TOP 070921 NEWS SNIPPETS

“When the epistemology of Northern traditional institutions would be written, however, it will be recorded that while Sanusi Lamido Sanusi II, the deposed emir of Kano, thought it more profound and reverential to be called and addressed simply as “Sarkin Kano”, a certain Adanno thought the title had become too debased and common that he needed a higher, more exclusive order of preferment. He wanted to be called sultan instead.

“When mad men under the franchise of Boko Haram or their affiliates maim, murder, rape and destroy in the name of Allah, claiming that if they die, a bevy of brides awaits them at the entrance of paradise, you might expect the spiritual curator of the religion to either keep quiet or admonish such fanatics behind closed doors.

“At least in the religious cauldron that Nigeria has turned out to be. But that’s not the Sultan that Abubakar III is – or has been. He tells the mad men in plain language, which he repeated in a recent meeting I had with him, that: “They’ll go straight to hell!” And he says so publicly, too. That no one can kill in Allah’s name and hope to find shelter in paradise.

“One thing I’m sure of, though, is that Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III, the 20th Sultan of Sokoto, has raised the bar so high that sultan wannabes will have to do more than think that buying a crown and improvising a coronation will fool the community. Neither a royal coup nor a royal heist would work. Abubakar III has shown that it takes something fundamentally different. And long may he live!”

… Azubuike Ishiekwene

 

“Security of lives and properties is the primary duty of government: According to the social contract theory, every government has an obligation to the governed.

“In his famous book, The Social Contract, Rousseau propounded that in the state of nature, humans were unwarlike and somewhat undeveloped in their reasoning powers and sense of morality and responsibility. When, however, people agreed for mutual protection to surrender individual freedom of action and establish laws and government, they then acquired a sense of moral and civic obligation.

“In order to retain its essential moral character, the government must thus rest on the consent of the governed, the volonté générale (“general will”). Therefore, it is generally agreed that the individual has expressly or tacitly given up his freedom to the government in return for the protection of that government.

“… the Nigerian Constitution recognises that it is the primary function of government to ensure the security and welfare of its citizens. Certainly, where there is insecurity, no economic activity can thrive – and will consequently result in food insecurity which is presently being experienced in some northern states where farmers cannot go to the farm without fearing for their lives.

“As a matter of fact, it has been reported that the sophisticated weaponry with which the armed bandits perpetrate their heinous acts has always made a reasonable resistance nearly impossible. Against this fact, how then are the victims of these attacks supposed to defend themselves against fully armed assailants? Will the Federal Government through the office of the Inspector General of Police grant these communities licenses to equally carry sophisticated firearms in the effective defence of their lives and properties? Most likely not.

“What is often of paramount importance to most politicians in Nigeria is how they will attain political office without any adequate thought as to how they will perform the duties of that office – such would account for why politicians will call on the electorate to vote them into power and, unfortunately, renege on their own end of the bargain to defend the peoples’ lives and properties; sad indeed!”

… Aare Afe Babalola, SAN, CON, OFR, Nigerian lawyer and founder of Afe Babalola University

“Living in Nigeria, right now, is a very big job. It is also a very hard job. On all fronts, the average man is ringed round by near insurmountable obstacles. One very cheap thing here now is human life, given the frequency and ferocity with which it is taken, in large numbers.

“It is impossible to stay home and not go hungry; work is a must. If you venture outside your home, there is, now, no guarantee that one will return in one piece and in peace. In the towns and cities, killer gangs are roaming around, looking for victims to use for rituals.

“Travel from one state to another, or even within one state is now a high-risk venture; gangs of kidnappers, often wearing uniforms that confer state authority on people so clad spring from the bushes along the highways and take hostages for ransom.

“The lucky ones are ransomed and rejoin their families. Others not so lucky have been dispatched to untimely, unmarked, unknown graves.

“Only God Almighty knows how many lives are lost daily simply because people we trusted to do good things for us have left us in the lurch, while the undesirables have taken over the public space, kidnapping, raping, killing and making life generally harsh.

“Now, back to the joke about 70 per cent of prayer points taken care of by governments abroad. See why our people throng places of worship? Even there, the ministers and mullahs seem to be the only beneficiaries, living fat on tithes and other contributions by worshippers”

… Adekunle Adekoya