December 2, 2002
Nigeria is oftentimes like a badly refereed soccer game. The rules are constantly changing and no matter what you think you know, there will always be surprises, for the goal post is also likely to be constantly extended.
If you thought nothing in Nigeria could surprise you again - and God knows we have seen a lot - then you must be living in cuckoo-land. I had my awakening last week and boy, was it ever so rude! Nigerians took to killing one another to voice opposition to a bunch of girls parading their flesh in front of some ogling men (and some women, I agree.)
Okay, the rioters have plenty of grievances. Whether it is enough to propel one into a rage of maniacal proportions is another thing, though.
First was the insensate decision by the organizers to stage the contest while a large proportion of the country is passing through the holiest month of their faith. What with denial of food and everything, one could tell things were bound to get tricky. After all a Yoruba saying has it that a hungry dog does not play with one that is full.
Organizers of the event surely carry some blame for this. Though to hear people talk about it, one might think this is the first beauty contest being organized in the country. But Nigeria has at least two flourishing national pageants - the "Miss Nigeria" competition organized yearly by the Daily Times and another (Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria) by Silverbird Productions whom we are told is behind the Miss World one.
Frankly it is hard to say the Nigerian people did not foot the bill for the aborted Miss World contest. And that was where I drew the line. One would have thought the Nigerian government had enough things on its plate to worry about than to waste scarce resources on a contest of dubious coloration.
So anytime opposition reached a head, government was bound to overreact to protect its investment. And how did it overreacted! When a bunch of youths masquerading as defenders of Islam decided to protest an unfortunate and cheeky comment by an over-enthusiastic writer in ThisDay, government panicked instead of managing the protest. In the process, things degenerated into arson. And that is where I started losing my power of comprehension. Do we have to constantly debase our God-given life over inanities?
A group of people were reported to have declared a holy war on the Publisher of ThisDay, Mr Nduka Obaigbena and Editor of Thisday on Saturday, Mr Simeon Kolawole. If these pseudo-holy warriors have not already caused the murder of hundreds of their countrymen, I would have called this the joke it was.
But it is not funny. These people claimed to be speaking for millions of Nigerian Muslims like I who are using this month to quietly seek the mercy of Allah for our daily transgressions. No sirs, you are not my spokesmen. And even though I felt hurt by the unnecessary slur on the person of the prophet of Islam, I accepted the apology of Thisday’s management.
And I wish the federal government would act speedily to free Simeon Kolawole from detention. He ought not to be detained at all. He should be charged to court if he is deemed to have committed an offence, and we are waiting for the charge sheet. This government and its agencies need to know that the days of detaining a writer for his writings are supposed to be over. We did not sacrifice our lives and livelihood to battle military dictatorship only to have elected officials resort to the same practice.
As a wag once said, I might not like what you say, but I will protect your right to say it. We must strengthen freedom of speech. Which is the source of another surprise to me. Neither the Nigerian Union of journalists or the Guild of Editors - or the Association of Nigerian Authors, for that matter- have said anything about the detention of the editor. Are they in support of the arrest or what? And what is their take on the destruction of the property of Thisday? I wish our colleagues would recollect the story of the man in the fable who refused to speak up when his neighbours were being taken away for execution. When his turn came, there was nobody left to protest his innocence.
And things were bound to get worse, as they invariably do. While the rest of the country was finding ways to overcome the unnecessary bloodletting, our people in Gusau decided to act up again. Aliyu Shinkafi, the Zamfara State deputy governor was reported to have issued a fatwa against Isioma Daniels. I confess, I actually laughed myself into tears at this! Yet, there is no mirth in my heart.
So an elected official in Nigeria could go on air to call for the murder of another Nigerian citizen! These surely are interesting times. I should add that I have always argued in support of the implementation of sharia in states where it is duly accepted by the people. And I will continue to do so.
But surely Alhaji Shinkafi, don't you think you are making a fool of yourself by making this call? Assuming Muslims want Daniels killed - and God forbid that anyone will want that - who made you their spokesperson? Are you a religious leader or an elected official? Surely if you could only think just a little, don't you think Daniel’s people could also meet and put a price on your head and justify it by some extant ethnic custom? I think the Attorney-General and, or, Inspector-General of Police should look into this seriously. And if anything should happen to Daniels or any Thisday reporter, then we know whom to hold responsible and that is Alhaji Dansuki.
I never read anywhere that the prophet of Islam ordered anyone killed for insulting him while he was alive, and he surely had a lot of insults directed his way. It is time Muslims in Nigeria speak up against these characters giving their faith a bad name. I think our leaders must ponder on which act gave the faith a bad name - the forgettable article published in Thisday or the orgy of destruction and mayhem some religious leaders engineered.
Surely, Allah is the most wise.
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