Naija country people sef na their mouth dey put dem for trouble. Dem say our Oga Pata Pata for Naija, Oga Umoru dey drag leg for how he dey rule us and dem don tire for the waiting to see 7- point Agenda for ground. As Oga Umoru dey try to beg those Niger Delta boys make dem bring their guns make dem collect gbem, some Naija people come dey tink say he no get liver.
As Gambari people last two years dey happy say na their turn to share the cake, e be like say many of dem don confuse about how some Naija people no get the same value again. Gambari wey dey for Tin City first taste the bitter medicine wen dey say dem no gree for election magu magu . Why dem dey complain? As dem dey talk am charity dey start for home. When Boco haram wan fight gofment, dem deal with dem squarely, forget rule of law as e dey temporary out of service.
The next Gambari people to taste freedom for democracy be for Power state as police move go their help Oga Chief Servant sack the people of Darul –Islam, no ask me wetin constitution talk, rule of law na him dey work. Presently ebi like say na the turn of Shiites as even one of their Oga dey beg say make dem no bomb im house with his aged Mama and small pickins. Dem no even no say to support Palestine people dey dangerous and Police no get budget for batons, teargas and rubber bullets. Rule of law? Not available at the moment.
Even those little little boys wey dey always make noise like the former Oga Honourable from Birnin –South are picked, sorry invited to city of milk and honey to drink tea. Lecturers unions, dem tink say because Oga Umoru carry chalk before dey go fit force am to do wetin dem want education to be. If dem never decide na their wahala as if dem no run back to class, no salary.
If Naija people get plenty sense dem go know say Oga Umoru don dey change from wetin dem dey call slow motion to active Commander-In –Chief which even the late dark goggled General envy go catch am. Mending boys and their likes wey dey carry guns should now run for cover before amnesty finish. Federal character must be implemented abi? And dey cannot disgrace Oga Pata-Pata by stopping him to fulfill three of his 7-Point Agenda, Niger Delta, Electricity and Wealth creation.
Recently, One Oga Ambassador wey be all round Minister talk am for BBC Gambari service , promise to take BBC Gambari Oga Madam to every lungu and corner of Naija before year finish to show her how Naija people dey enjoy NEPA light , just say amen!
To those accusing Oga Umoru about not working hard to realize 7 –Point Agenda. Make dem wait small, may be as Oga Ambassador promise electricity on behalf of Oga Pata Pata by end of dis year , Oga Umoru don work very hard on other remainings of 7 –Point Agenda , Health and Education. May be by next year sef Oga Umoru go fit enter any Naija hospital make dem do am medical check up, no more waka to Saudi Arabia. Our schools for don better and Oga Umoru go comot im pickins from money schools to gofment awuf schools. The schools go don better and dem dey work well well dat Oga Ambassador go fit add the tins weh he go show BBC Gambari madam make she se with her koro-koro eyes.
Some Naija people dey complain say gofment dey carry people even if dey no beg from one state to another free of charge. For Plateau state dem carry Fulani people and their malu for big moto take dem back to their real motherlad. Almajiri people own even better as dem give dem free ride from places like Lagos, Abuja and Kaduna go keep for their origin . We no go join Darul –Islam people join with dis one. You know say our lawyers know book well well , Adieu Gani !
Gofment no get money for the demands weh lectures, teachers, doctors, civil –servants dey look for. Gofment no get money, na the small money weh gofment dey get to take kia of politicians and public office holders, na him dem want Oga Umoru gofment share with dem? Some dey even complain say where fia-fia Oga Bank pata pata get 400 billon he put for banks weh he call am debt? If gofment push neck agree to Labour people demand of 52,000 naira as smallest salary come join money wey university people, teachers, doctors dey demand , wetin go remain for gofment pocket? If you get black stomach for wetin politician dey get, resign go stand for election make tins better for you.
Oga Umoru gofment no want waste, dat’s why I put my ears for ground for my state weh get highest numbers of people weh dey share Naija cake. Dem hand open well well and people no even complain say from the big ones to the small small ones give dem pure water to break their fast. Even as people for the other side no fit share cloth, rice , kayan shayi and small change, Oga Umoru people dey try with the small salary weh dem dey collect. No mind dat rag-tag plumber turn politician weh seize the umbrella from Oga Pata Pata people.
2011? So wetin go happen ? Oga Umoru no dey fear any type of election. The magic weh Oga Umoru dey take use for Katsina dey and he come join dem now with the better better work weh he dey do . And another extra one even dey as market men of religion go even fit give decree say any Naija person weh no vote for Oga Umoru go remain forever for hell- fire. What if he no gree to contest for 2011? No worry more tan two million Naija people go march go Abuja beg am make he help us fr Naija continue with the work weh he don start.
