By Babatunde Jose

‘Hope’ is among the most exalted of all feelings. We have bestowed an air of nobility upon it – an optimist hopes, pessimist despairs. In Greek mythology, ‘hope’ is also the last of all things to jump out of Pandora’s box. It is pitched as a remedy for all the evils which leapt out of the box before it. If not a remedy, it certainly gave humans a reason to live on – a hope that things will be better tomorrow, even though it also has the capacity to extend and accentuate one’s misery at the same time.

For the Stoics, ‘hope’ was irrational. It is only by hoping that things turn out a certain way do we create the possibility of things not turning out how we want them to. If where there is misery, there is hope; then where there is hope, there is misery, too. We suffer not because of what we go through, we suffer because of what we hope for. Lucius Annaeus Seneca, who lived through much physical suffering, put it pithily: “we suffer more in imagination than in reality.”

“It is the audacity of hope which makes people dream, but it is understanding the futility of hope which makes people content.” – Maitreya Thakur

Hope is a blend of optimism and willpower. It can exist even in the most difficult situations and emotions. Hope is much more than wishful thinking, as it requires positiveness and determination. Hope is the belief that your future will be better than the present and that you have the ability to make it happen.

Hope is more than a feel-good emotion. It is an action-oriented strength involving agency, the motivation and confidence that goals can be reached, and also that many effective pathways can be devised in order to get to that desired future.

People high in hope tend to focus on what’s in front of them. They don’t dwell on the past or worry about the future, though they do set goals for themselves. They stay focused on what’s happening right now. This allows them to stay positive and act.

Hope is the belief that your future will be better than the present and that you have the ability to make it happen. It involves both optimism and a can-do attitude. This definition of hope is based on “Hope Theory,” a positive psychology concept developed by American psychologist Charles Snyder.

Hope is an optimistic state of mind that is based on an expectation of positive outcomes with respect to events and circumstances in one’s life or the world at large. As a verb, its definitions include: “expect with confidence” and “to cherish a desire with anticipation”.

It is rather unfortunate that hope is not infinite. It gets to a stage when if hope is not realized, it degenerates into frustration and it becomes futile: Meaning it becomes unrealizable. At this stage it dawns on the subject that it is a hopeless hope and a furlong exercise.

What is the danger of losing hope? It can happen when our dreams die. It can also be devastating as they can lead to a loss of purpose and on to depression and discouragement.

When people are sold on the concept of ‘renewed hope’ after years of suffering deprivation, want and insecurity, and are suddenly plunged into poverty, hunger, misery, and want they experience the futility of hope.  Suddenly, the price of fuel jumps from under 200 a liter to 600, diesel becomes out of reach, wages become inadequate to put food on the tables, with prices of food skyrocketing: We return to the state of nature, “No arts; no letters; no society; and which is worst of all, continual fear, and danger of violent death; and the life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.” So said Thomas Hobbes in his Leviathan.

They project into the future and there is no future for their children and children’s children. This is the futility of hope.

How do we maintain hope in the face of uncertainty? What are you hopeful for? We all want to feel hope, but what does that mean to you? Turn to faith and spirituality. This is where God comes in. For those who poo poo the resort to spirituality, they have not experienced the futility of hope.

Can we survive without hope? Even when you have hit bottom, with no plan for getting out, hope gives. What does it give? Hope gives the motivation and courage needed to succeed. It’s been said that a person can live forty days without food, four days without water, four minutes without air, but only four seconds without hope.

Hope is necessary not just to survive, but also to thrive. Hope that things will change. Hope that the situation will improve. Hope that we can be better.

In 1992 Abiola raised the hope of the masses with his ‘Hope 93’. There was a revolution of rising expectations as the momentum of the campaign increased. Hopes were elevated for a better tomorrow. But with the annulment of that election all hopes were dashed. Then there was an interregnum of terror during which the revolution of expectations became a revolution of rising frustration. But after those dark days came a supposedly ‘glorious’ dawn with the coming of civil rule. Hope was rekindled. So, we thought.

