Concerning the hornet's nest that I may have disturbed, unwittingly, maybe it's not entirely fair to tempt Messrs Salimonu Kadiri (Ogunlakaiye) and Toyin Adepoju to react to such a measure being adopted in our Nigeria , without I myself courageously volunteering to share my own hypothetical reaction to such a move. Briefly stated, I should think it unwise for Mr. President to make such a move, at least not in his first term, because, if he did that he would definitely alienate most if not all of the Christian South, East and West, and some of the mixed multitude in the Middle Belt , Benue and environs and some of the minorities like Bishop Kukah & his Brethren up there in the former Sokoto Caliphate. None of them would vote for him to win a second term. The East would cry " persecution!" and immediately secede or threaten to secede unilaterally and without further ado. Atiku Abubakar bristling with his own presidential ambitions would most certainly not hesitate to seize the moment as an opportunity to come out in full force against Mr. President. The country would be on fire. The local and the international press would fan the flames! Boko Haram and "The Fulani Herdsmen" would be touted as the preferred beneficiaries by all opposition in uproar. What a scenario. The world would know that Rwanda is not Nigeria...
Not that I should like to pre-empt Solomon Kadiri or the mystic Ifa specialist Toyin Adepoju or any other personal reactions, and other reasons for agreeing or disagreeing with such a move, but should Muhammadu Buhari adopt the same kind of measure taken by a very Christian Paul Kagame against the wanton proliferation of business church missionaries for nothing less than their own personal enrichment, exploiting the gullible and superstitious masses by preaching the so called "prosperity gospel" whereby they fleece their flocks in our Nigeria, for a surety the number one reaction by non-Muslims would be that President Buhari is a Muslim and that's why he would be taking that kind of stand in accordance with this conspiracy theory which was floated in 2015, just after he had won the Presidential elections, an opinion piece penned by one Richard Grenell, not unexpectedly in The Washington Times known for its own special bent : HOW BUHARI PLANS TO ISLAMIZE NIGERIA or the title under which the article was originally published - and on which premise of Islam-i-zation he forecasts the as yet untold future story : Nigeria on the brink (of the abyss, the bottomless pit)
But, there's really no cause for alarm, after all President Buhari was a guest of President Trump recently, and I'm sure that as a result of that meeting Nigeria is going to purchase some reliable American weapons and ammunition by which to chase Boko Haram out of town, keep the people of Nigeria safe, out of harm's way, and keep the terrorists out of business
There's the incontrovertible economic reality ( price of oil going up) political thought (the kind of Nigeria various visionary advocates want to see emerge, some through a sovereign national conference.
As for the verification humbug that is demanded by the super-rationalists, the Stone Edition Chumash ( Torah) introduction to the First Book of the Torah ( Genesis ) teaches, "We begin the study of the Torah with the realisation that the Torah is not a history book, but the charter of Man's mission in the universe"
The Quran makes this demand of the receiver in Chapter 2, verses 1 to 20
For many religionists , belief does not depend on confirming the historicity of Jesus defying the laws of nature by walking on the holy water, does not depend on magic or divine miracles, his alleged crucifixion, death and resurrection, the Almighty parting the waters of the Red Sea or the Sea of Reeds so that His people could walk through on the dry land, the Pharaoh's armies that would eventually be hurled into the sea and drowned, not far behind, or that the Prophet of Islam ( S.A.W.) rode on Buraq when he ascended through the seven heavens meeting Moses and Jesus on the way, eventually leading all the earlier prophets in prayer before the throne of the Almighty, and then returning safe and sound back to planet earth where he continued his prophetic mission .(In fact when he told the Meccans about the Isra and Miraj ( the night journey) Abu Sufyan said to be one of the wisest men of Mecca at the time ( a super-rationalist and a sceptic by nature ), mockingly disputed the Isra and Miraj by requesting the Prophet of Islam,( S.A.W.) to raise raise one leg in the air and still keeping that leg up in the air, to then raise the other leg – in his own crude way, to prove to his own satisfaction that no man could possibly fly without wings – and for his unbelief ( disbelief) his name Abu Sufyan ( father of wisdom) was taken away from him, so that he could be given a new name ; Abu Jahl ( the father of ignorance) and that was only the beginning of his being ridiculed and demonised.
On Monday, 28 May 2018 00:14:10 UTC+2, Cornelius Hamelberg wrote:
Adeshina Afolayan's Philosophy and National Development in Nigeria: Towards a Nigerian Tradition of Philosophy
There was the Greeks, the Germans, there are the Brits whose language still dominates, there's the "Continental ", American, and long, long before them, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, China . Babylon, and now what was once known as "the dark" continent slowly coming to light through the international languages of philosophical discourse, the latest, read or unread , Adeshina Afolayan's Philosophy and National Development in Nigeria: Towards a Nigerian Tradition of Philosophy which in hardback @£115 each will find their way unto the shelves of many libraries and the personal libraries of those who can afford the cost , appreciating that knowledge can be expensive, quality, more so and sometimes above and beyond the reach of aspiring citizens of poor, developing countries: That too is OK. Alright.
"While preachers preach of evil fates
Teachers teach that knowledge waits
Can lead to hundred-dollar plates "Nigeria being one of the biggest countries in Africa ( landmass, population, economy, literacy, knowledge production) some of us "smallies" (smaller African nations in terms of landmass, population, economy, literacy, knowledge production – e,g. Ghana, Shierra Leone, little Gambia ) are a little envious of Nigeria when the Nigerians start beating their chests about the evolution of a Nigerian Tradition of Philosophy. Envious ( national envy) even if thought-streams from non-Nigerian or un-Nigerian individuals and schools may occasionally or even continually impact the development of the Nigerian tradition. Envious of the almost unlimited freedom of opinion and freedom of dissent that occurs in the social media space where some of the philosophical seeds are sown daily, mostly by polemicists of various schools, political and ethnic stripes, such as Soyinka on the one hand, on the other, veteran upstarts like the always iconoclastic Chinweizu Ibekwe in a constant mode of confrontation and challenge, others in a constant mode of vituperation, whilst for me and many of us ( my personal numero uno) of a special breed and blend : Ayo Olukotun and his intelligent enquiries, dissections, analysis, sometimes pricking the conscience of the sleeping giant to shake off the slumber., slouching towards Jerusalem - or to Mecca - or to Damascus - to be born
"Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery" was some goodly advice from Bob Marley, the poor man's philosopher. To which end some Pan-Africanist posted this on our site : Ze'ev Herzog and the historicity of the Bible
I actually got to thinking about this latest publication( Adeshina Afolayan's ) upon stumbling upon this question just a few moments ago : "If everything of substance was taken away from a slave ( reading, culture, language , etc.) why was Christianity allowed ?" - followed by another late news item : Paul Kagame of Rwanda closes thousands of churches (and dozens of mosques his motivation, in his own words : " I have closed 6,000 churches in my country and I now demand a degree in theology for every religious leader. Stop playing with people's faith, to make it a business. Rwanda is a blessed country!"
Think for a moment ( or perish the thought) what would be the reaction of a vast majority of the scholars in this forum, if Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria were to make the same announcement, proportionately speaking, given the size of Nigeria and the extent of the business fellowships:
" I have closed 60,000 churches in my country and I now demand a degree in theology for every religious leader. Stop playing with people's faith, to make it a business. Nigeria is a blessed country!"
It should be interesting to hear how Messrs Salimonu Kadiri (Ogunlakaiye) and Toyin Adepoju would react to such a measure being adopted in our Nigeria
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