Islam

Friday Sermon: Consumption Craze and Lingering National Poverty 1

Published

10 months ago

November 17, 2023

Eric

By Babatunde Jose

Despite the abundant God-given land that literally flows with milk and honey, we have decided to go hungry and beg for bread. It is a conscious act borne out of the Dutch disease we contacted as a result of the oil boom (doom) that led us to walk away from our farmlands to seek food from the city as a result of the rapid urbanization the new prosperity brought.

The underlying cause can be traced to the tinkering with our federal structure by the military and the imposition of a unitary political system to suit the military command structure, which was eventually bequeathed to the civil administrations of the 4^th Republic, and which has elicited the loud outcry for restructuring.

The derailment of our federal system turned the successors states into parasitic political entities. States are no longer dependent on internally generated revenue, hence, no need to boost the production of cocoa, groundnuts, palm oil and rubber (which were the mainstay of our economy). Neither was the need to promote agriculture for food security.

For a country richly blessed by nature, we are endowed with a variety of food crops and produce. We have rice, beans, yam, cassava, potatoes, and a myriad of other food crops. Unfortunately, we walked away from it all and today hunger, malnutrition, and poverty is the lot of our people.

Nigeria is the largest cassava producer globally, accounting for about one-fifth (21%) of total production worldwide. The demand for cassava and its constituents is high in the domestic economy. However, the supply has been unable to meet the huge demand.

It is estimated that Nigeria would need about 28.3 million metric tons of fresh cassava root planted annually on about 1.2 million hectares of land to meet the country’s demand for cassava, by-products, and derivatives.

Since the dawn of civilization, human societies and governments have made frantic efforts to harness available resources to improve the well-being and security of her citizens.

Food is a fundamental requirement for a healthy population, which is required for the survival of a country. The strategic and fundamental importance of food to human existence makes it an essential component of national planning that nations seek to attain and preserve.

In this regard, the government’s desire to meet the food needs of her citizens through food production is initiated through policies and processes that would enhance national development particularly in the real sectors of the economy (agriculture and manufacturing). Food security enhances national productivity that contributes to national development of a country.

Emphasis on increased food production as an essential ingredient for national development has assisted most developing economies to grow.

For instance, in the 1950s, food production played a vital role in the economy of Indonesia contributing about 35% of gross domestic product (GDP) and employing over 65% of the labor force (FAO, 2011). However, it was relegated when Indonesia experienced two oil booms from 1974 to 1981 which dominated the economy. By 1998, the economy had a −13.1% contraction leading to endemic poverty. Accordingly, the country experienced a decline in food production, and this led to a reliance on food importation.

The need to reverse the decline in food production forced the Government in 2012, to focus on production in key crops such as rice and cassava by providing special interests on loans for agricultural inputs. This resulted in Indonesia increasing processing from an average of 24.3 million tons of cassava in 2010 to 25.23 million tons in 2015. This led to increased food production by about 3.8%. Furthermore, GDP increased from US$755.1 to US$861.9 billion over the period and represented about 14.14% GDP growth. It further reduced the unemployment rate from 6.88% to 5.81% as well as reduced the poverty index from 13.3% to 11.15% over the same period (ILO, 2016). Consequently, food production through cassava processing in Indonesia led to job creation, poverty reduction, and economic development, which positively contributed to national development.

It is against the need for an enhanced national development as witnessed in Indonesia that the Federal government of Nigeria had in recent years been emphasizing diversification of the nation’s economy and reduction on her reliance on oil as Nigeria’s major source of revenue. The fluctuation in oil prices and its attendant consequences of revenue shortfall has thus reinforces the need for diversification of the nation’s economy from the oil sector to the agricultural sector.

Cassava is regarded as the most widely cultivated root crop in the tropical region and the sixth most important crop (after wheat, rice, maize, potato, and barley) in the world.

Thailand is the leading exporter of cassava followed by Vietnam and Cambodia though her production level was not as high as that of Nigeria. Moreover, China, Japan, and Indonesia are among the world leading importer of cassava products.

Apart from Cassava, Nigeria is also the world’s largest producer of yam, cowpea, and sorghum. It is estimated that more than 90% of cassava production is processed into food. But a large industrial demand exists for cassava, primarily as substitution for imported raw materials and semi-finished products. There is high demand for High Quality Cassava Flour (HQCF), primarily from 10% replacement in bread flour and for use in bouillon, noodles, and the adhesive industry. Similarly, it is useful in the production of native and modified starches. It is also useful in the paint, pharmaceutical and sweetener industries.

