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Reflections on Sūratu Yūsuf: Lessons For Everyday Life (I)

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BismiLlāhi’r-Rahmāni’r-Rahīm. All praise is due to Allāh subhānahu wa ta’ālā. May the peace and blessings of Allāh be upon prophet Muhammad and his household and companions. Āmīn.
Sūratu Yūsuf is the most interesting story of the Qur’ān. As Imām bn Kathīr rahimahuLlāh puts it:
“It is a story involving both human weaknesses like jealousy, hatred, pride, passion, deception, intrigue, cruelty and terror, as well as noble qualities like patience, loyalty, bravery, nobility and compassion.”
Of all the prophets of Allāh whose stories were narrated in the Qur’ān, Yūsuf was probably the only one whose story was never repeated in any other Sūrah in the Qur’ān.
Sūratu Yūsuf is very important to read and study for the following reasons:
1. It is the best of stories (verse 4). The human soul is created to desire the best of everything.
2. It contains signs for reflection for those who are inquisitive (verse 7)
3. It is one of the hidden information for many that Allāh has chosen to reveal to this Ummah through Muhammad (verse 102). Thus, reading it will strengthen our belief in the unseen.
4. It contains points of reflection and lessons for people of understanding (verse 111).
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What are the most critical lessons in this Sūrah for our everyday life?

1. Dreams have implications and consequences

Dreams are not ordinary events. They are not like the Yorùbá people say, “àlà gọ”. Yūsuf عليه السلام had a dream in which he saw eleven stars, the sun and the moon all prostrating to him. At the time, Yūsuf was a young man who didn’t understand the implications of his dreams. So he narrated it to his father who was gifted the knowledge of interpretation of dreams (Yūsuf would later be gifted this knowledge, too). He perfectly understood both the implications of the dream and consequences of Yūsuf’s brothers knowing about it. So he told Yūsuf to keep it away from them and he did. This dream would later come to pass in verse 100 of the Sūrah:
“And he raised his parents upon the throne and they all (his father, mother, and eleven siblings) bowed to him in prostration. And he said, “O my father, this is the explanation of my vision of before. My Lord has made it a reality.”
Similarly, in verse 36, Yūsuf’s two prison mates had a dream in which one saw himself pressing grapes for wine, while the other was carrying bread in his head from which birds were eating. Yūsuf عليه السلام interpreted both dreams to mean that one or them will become the king’s cup bearer, while the other would be crucified. Both incidents came to pass.
Also, in verse 43, the King of Egypt at the time had a strange dream in which seven fat cows were being devoured by seven lean ones, and there were seven green spikes of grain and others that were dry. When Yūsuf عليه السلام was informed, he interpreted it to mean people will experience seven difficult years in which there will be drought and famine in the land. So he suggested an effective economic template of prudence and saving for the rainy days.
Dreams are not to be taken lightly. It was the medium through which some of the prophets of Allāh received divine guidance and instructions.
For instance, prophet Ibrāhīm عليه السلام received instructions to sacrifice his son, Ismā’īl, through dream.
“And when he reached with him the age of exertion, he said, “O my son, indeed, I have seen in a dream that I must sacrifice you, so see what you think.” He said* “O my father, do as you’re commanded. You will find me, if Allāh wills, of the steadfast.” (Q.37:102)
Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم received the following information through dreams:
* The victory at Badr (8:43)
* The conquest of Makkah (48:27)
In fact, the stanzas of adhān and Iqāmah were revealed through the dreams of two Sahābah (Abdullāh bn Zayd and Umar bn al-Khattāb) and the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم approved of it in his capacity as the Messenger of Allāh.
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‘Ā’isha رضي الله عنها said:
كان أول ما بُدئَ به رسول الله من الوحيد الرؤيا الصداقة في النوم
“The first phase of revelations that came to the prophet were true dreams…”
The prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said:
الرؤيا الحسنة من الرجل الصالح جزء من ستة وأربعين جزءا من النبوة
“A good dream by a righteous man is 1/46 parts of prophecy.”
He also said:
أصدق الناس رؤيا أصدقهم حديثا
“And the truest vision will be of one who is himself the most truthful in speech,.”

Categories of Dreams

Dreams are of three categories. The Messenger of Allāh صلى الله عليه وسلم said:
والرؤيا ثلاثة: فرؤيا صالحة بشرى من الله، ورؤيا تخويف من الشيطان ورؤيا ما يحدّث به المرء نفسه فإذا رأى أحدكم ما يكره فليقم فليصل
“Dreams are of three types:
(i) A good dream which is a sort of good tidings from Allah;
(ii) A bad dream which causes pain is from the Shaytān;
(iii) A suggestion of one’s own mind.
So if any one of you sees a dream which he does not like he should stand up and offer prayer.”
Once a man came to the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم and said:
رأيتُ البارحة فيما يراه النائم كأن عنقي ضُربت وسقط رأسي فاتبعتُه فأخذته فأعدتُه. فقال رسول الله، إذا لعب الشيطان بأحدكم في منامه فلا يحدّث به الناس
Last night, I had a dream in which my head was chopped off but I picked it up and fixed it. The prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said, “whenever shaytān toys with you in your sleep, do not relate it with anyone.”

