Terror And The Volatile Mix Of Blind Faiths

April 23, 2014April 24, 2014 / Adeola / 1 Comment

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

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.

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

Nigeria: The Rise Of Evil And Terrorism

March 2, 2014March 2, 2014 / Adeola / Leave a comment

By Adeola Aderounmu

When late Musa Yar’ Adua became the ruler of Nigeria in 2007 after one of the several disputed elections in Nigeria, one of his “achievements” was granting amnesty to the Niger Delta militants. He had a 6 or 7 points agenda which included the empty vow to improve power supply. The rest is history.

The stories regarding the origin and the spread of militancy in the Niger Delta creeks are diversed. They are based on different lines of arguments and different schools of thoughts. The arguments are also influenced by political inclinations. The propagation and sustenance of falsehood in Nigeria is also like an occupation on its own. Some people are paid even by government to do this.

However I know some honest people who earn their livelihood by taking dangerous sea trips to fish in Nigerian internal and territorial waters. Therefore what I know for certain based on eyewitnesses’ reports is that the militants became more “useful” when Obasanjo was aiming for his second term in office.

The allegations wrapped Mr. Obasanjo and some governors from the Niger Delta areas in the game plan and the summary was that when the elections were over, the militants became more potent than ever before and they also found new ways and tools to become more relevant than the pre-Obasanjo era.

The things that happened around that time would lend more credence to these narrations from the people that I know and met. For, at that time in the history of Nigeria more people became aware of attacks on national pipelines and the growing spate of kidnapping, first of expatriates and then of any Dick, Tom and Harry escalated. At the beginning of week 9 in 2014 one man referred to as the adopted father of Goodluck Jonathan was kidnapped. He’s surely worth a ransom of USD20bn.

Let me go back in time. When I was a young boy, at my early teen years to be sure, I remembered that I swore never to step my feet on the soils of Northern part of Nigeria. My decision at that time was informed by the types of news and images that I got about Northern Nigeria. For me at that time, the North was the North. I probably had insufficient knowledge of regional geography.

I was one of those kids who read Newspapers from an early age. I could say I was 8 years old when I started reading Newspaper and I remembered that my father specifically bought me books about Nigeria. At age somewhere between 13 or 15 I read Naiwu Osahon’s “A Nation In Custody”. Those kinds of books helped to build my interest in national issues. They also formed me as I saw from an early age that Nigeria was/is ruled by criminals and heading to perdition. We are still on that road. Sadly too, Nigeria and Nigerians are still in custody.

The formative years of a child are important as I’d come to learn and experience personally. I remembered how I “worked” hard to influence my National service. I had little faith in the program and I was not ready to cross the boundaries of western Nigeria. Once I did so just for fun when I stepped my feet on the soil of Cotonou. I knew what I wanted and what I never wanted was to be part of the inexplicable madness of Northern Nigeria where my aboki neighbour could be the one to slice my throat or cut my head during an upheaval.

Terrorism is not an entirely new phenomenon in Nigeria. It had presented itself to us over the ages and years in different forms. In recent times it was painted variously as communal clashes and sometimes as protests over issues relating to Islam within Nigeria. At one time it was a senseless riot connected to a beauty pageant show.

At another time it was related to issues that have nothing to do with Africa. The Danish cartoon saga was entirely a problem of Europe but it went viral and death tolls were hardly reported from anywhere but in Nigeria it became a means to kill in the North. The upheavals and pandemonium that occur in Northern Nigeria were mostly treated with kid gloves and usually swept under the carpets.

These abnormalities in Northern Nigeria that shaped my thoughts during my teen years are parts of the reasons I deemed courageous the decision of some people that I know to go up north for one reason or the other. If things were different, I would have been a good traveller not only across the world but also in my country of birth. I have praises for my friends who went up north. I have praises for those who have settled somewhere in North even to this day and made it their home away from home. That’s how it should be. If you are from a certain country, you should have the right and possibility to choose your settlement, under normal circumstances.

Unfortunately one of the saddest things about Nigeria is the near total failure of governance at all levels. With the current status of Nigeria as a corrupt country and probably the place in the world with the largest accumulation of poor people, the evidence are rife that Nigerians have not govern Nigeria successfully. From one government to another, impunity rose, corruption soar and the plundering of the country’s wealth by people, government and institutions continue unabated. Nigeria is even opened up to plundering by foreign parasites and imperialists. If the wall is not cracked though the lizards will never find a way in. Nigeria is not cracked, she is completely broken. There are no walls of protection literally and figuratively. It appears the goal is to leave the country in an irreversible ruin. Summarily Nigeria is completely derailed and hope is almost lost.

