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Thursday, October 24, 2019

BETWEEN AISHA AND MICHELLE (1)











Her Excellency, Aisha Muhammadu Buhari, the First Lady shares a lot in common with Michelle Obama. They are of course dissimilar from each other in a number of areas (on which more later). Michelle has made this analysis easy with her memoir, Becoming in which she chronicled all stages of her life from a humble beginning to the sojourn of her family in the White House. 

Our politicians and their wives will do well to copy memoir writing from where they emulate their system of governance. Before Michelle’s Becoming there was Living History by Hillary Rodham Clinton; her husband, Bill Clinton authored My Live. Other memoirs from politicians about their life experiences and leadership include, (not an exhaustive list), Donald Rumsfeld’s Known and Unknown - A Memoir, George W. Bush’s Decision Points, Tony Blair’s A Journey - My Political Life, and David Cameron’s For The Record. In Africa we can only boast of a few: Nelson Mandela’s Long Walk To Freedom, Olusegun Obasanjo’s My Watch and Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai’s The Accidental Public Servant

If Nigerian politicians and people who work in the corridors of power keep to themselves by not writing about their challenges, successes and possible failures when in office, Nigerians are not likely to learn from such experiences, and Nigeria will be the greatest loser in the race. Whenever I meet someone who is or has been in any position of authority especially in a government house and the Presidential Villa, I urge them to write their memoirs for the benefit of posterity. I concede that certain events would be classified, but there will be the time that the period for such restrictions elapses, becomes declassified.

Reading Michelle’s Becoming I kept hoping to read Aisha Buhari’s account of life in the Villa. Muhammadu Buhari’s family would be the first family to spend two terms in the Villa. I am not unaware of the two terms of Olusegun Obasanjo (and even the failed third-term attempt), that is why I emphasised family. Buhari would be the first two-term democratically elected president to live in the Villa with a consort! 

Her Excellency, Aisha Buhari’s book would make interesting reading, another first, since to the best of my knowledge no first lady before her has ever written any. That book will afford her the liberty to express herself fully and clear the air on a number of issues. 

I have a confession to make. I am now a born-again columnist in respect of Her Excellency, Aisha Buhari and others in a similar situation like hers which requires listening to the other party before dispensing judgement. Recent happenings in the Villa made me realise my presumptuousness in the position I assumed after the BBC interview she granted in which she spoke about a cabal that enervates her husband in fulfilling his part of the bargain to the electorate. I wondered then and still wonder why a first lady of Fulani-Muslim extraction would do this to her husband at a time that he needed every ounce of support he could get. I tried, then, in vain to draw any line of demarcation between Her Excellency’s utterances during the interview and acts of sabotage the wife of Lut (Lot) meted out to the mission of her husband (ash-Shu’ar’aa 26:171). But now I am born-again in that I behold her actions through the lens of fair hearing without absolving her of blame. Though He knows the secrets of hearts, Allah asked Satan why he refused to bow down to Adam, as if to draw our attention to the need for fair hearing (al-Hijr 15:32). 

In a piece, I Am Mijin Hajiya which appeared on these pages in March this year I said: “I would rather be Mijin Hajiya, even though the term is used derogatorily in my community; being a Mai Gida is the norm. People in Mai Gida’s world consider a marriage successful only when the wife is enslaved, and bereft of her husband’s love and respect. Therefore, a husband who displays any form of affection to his wife, or honours her, or seeks for her opinion on anything is Mijin Hajiya. For such marital harmony to exist, according to my community, the husband must be a weakling, subservient to the wife, without any authority over her.” 

Politicians in the civilised world tend to be more inclined to being Mijin Hajiya than the opposite. Donald Rumsfeld told me in his Known and Unknown, speaking about President Ford, that he “had real strengths and one of Ford’s most important assets was the First Lady. Betty Ford was a gracious, lively and entertaining woman whom the president clearly adored. She helped set the standard for modern first ladies by talking openly about controversial public issues, a role that traditionally was not considered the province of a president’s wife.”