For 24 years hopes have been raised and dashed by our civilian rulers. We had 16 years of the locust, 8 years of clueless rule of the ‘merchants of change’ who brought no change. No light, no industrial revolution, no food, no petrol, no diesel, no fertilizer, at a time, no cash, no future and no light at the end of the tunnel.

And then we arrived at the present with the mantra of ‘renewed hope’: Instead of hope being renewed, we have a worsening living standard. A life of hunger, insecurity, and pauperization. A life of hopelessness and frustration with a dim hope of tomorrow. A life of increased robbery, mass abductions and kidnappings where people are not safe in their homes. This is the hopelessness of hope that we live in: This is the futility of Hope.

In Genesis 8:22 God said: “For as long as Earth lasts, planting and harvest, cold and heat, Summer and winter, day and night will never stop.” That is the consolation from the Bible to keep hope alive.

It encourages us to renew our hope in God. Bolster our faith and make prayer and quiet time with the Lord a priority.  Surround ourselves with people of hope and faith, keep the word of God in our eyes and ears as many hours as possible each day. Refuse to quit and mix faith, hope, and love.

Despair,desperation, despondency, discouragement, hopelessness refers to a state of mind caused by circumstances that seem too much to cope with.

Overall, hope is beneficial to our well-being. Hope encourages us to persist, even though we may be facing setbacks. Hopeful individuals are more likely to frame difficulties as challenges, rather than threats. This enables them to experience setbacks as less stressful and draining.

This brings us to the various types of hope. Realistic hope: is hope for an outcome that is reasonable and possible. Utopian hope: is a collectively oriented hope that combined action can lead to a better future for everyone. Chosen hope: Helps us live with a problematic present in an uncertain future. And, Transcendent hope, or Existential hope, is the hope that is not tied to a specific outcome, but a general hope that something good can happen; this is where we are now.

We keep moving forward with optimism because hope allows us to envisage a better future or a good outcome. Allah promises us that after every difficulty is a relief. Inna ma’al ‘usri yusra. ‘Verily with every hardship comes ease’. Quran (94:6). We must never lose hope that our situation will improve.

Islam rejects excessive hope or excessive fear, describing both as a “pseudo” type, which would respectively contribute to self-deceit and despair, and end in spiritual decline. We should expect things to turn out for the best and we can look forward to tomorrow with confidence. God has promised us that following His guidance will lead us to the best outcome.

“And He provides for him from (sources) he never could imagine. And if anyone puts his trust in Allah, sufficient is (Allah) for him. For Allah will surely accomplish his purpose: verily, for all things has Allah appointed a due proportion. (Surah Talaq, Quran 65:3)

In the Psalms, we read of a Song of Ascents, Psalm 21: I lift up my eyes to the hills– where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip– he who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The LORD watches over you– the LORD is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. The LORD will keep you from all harm– he will watch over your life; the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore. Amen

Barka Juma’at and a happy weekend.

By Babatunde Jose

“So do not lose hope, nor fall into despair, for you will be superior if you are true in faith.” (Surah Al-Imran; 139)

Our world is in big trouble. As world conditions worsen, more of us are suffering the tragic consequences of both natural disasters and man-made problems. Divides are growing deeper.  Inequalities are growing wider.  Challenges are spreading farther. Today’s rarest commodities:  hope and security are receding. We need hope — and more.  We need action.  We also need to ease the global insecurity and food crisis.

We already have reports of farmers in West Africa and beyond cultivating fewer crops because of the price or lack of availability of fertilizers, insecurity due to violent acts of terrorists and the fear of accessing their farms.

We need action across the board.  We are in rough seas.  A season of global discontent is on the horizon.  A cost-of-living crisis is raging.  Trust is crumbling.  Inequalities are exploding. Hunger is everywhere.  Our planet is burning.  People are hurting – with the most vulnerable suffering the most. People are becoming hopeless and helpless. The United Nations Charter and the ideals it represents are in jeopardy.