As I was saying, when Yar Adua granted amnesty to the Niger Delta militants, the signals were obvious. It appears that to be heard in Nigeria; you also have to be armed. The militants gained access to government houses. Some of them got some of the best houses in Abuja and in their home states. Militants under Yar Adua became kings and lords.

These aberrations were sustained and taken to new heights by the Goodluck Jonathan’s regime. Militants simply took over parts of the Nigerian economy by obtaining juicy government contracts and jobs. One rascal called Asari Dokubo who had committed several atrocities against the Nigerian state became one of the chief beneficiaries. How terrorists became bedmates with the Nigerian government is not entirely a mystery. Over the years the government has been a beehive for criminals and all manners of people who are not fit for administration and governance.

In the 2014 budget Mr. Jonathan’s corrupt government is dedicating a whooping N63 billion to the militants. You will not find a greater level of insanity in any government around the world. Where in the world are terrorists paid by government? N63bn can change the face Nigeria as a country if the money is used judiciously to target job creation and youth-oriented educational programs. But Nigeria has a minister of finance who found it honourable to present this jagbajantis as a budget plan.

Nigeria has been misgoverned for more than 50 years. Sometimes political and military aggressions, plain violence, state murders and assassinations have been used to steer Nigeria. These crimes are the “rule of law” and the “codes of conducts” for self-preservation in the Nigerian government.

Mr. Goodluck Jonathan remains clueless as Nigerians are massacred and murdered by terrorists

Whatever led to the birth and eventual rise of Boko Haram had a fertile soil on which to bloom and “prosper” as sad as it seems. The rise of Boko Haram was too easy. Among the certainties is that Boko Haram became more prominent in the post-Yar Adua amnesty days. Now, under the Jonathan government, Boko Haram came to war.

The origin of Boko Haram is still under debate. They may have been a group of army constructed by the Islamic governments of Northern Nigeria. They may be soldiers who deflected from the Nigerian military. They may be mercenaries from neighbouring countries blended with the illiterate, jobless and ignorant locals in the name of religion and war. Who knows?

There are evidence of misadventures of what appeared to be roles of established governments in the rise and spread of global terrorism. The roles of the United States in the rise of Bin Laden’s led Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan are well documented. When Gaddafi of Libya became the target of the United States and NATO, terrorists were armed to aid the displacement and his eventual murder, just to mention a few examples. People are still studying the Syria scenario.

Hence, in giving so much money, power and space to terrorists who are politically labelled as militants, the federal government of Nigeria will not be the first to directly or indirectly sponsor terrorism. Therefore the roles of the Nigerian federal government and the Islamic governments in Northern Nigeria and the northern elites/rulers deserved to be investigated as Boko Haram continue to flourish right under their noses. Boko Haram may have existed when I made up my mind as a child not to step on the soil of the blood-spillers. They may have been there when the power hungry rulers of Northern Nigeria promised to make Nigeria ungovernable for Mr. Jonathan.

No matter what led to the establishment and the rise of Boko Haram, the failure of governance at the state and federal levels cannot be excluded as additional factors. The majority of dictators and rulers in Nigeria have been from that part of the country. It seems that they deliberately impoverished their people intellectually. Somehow illiteracy and ignorance levels in Northern Nigeria are far higher than the rest of the country. The hypothesis was that the rulers from the North ensured that their people were educationally deficient so that the northern elites will always have their ways among the ignorant populace. Today, the pay-back prices in terms of blood spillage and outright destructions of towns anc cities are inestimable.

The Boko Haram insurgencies and terrorism that is wrongly tagged as militancy in the South of Nigeria have similar curves. The governors of the oil rich states have over the years looted their people blind. What will remain inexplicable is how the looters and thieves from this region always have the backings of the people they steal from. I have defined the Nigerian syndrome in a previous article.

It is generally known that the local rulers of the Niger Delta region and those who served as ministers in federal and regional institutions like the Oil Mineral Producing Area Development Commission (OMPADEC), the Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF) and Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) ought to have been brought to books. They embezzled funds earmarked for the development of the Delta and other places. These rulers are also known to take huge sums from foreign corporations without accountability.

Therefore when addressing the rise of terrorism in the delta as a fallout of gross underdevelopment, maladministration, corruption, nepotism and other vices the bulk goes round in a cycle. The representatives of the delta region have failed their people, the state governments have failed and the federal government is the chief culprit for not ever leading by proper examples.