Me, the tin weh dey fear me with Oga Umoru gofment na dey bloodshed, many people don quench from Pateau, Nige Delta, Bauchi, Yobe, Kano, Borno, Kaduna, Sokoto states. All the killings can be stopped through good gofment policy. Gofment from top to bottom should be merciful to their country people, excessive use of force led leaders like Pot, Najibullah, Saddam, Mobutu, Bokassa, Shah, Mussolini, Hitler, Abacha, Bush e.t.c to be listed in the hall of bad guys in history. Our Ogas should rule with wisdom and mercy so dat history should be merciful to dem.
Oga Umoru e never late for you to perform wonders in less than two years to come. Comot money improve masses lives through creating work, better hospitals with medicine, paying real wages to our workers, better condition to learn and read book and so many better tins weh Naija people dey request for.
E go better also if Oga Umoru take wayo say sorry to Naija people for all the wahala of the past two years and promise dem say e no go happen again. Oga Umoru Coolu temper, as Naija people want good tins of life as you don promise dem, we dey wait make we see better for ground.
Shehu Mustapha Chaji
shehuchaji@yahoo.com
Friday 25 September 2009
Friday 18 September 2009
North And Western Civilization
Written by Dr. Aliyu U. Tilde
Writing your mind weekly on the pages of newspapers could be very risky even with the most sincere of purposes. On the one hand, by being critical of society, you are certain to be in the bad books of the government, if you do not become a victim of its injustice. You have then refused to listen to Imam Shafi'i who likened you to someone who struggles with dogs over a corpse. He is only safe if he leaves the corpse alone. Turn to knowledge instead, he advised in a poem: "The (world) is nothing but a preposterous corpse surrounded by dogs that wish to steal it. If you avoid it, you become safe from its owners; and if you attempt to drag it, its dogs will fight you. Blessed is the soul that lights the centre of its house, with closed doors and drawn curtains." Mamu and any publisher wishing to tell the truth should know this. They should not be surprised if our governments do not patronize them with adverts and oil concessions of hundreds of millions of naira.
On the other hand, you also run the risk of incurring the wrath of the citizens you are alerting of danger or awakening from a slumber. Perhaps, they prefer to continue in their state of heedlessness. So do not be surprised if they retaliate with ferocity. I remember the advice of Niccolo Machiavelli where in Discourses he said, "It is dangerous to attempt to free people who wish to remain slaves, just as it is dangerous to attempt to enslave people who wish to remain free."
We are therefore running calculated risks, especially when what we say does not sound appeasing to government or is contrary to mainstream thinking. The essence of writing, to me, is to say something different that would likely bring about a change in perception of readers, even if controversial. If what you said is the truth, it is just a question of time that it prevails, no matter the immediate criticisms. A writer therefore, must never attempt to be a sweetheart of his readers. He must load them with sufficient dose of bitter pills if and when necessary.
And it pays. When I first brought forward the issue of moon sighting into the domain of public debate in my column in 2000, the controversy that ensued had to finally succumb to reality, regardless of the prevailing theological understandings that run contrary to scientific knowledge and common sense. At last, after ten years and numerous seminars, debates and meetings among the Ulama, we are reaching a rational consensus with the Sultan for the first time, announcing that the crescent was not sighted that Thursday evening. Though it was actually sighted in some places like Funtua, the mistake is pardonable; the will to be rational, to me, is more important and deserves our commendation. We will get it right many times later. Other countries make such mistakes too and they are not at all shy to announce a correction later.
The reaction on articles on Boko Haram came as a surprise. Immediately it hit the inboxes of my mailing list, gamji website and the newspaper stands, the reaction was immediate, plenty and overwhelmingly positive, without, I can say, any substantial objection. This was surprising because, though I did not set out to generate controversy or to appease anyone other than 'chaji', I just wanted to write a simple comment. But as I started, the cultural dimension of Boko Haram dominated my mind and I decided to carry it throughout the article. I preferred the distributive assignment of blame, rather than the restrictive one that heaps everything on the sect members. After all, it was for their love of Islam that they decided to forsake the world and follow Yusuf, living on dates and water. We provided the fertile soil for the cultivation of their ideas by denying anything western. To us, the West deserves only condemnation. Even where such condemnation is misplaced, no one stands up to correct it. So what if some of us take it to the extreme and condemn just everything. We must share the blame.
