exactly 100 years after the demise of Shaykh Uthman Dan Fodio.

    Although by historical incident, the duo of Shaykh Uthman Dan Fodio and Adam Abdullah Al-Ilory did not meet physically, the intellectual meeting between them is what the great grandson of the former, Sultan Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar is coming to consummate in Lagos on Monday.

    How time flies. It was like yesterday when His Eminence, Dr.  Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, CFR, mni ascended the Sokoto royal throne as the 20th Sultan. The historic date was November 6, 2006. Until then, the lofty man’s name did not ring any bell in Nigeria. And he was probably not conscious of the royal blood in him. If he was ever conscious of that at all, his humble nature did not reflect it. But the thinking of man is quite different from the will of Allah. And when the thinking of man clashes with the will of Allah, the latter automatically prevails.

    Ascension to the Throne

    For Sultan Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, ascending the throne of the great Sokoto Empire was like the rise of the sun anon meridian. When it beams its rejuvenating ray over the world, all the stars in the galaxy take their bow.

    History and man are like Siamese twins. The one cannot do without the other. History makes man just as man makes history. And the reciprocal baton continues to change hands between them as long as they mutually remain in existence.

    Thus, the sudden emergence of the 50- year-old Brigadier General Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar as the successor to the exalted throne of the great Sokoto Empire without controversy in 2006 came as a surprise to many Nigerians. His own father, Sultan Sadiq Abubakar ascended the same throne at the age of 37. Surely, the name ‘Muhammad Sa’ad’ played a significant role in the emergence of its bearer as Sultan.

    The Mystery in Name

    There is something mysterious about name which humanity is yet to comprehend fully. A puzzling secret seems to exist in the vocabulary of life which sticks to every man like a second skin. That secret, pearled in the yoke of name, is an effective evidence of destiny in man. Our names are the light that glows at night to lighten up our ways in the glares of days through the threshold of life. And when the dawn comes to render the glowing light ineffective, the bearer bows out into the recluse of death leaving behind an indemnified signature on the sands of time.

    This was the case with Prophet Muhammad (SAW), the greatest man that ever lived on the surface of the earth. Even as an unlettered son of Arabia who was born in an era of blatant ignorance, Prophet Muhammad (SAW) introduced into the world, an unprecedented civilization that opened the eyes of humanity to everlasting guidance. In recognition of his human exemplariness, the Almighty Allah said of him in Q 33: 21 thus: “You have a good example in Allah’s Apostle (Muhammad SAW) for anyone who looks to Allah and the Last Day and remembers Him always”.

    Peculiarities in Name

    Sultan’s first name is Muhammad which he bears in emulation of Allah’s last Prophet. His second name is Sa’ad meaning ‘Good ‘Luck’ which makes him a name-sake of one of Prophet Muhammad’s companions (Sa’d BnAbi Waqqas) who was a great Army General of Islam. And his (Sultan’s) surname is Abubakar which means ‘father of youths’, an inherited name which he shares with the first Caliph in Islam (Abubakr Siddiq). In every one of these names is a profound meaning with profound influence on the personality and conduct of the current Sultan.

    As an Army General, like Sa’d Bn Abi Waqqas, Sultan is demonstrating the courage of a brave leader. As the father of the youths, like Abu Bakr, he is bridging the gap between leadership and follower-ship by breathing a breeze of hope into Nigerian Muslim youths from time to time.

    Identity of a Leader

    A leader is known, neither by the aura of the office he occupies, nor by the enormity of the power wielded in that office. Rather, a leader is known   by the magnanimity with which he exercises the power entrusted to him and the humility he exhibits in his interaction with the people. This is the lesson that Prophet Muhammad’s leadership taught Muslim rulers in one of his Hadith when he said: “A powerful person is not the one who can suppress others (with the instrumentality of office) but the one who can resist the temptation to use such power”.

    Sultan Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar seems to have exemplified this prophetic teaching as a Muslim leader and a faithful one for that matter. And through his humble interaction with all Muslims in Nigeria irrespective of tribal or geographical boundaries, he has become the first Sultan to create a strong feeling of a united Muslim Ummah in Nigeria under a competent leadership.

    An evidence of such unity is the powerful delegation of the entire Southern Muslim Ummah led by the Deputy President General (South) of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), Dr. S. O. Babalola, OON, to the tenth anniversary of His Eminence’s coronation in Sokoto in November 2016. Members of that delegation were drawn from all the geographical zones in Southern Nigeria including the Southwest, the Southeast and the South-South.

