Terrorism

The War in Northern Nigeria: Boko Haram detonates 20 Bombs in Kano

/ Adeola / 1 Comment

Adeola Aderounmu

No doubt, Boko Haram is at war with the Jonathan led corrupt government in Abuja.

Bomb blasts rock Kano, Northern Nigeria and the situation is best expressed as war in Kano. Among the targets were military and paramilitary outfits. The SSS office was targeted as well as the offices of the Migration and Police Stations.

Altogether about 20 bombs exploded at different locations. A reporter for the independent Channels Television was killed. Eneche Akogwu was executed by the Boko Haram militants right in front of the state house in Kano.
Several people have been wounded and obviously several people have been killed as well.

Journalist assasinated in the line of duty

There are no exact figures of the number of dead persons but corpses were removed from many of the sites of the bomb blasts and an immigration office lie lifeless in front of the immigration office in Kano.

More than 220 people died.

Immigration officer killed in Kano

Immigration officer killed in Kano

Many more Nigerians have called for the convocation of a national conference to chart the way forward for Nigeria but like in the past those who are in charge of Nigeria today are not interested.

It is even worse with the foolish ruler that presides over Nigeria today. His name is Goodluck Jonathan. This man sent the Nigerian army into Lagos to kill and maim protesters who are against his style of governance and demanding changes.

But in northern Nigeria Boko Haram continue to enjoy freedom of movement and license to kill. Mr. Jonathan declared states of emergency in some states in the North but with no blue prints or instructions on how to discharge the orders. Hence Boko Haram and their sponsors continue to remains steps ahead of the Nigerian security agencies.

Boko Haram is so bold it dares to attack the police stations, immigration offices and the offices of the lame state security agancies. You can never ask for a greater insult on the security outfit of a country. Nigeria is weak and Jonathan is foolish.

How can a ruler send battalions of armies to Lagos where harmless protesters are converging to express their minds and the same ruler cannot do anything tangible about the war in Northern Nigeria? Even if there are military presences in Northern Nigeria, it is almost useless or worthless because Boko Haram continues to keep the war running, unhindered. They blow up whatever they want and they almost can assassinate whoever they want. Where is the protection from the Jonathan government?

What is going on in Northern Nigeria is not less than a war. 20 bombs at once is a mega-war situation. Boko Haram is at war with the government of Mr. Jonathan. It is unfortunate that the terrorist group cannot confront Jonathan and his stealing executives but instead have been killing innocent people.

Even after every major attack, Boko Haram continues to carry out series of other attacks and arsons. After the Kano bombs, churches and other places have been attacked in the North. So it is a continuous war.

Nigeria is definitely on the brink and soon the bubble will burst!

Then it might be too late to institute the changes we have called for many times. Let us sit down to discuss how to partition this country so that each region can have control over its resources and regional development.

History will not forgive the present captors of Nigeria if they refuse to give way to constitutional changes that will stop the war in Northern Nigeria. The coming rage may be too fierce to stop by the zombies posted to Lagos.

The Christmas Day Bomb Blasts: The Killing of Mr. Innocent and his five children

/ Adeola / 1 Comment

By Adeola Aderounmu

Some broken hearts will never mend.

On Christmas day of 2011 Islamic militants attacked a sanctuary in Abuja. There were reports that at least 4 other churches were attacked.

When the bombs exploded at St. Theresa Catholic Church at least 40 people died immediately while several others were injured. A safe haven became a crime scene.

Among the dead were Mr. Innocent, his 3 sons and 2 daughters.

Innocent was from Umukabia in Mbano Local Government Area of Imo State. His wife did not die in the blast. She left the church earlier.

According to Okechukwu Okafor, a cousin of Innocent who spoke to me from his base in Germany, Innocent’s wife left the church earlier so she could prepare the food that the entire family will eat later that day.

They never did.

There would be no more family meals for Innocent and his household.

In his village, lips remained sealed as no one has told his mother about the tragic deaths in the family.

Who is going to let the cat out of the bag?