Over 70 percent of Nigerians engage in the agriculture sector mainly at a subsistence level. Despite the contribution to the economy, Nigeria’s agricultural sector faces many challenges which impact on its productivity. These include poor land tenure system, low level of irrigation farming, climate change and land degradation. Others are low technology, high production cost and poor distribution of inputs, limited financing, high post-harvest losses and poor access to markets due to infrastructural deficits.

These challenges have stifled agricultural productivity, affecting the sector’s contribution to the country’s GDP as well as increased food imports due to population rise hence declining levels of food sufficiency. In July 2023, the Q2 report of the National Bureau of Statistics stated that agriculture contributed 21.07 per cent to the nominal GDP, a decline from the same period in 2022. Nigeria’s agricultural sector is said to comprise four sub-activities: crop production, livestock, forestry, and fishing.

The Government has implemented several initiatives and programs to address the situation including the Agriculture Promotion Policy (APP), Nigeria–Africa Trade and Investment Promotion Program, Presidential Economic Diversification Initiative, Economic and Export Promotion Incentives and the Zero Reject Initiative, Reducing Emission from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+); Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management Project (NEWMAP); Action Against Desertification (AAD) Program, Economic Growth Recovery Plan (EGRP) and Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA) and Anchor Borrowers Scheme are among several policy reforms measures put in place to achieve Nigeria’s diversification objective.

All these efforts aim to increase agricultural productivity in order to provide sufficient quantities of food to meet domestic demand as well as an abundance of commodity crops for export.

Nigeria is the largest fish consumer in Africa and among the largest fish consumers in the world with about 3.2 million metric tons of fish consumed annually. Its fisheries and aquaculture are among the fastest growing sub-sectors in the country. But much still needs to be done.

With a coastline of 853km and over 14 million hectares of inland waters, total fish production per year is close to 1 million metric tons (313,231 metric tons from aquaculture and 759,828 metric tons from fisheries). Fishing is a vital livelihood for the poor as well as an important protein source at the household level in Nigeria.

With the increasing population, estimated to reach 400 million by 2050, enhanced agriculture productivity through adaptation of new technologies and innovations is necessary to ensure food security and nutrition. Support from all partners to the efforts by the federal and state governments is central for achieving this goal.

With Nigeria sitting as the world’s largest producer of cassava, having a world share of 20.4% it is yet to harness the enormous possibilities and wealth embedded in the cassava sub-sector. In order to achieve a remarkable growth in the cassava sub-sector, the following points are recommended.

Incentives must be given to farmers and processors and other stakeholders along the value chain in order to boost cassava production and total export value.

Reliable and consistent trade policies that favour the growth of cassava production, consumption and utilization must be implemented and properly monitored.

Issues relating to cassava glut should be tackled by the government in order to encourage cassava farmers with an assurance that there is a ready market for their production with guaranteed minimum price.

The Nigerian government must enforce the policies on 10% inclusion (replacement of wheat flour) of HQCF in bread making and blending gasoline with 10% ethanol (E-10) while providing an enabling environment for its effective implementation.

Our governments have been paying lip service to the need for diversification of the economy. Rather policy somersaults and prevarication. We banned and unbanned rice importation, we failed to follow policy guidelines on revitalization of agriculture. Yet we borrow money to spend on frivolities. Our farms are in tatters and our people are starving. It took Indonesia only three years to turn around its economy. We have been at it for over 30 years. All we do is talk, but talk will not fill the belly of our people.

According to Bismark Rewane, the country’s domestic environment is “caught in a web of economic contradictions” and there was a “disconnection between policy direction and economic destination.” But we are still caught up, Bismark himself was in Buhari’s economic Think-Tank. The ‘contradictions continue!

No fewer than 26.5 million Nigerians are projected to grapple with high level of food insecurity in 2024, according to a joint statement last week by the World Food Program (FAO), UNICEF, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security.

People are hungry and angry. There are grumblings in the city. Hmmmmm! The revolution beckons!

May Allah guide us aright.

Barka Juma’at and Happy weekend.

Islam

Friday Sermon: Jannatul Firdous: Abode of the Righteous

Published

1 week ago

September 13, 2024

Eric

By Babatunde Jose

Life after death takes two forms: a life in Paradise for those in whom their good deeds preponderate over the evil and a life in hell for the evil doers. The word Paradise (Firdaus) occurs only twice in the Quran; on one occasion with the word garden or Janna and on the other alone. It is the word Janna or in its plural Jannatul that is most often used to indicate the abode of the righteous.

