Dialogues: USA Africa Dialogue Series - RE: HERE'S WHY NIGERIA CANNOT BE UNDER ISLAMIC TERRORISM!!

Lawal Ishaq:

I agree with you on the need to look forward; but does it not SERIOUSLY bother you that these killings and unnecessary RELIGION-related deaths still happen in our society? Would it not be prudent at this point to seriously examine these deaths, regret the past, and earnestly commit to avoiding or preventing their re-occurrence? In particular, if some of us are associated with the religion(s) that continues to provide the climate and platform for these deaths, would it not be wise and timely to start yelling out? Or are we tacitly accepting the deaths as part of the practices of the religion? Let's hope not!

Besides, why do we have people at the helm of these religious groups that are CONSISTENTLY associated with these human abuse and deaths? Can the songs, rules and epistles that lead to these unnecessary deaths be amended for the good and survival of human beings in the society? Or is there something beneficial to either the religion or the heads in these unnecessary deaths?

My Brother Lawal, we are suppose to be Modern humans who should know better than the fore-bearers of these religions and customary practices; we MUST live up to our responsibility and duty to upgrade our worldview and living patterns to conform with modern and contemporary knowledge and living standard. For example, I am sure nobody can tell us to worship the Sun or moon now because we all know what they are now (star and planet in the universe/galaxy). We know now that the world is not flat but round, and so we can't be pushed by religion or anything else to say otherwise. As Civilized Modern Humans, we MUST do something to upgrade to modern human knowledge and practice in our communities, especially in the key areas of religion, beliefs, customs and cultural practices ; if not, humanity will continue to wallow in religious and ethnic crises, unnecessary death and destruction.

Just one of my rare comments on this relentless and recurrent religion-related crises and human deaths in Nigeria. Take care. Joe Igietseme

From: NIgerianWorldForum@yahoogroups.com [mailto:NIgerianWorldForum@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Lawal Ishaq
Sent: Wednesday, January 05, 2011 11:26 AM
To: NIgerianWorldForum@yahoogroups.com; africa today
Cc: igbo_forum@yahoogroups.com; IGBO WORLD FORUM IGBO WORLD FORUM; Edo Global; NIDO-USA NIDO-USA; Matto Naija Politics Mato Naija Politics; NaijaObserver NaijaObserver; african group; africa africa; chatafrik@yahoogroups.com; Chat Afrik; ChatAfrikPublisher@msn.com
Subject: Re: [NIgerianWorldForum] HERE'S WHY NIGERIA CANNOT BE UNDER ISLAMIC TERRORISM!!

What and effort.!!!

I believe you will do greater service to humanity if you can spend as much time and propose what you think should be done to salvage the situation. Whatever you highlighted above are now in the past. What matters now is the future.

We are waiting please!

M. Lawal Ishaq Esq.,

From: tony egbe <tegbe2003@yahoo.com>
To: NIgerianWorldForum@yahoogroups.com; africa today <africatoday80@gmail.com>
Cc: igbo_forum@yahoogroups.com; IGBO WORLD FORUM IGBO WORLD FORUM <IgboWorldForum@yahoogroups.com>; Edo Global <edo_global@yahoogroups.com>; NIDO-USA NIDO-USA <NIDO-USA@yahoogroups.com>; Matto Naija Politics Mato Naija Politics <matto1@msn.com>; NaijaObserver NaijaObserver <NaijaObserver@yahoogroups.com>; african group <chris_discussion_group@yahoogroups.com>; africa africa <africanforum@yahoogroups.com>; chatafrik@yahoogroups.com; Chat Afrik <chatafrique@yahoogroups.com>; ChatAfrikPublisher@msn.com
Sent: Wed, January 5, 2011 5:15:51 PM
Subject: [NIgerianWorldForum] HERE'S WHY NIGERIA CANNOT BE UNDER ISLAMIC TERRORISM!!

Honest Nigerians,

Please, Scroll down to Peruse the Listed Details, and UNDERSTAND, Why One Nigeria will continue to be a Mirage and Deceit!! Otoiheoma Egbe

DIVIDE NIGERIA NOW !! 100 CASES OF MASS ISLAMIC TERRORISM

As at 2010 and counting in Northern Region of Nigeria and Middle Belt Region of Nigeria the has been many Religious terrorism killings and bombing in Abuja and Jos and many Sponsored Jihadism by groups like Boko Haram and other Islamic religious violence killing hundreds and thousands of people and Christains and natives in Jos, Maiduguri, Bauchi, and all over the North targeting Christians and other ethnic groups and targeting many minority tribes.

This is not even comprehensive. There is documentation of numerous other attacks by Islamic jihadists including: Kano, 1994; Ibadan, 1993; Lagos, 1993; Funtua, 1993; Zango Kataf 1992; Kano 1991; Katsina, 1991; Bauchi, 1991; Kafanchan, 1986; Kaduna, 1986; Gombe, 1985; Yola, 1984; Maidugiri, 1982; Kano, 1980. If you are interested you can go as far back as May/June; July/August; and September/October 1966 when Moslem jihadists slaughtered 100,000 Christian Igbo and other Easterners in Northern Nigeria. We suspect that Dora and her parents may have been escapees from Northern Nigeria during the jihad of 1966 in Northern Nigeria.

Muslim religious terrorism has been unleashed in Nigeria and with contacts in the middle East and Asia.Let the world not be fooled by the diguised of Northern Nigerian Religious extremism muslim as represented by their leaders like Yaradua Family, Mutallab Family, Sanusi Family, Bayero Families, Yerima family, Babangida family, Abdulsalam, family, Abacha, Jubril Aminu family, Atiku Family, Dangote family, Dantata family, Rimi family, jubril family etc. and all of the emires and Ulamas and Northern Nigeria leaders and muslim families AND FOLLOWERS for they all have ties to Muslim Wahabism extremisism in Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Dubai, Yemen, Egytp etc and with the world jihadist movement and the world is just now waking up to it and the facts has been there for a long time and now they are exporting terrorism, jihadism, wahabism and Al Qaida to the world. They are all part and parcel of this problem because they planted this it but it is now known and let the world not be fooled. Dr. Mutallab and his sharia focus and support for wahabism and sharia council have been terrorising and killing Nigerian Christians in Southern and Eastern Nigerian for over 60 years now in Nigeria.

Like all of the muslim Northern Nigerian leaders, DR. Mutallab the father of the ATTEMPTED DETROIT terrorist who is now shedding crocodile tears because he is one of the leaders who groom the Wahabism in Nigeria. Alhaji Dr. Mutallab the father also groomed Sharia law in Katsina State, Alhaji DR. Mutallab Groom Sharia in Kaduna State,Alhaji Dr. Mutallab groomed Sharia in Kano State, Most of the extremism Ulama in Northern Muslim Nigeria are benefactors of Alhaji Mutallab, Dr. Mutallab groomed extreme Muslim businesses in Saudi Arabia, He has extreme business in Dubai and he has extreme religious business in Yemen and he has business and property in Yemen. Alhaji Mutallab is the owner of the only Islamic Bank in Nigeria, Alhaji Mutallab has ties and interest in almost all the extremist muslim religious groups in Nigeria. He is a top leader of the Sharia movement COUNCIL in Nigeria. This guy is dangerous and he has gotten it hot and thats why he is running from pillar to post because he destroyed Nigeria with his corrupt ways and his muslim jihadist ideas for long time.

LIST OF ISLAMIC TERRORISM IN NIGERIA SUPPORTED BY MUSLIM LEADERS - STARTING WITH MOST RECENT SUPPORTED AND FINANCED BY PEOPLE LIKE PA MUTALLAB THE FINANCIER. DR. MUTALLAB WITH HIS WAHABISM AND SHARIA WORLD VIEW THAT LEAD HIS SON TO THIS UNGODLY ACT. NORTHERN NIGERIA MUSLINM LEADERS ARE SUPPORTERS OF ISLAMIC TERRORISM IN NIGERIAN AND AROUND THE WORLD.

LISTS:

(1) Religious violence erupts again in Jos on Tuesday, 24-hour curfew declared 200 dead By AHMED SAKA - AP
January 19, 2010. The rioting began Sunday after Muslim youths set a Catholic church ablaze. Witnesses said rioters armed with knives, homemade firearms and stones attacked passers-by and fought with security forces, leaving bodies in the street and stacked in local mosques. The Minister of Police Affairs, Ibrahim Yakubu Lame, issued a statement Tuesday blaming the violence on "some highly placed individuals in the society who were exploiting the ignorance and poverty of the people to cause mayhem in the name of religion."
(2)January 11, 2010 No fewer than 30 persons were killed in a renewed clash between members of an Islamic sect called kala-kato and security personnel in the Zango area of Bauchi Metropolis in the early hours of Monday. The Kala-Kato (which means he has said) sect is claiming to be the remains of the original 'Maitatsine' sect of the 80s. Among the victims who died were 15 children between the ages of three and seven. A cripple, Yusuf Abba, was said to have been slaughtered by the sect members. _ A number of houses in Zango were set on fire by members of the sect who were demanding for the release of its leader arrested by the authorities.
(3) DECEMBER 2009 There was palpable apprehension among citizens because of muslim religious riot in Bauchi while all businesses in the area remained closed. Governor Isa Yuguda who has been criticized for his much travel was away in Britain. The Bauchi State Police Command PPRO, Mohammed Barau said the command has deployed a combine team of regular Policemen and Mobile Police to maintain law and order in the area.
(4)Jan 5, 2010 - Muslim Religious rioters have killed hundred of people in religious violence in Bauchi Northern Nigeria.

(5)For the third time in 2009, the 'Angel' of destruction once again passed through Bauchi in the name of religious crisis and claimed several hundred lives
www.tribune.com

(6)LAGOS, July 27 2009(Xinhua) -- At least 200 persons have been killed and many others seriously injured in the early hours of Sunday, following a renewed religious crisis in northern Nigeria's Bauchi State, the Tribune newspaper reported on Monday.

(7)December 30 2009, Bauchi, (Northern Nigeria) Radical Islamic sect Kala-Kato a branch of Maitasine attacked Christians and burned Churches; 70 people were killed.

(8)July 26 2009 Maidugiri, Yobe, Bauchi, Kano, (Northern Nigeria) Radical Islamic fundamentalist sect, Boko Haram [translated "Western civilization is evil"] goes on rampage burning churches, and looting homes belonging to Christians and murdering them. Three Christian pastors including George Orji (Igbo) were killed by beheading. Officially 800 people were reported killed.

