Tackling terror: How to overcome French challenge

(Link on Daily Trust)

As it has often been observed, the already overstretched Nigerian military and other security agencies are simply too overstrained to decisively defeat the death and misery-unleashing Boko Haram terrorists, bandits, kidnappers and other armed groups across the country. 

At the risk of sounding pessimistic, and as much as one hopes otherwise, one cannot ignore the looming bleak scenario in the country whereby people would come to terms with counting on luck to evade or survive a terror attack, kidnapping, armed robbery and other vicious crimes rampant in society. In fact, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to conclude that’s already the situation at the moment.  

Now, as it has always been rightly argued, Nigeria’s weak diplomacy and apparent incompetence in handling the geopolitical dimension of its worsening insecurity are equally responsible for its inability to defeat the Boko Haram terrorists for more than a decade so far. Besides, even if it decides to take the bull by the horns and embark on purposeful diplomacy to address the geopolitics of its security challenges, it will have to contend with France for influence in the Lake Chad-Sahel subregions, which are its (France) exclusive spheres of influence. 

Interestingly, countries with global or regional ambitions maintain exclusive spheres of influence within their respective regions and beyond. Geographical proximity, colonial, economic, cultural or longstanding strategic ties have always been the pretexts on which a world or regional power pursues geopolitical influence at the expenses of other countries. 

Over the past several decades, there have been a rise and fall of the influence of many countries. At the moment, the United States, France and Russia are the most influential superpowers while China is rapidly catching up. There are also regional powers struggling for spheres of influence in various regions e.g. Iran, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Israel in the Middles East, India and Pakistan in South Asia, Brazil and Argentina in South America, etc. There is also a tacit understanding among them for each to maintain its dominant influence in its spheres; face-off occurs when a country tries to extend its influence into the spheres of another. 

Anyway, for Nigeria to successfully pursue purposeful diplomacy in the Lake Chad-Sahel subregions, it necessarily needs the sovereign cooperation of the governments there to come up with efficient coordination mechanisms in intelligence-gathering and processing, and also, effective diplomatic mechanisms to collectively push for their interests in, particularly, Washington, Paris, Brussels and other capitals as well as various regional, continental and international diplomatic fora.    

That, however, is extremely challenging in the face of the dominant French influence. Besides, there are credible allegations against it in light of its highly suspicious engagements all over the subregions. For instance, in the terror-infested Mali where it maintains thousands of supposedly anti-terror troops, it’s widely believed to be involved in the massive and systematic plunder of the country’s vast gold resources while largely ignoring or at least not doing enough in tackling the terrorists. It’s equally widely accused of supporting dictators in the region solely on account of their loyalty to it.       

Though Nigeria rightly links the persistence of the Boko Haram activities, banditry and other organized crimes, to the inflow of weapons from Libya via Niger Republic and Chad, as well as the relative easiness of terrorists’ movements from and to Mali through Niger, it remains at the mercy of the powerful but reluctant France, which, after all, has maintained largely suspicious stands on Nigeria’s corporate stability since the 60s when it supported the Biafra secessionists against the federal government during the Nigerian civil war. 

Now, though obviously, Nigeria cannot withstand a face-off with France at the moment, it can overcome its challenge anyway. It simply needs to engineer some balance of influence by attracting another country with the capacity to rival France in the subregions. However, while that’s what President Buhari apparently had in mind when he recently appealed for the US intervention, he actually directed his appeal to a wrong party. Though the US already maintains a military presence with enough intelligence-gathering capabilities in the subregions and beyond, it isn’t likely to oblige President Buhari. Because under the standing tacit understanding among the superpowers, the whole of the Lake Chad-Sahel subregions is France’s exclusive sphere of influence. 

