Category Archives: Terrorism

A Country Called Nigeria (Part 1)

A Country Called Nigeria (Part 1)

Written By Adeola Aderounmu

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The rest of the world is making giant strides and the rate of global development is amazing. It is like a race to perfection, a sort of paradise on earth. Nigeria is not having the same goals as other developed countries of the world. This can be expressed and proved in more than a million words.

It is this same sad story that we have been writing about since time immemorial. But it appears that for some of us, we have to keep writing about it. For so many other people, the happenstance called Nigeria is the only life they know. What if they knew better? What will become of Nigeria if the people who write about the ills in that relegated country stop writing? How low can Nigeria descend?

Politics and Elections.

Politically, Nigeria is backward. The so-called president of Nigeria in the person of Mr. Buhari is an epitome of the decay and outright foolishness that is displayed as politics in Nigeria. Buhari has almost no education, forged a certificate to contest, and in the last 4 years (2015- 2019) have shown that he is more interested in power than in performances.

The 2019 presidential election conducted under his watch is nothing but a disgrace to the human race.

The elections in Nigeria are disgraceful for so many reasons. The ruling party, the APC cheated. The main opposition, the PDP, also had been involved in electoral frauds since 1999. The policemen and soldiers were active and played decisive roles in the outcome of the elections. The greatest disappointments in electoral matters in Nigeria lie with the electoral body called INEC and the electorates-the people who have also become zombified by a largely fraudulent system.

INEC executed a manual system that is ridiculous and laughable. In the 21st century approaching the 22nd, Nigerians cannot count themselves in a successful census and Nigerians cannot line up and be counted on elections days. They have not even dreamt of an automated system based on the social security number system. Nigeria is far from civilization where it mattered most.

 

Infrastructure: Roads, Water and Electricity

I have been running this blog since 2006. One of the biggest issues on this blog is the dearth of infrastructure in Nigeria. How can anyone believe that there is no electricity in Nigeria? How can you reckon with the absence of water that should be provided by state and federal governments? Do you know that some of the worst roads in the world are in Nigeria? Go and check out Badagry-Oshodi expressroad or Agbara road linking to Ogun state.  These are not even roads anymore, they are the longest stretch of deathtraps l have seen in my entire life.

One day l was reading through an old post where l reflected on the speech of Mrs. Clinton during her short visit to Nigeria. In her words, she said “when you hear Nigeria, you think wao! everywhere is electrified!”. But sadly, many years after her visit, Nigeria is still not electrified by electricity. The country is electrified instead by evil, kidnapping and terrorism. Then you start to think, “what kinds of morons are running the country”? Where is their shame? Where are their senses? Do they even have brains?

 

 (To be continued. Part 2 coming up soon).

 

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The Nigerian Genocide Under The Watch Of Buhari

If you defend yourself, you can live to tell the story. If you do not defend yourself, other people will tell your story and they will not tell the true story.

The Nigerian Genocide Under The Watch Of Buhari

By Adeola Aderounmu

There is a lot of massacre going on in Nigeria. The people of Nigeria need to react and start nationwide protests (where/if necessary). The rest of the world should stop acting dumb and deaf. All the groups that are under siege depending on their ethnicity and religion need to start defending themselves properly. In some situations, we have seen Christians (and non-Christians) massacred senselessly, and I think it is about time they took up arms and defend themselves. If you defend yourself, you can live to tell the story. If you do not defend yourself, other people will tell your story and they will not tell the true story.

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The terrorists are enjoying massive support and logistics from the APC government.

The terrorist activities of Boko Haram are well documented. They are controlling a substantial part of northern Nigeria, probably up to 15% or more. When Buhari said in 2015, through his minister of information, one notorious liar called Lai Mohammed, that Boko Haram had been technically defeated, (false) optimism was raised.

Today, in 2019, Boko Haram is one of the deadliest terrorist groups in the word having free movements and free flow of arms and weaponry into Nigeria through the undefined and unprotected borders. The Nigerian army has been severely disgraced and defeated several times by the terrorists.

But the rage of genocide in Nigeria under the watch of Buhari has grown massive tentacles.

Rather than label all terrorists as terrorists, the Buhari government developed fanciful and distractive names for them. Names like bandits and Fulani herdsmen have emerged. Even Miyeti Allah.

In reality these are all terrorist organizations and they found great fertility under the APC-Buhari mandate since 2015. Nigeria is in a serious soup as the jihadist movements expanded greatly in the last 4 years. Several communities in the middle belt of Nigeria that were originally occupied by predominantly Christians have been sacked and transformed to Islamic communities. In extreme situations, the names of some communities have changed.

Under Buhari, several communities have been wiped away or displaced and the level of outrage has been disappointing. Several reasons can be responsible for this muted acceptance or state of silence locally and internationally. But the evil cannot be swept away under the carpets, not for long though.

In Nigeria, the government has been so irresponsible that in the eyes of the people, there is no government. Since the existence of the people have been reduced to survival of the fittest, there are no more outrages as people’s state of mind have returned to the barbaric stone age.