    Philosophers’ Theory

    Philosophers who assert that every new century has a way of producing a great leader may be right after all. The example of His Eminence, Dr. Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, is a manifestation of that assertion. Ever since he assumed the exalted royal office in 2006, this great man has convincingly exhibited all the qualities of genuine leadership by all standards. Every statement he has made socially, religiously or politically and every action he has taken privately or publicly has proved to be a school from which all well-meaning people of Nigeria have learnt one lesson or another.

    Reformation of NSCIA

    At the instance of His Eminence, a forward looking reformation has been going on. A number of committees have been set up to take charge of certain necessities concerning the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) and the National Mosque. These have given the Nigerian Muslim Ummah the needed comfort with which to surge ahead as a single body of believers.

    Besides, the Abuja National Mosque has also been reformed in such a way that no Muslim part of the country feels neglected again. It is at His Eminence’s instance that today, the Friday sermon in that Mosque is not only delivered in the three major languages (Hausa, Ibo and Yoruba) in addition to Arabic and English, three deputy Imams have also been appointed to assist the Chief Imam in rendering the Jum’at sermon in rotation every Friday. They have now been promoted to the post of Imams while a Supervisory Guardian and General Administrator in the person of Prof. Shehu Galadanci, a former Vice Chancellor of the University of Sokoto has been appointed to oversee the entire affairs of the National Mosque spiritually. These Imams are from the North, the Southwest and the Middle Belt respectively.

    As Chancellor of ABU

    At his first convocation as the 6th Chancellor of Ahmadu Bello University in November 2010, His Eminence told the crowd that the current socio-economic indices in Nigeria were a clear indication that the country had begun to drift. He lamented the dwindling standard of education and the growing rate of poverty in the land despite the nation’s unprecedented wealth which he said had failed to aid national development.

    In his words: “…Corruption has emasculated our progress even as poverty and unemployment have pushed citizens to the brinks thereby fuelling social conflicts and inter-communal crises which have extracted heavy toll in both human lives and property….”. He went further by saying: “Persistent insecurity has generated panic and anxiety; our social and physical infrastructures are far from meeting the needs of the nation; the country appears to be adrift and at the core of all these is moral decay engendered by ignorance and greed.”

    His Emphasis on Education

    To further emphasize his fervent belief in education, he also noted that the reform of the tertiary education sector in Nigeria could not be effective without putting in place the required progressive developments at the basic and senior secondary education levels. He insisted that: “our state governments, especially those of the North, must begin to realize the enormity of the challenges facing the education sector and take urgent and necessary steps to address these challenges.”

    That is a renascent Sultan for you, a man who is at the topmost echelon of the tree of comfort but feels so much concerned about the condition of the peasants who are deliberately consigned to the weeding of shrubs at the bottom of that tree by the system in place.

    At home in Nigeria, he has never relented in his advocacy for good governance and denunciation of corruption and religious intolerance just as he has consistently campaigned for religious peaceful coexistence at the international forums.

    His Royal Agenda

    In what looked like his royal agenda in respect of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs [NSCIA], His Eminence rolled out at an interfaith conference some years ago, certain fundamental programmes to the utter delight of all Nigerian Muslims. Please read an excerpt from his speech at the above mentioned Interfaith Conference as presented below:

    “….we initiated, as we had done for the Jama’atu Nasril-Islam (JNI), a thorough review of the activities of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs [NSCIA] and an extensive reform of its structures”.

    “It is our firm belief that these reforms are not only desirable but necessary to reposition the Council to play its strategic role as the apex Islamic body in the country and to respond, effectively and meaningfully, to the challenges facing the Muslim Ummah in a multi-cultural and multi-religious society. We have had extensive consultations over a couple of years and have received very useful inputs on the reform agenda from all the constituent bodies of the Council. Our strategic objectives in this exercise had been and shall remain the following:

    1. The promotion of Muslim Unity and Solidarity to accord the Ummah the ability to speak with one voice and to act and work together for the advancement of Islam.
    2. The development of Education and Economic Enterprise, to enable the Muslim Ummah play an active role in the socio-economic life of Nigeria.
    3. Promotion of peace and religious harmony both within the Muslim Communities and between the adherents of Islam and Christianity.
    4. Establishment of effective linkage with Government, at local, state and federal levels, to safeguard the interest of the Ummah and to build consensus on those vital issues that bind us together as a nation….”

