Arewa, Traditional Rulers & Ulamas

[Dan-Borno]

in recent times, all attentions, blames and criticism is being
directed at our politicians especially with regards to the future
of northern nigeria.  poverty has reached a level international
discuss with high unemployment rate and high rate of petty
trading that cannot even cater for a single person talkless of
a whole family.

the intention of this thread is to discuss/argue if at all our traditional
rulers and ulamas who we all come to at the end, be it a politician,
public servant, business man or whatever for counselling are the
main actors for the retrogression we are experiencing or are we
shifting the blame to our public office holders?

na gode.

[Lawwali]

THANK YOU DB, for the thread,

In my opinion, the ulamas and the Traditional rulers are as blameful as the politicians, i will even say the ulamas are more culprits than anybody.
In our society, we regards ulamas as the source of inspirations and guidence. These ulamas were used by politicians and indeed by the military (B4 1999) to deceive citizens and coarces them into followership at all cost. they allow themselves to be used as tools for neutralizing the electorates and inturn be rewarded with Hajj seats.

For example, In kano ( i am not political in any sense), the ulamas have tagged the shekarau administration as equalls to sayyidina umar (RA). what more do you think the citizens will demand above a proto-type of Umar's (RA) governance. The ulamas said to the governor that a musulunci shugaba zai iya yin duk abinda ya ga dama da dukiyar al'umma. They Ulamas compel the politicians to politicise Religion, such that all opposition members are tagged anti-islam or anti-sharia.
And they will insists, Despite the flagrant abuse of office nad sharia by the former 'reformist' of Zamfara, they still call him the Mujaddadi. A malam will shamelessly call a Governor wakilin Annabi a doron kasa. This situation gives the Governors and indeed the politician more greese in their elbows to mis appropriate public funds and indeed  mis place priorities i government policies. If not this, why should a Government commit Hundreds of millions to teach Alarammomi computer appreciation? How do wish a person without the BAsic A,B,C,D knowledge to appreciates computer which operates on that basics? What do the govt hope to achieve by that? why should a govt fashion a policy that will proliferate the Bara syndrome?.

You see a whimsical person will now say Lawwali is anti-sharia, i bet you.

For traditional Rulers, they Hypocrites, they represents their pockets, I will be the most Happiest person if this stupidity in the name of Royalty will be stashed in this Region. Because they represents backwardness and contribute nothing towards the cause of a common man. I will simply call them what Sanusi Lamido Sanusi ( in his Article, A dialogue with a critique) call them, "THEY ARE DAMAGOGUE"

There is no way the North and Nigeria will move forward if these two important institutions will remain what they are, "SELFISH"

[Dan-Borno]

munji naka lawwali, you have raised a very good point
with a current example - food for thought.

[usman11]

Lawwalli, I am very surprised and quite frankly shocked at your audacity. At the same time, I am glad and impressed with your candid assessment. If I had written this piece, it may have been miscontrued as an unwarranted attack. But to a large extent, you are right and I hope many people would adopt your very rational attitude regarding this issue. One factor that impedes real progress is the tradition of defering to clerics and traditional rulers. That kind of culture is a giant killer of independent and rational thought. Somebody may have a great idea on restructuring things for better outcome, but he/she defers to the traditional rulers who from day one, are opposed to change. What happens thereafter is the demise of that great idea that may have solved real problems. The question then is assess the value or worth of the traditional rulers to civic society. Are they a force for good, or do they stand in the way of progress? Do they set the pace for people impacting development or to they impede the oppourtunities that could have given rise to the economic and social upliftment of millions of people? I will write more later. This is a good topic.

[Dave_McEwan_Hill]

This is indeed a good topic and central to whether Nigerian makes progress. Throughout all the ages of the world unscrupulous rogues have used and abused religion for political gain. Any political party employing religion as a weapon should be viewed very suspiciously. Most wise societies have secular political process. In Nigeria religion is also often tied up with undue deference to traditional rulers which prevents proper progress. 
Look to Europe for lessons to be learned. Up to the middle ages we had morality, sexulaity, legality and religion all mixed up in government and as a result we had wars and persecutions and executions and continuous nonsense for centuries.

