Sheikh Khalid Like Lamido Sanusi II : When Sanction Becomes The Legacy Of Truth | David Antia
Our society has lost her essential dynamics and has through consistent tolerance for evil, consigned the principle of justice and clear conscience to oblivion. The Chief cause of this degeneration is religion and politics, a Siamese twin that is stacked along the ever nourishing umbilical cord of indoctrination – David Antia
Of Sanusi Lamido Sanusi
Before the dethronement of Sanusi Lamido Sanusi on 9th March, 2020 he already faced a sanction in 2014 by then President Goodluck Jonathan after revealing that $20bn (£12bn) in oil revenue was missing .
Such voyage to uncover corruption and place our wretched country beyond the bedraggled feet of our politicians didn’t earn him any mole of honor, as our story always is- sanction became the legacy of truth.
After being suspended for making the announcement, Sanusi challenged his suspension in court but was still sacked!
His innate gravitation towards saying truth to power put him on a steady tendency of always facing sanction. The case was not different when he fired some pebbles to the streams of Islamic traditions and culture. The ripples generated put him at loggerheads with his Governor, His Excellency Abdullahi Umar Ganduje.
The Government of Kano State in a Press release signed by the secretary to the state Government, Alhaji Usman said that “ the Emir of Kano is in total disrespect to lawful instructions from the office of the state Governor and other lawful authorities, including his persistent refusal to attend official meetings and programmes organised by the Government without any lawful justification which amount to total insubordination”. But this was not really the cause of his sanction!
Something gave cause to this pyrotechnic outburst and that causation does not lay far from Sanusi’s criticism of prevailing mournful situations in his State and his divergent views on interpretations of some Islamic Laws that condemned the girl child to forlorn discrimination, discouraged family planning (what has gave birth to the massive figure of out of school children in Nigeria and especially in the North).
An interpretation he described as “ultra- conservative”.
The consequences that follows unbridled audacity of truth, no doubt, precipitate an ever deepening curiosity, a question of what exactly the society always wants to prevail- Truth or lies!
Sanusi took a larger sweep in the March of mind, revisited Islamic reflections and sought to embed some pristine orientation to the prevailing views .
About almajiri and the challenge of out of school children, while speaking at the opening of the 108th edition of Islamic Vacation Course (IVC), organised by the Muslim Students’ Society of Nigeria (MSSN)Zone B, held at IVC Permanent Camp, along Lagos-Ibadan expressway in Ogun State,
He said
Instead of having many children, why not have the ones you can cater for? These are the fundamental questions we should ask ourselves. Most of these children roaming about the streets will be adult in the next 20 years and they will be the ones recruited as political thugs by the politicians in the next twenty years, if we don’t take good care of them now”
He continued and said “This is my own advice that we must look at. These are not religious issues, they are social issues that need to be addressed”.
Instead of his advice to be deployed to good use, to find solution to this problem of “out of school children” that has perpetually ensconced our country in the pedestal of social insecurity and portrayed it as a nation lacking in direction and brazened with grotesquely misplaced priorities, he was rather sacked and banished.
It is not hard to imagine that Sanusi rhetorics sometimes fell out of consonance with the Islamic Provençal troubadours which lyrics of faith has gain precedence over the Nigerian Supreme Constitution and left precipitates of ugly situations.
Of course, this is not to say that the teachings of Islam is in any way harmful, but just like any religious orientation, the interpretation of certain precepts sometimes leads to undesirable results. The Christian “for better for worst” declaration in marriage on a lighter note, crystallizes this point.
We have a recent instance in the case like that of Mubarak who is condemned to 24 years in jail for simply professing his religious views which falls within his right and freedom, provided in Article 38 of the Nigerian supreme constitution.
Such incidence would have been easily avoided in our country if Sanusi’s opposition to the adoption of Islamic Laws in some Northern Nigeria, crossed to the realm of effect.
The same Governor Ganduje who in 2018 was caught on video stuffing his Babariga outfit with wad of dollars presumed to be public fund was the one who claimed to sack Sanusi because of corruption.
Again, this same Governor Ganduje was reported to have made statement where he assert with no compunction, that he would sign the death warrant of musician Yahaya Shariff who was convicted of blasphemy in 2020.
So the lyrics of faith is always ever amended to serve as instruments of oppression and diabolical gerrymandering and disunity by those opportune to hold the lectern- the government or the administrators of religion.