When David Cameron wanted to seek for leadership, as he stated in For The Record, the sought for support, understand and advice from political associates and his parents, but he spared the most important part to his wife Samantha. “The most important,” he said, “of course was Samantha. Just as she had been worried about the effect on our life of me becoming an MP, she was worried about what being leader would mean. She could see why that side of it worried me but was also in many ways the ultimate Tory moderniser. It was a crisp spring day in the garden at Dean when she said words to the effect of, ‘What is the point of spending your life in a Tory Party that can’t achieve any of the things that you believe this country needs to do?’ That was what I really needed, and after her words, the decision was made. I was running.”

I will mention more on the issue of mutual respect between the husband and the wife within and outside the home later. 

Public life as its zakah which must be paid by the famous and mighty in the form of worries, turbulence and public scrutiny. 
  
“Sometimes watching the news or reading the paper,” said Michelle in Becoming, “I found myself staring at images of the people who’d given themselves to political life - the Clintons, the Gores, the Bushes, old photos of the Kennedys - and wondering what the backstories were. Was everyone normal? Happy? Were those smiles real?” 

We do not know what people in high places are going through. We only see the pictures, the smiles and we speculate. “The more popular you became,” Michelle said, “the more haters you acquired. It seemed almost like an unwritten rule, especially in politics, where adversaries put money into opposition research - hiring investigators to crawl through every piece of candidates background, looking for anything resembling dirt.” 

Friday, October 18, 2019

The Murshid’s Khutbah: HOLDING FAST TO THE SUNNAH










                                   THE MURSHID


This is the translation of the Khutbah that Prof. Shehu Ahmad Sa’id Galadanchi, CON, Murshid of the National Mosque, Abuja delivers today, Friday, October 18th 2019 at the National Mosque: 

“Dear Muslims, we live in a time full of Bida’ (plural for Bid’ah) and religious disorder that cause a lot of problems to us, not only spiritually, but also politically and socially. As Muslims, we will not be able to surmount these challenges except through reverting to our Haneef Religion and holding fast to the Sunnah of our Prophet, the Trustworthy, the one sent as a Mercy to humanity. 

  
“On the authority of Abu Najeeh al-‘Irbaad ibn Saariyah (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: ‘The Messenger of Allah, sallallaahu alaihi wa sallam gave us a sermon by which our hearts were filled with fear and tears came to our eyes. We said: O Messenger of Allah, it is as though this is a farewell sermon, so counsel us. He said: I counsel you to fear Allah (may He be glorified) and to give absolute obedience even if a slave becomes your leader. Verity, he among you who lives (long) will see great controversy, so you must keep to my Sunnah and to the Sunnah of the rightly-guided Rashidite Caliphs - cling to them stubbornly. Beware of newly invented matters, for every invented matter is an innovation and every innovation is going astray and every going astray is in Hell-fire.’ It was related by Abu Dawud and at-Tirmidhi, who said that it was a good and sound Hadeeth. 

“The Trustworthy Messenger related in this important Hadeeth that he who lives long among his Sahaabah will see great controversy. And here we are in this  era  witnessing great controversies in our Deen that are causing religious, political and social problems. Oftentimes, moral and material losses are caused by these problems, not least the Boko Haram challenge that is ever-present with us. In times gone by, we only heard of these challenges from afar, in climes distant from us. Today, we are faced by these challenges in our country, nay, in our homes, schools, roads and Masaajid (plural for Masjid). 

“The instruction of the Messenger to us in this Hadeeth as mentioned pertains holding fast to the Sunnah. He said: ‘…so you must keep to my Sunnah and to the Sunnah of the rightly-guided Rashidite Caliphs..’ Then he placed an emphasis on this command and said: ‘..cling to them stubbornly.’

“This is an eloquent expression in which the Messenger counselled us to hold fast to the Sunnah really strongly and determinedly. 

“Brethren in Faith! It is imperative that we, especially the youths, seek for, and act according to knowledge. As our predecessors said, the ignorant has neither intellect nor religion. Islam adjures us to learn the injunctions of our religion, the upright, so we can know how to worship Allah alone, without partners; that we can distinguish truth from falsehood, and good from evil; that we can discern what is textually evident in the Book and the Sunnah of commandments and Sharia’h laws; that we can differentiate between Halaal and Haraam as well as avoid doubtful matters as Al-Mustapha commands us in a Hadeeth where he said: “That which is lawful is plain and that which is unlawful is plain and between them are doubtful matters about which not many people know. Thus he who avoids doubtful matters clears himself in regard to his religion and honour, but he who falls into doubtful matters falls into that which is unlawful…’ to the end of the Hadeeth.