As to those who believe and work righteous deeds, they have, for their entertainment, the Gardens of Paradise, (Quran 18:107); Who will inherit Paradise: They will dwell therein (forever). (Quran 23:11)

“The idea of paradise as a place of rest and refreshment in which the righteous live in the presence of God appears in Judaism and thence in both Christianity and Islam…The word itself is said to derive from Old Persian pairidzaeze, meaning an enclosed area, usually a royal park or pleasure garden, although some derive the word more simply from the Persian firdaws or garden. Whichever is the case, the origin is undoubtedly Persian.” – Edward Burman, The Assassins – Holy Killers of Islam. This is the origin of the Moslem saying, ‘Aljanna Firdaus’; which semantically is a tautology.

“There is also good indication that the Biblical paradise, which is described as a garden planted eastwards of Eden, from whose waters flow the four world rivers including the Tigris and Euphrates, may have been originally identical with Dilmun, the Sumerian paradise-land.” – S.N. Kramer, History Begins at Sumer. “.

In technical theological language the word is used for the inner circle of Heaven, or the highest Heaven, the destination of those who perfectly fulfil both requirements, viz.; a sound faith, and perfectly righteous conduct. Small faults in either respect are forgiven; the Mercy of Allah steps in. But in the life to come, there is no doubt that every man will see the fruit of his life here, and the righteous will inherit heaven, in the sense that they will attain it after their death here.

The description of Paradise as a garden with flowing rivers is a parable or a likeness and not an actuality as we know it here. The Quran explains:

The parable of the Garden which the righteous are promised! –Beneath it flow rivers: Perpetual is the enjoyment thereof and the shade therein: Such is the End of the Righteous; and the End of Unbelievers is the Fire. (Quran 13:35)

(Here is) a Parable of the Garden which the righteous are promised: In it are rivers of water incorruptible; rivers of milk of which the taste never changes; rivers of wine, a joy to those who drink; and rivers of honey pure and clear. In it there are for them all kinds of fruits; and Grace from their Lord. (Can those in such Bliss) be compared to such as shall dwell forever in the Fire, and be given, to drink, boiling water, so that it cuts up their bowels (to pieces)?(Quran 47:15)

In this description there are four kinds of drinks and all kinds of fruits; and the summing up of all delights in the “Forgiveness from their Lord”. These drinks, will cool the spirit, feed the heart, warm the affections, and sweeten life. See Surah 43:73. Forgiveness from their Lord: that is the covering up or blotting out of sin and all that was sad or unsatisfactory in the lower life; the pure light from the Countenance of Allah Most High: Sura 92:20. Cf. Sura 37:66-67. Just as the bliss of the Blessed will penetrate their being through and through, so the agony of the condemned ones will penetrate their being through and through.

Now no person knows what delights of the eye are kept hidden (in reserve) for them–as a reward for their (good) Deeds. (Quran 32:17)

Delights of the eye: an idiom for that which pleases most and gives most satisfaction. In our present state we can scarcely imagine the real bliss that will come to us in the future.

The prophet(SAW) said: “Allah says I have prepared for my righteous servants what no eye has seen and no ear has heard, and what the mind has not conceived” Bukhari 59:8

The fruits of Paradise whatever the names mentioned are not the fruits of this life. Similarly is the case with the rivers of water, milk and honey all of which are plainly spoken of as a parable ; the thrones , cushions, and carpets; the ornaments, bracelets and silk robes, are not things of this world and only serve to perfect the picture of the happiness of man as his sense are incapable of perceiving these things. They are only a likeness as is explained in the Quran.

The resurrection means quite a new life and new order of things, a new heaven and a new earth. Paradise extends over the whole of heaven and the universe:

Be ye foremost (in seeking) forgiveness from your Lord, and a Garden (of Bliss), the width whereof is as the width of heaven and earth, prepared for those who believe in Allah and His apostles: That is the Grace of Allah, which He bestows on whom He pleases: And Allah is the Lord of Grace abounding. (Quran 57:21) See also (Quran 3:132)

The Prophet (SAW) was asked, if Paradise encompasses all the universe, where then is Hell; he replied: Where is the night when the day comes? This shows that Paradise and Hell are more like two conditions.