(9)2007, Adamawa (Northern Nigeria) Moslem jihadists invade Christian community of Yugor killing hundreds of Christians, looting and burning churches and Christian's homes and property.

10) 2006 Maidugiri, (Northern Nigeria) Islamic fundamentalists protesting cartoon of Prophet Mohammed by Danish cartoonist killed hundreds of Christians, burned down scores of Churches, and looted shops and homes belonging to Christians.

· (11)2006 All over Northern Nigeria. Similar riots by Islamic jihadists were held in numerous towns in Northern Nigeria – Katsina, Bauchi, Minna, Potiskum, Kano, Kotangora. Thousands of Christians were killed, scores of churches were looted and burned and personal homes and businesses of Christians were looted and burned. One week before that Nigerian MP's burned Danish and Norwegian flags in the parliament premises.

·(12)June 28 2006, Abuja (Northern Nigeria) The Federal government of Nigeria accused Kano State of Northern Nigeria of collaborating with foreign powers to train 100 Muslim militants in "intelligence gathering" and the "practice of jihad". In a news release, Information Minister Frank Nweke said the "Hisbah", a group employed by the mainly Muslim state of Kano to enforce sharia law, was "a parallel security outfit that poses a potential threat to national security".

(13) April 2003, Kano (Northern Nigeria) Islamic jihadists go on a rampage A pastor, Sunday Madumere (Igbo) and six of his family members were killed

(14) April, 2003, Jos (Northern Nigeria) Armed Muslim insurgents attacked Wereng village near Vom a suburb of Jos killing people, burning homes and looting people's property.

(15) April, 2003, Langtang (Northern Nigeria) A group of armed Muslims attacked a village in Langtang killing people and burning down homes.

(16)2003 Gusau (Northern Nigeria) Governor Ahmed Sani, who came to the United States and used the VOA to advertise the introduction of fundamentalist Islamic Sharia Law in Nigeria promising that it will never be applied to Christians gave an order that more than 20 of the Christian churches in the State be demolished. They were demolished promptly. No reasons were given.

(17) March, 2003 Jos (Northern Nigeria) Thousands of jihad warriors attacked the town of Kardako in Wase Local Government Area (LGA) shouting "Allahu Akbar" killing Christians and burning down homes.

(18) February, 2003 Ibadan (Western Nigeria) Muslims jihadists from the National Council of Muslim Youth Organizations attacked Christian schools in Ibadan in an effort to force the schools to require women to wear Islamic head coverings. Hundreds of students and teachers were injured in the attack.

(19) December 26, 2002, Bauchi, (Northern Nigeria) Islamic jihadists attacked Christians concluding a Christmas celebration in Bauchi killing Christians, looting and burning churches and Christian's homes.

(20) December 2002, Jos, (Northern Nigeria). Muslim Jihadists attack Christians. During the attack Rev. Bitrus Manjang, his son, daughter-in- law and their six-month old child were shot to death outside their home. The jihadists went on killing people looting and burning churches and Christian's homes.

(21) November, 2002 Kano, Kaduna (Northern Nigeria) Muslim jihadists went on a rampage after an article in the This Day newspaper suggested that the prophet Muhammad would probably have married a contestant from the Miss World pageant scheduled to be held in Abuja. Muslim mobs ransacked the newspaper's office, issued a fatwa on the author of the article, Miss Isioma, killed Christians and burned down numerous churches.

(22) October 2002, Jos, (Northern Nigeria) Hundreds of Christians were killed when a mob of several Muslims jihadists attacked the town of Fajul in Plateau State. Mercenaries from Chad and Niger were believed to be among the group, which burned down homes, churches, and raped several women.

(23) September 11, 2002, Jos, (Northern Nigeria) A bomb exploded at the Church of Christ in the Laranto suburb of Jos. No one was injured, but there was some structural damage to the church building.

·(24) August 2002 Kano, (Northern Nigeria) The government of Kano State ordered half of the churches in Kano State closed because of Muslim complaints about "too many churches."

(25) June 2002, Jos, (Northern Nigeria) Several Christian communities in Plateau state including Yelwa, Shendam, Wase, Barakin Ladi, Vom and Miango were invaded by Islamic jihadists who killed people and burned down homes and churches.

(26) June, 2002, Minna, (Northern Nigeria) At least 75 Christians were arrested in Niger state for opposing the state's Islamic sharia law.

(27) April 8-22, 2002, Kano (Northern Nigeria) At least seven churches in Kano State were destroyed by authorities. There is a growing trend in states that have enacted Sharia law to destroy Christian churches on the pretense that the churches have violated building codes. Christians believe it is a step toward wiping out the Christian faith in northern Nigeria.

(28) April 2002, Sokoto (Northern Nigeria) Two Christians in Zamfara State were tried on the charge of apostasy, converting from Islam to Christianity. According to Islamic law, the penalty for apostasy is death. However the two Christians, Lawali Yakubu and Ali Jafaru, claim they were never Muslims to start with. The two belong to an ethnic group that has practiced Christianity for many years.

(29)February, 2002 Ilorin (Northern Nigeria) Muslims in Ilorin turned violent while celebrating Eid-el-Kabir and began attacking and killing Christians and burning their houses and businesses.

(30)February 2002, Kano (Northern Nigeria) The Kano state government revealed that it had closed down 122 Christian schools for failing to meet state requirements. The requirement in question is the compulsory study of Islam. Christian schools have refused to allow Muslim clerics into their schools, thus risking closure.

(31) February, 2002, Gombe, (Northern Nigeria) A Christian lady, Esther Bulus was kidnapped from her school by four Muslims who slit her throat and left her to die. Esther had refused to marry a Muslim politician in Gombe on grounds of religious differences. She was murdered because of this.

·(32)December 30, 2001, Jos, (Northern Nigeria) Armed Muslim jihadists attacked the Christian community in southern Jos, killing people, looting and destroying property worth several million dollars.

(33) December 2001, Yola (Northern Nigeria) Muslim army soldiers from the 23rd Armored 7th Brigade in Yola, burned a Christian church building, which was constructed in the army barracks. They justified the act by saying it was an illegal structure. However, the army officially allows both Islam and Christianity to be practiced in the barracks.

(34)December 10, 2001, Kano, (Northern Nigeria) Truck driver Uche Nwama was killed by Islamic jihadists for allowing the exhaust from his truck to drift into an open-air Islamic meeting. Islamic jihadists claimed the exhaust had desecrated the Quran.

(35)November 6 2001; Ibadan (Western Nigeria) Islamic jihadists hold a massive rally in Ibadan in support of Osama Bin Laden and his attack and slaughter of thousands of Americans during the 9/11/2001 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York. They condemn the United States for attacking the Taliban in Afghanistan and vow to fight alongside Bin Laden and his fellow terrorists.

(36)November 2001 (Northern and Western Nigeria) Islamic jihadists hold massive rallies in Osogbo, Sokoto, Kano, Zaria, Kaduna, and other towns in Western and Northern Nigeria in support of Osama Bin Laden and his attack and slaughter of thousands of Americans during 9/11/2001 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York. They condemn the United States for attacking the Taliban in Afghanistan. They also vow to fight alongside Bin Laden and his fellow terrorists in a jihad against America.

(37) November 28, 2001Enugu (Eastern Nigeria) Christian Biafrans organize a peaceful rally in Enugu in solidarity with and support of the government and people of the United States over the terrorist attack in New York on 9/11/2001 and in support of the United States action against the terrorists. The Nigerian paramilitary police brutalized the participants, disbanded the rally and arrested the leaders.

(38) October 14-18, 2001 Kano (Northern Nigeria) Massive anti-American protests in Kano by Islamic jihadists. Thousands of Christians are slaughtered and scores of churches are burned. Property of Christians worth billions of dollars are looted and destroyed.

(39)October 2001, Kaduna (Northern Nigeria) Islamic jihadists attack Christians in churches, on the street and in their homes. Thousands of Christians are slaughtered, scores of churches are burned and looted, and thousands of Christian homes are looted, and burned.

·(40)September 2001, Kano (Northern Nigeria) Islamic jihadists attack Christians burning down churches slaughtering thousands of people, looting churches and private homes. Kano State government demolishes the few remaining churches.

(41) September 2001, Jos (Northern Nigeria) In a well planned and highly coordinated program Islamic jihadists attack Christians in the city of Jos, burning down churches, and private homes of Christians, looting the churches and private property of Christians. Hundreds of churches were burned and thousands of Christians were slaughtered some burned while worshipping in their churches.

(42)August 2001, Bauchi, (Northern Nigeria). The Bauchi state government is alleged to be using Muslim mercenaries to attack Christians in the Tafawa Balewa and Bogora districts. On several occasions vehicles loaded with Islamic jihadists were intercepted by vigilant Christians. Several hundred Christians were killed and houses, shops and churches looted, burned and destroyed.

(43)June 2001, Gawaram (Northern Nigeria) Islamic jihadists attack Christians, burn down dozens of churches and kill Christians.

(44)February 24-25, 2001, (Gombe) A visit to Gombe state by an Israeli ambassador sparked a riot by Islamic jihadists. During the riot the jihadists kill Christians, loot and burn down churches, loot and burn down Christian homes and render thousands of people homeless. The Calvary Baptist Church and the Bishara Baptist church are among those looted and burned.

(45)September 2000 Gombe (Northern Nigeria) In Bambam, Gombe state Islamic jihadists attack and kill Christians, burn down and loot churches and private homes and businesses of Christians.

(46)May 2000, Kaduna (Northern Nigeria) For several days Islamic jihadists attack and slaughter hundreds of people in Kaduna.. They loot thousands of Christian people's homes, churches, businesses and then burn them down. Thousands of Christians are mindlessly slaughtered and more than 200 churches are burned

(47)February 2000, Kaduna (Northern Nigeria) Islamic jihadists attack and slaughter Christians opposing the implementation of Sharia law in Kaduna, northern Nigeria. Christian homes, businesses and churches are looted, and burned. Thousands of Christians are mercilessly slaughtered and property worth billions of dollars are looted and destroyed by the jihadists.

(48)2000 Damboa, Maidugiri, (Northern Nigeria) Islamic jihadists attack and slaughter Christians, loot and burn Christian homes, businesses and churches. and many more that are being compiled with evidence.