“Jurists are unanimous on the importance of this Hadeeth and its various jurisprudential uses as it is one of the Ahaadeeth upon which is the nexus of Islam. Avoidance of doubtful matters, O servants of Allah, ensures the preservation of one’s religion and honour.

“We pray Allah the Almighty to assist us in following the Sunnah of His Messenger, and the Sunnah of his rightly-guided Rashidite Caliphs. I have uttered what you have heard, and I seek Allah’s forgiveness for me, you and all Muslims; seek for His forgiveness as He is Most-Forgiving, Most-Merciful.”

SITTING

“Praise be to Allah who said in His Glorious Book concerning His Trustworthy Prophet: ‘He does not speak of (his own) desire. It is naught save an inspiration that is inspired, which one of mighty powers taught him…’ Peace and blessings be upon the Glorious Prophet, our Leader, Muhammad, the Unlettered; and upon members of his household, and entire Sahaabah. I bear witness that there is no deity except Allah alone, who is without partners. I bear witness, also, that Muhammad is His Servant and Messenger.

“Afterwards, servants of Allah, holding fast to the Sunnah of Al-Mustapha and following his footprints in religious and mundane affairs is mandatory on every Muslim, even though it is not easy in our daily activities nowadays. And that is so because the Shayaateen (evil ones) among the Jinn, aided by Shayaateen among humankind, are constantly whispering into the hearts of people to effectively sabotage any resolve in following the Sunnah. The Shayaateen among the humankind are so many in our times and are more deadly than their Jinn counterparts because they mingle with us. 

“What we should do, brethren is to beware lest these Shayaateen make us deviate from the even path and loose grip of the Sunnah of Al-Mustapha alaihis salaam.

“It was reported on the authority of ‘Aisha, Mother of the Faithful, may Allah be pleased with her, who said: ‘The Messenger of Allah, sallallaahu alaihi wa sallam said: ‘He who innovates something in this matter of our that is not of it will have it rejected.’ The meaning of this is such innovations are void without efficacy whatsoever. This Hadeeth, doubtless, is a very important component among Islamic principles.  It is also, as jurists posited, part of the all-encompassing speech of the Messenger of Allah, sallallaahu alaihi wa sallam in that it is plain, explicit in repelling all kinds of unlawful and misguided innovations.   

Thursday, October 10, 2019

MISUNDERSTANDING AT THE NATIONAL MOSQUE, ABUJA








A “SPECIAL INVITATION” dated September 16th 2019, from Sheikh Dahiru Usman Bauchi Foundation was extended to the Murshid of the National Mosque, Abuja, Prof. Shehu Galadanchi, to “an annual celebration of new (Islamic Calendar) year, Zikir and Special Prayer 14441 AH.” 

In a normal setting, when an organisation wants to hold a function in any place, the first thing to do is to seek permission from the authorities of that establishment. Not so the Sheikh Dahiru Usman Bauchi Foundation. “On behalf of the above named foundation,” said the letter, “its well-wishers and the entire adherence (sic) of Dariqah Tijjaniyya, we hereby invite you to the above mentioned event which is organised under the leadership of Maulana Sheikh Dahiru Usman Bauchi (OFR)”. The date (September 27th), venue (National Mosque) and time (4:00 pm to 8:00 pm) of the “Zikir” celebration were mentioned. 

What made this Foundation to be so blatantly and disdainfully arrogant in its correspondence to the Murshid? The Foundation was just passing the information on its function to (and without permission of) the leader of the National Mosque and has the impudence to invite him to attend if he cared to. 