Watchful preparation in Life, and the light of faith, which reflects the divine light are matters of personal life, and cannot be borrowed from another. So, in Christ’s ‘Parable of the Ten Virgins (Matt. 15:1-13), when the foolish ones had let their lamps go out for want of oil, they asked to borrow oil from the wise ones, but the wise ones answered and said, “Not so; but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves”. The wall will divide the Good from the Evil. But the Gateway in it will show that communication will not be cut off. Evil must realize that Good-i.e., Mercy and Felicity-had been within its reach, and that the wrath which envelops it is due to its own rejection of Mercy.

It is in this vein that those who have conspired to make our lives miserable in this country will find themselves on the other side of the Resurrection divide. These include, the 10 percenters; embezzlers, outright raiders of the Exchequer, subsidy racketeers, kidnappers and the wreckers of our economy, including the Assemblymen and Senators.

As noted earlier, the things mentioned about Paradise are not the things of this world. It is therefore, with the same end in view that mention is made of the company of men and women in that state to which sensually minded people have attached a sensual significance. This is the root of the misconception of ‘women in Paradise’. Nowhere in the Quran is it suggested that there would be a sexual relation between men and women in Paradise. This idea is a figment of the lustful imagination of depraved minds who think of part of the pleasures of paradise as being having sexual intercourse with young virgins. The Quran makes no such promise.

The wives of the righteous are mentioned as accompanying their husbands in paradise as co-beneficiaries of Allah’s Grace: They and their associates will be in cool groves of (cool) shade, reclining on Thrones (of dignity); (Quran 36:56)

“And grant, our Lord! That they enter the Gardens of Eternity, which Thou hast promised to them, and to the righteous among their fathers, their wives, and their posterity! For Thou art (He), the Exalted in Might, Full of Wisdom. (Quran 40:8)

According to the Quran concerning women in Paradise, we read: We have created (their Companions) of special creation. And made them virgin pure (and undefiled), Beloved (by nature), equal in age, For the Companions of the Right Hand. (Quran 56:35-38)

In connection with their being a new creation, the Prophet (SAW) is reported to have said that all women who die old would on resurrection be transformed into virgins, equals in age. An anecdote is related of an old woman who asked the prophet if she would go to Paradise; he promptly replied that there would be no old women in paradise; dejected the woman was about to go when the Prophet added that, all women shall be made to grow into new growth. This, surely draw a picture of Paradise without the association of any sensual idea therein.

What is true of women is also true of children in Paradise. Round about them will (serve) youths of perpetual (freshness),(Quran 56:17)

And those who believe and whose families follow them in Faith, –to them shall We join their families: Nor shall We deprive them (of the fruit) of aught of their works: (yet) is each individual in pledge for his deeds. (Quran 52:21)

Literally, progeny, offspring and family; applied by extension to mean all near and dear ones. Love is unselfish, and works not merely, or chiefly, for self, but for others; provided the others have faith and respond according to their capacities or degrees, they will be joined together. Each individual is responsible for his conduct. There is therefore no indication or insinuation of sensual pleasure in Paradise.

Allah hath promised to Believers, men and women, Gardens under which rivers flow, to dwell therein, and beautiful mansions in Gardens of everlasting bliss. But the greatest bliss is the Good Pleasure of Allah: That is the supreme felicity. (Quran 9:72)

The ultimate goal of Paradise is our meeting with God. And that life is above all corporeal conceptions.

O ye who believe! Turn to Allah with sincere repentance: In the hope that your Lord will remove from you your ills and admit you to Gardens beneath which Rivers flow, –the Day that Allah will not permit to be humiliated the Prophet and those who believe with him. Their Light will run forward before them and by their right hands, while they say, “Our Lord! Perfect our Light for us, and grant us Forgiveness: For Thou hast power over all things.” (Quran 66:8)

The true joys of Paradise are thus really the true joys of advancement in righteousness.

Last Friday September 6, 2024, we lost venerable Chief Imam and Missioner of Anwar-ul-Islam Movement, Chief Imam Ahmad Babatunde Yoosuf, a righteous man. He was 97 years old. He was interned at Abari Muslim Cemetary on Saturday at an impressive farewell ceremony attended by the Muslim community of Lagos.

He was the longest serving Chief Imam of the Movement, having being turbaned in December 1980 (44 years). As members of Anwar-ul-Islam gather tomorrow to pray for the repose of his soul, we implore Almighty Allah to grant him Jannatul Firdausi.

The truth is that only the righteous shall experience paradise, and we pray to be counted among them; including our departed ones: Amin.

Barka Juma’at and a happy weekend!

