RE: A LETTER TO DR. IBRAHIM DATTI AHMAD

So, while continuously reciting ’Inna lilLahi wa inna ilaiHi raji’un’! (We are from Allah, and to Him shall we return) on this matter every wakeful moment, we all should continue to pray fervently to Allah for His assistance in finding the denouement. Meanwhile, of the scores of mails received as reactions to last week’s piece, […]

So, while continuously reciting ’Inna lilLahi wa inna ilaiHi raji’un’! (We are from Allah, and to Him shall we return) on this matter every wakeful moment, we all should continue to pray fervently to Allah for His assistance in finding the denouement. Meanwhile, of the scores of mails received as reactions to last week’s piece, find below a representative sample:

IBRAHIM DASUKI NAKANDE, JOS: Your letter could not have been more apt than now. But I was particularly thrilled with the clarion call to all our diverse Islamic leaders to rise to the occasion, for Allah’s sake, to not only prevail on Dr. Ahmad to reconsider, but that they (Muslim leaders) must also act for Allah’s sake to bring an end to this desperate situation. The challenge will be whether they will accept their failings and allow Dr. Ahmad to shine in the matter of ending this situation. Thank you once again.

ALHAJI USMAN: Jazakal Lahu bi khair Brother Bala Muhammad! You have indeed spoken our minds (my own mind, the minds of my family and all of my community). I pray to Allah SWT to open the heart of Dr. I. D. Ahmad and place peace and tranquillity in there; to give him the courage to re-intervene and make his intervention successful. We pray to Allah to help us all see the end of this calamity. I subscribe wholeheartedly to your “It’s not for them, it’s for Allah, then for Nigeria, and for us.”

MUHAMMAD SULAIMAN: Indeed it is not for them. It is for Allah. Then for Kano. Then for Nigeria. For us.

SANI, MH: Well-written piece, alhamdu lilLah! So apt a topic, alhamdu lilLah! But slow down on the praise; don’t destroy your brother Dr. I. D. Ahmad with over-praise. Remember, Allah ba Ya son kishiya!

AHMAD A. SADIQ, MINNA: Salam. I read your article and all I have to say is jaza kumul Lahu khair. The passion, sincerity and emphasis in that script were unprecedented. Sir, I am a young person, born only in the mid 1980s. However, I think there is another agenda to this calamity; ‘To bring Northern Nigeria to its knees economically, socially and politically.” Again, our traditional institutions have also failed us. But we have the QUR’AN. If only we can go back, a solution lies in there.

CAPT. JM LIYA (RTD): In the event Dr. Ibrahim Datti Ahmad accepts to the call to serve Allah, and accepts to intervene in the present Nigerian calamity of insecurity, please convey my commitment to his course and my desire to assist him in whatever capacity he may wish to assign to me for the positive achievement of this noble course.

DANDOKI IBRAHIM: Really enjoyed this peace on Dr. Ibrahim Datti Ahmad. May Allah work on his heart and give him the patience and the perseverance to intervene so that this country can once again see peace. As you rightly indicated, it is not for the government that he will do this; it is for Allah and then for Nigerians. Therefore it is Allah’s work he has to undertake again, and only Allah can reward him. Wallahi many people were very happy when he started to intervene in the first place, but their hopes were dashed. Therefore, he should not give up.

HAMZA AHMAD: “Dear Dr I. D. Ahmad, you are highly respected by many across the country. But I don’t see any good in adhering to what Bala Muhammad asked you to do in his column. Stay where you are and have a better end. Don’t mingle with the calibre of people mentioned in the long list, because I personally want to see you in ALJANNA FIRDAUS! A single drop of zamzam water cannot make a stream of dirty water clean. As the Hausa saying goes: “kin kamuwa kin jawuwa.”  I wish you the best throughout your life.”

COL. BAWA RTD (JP): Dearest Bala Muhammad! How are you and the family? Your letter to Dr. Ibrahim Datti Ahmad is a wonderful thing for Nigeria! I concur on your call for a realistic dialogue for peace. Everyone needs peace and tranquillity in this country, and also the world! I am a simple Gbagyi man with full interest in your write up, and the possibilities it offers for peace in this country. Let us work together! Peace for all, amen!

IBRAHIM MUSA GWAMMAJA: Your letter to Dr. IDA is timely. May Allah give him the courage to intervene again, though there may be some people who are benefiting from the current crisis in the country. May Allah reward you too for playing your role in helping to bring this matter to the public domain.

SULAIMAN ILU: Bala! It is our prayer, now that you have beamed the nation’s peace searchlight on this elderly statesman, the whole world will chorus with you in saying Amin! May Allah reward you for your own intervention, may Allah prod Dr. IDA to re-intervene, and may Allah accept all these efforts towards His course.

SARKI A. MUSA: I read your letter to Dr. I. D. Ahmad. You will surely not agree with me, but I think you have painted Dr. Ahmad as a lone-ranger and a rigid person, etc; you have put him on Mount Everest of perfection; and you also placed him on the throne of an Emperor. Dangerous over-dependence!

MUHAMMAD JIBREEL ALI: Salam Brother Bala! You indeed spoke my mind to Dr I. D. Ahmad. His voluntary attempt was motivated by that SPIRIT of his you dwelt on: steadfastness on issues. Thanks be to Allah that he still maintains that spirit. And it is my hope that he will come to accept the invitation, in sha Allah.

AHMAD M. DANYARO: ‘A Letter to Dr. Ibrahim Datti Ahmad’ is interesting and mind blowing. May Allah bless you Mallam!

AISHA ABUBAKAR: Thought-provoking piece, coming as it was on the heels of the recent calamities befalling us all over the land. But our insecurity does not end there Brother: many other events are happening, but are not getting any headlines. Here at the Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Shika, the community is mourning the unwarranted and gruesome murder, by suspected armed robbers, of Dr. Andrew Abutu, a resident in the Psychiatry Department. He was on call that night, and had only gone home to drop his pregnant wife with the intention of coming back to sleep in the hospital. And he was just killed so gruesomely at 8.30pm. Where is this country going?

ISA YUSUF: “Dr. Ibrahim Datti Ahmad, know this and understand this very well: the people mentioned in Bala Muhammad’s piece may not come to you; they may not even contact you; in fact, some of them may even frustrate you. But it is NOT for them, or about them. It is about all of us. For the sake of Allah, do it. Wassalam.”