REFLECTIONS ON RAMADAN FAST 1

Ramadhan is the [month] in which was sent down the Qur'an, as a guide to mankind, also clear [Signs] for guidance and judgment [Between right and wrong]. So every one of you who is present [at his home] during that month should spend it in fasting, but if anyone is ill, or on a journey, the prescribed period [Should be made up] by days later. Allah intends every facility for you; He does not want to put to difficulties. [He wants you] to complete the prescribed period, and to glorify Him in that He has guided you; and perchance ye shall be grateful.  (Surat Al-Baqarah 2:185)

Muslims welcome the holy month of Ramadan with simple and minimal decoration as the holy month does not stand as a celebration but as a time for religious and divine reflection. It is a time for spiritual stocktaking and moral revival. It is a time of rejuvenation of religious and moral piety and reaffirmation of faith. Even the diehard and titular Moslems undergo a behavioral and attitudinal change during this month. The mosques are filled to capacity and the whole community assumes an atmosphere of religiosity: A time when even the confirmed sinners seek the benevolence of Allah; a time when evil and vile men seek atonement for their iniquities. Such is the month of Ramadan. Perchance, our leaders will take advantage of the promise of forgiveness from Allah to turn a new leaf and do the needful in making our life better and seek the path of righteousness. We have suffered enough as a people and this suffering does not need to continue. With the resources with which we have been endowed, there is enough for everyone to bask in the prosperity of our God-given provisions. But when a few conspire to deny the majority their rightful share of the commonwealth, they sentence the people into penury, want, misery and poverty. Ramadan is therefore, an opportunity for sober reflection and a chance for meaningful and positive change. 

Those who have perfected the ignoble art of cheating their fellowmen and converting the common patrimony into personal wealth have an opportunity to rethink and change. If only we know that the end is nearer than we think. 

Abu Huraira narrated that Allah's Messenger, said: "When the month of Ramadan starts, the gates of the heaven are opened and the gates of Hell are closed and the devils are chained." [Bukhari] Fasting in Ramadan is therefore a shield from Hell; fasting subdues sinful desires and reduces their severity: It is these desires and lusts that lead to Hell Fire.

The Quran talks about the reward of fasting and there are verses which general meaning infers that those who obey Allah will be saved from Hell, and fasting is a form of obeying Allah. The Ahadith of our beloved Prophet Mohammad, are clear in this regard; Abu Said al-Khudri reported that the Messenger of Allah, said: "No servant fasts on a day in the path of Allah except that Allah removes the Hell Fire seventy years further away from his face." [Bukhari and Muslim]  Abu Said al-Khudri also relates that the Messenger of Allah said: "Fasting is a shield with which a servant protects himself from the Fire"[Ahmad, Sahih]

`Uthman Ibn Abil-`Aas relates that the Messenger of Allah said : "Whoever fasts a day in the way of Allah, Allah places between him and the Fire a trench like that between heavens and the earth". [at-Tirmithi and at-Tabarani, sahih]

Ramadan (/ˌræməˈdɑːn/; Arabic: رمضان‎ Ramaḍān, IPA: [ramaˈdˤaːn]; also romanized as Ramzan, Ramadhan, or Ramathan) is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, and is observed by Muslims worldwide as a month of fasting (Sawm) to commemorate the first revelation of the Quran. The month of Ramadan traditionally begins with a new moon sighting, marking the start of the ninth month in the Islamic calendar. ... This is considered as the holiest season in the Islamic year and commemorates the time when the Quran is said to have been revealed to Prophet Muhammad.

Ramadan is considered to be one of the Five Pillars of Islam. During the month of Ramadan, adult Muslims fast from dusk until dawn, unless they are ill, pregnant, or diabetic, breastfeeding, or traveling.

There is also a verse in the Quran (Quran 2:185) that prescribes fasting for all Muslims who are mature and healthy enough to fast for the full day. So Muslims fast as an act of worship, a chance to get closer to God and a way to become more compassionate to those in need. May Allah accept our Fast as acts of Ibadah; Amin.

