BBC: Thought for the Day - 10 June 2010

Credit: The Rev Rob Marshall

It's Time! That's South Africa's motto for the world's greatest sporting occasion, the World Cup, which opens tomorrow in Johannesburg. 

The phrase "It's Time" is still associated with the expectation accompanying the release of Nelson Mandela and the end of apartheid. But, for the World Cup, it's taken on a new level of expectation.

First, of course, It's Time for soccer to strut its stuff. I'm sorry for those who are dreading next month. But even the most cynical football critic might just flick over to watch England face the Americans on Saturday night. 

Secondly, of course, It's Time for South Africa to show that it can deliver on the expectation which has built up over years of preparation. New airports, stadia, roads and hotels. I saw many of them myself during a recent visit. After all the preparation : now it really is the time. 

Most important of all, however - and a lot of documentaries and features have been highlighting this in recent days - It's Time for South Africa to really move forward. All of the rhetoric; the hope embodied when apartheid came to an end, the inexcusable and painful levels of poverty and inequality which remain - It's Time to use the opportunity of being in the world's spotlight for all the right reasons - to create a better South Africa. 

The idea that you have to prepare carefully if you want to deliver rather than disappoint is deeply theological. The people of God had been waiting for something good to happen after centuries of disappointment. Then, in the first of the Gospels to be written, in the first chapter - Mark writes: "the time has come, the time is at hand, the Kingdom of God is actually here. The moment has arrived". 

And, being human, those who encountered this mystery responded in a variety of ways. Indeed, the announcement took a lot of believing. Some were interested. Some rejected it out of hand. Others still do. After all, human beings are on a constant search to explain the mystery of the meaning of life and Mark's message seemed too good to be true. 

Does the international community really believe that It's Time for South Africa? I hope so. Have the people of South Africa got it in them, to realise, to believe their own slogan - that this is their time, their moment? I hope so even more. That this really is the time for the rainbow nation to produce a memorable world cup. 

The Talmud, echoing Ecclesiastes wonderful poem about there being a time for everything, observes that the humans can never control time. If we try to force time we will surely be pushed back. 

Rather we should seize every given moment, such as this, and make the most of it

Lessons learnt from my lost pen

Something happened to me today and I thought I’d share with you all.

In the course of my job, I sometimes work at height and with/near hazardous substances. How does a 32%w/v Hydrochloric acid (HCl) at a temperature of 80-90 Celsius sound? Nice huh?

One of the characteristics of HCl is its high vapour pressure. At temperatures as high as these, the vapour pressure is even higher. This implies that if the process does not include very good fume extractors, everyone and everything around are in danger of inhaling acid fumes. This can be damaging. The effect of this on material around is increased rate of corrosion in metal components.

Today, standing on Iron mesh at about 15 feet above ground level, I was working by an acid tank (about 12%w/v, 85 Celsius HCl) where I was planting Q-Panels to monitor rate of corrosion around the tanks. Health and safety procedure required that I wore my gloves even if I wasn’t going to touch any solution. After changing the panels, I took out my notepad and started making notes of my observations. It can be quite awkward trying to hold a pen with gloves on when you could hardly control your fingers. I finished taking my notes and as I tried closing my notepad, my pen fell. It fell into a drain 15 feet below. My instinct told me, just walk down the stairs and pick it up. But I couldn’t. Not because there were no stairs and not because the stairs are inaccessible – I came up via the same stairs.

I knew it was bye-bye to my lovely pen. In the nearly filled, two-feet deep drain, a “clear-ish” liquid slowly flowed and my pen swam inside. Though not my most expensive pen, this was my favourite pen and I’d had it for a while. I still had need for a pen and my office is about half a mile trek from this job location. So I walked to one of the plants nearby. I’d made friends with the contract staff in that office and we all flow real well. Aubrey was the guy on shift. I told him I just lost my pen while working near the acid tanks. He graciously gave me another pen, which is a lot nicer than the one I had.