    “It is therefore our hope that as we bring this reform process to its logical conclusion, we will receive the support and patronage of the entire Muslim Ummah as well as the co-operation of all stakeholders, including state governments and indeed the Government of the Federation”.

    “Finally we must all work hard to limit the influence of wealth in our society and to support those values that promote social responsibility, excellence and hard work.”

    With all these, who says this Sultan is of Sokoto alone and not of Nigeria as a whole? And besides him, which other monarch in this country bears the title of ‘Sultan’?

    Conclusion

    That is Sultan Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, a leader who knows the problems of his followers and associates with them in solving those problems. Without a leader like this at this crucial time, the Nigerian Muslim Ummah would have gone asunder.

    This column, ‘The Message’ and its teeming readers hereby join millions of eminent Nigerians home and abroad including the leaders of the Muslim Ummah of South-West Nigeria (MUSWEN), The League of Imams and Alfas of South-West Nigeria, the various Muslim communities of the South-West states as well as the great alumni of Markaz; particularly the current Rector of Markaz, Shaykh Abeebullah Adam Abdullah Al-Ilory and the entire staff and students of Markaz in  welcoming His Eminence, Dr. Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, CFR, mni to Markaz. Your coming is a great delight to the entire Muslims of the

  • Welcoming Tech-U, Ibadan

    The news about the take-off of the Technical University, Ibadan, has in the last few weeks been circulating in print, broadcast, and internet platforms. It’s the new university established by the Governor Abiola Ajimobi-led Administration. The university, also referred to as Tech-U, was licensed by the National Universities Commission (NUC) in 2012 as the 38th state university but couldn’t begin operation until now. I also read that it’s commencing academic activities next October with 14 NUC-accredited courses in two faculties – Natural Sciences and Engineering and Technology – and Centre for Language and General Studies and Centre for Entrepreneurial and Vocational Studies.

    In my judgment, the coming of the university at this juncture in Nigeria’s economic and educational concerns is timely and laudable.  I say this in view of the lofty mission of the university to train and cultivate a crop of “technical professionals with requisite entrepreneurial skills, capable of creating jobs and employment.” Any higher institution of learning that truly sets out to equip the heads of learners not only with knowledge but with practical skills as well surely deserves consideration and all the backing it can get. And this is why I welcome the idea of Tech-U. Having understood the avoidable aches of our educational system, the university is walking the road that Peter Drucker recommends to anyone who is fed up with orthodoxy: “If you want something new, you have to stop doing something old.”

    To state the obvious, Nigeria plays host now more to unemployed, under-employed, and unemployable graduates, most of whom are receivers of education which only filled their heads with theoretical knowledge without the accompaniment of handy skills. Higher institutions in Nigeria operate in a way that leaves students heavily disadvantaged and in that connection less relevant in the world of work and in the vital task of nation building. Besides, most programmes are designed and taught with negligible or zero awareness of what is required in the market place. The sad consequence of this is the lack of productivity of the graduates and an economy propped up by “prebendal” mentality.

    The way out of the wood as grasped by the managers of Tech-U is to conflate theoretical knowledge with practice; to accord priority to entrepreneurial training and place high premium on skill acquisition. I am happy that in Tech-U, according to a recent interview granted by the Vice-Chancellor of the institution, Prof. Ayobami Salami, all students will register for two vocational programmes and be certified in them before graduation. This is undoubtedly possible, for it is the role of universities such as Tech-U to champion entrepreneurship, equip students with relevant skills so that they can generate employment and establish enterprises that will impact the national economy.

    Nigeria needs that education to positively drive its economic growth. It needs graduate who are innovative, industrious, critical, and excellence-driven. It needs youths who have problem-solving abilities, who think increasingly about solutions to social and economic problems and work their minds to generation effective panaceas. Our youths must be encouraged to enroll in technical occupations.

    The Tech-U mission is significant. Accordingly, I urge the Oyo State Government to keep its hands on the plough for the accomplishment of the university’s objectives. The administrators too must not blend with the restrictive rot in existing conventional universities. The university must not only be the first technical university in Nigeria and Africa; it must also lead in how it trains its students and contributes to the sustainable revitalization of the Nigerian economy for the good of Nigerians and the rest of the world.

    • By Kolade Jimoh

    Ogbomoso, Oyo State.

  • Welcoming Unstable

    The intriguing nature of Benin traditions will always be relevant in Nigerian theatre parlance.  Opening with cultural dances last week, Unstable, a stage play written by Dickson Ekhaguere showed that the deep traditional elements of the cultural values by the people will continue to form undisputable part of rich theatre.  Unstable won the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) Drama award in 2015.