Barka Juma’at and a Happy weekend

Milestones: Alhamdullillah, our sister, Hon. Justice Kudirat Olatokunbo Kekere-Ekun of the Supreme Court of Nigeria and amiable wife of our brother AbdulFatah Akintota kekere-Ekun, marked her 60^th Birthday with prayer and thanksgiving. May Allah continue to Guide and protect her.

On Tuesday, May 8, our daughter, Assia Atinuke Jose was a year older. We thank Allah who has preserved her, this far and we beseech Him to continue doing so. 

And next Tuesday, May 15, our son Ismail Jose will also be a year older. May Allah preserve him.

On Sunday, 13^th May, another grandson of our father and son of our brother Abu; Ayyūb Jose will graduate from the university in far away, USA. Allah has been merciful.

Still on Sunday, our brother Enitan Ogunjobi (a grandson of our grandfather Brimoh Jose) will be giving  his daughter Olutosin away in marriage. May Allah bless the union.

Allah has indeed been merciful. Alhamdulillah!

REFLECTIONS ON RAMADAN 2

O you who believe! Guard your own souls: If you follow right guidance, no harm can come to you from those who stray. The goal of you all is to Allah.

It is He who will show you the truth of all that you do.

The Quran 5:105

A deep reflection on the institution of Fast reveals the various ways in which fasting helps in the mending of habits and development of character and God consciousness. With the onset of Ramadan, it behoves each fasting person to open a page from the book of muhasabah (critical self-evaluation) and to reflect on what is being achieved through the month. What benefits are derived, which behaviors are adjusted, what good practices are adopted, which bad habits are being relinquished? How does the prayers and fasting of Ramadan influence attitudes and perspectives; how is it improving relationships with families, friends and neighbors; how much has it increased consciousness of responsibility towards the destitute; how is it impacting on the body, the heart, the mind and the soul. If there is a genuine effort towards the spiritualization of one's being, the moralization of consciousness, empathy in attitude and goodness in conduct; then perchance a concerted effort is being made of treading on the pathway towards the objective of fasting - the attainment of taqwa (piety). Truly, the month of Ramadan is a season for spiritual stocktaking.

In a world, increasingly amoral, perception is considered reality. How one appears to the world has overtaken the substance of who we really are. Taqwa is in reality character development coupled with God-consciousness. Character is not only the face in the mirror, but the real person behind the face. The pursuance of piety begins by making our reputation a reflection of our character. Reputation may be reflected in what people write about you on your tombstone, character is what angels report about you to Allah; and that is the most important.

Ramadan is an ideal training period for filtering out bad habits and developing virtuous character. It is therefore, a good time for our leaders to turn a new leaf, lest ‘we the people’ decide to chase them out like Oliver Cromwell did the ‘Long Parliament’ in 1653. Cromwell’s speech aptly reflects the character of our leaders today: “It is high time for me to put an end to your sitting in this place, which you have dishonored by your contempt of all virtue, and defiled by your practice of every vice; ye are a factious crew, and enemies to all good government; ye are a pack of mercenary wretches, and would like Esau sell your country for a mess of pottage, and like Judas betray your God for a few pieces of money. Is there a single virtue now remaining amongst you? Is there one vice you do not possess? Ye have no more religion than my horse; gold is your God; which of you has not bartered your conscience for bribes? Is there a man amongst you that has the least care for the good of the Commonwealth? Ye sordid prostitutes; have you not defiled this sacred place, and turned the Lord's temple into a den of thieves, by your immoral principles and wicked practices? Ye are grown intolerably odious to the whole nation; . . ..”  If only they would change in the spirit of Ramadan!

Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said: “Your practice of faith will not be correct unless your actions are correct, and your actions will not be considered correct unless your heart is correct.” Ramadan is therefore a period for spiritual rejuvenation as it offers the opportunity for a unique expression of worship.

From ethical and moral perspectives, we should contemplate the higher purpose and the deeper meaning of our lives, trying to live meaningfully; balancing our physicality with our spirituality.

While Fasting, we are far more aware of the hunger of the poor and the suffering of the oppressed and are therefore instructed to be more generous this month. This promotes attentiveness to social responsibility, interest in the welfare of society and inspires a continued spirit of generosity.  The Qur'an refers to the fasting ones as sa'ihin/spiritual wayfarers. So, the journey of Ramadan motivates each person to perpetuate the positive spirit being imbibed and to continue on the spiritual journey towards fulfilment and excellence.