In writing that essay, I presumed that we have passed two stages on both sides of the spectrum in our relation with the West. No credible intellectual, I presumed, need to bother himself with arguing for the halal of boko, just as he should not argue for the wholesale adoption of western culture in pursuit of civilization. Both ideas are too pedestrian to contemplate now, giving our fatal experience with both. We who despised western education and culture remain backward on many development indices even within the context of Nigeria , as I indicated. Those who enforced wholesale adoption of western culture on the other hand, like Turkey , are yet to realize parity with the West as their founder Attaturk once contemplated, after almost a century of experimentation. They have to moderate their stand by allowing the reincorporation of Islamic ethics and practices in many areas from which they were earlier excluded.
However, despite that, they have benefited a lot even by imitating many western habits and values. Turkey , for example, is far ahead of us in almost every aspect of development. Even the Arab countries that I called the best specimens of despotism last week are better than us, Northern Nigeria , in many respects. Our cynicism must give way to a rationality that will allow us reclaim our lost camel wherever we find it, to borrow from the parable of the Holy Prophet (SAW).
Two other issues attracted my response. The first was the sentence on hijab. Someone said I treated it with disdain; another, a friend from Bayero University, defended using hijab by children is a means of getting them accustomed to it, thinking I was opposed to that. It was neither of the two. I mentioned "enforcing hijab on babies" at the end of my discussion on dress deliberately as an objection to our obsession with appearance, instead of emphasizing the quality of our behaviour. And by babies, I really meant babies, as it happens in my village. What has a baby got to do with hijab for God's sake? Allow her to breathe the fresh air of this world before she starts to become suffocated by our bruises later in life. The Muslim women who are impressively fighting the hijab war in Europe never wore one as babies. There is time for everything in Islam. Moreover and more importantly, hijab is a religious obligation that must not be allowed to lose its significance by being relegated to nominal value of a cultural dress.
The other is the issue of our relationship with our Christian brothers in the North especially. In that article I tried to alert us to our fading political relevance even within our brothers in the Middle Belt because we have amalgamated the West with Christianity; so if the West is an enemy as many of us are quick to believe, so are Christians, including those we share the same country, region or land. We are led to this trap by the lack of proper comprehension of European history. Our underlying boko haram attitude has impeded us from reading wide enough to recognize that Europe has relegated Christianity to the background since the 17th Century. Yes, the Pope and the Queen are there, but how many Europeans go to Church or even believe in God? Europe is indeed in need of Islam but the Muslims are not forthcoming in the discharge of their divine duty of da'awah. The stereotyping of Christians here at home also prevents us from reaching out to them, from understanding the true nature of our spiritual and temporal relationship, and from living in peace with them. We need to be broadminded such that we can understand the issues at stake between us, discuss them openly, and open their hearts to a better understanding of Islam. To me, this is a divine task which we have exchanged for acrimony, discord and hate. There is little wonder if we are not living in peace with them or if we have lost their sympathy. That being what it is, we must kindle the torch of mutual understanding based on knowledge, civilized values and recognition of our mutual rights.
My call for us to embrace civilization was seen as unwarranted or implying that we are not civilized. But I was vindicated just a week after when our Ulama - people who are supposed to be the most learned among us - started to expose their weak understanding of the most fundamental aspects of today's humanity: human rights and the rule of law in particular. My attack on them in the last article was no doubt deliberate. From their utterances, it was clear that many of us do not value life as much as required by Islam, the constitution or the conventions to which our country is a signatory. The end, when it suits us, justifies the means. This is Machiavellian, not Islamic. I completely agree with Yusuf Qardawi who said the means in Islam - rule of law in this case - is as essential in Islam as the end.
This was not the first time that many of us are celebrating the impunity of government. In Sokoto, we have seen a sustained attempt by government and the Sultanate to obliterate Shi'ites and their sympathizers. To be labelled a shi'ite in Sokoto is tantamount to a death sentence. A mob was following a thief one day, shouting barawo,barawo. The guy was running for his safety. Then one of his chasers cried Shi'a, Shia. The thief stopped instantly. He said, wallahi ni ba shi'a ba ne, ni barawo ne, that is, "I am not shi'ite; I am only a thief." This may sound funny to us, but it was not funny to the thief. He knows that being shi'ite will instigate the people to hack him to death in a matter of seconds.
The state of our mental health - as the sociologists will put it - has deteriorated to this level. I must commend the leaders of Shi'a and Darul Islam, unlike the leaders of Boko Haram, for not taking the law into their hands. Had they contemplated otherwise, their liquidation would have been graciously welcome by many establishments of Ulama.