And now that Nigeria has announced that it will partner China in tackling insecurity in the country, it should attract China’s political interests in the subregions at large. It should consider entering into a strategic defence pact with it that would, among other things, allow it to have a military base(s) and intelligence-gathering units on Nigerian territories. From there it (China) can easily secure appropriate influence in the subregions and beyond by leveraging its massive investments and other economic commitments in most, if not all, the countries.  

With a rival like China deeply involved in the geopolitics and security of the subregions, France will certainly have to struggle to keep its influence. Though that wouldn’t necessarily guarantee China’s absolute commitment to supporting the countries in the subregions in their struggle against terrorists and other armed groups either, it’s most likely to be more supportive than France anyway, which would, in turn, have to be more cooperative lest it lose its influence.

In any case, while the countries in the subregions certainly need urgent and ample foreign military and intelligence support to defeat the terrorists, good governance that truly addresses the unbearable poverty across the regions remains the only strategy that guarantees sustainable peace and stability. 

Ramadaniyyat: From the fountain of Rijiyar Lemo

(Link on Daily Trust)

Dr Muhammad Sani Umar Rijiyar Lemo

Ramadaniyyat: From the fountain of Rijiyar Lemo 

Ramadaniyyat are itemized comments in Hausa written and shared daily on social media during Ramadan by arguably the most knowledgeable Muhaddith in Nigeria, Dr Muhammad Sani Umar Rijiyar Lemo. Though the contents are largely familiar to a typical Muslim with the average familiarity with the basics of Islam, they highlight the crux of the message in a unique Ramadan-inspired style. 

Today I translate the Ramadaniyyat [5] and part of [6] of the ongoing Ramadan into English to share it with the readers of this column. Space constraint doesn’t allow for including the whole of the [6]. Here we go, 

Ramadaniyyat 1442H [5]

Sahaba: the only means of knowing the religion of Allah 

1. They were who endured the burden of disseminating the message of Islam and preserved it by preserving every bit of the Prophetic teachings starting from the Qur’an, which they learned from the Messenger of Allah (SAW) and indeed memorized. It was the same with his words, deeds and his other explanations; they (Sahaba) were who narrated it to the succeeding generation. 

2. We worship Allah the Almighty the way they narrated; we learned the Qur’an thanks to them; it’s through them we know the Halal, Haram, right and wrong. It’s thanks to them that we imbibed our Faith and the way of our interactions; it’s through Sahaba we got all these.  

3. Sahaba were that sincere and honest generation who Allah the Almighty appointed to bear witness (that He had equally sent messengers) to the previous nations. They were the generation that every sincere Muslim prays for all the time, as Allah the Almighty maintains where He says “And those who came after them say: “Our Lord! Forgive us and our brethren who have preceded us in Faith, and put not in our hearts any hatred against those who have believed. Our Lord! You are indeed full of kindness, Most Merciful.” [Hashr: 10] (As translated by Dr Muhammad Taqi-ud-Din Al-Hilali and Dr. Muhammad Muhsin Khan). 

4.  Therefore, they were the generation that whenever any one of them is mentioned a Muslim should pray for Allah’s Forgiveness for him. Because all the successes that saw Islam reaching to different parts of the world within a short period were achieved through them, as Allah the Almighty says” And if they intend to deceive you, then verily, Allah is All-Sufficient for you. He it is Who has supported you with His Help and with the believers. And He has united their (i.e. believers) hearts. If you had spent all that is in the earth, you could not have united their hearts, but Allah has united them. Certainly He is All-Mighty, All-Wise. [Al’anfal: 62-63] (As translated by Dr Muhammad Taqi-ud-Din Al-Hilali and Dr. Muhammad Muhsin Khan). 

5. They were able to achieve that thanks to the moral training they got from the Messenger of Allah (SAW), which enabled them to confront and indeed defeat the world’s tyrannical powers then.  