This man will be buried in his village. What are they going to tell his mum? What does she know about Boko Haram?

Who will be there to console Innocent’s mum? She has lost her dependable son.

Who is going to console Innocent’s wife? Her husband and five children are dead.

This is the greatest tragedy that can befall a woman, to lose her husband and her children in one swoop.

She will never understand why her loved ones were taken away from her forever. They paid the ultimate price. It’s a sad situation.

Before the dusts finally settle it will be a great service to country and humanity if the government of the day shows some compassion by visiting the families of the victims killed and the survivors of the senseless bomb blasts.

Maybe the Imo State Governor or the Local Government Chairman in Mbano should step forward to console the bereaved?

Families of victims and survivors have homes and they should be offered the best of psychological and moral supports by the church and the government.

It is hypocritical for Mr. Jonathan to shed tears at the crime scene 7 days after. What was he doing 5 minutes after the blast took place?

It is worrying that no one has been arrested or prosecuted for all the acts of murders that have been perpetrated in the name of terrorism in Nigeria.

It is sad that simple techniques like Google maps and 3G technologies are not available to the Nigerian Security Operatives. That is probably one of the several reasons why terrorists in Nigeria can make phone calls to journalists and the police and still keep hold of their residential areas.

It’s an additional scandal on this lukewarm presidency.

It appears that Mr. Jonathan’s biggest task before the fuel subsidy scandal was how to keep Nigeria one. He lost the plot and presents a classical example of a scalar quantity.

Each day that passes under Mr. Jonathan gives strength to the argument to restructure Nigeria as a true federation. The recent threat from Boko Haram that all southerners should quit the northern region calls for an outright division of the country.

These two options cannot be ignored forever. Nigeria is now too fragile to sustain the present form of governance.

Further negligence of the wave of terrorism and general government lawlessness sustained by systemic corruption and impunity will result to anarchy and the consequences can be Nigeria’s second civil war.

Inscriptions were made on the blood stained walls of St. Theresa Church. One of them was REVOLUTION NOW and the other was NO MORE PEACE IN THE COUNTRY.

These inscriptions are perfect descriptions of the current situation in Nigeria. Who knows where we go from where?

Some tears will never dry.

May the souls of Innocent, his children and all those who paid the supreme price for Nigeria find peace.

May their families find the strength to move on.

My Message to Southern Nigerians in 2012: Separate Now or Continue to Face Genocide

/ Adeola / 1 Comment

By Adeola Aderounmu

Is BOKO HARAM on the Way to Re-colonizing Nigeria

I don’t know why people think that Nigeria needs more bloodshed to become several divided countries. More than a million lives have been shed already. In the 1967-1970 civil war, the bloodshed has already taken place.

Since 1999 when the useless and stupid PDP party took over Nigeria several thousands of Nigerians have died. Is that not enough bloodshed?

The terrorist organization known as Boko Haram has taken over the whole of Nigeria. Several churches will not have their usual watchnight services to usher in the New Year. The churches are closed across Nigeria because of the fear of Boko Haram. Some people call them Boko Rams.

Boko Haram has promised to kill more innocent Nigerians. They are not joking. This is possible because in Nigeria the politicians are crooks, fools and total idiots. The security and intelligence mechanism of the Nigerian government is too weak and compromised. It exists only on paper as everybody is waiting for somebody to do the right thing.

If I was the governor of Lagos State for example, I would probably have annexed the whole of Western Nigeria and declare the Republic of Oduduwa. In that way any bomb blast by Boko Haram would be met by full scale war. No organization of group of person has the monopoly of violence (RIP Ojukwu).

In several unreported incidents Hausa-Fulani groups have invaded several churches in Abuja and its environs carting away valuable properties from individuals. They steal mobile phones, computers and so on. When possible they shoot or bomb the worshippers like they did on Christmas day.
Yet Nigerians want to remain one country! Please give me a break.

