International

By Babayo Sule, PhD

The 2022 Qatar FIFA World Cup is no doubt a beginning of a fresh era in intercultural relationships globally because of the indelible marks of perception, dynamism, fresh vigours, advancement of a new model and, most importantly, the introduction of a new style of reception, fanfare and farewell from the host to the world. Hosting a gargantuan event like FIFA World Cup is certainly a herculean task that financial muscles and political influence alone cannot earn. It takes beyond the lobby, indefatigable consultations, display of economic prowess, commitment, smart strategies that will outsmart competitors and, above that, a clandestine promise of delivery and reliability. Of course, Qatar surmounted all these obstacles and won the hosting. Beyond that, the World Cup was successfully organised, hosted, done and dusted most sublimely and fashionably way to some groups, perhaps.

Not long ago, some Western scholars, including Fukuyama (1996), Huntington (1996) and Lewis (1992), struggled hard to convince the world that the Western ideology, civilisation and system are forever the best and can never be competed with or matched in any circumstances. But for the critical counterattacks of the likes of Sa’id (2005), Harun Yahaya, Nefeily (2002) and some others, the Fukuyama-led cultural clash nearly succeeded in defeating the world to surrender to the almighty West and despair from any form of competition. Fortunately, the Sa’id-led counterattacks made us believe that cultural clash or advancing it is an act of ignorance that can be suppressed with dialogue and better understanding built on tolerance and respect. The approach of Qatar to the 2022 FIFA World Cup practically convinced us to discard the former school and hold firm on the latter.

When I learnt that the small country of Qatar, with just a population of 3 million, spent a breath-taking $200 billion, I cautioned myself to wait patiently and see what the country is after because my inner ego told me that the country is definitely up to something otherwise it will be crazy enough to believe this embezzlement amidst the myriads of squalor, deprivation, abject penury, natural disasters and other sufferings emanating from armed conflicts in the Muslim-dominated states. Qatar should have diverted this huge amount of money for humanitarian intervention in the most affected states, but my curiosity continues to deter me from concluding without seeing the actual intention. At last, it is revealed glowingly most passionately and soothingly to the global Ummah that Qatar invested in a modern and strategic Jihad.

Football is arguably the most unifying festival or even phenomenon globally, more than anything. Even religion today is not hypnotising like football, especially among youth. Take Nigeria, for example. Divisions are sharp and threatening to national unity in virtually all matters, even that of critical national importance like security, except for football. In an employment to strategic parastatals or apportion of a political position, no section of the country will tolerate the composition and the outlook of the national team, the darling Super Eagles. But in football, Ahmed Musa can score against Argentina in the World Cup, celebrate by prostrating before Allah (SWT), one of the major pillars of five congregational daily prayers and a major point of bringing one closer to his Creator, the Hausa/Fulani, Igbos, Yorubas, all the more than 400 ethnic groups, the Muslims, Christians, ritualists, animists and the North and South will unanimously celebrate the goal without minding exactly the mode and pattern of the celebration of the player. The same thing is applicable if a Christian player scores and celebrates using his religious signals and symbols. But for football, what can be tolerated that way in our mother country? Should a Minister prostrate in front of a national broadcast to celebrate the country and the achievement of his Ministry, trending impending insults among divided Nigerians will take weeks actively?

For Qatar, the small country lured the globe to its culture and way of using football as a tool. The country satisfactorily met all the requirements and fulfilled all the datelines, resources, infrastructures, provisions and all that is needed to host a successful World Cup. On several visits, the FIFA team always expressed its satisfaction with the level of preparations and provisions made by Qatar. However, some days before the commencement, Qatar boldly rose its head before the world and declared that it is a country of faith, culture, values and a system that must be respected without any compromise. Alcoholism in the stadiums, gay and other amoral attitudes are banned throughout the event, and any violation will surely attract a sanction according to the laws of Qatar governed by the Shari’ah system. Instantly, the belief that the West has in cultural clashes and the arrogant display of the ethnocentric chauvinism of superiority surfaced.