What To Do With Dreams/Nightmares

Dreams have no standard interpretation. Two individuals may see a similar thing in their dreams, yet the interpretation might differ. Thus, it is wrong to copy and paste the interpretation of the dream of another person. More importantly, the knowledge of interpretation of dreams is being claimed today by charlatans and fraudsters masquerading as Muslim clerics, hence the need to be extremely careful and cautious.
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The Messenger of Allāh صلى الله عليه وسلم has taught us what to do whenever we have a dream; pleasant or terrible. In the narration by Abū Qatādah, the prophet said:
الرؤيا الحسنة من الله والحلم من الشيطان فمن رأى شيئا يكرهه فلينفث عن شماله ثلاثا وليتعوذ من الشيطان فإنها لا تضرّه (متفق عليه)
“A good dream is from Allāh and a bad dream is from the Shaytān; so if one of you sees anything (in a dream which he dislikes, he should spit on his left side thrice and seek refuge with Allāh from its evil, and then it will never harm him.” (Agreed upon)
In another narration by Abū Sa’īd al-Khudrī, he said: “I heard the Messenger of Allāh saying…
عَنْ أَبِي سَعِيدٍ الْخُدْرِيِّ أَنَّهُ سَمِعَ النَّبِيَّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ يَقُولُ إِذَا رَأَى أَحَدُكُمْ رُؤْيَا يُحِبُّهَا فَإِنَّمَا هِيَ مِنْ اللَّهِ فَلْيَحْمَدْ اللَّهَ عَلَيْهَا وَلْيُحَدِّثْ بِهَا وَإِذَا رَأَى غَيْرَ ذَلِكَ مِمَّا يَكْرَهُ فَإِنَّمَا هِيَ مِنْ الشَّيْطَانِ فَلْيَسْتَعِذْ مِنْ شَرِّهَا وَلَا يَذْكُرْهَا لِأَحَدٍ فَإِنَّهَا لَا تَضُرُّهُ
“When one of you sees a dream he likes, it is from Allāh so let him praise Allāh for it and speak about it. When one of you sees something else he dislikes, it is from Shaytān so let him seek refuge from its evil and not mention it to anyone. It will not harm him.”
Source: Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 6584
He also added in some chains of its narrations:
“فإن رأى رؤيا حسنة فليبشّر ولا يخبر إلا من يحبّ”
“If he seems a good dream, he should only relate it to who he loves.”
فليبصق عن يساره ثلاثا وليستعذ بالله من الشيطان ثلاثا وليتحول عن جنبه الذي كان عليه
“(If he sees a bad dream) he should spit drily thrice to his left, seek refuge with Allāh from the evil of Shaytān thrice, and change the side on which he was sleeping.”
Thus, whenever a Muslim sees a good dream (sees something that’s pleasing to him in his dream), he should do the following:
(i) Thank Allāh subhānahu wa ta’ālā by saying AlhamduliLlāh or other similar statements;
(ii) Pray to Allāh to make it a reality;
(iii) Relate it only to his loved ones (someone you love and is sure loves you);
If, on the other hand, he sees a bad dream that grieves him, he should do the following:
(i) Spit drily thrice to his left;
(ii) Seek Allāh’s protection from the evil of Shaytān by reciting adhkār/suwar of protection. For instance, one can recite the following:
“A’ūdhu bikalimāti’llāhi at-tāmmāt min gadabihi wa sharri ibādihi wa min hamazāt ash-shayātīn wa an yahdurūnī”
Or
“A’ūdhu bikalimāti’llāhi at-tāmmāt min sharri mā khalaqa.”
Among others. Or even āyatul kursiyy or the two qul ‘a’ūdhus…
(iii) Perform ablution and observe nāfilah at least two raka’ah (optional);
(iv) Change the side on which he was sleeping;
(v) Never relate it to anyone (even if it’s to seek its interpretation).
It is important to note that approaching soothsayers or fortune tellers irrespective of whatever name they call themselves (Jalabists) is not of the teachings of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم. The prophet ,صلى الله عليه وسلم had said that whoever approaches them to seek anything from them, his Salāt will not be accepted for forty days!
If Ya’qūb عليه السلام could warn his son, Yūsuf, from relating his dream to his siblings lest they plot against him, how do you feel safe relating your dream to a total stranger who you call your Alfa.
More importantly, as Muslims, we do not take instructions or religious injunctions from dreams. This is exclusive to the prophets of Allāh ALONE. Thus, we do not take serious the claim by Shaykh Ahmad Tijanni, founder of the Tijaniyyah order that he received certain religious injunctions from the prophet in his dream. This claim is a blatant lie and a satanic fabrication.
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Similarly, even if your late parents were to appear to you in your dream and instruct you to carry out specified acts of Ibādah (other than the obligatory acts), you must NOT do it, as this may be the Shaytān trying to trick and lure you to Bid’ah and Shirk.
It is equally possible for an associate or relative to have a dream about you and relate it to you. Such a person, however, does not have any authority to specify for you any act of ibādah or sadaqah. And even if he did, you must NOT carry it out. As for a total stranger who you have never met before accosting you and telling you that he was sent to you from his dream, such person is a barefaced liar that must be IGNORED.
Do not take your dream to anyone for interpretation. If it’s good, thank Allāh and pray over it. If it’s bad, seek Allāh’s protection from it and be fervent in prayer. The Prophet has said that if you do the above, the evil in that dream will not harm you.

