Contemplations of the despairing

(Link on Daily Trust site)

 Dr Bashir Aliyu Umar

 “Mallam, Wallahi I’m contemplating turning to rebellion, but I won’t target (innocent) civilians, I will only target government (officials) for being too exploitative; now should I get killed, would I achieve martyrdom? Mallam, I need your advice” That’s the question recently sent (originally in Hausa) by an anonymous but apparently despairing fellow, to Sheikh Dr Bashir Aliyu Umar, a versatile Islamic scholar and chief Imam of Alfurqan Mosque in Kano. The Sheikh read out the question during a recent Islamic study session the video clip of which I watched like many others. 

Though the question elicited dismissive laughter from the audience most, if not all, of whom also apparently expected the Sheikh to, at least, smile dismissively, he reacted and answered the question with the solemnity it requires.

Now, in the face of the persistently bleak horizon for the overwhelming majority of Nigerians, many people subconsciously express despairing feelings only to be greeted by dismissive responses, which discourage many others with similar feelings to express theirs. The audience’s reaction to the questioner’s question at Dr Bashir’s study session was a typical manifestation of social attitude in this regard.

Despairing warnings have become joking matters and indeed too common to provoke any worries in the society where hardly anyone bothers to look at their implications. That questioner, albeit anonymous, must have summoned up the courage to ask that question, which many people probably equally contemplate.

In his response, Dr Bashir, and after a reflective pause for a while, began with consoling the questioner and indeed everybody for that matter, in a tacit acknowledgement that the prevailing atmosphere of despair in the land is indeed unbearable enough to warrant such contemplations. He also clearly acknowledged that the governing elite’s exploitation of the people in the country is indeed agonizing.  

The Sheikh, however, rightly observed that rebellion is not the solution; he made some references to countries like Syria, Libya, Iraq and Yemen where people were incited to turn to rebellion only to end up absolutely worse off and pitiably wishing they never did what they did. Besides, he cited the Islamic injunction against such rebellion pointing out to the obvious wisdom behind it as seen and experienced in real life. He also warned the governing elite of the hellish retribution awaiting them after the end of this world.    

Now, though that answer and similar views maintained by scholars and thought leaders in the society have always been hugely instrumental in the prevention of spontaneous outbreak of mass rebellion in the country, the governing elite and other beneficiaries of the status quo hardly notice that let alone bother to address the situation. They take the apparent resignation with which the general public lives with the situation, for granted, as they also count on the security authorities for the continued maintenance of the status quo.

However, what they hardly realize, or they are simply too carried away to realize is that in the persistent absence of any reassuring prospects of the end of the worsening atmosphere of hopelessness in the country, the continuation of the status quo is never guaranteed either.

Though in reality there is no such thing as the rich-poor class struggle in Nigeria, in the strict sense of the term, yet the status quo isn’t maintainable anyway. What’s actually obtained in the country is a situation where almost all but a microscopic few are literally lurking around in pursuit of their respective unearned opportunities to somehow gain access to public resources, misappropriate as much as their respective accesses would allow, and get away with it as the influence of their respective connections would allow.

The three major fronts in this struggle are (1) politics, where politicians and their cronies struggle to outmanoeuvre one another for elective and non-elective political positions, (2) civil/public service, where most civil and public servants struggle for the so-called juicy positions, and (3) organized private sector where most of the “successful” private sector entities actually operate as accomplices in the systematic misappropriation of public resources by those politicians and civil/public servants.

Whereas, the overwhelming exploited majority who are too unprivileged to have what it takes to be part of that struggle in the first place continue to languish in unbearable and despair-inducing poverty inflicted on them by that tiny minority. Besides, though the blatant instances of nepotism and impunity against that unprivileged majority are indeed provocative, yet the prevailing belief that hard work, competence and integrity hardly pay off in competitive endeavours in the country is particularly depressing to them.    

Now, though the reassurances and consolations that scholars and other reputable individuals rightly give to this increasingly despairing majority are still effective, their effectiveness cannot be taken for granted; after all, man’s endurance is inherently limited.

It’s high time the governing elite and other beneficiaries of the status quo in the country looked at the looming implications of the already accumulated despairing feelings of that intimidating majority lest they spontaneously turn untameable when no amount of Wa’azi or consolation would be effective anymore.