Libyan arms: Buhari’s lamentations

…also published in Daily Trust

President Muhammadu Buhari often laments over the inflow of trafficked Libyan arms, which contributes hugely to the persistence of terror attacks in Nigeria. His recent lamentation was at a sideline meeting with President Alhassan Ouattara of Cote d’Ivoire during the recent Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS) summit in Abuja.

The overwhelming chaos that ensued in Libya following the brutal killing of its leader, Mu’ammar Ghaddafi and the overthrow of his regime along with the country’s military and other security institutions had precipitated free-for-all looting of military arsenals across the country by warring armed factions fighting for the control of oil fields, cities and other strategic locations in the country.  

Also as the chaos escalated, foreign arms flooded Libya as more and more armed groups with conflicting agendas continued to emerge, which also attracted organized international arms traffickers who have since then continued to supply arms to  armed groups in West Africa, North Africa and other parts of the continent.

Kano crisis: Clash of egos

…also published in Daily Trust

Though the ongoing dispute between the Kano State Governor Abdullah Umar Ganduje and Sarkin Kano Muhammad Sunusi ll was triggered following governor Ganduje’s allegation that Sarki Sunusi had clandestinely sought to undermine his reelection bid earlier this year, a critical look at how it has played out since then reveals a clash of egos as the underlying dynamic behind its escalation.

Of course, neither Ganduje nor Sunusi ll would admit it for obvious reasons. The former cites historical reasons and development imperatives to justify the creation of additional first-class emirates in the state, while the latter simply rejects it and seeks the restoration of the status quo through mediations and judicial means.

Resisting e-governance in Nigeria

..also published in Daily Trust  

With the introduction and implementation of a growing number of IT-based transparency enhancement platforms and tools in Nigeria, the country is gradually catching up with the world on e-governance thanks to which governance and organized private sector business are increasingly becoming transparent.

Though still below standard in terms of efficiency and coverage, things like personal biometric identification system, e-platforms for Treasury Single Account (TSA) and the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) management among other platforms and tools have the potential, if sustained, to practically eliminate systematic corruption in governance and public service delivery sectors in the country.

Iran: A threatened theocracy

...also published in Daily Trust

Though the wave of protests that has recently hit Iran isn’t the first of its kind, the protesters’ demands this time around are unprecedented. Prompted by a sudden increase in fuel prices, the protesters have demanded not only far-reaching economic reforms to arrest the persistent economic deterioration in the country, but also the abolishment of the entire Welayatul-faqeeh theocratic dictatorship that has ruled the country since the Khomeini-led revolution in 1979.

A room like no other

…also published in Daily Trust  

On Monday the 12^th of the month of Rabi’ul-Awwal one thousand four hundred and thirty years ago; and at around mid-morning, the Last Messenger of Allah, Muhammad (SAW) departed this life at the age of 63 after he had delivered the Message and accomplished his mission on earth.

By the way, though his death was indeed on that day and date, Islam never sanctioned any commemorative event for it, as also none of his Sahaba including members of his revered Household ever commemorated it either. Therefore, inasmuch as commemorating his death is an unfounded act of worship i.e. bid’ah even though its day, date, month and year are known for sure, celebrating his birthday i.e. the so-called Maulud on the 12^th of Rabi’ul-Awwal or any other date for that matter is particularly unfounded, because  apart from the absence of any Qur’anic or Sunnatic reference to it, there is absolutely no single categorically reliable historical source about the exact month and date (not day) of his birth, in the first place. Equally, none of his Sahaba including members of his honourable Household ever celebrated it either.

Child abduction: The enabling circumstances

…also published in Daily Trust

The case of the nine children abducted in Kano; trafficked and sold off in Onitsha where they were converted to Christianity; renamed and had their ethnocultural identity and looks changed is probably just the tip of the iceberg.

Though given the prevailing security situation in Nigeria, no one is invulnerable to abduction except, of course, a few thousand among the elite who enjoy virtually invincible state-provided security protection, yet the vulnerability of children in many states in the northern part of the country is particularly alarming. 

Nigerian economy: Between economists and “laymen”

…also published in Daily Trust

Over the decades, successive Nigerian governments have always resorted to the introduction or enforcement of one set of revenue generation boosting measures, or another, to prevent further deterioration of the country’s ever-deteriorating economy. However, the poor have always ended up worse off.  

With the controversy triggered by the federal government’s current drive to boost revenue generation in the country, there are all sorts of analyses and solution proposals to the country’s persistent revenue deficit and the associated economic crisis, which further highlight the subtle but unmistakable mutually dismissive attitudes between Nigerian elite economists and experienced economic observers who aren’t formally trained economists.