6. What particularly defines Sahaba was what Rib’i (Bin Aamir) (R.A) told Rustum (the supreme commander of the Persian army) during the battle of AlQadisiyya. Persian Empire was then one of the largest empires in the world. It and Roman Empire enclosed Arabia; Iraq was under Persia while the Levant territories were under the Roman Empire. The two empires were then the most advanced in terms of development and the strongest militarily. However, with Rustum seated in his luxury-carpeted and mind-boggling palace, a desert-dwelling people from the Arabian Peninsula overran it. Riding towards Rustum and poking his spear on the luxury carpet, the horseback-mounted Rib’i (Bin Aamir) stood before Rustum. And when Rustum asked him what their mission was, Rib’i (Bin Aamir) answered: “Allah has commissioned us to save whom He likes among His slaves from worshipping His slaves to the worship of the Lord of the slaves, and to save whom He likes among His slaves from the tyranny of religions to the justice of Islam, and to save whom He likes among His slaves from the stress of the world to the happiness of the Hereafter”. 

7. He (Rib’i Bin Aamir) addressed Rustum with confidence and was unimpressed by the imperial magnificence all over the place. He was never interested and instead behaved as though it never existed because the Messenger of Allah had inspired them in such a way that no worldly thing could impress them as earning the Pleasure of Allah was always their goal. 

Ramadaniyyat 1442H [6]

The Sahaba-Prophet bond: the secret of success and source of inspiration 

1. Sahaba weren’t able to prevail over Persians and Romans due to their (Sahaba) number, for their number, which was thirty thousand couldn’t be compared to an army of one hundred and fifty thousand warriors. The horseback-mounted Sahaba from the desert confronted a well-trained and well-experienced elephant-mounted warriors armed with heavy weapons, yet, they (Sahaba) defeated that huge army decisively. 

2. They weren’t, therefore, able to achieve that victory due to their number or weaponry; they were instead able to achieve it thanks to their piety and the inspiration, righteousness and perseverance they had imbibed from the Messenger of Allah (SAW).   

3. That way they equally succeeded in running the affairs of every nation they prevailed over where they led in absolute commitment to the principle of justice.  

4. That endeared them to their enemies who turned their allies while multitudes of people continued to convert to Islam for what they observed of Sahaba’s righteousness, justice and nobility the kind of which they had never witnessed before. 

5. That explains why, apart from the prophets of Allah, there has never been a generation on earth like that of the Sahaba.   

Ramadan: Feeding vs. Tafseer controversy

(Link on Daily Trust)

Unlike elsewhere, Ramadan season in Nigeria has unfortunately been turned into a season of unnecessary controversy. Starting from the recurrent controversy over the advent of the Ramadan crescent that ushers in the month and the exit of its moon that marks its end, the Ramadan period equally witnesses controversy over ideological, jurisprudential or political stances expressed by some Ulama in the course of their Qur’anic Tafseer sessions. 

Yet, over the past couple of years, there has been unnecessary controversy over which charitable deed between sponsoring the broadcast of Qur’anic Tafseer and charitable mass feeding for the needy is more worthwhile in Ramadan.  

As in other Muslim societies, Ramadan usually inspires a phenomenal rise in individual and societal spirituality in Nigeria where many wealthy individuals sponsor live or recorded broadcasts of Qur’anic Tafseer by various Ulama. Many others also spend more on charitable mass feeding for the poor. However, while almost, if not all, who sponsor the broadcast of Tafseer do also spend on charitable feeding, not all who spend on charitable feeding sponsor the broadcast of Tafseer. 

During Ramadan in a typical northern Nigerian city, television and radio stations make a killing with the sale of airtime for Tafseer and other religious lectures sponsored by individuals, firms and groups. From the sheer number of sponsored broadcasts of Tafseer and other religious lectures on the more than ten radio stations in Kano, for instance, one may wonder whether they do other programs in Ramadan. 

Now, while sponsoring Tafseer broadcast is absolutely worthwhile especially during Ramadan, the amount of resources spent in this regard might be disproportionate considering the desperate need for food that the largely hunger-stricken audience are languishing in. After all, given the choice, they would certainly choose food handouts over such sponsored broadcasts as public Tafseer sessions are everywhere during Ramadan for one to choose which to attend. 

