Prof. Sabitu Olagoke

Nigerians have are of the consensus that the legislature at both the Federal and State levels have done very little to address the country's challenges that revolve on peace, order, and good governance. In this interview the Founder, Spiritual Head and Grand Imam of Shafaudeen-in-Islam worldwide, Prof. Sabitu Olagoke opines that it would be difficult for the present crop of lawmakers at the Federal and State levels to make laws that would ensure, peace, order, and good governance due to the circumstances surrounding their elections into the legislature. Excerpts :

In what areas do you think members of the Legislative arm of government in Nigeria can make laws to ensure peace, order, and good governance?

The shift from premiership or the parliamentary system of government to the present colossal waste form of the presidential system has been found to be an eternal error for Nigeria. 

During the parliamentary system, the regional government was favored, making each region to develop at their own pace, based on the wealth of resources on the ground.

For the west, the areas of commerce, communication, transportation, mining, agriculture among others led to the birth of radio and television, which was the first in Africa. This equally beamed their searchlight on other areas of development to the benefit of the welfare of the people including their environment.

The presidential system on the other hand only succeeded in impoverishing the people and retarding development leading to a series of challenges and problems. The replication of the achievement in the west enriched the North at the expense of other areas to the threat level of the unity of the nation, under the cover of federal character that favored only the acclaimed states or regions.

During the parliamentary system, wisdom and experience were crucial factors that determined those who were elected, unlike in the present circumstance wherein only the money bags have their way.

Assistance for the rich only goes to the elite class who earn their pay for the services rendered to the politicians in power.

Educational and professional institutions are made to languish under the whims and caprices of the moneybag politicians who dictate the tune.

The religious sector under the presidential system is managed through divide and rule tactics to segregate the religious leaders, wherein most of them are been used as megaphone propagandists to deceptively make it look as if God is supporting the oppressive and wasteful rulership approach of the politicians in power.

To the saints, who are very few in number, the whole scenario implies impunity in the houses of God, contrary to the sacredness essence of the houses of worship.

Spiritism drives the engine of political vehicles affecting our system of integrity, objectivity in policymaking, and implementation! Since the presidential system in vogue, anti-societal clauses and phrases have continuously emerged in the form of budget padding, making the implementation to be fraught with fraud.   Institutional indiscipline simultaneously cropped up with various allegations and accusations against political office seekers. This has manifested in the various cases of perjury and forgery of certificates just to be able to get the juicy positions of power, not for service but to make money.

There are also several cases of members of the National Assembly involvement in corruption scandals through contract awards and constituency projects scams that are being reported by the media. Is it not an irony of life that most projects meant to emancipate the masses are always hijacked by the political class that is inside or outside government, most especially the members of the National and State Huse of Assembly as bait to parley with the Executive on issues of jeopardized public interest. Examples are the 774,000 jobs that are expected to be executed through the Local Governments and the National Directorate of Employment(NDE). It is a source of concern that the National Assembly shall have a share of these jobs, including the fact that a former Lagos state governor, his daughter, and a caretaker chairman of the NURTW are to manage the Lgoas state share of the jobs. Secondly, the Niger Delta Development Commission(NDDC)corruption probe equally indicts several legislators who are expected to concentrate on their constituency projects and their oversight functions. Unfortunately, most of the projects as contracts from the NDDC and as oversight functions are seen to overlap in the presentation! With all these antecedents of bad records for many of the legislators,  one cannot but become skeptical about the possibility of having lawmakers that would be patriotic enough to sacrifice his or her time, body and wealth to the level of thinking for Nigeria and the people through whose mandate they are able to get to the positions of power.

Thoughts of domesticating some international human rights issues, most especially in the areas of women's human rights, always send jitters down one's spine, whenever one remembers how it was first rejected, then ridiculed. The bill to be passed had issues due to the issue of bribery which was not forthcoming. One can easily infer therefore that making laws to ensure peace, order and good governance would continue to prove difficult, considering the way and manner the lawmakers got elected through several group interests, political parties will always seek to have the majority in the House not to be able to serve the masses who gave them the mandate, but to be able to satisfy possible evil romance with the Executive that must have had some clandestine meeting of the oath of allegiance for the parties to remain in power and to be able to resist a possible outcry from the public or opposition parties for the removal of their colleagues. A downward review of the salaries and allowances of the legislators is long overdue. The nation, therefore, needs to develop a  feedback mechanism that would be measurable to assess and evaluate the impact been made by the policies formulated and implemented. The people's voice on the actions and inactions of political office holders must be used the pulse of the nation on the quality of the laws made and passed by the lawmakers using the parameters of peace, good governance, and sustainable development to justify people's voting participation and the salary been earned by the political officeholders. A paradigm shift from the business as usual approach to that of sacrifice and service in office is not only desired from the executive but from the lawmakers as well. 

The Federal Government is in the process of recruiting 774,000 Nigerians through the National Directorate of Employment(NDE). Those recruited shall come from the 774 Local Governments in the country-1,000 per Local Government. The jobs are direct labor in nature and the beneficiaries shall receive N20,000 per month for three months.

However, Nigerians have have expressed worries that Senators, House of Representatives members, Ministers, State Governors and political party stalwarts may influence the recruitment process.

They lament that the jobs are temporary and the number of those to be recruited is insignificant considering the very high unemployment rate in the country.

In this interview, the Founder, Spiritual Head and Grand Imam of Shafaudeen-in-Islam, Prof. Sabitu Olagoke opines that the N-Power, Tradermoni and the Direct Labor schemes are not remedies for the worrisome state of unemployment in the land. Excerpts :

Do you think that recruitment of 774 Nigerians as direct labor workers shall address the high rate of unemployment in the country ?

Unemployment saga in Nigeria as it affects mostly the youths and graduates has aggravated sinister development in terms of banditry, insurgency, armed robbery and rape for rituals to mention just a few, leading to the general state of insecurity even amidst the panic of the coronavirus pandemic.

The partial pittance of distribution of palliatives which was highly short lived exposed Nigeria’s poor state of welfare and high poverty level in terms of our population as if we are just recovering from famine and war.

Unfortunately, there is no sense of remorse or state of regret on the part of the elite, whose contribution to the impoverishment of the masses are obvious and with no place to hide as in billions of Naira worth because of the advantage of either been in government or the corridors of power. Nigeria today is known as the world headquarters of poverty and corruption, instead of addressing this, they care less about the North which could be said to be the epicenter of poverty.

The great challenge before government is to redouble their efforts in working on this for Nigeria to be more habitable.

 Government pretends to be responding to the cries of the people by rolling out a plan to solve the problem of poverty by initiating employment opportunities for 774,000 Nigerians with 1,000 candidates per Local Government.

However, the feasibility study for its effectiveness is yet to be done while the modalities for identifying the poorest of the poor continues to be a game of political jingoism because during the palliative distribution to cushion the effect of the lock down in the scanty and selected areas, even within each state’s geographical contraption.

The faces of most of the people who received the pittance of token were known to be working class and well fed. The society is yet to know how government was able to fish out the poorest of the poor.

During the N-Power program meant to reduce poverty by cushioning the effect on the unemployed youth in the society, most especially the unemployed graduates, research statistics showed that most of the beneficiaries were already engaged in various places of work, making a jamboree out of the exercise.

After two years of benefiting from the program, the beneficiaries flooded the already saturated labor market, thereby making the exercise to have no impact, while their counterparts with lesser certificates and grades, who happen to be offspring of the elite and people in government easily get absorbed into choice places of work-CBN, NNPC, NSE etc.

Government’s gesture of employing 774,000 Nigerians, though of very low impact, would have been commendable, if not for the fact that it is menial in nature, the wage of N20,000 is not impressive and the number to be recruited is too small compared to the number of unemployment youths, graduates and artisans alike.

This situation makes one wonder why successive governments have always been failing to promote the cause of our future leaders.

Unemployment became an issue in Nigeria in the year 2006 when it rose to 6 per cent, by the year 2011 it rose to 11.6 per cent , 2014 it was 19.6 per cent, in 2016 it rose to 23.9 per cent.

Despite all policies leading to the emergence of various economic interventions like OFN, Family Support, Better Life for Rural Women, DFFRI and Sure P, policy somersault rendered all of these ineffective and useless in the face of institutional indiscipline, corruption and lack of patriotism for Nigeria.

Till date our attitude has never changed, but grows worse under every government despite their campaign for positive changes.

The areas of international embarrassment included the recruitment process with over bearing influences of the State Governors, Ministers, Senators, House of Representatives members and party leaders.

Since the poorest of the poor are expected to reside in the Local Governments and communities that are remote, one should expect in a sane society therefore that the responsibility of recruiting candidates should be that of the Local Government chairmen, but for their questionable autonomy. Sadly, in Nigeria the masses are only relevant during the voting period, but are inconsequential after the elections by the people who they voted into power. Is this not a costly paradox of life ?

For this project to be of any meaningful impact, the Federal Government must increase the numbers to key into satisfying at least on third of the verifiable number of people suffering from the saga of unemployment, while their remuneration must be to the least value of the minimum wage or that of the National Youth Service Corps(NYSC) members. N-Power, Tradermoni and the direct labor schemes are not remedies to our state of poverty and unemployment in the face of the gruesome level of the challenges of insecurity confronting the nation.

