“I BEG YOUR PARDON!”

Coming just a week after the same president refused to take perhaps the only feasible thoroughfare out of our present insecurity cul-de-sac – Amnesty for repentant militants canvassed by the Sultan of Sokoto and the Shehu of Borno – Alamieyeseigha’s Pardon smells to low hell (as opposed to high heavens).Lots of support came in support […]

Coming just a week after the same president refused to take perhaps the only feasible thoroughfare out of our present insecurity cul-de-sac – Amnesty for repentant militants canvassed by the Sultan of Sokoto and the Shehu of Borno – Alamieyeseigha’s Pardon smells to low hell (as opposed to high heavens).
Lots of support came in support of our support for the Sultan’s appeal President Jonathan on Amnesty for militants taking the Peace Avenue. I share here the response by Brother Abdullahi Abubakar Lamido of Gombe State University and immediate past National President (Amir) of the Muslim Students’ Society of Nigeria (MSSN):
As usual, your column last week was nice reading for reasons too numerous to mention. One important thing was your reference to the position you, and later we (your juniors in MSSN, MCAN etc.), used to hold regarding the JNI and NSCIA. ‘Toothless bulldogs’ we called them.  Shi ke nan! But a lot of us have had a paradigm shift of some sort, a “U turn” for many, and an “L turn” for some as you rightly put it.

You wondered whether your U turn was a result of the “Sultan effect” or maturity that naturally makes one see things in broader perspective. While maturity might have played a significant role, I want to believe that, to a large extent, the Sultan effect is more at play. First, even when you used to challenge the dormancy of those groups, you were not doing it alone. You had many ‘old’ people who were even harsher in criticism. Secondly, those in MSSN, MCAN and NACOMYO today are not old; they are young, with all the exuberance of the youths of the ‘indomie generation’, yet they still reserve much respect for, and confidence in, the organisations.
But what does the “Sultan effect” mean? It does not mean, at least for me, that we have an infallible person on the throne of the Sokoto Caliphate; what it means is that with the present Sultan there seems to be a departure from the traditional way of doing things at the ‘top level of Nigerian Islamia’. There is, if you like, a change in the subject of the formula of particularly the Jama’atu Nastil Islam (JNI), which I now know better. If in the past the Sultan used to be seen or heard only on 28th of Sha’aban and 28th of Ramadan announcing the sighting of the crescent of the moons [of Ramadan and Shawwal respectively], now you read and hear him almost on a weekly basis commenting on issues related to development, healthcare, security, education, Almajiri, good governance, Muslim unity, reorganising Da’wah, and of course Amnesty.
If ‘traditional rulers’ were known to be confined to the comfort of their palaces, today you see the Sultan moving from Sokoto to Taraba to Kogi to Benue to Akwa Ibom to Osun to Oyo to Lagos to Enugu and to all states of the federation. Taking good advantage of his energy and courage, the Sultan has been travelling to all nooks and crannies of Nigeria, building bridges and mending fences. We used to lament on how Muslims from the north and the south have failed to come closer and understand each other, and our prayer has always been to have a leader who will bring us together. As a past National President of MSSN, I have long observed that the current Sarkin Musulmi has gone far in building trust and mutual understanding between Muslims in the two regions. His efforts towards promoting tolerance among different Islamic groups are also remarkable.
Moreover, whoever has been following events could have observed that the repositioning exercise which the Sultan initiated since his coming as the President-General of the JNI has started yielding fruits. A look at the JNI Headquarters building and the way the JNI, through its highly courageous and articulate Secretary General Khalid Aliyu, responds rapidly and intellectually to issues of national interest, will make one believe that change has started. Before, our belief was that JNI belongs to Emirs; and Emirs alone as you have observed. Now at JNI meetings, the number of youths, Islamic scholars and Muslim intellectuals is much higher than that of the Emirs. Interestingly, these intellectuals, youths and ulama freely debate issues with the Emirs in a bid to arrive at best resolutions. The Emirs now allow those the intellectuals to implement decisions with reasonable independence. But change is gradual.
Let me not be mistaken as an advocate of unconditional romance with the traditional establishment. My take is that, since we have seen some positive signs in this Sultan, we should at least appreciate that and encourage him to do more. We must advise and constructively criticise him, and it is his duty as a leader to open his ears to hear, and his heart to accept whatever good we convey to him through hikmah. And as his great grandfather Usman Danfodio taught, whatever he does as a leader he should not see himself as doing any favour to his followers; rather, he is discharging a responsibility which if he fails to do rightly, he will be questioned by the One Who has given him that power.
Here, I will like to advise His Eminence the Sultan to try not only to maintain the tempo but, more importantly, to make improvements. He should not forget that the only way to regain the lost glory of the Caliphate is to strongly uphold the very values that in the first place established it. For us as followers, we will continue to pray for their success so long as they will continue to speak fearlessly for, and work tirelessly towards, protecting the interest of Islam and Muslims in Nigeria.
And as for Amnesty, I am in support of your support for the Sultan.
(That was Lamido, past MSSN Amir.) Still on Amnesty, Prof Muhammad Nur Alkali had also told the President: “We sincerely appeal …you will assure everybody the commencement of dialogue, grant of a pardon, rehabilitation and compensation for lives lost, homes destroyed and properties lost or stolen.” But the President did not.
And then those ‘ghosts’ came out. The by-now familiar Muhammad Abdul’Aziz said: “Mr. President let me say with due respect that we are not ghosts. The person who appeared on YouTube to say no to ceasefire is not Shaikh Shekau whose voice is heavily Kanuri-accented. The voice is not his and the Shaikh has never hidden his face. The man on YouTube is an impostor.” But the President still believes in ghosts.
And so, back to Pardon. One man’s Amnesty is another man’s Pardon! According to Kunle Famoriyo, National Publicity Secretary of the Afenifere Renewal Group (ARG), “…with a stroke of presidential overlord-ship…Alamieyeisegha is no longer a convicted criminal, but now a completely free man bearing no guilt or stain…We dare say that this President lacks the moral character to run a modern nation-state.”
For former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Nuhu Ribadu, the anti-corruption effort over the years has been completely unraveled and trashed with impunity, and it is high time all other convicted thieves be pardoned and those in jail released.
While we await the award of GCFC for Alamieyeisegha (‘C’ stands for you-know-what), all we see from this government is just Black Smoke!