If the Southerners don’t know it, the Northerners have declared a war and their targets are the Southerners. The earlier they divide from the Northerners the better for the Southerners.
Remaining as one country is the only remaining reason why BOKO HARAM is getting away with the genocide and war crimes that they have committed so far. Once the declarations of independences by the different countries/ nations within Nigeria are made, further attacks on southerners will be tantamount to war.

Which is better? To declare independence away from Nigeria or to suffer extermination in the hands of Boko Haram? The people of Southern Nigeria including the Western and Eastern States should know that so far they have refused to protect their own people the way the Northerners have protected their own. Genocide is in progress and our hands are folded! Why, o why?

As far as Boko Haram is concern, they have the backing and support of the Emirs, the Sultans and all the politicians and military from the North. No well-meaning politician from the North has condemned Boko Haram. They have all being silent. Even Jubril Aminu has openly supported Boko Haram when he said in other words that Christians should get out of the North.

The likes of Atiku and Babangida promised Jonathan hell but the hell has been brought on all Southerners.

Some Northern rulers are neither here nor there. It will be foolishness on the part of the Southerners to think that Boko Haram is acting alone. This is a Northern Nigerian agenda and they are not hiding their missions and targets.

The North of Nigeria wants to enslave and colonise the South, so far they have succeeded because Goodluck Jonathan is like a puppet and has no clue about what he is doing. Jonathan is the worst president that ever walked the face of Africa.

The different regions within Nigeria must organize themselves.

For once Nigerians should forget about Jonathan and his bunch of foolish cabinet, mumu advisers and thoughtless cheerleaders.

If the South does not wake up to realize the real threat from Boko Haram which is to colonise Southern Nigeria it will be too late a few months from now. At that time we will all be forced into Islam and the useless politicians and their families will be 10000 miles away from Nigeria. Many of their children and relations have fled already.

In recent history, in 1993, 1999, 2003, 2007 and 2011 Nigerians wasted all the opportunities to liberate themselves. The liberation must be total and to allow the North of Nigeria to colonize and islamatise the south is not part of the dream of liberation.

Every man or woman should be free to practice whatever religion he or she prefers or to be religion-free.

No matter where the support of Boko Haram comes from it must be crushed at all / any cost and this is the legacy that the people of Southern Nigeria owe their unborn generations. The South-south, South-west and South-east have a moral obligation to ensure that their children are not born as slaves or treated as one. Your children must not live under the whips of terrorists.

If they do, your existence is a disgrace to humanity.

RE: My Message To Nigerians in 2011: Stop Saying It’s God…

/ Adeola / 2 Comments

In January 2011, this post made wave on the internet but Nigerians must read this and act accordingly.

ADEOLA ADEROUNMU

On the 31st day of December every year Nigerians usually troop in millions to churches across the nation. As a teenager I realised that even millions of people began to troop to the mosques on the same day. Not totally surprising as vigils had earlier become a common denominator for all the forms of worship/ belief in Nigeria.

Nigeria probably has the highest number of places of worship in the world. Everyday Nigerians troop to churches and mosques to worship. You will be amazed by the level of insanity in the Nigerian society. There is a complete lack of correlation between the numbers of worshippers plus the places of worship and how people conduct themselves at work and places of businesses.

The more people go to churches and mosque, the more serious our national problems have become. Nigerians proclaim God with their mouths but their hearts are far from good.

Take this classical example of Obasanjo and Yar Adua as proclaimed by Fela few decades ago. Take any of the Yar Aduas and add it to an Obasanjo, you will get a class of people who deceived the nation the best way they can while hiding under the umbrella of religion. The recent Yar Adua did all he could to shield an Ibori and other cronies while the stupidity lasted. Obasanjo among other things wrapped 16 billion naira in a safe place. Heaven must be weeping.

Nigerians believe that politicians who have been ruining their lives are sent by God. They even provide special places for them in churches and mosques. Nigerians worshipped both God and political office holders. When elections are rigged or when violence is used to achieve a political result, Nigerians say that it is God’s doing. Nigerians still believe that it was God who put Obasanjo and Yar Adua as successive illegal presidents in Nigeria. I hate these submissions with great passion.