When Buhari said in 2015, through his minister of information, one notorious liar called Lai Mohammed, that Boko Haram had been technically defeated, (false) optimism was raised.

So it’s like the acronym, all man to himself and [God] for us all. But this is sad, that the security of lives and property lost its nomenclature and became nationally declassified.

As it is in Nigeria today, staying alive is a miracle and no longer a right. I will not be able to highlight all the atrocities and anomalies that terminate lives daily in Nigeria. But the recent (2019) elections where several lives were lost because invariably the elections became a show of force and in some cases an open war between the ruling party and the oppositions, tell a lot.

The police brutality, the army brutality, the road accidents, the collapse of buildings, kidnapping, assassinations, daylight murders, cult wars, and several vices that ought to be abominable and condemnable have disrupted the normal psyche of the average Nigerian. Fighting for one’s personal survival have become the first law of living in Nigeria.

So, if Boko Haram razed down a whole community in Maiduguri or if Fulani Herdsmen shot dead 50 people in Plateau including pregnant women and children, the people in Ogun State will go to church and give thanksgiving that they are alive. But now the genocide has moved south and the people of Ogun are also bracing for the murders ahead.

Quite undeterred, the terrorists either as Boko Haram or Miyetti Allha will continue with their Islamic agenda, razing down one community after the other. Some states like Benue are worst hit! The people who have not been hit are still giving thanks. Soon they will learn to take arms to defend themselves. That is the only way to survive a terrorist situation when the government appears to be the sponsor.

Soon, Nigerians will know that staying alive is not about being at the right place at the tight time or the wrong place at the wrong time. Staying alive when the government is in support of terrorism will soon become a regional battle and the breakup of Nigeria may become inevitable, unless the APC- led government of Buhari and Osinbajo stop the herdsmen and BH.

 

Over the years, education has been truncated. I mean public education where it should be compulsory and basic. More than 15 million Nigerian children may be out of school. In government, criminals are over represented making the case for education less attractive. Buhari is not educated and so are several persons across Nigeria occupying sensitive and public positions. People of low mentalities, sometime zero mentalities are leading Nigeria to the gutters.

Today the security of Nigeria is heavily tilted, with nearly all the service chiefs from the core north of Nigeria. Buhari is the most dangerous nepotic person alive in the world today. The ruling party is a sham and a complete disgrace to humanity and the case for freedom, democracy and development of the human mind. Rather than wage a war of terrorism, the service chiefs are getting fatter on contracts of weapons that never buy. They are building and buying properties in Dubai. This country, Nigeria, is cursed from beyond!

Where do we go from here?

Buhari needs to be stopped. He can’t rule Nigeria for the next 4years. In terms of security and the protection of life and property, which is the first duty of any government, this APC government is not working. The people of Algeria recently forced their president to resign totally from politics. The same fate should be meted to a man as incompetent as Buhari.

 

The terrorists masquerading as herdsmen must be stopped. They are not herdsmen if they carry weapons. They are not herdsmen if they can re-group at short notice and overtake other people’s communities at will. This is Jihad. The Nigerian Christians must equip their people and churches to resist further Jihadist expansion. They must fight to reclaim the stolen lands and villages. Beyond religion, every ethnic group in Nigeria owes it to their ancestors and future generations to protect their heritage and future. These are non-negotiable acts of existence.

The people of Nigeria need to renegotiate their collective existence. That is the best way to get rid of Boko Haram totally. When the problem becomes the problem only of the North, l am sure they will strategize to either defeat Boko Haram or incorporate the organization as its legal army. This cat and mouse game must end someway. It should not cost the East, West or South a dime. The Northern elites invented Boko Haram the same way the Southern elites invented the militants. In a separate and self-determining system, every region would either deal with its problem or perish with them

All these stupid talks about weapons from Libya would be stopped if the North is going to be consumed by it. But when it is used as an expansionist agenda to take over the middle belts and probably subdue the rest of Nigeria under a unitary system of government, the north care less. When we are separate, we will be readier to defend out territories.

 

But before then, from now, the rest of Nigeria needs to take up arms to defend itself because the BUHARI government is not going to do that. It has never done that, it will never do it.

There are many ways and many opinions on these issues and of course many think that Nigeria should remain as one country. But if you have tried something from 1966 to 2019 and it didn’t work, what is the probability that it will ever work? As a mathematician and a scientist, my opinion is that both empirical and practical issues must go hand in hand and for Nigeria the outcome of a unitary system of government remains a disaster.

It is time to renegotiate Nigeria, peacefully. The jihadist movement will not work. It did not work before, it will not work now or in the future. And when the dust is settled, Nigerians must make haste to prosecute all the military men under whose watch genocide have been perpetrated unabated. You know them, we know them.

aderounmu@gmail.com

Twitter @aderinola

Instagram @thygloryonigeria

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nigeria 2019 Elections

Nigeria 2019 Elections

By Adeola Aderounmu

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Nigeria 2019 Elections

On february 16 2019 Nigerians will have a chance to chart a new course for their lives.

