Sheikh Yakub Mohammed Kazeem is a religious leader based in Abuja. Prior to his turbaning as Imam, he studied the Holy Qur’an for 12 years. Sheikh Kazeem is a liberal idealist who studied Computer Engineering at Abia State Polytechnic in the Southeast. He told IMPACT NEWS that his experience in the South East helped shaped his ideology about business. He bared his mind about sociopolitical issues in Nigeria. Excerpts;
Tell us about your journey to becoming an Imam.
Where I was born in Ibadan, mosque was built. My father was approached to be the Imam but because he was old, they decided that I should be the Imam. Meanwhile I was in Ibadan at that time to see my father. The community did not even tell me anything, they just bought the turban and all the needed things. I told them am only on a visit and I have no plan to relocate from Abuja, they insisted that they want me and I can have a deputy that will always stand in for me. I chose my deputy myself because I don’t want someone that will see the office as an avenue to make money. I put him on salary. That was how the journey to Imamship started in 2013. I usually go there frequently.
Imams, Sheiks, Priests, Pastors are posts not for money making. The position is meant for trading of the soul and not making money as we see it today.
So you believe being a clergy is not about making money?
It is about winning souls for God. Winning men, making people do the right things. Like you see today, everything in Nigeria is upside down. Because once the people in position of power steal money, it is the same priests, imam, pastors that they run to. Being an Imam for about eight years, I have rejected lots of offers from influential people. The problems we have in Nigeria today is not all about the politicians or our leaders, it is about the backbone they have which is the spiritual base.
Imamship, Pastoral, even those we call herbalists, their duties are to clean the land, fight evil. It is not for formality sake. As a clergy, you can have your business and another career but not to depend solely on the material proceeds from the office of the clergy.
Today you see religious leaders amassing wealth without any visible business, what is your take on this?
We were all in Nigeria when the former CAN President, Ayo Oritsejafor, was accused of being an agent of money laundering for the then government. He is not the only one but that is the one that was exposed by the media. That is what most of them are doing, because nobody scrutinised the account of these clergies.
It is not a crime to collect money from faithful that have the money to give. Even the Holy Book allows it. But not that I will be part of those that are looting. That is how most of these Muslim and Christian clergies amass their wealth. Living good is not bad but why will you buy jet when some of your members are not afford three square meals. When you live well consider the less privileged in your congregation. When you buy jets, are you living to fulfil the main purpose of your calling?
There are those who said religion is the source of our problem in Nigeria, especially insecurity in the North.
There is a normal saying that when you think education is expensive, try ignorance. The number of people that are ignorant in the North is a concern for pity. We have Christians and Muslims in the southwest and there are no issues because they are enlightened. In fact we have both religions in some families. One of my siblings is a Christian. My daughter who sat for WAEC the last time did Christian Religious Knowledge and she had A1. I can show you her result.
Once knowledge is missing in your life, then a lot of things will be missing. There are three things a man is supposed to have, you must have knowledge, mentors and form the habit of reading. I read a lot, it keeps your brain at work. The basis of religion is reading, they don’t read, that is the issue.
Today is Ed-el-Kabir, the number of Christians in my house now is more than the Muslims. Three of you here are Christians, the guys out there eating, only one of them is a Muslim, the others are Christians. It is not that I don’t have ‘jamas’ I can invite but I have days for them.
To teach people is a big problem. They don’t read, they don’t have mentors and they lack knowledge. A lot of people that go about with the Holy Qur’an do not know anything from the holy Qur’an, they are just preaching what others have told them.
Imagine during the era of President Jonathan, I learnt one Islamic cleric got four million naira to pray for Jonathan. Please what type of prayer will he pray? Is he God? My Qur’an tells me (quote from the Qur’an in Arabic) “Amongst men, they will argue with you, they argue with the Books”.
You cannot be complete if you don’t believe in the Bible as a Muslim. You cannot be complete if you don’t read the Qur’an as a Christian. Even some Christians do not read any other books apart from the Bible. That is the issue with the unrest in the North.
Nigeria is referred to as a religious country yet we have public officials who are either Christians or Muslims looting the treasury.
When Adam was in the garden he was enjoying with Eve. He was told not to touch a particular tree but he went ahead and ate from the tree and God chased him out of the garden. When God was casting him out He told him ‘Go and work to eat’. Satan that deceived Adam still told God that the generation of Adam will not follow God. There is an established evil for man even before we were born. We have people who are not godly but are religious. It doesn’t just happen to them like that. God has given us a directive.
The churches and the mosques are part of this embezzlement happening in Nigeria, when they embezzle, they take ten percent to the church, take part of the loot to their Sheikh. For instance I trade on bitcoins and I do forex, but there is a popular Sheikh in Southwest who declared that Bitcoin and forex is usury. He said it is a sin in Islam. But I have to enlighten them with the Qur’an. We failed to understand that knowledge is dynamic.
Our major problem in this country apart from the church and the mosques bring part of the looting is that we do not progress in knowledge. A friend of mine bought a book yesterday and I asked him how much it cost, he said it’s six thousand naira. When I got home I prayed for him because he has just invested in himself.
There are those who said politics is not for religious leaders and idealists, what is your take?
That is the mistake. Because idealists started the political journey in Nigeria. The little I read about Obafemi Awolowo and Nnamdi Azikwe. How they met in London, how they started with an idea, how they started with movement. How knowledge was able to push them to pull us from slave masters. That was how Nigeria emerged. Why will somebody now say it is not for idealists, is it because they changed everything?
When the likes of Awolowo talked, you will know they are people of God. Who amongst those people we have today will talk and you will feel God is speaking through them. They talk as if Nigeria is a joke. We should not relax and say politics is not for religious leaders, idealists and unionists. I ventured into unionism when I was 26 year-old and I saw hell.
I don’t buy into idea of religious leaders are not supposed to go into politics, idealists are not supposed to do politics but what they must understand is the dynamism of human beings. Politics have been snatched from idealists and those we are there now are jokers. But to say it is not for religious leaders and idealists is not true.
I want religious leaders, idealists, journalists and others to come together to form the real Progressives. In fact I need pastors that are like me, let us meet, let us put religious aside and discuss how to move this country forward.
Where do you see Nigeria in the next five years?
In the next five years if the right people do not come out to challenge this people, the kind of loot that will happen, the case of NDDC and others that are happening now would be child’s play.
Will you once again venture into politics?
There is nothing like full-time. Politics is a service that idealists and religious leaders should submit themselves to. Nothing like full-time politics. In Nigeria, it should be that if you don’t have what you are doing, you should not participate. Even if you don’t have anything else doing you should not occupy the office of a religious leader.
Why won’t I have intention? Jesus participated, the Prophet participated. If you are a man of God and you see evil and keep quiet you are a betrayal not only to God but to humanity.