Parents Must Not Prefer A Child to the Other

It is wrong for parents to love and prefer a child to the other. Although love is a matter of the heart which one may not have control over, nonetheless, parents must be mindful of the negative effect of showing glaring affection and prefence for a child over the other. Sometimes, such love may be due to gender of the child, or the one whom he/she was named after, good conduct, brilliance, etc.
It is natural for parents to prefer the well-behaved/intelligent child to the ill-mannered/dull child. However, making such love and preference so glaring, and especially to the disadvantage of the other child/children is not permitted by the Sharī’ah. This is the same way that those with more than one wife are warned against showing more affection to one at the expense of the other. In one’s heart, one may prefer one to the other, but he must not show it in his public relationship with them.
The major reason why Yūsuf was so despised by his siblings was their father’s love and preference for him and his kid brother, Bunyamin. In verses 8, they complained thus:
اِذۡ قَالُوۡا لَيُوۡسُفُ وَاَخُوۡهُ اَحَبُّ اِلٰٓى اَبِيۡنَا مِنَّا وَنَحۡنُ عُصۡبَةٌ ؕ اِنَّ اَبَانَا لَفِىۡ ضَلٰلٍ مُّبِيۡنِ ۖ ۚ‏
“And call to mind when the brothers of Joseph conferred together and said: “Surely Joseph and his brother are dearer to our father than we are, although we are a group of so many. Our father is clearly mistaken.”
It is mentioned by some commentators on the Qur’ān that Yūsuf and his brother were more loved by their father for three reasons:
i. Their mother had died, so it was natural for him to feel more inclined towards them than his other children whose mother was still alive;
ii. They were his youngest children. Parents often feel more inclined to their young and vulnerable children than they feel towards their grown up siblings;
iii. Yūsuf, especially displayed early signs of righteousness and responsibility, at a time when his siblings were somehow rebellious.
However, this love and preference for Yūsuf cost prophet Ya’qūb عليه السلام so dearly, as the brothers executed a well orchestrated plan to get rid of Yūsuf in order to gain their father’s affection and trust. In verses 9-10, they debated their plan and concluded thus:
اۨقۡتُلُوۡا يُوۡسُفَ اَوِ اطۡرَحُوۡهُ اَرۡضًا يَّخۡلُ لَـكُمۡ وَجۡهُ اَبِيۡكُمۡ وَ تَكُوۡنُوۡا مِنۡۢ بَعۡدِهٖ قَوۡمًا صٰلِحِيۡنَ‏. قَالَ قَآئِلٌ مِّنۡهُمۡ لَا تَقۡتُلُوۡا يُوۡسُفَ وَاَلۡقُوۡهُ فِىۡ غَيٰبَتِ الۡجُـبِّ يَلۡتَقِطۡهُ بَعۡضُ السَّيَّارَةِ اِنۡ كُنۡتُمۡ فٰعِلِيۡنَ‏
“So either kill Yūsuf or cast him into some distant land so that your father’s attention may become exclusively yours. And after so doing become righteous. Thereupon one of them said: “Do not kill Yūsuf, but if you are bent upon doing something, cast him down to the bottom of some dark pit, perhaps some caravan passing by will take him out of it.”
Prophet Ya’qūb عليه السلام suffered a great deal over this. He cried until he lost his vision. He loved Yūsuf to a fault and his sudden disappearance shattered him.
The Messenger of Allāh has ﷺ warned against giving a child preferential treatment at the expense of another. An-Nu’mān bn Bashīr رضي الله عنه narrated that once his father, Bashīr, took him to the prophet ﷺ seeking to make him a witness over a present that he gave him. The Prophet ﷺ asked him:
أكل ولدك نحلته مثل هذا/أفعلت هذا بولدك كلهم/يا بشير ألك ولد سوى هذا/أكلهم وهبت له مثل هذا
“Do you have a chld other than him? Did you present a similar gift to your other children?”
He replied: “Yes, I have other children. No, I didn’t present a similar gift to the others.”
Thereupon, the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ said,
فارجعه/اتقوا اللَّه واعدلوا في أولادكم/ لا تشهدني إذاً؛ فإني لا أشهد على جور/لا تشهدني على جور!/أشهد على هذا غيري!
“Take it back. Fear Allāh and treat your children justly. Do not make me a witness. I do not bear witness to injustice. Go get another person to serve as witness.”
This Hadīth clearly prohibits treating one’s children unjustly by preferring some of them to the others. The neglected child may be inspired by the Shaytān to harm the beloved one, or even their parents. This is why the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ said:
“Be just among your children in gifting, like you would love them to treat you equally in righteousness and kindness.”