The Western media pounced on Qatar, and some even threatened to either boycott the event or Qatar must be forced to rescind its decision and guidelines for attending the event. Qatar stood firm and pledged never to compromise its stand on the ground that Qatar respects all cultures, and anywhere the citizens of the country visit, they respect and adhere to the guidelines, principles and laws of the land; then, why should her own be different? In what ways is any culture superior or advanced or super enough to bulldoze and overshadow the host culture? Fortunately, the FIFA President, being honest, frank and fair, supported Qatar fully and chided the West for, according to him, ‘its hypocrisy, intolerance, arrogance and immorality. Instead of the West apologising to the world for its more than 300 years of plunder and arrogance, it is parading tits trademark again’. The Western media, unrelenting, resorted to blackmail that the FIFA officials were bribed to grant Qatar the hosting, and the FIFA is bribed to approve the preparations and accept the conditions of Qatar without any protest.

The West, which mesmerised and dazzled the world with its modern scientific and technological advancement, effervescent skyscrapers, efficient system, and continuous innovation, failed the simple test of tolerance, respect and morality. The moral bankruptcy appears disappointing. Sayyid Qutb earlier berated the West for its handicap in a moral view. He expressed his wonders in seeing the miraculous feat achieved by the West in technology and development but rebuked them for moral emptiness, cultural intolerance, intellectual fallacies of distorting Islamic culture and values to him and bestiality exhibited by humankind in their societies. The FIFA President himself chastised the West for its sheepish behaviour and the display of immorality to the level of bestial nuptiality. The West arrogantly believed that it had the monopoly of setting the agenda for even cultural perception. The long-term monopoly in the political and economic control of the world intoxicated the West to believe that it must always determine the standard for anything, and it must have its way. But Qatar, a small but mighty country, challenged this view and put a sudden stop to it in style.

Qatar designed a Jihad model and unveiled it where all the attentions are. They say, ‘hit them where it hurts’, and Qatar hit where it hurts, but it soothes many. The opening ceremony sent waves of meticulous fantasy and a display of a fabulous enigma of people that aspired to differ in all ramifications from the acclaimed normal norm. Instead of the noisy fanfare, thunderous jamboree and a competition to display nudity and craziness of masquerades, the environment of the opening ceremony was ensconced in a serene clime with the melodious recitations of the Glorious Quran and a lullaby of the romantic Arab scents and marvellous dressing. The spectators silently listened and were hypnotised by the beauty and eloquence of the Qur’anic recitation.  

Instantly, the campaign of calumny, blackmail and propaganda swung into action in the West. The BBC declined to air the opening ceremony. The major Western media embarked on futile and baseless negative reporting. For instance, the Independent of November 21^st 2022, wrote a piece mocking Qatar, the host, titled ‘Qatar World Cup defeat proves there are some things in sport you can’t pay for’. Another article in the Independent in the date titled ‘Qatar’s opening World Cup impression slips into disaster on and off the pitch’.

In another propaganda, CNN reports in an article on 20^th November 2022, ‘Qatar makes World Cup in a debut controversial tournament of firsts’. The 24^th November 2022 article by the Independent titled ‘What on earth is Morgan Freeman doing in Qatar? Queried why Morgan Freeman should be in Qatar. In the assumption of the Western media, Qatar spent lavishly to win. When and where World Cup opening match is won by the host? Morgan Freeman is seen either as too civilised to be in Qatar to attend a Qur’anic opening ceremony or irrelevant. The motive of Qatar is entirely a different ball game. Qatar has won the World Cup in the eyes of the fair-minded, culturally-tolerant but specifically, the Muslim world. The Jihad exhibited a moderate contemporary approach, and the resistance against the imposition of alien cultures to then host succeeded in opening the eyes of the imperialised and the international relations and international system will, of course, never be the same again.