Much as the number of universities are not sufficient enough, the number of graduates who are unemployed should be reduced drastically either by providing jobs or establishing vocational training centers under TIVET to accommodate large numbers of people who are unemployed and to justify the teaching of entrepreneurial courses in our institutions of higher learning while government must revisit the poor state of our Technical colleges for facility update in order that we are able to produce more craftsmen, whose graduates would be able to source for loans through accredited people’s banks for the purpose of becoming job creators for others to patronize and for them to be self employed.

Besides this, most of our artisans are highly unskilled, they have caused a lot of damage on projects assigned to them.

Revived Technical colleges equally come to the rescue of giving them short term courses that would improve their proficiency with some elements of rudimentary level of managerial skills.

Only such holistic approach which is youth focused and centered can solve the challenges of the dependents which every expected working class should bear to satisfy their socio-spiritual responsibilities for peace to reign.

Above all, the issue of stable and regular electricity supply is equally germane to the survival of small and medium scale industries for the realization of genuine industrialization to be realized. 

A number of State Governments are desirous to reopen schools, even though there is already an unusual increase in the positive cases of the coronavirus in several states of Nigeria.

Already worship centers have been reopened, with a sizable number of them contravening the guidelines for reopening. Sadly government officials are among the several personalities who have violated the guidelines put in place to check the spread of the virus, while several common Nigerians have been prosecuted for same. In this interview, the Founder, Spiritual Head and Grand Imam of Shafaudeen-in-Islam Worldwide, Prof. Sabitu Olagoke warns that reopening schools at this time may be catastrophic. Excerpts :

Do you think it is reasonable to reopen schools now, considering the increasing positive cases of the coronavirus ?

Across the lines of the three spheres of life, namely educational, religious and government institutions, only the last is functional-playing the big daddy role overbearing authority of instructions. Expectedly, it is the power house of society because the wealth and the might of the nation rests squarely on its shoulders under its control. But disappointingly the spread of the coronavirus pandemic is going on at such an alarming rate as if to say that no efforts have been made to curtail the spread. The first question is why are the educational and religious institutions rendered inactive in the control of the pandemic both in the areas of spread prevention and in the areas of cure for victims. The reason is not far fetched.

The religious institution has lost bearing of its focus in taming the wildness of the evening times, empowering adherents to have immunity against hunger and poverty as well as against spiritual attack which the coronavirus represents. Religious adherents and their leaders are more into rhetoric and entertainment part of religion because of their economic driven commercial focus and without readiness to sacrifice for fellow human beings. Qualification to meditate or supplicate on to God, for divine intervention is therefore lacking, may be this is why government has the audacity to close down acclaimed houses of God, without repercussion or remorse. With the daily increase in the number of positive cases, which has now gone beyond an international contagion to that of community based transmission, reopening of the houses of God may be regarded as a costly mistake of the century by government, more so when they can bear witness that houses of God can become havens for fraudsters, prostitutes, kidnappers, drunkards, drug addicts and those who are spiritually dead and socially decadent, contrary to the demands of the scripture on the issue of integrity, fear of God, soul purification and body preservation from sins and crimes correct adherent illumination and radiation as preconditions to effect divine intervention on matters concerning humanity.

Government ought to have capitalized on this by instructing the religious houses to do the needful for acceptable religious relevance in the scheme of sanitizing the society and developing the nation.

A critical monitoring of the reopened houses of God so far, reveal partial compliance with the guidelines for their reopening, while most of their adherents are yet to believe that the coronavirus is real because their immediate neighbors are yet to die.

The basic question is that are the religious leaders ready to replace profanity with sacredness to ensure value restoration into the houses of God ?

A clean body without sincerity of purpose and purified souls is more of a time bomb that may aid further spread of diseases of which the coronavirus is a current case study. The coronavirus like HIV has come to stay with humanity, its proper management to prevent it becoming a terminal disease is what matters most now.

2021 has been slated for the reopening of schools in the United States of America, when it is most certain that the environment must have been free from the pandemic. Working on how the community transmission would stop and how to prevent congestion at the home front to be able to avoid been infected with the disease is what should preoccupy everybody as stakeholders, while government should facilitate urgent reforms in the education, health and religious sectors, since they all have standards of practice based on the sustaining curricula. Most religious organizations are now resorting to virtual learning through zoom and some other internet facilities including Skype. The rigorous pursuit of these internet facilities would be a good adoption by government and owners of schools as a functional social educational interaction between the teachers and parents for the students not to be unnecessarily idle at home. However, parents must be on guard to instill discipline and prevent waywardness of their children.

Opening of schools under whatever pretense during this period may be catastrophic. Government must avoid a situation whereby some people would start insinuating that it is aiding and abetting the rapid spread of the virus as a modern day sacrifice to appease some diabolic cults. The present situation calls for caution in reopening schools as well as religious houses considering the rapid spread of the virus.

The grand design of God and how best to keep humanity and our societal interaction in a state of equilibrium and peace, is the best for mankind but our different attitude and disposition towards the set objectives of God on giving him just worship in an environment of love suggests otherwise.

The scriptures provide right inferences on this — Quaran 51 : 56 ‘’ I have only created Jinns and men that they may serve.’’

1 COR 13 ‘’ So these three things continue, faith(religion)hope (derived from just worship) and love(enabling environment for the realization of hopes and desires).

The design of God spans through the unions of education for civility and development, religion for character formation, good moral code and institutional discipline and the loop of government through various political formations, dispositions and dispensations. 

Al these are planted on the seat of cultures which vary from one tribe to the other, races and other in-built social virtues.

For humanity to be groomed into ethical practices, the three unions must be built on trust for generations to be able to ensure its value continuity.

Unfortunately for mankind, we are divided into opinions to lose focus of the scriptures in building for us right attitudinal values even within the same denomination of religion, we lock horns. making sects to rise against sects through antagonistic teachings that lack the backing of the scripture for various religious adherents to disagree and lose the battle for unity which education, religion and politics are supposed to give us to have respite in the land.

In this 21st century, adherents must not allow their venom of hatred for others to override the true scriptural teachings which are addressing the same issues of love and harmony, morality and discipline, if we want God and Godliness to be truly served, to serve us.

No religion teaches evil and all religions co-exist in concept and principles, at the point of quintessence that promotes minimum energy with love and harmony in addition to moral discipline resulting in peace.

Every religion, has the potential to give adherents tranquility of the mind and the peace of the environment for the society, but only through just worship dictated by the upheld religion, with the fear of God which ultimately provides Godly protection and immunity against life’s hazards.

The epitome of belief are Jesus Christ and the Holy Prophet Mohammed, who we all profess as Christians and Muslims to follow, in humility we learnt of them as they served humanity through sacrifice, visions, transparency and exemplary lifestyles of discipline and beneficial development for others. For example the Holy Quaran states ‘’ Oh ! ye who believe enter into Islam wholeheartedly and follow not the footsteps of satan, for he is to you an avowed enemy.’’

John 4 : 34 ‘’ Jesus said my food is to do what the one God who sent me wants me to do. My food is to finish the work He sent me to do.’’

Quaran 33 : 21 ‘’Ye have indeed in the messenger of Allah, an excellent exemplar, for him who hopes in Allah on the final day, and who remember Allah much.’’

With all the advantages and facilities for correct learning , let us emulate our religious holy prophets or true masters to resuscitate the already eroded ethical values to be able to promote an environment of institutional discipline, active and reliable change agents, as well as a corruption free society for true development to emerge.

The Federal and State Governments in Nigeria are already tinkering with the idea of cutting the salaries of workers in addition to reducing the size of the workforce. This is coming at a time that a sizable number of labor leaders in Nigeria prefer government patronage to pursuing the cause of workers. Sadly, workers have continued to lament that the meager salaries they earn do not take them home at the end of the month. A cross section of Nigerians believe that any attempt to cut salaries and retrench could have very negative effects on the various sectors of the economy. In this interview, the Founder, Spiritual Head and Grand Imam of Shafaudeen-in-Islam, Prof. Sabitu Olagoke opines

The Federal and State Governments are considering cutting workers’ salaries and also reducing the size of the workforce. Is this the right time for such ?

Cutting salaries can be necessary, if government can transparently publish the details of the expenditure so far of managing the coronavirus pandemic which is yet to be effective for people to sympathize and identify with government.

Equally, government needs to show us various foreign grants given the country as interventions from international sources as well as the donations from sympathetic Nigerians.

This attitude will boost transparency essence in governance for the people’s loyalty and trust to be enjoyed. Suffice it now to say, that the lock down , stay-at-home directive and the partial palliative measures from government as well as the skeletal services rendered by workers must have amounted to a lot of waste on the part of government.

It would be against the natural law of social justice to effect any anti-workers policy, this period when the coronavirus pandemic is yet to abate. What Government should preoccupy itself with presently, is how to get more effective measure in curtailing the alarming rate of the pandemic.

Presently, government's handling of the pandemic without the accompanying positive results from the members of the public must also be of serious concern.

Government has the responsibility of encouraging stakeholders in the religious sphere to promote a Godly state of piety and sacredness of the houses of worship for the clerics to be able to seek and have divine intervention over this matter, with a lot of work that is yet to be done on this by government and all in the religious sphere.

