Prof. Sabitu Olagoke

All nations are blessed with abundant resources for individual upkeep and national strength and prosperity for the purpose of having peace, a safe and secured environment through sustainable development.

However, nations are classified as strong or weak based on the strength of their human capital, and governance with various indicators of economic development for a reality check. The resultant classification results will equally reflect on the nation through the human development index which is always rated low for poor nations due to the poor administration and management of their resources among their people through the standard levels of nutrition content, health sector facility challenges for the wellness level of the people.

In such a nation when the government is not forthcoming through good governance, the nation is divided into the two extreme regimes of the poverty line and kleptocracy divide. Such a society or nation would ever be characterized by diseases, hunger, poverty, moral decadence, indiscipline, and corruption.

The right solution prescribed by God, through all the scriptures is the promotion of the culture of integrity and philanthropy-whereby the poor will be able to bask in the glory of the rich.

Let us realize that wealth cannot buy happiness. 

Ecclesiastes 5: 10-14,'' Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay.

6Suffer, not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin; neither say thou before the angel, that it was an error: wherefore should God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the work of thine hands?

7For in the multitude of dreams and many words there are also divers vanities: but fear thou, God.

8If thou seest the oppression of the poor, and violent perverting of judgment and justice in a province, marvel not at the matter: for he that is higher than the highest regardeth; and there be higher than they.

9Moreover the profit of the earth is for all: the king himself is served by the field.

10He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver, nor he that loveth abundance with increase: this is also vanity.

11When goods increase, they are increased that eat them: and what good is there to the owners thereof, saving the beholding of them with their eyes?

12The sleep of a labouring man is sweet, whether he eat little or much: but the abundance of the rich will not suffer him to sleep.

13There is a sore evil which I have seen under the sun, namely, riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt.

14But those riches perish by evil travail: and he begetteth a son, and there is nothing in his hand.''

This is to prove that wealth can't buy happiness except a life of modesty that respects and upholds the concept of the dignity of labor.

He hardly worries to cheat because he is contented with a direct focus on how best to satisfy the demand of God through love and just worship.

In the same vein, the Holy Quran 13: 26-29 admonishes us to be at peace with ourselves through the divine content of self-satisfaction.

''Allah doth enlarge, or grant by strict measure, the Sustenance which he giveth to whom so he pleaseth(dignity of labor, without corruption). The worldly rejoice in the life of this world(by the wealthy people make them forget to serve accordingly the wretched souls that call on God for survival): But the life of this world is but little comfort compared to the hereafter. The Unbelievers say: 'Why is not a sign(abundance of wealth for display)sent down to him from his Lord?' Say:' Truly Allah liveth, to stray, whom He will: but he guided to Himself those who turn to Him in penitence. Those who believe and whose hearts find satisfaction in the remembrance of Allah: For without doubt, in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find satisfaction. For those who believe and work righteousness, is every blessedness and a beautiful place of final return.''

Our craze for materialism without consideration for equity in distribution to the very areas of people' needs aptly describes us as crazy people driving against the wheel of their creator as we engage in mutual rivalry for piling up the good things of this world that will automatically divert us from the more serious things that are of major concern to God the almighty Allah. 

Vanity upon vanity, until such people visit their graves.

Life without impact on others is devoid of God's grace, let us as from today, promote the culture of integrity, dignity of labor, and philanthropy for the society to feel our impact as rich people in order that there are peace and sustainable development. This is only a bequeathable legacy to the upcoming generation for posterity to judge us aright.

Founder, Spiritual Head and Grand Imam Shafaudeen-in-Islam Worldwide,Wakajaiye, Ibadan, Nigeria.

Peace has intrinsic and extrinsic value worth, fundamentally when the physiological need is met by an individual, he would be at peace with himself, this is when he could lay claim to having the tranquility of the mind.
However, inner peace may have truncated when the environment turns hostile. This is when the security of the environment is threatened for man to live in fear, if not running helter-skelter to get a safe environment for habitation. This applies to the various situation in the home, community, society at large, and the nation.
On the home front, the leadership question becomes an issue of paramount importance hence the need to have a family head, who will charismatic enough to protect, provide, and defend the cause of all the family members.
For the nation, leadership spans through the local community the state, and the country with the executive functions on the issue of peace, social justice, and accelerated development to be respectively by the Local Government Chairman, the State Governor, and  Mr. President.
The leadership question is, therefore, the bedrock of governance, this is why the emphasis is always on credibility, competence, good attitudinal values towards work ethics, and characteristic value of timely response to people's yearnings and demands.
Governance, therefore, needs to be seen through the perspective of credible leadership for result-oriented activities of appointed or elected leaders in governance to be able to effect peace within and around the environment most especially in the areas of jurisdiction spanning our specific and particular geographical contraption.
Amalgamation in several nations did not consider the necessary factors of emotional outbursts that may emanate from the fusion of people of different tribes and ethnic leanings which naturally is expected to be characterized by different ways of perceiving the same issues.