What the N63bn allocated to the Niger Delta will meet is the greediness of the terrorists. The problems in the region persist. These problems range from lack of basic amenities to serious environmental issues that make the Niger Delta people to be ranked amongst the poorest people in the world. The general percentage of people living under the poverty frame in Nigeria is a hidden global tragedy.

Whatever type of war or destructions that are still attributed to the Niger Deltan terrorists surely are devoid of ideology. They have seen how “easy” it is to become super-rich and influential in government through the use of guns and gun-powders. They have seen how their predecessors have spread all over the places yet still siphoning amnesty funds like leeches and parasites.

What these mostly non-combatant militants hiding in the creeks have not seen is the end to the spillage in their environment. What they have not seen and probably not looking forward to is the implementation of all the policies and promises that have been made by governments and agencies connected to the delta region. They have grown to love the quick money and get rich any-how style. Like their masters-the local chiefs and like the government of Nigeria, the future doesn’t count for them.

Truth is, for more than 53 years Nigerian rulers stole and carted away the treasures of Nigeria. There are no federal plans for nation building and preparing the country for the unborn generations. All Nigerian “roadmaps for development” did not see the light of the day. Not under the military, not under the civilians. Truth is, everything was neglected including education, health and other simple basic infrastructure. Hence, in Nigeria, it actually ought to be a total war on bad governance. All well meaning and Patriotic Nigerians should actually be out there asking the government to surrender, pack and exit.

In Nigeria, the new full-grown terrorism and militancy are delayed responses to the now more than 53 years of absolute waste of the independent status. What the sponsors of these terror groups (whether from inside or external sources) have done is to find the cracks in the walls. It appears that the 3rd generation of post-independence Nigerians are also wasting away.

With the spread of militancy and the popularity of terrorism, one can presume that knee-jerk responses on the part of Nigerian government have made these twin calamities into wars that the Nigerian military will not win easily or early enough. Recent terror attacks in Northern Nigeria show the determination and preparedness of the terrorists and the Fire Brigade Approach of the Nigerian army.

To subdue terrorism in Nigeria on the long run, some political sacrifices must be made. The system of governance must change radically. If pursued honestly the National Conference will provide the catalysts needed for the much needed changes. It is well known that those who have tried to fight off terrorism in the absences of functioning governments and social justice always fail.

The ineffective system of governance in Nigeria has rendered almost all Nigerian government institutions paralysed-they are places for self-enrichment and non- performance. There are no magic doses unfortunately. Therefore when the power that is accumulated to Abuja is decentralised, Nigeria may have taken one giant leap in the right direction.

Nigeria will benefit immensely from a proper change of system of governance. This means that the unitary system of government needs to be abolished in the nearest future. Doing so will on the long term as mentioned earlier probably checkmates future uprisings where terrorists will not be aiming at a central goverment if the ultimate power is not there. In the future N-Eastern Nigeria I am optimistic that a people deciding their own fate will put up enough resistance to fight or resist insurgencies. I don’t think any group of people would like to self-destruct when their destinies are in their own hands.

Regional governments will restore the old Western Nigeria (now being demanded by the Yoruba Congress from a recent gathering in Ibadan) and the other recognised regions that were in existence before the military destroyed the political structures in Nigeria. No doubts, based on newer ideas or ideologies there will be modifications to the regional system in this new century.

The change of the system of governance will not return Nigeria to glory in one night. It may be one of the several steps on the way to recovery. If we make amends today recovery in the regions or acrosss Nigeria can take a decade, half a century or just a few dozen years depending on the will of the people.

In the meantime, the government of Nigeria must not forget its primary duty which is to protect the lives and property of citizens within the boundary of Nigeria. Ending the terrorism in the delta and in the Northern part of Nigeria especially must be done in the shortest time possible without doling out N63bn, or more. Rather it is the Nigerian military that must get all that is needed and required to accomplish the tasks of winning internal wars and fending off external aggressions.

Citizen re-orientation programs which will include patriotism, dignity of labour, promotion of merits, top-level discipline, honesty, trust, commitment to job, family, community and nation/country are among the virtues that will be needed in the various regions that will be reinstated or reconstructed after the National Conference.

aderounmu@gmail.com

Images from SVT Sweden

How The Nigerian Government May Have Sponsored And Financed Terrorism

October 7, 2013 / Adeola / Leave a comment

By Adeola Aderounmu

When late Musa Yar Adua became the ruler of Nigeria in 2007 in one of the several disputed elections in Nigeria, one of his “achievements” was granting amnesty to the Niger Delta militants. His 6 or 7 points agenda including the vow to improve power supply never saw the light of the day.