Other resistance to neo-colonialism and new imperialism are unfolding courtesy of what Qatar did. Peacefully but assertively, Qatar altered the shape of the global political economy for keen observers. Even Huntington must revisit his clash of civilisations and rethink the remaking of world order beyond his only perceived clash.

The damages that the West self-inflicted in the effort to spoil the World Cup show in Qatar can take many decades or centuries to restore. For example, they are enlightening the world to resist any culture that it is not comfortable with, starting with their forceful imposition. They may continue to lure and influence the world using economic leverage and threats, but countries that are self-conscious, like Qatar, which internally recycled its economic buoyancy, will resist and counter. African states may take a lesson or continue to be humiliated by the world at will. The West, in its intolerance, informed the world that the crusade for human rights, democratisation and other dangerous exports (Blum, 2013) might be resisted, and it is a setback to its agenda of ruling the world using institutions and agreements.

Another lesson the world learnt from the weird attitude exhibited by the West in Qatar is to draw back and resist any attempt to denigrate or demean any culture, value, faith or nation. It is a scientific gateway for many global policymakers and key players to justify when pushing an agenda or tackling it. The worse of the scenarios is the moral emptiness and sheepish attitude of some countries and their football teams. The sport, as if it were a living organism, showed them an early exit to save the world from their embarrassment and allowed the serious-minded ones to battle it out.

One fascinating scenario in Qatar that will outlive the tournament and qualify the event to be extraordinary is that the vulgarity of Qatar is not leaving any stone unturned in its newly discovered Jihadism. The likes of Dr Zakir Naik were offered the opportunity to display their prowess in Da’awah, and the accommodation was designed to introduce the Islamic process of cleansing from impurity, a discovery that leaves many visitors dazzled and interested in Islamic teaching. The calls to prayer, display of Qur’anic verses from all angles of the city and Prophetic golden words all revealed exactly what Qatar spent its money for and not what the Independent article misperceived or tried to push deliberately. The final or closing ceremony after Argentina won the Cup was exotic. African musicians, including the Nigerian Davido, were invited but were confined to the World Cup tune prepared by a Qatari singer. The best player, Lionel Messi, was decorated in the regalia of the most valuable Arabian dress instead of the obscured juju and the usual spray of liquor and other madness that have no place in most civilisations but are being pushed down the throats of the communities by the imperial powers.

The World Cup has come and gone, but its memory will forever relish our minds and in what Qatar did, ‘Verily, in this is a Sign: but most of them do not believe’ (Q26:8). Qatar has opened a gateway for other world countries to liberate themselves from the encumbrances of new imperialism and neo-colonialism that is used to push the imperialism (Nkrumah, 1965). The small country has presented a fashionable and peaceful model of Da’awah that will strategically counter propaganda and a model of Jihad devoid of terrorism. It is a kind of Jihad that is difficult to provide a vacuum for conspiracy or damaging insults. Qatar may face stereotyping and a campaign of blackmail, and other Arabs and Islamic states may not smell the opportunity of hosting the World Cup for the next century or more, provided the West continues to control the world, but world countries can now develop the effrontery to counter abuse and disrespect of their faiths and cultures and may advance to ward off imperialism. African continent may restore its umbilical cord with Latin America and the Caribbean to re-establish a strong, surviving and successful Pan-Africanism. Qatar, in our eyes, is a blessed land of the righteous that present a model of liberation. God bless the country and the tournament!

Babayo Sule (PhD) wrote from the Department of Political Science, Faculty of Humanities Management and Social Sciences, Federal University Kashere Gombe, Nigeria. He can be reached via babayosule@gmail.com.

By Dr Sarah Marzouk

There has been quite a bit of online commentary, some of it quite derogatory, regarding the black robe that Lionel Messi wore prior to accepting the World Cup. For context, I wanted to explain its significance.

The garment is called a ‘bisht’, and it is an outer garment worn in predominantly Arab countries. The name is derived from the Akkadian word ‘bishtu’, which means ‘nobility’ or ‘prestige’.