It is easy to talk about the world’s problem of hunger. We can feel sorry that millions of people go to bed hungry each day. But not until one can actually feel it in one’s own body is the impact truly there. Compassion based on empathy is much stronger and more consistent than compassion based on pity. This feeling must lead to action. Fasting is never an end in itself; that’s why it has so many different outcomes. But all the other outcomes are of no real moral value if compassion is not enlarged and extended through fasting. It is therefore in the interest of our fasting leaders and those not fasting to shed the toga of iniquity, selfishness and corruption and for once think of the poor masses who are not only defenseless but also hungry. It is only by doing this that the fast can have spiritual reward and meaning. As the prophet Isaiah said, “The kind of fasting I want is this: remove the chains of oppression and the yoke of injustice, and let the oppressed go free. Share your food with the hungry and open your homes to the homeless poor” (Isaiah 58:3-7)

May Allah accept our fast, Amee.

Ramadan Kareem and Barka Jumuah

ALHAMDULILLAH: It is with utmost joy and thanks to Allah that we announce the graduation of the last two children of our late sister, Muyiba Modupe Shoaga; yesterday Ahmed and Tayo Shoaga both graduated from the university in New Jersey. It is the culmination of a life of struggle and sacrifice. Allah has been merciful and all praise are due to Him. Shukra lilahi!  

My command at midnight

In December 1992 I traveled from Lagos to Katsina State for the first time. It turned out to be the longest journey I have undertaken within Nigeria. At this time Katsina didn’t have a functional commercial airport; so we landed at Kano International airport, and I made the rest of the journey by road – a two-odd hour trip. It was a business trip. The Alhaji Saidu Barda government was planning an elaborate water scheme for the state, so my contacts in government invited tender from my company. I finally settled down in my Katsina Motel room at well past 10:00p.m.

By 8a.m. the next morning, the Special Adviser to the Governor on water resources already had a driver waiting at the Motel’s reception. The lingua franca was strictly Hausa language for the common folk; any attempt to breach the existing order was robustly checked with “ba turenchi!”. With improvised sign language and a limited number of Hausa words I managed to stumble through with that stratum of Katsina society. My visit was partly coordinated by an assistant director in the state ministry of health, one Dr. Aminu Safana - rings a bell? Yes; he later joined national politics after a stint with the Afri Projects Consortium. Cerebral and thorough-going, Safana could have risen to any heights in Nigerian politics, but most tragically, he mysteriously slumped and died while holding forth on a controversial matter on the floor of the green chamber – it was a big loss to the nation. (May his gentle soul find bliss in Abraham’s bosom)

Katsina’s weather swings like a pendulum during the harmattan season. The temperature gradients at this time were such that heaters are employed at night , while air-conditioning is used during day time. Not the best of places to be in December; I thus looked to deploying my return ticket. I had earlier impressed on my hosts that my maiden visit couldn’t last longer than three days since I had a crucial appointment to catch in Lagos. So after three frenzied days I was set to return whence I had come. Ever the generous host, Safana promptly assigned a driver to take me to the Kano airport. We arrived the precincts of the airport at a little past 4p.m.; only to be informed that the last flight of the day departed less than an hour previously. “When does the last flight depart Kaduna?” I impulsively enquired from our informer. “About 7PM,” he responded. “Kaduna airport straight,” I called out to the dutiful driver, snatching a glance at my watch; if we are lucky we could be in Kaduna at a little past 6p.m., I quietly comforted myself.

As the driver manoeuvred the sedan through the outskirts of the ancient city of Kano, the reality of missing my 10a.m. appointment in Lagos started taunting me; an appointment with the Chief of Naval Staff is not one to be treated capriciously, I kept reminding myself. I simply must make the appointment, “Insha’ Allah”, repeating a refrain I had quickly learned during my 3-day visit. The Kano/Kaduna segment wasn’t as hitch-free as the Katsina/Kano had been, what with the many failed portions of the road and the heavy traffic between the two principal northern cities. Much to my anguish we arrived Kaduna airport at about 15 minutes past 7p.m. – of course you guessed the report thereof: the last flight was already airborne. With the barest communications between us we left the airport; pulled up at the next petroleum-products station; recharged our tank; quickly refreshed and headed for Lagos through the Jebba corridor. It was well past dusk and the single-lane road was pitch-dark. I instinctively spent considerable time trying to figure out the visual acuity of my indulgent driver, and somehow re-assured myself he could handle his present challenge. I finally settled down to the marathon journey south, consigning our fate to God.