The saddest thing about this 2019 election is that even the international community regard it as a tussle between the 2 criminal organisations called APC and PDP.

In a widely accepted international perspective, Mr. Atiku who is running on the platform is regarded as an international criminal. So the question is, why is a criminal running for the position of the president in the first place? Is he not supposed to be cooling off in prison in Nigeria or the United States where his partners in crimes are serving jail terms or have served their terms?

The incumbent, Mr. Buhari is a hardcore tyrant who has no respect for democratic principles. He is unintelligent, unschooled, brutal and very corrupt. All the criminals in the opposition party PDP who crossed to APC had their sins forgiven according to the party chairman, one Adams Oshiomhole who is also alleged to have stolen monies from the government office in Edo State.

It is very sad that Nigerians and the world made this a contezt between 2 criminals leading 2 criminal organisations. The verdict is that Nigerians will become poorer if either wins and corruption will rise to a new height in the country.

How can a country that prides itself as the giant of Africa continue to parade criminals in government? Why are the people so passive and reluctant to carry out a revolution either though the ballot or in another way? Why is it impossible to remove the immunity clause that allow these criminals to enjoy their loots and even persist in government to carry out more stealing? Is it a curse to be a Nigerian?

It would have been more rewarding for the international community to spread their search light on the 3rd largest party in Nigeria which is the AAC whose candidate Omoyele Sowore through the #takeitback movement is vying for the office of the president as well. There are other candidates that could have been given the coverage like Fela Durotoye and one Kingsley Moghalu who served in the Central Bank under the wasteful PDP regime.

It would be a shame if APC or PDP wins on Saturday because Nigerian youth ought to be well organised and ready to take the country into the future. Buhari and Atiku have been around, stealing and looting for too long without consequences and they ought to be shown the way out.

Why are Nigerian youths not using the power of youth?

The roads are long to freedom.

First, Nigeria needs a new set of people in government. The country needs people who are young, vibrant and without criminal records like the prominent APC and PDP politicians.

Secondly the country is in dire need of a new system of government. The regional system of government that was truncated un 1966 promoted development and growth for Nigeria. The unitary system of government is senseless and useless and it will continue to promote corruption, unemployment, ineptitude, useless federal character and the promotion of mediocrity above common sense and merits.

So it is a long road for Nigeria that is more than 200 years behind the civilised world. 200 years because electricity is absent in Nigeria. There are no good roads (in the places l live and travel in western Nigeria), there are no public schools and the health facilities are near zero.

With more years for APC and PDP, Nigeria will get worse and the people will remain the poorest people in the world.

If Nigerians fail to dismiss APC and PDP this february especially at the presidential elections, they would have chosen to remain slaves in their own country. They would have chosen to remain under the oppressors and the cabals who see Nigeria as an entity to be captured and milked to death.

Terrorism will rise and insecurity will reach a new height. Unemployment will remain rife. It will never be well for nigeria as long as APC and PDP type of politicians dominate and rule the land. How these realities are not obvious to the general public is a worrisome development.

We have been on this issue since 1960 and latest since 1999 when we thought we found a new democracy.

We will be back here in 2013 writing about these same issues in exactly the same way if we stick with the same ways of doing things. We have the opportunity to write about these things in another 4 years if we elect new people with new ideas. The choices are crystal clear.

If Nigeria does not kick our APC and PDP this february, the world will be seeing the greatest tragedy of the 21st century after the world wars coming into full bloom.

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The Dangers Of Hypocrisy

I am still looking for those who resigned and blew the whsitle when Jonathan and his crew (both in PDP and APC) were looting the treasuries. I am now looking for those who are going to leave the Buhari government and blow the whistle (both in the APC and PDP) as a result of the budget padding and scandalous national/state security situation. Mr. Buhari himself should have resigned along with Lai Mohammed for misleading the world when they stated at the end of december 2015 that they had defeated Boko Haram.

The Dangers Of Hypocrisy By Adeola Aderounmu

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Adeola Aderounmu

There are no limits to the repercussions of hypocrisy. It is worse when the hypocrisy runs parallel with lies and propaganda. Two other dimensions that can worsen the situation is the spread and the acceptance of hypocrisy as a trait or norm within a political structure or among the people of a country.

As you read this essay the banks in Switzerland are still sending more and more of the monies stolen by one famous Nigerian criminal called Sani Abacha. He was unfortunately a former dictator in Nigeria whose death remains a subject of controversy.

Despite the fact that his loots are finding their ways back to Nigeria (since the regime of Obasanjo), Nigeria’s current president Mr. Buhari is yet to acknowledge that Abacha was in fact a criminal. This hypocrisy is dangerous and heart wrenching. This singular denial also shocks me when people say Buhari is not corrupt. I don’t understand how people don’t see the links.

Invariably the act of being a hypocrite extends to hangers-on of political associations. It cut across and destroys the consciences of both the enlightened and the disenfranchised as well as the educated and the ignorant. If Nigeria finally implodes, hypocrisy will not be left out as one of the diseases that sunk her.