The are also many more Jihadist religious violence against other ethic groups and religion in Northern Nigeria that were not reported and many of them the law enforcement authorities like police, Army, State and Local Government did not report and hide it from people and covered the killings, violence and the burning of churches and Christians houses, place of business and churches.

·       AFRICA TODAY

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On Tue, 1/4/11, africa today <africatoday80@gmail.com> wrote:

REFERENDUM TO DIVID NIGERIA NEEDED NOW LEARN FROM SUDAN

Nigerians,

Nigerians hate themselves religiously and ethnically.
Lets Nigerians be honest with themselves, Nigeria needs to be divided into either 2 , 3 or 4 countries so that the people will live in peace and progress side by side. The is too much hate and differences in religion, culture, ethnicity etc. between the two religion in Nigeria and its people for peaceful existence that is lacking, and it is a threat for the survival of the people now and in the future dragging the people and nation down.

Nigeria constant violent religious and constant violent ethnic problem can be solved overnight and its corrupt leadership has to be stopped and that is the only way to end mass religious violence and Nigeria decline in Education, infrastructure, religion discrimination, culture and lopsided acceptance. Religious suffering of Nigerians for over 50 years should be stopped now and divid Nigeria between North and South (christian south and Muslim north people) like Sudan is trying to do on January 09, 2011.

Many Nigerians and African leaders like President of Lybia Muamor Ghaddafi have suggested that Nigeria be dvided between Christians and Muslims to stop the constant mass religious violent and suffering in Nigeria.

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Kenyan Standard January 4, 2011

By Partrick Mathangani in Juba, Southern Sudan
-----------------------------
Edward Kenyi lifted his bloodstained machete and sliced chunks of meat. He arranged them in a row, and waved his hands to keep off flies.
Satisfied his wares were clearly visible to buyers swarming Juba Market, in Southern Sudan town, he leaned back to wait for customers.
"You asked about the referendum," he said, digging into his coat pocket to remove his voter's card, which he waved proudly. "We want to vote for our independence. Everyone wants independence."
For a long time, he said, people in Southern Sudan have suffered under the rule of Northerners. Now, the referendum, slated for January 9, has offered a window for them to decide their destiny.

But the poll, which was agreed on after a Comprehensive Peace Agreement in 2005, has stoked suspicion between the North and South. Like many people, Kenyi is worried that his relatives living in Khartoum may not be safe, following claims President Omar al Bashir's Government would do anything to scuttle the vote.
The mood across Juba and most of the South is that of separation. After more than 20 years of civil war, which ended with the peace agreement signed in Kenya, many are gearing up to witness the birth of Africa's newest nation.
Self rule
If voters opt for secession the South would have the autonomy for self-rule. However, Southerners, and members of Government within the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLA), claim Khartoum is planning to rig the vote.
There are reports that fears about the post-referendum era has triggered an exodus of Southerners living in the North back to their homelands.
Internal Affairs Minister, Maj Gen Gier Chuang Aluong, claimed Khartoum was intimidating voters, and stopping people in the North from crossing into the South where they registered to cast ballots.
Civic education
Scores of local civil organisations have been crisscrossing the ten Southern Sudanese states, offering civic education. Taban James Dakada, director general of Greater Equitoria, Bashr-Gazal and Upper Nile Referendum Forum said the biggest problem has been to reach voters in remote parts, which lack proper transport and communication network.
"Many people can't speak Arabic, let alone English," he said. "We've had to use locals who can speak the languages." The two are Sudan's official languages. However, observers are upbeat the referendum will be conducted as scheduled and preparations are going on well. "It's a job well done," Tanzania's former President Benjamin Mkapa who is the Chairman of the United Nations' Secretary General's Panel on the Referendum told the Press last week after inspecting preparations for the poll.

On Tue, Jan 4, 2011 at 6:51 PM, Tony Agbali <attahagbl@yahoo.com> wrote:
This is arrant nonsense. It is no reasonable way of proffering ardent solutions to real problems. The division of Nigeria into diverse entities is not the problem of Nigeria.

First, let us look at smaller countries in Africa there still have internal problems. We are glimpsing this from Cote d'Ivoire at the moment.   Secondly, during the Biafran war, a separatist movement and agenda, internal divisons arouse within Biafra; such as Ibos versus non-Ibo, and even among Ibos, we had Nsukka versus Wawa, and all kinds of divisions. Thirdly, state creations have been utilized to ensure more cohesiveness and unity, even within states with the same ethnic groups there still subsists all kinds of noxious and vicious divisiveness and restlessness based on all kinds of parameters of distinctions.

Therefore, the division of Nigeria into segmentary parts is not a solution to restiveness and violence. In states after states, even within the same political party there are rancours of all kinds, like the recent incidence in Ibadan, or the lingering incidences from Anambra, Plateau States, and others. Further, states like Aba where a majority could be defined as predominantly Christian, and was in the south, added to one of the most disheartening of Nigeria's recent problem of human kidnapping and ransome demand.

If it is the muddling up of religions and ethnicities that is the cause of criminality and problems, one would have to wonder why this kind of abominable acts did rare its head in a state where majoirty are palpably Christians- at least nominally! Or, do we add the criminality of Otokoto in Imo, or the Okija dismembering of humans at shrines that supposedly through its rituals should help to transcendentally advance the ontological goodness of adherents and society?

What has to occur is first that a purposive leadership work hard to ensure that the structures and systems of ensuring protection for the citizens are there. The current ambience of To do this the fight against corruption has to be uppermost. If there is transparency, we do know that the sources behind many of Nigeria's violence are well known, but yet highly protected because of their positionality within the hierarchy of power or ruling class dynasty.

Secondly, apart from governance, Nigerians rather than wallow in loudmouthed and arrant nonsensical ramblings in proffering street talks intelligence of an after the rain nature, must become more alert to their environment, strange movements and persons, and alerting authorities to this situations. Civil intelligence can help forestall much of the unfolding specters of shame, that more is making a rotissierre of Nigerians using the dummies of religions and ethnicity, and politics as rationale for hideous criminality.
Finally, in seeking teleological resolutions to Nigerian problems, individuals of all stripes should look inward, rather than pointing abjectly,naively, and cowardly at outside sources, idioms, ideologies, and acts, when the problem with Nigeria today, has become the Camusian problem of humans being wolf toward their fellow humans. It is a despicable culture of vultures; of dogs eating dog that has become now our crippling problem.

It is a very ethical probleme and troubling situation, where intentional mindlessness have become typically enthroned and dynamically activated as a proactive force in accentuating the orgy for the desecrating, dismembering, and annihilation of another as normative practice, without guilt, without qualms of conscience that is at the heart of the Nigerian problem. It is no more about resource control, the bane now is about controlling bestiality in planting gloom. It is the beast of orgiastic bestiality in full display.

It is this rather than any awkward and flawed analysis that is the problem and need redressing.

On Wed, Jan 5, 2011 at 6:59 AM, tony egbe <tegbe2003@yahoo.com> wrote:

"'....our task is either to dilligently or radically seek out the root
of Nigeria's religious slaughters, and then begin to find
"practical ways" on how to deal with it."'.....Mz. Chieke.

NIGERIANS & Ezi,

The Root of the above is as Simple as ABC..!! It is nothing but, IGNORANCE, IGNORANCE and more IGNORANCE!! Now, how can one go about to solve Ignorance?
IGNORANCE can be Solved, if the Ignorant Mind realizes their True state of Mind, and makes up their mind to seek Education. Without this Mindset to seek True Knowledge, the Closed Minded will be impervious to Sound Reasoning, Thought Process, and in infact will NOT allow any new knowledge to seep through this THICK WALL of Closed Mindedness!!
Now, you know where the Problem towards Solution hinges Big time!! Now, what is the Best Way to approch, so as to Achieve Irreversible Solution? Any Takers? Yours Truly and all other Honest Human Beings are all Ears!! Otoiheoma Egbe.

--- On Wed, 1/5/11, EOCHIEKE@aol.com <EOCHIEKE@aol.com> wrote:

From: EOCHIEKE@aol.com <EOCHIEKE@aol.com>
Subject: [IGBO_FORUM] Can Islam & Secularism Coexist Peacefully?: SECULARITY OF NIGERIAN STATE IS NON NEGOTIABLE
To: igbo_forum@yahoogroups.com
Date: Wednesday, January 5, 2011, 9:27 AM

Brethren:

Islam and Secularism: Can Both Coexist Peacefully?
We are coming to to a country near you. Oooops!

Peace,
"Ezii"
(ukwuenyiadimmanubi)

*      *     *

The New York Times

January 4, 2011
Killing of Governor
Deepens Crisis in Pakistan
By SALMAN MASOOD and CARLOTTA GALL
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — The assassination of an outspoken secular politician by one of
his elite police guards on Tuesday plunged the government deeper into political crisis
and highlighted the threat of militant infiltration even within the nation's security forces.

The killing of Salman Taseer, the prominent governor of Punjab
Province, was another grim reminder of the risks that
Pakistani leaders take to oppose religious extremists,
at a time when the United States is pushing Pakistan for greater cooperation
in the war in Afghanistan by cracking down on militant groups like the Taliban.

Mr. Taseer, 65, a successful businessman and publisher of a liberal English-language
daily newspaper, was exceptional, even within the secular-minded Pakistan Peoples
Party, for his vocal opposition to the religious parties and the extremism they spread.
He was imprisoned in the 1980s under the military dictator Gen. Mohammad Zia
ul-Haq for it and was still opposing the religious parties 30 years later.

He recently took up a campaign to repeal Pakistan's contentious blasphemy laws,
which were passed under General Zia as a way to promote Islam and unite the
country. The laws have been misused to convict minority Pakistanis as the
Islamic forces unleashed by the general have gathered strength. The laws
prescribe a mandatory death sentence for anyone convicted of insulting Islam.

Religious parties staged vigorous demonstrations of thousands of people across the
country last weekend to protest the campaign by Mr. Taseer, even burning him in
effigy. Mr. Taseer countered in comments on his Twitter account and elsewhere.
"Religous right trying 2 pressurise from the street their support of blasphemy
laws. Point is it must be decided in Parlaiment not on the road,"
he wrote on Dec. 26 in the imperfect shorthand typical of such posts.

"I was under huge pressure sure 2 cow down b4 rightest pressure on blasphemy.
Refused. Even if I'm the last man standing," he posted on Dec. 31.
On Tuesday Mr. Taseer was shot in daylight multiple times at close range
as he was getting into his car in Islamabad at the Kohsar Market, an area frequently
visited by the city's elite. His attacker was identified as Malik Mumtaz Hussain Qadri,
an elite-force security guard, who surrendered to the police immediately afterward and
implied he had killed the governor because of his campaign to amend the blasphemy laws.

