As seen in a viral photo, only Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari appeared differently in a group photograph with 50 African leaders in a just concluded United State-African Leaders Summit in Washington, D.C. In the group picture, Mr President was seen at back end of the third row wearing long blue kaftans, though he deserved to be in middle near the US President Joe Biden, as a president of the most powerful, populous and rich nation in Africa.
This praise-worthy act by Mr President has earned him respect and appreciations from the four corners of the world. Our nation’s president distinguished himself by being the only one wearing beautiful traditional dress of Hausa tribe borrowed from North Africa worn mostly during wintry season by rich and royal title holders. A man threw banters to the rest of African leaders wearing suits saying, “African leaders without symbol of Africanessness”.
However, last week, Mr President reached a milestone of 80 years old. Hale and hearty as good and strong as any Iroko tree in the midst of rain forest. We pray to God to bless him and his posterity. May God continue to strengthen his efforts and direct his hands in building the people and the nation.
In this winding year 2022, Qatar played host to the biggest football competition in the world. Indeed, FIFA World Cup is the most popular sporting event in the world. It attracts millions of viewers, media coverage, ticket selling, sponsorship deals, and physical spectators in stadia like no other sport in the whole world. Perhaps, that is why football governing body FIFA sanctions anyone who capitalises on the competition to exploit it for political gains.
But Qatar World Cup bid 2022, since inception was mixed up with all political propaganda. So much uproars and disagreement were unleashed since 2010 on the small Arab Gulf nation. Criticism arising from deaths or mistreatment of migrant workers, bribing officials to win hosting ticket, poor human right records of LGBTQ community, banning and sale of alcohol and prostitution. The focal point of the criticism was to deny Qatar the right to host the competition or instigate some countries to pull out from the competition all together.
But luckily the funfair of the just concluded World Cup has never been seen in any country that hosted the mundial before. And no one predicted the success yet enthralling the World Cup from the Qataris. The tournament ended in a spectacular match played between Argentina and France which amused and enthralled everyone around the world. Argentina defeated France in a penalty shootout clinching their third World Cup title.
King of Qatar Tamim bin Hamad showed to the world Arab values of gift-giving and hospitality. Football star Lionel Messi has set an unassailable record unattained by current generation of footballers. For lifting the World Cup, King Tamim confered on the football star ‘Bist’, a garb used traditionally to honour an Arab hero. Qatar became an actor portraying to the entire world true values of Arab nations. ‘Gulf Bist’ is known as valuable gown worn by kings, religious leaders, royal family members and important persons.
The glamorous funfair in Qatar is magnificent and unheard of in history. For the first time in the World Cup, a winning Argentine team celebrates in a bus between fans in a country other than their own with all Arabian traditions of horses, drums, swords and Arabian beautiful songs chanted in the street of Doha, the nation’s capital.
One significant thing is that Qatar resisted cultural imperialism over its people. They said, “Football is a universal game. So we shall participate without mixing it with Western values.” It is contrary what is said on them, they assert their cultural identity in the face of all lies told about them. Though, it appears the West did not want the event to be successful, but all the way, it was a spectacular football World Cup that ever happened.
All the stadia made provision for saying prayer and preaching. Palestinian cause was vividly visible everywhere. You can say 32 teams participated in the World Cup, including Palestine which made it 33. Waving the flags is a symbol of Morocco and many spectators. It has become a way if showing solidarity with the occupied and the oppressed Palestine.
You can say Qataris do not bother on-pitch success of their national team. They just hosted the World Cup on behalf of Arab nations displaying thei cultural heritage to the rest of the world that, “This is me, not like you’re watching Hollywood movies”. Islamic scholars who speak major languages of the world and preachers were invited to demonstrate the true picture of the religion; they are to explain Islamic religion practiced by 95% of Arabs.
This Qatari hosting the World Cup is much more than a game but it is an image-making activity. Like they are saying to the world if that is a superior culture to you, we also have what is ours, we have ours, so respect us don’t import it into our country.
Because many around the world are shrouded in the lies and propaganda, there are those who had never experienced or come in contact with an Arab nation until the Qatar World Cup. Through this encounter they have a chance to live in Arab societies, and their perspective has changed forever. It was said so many accepted Islam as a new-found way of life.
On the eve of the World Cup, many could recall FIFA boss, Gianni Infantino, castigated the West and Europe for their ‘hypocrisy’. For hundred years they committed atrocities to most people of the world.
He stated, “We have been taught many lessons from the Europeans and the Western world. I am European. For what we have been doing for 3,000 years around the world, we should be apologising for the next 3,000 years before giving moral lesson”. He dropped a bombshell saying, “This one-sided moral lesson is just hypocrisy. I wonder why no-one recognises the progress made here since 2016”.
Truly, there is hypocrisy of the West by trying to impose morality upon other people of the world, while becoming immoral themselves. For hundred years they enslaved people of Africa, shipped many to their plantation in Caribbean and Latin America, and killed so many.
They killed Indigenous Americans and their culture, and grabbed their lands, plundered their resources, forced them into hash labour. Evils of colonialisation and all forms of exploitation of people and their resources is a mark of colonial history in Africa and Latin America.
Lastly, the late Abubakar Gimba, in his poem titled “Freedom Amok”, May God grant him eternal mercy, has this to say about the West and European:
Why judge the world by the beliefs you hold/And refuse to have their stories told/All in the name of freedom of the press?
Adam writes from Kano via [email protected], @realadn
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