Peace is sacrosanct to mutual existence, this is why from the religious perspective the fear of the creator to check our excesses and the keeping of good neighborliness become highly significant as a code of exemplary lifestyles which the environment of governance needs to grow and succeed.
To the people generally, there is always a need for credible leadership, starting from the homefront to the government level to drive the affairs of the people into rational, socio-economic buoyancy to have a virile nation in which people's wellness is taken care of to be able to have a prosperous nation.
The essence of education is to empower the people to be strong and viable enough to articulate human and material resources justly into harnessing enough power to transform erstwhile arid land into a fertile one that would be a characteristic of a well-developed nation while doing this, the people must be mindful of possible internal wranglings and external aggression.
Governance demands rulership by conscience and that the government activities must be problem-solving for the people to be at peace with themselves.
Leaders, therefore, must not only be visionary but must be ready to sacrifice their pleasure in walking the talk for the people to live well in esteem.
Leaders must, therefore, garner sufficient experience in the areas of political science, administration, and management.
Leadership credibility at the same time must span through the regimes of moral discipline, integrity, transparency, loyalty without insubordination, accountability to be able to play the role model of a total personality in the areas of prudent spending and high sense of forgiveness, philanthropy, and altruistic philosophy.
With all these qualities in place, the factors of safety and security must have been entrenched for the peace need to be naturally and strongly idolized into our cultural psyche.
When a nation and its people are able to adopt and adapt all these concepts in governance, the objective of democracy as a government of the people, by the people, and for the people would have been met because nobody would have any cause to steal other people's property or possess what does not necessarily belong to them.
Justice and equity will ever supply peace and sustainable development, provided we allow divine interventions to direct the affairs of a nation through the adoption of the concept of a positive mindset.
All these must be made to function in our teaching and learning methodology spanning through our awareness and consciousness about our culture, proper orientation in our educational revolution, and functional religious activities that are value-laden into adherents' good state of scripture compliance.
Products of these three spheres of life will, undoubtedly, imbibe the culture of integrity, moral discipline, body preservation from sins and crimes, and soul purification from devilish thought processes in our political affairs for our politicians to give us good governance, peace, and sustainable development with a naturally occurring safety and security in our day to day interpersonal processes in our tongues and tribes differ.

Founder, Spiritual Head and Grand Imam Shafaudeen-in-Islam Worldwide,Wakajaiye, Ibadan, Nigeria

Nigerians have continually expressed reservations over the  deliberate lack of sincerity among all those responsible for governance at all levels.
This has brought about several distortions in facts and figures in every sector of the economy. In this interview, the Founder, Spiritual Head, and Grand Imam, Shafaudeeen-in-Islam Worldwide, Prof. Sabitu Olagoke opines that Nigeria's history has brought in its wake insincerity in governance at all levels. Excerpts : 
Why do you think the lack of sincerity is widespread cutting across all levels of governance in Nigeria?
In the past in Nigeria, ideological goals always mark the differences in political formations and the type of governance to be offered by any of the parties in charge of governance at any point in time.
The leadership of such parties in the past used to follow the concept of algebra equation, where only like terms can be added or subtracted.
People, therefore, joined political parties based on their beliefs and interests.
Political parties under these conditions were easy to manage by the leaders and issues of easy decampment from a political party to another based on seeking better grounds, was not all that common.
For example, when the world was chiefly divided into ideological goals of capitalism or socialism, progressives were known to be people-oriented, while the capitalists were regarded as conservative oppressors who cared less about the people but care more about the gains of business through political interests.
The sincerity of purpose was, therefore, the order of the day because the type of leaders was easily identified with the kind of governance they would ideologically offer.
In Nigeria, the evolutional trend of political governance starting from the days of the colonial masters, discipline was the order of the day and the common challenge was how to drive out the perceived white oppressors who were considered to be alien to continue to dominate our political, social and economic lives.

Though the hurting effects of tribalism and ethnicity were there, the common challenge of having a liberated nation formed out of the 1914 amalgamation preoccupied the united front formed by the founding fathers who struggled to fight for Nigeria's independence.
The culture of insincerity in governance then emerged because trust and loyalty had been murdered in the unfinished job of cleansing the nation through the bloody coup. The power struggle and power-sharing, therefore, became an issue of political hidden agenda as it reflected in the characteristic double tongues of the politicians and the emerging constitutions of 1979 and  1999 with which they were operating the governance agenda of the nation.
Lack of sincerity, therefore, became cultural and endemic affecting all spheres of our lives down to the core values of our integrity spreading over all agents of socialization-several homes are now formed through insincere pledges between intending couples, while along the line the sacredness of the institutions of marriages is put in danger.
Insincerity if not specifically addressed, may eventually reduce the quality of human capital down to the class of doubtful certification.
Insincerity in the religious terrain has led Nigerians into regrettable life of perversion because even religious leaders are found wanting of not been scripture compliant when the teacher is empty one can imagine the stuff their products are made of.
Nigerians are now thrown into the world of craze for material wealth and less spirituality.
The question of just worship and holiness ofGod now seem to be a mere waste of time by the few that care about the future of humanity because without God's divine intervention those who labor are doing so in vain. Is this not the basis for the various acts of terrorism, violence, and bloodshed?
How many of our houses of God can claim to still uphold the sacredness of religious sanctity when every one of us can attest to that most of these houses of God have become profane houses of promiscuities, iniquities, and havens of criminals. When Nigerians pass through the culture of insincerity to God, one can best imagine how the future of the next generation would look like.
The religious sphere is expected to cleanse the land of transgression and corrupt practices. A timely intervention by all stakeholders, the government, parents, teachers, professional bodies, religious leaders, and traditional rulers would do a lot of good for the country.
Suffice it now to say that a new Nigeria should emerge by offering necessary amendments to sectors that are ailing and the restructuring of the order of things beyond our considerations for mere material things. Only a nation built on the foundation of truth can survive the ordeals of life against all odds.

Prayer is a great request that usually demands the supplicant eagerness for an answer.
This may be a social demand from a supposed authority or giver.
On the other hand, the nature of the request may demand a divine solution for intervention whichever way prayer maybe another intervention through the power of appeal fr intercession or healing through divine means.
In all cases, supplicants have certain conditions to be met and fulfilled.
Common sense demands that there must be a mutual agreement and synergy between the two parties, whereby the supplicant must be of good character with spelled out reasons for the demand.
He must be sure of some authorities and capabilities of the person from which he is seeking favor and whose terms he must respect before having any hope to get a worthwhile and reasonable result.

