Guardian

In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful

In the hands of the Almighty lies the knowledge of the hour…

“Consider the winds that scatter the dust far and wide, and those that lift and bear away heavy burdens, and those that flow with ease and gentleness, and those that distribute by command”- (Quran51: 1-6)

DEAR Brethren, today is the 22nd Day in the month of Safar in the Islamic lunar calendar (1434 A.H). Today is also the fourth day in the month of January 2013. In other words, a couple of days ago, the whole world marked the beginning of the new Gregorian calendar. It was heralded with the presentation of what is traditionally known as the budget by heads of executive arms of government all over the federation. We heard “songs” and listened to the familiar “music” about the then upcoming New Year.

There were no “dancers” except those who would partake of the opportunities the songs offered. Ordinary Nigerians did not and could not have danced to the music because they have become accustomed to the yearly ritual in which money are budgeted and appropriated only for nothing concrete or tangible to follow. An incurable critic once said, “when money is allocated to the councils, it is meant to be “counciled.”

Brethren, the New Year was heralded as usual, by the explosion of fire-crackers, otherwise known as, bangers. Fire- crackers, like the one, which exploded in Lagos last week, were part of the Chinese patrimonies to the world.

The earliest documentation of fireworks dates back to 7th Century China, where they were invented. The fireworks were used to accompany many festivities. It is, therefore, a part of the Chinese culture and had its origin there. No wonder China is the largest manufacturer and exporter of fireworks in the world.

Today, fire-crackers have become a global culture. I was taken aback the other day in Kuala Lumpur when the noise of fire- crackers took over the horizon. The Chinese Malays were marking the beginning of their new year.

Dear brethren, on occasions like this I thought it proper to remind you of some things you should not expect in 2013. I thought it is equally germane to call your attention to other things which our leaders have not and could not have budgeted for, but which, in their absence, life would simply become impossible.

Let us begin with the excluded in the proposed budgets for 2013 all around the country. Have you paused a moment to ponder why not one arm of government bothered to propose any amount for the quantity of air that Nigerians shall breathe in and out this year. Have you paused for some moment to ask the rhetorical question why is it that no amount was allocated as subsidy for the rain that Nigerians shall need to consume and water their plants and crops? Curious, is it not? Yes.

Imagine what would have happened in a country like yours if air and other natural necessities of life were to be under the control of our politicians. Imagine what would have happened if the air that we breathe in order to live were to be found only in one part of Nigeria or in some parts of the world to the exclusion of others. This would have provided our leaders with one other opportunity to make it big.

Our politicians would have haggled and congregated in adversarial terms around exactly how much should be appropriated as subsidy for the importation of more air for Nigerians. Areas in this country where the air is found would have joined the Niger Delta in demanding for resource control.

Our politicians would have turned the area into a wasteland so that arguments could be made for the importation of air from outside our shores as, not only a necessity, but rationally an imperative.

Our politicians did not and could not budget for natural disasters. Nor did they or could they have budgeted for the birth and deaths that would occur this year. Thus dear, brethren, the year 2013 is like a pregnant woman. The only way by which you can budget for that which is unknown is to stay under the canopy of the Creator of the known and the unknown. Let there be no lack of connectivity between you and the Almighty. It is through the Almighty that you can expect to survive the year with confidence, and happiness.

In other words, dear brethren, as you begin the New Year, put your trust in the Almighty not in the politicians. Expect your Creator, the Almighty, to open His bounties unto you. Know that it is He alone whose appointment is never canceled. Expect little changes in the way government is being run. In other words, do not expect water to run in the taps in our cities. Do not expect our airports to cease playing second fiddle to its peers in Africa and beyond. Do not to expect our road network to be free of potholes. The reasons our roads are bad are simply not due to lack of funds. They are bad largely because they have not become worse. The roads that would be fixed are those worth billions of naira.

In 2013, do not expect any reduction in the incidences of corruption in the land. Know that corruption will continue to fester at the highest quarters simply because of lack of commitment to fight it. But expect to hear of high profile cases of corruption like the ones involving the owner of the Bi-Courtney Limited- cases of friends who became enemies and must consequently be dealt with; cases of heroes of yesterday, who became villains today.

In other words, insofar as the corrupt still enjoys favours of the powers-that-be, he would simply be beyond those whose duty it is to apply the law. Brethren, what has happened to the case of bribery and corruption between Mr. Faruk Lawan and Mr. Femi Otedola? What happened to the case of corruption instituted against the former Speaker of the House of Representative? In June 2012, Justice Umaru Eri, Justice of the Supreme Court, said that there were nothing less than a 110,000 undecided cases of corruption waiting to be decided upon by the courts in this land.

Dear brethren, expect no end to inflation of government contracts in return for kickbacks. Expect no end in 2013 to fraud and falsification of accounts in the public service. Those, who perpetrated these crimes last year were not caught. They are still there in government circles, supervising government policies.

Dear brethren, expect no end to the harrowing experiences of loss of quality products in the market. Expect low quality rice. Expect low quality home-made appliances. Some days ago I sought to buy some spare parts for my car. I was shocked when I was told point-blank that tokunbo parts are better than new ones, that most new spare parts in the market are of inferior quality.

Thus, at the beginning of year 2013, it feels Nigeria is in a double-bind. It feels as if we are condemned to one of the lowly options: either the glorification, in perpetuity, of the mentality of the neocolonial, or the celebration, in acute docility, of the enterprise of the inferior.

May the Almighty bless us with the emergence of quality leadership that will rescue us from this pit of infamy and this abyss of mutually assured destruction (Amin).

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