What is most reprehensible about those who use religion in politics is that they always take advantage of the poor and the poorly educated to do their dirty work.
The imposition of religious laws on a secular political process will hinder Nigeria until secularity is reinstated as the political process. 

[gogannaka]

Nice topic.
I agree with Lawwali on the Ulama issue but i quite disagree with him on the roles of the traditional rulers,especially in the north. However we may think,we may not entirely condemn the traditional institutions. The traditional rulers play a vital role when it comes to bringing the people together especially during crisis periods. Part of the recommendations of the various committees set up to bring lasting peace to Kaduna state was the institution of traditional rulers in the various communities where intolerance is rampant. This the Governor (makarfi) adopted. You can say that alot has improved in Kaduna state now. If you look at the most volatile states in the North you will find that most crisis (religious or tribal) occur in those areas where the tradtional institution is not present or very weak.
I know Usman11 will cite an example with Kano state. However,you should know that the traditional institutions in Kano always play a very important role in eliminating religious or tribal disharmony.

[Dan-Borno]

gogannaka, nice contribution. yeah, you made mention of time
of crises (war, riot?) which comes up in most cases unplanned,
however, there are crises in other sectors of unemployment,
dwindling economy and other very important sectors that needs
urgent attention. 

kaga, there is this controversial issue that came up during this
polio vaccination which up to this moment both the ulamas and
the traditional rulers have not come up with one single statement
that will encourage their followers, everyone is giving his own
fatawas which the resulting effect is the poor performance of the
oral vaccination within the north.

[waduz]

Huh! traditional institutions and the Ulamas, a very intriguing topic. First of all, I will like to express just my views and not to join issues with any body. You see, the traditional institutions were in control of the polity up north before the coming of the white man, ie colonization. Their rulership continued during the reign of colonialism when Lord Lugard found in the northhe system was so good that no need for them to rule the subjects directly. So they ruled through the those traditional rulers by calling the system indirect rule. What fascinated the colonial masters then, was that here in the north, a system of education, justice dispensation and of course, the tax collection system, which in particular was of utmost interest to them, were in place.
After colonialism, those traditional institutions were set aside and most of their roles were usurped by politicians. They were relegated to the background and became, in the words of the politicians, royal fathers! The irony is that since this change was enacted, neither the Emirs and the Chiefs nor the subjects have progressed by any yardstick! There is total insecurity in the land, as against what was obtained when those royals were in control. There was a good system of education right from the primary school level upwards. Everything now has been westernized and unless you look and behave like one, you are looked down upon as retrogressive and conservative.
As for Ulamas, I will only say that they are just propagating the religion by doing evangelical work here and there. Whether they are doing it well and according to the what the scriptures say, is another thing. Finally for us to blame traditional rulers for all our woes, is to say the least, irrational and a misguided chicanery. They do not implement budgets, award contracts or direct governmental affairs, so where is the justification of heaping unnecessary balmes on them?

[Lawwali]

I Know that this topic will be interesting and may also ignite controversy as the Uncle EMTL's earlier ttread on North ethno-religious crisis etc,
But, please; lets make contributions honestly, changes in other societies emanates from Discussions like these. KUDOS.

Now,
Let me tell Dave_Mc ewen_hill that in the north we cannot secularise, Because in islam is never seperated from politics, that is why muslims are obliged to live in Islamic way and Qur'an stipulates the role of all and sundry, Head to toe. And as Waduz rightly said when the whiteman came, he found the north with all state structures intact (Education, courts, etc) and the leaders are clerics. Impact Uthman Bn Fodio (RA) was a cleric, But he cannot stand and folds his arm seeing gross injustices and lawlessness being perpetrated by ruling class unchallenged. He beat the drum of change which threw the reign of injustice of the Hausa Traditional rulership out of govt in 1804, and establish pure Islamic system.