Humour amid hardship

…also published in Daily Trust

Amid the ongoing free-for-all debate over the viability or otherwise of the Buhari administration’s economic recovery policies, and the worsening economic hardship in the country, Nigerians continue to prove their characteristic resilience not only by coping with the situation but also by comforting themselves with self-comforting humorous remarks on various aspects of the situation.

As the hardship worsens, they get more creative in depicting the situation in various funny ways that at least give them momentary fun amid overwhelming frustration. After all, fun inspires and sustains hope, which is the driving force behind any individual or collective undertaking to tackle any situation no matter hard or gloomy to bring about a positive change. 

Nigeria’s toothless diplomacy

…also published in Daily Trust

It’s a pity that the name “Nigeria” trends mostly in negative contexts thanks to its particularly bizarre instances of leadership failure, and the wrongdoings of some of its citizens engaged in various acts of crime in different countries around the world.

This explains the country’s particularly damaging notoriety among nations and indeed explains why foreign governments and international diplomatic bodies hardly take it seriously. It equally explains why the few international corporations that take the risk of doing business in the country practically operate on their own terms capitalizing on the country’s lack of or limited alternatives; as they also largely operate as accomplices to corrupt government officials in the systematic thievery of the country’s resources.

Why they hate Umayyad the most

...also published in Daily Trust

Sometime in 2017 Dr Mohammad Sani Umar Rijiyar Lemo, an erudite expert in the Science of Hadith, suggested I translate an Arabic note written by an equally reputable Libyan scholar, Dr Ali Muhammad As-Sallaby, to the English language. The suggestion was conveyed to me by Barrister Salisu Muhammad Gumel.

Dr Muhammad Sani had rightly found the note absolutely worthy of wider dissemination in the face of the growing number of attention-craving charlatans masquerading as Islamic scholars and intellectuals obsessed with unearthing and dissemination of the age-old but thoroughly debunked unfounded historical narrations, distorted historical accounts and accounts quoted out of context designed to smear the Umayyad dynasty.

Mismanagement of Zakzaky’s detention ll

…also published in Daily Trust

Though my piece titled “Mismanagement of Zakzaky’s detention” a fortnight ago was originally a single-part piece, some subsequently conceived afterthoughts warrant writing more on the issue and under the same title. I have therefore added (1) to the title of the previous piece making this part two accordingly. 

I must also admit that the drama of Zakzaky’s aborted medical trip to India disproved my early assumption that by granting him the leave to leave the country in the first place, the federal government was actually succumbing to pressure to release him; and that it was actually allowing him to escape in a carefully stage-managed face-saving arrangement.

Mismanagement of Zakzaky’s detention 1

….also published in Daily Trust

Since the detention of the Shiite leader, Ibrahim Zakzaky during the 2015 Army-Shiite clash in Zaria, there has been inexcusable foot-dragging on the part of both the federal and Kaduna state governments in handling his case, which his followers and apologists have capitalized on to not only peddle his supposed innocence but also attract sympathy for him among unsuspecting Nigerians.

Both governments have by so doing inadvertently lent some credence to the claim that he is innocent; and that he and his followers are only being persecuted for being Shiites. Besides, his notoriety of more than three decades of subversive activities, disregard for constituted authorities, harassment and intimidation of the general public, which he had perpetrated with impunity, is being gradually overshadowed through sustained peddling of his plight in detention.

Motives of Zakzaky apologists

…also published in Daily Trust  

Since the 2015 Army-Shiite bloody confrontation in Zaria, and the detention of the Shiites’ leader, Ibrahim Zakzaky; he has attracted many unsolicited apologists who portray him as a victim of systematic persecution at the hands of successive federal and various state governments in Nigeria over the past forty years.

This, however, isn’t particularly interesting; after all, a controversial person would always attract unsolicited apologists among the attention-seeking and other equally controversial individuals and groups.

Haraam in land of Haramain

…also published in Daily Trust 

Over the past few years, there has been a steady relaxation in the enforcement of some public morality-related Islamic injunctions in the land of Haramain i.e. Kingdom of Saudi Arabia where Makkah and Madinah, two of the only three holy cities in Islam, otherwise known as Haramain, are located.

On the pretext of providing means of public entertainment, events involving gross violations of Islamic injunctions are now being allowed in the Kingdom. A whole government department named General Entertainment Authority was established in 2016 to, among other things, promote, sponsor and organize such events. Recently, an American rapper, Nicki Minaj had been scheduled to perform at a concert in Jeddah, a city only seventy kilometres away from Makkah, before she pulled out giving excuses to the effect that the Kingdom is still not yet morally decadent enough to deserve the “privilege” of hosting her.

