Who would have "abducted" Gawat?
Who abducted Aremu Gawat
The heap of his alleged abduction was all over the Western part of Nigeria immediately he was declared missing. Since then, I have been thinking it every time it comes to my mind that, who could have abducted Gawat?
I had known him since late 1990's when he was the national president of NACOMYO. I had the opportunity of discussing with him on a round table during the organization's camping program at Government College, Ikorodu in 1999.
This rear opportunity gave me an holistic view of Alhaji Gawat's humble personality. He was a listening leader as I was surprised the way he usually turned to me with utmost attention whenever I raised my hand for questioning even though I was very young then, he could have ignored me totally without stepping on anybody's toes.
It has never stopped to appear to me as a mystery as the governments, both state and federal, yet to fish out the hole this great personality is being hidden. Security of life and property is a serious concern in Nigeria but has now turned to a mess and the dimension it now takes is threatening the thin unity of the country.
Alhaji Aremu Gawat has never dinned with the politicians of any kind in the country so his abduction ordinarily should not have political paradigm. But things have fallen apart in Nigeria to the extent that anything that is capable of breaking the unity of the country would always have political hands in it if looked into without prejudice.
This raises another question that, can the government have hands in his abduction? It is a general knowledge that Alhaji Gawat, up till the day of his alleged abduction relates with the Lagos State cordially especially on religious matters. Some observers feel that it could be a plot to raise another religious chaos in the state considered the commercial capital city of the country.
Lagos is known to be free from religious extremism and fights between the two major religions in the country, Islam and Christianity. Since the North is enveloped with the much publicized Boko Haram insurgency, some analysts believe this is a plot to give the Western part of its doze of political-rooted religious "wahala".
From the other end of the spectrum, can Lagos state claim innocence? It was reported that he was abducted along the Lagos metropolis which the state government had claimed to have been placed under surveillance. If these highways were really put under surveillance, then his abductors should have been brought to book for a long time. In that case, what has Lagos state government done to utilize these technologies with the state's tax payer's money?
Another dimension is that, some non-Muslims might target him in order to put a stop to his widely accepted TV program "edide e mu saari je" which means (stand up for your sahur). This program is aired on NTA 10 every month of Ramadan where questions were asked and callers were being rewarded with lots of gifts which Christians were not left behind.
In the same vein, some people feel Alhaja Gawat was seen as a threat to some of his contemporaries in the Dawah work, so to say. Some were even accusing him of over-shadowing them despite his little knowledge of Islam and Arabic language. In other words, there are many more qualified personnel than him.
Having said all these, I think the Muslim community in the state is too mild on this issue. It seems they have left his search to his family after the first week of his abduction. The community is the only front that can pressurize the government to find him dead or alive, God forbid the former. He had paid his dues handsomely so he should not be left to this ungodly fate. Alhaji Gawat should not go into extinction like this! A Yoruba adage says: " Ki omo eni ku o san ju ki omo eni sonu lo", (it is better for one's child to die than declared lost).
I will only pray for his family that Allah be with them through-out this trying time. It will be painful to their marrows that a bread winner is just missing like that! May Allah return him back safe to his family as I am still optimistic of his return. He is all-hearing and cherisher of the world.
The heap of his alleged abduction was all over the Western part of Nigeria immediately he was declared missing. Since then, I have been thinking it every time it comes to my mind that, who could have abducted Gawat?
I had known him since late 1990's when he was the national president of NACOMYO. I had the opportunity of discussing with him on a round table during the organization's camping program at Government College, Ikorodu in 1999.
This rear opportunity gave me an holistic view of Alhaji Gawat's humble personality. He was a listening leader as I was surprised the way he usually turned to me with utmost attention whenever I raised my hand for questioning even though I was very young then, he could have ignored me totally without stepping on anybody's toes.
It has never stopped to appear to me as a mystery as the governments, both state and federal, yet to fish out the hole this great personality is being hidden. Security of life and property is a serious concern in Nigeria but has now turned to a mess and the dimension it now takes is threatening the thin unity of the country.
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| Alhaji Gawat Aremu |
Alhaji Aremu Gawat has never dinned with the politicians of any kind in the country so his abduction ordinarily should not have political paradigm. But things have fallen apart in Nigeria to the extent that anything that is capable of breaking the unity of the country would always have political hands in it if looked into without prejudice.
This raises another question that, can the government have hands in his abduction? It is a general knowledge that Alhaji Gawat, up till the day of his alleged abduction relates with the Lagos State cordially especially on religious matters. Some observers feel that it could be a plot to raise another religious chaos in the state considered the commercial capital city of the country.
Lagos is known to be free from religious extremism and fights between the two major religions in the country, Islam and Christianity. Since the North is enveloped with the much publicized Boko Haram insurgency, some analysts believe this is a plot to give the Western part of its doze of political-rooted religious "wahala".
From the other end of the spectrum, can Lagos state claim innocence? It was reported that he was abducted along the Lagos metropolis which the state government had claimed to have been placed under surveillance. If these highways were really put under surveillance, then his abductors should have been brought to book for a long time. In that case, what has Lagos state government done to utilize these technologies with the state's tax payer's money?
Another dimension is that, some non-Muslims might target him in order to put a stop to his widely accepted TV program "edide e mu saari je" which means (stand up for your sahur). This program is aired on NTA 10 every month of Ramadan where questions were asked and callers were being rewarded with lots of gifts which Christians were not left behind.
In the same vein, some people feel Alhaja Gawat was seen as a threat to some of his contemporaries in the Dawah work, so to say. Some were even accusing him of over-shadowing them despite his little knowledge of Islam and Arabic language. In other words, there are many more qualified personnel than him.
Having said all these, I think the Muslim community in the state is too mild on this issue. It seems they have left his search to his family after the first week of his abduction. The community is the only front that can pressurize the government to find him dead or alive, God forbid the former. He had paid his dues handsomely so he should not be left to this ungodly fate. Alhaji Gawat should not go into extinction like this! A Yoruba adage says: " Ki omo eni ku o san ju ki omo eni sonu lo", (it is better for one's child to die than declared lost).
I will only pray for his family that Allah be with them through-out this trying time. It will be painful to their marrows that a bread winner is just missing like that! May Allah return him back safe to his family as I am still optimistic of his return. He is all-hearing and cherisher of the world.
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