    In the play, which took place at Muson Centre, Lagos, it was obvious that the playwright did his home work well.  The play explored the sensitive plots that showed the true love story of a man unduly struck by love bug.  It is like the story of Hosea and Gomer in the Bible.   Hosea, a prophet of the Most High God was in love with  Gomer, a gifted prostitute.  As a wife, Gomer would sneak out to hobnob with all sorts of characters.  Hosea would catch her, then cried to God.  God would in turn tell him to forgive her.  “You people are like Gomer to me – prostituting always, yet I forgive you.  Take her back”.  This was what happened between Ido, King of Ozolua played by Bassey Okon and Esewi, the prostitute, played by Tina Mba.  Esewi was a whore, an unrepentant adulteress whose propensity to do so was unparalleled.  Yet Ido foolishly fell for her.  The play opened with the people chasing her into the palace.  They wanted the King to find a solution to her waywardness.  “Either you kill her or you send her into exile”.  But the king pardoned her, sent her into his palace.  Being a widower, the king found true love in Esewi, having been overwhelmed by her charm and beauty.

    This shocked the people who in turn began to mock and taunt their king.  The chiefs did not see why he should do this.  They gathered to tell him so, yet he did not give up.  They organized a dance of the maidens for the king to choose one, yet he was not impressed.  The king went on to organize an elaborate marriage ceremony.  The Queen Esewi was then ushered into the palace where the chiefs still showed their disdain towards her.

    A lot of intrigues then followed.  Esewi still indulged in several sexual escapades with all sorts of people – the commoners, the well-to-do, the elite, and more.  At a point, the chiefs openly abused their king, asking him to choose between them, the kingdom and the woman Esewi.  In an outburst, he said to them, “why do you show so much hatred?  Try to show a bit of love and tolerance, for that is what makes us all human”, he said to them.

    It is a play of immense suspense.  No one knew what the end would be like.  Esewi continually led her life the way she had designed it to be, even when, at a point, it seemed Ido would lose hope and give up ever loving her.  Finally, her last escapades led to a war with King Ediae of Uzebu, the natural enemy of the Ozolua people.  This confrontation indeed seemed to be well-orchestrated by Esewi to shame Ido and bring out the animalistic tendencies in both leaders.

    Ido was shot in the ensuing war.  He fell down after which the scene seemed a bit confusing.  Esewi rushed to him, cried and tried to show true love from her inner heart.  Suddenly, the stage went upbeat – the lights went off.  Then, Ido was seen on his throne.  It was all a dream.  He had wished all this had happened in real life.  The play resonated with songs, dances, a host of traditional issues that enrich stage plays.  The deep features embedded in it helped to carry the audience along with high expectations.  Ben Tomoloju who directed it, went afield to borrow dances from neighbouring climes to embellish the scenes.  You could see the incursion of Owo and Ilaje dance patterns in the play.  References to Issele-Uku, Onitsha, Ahaba and so on, showed that history does not exist in isolation.

    All these combined to give Unstable its stage value.  Esewi’s character was unstable.  Her resort to amorous tendencies was incurable.  She was shameless.  She was indeed beyond reproach.  Played by an indomitable stage expert, Tina Mba, the role of Esewi went beyond the endurance of an average human being.  Mba ensured that the role was well-played to bring out the elasticity in human endurance and tolerance.  Her role helped to explore the dream motif of the play.  She lured her lovers on and on; she was able to discover new ways to keep their interests in her amorous nature.  In many ways, this aided the length of the one-and-a-half hour play to sustain the stage and keep thespians on their toes.

    The stage design done by Biodun Abe equally led credence to the values of the palace, its simple opulence, the elegance of the throne itself and more.

    Bassey Okon, just back from a ten year sojourn abroad was capable of breathing life into the stage.  His interpretation of the role of the Oba of Ozolua, a vassal rural settlement singled him out as an old horse of the stage.  He carried himself well to the admiration of the audience.  This was why the play was well heralded and accepted by the people.

    Other characters in the play included Olu Okekanye, Oyin Gbade, Ropo Ewenla, Inna Erizia, Jolomi Jolomi, Iquo Abasi.  Abasi who acted as the narrator also proved her mettle on stage.  Her role indeed illumined the scenes in very special ways.