 This is why from the biblical perspective in Psalm 24, the supplicant's prayer stands the risk of been answered, if and only if he could not acknowledge the mightiness of the almighty God as been praiseworthy.
''The earth and everything on it belongs to the Lord. The world and all its people belong to Him. The Lord built to Him. The Lord built the earth on the water. He built it over the rivers(Psalms 24: 1-2).
In the same manner, the  Holy Quran 1: 1-2 refers 
  ''In the name of Allah the most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah  the Cherisher and Sustainer of the worlds,
The supplicant needs to examine himself on creditworthiness to make a request.
For example, with respect to the level of attaining body purification from the devilish through processes. This is why the Holy Bible in Psalm 24: 3-5 ''Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? or who shall stand in his holy place?
4He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.
5He shall receive the blessing from the LORD, and righteousness from the God of his salvation. ''
On the set of conditions, the Holy Quran emphasizes the greatness of God and endear supplicants to make a covenant on the need to show consistency and sincerity of purpose in adhering strictly to the cause of the Almighty Allah before and after his prayer must have been answered. As a follow-up  of verses 4-5 of the same chapter 1, ''Master of the day of judgment thee do we worship and Thine aid we seek.''Guide us to the straight path -7 The path of those upon whom You have bestowed favor, not of those who have evoked [Your] anger or of those who are astray.''
At every point of experiencing resounding success, the Holy Bible and the Holy Quran teaches us to be thankful to God for the success to be eternal. Who is that glorious King? The Lord powerful is that King. But let us always be reminded that it is only under a strict environment of love that our religious  activities can activate into just worship, that can raise our hopes for our yearnings and aspirations to be crowned with success.''

Founder, Spiritual Head, and Grand Imam Shafaudeen-in-Islam Worldwide,Wakajaiye, Ibadan, Nigeria

The present state of affairs with mankind is that of the craze of material things and the total neglect of the need to build for self a clear state of spirituality whereby the words of God are respected and operationalized through the Scripture of the upheld religion.

This is the major reason why Jesus Christ was able to defeat Satan with his antics by refusing to take orders from Satan while at the same time rejecting its command to breakfast and turn stone into bread, but rather Jesus taught us all to be mindful of the need to prefer and work for spiritual diet, as contained in Mattew 4: 8-10.

Similarly, the Holy Quran submitted that only referred people by God are those who respect the ordinances of God and act on them to live by them as exemplars for others to follow(Quran 49:13).

Jesus Christ stated proverbially in Mark 4: 3-8,''Hearken; Behold, there went out a sower to sow: 4 And it came to pass, as he sowed, some fell by the wayside, and the fowls of the air came and devoured it up. 5And some fell on stony ground, where it had not much earth; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth: 6 But when the sun was up, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away. 7 And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no fruit.8 And other fell on good ground, and did yield fruit that sprang up and increased; and brought forth, some thirty, and some sixty, and some a hundred.''

The seeds can be likened to the words of God, while the ground varies according to the texture, nutrients, and components that are of vital importance to the responses.

The rate of responsiveness to the stimuli of advice, counseling, sermons, and lectures differs from one individual to another. Some suffer from loss of memory or inability to retain and recall lessons taught, such people equally suffer from unnecessary distractions of life making the religion non-functional in them.

The above constitute the first category of those that attend religious houses.

The second category is those people without faith, but either coincidentally find themselves in the houses of God or are dragged there by perhaps, by their parents or influential friends. Much as they admire the sermon, it might not necessarily benefit them because they lack faith.

The third category is the set of people who live among bad friends or peers, whose influences would not make the word of God impact positively in them.

The fourth category is the set of people with the right background of discipline and respect for morality. Such people easily identify with the activities and teachings in the houses of God and of religious leaders as a good service to themselves with many benefits to others.

The first three categories mentioned above must brace up to have better orientation not to be recipients of the statement in Isaiah 6:9-10: ''9And he said, Go, and tell these people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. 10Make the heart of these people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed. '' Such people are equally described in the Holy Quran 2: 18, ''Deaf, dumb and blind - so they will not return [to the right path].''

The Holy Quran 2: 6-10 equally warns us to be believers rather than people who reject faith or go contrary to the behavioral objectives of the Scripture: ''6. As for those who disbelieve—it is the same for them, whether you have warned them, or have not warned them—they do not believe.

7. God has set a seal on their hearts and on their hearing, and over their vision is a veil. They will have severe torment.

8. Among the people are those who say, “We believe in God and in the Last Day,” but they are not believers.

9. They seek to deceive God and those who believe, but they deceive none but themselves, though they are not aware.

10. In their hearts is sickness, and God has increased their sickness. They will have a painful punishment because of their denial.''

To be successful in life, there is a need for divine inspirational energy to drive every social desire according to the Chemistry of achievement, which is : 

Altitude=Aptitude + Attitude

In religious parlance, Altitude is to achieve maximally the comforts of life as well as not losing the benefits of the hereafter(Quran 2: 201-202).

Aptitude represents efforts made in life to acquire wealth and status maximally to the point of power, influence, and affluence with assertive authority.

The benefits of believing in God cannot be overemphasized, but we can only achieve it through due process and the fear of God expected to manifest in our ability to do things accordingly and aright(Quran 3: 102 and John 4: 34).

