By Isah Aliyu Chiroma
We gathered to celebrate a joyful moment, after a whole month of worship, filled with love, compassion for other and empathy. It was a moment of reflection, bridging the gaps of brotherhood. In this transition moment of Ramadan, heavy rain came and showers its blessing. We looked deep into the sky with behold promises.
When the crescent moon of Ramadan was cited, it was a joyful moment, with an open end opportunity, to get closer to your lord and ask for forgiveness. Ask and you shall be given, this has been the promise we behold, then in the fall of this, we hope we were forgiven.
Ramadan fasting has been prescribed upon us, just like it was prescribed upon those before us, so that we develop God-consciousness. It is a moment of transition, when worshipers keep longing for forgiveness and blessings from the Lord Almighty.
This has been an avenue to restore our system of faith and service our bodies through series of activities (Ibada), so that we can be among those servants to be forgiven, whom are opportune to witness the moment. It will be a big lost for someone to witness the holy month, observe the fasting and ended up not repenting from the unlawful act he has been committing, this shows that he is yet to develop God-consciousness.
In it comes a night, which is better than one thousand nights. When you are opportune to witness that night while doing Ibada (act of prayer), you have succeeded in doing such act for over 83 years and some months, when we have no certainty if we can reach tomorrow or even the writer finishing this piece.
On the flip side, is our beloved country. A country filled with hope and great expectations. Nigeria has been our home, our source where it all begins. Without second thought, it has been a trying time for everyone. When I saw everyone, I mean who so ever you can think of. We are all facing some challenges one way or the other. Then what kind of a country do we want?
On this path to creating a better country, they will always be hardship. A hardship of change, which the citizens are feeling directly. But, with all those hardship on this journey, I believed it can be mitigated, to provide a means to cushion the effect, as those policies are long term moves, but with patience and perseverance, we will get to the kind of country we want.
The road to an egalitarian state is a marathon, not a short print. It is a continuous circle; it keeps on and on and on. At the moment, we might be in a rush to access the new government, but from what has appeared to us, it is a renewed hope with patience. It will take time, creating policies that will bring a shift in the system. A shift that will cut across the cost and waves of this ocean.
As we continue driving towards this path, our captain needs more focus. A focus not to turn the ship around, after the journey we took is a progressive one. In his language, there is no going back. Of course a journey of thousands miles begins with a step. And as every step counts, the destination keeps appearing closer.
Probably at the beginning of this journey, in preparation, we forget to take along with us, a bag of patience that will last us till the end. For some, the patience has ended; it appears there were not fully ready towards this path. It there were at the beginning, and then they need to renew their hope with the renewed hope road map.
I am sure we had used this opportunity, the month of Ramadan to pray for peace in our society, to have an atmosphere which is conducive for humanity, where we will be proud of creating and for the next generations coming. A life filled with tranquility, compassion and love for humanity and our development as a nation. May our destination be towards the right path.