Why do you think I’m taking you through the torture of this story? As I continued with the task I was on, with my new pen, what transpired played itself in my mind and I was able to liken it to my life. Sometimes, we hold on to something because it is the most convenient thing to do. Sometimes we just don’t know why. But when God says it’s time to let go, He orchestrates situations that’d make you give it up even if you don’t want to. The pen I lost wasn’t the most expensive but I’d got used to it at work I couldn’t see myself using any other pen, not even from the many other ones in my drawer and bag.

Another lesson learnt is that if God knows that after giving up something, because you’re attached to it, you may want to find a way to reclaim it, He makes it really awkward and often impossible for you. I had the option of giving up my pen completely or dipping my hands in the acid drain where it fell and get burnt or even lose my hands from acid burn.

That’s not all, when God asks you to let go of something, He has a better plan for you. It’s just that often we’re not patient to wait for His perfect will. I wouldn’t have the joy of owning this new pen that Aubrey gave me if I didn’t lose the other one. When God gives you something, it’s always the best. Even if  it was this same God that gave you what He wants you to forfeit today. He knows that the season for that blessing has passed and it’s time for you to move on to fresher and newer and usually better things. My new pen feels smoother on paper and it’s branded and more beautiful.

For anyone reading this, know that when God leads you to a new vision, He’s already made provision S for it. He already planted your Aubrey nearby if you lose your pen.

Aubrey is an elderly man in his sixties and there’s only one person on shift in his job. You’re often by yourself if you work in his part of the plant. After he gave me my new pen, we spent about 30 mins talking. I learnt more about him and his wife. I didn’t know he’s a painter and such a good photographer until then. His wife and daughter are fabulous cake makers. I told him about my poetry skills. I could see he felt happier.

Another lesson learnt, even if God sends someone your way to bless you, know that you’re also being a blessing to them by receiving the “gift” A few years ago, a friend’s sister refused a cash gift from another friend. My friend reprimanded her for refusing the gift. He said to her, “do you know that you just robbed him of his blessings?” The girl asked how; afterall she was the one who just refused a gift. My friend said to her, “For every giver, God has prepared a blessing. You just blocked this guy’s blessing by not accepting the gift and you also just refused God’s blessing” That was hard to take in but it makes sense to me. God used Aubrey to bless me with a pen and used me to keep him company for as much as was necessary. He probably was feeling alone in his little cubicle.

Catch ya!

Umar Faruk Mutallab

 The socio -psychological roots of terrorism

Written by Is'haq Modibbo Kawu

The attempted bombing of a trans-Atlantic airliner on Christmas day, brought an unwelcome search light to Nigeria, with discovery that would-be bomber was a 23-year old scion of a distinguished family from Northern Nigeria; a family whose name literally, was a byword for wealth. This must be the most difficult period for the family whose son abandoned all the trappings of success to become an operative of the terrorist organization, Al-Qaeda. What on earth went wrong? It is instructive that Alhaji Umar Mutallab had reported the activities of the son to Nigerian and American intelligence agencies, two months ago, following “the disappearance and cessation of communication which got his mother and father concerned”. They could not stop the attempted crime, but God prevent the catastrophe! Since the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the United States and the declaration of a  “War on Terror”, there have been worries about the possibilities of local branches of the international terroristic networks becoming active in West Africa in general and in Nigeria in particular. The Americans have been worried about the growth of Salafist Groups in North-West Africa and as a result, have instituted anti-terrorist training projects for armies from Mali to Nigeria. On the other hand, Osama Bin Laden had also mentioned Nigeria as one of the Muslim countries that must be liberated.

