Yesterday (7th April 2014) started a bit dull for me. I was at the hall but was half listening, so I barely kept record of what was going on and perchance, 7th April marked exactly a year since I lost my beloved Hero and Dad, Alhaji (Dr) Bukar Umaru Mandara....
But what actually added to my lack of concentration is the way so many of the delegates spoke, repetition of previous submissions, only in different English.
But a speech by representative of the Muslim council woke me from my emotional downwardness. He made a resounding speech that normally it is out of order of the conference to clap but he got applauded. He made a whole lot of sense. He said: “As a delegate and as a people representing people of faith in God from Islamic perspective, one thing we believe is that God will protect the community that stands for justice even if they are not Muslims and God will not protect the community that goes contrary to justice even if they call themselves Muslims."
Nurudeen Lemu added, “God is not a religious bigot. He is neither a male chauvinist. He is not an ethno-centric tribalist. God is not the oppressor of anyone. God is with those who care, those who want for others those things they want for themselves".
“One tendency for people who claim to follow a religion is to slide into the position of believing that they are better than the others. We over-estimate our virtues and under-estimate the goodness in others."
“The tendency is for us to be spiritually arrogant and forget that others are people like us. And if you are in other person’s position, you probably will be like someone else."
He continued “As delegates from the Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs, we condemn the murder and the murderers of all Christians; we condemn the murder and the murderers of all Muslims; not because they are Christians or Muslims but because they are all human beings—creatures of God."
“There is no compulsion in religion. We all own Nigeria. We all belong here. And we all have rights to self determination. We should respect that right and do onto others what we will do onto ourselves."
“Every ethnic group is an oppressed minority somewhere. Every majority or settlers is an indigene somewhere. In one way or the other, we are all settlers."
“We just don’t remember where we came from and why we came. But ultimately, we are all visitors to this planet; from God we came and to Him we will return."
“As Muslim delegates, we come against the exploitation of religion and religious sentiments; we come against stereotyping, stigmatizing and dehumanization of each other. We come against the use of religion as a political decoy and distraction from the critical things that bedevil our nation."
“I pray that at the end of this conference, we will all grow in our humanity and respect for each other,”
Perfect talk, perfect speech. I normally don't mention names on my
post but I have to do this today...
I also spoke yesterday, oh well I got claps in the hall and cheers and congratulatory messages after the speech. I also got contact cards. I was not in the mood though but I actually spoke about the unity of Nigerians and spoke to our elders about those pressing issues. At some point i almost broke down in tears but I managed not to. I told them our common enemies are corruption, poverty, unemployment, terrorism amongst other serious problems, their children are at home wasting away unemployed, some resort to robbery, violence and other vices, the children murdered in Yobe in cold blood, what was their crime? Their crime is being innocent Nigerian children in school, so many women have turned widows and so many children have turned orphans. Our common enemies are united against us that is why they always win, they know no Christians or Muslims.
I didn't write the speech so I don't have the script, it is a three (3) minutes speech so no need of writing it down I felt but right now I wish I did. I will get the video and share it.
So many big men of repute came up to me to appreciate my speech but my prayer is that they have listened and would apply what I said to use.
Some delegates spoke about issues of ethnic minorities and a host of other serious and as well as unserious issues.
A delegate was angry as to why some seats were empty, that the chairman has to call delegates who duck out to order. I share in her anger too.
A delegate from Zamfara brought up the issues of the killing spree in the country and urged leadership responsible to live up to expectations. A minute silence was observed for the victims of the recent Zamfara attack and other places across the country.
A delegate moved the motion, requesting the house to send felicitation to a delegate whose son was kidnapped. Some were against it because they believe it is the sign of our failure as a nation that creates such void but afterwards concluded to sending it. Some delegates also suggested the need to pay some last respect to the family of late Hamman Misua beyond the one minute silence to show his family some love.
At some minutes after 6pm, we closed for the day and as always, the traffic at the venue wouldn't allow one leave on time, just imagine about 300 plus cars zooming off at the same time. The best you can do is hang around for some 30 minutes or more. Why am I even telling you this?
See you soon
On Twitter: @Yadomah....