Government policy must not drive Nigerians into another state of panic through unwarranted cutting of salaries of workers and retrenchment. Nigeria is yet to reach the sustainable development line as defined by the United Nations. The whole world has tagged Nigeria as the international headquarters of poverty and corruption, while both the Federal and State Governments attest to the fact that most Nigerians are in the pathetic class of the poorest of the poor. An attempt to cut salaries or downsize will ever aggravate this pathetic economic condition, which may spur most people into anti-societal norms and the breakdown of law and order; as is been experienced across the country-insurgency, armed robbery, kidnapping, prostitution, pedophilia, rape and defilement. The source of all these could partly be traced to the physiological needs of the people which government is yet to address, even under a democratic principle of equity and justice.

If government is to make up for its losses during the coronavirus pandemic, the sacrifice must include the drastic downward review of the salaries and allowances of the political class in government and the Ministries, Departments and Agencies, while it could be extended to the salaries of workers in a lower proportion.

Instead of retrenching workers, reforms based on accounts of misconduct,as must have been reported through Service Compact with All Nigerians(SERVICOM) and The Anti- Corruption and Transparency Unit(ACTU) over the years, such workers that could be classified as the dandruff of the system, are to be revisited without prejudice or favor.

Retirement age could be revisited for fresh graduates to be able to have employment in multiples to fill the vacuum of vacancies that must have been created through the exercise. This shall restore sanity in the system.

The aspect of reviving the existing Technical colleges and the re-orientation need to produce capable craftsmen, who would become job creators with the assistance of the Bank of Industry should be given priority.

 Above all, Nigerians must be ready to make sacrifices, that would not open the way for avoidable hardships. To this extent government should embark on cutting all wastage and also blocking all leakages.

Also read-Nigerians No Longer Trust Their Leaders-Prof Olagoke- Click here-https://bit.ly/3hGRaV2

As cases of child abuse, trafficking and labor continue to increase in different parts of the world,  with not too encouraging response from Governments of different nations, the Founder, Spiritual Head and Grand Imam of Shafaudeen-in-Islam Worldwide, Prof. Sabitu Olagoke in this interview says that the day is a wake up call for stakeholders to ensure that children are well groomed for future leadership.

What is your message to children as they celebrate the children’s day on May 27 ?

My worries for Government of several nations over issues of festivals and programs and charters of the United Nations for the purpose of human welfare and general development is that it goes beyond the mere ceremonial terrain. Unfortunately, when nations experience traumatic period of wars or ravaging diseases such as the coronavirus pandemic, Spanish flu from 1918 to 1920 and Hong Kong flu of 1968 experiences show that no lesson is ever learnt in a bid to change our psyche on the need to do the needful to better the lot of humanity.

Specifically , the children’s day is expected to pose the challenge of alertness on all stakeholders, naturally billed to take care of children in modelling as a great foundation that must solidified for future leadership. This immediately calls for the need to accept in principle the 17 point agenda of the United Nations on the sustainable development goals, starting from the issue of poverty and hunger, to nip in the board the scary challenges of economic dichotomy that marginalize a majority of the population. For example in Nigeria into the classes of the poor, abject poverty, destitution and the poorest of the poor, recently derisively identified by the government of Nigeria at all levels of governance.

The area of marginalized women, girl child abuse and people with disabilities are all very much inclusive in the trauma of mismanagement.

Within the rank and file of all these marginalized sector of humankind, the arrows of debacle continue to have such children as vulnerable.

The 13.9 million out of school children are equally inclusive. Are these scenarios of cries of the dead from the grave, worthy of celebration through mere celebration by those in the regime of power, affluence and influence, paying lip service to what they vowed to correct during their political campaigns, before they find themselves in the great positions of power.

If truly we want to celebrate our children,the areas of weaknesses and travails of our children, most especially the marginalized ones, are supposed to receive the kind of attention government is devoting to the coronavirus pandemic, with all keenness, facts and figures and vehement struggle, not only to put a stop to its spread, but to find a permanent cure.

Nobody ever knew that the government of Nigerian can be so serious and energetic on matters bothering on threats to life, with all recklessness backing up the funding.

The lives of our children are more sacred and valuable than the coronavirus pandemic or even if we term them to be of equal value for equal treatment and aggression. Children during this period of public health crisis have suffered so much, but only the effects would be visible in the nearest future, when they are to take over the mantle of leadership, with all the set backs we are creating for them today.

For example, all schools shut as a result for the coronavirus pandemic, shall affect the standard of education negatively. The so called online teaching and learning cannot be said to be effective because the environment cannot be said to be conducive for all of them and the monitoring essence is equally low due to the high percentage of illiteracy and ill education of most parents. The general under funding of education is an insult to the intellectuals to the disadvantage of our children. This period, reports of emotional outbursts into psychological trauma are equally on the increase with cases of pedophilia, incest, sodomy, defilement, homosexuality and other cases of sexual abuses, have resulted in the vulnerability of children, particularly the girl child. Kidnapping of children has equally worsened the situation. Fundamentally therefore, children deserve all the care and attention, whereby all stakeholders starting from government on legislative framework for qualitative education that must be accessible to all irrespective of their social status. Also, the health sector must be children friendly, in terms of policies that would promote the rights of children on the issue of employment.

 Tuesday 19th May 

We are supposed to be by now better in understanding of the scripture for self realization. It is in clear terms, we should all be able to attest that sins always bring about the wrath of God. And that the best for the atonement of sins is in our determination to go and live by the culture of soul purification to refrain from evil thoughts, occultism and abuse of terrestrial and subterranean power.

 Furthermore, we need to go into body preservation from sins and crimes to sanctify the body by refraining from indulging in illicit ecente, such as fornication, adultery, bestial acts, incest, drug abuse, human trafficking and the sponsorship of clandestine gangs.

These are preconditions to live exemplary lifestyles which can satisfy the conditions for the use of the houses of God, to seek God’s favor and for ease of beneficially impacting on the society for peace and development. Let us emulate Jesus Christ and the Holy Prophet Mohammed on this. Ramadan Kareem.

Wednesday, 20th May 

Let us realize that this is a period of harvesting the fruits of the planted trees in the month of Ramadan which marks the significance of Iti’Kaf or spiritual retreat an an esoteric research into identifying the very day to meet with God during the glorious night of power, Laelaetul Quadri, for a successful exercise of this, we must totally and committedly refrain from sins and crimes as well as all forms of evil deeds. This is because according to the Bible-James 13 : 15 ‘’ When a person is been tempted, he should not say, God is tempting me, evil cannot tempt God and God himself does not tempt any person. It is the evil things a person wants that tempts that person. His own evil desire leads him away and holds him. This desire causes sins, then the sins grows and bring death’’. This should be taken as a statement of truth that is fundamental to every human life. Holiness for Allah brings about an ease of complying with the concept of the fear of God, which is the import of the whole Ramadan fasting exercise. Let us live a modest life. Ramadan Kareem.

Thursday, 21st May

This year’s Ramadan admonishes for human consistency in goodness. This demands that we must realize that there must be limit to which we van continue to indulge in sinful acts.

The Holy Quaran 4 : 137 refers ‘’ Those who believe reject faith and go ion increasing in unbelief. All will neither forgive them nor guide them on the way’’. This is because in another verse of this chapter states clearly, ‘’Allah accept the repentance of those who do evil in ignorance and repent soon afterwards, to them Allah turn in mercy for Allah is full of knowledge and wisdom’’. 

The scripture continues to emphasize on consistency in goodness in the follow up of this verse of the Holy Quaran, where unmistakable affirmation is made.

 Quaran 4 : 18 sates ‘’of no effect is the repentance of those who continue to do evil, until death faces one of them, and he says’’ now have I repented indeed’’, nor of those who die rejecting Faith ; for them have we prepared chastisement most grievous. Let us use this to rebuild our character into discipline and morality to Path find the lost glorious value of integrity’’. Ramadan Kareem.

Friday, 22nd May

The essence of the content of Ramadan is to ensure that we are less passionate about the world of materialism, but to build self and community with high level of spiritual state of piety based on holiness for God. Like in the electromotive force for system energisation or latent heat of energy increases human immunity against life hazards.

This is the essence of religion in every society.

Unfortunately, where sufficient heat is not supplied, we can’t realize the latent heat of energy; hence water would remain liquid without going into vapor or remain solid without going into liquid form.

The inability of our faith based house of God to be scripture compliant in teaching and learning makes the adherents and the society to remain morally decayed because Jesus Christ said that man shall not live by bread alone. People’s lives depends on what God has in stock for them. This is why the Holy Quaran 91 : 7–10 says ‘’ by the soul and proportion and order given to it and its inspiration as to its wrong and its right, truly he succeeds that purify it and he fails that corrupts it’’. Let us be spiritually rejuvenated to goodness. Ramadan Mubarak.

Saturday, 23rd May

After Ramadan what are the expectations to justify the rigors of the exercise, I have the joy to declare the death of the coronavirus pandemic, most especially in Nigeria. Much as we appreciate government’s efforts in stopping curtailing the spread, religious people must be joyous enough that divine intervention has justified our claim that the solution rests with God, the houses of God are expected to be open for use, but with caution against waywardness and frivolities because we are expected to be scripture compliant and refrain from evil deeds, thoughts, words and acts, with clear mind full of love for our fellow human being. The sanctity and sacredness of the Churches and Mosques are germane, not to further attract the wrath and anger of God.

