AS HOPE BEGINS TO FADE…

Still, some brave optimists could always counter arguments that Nigeria is a nation irretrievably adrift with the story of the Qur’anic (and Biblical) Prophet Uzair (Ezra, upon whom be peace). Uzair it was who had an iota of doubt of Allah’s Abilities, so was caused to die and was raised from the dead, and his […]

Still, some brave optimists could always counter arguments that Nigeria is a nation irretrievably adrift with the story of the Qur’anic (and Biblical) Prophet Uzair (Ezra, upon whom be peace). Uzair it was who had an iota of doubt of Allah’s Abilities, so was caused to die and was raised from the dead, and his donkey with him, after a century-long slumber.

The story goes: When Uzair was sent by Allah to a certain land (Jerusalem, according the Bible), to call the people back to the Path of God, the Messenger was shocked with the deviation he saw. He had rhetorically asked, as was quoted in the Qur’an: “Anna yuhyi hazihil arda ba’ada mautiha?” (“Would the Lord really revive this land after its death?”). And the Lord positively responded to Uzair, as also narrated in the Qur’an: “Fa amatahul Lahu mi’ata aamin thumma ba’athah” (“And Allah caused his [Uzair, Ezra] death for a hundred years, then He resurrected him”). So Allah did for Uzair and for Uzair’s land. And He could it for our land Nigeria.

Nigeria is not dead, at least not yet. Of course many Nigerians are dead. And they continue to die. They die from police bullets. They die from armed robbers’ bullets. They die from militants’ bullets. They die from kerosene explosions. Then they also die when second-hand tyres burst on third-rate roads built by fourth-grade contractors. Finally, if they refuse to die after all these attempts and are then taken to hospitals, they die because the doctors are on strike.

Four years ago, almost to the day, I wrote on these same pages a piece titled ‘WHEN A LEADER SEEMS POSSESSED’. I was lamenting the then situation where a potential deliverer at the 2007 elections seemed to be driving away all his admirers and die-hards for no justifiable reason. I had drawn the ire of many a reader who read meanings into a rather well-meant discourse. At that time, considering what was happening in the then opposition camp, I had written:

“There can only be one explanation: the Leader may indeed be possessed. Fearful as the scenario could be, it just has to be that there are demonic forces at play. What we are apparently dealing with here may be a demon known in Hausa as Fasa Taro (‘Scatter the Crowds’). This is the devil used by the wicked ones to divest a popular leader of all his followers. It has happened in many instances before, and there is no reason to believe it is not happening to the Leader now. Most people under spells usually vehemently oppose any such explanation of their irrational behaviour. Most likely the Leader may not believe what I am saying here, but the general belief is that that is what the whole followership believes.”

“Most wicked people,” I had written then, “resort to unorthodox and foul means (sorcery or magic, in plain language) to perpetuate their hold on others. Devil worship exists in all cultures and religions. Among Muslims, parts of the Qur’an, such as the powerful Sura Yasin, are used by these devilish people to turn the tide of nature from where it is intended. The Prophet of Islam Muhammad, upon whom be peace, was himself once a victim of sorcery. From thence, we know that no man (or woman, for that matter) can escape sorcery.”

Or else, I had also argued then, that perhaps it was not a real demon doing the damage, but a group of demonic people surrounding the Leader who were either acting out someone’s script or were hell-bent on ensuring that nobody else other than them ever gets within earshot of the Leader.

Now, four years later, many people who had vehemently taken issue with me for that piece of Saturday March 17, 2007 have come back to confirm to me that they now see reason with the fear I expressed all that time ago.

This is because, and may the Lord protect us, it is quite likely that the opposition in this country is, like the 2007 scenario, under a spell. It is ether that the demon Fasa Taro (‘Scatter the Crowds’) or the devilish group of humans is really scattering the opposition and making them not to unite. For, it is quite likely, that they are going into these elections without any hope of unity and cohesion. And there has never been an opportunity to cause a change in this country than now. So we should all unite to exorcise the demons afflicting the Nigerian opposition.

Is it not a wonder that, wherever one goes in this country, North and South, the single topic is: “How do we free ourselves from twelve years of misrule?” Over the past many months, journalists and other commentators have asked people from around the country whether anyone had ever seen a genuine, really genuine, supporter of the ruling party. They answer mostly received is a NO! in big bold exclamation-adorned caps. Yet, this despised contraption may come to likely add to the misery of twelve years with another only-Allah-knows-how-long “mandate”.

There was ANGER at the political primaries, and there will more ANGER at the forthcoming secondaries, and there will therefore be DANGER at the tertiaries on May 29 unless the will of the people prevails. And the will of the people seems to be singularly and spectacularly jettisoned by the same people who should save them: the opposition. The waste of opportunity is momentous, to say the very least.

Only barely two weeks separate us from Nigeria’s Day of Reckoning. The whole world agrees that ‘Opportunity Knocks Only But Once’. This opportunity has knocked once, twice, thrice, yet no one is answering the door.

A wise person has said: “Never deprive someone of hope; it might be all that they have.” And another added: “Don’t kick a man when he’s down, unless you’re certain he won’t get up.” Nigerians had indeed been kicked for twelve long years. Will the opposition ever get up and stand up for Nigerians?

We Nigerians have been deprived of hope, and hope was all that we had in the first place. Citizens of this country are praying: Nigeria Shall Be Free from the colonial rule of the fawaful ones. All say Amen. Amen. Fatiha.