The journey proceeded reasonably well until some three-odd hours later when we suddenly came to a halt. It was some 20 minutes until midnight. Ideas naturally quickly ran riots in my head: Robbery activity? Police check point? Road mishap? etc. Time inexorably raced. After 30-odd minutes that felt like eternity, we still hadn’t moved an inch! And no vehicles were coming in the opposite direction – the indicators are all too familiar. We have a completely blocked road to contend with, I concluded; looking with intensity into the pitch-darkness to master our immediate surroundings. Frustrated drivers and passengers milled about the endless line of stationary vehicles, letting out their worst fear – passing the night on the highway. The thought jolted me; that is not an option for me, I thought, at once opening the door and stepping into the dark night. “Let me check the front,” I said to the driver.

As I made my way through the utter disorderly maze, my white caftan sharply stood out like a sore thumb. In a like manner, the present hot and humid weather sharply contrasted the expected chilling temperatures in far away Katsina. A “petro tanker” had fallen across the road, I heard some one informing a small group. I persisted in the meandering, twisting this way and turning that way movement, oozing with profuse perspiration. Perhaps for the first time in my life, I experienced firsthand the meaning of the retort, “devil in the detail!”

It literally took forever to finally get a glimpse of the head of the endless line. My adrenaline hit an all time high on sighting “the devil”, as it were.  A huge petroleum-products articulated vehicle lay awkwardly on its side, filling up virtually the entire width of the road. Another articulated vehicle, apparently south-bound, filled up the remaining space. A sea of heads came into view. This must replicate the very picture of hell, I thought with my eye fixed on the big challenge. “Who is the driver of this bloody trailer!” I bellowed, lashing out at the south-bound vehicle with my clenched fist in sheer helplessness. It was a magical touch. The multitude suddenly woke up; “Where is the foolish driver!!!” “Where is the foolish driver!!!” the crowd shouted with hundreds of blows landing on the offending vehicle. A man was soon sheepishly dragged towards the vehicle; “Sorry sir; sorry sir…”, he kept muttering, timidly gesturing to me. “I give you one minute to move this bloody trailer out of here; or…” Multiple voices drowned the rest of my threat. Engine revved; gears clanked into position and the behemoth heaved forward, then backwards; repeated the manoeuvre a couple of times more, with the drivers among the crowd closely directing the troubled man behind the wheel to adroitly manoeuvre the articulated vehicle through the dangerously sloppy strait.

 One wrong move, I later realized, would have toppled the behemoth into the side ditch. That was the reason the driver fearfully abandoned his vehicle in the first place – the available space could just about accommodate cars and other light vehicles. I was quickly surrounded by eager assistants once the strait was cleared. “Okay! only cars; jeeps; and light buses, okay?!”  “Yes sir!!!” “Ten from Kaduna; ten from Jebba!” “Yes sir!!!” As I gestured the men quickly took positions, and soon after the kilometres-long lines on both sides of the road slowly came back to live, after over six hours of utter gridlock. When my vehicle came up I waved the driver on. Few minutes after, I effusively thanked the men, and took my leave of them. We safely arrived in Lagos well past dawn; and I am pleased to inform that I made my appointment.  

My Command at Midnight experience taught me three enduring lessons: 1) The multitude always looks to a leader for direction, lest its uncoordinated action results in chaos; 2) Any sane person can effortlessly lead a multitude, provided such persons are transparently selfless towards the collective interest; and 3) A mystical bond as soon forms between such leaders and their followers. Therefore, as Nigeria approaches the 2019 general elections, the electorate must constantly bear in mind that the key to unlocking the fortunes of our potentially great country lay in a leadership that is transparently anchored on the collective good of the citizenry, irrespective of tribe, region or religion.

