IN the name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
The Holy Qur’an, Al-Isra 17:101-104 says, “To Moses We did give nine clear signs. Ask the Children of Israel. When he came to them, Pharaoh said to him, ‘O Moses! I consider thee, indeed, to have been worked upon by sorcery’. Moses said, ‘Thou knowest well that these things have been sent down by none but the Lord of the heavens and the earth as eye-opening evidence and I consider thee indeed, O Pharaoh, to be one doomed to destruction!’ So, he resolved to remove them from the face of the earth. But We did drown him and all who were with him. And We said thereafter to the children of Israel, ‘Dwell securely in the land (of promise)’. But when the second of the warnings came to pass, We gathered you together in a mingled crowd.’”
It is with the miracle of Almighty Allah that Prophet Hud (AS) sent to the ‘Ad people and those who believed with him were saved from the severe punishment of Allah (Qur’an 7:65-72; 26:123-140; 46:21-26). The Holy Qur’an, Hud 11:50 -60 relates, “To the ‘Ad people (We sent) Hud, one of their own brethren. He said, ‘O my people! Worship God! Ye have no other god but Him. (Your other gods) ye do nothing but invent! O my people! I ask of you no reward for this (Message). My reward is from none but Him Who created me. Will ye not then understand?’ And O my people! Ask forgiveness of your Lord, and turn to Him (in repentance). He will send you the skies pouring abundant rain, and add strength to your strength. So turn ye not back in sin!’ They said, ‘O Hud! No clear (sign) hast thou brought us and we are not the ones to desert our gods on thy word! Nor shall we believe in thee! We say nothing but that (perhaps) some of our gods may have seized thee with imbecility’. He said, ‘I call God to witness, and do ye bear witness that I am free from the sin of ascribing to Him other gods as partners! So, scheme (your worst) against me, all of you, and give me no respite. I put my trust in God, My Lord and your Lord! There is not a moving creature but He hath grasp of its fore-lock. Verily, it is my Lord that is on a straight path. If ye turn away, I (at least) have conveyed the Message with which I was sent to you. My Lord will make another people to succeed you, and you will not harm Him in the least for my Lord hath care and watch over all things’. So, when Our decree issued, We saved Hud and those who believed with him, by (special) grace from Ourselves. We saved them from a severe penalty. Such were the ‘Ad people. They rejected the signs of their Lord and Cherisher, disobeyed His apostles and followed the command of every powerful, obstinate transgressor. And they were pursued by a curse in this life — and on the Day of Judgment. Ah! Behold! For the ‘Ad rejected their Lord and Cherisher! Ah! Behold! Removed (from sight) were ‘Ad people of Hud!”.
God Almighty explains how the ‘Ad people of Prophet Hud (AS) were destroyed with terrible wind and accursed in this life and in the Hereafter, for refusing the worship of one true Allah and calling the Messenger an imbecile and a liar. The Holy Qur’an, Qamar 54:18-22 recounts, “The ‘Ad (people) (too) rejected (truth). Then how terrible was My penalty and My warning? For We sent against them a furious wind on a day of violent disaster, plucking out men as if they were roots of palm trees torn up (from the ground). Yea, how (terrible) was My penalty and My warning! But We have indeed aade the Qur-an easy to understand and remember. Then is there any that Wwill receive admonition?”
