religion and politics

Jos, Crises Without End

/ Adeola / 1 Comment

Adeola Aderounmu

When I heard about the recent uprisings in Jos, I didn’t show any interest in blogging about it.

Some friends have read tiredness into my recent attitude towards Nigeria. They have asked me not to give up.

I am not giving up. I am writing my book and looking after my family.

For the records there have been series of killings and counter killings in Jos in the past few weeks alone.

I actually have a feeling that people are killed everyday in Jos since the end of the 2007 elections. I have a feeling that there are thousands of unreported killings and extra-judicial killings.

The killings that make the news are the ones that leaked and could not be covered.

More than ever before the government of Nigeria and the Plateau State governor specifically must find a permanent solution to this mayhem.

But what is the solution or what are the solutions?

Since I don’t live in Jos it will be hard for me to proffer a solution especially on the short term basis.

But on the long run there is a lot of work to be done on education of the citizens and massive public enlightenment on the nature of the problem and the need for the citizens to eschew violence and embrace peace.

The politics of Jos has been mixed with its religion. The results continue to be fatal. How do we resolve this particular issue without arousing sentiments in fanatics on both side of the divide? It’s a precarious situation.

But I’m convinced that there are permanent solutions. It may take time but the crises can all be resolved and the people can live together, tolerating one another and enjoying themselves in peace and tranquillity.

Jos today is not a haven for anyone. That is unpalatable.

The people must be involved at the grassroot level as we seek lasting solutions.

Those useless politicians instigating unemployed people and the illiterates must be fished out. They must face prosecution for the crimes they have committed against humanity. The signals will be strong and definite when people are sent to jail.

That’s the hardest part of the Nigerian judicial system. We don’t send guilty and corrupt people to jail for fear or sentiments that are best known to the political or ruling class. We run our states and national issue like we are mafians.

Certain rotten and useless political Codes must be broken if we want peace in Jos and progress in Nigeria.

Now I’m digressing but I want to stay on this Jos crises.

There are ways out and the governor and all the stupid people capitalising on the ignorance of the people know that there are ways out. But because of the benefits that the political / ruling class get from the ignorance of the people, they prefer the status quo no matter how many people have been killed or how many more that will be slaughtered in the days ahead.

Our country is a peculiar one. We live always in one dilemma or another.

If I am the president of Nigeria I would abandon all the owanbe parties that I have planned or been invited to, I will go to Jos and live among the people for a few days, get a feel of the situation and proffer that everlasting solution. This may mean provision of infrastructure in every community, it may mean provision of good roads, good schools and massive employment opportunities.

I believe that there are ways to take peoples’ minds away from violence and religious fanaticism-find them something to do and give them their sense of dignity. Return to them all forms of social justice and ensure that there is something for them to look ahead to, a bright future.

Is Northern Nigeria A Failed Region?

/ Adeola / 1 Comment

Adeola Aderounmu.

There have been reported clashes in Bauchi State in Northern Nigeria. A non-conformist Islamic group had been on the rampage and clashed with security agents.

No doubts there have been ominous signs from Northern Nigeria since Mr. Obasanjo allowed the creation of Sharia States in Nigeria. Nigeria is a secular country and the emergence of Sharia in Northern Nigeria is a confirmation that there had been plans in the past to make Nigeria an Islamic country. Tyrants and dictators like (late Murtala Mohammed) and Mohammudu Buhari have been alleged in the past to have tried to make Nigeria a muslim country. How true are those stories?

The presently sick illegal president Umaru Yar Adua was one of those who instituted Sharia in Northern Nigeria. He was then the governor of Katsina State.

They may want to convince us that Sharia State has nothing to do with the constant violence in the North but that will be hard to prove as well. The fact that they allowed religion to blur their sense of reasoning is a catalyst to the emergence and spread of extremism in Northern Nigeria.

Northern Nigeria is like a failed region in Nigeria. However that does not also take away the fact that the Nigeria’s central government is a total failure in itself. Saddled with extreme corruption and ineptitude the various governments since independence have failed to tackle infrastructure and social well being of the populace. Look around you, almost everything is bad and rotten.

Government officials have stolen and looted while neglecting the ideals of real democratic governance. The Military regimes in Nigeria added to the woes of a country that should have been the giant of Africa but which instead have become a global laughing stock. Countries like Togo, Benin and Ghana are doing much better than Nigeria in terms of infrastructure and social welfare. Nigeria is rich but the people are living in extreme poverty because a few people continue to steal and make themselves richer and richer.

Northern Nigeria where most of the rulers come from is by far the worst hit. They lack basic education and family planning is not in their dictionary. Many children are un-catered for, and they are ready tools in the hands of the fanatics. A people without education surely are destined to perish and this is what has been happening when security agents confront the religious fanatics in Northern Nigeria.

My major concern has always been for the Christians or atheists in Northern Nigeria. They are usually brutally murdered or executed for being at the wrong place at the wrong time. Seriously I don’t know how southerners live in the north when they could be killed at any time!

I am not implying that southerners should vacate northern Nigeria. My emphasis rather is on addressing the roots of the matter. First is, if Nigeria wants to continue as one nation, then the abrogation or abolition of sharia is non-negotiable. We cannot live in a country with two laws, it will not work. Never!

Secondly is the fact that policy makers or administrators in Northern Nigeria needs to wake up to answer their call duty. They are there to educate and emancipate the people but over the centuries the privileged people in the north have ensured that opportunities for education are limited and restricted. Even if I am wrong still there is something in the north that makes education non-attractive. Many of the people are not only poor but they are also ignorant. This is probably a political device to ensure that the general population can be manipulated especially during national elections. So far this has worked.

Therefore if anyone thinks that the end has been heard of religious uprisings in northern Nigeria, he/she should get his head checked. There are fundamental issues that if not address the problems will pass on from one generation to another and forever more.

The whole of Nigeria must revert back to secularity and there must be one law, one constitution. The persistence of sharia is an aid to extremism and double standards. The absence of education or the restriction of it especially in the north is a chronic disease that will continue to push this nation to the precipice. The ineptitude of Nigerian politicians is a colossal cankerworm that may ultimately lead to disintegration. Making it non-violent will be an uphill task.

Meanwhile isn’t it time for the people of Nigeria to wake up, ask for political justice, social justice, equality, freedom of speech and expression and the dividends of true democracy? It’s been 10 years of maladministration by seriously incompetent men and women. Change must come, but we must demand it and take necessary actions to see that it happens.

Nigeria is now labelled a potentially terrorist nation and here we are battling religious violence, again in Northern Nigeria. I’m getting tired. Where do we go from here?