Since calamities began in the country in 1999, twenty years ago, Christians in churches and Muslims in mosques have time and (time) again organized special prayers, reinforced with fasting. Yet, instead of stopping or abating the tragedies have become worse year – after – year. The question to ask, therefore, is why is this so?
I make bold to submit that it is because our clerics have not engaged in spiritual exercises acceptable to the Everlasting Father of creation. Instead of asking the Lord what to do, they, Christian and Muslim clerics alike, have been reading portions of the Bible and Qur’an they chose on their own or had been using in dealing with problems generally for decades.
As far back as 1999 the Ancient of Days had chosen Muslim clerics to handle the spiritual exercises to deal with the nation’s problems. To this end, as I had stated on occasions He sent me in April that year to the Head of State at the time, General Abdulsalami Abubakar. He was to have gotten the Chief Imams in Abuja and the 36 states’ capitals to each organize 41 Muslims clerics to fast and pray for seven days for the well – being of the country and Nigerians.
The Heavenly Father gave the clerics the passages they were to read in the Qur’an each day and that a cow should be slaughtered on the first day of the supplication and another on the last day. We are lucky that the Most High has given us another opportunity to have our problems solved. I hope the Sultan of Sokoto, His Eminence Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar, who is the head of the Muslims in the country, would do the will of God this time. And unlike General Abubakar in 1999 organize the Chief Imams in Abuja and the 36 State’s capitals to do the needful.
If it is necessary the monarch should get the Federal Government and the State Governments involved. The solution to our problems is not only political and economic but also includes spiritual cleansing of the nation for us to have peace and progress. Of course, it is only the Lord Almighty who brought us into the world who knows the cause of our problems and the solution(s) to them. So, we just have to do His will.
All I will counsel is that there should be no discrimination in the thanksgiving offerings to the clerics who would carry out the fasting and prayer exercise throughout the country. The same amount of money or gift items should be given to all of them.
In other words, the clerics in the North should not be given more money or gift items than those in the South and vice versa. If this is not done with fairness the Righteous Judge in Heaven will not be pleased and may even make the problems to continue in the zone or zones of the favoured clerics.
The country is at present in a precarious situation with many in the North and South with guns, legally and illegally obtained. So, the authorities should find quick solution to the problems of kidnapping, economic doldrums, large scale unemployment and insecurity.
In particular urgent attention needs to be given to the restructuring of the country. It is something that has to be done as quickly as possible to save the country from collapse, sooner than later. A word should be enough for the wise.
Next week: Answering the question of those who asked if it is proper for a Christian to carry out animal sacrifice.
Forcing gasbag Gasali into sobriety
When on February 27, I began the series on Nurudeen Gasali, a saucy fellow in Ilorin, Kwara State, three readers said I should have ignored him and not published the vituperative text messages he sent to me. With this article such well – meaning people will see the importance of my action and that I did the right thing.
In my 45 years in column writing I had come to realize that the best, indeed, the only way one can stop unreasonable and bad-mannered readers from abusing one during phone calls or by text messages is to take them on publicly. Something Gasali has come out to confirm as I have since March 6 silenced him.
Of course, like other columnists, I do get angry reactions from readers anytime I wrote on emotive political, religious or tribal issues. But I had only reacted thrice and this was because of the caliber of the readers who insulted me.
The first one was in the 1980s when I was the Editor of the Sunday Concord and I took on late Professor Gabriel Olusanya, Ph.D. History, who was then the Director – General of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs. He had appeared and criticized me on a Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) Programme called “Boo Boo Corner.” It was a slot in which the station drew attention to what its presenters regarded as mistakes or wrongdoing in a press publication, radio and television broadcast.
Professor Olusanya came out that day to condemn the front page lead story we carried on late Colonel John Madaki, who fully dressed in Army uniform and in his official car painted in military green colour was chasing that of late Professor Dupe Olatubosun of the University of Ibadan on the streets of the Oyo State capital city.
The officer previously had a disagreement with the don. As a result when he saw the professor in traffic he told his driver to try and block his car, so that he could deal with him. They drove recklessly in Ibadan that day over a distance of four or five kilometer, until the professor was able to escape at the campus gate. The colonel went back knowning the students of the institution would attack him if he made any attempt to arrest the professor in the university’s territory.
On the NTA programme Professor Olusanya said he could not believe that any serious – minded and capable editor would consider using such a story at all, let alone as a front page lead.
To be continued next week with the removal of Professor Olusanya from office shortly after I took him on in my column: ‘The Heart of the Matter.”