In his reply (on September 19th 2019) to the invite of the Foundation, the Murshid administratively treated their letter as if it were a formal request for permission to hold the event in the precincts of the National Mosque. He expressed his “regret to inform” the organisers “that the proposed date of” Friday, September 27th “2019 for the event will not be feasible” as (i) it is the same “date the Federal Government is conducting a Special Juma’at Prayer and Public Lecture” to mark Nigeria’s 59th Independence Day Celebrations; (ii) past gatherings by the Foundation have left a trail of damage to the Mosque’s facilities “such as carpets, toilets, landscaping, etc. (iii) “the Management of the Mosque”, given the “security  situation in the country,” will not “allow any uncontrollable crowd to” converge in its premises.

The Murshid then drew the attention of the Foundation to a saying of the Prophet, sallallaahu alaihi wa sallam that was reported in almost all Hadeeth collections which established that the National Mosque, Abuja has no superiority over any other mosque in Nigeria in terms of acts of worship. Thus, whoever wants to serve Allah, they do not need to travel to Abuja as they could as well garner reward through their devotions in mosques that are close to them. A Muslim could travel for spiritual purposes to only three mosques in as much as the Prophet, sallallaahu alaihi wa sallam has said:    “No (religious) journey is to be undertaken except to (pray in) the three mosques: The Sacred Mosque (Makkah), the Aqsa Mosque (Jerusalem), and this Mosque of mine (al-Madeenah).” 

The Murshid ended his letter by advising the Foundation, due to the multitudinous number of Dariqah devotees that gather for such event, to “contact Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) to provide, if necessary, for an alternative venue such as Eagle Square or International Conference Centre.”

The above reply only reached the addressees by the use of a bait. Past experience has shown that the organisers of the “annual Zikir” will not care to receive the National Mosque’s response to their correspondence. So, they were invited to come and collect invitation cards to the 59th Independence Day Celebrations which will feature a lecture and special prayers at the National Mosque. That bait caught the fish since this kind of ceremony attracts the presence of top government officials and people of means, (even President Muhammadu Buhari would have attended but for the coincidence of the event with his function at the United Nations General Assembly); it will, doubtless, provide opportunity for importunity in seeking for appointments and asking for largesse. After all, their patriarch sees no difference between Islam and begging; according to him, the two are inseparable. So, they took the bait. 

When they came for the invitation cards, the above reply of the Murshid was included in the envelope and given to the emissaries of the Sheikh Dahiru Usman Bauchi Foundation who wasted no time in reading the contents. One of them said to the Murshid’s retinue: “We have not sought for anybody’s opinion on the possibility or otherwise of our programme. It was just for your information. We are not asking for  your permission…” 


It was after the 59th Independence Day Celebrations at the National Mosque that one of the scions of Sheikh Dahiru Bauchi approached the Sultan at the facade of the Mosque to intercede (actually, overrule would be a better word) with the Murshid, who was standing within earshot, on their behalf. The Sultan advised the litigant to refer his case to the Murshid. “But you are the one that appointed him.” Said Dahiru Bauchi’s son. His Eminence, the Sultan, with surprising equanimity, answered: “On the issue of the Mosque, the Murshid is our leader”.   

“You will not have the event here. Not in this mosque.” Said the Murshid.

“But sir,” retorted Dahiru Bauchi’s son, “we have been gathering here for the past 30 years for the same event”; (which is not true. They started in 1998). “The consequences of the event not taking place at the National Mosque will be calamitous for Nigeria as a whole.” roared Dahiru Bauchi’s son.

“Let there be such calamity, but you will not have the event here.” Said the Murshid.

Amidst this scene of utter disregard to the sanctity of the place and discourtesy to our leaders, some adherents of Dariqah Tijjaniya were disdainfully asking “who can stop the mention of Allah in the house of Allah” and “who is Galadanchi…?”; jeering crowds of Ahlul Zikir devoid of decorum and discipline. If this is not extremism, I don’t know what it is!  

The only assuagement here will be the words of the Messenger of Allah, sallallaahu alaihi wa sallam where he warned that those who do “not respect our elders” are not of us. 

His Eminence, in his conscientiousness, benign temperament and style of leadership, desires the embarkation of all Muslims in Nigeria, as it were, on the Ark of  Nuh (Noah), Alaihis Salaam. But, honestly, he, sometimes needs the Umarness in the Murshid to suffer the waves to drown those members of his flock who foolishly assume a mountain that they perceive from afar will save them from the flood. 