This garment is considered a symbol of great honour. It’s a status symbol amongst royalty, the wealthy and those with high social rank, much like a cross between ceremonial graduation robes or, in Western terms, wearing a black tuxedo on a special occasion.

When it’s the Emir of a country literally gifting you the bisht, putting it on you with his own hands, it’s the highest honour that can be bestowed upon that civilian. It has nothing to do with religion at all.

Messi may not have understood what it meant when he graciously wore it, but it was the Qatari way of recognising him for the GOAT that he is.

By Muhammadu Sabiu 

In light of the intense debate over gender in politics and public life in the US and elsewhere, Dictionary.com has named “woman” as its Word of the Year for 2022.

According to Dictionary.com, there has been a significant spike in users looking for the meaning of “woman,” which at its peak increased by 1,400%.

It stated on its website that this year, searches for the word woman on Dictionary.com increased considerably in relation to various high-profile events.

“Our selection of woman as our 2022 Word of the Year reflects how the intersection of gender, identity, and language dominates the current cultural conversation and shapes much of our work as a dictionary,” it said.

The site lists the definition of ‘woman’ as an ‘an adult female person’.

By Muhammadu Sabiu

By defeating Morocco 2-0 in the Al Bayt Stadium on Wednesday, defending champion France put an end to Morocco’s hopes of winning the 2022 World Cup.

In barely four years since winning the World Cup in Russia, France has advanced to its fourth final game thanks to goals from Theo Hernández and Randal Kolo Muani.

However, Morocco, the first African team to advance past the quarterfinals of the World Cup, should be proud of itself for keeping France at bay before Kolo Muani’s game-winning goal.

The last time a defending World Cup champion made it to the championship game was France in 1998.

By Uzair Adam Imam

The Federal Government of Nigeria has approved the return of Nigerians into the country with their expired Nigerian passports.

FG requested that all the airlines allow holders of expired Nigerian passports to board without delay.

The approval was in a letter from the Comptroller-General of Immigration Service (CGIS) Isah Jere Idris, addressed to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama and dated December 9th 2022.

The reason for the permission is believed to be connected with the forthcoming Yuletide period on December 25th.

The letter said, “Consequently, all Airlines are requested to allow holders of expired Nigerian passports to board without let or hindrance.

“In addition, all Nigerian Diplomatic Missions abroad are kindly requested to circulate this information to airlines operators and border authorities of host countries for their necessary action,” the letter said in part.

By Ahmad Deedat Zakari

Nigeria’s Vice-President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo is set to attend a meeting in the United States for African Carbon Market.

A statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity (Office of the Vice-President), Laolu Akande said Prof. Osinbajo will be in attendance alongside other key actors in the clean energy market.

Mr Akande said the Vice-President will be delivering the keynote address at a high-level meeting hosted by the Rockefeller Foundation in New York.

He said : “In a major push for funding and technical support for the Nigerian Energy Transition Plan, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, will be delivering the keynote address at a high-level meeting hosted by The Rockefeller Foundation in New York, with global agencies and potential financial partners in attendance to facilitate the activation of the Voluntary Carbon Market in Nigeria and on the African continent.”

He also noted that the high-level which holds on Friday will also be attended by officials from the US government and will explore potential opportunities which the carbon markets offer.

“The high-level meeting which holds on Friday will also be attended by officials from the US government and will explore potential opportunities which carbon markets offer to generate resources for clean energy transitions while accelerating economic growth in Nigeria and other African countries.” He said.

By Uzair Adam Imam

Bill Cosby, a renowned American stand-up comedian and actor, has been sued by five women over sexual assault during their early careers.

The 85-year-old Cosby has been dragged through the mud by numerous women over the allegation of rape throughout the years.

The Daily Reality recalls that back in 2018, the comedian bagged a 10-year jail term in Pennsylvania for indecent assault.

Several reports indicated that the majority of the women sued the actor for acting more like a predator than a mentor to them.