If you listen keenly to Femi Adeshina you will find an example of a person who lost his mind and threw away his conscience to the lagoon all in the name of having a job and earning a mega pay. There were (before him) people like Reuben Abati, Reno Omokri and Segun Adeniyi. With him is a guy called Ogunlesi who thinks the rest of us are ordinary lower animals.

In my exposure to other countries where several of these spokesmen have also lived or visited before relocating to Aso rock, there is always a limit or threshold to how long an aide can defend a boss or get enveloped in the same cycle of ignobility.

What happens to the ability to resign or walk away to save one’s good image? Invariably my conclusion is simple: it takes a rogue to defend a rogue in matters of public accountability. It also takes selfishness and wickedness to turn blind eyes to the realities on ground in the daily existences of Nigerians.

Like l mentioned above, the realm of hypocrisy in Nigeria is massive. Therefore it is unforgiving that even professor Osinbajo lately said APC is not a corrupt government. But he is fully aware that APC integrated into its fold former PDP looters and existing APC looters. Their common saving grace is the unforgiving failure of the justice system in Nigeria. I always maintain that Nigerian laws remain useless as far as criminal politicians continue to rule Nigeria.

Osinbajo also said that APC is more honest than PDP. Since when did accountability to the people become a relative term? APC is confused. When the spree of murders and genocide escalated under this regime, APC stated that more people died during Jonathan’s PDP regime. My understanding of that conclusion is that the Nigerian life is worthless. Why else would number of deaths be comparative?

Late afromusic king Fela warned us many years ago about all those that do bad things in the names of their religious lords. We did not listen. We are still not paying attention.

Today l am neither for the APC nor for the PDP. I will go for a new orientation. It is about time people understood my stance nearly 12 years into this act of blogging. I stand for good government only. My inherent hatred for corruption and lack of independent reasoning have no bounds and it has no connection to religious or non-religious morality.

By a manner of another perspective and changing lanes, when next you read a criticism of the Buhari government from Reno Omokri, help me ask him where he was when Mrs. Jonathan and Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke where emptying the Nigerian treasury under the watchful eyes of Jonathan. Of course he would call it propaganda.

It is the same way everything was propaganda in the eyes of Segun Adeniyi of the Yar Adua regime. Now all you read here is propaganda for Mr. Adeshina. Wait for him to be out of the corridor of power. We saw Reuben Abati out, in and out again.

My take on some hypocrites is that they actually have their criminal minds before participating in all these serial governments of looters. How many more hypocrites and pretenders are going to emerge in 2019 if we don’t break this cycle of national madness?

I don’t even appreciate the headlines from people like Ngozi Iweala. Anyone that has been part of the governments in Nigeria and under whose watch or in whose presence massive looting had taken place is a bloody hypocrite.

I am still looking for those who resigned and blew the whistle when Jonathan and his crew (both in PDP and APC) were looting the treasuries. I am now looking for those who are going to leave the Buhari government and blow the whistle (both in the APC and PDP) as a result of the budget padding and scandalous national/state security situation. Mr. Buhari himself should have resigned along with Lai Mohammed for misleading the world when they stated at the end of december 2015 that they had defeated Boko Haram.

Mr. Donald Trump it appeared had no balls afterall. A straight talk would be to inform Mr. Buhari of his primary duty as the president of Nigeria. Buhari has failed and he is still failing to protect Nigerians. He, as well as the looters in the Nigerian senate, is failing to see the need for the immediate restructuring of Nigeria and the introduction of state police.

The hogwash in the White House led to increase in attacks in Nigeria. The long term consequences of the dangers poised by national and international hypocrisy and the passiveness of the drained Nigerian people are yet to be evaluated. But the signs are already very, very bad.

I can understand to some extent the feeling of party affiliation. What l cannot understand is the lack of will to stand with the truth. But l know many people are predictable in their love for money, power and position. Many people always discard the essence of public service because they want to remain relevant in the (dis)order of things in Nigeria.

These people look forward to recognition, gains and consolidations when the ocassion arises. So they cannot give up their hypocritic garments for honourary ones.

And since this is the way things work in Nigeria, the country dips deeper in national crises. We argue unnecesssrily on issues of common sense and we are a country left behind. We are sick. We need healing.

If a few good men and women are given the task of redirecting Nigeria back to the place where we were in december 1965, and if these men and women are honest and have no spirit of hypocrisy, if they are not concerned about getting rich or owning mansions in Dubai, America or London, or sending their children to schools in Ghana or USA, in less than 8 years (2 terms) Nigeria will be back again as one of the best places to live in the world. The people must be orientated about the dangers of hypocrisy and they must be ready to stand with these few good people. That is the hope of Nigeria and Nigerians.
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aderounmu@gmail.com

The Terrorist Of Trollhättan

We teach kids that the pen is mightier than the sword.