The Holy Quaran 10 : 21 admonished all on this ‘’when we make mankind taste on some mercy, after adversity has touched them, behold they take to plotting against Our signs say : ‘’swifter to plan is Allah verily, Our messengers record all the plots that he make’’.

While going out of the training sessions offered by Ramadan please reflect on this practically : ‘’come, I will rehearse what Allah has really prohibited you from’’; Join not anything with him : be good to your parents; kill not your children on a plea of want; and-will provide sustenance for you and them;-come not nigh to indecent deeds, whether open or secret; take not life which Allah has made sacred except by way of justice and the law : thus doth he command you, that you may learn wisdom and come not nigh to orphan’s property except to improve it, until he attains the age of full strength; give measure and wait with full justice ;- no burden do we place on any soul but that which it can bear;-whenever you speak, speak justly even if a near relative is concerned; and fulfill the covenant of Allah : thus doth he command you that he may remember’’.

This is a standard form of exemplary lifestyle. Ramadan Mubarak.

Prof. Sabitu Olagoke

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

Thursday 14th May 2020

The Ramadan agenda on I’’Itikaf or spiritual retreat into the mosque generally when Jumat services are observed is equally a very good point of study for human rumination. Three things are expected to happen while spending the last 10 days in and around the premises of the mosque.

Pondering over sermons and reading to a comprehension level the verses of the Holy Quaran for ease of application to the real life situation and for necessary attitudinal adjustment.

This is reminiscent of the power therein contained in the sermon as explained in narrative in the Quaran 10 : 57. ‘’ O mankind there art come to you an admonition from your Lord, and a healing for the diseases in your hearts, and for those who believe in Guidance and Mercy’’.

While observing this at home, because of the lock down, let us all strive to get spiritually elevated to the height of this Quaranic verse. Ramadan Kareem.

Friday 15th May

 The injunctions God on the sacredness of Friday can equally be observed at your home before and after the afternoon Solat-Zhuur.

The consciousness of the the heart and mind while the period of Jumat is approaching is equally a process of achieving the fear of God. It is equally with Godly reward-studying the Quaran needs to preoccupy one before observing the afternoon Solat and after it, one is allowed to venture into serious supplications for God’s intervention. The gains of the reward of observing Jumat service , virtually, through the mind and basically by the four Rakats of Zhuur will make one achieve the first fundamentals of sermon which would have been enjoyed by Khutbat of the Jumat service, if there had not been a lock down. All these are implied as embedded in the verses of the Holy Quaran on the significance of the Jumat service. Quaran 62 : 9–10, states ‘’ O ye who believe ! When the call is proclaimed to prayer on Friday, the day of assembly hasten earnestly to the remembrance of Allah and leave off business and traffic that is best for you, but if ye but knew ! And when the prayer is finished then may ye disperse through the land and seek for the bounty of Allah-and remember All frequently that you may prosper’’.

It is imperative for any human being not to be carried away by the distractions of the situation, most especially when it comes to matters concerning our relationships and duties with and towards God.

May the almighty Allah continue to protect us from the harshness of the COVID 19 pandemic. Ramadan Kareem

Saturday 16th May

Let us remember that religion is a school of life for socio-spiritual rejuvenation of the adherents to have tranquility of the mind and a secured environment, in order that an individual would be able to maintain and sustain man/God perfect relation. But this is only achievable through imbibing the culture of the fear of God, as socially translated by Jesus Christ in John 4 : 34, ‘’Jesus said ‘’My food is to do what the one, God sent me and wants me to do. My food is to finish the work that he gave me to do’’. This is an exemplary lifestyle. recommended for all human beings most especially the Muslims as contained in the Holy Quaran 2 : 208–209. ‘’O ye how believe enter into Islam wholeheartedly, and follow not the footsteps of satan for he is to you an avowed enemy. If ye backslide after the clear signs have come to you, then know that Allah is exulted in Power, Wise.’’ Let us be an example to others. Ramadan Kareem.

Sunday 17th May

Salam, three things are germane to meet up with the goal of Ramadan fast in establishing for mankind the culture of doing things aright without transgressing and according to respect for ethical values, the demand for societal development through transparency and accountability, minding the fact that apart from human auditing, the almighty Allah is always fast without fatigue in bringing every individual to pay for the account of his deeds or misdeeds, actions and inactions. Three important articles of faith are fundamental to develop the ability deliver without deceit and destruction.

1. The practical use to which we put the teachings received from the scripture.
2. The processes of actualizing our desired status, aims and objectives. The bottom line revolves on , are they through illegitimate means ? Haram or legitimate means-Halal ?
3. The unconscious evaluation of us through our character by our neighbors-bad or good ?

Sermon offers us the opportunity to SWOT analyse ourselves and make amends.

Meditation in isolation or retreat would help us esoterically into the hidden treasures of life for us to have a close contact with the almighty Allah, while our concern through counseling others for good would bring about divine favor and the authority to live by what we profess.

However, the almighty Allah does not want us to be bags of deceit and disbelief, otherwise our prayer request would not be entertained.

Quaran 17 : 82 refers ‘’we send down stage by stage of the Quaran that which is a Healing and a Mercy to those who believe : to the unjust it causes nothing but lose after lose’’.

 let us be modest and moderate in our affairs. Ramadan Kareem.

Monday 18th May

From time immemorial till date, Muslims have been going to Mecca, and Christians have been going to Jerusalem for spiritual rejuvenation because they consider the places clean fit for prayer efficacy. Muslims in addition, go for Umrah or lesser hajj.

However, we must all be warned that spiritual tour of such dimension must never be likened to tourism. Even though they would be opportuned to visit many places of historical importance.

Since the almighty Allah is everywhere, spiritual retreat in Mecca-I’’Itikaf is not supposed to be different from the one observed in the local mosque, in one’s own country because God does not appreciate humankind based on the differences i their social status and degree of affluence.

However, the status of may local mosques and other spiritual centers are devil controlled, making them to be highly unsuitable for nay spiritual retreat.

A return from Mecca or Jerusalem therefore, demands that we should work on the spiritual status of sacredness for our worship centers. Quaran 9 : 17–18 refers ‘’it is not for such as join gods with Allah, to maintain the mosques of Allah, while the weakness against their own souls, to infidelity, the works of such bear no fruit, in Fire shall they dwell. The mosque of Allah shall be visited and maintained by such as believe in Allah and the last day, establish regular prayers and pay Zakat. It is they who are expected to be on true guidance’’. Say not to profanity but uphold sacredness.

Examine yourself through correct assessment and evaluation to measure the degree of the state of your piety.

Make necessary amends today. Ramadan Kareem.

Prof. Sabitu Olagoke

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

Recently the Federal Government through the Ministry of Finance, in a tweet, pleaded for ventilators from American billionaire and Industrial Engineer, Elon Musk, to curtail the spread of the coronavirus, but subsequently deleted the tweet when Nigerians expressed reservations. This is in spite of the donations, running into billions of Naira by well meaning individuals and corporate organizations. Begging has since become a way of life among Nigerians and also in government circles. In this interview, the Founder, Spiritual Head and Grand Imam of Shafaudeen in Islam Worldwide, Prof. Sabitu Olagoke says that the poverty of knowledge and ideas was the driving force behind the Federal Ministry of Finance’s decision to beg for ventilators. Excerpts :

What is your reaction to the move by the Federal Government through the Ministry of Finance to beg for ventilators from American billionaire and Industrial Engineer, Elon Musk ?

What we presently have in Nigeria in the telecommunication industry is 4G. The present pact is on 5G that was what that was on the discussion table when the coronavirus pandemic came into being. And the pandemic started ravaging the world. This brought about the make shift solutions of social distancing, the shutting down of work places, religious houses and places where crowd effects are prevalent. The use of face masks and disinfectants among other preventive measures were introduced to combat the pandemic, in the face of the present public health crises, the 5G masts were launched in the United Kingdom. The health effects of this are more deadly than the coronavirus because the radiation would have a direct negative effect on an individual aside from the disturbances as a result of vibrations.

COVID 19 therefore becomes more of a diversionary problem that would not allow the people to agitate against the installation of 5G masts in several countries of the world.

The poser before us as human beings now is on why the commercial aspects of life is the priority of powerful nations of the world rather than the welfare of the people. Some schools of thought believe that the intention is to decimate the population of the world with people above 60 been at more risk of the negative effects of biological weapons of destruction.

Another poser is on the claim that several of the victims of the pandemic lost their lives while a sizable number survived the scourge. If it is not a political game against the massive population of the world, government’s claim of some people recovering from the coronavirus pandemic must be with the evidence of the drugs or vaccine used for it to be recommended generally, otherwise we must stop toying with lives of the people through unnecessary political gimmick. Nigeria’s case is a peculiar one, where before the public health crises we live a life of begging and insufficiency trailed by poverty of knowledge and ideas. This must have informed the Federal Ministry of Finance begging the American billionaire, Elon Musk for ventilators. When a need involves a corporate entity protocols of due process need to be followed. This action has brought to Nigeria another article of embarrassment which would have been avoided if normal process was followed. Even now, records of beastly political scores are been settled in the face of the scourge on the pages of newspapers. In this period of travail, one expects that we should close ranks and face the task of preventing the further spread of the coronavirus, while our professionals are expected to adopt the World Health Organization’s standards of combating the pandemic.