Islam

Friday Sermon: God As Manifest in Creation: Revisited

Published

3 weeks ago

August 30, 2024

Eric

By Babatunde Jose

Not only does the existence of matter, of motion, and of life, testify that there is God, but the magnitude and magnificence of creation announce the same grand truth: the work reveals the Workman.

“Our Lord is He Who gave to each (created) thing its form and nature, and further, gave (it) guidance. (Quran 20:50) See also (Quran 13:3)

Imbued with the mores of the cultures that created them, archaeological sites shed light on past civilizations, preserving their societal structures, religious beliefs, and modes of living. By studying these sites, scholars are often able to trace their histories, as well as their place in the historical continuum. Many foreshadow art and architecture as we know them today.

Stonehenge, Pyramids, The Sphinx, Taj Mahal, Machu Picchu, Chichén Itzá, Great Wall of China; all offer clues to their builders’ aesthetics and values. Blind chance never built these architectural wonders. There must have been a controlling intelligence.

The author of the Epistle to the Hebrews indulged in no mere poetic rhapsody when he wrote, “Every house is builded by some man; but He that built all things is God.” Hebrews 3:4

Allah is He Who raised the heavens . . .. He doth regulate all affairs, explaining the Signs in detail that ye may believe with certainty in the meeting with your Lord. (Quran 13:2)

“…So also the universal harmony by which the whole mechanism is regulated, indicates a character of infinite perfection in harmony with itself. Thus, seen from no higher point of view than the scientific and philosophical, the dome of the sky bears, wrought on its expanse, in starry mosaics, ‘There is a God’” (The Gordian Knot) James Harvey.

Behold! In the creation of the heavens and the earth; in the alternation of the Night and the Day; in the sailing of the ships through the Ocean for the profit of mankind; in the rain which Allah sends down from the skies, and the life which He gives therewith to an earth that is dead; in the beasts of all kinds that He scatters through the earth; In the change of the winds, and the clouds which they trail like their slaves between the sky and the earth; (here) indeed are Signs for a people that are wise. (Quran 2:164)

On this Earth too, we are confronted with phenomena, for which no explanation is adequate save that of an Almighty, benevolent, and infinitely wise Creator. “He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle and herb for the service of men: the earth is full of Thy riches. These all wait upon Thee, that Thou mayest give them meat in season. Thou openest Thy hand, they are filled with good” (Psalm 104:14).

Consider that atmospheric pressure upon a person of ordinary stature is equal to the weight of 14 tons, and it scarcely needs to be pointed out that the falling upon him of a very much lighter object would break every bone in his body and drive all breath out of his lungs. The Creator’s having so devised that the air permeates the whole of our body, and by its peculiar nature pressing equally in all directions, all harm and discomfort is prevented. (Encyclopaedia Britannica).

The air performs many functions for the good of mankind. While it covers us without any conscious weight, the air reflects, and thereby increases the life-giving heat of the sun. The air does this for us much as our garments supply additional heat to our bodies. The air co-operates with our lungs, thereby ventilating the blood and refining the fluids of the body, stimulating the animal secretions, and regulating our natural warmth. We could live for months without the light of the sun or the glimmering of a star, but if deprived of air for a very few minutes we quickly faint and die.

It is this gaseous element enveloping the earth which both sustains and feeds all vegetable life.

By the undulating motions of the air, all the diversities of sound are conducted to the ear.

Let us then inquire, what is it that has endowed the atmosphere with such varied and beneficent adaptations, so that it diffuses vitality and health, retains and modifies solar heat, transmits odours and conveys sound? Must we not rather ask “Whom?” and answer, “This also cometh from the Lord!

There in the firmament we behold an endless succession of clouds fed by evaporation from the ocean, drawn thither by the action of the sun. The clouds are themselves a miniature ocean, suspended in the air with a skill which as far transcends that of the wisest man. It is because so very few “stand still and consider” the amazing fact of millions of tons of water being suspended over their heads and sustained there in the thinnest parts of the atmosphere, that such a prodigy is lost upon them.

But what most fills us with wonderment is that these celestial reservoirs, so incalculably greater than any of human construction, should be suspended in the air.

The ocean and its inhabitants present to our consideration as many, as varied, and as unmistakable, evidence of the handiwork of God as do the stellar and atmospheric heavens. If we give serious thought to the subject, it must fill us with astonishment that it is possible for any creatures to live in such a suffocating element as the sea, and that in waters so salty they should be preserved in their freshness; and still more so that they should find themselves provided with abundant food and be able to propagate their species from one generation to another. Yet by the wisdom and power of God not only are myriads of fishes sustained there, but the greatest of all living creatures-the whale-is found there.

