In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the MercifulBut seek, with the (wealth) which Allah has bestowed on thee, the Home of the Hereafter, nor forget thy portion in this world: but do thou good, as Allah has been good to thee, and do not perpetrate corruption on the land: for Allah loves not those who do mischief. (Quran 28: 77)IT was 2.00pm in the afternoon. We were gathered in the Deans Office waiting for the commencement of one of the many statutory meetings, which usually hold every week in the University when the professor sauntered in. As soon he entered the Deans office and realised that there was no light, he shook his head. He then took his seat, very close to me and laughed wryly. A short while thereafter, he prefaced his contribution to the discussion, which later began during the meeting with the following comments.All Nigerian households have become mini-local governments- they provide water by themselves, they provide electricity by themselves, they provide security by and for themselves, roads in most neighbourhoods are being maintained by association of landlords and landladiesThe import of his comments was not lost on me. But my colleagues could not follow his argument. His message had been lost unto them no thanks to the noise the generator outside the Deans office was making. He looked me straight in the eyes and shook his head. As if in a theater doing miming, I returned his gaze and shook my head too. The failure of governance in this country today could be expressed in silence better than in words. When words fail to illuminate the horizon, silence becomes a categorical imperative.Meanwhile, we rose from the meeting around late afternoon on that day. Thereafter, I sought Internet access. On top of the deluge of mails waiting for my attention was this forwarded mail in my mailbox, titled: The Value of My Vote, the story goes thus:As the general elections draw closer, politicians are getting desperate to get more people to cast their votes in their favour. Last week, I witnessed an amazing drama unfold as a politician tried frantically to convince my neighbour to cast his vote for a party. When the politician realised that his effort was getting him nowhere, he decided to use the power in his pocket. He brought out a bundle of N200 notes and dangled it in my neighbours face, basically the way you would dangle some bait to an animal you are trying to catch. How much is your vote he asked, with a deceptive smile on his face.My neighbour hesitated for a moment, then grabbed a piece of paper and began to scribble down something. When he finished writing, he handed the piece of paper to the politician saying, This is the value of my vote.The politician went through the paper briefly and then squeezed and threw it away, in my direction. He hurried away, saying that my neighbour wasnt being rational.My neighbour, realising I was watching, picked up the paper and said, waving the paper at me, Am I being irrationalI collected the paper and took a quick look at it. He had written on the paper the breakdown of his familys expenses, which the government (according to him) had so far failed to provide or make available for its citizens. He then multiplied everything by four years. Something like this:Security: N20,000 per month x 12 months x 4 years = N960,000, Generator: N40,000 per 2 years x 2 = N80,000,Fuel for generator: N1,000 per day x 365 days x 4 years = N1,460,000, Potable water: N500 per day x 365 days x 4 years = N730,000, Healthcare Insurance: N10,000 per month x 12 months x 4 years = N480,000, Education: N5,000 per month x 12 months x 4 years = N240,000, Housing: N500,000 per year x 4 years = N2,000,000, total: N5,950,000.Well, he explained as I continued to stare at his breakdown, if asking for the basic necessities of life is not being rational, I wonder what is rationalI found this anecdote very illustrative of the exigencies of these times. These indeed are difficult times for our politicians - those who believe that without them this country would be headed for failure, those, who believe that apart from them nobody else is capable of occupying that lofty position. Thus the name of the game is desperation. Our politicians are afraid. Our politicians are frightened. They are afraid of the electorate. They are afraid of themselves. They are afraid of tomorrow. For them, tomorrow is certainly uncertain.There he goes, with our common wealth, and in search of men and women of small minds whose conscience he can buy. There he goes in search of men and women, who can be turned into tools and instruments- tools for corruption, instruments of oppression. There he goes, the Qarun of today. He has cornered what belongs to us all, yet he is not sated. His similitude is like that of a man who is thirsty and decides to drink water from the ocean- the more he drinks the thirstier he becomes: the more he steals and embezzles the more incontinent he becomes.Such individuals are the worst of our leaders. Prophet Muhammad (upon him be peace and blessings of Allah) called our attention to their styles and the way their people relate to them in one of his sayings. I thought that Hadith is germane to this sermon.On the authority of Abu Saeed al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) who said the Messenger (Sallahu alaihi wasalaam) said, the best of your leaders are those, who you love and who love you, you pray for them and they pray for you. The worse of your leaders are those who you hate and they hate you; you curse them and they curse you...May I, therefore, remind you that you should, as a citizen, vote individuals who would reinvent this country and positively too. Identify those, who have promised to create dams in the desert and make the moon appear at dawn. Deny these characters your vote and cast your ballot for their competitors.Identify those under whose suzerainty our cities have been turned to a guillotine, our roads have become death traps, and our hospitals have become mortuaries. Identify those under whose hegemony the innocent have been killed and the young have consequently been orphaned. Cast your ballot not for them but for the other candidate. After having cast your ballot, try and ensure your vote is counted. In other words, protect your vote. Allah says if you do not do itthere would be fitnah (tribulation) on land and much corruptionCorrigendum:Two weeks ago this sermon focused on the importance of Ayat al-Qursiy (Quran 2 verse 256). In it I erroneously mentioned that the number of verses in the Quran are 6666 instead of 6236. I wish to thank one of our brothers for calling my attention to this.(guardianfridayworship@gmail.com)
Click here to read full news..