Founder, Spiritual Head and Grand Imam Shafaudeen-in-Islam Worldwide,Wakajaiye, Ibadan, Nigeria

Belief has to do with acknowledging an object by identifying with it in readiness to follow dictates for the purpose of benefitting from the relationship that is loyalty and trust-based.
In the religious parlance, our belfie that God created us and our environment and that He is the source of all the wherewithal responsible for our existence and survival as well as being the key determinant of our lives. Each religion has a creed, doctrine, and tenets that can be regarded as a curriculum or template for the adherents to be able to uniformly identify with God the Almighty through such processes that can be regarded as a form of worship in words, thoughts, deeds, and acts.
The whole process is enveloped by behavioral objectives upon which the account of the body's deeds or acts are gainfully or sinfully registered using the soul as a memory card for the, while the body at the terminal end goes into the grave decaying to humus level of nutrients to mother earth, the soul is either in a state of rest or decided to roam about or face judgment in the year after, with all the details of accounts of deeds by the body while the person was alive.
This is why the Holy Quran 2: 201-202 should be regarded as the statements of the problem in thesis writing and the significance of existence too: 'And there are men' who say:'' Our  Lord give us good in this world and good in the year after and save us and save us from the torments of fire !''. To this would be allowed what they have  earned and Allah is quick in account.'
Our sojourn on earth, therefore, must be rightly guided by the Scripture or curriculum of our choice of religion and we must live by the dictates of God, who we claim to believe in, and Who will not compromise any form of an anti-societal behavior and anti-divine acts.
Fortunately, for every human found in all facets of life; the Government, Ministries, Departments and Agencies, market places, residential areas, sporting activities, villages or urban areas. We have a religious house-local or foreign-we attend to see the face or favor of God.
One should preoccupy the management of religious houses, therefore, is on how best the adherents would be thoroughly taught to be Scripture compliant.
The easy way to do this is to adopt two models-1) The Millhouse theory where every worshipper would be regarded as a raw material who the pedagogues must teach aright to a refined level through the Scripture, in a classroom of religion.
The analogy to this can be likened to that of taking grains of maize of the Millhouse to become refined material to make bean cake(akara balls) or better still the process of making cement starting from blasting rock, that would go through various processing units to the level of gypsum(calcium sulfate) for calcination in order that the cement is set thereby packaged for transportation to different areas of sales and uses. That is from our raw stage, our houses of God must be able to process us to become good citizens of our communities and society who are dependable enough to be saddled with the responsibility of governance without fear of default, corruption, and other forms of indiscipline.
2) The teaching methodology must be based on a positive mindset concept whereby human senes organs should be trained to attain an excellent level of functionality. For example, the ear must be trained for hearing or information gathering as a subconscious tool for sensitivity purposes to the environment of learning.
The same ear in the classroom must be trained at the conscious level of use to offer attention and concentration without taking to any form of distraction in order that the learner maximally absorbs to adapt lessons from the lectures.
The mind must be set on believing in the taught lessons, while the brain and other parts of the body most especially the hands must be ready to recognize the areas of cognitive and psychomotor domains of education to be able to walk the talk not to be guilty of what the Holy Quran accuses of the pedagogues of Quran 61: 2-4,'' O ye who believe!  Why say ye that which you do not? Grievously hateful is it in the sight of Allah that ye say that which ye do not. Truly, Allah loves those who fight in His cause in battle array, as if they were in a solid cemented structure.''
It is imperative, therefore, those religious adherents are expected to be the best of the people in the society as a ready-made good for management, administration, and good governance where corruption and indiscipline would be alien in their system. This is because altitude they say is a function of the correct attitude and excellent performances in acquiring the aptitude most especially when one's area of discipline complements the are of religiosity because the following characteristics are expected of them. 1) Positive self-image whereby self-realization of been relevant in any position one finds himself or herself; without suffering from any form of inferiority complex is already in-built.
Teachings in the house of God must have in-built senes of confidence in the adherents, while self-esteem and culture of integrity ought to have preoccupied the teachings of the houses of God.
On good human relations, religious adherents ought to have been rejuvenated into a positive mental attitude that will offer him or her a sense of no abuse, despise, and condemnation of people, who might have performed below their expectations, but instead built up a high sense of aberration in order that he would be able to offer unbiased judgment, objective sanction and taking of firmness of purpose, and decisions based on precision and accuracy that would ensure justice and equity in an environment of the right spiritual aura produce peace and sustainable development with assured wellness of the people and rancor free zones.
Religious people, therefore, must fall in line with positive contributions to society and their neighbors based on the authority of God as entrenched in 1Cor. 13-13,''So these three things continue, faith(in religion)hope(in just worship), and love(in self and the environment). And the greatest of this love.''

Founder, Spiritual Head and Grand Imam Shafaudeen-in-Islam Worldwide,Wakajaiye, Ibadan, Nigeria

Religious houses are extensions of the human body. And it is a place where we must allow God to direct our affairs for us to maximally achieve our social desires.
Religious houses are usually dedicated to God for effective teamwork spirit and supplication onto God on the state of affairs to be promoted through peaceful co-existence for development to be sustainable and the wellness of the people to be achieved.
This is why the Holy Bible 1Cor. 3: 16-17, specifically charged every adherent in all religious systems to allow and dedicate onto God their bodies and their souls by working to achieve body preservation from sins and crimes.
 ''16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
''17 If any man defiles the temple of God, he shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.''

Note that sins, generally snowball into physical diabolic into the network of the Human justice system to take care of the resulting criminal activities that are left for the government or the society through due process for the erring person who could not control his emotions of sins and temperament of crimes usually land themselves into the general abuse of the society and the correctional centers or prisons of the government.

