Saturday, August 27, 2011

Sickle Cell week,The first ever in Africa

Maidunama Sickle Cell Foundation and the International Blue Cross Organization In Nigeria is planning to carry out a public sensitization and public education program on Sickle Cell which is to be staged in Abuja,The Federal Capital of Nigeria.The event is the first ever on the African soil and its called The Sickle Cell Week.

We seek for sponsorship and partnership from credible organizations to help us implement this important event.

For sponsorship& partnership

Contact

International Blue Cross in Nigeria
Ambassador Abdulrazaq O Hamzat
Mobile No: 08076976917
 Email : discus4now@yahoo.com

or

Sickle Cell Office
Rabi Maidunama
Anambra Crescent Gadua
Fct Abuja,Nigeria
Mobile No: 08037022089,
Email: rabichina@yahoo.com

PROPOSEDPROGRAMME
                       ABUJA (FCT) SICKLE CELL WEEK 2011
DAY 1- RALLY
DAY 2- Public sensitization/Opening Ceremony
a.      Government position on SCD presented Hon. Minister of health
b.    Paper by health professionals/specialist.
c.     Speeches by dignitaries all on sensitization.
d.    General public, dignitaries, Royal fathers all are attendees
DAY 3- WORKHOP/SEMINAR
a.     Local health workers are participants
b.    Papers to be presented by health professionals on SCD.
c.     Distribution of literature on SCD.                                                                                                  
DAY 4
     a. Registration of SCD patients.
     b. Statistics collection of SCD patients
DAY 5
a.     Free genotype test
b.    Counseling
DAY 6
a.     Distribution of free drugs
b.    Visits to hospital.
DAY 7 - Closing ceremony/Hope concert.

Saturday, August 13, 2011

PDP WON KWARA ELECTION,BELGORE HAS NO CHANCE

PDP WON KWARA ELECTION,BELGORE HAS NO CHANCE

Action Congress of Nigeria members in Kwara State are quick to express their confidence in the ability of their Party ACN to reclaim the mandate of the last Governorship and Senatorial Election against the People Democratic Party(PDP) lead administration of Alhaji Abdulfatai Ahmed,but little did they know that their party has no case or any chance of the tribunal victory.

ACN WRONGLY ELECTED (ASI IBO DI)

You may be wondering what this is all about? the same way i wondered.

Its all in Osun state,The state of the living spring where the victory or will i say the manipulation of the Action congress worked in favor of their  Governorship candidate and subsequently for all their candidates in the Senate,House of Representative,State house and other positions.

The latest slang in Osun State at the moment is (Se ati si Ibo di bayi) meaning( haven't we wrongly elected). A question waiting for answer.

When the Governor, Rauf Aregbesola won in court,I congratulated him and said to the people around me,This Government will be worse.

My dad,not ACN member,but a supporter who usually attribute the ACN style of leadership to the legacy of Awolowo among many others condemned me as enemy of progress. But i am so surprise last week to see him after returning from Osogbo where he his based to call me and say, Abdul,you were actually right all this long.

He said,In Osun at the moment,The people living in the state including ACN members had confessed they made the wrong choice in ACN. The language they use is that (Se ati si ibo di ba yi) meaning (haven't we wrongly elected)?

To my brothers and sisters in Osun,Haven't we wrongly elected? be sincere

Flag this message RESPECT FOR OTHER RELIGION IS A WAY TO PARADISE

ISLAM,THE RELIGION OF PEACE

Before i proceed with this article,I would like to say that (Respect for other religion is a way to paradise). Take it or leave it.

I came to this understand from the Prophet (S.A.W).

When i was a boy,i usually go to Islamic school in Kano at a very tender age,Allah gave me religious understanding.This qualifies me to join the elders in learning.In the elders class,they teach them so many things and also dialogue with the teacher for better understanding, unlike the children who usually read with little or no dialogue with the teacher.

One faithful day,I was at the elders class receiving study sermon,the teacher told us about the story of an idolater during the time of the prophet (S.A.W),this idolater is an elderly man,but all effort to make him accept Islam fail. One day,The prophet of God,(S.A.W) dream and see this man in the paradise,the prophet wondered how the man got there when it was clear he didn't accept Islam and Allah gave him story of the mans journey to the paradise.

The man didn't accept Islam but yet, he has respect for the religion and the people in it. He respect the religious teaching and practices. One day during the month of Ramadan (fasting Period),he came home and saw his son eating outside,he quarreled with his son, saying why are you eating outside? the son replied that i am hungry.the man angrily asked again,why must you bring the food out side,don't you know some people are fasting to their lord? they are starving not because they have no food,but because they are obeying their lord.The boy said but i am not part of them, why must i be concern with them. This man got angry and started betting his son. During this period,the man fell down and died in the process. The Almighty Allah, reveled to the prophet that,that single action by this man is what qualifies him to be in paradise.