The origin and the spread of militancy in the Niger Delta creeks are based on different arguments and different school of thoughts. The arguments are also influenced by political inclinations.

I know some people who earn their livelihood by taking dangerous sea trips to fish in Nigerian internal and territorial waters. Therefore what I know for certain based on eye-witness reports is that the militants became more “useful” when Obasanjo was aiming for his second term in office.

The allegations wrap Peter Odili in the game plan and the summary was that when the elections were over, the militants became more potent than ever before and also found new ways and tools to become more relevant than the pre-Obasanjo era.

The things that happened around that time would lend more credence to this narration from a close person. For, at that time in the history of Nigeria more people became aware of attack on national pipe-line and spate of kidnapping, first of expatriates and then of Dick, Tom and Harry.

When I was a young boy, at my early teenage years to be sure, I remembered that I swore never to step my feet on the soils of Northern regions of Nigeria. I think my opinion at that time was based on the news and images that I got about Northern Nigeria.

I started reading newspaper at the age of 8 and today I am still glued to my news-magazine subscriptions despite the availability of the internet and online news sources. So, I must have been well-informed about the “terrorism” of Northern Nigeria that came in different shades-religious, tribal wars and all sorts.

I remembered how I “worked” hard to make sure that my service year did not cross the borders of western Nigeria. I knew what I wanted and what I never wanted was to be part of the inexplicable madness of Northern Nigeria where my neighbour could be the one to slice my throat.

I envy those who went up north as the Northern images formed in my teen years is still with me and once I decided to leave Western Nigeria, it was on an international flight. If things were different-I would have been a good traveller not only across the world but also in my country of birth.

Nigeria got her independence in 1960. However, and so, so sad, Nigerians have not been able to successfully steer their country. As I prepare to send this story for publication, the signs became more ominous with the staggering internal rifes across different political parties.

You hardly hear of ideological debates. All you hear and see are egocentric views and mentally deranged arguments and struggles that show extremely low levels of human cognitivity. In summary, Nigeria is completely derailed and hope is lost.

From one government to another, impunity rose, corruption soar and the plundering of the country’s wealth by both people, local and international institutions and governments continue unabated. It appears the goal is to leave the country in an irreversible ruin.

Every time I write about Nigeria the intelligent questions haunt me and I don’t want to be the one to state that the largest accumulation of black people in the world resulted to one of the most useless forms of government on earth and an unbelievably resilient followership.

When Yar adua granted amnesty to the Niger Deltan militants, the signals were obvious. It appears that to be heard in Nigeria; you also have to be harmed. The militants gained access to government houses. Some of them got some of the best houses in Abuja and in their home states. Militants under Yar Adua became kings and lords.

When Goodluck Jonathan appeared, militants simply took over Nigeria. They got juicy government contracts and government appointments/jobs.

In short, as a militant, you can meet with the president easily compared to if you were a university professor trying to get a grant for a special research project. As a militant, you can get a scholarship award easier than if you are a hard working students with poor parents.

Over the years in Nigeria, mediocrity was lauded as a virtue. It grew with time and today you really have to be almost a “nonentity” to rise to position of power.

Aggression, violence and instruments of murder have been used to steer Nigeria for long and eventually these crimes came to the surface and became their “rule of law”. Good people became endangered species in Nigeria.

It was therefore easy for Boko Haram to rise. The origin of Boko Haram is still under debate especially considering the possible infleunce of foreign elements/powers. What is sure is that they became more prominent in the post-Yar Adua amnesty days.

Boko Haram may have existed when I made up my mind as a teenager not to step on the soil of the blood-spillers. They may have been their when the power hungry rulers of Northern Nigeria promised to make Nigeria ungovernable for Mr. Jonathan.

You see, in Nigeria treason is not even a crime. You can say these volatile words and walk free. You can annul and cancel elections and walk free. In the same way, you can rule anyhow and steal anyhow and nothing “go happen”. It is part of their rule of law.

Let us not be deceived by what appears to be the roles of established government worldwide in the rise and spread of terrorism. The Federal government of Nigeria will not be the first to directly or indirectly sponsor terrorism.

The role of the United States in the rise of Bin Laden’s led Al-Queda in Afghanistan are well documented. When Gadaffi of Libya became the target of the United States and NATO, terrorists were armed to aid the displacement and eventual murder of Gadaffi, just to mention a few examples. People are still studying the Syria scenario.

The now established terror groups in Northern Nigeria can partly be attributed to the failure of the various governments since 1960. Before 1999 the majority of the dictators and rulers of Nigeria were from Northern Nigeria.