Nigeria is expected through all levels of government to use this crises period to address our areas of need cutting across educational institutions, the health sector and other areas that have direct application to the improvement of the the people’s welfare. It won’t be proper for us to commence another round of agitations to demand for the needful after we might have come out of this problem.

Students must not go back to school to discover that their teachers have commenced another round of strike. The general poor conditions of the nation needs to be surgically addressed in this period of searching for solutions we must not limit our efforts to the challenges of coronavirus and 5G mast installation radiation challenges. What should be the concern of every stakeholder is the prevention of the scourge and in avoiding blood money from what can adversely affect millions of Nigerians.

Above all, there is nothing bad in seeking for help but we must not continue to attack blindly without substance because some people are now of the opinion that anything from China is coronavirus infected to, avoid misleading ourselves let our professionals stand on quality and standards for any product we may generate or receive from abroad and let our transactions go beyond hypocritical social media effects. Due process followed would save us from any embarrassment.

Perhaps disturbed by the worrisome performances of political office holders in this dispensation, a bill by one of the lawmakers is,presently before the Senate that seeks to make the minimum qualification  to vie for the position of  President and Governor, Higher National Diploma or its equivalent, while for other elective positions the minimum qualification  Ordinary National Diploma or its equivalent is been proposed. Nigerians are already expressing divergent views on this proposal. In this interview, the Founder, Spiritual Head and Grand Imam of  Shafaudeen-in-Isalm Worldwide, Prof. Sabitu Olagoke says the bill is a welcome development, but government must ensure it does a background check on the past of holders of certificates. Excerpts :

A bill  presently before the Senate  seeks to make the minimum qualification  to vie for the position of  President and Governor, Higher National Diploma or its equivalent, while for other elective positions the minimum qualification is Ordinary National Diploma or its equivalent. What is your reaction to this bill ?

Positions of power under democratic norms largely depends on  concept understanding, moral discipline, patriotism  and rudiments of administrative sagacity cum management technical know how.

 All these characteristics  are expected to be in-built virtues of any aspirant vying  for positions of power. Luckily for us, the three domains of education expected to reinforce aspirants as a necessary tool for capacity building   in this respect apart from the literacy and numeracy advantage of the affective domain, the attitudinal building  is equally embedded in this domain.

Unfortunately emphasis on character building is very low in our educational pursuit to the detriment of the desired development  as a goal of education. This vital aspect of human life happens to be the basis upon which the fate based houses of worship are built. Unfortunately, the wrong attitudinal value that humbles education into effectiveness allowing corruption to dominate the lives of the elite and scholars is the same virus that has eaten into the fabrics of sacredness  expected  of the houses of God into that of profanity making the man to become a misfit in the game plan of political activities to the detriment of the desired goal of sustainable development. In this Nigeria, we have seen excellent performances of holders of standard six certificates, that was during the era of an environment of institutional discipline. Promotion exercises were based on in-service training attendant higher efficiency at work and consequent higher productivity with lots of goodwill in terms of profit. Pupil-age was equally appreciated while mentor-ship took the pride  of replicating  hard-work and dignity of labor.

The then Head of state, Gen. Yakubu Gowon ruled this nation as an holder of School Certificate, he equally succeeded in executing  the fratricidal civil war of 1967-1970, that was when sincerity of purpose, ruler-ship by conscience  and a high level of the fear of God were in vogue. Training, pupil-age and mentor-ship used to have direct bearing on the assessed needs for planning to have a right direction of purpose.

However, today we insincerely depend on the certificate worth usually based on the theoretical realm of education, where researches may not necessarily have direct bearings on the need of the people. Despite the various observed anomalies in the cognitive arm of our educational institutions, the nation continues to hero worship holders of certificates .The three tiers of education viz Primary, Secondary and Tertiary are equally badly affected  by the challenges of facility update and dearth of experts in some areas of specialization. At the secondary level, challenges of appropriate  and adequate laboratory and workshop equipment are equally there. When certificates are obtained in an environment of under funding, the worth of such certificates may not necessarily reflect on the holders, hence the challenges of effective performances would be there, therefore Nigeria should be ashamed of itself, considering the fact that  our Senior secondary school certificates-WAEC or NECO- are no longer relevant in the scheme of our political system.

The HND/B Sc.  minimum qualification  to vie for President and Governor bill in the senate is a welcome idea, but this might not give us the expected results, if the holders' past records are not critically looked into, such certificates held by future treasury looters would only justify what brought about terrorism in Nigeria. The expectation is that the holders of HND/B Sc. and above  must be creative enough  for them to be able to tap into the psycho motor domain of education which clearly stands for provision of basic amenities using appropriate technology and establishment of functional infrastructure to solve the myth surrounding employment issues and our economic management challenges. High worth of certificate will never be productive without the right attitudinal approach to issues based on the fundamentals of positive mindset towards the nation and the expected  service demanded by the positions of power, the  holders of the certificates may assume, because in this lies the core value of self esteem and integrity, self confidence, positive mental attitude for ease of making right, accurate and precision prone decisions to move the nation forward.

The National Youth Service Corps(NYSC) scheme has been weighed down by several challenges over the years. The scheme seeks to promote unity and integration among the diverse peoples of Nigeria. However, a cross section of Nigerians insist that the scheme has outlived its relevance while stressing that efforts should be geared towards repositioning the scheme. In this interview, the Founder, Spiritual Head and Grand Imam of Shafudeen-in-Islam Worldwide, Prof. Sabitu Olagoke says that the management of the NYSC must be above board, for the scheme to serve the purpose for which it was established.

Is the National Youth Service Corps(NYSC) still functioning to provide for the the unity and integration needs of Nigerians ?

The National Youth Service Corps(NYSC) scheme was established in 1973 as an aftermath effect of sanity restoration into Nigeria after the harrowing experience of the fratricidal war of Nigeria/Biafra of 1967/70, as part of the follow up of reconstruction, rehabilitation and reconciliation. One of the aims therefore is to foster unity among Nigerians of different tongues and tribes. The hope was to integrate people through their children, most especially the youth into different communities that constitute Nigeria.

Above all, the curriculum expectation is to inculcate in Nigerian graduates, a sense of discipline and integrity to become assets for development rather than been liabilities. The assessment of the NYSC scheme as programs and projects for Nigeria based on the above set of objectives, shall therefore be the criteria through which our assessment and evaluation shall be based.

Postings are influenced arbitrarily without considering the set of objectives for which the NYSC was established. When this happens, affected candidates are denied their rights of familiarity to areas of opportunity to learn different things like culture, tradition and languages that would have made them to understand better, the different nationalities that constitute Nigeria; for the purpose of of knowing the reasons why we must allow peaceful co-existence.

Presently, the South-South and the South East to me are still alien, if not for some opportunities of attending conferences of professional importance around the areas. The same thing happens to many of us having myopic views about regions beyond the areas of our race forcing ourselves to consume the lies and the truth about people from the races. For example, the Middle Belt and the North in general. On the security point of view, the NYSC has been badly affected. There are several cases of violence involving Corps members. The phenomenal cases of kidnapping and road hazards also contribute enormously to parental fear, making them to prefer their wards serving in near by states and in some cases their states of origin.

One expects the Federal Government to pay particular attention to the security needs of the nation and the safety of the Corps members while on service in any part of the country. The scheme is supposed to enjoy some level of immunity and privileges which could be appreciated in the Military services. When this kind of environment is guaranteed for the NYSC scheme, parents and their wards will have no alternative option to official posting procedure to be followed to the letter without any excuses or need for any influence.

Progressively, in terms of the NYSC at 10, during my own time, it paid us 200 Naira as monthly allowance, although then, the purchasing power of the Naira was equal to the Dollar and even then, jobs after the scheme were guaranteed.

However, graduates going for national service are already wallowing in an environment of poverty, inflation and unemployment, making them to live in a state of uncertainty for economic survival. Under this condition the tendency to misbehave to a state of indiscipline is very high, unless they are truly religious with very good upbringing. The NYSC scheme is therefore faced with how to regulate and control the exercise, effectively manage the incoming graduates as well as as how best to sustain the exercise not to lose track of the set objectives.The issue at stake therefore, revolve on the huge management cost for the scheme with the ever increasing number of graduates every year.

The remuneration for the NYSC participants is another issue of great economic interest. For example, we are in an era of the need for a living wage. Th status of corps members is highly above $98. Government must therefore live above rhetoric, but pay as appropriate with immediate effect, the corps members remuneration that is attractive and sustaining . If Corps members take home is about 50,000 Naira, nobody will thank the Federal Government for this. These graduates in the active service of the nation need motivation because the government forced them into the entrepreneurship scheme while they were in school most especially during their final year.

Instead of making them roam about the streets, government ought to create a saving scheme for them whereby they manage N25,000 monthly and save the remaining N25,000 for the 12 months they are to serve the nation for them to be able to establish a vocation of their choice based on the entrepreneurship scheme already acquired while they were in school. In the spirit of TIVET, such graduates must be made to have easy access to loans to complement the amount already saved. Such loans must attract very low interest rates with single digits, to be able to meet up with the agreed pay back period. An environment of this kind of hope would make the scheme continue to be relevant, while parents and their wards would be ready to accept any area of offer for the service. 

