Ambassadorship for the sake of it

Also published in Daily Trust

Now that another list of Nigerian ambassadorial nominees has been released, a look into the Nigerian diplomacy and the pattern of appointing Nigerian ambassadors and high commissioners reveals how such appointments are, in most cases, made just for the sake of it, instead of pursuing any specific foreign policy.

Obviously, Nigerian ambassadors and high commissioners are either carrier diplomats i.e. civil servants who have built their careers in diplomacy and risen through the ranks to become ambassadors, or non-career diplomats i.e. those appointed from different carrier backgrounds most of whom are either defeated candidates compensated with ambassadorial appointments, or political allies rewarded for their contributions to the election victory of the ruling party. The successive civilian administrations and military regimes in the country have maintained this tradition, which the current administration under President Buhari appears to equally maintain.

In Defence of the Sahaba

Also published in Daily Trust

Over the past couple of days, Shiite religious adherents in many cities around the world held their annual procession purportedly to mourn the martyrdom of Hussein ibn Ali ibn Abi Talib who was killed in Karbala, Iraq, one thousand three hundred and seventy-seven years ago. It’s an annual Shiite religious occasion in which the Shiites openly chant curses and unprintable insults at the Sahaba i.e. the companions of the Messenger of Allah, Muhammad, peace be upon him, especially Abubakr As-siddeeq, Umar ibn Al-Khattab, Othman ibn Affan etc, and particularly two of his wives, Aisha bint Abibakr and Hafsat bint Umar.

The main procession was, of course, to the city of Karbala in Iraq, which, according to their religious belief, is holier than Makkah, as they also believe that whoever makes a ‘pilgrimage’ to the grave of Hussein therein, especially on the Day of Arafat while Muslims are in faraway Makkah performing Hajj, earns a reward as though he has performed Hajj and Umra one thousand times. (See Biharul-Anwar, v101, p109, and Furu’ul Kaafi, v1, p324).

Nigerian Shiites who equally maintain this belief, are also growing increasingly audacious enough to openly and unambiguously insult the Sahaba in their public gatherings and Hussainiyya shrines, unlike in the past when they would only utter derogatory innuendoes and other vaguely insulting insinuations against them.

A post-Buhari Nigeria

Also published in Daily Trust

Though it’s perhaps too early to be obsessed with post-Buhari political scenario in Nigeria especially considering the probability of him seeking reelection in 2019 when his current tenure expires, and in fact the probability of him getting reelected then hence serving his maximum two terms in office, yet considering how time flies so fast, it is indeed high time that Nigerians began thinking of his potential successor in 2019 or 2023, as the case may be.

Though Nigerians are sharply divided in their assessments of his performance so far, and despite his real or perceived shortcomings in terms of competence, he must be succeeded by not only a more competent successor, but equally uncorrupted also, for the country to sustain the rare glimmer of light it’s beginning to see at the end of the tunnel in spite of the huge challenges that still bedevil it.