  • Welcoming a Trump of sadism

    Like the hands of a clock, many democratic countries in the world swear in a new President every four or five years at the exit of an old one. Now, it is the turn of the United States of America again. And the man to take charge as from today, for the next four years, all things being equal, is called Donald Trump, a man that most people including Americans, have seen as a wild surging into a china shop. In an article entitled ‘Waiting for January 20’ and published in this column two weeks ago, yours sincerely cited the example of Adolf Hitler’s oath of office and inaugural address of 1933 that culminated in the World War II which started in 1939 and ended in 1945. The dramatic events within that period of 12 years were the main determinants of today’s world history.

     

    Oath of office

    As from today, Donald Trump’s oath of office will become the symbol of authorisation for the seeming global anarchy ahead. His assumption of office as the 46th American President, subsequent to that oath, will confirm the loss of America’s long time cherished glass house that has always been a proud heritage.

    From the look of things, a wild bull may be taking over in the world’s china shop in a most likely confirmation of a popular 20th century Irish poem published in 1921 by William Butler (W. B.) Yeats, the original author of “Things Fall Apart”. In that sadistic poem, Yeats really proved to be the drummer for a future dragon who would dance sadistically on the surface of a tragic brook. That dancer is the 21st century America’s Donald Trump who the world is unlikely to watch with comfort. The expectations from that scenario are better imagined than experienced. Here is the poem:

    “Turning and turning in the widening gyre

    The falcon cannot hear the falconer;

    Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;

    Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,

    The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere

    The ceremony of innocence is drowned;

    The best lack all conviction, while the worst

    Are full of passionate intensity”.

     

    Observation

    If the above quoted stanza is an impetus for Trump to behave like a typical dragon dancing on the surface of an ominous brook, another poem by Rudyard Kipling may equally serve as an intoxicant that can help exacerbate the already dangerous situation of the world in which the new American President wants to be an agent. Incidentally, both Yeats and Kipling were contemporary literary men of about the same age. They were both born in 1865 but died differently within a gap of about three years apart. Below is Kipling’s own divisive poem that strengthened the enmity between the West and the East:

    “Oh, East is East and West is West, and never the twain shall meet,

    Till Earth and Sky stand presently at God’s great Judgment Seat…”

     

    The meaning of Trump

    The name TRUMP is a short form of trumpet, a musical instrument with which the decision of a tyrant is often announced in a local cultural setting. Ever since he was declared the winner of the American Presidential election of November 2016, this Trump has been trumpeting his tyrannical plans for the world. And the jitters rolled out from that trumpet have started gripping the world with icy cold. That an American President elect had begun to rule before taking an oath of office is a clear indication of what the world should expect from the china shop in which a bull will start to operate as from today.

     

    Fictitious comment

    Meanwhile, a fictitious statement about Africans and the Arabs credited to Donald Trump, which has now gone viral online, is not true. That statement was fabricated by some African cultural renegades who intended to use a foreign name to disparage the governments of their own countries. For those who are quite familiar with English language and its usage by native speakers, it must be apparent that the writing of that comment is totally African in style and perhaps Nigerian. An average speaker of English as a mother tongue cares so much about economy of language that he will not be that pedestrian in speaking or writing. Besides, through a thorough research, yours sincerely has discovered that the comment in question first appeared online on October 15, 2015 when the campaign for American Presidential election had not commenced and not December 8, 2016 as claimed by the mischief makers.

     

    Personal comment

    It is bad enough that Donald Trump cannot guard his tongue while commenting on sensitive issues, but that cannot serve as enough excuse to put fictitious words in his mouth. Such act is typical of Nigerian literary miscreants who are fond of marauding in day dreaming and wishful thinking. In fairness to him, If Trump ever made any such unprintable remarks about the black people at all, it must have been about African Americans and some other Africans residing in America. And the comment could not have been longer than two or three sentences.

    An excerpt from text of the controversial statement credited to Trump is published in this column today not to authenticate the fabricated version but to enable the numerous readers of this column to further know how evil-minded some Nigerians can be. Nigerian Muslims who have constantly been maligned through similar fabrications can testify to this assertion.

     

     The fabricated version

    “We are not obliged, even for a second, to try to prove to anybody and especially, to blacks and Arabs that we are superior people – we have demonstrated that to the black and Arabs in 1001 ways.

    The America we know today was not created by wishful thinking. We created it at the expenses of intelligence, sweat and blood…..we do not pretend like other whites that we like the blacks – We must admit without any fear, that we don’t like them and for so many, many valid reasons.