One lesson that should not be missed in this sad incident is the unquestioning deference that His Eminence, the Sultan accorded the Murshid. He has established the Murshid’s evident authority on the affairs of the National Mosque: “On the issue of the Mosque, the Murshid is our leader”. Even when His Royal Highness, Alh Yahaya Abubakar, Etsu Nupe approached the Sultan on the possibility of a concession on the matter, His Eminence urged him to “go to the Murshid and plead with him..”. In a telephone conversation with a prominent Muslim leader who called on the same issue, the Sultan politely referred him to the Murshid. These efforts succeeded in the reversal of the Murshid’s position and the Zikir Foundation held the event, but the greatest winner is “our leader” on matters affecting the National Mosque.    


Now Facebook-warriors of Dariqah Tijjaniya have got another pastime in propagating lies about the National Mosque and its Murshid, calling for his removal, that he is an Izala agent working for the obliteration of all traces of Dariqah in the mosque.  

Prof. Shehu Ahmad Sa’id Galadanchi, CON, Murshid of the National Mosque has a clearer vision, more than any other person, on maintaining neutrality in running the affairs of the National Mosque even before it was built. In a meeting with late General Shehu Musa ‘Yar Adua, Chief of Staff, Supreme Headquarters in 1978 (when the leader of this Zikir Foundation was nothing to be mentioned in Nigeria), Shehu Galadanchi it was that countered the subtle suggestion by late Sheikh Abubakar Mahmoud Gumi that since Izala has no discernible ritual in its practice of Islam, it could have more influence in running the affairs of the then yet-to-be-built National Mosque. Sheikh Sharif Ibrahim Saleh was also at the meeting.

Only the mischievous will see leanings towards Izala in the leadership of Prof. Shehu Galadanchi as Murshid of the National Mosque. There was a time that the Izala group sought for permission to hold a function at the mosque which was denied. Heavens did not fall then. On another occasion, he granted such request with the proviso that they will pray behind the imam of the National Mosque and not appoint one of them to lead the prayers. When the time for prayer came, Sheikh Ahmad Onilewura, one of the imams, led the prayers and everybody prayed behind him. Even with the resolution of the Zikir Foundation crisis, its members did not obey this condition. Before the Mu’azzin made the call to prayer, they instructed one of their own to do so and another led the prayers. That has been their custom. 

Moreover, adherents of Dariqah Tijjaniya have Wazifa sessions daily at the National Mosque aside the special weekly Juma’a Zikir. The National Mosque is the de facto headquarters of Dariqah activities in Nigeria.  Dariqah Tijjaniya is the only group with an office at the National Mosque.

There is a need for an urgent meeting of Dariqah Tijjaniya, Kadiriya and Izala adherents to address these imbalances to avert an impending crisis when other groups will attempt to establish their presence and seek for equal treatment.  

Sheikh Ibrahim Ahmad Makari, a quintessential adherent of Dariqah,  handles quite a number of important assignments at the behest of the Murshid, not because Prof. Makari is Dariqah but for the fact that he is competent and thus the Murshid reposed no small measure of confidence in him. In Sheikh Makari I was able to educe a variant of Dariqah Tijjaniya that hinges on self-effacement, refinement and observance of the rules of scholastic etiquette. His tutelage, I later deciphered, was not under a sheikh whose slanders, curses, taunts and abuses did not spare the Majesty of the Sokoto Caliphate.      




Two days after the display of unruly behaviour by members of the Zikir Foundation, the Shiekh Sharif Ibrahim Saleh Foundation, presented to the public the proposed SHEIKH SHARIF IBRAHIM SALEH ISLAMIC CENTRE (SHISIC), on Sunday, September 29th 2019 at the International Conference Centre, Abuja.