"I am a slave of the Prophet, and the punishment for one who commits blasphemy
is death," he told a television crew from Dunya TV that arrived at the scene shortly
after the killing, according to Nasim Zahra, the director of news at the channel.
It was not yet clear whether he had acted alone or on behalf of some extremist group.

Mr. Taseer's death will serve as a chilling warning to any politician who speaks
out against the religious parties and their agenda and will certainly end immediate
attempts to amend the blasphemy laws, politicians said. "It is a loss to progressive forces;
he stood up for what he believed in," said one of his party colleagues, Sherry Rehman, a
legislator. Yet Ms. Rehman, who has long worked to amend the blasphemy laws, said the
party should regroup and continue to pursue the issue because it is central to the liberal
politics that the Pakistan Peoples Party and Mr. Taseer have stood for.

"You can recoil in fear, or you can have a considered action
and regroup sensibly at a time when it is approachable and applicable," she said.
Like Mr. Taseer, Ms. Rehman has frequently received threats, but she said the
future of the country was at stake. "You have to understand the gravity of the challenge,"
she said. "Personal safety is at risk, but there is also an existential threat to Pakistan."

Mr. Taseer's death will also be a severe loss for the governing Pakistan
Peoples Party and President Asif Ali Zardari; Mr. Taseer was the president's personal
friend and close political ally. As governor of Punjab, the nation's populous heartland,
he was a bulwark against spreading radicalism and the main opposition party,
the Pakistan Muslim League-N, led by Nawaz Sharif and his brother Shahbaz.

On Tuesday, the Sharifs' party added to the national government's troubles,
giving the Pakistan Peoples Party a three-day deadline, extended
for three more days in the wake of the assassination, to accept a list of
demands to avert a no-confidence vote. These included a reversal of recent fuel
price increases, cuts in spending of 30 percent and the enforcement of a
series of court verdicts against governing party officials for corruption.

Obama administration officials worry that even if Pakistan's government
survives the upheaval — which they believe it might, for a while — the turmoil
could kill any chance for political and economic reforms. The assassination,
one official said, leaves not only the repeal of the blasphemy laws in doubt,
but also possible reforms to increase tax collection.

Under pressure from Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and other
American officials, the Pakistani government submitted a new tax law in
Parliament. But it may abandon the push as a way to lure back coalition partners.

In a statement, Secretary Clinton called Mr. Taseer's death "a great loss"
and said she "admired his work to promote tolerance." Adm. Mike Mullen,
chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in an interview on Tuesday that he was
"hugely concerned" when he learned of the assassination, but that he expected
Pakistan and its security relations with the United States to weather the crisis.

Members of the Pakistan Peoples Party were shaken to the core by the killing,
which occurred within days of the anniversary of the assassination of former
Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto three years ago. The killing also resurrected
the party's fears of the extensive infiltration of extremists in the government
institutions, like the military and the police, of the nuclear-armed country.

President Zardari, Ms. Bhutto's husband, has blamed police and intelligence
officials for her death, and his senior aides blamed infiltration of the
elite Punjab security force for the governor's death. "It was well organized;
it was a jihadi element in the force that was there to protect him,"
said a presidential spokeswoman, Farahnaz Ispahani, who spoke tearfully about
Mr. Taseer's death on the Express TV news channel Tuesday night.

Ms. Ispahani invoked the legacy of Pakistan's secular founder, Muhammad
Ali Jinnah, using the popular title for him, Great Leader: "Show me another
party where the leaders are being murdered, and why is that? Because we are
standing up for Quaid-i-Azam's Pakistan, and against extremism and terrorism."

Hundreds of party members and friends gathered at Mr. Taseer's home in
Lahore as his body was taken back from the capital on Tuesday evening,
said Ahmed Rashid, an author and journalist. While many mourned a friend,
Mr. Taseer's supporters warned that Pakistan had lost, after Ms. Bhutto,
probably the most outspoken and determined advocate
against religious extremism in the country.

While the liberal and progressive segments of society saw Mr. Taseer as
a courageous and admirable leader, he was loathed by the extreme right. An
indication of this disdain was evident in post-assassination statements by most
religious leaders, who were reluctant to condemn the killing. Citing hospital
officials, local news media reports said that Mr. Taseer had been struck by
nine bullets. But hospital officials later said that 24 bullets had hit him.

President Zardari expressed shock at the assassination, and a statement
from the prime minister's office announced a three-day state of mourning.
The funeral will be held in Lahore in the Governor's House, according
to officials and party members. Rehman Malik, the interior minister,
told reporters that an investigation had been started to determine
the motives of the assassin and whether he had acted alone.

Mr. Malik was quoted by the Geo Television network as saying that the killer
had volunteered to be on Mr. Taseer's security detail on Tuesday morning.
Mr. Malik said the Punjab police official who enlisted Mr. Qadri
on the security detail had been taken in for questioning.

Waqar Gillani contributed reporting from Lahore, Pakistan,
and Mark Landler and Eric Schmitt from Washington.

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:
Correction: January 5, 2011
An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated the decade during which
Salman Taseer was imprisoned. He was imprisoned in the 1980s, not the 1970s.

*      *      *

-----Original Message-----
From: Okenwa R. Nwosu, M.D. <okenwanwosu@covad.net>
To: ANAMBRA FORUM <AnambraForum@yahoogroups.com>; ASA USA <asa-usa@yahoogroups.com>; IGBO EVENTS <IgboEvents@yahoogroups.com>; IGBO FORUM <igbo_forum@yahoogroups.com>; WORLD IGBO CONGRESS <WorldIgboCongress@yahoogroups.com>; Zik Project <zikproject@googlegroups.com>; NaijaPolitics <NaijaPolitics@yahoogroups.com>
Cc: WIEF FORUM <wief@googlegroups.com>; IDU USA <idu-usa@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Tue, Jan 4, 2011 6:06 pm
Subject: RE: [IGBO_FORUM] Okenwa Nwosu: SECULARITY OF NIGERIAN STATE IS NON NEGOTIABLE

"Let us say that the Muslim Imam - the custodian of the religious Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, all of a sudden CONVERTS to Christianity, and of course (as a NECESSITY, applies muscle to enforce law and order in the new and "democratic" dispensation on the Saudi Kingdom - and by extension cease the Islamic
kingdom's overt and covert operations to extend the Islamic religion to other parts of the world. We may think this is far-fetched (and it is) but it is not impossible or unlikely. …….
………… As it stands, we know how to bring the "religious" crisis in Nigeria to a screeching halt - at least temporarily or burn the country down. But that is not the kind of topic that we really want engage in or to hear right now. Especially not on the Internet. So, let us stick with CONVERSION. First we must convince our Igbo brothers who think that Christianity is just as bad as Islam to reconsider. All charity should begin at home." – Ezi Ochieke

Ezi,
I must commend you for opting to stay within the confines of my stated positions rather than engage in paraphrasing my thoughts to suit what you wish to say. Your core positions, as excerpted above, are okay by me. From my reading, there appears to be two alternative approaches as posited by you; seeking to convert Nigerian Moslems to Christianity or implement the stratagem that is guaranteed "bring the "religious" crisis in Nigeria to a screeching halt - at least temporarily or burn the country down". I agree that these are practical approaches which are worth a pursuit by your group and others who buy into your suggestion.
Personally, I am content to simply let the two major organized religions do their own thing as they deem fit knowing fully well that whatever has a beginning usually has an end under the sun. Religious strife abounds all over the world; in India between the Hindus, Sikhs and Moslems, in many countries between Christians and Moslems, in Northern Ireland between Catholics and Protestants etc. This is a struggle that is anchored on faith and strong beliefs which, for all practical purposes, is beyond the realm of meaningful dialogue through negotiations. It is, in short, a zero sum game. As you aptly surmised, it is either to convert or to annihilate, whichever materializes first.
As I have stated severally, I have chosen my own fight carefully and that choice lies outside the ambit of supremacy struggle amongst the world's major organized religions. I am fully aware of what this raging struggle is all about and that's why I consider myself incapable of making any tangible contribution in it for the foreseeable future.
I must say that you articulate your own side in this struggle quite eloquently and consistently nonetheless. All I can do, for now, is to wish you the best of luck.
Okenwa.

From: igbo_forum@yahoogroups.com [mailto:igbo_forum@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of EOCHIEKE@aol.com
Sent: Tuesday, January 04, 2011 3:59 PM
To: igbo_forum@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [IGBO_FORUM] Okenwa Nwosu: SECULARITY OF NIGERIAN STATE IS NON NEGOTIABLE

I hope that some folks may now appreciate why I have no interest, whatsoever,
to engage in longwinded convoluted rhetoric or exchanges about the deployment of instrumentality
of organized religions in deriving solutions to the multifaceted and complex
sociopolitical crises that have tormented Nigeria and its citizenry for decades.

There are no magical wands out there, but honest and sincere
search for the best practical way forward must continue nonetheless.
Okenwa.

Brother Okenwa:

Happy New Year!

We agree with you that "there are no magic wands out there" to fix the kind
of relgious trouble that we today have in Nigeria, Egypt and everywhere
else that "Islam" is in the midst or dwells as a next-door neighbor.

But there is another four-letter word that could slow down the
type of religious blood-letting that obtains in Nigeria and elswhere
where "Islam" has proven, and continue to prove to be a menace.
That word is "conversion." And we mean conversion to "Christianity."
We shall tell you why in due course, so please don't go anywhere just yet.

What we find as not "honest and sincere search for the best practical
way forward" is that (you probably would agree with us as a physician)
that you first of all neeed to identify the ailment, name it, and then
seek remedy for a cure. If we are right in our assumption, then
our task is either to dilligently or radically seek out the root
of Nigeria's religious slaughters, and then begin to find
"practical ways" on how to deal with it.

Thus far everyone, the Christian pastors, the politicians, politically-correct
pundits (and many of us ofcourse) are in serious denial. Reading through your
submission, one would agree that there is basically nothing to quarrel over.
It is a nice piece of compact history, and relatively accurate at face value.
But we would like to believe that you went through all the trouble to
narrate history in an effort to educate us away from our curent
religious barbaric ways as has been exemplified, and
continue to manifest in Islam. We just finished
watching a video posted by Henry Elemuo of a woman
being flogged 50 lashes in Sudan for possible adultery. But
how about the guy that she was doing it with. Where was he in all o'
this. At any rate, that is a deviation. Let us get back to slaughter and
mayhem carried out in the name religion - or should we say "Islam?"

