Detained Nigerian female Muslim pilgrims: Saudi Authorities deserves commendation.

Stating my happiness as regards the detained female pilgrims by the Saudi Authorities may seem mischievous or perhaps hideous, but the reality of the matter is that it gladdened my heart when i heard the news. Since i have known Nigeria, her people are very reckless when it comes to obeying rules and regulations. They always want to believe that there are shorter cuts to be taking in almost everything. Today in Nigeria, a lot of things have gone wrong simply because they flout all rules and regulations, even the constitution is leastly obeyed.

I have read various comments and listened to arguments from individuals including government officials saying that Saudi Arabia shouldn’t have done what they did. Why shouldn’t they? If there law says any Muslim pilgrim coming over to there country must be accompanied by a “Maharam” (male companion) then that law has to be obeyed to the later if you must travel to that country. There is no two ways about it. You signed an MoU, so you should be able to know what the MoU states and apply it in every of your dealings with the involved party.

Personally speaking, Nigerian government looks stupid for giving the Saudi Authorities an ultimatum. In fact, what will they do assuming they completely refuse to release the detained pilgrims? Are you going to threaten them by saying you will withdraw the supply of oil, when they have a well purified oil themselves? There are things that are fight-worthy, issues like Bakassi Peninsula, not something of this nature. I would have giving kudos to Nigerian government if they had asked the Saudi Authorities to go ahead and sanction the offenders and release them at will. One thing we have failed to understand is that corruption are of different categories, its not only when money is stolen, its also when you fail to stand up for what is just. We should learn to chastise wrong doing.

One of the male pilgrims who returned with few of the deported female pilgrims said he decided to come back with the female because his wife was not allow entry even though he was with her, He went further to say that he suspected that the Saudi Authorities denied the entry because her passport was not bearing his name but her father’s name. Doesn’t that say it all? I mean, why would they allow her entry? How else are they to satify her legit if not through the means of identification she presented? There is basically no way the man can prove that she’s married to him when her means of identification is carrying another man’s name.

This should serve as a warning to the Nigerian government as well as Nigerians. Charity begins at home, let our laws apply to us, in such a way, it can be extended outside. Just as the Saudi Authorities did not give preferencial treatment to anyone, Nigerian government should also learn not to bend the rule when it comes to foreigners in Nigeria.