God has no role in our political madness. It is some useless Nigerians who rigged the elections. They have been doing that since 1959. God does not vote and if there something God knows about-it is the fact that men have the freedom to decide how they want to lead their lives.

The calamities in Nigeria are not God’s faults. Nigerians have refused to think right and do things well. Is it God’s fault that some Nigerians are sabotaging the power sector because they want to continue to import generators for the profit they make?

Wake up Nigerians! You and the rest of Africa are light years behind the rest of the world.

On the last day of every year, you run to churches and mosques. You do the same thing every Sunday and every Friday. Where are the outcomes? Pray! But act too.

What about getting out of the churches and mosques and marching to the local councils to demand for the rebuilding of the society? What about getting out of the places of worship with a resolve to demand accountability and probity from those who are stealing your money and taking them abroad to buy houses and jewelleries?

You, the common people keep praying while everyone who gets the chance to steal sends his children abroad to receive good and proper education. People are dying of preventable conditions! There are no schools to attend as public schools near extinction. The best you could do is pray? You can do better, act!

Look at the bridge that Daniel and Bankole fought over! How could you let these two guys get away without showing them that before and after the bridge are revelations of poverty, suffering and useless government altogether. Yet you still reserve the best places in the church and mosque for these rogues. Pity!

When will Nigerians start to act? 2011 comes with new challenges. These add up to the piles of old unresolved challenges. There is no electricity in Nigeria. It’s almost zero watt power supply. Jonathan and Atiku are the best candidates? Maybe it’s time to stop praying folks! These two men are wasting your time and life. Start a campaign in your churches and mosques with a view to generating new candidates that can bring freshness to the field of politics.

Our politics and ways of life need total transformation. How can we achieve these goals? It’s a dilemma because the rot is well rooted and our mentalities have been deformed as to the objectives of politics and public services.

We say politics is a dirty game. Is this what we learn from the churches and mosques? We and these people who are involved in the dirty politics belong to one church or the other OR to one mosque or the other as well. Indeed in several cases we mix these things and swear oaths at Okija-styled shrines nationwide. What a bunch of hypocrites! Little wonder we are suffering amidst plenty!

What do we preach in these holy centres? Obviously violence is one of the vices perpetrated by Christians and Muslims. Jos in Nigeria is a classical example of the fact that Religion in Nigeria is a means to suffering rather than salvation of the souls of men. We kill and maim one another in the name of religion. Jos continues to burn even to this day in the name of both religion and politics.

Now we have turned to full time terrorism with the spate of bombings across the nation. Soon Somalia will be a child’s play compared to Nigeria. We either get it right now or face the calamities ahead. The impacts of a failed nation are manifesting.

Is there anything in Nigeria that is not distorted in the name of religion and God? Nigerians leave everything in the hands of God. Millions of Nigerians have not known another life except that of penury and poverty. The situation may never change. By implications several millions of Nigerians will live the life they never chose. They will spend their entire lives having no choice and no option to poverty and hardship.

Millions of Nigerians do not know what it means to have constant power supply for even 24 hours. It’s a luxury that has not happened in several localities since the 80s. Living in Nigeria is almost a tragedy. It doesn’t even matter if you are rich. Being rich make it possible for you to have advantages but it doesn’t exclude you from the living conditions outside the walls of your home.

In 2011 Nigerians are preparing for the polls again. When the outcomes are known, they will say it is what God wants. They will forget that the elections have been rigged even before they started. Nigerians do not know that the democratic institutions they have are weak and non-viable. We want results for the things we are least prepared for.

I wish Nigerians a Happy New Year in 2011. I’m hoping that the mad accusation against God will stop. Take your destinies in your hands. Ask the government for transparency and stop worshipping those who steal both your money and your future. Stop respecting those who have planned that your children will not be educated. It is their way to subdue you and make you their slaves forever.