Chauvinistic dynamics of Mideast geopolitics

…also published in Daily Trust  

Obviously, since time immemorial, the geographical region known today as the Middle East has never been tension-free. As the cradle of Islam, Christianity and Judaism, the region witnessed perhaps all the struggles and dramatic encounters between various messengers of Allah the Almighty and various tyrants who reigned in the region at various points in history.

In modern times also, the region has always been the centre of the geopolitical and global power struggle among regional and world powers due to its strategic geographical location, which interconnects Asia, Europe and Africa, and its immeasurable oil and gas resources. World powers locked in global power struggle jostle for closer diplomatic ties with regional powers in the region, and indeed compete for stronger military alliances and bigger strategic economic investment presence in the region.

Muslim Brotherhood: Between ideals and practices

…also published in Daily Trust

Former Egyptian President, Morsi and Turkish President, Erdoğan

As in many parts of the world, the circumstances of the death of the ousted Egyptian President, Mohammad Morsi evoked feelings of sympathy for him among Nigerian Muslims as much as it triggered their anger against the Egyptian President, Abdul-Fattah El-Sisi who they believe is responsible for Morsi’s death.

Mohammad Morsi was a key figure in the Muslim Brotherhood, a transnational political organization supposedly pushing for Islamic political reforms in Muslim countries. It was created in Egypt by Hassan Al-Bannah in 1928, and it has ever since then spread across the Middle East and beyond where it has operated as political opposition under various party names.

Implications of Ganduje/Sarki face-off between exaggeration and reality

...also published in Daily Trust

When the dots are connected between last Tuesdays’ closed-door meeting between President Buhari and Governor Ganduje of Kano state, and the latter’s subsequent reassurance that there were talks to end the face-off between him and the Sarkin Kano Muhammadu Sunusi ll, and also the court order, issued on the same day, for the suspension of the corruption probe against the Sarki, it’s reasonable to conclude that President Buhari has finally saved the Sarki from imminent suspension and possible deposition by the Governor, at least for now. Aliko Dangote and Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State had tried unsuccessfully in this regard.

However, though, Governor Ganduje was, by all indications determined to depose the Sarki, he had apparently realized that he would face overwhelming lobbying and tremendous pressure to abandon the plan; that’s why he decided to inflict an irreparable vengeance on the Sarki by orchestrating accelerated formulation of laws creating four equally first-class emirates from the Kano State Emirate, thereby reducing the domain size under the Sarki to less than one-quarter of what it used to be.

Looming war in Arabian Gulf

…also published in Daily Trust

There has been an alarming escalation of tensions in the Arabian Gulf region over an increasingly possible showdown between Iran and the United States. Though both countries claim not to be interested in war, fears persist as the US, which already maintains a cluster of military bases across the region continues to deploy more warplanes and warships and other military hardware, while Iran deploys boat-mounted missile launchers, units of anti-aircraft artillery and other heavy-duty military equipment and weapons.

The situation began to steadily deteriorate following the US unilateral withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and the P5+1 group of world powers i.e. US, Russia, UK, China, France and Germany. Under the agreement, Iran agreed to scale down its nuclear program in return for lifting the UN-imposed economic sanctions on it.

Hamas resistance between recklessness and bravery

…also published in Daily Trust

For more than a decade since the bloody confrontation between two major Palestinian freedom organizations, Fatah and Hamas, which resulted in the political split of the already geographically detached two autonomous Palestinian entities, West Bank and Gaza Strip with Hamas taking control of Gaza while Fatah keeping its control on the West Bank, there have rounds of confrontation between Hamas resistance fighters and the occupying forces of the Zionist state of Israel.

A typical round of confrontation between them is always triggered by provocation with each party accusing the other of it. Hamas would then begin its retaliatory measures by firing some locally assembled rockets into Israeli cities to kill or injure a few Israeli settlers or at least damage a few buildings.

Drug trafficking and the Saudi sword

…also published in Daily Trust   

Following the execution of one Kudirat Afolabi, a Nigerian woman, by the Saudi Arabian authorities earlier this month for drug trafficking, reports emerged that eight Nigerians have already been executed in the Kingdom (probably in this year alone), while twenty-three others are currently on death row.

The federal government has come under renewed criticism for allegedly not doing enough to save Nigerians facing execution in Saudi Arabia, for drug trafficking and other crimes that attract capital punishment in the Kingdom.

Dilemma of explaining Nigeria abroad

…also published in Daily Trust

Not long after I had arrived at my office, two Egyptian colleagues of mine came in casually starting a conversation, which soon centered on the socio-economic difficulties in their home country, Egypt. They kept lamenting what they regard as monumental corruption, unbearable economic hardship and depressing political atmosphere in their country.  