Afam Nkemdiche is an engineering consultant; May, 2018                                                    

Viewpoint: The Royal wedding was a landmark for African Americans

Culled from BBC

The diversity on display at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle represented progress that much of the westernized world has yearned to see.

As an African American, I was happy to see Oprah Winfrey in attendance. She has long been, especially within the black community, American royalty.

Watching her arrive alongside the actor Idris Elba set the tone for the rest of the wedding, and forged a connection to the ceremony that black Americans had never previously had.

Harry is the British royal Americans can relate to more than any other. He befriended the Obamas and partied in Las Vegas long before his engagement to Ms Markle. He is more accessible and less formal than his immediate family, and his marriage to a biracial American celebrity seems to make sense. As an American, I felt a connection to not just the guests, but also both of the royal couple.

After the vows, viewers were wowed by teenage cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason, and by stirring renditions from the Kingdom Choir of "This Little Light of Mine" and "Stand by Me". #BlackRoyalWedding and #BlackExcellence began trending on Twitter.

Amid all these moments of significance, it was Bishop Michael Curry's sermonthat felt most profound. His modern, unorthodox invocation of love and unscripted reference to American slavery spoke to the very heart of black theology in America.

Black ministers first began to speak in front of white congregations after the Civil War, and for those white parishioners who overcame racist beliefs, the sermons became transformational events.

"Here was an unlearned man, one who could not read, telling of the love of Christ, of Christian faith and duty in a way which I have not learned," said white Baptist Minister Isaac Brinckerhoff, upon witnessing the sermon of a black preacher in South Carolina soon after the Civil War.

But the style of black preachers was also condemned by many whites, and Southern churches became increasingly segregated after the Civil War - racial divisions that have remained largely intact since.

DR Congo Ebola outbreak 'not global emergency'

An Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo is not yet an international public health emergency, the World Health Organization has said.

It said there was a "strong reason to believe that the outbreak can be brought under control".

At least 45 people are believed to have been infected in the current outbreak and 25 deaths are being investigated.

Cases emerged in a rural area with one now confirmed in the north-western city of Mbandaka.

The city of about one million people is a transport hub on the River Congo, prompting fears that the virus could now spread further, threatening the capital Kinshasa and surrounding countries.

Ebola is an infectious illness that causes internal bleeding and often proves fatal.

It can spread rapidly through contact with small amounts of bodily fluid, and its early flu-like symptoms are not always obvious.

Culled from BBC

Dis Fela Sef, an Idonije memoir

                              By Bayo Ogunmupe

    The book, Dis Fela Sef is the untold story of the legendary musician Fela Anikulapo Kuti. It is a memoir by his friend and manager, Benson Idonije. The author, now 82 years old, is the most credible chronicler of Fela's sexual escapades and tempestuous career as a musician and man of the world. Idonije was with Fela from the beginning till the end of his career as musician, politician and human rights activist. Fela's great musical creativity endeared him Idonije while Benson's love of music as a producer in Radio Nigeria cemented their relationship.

     Thus, as Fela's confidant Idonije became the power behind Fela's throne. And Fela's respect and trust an elder brother gave Benson access to every facet of Fela's life.  Which is why Dis Fela Sef is so accurate, deep and authoritative. This memoir was published in 2016 by Festac Books and reprinted by Havilah Grand Pearl Limited, Lagos, Nigeria. It has 20 chapters, an epilogue, 284 pages, two pages of bibliography, 13 pages of pictures and the chronology of Fela's life.

    In his introductory: Why this book? Idonije answers that there are still more legends to be known and misunderstandings to be corrected about Fela's tumultuous lifestyle and apostasy. As an Art critic on The Guardian, Nigeria for almost 20 years, and contemporary of Fela barely two years Fela's senior, Idonije has written about Fela more than any journalist in Nigeria. His original intention was to assemble those stories and publish them in book form. But his friends urged and assisted him to write a memoir of his friendship and as manager of the Fela Ransome Kuti Quintet from 1963 till 1970.

