FRIDAY Column by Engr. Abubakar A. Fari
mofari@hotmail.com
Pity Dr Ahmad Gumi a medical doctor and a retired one from the army. He would appear now as one so blind-folded and impervious to reason like what is described in the Qur’an as Thummun, Bukumum, Umyun fahum la yarjiun. In other words he appears as the deaf, the dumb and the blind so the likelihood that he returns to the right path requires special prayers by his family members. A person who has resorted to the “curse” of innocent people as if his father was the Prophet upon whom the Qur’an was revealed to and with whom the angel Jibril (Gabriel) was sent. And even if his late father Gumi was the recipient of Allah’s Message, we have not heard him annoint Dr Gumi as a righteous son and so follow him. The late Gumi was a pious man whose world view and character and compliance with Sharia are not in doubt as against his son Ahmad Gumi merely shooting in the dark.
If any, it is the respect that people have for his father that they allow him preach in the Sultan mosque but he does not seem to have special quality as a learned scholar. Nor has he earned the position in any form through respect and acknowledgement of any sort. To date the daily fatwa of the late Shiek Jaafar and the unique late Sheik Gumi that are aired in the Nagarta radio in the mornings – 8:15 -9:00 am and the FRCN at 8:30-9:00 pm respectively suffice. That of his son Ahmad Gumi would appear as jumbles of a confused cleric and so could be ignored. I would not waste my shilling to pay for mostly time wasting and unscholarly preaching and summons from Dr Gumi because better alternatives are in place. So far Dr Gumi does not know where he is coming from, where he is and unfortunately where is he going. Enough of Dan rainin wayon mutane or one insulting people’s intelligence deceiving himself.
But the personal animosity of Dr Ahmad Gumi on Buhari has made him so naive as to start making statements beyond the limits of his mandate on earth. Even the Prophets of Allah (SWT) as the Qur’an tells us are to deliver the Message of the Oneness of Allah (SWT) and it is not their duty to enforce. It is the prerogative of Allah (SWT) to decide on that. That is why as Muslims we are told that there is no compulsion in religion. So if there is no compulsion to be a Muslim by force, why is Ahmad Gumi compelling Muslims to vote for his candidate Atiku? What everyone knows is a flag bearer that harbours men described mostly as “a bunch of idiots” that Shema referred to the PDP elements that attempted to blackmail him to part with billions before their support in Katsina Governorship race 2011. Now Shema is one of the campaign coordinators of Atiku but has billions unaccounted for that he is yet to reconcile with the people of Katsina. Shema whose net worth after he left the office of Governorship of Katsina is beyond comment seems to believe that because he had built roads and housing estates, it is a license to help himself to what belonged to others.
How much has Ahmad Gumi gotten together with Kukah or stand to be getting from Atiku to support by hook or crook his 2019 Presidential bid? There was an attempt to poison Buhari, but it failed, so there must be a contrived plan B doomed to hit the rocks also.
We salute Governor Ahmad El-Rufai for his respect and giving the southern Kaduna Muslims their rights and dignity as enshrined in the Nigerian Constitution.
With respect to the Muslim-Muslim ticket as concluded by El-Rufai, what is wrong with it? Have we heard the nay sayers ever raise an issue with the Plateau Christian-Christian ticket?
Has anybody ever raised any issue on the Christian-Christian ticket in Plateau? Who developed Plateau? It was the Muslims that have done it before Nigeria got its independence. They developed Jos, Barikin Ladi, Jengre, Bukuru and all the major economic centers of Plateau and the middle belt even before a church was built in the enclaves. There are more Muslims that lived over 200 years in Plateau than the minority Christians in southern Kaduna. Today the scenario has not changed.
Where was Dr Gumi when the late Governor of Taraba Suntai who crashed in a plane made statements to the effect that Muslims will never rule Taraba? What of the Benue and Taraba “anti-open grazing bill” savage laws that led to driving the Hausa-Fulani from Benue with their cows from their ancestral homes that date back 200 years and the Governor was saying there is no land in Benue for ranching. El-Rufai has done what a leader is mandated to do to rule all his people with justice. The days when drunkards will wake up and commit genocide, injustices and impunity has passed with the Muslim-Muslim ticket that if it is good for Plateau why not for Kaduna?