And yet we are gridlocked in colossal global dysfunction.  The international community is not ready or willing to tackle the big dramatic challenges of our age.  Crises like the war in Ukraine and Gaza, the multiplication of conflicts around the globe.  Crises like the climate emergency and biodiversity loss.  Crises like the dire financial situation of developing countries and the fate of the Sustainable Development Goals.  And crises like the lack of guardrails around promising new technologies to heal disease, connect people and expand opportunity.

Our world is in peril and paralyzed.  Geopolitical divides are undermining the work of the Security Council; undermining international law; undermining trust and people’s faith in democratic institutions; undermining all forms of international cooperation. We cannot go on like this.  Even the various groupings set up outside the multilateral system by some members of the international community have fallen into the trap of geopolitical divides, like in the G-20. At one stage, international relations seemed to be moving toward a G-2 world; now we risk ending up with G-nothing.  No cooperation.  No dialogue.  No collective problem-solving.

But the reality is that we live in a world where the logic of cooperation and dialogue is the only path forward.  No power or group alone can call the shots.  No major global challenge can be solved by a coalition of the willing.  We need a coalition of the world.

In Ukraine, war has unleashed widespread destruction with massive violations of human rights and international humanitarian law. The fighting has claimed thousands of lives.  Millions have been displaced.  We are seeing the threat of dangerous divisions between West and South.  The risks to global peace and security are immense.

In Libya, divisions continue to jeopardize the country.  In Iraq, ongoing tensions threaten stability.  In Israel and Palestine, cycles of violence under the occupation continue as prospects for peace based on a two-State solution grow ever more distant.

In Myanmar, the appalling humanitarian, human rights, and security situation is deteriorating by the day.  In the Sahel, alarming levels of insecurity and terrorist activity amidst rising humanitarian needs continues to grow.  In Syria, violence and hardship still prevail.  The list goes on.

The world is embroiled in multiple crises – from disasters to conflict to climate emergency, threatening the right to health of millions globally, with those facing marginalization or vulnerability suffering the most.

The war in Ukraine has sparked the world’s fastest and largest displacement crisis in decades, according to the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR). Many still in the country are without access to food, water, health care, and other essential supplies. The conflict also continues to have ripple effects across the world affecting the shipment of grains and fertilizer.

In Haiti gang violence and climate change combine for chaos as political instability and violence surge. Armed gangs regularly take control of distribution routes, causing shortages of basic goods and fuel.

In Mali, security and economic crises have left 6.2 million people in need of humanitarian support. The recent withdrawal of the U.N. peacekeeping force has raised safety concerns, especially of renewed fighting between the government and Tuareg armed groups in northern Mali.

Niger’s July 2023 coup has triggered political tensions with neighboring countries and led to the withdrawal of international security assistance. Public spending has decreased by 40%, weakening key services.

The situation in Burkina Faso grows increasingly dire as armed groups intensify their attacks and seize land. Some towns in northern Burkina Faso are almost entirely cut off. The price of food has increased 30 percent, among the highest food inflation rates in the world. Burkina Faso is facing rapidly growing and spreading violence as the Burkinabe military struggles to contain armed groups. Roughly half of the country is now outside government control, with armed groups including Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS) and Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) blockading cities and towns and preventing residents from accessing basic goods and services.

South Sudan is still recovering from a civil war that ended in 2018. While conflict has decreased, localized fighting remains widespread. The country is one of the most fragile in the world. Climate disasters including severe floods and droughts make it increasingly difficult for people to access food and basic resources. Currently, 9 million people in South Sudan need humanitarian assistance. This amounts to 72% of the population. Despite severe flooding, destroyed crops and disease outbreaks, funding shortages forced the World Food Program to suspend part of its food aid.

Syria: Years of war trigger a health crisis. Over a decade of war has destroyed Syria’s health system and left the country on the brink of economic collapse. A decade of conflict in neighboring Lebanon has further increased food prices and poverty. Currently, 75 percent of Syrians are unable to meet their most basic needs and millions rely on humanitarian aid.

The crisis in Yemen is deepening as an eight-year conflict between armed groups and government forces remains unresolved. While a ceasefire reduced fighting for several months, it collapsed and failed to mitigate the economic and health consequences of conflict. As it stands, 80 percent of the population lives in extreme poverty and 2.2 million children are acutely malnourished.

Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC); following the collapse of a truce between the government and the armed group M23. This exacerbated a protracted crisis that had already exposed millions of Congolese to conflict, political tensions, economic pressures, climate shocks and persistent disease outbreaks. The country entered 2024 with 25.4 million people in need of humanitarian assistance—more than any other country on earth.

The magnitude of the crisis has strained services, created high levels of food insecurity, and fueled the spread of disease.

Afghanistan: An entire population is pushed into poverty. Since the shift in power, Afghans remain in economic collapse while the root cause of the crisis persists. Ongoing efforts to engage the government and improve the economy have fallen short. Almost the entire population is now living in poverty. Afghan women and girls experience the brunt of this hardship. They remain at risk of violence and exploitation. And many are left without a voice as the government places bans on education, dress, travel, and political participation for women.

Across Ethiopia, livelihoods have been decimated by three consecutive years of drought alongside multiple conflicts and now, there is a risk of El Niño-induced flooding. The November 2022 ceasefire between the Government of Ethiopia and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) continues to hold in northern Ethiopia, but other conflicts, particularly in the central Oromia region and in Amhara in the northwest, are fueling humanitarian needs and raising the risk of a return to large-scale fighting. Persistent inflation is further deepening the crisis.

After facing five consecutive failed rainy seasons, Somalia is now experiencing widespread flooding. These repeated climate shocks have devastated agricultural lands, damaged critical infrastructure, and driven humanitarian needs. The country entered 2024 with 4.3 million people facing crisis levels of food insecurity and a limited ability to restore food production. An ongoing government offensive against the armed group al-Shabaab risks driving civilian harm and displacement, further worsening conditions for 6.9 million in need of humanitarian aid.

This is no natural disaster, decades of conflict have eroded Somalia’s ability to respond to shocks of any kind, destroying systems and infrastructure that would have provided a guardrail against the current crisis. For instance, with its food production decimated by climate change and conflict, Somalia’s dependence on imports has proven disastrous—over 90% of its wheat comes from Russia and Ukraine.

We live in a world run by greedy and selfish people, where the majority of humans, even the ones that think they are “good”, take advantage of the disadvantaged and hurt others for gain. People are losing the capacity to think beyond themselves, our priorities are a mess and most of us are crippled by or manipulated by fear. People aren’t raised with a sense of obligation, charity, or any kind of social action or sacrifice. We derive pleasure from hurting each other.

Qualitatively we are in a constantly worsening state. For all our progress, technological ability we have reached a generation where human life had become completely aimless, and purposeless.

Moreover, after all the experiments with different ideologies we have clearly failed with liberal, parliamentary democracy, free market capitalism, and we stagnate in a state of limbo. In actual fact, democracy has failed us; No dividend, whatsoever.

We evolved into a globally integrated, interdependent system and we are desperately helpless in adapting to it as our inherently individualistic, egocentric, subjective nature is incompatible with such a system.

There are those who believe the chaos and turmoil we see in the world is a part of Bible prophecy. See Matthew 24:3–14, Mark 13:3–13, Luke 21:7–19, 2 Timothy 3:1–5,13,2 Peter 3:3,4, l.

Despite the many problems we see today, the Quran gives us a positive hope for the future: Do not lose hope, nor be sad. You will surely be victorious if you are true in Faith. (Quran 3:139)

Let us remember the killing fields of Gaza and the missile rattling between Iran and Israel and the possibilities of a wider conflagration.

Continue to pray for the Palestinians. The extent of the oppression they are facing is reaching new heights and increasing day by day. May Allah Almighty create the means to seize the oppressors and bring relief to the oppressed Palestinians. May Allah Almighty also grant wisdom and understanding to the neighboring countries, so that their voices may unite, and they strive to fulfil the rights of their brethren. Amin

“Your fate has been written with the ink of His love and sealed with His mercy so fear not, place your trust in Him and have hope in His decree.” (Gems of Jannah).

Barka Juma’at and happy weekend.

