“Not a single barrier exist between the prayer of the oppressed and God Almighty”- Prophet Muhammad SAAW
”Beware! Abstain from shedding blood without a valid cause. There is nothing more harmful than this which brings about one’s ruin. The blood that is willfully shed shortens the life of a state. On the Day of Judgment it is this crime for which one will have to answer first. So, beware! Do not wish to build the strength of your state on blood; for, it is this blood which ultimately weakens the state and passes it on to other hands. Before me and my God no excuse for willful killing can be entertained” -Imam Ali AS
That president Buhari came into power almost a year ago, is no longer news. And that within that 1 year he has not been able to give Nigerians the much needed change they expected from him, is also no longer a story. What however Nigerians know is that within this one year Mr Buhari has travelled to almost 30 different countries in search of one solution or the other with little or nothing to show for it. My write up aims to draw the attention of the president to one important venue he has failed to visit, and to show how his failure to visit this location and show concern to what happened in that city will amount to his greatest undoing as president of this great nation. In case you have forgotten Mr president, During 12th to 14th December 2015, Nigerian Army personnel killed more than 1000 innocent and defenseless civilians including women, children, infants, students, journalists and the sick, under the guise of them being Shiites.
The atrocity was extended in parallel to other sites including the resident area of Sayyid Ibraheem Zakzaky and on the 14th December 2015, cornered at their home by Nigerian Army, three young children, Sayyid Hammad Ibraheem, Sayyid Ali-Haidar Ibraheem and Sayyid Humaid Ibraheem were shot dead. Their father, Sayyid Ibraheem Zakzaky and mother Zeenah Ibraheem received more than 8 bullets each and were carried away without getting access to their doctors and lawyers to date. In addition, to this catastrophe more than 500 other civilians are languishing in prisons across Kaduna state, without trial or legal representation. Complicating this whole scenario is that yesterday the Kaduna State Government openly confessed to burying 347 dead bodies in a mass grave. And to think it’s the same Kaduna State Government that is now conducting an enquiry into this crises is to say the least absurd.
Mr President your silence while this atrocity went on is for all discerning minds a tacit approval of the events that transpired on that day, and if anyone had any doubt your utterances during the presidential media chat cleared them. What however you failed to understand is that by shedding the blood of people who genuinely loved you, you have shattered your wall of invincibility and written your name among despots and tyrants, by shedding the blood of innocent children, women, the sick and the vulnerable for no ordinary reason apart from them being Shiites and you being Sunni you have made a mockery of your well known dictum of I belong to everybody.
Mr President the solution to your confusion and disarray lies in Zaria, you must atone for your sins, seek forgiveness from the Almighty, and have the courage to punish those responsible for this calamity irrespective of the diabolical force behind their actions (That is if it’s not you). And above all you must pay compensation for the lives lost. Failure to do so will live you in perpetual wilderness here and in the hereafter.
On a final note as you arrogate yourself the power of God Almighty (Who gives life and take as he wills) remember this very saying of imam Ali AS, “Develop in your heart the feeling of love for your people and let it be the source of kindliness and blessing to them. Do not behave with them like a barbarian, and do not appropriate to yourself that which belongs to them. Remember that the citizens of the state are of two categories. They are either your brethren in religion or your brethren in kind. They are subject to infirmities and liable to commit mistakes. Some indeed do commit mistakes. But forgive them even as you would like God to forgive you. Bear in mind that you are placed over them, even as I am placed over you. And then there is God above all of us, who has given you this position in order that you may look after those under you and to be sufficient unto them. And you will be judged by what you do for them”
A word they say is enough for the wise
Isa Muhammad Lere
11/04/2016