Cardinal Onaiyekan is insistent in the book that although we Nigerians pride ourselves as being very religious and we claim that our religion is for peace, our nation is full of violent conflicts, sometimes said to be due to, or related to, religion. It is a tragic contradiction we must resolve How can we make sure that we retain our religious convictions and at the same time ensure that religion plays its true role as an asset for peace, not a liability? Is it true that religion brings peace, or is it a myth? We often say that religion, in itself, is all about peace and goodness, while the evil actions giving it a bad name come from other factors that have nothing to do with religion. Two such suggested factors are ignorance and greed.
Browsing: Prof. Jibrin Ibrahim
This book was presented yesterday as part of the ceremonies for the 80th birthday of John Cardinal Onaiyekan. I am an Ahmadu Bello University brought up which meant in my earlier years, I spent a lot of time reading the collected works of Marx, Engels and Lenin for their commitment to creating the public good. Now in my twilight years, I find myself reading a lot of the collected works of Onaiyekan which I find educative, inspiring and useful pointers to the pathway to achieving the collective good. As we wait for the next volume, the current one composed of 15 chapters is his collected works between retirement in 2020 and 2023.
Nigeria has not been policed for decades and the evidence to prove it is everywhere. Rural Nigeria and increasingly, urban Nigeria, are mot governed spaces but are continuously rampaged by terrorists, criminals, bandits, kidnappers, secessionists and insurrectionists. No one in this country is safe as even a presidential convoy has been attacked on the road under President Buhari. The one good thing happening currently is that these criminals are encircling and moving into the Nation’s capital, Abuja, and members of the ruling class are beginning to notice that they too are no longer safe. We thank God for his mercies.
Forty-three years ago, on the 15th of January 1966 to be precise, a certain Major Chukwuma Nzeagwu addressed Nigerians through Radio Kaduna announcing martial law and the takeover of power by the Supreme Council of the Revolution. Their aim, he said, was to establish a strong, united and prosperous nation free of corruption and internal strife. Our method of achieving this is purely military”. By the end of the day, a significant part of the political class in the North and the West had been wiped out and the military had taken over the political system. In his column in Daily Times (3/2/1966), the late Tai Solarin blasted the civilian political class for destroying Nigerian politics through their twin evil practices of corruption and election rigging. He confidently boasted that Now we have been saved and we want to stay saved. Today, we are all wiser and almost nobody believes the military can save any country.
Yesterday, friends, relations and colleagues of Salihu Bappa met at the Pavilion in Abuja in remembrance of his contributions to society, his commitment to progress and in recognition of the role he played as an anchor of networking across generations, disciplines and numerous associations. The memorial event was chaired by his friend and school mate Ahmadu Muazu, former governor of Bauchi State who emphasized Bappa’s role as a bridge builder across communities and networks since their childhood days in Gindiri where they grew up in a very mixed convivial Plateau State.
The big story this week is that the Nigerian government has suspended the evaluation and accreditation of degree certificates from universities in neighbouring Benin and Togo. The announcement comes a few days after an undercover report by Daily Nigerian exposed certificate racketeering from a university in Benin. The suspension, according to the ministry, stands pending the outcome of an investigation involving the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Education of Nigeria and the two countries as well as the State Security Service (SSS) and the NYSC.
Once again, there is outrage throughout Nigeria as armed men invaded communities in Plateau State over the Christmas weekend killing an estimated 200 innocent villagers and forcing tens of thousands to flee their land in search of self-preservation. For Plateau state, it has been over twenty years that such attacks have occurred regularly. As is the tradition, our President, Bola Tinubu, in a statement in Abuja by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, condemned the attacks and ordered a manhunt for the killers. Tinubu assured Nigerians that “these envoys of death, pain, and sorrow will not escape justice.” We have heard such condemnation/promise to act hundreds of times from our successive Ogas that all we do is shrug our shoulders and move on until our turn comes.
One thing everyone was agreed upon is that Salihu Lukman, the famous trade unionist turned politician is a very stubburn man. For almost a decade, he has been very steadfast, focused and committed to transforming his party, the All Peoples’ Congress (APC) into a democratic, ruled-based, open, people-focused and people-led party that would set the highest standards in internal party democracy. Six books and hundreds of memos, letters and pamphlets later, the party has not changed and Lukman has not deviated from his laser-focused advocacy to change it. On Tuesday, he invited the party, comrades and friends to the public presentation of his latest book – APC and Transition Politics.
Yesterday, the Rivers state governor, Siminalayi Fubara, signed the 2024 Appropriation Bill of N800 billion into law. It appeared to be a banal act as has been done by so many other governors. Rivers however is special drama. He had transmitted the Bill to the State Assembly only the previous day. Calling the 4 legislators he submitted the Bill to as the State Assembly is a bit of a stretch as the body is composed of 32 members. The court appointed speaker he works with had dismissed the 27 other members of the Assembly for carpet crossing the previous day. It would have been silly old type unrealistic comic Nollywood drama has the issue not been such a serious one.
Last week, our mentor, friend and great advocate for electoral democracy, Prof Adele Jinadu, celebrated his eightieth birthday, (we share the same birthday), and a lot of us joined him in Lagos for the celebration. The palpable fear among the civil society participants at the event was that Nigeria currently has a reckless political class and judiciary that is ready to beach, (like the proverbial whale), electoral democracy and that all hands must be on deck to defend our hard-earned democratic system.