They deliberately impoverished their people intellectually. They ensured that their people were educationally deficient so that the Northern elites will always have their ways among the ignorant populace. Today, the pay-back price is inestimable.

Ignorance is a disease. Northern Nigeria is that place that will go to war for events or happenstance that are not related or connected to Nigeria. When religious conflicts occur in other countries around the world, death tolls can be higher in Northern Nigeria than the affected countries themselves.

You will never find a greater cost for ignorance except the emergence of full-fledge terrorism itself. Northern Nigeria was a ready-made fertile ground for terrorism, thanks to dictators and thoughtless politicians from that area.

The militancy in the South of Nigeria followed a similar pattern. The governors of the oil rich states have over the years looted their people blind. What will remain inexplicable is how the looters and thieves from this region always have the backings of the people they steal from.

The Stockholm syndrome should be renamed the Nigerian syndrome. A situation where the people will defend or support their “thieving sons and daughters” should open a new area of research in human behaviour, psychology or anthropology based on the Nigerian examples.

Even the vocal leaders of the Niger Delta and those who served as ministers in federal and regional institutions like OMPADEC and NDDC ought to be brought to books. They coveted to themselves all the funds earmarked for the development of the Delta. They took from foreign coorporations and from state and federal government without accountability.

Therefore the fault is not only at the door steps of the unitary government headed by corrupt rulers since 1960. However it is well known that if the head is rotten, then the entire body is bad. That’s where the buck always stops at the door of the central government.

The Niger Delta militants are now waging “wars” that lack ideology. They have seen how “easy” it is to become super-rich and influential in government through the use of guns and gun-powders.

They have seen how their members have spread all over the world yet still siphoning amnesty funds like leeches and parasites. Oh! I hope I am not the only one who knows that militants at home and abroad earn more money every month that many teachers and professors labouring in Nigeria!

What these mostly non-combatant militants have not seen is the end to the spillage in their environment. What they have not seen and probably not looking forward to is the implementation of all the policies and promises that have been made by governments and agencies connected to the Delta.

They have grown to love the quick money and get rich anyhow style. Like their masters-the local chiefs and like the government of Nigeria, the future doesn’t count for them.

Truth is, for more than 50 years Nigerian rulers stole and carted away the treasures of Nigeria.

Truth is, everything was neglected including education, health and other simple basic infrastructure. Hence, in Nigeria, it actually ought to be a total war on bad governance. All patriotic Nigerians should actually be out there asking the government to surrender, pack and exit.

In Nigeria, the new full-grown terrorism and militancy are delayed responses to the now more than 50 years of absolute waste of independent status.

It appears that the 3rd generation of pro-independence Nigeria are also wasting away. With the spread of militancy and the popularity of terrorism, one can presume that knee-jerk responses on the part of Nigerian government have made these twin calamities into wars that the Nigerian military will not win.

The end may likely come when the system of governance change radically. Those who have tried to fight off terrorism in the absences of functioning governments and social justice always fail.

It’s been 53 years of stupid rulership. Leadership does not not exist in Nigerian politics or military dictatorships. Nothing (except corruption and vices like impunity) is working with the system of governance where the man at the center decides for the whole country.

This ineffective system of governance has rendered almost all Nigerian government institutions paralysed-they are places for self-enrichment and not performance.

With evidence starring at us daily, we see that the Police are corrupt, the Judiciary is corrupt, the ministries starting from the presidency in the federal system to the departments in the local countries are all means for self-enrichment and endless political hullabaloo.

Nigeria will benefit immensely from a sudden change of system of governance. This means that the unitary system of government needs to be abolished as soon as possible. Doing so will automatically punctuate the ambition of the Northern terrorists and their sponsors who seem to be making the capture of Aso rock their goal.

Nigeria can do without Aso rock by appropriately returning power to the regions. Most of the stupid intra- and inter-party wars lacking ideology will disappear with the change of the system of government.

Regional governments will restore the old Western Nigeria and the other recognised pre-independence regions with minimal frictions for re-adjustments.

The change of the system of governance will not return Nigeria overnight to the paradise it was in the olden days. It will serve as the first step among several other steps that are needed to start the long journey back to normalcy.

Citizen re-orientation programs which will include patriotism, dignity of labour, promotion of merits, top- level discipline, committment to job, family, community and nation/country are among the virtues that will be needed in the various regions that will be re-instated or reconstructed.

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Terrorism in Nigeria May Lead to Disintegration

January 1, 2011January 1, 2011 / Adeola / 10 Comments

By 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.

Is Northern Nigeria A Failed Region?

December 29, 2009December 29, 2009 / 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?