The Holy Bible also states in 1Cor 3: 18-19 that ''18 For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness, but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.''
''19 For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.''
In the same vein, the Holy Quran 24: 35-37, also presents the almighty Allah as incomparable light that can never become darkened and this powerful light is always residing in the body of the pious ones who fear God.
This glowing light in such man illuminates the whole body to radiate love to be able to take care of others and their environment. The Holy Quran 24: 36 states,'' That light shines˺ through houses ˹of worship˺ which Allah has ordered to be raised, and where His Name is mentioned. He is glorified there morning and evening.''
A clarification in verse 37 states ''by men who are not distracted—either by buying or selling—from Allah’s remembrance, or performing prayer, or paying alms-tax. They fear a Day when hearts and eyes will tremble.''
The question that follows now is to ask ourselves, are adherents of different religions Scripture compliant ? for every profession and academic attainment, the curriculum is sacrosanct. For Churches, Mosques, and other faith-based organizations, how far have we fared, to be able to live exemplary lifestyles with the Scriptures that are upholding our religious faith.
Let us all reflect on this, have a very good change of heart for every one of us to move forward to justify the presence of religious houses in our midst.

Founder, Spiritual Head and Grand Imam Shafaudeen-in-Islam Worldwide,Wakajaiye, Ibadan, Nigeria

Leadership training for every human to be fit for governance must be based on these three keywords, competence essence, good work attitude, and ability to be responsive in taking responsibilities. Each one of them lacking in any person voted for or appointed would manifest greatly in the areas of efficiency rating for performances. Under this condition, if not checked, the environment would become charged negatively into that of institutional indiscipline which would make leaders and followers witness orgies of transgression, crimes, and endemic corruption.
This is exemplified in Proverbs 25: 28,'' A person that cannot control himself is like a city without walls to protect it.'' Would Nigerians and the Government learn from this on time?
The Holy Quran put straight the quality and standard for good governance as expressed in the Holy Quran  38: 26, using King David as head of Government that must receive and follow this admonition of the essence of good governance for the people's wellness to be achieved in order that there is peace, security, and sustainable development.
The Holy Quran  38: 26 refers,'' Oh David! We did indeed make the vicegerent on earth: so judge thou between men and truth and justice: nor follow thou the lust of thy heart, for it will mislead thee from the path of Allah: for those who wander astray from the path of Allah, is a Chastisement Grievous for that, they forget the day of account''.
Expectedly, Nigerian leaders who are either Christians or Muslims or from other faith-based organizations need to justify their adherence to their religious claim upon been evaluated, be in compliance with the above-stipulated governance standard and guide. This is because by ben fair upon evaluation in government, King David was blessed with a good successor, who even excelled him in performance and achievements, King Solomon who ruled by knowledge, wisdom, and a discerning mind.
Unfortunately, Nigeria's profile of governance along with its successive trend became fragmented into a questionable democracy, corruption-soaked meritocracy, and even a  mysterious philosophy or concept along all these lines. Nigeria lost its focus on the developmental trend and the bearing of governance. Here we are today,  the governance styles of most of our leaders could be likened to that of King Belshazzar, who was later visited by the writing on the wall on a very sad note of the beginning of the end.
Daniel 5: 22-28, refers, ''but Belshazzar you already knew these things! You are Nebuchadenezer's grandson. But still, you have not made yourself humble. Instead, you have turned against the Lord of heaven. You ordered the drinking cups from the Lord's temple to be brought to you. Then you and your wives and tour women servants drank wine from those cups. You gave praise to the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood, and stone. Those are not really gods, they cannot see or hear or understand anything, but you did not give honor to the God who has the power over your life and everything you do, so because of that God sent the hand that wrote on the wall. These are the words that were written on the wall: Mene Mene Teke Perez, this is what these words mean: God has counted the days until your kingdom will end; Teke: you have been weighed on the scales and found not good enough; Perez: your kingdom is been taken from you. It would be divided among the Medes and Persians.''
Why has the land been continually impoverished, the cabal and the cartel from the political fold and business environment continued  to live in affluence without minding the focus of the United Nations behind the 17 point agenda for sustainable development, promotion of an inclusive society to take care of people with disabilities and women marginalization in the scheme of decision-making for a better Nigeria.
Divine admonition, therefore, to rescue the situation should be heeded to correct all these aberrations facilitated by institutional indiscipline.
The Holy Quran 57: 4 refers, a combination of SWOT analysis to identify our worth and smart application needs to be applied for correct interpretation of this verse of the Holy Quran,'' He it is Who created the heavens and the earth in six days(time-bound essence). Then he established himself on the throne, he knows what enters within the earth and what comes out of it(conservation of material essence). What comes down from heaven and what mounts up to it(the essence of transparency, auditing, and accountability). And He is with you wheresoever you may be(charges for all leaders to monitor and mentor those charged with the responsibilities for good service delivery through good work attitude and competence to do the job). And Allah sees well all you do.''
The Almighty Allah has role-modeled substances of due process for good governance which all of us must imbibe as a culture to drive the engine of development aright to the benefit of all in the name of promotion of inclusive society.  This is an antidote to poverty, corruption, and institutional indiscipline.

