This article should have come before the month of Ramadan, but as the saying goes - Better late than never- is very much apt in this case. Besides, although some of those refered to in this article may have already gone to Saudi Arabia for the Umrah, many more are still at home, but will be there for the same or other reasons in the very near future.

It has become a ritual or, for some people, a competition of sorts, to go to Umrah number of times in one year so as to be counted among those who have ‘made’ it or have ‘arrived’ and joined those who have the money to ‘waste’ from a land where poverty is the ‘in thing’.

The article is about, in the most, Muslims in the northern part of the country, where there is, what one may call, abject poverty and anger, because some people can barely manage one meal a day. This is on the account of the severe insecurity in the area, which spawns many supposed refugees owing to the activities of bandits (some of them foreign) and the policies of the Federal Government such as the removal of Fuel Subsidy, which is, of course, applicable to the entire nation. 

The so-called refugees, many of whom are barely out of their diapers and who came to Nigeria in truck loads from the neighbouring countries, can be seen in major cities in the north loitering on the streets or going from one house to another, begging for food. They hardly take ‘no’ for an answer when they are begging in homes. Some of them are as young as three or four years old, the sight of which is very pathetic to behold.

 Ask them where they are from, and they will tell you that they are from ‘Sokoto’ or ‘Zamfar’ or ‘Kebbi’ or ‘Katsina’ states, but they are not telling the truth, as most, if not all of them are non-Nigerians 

They claim to be from these towns because many residents of these places speak like they are themselves from the neighbouring countries.

For example, Jibia town in Katsina state, is peopled in the main, by citizens of a certain foreign country, which is why those who come from that country, always claim to be from Katsina state.

By ‘Their Excellencies’, the article refers to the President, the Vice President, Governors and Senators then the members of the House of Representatives, better known as ‘Honourables’ and others who have the money to waste, instead of putting it to helping the needy at home, many of whom, as was stated earlier, can barely afford one meal a day.

This reminds me of a story I heard from a Muslim preacher who narrated the story of a very rich man who lived in a poor neighbourhood. One day he went to his poor neighbour to bid him a farewell as he and the entire members of his family were going on Umrah. The poor man, at that time, who could hardly afford one single meal for himself and his family, asked the rich man, according to the preacher, why he came to tell him his plan for the Umrah, and he replied that he was giving him his due as a neighbour. The poor man then told the rich man that “my prayer for you is that may all of you never come back home safely”, and the rich man was shocked at the response of the poor man.

Many ‘made’ it or ‘arrived’ at through the abuse of the government till, but still brag about being ‘rich’ with money not earned through means that are wholesome. Still, they are not satisfied, as they keep on accumulating (the money) that even their great-great grandchildren can not spend what is ‘stolen’ from the government and left for them, no matter how hard they try.

All the same, the Federal Government was said to have recently released N30 Billion to each state to help them ease the hardship that is bedevilling the country which, as stated earlier in the article, is more severe in the northern part of the country because of the severity of insecurity in the region.

It is to be understood that the insecurity in the country is not the making of the present governments at both the federal and state levels. They met it there. Which reminds me, too, of the saying by a former Head of State, that any insecurity or disturbance of any kind that lasts for more than one day, has the hands of the government in it.

In our nation’s case, it is not the hands of the Nigerian government that is the cause of the insecurity, but those of foreign governments who seem to have one or two things they want in, or have against, our dear old Nigeria. 

One country that is always mentioned as against Nigeria is a European country, noted for its ill treatment of its former African colonies, for reasons best known to her. The country is alleged to have recruited some foreign mercenaries who supply sophisticated weapons to, and at times work with the, bandits, many of whom are believed to be foreigners themselves, not the local Fulani who are alleged to be behind it.

Some uninformed top federal government  official, who seems to believe in the myth that the Fulani are responsible for every bandit attack and kidnapping in every part of the country, warned the Fulani to distance their cattle from the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), not knowing that most of the cattle are owned by his fellow top people in the country. Unless, of course, he was flying the kite to hide his ownership of ‘hundreds’ of the cattle.

Being the normadic people that they are, the Fulani are known to love being with cattle, weather or not they belong to them, which is why they are found in every part of the country, defending on the season.

But a militia group in a North Central state, confessed to the police in the state to being behind the killings in the state, but pretended to be Fulani so as to ward off suspicion on themselves. So much for the Fulani being behind every bandit attack and kidnapping in the country.

Still, the federal government tries as much as possible to alleviate the people’s hardship, hence the huge N30 Billion given to the states. But huge as this money may seem to the poor people on the street, a lot of it will end up in the pockets of ‘their Excellencies’ and other powerful people in the governments. Only few states in the federation will use the money for the purpose it is meant for.

As for ‘their Excellencies’ in the upper chamber of the National Assembly, the huge amount they get as constituency allowance, not many of them will spend a part of it for the purpose for which it was supposedly given. The same thing goes with their colleagues or the Honourables, in what is called the ‘lower chamber’ of the National Assembly or the House of Representatives, for you and me who are not well informed.

Others go for the ritual Umrah as many times as they can afford in one year for, not the worship of Allah (SWT), but what, for due to the lack of better expression, the worship of the ‘devil’. And I have no apology to make to anyone, because it is nothing but the truth. 

For the Umrah, sometimes even during the Hajj proper, you see many young boys and girls (many in their teens) in the company of older men and women. Or they link up in the Holy Land, having made a prior arrangement, of course. And the same gender engage on all sorts of devilish things, facing the Holy Kaaba, in order to make money or remain relevant in the affairs of the country.

This is the most unfortunate thing about some of the people who go on the Umrah or the Hajj proper and the people they sponsor. They just go to the Holy Land to offend Allah (SWT) not to worship Him.

Malam Malumfashi wrote from Abuja.