As it is with us in the surrounding air, so it is with the fish in their liquid element. According to James Harvey, “They are clothed and accoutred in exact conformity to their clime. Not in swelling wool or buoyant feathers, nor in flowing robe or full-trimmed suit, but with as much compactness than and with as little superfluity as possible. They are clad, or rather sheathed, in scales, which adhere closely to their bodies, and are always laid in a kind of natural oil—which apparel nothing can be lighter, and at the same time so solid, and nothing so smooth. It hinders the fluid from penetrating their flesh, it prevents the cold from coagulating their blood, and enables them to make their way through the waters with the greatest possible facility. If in their rapid progress they strike against any hard substance, this their scaly doublet breaks the force of it and secures them from harm.”

Being slender and tapering, the shape of fishes fits them to cleave the waters and to move with the utmost ease through so resisting a medium. Their tails, are extremely flexible, consisting largely of powerful muscles, and act with uncommon agility. By its alternate impulsion, the tail produces a progressive motion, and by repeated strokes propels the whole body forward.

Still more remarkable is that wonderful apparatus or contrivance, the airbladder, with which they are furnished, for it enables them to increase or diminish their specific gravity, to sink like lead or float like a cork, to rise to whatever height or sink to whatever depths they please.

As these creatures probably have no occasion for the sense of hearing, for the impressions of sound have very little if any existence in their sphere of life, to have provided them with ears would have been an encumbrance rather than a benefit. Is that noticeable and benignant distinction to be ascribed to blind chance?

A spiritually minded naturalist has pointed out that almost all flat fish, such as soles and flounders, are white on their underside but tinctured with darkish brown on the upper, so that to their enemies they resemble the colour of mud and are therefore more easily concealed. What is still more remarkable, Providence, which has given to other fishes an eye on either side of the head, has placed both eyes on the same side in their species, which is exactly suited unto the peculiarity of their condition. Swimming as they do but little, and always with their white side downward, an eye on the lower part of their bodies would be of little benefit, whereas on the higher they have need of the quickest sight for their preservation. Now we confidently submit that such remarkable adaptations as all of these argue design, and that, in turn, a designer, and a Designer, too, who is endowed with more than human wisdom, power and benignity.

“One circumstance relating to the natives of the deep is very peculiar, and no less astonishing. As they neither sow nor reap, they are obliged to plunder and devour one another for necessary subsistence. Were they to bring forth, like the most prolific of our terrestrial animals, a dozen only or a score, at each birth, the increase would be unspeakably too small for consumption. The weaker species would be destroyed by the stronger, and in time the stronger must perish, even by their successful endeavours to maintain themselves. Therefore, to supply millions of fishes with their prey and millions of tables with their food, yet not to depopulate the watery realms, the issue produced by every breeder is almost incredible.

They spawn not by scores or hundreds, but by thousands and tens of thousands. A single mother is pregnant with a nation. Mute though the fishes be, yet they are full of instruction for the thoughtful inquirer. Wise contrivances and logical arrangements involve forethought and planning. Suitable accommodations and the appropriate and accurate fitting of one joint to another unquestionably evinces intelligence.

In the Holy Qur’an, Allah, the Exalted, calls our attention to his creatures and appeals to us to study them closely in order that we may know that He is the Most Powerful, Most High, so that we can reference and worship Him. See Quran 7:174 and Quran 40:81)

Those who study medicine will appreciate the complexity and wonders of human systems. Allah praises Himself on these wonders: Then We made the sperm into a clot of congealed blood; then of that clot We made a (fetus) lump; then We made out of that lump bones and clothed the bones with flesh; then We developed out of it another creature. So blesses be Allah, the Best to create! (Quran 23:14)

Allah did not stop at these wonderful creatures, but He gave mankind the intellect to explore them so as to get benefits from them.

Barka Juma’at and a happy weekend.

Islam

Friday Sermon: The Apotheosis of Hon. Justice Kudirat Motonmori Kekere-Ekun CFR

Published

4 weeks ago

August 23, 2024

Eric

By Babatunde Jose

“The National Judicial Council at its 106^th Meeting held on 14 & 15 August 2024, recommended Hon. Justice Kudirat Motonmori Kekere-Ekun, CFR, to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, for appointment as the Chief Justice of Nigeria.”