Our hope to have true integration of the people to accept other people’s culture in the spirit of one nation, lies in the success of the NYSC because only the youth filled with love for togetherness and service can achieve at sustainable level the set objective for which the NYSC was established. Finally, a scheme aims at promoting unity, system integration and production of assets rather than liabilities like the NYSC must be managed without fraud, while it must not equally be underfunded. In the spirit of Democracy that stands on justice and equity principles, the NYSC management must be above board hence people with impeccable character are expected to be saddled with the responsibility of ensuring peace and sustainable development in an environment of high respect for the fundamental human rights of the people. The youth constitute the NYSC, knowledgeable as they are, the nation must rely on them because apart from serving the nation through the primary and secondary duties assigned them, they equally promote friendship and intermarriages which Nigeria needs to be truly united.

The Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission(RMAFC) is set to review the salaries and allowances of political office holders in Nigeria. This has attracted condemnation from a cross section of Nigerians.

Interestingly, the issue of the new national minimum wage is yet to be resolved in several states of the federation, while political office holders continue to enjoy very attractive pay packages despite the myriad of challenges confronting the nation.

In this interview, the Founder, Spiritual Head and Grand Imam of Shafaudeen-in-Islam Worldwide, Prof. Sabitu Olagoke insists that the pronouncement of a possible review by the Commission’s Chairman without been definitive on whether upward or downward is a diversionary game, considering the fact that several states are still still negotiating the consequential adjustment of the new national minimum wage of N30,000. Excerpts :

The Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission(RMAFC) is tinkering with the idea of reviewing the salaries and allowances of political office holders, do you think this is proper in this period of economic crunch ?

The review of remuneration of political office holders in the face of Nigeria’s economic realities is long overdue. Down the memory lane , former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo made an upward review of the remuneration of political office holders, he damned the consequences, since so many were against his action. Chief Obasanjo said that his action was to discourage corruption.

When President Goodluck Jonathan came on board, he asserted that stealing should not be labelled corruption.

When supposed role models throw caution and modesty into the dustbin, institutional indiscipline is fostered, while the culture of corruption becomes endemic.

Hence the present situation of Nigeria becoming the headquarters of poverty and aggravated state of insecurity.

The game changers in the persons of Prof. Wole Soyinka and late Prof. Chinua Achebe became the prophets of our time through their prophetic literature books. For Chinua Achebe, ‘’Things Fall Apart’’ is neither a fiction nor a narration that should be localized for the changing challenges of the Igbo culture. It now directly re-echoes on Nigeria of the present time because things are falling apart, while the center can no longer hold and neither do the Falcons listen to the Falconers again. Who will now rescue Nigeria from imminent distingeration and international ridicule ?

 From Wole Soyinka’s perspective the man died in that person who keeps mute in the face of tyranny, why are Nigerians so docile in the face of various unwarranted persecution by the elite and leaders.

A lot has gone wrong in the nation’s educational institutions, where the rat race to become Vice Chancellors, Rectors or Provosts is not the same as having passion to fulfill the Town and Gown philosophy, but to amass wealth and flex muscles of ego among fellow Professors and Chief Lecturers respectively.

This is because from among the the category of Professors and Chief Lecturers respectively,a Vice Chancellor or Rector emerges, who would earn N2.5 million or N1.8 million respectively, while their colleagues will remain within the range of a little above N500,000 or N400,000 respectively.

One can now see how the political thinking that influenced the upward review has now led to a do or die affair among the people of the pen profession, who are supposed to be the epitome of peace, methods and methodology as well as role models in the area of best practices.

The people of the academia thereby resort to Voodoo power play deviating from the expected role of civility for civilization based on the Town and Gown philosophy.

The negative effect of an upward review would therefor be felt by all within the government circles, Ministries, Departments and Agencies, where the ill policy has thrown erstwhile friends into becoming bitter enemies because usually merit would be murdered, while juicy positions go to the highest bidders. This would have a far reaching effect on the quality and standard expected from the beneficiaries of this review policy.

If we are Godly and we are able to live by the scriptures that upholds our religious beliefs, divine guidance could have prevailed to do things aright because according to Psalm 127 :’’Builders labor in vein without divine intervention’’ and from the Islamic perspective, Koran 8 : 63 : And moreover God hath put affection between their hearts ; not if thou hath spent all that is in the earth, could thou hast produced that affection, but Allah hath done it : For He is exulted in might, Wise’’.

The pronouncement of a possible review without been definitive on whether upward or downward is a diversionary game, in the wake of several states still negotiating the consequential adjustment of the new national minimum wage of N30,000, which is just $98. When one compares this amount with what a Senator takes home, say N14.2 million per month, everybody should be able to see the wickedness in the politicians.

If the cries of restructuring, resource control and secession bids are to be avoided , the downward review of the salary packages and allowances of both the political office class and the MDAs including parastatals must be critically looked into to justify the ethical principles of Democracy as it reflects in its Chemistry of Justice, Equity, in a sane environment for us to have peace, sustainable development and a high level of security which is best appreciated under natural occurrence, that is divine intervention.

A cross section of Nigerians have expressed worry over the increasing rate of child marriages in the country.

Indeed, the elite in society among several others are to blame for this disturbing trend which has gained ground in an unspecified number of communities. Why is this so ? In this interview, the Founder, Spiritual Head and Grand Imam of Shafaudeen-in-Islam Worldwide, Prof. Sabitu Olagoke opines that there are a lot of dangers involved in child marriages just as he warns parents to shun the act. Excerpts :

Child marriage is on the increase in Nigeria today, why is this so ?

A minor in marriage is morally wrong, rejected in the religions of the world and considered to be anti-social. It is equally regarded as a human aberration medically.

Fundamentally, marriage is best consummated for sound minds, who can take decisions on their own, and matured minds who can be regarded as rational in decision making.

For a minor in marriage, coercion is the tool, and this does not consider the fundamentals of love as basic to two different people, male and female coming together as husband and wife.

The institution of marriage states that the two to be involved in marriage must have done a detailed assessment in the process of wooing each other, based on certain considerations of natural importance : beauty, parental wealth, academic pedigree and probably religion.

Of any of the four chosen, there must have been a time lapse, regarded as courtship period for the two to understudy their areas of strength,weaknesses, opportunities and threats.

And in this modern time, counseling must predominate and extend to personality traits compatibility as well as blood group and genotype class to determine a hitch free union.

Parental consent then follows, before witnesses and people are called for the socio-spiritual ceremony.

Love, passion as well as acceptable character or attitude are equally considered.

However, under a minor involved marriage, the above considerations are absent, while the influences cuts across parental influences based on business consideration.

On the other hand, way ward and reckless lifestyles leading to unavoidable pregnancies could force parents to organize for a minor involved marriage, perhaps to save face of for the girl child to have a good care under the roof of the elderly man.

Minor involved in marriage could lead to Vesico-vaginal fistula(VVF) and in another breadth it could be disgusting to the growing girl child and this could result in serious attempt's by the girl to kill the husband, who she may develop hatred for because of his oppressive tendencies and the lack of love in the relationship.

The health of the minor under forced marriages may result in serious medical conditions and unfortunately, the man involved goes about unhurt in search of another victim.

It is also unfortunate that most of those involved belong to the elite class, who most of the times equally claim to know so much about their religion.

But alas, we must not forget the fact that all religions teach morals and are strictly against one inflicting injuries on the other.

This is a period where the whole world now clamors for equality of access and treatment to the boy and girl child. And that the girl child and women generally, must always be spared from agonies of maltreatment such as domestic violence, are, pedophilia and other forms of sexual abuse.

Proverbially, when we eat unripe fruits, we plunge ourselves into the problem of stomach ache.

So also marriage to a minor is bereft of any pleasure, respect and care. Hence, the right of such a girl to have access to good education and have a successful career life is already in jeopardy.

All women have values which must not be destroyed by the selfish desire of men.

A girl in a forced marriage has already lost a promising future of good growth profile and development.

Her God given talents are already torn into shreds, while society will remain at a loss due to this practice.

This is why several countries that had earlier been into this practice, are making changes by shifting the minimum age for marriage to 18 years old for their girl child.

At this, level of growth, the pelvic girdle is strong enough to carry the load or pressure of pregnancy.

The child at this age is expected to have acquired a minimum certificate of Nigeria’s Senior Secondary School Certificate standard. This implies that she can take decisions that may be favorable to her and her future, even when she finds herself in the web of a love tango.

Parents need to be properly educated on the issue of the need to protect the interest of their children, most especially the girl child.

Child rearing must follow a universal guiding code of value, protection, safety, respect, inclusion, attention and freedom.

If we are able to follow this valuable guidance in child rearing,cases of incest, rape, pedophilia and minor involved in marriage would never arise.

The girl child is a valuable better half and must be treated equally like their male counterparts.

Circumstances wherein men work and women stay at home to cater for the home and children, is no longer in vogue as the running of the home is now a joint responsibility of the husband and wife in an environment of career driven development.

We must therefore, avoid minor involved marriages to respect the divine institution of marriage as supported by our culture and all our religions including Islam and Christianity.

