Spiritual Guardianship

Also published in Daily Trust

Spiritual guardianship is a situation whereby a religious personality is excessively revered by his followers to the extent of regarding him as a middleman of a sort between them and God the Almighty. They literally look up to him as the yardstick of measuring the right and wrong irrespective of what their religious scriptures maintain. And they channel their prayers to God through him on the assumption that he is pious enough to intercede with God and get their prayers accepted.

Dear Sheikh Shekau

Also published in Daily Trust

            Abubakar Shekau

 

I suppose that you are in the right spiritual mindset and perhaps in the right mood to go through this letter having recently observed Ramadan fasting. I also hope you would bear with me for writing you in English instead of Arabic or Hausa, because the medium through which I can reach out to you is obviously English –speaking.

Welcoming Eid el-Fitr

Also published in DAILY TRUST

 

The rate at which time flies nowadays is phenomenal, and it challenges us to set and pursue our order of priorities diligently and appropriately. The euphoria of welcoming the month of Ramadan has hardly died down when we begin to bid it farewell and welcome Eid el-Fitr (Sallah), which we look forward to celebrating tomorrow or the day after tomorrow as the case may be.

On the Adoption of Official Prayer

Also published in DAILY TRUST

 

The recent adoption of the second stanza of the National Anthem as the official prayer at all public functions by the Federal Government reflects Nigeria’s much-talked-about religiosity – a religiosity which ironically does not reflect in the country’s leadership, and indeed hardly influences our individual and collective endeavors. I addressed this paradox last year in this column under the title “Nigerians’ Ironic Religiosity” (Daily Trust, Friday, 2 September 2011).

Trend Obsession

Also published in DAILY TRUST

Though it is quite natural for human beings to love and pursue new and trendy things all the time, it needs not to be excessive. Ironically, despite the grinding poverty that relentlessly unleashes misery all over the land, an average Nigerian is trend-obsessed.