For nearly a month, I have kept vigil looking out for anyone in Ilorin, especially among its voracious writers and social critics to voice out against the sacrilege orchestrated by the Kwara State Governor, Mallam AbdulRahman AbdulRazak and his retinue of hangers-on at the iconic Ilorin Eid praying grounds. The loud silence in Ilorin, especially among the elites, regarding the sacrilege has been shockingly deafening. So, in the absence of anyone with the courage to analyse the issues, I’ve offered myself the task of filling the vacuum.
Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazak’s decision to dispatch his lackey and the Speaker of the House of Assembly, Salihu Danladi as his representative at the Eid grounds during the last Eid Alhada is nothing but a shameful political overreach. Every facet of that orchestrated spectacle reeked of political audacity pushed to its furthest extremity, with scant regard for the sanctity of religious and communal spaces.
The Eid is a religious gathering, a sacred occasion for communal worship and spiritual reflection, devoid of the trappings of political or social agenda. Within this sacred space, prayer remains a deeply personal affair that defies the notion of proxy representation. To elevate prayer to the status of a state political affair is to perpetrate a gross distortion of religious tradition and a flagrant violation of the sanctity of worship.
But let’s get some things clear: it is within the right of Speaker Danladi to pray anywhere he wishes. Traditionally, it should have been Gwanara in Baruten LGA. But then, he could have prayed anywhere else (including in Ilorin) other than his ancestral home. It would have been legitimate to do as both a private citizen of Kwara state and more importantly as a state official. That’s settled and incontestable. But to have been packaged as the ‘REPRESENTATIVE’ of Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazak at the Eid ground is a sacrilege that has no precedence.
Now to the issues. In Islam, prayer and praying is deeply personal, and the notion of proxy representation flies in the face of religious doctrine. Ibn Qudaamah, a sound authority in Islamic jurisprudence had asserted in one of his books I found online that the notion of delegating one’s prayers to another is anathema to the essence of religious observance, a principle upheld across all faiths. That’s why you probably have never heard that a President or Governor, except AbdulRahman AbdulRazak was ever ‘represented” before God at a gathering as solemn and sacred as the Eid prayers. This underscores the gravity of the transgression committed by the APC in Ilorin earlier in the month.
And we know why.
In the last five months, Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazak has been cherographing a poorly scripted attempt to shove his 3rd third bid through his begotten puppet in the Kwara state house of assembly down the throats of everyone in the state. While we anticipated that such Machiavellian machinations would only be limited within the confines of APC party, the audacity of crossing sacred thresholds into the realms of Eid prayers and traditional sanctity is a sacrilege of unparalleled magnitude.
The implications of this brazen incursion into religious and traditional spheres extend far beyond the immediate context of the Eid prayers. The Governor sets a dangerous precedent that undermines the delicate balance between state and religion. As citizens, we must remain vigilant in safeguarding the integrity of our sacred spaces and resisting attempts to manipulate them for political ends.
I wish to remind us that it is all but obvious that Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazak is bent on playing the Yahaya Bello playbook by foisting his lackey and godson on the people of the state. Consequently, Kwara may inadvertently be repeating the same mistakes made in Kogi, but not at any time do we need a Yahaya Bello of Kwara. Happy Workers’ Day!
