Monday Column By Hameed M. Bello, PhD
hamdbelo@yahoo.co.uk
The following is the feedback from the Monday column published on this page on January 23, 2023, with the title, “Wike’s sarcastic challenge to Rivers gods”:
In time to come, Wike’s comment on the gods would be a major reference passage in the study of African Traditional Religion (ATR). In text books and literary works, the African gods have been venerated for their clairvoyant prowess and power as guardians of the land from spiritual and moral debauchery. The justice system of these gods is almost instantaneous and morbid in reach and devastation And this accounts for why many people prefer to swear by the Abrahamic texts of Bible and Qur’an but not by the oath potions of the gods, such as the Tiv Swem. All that have vanished on our landscape. The gods are less central in the contemporary thought and imagination of Africans. Infact, if the gods were what they were in times past, Wike wouldn’t have dared to take on them. This is the problematic aspect of the issue. In my view, it is not a sarcastic challenge, but that Wike has posed a serious academic/intellectual challenge to scholars of African studies and worshippers of ATR. The declining agency of the gods in African contemporary social engineering and development process must be rethought.
Attah Pine (PhD), Makurdi, Benue State
The GODS ARE NOT TO BLAME OH, but the people, including westernized traditional rulers who have abandoned the true worship of the native gods for the imported gods.
Dr Bisi Olawunmi, Ede Osun State.
Thank you Dr. Hameed for your highly educative and timely write-up under the heading “Wike’s sarcastic challenge to Rivers gods.” Although the write-up drew its impetus on wike’s advice to the traditional rulers to refocus their demands to the gods and traditional divinities to channel their powers for positive and developmental issues rather than on the current tendency to use them against opponents and negative issues. The write-up went much beyond this and examined the nature and influences of the traditional, animist religions and religious practices among many communities around the world. The advice by the writer at the end of the write-up that our leaders and particularly our politicians need to avoid using these traditional institutions and practices for negative purposes is timely and worth heeding to. Our leaders and politicians should use them for positive purposes and particularly on the need to promote peaceful coexistence in our communities.
Dr. Saidu Abubakar is the Action People’s Party’s Governorship Candidate inKebbi State.
(drsaiduabubakarillo@gmail.com)
Feedback on the Monday Column published on February 8, 2023 with the headline, “Cashless economy with tears”:
Nigeria has proven to be a country of stiff necked people. We desire change but we’re not ready to make the required sacrifices. We love how organised the western world is but we’re not ready to discipline ourselves to attain that same level of development.
What is wrong with the Naira Redesign Policy and the three months notice for people to deposit their old notes in their bank accounts?
Even when the Central Bank granted a seventeen days grace, the stubborn political elite who never wanted the policy for reasons best known to them could not be appeased. What exactly do they want? They want to retain the mountainous stacks of Naira notes in their personal vaults. It is the sight of those monies that makes them feel that they are Big Men. They don’t value the money being in the banks and them having access to it electronically. They are so used to cash that they can’t do without it especially when many of them rely on vote buying as the only means of buying their way back to power. Let the poor masses refuse to be used as cannon fodder. There is no sense in storming the banks and queuing every morning to get cash when we are aware that the apex bank has rolled out the cashless policy. We need to get used to being without cash in our hands or in our pockets. QED!
Onwuka Nzeshi, a senior journalist sent in this feedback from Abuja.
As far as I am concerned, the CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele and his team did not analyse the New Naira policy before they threw it on the Nigerian public. From the comments of critical stakeholders, I am convinced that there is a hidden agenda in this Naira policy. Otherwise what was Emefiele waiting for all these while by not introducing the policy until when the general elections are before us. Does he want to the elections to be compromised? Or he does not want the elections to be free and fair. Even the electoral umpire, INEC is complaining bitterly and had to run to the CBN governor who gave a not too reliable assurance to make the needed Naira available for the smooth conduct of the poll, especially for logistics purposes. Also, we read the other day how the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Army, Ali Ndume raised the fear on how the Naira policy was affecting the military operations, including the troops fighting the terrorists in the North East. They were unable to access their money for feeding and other logistics, Ndume was reported to have said. I fear that this policy has been hurriedly introduced without consulting the National Assembly, even though CBN claimed it had the backing of the President. People believe that the CBN succeeded in misleading the President who never envisaged the magnitude of the spill over effects on the poorest of the poor in the society who do not have bank accounts, let alone have the ATM card and online banking facility. This policy will surely underdevelop the economy and create more hardship. It may not be expedient to withdraw the new Naira notes since they are already in circulation. What is best now, if we cannot withdraw the policy, is to allow the old and the new Naira notes to remain as legal tender, and to print enough new notes to be accessible to the rural areas. The situation whereby bank officials connive with politicians and the highly placed to hoard the New money and prevent it from circulation defeats the policy to print new money in the first place.
Alh Shuaibu Naibawa, Kano.