The victims were identified as Plaintiffs Lili Bernard, Eden Tirl, Jewel Gittens, Jennifer Thompson, and Cindra Ladd.

They alleged that the actor was able to take advantage of them because they were young and vulnerable.

Some time ago, the actor was also dragged to court by Mrs Minifield, who claimed Cosby drugged and abused her multiple times.

The victim recalled one incident in which she awoke during a rape to discover the actor trying to smother her with a pillow.

By Muhammad Jameel Yusha’u, PhD

Apart from hosting us in their house during the Thanksgiving holiday, Danielle Callaway Njama and her husband, Philip Njama, booked a ticket for us to visit the National Museum of African American History in Washington DC. It was another rich historical voyage. I strongly recommend visiting the museum if you happen to be in Washington DC.

The museum, formally launched by President Barack Obama in 2016, documents the history of slavery and the unspoken contribution of Africans to European and American economies.

Walking through the floors of the museum, an air of historical insecurity, goosebumps, and lamentation engulfs you. As you read through the stories of how the enslaved Africans were transported to Europe and North America in chains and other inhuman conditions, you feel the blood of sympathy circumambulating in your veins.

While these thoughts were going through my mind, there was sudden silence among my family. I turned back, and my eldest daughter was in tears, struggling to hold her emotions while reading through the stories of Africans like Ayoub Suleiman from The Gambia, who was enslaved in Maryland, and Mahommah Baquaqua from Benin, who was sold in Brazil and transported to New York.

Being a student of economic development, I couldn’t miss the section in the museum that estimated the value of cotton produced by African Americans to $250,000,000 in 1861; and the value assigned to enslaved African Americans at $3,059,000,000 in 1860. What is the value in today’s terms?

This is a difficult history, but as I have discussed many times with friends and colleagues, Africans shouldn’t allow themselves to be the psychological prisoners of the trauma caused by slavery. Yes, it is difficult, but Africans must move forward with zeal and unparalleled determination to write a glorious chapter of their story no matter the odds against them. Creating a path to development is the antibiotic to economic dependency.

Takeaway: Torturous lessons of history are difficult to ignore. It is the lessons from history that help determined communities to write a glittering chapter for future generations.

Muhammad Jameel Yusha’u, PhD, is a candidate for a Mid-Career Master’s in Public Administration at Harvard University, John F Kennedy School of Government. He can be reached via mjyushau@yahoo.com.

By Muhammadu Sabiu

After conducting a survey in which the decision was barely supported by users, Twitter’s new owner Elon Musk announced that Donald Trump’s account had had the ban placed on it lifted.

Elon Musk set up a poll on the site on Saturday, asking users if they thought the former president should be permitted back onto the app.

A sizable majority of 52% of the more than 15 million users who took part in the poll voted to reinstall the former US president.

“The people have spoken. Trump will be reinstated,” Musk tweeted of the former US president’s account, which was banned last year after a mob of his supporters attacked the US Capitol.

By Ahmad Deedat Zakari

The Embassy of Nigeria in Qatar has advised Nigerians traveling for the World Cup to obey the rules and regulations of the host country.

The advice was contained in a statement signed by the embassy in Doha on Thursday.

“The Embassy wishes to strongly advise that Nigerians traveling for the soccer fiesta should endeavour to obey and respect the laws of the host country while in Qatar and ensure that they comply with all relevant guidelines/requirements for visiting fans before embarking on any trip” The statement read.

The statement further disabused the minds of Nigerians from any attempt to change the special world cup visa and entry permit to work visa. The embassy argued that it is not possible and Nigerians should not fall victims to unscrupulous elements.

“Moreso, the Embassy wishes to state unequivocally that the special world cup visa called Haya card and Entry permit cannot and will not be changed or transferred to work visa or permit. Nigerian should therefore not fall victim to unscrupulous elements spreading fake news in that regard to rip off innocent Nigerians” The statement further stated.

Nigeria did not qualify for the 2022 World Cup and will not be participating in the tournament.