I am not a shi'a, Darul Islam or Boko Haram member; not for a day, if I must confess. I also condemn any action that they have committed, like the alleged killing of Danmaishiya by some shi'ite members in Sokoto or the confrontational disposition of Boko Haram in Maiduguri . But I think as citizens, we should all be civilized enough to recognize the rights of other citizens if we want our country and this poverty-ridden region to live in peace. Our starting and ending must be the law. It must be followed; otherwise, if it comes to the turn of our sect, we should not expect any kind treatment from the government. We are not even consistent in our stand. Were we not the people who condemned America for handing over Saddam to be executed by the Iraqi authorities on Eid day? Why did we have sympathy for Saddam who caused the death of over 1.5million Muslims and at the same time praised the extra-judicial killing of Foi and Yusuf simply because it was done by the agents of Yar’Adua?
That returns us to the question of the romance between our Ulama and government. I criticized leaders of JIBWIS last week because they supported the extrajudicial killings based on their assessment of Muhammed Yusuf as khariji. I have replied those who asked me questions regarding this through the internet and SMS. JIBWIS ulama have no locus to use that name against Yusuf. They are just giving a dog a bad name in order to hang it. Yusuf was their member in Maiduguri. Until recently, he even used to sit in for late Sheikh Jafar whenever the latter could not turn up in the town for tafsir before forming his own mosque as it has become fashionable among our Ulama. What they do not share with JIBWIS Ulama is his hard stand on boko and, perhaps, his accumulation of weapons or confrontation with authorities. But these are not enough grounds to call him khariji, going by the classical definition of the term, if we will be sincere. Yar’Adua is undoubtedly Muslim, but he is not a khalifa running an Islamic government. To the contrary, he is a head of a secular government. So I cannot see how a revolt against Yar’Adua can justifiably qualify anyone to be called Khariji. These extrapolations are dangerous, since they are done at the expense of life.
I am so concerned with our Ulama because they are getting too close to government at the expense of our safety as a nation. Their subscription to government ordinances - good or bad - is tarnishing their image as custodians of moral rectitude. They are the correcting side of our leadership; if they become subservient to rulers, I am afraid, they will inevitably become part of the evil the latter commit. There are so many incidents pointing towards this direction, but I am running short of space. That is why I call on all of us to listen to them with a critical mind. Thank God, we have every liberty in Islam to do so since the word of everyone is subject to acceptance or rejection, except that of the Prophet, as Imam Malik aptly put it. Islam has given us all the freedom of thought we need. We must not abdicate it in exchange for the whim of other fellows.
So apart from these few criticisms, as I said, the reactions have been very positive, plenty and encouraging. They show that the door of dialogue on many pressing issues is open. No wound is healed unless it is opened, cleansed and treated appropriately. We must celebrate our constitutional right to freedom of expression. It is still a dream to Muslims of many countries so much so that they have to migrate to the West, ironically, to enjoy it. In Nigeria, it is free. Let us therefore celebrate it by utilizing it. It is our only protection from a fascism that will force us to migrate to the West as it has done to our brothers elsewhere.
http://www.leadershipnigeria.com/index.php/columns/views/issues/5759-north-and-western-civilization
Writing your mind weekly on the pages of newspapers could be very risky even with the most sincere of purposes. On the one hand, by being critical of society, you are certain to be in the bad books of the government, if you do not become a victim of its injustice. You have then refused to listen to Imam Shafi'i who likened you to someone who struggles with dogs over a corpse. He is only safe if he leaves the corpse alone. Turn to knowledge instead, he advised in a poem: "The (world) is nothing but a preposterous corpse surrounded by dogs that wish to steal it. If you avoid it, you become safe from its owners; and if you attempt to drag it, its dogs will fight you. Blessed is the soul that lights the centre of its house, with closed doors and drawn curtains." Mamu and any publisher wishing to tell the truth should know this. They should not be surprised if our governments do not patronize them with adverts and oil concessions of hundreds of millions of naira.
On the other hand, you also run the risk of incurring the wrath of the citizens you are alerting of danger or awakening from a slumber. Perhaps, they prefer to continue in their state of heedlessness. So do not be surprised if they retaliate with ferocity. I remember the advice of Niccolo Machiavelli where in Discourses he said, "It is dangerous to attempt to free people who wish to remain slaves, just as it is dangerous to attempt to enslave people who wish to remain free."
We are therefore running calculated risks, especially when what we say does not sound appeasing to government or is contrary to mainstream thinking. The essence of writing, to me, is to say something different that would likely bring about a change in perception of readers, even if controversial. If what you said is the truth, it is just a question of time that it prevails, no matter the immediate criticisms. A writer therefore, must never attempt to be a sweetheart of his readers. He must load them with sufficient dose of bitter pills if and when necessary.