Dr. Sanusi Lafiagi is a lecturer in Department of Islamic Studies, Al-Hikmah University Ilorin

Opinion

Names for pig and pig meat in English Muslims should know – Farooq Kperogi

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Farooq Kperogi

Names for pig and pig meat in English Muslims should know – Farooq Kperogi

In the spirit of Ramadan, I am republishing a revised version of an article I wrote in June 2017 in my defunct “Politics of Grammar” column about pig-based meats and foods that Muslims are forbidden from eating but which many of them who visit the West unwittingly eat on occasion because of their poly-appellativeness (my coinage for multiple names.)

The column was inspired by an encounter I had in 2015. A Muslim high court judge from Osun State nearly ate pepperoni pizza (pepperoni is a mixture of beef and pork) at a workshop for Nigerian judges that I facilitated here in the United States. I knew he was an observant Muslim because we’d prayed together, and he’d shared concerns about the ubiquity of pork in Western culinary choices.

During lunch break, I saw him with slices of pepperoni pizza amid several people. I beckoned to him to come immediately, but he was really hungry, so he said I should give him a few minutes to finish his food.

I know enough Yoruba to know that pig is called “alede” and eat is “je.” I combined the words to make a sentence that I didn’t think made much sense. He jumped out of his seat instinctively and asked me in English if what he was about to eat contained pork. I answered in the affirmative.

He went straight to the bathroom and vomited, even though he hadn’t eaten anything. I felt sorry for him. He refused to eat or drink anything thereafter.

Another inspiration for this column derives from the tales of distress and guilt I’ve heard from many Muslim visitors to the West who consumed pig meat or who were awfully close to doing so out of ignorance of the deceptive appellative trappings of many pork-based gastronomic products.

For instance, at least five Muslims have told me that they either ate or almost ate a pig-based meat product called “salami” because they were deceived by the lexical similarities between “salami” and “salam” (Arabic for “peace”) and were misled into thinking they were eating halal meat.

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What could be more halal, they thought, than a meat that shares lexical and phonological similarities with “salam,” the short form of the Muslim, Arabic-derived greeting, As-salamu alaykum, and the root word of Islam itself?

In fact, many African Muslims bear the name Salami as the short form of Abdulsalam or “Abdus Salam (which stands for servant of the Peaceful, “salam” being one of the 99 names of Allah.) (Africans typically add a terminal vowel to every word or name. Thus, “Salam” becomes “Salami.”)

So how did pig meat come to share lexical similarities with the name of Allah and/or the short form of the most common greeting among Muslims, especially given that pork is prohibited in Islam?

A northern Nigerian Muslim who ate salami in London in ignorance told me he was sure that the choice of the name was a deliberate “Zionist plot to make Muslims eat pork.” That’s not true. First, Jews, like Muslims, are forbidden from eating pork. Second, the phonemic similarity between “salami” to “salaam” is actually accidental.

Salami is salted Italian pork sausage (more about this later.) “Salami” is derived from the Latin name for salt, which is “sal.” The Italian suffix “ame” is used to form collective nouns. For example, foglia, which means “leaf,” ‎becomes ‎fogliame when used as a collective noun. So salame actually literally means “salts,” but specifically salted meats. (“Salami” is the plural form of salame). The association of salami with salted pork came later.

Interestingly, this pork-based meat is called “salam” in Romanian, Bulgarian, and Turkish!
Well, there are few animals in the English language that trump “pig” in abundance of alternative names for it.