Besides, looking at the underlying dynamics and politics of sponsoring Ramadan Tafseer broadcast, one cannot rule out Riyaa, sectarian and even political interests as some of the motives behind sponsoring the broadcast of some Tafseer and other religious lectures. 

Interestingly, while some sponsors compete in sponsoring the broadcast of Tafseer by some prominent Ulama, some Ulama sponsor the broadcast of their own Tafseer in the absence of a willing sponsor; others even beg for sponsors to sponsor theirs. Also, as the contents of some Tafseer and other religious lectures feature some serious flaws, sponsoring their broadcast is a gross misplacement of priority. Equally interesting also, others sponsor the broadcast of Adhan (Kiran Sallah) in a city like Kano where, thanks to the sheer proliferation of mosques, regular Adhan reaches every nook and cranny.   

Anyway, while Ikhlas is always the most fundamental yardstick that determines the worthwhileness or otherwise of both charitable feeding and the sponsoring of Ramadan Tafseer broadcast, striking an appropriate balance between the two guarantees the perfect outcome. Because as much as Ramadan is the month of the

Qur’an when Muslims are expected to be particularly committed to it in terms of reading, learning its meanings and living accordingly, it’s equally the month of generous charity when Muslims, particularly the wealthy, are expected to do much more in terms of charitable works especially mass feeding. 

However, while that’s simply the bottom line, which also explains why the controversy is absolutely unnecessary, the so-called liberal Muslims have blown it out of proportion. Capitalizing on public frustration amid the unbearable hunger ravaging the largest segment of the society, they question the worthwhileness and relevance of sponsoring the broadcast of Ramadan Tafseer under the prevailing circumstances. Also, feigning empathy and concern, they address the two charitable works as though are mutually exclusive and thus people should choose between them.  

Unsurprisingly, and under the pressure of the hard conditions, many people including many otherwise discerning folks fell for that propaganda not realizing its context, which is the raging face-off between the so-called liberal Muslims, on the one hand, who are hell-bent on undermining Islamic and moral values in the society, and the wholehearted Muslims, on the other, especially the Ulama among them who are committed to encouraging people to never neglect their religious commitments in pursuit of their legitimate worldly pursuits.

Also, contrary to their claim, such so-called liberal Muslims aren’t actually disturbed by the plight of the vulnerable, which explains why they never urge those spending huge resources on other things, no matter how absolutely worthless, to divert the resources to charitable courses. Likewise, they never urge that the massive amounts of resources their elite role models spend on maintaining their extravagant lifestyles should be diverted to the feeding of the poor or sheltering them. Instead, their “conscience” comes alive only when the resources are meant for, say, Hajj, Umrah, Da’awah etc. 

Nigeria-UAE travel face-off: who blinks first?

(Link on Daily Trust)

It all started when the United Arab Emirates (UAE) alleged that some Nigerian travellers to Dubai or passing through it in transit were presenting fake Covid-19 test results. 

Following the gradual resumption of regular international flights after the Covid-19-triggered disruption, a negative Covid-19 test result was made compulsory for international travels among other preventive measures aimed at containing the spread of the Covid-19 virus.  

Whether or not the UAE authorities had alerted their Nigerian counterparts over the fake Covid-19 test results, they unilaterally introduced an additional rapid test to all UAE-bound travellers from Nigeria before boarding and recognized its result regardless of any Covid-19 test result a traveller would present. 

Also, to ensure full control over the enforcement of the measure, and taking advantage of the Emirates monopoly of the Nigeria-Dubai direct flight route, the UAE banned all non-direct flights from Nigeria to Dubai thereby expanding the monopoly in the absence of any Nigerian competitor. Other airlines e.g. Egyptair and Ethiopian Airlines, which have to transit Cairo and Addis Ababa respectively before flying into Dubai were thus effectively excluded. 