+2348033110822

By Babatunde Jose

Six months into the Israeli genocide in Gaza, facts are getting clear to the whole world, especially Western Europe and ‘grandpa’ United States that things are not what they thought it would be. There is no doubt they are all having a rethink about their initial support for Israel. Today, many European nations are not comfortable with the tag ‘supporters of genocide’ and with the United States have started sending cautionary signals to Netanyahu. But despite these, the United States and the West remain the major supplier of arms to Israel, hence, its continued intransigence in the face of world condemnation.

More than 33,000 people have been killed in Gaza, 70% of them children and women. 60% of Gaza stands destroyed and laid to waste. A destruction never before witnessed in modern time.

Of those killed in the Israeli air and artillery attacks on the Strip, 28,951 (92%) were civilians, including 12,345 children, 6,471 women, 295 health personnel, 41 civil defense personnel, and 140 journalists. Meanwhile, 61,079 individuals have been injured, hundreds of them critically.

Approximately 2 million or 85% of the total population of the Strip have been displaced from their homes and residential areas amid a lack of safe shelters.

The facilities that have been targeted by Israel include 320 schools; 1,671 industrial facilities; 183 health facilities, including 23 hospitals, 59 clinics, and 92 ambulances; 239 mosques; three churches; and 170 press offices.

Israel continues to escalate its military assaults against Palestinian civilians in an apparent attempt to expand its territory to include the entire Gaza Strip, uprooting the vast majority of the Strip’s population.

Israel is deliberately targeting civilian infrastructure in order to cause as many casualties, material losses, and as much general destruction as possible as a form of retaliation and collective punishment. This is against international humanitarian law, the 1949 Geneva Convention, and amounts to war crimes according to the Rome Statute, which governs the International Criminal Court. This is tantamount to war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide.

Unfortunately for Israel, the children that survive today’s genocide are the potential Hamas of tomorrow. There will never be an end to the state of war. Israel will never know peace nor sleep with two eyes closed. It must learn to live in peace with the Palestinians.

  In 1939 Europe’s Jewish population was around 9.5 million people, and it is estimated that six million of these were ultimately slaughtered by 1945 by the German machine.

In an ironic twist of history, Germany that was responsible for the genocide of over 6 million Jews is today a major supplier of weapons of genocide to Israel for the purpose of exterminating Palestinians. What has the world turned to?

 According to a BBC report Western governments are coming under growing pressure to halt arms sales to Israel over how it is waging the war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Israel is a major weapons exporter, but its military has been heavily reliant on imported aircraft, guided bombs, and missiles to conduct what experts have described as one of the most intense and destructive aerial campaigns in recent history.

Campaign groups and some politicians among Israel’s Western allies say arms exports should be suspended because, they say, Israel is failing to do enough to protect the lives of civilians and ensure enough humanitarian aid reaches them.

Recently, the UN Human Rights Council backed a weapons ban, with 28 countries voting in favour, six against and 13 abstentions. The US and Germany – which account for the vast majority of Israel’s arms imports – both voted against.

The war was triggered by Hamas’s attack on Israel on 7 October, which killed about 1,200 people, mainly civilians, according to Israeli tallies.

The US is by far the biggest supplier of arms to Israel, having helped it build one of the most technologically sophisticated military in the world.

According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), the US accounted for 69% of Israel’s arms imports between 2019 and 2023.

The US provides Israel with $3.8bn (£3bn) in annual military aid under a 10-year agreement that is intended to allow its ally to maintain what it calls a “qualitative military edge” over neighbouring countries.

Israel has used the grants to finance orders of F-35 Joint Strike Fighters, a stealth aircraft considered the most advanced ever made. It has so far ordered 75 and taken delivery of more than 30 of the aircraft. It was the first country other than the US to receive an F-35 and the first to use one in combat.

Part of the aid – $500m annually – is set aside to fund missile defense programs, including the jointly developed Iron Dome, Arrow, and David’s Sling systems. Israel has relied on them during the war to defend itself against rocket, missile, and drone attacks by Palestinian armed groups in Gaza.

Since the start of the war, only two US military sales to Israel have been made public after receiving emergency approval – one for 14,000 rounds of tank ammunition worth $106m and the other for $147m of components to make 155mm artillery shells.