We understand the futility of long-winded debates, which you have
no interest, and rightfully so, to engaging in. They are just that - long-winded
and of no value to those who have made it a point to take a position and stand
there like a statue, regardless of the facts. But the purpose of our contribution is
to inject some context into your submission, and maybe find out exactly what it is
that you want us to learn from it - because as it stands, the mandate has been illusive.

You wrote: "... Islam, pushed the liberalization process a little further by the
elimination of saints, icon....in routine religious practice and worship."

And you are right again. But in all sincererity, a "liitle too far" is hardly the proper
lexicon to use in describing the kind of damge that Islam does to any type modern
"secularity," which you advocate. As a doctor, do you describe an advanced case
of metastasized cancer as benign tumor because you want to appear moderate?

The answer is no. You call it exactly what it is, and then seek a "radical"
shock therapy if that is what your informed diagnosis call for. Your mission
is to cure the patient at any cost. Do nothing, the patient will die. That is
not necessarily a guarantee that the patient may not die under the
radical treatment procedure. Once upon a time, you told us that
MASSOB should not be treated with kidgloves, and that
the Nigerian goverment should deal with them accordingly.

The point is that we want you to be as decisive with Islam - and call
the destructive religion that it is because that would be thr truth. The
tendency has ben for us to want to blurr the line as you have done
by taking us through a history of religion and how they were used
to maintain easy governance. As we said, we agree with you.
But that should hardly be the purpose of what you want your
audience to learn from your recent submission. Or is it?

Islam is destructive because it is "Politics" and "Religion"
inextricably intertwined together. That is why even in your model
"Egypt" with Mubarak the "strongman" does not have a chance in
hell as the evidence has shown, and will continue to show to curb the
wanton religious violence on non Muslims - especially Christians. When
you have a chance, please read the attached CBS report below about the
New Year's Eve bombing of a Christain church in Egypt, and tell us what you
believe the common denominator is.with the New Year's Eve attacks in Jos and
continued bombings in Nigeria. As for our own opinion, Islam is the driving force.
.

Again, and correctly too, you cited the Roman Emperor Constantine who used
Christianity to govern. But why did you drag Emperor Constantine into your
argument, which all it did was neutralize the destructiveness of Islam as a
governing tool? What was it that you really wanted your readers to learn
from the emperor parallel, granted that that the history as you narrated
it was accurate? The point is that you cannot - as you have always
demonstrated to have the penchant to do, (and we have pointed
this out several times elsewhere) tell us a story only in part
when you know darn well that it distorts the image of the
larger picture. Except of course that is what you want us
to see - the distorted image. Unless you are saying that
you do not know the whole story - in which case we are
very much inclined dismiss it as the fault of inorance and
to forgive you acordingly. We hope your omission of
crucial information is because of the latter - ignorance,
and that you did not intend in any way to influence or
prejudice opinion toward your own personal agenda.

You failed the crucial test. A game changer. You ommitted this
very important cannon in you mosaic. Yes Constantine was a Christian
who used "Christianity" to rule and reach a vast empire. But you failed to
state that Consatntine was originally a "Pagan" emperor of the Roman Empire
who persecuted Christians. "Christians" were the ones under "persecution."

The "game changer" was that Constantine became a "convert" from "Paganism"
to "Christianity" out of "conviction," and not merely as your submission may
suggest - the ease to rule using "religion." Yes, when the emperor abandoned
"Paganism" and embraced Christianity, naturally, Christianity was elevated
from a "marginalized" and "criminalized" sect into a favored and protected
faith of the imperial family and, eventually, a kind of "shadow government,"
(which is what you appropriately may have referred to as ease of rule)
whose reach extended throughout the Roman Empire. You see,
once the Roman emperor was a "Christain" rather than a
"persecutor of Christians," democracy in action -
as in "freedom of religion" began to make sense.
.
But ease of rule was never the original intention of Constantine's
conversion. The reason for this is to draw a contrast between
the Roman Christian Empire and Islam. Islam was founded
from the onset with the intention to rule and to sujugate.
And that is why the tennets are rigidly stated in the
Quran. The Roman Christain Empire collapsed
eventually, while Christianity stayed and spread.
Islam cannot collpase as easily because the CONSTITUTION
is the Quran. If you want Isalmic rule to liberalize as easily as
the Roman Christain Empire, then the first task would be to
discard the Quran. The Roman Christian Empire under
Constantine did not have "Christianity" as a "State
Religion" or the New Testament as its Constitution.

We hope that you are still listening, because the point here
is that Islam practiced as a "state religion," and based on the Quran
as its Constitution, is not capable of such leniency, and defifinely not
capable of such democratic setting. Islam is primarily (apart from virgins
in heaven) concerned with the kingdom of righteousness here on earth,
and to rescue us from the evil one and redeem all our social relation.
That is why we see all the floggings for sex and booze on earth,
chopping off hands for stealing meat and beheadings for
homosexuality - because they want to keep the world free of vice.

Hoewver, we can begin to see the kind of change that we
so desperately need to "coexist in peace" with our fellow Muslims.
And that can only come first through divine intervention - "CONVERSION."

It is a miraculuous feat, and it will work, just nearly as it did with the
Emperor Constantine. Let us say that the Mslim Imam - the custodian
of the religious Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, all of a sudden CONVERTS
to Christianity, and of course (as a NECESSITY, applies muscle to
enforce law and order in the new and "democtratic" dispensation
on the Saudi Kingdom - and by extension cease the Islamic
kingdom's overt and covert operations to extend the Islamic
religion to other parts of the world. We may think this is
far-fetched (and it is) but it is not impossible or unlikely.

Yes, we agree that the reason this is a long shot by any imagination
is because the "Quran" is the Islamic Political Constitution, which by
all account many of us as you have acutely demonsatrated either
do not realize or have deliberately refused to acknowledge.

The reason our position has to be ignorance, it is a fancy dream
to actually believe that Nigerian Muslim leaders will come around to
do the things that you envision in your submission when it does not serve
their interest in any way - because as you correcty pointed out, the intent
and goal is complete Islamization and domination. Then how, without first
of all CONVERTING them, do we plan to live in harmony, side by side
with Muslims. It is a pipe dream, and no amount of wishful thinking
would bring it to fruition. No amount secular Constitution, and no
amount of "Muslim strongmen" can guarantee or assure it.

We cannot take the postion that Islam and Chruistianity are the
same, and mutually antagonistic, and at the same time hope
for a peacefull coexistence. Load of pure rubbish. It ain't gonna happen.

Yeah, we agree with you that Nigeria has the U.S model. Yet, once again,
you completely missed the reason why that is so. And we shall not
dabble too much into it except tho say that they had to "claim" a U.S.
model since they split Nigeria into "states," mimicking America.

The question that we need to answer is what was different in "securlaisim"
under the British model, which Nigeria inherited and the so-called
American model of secularism? We shall leave it to you and the
readers to stuggle and come up with the answers. The truth is
that it is hard to argue issues with some of us who think
that they must stick to, or with a position without getting
caught up in semantics, which are really neither here
nor there. The "Muslim world" (apologies to
President Obama) has not interest in the
U.S. model, and that is why they are all
authoritarians. Islam does not allow
otherwise. Anyone who disagrees with
this asertion, should give us one example.
We have thrown this challenge before, and we
are throwing it out again. Without semantics and all
the razzle and dazzle equivocation, name one country
where "Muslims" dwell in peace with non Muslims.

Mubarak is Islamic Egypt's Muslim strongman. Ghadaffi is Islamic
Libya's Muslim strongman. Saddam Hussein was Islamic Iraq's
Muslim strongman until the United States decided he was
getting too strong for other Islamic nations.

You see, therfore, Nigeria's past military "Islamic" leaders by
proxy or shadow governance had no interest, and have no interest
in the U.S. model. And that is why as we have stated before, they
look Saudi Arabia and other to Islamic republics for their model,
when all the models that you propound are right here in the
United States, whose model they purport to emulate?

"It goes without saying that the quest by some to impose sharia law
through the backdoor, for example, militates against the true essence
of the Nigerian state. Such a quest is antithetical to peaceful
coexistence of the citizenry in a pluralistic entity that Nigeria is."

Would it make a difference if "sharia" was introduced into
Nigeria through the front door instead of the "backdoor?"
You see that we continue to miss the point so sorely.

The "backdoor" introduction of the sharia is how
it could have been safely done by the sharia
protagonists (the Abubakars, the Mohammeds, the BUHARI's,
the Ibrahims, the Musaa), and still be on the safe side, because
then, they can have Christian preachers and ignorant people in
the midst defending them with or without knowing it that they are
doing so. The Muslims have their cake and eat it too. Imagine that
every time there is a religious crisis, Christain leaders are always the
first in line to team up with Muslim leaders to comdemn the "killings"
and wanton "destructions" as "politically-motivated," intead of coming
out pomp and plain to state without fear that relgion, specifically
"Islam" is the problem? What kind of utter load of rubbish is that?

These guys imply as if the attacks and destructions are mutual
because some politicians are instigating it - intead of stating the
obvious that the Cristian reprisal - as the one we experienced in
the east in 2000, is usually a reaction to Muslim aggression.
And we socalled "educated minds" (apologies to Tony Egbe)
help perpetuate the fallacy that it is political as if Islam
makes a distiction between politics and religion.

If we may ask again, what is the difference between a sharia
"backdoor" and governance by military coups that plagued Nigeria?
Are both not "backdoors?" You see the point again is that Islamic
leaders rule through military (strongmen) as they did in Nigeria.
Now once you have removed that process of
Islamic military and triumphant,
you push them to invoke Plan B, which is
Sharia - "militant and triumphant." If Nigerian
military racketeers had left Murtala Muhammad alone,
we would not be talking about Sharia within the same context.
If the military rascals had left BUHARI alone, we would not be
talking about Sharia within the same context, becaiuse BUHARI
or Muhammad would have been the equivalent of Moamar Ghaddaffi,
Hosni Mubarak or Saddam Hussein of blessed memory.

Are you catching on? We hope this is not a waste
because we indeed would be very heart-broken.