In 2011, look as the votes are counted. When you get out of the places of worship every day, take time to go to your local council in troops, ask them for accountability and probity. Nationally, take the time to monitor events and situations, organise protests to fight corruption and social injustice.

Ask for your rights: good roads, good water, good schools, acceptable standard of living, and employment opportunities. Nigerians, among other things, ask your government to diversify the economy.

Nigerians, you must become bolder and rise up against the upcoming evil because the sufferings may get worse. Ask your government to make things better. They should stop stealing money especially in Aso rock. It is sheer wickedness and a form of demonic insanity for some people who become mega-rich at the expense of the rest of us.

Get up and speak against all the evil men and women in government. If we unite, we will stand against them.

Power belongs to the people. We must stop this stupidity of going to churches and mosques without reflecting well in the society. Imagine the glory of this nation if we transform our religiosity into godliness and sincerity.

We cannot continue to have the largest numbers of religious places and the largest numbers of problems in the world. It doesn’t add up.

This is my message for you-Nigerians- in 2011. Stop saying it’s God. Stop the mockery! Take your destinies in your hands!

RE: Terrorism in Nigeria May Lead to Disintegration

/ Adeola / 1 Comment

Yet another post published January 1st 2011

ADEOLA ADEROUNMU

On December 26 2009 I wrote on my blog page that Nigerians are not terrorists. That statement is no longer valid.

Nigeria is now among the league of growing terrorist nations.

On Christmas day in 2009 one over-pampered kid Abdul Mudallab put Nigeria’s name on the global map. He is the famous underpants bomber.

One year later at the end of 2010 there has been series of blasts in Nigeria. From Abuja to Maiduguri to Jos and back to Abuja.

Terror now has its grip on the Nigerian nation.

At about 1730 Nigerian time on the last day of the year 2010 there was a deadly bomb in a busy area in Abuja. Thirty people may have lost their lives with several others injured.

As usual the Nigerian government is quick to point accusing fingers. The blame has been shifted to Boko Haram, a group whose mission is not really clear to the rest of us.

It is cheap and easy to blame Boko Haram because of their attack on the police and civilian populations in Northern parts of Nigeria. People have been killed in Jos in violence related to both religious and political conflicts.

There are insinuations that MEND could also be responsible for the Abuja attacks.

Nigerian security forces need to step up and try to stay ahead of these terrorists whether they are MEND or Boko Haram. Otherwise there will be no solution to the oncoming onslaught of violence and devastations that will hit the rest of the country.

The current pattern indicates a clear motive to disrupt the fragile peace in Nigeria. We know we have political problems and we are aware of the massive corruption and unimaginable social injustices in Nigeria: it is therefore easy for a group or groups with selfish ambitions to penetrate jobless extremists and use them to achieve a sort of destabilization that will usher in the final demise of Nigeria.

That in my opinion is the goal of consecutive bomb blasts and terror attacks. The aim will be to fulfil the predictions that Nigeria will disintegrate before 2015. I thought there are better approaches. When this country becomes ungovernable I look forward to negotiations that will usher in the separations of its parts. The consequences of war we are all familiar with. The Biafran experience should not be an option.

Whichever way, there are going to be many questions from now on. How did we get to this point in Nigeria? Are these attacks preventable? Are these attacks related to bad government and corruption across all the tiers of government in Nigeria? Are these attacks premeditated to make Nigerian ungovernable for a man from the Niger Delta?

There are multitudes of questions. There will not be simple answers. Even in the Scandinavian countries where it seems that the government is almost perfect terrorism is beginning to take firm roots.

The government of Nigeria is now finding itself in a dilemma. So many things and issues have been neglected since 1960 that it will be impossible for us to fathom the reasons for these attacks and the nature of things to come.

Just as recent as October 2010, we wasted over N20b celebrating a useless anniversary. We made the biggest cake in the history of man. There are over 100m Nigerians who are poor and impoverished. They have no hope and no option to a life of poverty. Yet we wasted so much money for nothing! Stupid people making useless decisions!

