In trying times like this

Recent weeks witnessed events that transformed the already hard times facing many Nigerians into a real trying period.

Beginning from cut-throat prices of food items to the hike in the pump price of petrol which rose from N143/litre to N159/litre, electricity tariff was also increased astronomically with effect from September 1, 2020.

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Expectedly, these issues led to increase in transport fares which cumulatively reflected in the surge in inflation rate, which according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in its August report, has reached 13.22 percent; the highest since 2016.

All these arose when insecurity once again heightened after it was believed to have been substantially subdued.

In spite of the various military operations in parts of the country, kidnapping returned to all the routes it once held sway including the Abuja-Kaduna highway.

The spate of banditry in North-west and part of North-central regions of the country keep escalating.

Insurgency in the Northeast part of Nigeria is also returning communities back to Internally Displaced Person’s (IDPs) camps.

Before insecurity worsened, COVID-19 pandemic which in the past seven months remained the worst global health emergency brought the country under severe economic pressures; forcing even some strong economies to crumble.

While the naira depreciated against the United States dollar, import and export trade sharply declined.

There was also abrupt fall in the price of crude oil.

The current economic challenges facing the country are not just a direct consequence of COVID-19 pandemic but also a global phenomenon.

In the midst of these crises, flood arising from torrential rainfall began to submerge farmlands and houses across many states in the North-west and North-central states of the country.

The devastation of farmlands by floods is already raising concerns over threat to food security.

The situation is further complicated by the inability of farmers who are not affected by flood but are forced by bandits to abandon their farms.

This actually portends a looming agrarian crisis for the country, and by extension, the African continent.

Flood has submerged several communities in Niger Republic and the Sudan where the Nile River rose to a record water level not experienced in the last 100 years.

With many of these events happening almost simultaneously, anyone who still believes that the country is not passing through trying moments must be living in a world of self-denial.

No doubt, things are not the way well-meaning Nigerians would wish.

Nonetheless, it is no less the strongest of hoax for anyone to insinuate that President Muhammadu Buhari is either at the root of these challenges (Some of which are natural) or is happy at their occurrence.

The quality of our judgements as we attempt to analyze issues is, most often, a reflection of our individual perception of the problems confronting our collective well-being.

For instance, “a man whose only tool is a hammer”, they say, “would see every problem as a nail”.

This is why self-obsessed persons like former President Olusegun Obasanjo who thinks the solution to Nigeria’s problems is tied to his person would see President Buhari or any other Nigerian leader at the root of the country’s problems.

Chief Obasanjo lacks the moral justification to condemn leaders who succeeded him or raise his voice where patriotic Nigerians are discussing to proffer solutions to the country’s developmental challenges.

A leader who wasted $16 billion dollars on Nigeria’s power sector, sold public assets without using the proceeds to replace them, and further destroyed the civil service with bad policies should keep his peace when the country finds itself in trying periods.

Maybe Buhairi’s fault, unlike Obasanjo, is his deliberate refusal to divide regional groups (ACF, Afenifere, others) against themselves; which is probably why they are now uniting against him.

Until we stop politicizing national challenges, we may not get to where we want to be as a nation.

Some people are fixated with putting all the blames for our collective failures squarely on government as if citizens are exclusive of the immediate circumstances.

While it is important to examine issues from all perspectives, it is also relevant that the spiritual angle is not ignored.

Allah (SWT) affirms in the Qur’an that He does not arbitrarily withdraw a favour He has bestowed on a people until they turn rebellious; a requirement for earning Allah’s anger.

With the sort of injustices (sometimes with impunity) perpetrated on the land, we would not be absolutely right to say that God isn’t angry with us.

Allah (SWT) states in Qur’an 8:53 “Because Allah will never change the grace which He has bestowed on a people until they change what is in their (own) souls…”

Given our circumstance, if much of the energy and time dissipated by some individuals at changing the society were directed at changing themselves, it would have served our common interest better.

The Prophet (SAW) said “The greatest jihad is the one against self”.

A philosopher once said, “At 20, I attempted to change the world; at 30, I attempted to change my country; at 40, I attempted to change my community; at 50; I attempted to change my family; at 60, I find myself trying to change myself”.

The Wednesday September 16, 2020 edition of the Daily Trust newspaper led with a story on the rape epidemic in Nigeria; reporting that rapists are on rampage in Bauchi where 14-year-old was gang-raped for one month.

Reports of octogenarians defiling little girls is common news in conventional media platforms. Subhanallahi!

Through His virtuous men as Prophets and as Messengers, Allah (SWT) explicitly told us about things that are abominably indecent.

In the past, some nations were destroyed for a single crime.

The people of Prophet Luut (AS) were (according to Qur’an 7:80-84) destroyed with showers of brimstone for indulging in sodomy.

The Thamud people were perished in a dreadful earthquake for killing the she-camel of Prophet Salih (AS).

Pharaoh and his men drowned in the red-sea for transgressing bounds.

Allah (SWT) summarizes these events in Qur’an 29:40 saying, “Each of them we seized for his crime; of them, against some We sent a violent tornado (with showers of stones); some We caught by a (mighty) blast; some we caused the earth to swallow up; and some we drowned (in the waters); It was not Allah who injured (or oppressed) them, they injured (and oppressed) their own souls”.

Rape, banditry and kidnapping all rule many communities in parts of the country today.

Yet, offenders go unpunished.

We all need to look inwards, deal with institutional injustices and repent from our sins.

The government of Kaduna state should be commended as Governor Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai within the week signed into law the bill which prescribes death, surgical castration and removal of fallopian tube as penalties for rape offenders.

To speak to President Buhari, a nation-wide broadcast is necessary in this trying times not only to educate Nigerians on the strategic policies being put in place to address the complex economic challenges sadly occasioned by COVID-19 pandemic but also to restore confidence of the public in the administration.

May Allah (SWT) have mercy on us and grant us necessary interventions for the country to prosper, amin.