Nigeria: Welcoming Back Our Politicians Who Went On Umrah
03 August 2016By A.S.M. Jimoh
This year holy month of Ramadan took again, as usual, hundreds of thousands of
Nigerians, prominent among them politicians, to visit the holy lands - Makkah
and Madinah - to perform the lesser pilgrimage - Umrah. Umrah is highly
recommended in the month of Ramadan for those who can afford it. Its reward is
like that for one who has performed the Hajj. So, it is not surprising seeing
millions of faithful trooping to the holy lands every year to observe this
reward-filled journey.
While on the holy journey and in the holy lands, besides obeying Allah's
command, many spiritual lessons are to be learnt. Amongst which are the unity
of the Ummah and invocation for peace across the world. It is a journey
intended for the complete transformation of anyone who embarks on it.
For Nigerian politicians who have made this an annual ritual, beyond the
spiritual lessons, there are lessons of governance which they can also learn
from the lands that host the spiritual sites. Year in, year out they should
have noticed the infrastructural transformation they are confronted with every
time they visit the Kingdom.
Beginning with the very sites for religious rituals, the two holy Mosques in
Makkah and Madinah, they should have noticed that these two imposing, grand
structures are always neat, tidy and organized. Cleaners compete with
worshipers in their effort to make the place habitable. Even with millions of
worshippers ever present, the facilities for convenience are always fit for
human use. Yet, for many of our politicians, the structures of institutions
they run back home are filthy, decrepit and disorganized. Most ministry
buildings are barely functional. The majority is without toilets and running
waters. Thus, the serene and neatness of the holy sites should be a first
lesson for our politicians.
Still within the Haramain area, the constancy of electricity may not have gone
unnoticed by our politicians. Putting it in our own way of speaking, light is
two-four. The electricity at the holy sites does not only provide light, but
also daily runs one of the most powerful air-conditioning systems. As at the
end of 2015, the power consumption at the holy sites alone was above 15,000
MW. The capacity of the power plants around these sites stands at nearly
19,000 MW. Such a feat is possible because the Saudi political class - okay,
you say monarchical class - does not pocket the money for development while
building private mansions all over the place. Even though there are wild
allegations of corruption against the ruling house, they have not deprived the
citizens the right to basics and essential of life which have become so prized
here in Nigeria due to our politicians' unexplained corruption. It's a shame
that more than 100 years after the first electricity plant was installed in
Nigeria, we have not gone beyond an erratic 5000 MW in spite of the huge
resources claimed to have sunk into it.
Our politicians may also have enjoyed free health services during their stay
in the Kingdom. They should have witnessed firsthand the tidiness of clinics
and their environs. They were not repelled by the stench as they approach the
clinics for consultation. The feeling of wellness they get when they approach
pharmaceutical shops and clinics and the all-time availability of ambulance
service would definitely marvel our politicians. They would truly confess that
this was a far departure from what is obtainable in our clime. After enjoying
free and quality health service in the Kingdom, it should have bene one of the
things our politicians put in his Umrah cart before travelling back home.
Most of our politicians who arrive the Kingdom may have done so through the
King Abdul Aziz Airport in Jeddah. I wonder how our politicians see this
airport and still go back to claim that we have an international airport. None
of the so-called airports in Nigeria should be worthy of the name after seeing
this and some of the others across the Kingdom. If only our politicians have
any shame left in them. It is neat, organized, expansive and imposing. It has
undergone expansions and modernization several times without noise. The ruling
class does not invent terms such as modeling and remodeling while the airports
remain rustic, decrepit and eyesores to visitors. Most of our airports greet
you with stench and stale air as you arrive therein.
The roads leading from the airports to holy sites and those connecting the
holy sites and cities would have been taken by our politicians in the course
of their spiritual journey. It is either that they took the three lanes,
sometimes expanding to 4 or 5 lanes-60-km-long road connecting Jeddah and
Makkah. If they had travel to Madinah on road, the triple lane, 450-km-long
Medina-Makkah flawless road would likely look a piece of wonder to our
politicians. Year in, year out our politicians travel these roads in the
course of their spiritual journey and every time they come, they find these
roads better and well maintained. Yet they have not learnt to replicate same
back in their various home states. Do they not feel awe at how roads can be
this so smooth and motorable without potholes? Maybe they would need to travel
on the 3-lanes, 1400-km-long Dammam-Makkah road or the 900-km-long Madinah-Riyadh
road for them to learn that building motorable roads is not a rocket science.
Besides the water of Zamzam, our politicians and all other pilgrims in the
holy land drink various brands of bottled water during their stay in the
Kingdom. They and all other Nigerian pilgrims would testify that Saudi Arabia,
with its arid land and highly salty seawater, has more healthy branded bottled
water than Nigeria with many rivers and shallow water tables. Saudi Arabia has
no any source of sweet water, yet the amount of water in the Kingdom for
millions of people daily is sufficient, healthy and high-quality. In a country
where over 20 million worshippers wash their bodies at least five times daily
to attend to religious rituals, it has nevertheless been able to make water
available to the reach of every individual, including those in the remotest of
deserts. After many years of coming to the Kingdom to drink good water, I
think it is time for our politicians to learn that providing water for the
citizens is an act of religion. The Prophet (SAW), in one of the hadiths
reported by Imam Ahmad (RA), is quoted to have said, ''The best charity is
giving water to drink''. Provision of potable water remains the biggest
problem in most Nigeria cities and towns in spite of the numerous rivers and
the low-water tables that surround us, which could easily have been harnessed.
For our politicians trooping to pilgrimage annually, it is time to be ashamed
that water is such in abundance in a desert while the people who live by
rivers wash their hand with spittle.
Dear Nigerian politicians, I welcome you from this year's Umrah. Before you
embark on the next one, please replicate at least one of the things you have
seen in the Kingdom. Kindly learn a lesson form your journey.
Thank you.
A.S.M. Jimoh can be reached at anehi2008@gmail.com and followed on Twitter at
@anehi2008.
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