We also teach värdegrund-basic values so that love-(and not religion or race or skin colour) will be the universal basis of our existence.

The Terrorist Of Trollhätttan

By Adeola Aderounmu

On Thursday the 22nd of October, Sweden experienced what has now gone down in history as the worst terrorist attack on her soil in over 75 years. Everybody seems to agree on that postulation.

Anton Ludin-Petersson

Anton Ludin-Petersson

Truly, there are definitely other tragedies that occur in trickles in the last 75 years that we have chosen not to discuss. The media controls us, in no small measure.

Still, the terror attack in Trollhättan, west of Sweden must be stated clearly as it was.

Children attending a grade 1-9 school left home that fateful morning. They hugged their parents and guardians goodbye as they have always done. They went to a safe place where their co-actors-the teachers and staff meet them daily, Monday to Friday.

The teachers, the staff, the resource persons and all the other people that are working together to make sure that the future is secured and better were on ground. They were playing their roles in building Sweden.

Teachers everywhere in the world are working hard not only to teach science and social studies but also what we call värdegrund-basic values so that love-(and not religion or race or skin colour) will be the universal basis of our existence.

It is at school that we-the teachers also teach about democracy and freedom. We teach children how to find happiness by choosing wisely among the options that life provides and to always remember that outside the four walls of the educational institutions, there are laws to follow and there are principles to guide them. We do our best, everyday.

It was in one of such schools, the one called KRONAN in Trollhättan that a young terrorist posed as a halloween celebrant and unleashed mayhem and terror that have now destroyed some lives forever.

A young man actually gave his life so that others might live. He was a young student assistant. His name was Lavin Eskandar. He died of the wounds from a sword attack. Yes, a sword!

The terror attack happened in the environment where we taught kids that the pen will always be mightier than the sword.

A student identified as Ahmed was also racially targeted and murdered by the terrorist of Trollhättan. May they (Ahmed and Lavin) rest in peace and may their families find the fortitude (and love from all of us) to bear the loss.

Let me be clearer, the Swedish media will call the terrorist gärningsman which means the perpetrator. That tag will not be substituted for terrorist in the major media that is controlled by those who tell us what they think we want or deserve to hear.

Incredibly a resistant group of activists and people with liberal minds have helped the Swedish media to correct that nonsense impression by rightly referring to the man who killed 2 people and seriously injured 2 others as a terrorist for that is what he was.

Incidentally as l was putting this story together, l got a message that a formal protest will take place against the Swedish Television in the coming days.

Sadly too there will be a lot of mis-information and propaganda from the mainstream media on how the late 21-year old terrorist had been a loner, a misfit, a psychopath and all kinds of forged tags that can be used to rationalise his crimes. Again, as we now know the guy was simply a terrorist.

The crimes committed and not where the criminal comes from must be the basis of the classification of criminals.

Meanwhile 24 hours hours after the attack, l had continue with my job and definitely with my life full of concealed anger. l am a professional, one of those in the category of the targets of this dead terrorist. l have to pretend that everything is alright when l am at workplace.

Who said teachers can’t be good actors? Isn’t that what we do everyday? Everyday we lay down our lives-to some extent that is-so some young children and even adults can have their dreams come true.

Tragically the terrorist was shot dead by the police. He was dressed in black and wearing a mask at the time. With a sword in hand he was clearly a danger to the lives of the police who arrived at the school to end the massacre that was in progress. The police said they acted in self-defense.

Anton posing with some students at the crime scene

Anton posing with some students at the crime scene

Obviously Anton Ludin-Petterson’s death is a sad loss to his friends and families and to all those who knew him. He was born a free man but chose to die a terrorist.

In my view as a social critic and as a public commentator, no amount of sugar-coating or media-misrepresention should be allowed to justify any act of terror no matter who the perpetrator is/was.

Anton was a young man who had his whole life ahead of him. But on this sad day in October he died a terrorist after taking the lives of 2 innocent people he knew nothing about except that they had foreign backgrounds. He wounded 2 others whose lives remain in danger.

At 21 a free man in any lawful society is accountable and liable for his actions. Anton is not available to defend his actions. The task of defending him will be valueless. Yet, care must be taken.

However, as we take different stands, we must never forget that the justification of terror attacks by looking for excuses and reasons to do so have had only one effect in history and that is the repetition of similar unfortunate events by copycats.

Unfortunately the Swedish media is trying to find a connection between the terror attack and a previous report about safety and security concerns at the school. Even the national school inspectors were quick to jump on the bandwagon. They bought the bait and this is so unfortunate and actually very sad.

Nobody in their right mind should do such a connection. It will provide an avenue for haters, copycats or terrorists to look for more schools where security concerns have been expressed and where people of mostly foreign backgrounds get their education in Sweden. Such schools will become easy targets if we allow our reasons to be marred by sentiments.

In my opinion Anton was wrong to chose the school-KRONAN irrespective of whether there are security concerns there or not. No one will be justified in terrorizing other people based on any factor at all.

