On our varying Sallah songs…

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1 week ago

This time of joyful celebration, the reforms by the government of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu have led to the twisting of the songs of Nigerians. Those who support the administration, including those among them who are currently benefiting directly from the government, have their own songs, but the majority of Nigerians are actually not echoing those songs. The majority is celebrating this festival not because of the administration and what it has done so far, but because of the graciousness of the Almighty God. Thus, the songs in the air vary so very much. There are the jubilant with their hearty chants and refrains, there are also the mourners with their soulful lamentations and requiems. It is like a line drawn to show the difference between those who have and those who do not. Sometimes, it is better not to seek who draws the line or who determines which side of the divide each person might be.

Some of the songs currently making the rounds among lamenting Nigerians are obviously not suitable for this joyful season of Eid-el-Kabir. Their songs are not meant for this season we grew up to know as one for worship, joyful merriment, sharing of joy, and for enjoying family intimacy and warmth. Hordes in parts of Benue and Borno states, and hordes of others in Mokwa and other parts of Niger State will not be able to observe the etiquettes of Eid Al-Adha as they might have planned and wanted to do this year. Circumstances which are beyond the control of the people in these places have befallen them, and they deserve our empathy. These problems might not take the Takbeer from their mouths, but they would not be able to sacrifice animals (Qurbani). Because they are under siege, they would not be able to share meat with their neighbours and the needy. They also will not be able to perform Ghusl, wear their best clothes and adorn themselves. They cannot also spend time with their family. Some of them are even currently stuck beyond the reach of their loved ones.

Last year, when a furious flood tore through the Borno State capital, there was no Eid in the air. The flood in Borno, which claimed at least 150 lives, was as a result of negligence on the part of some people saddled with the responsibility of maintaining the Alau Dam in the state. When the poor, neglected dam could no longer endure the negligence, its legs gave way in the early hours of 10th September, 2024. Following the collapse of the dam, nearly the entire Maiduguri and Jere local government areas of the state were submerged in water. The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said people whose population numbered more than 70 percent of the residents of Maiduguri, the state capital, were displaced. The magnitude of the disaster warranted even a bewildered President Bola Tinubu to dash to the state on a sympathy and solidarity visit. There was no sallah when the Maiduguri flood happened, otherwise, the song would not have been different from that now being sung in Mokwa, the reigning town under fierce attack of angry waters.

The elegies from Mokwa seep to everywhere in the country from all corners of Mokwa. It must also be a reminder that there might be more on the way. While we mourn the deaths and destruction in Mokwa, we must also prepare for the warnings that the National Emergency Management Agency has given. NEMA says there are 15 high-risk states. So, Mokwa should serve as a warning – a tip of the iceberg, and the rain has only just begun. They have blamed climate change, deforestation, unregulated buildings and so on. We must also blame ourselves for being uncoordinated. We are also perpetually unprepared for emergencies because we think God will come down to do for us things we He has given us powers to do for ourselves.

There are also pure mournful dirges in Benue. The requiems ringing from Benue run deep and have grown louder than what Reverend Father Hyacinth Alia alone can effectively orchestrate. These sad songs have also endured. Our governor and Reverend Father needs help because he seems utterly overwhelmed. A lot of people around the country have questioned what seems to be a determined silence of Reverend Father Hyacinth Alia. Samuel Ortom raised his voice at some point in his journey as the state governor. He rebelled against the federal government following unrestrained onslaught against the people of the state in which he was referred to as the Chief Security Officer. He queried the usefulness of his membership of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) if the party, which was also in control of the government at the centre in Nigeria, could not intervene while his people were being mercilessly mowed down by marauders and terrorists. He eventually quit the party both in annoyance and in response to the demand of his people and hauled himself to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), from where he was firing ineffective verbal missiles to the Muhammadu Buhari administration and his erstwhile political party.

Father Alia too got to power through the same All Progressives Congress. His government has followed the same pattern as Ortom while terrorists hold sway. Alia too has been acting with the same attitude as Ortom when he too was in APC, keeping mute and marking time while the killers of their people are on a quick march. So, this year’s Eid celebrations are not for the thousands who have been displaced in many parts of the state, some of whom have occasionally taken to the street to vent their spleens and lament their plight. Not a few have asked why the governor has been largely quiet; and why was he only able to bare his fangs when Peter Obi applied to him to visit the internally displaced persons in some parts of the state? What really is going on in Benue State? Governor Father Alia must tell us, we need a sincere confession. Perhaps, the reported relocation of Nigeria’s chief of army staff to the state might provide some answers.

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) in their report also raised their dirge. It sounded like the typical howling of a ‘contra’, always-rebellious trade union. But there are some truths in their usual hullabaloo. The clamour isn’t just about how much enters the pocket of the worker monthly as his wages but the ineptness of the money when they receive it from the largely unwilling government. That is the dirge of the NLC, but the orchestra led by Mr. Joe Ajaero appears not to have many good musicians. Even if there are good and skillful musicians in the NLC ensemble, they appear to be playing discordant tunes to taint the joyful Eid season, because Nigerians don’t seem to be enjoying their sound. What they emit does not enjoy the trust of their audience.

But it is still a dirge in a season of joy. It is, perhaps, one of those for which we can turn to the government for an answer unlike the ones from Mokwa, Borno, Benue and others. It may take a little more than a regular cry before we could hear the striking judiciary workers, but one of the poignant things in the louder cry by the NLC is their insistence that the government has not treated the majority of Nigerians well.

Manufacturers in the country too have raised a song of sorrow. They are lamenting what they called mounting challenges, a euphemism for the death knell government policies have been for their businesses. The common refrain of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) is their perennial spending on alternative energy.

But while the sullen tune plays in the background, from nearly everywhere in the country, we must also increase the volume of our songs of praise to the Almighty God. It is Eid-el-Kabir, and we must be grateful. We are God’s and we who must take whatever He gives us. We usually pray that God makes it easy for us, but still it is His will not ours. That is why, like Achebe noted, those whose palm kernel is cracked by benevolent spirits must be humble, and be grateful and live in gratefulness and not in arrogance. For it is the Lord’s doing.

However, for those duties for which God has given us power to control, we must also do them and play the roles expected of us. This is also part of our duties at Eid. Part of such duties is to always call our elected representatives to question. We must ask from them if they are indeed happy with the path the country is on. We must all play our parts well and do our daily duties well – at Eid and at all times.

Eid Mubarak and happy holidays.