Anyone like Martin Lurther who seek to reveal the real truth in the letters always face sanction (like Lamido Sanusi II) or at least is portrayed as Protestant.
The case is not different for our current hero, Sheikh Muhammad Khalid who has just recently paid a price for speaking truth to power.
The price of Sanction, the ultimate legacy of truth.
Of Sheikh Nuru Khalid
The Cleric simply voiced out in his sermon on 1st April, 2022, the minds of Nigerians who are worried over the problem of insecurity in the country and the bad leadership of President Buhari.
Kaduna, the North-west state that host the highest military formation in west Africa has become an easy target for terrorist who effortlessly attacked the Kaduna International Airport and the Abuja- Kaduna train within 48hours. A good number of Nigerians have died from this attack while many other victims have been badly injured.
After the sermon delivered by the Chief Imam (of Apo Legislative Quarters Mosque) Sheikh Nauru Khalid, a sanction letter was delivered to him by the administrators of the mosque wherein he was relieved of his duties as a result of criticizing government
Like Usman Dan Fodio said in 1804, conscience is an open wound. Only the truth can heal it.
Our society has lost her essential dynamics and has through consistent tolerance for evil, consigned the principle of justice and clear conscience to oblivion. The Chief cause of this degeneration is religion and politics, a Siamese twin that is stacked along the ever nourishing umbilical cord of indoctrination.
The foremost spiritual leaders, Mohammed and Jesus, were men of truth who taught their disciples to always preach the truth and live in accordance with the truth.
But like I earlier noted, there is an amendment that has been introduced to the lyrics of faith by those who hold the lectern. They cripple the conscience of their followers, induce rigid conservatism and keep the window of the soul -the mouth, completely shut.
Sanction has now become a consequence for relieving the soul of pent-up request by – the natural instinct of justice to condemn what is bad.
What was contained in the sermon of Sheikh Khalid that deserved him the sanction?
Who does not yet know that any government that fail to protect the lives and property of her citizens has truly failed?
Sheikh Khalid said nothing but the truth and did no harm by calling on government to take action and deliver the country from this doom.
In his words, “Nigerian masses should resort to only one term which is – protect our lives, we will come out to vote; let us be killed, we will not come out to vote, since it’s only elections that you people know,”.
He asseverated the simple terms of social contract that all citizens of Nigeria entered into with the government of the country. We all gave our collective power and will to protect ourselves to the state, freely alienated from ourselves the will to self protection by any means including carrying arms, in trust that the state will protect us.
Why should we still go out to append our agreement to such contract through voting when the very government has failed in protecting us? Sheikh Khalid understand the simple fact that only the living can vote .
Sheikh Nuru Khalid Like Sanusi Lamido Sanusi II are hero whose Legacy of truth resides in their sanction. More truth , more sanction and more elevation.
No one should be afraid to say the truth, the sanction that comes as a legacy of truth does not always leave us stranded.
Sheikh Khalid has told us the benefit of his own sanction. He said,
Instead of destroying me, the suspension has increased my followers, my sympathizers and those who believe in Nigeria are praying for me. The BBC( British broadcasting company) released a statement today( Sunday) that the most trending name in Nigeria on twitter and Facebook is Sheikh Nauru Khalid, so you can see that I have to celebrate “. He also announced that he has been appointed by the management committee of a new jum’mat Mosque behind the central bank of Nigeria(CBN) quarters, Abuja to lead the congregation with immediate effect.
How about Lamido Sanusi II?
A year after being dethroned as an Emir, he addressed a particular group, AIG Public Leadership Programme (Class of 2021) and said that over “80 per cent of civil servants have lost their conscience” for personal gains.
His words(as reported by The Guardian, 3rd March, 2021) : “A public servant is a servant to Nigeria, not to any head of state, governor or minister, this is what is missing now in the country; hence the judiciary, health, agriculture, education, transport and power sectors are not working”
He said again, “I advise you to go and resign, if you are a civil servant and fail to stand and care for the people you’re supposed to plan for, by executing favourable government projects. Remember, your failure would surely affect your children tomorrow.”
This is a man that placed the welfare of his People and Nigerians beyond his office as CBN Governor and the esteemed traditional stool of “Emir”.
He recommends that one should resign if he is not ready to serve the masses.
This is my message also to our dear President. He should resign!
David Bassey Antia
antiadavid3@gmail.com