As it stands, we know how to bring the "religious" crisis in Nigeria
to a screehing halt - at least temporarily or burn the country down.
But that is not the kind of topic that we really want engage
in or to hear right now. Especially not on the Internet.
So, let us stick with CONVERSION. First we must
convince our Igbo brothers who think that
Christinity is just as bad as Islam to reconsider.
All charity should begin at home.

"....those who perceive Christianization of all Nigerians as
the only way forward must see themselves as enemies of the state
and major antagonists of the best interests of our fellow compatriots."

"What Nigeria can do without...for the foreseeable future, are self-righteous
religious bigots who opt to hide under the camouflage of Christianity ...
to impede the progress and thereby negate the wellbeing of fellow citizens."

We are not aware of anyone in Igbo Forum who perceive "Christianization
of all of Nigeria as the only way forward," granted that would definetely
be a step in the right direction. But if by insinuation you implicate,
Pastor Ken Okey, please be advised that he is not the problem
with Nigeria. Instigator Azubuike Ekwueme is not the trouble.
Muslims will kill and maim with or without his Internet
"provocations." And Taliban Oderaigbo is hardly
the problem either. His blood and gore "pikture speak"
is the work of "Islam," whether or not we believe it,
or how much we find them repulsive.

The problem is that some of us are typical Igbo-Nigerians,
who have no clue what the "diagnosis" is. And therefore,
we tend not to have a clue on how to begin to treat the
malady. The diagnosis is out: "Islam" is a very bad
"cancer" that will eventually lead to "death"
if left untreated. And as much as we
feel leary to disagree with
thermodynamics Egbe, we
must do so. He may very well be right that
your recommended soltion to the Sharia problem:

"Let the first move toward
our self-redemption start today
so as to obviate the possibility of
what tomorrow promises to bring..."

will not cut it. Except of course, you tell us that by deconstructing
the mosaic, we agree that the "self-redemption" includes [1] the
courage to call evil by its name. [2] That "self-redemtion" begins
with acknowledging CONVERSION to CHRIST the prevailing
factor. [3] All being equal, everything else is secondary,
and may very well be of no intrinsinc value.

And that our friend is the Romaan Emperor "Constantine"
experience and example worthy of emulation. Otherwise
the Constantine history makes no difference to the
issue of solving the Sharia problem.

You give us a headache. Laughs!

Happy New Year! And God bless you all.

Peace,
"Ezii"
(fly on the wall)

*     *     *

CAIRO, Jan. 1, 2011
Egypt Church Bomb Kills
21 at New Year's Mass
Blast Went Off as Worshippers
Emerged From Christian Church;
Explosion Follows Repeated
al Qaeda Threats
Error! Filename not specified.
Worshippers shout around an exploded car in front of a Coptic
Christian church in Alexandria, Egypt, Jan. 1, 2011. (AP Photo)
Stories
Suicide Car Bomb Kills 3 in South Afghan City
Another Mail Bomb Found at Embassy in Rome
(AP) Updated January 1 at 8:03 a.m. ET

A powerful bomb, possibly from a suicide attacker, exploded in
front of a Coptic Christian church as a crowd of worshippers
emerged from a New Years Mass early Saturday, killing at
least 21 people and wounding nearly 80 in an attack
that raised suspicions of an al Qaeda role.

The attack came in the wake of repeated threats by al Qaeda militants
in Iraq to attack Egypt's Christians. A direct al Qaeda hand in the bombing
would be a dramatic development, as Egypt's government has long denied that
the terror network has a significant presence in the country. Al Qaeda in Iraq
has already been waging a campaign of violence against Christians in that country.

Police initially said the blast came from an explosives-packed
car parked outside the Saints Church in the Mediterranean port city.
But the Interior Ministry later said it was more likely from a suicide
bomber who blew himself up among the crowd.

Both tactics are hallmarks of al Qaeda and have been rarely used in Egypt,
where the government crushed an insurgency by Islamic militants in the 1990s.
Though the government of President Hosni Mubarak denies an al Qaeda presence,
Egypt does have a rising movement of Islamic hard-liners who, while they do not
advocate violence, adhere to an ideology similar in other ways to al Qaeda.
There have been fears they could be further radicalized amid growing
sectarian tensions between Egypt's Muslim majority and Christian minority.

Nearly 1,000 Christians were attending the New Year's Mass at the
Saints Church, said Father Mena Adel, a priest at the church. The
service had just ended, and some worshippers were leaving the
building when the bomb went off about a half hour after midnight, he said.

"The last thing I heard was a powerful explosion and then my ears
went deaf," Marco Boutros, a 17-year-old survivor, said from his hospital bed.
"All I could see were body parts scattered all over - legs and bits of flesh."

Blood splattered the facade of the church, as well as a mosque directly
across the street. Bodies of many of the dead were collected from the
street and kept inside the church overnight before they were
taken away Saturday by ambulances for burial.

Some Christians carried white sheets with the sign of the cross
emblazoned on them with what appeared to be the blood of the victims.

Health Ministry official Osama Abdel-Moneim said the death toll stood at 21,
with 79 wounded. It was not immediately known if all the victims were Christians.
It was the deadliest violence involving Christians in Egypt since at least 20 people,
mostly Christians, were killed in sectarian clashes in a southern town in 1999.

Mubarak vowed to track down those behind the attack, saying "we
will cut off the hands of terrorists and those plotting against Egypt's security."

"This terrorist act has shaken the conscience of the nation,"
he said in a statement, adding that "all Egypt was targeted,
and terrorism does not distinguish between Copt and Muslim."

The blast enraged Christians and stoked already strong sectarian tensions.
Soon after the explosion, angry Christians clashed with police and Muslim
residents, chanting, "With our blood and soul, we redeem the cross,"
witnesses said. Some broke in to the mosque across the street,
throwing books into the street and sparking stone- and bottle-throwing
clashes with Muslims, an AP photographer at the scene said.

Police fired tear gas to break up the clashes. But tempers remained high:
In the afternoon, hundreds of Christians remained massed
inside the church and outside on the street, where they jostled with
lines of riot police, chanted, and waved crosses and pictures of Jesus.

In a reflection of the deepening mistrust between Egypt's communities, many in
the crowd believed police would not fully investigate the bombing, reflecting
Christians' suspicions that authorities overlook attacks on their community.

Archbishop Arweis, the top Coptic cleric in Alexandria, said police want
to blame a suicide bomber instead of a car bomb so they can write it
off as a lone attacker. He denounced what he called a lack of protection.

"There were only three soldiers and an officer in front of the church.
Why did they have so little security at such a sensitive time when
there's so many threats coming from al Qaeda?" he said, speaking to the AP.

Police initially said the blast came from an explosives-packed
vehicle parked about four meters (yards) from the church. But the Interior
Ministry said later in a statement that there was no sign that the epicenter
was a car. That "makes it likely that the explosives ... were carried on
the person of a suicide attacker who died with the others," it said.

Around six severely damaged vehicles remained outside the church,
but there was little sign of a crater that major car bombs
usually cause. Bits of flesh were stuck to nearby walls.

Alexandria governor Adel Labib immediately blamed al Qaeda, pointing
to recent threats by the terror group to attack Christians in Egypt.

He offered no evidence to support his claim, but a recent
spate of attacks blamed on al Qaeda against Christians
in Iraq have an unusual connection to Egypt.

Al Qaeda in Iraq says it is attacking Christians there in the name
of two Egyptian Christian women who reportedly converted to
Islam in order to get divorces, prohibited by the Orthodox Coptic Church.

The women have since been secluded by the church, prompting Islamic
hard-liners to hold frequent protests in past months, accusing the Church of
imprisoning the women and forcing them to renounce Islam.

Al Qaeda in Iraq says its attacks on Christians would
continue until Egyptian Church officials release the two women.
The Church denies holding the women against their will.

Egypt faced a wave of Islamic militant violence in the 1990s,
that peaked with a 1997 massacre of nearly 60 tourists at a pharoanic
temple in Luxor. But the government suppressed the insurgency with a
fierce crackdown, and militant violence all but stopped until a series of bomb
attacks against tourist resorts in the Sinai Peninsula between 2004 and 2006.

Those attacks in the resorts of Dahab, Taba and Sharm el-Sheikh,
which included suicide bombers and killed a total of 125 people,
were blamed by the government on local extremists in an attempt
to deflect concerns that al Qaeda had established a presence in Egypt.

Egypt has seen a string of attacks on Christians in recent years,
most notably, in January 2009, when seven Christians were killed in a
drive-by shooting on a church in southern Egypt during
celebrations for the Orthodox Coptic Christmas.

Christians, mainly Orthodox Copts, are believed to make up about
10 percent of Egypt's mainly Muslim population of nearly
80 million people, and they have grown increasingly vocal in
complaints about discrimination. In November, hundreds of
Christians rioted in the capital, Cairo, smashing cars and windows
after police violently stopped the construction of a church. The rare
outbreak of Christian unrest in the capital left one person dead.

*       *        *

-----Original Message-----
From: Okenwa R. Nwosu, M.D. <okenwanwosu@covad.net>
To: ANAMBRA FORUM <AnambraForum@yahoogroups.com>; ASA USA <asa-usa@yahoogroups.com>; IGBO EVENTS <IgboEvents@yahoogroups.com>; IGBO FORUM <igbo_forum@yahoogroups.com>; NaijaPolitics <NaijaPolitics@yahoogroups.com>; WORLD IGBO CONGRESS <WorldIgboCongress@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Mon, Jan 3, 2011 2:26 pm
Subject: [IGBO_FORUM] SECULARITY OF NIGERIAN STATE IS NON NEGOTIABLE