Besides this, we must consider the health challenges that may accompany minor involved marriages, to safe guard the girl child.

Instead there is a need to pursue the cause of women emancipation to be voices to be reckoned with in society and for each nation to be able to achieve in the areas of 35 per cent affirmative action for women at the various decision making points.

Only women, who are not abused, but supported in the cause of their growth and development without truncated period of minor involved in marriage , can be supported to achieve the various international opportunities open for their advancement.

A nation accomplishing this, would be regarded to be fair in the competitive world of global best practices. Nigerians must say no to Child Marriage.

Nigerians are unanimous in their clamor for the re-introduction of Teacher Training Colleges as part of the efforts to salvage the falling standard of education in the country from total collapse.

Indeed, a sizable number of teachers have overtime exhibited tendencies and behaviors not in line with the dictates of the noble profession, while pupils and students alike have emulated same.

In this interview, the Founder, Spiritual Head and Grand Imam of Shafaudeen-in-Islam Wordlwide, Prof. Sabitu Olagoke insists that present day teachers are in the noble profession for the purposes of survival not for the love of the profession. Excerpts :

Do you think the re-introduction of Teacher Training Colleges would play a significant role in salvaging the falling standard of education in Nigeria ?

The policy makers over the years in Nigeria have displayed a high level of over zealousness when it comes to adopting to adapt new trends in the areas of advancement in education.

They failed to look inwards, our cultural background and the needs of the society. The basic background that could be traced to 6–5–4 system of education, whereby the five years in the secondary school could be augmented with advanced level classes, before proceeding into the universities. This was far better mainly because it was effectively managed in terms of teachers and the facilities needed on ground. Some people may adduce this to the fewer number of schools and teachers as well as fewer population of students to cope with then.

The greatest advantages then, were the people’s appreciation of the value of education, the immediate opportunity for graduates to be absorbed from the labor market as well as the best discipline on offer as a necessary prerequisite that would enable seriousness in learning.

It was an era when boarding schools were facility laden with trustworthy house masters.

It was also a period when religious houses were sacred for the much needed vitamins of the fear of God for the teachers and the students.

However, with the advancement of education, it was good to discontinue the use of auxiliary teachers, most of whom were more matured and committed in the classrooms, than today’s graduates, most of whom are unhappy with the teaching profession, but for economic survival, take the teaching job to keep body and soul together.

The establishment of the Universal Primary Education(UPE) for which Teacher Training Colleges became popular, was a very good policy in the right direction.

The graduates were basically trained on the methodology of teaching in education, the preparation of lesson notes and the keeping of records in an environment of high level of discipline and respect for constituted authority with a high level of focus on building a happy home in which future leaders for the society in particular and nation as a whole must be brought up.

Graduates of the Teacher Training Colleges were fully committed to the profession and were always time conscious with respect to punctuality and regularity at work. They were always ready to be directed and managed by their Headmasters or Principals, whose instructions must be obeyed and who happened to be graduates of universities, most of whom took courses in education at the post graduate level, with Grade I and II qualifications in their kitty before acquiring university education.

Headmasters and Teachers were then role model parents who believed in working for government for good, holding tenaciously to the principles of transparency and accountability.

Government would have left this phase of our educational institutions when creating the Colleges of Education, rather than phasing it out.

They ought to have restricted the activities of graduates of Teacher Training Colleges to the grassroots level of Primary Schools, while those in Colleges of Education would have been trained for the Junior Secondary Schools in the 6–3–3–4 education system.

While graduates of universities and probably Polytechnics at the HND level all with technical bias towards specific vocations, with some knowledge in entrepreneurship studies would have been prepared to manage our Secondary schools. With this arrangement based on relevant disciplines and subjects, the instructional facet of all segments of our educational levels would have been appropriately captured and fixed. This is because graduates of each sector of our lines of educational development and structure have good opportunities of resorting to, based on their capacity and capability at the time, apprenticeship for artisan ship, vocation and entrepreneurship for possible self job creation ability and promotion of employment opportunities for others, to lessen the pressure on graduates hustle for white collar jobs.

The mistake made in the phasing out of the Teacher Training Colleges, is the present mistake that is about to be repeated in the case of the Technical Colleges, which would have served the nation if well funded and equipped in the following areas :

1. Foundational step to engineering and other professional technical appreciation needs.
2. It would have been a technical forum to train our artisans, who control our economy on the need for skill acquisition and proficiency needs. The class would have been for the development of initiative, innovation and creativity as and a center for talent discovery.

Generally, Nigeria’s policymakers, most especially in the areas of education, must always take cognizance of our background and our needs for our graduates to be relevant directly in the areas of community service, society development and nation building.

After all, all our professional bodies have family pyramid structure. For example, craftsmanship, technicians, technologists and corporate membership. All of them are yet to take care of sectors of artisan ship for proficiency needs while their fellow cadres are yet to be specifically saddled with serious assignments of mentor ship, research and development .

Suffice it now to say, that no segment of our educational system like the Teacher Training and Technical Colleges should be phased out or neglected because our developmental needs in Nigeria have not outgrown them.

The two sectors would have assisted us in bridging the gap between the needed strong foundation and the advanced stages of education and development.

In the area of affective education, happenings in our schools, Primary, Secondary and Universities are characterized by examination malpractices, sex-for-marks scandals, cultism, admission racketeering among others. All these portends that the goal of education regarding our attitudinal correction are yet to be effected.

Kleptocracy in governance equally reflects in the activities of these graduates, old or new, as an attestation that there is not no single impact of what they learned in their behavior.

In the area of cognitive education, there is a misplacement of priorities. For example, we have failed to run effectively our Polytechnic system as a result of a lack of facility update for research and development and the training need of students to be in tandem with the necessary industrial essence with what obtains in companies.

Nigerian graduates still need to undergo a lot of training before they can be certified fit for employment in industries.

Why is it that Nigeria is just realizing the need for technical universities ?

To what extent have our Schools and Universities of Agriculture served the nation in terms of poverty alleviation and eradication ?

Why is it that there is still limited spaces for successful candidates, who passed the UTME and post UTME in the educational institutions in the country ?

Recently, China retraced its steps, on the need to survive through the development of technical education and technological development, by converting 600 of its universities into polytechnics while Nigeria is on the verge of collapsing the HND certificate program.

Policy making must go beyond the rhetoric of politics because it is about the life of our people and the future of the nation.

Cultism has for long become part and parcel of the educational system in Nigeria at the Primary Secondary and Tertiary levels.

In addition, most communities in the country now play host to cultists, with emphasis on the active roles played by parents and guardians in the activities of the cultists.

A good example is the Molusi, Solanke, Olorunsogo, Molete, Felele communities in Ibadan, Oyo state, Nigeria which have for lone served as abode to the cultists, who have committed grievous crimes while law enforcement agents have all the time feigned ignorance , with full support of the community leaders and the Landlords and Tenants Association.

A cross section of Nigerians  insist that these cult groups in educational institutions and communities are feeder platforms for those responsible for the increasing  rate of kidnappinsg, killings and other violent crimes in the country.

In this interview, the Founder, Spiritual Head and Grand Imam of Shafaudeen Worldwide, Prof. Sabitu Olagoke opines that the only way cultism can be stamped out of our national life is when the Nigeria returns to the era of enforcing discipline in al aspects of life. Excerpts :

What do you think is the way out of the increasing involvement of  students and the  youth in cultism ?

Nigeria was once a safe and secured place to live in, with high level of discipline among the people and within the families. That was the era when we experience functional agents of socialization because in Africa, we used to uphold the philosophy of been our brother's keeper as well as been ambassadors of the families we come from.

Children and the youth were always reminded by the elders, who themselves happen to be role models of good character, teachers on the other hand were role models, who combined their primary assignment of teaching with parental roles of molding the character of the pupils or students.

Respect was fundamental, for the good parents, the children could not afford to disappoint, same applied for the disciplinarian teachers, who commanded respect of the children, thereby ensuring sanity in the management of education.

Those days parents are always very satisfied  having children in boarding schools or when they live in quarters because there was no case of cultism then, unfortunately Nigerian leaders failed to realize that in the time of crisis and possible conflict  resolution challenges, infiltration of idiosyncrasies could easily arise as challenges.

The first coup in Nigeria on January 15, 1966 opened the floodgate of blood shedding as part of our national life, followed by coups and counter coups that changed the political climate of peace and development into that of military rule of 29  years of dehumanization and economic bastardization.

Under this messy cloud, government option to destabilize the network of activists  at the school and the national terrain created  the era of student impersonation to disable student unions.

 All these later snowballed into the formation of various cult groups, beside the Pyrates Confraternity.

 The network of old and new generation cult groups added colour to some scientific approach to some ritual killings which everybody is now paying for dearly toady, most parents, biologically, even produced satanically controlled children, who later became dominant in cult activities .

Th solution therefore, lies in our going back into revolutionizing back the era of discipline, starting from the home and religious houses, that must teach morals and the scripture respectively.

We must equally go back to the era of the Late General Murtala Mohammed, who institutionalized government service as a no go area for cultism and occultism. God save Nigeria.

Nigeria suffers from poverty and kleptocracy as reflected in hunger, insecurity, corruption and untimely death in the land because of injustice and inequality in an environment of impunity.

