Thomas Carlyle says “of all acts of man, repentance is the most divine. The greatest of all faults is to be conscious of none”. Yet, Dr. Isah Ali Pantami who epitomises this sagacious entrée is today facing arguably the greatest travails of his life because he was conscious of his action, took responsibility for his past transgressions committed as it were during the days of youthful exuberance and hot-headedness; sought repentance before God and man, yet is deemed to still have fallen short of the glory of political jobbers, religious and tribal jingoists as well as their backers in the fraudulent front of Nigeria’s dubious business enterprise.
Well, there is a limit to what anyone can do to appease or massage the ego of a few who have abrogated to themselves preeminent powers, especially in a Nigeria where there is nothing more readily available than vicious hypocrites! The traducers of Pantami are relishing their chances of riding on the widespread hypocrisy in the land to whip up sentiments against the man.
By commissioning an assemblage of some of the lowest, vile and spineless hit mob, they are hoping to leverage on the short memory of their hallelujah crowd to incite well meaning Nigerians into believing that a man can never walk away from his previous choices. Like a bull facing a red scarf, these commissioned henchmen, e-rats and amateur influencers have been rallied into the barracks and whipped into a crazed frenzy and unleashed to complete the hatchet job in what appears to be a desperate, final push to oust the minister of communication and digital economy.
Before now, they have tried severally to pull the man down on the basis of his stewardship of arguably Nigeria’s most forward looking ministries. But, lost for any current sins with which to nail him, an excavation party was sent to the past to dig up his youth, for use as fodder for the fire upon which his head will be roasted. Unfortunately, however, they didn’t count on the overwhelming backlash they are receiving from Nigerians who saw through their schemes long before they were launched. Nigerians knew as far as they can remember, that no Nigerian leader has ever apologised for their past views however damaging they may be.
But, not only did Pantami take the high grounds of honour to denounce his past views, but in repentance, he accepted responsibility for whatever implications his youth-clouded and romanticised views of certain elements and movements had in his past. And this is what has endeared him to the masses for in accepting, then denouncing who he was, he reminded Nigerians of one of the most fundamental cannons of humanity – change. Pantami’s long haul in search of change is indeed worthy of emulation. From youthful fiery cleric, to the shores of the United Kingdom, then to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the man opened himself to the possibilities of a world far beyond his remote views on the things that truly matter not just to him and Nigerians, but to the true aspirations of anyone in search of progress and growth in the service of God and country.
By accepting the challenge to put himself out there and allow himself to truly see the other side of the divide, and by leaving the shores of this nation in search of clarity, the clarity which he found, and which helped him to re-access his choices not just as an Islamic cleric, but as a global citizen, he has outperformed and surpassed all his attackers can ever achieve. And, having seen the light, he consciously made the choice to never again return to his now obsolete, obnoxious and embarrassing views. If this is not enough lesson on how transient nature/men and the views they hold dear are, then I don’t know what is.
And, if the few e-vocalists who are now out to see the head of Pantami hanging at the end of a long pike at tribal or religious point can’t see how hard the man has beaten himself for his past choices, I believe we have a responsibility to point them to the place where rain started beating them, and I reckon it’s not here, and now, it’s definitely at the point where the man mounted his blind horse of efficiency and began to gallop very fast into Nigeria’s digital identity problems, scaling everyone at a time, with an efficiency and output that has become an albatross to their shady dealings.
So, nobody should attempt to insult our collective sensibilities by claiming that the call for his resignation or sacking has anything to do with his past views. It’s simply a poorly orchestrated linch job that we won’t allow to succeed. The days where the west has monopoly of media voices is long over. Whereas we can never sings eulogies for fanatics, we will never fold our arms and allow poorly educated folks with access to the media to have a field day attacking one of the brightest intellects of Nigeria who have risen to first conquer themselves, before excelling in their chosen career for God and country!
Ezra Taft Benson said, “The proud do not change to improve, but defend their position by rationalising. Repentance means change, and it takes a humble person to change” Pantami has demonstrated his humility beyond any reasonable doubt, but above all, he succumbed willingly to change, repented and still had the presence of mind to apologise not for his failure today, but for his views of yesterday. Anyone still too closely locked to unlock the lessons in this man’s life may never find illumination again, and it makes it futile to attempt to point them towards the light.
Emmanuel writes from Lagos
