Olaniyan, Oladosu, Shafi’i evaluate Nigeria at 59

THE deputy governor of Oyo State, Alhaji Rauf Olaniyan; the Dean, Faculty of Arts, University of Ibadan, Professor Afis Oladosu and the Grand Mufti, Conference of Islamic Organisations (CIO), Sheikh Dhikrullah Shafi’i, last weekend, in Ibadan, Oyo State, made an assessment of Nigeria’s fortune 59 years after attaining independence and then offered guidelines for the nation to achieve prosperity henceforward.

The trio spoke at the 2019 edition of the “October Lecture” of the Oyo State chapter of The Muslim Congress (TMC).

The lecture is organised annually by TMC to commemorate Nigeria’s independence anniversary, the theme of this year’s edition being ‘Nigeria at 59: Time for Decisive Actions’.

Olaniyan, who was the keynote speaker, identified lack of God-fearing leaders as one of the chief factors that had militated against the development of the country for the past years.

He claimed that Muslims’ apolitical disposition had been largely responsible for this situation and then urged the faithful to take active part in politics in order to be at a vantage position to change things for the better.

“To be frank, our general attitude towards politics leaves much to be desired. We are not taking adequate interest in the political process. The few Muslims occupying political positions today, in Oyo State, for insatnce, even started out as reluctant parties. This attitude must be corrected.

“I urge our Imams and Alfas to be ready to play an active role in this respect. They should prevail on their followers to participate actively in politics in order to be able to make life better for the generality of Nigerians,” the deputy governor said.

In his lecture, Professor Oladosu said the country was suffering from a deficit of civic pride and collective responsibility and accused wealthy Nigerians of doing little to use what they have to help the masses.

“Instead, they transfer their money to foreign banks rather than making it useful for the nation. This lack of civic engagement has had real economic consequences,” he lamented and then called for “a complete” attitudinal change.

In advocating the harnessing of the country’s regional advantages, the don said: “In the era of the regions, even though agriculture and mineral production were the mainstays of the economy, there were areas of specialisation.

“Let each region begin to work on its potential. Introduce internally generated revenue grants aimed at rewarding the efforts of the states in each zone at generating internal revenue as against compensating non-viable states for what restructurists would refer to as economic laziness.”

In his own lecture, Sheikh Shafi’i stressed the need for the country to remain a united entity and urged Nigerians do away with divisive tendencies and promote things that hold them together.

“We all should stand in unison and defend the sanctity of the unity of this country. Breaking of ties of kinship is against the spirit of Islam. We must do everything within our powers to keep Nigeria as one country,” he said.

Describing former regional and national leaders as upright, the cleric noted that the Muslims among them were also good ambassadors of Islam.

He lamented that Nigeria’s troubles began with the first military coup and the shedding of the blood of the righteous.

Sheikh Shafi’i urged government at all levels to take interest in the affairs of young men and women, especially when they are ripe for marriage, so that the society could be populated with socially upright married couples and legitimate, God-fearing children.

He decried the refusal of contemporary leaders to amend or change perceived anti-people laws and resolutions, just as he urged Nigerians to be humane so as to be deserving of humane leaders.

Earlier, the state waali (coordinator) of TMC, Alhaji Daud Oladosu, had called on government at all levels to embark on decisive and patriotic action plans that would engender an all-round development of the country.