    Indeed, as band manager, Idonije was intimately involved and grappled with every activity of Fela's life and commune. Dis Fela Sef isn't a biography, nor is it a musical study, especially because not all of Fela's music is discussed. This is Benson's memorial of Fela, it is a new perspective, the story behind the story. with more legends to be told. Though Fela died on August 2, 1997, we still speak of him in the present tense; he is omnipresent. We use his first name to acknowledge the pervasiveness of his influence.

    Fela's music is the inspirer of modern hip hop in West Africa. Afrobeat bands are being formed around the world drawing from his overwhelming influence. Musicians and fans lapse into his vocal rasp to make a point. Fela has been celebrated on Broadway Theatre in New York, USA. Felabration continues to wax stronger and bigger with activities at every yearly edition even as they celebrate him with excessive veneration. Fela's Kalakuta commune has been recreated and turned to a museum for his immortalization.

    In treating the first ten chapters of this volume, I shall start from the chronology of Fela's life from 1938 to the time of his death in 1997. From his ancestry, his musical odyssey, redefining Highlife music to resurrecting the Koola lobitos culminating in the making of a new Afrobeat genre after his visit to the United States. It goes without saying that Fela's pervasive influence is proof of his ingenuity as a musician and man of letters.

    In the middle of the 19th century, one Egba gentleman named Kuti, Fela's great grand father fell in love with a princess called Efupeyin. The marriage of these lovers produced a son christened Josiah  inn 1855. Both were heathens but Efupeyin, Fela's great grandmother converted to Christianity. At her baptism in 1848 Efupeyin took the name Anne. In his memoirs, Josiah, Fela's grand father wrote: "To her I owe my Christianity today for my father lived and died a heathen." Kuti was a staunch weaver of cloth and musician. He is the one Fela appeared to be his alter ego and reincarnation. Fela's grand father was Josiah Likoye Kuti while his father was Oludotun Ransome  Kuti

    His mother, Frances Olufunlayo Ransome Kuti nee Thomas was in the forefront of women liberation in Nigeria during the colonial era. She championed female rights to vote and founded the Nigerian Women's Union. For these achievements, she earned international fame and recognition. Olufunlayo was a great admirer of Dr Kwame Nkrumah, the first president of the republic of Ghana and his pan African ideology. Nkrumah also recognized her for her political activities.

    Mrs Kuti was so courageous that her organization, the Nigerian Women's Union, chased the Alake of Egbaland out of his palace into exile in Osogbo for levying taxes on women. For so doing she became a heroine of Nigerian politics. Through Mrs Kuti Nigerian women achieved universal suffrage by being exempted from paying tax and allowed to vote and be voted for by 1959. She founded the Nigerian Women's Union in 1949. 

    Of Funlayo's children, Dolapo, the eldest, a female chose  the nursing profession. She excelled there, retiring from the Lagos Island Maternity Hospital as a matron in 1974. Next in line was Dr Olikoye Ransome Kuti. He was professor of Paediatrics at the Lagos University Hospital. He was appointed Minister of Health by President Ibrahim Babangida. As minister he transformed our health care delivery system  for which he received acclaim and was made a director of the World Health Organization.

    Fela's younger brother Beko, born in 1940, was also a physician and former secretary general of the Nigerian Medical Association. He was a strong opponent of military rule. Later, he became chairman of the Campaign for Democracy. For his democratic views he was imprisoned during the regimes of Buhari,  Babangida, Ernest Shonekan and Sani Abacha. He had been framed with involvement in a plot to overthrow the military government and was slammed with a 15 year jail term. He was only released in 1998 after a change of government.

    All of the Fela siblings have died. But their pedigree is awesome. Not many Nigerians living or dead have documentary records of their lineage dating back to 1850 like them. Fela studied classical music at Trinity College of Music in London. He married Remilekun Taylor in 1961. He had three children: Yeni, Femi and Sola. He returned to Nigeria with his family in 1963. He gained employment as music producer at the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation in 1964. he launched his band the Koola Lobitos in 1965. He played at the yearly Havanah Dance Festival organized by the  Sigma Club, University of Ibadan in 1965.