With thousands of Nigerians travelling to Dubai or transiting it to catch connecting flights to their respective destinations in Europe, Australasia, the wider Asia and the Americas, the Nigeria-Dubai flight route is one of the lucrative routes for the Emirates. 

Anyway, the Nigerian authorities kicked against the UAE's unilateral measures. The UAE reacted by suspending all flights from Nigeria until, initially, the 28th February 2021, and banned travellers “who have been to or connected through Nigeria in the last 14 days” from visiting the UAE. 

Though talks ensued between the two parties, they couldn't resolve the issue as the face-off escalated with the UAE extending the ban to the 10th of March initially then to the 20th. However, when it appeared that the UAE authorities may not lift the suspension a few days to the date, the Nigerian authorities reacted by banning the Emirates passenger operations in Nigeria, which prompted the UAE’s indefinite suspension of all flights from Nigeria. This is regardless of its implications on the Emirates struggle to recover from the huge losses it, like other airlines, has incurred as a result of the international flight disruption due to the Covid-19 pandemic.  

Also, as things stand, Nigeria is equally incurring significant revenue losses, because the Nigeria-Dubai route and the Emirates are among the highest revenue-fetching sources for the government and other stakeholders in the aviation industry. 

Meanwhile, many people with various interests to pursue in the UAE have been rendered stranded. Interestingly, some folks desperate to travel to Dubai from Nigeria go to the extent of smuggling themselves into Ghana to avoid having their passports stamped with the Nigerian “exist” stamp. While in Ghana, they pay some unscrupulous individuals who somehow get their passports stamped with backdated forged Nigerian “exist” and Ghanaian “entry” stamps to indicate that they left Nigeria more than 14 days ago and are therefore eligible to travel to Dubai. 

Anyway, though Nigeria as a sovereign country has the right to reject the UAE’s unilateral introduction of the additional rapid Covid-19 test on UAE-bound travellers from Nigeria, it should look at the UAE’s allegation of the fake negative Covid-19 test results. 

After all, to be fair, it's an open secret that since the introduction of a negative Covid-19 test result as a requirement for international travels, the "business" of arranging forged negative test results has thrived in Abuja and Lagos. International travellers who either don't want to experience the “stress” of going for the test, or are Covid-19 positive, or simply feel too important to be tested part with a fortune to get laboratory-issued and genuine-looking forged negative Covid-19 test results. And with the connivance of some unscrupulous government personnel at Abuja and Lagos airports they get cleared to travel.

However, the UAE's unilateral introduction of an additional quick test on all Dubai-bound travellers from Nigeria has effectively ended that “business” at least on the Nigeria-Dubai route, which, of course, angered the beneficiaries. 

Now, the longer this face-off persists, the more it undermines the struggles of the aviation industry in both countries to recover from the unprecedented losses over the last year due to the Covid-19 lockdown and travel restrictions. 

Its persistence may even affect diplomatic relations between Abuja and Abu Dhabi in a time when the former needs the latter’s maximum cooperation in tackling the activities of some subversive Nigerian syndicates with their foreign collaborators engaged in facilitating Boko Haram financing, money-laundering and other financial crimes, through Dubai. 

It’s, therefore, in the interest of both countries to resolve this face-off through reciprocal compromise. The Nigeria government should stop feigning ignorance or denying the fact that fake negative Covid-19 results are being issued to willing outbound travellers from Nigeria, for a fortune. It should simply stop that practice and make the process of obtaining the result too transparent to be manipulated. 

However, the UAE shouldn’t have unilaterally introduced the controversial additional quick Covid-19 test in Nigeria in the first place; it should have done that in coordination with relevant Nigerian authorities. 

Relevant authorities in both countries should address the issue bilaterally to resolve this unnecessarily persistent travel face-off.