And it pays. When I first brought forward the issue of moon sighting into the domain of public debate in my column in 2000, the controversy that ensued had to finally succumb to reality, regardless of the prevailing theological understandings that run contrary to scientific knowledge and common sense. At last, after ten years and numerous seminars, debates and meetings among the Ulama, we are reaching a rational consensus with the Sultan for the first time, announcing that the crescent was not sighted that Thursday evening. Though it was actually sighted in some places like Funtua, the mistake is pardonable; the will to be rational, to me, is more important and deserves our commendation. We will get it right many times later. Other countries make such mistakes too and they are not at all shy to announce a correction later.
The reaction on articles on Boko Haram came as a surprise. Immediately it hit the inboxes of my mailing list, gamji website and the newspaper stands, the reaction was immediate, plenty and overwhelmingly positive, without, I can say, any substantial objection. This was surprising because, though I did not set out to generate controversy or to appease anyone other than 'chaji', I just wanted to write a simple comment. But as I started, the cultural dimension of Boko Haram dominated my mind and I decided to carry it throughout the article. I preferred the distributive assignment of blame, rather than the restrictive one that heaps everything on the sect members. After all, it was for their love of Islam that they decided to forsake the world and follow Yusuf, living on dates and water. We provided the fertile soil for the cultivation of their ideas by denying anything western. To us, the West deserves only condemnation. Even where such condemnation is misplaced, no one stands up to correct it. So what if some of us take it to the extreme and condemn just everything. We must share the blame.
In writing that essay, I presumed that we have passed two stages on both sides of the spectrum in our relation with the West. No credible intellectual, I presumed, need to bother himself with arguing for the halal of boko, just as he should not argue for the wholesale adoption of western culture in pursuit of civilization. Both ideas are too pedestrian to contemplate now, giving our fatal experience with both. We who despised western education and culture remain backward on many development indices even within the context of Nigeria , as I indicated. Those who enforced wholesale adoption of western culture on the other hand, like Turkey , are yet to realize parity with the West as their founder Attaturk once contemplated, after almost a century of experimentation. They have to moderate their stand by allowing the reincorporation of Islamic ethics and practices in many areas from which they were earlier excluded.
However, despite that, they have benefited a lot even by imitating many western habits and values. Turkey , for example, is far ahead of us in almost every aspect of development. Even the Arab countries that I called the best specimens of despotism last week are better than us, Northern Nigeria , in many respects. Our cynicism must give way to a rationality that will allow us reclaim our lost camel wherever we find it, to borrow from the parable of the Holy Prophet (SAW).
Two other issues attracted my response. The first was the sentence on hijab. Someone said I treated it with disdain; another, a friend from Bayero University, defended using hijab by children is a means of getting them accustomed to it, thinking I was opposed to that. It was neither of the two. I mentioned "enforcing hijab on babies" at the end of my discussion on dress deliberately as an objection to our obsession with appearance, instead of emphasizing the quality of our behaviour. And by babies, I really meant babies, as it happens in my village. What has a baby got to do with hijab for God's sake? Allow her to breathe the fresh air of this world before she starts to become suffocated by our bruises later in life. The Muslim women who are impressively fighting the hijab war in Europe never wore one as babies. There is time for everything in Islam. Moreover and more importantly, hijab is a religious obligation that must not be allowed to lose its significance by being relegated to nominal value of a cultural dress.
The other is the issue of our relationship with our Christian brothers in the North especially. In that article I tried to alert us to our fading political relevance even within our brothers in the Middle Belt because we have amalgamated the West with Christianity; so if the West is an enemy as many of us are quick to believe, so are Christians, including those we share the same country, region or land. We are led to this trap by the lack of proper comprehension of European history. Our underlying boko haram attitude has impeded us from reading wide enough to recognize that Europe has relegated Christianity to the background since the 17th Century. Yes, the Pope and the Queen are there, but how many Europeans go to Church or even believe in God? Europe is indeed in need of Islam but the Muslims are not forthcoming in the discharge of their divine duty of da'awah. The stereotyping of Christians here at home also prevents us from reaching out to them, from understanding the true nature of our spiritual and temporal relationship, and from living in peace with them. We need to be broadminded such that we can understand the issues at stake between us, discuss them openly, and open their hearts to a better understanding of Islam. To me, this is a divine task which we have exchanged for acrimony, discord and hate. There is little wonder if we are not living in peace with them or if we have lost their sympathy. That being what it is, we must kindle the torch of mutual understanding based on knowledge, civilized values and recognition of our mutual rights.