The Nigerian politicians continue to steal and loot across all levels. The presidency, the executive arm, the National Assembly, the state government and all places where politicians reign across Nigeria it has been stealing, looting and enrichments as usual.

Our legislators earn the most money in the world. We complained that they should review their salaries to what civil servants take home, all in vain.

In Nigeria there is no electricity. Where I live in Nigeria we have 4 generators and run 24-7 on them. There is no public power supply. We don’t have water from the government. Our roads are bad and we drive at average speed of 30km/ hr or less.

Public Schools are becoming historic. We pay high fees to keep our children in schools. Education is now a luxury. Foods are expensive, quality and standard of living are terrible and unacceptable!

Pensioners are suffering and people get laid off indiscriminately. NITEL staffs were dismissed without the benefits of continuous pensions. What a wicked government! So silly!

Nigerian politicians keep their families abroad while they suffer us at home.

When you add all of these woes together you get a failed country. Nigeria is a failed country. Therefore it appears as a golden opportunity for those who believe in violence. It doesn’t even matter if the stimulating or sponsoring agents are within or outside Nigeria. The fact is that they have found cracks in the wall and it is therefore too easy to penetrate and destabilize the country and the government.

The government of Nigeria will be at a dilemma and crossroad for sometime to come. How do you begin to know the elements or characters that are so angry they only resolved to kill innocent people? The Nigerian politicians have a way to protect themselves and their families. The victims of the attacks in Jos, Maiduguri and Abuja are people or individuals like me. We have no means to protect ourselves and the security provided by the Nigerian government is almost non-existence. Usually troops lined the streets after the evil has been done. Sometimes this fans the violence and lead to more deaths.

Who will save our souls? Evil is on the rise. The government has failed the people. For fifty years, public servants and politicians stole and stole. They are still in Nigeria. Nothing has been done to them. They ruined our lives. They stole our future and they took our hopes away. Until this day the story is the same.

The new found love of terrorism in Nigeria is an additional plague that we will now have to live with. It has taken 50 years to destroy this country. It will take more than 100 years to fix it.

Nevertheless we must start to build this country now. This is a country with vast potentials. The task of reclaiming the glory of Nigeria is before all of us. It should not really matter who becomes the president if we established a sound foundation for our democracy. What matters is that the likes of Atiku, IBB and even Jonathan should be sent to face trials for the mis-governance they have participated in. I see no hope in the present crop of looters and thieves that are in Aso Rock then and now.

If Nigerians think that they have democracy now, they really need to wake up from that nightmare. Democratic structures run on institutions and not individuals. Democracy runs on the rule of law which no one is above. In Nigeria, several people are above the laws of the land. This has made it possible for impunity to reign supreme. Our political parties are so useless they have no clear cut goals and objectives. Their dream is to capture power and loot the treasuries nationwide.

We really need to sit down in this country and think. We can’t afford to get it wrong this time.

The first ingredient for our future attempt at progress and development will be to find a genuine democratic process.

When we do, we must begin to address the issues relating to the rule of law and the promotion of social justice and state welfare. There is a need to form political parties based on ideology and good governance. We need to promote literate participation with the attempt to eliminate thuggery and insanity from our politics.

The people must know that they have government and governance that works.

The Judiciary must be independent and have the possibility to work with the police to wipe corruption once and for all.

Nigerians must start to probe the sources of wealth. People are stealing in government and private businesses. The nation is sinking because of the actions of a few men and women.

We must rebuild all public institutions, not physically but mentally. Nigeria must now tap deep into the cognitivity of its intellectuals with a view to promoting merit over national character. There is an urgent need to revive nationalistic movements that will carry everyone along. A massive re-orientation along the line of nation building is urgent. The goal will be to save this sinking nation.

The other option is to allow it to continue with the status quo and pretend that all is well while the nation sinks. Such pretentions will allow terrorism to take a firm root and grip on Nigeria. One day a new group will declare once and for all “to your tent O’ Isreal!”

At that point, the prediction of the disintegration of Nigeria would come to pass. Our lives are in our hands.