    Fela resigned from NBC to manage the Koola Lobitos full time in 1968. Thereafter, he devoted his life to music. But in February 1976, Kalakuta Republic, his Agege Motor Road commune was burnt down by soldiers. In April of the same year he changed his name from Ransome Kuti to Anikulapo Kuti. He sang it loud and clear that religions not indigenous to Africa should be discarded. He established a shrine and appointed priests in order to worship God in the African way. He married 27 wives and kept them in his commune to rubbish Western culture we are adopting.

    In his last days, considering his type of music you would think Fela was on drugs but no. Later bad companions led him into sex, women and marijuana. He eventually succumbed to HIV/AIDS. While Idonije was a bachelor, his apartment became Fela's slaughter slab. He sometimes had three different women a day. Which is why Idonije book became a best seller. In fact the copy I used in this review is a pirated one: there is no greater testimony to the success of Dis Fela Sef.

    Benson Idonije studied communication engineering at Yaba College of Technology, Lagos. He joined Radio Nigeria in 1957 later becoming a presenter of famous programmes. The high pint of his career in broadcasting was his transfer to the training school where for eight years he became principal lecturer  in programme production. After he retired in 1992, he wrote art columns for The Guardian, Nigeria. Now 82 years old, Pa Idonije is still alive and writing.

For the love of country

                            By Bayo Ogunmupe

    The book, For the love of country, subtitled: Predicting Nigeria's Past, Foretelling Her Future, is an engaging work of analysis, critical essay which is educative, inspiring and upbraiding. It spreads the twin message of patriotism and the sermon from the pulpit for the empowerment of youth, the pursuit of accountability from Nigerian leaders and honest and responsible following from the people. The author, Bamidele Ademola Olateju passionately demands equity and justice from Nigerian leaders. She demands these attributes with a sharp analytical prowess and an uncanny ability to predict events in the course of a dissecting Nigerian economic environment.

    For the love of country was published in 2016 by Parresia Publishers Limited, Ikeja, Nigeria. It is in paperback with 208 pages, two parts and 43 chapters. Prior to Nigerian independence, we had a long line of female activists, in particular was Fela's mother Mrs Olufunlayo Ransome Kuti who founded the Nigerian Women's Union. Then, the struggle was for women emancipation, social justice, human and economic rights. What Nigeria has never had before and after independence is a female intellectual politician who combines activism with the struggle as an organic laborite aiming to achieve a better and fairer Nigeria.

    It is that intellectual woman leader seeking to make Nigeria a place where human dignity and justice reign that author Olateju represents. And true to type, she bestrides that figure like a colossus. With her book, she is seeking to free Nigeria from her asphyxiating condition as a preliterate society. Her focus is to right the self inflicted wrongs and errors of a Nigeria seemingly doomed to a fate of unrealized potential.

    "This book is evidence that Bamidele Olateju has emerged to fill the void in Nigeria's public sphere, to free the country from her asphyxiating wrongs: of a country seemingly doomed to a fate of unrealized potential." These collection of essays are not just your regular run of lamentation for Nigeria. They are the musings of an intellectual with a gift for analysis and originality of thought. This volume examines our persistent problems of power outage with an uncommon insight. Also, she offers solutions and the way out of our imbroglio.

    You read Bamidele feeling summoned to participate in a joint task of taking Nigeria out of the doldrums. On reading Olateju you become a member of a pan Nigerian force blessed with the intellect of the most influential female activist of our generation. Social dysfunction is overwhelming in Nigeria. But, as shown by Olateju, we've not all been silenced by the shame. Indeed, the love of country  and fame have lured Bamidele into refusing to distort the truth and our values. Thus, she wrote this testament in her strong believe that it is not enough to learn and think without spreading the gospel of Nigeria's return to true federalism, prosperity and self reliance.

    In part one, Olateju defined her role in the world as a woman. In her own reality, a woman is a human being of the female gender, who has gained full recognition of being a female and the weaknesses ascribed to her from birth. For this inheritance, she accepts her great battle in a world dominated by men. To her, being a woman is to bear the burden of caring for others at your expense and the changes your body bears at every phase of the journey. Being a woman means being strong because you will need all the strength you can muster.