My call for us to embrace civilization was seen as unwarranted or implying that we are not civilized. But I was vindicated just a week after when our Ulama - people who are supposed to be the most learned among us - started to expose their weak understanding of the most fundamental aspects of today's humanity: human rights and the rule of law in particular. My attack on them in the last article was no doubt deliberate. From their utterances, it was clear that many of us do not value life as much as required by Islam, the constitution or the conventions to which our country is a signatory. The end, when it suits us, justifies the means. This is Machiavellian, not Islamic. I completely agree with Yusuf Qardawi who said the means in Islam - rule of law in this case - is as essential in Islam as the end.
This was not the first time that many of us are celebrating the impunity of government. In Sokoto, we have seen a sustained attempt by government and the Sultanate to obliterate Shi'ites and their sympathizers. To be labelled a shi'ite in Sokoto is tantamount to a death sentence. A mob was following a thief one day, shouting barawo,barawo. The guy was running for his safety. Then one of his chasers cried Shi'a, Shia. The thief stopped instantly. He said, wallahi ni ba shi'a ba ne, ni barawo ne, that is, "I am not shi'ite; I am only a thief." This may sound funny to us, but it was not funny to the thief. He knows that being shi'ite will instigate the people to hack him to death in a matter of seconds.
The state of our mental health - as the sociologists will put it - has deteriorated to this level. I must commend the leaders of Shi'a and Darul Islam, unlike the leaders of Boko Haram, for not taking the law into their hands. Had they contemplated otherwise, their liquidation would have been graciously welcome by many establishments of Ulama.
I am not a shi'a, Darul Islam or Boko Haram member; not for a day, if I must confess. I also condemn any action that they have committed, like the alleged killing of Danmaishiya by some shi'ite members in Sokoto or the confrontational disposition of Boko Haram in Maiduguri . But I think as citizens, we should all be civilized enough to recognize the rights of other citizens if we want our country and this poverty-ridden region to live in peace. Our starting and ending must be the law. It must be followed; otherwise, if it comes to the turn of our sect, we should not expect any kind treatment from the government. We are not even consistent in our stand. Were we not the people who condemned America for handing over Saddam to be executed by the Iraqi authorities on Eid day? Why did we have sympathy for Saddam who caused the death of over 1.5million Muslims and at the same time praised the extra-judicial killing of Foi and Yusuf simply because it was done by the agents of Yar’Adua?
That returns us to the question of the romance between our Ulama and government. I criticized leaders of JIBWIS last week because they supported the extrajudicial killings based on their assessment of Muhammed Yusuf as khariji. I have replied those who asked me questions regarding this through the internet and SMS. JIBWIS ulama have no locus to use that name against Yusuf. They are just giving a dog a bad name in order to hang it. Yusuf was their member in Maiduguri. Until recently, he even used to sit in for late Sheikh Jafar whenever the latter could not turn up in the town for tafsir before forming his own mosque as it has become fashionable among our Ulama. What they do not share with JIBWIS Ulama is his hard stand on boko and, perhaps, his accumulation of weapons or confrontation with authorities. But these are not enough grounds to call him khariji, going by the classical definition of the term, if we will be sincere. Yar’Adua is undoubtedly Muslim, but he is not a khalifa running an Islamic government. To the contrary, he is a head of a secular government. So I cannot see how a revolt against Yar’Adua can justifiably qualify anyone to be called Khariji. These extrapolations are dangerous, since they are done at the expense of life.
I am so concerned with our Ulama because they are getting too close to government at the expense of our safety as a nation. Their subscription to government ordinances - good or bad - is tarnishing their image as custodians of moral rectitude. They are the correcting side of our leadership; if they become subservient to rulers, I am afraid, they will inevitably become part of the evil the latter commit. There are so many incidents pointing towards this direction, but I am running short of space. That is why I call on all of us to listen to them with a critical mind. Thank God, we have every liberty in Islam to do so since the word of everyone is subject to acceptance or rejection, except that of the Prophet, as Imam Malik aptly put it. Islam has given us all the freedom of thought we need. We must not abdicate it in exchange for the whim of other fellows.
