Less than a year ago, we had the sad task of lamenting the poor state of aviation in Nigeria following the crash of two passenger airplanes in quick succession. The news of yet another crash (just a bare month after the countrys military high command had been decimated in yet another crash) was rather hard on the soul. The death of our Sultan, Muhammadu Maccido in the ADC crash clearly made the event even more painful. As expected (and in line with the pattern of previous crashes), those responsible quickly found excuses for themselves - this time, they blamed the accident on the dead pilot. When that seemed incredible, they blamed destiny - "the crash was destined to happen " Indeed. Condolence visits were then paid, crocodile tears were duly shed, and the usual promises of "high-powered" "judicial" and other panels of enquiry were made. The reluctant removal of the Minister of Aviation(a novice in aviation matters who, as someone pointed out, was quickly replaced wjth another novice) would be the only significant admission by the government that it bears some responsibility for planes falling off the skies like tired locusts on a rainy night.
Curiously, the government announced the release of $148 million to "reform" the aviation sector just ten days after the ADC crash. One hopes that the promised overhaul of our airportscontrol towers, the installation of weather forecasting equipment and improvement of radar coverage would help to avert future crashes. But we wonder why it took the death of the Sultan and 95 other Nigerians to release these funds. We also note that the key question of why this crash happened is yet unanswered. Was it the weather? Was the plane airworthy? Was the control tower to blame? Or was it, indeed, pilot error? Tears shouldnt blind us to a cool-headed assessment of the circumstances of this unfortunate incident, as with others before it. That is the just thing to do. But one is afraid that the tears will soon dry, and with it, any hope of justice. It doesnt take long for another scandal to take over the newspaper headlines. Either that, or the stress of daily living will soon reclaim our attention and we all would shortly forget the pain and go back to work, to business as usual. But the Sultan ...Muhammadu Maccido,Son of Sultan Siddiq Abubakar Direct descendant of Uthman dan Fodio, the leader of the 1804 jihad which purified the practice of Islaam and concretised its ascendance over a large swathe of what we now call Nigeria, Benin Republic, Cameroon and Niger Republic.
Sultan Maccido died at 58, the 19th Sultan of Sokoto. Amir-ul Mumineen of Nigerian Muslims. Him, we shall not forget in a while. Much has been written about the late Sultans humility, his high sense of duty, his deep and sincere love for the Ummah, and his role as bridge-builder in an environment where religion is often abused to foment civil strife for selfish, political ends. The legacy of service with which he is unanimously credited will be remembered for long, and one hopes, widely emulated. As if to justify our faith in the house of Fodio, a new sultan was proclaimed within a week of Sultan Maccidos death: Col. Muhammad Saad Abubakar III. Was the world surprised? The smooth, rancour-free transition shows that we all have a few lessons yet to learn from the Sultanate. The very swift announcement of Sultan Abubakars ascension was in itself a huge lesson. The prompt acknowledgement of his leadership by other contenders to the throne must have shocked professional adversaries. The skeptics who expected bloody riots or epic court battles were humiliated. We are justly proud that in this sombre season, Muslims took the opportunity to perform their ordained task of teaching the world how things should be done. No polltics, no democracy, just the honest application of Islamic principles. The new Sultan, indeed our leaders, deserve our prayers; our sincere advice, our best wishes; and our full co-operation. These, we should all promise our new Sultan.
This article was culled from the publications of Deen Communication Limited