 

Given this mix, the Nigerian state security apparatus has dealt with uprisings by local, fringe religious groups as Nigeria’s war on terror. The social roots of the grievances of these local groups are not sufficiently, if ever, studied in the first place. The overwhelming use of force is standard response of the Nigerian state, as indeed of other client states that got sucked into the Bush administration’s war on terror. So those who believe that Al-Qaeda has a hand in religion-inspired social explosions in Nigeria might be tempted to reach a “We-told-you-so” conclusion, when the Umar Faruk Mutallab attempt was foiled and revealed to the world. But what is clear from the evidence so far released shows no local, Nigerian content to the despicable act perpetrated by that young man. The roots of Umar Faruk Mutallab’s socialization into terrorism must be sought outside of Nigeria, and unfortunately for his grieving family, they carry a large slice of the problem and by extension, the ruling elite and their propensity to abandon their parenting responsibilities, and instead farming out their children, with impressionable minds, to the culturally-confusing environments of the advanced capitalist countries.

 

Umar Faruk attended the British School in Togo, before going to attend the very prestigious University of London; as the British press has revealed in the past few days, he was attending school from a Two Million Pound flat in the most expensive suburbs of London. If the parents thought they were living it up to their status as some of the most important people in Nigeria’s class-divided society, where the gap between the rich and the poor is said to be one of the worst in the world, the social and psychological impact on their son was obviously lost to them! Not only was Umar Faruk torn from his Northern Nigerian culture, at a very young age, he was also dealing with deep-seated confusion about his sexuality as well as an alienating loneliness. THISDAY newspaper of Wednesday, December 30th, 2009, carried postings from an Islamic website by the young Umar Faruk, which provide fascinating insights into the confusion he had to balance in his life, which ultimately also led to the journey to his recruitment by Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

 

In the first posting, from 28 January, 2005, Umar Faruk said “I have no friend. Not because I do not socialize, etc but because either people do not get too close to me as they go partying and stuff while I don’t, or they are bad people who befriend me and influence me to do bad things”. Then there is the problem of sexual repression/confusion (a taboo subject in Northern Nigerian culture!) which he obviously was wrestling with: “As I get lonely, the natural sexual drive awakens and I struggle to control it, sometimes leading to minor sinful activities like not lowering the gaze. And this problem makes me want to get married to avoid getting aroused[…] But I am only 18 […] It would be difficult for me to get married due to social norms of getting to the late 20’s when one has a degree, a job, a house, etc before getting married. THE LAST THING I WANT TO TALK ABOUT IS MY DILEMA BETWEEN LIBERALISM AND EXTREMISM (My emphasis). […] How should one put the balance right”? With the tragic turn of events, it seemed that Umar Faruk found his “balance” not within the values of his culture or with his parents, but within the conspiratorial world of radical Islam.

 

It appears the relationship between parents and son became increasingly alienated as the ruling class father, saw his son become separated from the social values he cherishes. A posting of February 5, 2005 was poignant: “I will describe myself as very ambitious and determined, especially in the Deen”. On the situation in the Muslim world, Umar Faruk posted on May 9, 2005, that “The Prophet (SWH) did say a time will come when the leaders will be the worst among the people. Indeed this seems to be the time….we are ruled by the worst of people, tyrants. May Allah help us and guide us all, and establish for us good leaders who fear Him”. It was action based on this mindset, which led to the “disappearance and cessation of communication” which alarmed the father sufficiently to inform the CIA on his son and the ill-fated act of terrorism by Umar Faruk.

 

I stopped over in Cairo in May on my way from Eritrea, and met a very young daughter (she couldn’t be more than 20) of a prominent Northern politician attempting to check into the hotel with another girl and a young boy of about 22years. She wanted a smoking room, and frankly told me they had come to “enjoy the weekend”! Her father visited the previous week, but otherwise, she comes to Nigeria only once a year. There was also the story of a prominent Northerner whose daughter had been kept in Switzerland for years and then the girl chose to marry a Swiss boy, despite the objections of a devastated father. The girl was said to have told the father she was really more Swiss than Nigerian! Our ruling elite steal our nation blind and try to create an oasis of comfort for themselves and children, but in the process, they end up having alienated children who are open to all manners of negative influences: prostitution (clandestine and open), drugs and the extremism which a tragic, lonely heir to fabulous wealth, Umar Faruk Mutallab, succumbed to. Those who bring home ant-ridden firewoods invite the visits of lizards, as an African proverb said.