The centre shall be domiciled at the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, Nigeria, and will, among other uses, (1) serve the interest of those “concerned with the promotion of research and studies in various aspects of Islamic jurisprudence”, (2) promote “unity amongst Muslim Ummah”, and (3) it “will not limit itself to education in its conservative sense only, but rather, serves as all-encompassing centre, concerned with the affairs of Muslim culture   and civilisation, by promoting better understanding of contemporary challenges and facing such challenges through knowledge and research.”
The Sheikh Sharif Ibrahim Saleh Islamic Centre (SHISIC) is neither a one-man-show ersatz project that will not outlive its founder nor a jamboree contrived to attract donatives while the real intention - personal enrichment - is cloaked in secrecy. 
The SHISIC envisions itself becoming “the highest Islamic reference centre in Sub-Saharan Africa”, dedicated “for research and learning with a view to promoting Islamic scholarship and peaceful coexistence amongst citizens.”

It is the likes of SHISIC  that Islam needs to confront the challenges facing Muslims today. Instead of intra-conflict on what group gets control of the National Mosque, let each group come up with its own edifice of Islamic centre where Islam and humanity will be served. 

Friday, October 4, 2019

VP NOW A GOOD CHRISTIAN



                                              Osinbajo

After the 2019 general elections I wrote a piece, FOR THE LOVE OF ATIKU, which was published here on March 1st 2019, in which I excoriated some Muslim and Christian religious leaders for transforming the Mimbar and the pulpit into campaign platforms for Buhari and Atiku. The herders-farmers crisis “was given the false narrative of a Fulani President using his kin to decimate Christians as part of an elaborate plan to Islamise Nigeria. This message was widely preached in places of worship by men of God quoting copiously out of context from the scriptures to stoke up the embers of ethnic hatred and religious disharmony.” 

“The fact that Buhari’s running mate, Osinbajo is a pastor did not lighten the ferocity of the Islamisation storm. There were calls “on (the) General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, RCCG, Pastor Enoch Adeboye to strip Vice President Yemi Osinbajo of his pastorship” for exposing the misrule, embezzlement and corruption of the Goodluck Jonathan-led government. He was further maligned as “a fake man of God” and “a pastor only by name” for insisting that “it was impossible for anyone to Islamise Nigeria, as claimed by Christian interests.”

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has been exerting his utmost since then in asserting his position as a genuine Christian to no avail.  The church constituency saw no wisdom in Osinbajo’s attempt to dismiss allegations of nepotism and clannishness levelled against Buhari, as well as his arguing that Southerners and Christians have benefitted more than Northerners and Muslims in this government. 
"President Muhammadu”, Vice President Osinbajo once said, “is possibly one of the most committed people I have ever met. He is committed to seeing that the resources of this country are used for this country.

"In general term, we find that there is fairness in the distribution of appointments. Many of the accusations against Buhari are not true.
"Sometimes, people listen to propaganda and if we look at the facts, things are totally different. On Islamisation, first of all, it is untrue, it is propaganda.

"Anybody who complains that President Buhari is propagating Islamic agenda, how is that possible?

"A lot of these are just propaganda, never listen to these. Many of these are absurd, they are deliberate propaganda. They come from the same source. Don't believe them. Let's be fair," Osinbajo said.
President Muhammadu Buhari has had occasions in the past to say: “My deputy is a Christian and there is no way I will Islamise Nigeria with many Christians in my team.”

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo was seen as an accomplice in a grand plan by Buhari’s Fulani Government to exterminate Christians. Christian leaders addressed him sternly during his visit to Benue at the peak of the herders-farmers crisis.


One of the speakers, "the Catholic Bishop of Gboko, His Lordship, Williams Avenya", said amidst other issues: “The point I’m trying to make is that a day is going to come when you, as the Vice-President, will bear the brunt of that problem of injustices in our land, especially those perpetrated on smaller ethnic groups that have no one to fight for them.

“So, as a Christian person, exonerate yourself from this situation,” the bishop advised the Vice President.

In his response, the Vice President said, “My Lord Bishop, you said you are not a politician, I am also not a politician. As a matter of fact, I’m also a priest and I’m a Christian, a born again Christian. Because I’m a born again Christian, my destiny is not determined by any man but by God who I serve.

“Let me assure you that under no circumstances, none whatsoever, will I give up my faith or refuse to stand up for my faith.

“You can take that to the bank. Even the position that I currently occupy, I did not ask for it and I’m prepared to leave it at a short notice.

“It doesn’t mean anything. I became a born again Christian after I became a professor, a professor of the law of evidence, a professor of proof.