But, the secular thinking fellows will say Islam is not modern and so on. this is untrue. We all know what Happened in Iran 30 years ago. Khumeini, a cleric, Beat the drum of change which toppled the US-backed monarchial Dynasty of pahlawi family and establishment of a just govt based on Islamic principles. Today, Iran is Nuclear capable, and yesterday it shot domestically made satellite using ballistic missile technology.
This is to tell my Brothers that clerics are not the source of under development, but the selfishness in them. More so in serious countries there are traditional institutions who has their followers at heart, eg UK, Thailand and many Asian countries.

And selfishness and self centeredness will crumble any development, tell me what put the world into economic crisis if not the selfishness of the capitalists.

To GGK, i will say the traditional rulers are only used in quenching crisis such that the masses can be (mis)governed peacefully.
Tell me any traditional ruler in Nigeria that has a say in what projects are to be executed by a state or federal govt. Or tell me a traditional ruler that emphasises for the betterment of his subjects' lives. Most times as DB rightly said, they cant even come about and made their positions Known on any issue in this country.
Behold!!! No Religion or traditional institution intrinsically promotes Begging, sycophancy, poverty and all sort of backwardness.
Just own up to failure to descharge responsibility.

[Dan-Borno]

well done lawwali and waduz.
in recent times, during the military regimes, the sultan of
sokoto, dasuki was dethroned and a new one installed, so
also in the present democratic dispensation, when HRH the
emir of gwandu alhaji mustapha jokolo tried criticizing govt
policies he was immediately deposed.  this trend is no longer
only at the federal level, even in local governments, executive
chairmen are in the habit of changing chiefs, especially
those who are vulnerable to them.

same thing also happens to religious clerics, as it has been
the tradition, any cleric preaching against actions of the govt
will meet the wrath of government.

should'nt this hinder the work of our traditional rulers and
ulamas?

[Dave_McEwan_Hill]

Nigeria, which has many religions practised, officially has a secular political system and having a secular political system does not interfere in any way with anybody's religion.
Lawwali seems to be arguing about points I have not made.
I should make my position clear. In UK and all of Europe we have freedom of religious practice which is exactly the way it should be and this does not interfere with our politics.
I am a Catholic (if not a hugely enthusiastic one) but I would never think of insisting that my Moslem friends (and we have many Moslem Scots)should follow the rules of my religion when it comes to making political decisions.
That is the way it should be. It's called democracy. A democracy and a theocracy are not compatible and those who think that in the political process they can enforce their religious beliefs on other people are responsible for unrest and trouble.
I have said it before. The day that Christians in Nigeria respect all mosques and Moslems in Nigeria respect all churches is the day that Nigeria starts to move forward

[Dan-Borno]

Mai Gemu, may be we shouldnt change the subject
matter of this discuss, your observations are highly
noted.

[Dave_McEwan_Hill]

This link is highly controversial but puts a very strong point of view which should cause some thought. The woman is very brave to give these views to an Arab and Moslem audience

http://switch3.castup.net/cunet/gm.asp?ai=214&ar=1050wmv&ak=nul

[Dan-Borno]

maigemu, this clip has nothing to do with my thread, you
can start up a new thread for this purpose if you desire,
but dont create confusion and divert the cause of this topic
as you can see we are makin progress with friends.

[usman11]

Dan Borno, you are not making any progress by discuss with friends that agree with everything you agree with. That is not progress, that is like a preacher preaching to the choir.
But in reference to Dave's link, all I can say is "WOW". Now, this woman has some balls. She has more balls than men, and she's extremely brilliant and articulates her opinions intelligently. The Mullah on the other hand tried to intimidate her by calling her a heretic. This woman's entire submission underscores everything I said in my discussion on another thread about religious violence. Now, here's a secular Muslim woman echoing the very sentiments I expressed........which is tolerance, and value of human life.
Thanks Dave for posting this link. By the way, how do you feel? Do you feel better now? You were in pains recently remember? Well, seeing that you sat through this woman's 'blasphamous' criticism of radical Muslim's reactionary outlook, I'd say you are feeling pretty good buddy!