Incidentally, living in one of the highly demographically cosmopolitan countries in the world, i.e. the United Arab Emirates where the percentage of UAE nationals hardly exceeds 10% of the inhabitants, exposes one to circles of acquaintances, friends and colleagues coming literally from every corner of the globe.

Memo to retiring politician

…also published in Daily Trust

Now that the 2019 election season in Nigeria is over, and as has always been the case at the end of every election season, the winners are already celebrating while looking forward to starting their new tenure. They are also already being lobbied by lobbyists and aspiring political appointees lobbying for appointments as ministers, ambassadors, commissioners, advisers, assistants, etc.

On the other hand, the grieving losers are already coming to terms with their losses, though many of them are preparing to contest the election results in courts, in hopes of reclaiming what they rightly or wrongly consider their rightful mandates.

Invocation for election victory: Whose wish deserves to be granted?

…also published in Daily Trust

It is common knowledge that, towards and during election season in Nigeria, many, if not all, politicians engage the services of some so-called marabouts and prayer warriors under the illusion that they can somehow manipulate circumstances in their favour to win an election.        

This practice is, however, growing into a phenomenon in Kano and potentially northern Nigeria where contending political groups hold special invocation sessions in public, performing prayers, reciting the Qur’an and sometimes offering animal sacrifice, for the victory of their respective candidates.

Gandujegate: How posterity will judge Kanawa

Like their counterparts across Nigeria, Kanawa head to the polls tomorrow for gubernatorial and state legislature elections. However, for them in particular, this gubernatorial election is particularly important, for it determines how posterity will judge them, morality-wise, according to their collective reaction to governor Ganduje’s viral kickbacks-taking video clips.  

Apparently, a significant percentage of Kanawa underestimate the long-term moral implications of this scandal on their collective dignity, with many of them even wondering why bother singling out Ganduje for condemnation since, after all, kickbacks-taking is already a usual practice among government officials in the state and the country at large.

Election amid scarcity of kayan aiki

…also published in Daily Trust

Nigeria holds its presidential election tomorrow amid scarcity of kayan aiki especially compared to the 2015 presidential election when kayan aiki literally flooded the country’s political terrain. On the eve of that election, I wrote “The politics of Kayan aiki” (Daily Trust, Friday, March 27, 2015).

Quoting from that piece, the term Kayan aiki “… probably developed following the country’s return to democracy in 1999, and has ever since then been commonly used, though largely informally, in political context. Kayan aiki, which also literally means tools, stands metaphorically for the financial inducements doled out to the electorate by candidates with a view to winning their votes during elections.”

Unsurprisingly, kayan aiki-sharing formula isn’t only disproportionately lopsided but hugely exploitative as well, as every beneficiary literally grabs his share according to his real or perceived potential to influence election results in his constituency. The elite beneficiaries of kayan aiki, e.g., power brokers and other public figures at the local, state and federal levels always end up with the largest chunk of the amounts allocated to their respective constituencies leaving the voters with peanuts.

If I were to vote…

…also published in Daily Trust

Being admittedly apathetic when it comes to voting, I can’t recall the last and only occasion I voted in Nigeria, or even who I voted for, for that matter. Also, having never happened to be in Nigeria during any election for over a decade, I have not been in a position to vote in the first place. However, I have always hoped for the victory of the relatively good candidates regardless of their partisan affiliations.  

Apparently, my apathy towards voting is informed by an underlying assumption that there is never any significant difference between most of the candidates vying for various political offices, in terms of vision, competence and willingness to deliver. After all, after two decades of alternation in power among them, only a few of them have actually proved quite different in terms of real achievements.

Absolving poverty of responsibility for Almajirci

...also published in Daily Trust  

Though this piece is prompted by the controversy over Rev. Mathew Kukah’s initiative to train 10 million Almajirai in northern Nigeria, it isn’t actually addressing the initiative. I may do so in due course, God willing.

Meanwhile, as its title suggests, this piece addresses the perceived link between poverty and the persistence of Almajirci phenomenon in northern Nigeria; an assumption that’s not only prevalent among the general public, but also among academics and analysts, which explains why most of the measures often proposed with a view to tackling it focus on the need for the provision of facilities and other services for Almajirai so that they won’t have to wander the streets begging in order to survive.

This assumption is so widespread that one can tell what the average anti-Almajirci activist or writer would always propose as a solution to Almajirci in the region. Besides, over the decades, all the policies formulated by successive governments and the charity initiatives introduced by charitable organizations and individual philanthropists to tackle Almajirci have always been guided accordingly.