The pregnancy of Mariam, without the intervention of the customary physical means, and the birth of ‘Isa (AS) within a few minutes by the daughter of Imran becomes special miracle of Almighty Allah as the Messiah is born (Qur’an 3:45-47; 19:22-33; 21:90-93). The Holy Qur’an, Al-Imran 3:42-54, affirms, “Behold! The angels said: ‘O Mary! God hath chosen thee and purified thee; chosen thee above the women of all nations. O Mary! Worship thy Lord devoutly, prostrate thyself and bow down (in prayer) with those who bow down. This is part of the tidings of the things unseen which We reveal unto thee (O Apostle!) by inspiration. Thou wast not with them when they cast lots with arrows as to which of them should be charged with the care of Mary; nor wast thou with them when they disputed (the point). Behold! The angels said, ‘O Mary! God giveth thee glad tidings of a Word from Him. His name will be Christ Jesus the son of Mary held in honor in this world and the Hereafter and of (the company of) those nearest to God. He shall speak to the people in childhood and in maturity and he shall be (of the company) of the righteous’. She said, ‘O my Lord! How shall I have a son when no man hath touched me?’ He said, ‘Even so, God createth what He willeth when He hath decreed a plan He but saith to it ‘Be’ and it is! And God will teach him the Book and Wisdom, the Law and the Gospel and (appoint him) an Apostle to the children of Israel (with this message). I have come to you with a sign from your Lord in that I make for you out of clay as it were the figure of a bird and breathe into it and it becomes a bird by God’s leave and I heal those born blind and the lepers and I quicken the dead by God’s leave and I declare to you what ye eat and what ye store in your houses. Surely therein is a sign for you if ye did believe (I have come to you) to attest the Law which was before me and to make lawful to you part of what was (before) forbidden to you. I have come to you with a sign from your Lord. So, fear God and obey me. It is God who is my Lord and your Lord. Then worship Him. This is a way that is straight’. When Jesus found unbelief on their part, he said, ‘Who will be my helpers to (the work of) God?’ Said the Disciples, ‘We are God’s helpers. We believe in God and do thou bear witness that we are Muslims. Our Lord! We believe in what thou hast revealed and we follow the Apostle. Then write us down among those who bear witness’. And (then unbelievers) plotted and planned and God too planned and the best of planners is God. Behold! God said, ‘O Jesus! I will take thee and raise thee to Myself and clear thee (of the falsehoods) of those who blaspheme. I will make those who follow thee superior to those who reject faith to the Day of Resurrection. Then shall ye all return unto Me and I will judge between you of the matters wherein ye dispute”.
May Almighty Allah fortify our faith (Iman) among the generation of people asking for miracles. Ameen.
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The concessionaires complained of poor cooperation from state governments who mostly delay in meeting their own part of the agreement, for instance in the area of land provision.
Another major challenge they emphasised was the lack of narrow gauge rail lines in and out of the dry ports which they noted was important to make the operation of the ports efficient.
They added that access to funds also remained a major issue even as banks and foreign investors make unreasonable demands for assets and bank bonds before the release of funds.
The concessionaires unanimously stressed the need for the ports being constructed to be given the status of port of origin and destination and also to be registered with the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) upon completion.
In view of the delay in execution, the concessionaires stressed the need for a new agreement, pointing out that an agreement started in 2017 between them and the NSC but it was yet to be cleared by the Federal Ministry of Justice on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Transportation.
They however commended the ICRC for its intervention and also appreciated the NSC for their support so far, noting that they were confident that under the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, the contracts will be sorted out.
The concessionaires pledged their commitment to see the concession to conclusion and the ports operational even as two of the concessionaires, Equatorial Marine Oil and Gas Ltd for the Katsina ports and Dala Inland Dry Port for the Kano Ports declared that their ports will commence operation before the third quarter of 2022.
Managing Director of Equatorial Marine Oil and Gas Ltd, Mr Usman Iya Abbas, informed the ICRC team that the Funtua port was already at over 85 per cent completion and was ready to launch before the end of the second quarter of 2022.
“We hope to commission this project before the end of the second quarter and the ports will become functional immediately. We are lucky to have great relationships in the shipping industry and with major shipping lines.
Managing Director, Dala Inland Dry Port Ltd., Hon. Ahmed Rabiu, concessionaires of the Kano Inland Port also hinted that the construction of the container depot was already nearing completion.
He assured that the company was working assiduously to ensure project completion and take off before the end of March 2022.
On his part, ICRC’s Director of Contract Compliance Department, Dr Ewalefoh who chaired the technical session of the meeting assured the concessionaires of the continuous support of the Commission, charging them however to send a detailed update of the contract status reports to the ICRC.
The Ag. Head, Media and Publicity of ICRC, Manji Yarling said he further enjoined the other four concessionaires who were yet to make remarkable progress in their contract execution to emulate the milestone recorded by the other two who were finalizing their constructions, so that the ports can yield the economic benefits for which the concessions were granted.
While thanking the stakeholders for honouring the invitation of the ICRC, it was resolved that going forward, there will be periodic meetings to ensure that the projects are speedily completed.
and then