This includes names that indicate gender (such as “boar” for male pig and “sow” and “gilt” for female pig) and names that indicate age (such as “piglet,” “farrow,” or “shoat/shote” for young pigs).

A pig is also called a “hog,” a “swine,” a “grunter,” a “squealer,” a “sus scrofa,” a “porker,” and a “cobb roller.”

Most people know “pork” as the culinary noun for meat from pig, but there are way more pig-based foods and meats than “pork” that several people, especially Muslims who are prohibited from eating pork, are not familiar with. I list 14 more below as a public service.

1. “Bacon”: This is usually served during breakfast at homes and in hotels—along with eggs and sausage. It’s thin, sliced, salted, fried and brownish pork. It’s one of the most traditional culinary treats in the West. It’s so central to the gastronomy of the West that it appears in idioms such as “bring home the bacon,” which means to be the breadwinner, to be responsible for one’s family’s material wellbeing.

Most people know that bacon is derived from pig, but I have met many Muslim visitors to America, especially from Nigeria, who don’t know this. It’s also less commonly called “flitch.”

2. “Banger”: This is chiefly British English. Banger is pork cut into tiny pieces, seasoned, and stuffed in casings. The usual name for this elsewhere is “sausage” (see 3 below). It appears in collocations such as “banger and beans,” “bangers and mash,” etc.

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3. “Bratwurst (or just brat)”: Just like “banger” is chiefly British, “bratwurst” is mostly German. It’s a popular German pork sausage, although it’s often mixed with beef. In America bratwursts are called “brats.” (Sausage is any type of minced meat, mostly pork, that is seasoned and stuffed in casings).

4. “Chitlings” or “chitlins” or “chitterlings”: It is the intestines of a pig, which American blacks ate as food during slavery because it was one of the few sources of protein available to them.

Several decades after slavery, chitlins (also spelled chitlings and chitterlings) are still an African-American delicacy. If you are a Muslim who wants to experience African-American culinary delights, often called “soul food,” be sure to avoid “chitlings.” It’s just a cute word for the intestines of pigs.

5. “Chops” or “pork chops”: I know “chop” means “eat” in West African Pidgin English. But in Standard English it can mean a small cut of meat. It usually, though, is a small cut of meat from cooked pig. That’s why the usual phrase is pork chops, but it is also frequently rendered as “chops,” and that’s where people unfamiliar with the culinary vocabularies of the West might be misled into thinking they are eating a small cut of beef or mutton, etc.

6. “Frank” or “Frankfurter”: This is a type of smooth, minced, smoked pork often served in a bread roll. It is sometimes made of beef or a mixture of beef and pork. It’s generally called “hot dog,” especially in American English, and it’s so named because some people suspected, without any proof, that in Germany, where it was invented in the city of Frankfurt, dog meat was surreptitiously inserted into the meat since Germans ate dogs up until the 20th century.

Other names for franks or Frankfurters are “dog,” “weenie,” “wiener,” “wienie,” and “wienerwurst.” Although hot dogs or Franks started in Germany, they have become a staple of American street cuisine.

Thankfully, there are now turkey hot dogs, beef hot dogs, and chicken hot dogs, but the most popular ones are the pork-based ones. It’s always good to ask before you buy.
7. “Gammon”: This is pork taken from the thighs of a pig. It’s derived from the Latin word “gamba,” which means leg. It’s also called jambon or, more commonly, ham.

8. “Kielbasa”: This is the Polish word for pork-based sausage, which has achieved widespread acceptance in American English, especially in northeastern United States. It’s also called “Polish sausage” because it’s originally from Poland.

9. “Liverwurst”: Sometimes people in the West grind the liver of pigs and stuff them in casings. Germans call it leberwurst, which has been Anglicized to liverwurst. It’s also called “liver pudding” or “liver sausage.” Wurst, as you’ve probably guessed, is German for sausage.

10. “Rasher”: This is another name for bacon. Note that because of increasing pressure from Muslims and Jews, there’s now bacon or rasher made entirely from beef, turkey, chicken, or goat. If in doubt, ask.

11. “Ribs (or baby back ribs)”: This is meat from the ribs of a pig. But the term can seem like a generic reference to the ribs of any animal. It is also called back ribs or loin ribs.

12. “Pancetta”: It is Italian pork, derived from the belly of the pig. It is dried, salted, and chemically processed.

13. “Prosciutto”: As you’ve probably guessed, it’s also an Italian word. It is ham (see number 7 above) that has been dried and salted.

14. “Sowbelly”: It is salted pork cut from the belly. Other obvious names are “pork bellies” and “pork slab.”

Names for pig and pig meat in English Muslims should know – Farooq Kperogi

Farooq Kperogi is a renowned Nigerian newspaper columnist and United States-based Professor of Media Studies.

