THE National Assembly of Nigeria is made up of 360 members in the House of Representatives and 109 in the Senate. Consider this: 300 of them have "obtained" visa for this year's Hajj. Is that possible?

Even if the Amir-Ul-Hajj - Dimeji Bankole - wants to go to Hajj with all the Muslim members of the NASS, do we have 300 Muslim members?

Reports reaching me is putting our reputation again under intense doubts. I do not know who to blame but investigation will have to be made into how this year's Hajj visa have been made after the Hajj has been conducted.

No official journalist will make the Hajj this year and this is despite the fact that 18 slots were given to them. The slots were reduced to six auspiciously under pressure. But the journalists will have no visa as the Saudi Arabians said, as at November 24, 2008, the visa applications have closed.

The Amir-Ul-Hajj request for 77 people were not met. Only 10 requests sailed through.

The impression that has been created has been that the lawmakers have allegedly hijacked the visas for their cronies and non-Muslim girlfriends and mistresses.

This cannot be the whole story. Because you can find agents of whoever on the streets of Abuja hawking passports with visas for between N250,000 and N300,000, according to our findings. Our finding is that all passports have been issued. NAHCON should be able to enlighten us about that.

Honours have been even with the appointment of Dimeji Bankole as the Amir-Ul-Hajj this year and Teslim Folarin, Senate Majority Leader for last year. The Hajj has been politicised enough. Religion must go to where it probably belongs - the religious people.

The Sultan of Sokoto is by consensus the leader of Muslims in this country. This is apart from the fact that he is also a traditional ruler. He is in a position to know the Islamic society very well and should be saddled with the naming of who the Amir-Ul-Hajj should be from year to year.

When it comes to matters of religion, politics should give way to religious leadership. Politicians can lead Federal Government delegations to Hajj.

Summit of Talakawas

BLESS his soul. Aminu Kano of NEPU, a first generation politician, opened our consciousness to the Talakawas. For that, he formed the NEPU and it became the party of the masses. It is not that we were not aware before he founded his party.

It is probably that he could not take it any longer and sought official attention for it. This, he probably could not get under the NPC.

Since Aminu Kano, poverty has overtaken every part of this country but it seems it has been preponderant in the Northern parts.

More people refused to go to school but to scavenge for food; more people did not use the doctors and preferred to go blind or leprous; more preferred to beg than the dignity of work. Or so I think. Because of the ballooning population, the situation gets worse and that is why the Talakawas Summit has more relevance in today's polity.

All the blue print for improving our Talakawas state are in the archives of government. I do not know where the government overhauled its poverty alleviation programme from except billions of Naira went into the pockets of the Nigerian politicians only to enhance poverty of the people.

The truth is that the people concerned were not invited to discuss their state. Those who came were the buxom civil servants and politicians who have their eyes on the coming elections.

To boot, they returned with pockets loaded with naira as allowances for their trouble. Jigawa was a part of the old Kano State - a state proverbial for its very poor people. No wonder Jigawa held its own Talakawa Summit.

Farouk Adamu Aliyu, ex-MP in the House of Representatives poo-hooed the summit in Jigawa. I do not know that Sule Lamido, governor of the state has faith in the summit held by the government. It is yet to be seen if the summit will yield any fruits.

Comrade governor

THE Sultan of Sokoto visited the South-East and Benin-City the last few days. He only went back to Sokoto last Sunday. He was in Enugu, Uli, Ihiala and Benin-City.

He is the chancellor of the University of Benin and in that capacity, he paid a courtesy call on the Edo State governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole. Not a man to miss an opportunity to say his mind, he did so eloquently. He matched Oshiomhole candour for candour.

Alhaji Sa'ad Abubakar III, saw the triumphant governor as our version of the United States president-elect, Barack Obama.

And he counselled: "Like Obama, you cannot afford to fail the people of Edo State." He told him: What the people needed at this time, is good leadership and visionary leaders to give them good governance. Oshiomhole, he said, has a heavy burden to carry.

He went spiritual: "Questions", he said, "would be asked whenever you meet your Creator, because of the mammoth support you received from the people."

He spoke of justice and hoped he (Adams) will do justice to all manner of men. "Since God gave you justice, also give your followers justice."

The people, he said, have every right to ask questions on the mandate they gave to him. I do not believe, like His Eminence, that some civil servants would be happy now that they have a comrade for governor.

They are indolent, time-serving and given to taking advantage of the system.

They may not go on strike as the Sultan observed. They may be his bane. Some of them are like lepers: they cannot milk the cow but they can spill the milk. In concert, they have milked the system with the politicians.

Oshiomhole will do well to look about him.

Oshiomhole wants to do well. Carry all with him in the task of giving us a better society. To him, as he put it, much is given, much will be expected..

He has had justice and benefitted a lot from their (people) goodwill. The natural thing is to expect their cooperation. I pray he succeeds.