Founder, Spiritual Head and Grand Imam Shafaudeen-in-Islam Worldwide,Wakajaiye, Ibadan, Nigeria

Election and appointments into public offices based on religion have been identified as the major cause of under-performance in governance.
According to the Founder, Spiritual Head and Grand Imam of Shafaudeen-in-Islam Worldwide, Prof. Sabitu Olagoke, who made this assertion recently, in a lecture titled ''RELIGION PASSIVITY AND THE CHALLENGES OF DEVELOPMENT, in an event to commemorate his 64th birthday in Ibadan, Nigeria, ''we hypocritically wear the toga of religion to get into power without respecting the curriculum that upholds religion. How relevant is religion on our political activities, almost nil to the opium level.''
''Leaders are chosen based on religious inclination. Appointments equally have religious and ethnic coloration. However, in performance rating, there is a total deviation from the upholding Scriptures to the policy and behavior of the people chosen under religious clouds and clouts into political positions hence the underperformance,'' Prof. Olagoke stated.

The Federal and State Governments have been advised to increase the annual budgetary allocation to the education sector towards ensuring that the sector is vibrant in the post coronavirus pandemic days.

This advice was given by the Founder, Spiritual Head, and the Grand Imam of Shafaudeen-in-Islam, Prof. Sabitu Olagoke, in a lecture titled, ''NIGERIA EDUCATION SECTOR AFTER COVID-19, THE WAY FORWARD, at the annual Prof. S.A Olagoke Education competition in Ibadan.

''The Government must fund education well and motivate the teachers as a way forward for Nigeria's education system after COVID 19 pandemic. Parents, children, and students must cooperate with the school(Teachers) in observing the protocols and motivate the Government on the need for appropriate and adequate funding of education in Nigeria'', Prof. Olagoke stated.

The Nigerian environment is confronted with a myriad of challenges including urban decay, squatter settlements, stack fumes, unregulated and grossly excessive automotive and related exhausts, and poor environmental sanitation habits.
The attitude of the government on issues of poor waste management and land-use practices, the use of obsolete and environmentally unfriendly technology and equipment, poor and non-functional waste management equipment, and deteriorating services by decaying infrastructure have contributed greatly to the worrisome situation at hand. In several communities in Nigeria, such as the  Olorunsogo, Molete area of Ibadan, Oyo state, residents dump refuse in private residences. Sadly, the interest of Government in consultants by some State Governments for the purpose of waste disposal has not helped matters.
In this interview, the Founder, Spiritual Head, and Grand Imam of Shafaudeen-in-Islam Worldwide, Prof Sabitu Olagoke says that when the Government makes waste disposal fees affordable, cases of illegal dumping of refuse would reduce.

In what ways do you think the Government at all levels can secure a quality environment adequate for good health and well being?
In Nigeria the enlightenment on best environmental practices is absent. The Government intervention in the areas of waste management needs to make use of sanitary inspectors to compulsorily go out with other members of the task force, not only to enforce the law but to regulate and control the exercises on a daily routine basis. It is natural for man to generate waste in his activities to survive through the natural experience of his physiological activities vis-a-vis food from raw materials processed into products to the consumption end. The production of every ware such as clothes, hides, and skin for shoes and other packaging materials as well as all the materials that constitute construction processes for human habitation, transportation. Pollution, therefore, can be experienced in three forms, air pollution which has to do with the respiratory system of humans, water pollution which happens to be the essentials of life for humans, and land pollution on which all human activities are carried out.
The Government must be sensitive to the challenges confronting the environment. Most often Nigerians are seen on the mountain heap of refuse and debris looking for spent materials to sell to those who may recycle, reuse, or those who will want to process them into waste minimization without using any safety or security protocols, such people may eventually become victims of pollution which if not treated may lead to a dire state.
At the domestic front, the government needs to make the reduction of indoor air pollution with house plants compulsory most especially at the grassroots level.
The Government through its agencies must discourage the absence of regulation and control by ensuring that the undermentioned industries outside residential areas, so as not to endanger people's lives-lead acid battery recycling, industrial mining, lead smelting, industrial/municipal dumpsites, industrial estates, chemical manufacturing and dye industry among several others.
Generally, we must all agree that the illegal dumping of refuse can cause beatification damage to the environment, hence the government must work on population growth, ignorance of the people, high level of waste production, fees for waste disposal, appropriate technology for waste disposal management and waste control.
The negative effects of the illegal dumping of refuse deserve attention.
States and Local Governments, therefore, need to collectively consider the health implications on the people to do the needful in combating the menace of the illegal dumping of refuse and poor waste management strategy.  Thye needs to involve members of the public in waste management, by counseling them to make reports of cases of the illegal dumping of refuse as well as ensuring that the law is enforced.
The Government must make waste disposal fees affordable, this would go a long way in eradicating illegal dumping of refuse.  The State and Local Governments must role model for ease of domestic practices, the three concepts of Reduction, Recycling, and Reuse.
Nigerian have to move from conservative and dirty habits to an environmentally friendly attitude.

Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed as a result of unusual sex orgies which the people-influential or low-failed to control and combat.
The situation of Nigeria at the moment is that of sex orgies affecting both the parents and the children-high and low.
this situation is a threat to the fabric of our spiritual state which is highly necessary to drive our individual and collective social desires to manage, administer, lead, and government to develop aright. A loss of goodwill in spirituality will ever wreck the nation and its people. Isaiah 29: 13-19 states,'' My master says that these people love me they show honor to me with words from their mouths. But their hearts are far from me, but human rules they have memorized. So I will continue to amaze these people by doing powerful and amazing things.  Their wise men will lose their wisdom, their wise men will not be able to understand those people trying to hide things from the Lord. They think the Lord will not understand, those people do their evil things in the darkness.
those people tell themselves, 'No person can see us, no person  will know who we are.' You are confused, you think the clay is equal to the potter. You think that something made can tell the person that made it, you did not make me, this is like a pot telling its maker, you don't understand.''
Is this not the present situation in Nigeria? WHEN We disobey God will l impunity, waywardness and frivolities follow, we become bestial with all indecency in the way we go about things.
The Holy Quran declared in unmistakable terms, ''Kill not your children for fear of want: We shall provide sustenance for them as well as for you. Verily, the killing of them is a great sin nor come nigh to adultery: For it is an indecent deed and an evil way.
The question now is why are we neglecting the essence of good parenting and how responsible are many of us on the issue of taking care of our children. Are we not killing these children, when we shy away from our socio-economic responsibilities?
Leaving our children or wards to engage in street trading and to join bad peer groups is dangerous.
Mathew 5: 27-28 in the Holy Bible corroborates Chapter 17: 31-32 of the Holy Quran, on the magnetic effect to an infectious level of adultery or fornication. Hence we must not come near. The Holy Bible on this refers,' you have heard that it  was said, don't do the sin of adultery, but I tell you that if a person looks at a woman and wants to sin sexually with her, then that person has already committed that sin, with the woman in his mind.''
Sexual sins may make a nation lose the opportunity of the divine, most especially in the period of  need.