But US media report that President Joe Biden’s administration has also quietly made more than 100 military sales to Israel, most falling below the dollar amount that would require Congress to be formally notified. They are said to include thousands of precision-guided munitions, small-diameter bombs, bunker busters, and small arms.

One deal that is large enough to require Congressional notification is the $18bn sale of up to 50 F-15 fighter jets. Congress has not yet approved the deal.

Even though the aircraft would need to be built from scratch and would not be delivered immediately, the sale is expected to be hotly debated by Democratic Party, many of whose representatives in Congress and supporters are increasingly concerned by Israel’s actions in Gaza.

Senator Elizabeth Warren has said she is prepared to block the deal and has accused Israel of “indiscriminate bombing” in Gaza.

The US has reportedly allowed Israel to draw artillery shells from its reserve stockpile there, Israel is also home to a vast US army depot set up in 1984 to pre-position supplies for its troops in case of a regional conflict, as well as to give Israel quick access to weapons in emergencies.

Stockpiled munitions in the US. Military depot in Israel has reportedly been freely supplied since the start of the Gaza war.

Germany is the next biggest arms exporter to Israel, accounting for 30% of imports between 2019 and 2023, according to SIPRI.

As of early November, the European nation’s weapons sales to Israel last year were worth €300m ($326m; $257m) – a 10-fold increase compared with 2022 – with the majority of those export licenses granted after the 7 October attacks.

Components for air defense systems and communications equipment accounted for most of the sales, according to the DPA news agency.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz has been a staunch supporter of Israel’s right to self-defense throughout the war and, although his tone on Israeli actions in Gaza has shifted in recent weeks and there has been some debate in Germany, the arms sales do not appear to be at risk of suspension.

Italy is the third-biggest arms exporter to Israel, but it accounted for only 0.9% of Israeli imports between 2019 and 2023. They have reportedly included helicopters and naval artillery.

Defense Minister Guido Crosetto told parliament last month that Italy had honored existing contracts after checking them on a case-by-case basis and ensuring “they did not concern materials that could be used against civilians”.

The UK’s arms exports to Israel are “relatively small”, according to the UK government, amounting to only £42m ($53m) in 2022.

The Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) says that since 2008, the UK has granted arms export licenses to Israel worth £574m ($727m) in total.

Much of those are for components used in US-made warplanes that end up in Israel. But the British government is coming under growing pressure to suspend even those exports.

But a senior government source has said an arms embargo on Israel was “not going to happen”.

However, as the genocide in Gaza continues, the situation continues to prick the conscience of many people and nations so much so that the Government of South Africa took the matter to the International Court of Justice at the Hague, accusing Israel of genocide. However, it has since been realized the as with most UN organs, ‘talk is cheap’, they cannot walk the talk as they lack means of enforcing their judgement.

Recently the Government of Nicaragua approached The Hague, on a similar mission demanding that the Court sanction Israel and stop the genocide, accusing Germany specifically of supplying weapons of genocide to Israel. Nothing will probably come out of it.

Even in the United States some Democrat senators have petitioned President Biden to order a halt to the sale of weapons to Israel.

Unfortunately, all the protests and marches all over the world have failed to yield any result, except that people are standing up to be counted. It is rather bizarre that Nigeria, the foremost anti-apartheid nation of old and a major leader of ECOWAS and EU has remained mute on the issue. Not even a pim. Who or what are we afraid of? If ‘Free Palestine’ is too heavy for us to say, then we need not wonder why our people continue to suffer and wallow in poverty, penury, and impoverishment in their own land. The government just doesn’t care and is not bothered by the plight of its people not to talk of the suffering of Palestinians.

With all the opportunities of economic leverage at the command of its Arab brethren, it is a big shame that little, or nothing is being done to ameliorate the plight of the beleaguered people of Palestine. But soon, something must give. It cannot continue like this. With this current orgy of destruction and killings, the world is getting to know Israel for what it is, apartheid and genocidal nation, land grabber and nation of mass destruction.

Barka Juma’at and happy weekend.