I work with children everyday. I have been doing that since 1990. I see children and l see hope, laughter, dreams and aspirations. Then one day one man walked into a certain school and decided to end the hope, dreams, laughter and aspirations of the young children. I will never subscribe to his reasons or motivations. I condemn all acts of terrors no matter the cowards who did them.

The terrorist of Trollhättan has reminded Sweden that her status as a free society is under fire. It has been under fire for decades and the cover ups have been massive.

Here is a surprising fact people are hiding from in Sweden: the rise of extremism is massive at the same time that public outcry against racism and injustice has been rife.

The racist party is slowing and gradually rising to power. This means that there is something that does not add up beneath the surface. Who can explain this? What is now obvious is that we live in a society full of racists, haters and pretenders.

What happened to all the värdegrund (basic values) that we have been teaching at our schools in Sweden? Oh, they are gone with the wind..!

In recent weeks, months and years, a lot has happened that showed the deepening hatred and threats in the Swedish society. We-the foreigners-have our different battles that we confront daily. But commonly the burning of asylum and refugee residences is the latest and ongoing onslaught on openness and freedom.

These problems can no longer be swept under the carpets because the consequences will explode soon, right before our eyes.

The days of pretense are over.

The time is now for Sweden to show the political will to correct these anomalies.

aderounmu@gmail.com

The Ignorance Of Jonathan On Poverty And The World Economic Forum

By Adeola Aderounmu

If the forum goes ahead as planned, there will be tight security all around Abuja while the conference last. The security will be heavy and water-tight at the Sheraton Abuja Hotel, Transcorp Hiton Abuja and the Abuja International Conference Centre.

Somehow this conference in Abuja will showcase the low cognitive mentalities of some African rulers. The government of Nigeria will ensure the security and safety of foreigners. It is the same government that has not been able to protect her own citizens and is yet to issue any official statement on the circumstances surrounding the missing school students in Northern Nigeria.

WEF_Adeola

Who abducted the girls? How many of them were abducted? Who are the gangsters responsible for this human trafficking? What efforts are being made to curtail or prevent a re-occurrence of mass kidnap of children, men and women? Why was it possible to carry our double terror attacks at the same spot at such a short interval of time? The answers to these questions lie with the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, men of the armed forces and the investigative arm of the security agencies, not with some “money-siphoning committee”. Silly!

The other angle to the economic forum came as a bang on the 1st of May 2014. The ruler of Nigeria revealed himself as one who has no sense of economics and growth measurements. What benefits is Nigeria getting from the WEF when poverty is measured by the number of people appearing on Forbes list of rich people or by the number of people who flew private jets to Kenya? Jonathan does not get it; his level of reasoning is so kindergarten and appalling. Now we know how Nigeria’s economic has overtaken that of South Africa-it is by private jets and Forbes report.

Poor Nigerians! They are in a permanent mess! With his line of reasoning, like a mad king, there is no way out. All those comments about Aliko Dangote, private jets and giving money to a Nigeria shows that Nigerians have thrown away their hope of a better future with the type of rulers they get at all levels of government. The relegation of intellectuals and the elevation of agberos and touts across all strata of governance in the affairs of Nigeria are revealing very devastating consequences.

When some people argue about not blaming the ruler of a country for the lack of security in the country then I don’t know who is going to accept the blame or responsibilities. Somebody must take responsibilities for the security breakdown in Nigeria and that person whom the bulk stops at his table is the ruler of the country.

It was not the South Korean PM who tilted the ship that capsized yet he took the blame and the responsibilities and stepped aside instead of finding blame or passing it around. So, I am sorry the security problem in Nigeria is for the government to solve irrespective of whether the government knows the sponsors or not. Innocent people are dying everyday! Children and women are kidnapped and used as slaves and sex objects.

Let me hasten my essay, Boko Haram successfully bombed a car park area in Abuja twice in a period of less than one month. The group vowed that it would remain in Abuja to unleash more terror attacks. Nigerians are asking for the arrest and prosecution of the sponsors of Boko Haram because Mr. Jonathan has mentioned several times that he knows the sponsors.

What investigations have been done by the police and the other security agencies? When will the arrest or interrogation of suspected Boko Haram terrorists begin? Is the judiciary independent enough to run these cases if this government gets the “liver” to start this show? Are the skeletons in Mr. Jonathan’s cupboard the hindrances to the end of terror in Nigeria? Who or what is he afraid of?

Who are those in his government that he said are “Boko Haram” members? Why is the Nigerian Army playing a double role in this whole deadly drama? People are asking the Nigerian army “if you can lead and win in Liberia and Sierra Leone, why is it impossible to lead in ordinary Northern Nigeria? Who controls the Nigerian Army today? What is in their way? Why are they being killed and slaughtered by Boko Haram so easily?

The WEF is ill-timed. Nigerians are asking about missing students and several murders and senseless killings by Boko Haram terrorists. Nigerians are asking for protection, they won’t get it! Nigerians do not have security for their lives and property. The luxury of security will be given to foreigners and coincidentally to Boko Haram terrorists who said they are already in Abuja. Are they lodged at the various expensive hotels in Abuja?