Umuibe,
Major world civilizations were predicated on uniformity of religious beliefs and practices - otherwise known as organized religions. Ancient Egyptian civilization is the one which has immensely influenced our own part of the world. It is clearly evident that both the Judeo-Christian and Islamic religious doctrines and practices are direct derivations of the ancient Egyptian model. The Judeo-Christian variant modified the age-old cultic practice in ancient Egypt by somehow democratizing the system. The later arrival, Islam, pushed the liberalization process a little further by the elimination of saints, icons etc in routine religious practice and worship. Historically all these organized religions were utilized by those at the helm for establishing and maintaining control over the populace in order to simplify governance and management of sundry human affairs. And they all worked as intended, some of them for quite a long while. But the ruling orders which these organized religions were designed to sustain eternally still succumbed with the passage of time. Organized religion helped the pharaohs to control and run the Egyptian empire for millennia but their house eventually came tumbling down. The Roman Emperor, Constantine the Great, adopted Christianity as the masterstroke to avert the imminent collapse of his empire by imposing mandatory practice of this religion throughout his domain. Collapse of Roman empire was delayed but certainly not averted despite successful enforcement of Christianity as the official religion.
The modern era is trying to apply the lessons learned from the past by insisting on secularity of nation states as a matter of policy domestically and universally whenever possible. The US model is the paradigm that many are seeking to emulate, particularly Nigeria. We have patterned our constitution after that of the United States. It is implied, therefore, that we must also be committed to the secularity of the Nigerian state just as the US. It goes without saying that the quest by some to impose sharia law through the backdoor, for example, militates against the true essence of the Nigerian state. Such a quest is antithetical to peaceful coexistence of the citizenry in a pluralistic entity that Nigeria is. The true intent of protagonist of sharia, even if applied to restricted parts in the interim, is to Islamize the entire country and thus impose an official organized religion on every citizen, irrespective of their will. Likewise, those who perceive Christianization of all Nigerians as the only way forward must see themselves as enemies of the state and major antagonists of the best interests of our fellow compatriots. What Nigeria can do without, today and for the foreseeable future, are self-righteous religious bigots who opt to hide under the camouflage of Christianity and Islam to impede the progress and thereby negate the wellbeing of fellow citizens.
I hope that some folks may now appreciate why I have no interest, whatsoever, to engage in longwinded convoluted rhetoric or exchanges about the deployment of instrumentality of organized religions in deriving solutions to the multifaceted and complex sociopolitical crises that have tormented Nigeria and its citizenry for decades. That said, the Nigerian government must continue to maintain the official policy of zero tolerance for religious fanatical groups who see violence toward fellow citizens as the only effective means to achieve their spurious agenda which, of course, are ultimately aimed at political intimidation and domination of the rest. All the might of government as well as the collective will of the citizenry must be wielded to confront and defeat the forces of religious zealotry that negate the rights of others.
Containment of forces of retrogression must remain the core policy position of any modern nation state of relevance. That a sizeable component of the Nigerian intellectual capacity is still being committed to idle debates over the rampant excesses of religious and ethnic bigots is indicative of complexity of the national malaise confronting our folks today. A train cannot move forward at any appreciable speed if there are crew members who insist on stepping on the brakes at all times. Such acts, especially within the context of a nation state, must be seen and treated as treasonable. Those who engage in murderous sprees against fellow citizens simply because of their ethnocultural background or religious preferences must be seen as the number one enemy of the state and dealt with accordingly. There ought to be no ifs and buts about this fact of life. Religious activism, just like social or political activism, is inevitable in all human societies, but there must be a clear line that no one must cross without predictable drastic consequences. Challenging power of the state as the preferred means of pursuing one's idiosyncrasies is an affront that neither Nigeria nor the entire citizenry can tolerate or condone as is the case today.
Some people prefer a (peaceful) breakup of the country or devolution of political power along ethnocultural fault lines or in conformity with dominant religious affiliations of federating states. I see nothing wrong with such a proposition, per se, if such a concept is deemed practical and actionable in real time. Whatever one proposes for Nigeria going forward must not lose sight of the country's past history and experiences. Breakup of the country has been attempted and also an agreement to replace federation with confederation was agreed to as far back as 1967 in the Aburi Accord that was never put into practice. Those who now clamor for these failed options are yet to let us understand what they now know differently about the Nigerian state that most of us don't. Or are these ideas being tossed around just for the heck of it?
Some of us proposing alternative solutions already know what have not worked in the past and thus would prefer not to dissipate valuable time and energy revisiting them on each count. A challenging future does demand courage and determination from all of us to confront and overcome. Half-baked proposals of quick fixes which have no chance in hell to see the light of day are not only unrealistic but also a waste of everyone's time. There are no magical wands out there, but honest and sincere search for the best practical way forward must continue nonetheless.
Okenwa.

From: igbo_forum@yahoogroups.com [mailto:igbo_forum@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Ken Okey
Sent: Monday, January 03, 2011 2:40 AM
To: Igbo Forum; Igbo Events; Igboorgnyforum Igboorgnyforum; IgboWorld Forum IgboWorld Forum; WorldIgboforum WorldIgboforum
Subject: [IGBO_FORUM] Re: Dr. Okenwa's SOLUTION TO "DESTRUCTION OF LIFE IN NIGERIA"!!

Tony:
Don't mind Mazi Okenwa, I don't know why the brother tends to be shifting more than car gears. In 2002 he said that Sharia-propelled-Muslims MUST be FORCED to comply and today he is saying a different thing.
Is it not the same thing that the northern Hausa Muslims were doing in those days (trying to undermine Nigeria state), that irked Okenwa that they are still doing today, why shouldn't Okenwa maintain his stand, so don't mind the brother who it is becoming obvious that he likes to engage in academic exercise in the forum rather than put out a thought or idea that he really believes in and follow it up.
The truth is that Okenwa was right then that the rascals MUST be FORCED to comply and when the word "Must and Force" comes in, it means that the federal government should use forceful means, (not appealing, colorful or decorative means) to bring the rascals to order and to face whatever music they are playing and dancing to.
More over, since none of the northern leaders care to rebuke them for such idiocy and destruction of lives, rather they looked away while their people destroy lives, it is high time none of their leaders will be allowed to smell power in the Nigeria exalted office. Who are they aspiring to lead, same people they are indirectly supporting their massacre by keeping mute and turning blind eye while their wards destroy precious and innocent lives of Christians and non Muslims on the instigation of sharia.
I can't just understand why at least SNC should not be convened to address the multiple problems of this unworkable marriage union between different nations and cultures in Nigeria. Year in year out it is all about killings and killings by the same group of people, the Northern Nigeria Muslims killing the Christians living in their midst and each time we will read that an investigation has been initiated to bring the culprits to book and before we read about the progress of the investigative work, the rascals will unleash another mayhem thus the federal government will abandon the first investigative panel and constitute another one to look at the new mayhem and bring the culprits to book.
This rigmarole has been going on for donkey years and till this day no name has been official mentioned as either a participator in the mayhem or those behind it. Their leaders also threatens violence on the general populace if their political wish is not met and the rest of Nigeria will keep mute as if these people are untouchables, what is it that is really wrong with the people in authority who should call this people to other and in the words of Mazi Okenwa in 2002, to forcefully bring them to comply to the dictates of Nigeria state which they want all to live in.
When they threaten and dare the country and nothing is done, their wards and rascals will go a little further to carry out the threat and mayhem knowing fully well that their leaders will support them because an adage says that a son sent on a robbery by his father goes about it with boldness and never knock on doors before entering, rather break down doors with impunity.
Only in the country like Nigeria that two different laws will be in operation with reckless abandon and the federal leaders will be too weak to assert themselves and bring sanity to the menace. For example the Nigerian constitution says one thing and another "Sharia-constitution" engages or adheres to by some section of the same country says a total different thing which will lead you to ask if it is two countries within a country or if this is the version of Chinese one country two system. If so, then it will make sense to set things right because it should not be one country two systems, rather one country seven systems in Nigeria.
This is high point of self-mockery to say the least and this is why Nigeria is seen as a banana republic where anything goes. The thing is simple, if some section of the country don't want to fully live within Nigeria constitution the most benevolent thing to be done to them is give them their own country where they should practice their separate constitution because they are ridiculing and bringing Nigeria to huge mockery before the world.
Nigeria is going to Ivory Coast to mock herself while she cannot handle a more terrible vice within her borders, election rigging happens everywhere and I believe Ivory Coast can handle theirs without the intervention from any country but Nigeria who it is obvious that they are not able to handle the Sharia-Propelled-Muslims in Nigeria is going to Ivory Coast to help install another Sharia-Muslim man to power, when they start to unleash their mayhem in Ivory Coast tomorrow, people will start mouthing-off hypocrisy condemning it, yet they are arming them even when I have read that both of the candidates engaged in massive riggings.
South Sudan is few days short of singing their own national them and after them the tide will turn towards Nigeria, I believe that somehow things will work out in that direction in Nigeria which will lead to the mixed oil and water getting easily separated because there is no way the mix-up can stick and stay together, no, never; it ain't going to happen, not today, not tomorrow and not anytime in the future. It simply beats logic and reasoning for people to believe that oil and water can ever get mixed and attain good union.
Ken.

"Thanks be unto God for His wonderful gift:
Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God
is the object of our faith; the only faith
that saves is faith in Him"

If you are a believer in God and Jesus Christ you will discover that: "Every Unpleasant Circumstance got the Seed of an Equivalent Benefit" for  "We know that all things work together for good to them that love God"Romans 8:28

--- On Sun, 1/2/11, tony egbe <tegbe2003@yahoo.com> wrote:

"Let the first move toward our self-redemption start today so as to obviate the possibility of what tomorrow promises to bring..."......Dr.Okenwa Nwosu.

NIGERIANS,
The above recommended Solution to the Frequent Rampage by Moslem fanatics is by far Too Mild to make any dent towards Solution. The reason being that Self Redemption comes to a Mind, who understands that they are Doing Wrong!! Definitely this is NOT conceivable in a mind that Strongly Believes and feels that when they cause this havoc and Kill other non-moslems, 72 Virgins will be waiting for them in heaven till they die some day, to the Embrace and Love of these Virgins!! Here goes the Power of Sex.
To recommend the Self-Redemption approach to solve a Problem of this magnitude will definitely require Re-Education and Re-write of the Koran by Very Intelligent and Educated few in the Molsem religion, if there is any FEW of such Mindset. However, my Proffered Solution is this: Nigerians should wake up and come to the realization that Moslems Cannot, and Will Not live together with Xtians in Nigeria, at least. Therefore, let us have a Referendum to partition the Country into North Moslem Nigeria, and South Christian Nigeria. Otherwise, let Nigeria be divided into Confederate States!! This is the ONLY Peace Lasting Solution; any other arrangement is based on Dishonesty and will NOT bring any Peace to this Nation of Strife, Suffering, Misery, Hunger, Corruption, Killing, Armed Robbery, Kidnapping, Embezzlement, Prostitution, Citizens abandonment, Lack of basic infrastructure to live basically, etc.....and All the Ills known to Man!!
Please, individual Redemption cannot scratch the surface of the Huge Problems in Nigeria of today!! I am open to any higher logic towards a better and more realistic solution than I have proffered to the Huge ills of present Nigeria. Who Can Help? Otoiheoma Egbe.