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Opinion

Mass kidnappings : The truth Nigerians do not want to hear – Femi Fani-Kayode

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Femi Fani-Kayode

Mass kidnappings : The truth Nigerians do not want to hear – Femi Fani-Kayode

Worst still, many of them, particularly in the younger generation, find it difficult to read more than three lines even though it is to their own shame and detriment.

For those that have the gravitas, insight, foresight, profundity and intellectual virility to read and comprehend the counsel I have offered in this write-up, I urge you to bookmark it and wait and see what unfolds unless and until we quickly identify and recognise the problem and address the issues raised.

There are two reasons for the mass abductions and kidnappings that we are witnessing in our country today.

Firstly to garner cash which is then sent abroad to buy more arms and fund terror and secondly to destabilise our country and to discredit and undermine the credibility of our President and the Federal Government.

I hope and pray that someone is listening because this is precisely what we witnessed when the Chibok girls and other children were abducted over the years and the motives are the same.

Those that think it is only about the acquisition of money are naive and ignorant.

There is far more to it than that and there are numerous shady and sinister characters, international criminal cartels, foreign Governments and intelligence agencies and local accomplices and facilitators that are involved in this great evil.

Targeted
Nigeria has been targeted for destruction, division and disintegration by those that see us as a threat to their regional hegemony, strategic national interests and imperialist aspirations but most of us still don’t get it and perhaps never will.

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They do not want a strong, united, prosperous and regionally dominant Nigeria but would rather turn us into a pathetic and pitiful shadow of our former selves, a cowardly and quivering caricature of what we once were and a weak, divided, incredulous and headless pawn and set us up for self-destructive economic and military annihilation.

They know that a strong Nigeria, like a strong South Africa, would stand up to them in the arena of world politics and international affairs and ensure that our collective interests as Nigerians and Africans would be protected and they do not want this.

As a matter of fact for us to achieve that enviable status is not just their greatest fear but their worse nightmare.

They ask themselves in their corporate boardrooms, presidential palaces, cabinet meetings and legislative chambers, who can stand up to a strong Nigeria?

They wonder where else they would get their free mineral resources and be in a position to manipulate and dictate to servile leaders if not Nigeria?

And if Nigeria were to fail, fall and go the way they want us to who would stand and speak for Africa and the black man in the comity of nations?

If the truth be told without a strong, flourishing and virile Nigeria Africa is nothing and the black man is nowhere and this is precisely why the powers that be, when it comes to world politics and the international community, do not want us to succeed.

As far as they are concerned we are too weak, corrupt, ignorant, primitive, backward, servile, self-hating and dumb to achieve anything meaningful and we are more than happy to spend the next 100 years as a nation and a people that seek nothing but validation, leadership and guidance from them.

Yet how wrong they are. They have no idea who and what we are and deep down they fear us and recognise the fact that an unbound and unfettered Nigeria with strong, bold, articulate, confident and fearless leaders that do not seek their approval or validation and that have no interest in remaining as their slaves would be their worse nightmare. Such leaders would be dangerous to their evil cause and their attempt to sow the seeds of civil war, hardship and economic paralysis in our country.

Fight back
It is time that we confront the matter with an iron hand and fight back to save Nigeria.

It is time for us to get off our knees, to throw away the begging bowl, to stop constantly seeking validation from those that do not wish us well, to stop blindly implementing their disastrous economic models which seek to impoverish and destroy our people, to uproot and reject their well-planted seeds of division and to stop tolerating their subversive activities.

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Ask yourself, who funds the terrorists and bandits and where do they get their weapons from?

They did it in Mali, Burkina Faso, Chad, Niger, Algeria, Libya, Iraq, Afghanistan, Egypt, Syria and so many other countries over the years and decades and now they are doing it here.

Ask yourself who was behind the attack on a mosque in which worshippers were killed on Friday in Kaduna and what was the purpose of this abominable and condemnable act of terror if not to destabilise us and create panic and chaos in our nation?

Again how is it that just a few days after the mass abduction of women in Gamburu Ngala, Borno state and just one day after the kidnapping of 280 female students in Kuriga, Kaduna state yet another 15 students were abducted in Gidan Bakuso, Sokoto state just yesterday.

All this nonsense must stop and we must desist from refusing to acknowledge that we now have and indeed have always had a major problem which needs to be acknowledged and be solved.

None of these things happen by chance and what we are witnessing is a deep seated and long term conspiracy to literally end our nation as we know it and throw us into a state of fear, poverty, anomie, anarchy, fratricidal butchery and carnage.

Worst of all is the fact that our so called “best friends” and “allies” in the west and the international community are the ones behind it.