So apart from these few criticisms, as I said, the reactions have been very positive, plenty and encouraging. They show that the door of dialogue on many pressing issues is open. No wound is healed unless it is opened, cleansed and treated appropriately. We must celebrate our constitutional right to freedom of expression. It is still a dream to Muslims of many countries so much so that they have to migrate to the West, ironically, to enjoy it. In Nigeria, it is free. Let us therefore celebrate it by utilizing it. It is our only protection from a fascism that will force us to migrate to the West as it has done to our brothers elsewhere.
http://www.leadershipnigeria.com/index.php/columns/views/issues/5759-north-and-western-civilization
Saturday 12 September 2009
Adamu Adamu answered well
I never thought that my write-up titled “Questions Adamu Adamu needs to answer” published in Daily Trust of 9/07/09 will generate some sort of controversies by chains of reactions and counter reactions from Mallam Adamu himself and others.
Mallam Adamu Adamu took time to reply my questions in series of articles titled “Talking silly on Bauchi (i) and (ii) published on 24/7/09 and 31/07/09 respectively. Even though Adamu said “ Some of the issues raised in the write-up don’t make much sense at all” referring to me, but all readers of his replies will refer to his articles as “ Talking sense on Bauchi”.
In the former article Adamu mistook my write-up as an attempt by me to ridicule, smear and attack his personality, thereby he responded to my questions harshly and if he had responded to my questions in the second article firstly, it would have not generated controversy. That will involve the responses of John Danfulani, Yusuf Gamawa and Hamisu Gumel in the first place.
Though I am not a journalist, but am not also a quack in issues relating to good governance and democracy as a Political Scientist. And I feel that I have been vindicated by Adamu himself, when he said “And in any case, it is not clear why my views on Bauchi state should assume the importance they seem to have for him”. But in his last article he himself admitted that Governor Isa Yuguda sought for his views when he was about to decamp and so also, Alhaji Garba Gadi asked for his opinion whether he should resign or not. Only a very influential citizen of a state that both a governor and his deputy will seek for his opinion on what to do.
When my write-up was published and Adamu’s subsequent response, I received a lot of mails and text messages with various reactions. Many people took time to send me mails showing their appreciation for my posing questions to Adamu Adamu as they, like me, have been looking forward to know what are his views on Bauchi state politics with Governor Isa Yuguda on saddle.
While some people that branded themselves as disciples of Adamu Adamu accused me of running a campaign to smear the image and credibility of their idol just because he refused to grant me some favours I sought from him when I was serving in Abuja so many years ago. Some among them even held me responsible for Danfulani’s article as if he is running an errand for me.
It is not in my habit to write for the purpose of smearing the reputation of anyone or group, but rather to propagate for good governance, justice, unity, equity e.t.c for the betterment of our democracy and great nation.
Though this write-up is not meant as a rejoinder to Adamu, but I will like to draw his attention to what he said to me “In any case, nothing prevents the critic from doing what he accused me of not doing”. A day after my write-up was published, seeking for his answers, my write-up titled “Who’s intimidating Bauchi ANPP? Was published on Weekly Trust of 11/7/09 . So it is not that am accusing Adamu Adamu of what even myself did not do.
Even as my questions to Adamu Adamu do not make “Sense” they have led many to know his own side of the story on so many issues in regard to Bauchi state and an opportunity on his side to tell the world.
In answering Shehu Chaji’s questions we came to know that Mallam Adamu Adamu refused the offer to serve as Secretary to Bauchi state government, which I doubt very few people will not jump at such juicy appointment. Mallam Adamu Adamu also informed Governor Isa Yuguda to his face that if he decamps “he would lose whatever political mutumci he had and the state would be out of his control”. He also informed his readers that General Muhammadu Buhari did for Mallam Isa Yuguda something he had not done for any other ANPP gubernatorial candidate, after endorsing him took time off his own campaign and went round all but one of Bauchi’s 20 local governments for him.
We also came to know that Malam Adamu Adamu is bitter with the way and manner Governor Isa Yuguda talked about General Buhari even though he knew how close Adamu and Buhari are. And we also know that Alhaji Garba Gadi sought for his opinion to resign or not, and Adamu Adamu advised the Deputy Governor not to resign under any circumstances.
These and more are what Mallam Adamu Adamu informed his readers. If I had not posed those questions to him he may never have said a lot about all those one on one issues with key players of Bauchi state politics. I deserve a pat on the back by Adamu for giving him this wonderful opportunity to say his mind.
My write-up on Adamu Adamu was made in good faith without any iota of giving anybody or group the slightest opportunity to smear his name or reputation. And if tomorrow there is the need again for me to pose such questions to Adamu Adamu I will definitely do it, and without any fear, sentiment or favour.
And as for me, Shehu Mustapha Chaji , am convinced satisfactorily with his answers in Talking sense on Bauchi (ii),even if others may not be fully convinced ,. And Mallam Adamu Adamu still remains to me among the best more enlightened, educated and resourceful columnist not only among the Daily Trust Columnists, but among the best in the whole of Nigeria . Mallam Adamu Adamu keeps the flag flying by saying the truth to our leaders within Nigeria and other countries of the world.
