AS the 2023 elections approach, there should be no passivity among the Muslims of the South-West and Nigeria in general.

The vice-chancellor of Ahman Pategi University, Patigi, Kwara State, Professor Mahfouz Adedimeji, made this submission last weekend while delivering the 29th Ramadan lecture of the University of Ibadan Muslim Community, held at the multipurpose hall of the university's central mosque.

Professor Adedimeji encouraged Islamic groups to have political agenda, just as he also advised them not to shy away from fielding the best of their best for public offices.

According to the don, one of the lessons embedded in the history of Islam is that Muslims cannot afford to be apathetic to political power.

At the lecture, chaired by an energy economist and former Commissioner for Works and Transport in Oyo State, Dr. Yunus Akintunde, Professor Adedimeji underlined the need for political revival, saying that as the next general election drew near, Muslims should identify their "permanent interests" and support candidates that would promote them.

"Passivity towards politics has to be jettisoned and the interest of Islam has to be paramount. One cannot drive a vehicle from the back seat and when evil men wrestle power through the ballot or bullets, good men would suffer," he said.

The lecturer, who discussed the topic 'Moving Forward is Glancing Backwards: Towards Regenerating a Degenerate Ummah', lamented that "a cursory look at the state of our world, in which Nigeria is a microcosm, fills one with disgust and horror."

He said: "There is an unimaginable and unexplainable degree of human suffering, sheer wickedness, gross brutality, and man's inhumanity to man which speaks to our degeneration despite our meretricious claim to civilisation.

"In Nigeria as a whole, including among the ummah, moral degeneration has resulted in all forms of atrocities that make life extremely Hobbesian.

"Apart from armed robbery, Nigeria is assailed by the evils of drug abuse, rape, kidnapping, ritual killing, hatred, bigotry, impunity, prostitution, baby factory syndrome, cultism, alcoholism, brigandage, and other forms of violence deepening the spectrum of insecurity and lawlessness.

"It has got so bad that the young and the old are not spared in the cesspool of immorality while criminality has made the road, the railway, and the air increasingly unsafe and unpredictable.

"In Nigeria, virtually everyone is religious. Yet, in spite of its religiosity, the country is characterised by all sorts of negativity that make one cringe in horror."

According to him, the way forward is for humanity and particularly the Muslim ummah to shun sins and obey Allah unconditionally by having strong faith in Him and abiding by Quranic teachings.

He urged Muslims to rediscover the values and principles that made the first generation of followers of Islam successful.

"There is the need for us to return to Allah with all sincerity. We should make our faith unshakable. So many things are happening today. We are dealing with many issues because of the absence of faith. We must realise that whatever challenges we are facing, Allah is in charge but that realisation would not happen except we rediscover the beauty of Islam and we live according to its letter," he added.