We need help and if we can get it from the Russians, the Chinese and even the Iranians in order to restore our peace, self respect, freedom, dignity and prosperity we should do so.

Asking the West for help either in intelligence gathering, advice or covert Military operations when it comes to the fight against the terrorists and insurgents in Nigeria is like asking the big bad wolf to save little Red Riding Hood.

It cannot work because ultimately they are the hidden hand behind our numerous travails and they are the enemy.

May God open our eyes and deliver our nation and may we cultivate the fortitude and courage to come together as a people, eschew our differences, resist the evil and save our nation.

•Fani-Kayode, the Sadaukin of Shinkafi and the Wakilin Doka Potiskum, is a lawyer, a former Minister of Aviation and a former Minister of Culture and Tourism.

Mass kidnappings : The truth Nigerians do not want to hear – Femi Fani-Kayode

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Rise of right-wing economic populism in Nigeria – Farooq Kperogi

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Rise of right-wing economic populism in Nigeria – Farooq Kperogi

Over the last few months, I have unconsciously transitioned from keyboard diarrhea to mental constipation and have pulled back from social media engagements. I even struggle to write my weekly columns.

It’s precisely because toxic, unthinking, IMF-manufactured, right-wing economic populism has become hegemonic and taken firm roots in Nigeria. Blaming Tinubu for his right-wing economic policies while ignoring the fact that his opponents subscribe to the same policies is the kind of hypocrisy my mental, emotional, or ideological constitution is incapable of tolerating.

Right-wing or conservative economic populism manifests differently in different countries, but its core lies in weaponizing the general population’s concerns and frustrations, particularly around economic issues, to advocate poisonous, anti-people, market-centric, neoliberal economic policies while blaming an invisible elite or establishment class that supposedly controls power and resources to the detriment of the majority.

In Nigeria, conservative economic populism consists of the intentionally deceitful and absurd but nonetheless successful (at least for now) demonization of subsidies, especially petrol subsidies.

Nigeria’s elite-created economic woes are fraudulently attributed to the dispensation of subsidies. The masses of unsuspecting chumps in the country are then whipped into a senseless frenzy about an invisible, unidentified class of “subsidy thieves” who putatively suck up our commonwealth through petrol subsidies and who would wither and perish when subsidies are removed.

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That’s classic right-wing economic populism. Well, experience is showing that it’s actually the masses that are withering and perishing after petrol subsidies have been removed. An acquittance who passionately opposed my recommendation to Tinubu to not remove petrol subsidies in my April 29, 2023, column by regurgitating the banal talking points of hard-hearted neoliberal hawks reached out to me a few days ago to admit that he was a gormless fool to believe the propaganda that petrol subsidies didn’t benefit the masses.

It took the collapse of his small transportation business and the descent of his previously thriving relatives into the dark depths of despair and poverty in less than one year after the removal of petrol subsidies for him to come to the realization that citizens of every country need subsidies.

Another central plank of Nigerian right-wing economic populism is the advocacy for the devaluation of the naira. It’s also known by the fancy name of “floating the naira.” The idea that the naira is “over-valued” and should be allowed to find its true worth in the crucible of demand and supply is a standard arsenal in the rhetorical armory of conservative economic populists in Nigeria.

Yet another favorite shtick of the treacherous tribe of neoliberal vampires in Nigeria is to capitalize on the well-known inefficiency of civil service bureaucracies to advocate the privatization of everything and the mass retrenchment of workers.

Yet these are really old, discredited Structural Adjustment Program policies that the IMF and the World Bank imposed on developing countries, which devastated national economies, caused the untimely deaths of hundreds of thousands of people, which the IMF was compelled to slyly apologize for amid mounting evidence of their tragic failure.

The same rotten and venomous policies have been repackaged, aromatized, and re-presented to developing countries as new and effective elixirs. Every developing country that has embraced them is now coping with potentially explosive internal turmoil.

Like Nigeria, Egypt recently accepted to devalue its currency by more than 68 percent and remove subsidies that lighten the burden of existence for ordinary folks in exchange for an $8 billion loan from the IMF.

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Everyone within striking distance of becoming president in Nigeria in 2023 subscribed—and still subscribes—to the consensus that the IMF and the World Bank are inviolable economic oracles that must not be disobeyed, that subsidies must be eliminated and the poor be left to fend for themselves, and that the market is supreme and should be left to determine the value of everything.

In fact, the other day, PDP presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar put out a press statement titled “Argentina’s Javier Milei approach to reforms should serve as a lesson for Tinubu” where he extolled the dangerously right-wing Argentinian president Javier Milei whose rightwing economic populist policies are destroying the fabric of his country.

