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.