Tinubu’s administration a renewed hope?

BY RIDWAN JAMIU

Each new day now breaks with uncertainty and despair. Lamentations and remonstrations rent the air. Rising prices of basic commodities make the life bleak while the spate of insecurity makes the existence blight. Fear and hunger are the most deleterious social evils that may bedevil a nation. Nigeria seems to live the two- big time. How do we deal with the socio-economic challenges? But we are in the season of the renewed hope . Where is the hope?

I do take solace and good omen from the slogan: Renewed Hope. It is better to hope hopefully than to despair hopelessly. What does hope do? It does wonders. It gives you calmness and positivity. It pacifies the mind and shine a light of guidance. Despair exacerbates a problem and catalyses distress which may usher in depression and its corollaries. Life is not without challenges. Has anyone come and gone unscathed? Such is life. We must all have a story to tell. Be hopeful and grateful; there lies the first solution to the economic hardship. Be grateful you are not in the jail; not in the hospital; not in the den of kidnappers and not in the graves. Be hopeful; no matter how long the night is, the day will break.

The present economic hardship is not a child of today; the insidiousness of the enigmatic child became noticeable only when it grows bigger. Several actions and inactions of both the government and the people birthed the current mishap. Impunity and impurity remarkably mark our conduct. We are only quick to lay or trade blame. A woman bereft of good manners decries luck for her singleness. Many have not realized they need to make serious repetance for a big social sin committed during the election period: vote-buying, voting motivated by personal gain and fraud. Unless you repent you may perish. If you could stop your corruption as an individual, the nation will breathe a sigh of relief. The new administration is barely a year old; can we be more patient?

But what can patience do in the wake of acute hunger?! Patience creates an atmosphere of calmness and guidance. It spurs endurance and perseverance. Mind works on whatever it is fed. Tell yourself you can be more patient and industrious. In patience, perseverance and endurance lies the second solution to our predicament.

Impatience can turn into violence which may ruin us all without repair. The country is already fragile and volatile, we cannot afford to precipitate the brewing danger. Say no to violence; say no to stealing; say no to robbery; say no to kidnapping; so no to misappropriation of funds. Be industrious and enterprising. Happiness has never lasted with ill-gotten money.

You need not curse the corrupt who fleece the nation for personal interests, curse is already their lot and their family’. Watch your words; prayers, repentance, counselling and good advice are far better than insults, curses and ballistic vituperations. When you curse your leader, you inadvertently curse yourself. When they get worse, everybody bears the brunt.

Giving is a secret of happiness and blessings. This law of nature has never been subject to doubt. This is the time to be our brothers’ keepers. It is now time we demonstrated our humanity. We should avoid the acts of insensitivity and insensibility such as extravagance and spraying money in parties. Opulence often brings only fake joy. Those who have should support the poor and the needy. Charity never reduces wealth. It augments and blesses it. Givers never lack.

For Muslims, pay your Zakat (the Islamic compulsory charity). ‘Those who give charity, seeking only the pleasure of Allah, are those whose reward will be multiplied.’ Surah Saba, 30:39. Give out 2.5% of your earnings or savings (over which a year has passed). You become eligible once your earnings or savings pass the threshold of 595 grams of silver (which currently translates into about N420,000). Give your poor relations, neighbours and friends for empowerment or poverty alleviation. You do not pay Zakat to build a mosque. Salat can be valid without a Masjid. But hunger can render Salat meaningless. Allah wants attendance and attention. Mosque building is from voluntary donations.

For Christians, give out your 10% (tithe) to your poor relatives, neighbours and friends. Charity begins at home. ‘Whoever is kind to the poor, lends to the Lord, and He will reward them for what they have done’ Proverbs, 19:17.

Journalists are doing a great job for the society. They evaluate opinions and guide the masses and the authorities. The society currently needs the services of responsible journalists, not alarmists. Journalism is meant to find the truth and facts, present it with utmost honesty with a view to educating the audience and guiding them. This is not a time to carelessly stoke sentiments or to heighten despair. Good things are still happening in this country and in our personal lives. Raise our hopes and lift up our morales. Guide the government and the populace. Decry the inefficacious education that has created laziness and ineptitude in our youth. Lazy hands are the workshop of Satan. Criticize constructively the system that has produced pseudo-scholars and quack professionals. Suggest solutions for political system which promotes hooliganism and waste of resources. Technology has advanced, the traditional voting system ought to go. Call attention to the need to go back to farming and agriculture. We should not import what we can produce. Why should a country blessed with fertile land and immense manpower import rice, beans, wheat, milk, frozen chickens and beverages?

But who will go to farm when your life is threatened? The government should do everything possible to fix the security so that people can freely seek means of livelihood without fear. Confidence and trust in the police should be restored. This is very key to any peace and development. The government should fix electricity permanently so that health can improve (air pollution from generators cause serious health hazard) and industries can grow. Let our highways be fixed and reduce people’s suffering and economic loss. Let us have more intrastate roads so that new areas can develop and thus reduce population density and crime rates.

The pomp in leadership and greed for power has been the motivation for many politicians who make us believe they can govern the nation or their jurisdictions. Many are actually intellectual dwarfs who are only favoured by money or influence and thuggery. When the reality downs on them they discover that there is more to it.

President Buhari vowed to fix the nation in one term. He used a term and another but it was like the more he fixed the more became unfixed. If the nation proves unfixable or too unwieldy, then perhaps its heterogeneity and massiveness beckon for other forms of governance or outright delineation. Nonetheless, menacing influence of foreign imperialists who dread the growth and progress of Nigeria and Africa cannot be ruled out of this scene. But we had better evaluate and fix ourselves instead of blaming our woes on the government or foreigners. Without the enemy within, the enemy without cannot succeed. A better Nigeria is possible. Let us hope and pray for the best. Let us make deliberate efforts to change the narratives. We can do it. Let us renew our hope in a progressive Nigeria.

God help Nigeria.

Jamiu is chief Imam of Lekki Central Mosque, Lagos and can be reached at [email protected]