If this World Economic Forum conference is rolled away from Nigeria, the consequences and embarrassment (if this government ever get embarrassed) might help to start finding answers to the several unanswered questions that now include the global #bringbackourgirls campaign.

Who knows? The implications might be heavy enough to wedge stricter security measures to keep all Nigerians (and foreigners) safe while not ignoring the effects of the appropriate use of the rule of law as short term palliatives.

On the long term, it would be of historical and educational significances to look at the circumstances that led to the rise and success of Boko Haram in Northern Nigeria especially the role of underdevelopment, ignorance, poor education and outright failure of governance in the region notwithstanding the several years of hold on power by the selfish rulers from the Northern Nigeria. The lessons learnt can be useful for the future generations. Two post-independence generations of Nigerians are already wasted! Tragic!

aderounmu@gmail.com

[photo, world economic forum and AFP photo]

Terror And The Volatile Mix Of Blind Faiths

By Adeola Aderounmu

One of the saddest things to occur in Nigeria in the last 4 years is the ascension and domination of religious politics. Unfortunately, it has also been the time of putting Nigeria on the map permanently as one of the major terrorists’ countries in the world.

Nigerian politicians have lost the plot a long time ago in the areas of ideologies and functional manifestos. It will amount to overstating the obvious that Nigerian politics runs on faulty foundations and that the essential purpose of politics in Nigeria is nothing close to service. The politics is rather self-serving, self-rewarding, dominated largely by criminal minds and stinking of massive corruption from the head to the toes.

Religion is destroying Nigeria

Religion is destroying Nigeria

As Nigeria and Nigerians now approach the 2015 elections, the stage is now set for a religion-influenced electioneering. How did Nigeria get to this point? The question is relevant judging from the background and outcomes of the 1993 general and presidential elections. That election was adjudged to be the best election (ever) conducted in Nigeria.

Sadly for the Nigerian nation the presidential election results were annulled by the tropical military gangsters headed by one dictator called Ibrahim Babangida. That election would have ushered in MKO Abiola and Baba Gana Kingibe of the SDP, two Muslims from two different geopolitical zones in Nigeria.

When Mr. Goodluck Jonathan started his reign as the ruler of Nigeria in 2011, it was not pleasing to the Nigerian opposition party and a lot of statements were made by the opposition politicians especially those from the Northern parts of the country. Gen. Buhari and Mr. Atiku were alleged to have made statements that ordinarily would have earned them interrogations by the Nigerian special security forces. But they were not invited for any interrogation or explanations.

There had always been elements of terror and its tendencies in Northern Nigeria. There was of course serious problems with the terrors in the Niger Delta that curiously to this day continue to gulp more money than the federal defence budget of Nigeria. However for some reasons that have now kept the blame game in a roller coaster mode the terrorist group popularly known as Boko Haram have flourished in the northern parts of Nigeria and Abuja under the reign of Goodluck Jonathan.

This period of rise of terror curiously also coincided with the era when Mr. Jonathan embraced the Christian community in Nigeria with more enthusiasm. He even went on the so called “holy” pilgrimage with a large entourage, all on Nigeria’s tax payers’ money.

By the way the annual holy pilgrimages to Mecca and Jerusalem are embodiments of the nonsensical waste in Nigeria’s government since time immemorial. Nigeria is a very corrupt country (we don’t need corrupt Mugabe’s opinion to confirm this fact) and the wastage or looting of money through religious tourism to other countries is regrettable. These pilgrimages are parts of the inferior complexity of Africans, also regrettable, made famous by the government and people of Nigeria.

The APC is yet to state with audacity the two persons who will be flying the flag or the brooms of the part in the 2015 elections. An attempt to draw a ticket on 2 individuals with the same religion like the SDP did in 1993 is becoming unlikely and like their party members and critics would make everybody believe-suicidal.

The disorganised polity has been heated and whether the Muslim community or the APC in Nigeria find it desirable or not, there is no longer a general acceptance for the type of scenario that Nigeria had with the Abiola-Kingibe ticket. Since the political scene is devoid of common sense and ideologies, the rise of Boko Haram has given many religious people within and outside APC the platform for hatred. Offshoots of the hatred are the emergence of the political suicide syndrome and the probable intense Christianisation of the Nigerian presidency under Jonathan.

The alleged statements made by the likes of Buhari and Atiku at a time when they needed to control their emotions but lost it completely, and the silence/lack of condemnation from the Northern region in general following the “successful” campaign of Boko Haram continue to send shocking and conflicting signals across Nigeria. It will be hard to erase the meaning and aftermath of what it takes to make Nigeria ungovernable. Such expressions now run parallel with terror occurrences.

The government of the day in Nigeria has made many remarks in the past and even recently linking the deadly terrorist group to the main opposition party-the APC. Nigerians are surprised because such allegations are supposed to be supported by investigation and arrest. Nothing has happened in that line. Before he was killed General Azazi linked the problem to religion, poverty, the desire to rule Nigeria and a combination of everything that is wrong with Nigeria. He especially laid the blame at what he called politics of exclusion of the PDP in the region.