“But when the Lord Jesus Christ met me, He persuaded me by showing me clearly that there is such a thing as the evidence of things that are not seen.

“It is because of the evidence of things that are not seen, it is because you can make something out of nothing that I stand here today as Vice-President.

“How possible can anyone say that the killing of women and children doesn’t matter because he is Vice-President or because he is President? How is that possible? Certainly, it cannot be for a person who is born again. A renewed mind will know that there is justice, there is consequence even if there is no justice here on earth.”


God has recently revealed to the leadership of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) that Vice President Yemi Osinbajo is not “a fake man of God” or “a pastor only by name”; that he genuinely ministers to the needs of Christians in Nigeria. Thus, after receipt of this Devine Revelation, the leadership of CAN led by its National President, Rev Supo Ayokunle, paid an ecumenical visit to the Vice President at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Friday, September 27th 2019. 

God’s Revelation to CAN appertains to “baseless allegations” by a prodigal son of the church who accused the Vice President of collecting N90bn from the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) to fund the 2019 presidential election that ensured the discontinuation of the Islamisation agenda of his principal. The FIRS is a repudiator of this Revelation. Woe unto the repudiators from the wrath of the leadership of CAN! 

CAN President issued a Devine Ordinance, not a verdict of a court of competent jurisdiction, at the end of the meeting with the Vice President, to Nigerians “not to toy with the innocent that are faithfully serving the nation”. “Vice President Osinbajo”, declared Rev Ayokunle, “has cleared the air that the allegation is baseless and there is no truth in it. He said some people are plotting against him and he was ready to provide himself to be cleared.

“If there is an allegation, there must be evidence; he said it can never happen and will never happen. The church and the entire country will fight for him.”

The Islamisation trumpet blast would have blared across the Nigerian political space were these words uttered by a Muslim leader in support of President Muhammadu Buhari.  But now that the church has made a spiritual discovery in the genuine Christianness of the Vice President, Nigerians have to fall in line with the CAN position. “We must stay together”, said the Rev Ayokunle, “to fight the challenges and we must overcome.”

But the band of repudiators of the CAN Revelation is superintended by the prodigal son who told the clergyman “to face his priestly duties instead of using his sacred office to aid and abet corruption.”  
As a prodigal son of the church, he said “I am ashamed of the attitude and character of this present CAN president in the person of Rev. Samson Olasupo Ayokunle.

“CAN in its original form represents the body of Christ and Ayokunle ought to have known that it owes the citizenry or at least God, an obligation to win souls, be good ambassadors of the church and crusade for good governance.

“As a supposed shepherd of the nation’s Christian body, if two of your sheep have a misunderstanding, I think you ought to have heard from both parties before taking a position.

“I am however not surprised because like pregnancy evil cannot be hidden under tainted cassocks and collars.

“I have heard from not a few reliable quarters that he often goes cap in hand before politicians in the name of praying for them.
“It is shameful that the CAN President has turned the body of Christ into a political pressure group.

“At least, even if it is now a political party, he ought to have allowed its spokesman to speak on behalf of the organization.

“Could it be that Mr CAN President, sorry, Chairman of CAN Political Party (CANPP) took part in the illegal disbursements of taxpayers’ funds at FIRS?

“Let him tell Christian leaders who elected him how much Osinbajo and Fowler gave him to organize such an ignominious press conference.

“These are men of doubtful character that must be urgently tamed before they inflict further harm on the reputation of Christians in this country.

“The character of this man is highly suspect but I apologize on behalf of all well-meaning Christians and their leaders for this attempt by Ayokunle to stain their garments.

“Late Martin Luther King jr. was a religious leader, who used his position to fight for the oppressed and downtrodden in society.
“Let Ayokunle learn from such noble men how to be a voice for the voiceless in Christendom.”

He even advocated for a regime change in CAN. “This CAN president,” he said, “is a no show and I urge the governing body of CAN to act swiftly to correct the evil impression or else the present CAN leadership would henceforth be regarded as the servants of mammon rather than servants of God.”

This prodigal son seems not to understand the new pricey discovery and the Next Level Slogan of CAN: “You are forgiven. Go and sin no more!”