    The fact that blacks and Arabs look like human beings does not necessarily make them sensible human beings. Hedgehogs are not porcupines and lizards are not crocodiles because they look alike. If God had wanted us to be equal to blacks and Arabs, he would have created us all of a uniform colour and intellect. But he created us differently. Whites, blacks, yellow, the rulers and the ruled, intellectually we are superior to the blacks and the Arabs. That has been proven beyond any reasonable doubt over the years.

    I believe that a white man is an honest, God fearing person who has demonstrated practically the right way of being a humanity .By now every one of us has seen it practically that blacks and Arabs cannot rule themselves. Give them guns and they will kill each other.

     

    Further disparagement

    They (blacks and Arabs) are good in nothing else but making noise, dancing, marrying many wives, alcoholism, witchcraft, indulging in sex, pretending in church, jealousy, fighting and complaining of nonsense. Their only main concern (which according to me is stupidity of the highest magnitude) is same – sex marriages. They keep pointing fingers to us, we the west, that we have legalized it in our countries and that we always outspokenly support gay people around the world. And because they always foolishly want to demonstrate their ignorance, hatred and fear about the subject, some of them have even enacted harsh laws to condemn their own gay citizens. This shows that beyond illusions and doubt, what people do with their own bodies is Africans main concern. I hear they even strip their women publicly when they commit crimes.

     

    Reckless assessment

    Let us all accept the fact that the black man is a symbol of poverty, mental inferiority, laziness and emotional incompetence. To make the matter worse, he can do everything possible to defend his stupidity. Give them money for development and they will fight and create hatred and enmity for themselves. Drill oil wells for them and they will not have peace all the days of their life. See, for instance, what’s happening in Nigeria, Southern Sudan, Malawi, DRC just to mention a few. This proves to anybody including a stupid fool that Africans do not know what they want. Isn’t that plausible?

    Therefore that the white man is created to rule the black man, Africans will always have day dreams (sic). And here is the creature (black man) that lacks foresight but only sees what is near him and still fails to know what to do. A black man is stupid to the extent that he cannot plan for his life beyond a year. Therefore how can they develop and live longer.

     

    About corruption

    Corruption in the west (and China) is a big abomination but in Africa, it’s so huge that it is slowly becoming an acceptable way of life. They sing and rejoice to their corrupt political leaders. They worship their scandal-ridden religious leaders like their gods. Lest you forget, these so called Africans are praising, dancing and praying for the people that have impoverished them, and who come to hide their loot here.

     

    About begging

    Then which fool argues that the black man is not born a beggar, grows a beggar, looks a beggar, falls sick as a beggar and dies a beggar. This has been proven beyond reasoning. I wonder why even up to now most Africans still go to school by force and those still at school are just drug addicts who don’t know what took them there.

    This is a pregnant stupidity in Africa that needs Jesus’ immediate second coming. The body of Africans is a very fertile ground for all diseases in the world because they don’t fear even HIV/AIDS. This leaves me with a question: Are our eyes created the same with those Africans? I hear there are still cultures in Africa that prohibit them from using latrines which is very annoying.

     

    About freedom

    They cried for independence but have failed to rule themselves. For sure being African is a very untreatable disease that even prayers are not enough. They have minerals but they cannot do anything with it. Therefore let us (whites) go to Africa and pick what we can pick and leave what is of no use. Poverty is a disease to the whites but to the blacks it is very normal.

    The worst tragedy in Africa is that if you dare stand up and speak up for what’s right, you may end up regretting. The few wise and open-minded Africans who have tried to educate these fools about civilization have met the worst. They have been pushed hard on the wall, they have been silenced and others have been killed….”

    Even the other quote credited to him about Nigeria is a fabrication by Nigerian election riggers who can go to any extent to destroy the good image of any political opponent. The truth of the matter is that a former employee of Donald Trump who was playing pranks at work was once scolded by the man. While scolding the lazy guy, Trump alluded to the attitude of some Africans he had encountered and referred to him as having the trait in blacks. And that was as far back as 1991 when Trump had not developed any political ambition. An eye witness in the cited case (John O’Donnel) testified to this. The question now is this: where did Nigeria record Donald Trump’s quoted comment?

     

    Patriotism

    The issue here is not about Trump per se. There are more evil tendencies in some Africans than can be found in Trump. If an African can go this far to destroy the fabric of his own pedigree where is patriotism and what else can he not do to cause a civil war at home? Apparently, there are more Trumps in Africa than in America. And if Donald Trump, in deviance to any lesson from Adolf Hitler’s experience, unleashes his evil machination on some Africans, it will only be a good match for African evil doers. What do you say to that? As the world keeps moving, we hope the days ahead will allay our fear. Trump is welcome.