Shehu Mustapha Chaji
shehuchaji@yahoo.com
Mallam Adamu Adamu took time to reply my questions in series of articles titled “Talking silly on Bauchi (i) and (ii) published on 24/7/09 and 31/07/09 respectively. Even though Adamu said “ Some of the issues raised in the write-up don’t make much sense at all” referring to me, but all readers of his replies will refer to his articles as “ Talking sense on Bauchi”.
In the former article Adamu mistook my write-up as an attempt by me to ridicule, smear and attack his personality, thereby he responded to my questions harshly and if he had responded to my questions in the second article firstly, it would have not generated controversy. That will involve the responses of John Danfulani, Yusuf Gamawa and Hamisu Gumel in the first place.
Though I am not a journalist, but am not also a quack in issues relating to good governance and democracy as a Political Scientist. And I feel that I have been vindicated by Adamu himself, when he said “And in any case, it is not clear why my views on Bauchi state should assume the importance they seem to have for him”. But in his last article he himself admitted that Governor Isa Yuguda sought for his views when he was about to decamp and so also, Alhaji Garba Gadi asked for his opinion whether he should resign or not. Only a very influential citizen of a state that both a governor and his deputy will seek for his opinion on what to do.
When my write-up was published and Adamu’s subsequent response, I received a lot of mails and text messages with various reactions. Many people took time to send me mails showing their appreciation for my posing questions to Adamu Adamu as they, like me, have been looking forward to know what are his views on Bauchi state politics with Governor Isa Yuguda on saddle.
While some people that branded themselves as disciples of Adamu Adamu accused me of running a campaign to smear the image and credibility of their idol just because he refused to grant me some favours I sought from him when I was serving in Abuja so many years ago. Some among them even held me responsible for Danfulani’s article as if he is running an errand for me.
It is not in my habit to write for the purpose of smearing the reputation of anyone or group, but rather to propagate for good governance, justice, unity, equity e.t.c for the betterment of our democracy and great nation.
Though this write-up is not meant as a rejoinder to Adamu, but I will like to draw his attention to what he said to me “In any case, nothing prevents the critic from doing what he accused me of not doing”. A day after my write-up was published, seeking for his answers, my write-up titled “Who’s intimidating Bauchi ANPP? Was published on Weekly Trust of 11/7/09 . So it is not that am accusing Adamu Adamu of what even myself did not do.
Even as my questions to Adamu Adamu do not make “Sense” they have led many to know his own side of the story on so many issues in regard to Bauchi state and an opportunity on his side to tell the world.
In answering Shehu Chaji’s questions we came to know that Mallam Adamu Adamu refused the offer to serve as Secretary to Bauchi state government, which I doubt very few people will not jump at such juicy appointment. Mallam Adamu Adamu also informed Governor Isa Yuguda to his face that if he decamps “he would lose whatever political mutumci he had and the state would be out of his control”. He also informed his readers that General Muhammadu Buhari did for Mallam Isa Yuguda something he had not done for any other ANPP gubernatorial candidate, after endorsing him took time off his own campaign and went round all but one of Bauchi’s 20 local governments for him.
We also came to know that Malam Adamu Adamu is bitter with the way and manner Governor Isa Yuguda talked about General Buhari even though he knew how close Adamu and Buhari are. And we also know that Alhaji Garba Gadi sought for his opinion to resign or not, and Adamu Adamu advised the Deputy Governor not to resign under any circumstances.
These and more are what Mallam Adamu Adamu informed his readers. If I had not posed those questions to him he may never have said a lot about all those one on one issues with key players of Bauchi state politics. I deserve a pat on the back by Adamu for giving him this wonderful opportunity to say his mind.
My write-up on Adamu Adamu was made in good faith without any iota of giving anybody or group the slightest opportunity to smear his name or reputation. And if tomorrow there is the need again for me to pose such questions to Adamu Adamu I will definitely do it, and without any fear, sentiment or favour.
And as for me, Shehu Mustapha Chaji , am convinced satisfactorily with his answers in Talking sense on Bauchi (ii),even if others may not be fully convinced ,. And Mallam Adamu Adamu still remains to me among the best more enlightened, educated and resourceful columnist not only among the Daily Trust Columnists, but among the best in the whole of Nigeria . Mallam Adamu Adamu keeps the flag flying by saying the truth to our leaders within Nigeria and other countries of the world.
Shehu Mustapha Chaji
shehuchaji@yahoo.com
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