“I read a recent report in Reuters titled: ‘Argentina’s market double down on Milei as investors ‘start to believe’,” he wrote.

Well, the same Western financial establishment is already praising the outcome of Tinubu’s economic policies. A March 8, 2024, report from Bloomberg, for instance, has said that “Foreign investor demand for Nigerian assets surges as reforms instituted by President Bola Tinubu’s administration starts paying off.”

Similarly, one David Roberts, identified as a former British Council Director in Abuja, bragged the other day that Nigeria’s economy “posted a GDP growth of 3.46% in quarter 4” as a result of Tinubu’s economic reforms.

He wrote: “Why would a country with a severe infrastructural deficit invest more money on a wasteful expenditure such as cheap petrol, instead of building schools, hospitals, dams and a national railway system? It is evident that it had to go.

“We joined the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund in saying as much to the Nigerian government. And at long last, it is gone.”

People outside Nigeria reading about Nigeria in the Western financial press would think Nigerians are now living in El- Dorado as a result of Tinubu’s “reforms”—just like Atiku thinks a favorable Reuters story about the anti-people economic policies of Milei, who is called the “Madman of Argentina,” is already yielding excellent outcomes.

If you do the bidding of the Western establishment, they will always make up statistics to show that your economy has grown. I called attention to this in my June 28, 2023, column titled, “Why Tinubu’s Hiring and Firing Frenzy Excites Nigerians.”

I wrote: “What shall it profit a country when it pursues policies that cause the economy to ‘grow’ but cause the people to growl? After the economy has ‘grown’ but the people still groan, where is the growth? The most important growth isn’t the rise in abstract, disembodied, World Bank/IMF-created metrics but in the improvement of the quality of life of everyday folks.”

Milei’s Argentina that Atiku is praising is almost in the same right-wing economic hellscape as Nigeria is. Like Tinubu, Milei began his presidency by removing subsidies for petrol and transportation and devaluing the Argentinian peso by more than 50 percent. In addition, he threw scores of workers into unemployment when he reduced the number of ministries in the country.

He is so market-centric he scrapped a whole host of rules designed to reign in the greed and exploitation of private enterprises. He did this by getting the parliament to approve the principle of “delegated powers” to the executive for one year, which allows him to rule by decree like a military dictator in the name of “economic urgency.”

The result? Like in Nigeria, most Argentinians are having a hard time finding food to eat. A February 1, 2024, CNN story captures it: “‘I don’t know how I will eat.’ For the workers behind Argentina’s national drink, Milei’s reforms are turning sour.”

Argentinian workers periodically go on strike to protest Milei’s punishing right-wing policies. On February 28, all flights were cancelled in the country because air travel workers went on a crippling 24-hour strike.

A March 4, 2024, Bloomberg report said Milei’s policies had caused spending to plunge at shops in Argentina, that firms were seeing double-digit sales declines for third straight month, that the worth of salaries had plummeted amid a paralyzing 250% inflation, and that recession was deepening in the country.

The lead to the story says it all: “Consumers in Argentine are running out of options to shield themselves from runaway price increases as President Javier Milei’s austerity measures send the country deeper into recession.”

That’s Atiku’s exemplar for Nigeria. Peter Obi is, of course, no different. Tinubu, Atiku, Obi, and in fact Yemi Osinbajo are united in their love for rightwing economics, which invariably leads to an increase in poverty, suffocation of workers, rolling back of welfare for common people, etc.

In a perverse way, they are actually worse than Buhari because they are self-conscious conservative economic ideologues. Buhari is merely a know-nothing, bungling, kakistocratic power monger.

The real tragedy is that the vast majority of Nigerians who are ensconced in the narrow ethno-religious political silos built around the personalities of the major 2023 presidential candidates don’t realize that on economic policies, which is what really matters, Tinubu, Atiku, Obi, and Osinbajo are more alike than unlike.

Sadly, Nigerian leftists, who used to be the bulwark against the dangers of conservative economic totalitarianism, have either been coopted or silenced. Only Femi Falana, Majeed Dahiru, I, and a few others consistently stand up to the forces of economic conservatism.

This state of affairs will ensure that Tinubu’s successor will be another neoliberal ideologue who will bludgeon his way to the presidency using religion and ethnicity as cudgels. When he deepens the misery he inherits, he will blame his predecessor for not being a faithful practitioner of the neoliberal gospel. His own successor will replicate his template.

After three terms of this right-wing baloney, Nigeria will be irretrievably gone. The time to pivot from the IMF and the World Bank and to reject everyone who is their poodle is now.

 

Farooq Kperogi is a renowned Nigerian newspaper columnist and United States-based Professor of Journalism.

Rise of right-wing economic populism in Nigeria – Farooq Kperogi

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