Prof. Sabitu Olagoke

Founder, Spiritual Head and Grand Imam Shafaudeen-in-Islam Worldwide,Wakajaiye, Ibadan, Nigeria

Most communities in Nigeria today are inhabited by a sizable number of criminally-minded leadership and followership, which has resulted in the unabating rate of crime and criminality in these communities. Indeed, parents and guardians in several instances, aid and abet their children and wards to commit a crime.
However, Nigerians are hopeful that in the not too distant future, these communities shall produce those who shall make a positive and useful contribution to the advancement, progress, and development of these communities.
 In this interview, the Founder, Spiritual Head, and Grand Imam of Shafaudeen-in-Islam Worldwide, Prof. Sabitu Olagoke says that privileged elders in the country have impacted negatively on the youth. Excerpts :
Most communities in Nigeria are inhabited by a number of criminally-minded leadership and followership, in what ways do you think these communities shall produce those who shall ensure the positive advancement, progress, and development of these communities?
Deviation from all the universal keys into successes always creates an environment of ethical practices, morality, and institutions of discipline as cultural heritages. Under this circumstance, communities were able to produce people as technocrats and leaders, who used to ensure advancement, progress, and development such as our founding fathers in Nigeria.   The social environment is always serene most especially when one finds himself working and living in the various quarters of tertiary institutions then, brilliance was promoted, the golden fleece was always the target of achievement when there is the opportunity to travel abroad.  The dignity of labor dictated the pace of hard work and prosperity. Unfortunately, this was shortlived after the departure of the colonial masters who gave us independence in 1960 which we could neither manage nor sustain because of our failure in power-sharing. The Nigerian youth has been badly affected by the greed of the privileged elders, who are yet to accept a paradigm shift solution of mentorship for godfatherism to develop a stable political environment for sustainable development. From the spiritual angle, Nigerians, low and high, have refused to understand that deviation from the positive mindset to help others and develop the youth aright through educational rejuvenation and career opportunities make one fall into a deluge of sins which if not well controlled and contained would eventually lead to the emergence of various forms of crime, affecting the psyche of all to destroy the legacies of our founding fathers who collectively fought and vowed to stand, to maintain and sustain the virtues and values bequeathed them, as contained in the national anthem, wherein we declared that the efforts of our heroes past shall are not in vain.
what obtains in Nigeria till date, is the vandalization of our heritage in all senses of it, making us look as if we are deliberately working against what we vowed to protect as been sung the daily-the national anthem.
Today, Nigeria is enveloped by criminally minded people emerging almost in every community as visibly manifesting on the image of Nigeria to the bewilderment of all including people abroad. The challenge, therefore, is in proferring feasible solutions starting from sensitizing all the youth to identify with some role models in the nation and work towards raising their status to be able to achieve for the land as they had achieved for their communities during their time. Anthony Enahoro moved the motion in 1953, which led to Nigeria's independence in 1960. There several other eminent Nigerians, dead or alive, that are worthy to be role models for the youth. Let us give the Nigerian youth a chance but under a reformed environment of zero tolerance to corruption and institutional indiscipline. Say No to allowing criminally minded to attain power from today.

Nigerians are not happy with the policies of the present administration in the country at all levels. The people insist that the policies are not people-friendly and have continuously impoverished them.
The method of control of the economy by the powers that be has to a large extent unsecured the maximum welfare, freedom, and happiness of Nigerians which has negatively affected social justice and unequal status and opportunity. In this interview with  Poverty Line, the Founder, Spiritual Head and Grand Imam of  Shafaudeen-in-Islam Worldwide, Prof. Sabitu Olagoke opines that Nigeria is still in search of visionary leaders who shall impact positively on the people. Excerpts :

The economic and other policies of the present administration have negatively impacted on the welfare, freedom, and happiness of Nigerians and have resulted in social injustice and unequal status and opportunity. Why is this so?