  •  Welcoming History

    •Ordinarily, the subject should not have been removed from schools curriculum 

    Years after removal of History from the nation’s curriculum, the new administration has returned this mother of disciplines to the curriculum. This is a commendable effort to right a wrong that should not have happened in the first instance, were it not for failure of policy.

    Shortly after the formation of the National Policy on Education under military rule in 1969 and subsequent introduction of the 6-3-3-4 school system, History was gradually phased and replaced by social studies, principally a mélange of geography, civics, and a smattering of historical issues. Between 2009 and now, millions of school children have not studied any history—local, national, or global. Such deprivation must have put at risk millions of school leavers’ sense of historical consciousness and the critical attitude that comes with the study of History, an important skill that counterparts of such young Nigerians in other parts of the world must have acquired.

    This paper commends the current minister of education for finding it important to hear the people’s voice on this important issue of heritage studies while thanking professional organisations, the academia, civil society organisations and the media for insisting for years that the only right thing to do in a knowledge society is enrich the study of History for obvious reasons.

    History reminds the individual and society at large about the evolution of the human society in both local and global contexts. It promotes a sense of identity for citizens and understanding of the dynamic character of human and social development. It is not a subject that should be toyed with by policy wonks besotted to or hobbled by short-term gains and a narrow view of human organisation and social development.

    The history of removal of this important subject that holds all the disciplines together and runs through all forms of human knowledge shows a poor understanding on the part of past governments. Most successful federal systems: United States of America, India, Brazil, Canada, Switzerland, etc., recognise the need for national and subnational governments to negotiate the curriculum and customise it to serve local and national goals.

    Had this happened, it would not have been easy to produce many generations of students without a sense of the evolution of Nigeria. The policy inconsistency in robbing millions of children of the study of History in a country that poured at the same time billions of naira into such unification programmes as National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) and Unity Schools represents absence of logic that must not be repeated in the planning of curriculum in the country.

    We congratulate the Federal Government for welcoming citizens’ call for change in respect of returning History to the curriculum.

  • Welcoming Reuben Abati back

    I spoke with him on phone only once or twice during his tenure as Special Adviser on media to former President Goodluck Jonathan. Yet, I think Dr Reuben Abati, first class intellectual and columnist did a wonderful job as presidential spokesman in difficult circumstances. Except on one or two occasions, he was even tempered under pressure and very measured, dignified and restrained in carrying out his duties. Unlike many, he has remained loyal to his former boss even after the former lost out in the last election. I naturally disagreed with him on a number of occasions as regards his defence of the Jonathan administration but his professional integrity remains intact. Abati’spieces, ‘Six lessons we have learnt’ in The Guardian of Friday, 23rd October, and ‘Biafra, Oodua and the seventh lesson’ published yesterday were a delight to read even if you don’t agree with some of his views.His writing remains intelligent, nuanced, luminous and perceptive. This column heartily welcomes my friend and brother back to the terrain of qualitative public discourse.

  • ‘Welcoming the other’

    The title of today’s article in this column is the theme of the 9th Conference of ‘Religions for Peace’ held in Vienna, Austria, about three weeks ago. This year’s World Assembly of Religions for Peace (RfP) focused on building bridges and greater social cohesion amongst the world’s religions. The theme also imports a focus on religious repression among and within the world’s religions.

    After two days of intensive deliberations, in Vienna last November, the Assembly resolved to make a declaration which may serve as guidance for religious leaders all over the world and the declaration was unanimously adopted as follows:

    “We – more than six hundred religious leaders and people of faith representing all historic faith traditions and every region of the world – have convened in Vienna, Austria as the 9th World Assembly of Religions for Peace.1

    We have come from the global Religions for Peace family of ninety national inter-religious councils and groups, five regional councils, one world council, and international networks of religious women and religious youth. Our respective religious traditions have called us to work together for Peace. Previous World Assemblies of Religions for Peace have discerned positive elements of Peace, common threats to Peace, and a multi-religious consensus expressed through shared values for Peace. We commit to common action based upon these deeply held and widely shared values, as a foundation for affirming the imperative of “welcoming the other” as the heart of our multi-religious vision of Peace.