When the true story of Boko Haram is finally told, it would be instructional, not least sensational to know the sponsors (national or international) and the roles of the Nigerian military that is alleged to be harbouring snitches who have made the bloody operations of Boko Haram successful. What will also be useful if Nigeria or the nations within Nigeria will ever learn anything from history is the magnitude of the alleged involvement of the Northern rulers.

I doubt if I know what to believe going by the nature of the roller coaster blame game. The Yorubas have said it all “if falsehood persist for 20 years (or even 100 years as Nigeria marks centenary of a painful marriage), one day the truth will emerge.

terror

Meanwhile in the faces of the multitudes of speculations, allegations and counter allegations and irrespective of where the actual truth lies, it is extremely sad that those who have suffered the most are the innocent masses going about their occupations or daily activities. Women and children have suffered in this evil campaign and crimes have been committed against humanity.

It appears that the government of Nigeria enjoys playing or toying with the lives of the citizens. This whole pandemonium is like a chess game where the opponents are seeking checkmate. In this case, the 2015 election is the end result. The “I don’t give a damn attitude”, the lies of keeping government “working” and the campaign dance that took place in Kano barely 24 hours after the deadly car park blast in Abuja that claimed, depending on sources, between 150 and 250 lives are all indications of a failed government.

Religion in its ordinary form mixed with politics is poisonous. The effect of contaminations with radical views either from the presidency or any other place in Nigeria will be more potent than a poison. Nigeria appears to be in a labyrinth, more likely at the crossroad of self-destruction.

In January 2011 I wrote an article titled: My Message To Nigerians In 2011, Stop Saying It’s God. I condemned the influence of religion in Nigeria’s politics and social life.

Nigerians have been fooled, deceived and slaughtered at the altar of ordinary and radical religions. It does not seem there is an end in sight if one judges by the religiosity of Nigerians on the social media and in reality while the country burns.

Is it hard to see that Nigerian politicians (both Christians and Muslins) are looting the treasuries across Nigeria? Is it hard to see that they call on God and Allah to solve the problems that are related to common sense and simple political ideologies?

Nigerians and their politicians attribute events (good and evil) to acts of God and they merged together to pray for things that can be solved by simple action and will.

In the area of religion and prayers, I have not understood the Nigerian mentality. They pray for the things that they and the government are supposed to do. So after creating a corrupt political system where corruption and crimes are tolerated and rewarded, Nigerians will then commit everything into the hands of their various Gods. Nonsense and ingredients!

For Nigeria, religion has created more problems than solutions. It remains a deadly veil for both Christians and Muslims. It’s worse for radicals anywhere because the effects of brainswashing are profound on them and their narrow minds. It’s going to be mission impossible to forbid religions in public positions, in politics especially. Ironically the elimination of religion in our doings is supposed to be the best way to free our minds and promote coexistence.

It’s hard to “converge” my views but I’m trying to get to a point where I need to condemn the role of politics and religion in the rise of terrorism in Nigeria. I am of the opinion that religious differences have aggravated the political differences in Nigeria. I think that the corrupt rulers and politicians have through their actions, alignments, attitudes and utterances contributed to the hopeless situation in Nigeria.

I have a problem in understanding the rise of Boko Haram acting on the radical angle of one of Nigeria’s dominating religion, that is Islam. A few years ago, Nigerians boasted of their “fear” of dying. Today we are told there are suicide bombers in Nigeria. It’s very painful to watch terror achieve successes on the back of religious platforms. I’ve been blown away many times in my life seeing atrocities committed in the name of Christ, God and Allah.

I also want to emphasise that as long as religion remains a factor in Nigeria’s politics and socio-economic life, then the country is going no where. In the society, people need to start doing things independent of religion. Just be good, do the right thing and play your role in nation building!

The Nigerian political class does not build or propagate sane and sound ideologies; they are instead wiggling from one political party to another based on the religion of the political candidates, based on fairweatherism and opportunism. That is the height of stupidity, having no principles.

The call for true federalism or the emergence of regional governments cannot be swept under the rugs. For, right now, Nigeria is in a serious dilemma and the center is too weak to hold things together. The center is marrying, making merry and dancing around as the country burns and people perish daily.

The weakness of the center is the strength of Boko Haram, it is the strength of militancy or terrorism anywhere in Nigeria. The weakness of the center is the sustenance of a corrupt political system. The self-serving nature of Nigerian politics means that the non-thinking politicians and rulers are ready to take everything down with them. It is up to Nigerians to rise up above religion, above sentiments, above hypocrisy and above political and ethnic differences.

Great countries were not built on religions, corruption, selfishness, greed, prayers or miracles. They were built by dedicated people, on sound political structures, on performances, on ideologies that stood the test of time, on positive actions and on the collective will to succeed.

aderounmu@gmail.com