Gov Dare dragging ulamas into his waterloo politics and banning of prayers in Zamfara

By Yusuf Idris

Recall that the Zamfara State governor, Dauda Lawal Dare has sometimes around the middle of this year seized the secretariat of the state’s chapter of the Ulama Consultative Council which was deliberately situated in the Government House to among other things Islamically advice the chief executive especially when he is derailing on state matters.

On sacking the religious pundits who are recognized by the laws of the state and leaving them hanging, the governor decided to allocate the whole place to his wife, who has no specific functions.

The development was condemned in many quarters, including a written complaint against it by concerned persons to the Sultan of Sokoto.

The same government now through its mouthpiece, Mustapha Jafaru Kaura issued a stern warning banning the Ulamas from what it described as praying for the success of the All Progressives Congress APC and its leaders cutting through Zamfara to the leadership of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Exactly quoted, the three paragraph statement said, “It is also noticed that such Ulamas are being against the state government, causing serious embarrassment to the present administration of Dr. Dauda Lawal. It is, therefore, here by warned that government will henceforth deal decisively with any Mallam or Mallams found engaging in such practice.

“All members of the Ulama Council should henceforth desist from praying for APC or President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the federal government jointly or individual, as very cogent action will be taken against such Mallams.”

Sequel to the statement however, an uninformed stooge of theirs who claimed to be writing from Kebbi state and goes by a strange name of Na-Allah Mohammed Zagga tried to defend the statement from the governor’s aide without consideration to the irresponsibility that characterizes the Dare-led administration.

The strange Zagga who in his write-up admitted that his state Kebbi is under bandits siege but could not write to advice his governor or share his thoughts on the best way to end the banditry activities in his immediate community chose to be write very disgraceful piece that will tarnish his image just for him to the caprice of his pay master.

What’s expected from the so-called Zagga is a visit to Zamfara and to asses the true situation on the ground about the attitude of governor Dauda Lawal Dare on the religious leaders and the Ulamas since his assumption as the governor of the state.

I believe Na-Allah Zagga must have come across video clips that went viral where Dauda Lawal Dare is abusing the state Ulamas and accusing them with weighty allegations, which is counterIslamic teachings but he didn’t say a word because he is not concerned about the wellbeing of the state Ulamas or he has a hidden agenda or he is a hypocrite, meeting the verses of the Holy Qur’an which refers to his type as “munāfiqūn, who is more dangerous to Muslims than the worst non-Muslim enemies of Islam.

In the Quran, the munafiqun are berated for their disloyalty towards their fellow Muslims. They are described as seeking the subversion of Islam from within by dissembling a false allegiance. According to Surah 9:107-108

The 63rd chapter (surah) of the Quran is titled Al-Munafiqun. The chapter deals with the phenomenon of hypocrisy; it criticizes hypocrisy and condemns the hypocrites; the treachery of the hypocrites of Medina is exposed and rebuked; Muhammad is warned to beware of trusting the hypocrites; the hypocrites are cursed and declared reprobates; the hypocrites are threatened with expulsion from Medina.
In Surah Al-Nisa, verses 88-89 of the Quran, hypocrites are threatened with death, which I believe the Zagga action fall under the same verses.

However, the strange Zagga didn’t or pretended not to know how the governor sacked the Ulamas from the government house, how he has treated Islamic scholars including the one leading to the resignation as an Imam of one of the leading Jum’at Mosques by a renowned Islamic scholar, Sheik Tukur Jangebe who could no longer withstand the unwholesome attitude of the governor and his lieutenants.

On the issue of security, the so-called Zagga man does not know that Matawalle has on several occasions even before becoming Minister of Defence urged the governor to bring in past leaders and other stakeholders to find a way out of the menace but was rebuked by the governor and his stooges.

Don’t forget, during his time as governor, Matawalle initiated workable ways of fighting insecurity which brought about relative peace in the state and as Minister of Defence too, he has ensured the stationing of many military check and surveillance points to mitigate the activities of the bandits.

It remains to the credit of Dauda Lawal Dare that he always shows that he knows all and requires no one’s support or guidance to rule the state, which may have influenced his decision to sack the Ulamas, do things without need for advice and instilled fear in his aides who cannot come anywhere near him for anything without his say so.

We are calling on Zamfara people to look into the kind of mess being drugged on them before it is too late.

Yusuf Idris Gusau, is the Zamfara State APC Publicity Secretary