    Re-affirmation

    We reaffirm the positive elements of Peace shared by our respective religious traditions:

    Peace is central to our respective religions, and our diverse faiths compel us to work together to build it;

    Love, compassion and honesty are stronger than hate, indifference and deceit;

    All men and women are endowed with human dignity, share common humanity, must care for one another, and are called to consider the problems faced by others as their own;

    We accept the call to stand on the side of and raise up the most vulnerable, and to promote just and harmonious societies;

    We value women and men as equal partners in our efforts to build peace;

    Children are a paramount concern; the special state of childhood deserves our protection and care, and should receive priority from among our societies’ resources;

    Non-violent conflict transformation through dialogue and reconciliation are central to peacemaking;

    The use of nuclear weapons and all weapons of mass and indiscriminate destruction is immoral; and

    Advancing human development and protecting the earth are part of the struggle for Peace.

    The positive elements of Peace we share are inextricably linked to our shared calling to confront common threats to Peace. These threats include:

    The misuse of religion in support of all manner of violence, including violent extremism;

    An ongoing spiritual crisis that erodes values that support life;

    Violent conflict and the proliferation of arms;

    Extreme and growing inequality, including widespread violations of basic rights;

    Violence against women, abuse of children and weakening support for families;

    Extreme poverty, preventable diseases left untreated, and broad scale lack of opportunity; and

    Environmental degradation, natural resource depletion, and climate change, all of which threaten civic order and human flourishing.

    Confession

    While we confess that some religious believers betray the peace teachings of their faiths, we continue to commit ourselves – and our communities – to a culture of Peace that advances shared well-being, grounded in common healing, common living and shared security.

    Rising hostility

    The 9th World Assembly of Religions for Peace calls attention to a new threat to Peace – rising hostility.

    We are deeply troubled by this rising hostility, in society and within and among religious communities. This hostility toward the “other” is an extension of intolerance, and too often takes the form of violence. Victims of hostility are often vulnerable populations, including members of ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities; migrants, refugees, asylum seekers, internally displaced and stateless persons….

    1. Religious communities can work to reverse the rising tide of hostility toward the “other” by advancing a multi-religious vision of Peace and through multi-religious action. Specifically, the Religions for Peace World Assembly calls on Religious leaders and people of faith to:

    Honour and protect human dignity whenever and wherever it is under attack;

    Foster more active collaboration between women and men in exalting the dignity of women and girls, and work together to prevent violence against them;

    Speak out on behalf of vulnerable individuals and groups, and all people persecuted, or whose existence is denied, because of their faith;

    Recognise that the well-being of immediate and extended families, as well as of communities, are a prerequisite to the well-being of children;

    Address issues of responsibility and accountability for the causes of climate change;

    Acknowledge the value of youth-led, grass-roots initiatives aimed at welcoming others and promoting sustainable Peace;

    Advance spiritual values essential to shared well-being;

    Reinforce acceptance of diversity in our communities;

    Welcome the other through prayer and service;

    Engage in multi—stakeholder partnerships to welcome the other; and

    Leverage the power of multi-religious networks to “welcome the other” by advancing human dignity, shared well-being and citizenship through concrete multi-religious action.

    2. Governments, international organizations and civil society to:

    Promote transparent governance that ensures and protects the development of comprehensive well-being and full enjoyment of universal human rights for all;

    Provide legal remedies for victims of intolerance;

    Promote social policies and legal norms that recognize the dignity of migrants, refugees, asylum seekers, internally displaced and stateless persons;

    Advance citizenship that ensures human dignity while protecting the safety and well-being of all individuals, including freedom of religion or belief, and other rights of individuals and groups, whether in the majority or in the minority;

    Ensure the protection of places of worship;

    Eliminate nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction, and stem the proliferation of small arms;

    Promote restorative justice to heal both the victims and the perpetrators of violent conflict;

    Address threats of nuclear exposure and contamination to protect all living things and future generations; and

    Support and partner with people of faith, religious leaders, religious communities and religious networks in their efforts to welcome the other.

    3. All people of good will to:

    Call attention to, and work to eliminate, all forms of intolerance and discrimination by states, by non-state actors, by civil society, by religious groups and leaders, and by individuals.

    Welcoming the other

    We, the Delegates of the 9th World Assembly of Religions for Peace, are united in our commitment to resist threats to Peace that take the form of hostility toward the other, and to take positive action to welcome the other by promoting the true flourishing of all human beings. These dual commitments and corresponding calls to action express our multi-religious vision of Peace”. This Declaration was made in Vienna, Austria this day of 22 November 2013. More will come in this column about Vienna Conference of ‘Religion for Peace’ in the near future.