    From a panegyric on womanhood, the author moves to an analysis of religion as a tool of domination, impoverishment and deception. In southern Nigeria the christian message governs everyday living and provides the concept of justice. That is the reason, according to her, why christians must participate in politics. She opines, Nigerian politics has not evolved past bigotry. Instead of framing issues around morals, the Nigerian clergy incites their congregation with the prosperity gospel, claiming they are doing this in the name of Christ.

    By proclaiming the name of Christ, the Nigerian entrepreneur pastors are corrupting the Grace and perverting the Law, making Nigeria an example of how political power corrupts the church as the bearer of the gospel of Christ. In her opinion, the clergy has been led to abandon the body of Christ for the love of money. The pastor entrepreneurs have lost compassion for the faithfuls and instead they have embraced greed building universities members cannot reach and shuttling the nation in private jets.

    They even preach violence and hate instead of love. By so doing the rich gets richer by fleecing the poor and looting the country. Bamidele believes the church has failed to provide the moral fabric necessary for a great Nigerian nation to emerge. Pastors and imams know that the greater your education, the more you understand the world. Education allows you to need less miracles and magic. So, they ruined education, made their colleges unreachable to the poor- collaboratively- both church and mosque.

    That is why religious organizations that invested in education made their schools expensive so their congregation can remain gullible. In that way they can continue the manipulation and the enslavement of the people. Nigeria will become better if religion focuses on skills acquisition delivered through subsidized education.

    For the second section of the book: Olateju dwells on  youth as Nigeria's  emerging underclass. But for the prevalent mediocrity of our psyche, the unemployed youth can use their permanent voters' cards to alter their destiny either by voting themselves into power or by promoting better leaders. Unlike the Israeli student who killed Prime minister Yitzhak Rabin to stop a two state solution to the mideast crisis, Nigerian students can only undertake armed robbery to get rich quickly.

    "No nation can achieve greatness without investing in its youth. Yet, Nigeria cannibalizes her young through policies and through determined deprivation. The youth is usually energetic, vibrant, adventurous, learning and full of life. In Nigeria, the youth is disoriented, weak, miseducated, thoughtlessly shallow and directionless yet burdened by impenetrable armour of meaningless swagger and overrated sense of worth and exaggerated aspiration for material acquisition."

    But somehow, we cannot blame the youth for this exaggerated vision of grandeur. This is because they have seen the dregs of society come into stupendous wealth by going into politics or advanced fee fraud. The 18 to 35 age bracket is about 70 million and is growing rapidly. The youth have no credible role models. All they see are grifters who reinforce their believe that education is a waste of time.

    However, our missteps are traceable to our antiquated educational system. While most nations developed through skills acquisition due to technological revolution, our educators still insist in the ancient rote learning, the knowledge that has become obsolete because the communication revolution. The consequence of our poorly educated youth, especially in a Nigeria that is desperately in need of investors, is underdevelopment and insurrection.

    With a literacy rate of less than 60 percent, our nation cannot achieve industrialization without solid educational investment in our citizens. Finally, why Nigeria is good at picking bad leaders will cap this review. We are as bad as that because we focus on wrong things. We rely on contrived narratives such lack of shoes ( Goodluck Jonathan), exaggerated meekness and superfluous religiosity(Buhari) or even deep pockets(Bola Tinubu). Even then, a new leader faces daunting obstacles such as ethnic/religious pressure, sabotage, endemic corruption and a staggering mediocrity.

    In what qualifies a leader, Olateju examines seven qualities of eminent leaders. From integrity: the quality of being honest, having good morals and the absence of hypocrisy, the author  dwells on such others as courage, empathy and vision. She avers that we generally lack men of courage and vision because oil boom has made our leaders to be greedy and clannish. Lack of empathy, the inability to share in the agonies of others propelled our leaders to attend weddings befor sympathizing with the parents of the 110 abducted school girls.

    There are many ideas you will gain by reading this book. As you follow Olateju's twin themes of "for the love of country and the sermon on the political pulpit, you will readily imbibe her passion for justice and conviction for a better Nigeria. Olateju has masters in both Business administration and computer information systems. She worked in two top companies in the USA before establishing her own business in Nigeria. Apart from being a farmer, she is a member of the editorial board of Premium Times where she  maintains a weekly column on politics and social justice in Nigeria.