The new CJ starts her tenure today, howbeit in an acting capacity until confirmation, which is a foregone conclusion. Congratulations are in order. Very cheering news.

The new Chief Justice, Kudirat Motonmori Olatokunbo Kekere-Ekun CFR, popularly known as Kudirat Kekere-Ekun is a tested Jurist and an illustrious daughter of an illustrious father. They don’t come with better pedigree as she does, stoic, stern, firm and principled. Her father late HAB Fasinro was the first Town Clerk of the Lagos City Council, a Senator, legal luminary, historian, author and foremost religious leader of his time. Her mother, Mrs. Winifred Layiwola Ogundimu (née Savage), is a qualified Public Health Nurse who built her career in the civil service of Lagos State from where she retired. She is currently the head of the prominent Savage Family of Lagos.

Following in her father’s footstep, the new CJN as she would henceforth be known has made her mark in the temple of justice since she was appointed a Senior Magistrate, High Court Judge, Federal Court of Appeal Judge and subsequently, a judge of the Supreme Court of Nigeria. In the parlance of we unlearned folks, we would say, she had risen through the ranks.

She is entering a turbulent sea as far as the judiciary in Nigeria’s political firmament is concerned. Everywhere is talk of separation or araba, ethnic irredentism, restructuring and devolution, power reconfiguration and reconstitution of the polity, all requiring judicial interpretation when push comes to shove.

Nigeria is practically in a state of ebullition. From local governments, state administrations to the central authority, there are calls for revisiting the legislative lists and a refashioning of the revenue formulae of the political system. Who runs the primary education system? What of the primary health administration? Which tier of governments oversees collection of rates, waste disposal and local taxes in motor parks? Cases thrown up by disputes over these issues will eventually find their way to the apex court under her. Very serious matter to contemplate.

There are many other constitutional issues that will arrest her attention in the next four years of her tenure. May Allah give her the wisdom of Solomon to wade through the minefields of a neo-colonial state mired in identity crisis.

It is therefore appropriate to emphasise the need to address the issue of justice, equity, and fairness which Hon. Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun CFR, must address during her tenure. There is no doubt the present structure of the post-colonial state called Nigeria is a bedrock of colossal political injustice, inequity and generational unfairness. These are issues that need to be tackled through judicial intervention and interpretation.

Allah, through the Holy Quran speaks to us about the concepts of justice, equity and fairness. These are three interrelated concepts that combine to make a spiritual whole. Justice is the sum-total, in a sense, of all recognised rights and duties, as it often consists of nothing more than a balanced implementation of rights and duties, and of due regard for equality and fairness. The Qur’an is emphatic on the objectivity of justice, so much so that it defies any level of relativity and compromise in its basic conception. A perusal of the Qur’anic evidence on justice leaves one in no doubt that justice is integral to the basic outlook and philosophy of life.

Allah (SWT) said in the Holy Quran, Surah Al-Hadid: We sent aforetime Our apostles with Clear signs and sent down with them the Book and the Balance (of Right and wrong), that men may stand forth in justice; . . . . (Quran 57: 25)

There is no gainsaying the fact that the major themes of the Qur’an include God-consciousness, fairness, equity, justice, equality and balance in all our dealings. These concepts are drummed into the believers every Juma’at service in the form of admonitions where we are enjoined to heed the words of Allah in Surah Al-Nahl: Allah commands justice, the doing of good, and liberality to kith and kin, and He forbids all shameful deeds, and injustice and rebellion: He instructs you that ye may receive admonition. (Quran 16:90)

It stresses the doing of what is right because it is the truth. We are urged to establish justice and deal with all in a manner that assures equity, fairness and balance and safeguards the rights, property, honour and dignity of all people. God assures us that even though He is All-Powerful, and none can challenge His Authority, He deals with all with truth, kindness, justice, and the rights of none will be transgressed on the Day of Judgment.

Allah says in Surah Al Anbia’ Ayah 47: We shall set up scales of justice for the Day of Judgment, so that not a soul will be dealt with unjustly in the least. (Quran 21:47)

When Prophet Muhammad, (SAW), said “help the oppressor and the oppressed”, he was stressing this same concept. The Companions responded that they understood what “helping the oppressed” meant, but what did he mean by “helping the oppressor”? He replied, “By preventing the oppressor from oppressing others”.

