Eid-ul Adha: To Mourn or to Celebrate? -By Abdulkadir Salaudeen

We are certainly in the season of festival. Our living conditions cannot change the reality. Whether one is able to slaughter sacrificial animal or not cannot stop one from celebrating. It is that season of the year in which people, who are hitherto too busy and unavailable, find time to rejoice with family and friends. People travel far and near in the spirit of festivity. If not for fear of oversimplification, one would be tempted to say humans are  by nature hedonistic. While Islam frowns at excessive pleasure-seeking (as hedonists would like to), it allows occasional celebration. It can be said that celebration is integral to every civilization. Since Islam is a civilization, Eid-ul Adha is a major celebration within Islamic civilization.

Therefore, Muslims all over the world should be in a festive mood. But are we really in a festive mood? It is difficult to say yes when one thinks of the Palestinian Muslims in Gaza. How can homeless people who were forced, and still being forced, out of their homes celebrate? In addition to being homeless, many Palestinian Muslims have lost their loved ones under the most gruesome circumstances at the hands of Zionists, while the world stands by idly.” To the Palestinian Muslims, and this is understandable, this Eid-ul Adha festival might be meaningless. May the Almighty grant them relief and bring them succour.

If the Palestinians are far away from us, and some of us probably hardly think about them, can we spare a minute to think about the flood victims in Mokwa town in Niger State? What happened to them is a calamity that is too heavy to bear. That of Maiduguri is still fresh in our memories. As far as I know, no one is held responsible for the collapsed dam in Maiduguri despite the huge ecological fund allegedly provided for its repair.

Here again, after some months and before our eyes, hundreds of people became victims of flood. The incident was said to have occurred following a heavy downpour that reportedly lasted for about 18 hours. The surrounding settlements, farmlands, homes and infrastructure were submerged, leaving residents who should be celebrating Eid-ul Adha in a mourning mood. Many lost family members. Over 2,000 houses were reportedly destroyed and the displaced people could only be counted in thousands. Death toll has risen to about 200. Someone reportedly lost seven children. One of the  hardest hit is a man who lost 14 members of his family to the raging flood.

We read that Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved immediate release of N2bn to begin the reconstruction of homes destroyed by the recent devastating flood in Mokwa, Niger State. He also promised to donate 20 trucks of food items to victims. This is a good gesture from the President, provided it isn’t a promise made on paper and announced to the public for people to think that he cares.

I commiserate with the victims of flood in Mokwa, the people of Niger State, and their governor. It is high time our rulers learnt to be proactive. Their reactionary approach to preventable calamities is not good enough. It should be noted that it is more economical—in monetary terms—and wiser for rulers who are guided by wisdom to prevent calamities before they occur; not to react when they occur.

So, before our clerics mount the pulpit to say it is a divine punishment and that people should stop sinning to prevent future flood, let me quickly remind the government—what it already knows but perhaps has forgotten—before another calamity strikes. There is need for the construction of drainage. Waste management is very important as its mismanagement leads to blockage of drainages where drainages exist and obstructs the flow water especially when it rains. Our towns and cities should be well planned.

The focus should not only be on Abuja— especially areas that are typically first sighted by foreigners as their aircrafts prepare to land on the Nigerian soil via Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja. Physical structures are habitually mounted on waterways due to lawlessness or ineffective laws. This causes blockage of waterways and leads to flood when there is heavy downpour. This is what our clerics naively and ridiculously describe as God’s punishment–a punishment that often targets only the poor and the oppressed.

I am using this medium to call on the well-to-do Nigerians—with good hearts—to come to the aid of these victims. We can make them feel some ease by supporting them in this period of festivity even as they count their losses. They desperately need our support. The government cannot do it alone even if she so wishes. It is a calamity—a burden—that is too calamitous to be managed by the government. In case there are no enough funds, I advise the Federal Government to suspend the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway and deploy resources to flood-prone areas in various states of the federation to save lives. Because the next flood disaster might be more disastrous than what was witnessed in Mokwa. The warnings are loud enough for proactive actions if we had a responsible government.

The Nigerian Meteorological Agency has raised the alarm of heavy rainfall and flooding in several states in 2025 and raised concerns about high possibility of cholera outbreaks in those states. In its 2025 Seasonal Climate Prediction released on Monday, NiMET identified Lagos, the Federal Capital Territory, Kaduna, Ebonyi, Cross River, Abia, and Akwa Ibom as states that are mostly at risk. Prevention is always better than cure.

This column should also serve as an admonition to Nigerian federal civil servants who are yet to be paid their May salaries, especially the Muslims among them who might not happily celebrate Eidul Adha. Many have complained that this Muslim-Muslim Government seems to be deliberately punishing the Muslims. Hmm! It was a similar case two months ago when the end of March coincided with Eidul Fitr (end of Ramadan) festival and the government refused to pay till after the festival.

Well, their complaints are legitimate. I am suspicious of this Muslim-Muslim Government too. But thinking of Mokwa flood victims, one can only thank God for not being paid salary on the 37th of May than being flood victims. I may be wrong, but I think it is better to be modern slaves–which civil servants have now become–under Tinubu than being displaced and camped as IDPs under terribly humiliating conditions.

Some thought I was harsh on the Muslim–Muslim Government in my last week column titled “Under Tinubu, Don’t Ask Anyone if they are Fine”. I am not harsh. I have only refused to be a religious bigot. In that column, I wrote: “As Muslims set to celebrate the Eidul Adha festival next week Friday (6th of June), the civil servants among them are not sure if the Muslim-Muslim Government would pay them their May salaries at the end of the month.”

I continued: “This is not because the month of May wouldn’t have ended before the festival but because months in Nigeria, at times, do extend to about 40 days.” I then concluded the paragraph with: “We are in deep mess.” Are we not in deep mess? Did I exaggerate that months could be forty days under President Tinubu? I am vindicated.

Today (Friday) is 37th of May. There would be public holiday on Monday. Federal civil servants that would be lucky to have their salaries paid on Tuesday would have had them on the 41st of May. Read the title of this column again: “Eid-ul Adha: To Mourn or to Celebrate?” I will gladly receive your response in my email address below.

May the Almighty God ease the affairs of Mokwa victims, the Palestinian Muslims, Nigerian ‘modern slaves’, and all those in pain. Eidul Mubarak. May we witness many blessed years.

Abdulkadir Salaudeen

salahuddeenabdulkadir@gmail.com