The truth is that peace in Islam is the ‘rule’, while war is the ‘exception’. This is borne out by all the teachings of Islam and the practical life of the Prophet of Islam.

One of the attributes of God described in the Quran is ‘As-Salam’, which means peace and security.’ That is to say that God’s Being itself is a manifestation of peace. Indeed, God is Peace (Al-Bukhari). In the Quran divine guidance is likened to the paths of peace. (5:16)The Quran, avers that, ‘reconciliation is best’ (4:128), and judging by the consequences, the way of peace is far better than that of confrontation.Whenever the Prophet had an option between two courses of action, he always chose the easier (non-confrontational) one. (Bukhari)

This means that, violent activism should not be indulged in if peaceful activism is an option. For, peace is the easier course as compared to violence.

For instance, trying to change the status quo in the very first stage of a movement is a hard option, while launching one’s activities in the available sphere without doing so is an easier option.Going to war in confrontational situations is a hard option while following a conciliatory course in dealing with one’s rival is easier. Countering aggression with aggression is a hard option, while countering aggression with patience and forbearance is an easier option. An agitational course of action is harder than employing quiet strategy. Adopting a radical method of reformation is harder than that of following a gradual method. Taking emotional, extreme steps without a thought for their consequences creates difficulties. While a well-considered method, keeping an eye on the consequences, gives much better results. The policy of confrontation with a ruler is a harder option, while initiating one’s action; by sidestepping the ruler in the sphere of education and learning is an easier option. These instances show us the easier and harder options, as demonstrated by the Hadith.

The Example of the Prophet Muhammad

The Prophet Muhammad received his first revelation in 610 A.D. in Makkah. God ordained that he carry out the mission of Tawheed (or oneness of God).

The house of the Kabah, which was built as the house of monotheism by the Prophet Abraham and his son Ishmael (peace be upon them), later on became a centre of polytheism with 360 idols in it. The first revelation might well have demanded the purification of the Kabah, which would have given rise to a serious problem. But the first revelation made in the Quran was:

    Purify your vestments (74:4).

This means to purify one’s moral character. If, in the first stage the Prophet had been commanded to purify the Kabah while Makkah was still under the domination of the idolaters, this would have surely precipitated clash and confrontation. Therefore, according to the command of the first revelation, the Prophet continued to perform his prayers peacefully in the Kabah for a period of 13 years, even though it housed several hundred idols.

Similarly, the Prophet and his companions circumambulated the Kabah on the occasion of Umrah al-Hudaybiyya in 629, while the Kabah still housed 360 idols.

Similarly, the Prophet and his companions circumambulated the Kabah on the occasion of Umrah al-Hudaybiyya in 629, while the Kabah still housed 360 idols.

The Prophet Muhammad proceeded thus in order to avoid war and confrontation with the idolaters, and so that the atmosphere of peace should be maintained. The entire life of the Prophet is a practical demonstration of this peace-loving policy. At the time of migration from Makkah, the idolaters were all set to wage war, but the Prophet avoided this by quietly leaving his homeland for Madinah.

The mission of Islam is based on monotheism, its goal being to make people realize the existence of the one and only God and to strive to bring about a revolution in their hearts and minds of individuals in order that they may love God as is His due. And the greatest concern of man should be to fear and worship his Creator (2:165).

Such a mission cannot afford wars and violent confrontations. When a state of war and violence prevails, the normal atmosphere is vitiated and such circumstances as would foster intellectual movements and spiritual reformation cannot be effectively created. It cannot be denied that peaceful circumstances produce a propitious environment for Islam, while violent circumstances inevitably result in antagonism towards Islam.

War: A State Action

In Islam, war is not the prerogative of the individual but of an established government. Only an established government can declare war. In other words, individuals can pray on their own, but they cannot wage wars of their own accord. Only when a war is declared by the ruling government, can the public join in and support it, and not before that. Islam does not sanction individual actions on this issue. Therefore no Non Governmental Organization or NGO can declare a war.

As a general principle, the Quran tells us that, even where an external attack is feared, the common man should not act independently, but should take the matter to the ruler, and then under his guidance take proper counter measures. (4:83).

The Hadith also states that ‘the ruler is a shield, fighting is done under him, and security is attained through him.’

This clearly shows that the decision to do battle and its planning are the tasks of an established government. The common man can play his role as need be under government orders, and not independently.

This Islamic principle shows that there is no room for non-state warfare, which is what we generally call guerilla war. A guerilla war is fought by individual organizations, not by the State. As far as the state is concerned, if it wants to wage a defensive war against any country it has first—in obedience to the Quran—to issue a proper declaration. Only then can it wage a lawful war (8:58). In Islam, there is only ‘declared’ war. Therefore, in accordance with this principle, no proxy war in Islam can be lawful.