Nigeria's state of instability in governance and the crop of leaders emerging after the first republic became questionable for us to erroneously build on the concept of a unitary form of government to fashion out the 1979 and 1999 constitutions in running our democracy. The journey so far is really embarrassing to the extent that our leaders lack control of governance which has resulted in leakages, waywardness, frivolities, and the general culture of institutional indiscipline. In the process, the homes and other institutions lost grip pf organizational and professional ethics.
The culture of integrity and the dignity of labor suffered a lot to make prophetically real, Prof. Chinua Achebe's submission in his book, Things Fall Apart'', that the Falcons can no longer hear the Falconers as the thing was falling apart for the center not to hold anymore with the consequence of mere anarchy ruling the world.
It is unfortunate that Nigeria has not been so blessed and is still in search of visionary leaders who will be ready to sacrifice to hold Nigeria together to get us united into a permanent state of prosperity.
The culture of patriotism is gone and quick money making syndrome is becoming a palliative to replace the arrows of unemployment even for graduates of the various higher institutions.
Nigeria needs good governance that aids development without compromising the ability of the youth to take the baton of development with ease, to be able to build upon the strong foundation of the expected heroic heritage.
The issue lies in the fact that the economic and other policies of Government since  1970 till date have not favored the natural human rights of the people vis-a-vis welfare, freedom, and happiness, as a result of the series of inequities, social injustice, inequality of status and opportunities. The way forward is to work on a phrase in our national anthem that is, ''The labor of our heroes past shall never be in vain'',  by SWOT analyzing the value chains in governance through Tafawa Balewa, Herbert Macaulay, Obafemi Awolowo, Ahmadu Bello, Aminu Kano, Nnamdi Azikiwe, Okotie Eboh, Anthony Enahoro among several others.
The challenge for Nigeria in the present circumstance is for the government to respect our youths and their parents by providing good governance as precedence so that aberrations noted by them in their peaceful protests should be quickly addressed through cautious and effective restructuring programs for the economic and other policies of government to serve the expected purpose of sustainable development.

The Print, Television and other branches of the mass media ought to at all times uphold the fundamental objectives of the real purpose of governance in impartial and unbiased ways. 
Sadly, a number of organizations have failed to uphold the responsibility and accountability of the Government to the people for pecuniary and related reasons. In this interview with Federationews2day, the Founder, Spiritual Head, and Grand Imam of Shfaudeen-in-Islam Worldwide, Prof. Sabitu Olagoke opines that a section of the media in Nigeria beautify rather than highlighting the Government's shortcomings.

Excerpts: 
Some media organizations have overtime failed to uphold the responsibility and accountability of the Government to the people. Why is this so?
The golden profession of the pen and other arms of the mass media are powerful communication tools to enliven the primary roles of enhancing education information and entertainment aspects of human activities for the purpose of peaceful co-existence and peoples' wellness and development.
This is why there is a regulatory control board for the proper management of the practice of the profession to avoid misleading the people and the promotion of disaffection among the people of mankind.
Without this profession, the whole world would have been in 'darkness', where waywardness and frivolities without a check would have dominated the scene to the displeasure and disadvantage of the weak and the just.  In the case of Nigeria, we started well with the print and electronic media.  Considering the emerging political scenario, partisanship has dominated the mass media, with reports having slants via tribal sentiments and political party biases.
This became more pronounced when privately owned mass media became prominent.
At a particular point in time, Nigeria relied upon foreign news than the local ones.
The local media have challenges such as the doctoring need either by government or the proprietors of various mass media otherwise employees would lose their jobs.
The role of the mass media is supposed to go beyond that of a watchdog that can only bark without biting.
However, Nigeria is yet to benefit from their competitive nature for any form of improvement need.
For the mass media to be effective, it needs to dwell on issues and objectivity based on facts and figures for their solidarity to check the opposition's overzealousness and critically evaluate the government's activities.
The performance rating and the need to restructure through management ethics need to be used as a tool by the mass media in order that their findings as x-rayed, would sensitize the society into taking decisive action on correcting aberrations in governance for all indicators of development to be improved.
Activities of the media are expected to x-ray the contributions of every individual in the National Assembly while periodical checks through a good performance rating of the executive members as well as the appointees of government into various positions of power.
Publications regarding the truth about the suitability of people in Ministerial portfolios ought to let the public know the people who are responsible for the various fraud and corruption in the land. This approach of the media would assist the government to carry out a periodical reshuffle of the cabinet for the purpose of achieving better performances in other people for the nation.
It is very unfortunate that Nigeria has witnessed cases of erstwhile good union leaders who were found wanting in governance affairs when challenged with management administration issues as they involve transparency and accountability. Also, erstwhile media practitioners of note have usually been found wanting, when given the opportunity to serve the government. One can now understand why the mass media may usually beautify government activities rather than exposing its failures.
However, for the nation to grow and develop, the mass media must be firm through organizational and professional ethics orientation as well as strong editorials and commentaries that must be respected based on objectivity that would not attract insinuations from members of the public that the outbursts were sponsored by the enemies of the government.
Society relies solely on the strength of the mass media in the charging government to be responsive and responsible through the due process of transparency and accountability.

The rot in government has a lot to do with the factors of elected or appointed personalities, not doing their work accordingly in the area of responsibilities of the system running on the provisions of basic amenities to enable citizens to be meaningfully engaged to prevent restiveness for peace to reign.

Founder, Spiritual Head and Grand Imam Shafaudeen-in-Islam Worldwide,Wakajaiye, Ibadan, Nigeria

Muslim faithful have been called upon to justify the celebration of festivals by having the fear of God and been morally disciplined.

This call was made by the Founder, Spiritual Head, and Grand Imam of Shafaudeen-in-Islam Worldwide, Prof. Sabitu Olagoke in his Ed-El Kabir message titled; COVID 19 PANDEMIC EFFECT AND HUMANITY CHALLENGE ON THE FEAR OF GOD.

''Let us justify all festivals we celebrate  in the name  of God through moral discipline, fear of God to enhance and promote fraud-free society  full of harmony, security, and prosperity.''

''Let sus cleanse the houses of God of dirt and profanity to assume its rightful status of sacredness. Equally, let us make sacrosanct   Scripture Compliance with fear of God to win divine intervention of Allah(God) and secure His favor to render impotent and inactive COVID 19  virus and  stop its spread to zero-sum'', Prof. Olagoke stated.