by Femi Adesina
Why should religion ever be a source of rift between any people? Why should it be a centrifugal force in a country? Today, politics is played on the altar of religion and ethnicity. Is he a member of my church, or my mosque? Does he speak my language?
Experiences of the past six weeks have taught me new lessons, opened fresh vistas to me about life, and equally brought home certain truths about our country rather vividly. That is what I want to share in this piece today.
I lost a mum. Some cynical people will say, so what? Don’t people die everyday? Yes, people die everyday, but they are not your mother, so when you hear the news, it seems like mere statistics to you. But when it happens to you direct, then you know that he who feels it knows it.
Let us start from last Saturday, when we had the last rites of passage for the departed, and then work our way back. The Good Book tells us to rejoice with those who rejoice, and mourn with those who mourn. Nigerians take divine charges quite serious, irrespective of religion. From all walks of life, from different parts of the country, irrespective of creed, tongue, tribe, people came to join the Adesina family, as we had the last dance with our mother. Right and true were the words of our former National Anthem, which stated that: “though tribes and tongues may differ, in brotherhood we stand.” What I saw last Saturday was the brotherhood of man, the expression of our collective humanity, in which religion did not matter, language, ethnicity or political persuasion were inconsequential.
It was a Christian farewell service we were holding, and the invitation cards sent out indicated so. In a country so fractured, so polarized down the middle by ethnicity and religion, you would think Muslims would give the event a wide berth. But let me do a quick checklist of committed Muslims who were at event. Former military head of state, Gen Muhammadu Buhari. Don’t they say he’s a religious bigot? Yet, he came to a Christian service, in which there was singing, clapping and raising of hands in worship, and there was a preaching session, as done by the National Secretary of the Foursquare Gospel Church in Nigeria, Rev Ikechukwu Ugbaja. Bigot, bigot, yet Buhari sat all through it, and remained for many hours after. The word bigotry sure then needs to be redefined!
Yes, I was listing the prominent Muslims. Who can be more Muslim than the Sultan of Sokoto, head of the Muslim Ummah in the country? Sultan Sa’ad Abubakar III was represented at the event by Alhaji Aminu Idris Yaro, Sakin Hausawan Lagos. Yet, people think religion will scatter Nigeria, and break her apart at the seams. No, it should not happen, except the politicians exploit the unwary and misguided, as they have always done.
Ogun State governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, is a Muslim. He came, and even spoke about the state being a huge factory of great mothers, since my late mum was an Ijebu.
Former military president, Gen Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida, was represented by one of his aides, Salman Yusuf, a Muslim. Former Inspector-General of Police, Alhaji Tafa Balogun was there, former EFCC boss, Mrs Farida Waziri, politician and publisher Chief Abiola Ogundokun, Dr Muiz Banire, former Commissioner for the Environment in Lagos, Lateef Ibirogba, current Commissioner for Information in Lagos, Hakeem Bello, Senior Special Adviser to Gov Raji Fashola on Media, Suleiman Gaya, Vice President (North) of the Nigerian Guild of Editors, and my colleague and friend, Alhaji Yusuf Olaniyonu, Commissioner for Information in Ogun State. The list is not exhaustive, but those are some Muslims that were at the Christian service. And it set me thinking.
Why should religion ever be a source of rift between any people? Why should it be a centrifugal force in a country? Today, politics is played on the altar of religion and ethnicity. Is he a member of my church, or my mosque? Does he speak my language? Does he worship the same God I worship, and in the same way? And while we major in all these minors, the country is decaying and putrefying under us. While we neglect weightier matters, boxing the air like an expiring pugilist, the ship of state is heading for the rocks. Nigerians, be wise. God never intended religion to drive a wedge between us, but to lead us into harmony, even in our diversity.
Another lesson. We should not take certain things personal, in the bid to engender the country of our dreams. This I learnt from former military president, Gen Ibrahim Babangida. As I wrote last week, he had phoned on Thursday, 48 hours to the event, condoled me, and asked for details of the last rites. When I told him, he promised to send an aide. And he did. Has it changed my opinion about the former president? No. For 20 years since he voided the June 12, 1993 election won by M.K.O. Abiola, I have taken against a position against Babangida. I am still against him, even as I write now. But is it a virulent, do or die thing? No. Nothing personal. It is all about our country. He had the opportunity to move our country forward into democratic realms, he rather stuck us in perpetual reverse gear, producing the evil regime of Sani Abacha, under which we groaned for five years. IBB is still a culprit, but you cannot deny his personal charm and human relations. The fact that he mourned with me at a time I was mourning showed me a new perspective of him.
And yet another lesson! You need people, good people around you. The Yoruba have a saying, which if translated freely means “people are the dress we wear, they are our clothing.” Yes, I have experienced it, and can speak authoritatively now. If not for the people around me, the volume of tears I shed would have been child’s play. People flocked round me, sat with me, comforted me, consoled me. I had wondered how I was going to go through the farewell service last Saturday and not precipitate an ocean at the venue with my tears, but I ended up not shedding any. And when the preacher, Rev Ugbaja, in his homily, said what we were doing was not the last dance with my mum, that we were still going to dance with her again when we get to heaven, you needed to see the peace and comfort that flooded into my soul. The raindrops stopped, and if they would ever come again, it would be in very private moments. How comforting the words of God can be. No wonder the hymn writer declared: “Lord thy word abideth, and our footsteps guideth, who its truth believeth, light and joy receiveth.” True.
Talking of good people, there were many, scores really, whom I never met before, but who turned up to comfort the Adesina family. I only knew Navy Captain Abiodun Olukoya by reputation when he was military governor in Ondo State between September 1990 and January 1992. He retired later from the Navy as a Rear Admiral. He reads me on this page on Fridays, and we had exchanged text messages a number of times. He was at the event, in flesh and blood, last Saturday. That’s a good man, if you’re looking for one.
What of other people I met for the first time? Group Captain Tola Adediji, former spokesman of the Nigerian Air Force, Lagos-based lawyer, Chijioke Emeka, public commentator, Peter Claver Oparah, Omo Oba Kolade Roberts, and many others. We had been acquainted one way or the other in the past, never met them physically before, but they came. Good people. When Dr Dora Akunyili came with the campaign that we were Good People, Great Nation, I remember I had written that we were Good People, yes, but Great Nation, no. There are, indeed, good people in Nigeria, and I’m a witness. Even the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) sent a representative, though I have no direct relationship with the leadership of the foremost labour union. I doff my cap.
It is a new day, a new dawn, a new visitation in a brand new way. It is another season of life. No father, no mother. Life is in stages and seasons, with each season having its own peculiarities. But one person is common to all those seasons. God. When He is with you, He becomes father, mother, uncle, aunt and everything.
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Op-ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija.
My goodness ur words are indeed full of lessons.