Most Islamic actions are governed by certain conditions. The waging of war is also thus subject to certain principles, one being that, even when a defensive war has been declared by the State, it will be aimed only at the combatants. Targeting non-combatants will be unlawful. The Quran enjoins us not to do battle with those who are not at war. Such people have to be dealt with kindly and equitably. But you are free to do battle with those who are fighting against you. (60:8-9)

If, for instance, a Muslim state is at war with a particular nation, and this war is in conformance with Islamic principles, it should still not permit any destructive activities against non-combatants (civilians), as was done on September 11, 2001, in New York and Washington. Similarly in Islamic war, Muslims are not permitted to commit suicidal bombings in order to destroy the enemy. Strapping explosives on to oneself and hurling oneself upon the civilian settlements of even those with whom one is at war, for the purpose of destroying the enemy, and in the process killing oneself deliberately, is totally un-Islamic. This can in no way be termed ‘Shahadah’ (martyrdom). According to Islam we can become martyrs, but we cannot court a martyr’s death deliberately.

The Difference between Enemy and Aggressor

Under the scheme of the divine trial of human beings, God has granted man freedom. Due to this freedom, enmities may develop between people (20:123), which sometimes lead them to war. But Islam makes a clear difference between enmity and war.

Believers do not have the right to wage wars against their enemies. What the believers have to do as regards their enemies is far from waging war. Their duty is to peacefully convey to them the message of Islam. The Quran gives a clear injunction on this subject:

    “And good and evil deeds are not alike. Repel evil with good. And he who is your enemy will become your dearest friend.” (41:33-34)

That is to say, Islam believes in turning one’s enemy into a friend through peaceful means, instead of declaring him an enemy and then waging war against him.

Islam does give permission to do battle. But such permission is given only in the case of an attack by opponents in spite of the policy of avoidance being followed by the Muslims, thus creating a situation where self-defense is required. The Quran has this to say: “Permission to take up arms is hereby given to those who are attacked because they have been wronged” (22:38). At another place the Quran gives a valid reason for fighting: And Allah summons to the abode of peace, and leads whom He wills to the straight path.-- (Al-Quran 10:25) Privileging peace and nonviolence as desirable values with intrinsic and not instrumental worth inevitably leads to the politics of status quo. If existing power regimes and ruling coalitions are not willing to relinquish power even in the face of popular opposition like in Algeria, then privileging of peace and stability becomes a defense of status quo even in the absence of legitimacy. However, the need for change should not be taken as a license to resort to violence in the face of political frustration.If peace and nonviolence are to be conceived as instrumental values then there must be clearly identifiable values whose intrinsic worth must be more than that of peace. It is only when such values are identified that peace can be compromised in pursuit of these values which are more precious than peace itself. I wonder how many would challenge my contention that justice, equality and freedom are values more valuable than peace? I am not willing to give up my freedom or allow myself to be treated as an inferior or be treated unjustly without a fight. Can we demand people to give up their rights, freedom and accept injustices in the interest of maintaining peace?

When terrorist says war,Islam says peace
When they say divide,Islam says Unite
When they say Nigeria apart,Islam says Nigeria is One.

Let's all condemn the wrong actions of few individuals.

Ref:
www.islam101.net
www.ijtihad.com
H.EAbdulrazaq Oyebanji Hamzat
discus4now@yahoo.com

Youth participation in fixing the nation

Youth participation in decision-making
Effective youth participation is about creating opportunities for young people to be involved in influencing, shaping, designing and contributing to policy and the development of services and programmes. These opportunities are created through developing a range of formal and informal mechanisms for youth participation from youth advisory groups to focus groups, from on-going consultation work to supporting youth-led projects. There are many reasons for including young people in decision-making.
• Youth participation means better decisions and increased efficiency
Evidence shows that policies and programmes designed after consultation with youths are more likely to be effective. By using youth participation you are more likely to get it right the first time and avoid wasting time and money on services young people don't want to use.
• Youth participation strengthens community capacity
Giving young people a place in decision-making builds a broader base of citizen involvement and creates stronger, more inclusive communities. Youth participation is necessary in the development of active citizenship because it balances young people's social rights with their responsibilities.
• Youth participation contributes to positive youth development
Research shows that young people who are supported to participate in decision-making are more likely to have increased confidence and self-belief, exercise positive career choices and have greater involvement and responsibility in the future.
• Youth participation enhances your organisation's relationship with young people
Youth participation challenges negative stereotypes of young people and help break down barriers between adults and young people. Involving young people in decision-making can improve attitudes towards understanding about young people and create a greater awareness of youth issues in an organization.

Youth participation is a right

Be responsible,Be the government

H.E Abdulrazaq Oyebanji Hamzat
08076976917
discus4now@yahoo.com