Nigerians gave their mandate, through the ballot box, to the occupiers of various political offices in this new dispensation, to rule and govern with the belief that the office holders would end the insecurity in the land.

However, Nigerians are still asking questions :

* Why are cases of kidnappings, ritual killings, rape, pedophilia, armed robbery, banditry, threat of secession and advanced fee fraud, persisting ?

*  Why is the promotion of prosperity through the enhanced provision of basic amenities for the people’s welfare, and infrastructure for industrial development difficult to achieve ?

All Nigerians are stakeholders in this respect. Only good governance, that ensures well funded education and health sectors, while also institutionalizing discipline and zero tolerance to corruption, without bias, is the antidote.

The Judiciary, Legislature and scripture compliant religious bodies need to create an enabling environment for sanity, reliability and sustainable development to be achieved.

Governments by popular choice all over the world abide and obey court orders made by those in the Judiciary.

These governments do not, however, manipulate the Judiciary to promote and perpetrate illegality.

In Nigeria, the former National Security Adviser, to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, the leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria, Ibrahim Yaqoub El Zakzaky and several others have been held in detention for years, despite a number of court orders directing the Federal Government to release them.

This has to a large extent, resulted in the avoidable crises occasioned by their continued detention, which is in line with the motives of fifth columnists within government.

In this interview, the Founder, Spiritual Head and Grand Imam of Shafaudeen-in-Islam Worldwide, Prof. Sabitu Olagoke opines that President Muhammadu Buhari as a good adherent of Islam must always be guided by the voice of God through the Holy Quran, to do what is just and right to all. Excerpts :

In your views what is the way out of the imbroglio between the Federal Government and members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria ?

The Shiite Muslims in Nigeria led by Ibrahim Elzakzaky had been living with us since the emergence of the Iranian revolution in 1979.

The Shiite Muslims have a record of discrimination and persecution, since the days of Ali the fourth Caliph of Islam, the son-in-law of Prophet Mohammed in Medieval time.

Islam had been broadly segregated into the world of Shiites and Sunnis.

Muslims have always been in conflict based on the antecedents of History and ideological differences.

By acts of commission or omission, where we have the Shiite Muslims, they have always been in the minority and have always wanted to be relevant in the control of power.

However, in the case of Ibrahim El zakzaky led Shiite Muslims, they have been increasing in population, in their struggles, through the conversion of many Muslims and their children in the North, most of whom happen to belong to the majority Sunni Muslims.

It is therefore, unfortunate for the Shiite Muslims, to have run into their present predicament, which was brought about by their clash with the Nigerian Army. And worse still, the clash involved the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Tukur Buratai, this is the major reason why the Shiite Muslims suffered several casualties, which led to the mass burial of over 300 of their members.

Ever since this incident, El zakzaky and his wife, Zeenat have been in detention.

''Mr. President as a good Islamic adherent must always be guided by the voice of God through the Holy Quran, in resolving matters without been unnecessarily and humanly passionate, if this voice of the Holy Quran is anything to go by :''

Quran 5 : 8

8‘‘O ye who believe ! Be steadfast witnesses for Allah in equity, and let not hatred of any people seduce you that ye deal not justly. Deal justly that is nearer to your duty. Observe your duty to Allah. Lo ! Allah is informed of what ye do’’.

This resulted in struggles and agitations by his followers to press home their demands for the release of their leader and his wife.

The general opinion, is that Ibrahim El zakzaky and his wife must not be allowed to die in detention, so that Nigeria would not again, run into the sad experience of the extrajudicial saga that resulted in the death of the leader of the Boko Haram Sect, Mohammed Yusuf. The consequence of this is with us till today, with causalities spreading from the North East to almost the entire space of the Northern region.

The issue now, is the controversy surrounding the release of Elzakzaky.

Elzakzaky and his wife were charged to court by the Federal Government, perhaps, to have a legal justification to deal with the movement.

The several court orders, directing the release of Elazakzaky and his wife, has not been obeyed by the Federal Government.

However, we must take note of :

1. The fact that the issue must not be made personal by the President Muhammadu Buhari led government, who people believe may have a soft spot for the Sunni Muslims, while also respecting the Government of Saudi Arabia, that may detest the Shiite Muslims’ inclination because of some of their doctrines that negates the normal Islamic tenets upon which the Sunni Muslims claim to stand on.

The Iranian Government’s interest in the Shiites’ plight in Nigeria may further complicate the case of El zakzaky for the fear of possibly been sponsored, with readiness to strengthen the movement for possible reprisal attacks.

The major discussion is that El zakzaky must not be allowed to die in detention because of the fear of the fifth columnists in government, who may take advantage of the situation to kill the leader of the movement to make the environment very ungovernable for this administration.

The challenge before all Nigerians and our government, is now on the perceived sub-standard state of our health sector, the medical services in particular, whereby any sickly member of the elite is rather flown abroad for treatment, instead of receiving treatment locally.

Government should do all that is possible to address this all important aspect, to serve as a bequeath able legacy to the coming generation.

Our health care services must guarantee patients’ safety and security.

When this is the situation, then Elzakzaky’s and his wife’s release could be done in such a way that they are treated locally.

Another lesson, is that government ought to have learnt that leadership ability is better measured in times of crises.

The management of any crisis in future, including the present ones, must be through the experts in the family of conflict resolution.

This is because most problems snowballing into violence and insurgence are preventable, so therefore, Sociological, Psychological and Medical as well as spiritually religious experts in these realms of Peace and Conflict Resolution, are better challenged to proffer solutions to the problems for government’s implementation, rather than hurriedly making use of military solution which is supposed to be the last resort.

Finally, Mr. President as a good Islamic adherent must always be guided by the voice of God through the Holy Quran, in resolving matters without been unnecessarily and humanly passionate, if this voice of the Holy Quran is anything to go by :

Quran 5 : 8

8‘‘O ye who believe ! Be steadfast witnesses for Allah in equity, and let not hatred of any people seduce you that ye deal not justly. Deal justly that is nearer to your duty. Observe your duty to Allah. Lo ! Allah is informed of what ye do’’.

The Federal Government recently disclosed that 9.9 million pupils in 56, 000 Primary schools in Nigeria have benefited from the School Feeding Program , suggesting  that this achievement, to a great extent, has impacted positively on the worrisome standard of education in the country. 

Nigerians dispute this claim, while stressing that government has done little or nothing to overhaul dilapidated school infrastructure, replace damaged desks and  chairs, recruit qualified teachers, ensure prompt payment of teachers'  salaries and  provide relevant teaching aids.

This is made more problematic with the appointment of those who are not technically fit to oversee the education sector.

In this interview, the Founder, Spiritual Head and Gran Imam of Shafaudeen-in-Islam Worldwide, Prof. Sabitu Olagoke opines that the lack of proper monitoring mechanism of the program has made saboteurs to use it to enrich themselves. Excerpts :

Do you think the school feeding program of the Federal Government has  made a positive impact on the standard of education at the Primary school level ?

 We need to appreciate the Federal Government's efforts under President Muhammadu Buhari for venturing into the feeding of pupils in our primary schools because the government before him never heeded to the clarion call for  free mid-day meal for our children at their formative age, whereby balanced diet would ever have direct impact on their growth and their reasoning faculties.

However, as good as the policy is, the program has suffered a lot; because of  its poor implementation .

In the first, place it does not cut across board, considering the number of public schools in Nigeria.

If the figure the government claims to have attained, is to be reckoned with, we have more than 9.9 million children  in our public primary schools and the number of schools is more than 56,000.

Apart from these lapses, the Federal Government does not have any serious monitoring mechanism, giving way for saboteurs to enrich themselves through the program.

The connivance between some fraudulent education officials, some Head Teachers and the food vendors, has made it possible to shortchange the children because there  are cases of some schools where one egg is usually shared into 16 places while the  the quality of food is poor in most cases.

The major objective of the program is not only to serve the children with balanced diet, but to enable children of the poor to equally attend school as well as to increase  the number of children who attend classes; courtesy of the relief the mid-day meal must have brought about for the poor parents, whose children had earlier been denied access to basic education.

In terms of statistics, therefore, for class attendance there has not been a remarkable increase.

Worse still, the government officials and elite sponsoring this program of mid-day meals have failed totally to patronize public schools, but instead send their children and wards to either  expensive  choice private schools, ignorantly assessed to befit their status or rather send them overseas or to neighboring countries considered to be functional education friendly.

If their children or grand children attend these schools, government would never be at the mercy of relying on false information, regarding the fairness of the program and correctness of the impact, the program must have had on pupils, school performance and the needed improvement in class attendance.

Government needs to establish an independent body, saddled with the responsibility of monitoring the implementation of the program, with adequate transparency and accountability.

This would enable the barriers of project implementation with impunity to be broken, for government's efforts to yield the desired results.

Generally, therefore, government must equally charge the mass media, most especially the electronics, to embark on sensitization and assessment reports through the peoples' parliament for it to have accurate  and reliable data through the pulse of the nation. This would bring offenders to book and would serve as deterrence to  those who might have such intentions.

The program is laudable but implementation and the low involvement of the children of the elite, serves to weaken the expected effectiveness of the program as well as serving as threats because it is very hard for the people to feel the impact due to the various listed barriers and acts of sabotage that are yet to be addressed.