Re: Islam and revolution [ll]

Also published in Daily Trust

While still examining the purported link between Khomeini-led revolution in Iran and Islam, and before I draw conclusions in the light of the few quotes from Shi’a’s most recognized books of reference in part one of this rejoinder, let me discuss yet another serious doctrinal contradiction of Shi’a creed that says it all about the unmistakable irreconcilability between it and the fundamentals of Islamic religion.

It could be recalled that, according to Shi’a creed as I quoted, all, except three of the Prophet’s companions (i.e. Salman Al-farisi (RA), Miqdad bin Al-aswad (RA) and Abu-tharr Al-giffari RA) renounced Islam in the aftermath of the Prophet’s demise. This clearly means that, all the narrations of the Prophet’s companions were simply false, according to the Shiites. After all, they have indeed rejected such narrations, which authentically disseminated the entirety of Islamic religious principles, teachings, injunctions and values as revealed to the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), simply because according to them the narrators were not Muslims in reality.

Re: Islam and revolution [1]

Also published in Daily Trust

I’ll skip the usual pro-Iran slants in the above-titled article by Malam Adamu Adamu, which appeared in his regular column last Friday in Daily Trust. Yet I may still discuss them in due course, subject to space availability. For now I intend to examine the assertions made by the writer over the purported link between the 1979 Khomeini-led revolution in Iran and Islam.

First of all, to determine whether the revolution is actually Islamic or not, one has to look beyond the systematic and sustained media propaganda promoted by the regime’s propagandists and apologists, and gullibly imbibed and chanted by the gullible. Instead one has to look at it against the backdrop of the religious ideology that inspired it hence its link, if any, with Islamic religion.

Political warlords

Also published in Daily Trust

If the rest of the world had taken Nigeria seriously, the current dramatic wave of defection from one political party to another among the country’s political elite would have certainly attracted huge international media coverage, in view of its potential impact on the balance of power in the country.

I am sure if it were in South Africa for instance, the leading global media would cover and analyze it thoroughly. By the way, I cited South Africa as an example because Nigerians rightly or wrongly tend to compare the two with each other in many aspects.

It is very unfortunate that, the extremely little international media attention on Nigeria is also largely attracted by events that often prove how unserious we are, which also explains why the rest of the world looks down on us with such unmistakable disdain.

Home-and foreign-based blame game

Also published in Daily Trust

In Nigeria where hardly anybody admits his portion of responsibility for our collective failure, people play the blame game thereby losing the much needed focus on the real issues bedevilling the country. Though Nigerians tend to play this game in roadside hangouts, academic, media, and political circles, as well as corridors of power of course, I find it particularly interesting when it involves home-based Nigerian government employees versus foreign-based Nigerians.

Though they both agree that the political leadership is primarily responsible for the mess in the country, the foreign-based consider the majority of the home-based equally guilty of facilitating corruption at all levels of government; a charge the home-based vehemently dismiss, and instead regard the foreign-based as mere armchair critics who could not stay back to confront the challenges and instead fled abroad from where they claim to propose solutions to the problems back home.

Dilemma of spokespersons

Also published in Daily Trust

Being in a position under whatever job title to speak on behalf of a public office holder as either spokesman, press director, PR adviser, media aid or even commissioner or minister of information, gives one a very tricky dilemma between fulfilling his contractual duty on one hand, and adhering to his moral principles and professional obligation to tell the truth, on the other.

This is particularly dilemmatic in a country like Nigeria where governance is largely characterized by lack of transparency, which is responsible for the endemic culture of corruption and impunity in the land. Obviously, a spokesman operating in this environment faces the difficult task of having to manufacture lies all the time, to justify the acts or omissions of his boss, misrepresent and manipulate facts in order to exonerate his boss and mislead the public. As a matter of fact, he has to be particularly “creative” in this regard in order to “properly” manage his boss’s flagrant incompetence, embarrassing blunders and indeed acute kleptomania.