In Surah Al Ma’idah, Ayah 9, it is said that we should stand firmly for Allah as witness to fairness: O ye who believe! . . .Be just: That is next to Piety: And fear Allah. For Allah is well acquainted with all that ye do. (Quran 5:9)

A person’s faith does not become perfect until he observes fairness with respect to himself and others. In exchange, God shall increase his honour and glory. Man, by nature, prefers his own self and loves everything that is associated with him.

In one way or the other we are all guilty of infractions of some of these injunctions, particularly our leaders. From the flinching tramp, the woman who digs for gold, the rich with their insatiable thirst for more, to the legislator, who is the sole beneficiary of his legislations and the executive who corners the people’s commonwealth to feather their own nests, we are all guilty. When justice, equity and fairness depart from a society, that society is finished. A great task therefore rests on the shoulder of our new Chief Justice.

After 11 years at the Supreme Court, 66-year-old Justice Kekere-Ekun, who was born on May 7, 1958, will steer the judiciary for four years till 2028, when she will clock the mandatory retirement age of 70. In Sha Allah. No doubt she will be in the ring side of the usual litigations that will accompany the 2027 elections. May Allah teach her how to navigate the political tide.

A life bencher, Chief Justice Kekere-Ekun started her career in private practice from 1985 to 1989, after which she was appointed as a Senior Magistrate Grade II, Lagos State Judiciary, in December 1989.

She was appointed a judge of the High Court of Lagos State on July 19, 1996, same day as Justice Kazeem Olanrewaju Alogba, the present chief judge of Lagos State.

She served as Chairman of the of the Robbery and Firearms Tribunal, Zone II, Ikeja, Lagos, from November 1996 to May 1999.

She was elevated to the Court of Appeal on September 22, 2004, where she served in various divisions of the court and as presiding justice of two divisions of the court in 2021 and 2022, respectively.

Kekere-Ekun was elevated to the Supreme Court bench as the fifth female justice of the court on Monday, July 8, 2013, filling the vacancy created by Hon. Justice Olufunlola Adekeye, who retired in February 2013 as the first female Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria.

She obtained her LL.B. in 1980 from the University of Lagos and her LL.M. from the London School of Economics and Political Science in November 1983. She was called to the Nigerian Bar on July 10, 1981.

Our prayer has always been that she will one day become the CJ, hence I have always called her my Chief Justice. Alhamdulillah, it has come to pass, in my lifetime. We give all praise to Almighty Allah. It is to Him all the glory belongs.

Congratulations to our sister, wife, mother and grandmother, our very own Hon. Chief Justice. We must also congratulate our brother Bearer Abdelfattah Akintola Kekere-Ekun for being a companion par excellence. A husband of inestimable value, compassionate, very supportive and understanding. I remember him going to all the various places our wife had always been posted to, ensuring her comfort even at his own discomfort, being made a home-alone husband. Very few men would have weathered through without getting lost in, ‘you know what’.

We must also congratulate the children for bearing the vicissitude of living without their mother, especially since her elevation to the higher bench.

And finally, I must pray for the repose of the soul of her father, late Pa HAB Fasinro, who would have been the happiest man today. But He must be having a ball in heaven with his friends, Pa Jose, Razak Balogun and Rabiu Balogun and other brethren. Inna Lillah wa ina ilehi rajiun. May Allah grant them all Jannatul Firdous. Aameen

As for us at the Crescent Bearers, we might sooner than later confer on Bearer Kekere-Ekun the award of Bearer Supreme Court First Gentleman (BSCFG) and also Bearer DJ Supreme (BDJS) for his indefatigable rendition of good smooth jazz on the CB platform.

In summary, the Kekere-Ekuns are a quintessential humble and contented couple and are not given to ‘karini’ or ostentatious living: Qualities which are sine qua non of people in exalted position. The new CJ is a woman of character, highly principled like her late father and of high moral standard like her mother. She is not loud but assertive when the matter of legal dispensation is called for (you should ask the robbers she sentenced when she headed the Robbery and Firearms Tribunal, Zone II, Ikeja, Lagos, from November 1996 to May 1999). Like we used to say, ‘her gentility should not be taken for stupidity’. You will do so at your peril. May her tenure be beneficial to the judiciary and the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Let me end with what the Psalmist said: This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. . . . we will rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118:23&24 KJV

Ihdinas siraatal Mustaqeem. (Quran 1:6) Guide us to the straight path, the path of those upon whom you have bestowed Your grace, that is, the people of guidance, sincerity and obedience to Allah and His Messengers.

Barka Juma’at and a happy weekend.