--- On Sun, 1/2/11, Okenwa Nwosu, M.D. <okenwanwosu@covad.net> wrote:
"At Tuesday's news conference, Christian Association of Nigeria head Ayo Oritsejafor, and Nigerian Muslims' spiritual leader Sultan
Mohammadu Sa'ad Abubakar made a joint statement criticizing politicians. Mr. Oritsejafor said some politicians "know the weaknesses of the people". "They know how to manipulate their beliefs and they know the... parts of the country where people react very easily," he said. "Some of them are creating these kinds of problems to make Nigeria ungovernable."" – News Report (Elomba.com)
Umuibe,
It is okay to blame politicians for all the ills of a problematic country like Nigeria. It would appear that the country's national existence is predicated on incessant bloodshed and unleashing of mayhem and unending misery on lives of the average Nigerian. Perpetration of mass murder, whether through interethnic vendetta, territorial clashes, anti-government insurrection or religion-inspired jihad, produces same end result; innocent compatriots' lives are cut short while millions are often seriously and permanently disabled psychologically and physically due to no fault of their own. One can simple come to conclude that perpetual insecurity of lives and property has become part and parcel of what it takes to be a Nigerian living inside the country today.
Why should anyone elect to overly simplify a very disturbing trend that has overcome the Nigeria of our era? Finger pointing is hardly a means of arriving at solutions to the problems at hand. What does asserting that politicians are behind the escalating spate of insecurity in Nigeria contribute toward arresting and reversing the untenable situation in the country? This question is particularly cogent in a country where every Tom, Dick and Harry lay claim to be a politician of some sort? In Nigeria, there are three main categories of politicians; career politicians who seek elective office, political jobbers who derive their livelihood on anything that has to do with politics and of course, political pundits who opt to drive politics and favored agenda by molding and influencing public opinion. So, when the Christian and Islamic leaders jointly point accusing fingers at politicians as being responsible for repeated slaughter of innocent Nigerians throughout the country, especially in the former North, which category of politicians are they actually talking about? What solutions do they proffer for dealing with this matter that is already getting out of hand?
I believe that solutions to the country's dilemma shall ever remain farfetched until there is profound comprehension of the true dynamics of the forces that cause and perpetuate violent disposition within the citizenry. Nigeria, as a nation, has become addicted to spilling the blood of fellow citizens as an acceptable methodology for addressing its complex national problems. The country has been through pogroms perpetrated against former Easterners as well as a 30-month murderous Civil War, all within the first decade of its existence as an independent self-governing country. What did the country do with this experience? I would say nothing that I can touch and see. Some interest groups ended up exploiting the misery of the rest in order to scheme for and secure positions of privilege and exclusive opportunities for themselves. Some have learnt how to live in pain and psychological anguish that not even the might of the nation can mollify. Nigeria has become a country that does not look back with the aim of cleaning up the mess it leaves behind itself. The country is like a runaway train that is inexorably headed toward an abysmal ravine without a competent operator at the controls.
There are enough blames to go around in a country where there are no saints. Finger pointing is, therefore, nothing new. This favorite but pastime for some can continue till the cows come home. Some consider outright dismemberment of the country along ethnopolitical affiliations or at least, devolution of centralized power to regional control as the only way of coming to terms with the Nigeria that has emerged out of a British colonial initiative in a bygone era. But, unless something fundamentally changes in the basic attitude of the average Nigerian toward the imperative of nationhood, the status quo shall not only persist but things can actually worsen in coming years and decades. A political economy that is predicated on opportunism is simply unsustainable.
Nigeria is in dire need for a national catharsis. We must first accept the hard reality staring us all in the face; namely that we are in
this ship together and shall either float or sink together unless we elect to revisit our ways and then opt to embrace fundamental changes in our perception of love for country and each other. Quick fixes, self-righteousness and sanctimonious finger pointing are for the birds. There ought to commence a grassroots-inspired national movement for national reawakening. Specifically, Nigerians badly need a timeout so as to enable us to reflect on our national journey thus far. Let's start by canvassing for declaration of a National Memorial Holiday; a day that Nigerians can take stock of our tumultuous past and seek atonement for unnecessary pains and misery inflicted on our fellow compatriots, especially during the 1960s pogroms and the Civil War. Let Nigeria utilize this holiday to toll the church bells, call for prayers and beat the community gongs and drums together to wish the spirits of those killed unjustly in the country's troubled past eternal rest. When all is said and done, Nigeria is still a nation of human beings with souls, irrespective of whether we are alive or dead. Nigeria's recovery must commence first by bringing the souls of all its citizens together before anything else can work.
Yesterday, the terror was confined to the Niger Delta, Jos and parts of Southeast where kidnapping has become a thriving business of sort. Today, the terror has begun to metastasize like a cancer to the large urban centers, including Abuja, which used to be considered a haven by those privileged to seek safety there. Tomorrow, every square inch of Nigeria is likely to become engulfed in ways that escape for anyone would be unconscionable.
Let the first move toward our self-redemption start today so as to obviate the possibility of what tomorrow promises to bring …… I wish everyone a happy and prosperous 2011!
Okenwa.

Confusion as Multiple Bomb Blasts Rock Abuja
Written by Elombah.com
Friday, 31 December 2010 20:58
There was absolute mayhem in Abuja this evening as multiple bomb blasts rocked the Federal Capital Territory. Firstly, An Eye witness reporter first sent us a report of a Bomb blast at Sani Abacha barracks, now Mogadishu Barracks. According to the source: "I have just witnessed a gruesome blast that claimed a few lives and scores of very serious injuries at Abacha barracks less than 5 minutes from Aso rock villa... at exactly 7pm I was there. 11 deaths confirmed and countless severe injuries..
Then another blast followed at Dunamis (a church) at Mararaba, a high density settlement at Jikwai, on the outskirts of Abuja
Elombah.com Abuja Source said "seems they are evacuating all places of worship with resident clergies. Just heard that the national mosque has been evacuated...The trend is similar to that of Jos. the barrack area is the mami market where secular people relax with other friends after a hard day's work like the joint in Angwan Rukuba in Jos. The other target in Jos was a catholic church like Dunamis in Abuja".
The Chief of defense staff, Oluseyi Pentirin later gave an update and warned that they will fish out the culprits. NTA speculated 30 dead, but according to elombah.com source who said casualties could be as high as 62 and rising said the CDS was very economical with figures, just assured that the culprits will be fished out.
"It's the same type of incident we had in Jos," said Petirin, referring to the multiple blasts in the central city of Jos that killed dozens on Christmas Eve...Nobody has been able to give accurate figures but we are rescuing some people," said the military chief.
The attack came hours after Christians in Jos buried 16 of the dozens of victims of the Christmas Eve bombings claimed by a radical Islamist sect.
The funeral coincided with Muslims Friday prayers as a military task force policing the region said it had unearthed plans to attack places of worship on New Year's Eve.
Eye witness reported Police Bomb squad was quickly on the Abuja site. Area cordoned. Crowd control an issue...Casualties evacuated...No word yet on Bomb signature, forensic insights....... No claim of responsibility...But a national pattern is clearly emerging of Bomb here..Bomb there...Kidnap here and there...Assassination here and there....multiple internal security challenges.....
This particular Mammy market inside the Mogadishu Barracks, was popular with the elite - important people, civilians and soldiers, as well as diplomats...
Air Marshal Oluseyi Petirin blamed "devilish people" but did not name any group or give a possible motive. "People ran in different directions. There were scores of bodies - dead and wounded. They used army trucks to pack them away," a market regular called Eric said, reports the Reuters news agency.
Air Marshal Petirin said a bomb had been placed "where people were relaxing and generally being happy because of the New Year which is approaching". He urged Nigerians to be vigilant following a recent spate of bomb attacks in a country where they had been almost unknown.
"Do not allow anybody to come and leave a bag, or any kind of object, especially when he is not there," he said on NTA.
Obviously the ugly spectre of politically inspired bombing in Nigeria show no sign of abating. Thousands of residents of Yenagoa who thronged the campaign rally of Beimo Rufus-Spiff, a governorship aspirant under the platform of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Wednesday narrowly escaped death when two deafening explosions rocked the venue of the rally at Opolo Community Secondary School ground.
Scores of persons were injured in the wake of the confusion that engulfed the venue of the rally as all those present including journalists scampered for safety.
Bayelsa, in the Niger Delta is the home state of President Goodluck Jonathan. The region has witnessed fatal bomb attacks. The level of insecurity in Nigeria is disturbing in the midst of an expected ugly election. At least 80 people were killed and 101 injured in suspected bomb blasts in the central Nigerian city of Jos, where violence between Christians and Muslims has left hundreds dead this year, Police said.
Suspected Islamists killed eight people, including three policemen, in five separate attacks in the northern Nigerian city of Maiduguri, the military and police said Thursday.
The gunmen were suspected of being members of the Boko Haram sect, army spokesman lieutenant Abubakar Abdullahi told AFP by telephone from the city.
The sect launched an uprising in Nigeria's north last year that ended with a police and military assault which left hundreds dead.
Twin car-bomb blasts in the capital, Abuja, on Oct.1, left at least 12 people dead and several others wounded. The blasts occurred close to the venue of celebrations marking Nigeria's 50 years of independence from Britain.
At least 492 people were killed in an attack on a predominantly Christian village by Muslim Fulani herders near Jos on March 7, Civil Rights Congress, a local rights group, said. Estimates for the number of people killed in sectarian clashes that broke out in Jos in mid-January ranged from 326 by the police to more than 400 by the Civil Rights Congress.
Nigerian faith leaders have accused politicians of fuelling a recent upsurge in sectarian violence in which 80 people have died. In a joint news conference yesterday, Muslim and Christian leaders said politicians were using religion to whip up trouble around the city of Jos.
Bombs exploded in several areas of Jos on Christmas Eve, and Christian and Muslim youths clashed two days later. Nigerians are due to hold national and local elections in April. Local politicians are frequently accused of trying to exploit communal tensions for their gain.
At Tuesday's news conference, Christian Association of Nigeria head Ayo Oritsejafor, and Nigerian Muslims' spiritual leader Sultan Mohammadu Sa'ad Abubakar made a joint statement criticizing politicians.
Mr. Oritsejafor said some politicians "know the weaknesses of the people". "They know how to manipulate their beliefs and they know the... parts of the country where people react very easily," he said.
"Some of them are creating these kind of problems to make Nigeria ungovernable."

www.elombah.com