Doing something is better than doing nothing. Personally, I would advocate Civil Disobedience over the prospects of civilian massacres, the blood-letting and the inevitable bloodbaths when civilians challenge a Nigerian military intent on hanging on to sweet power. Just look at the mess Syria is in but witness the progress in Burma/ Myanmar…
Whilst it could be the wont of the likes of do-nothing (a high state of Nirvana) Obi Nwakanma to publicly lash at the great do-something Professor Bolaji Aluko (May the Almighty continue to strengthen his elbow), I should just like to add that in the realm of public intellectuals and Nigerian patriots Wole Soyinka went on a world tour campaigning against Sani Abacha . I had a little public altercation with Mr. Soyinka when he stopped over in Stockholm, over him ridiculing Abacha for Abacha being "superstitious" and not wearing his talisman/ charms to the mosque on Fridays etc. not that I was in love with Abacha but because I didn't like Mr. Soyinka talking like - in that tone – like a missionary boy about Abacha to the Oyibo – it was on the same occasion that I had to escort the now late Cameroonian lawyer Dr. Jean-Claude Njelm who happened to be sitting next to me at that public meet because Jean-Claude was livid with Ogbeni Soyinka for failing to include Paul Biya in his long catalogue of demons and rogue African dictators.
I should like to add that still on his world tour, Ogbeni Soyinka was in Jerusalem on the day that Sani Abacha perished and from Jerusalem flew to Paris to join his brother in Paris where if I remember correctly he was interviewed by the BBC and other news channels.
Sincerely,
Cornelius
On Saturday, 5 December 2015 14:35:09 UTC+1, ogunlakaiye wrote:
I have some questions for Obi Nwakanma. In your first diatribe against Bolaji Aluko, you wrote, "Dr.Aluko, need I remind you again, that between 1994 and 1998, you were calling for the armed invasion of Nigeria by a foreign power, and the overthrow of the government of Nigeria. You had organized, in the same way that Kanu has, a means of making Nigeria 'ungovernable.' What justifies your actions and criminalizes Kanu's?" (i) If Bolaji Aluko had solicited the support of a foreign power to overthrow the military government of Sanni Abacha between 1994 and 1998, are you implying that that government was legitimate and Bolaji Aluko's action was criminal? (ii) Are you implying that it was criminal of Bolaji Aluko to make Nigeria ungovernable for Sanni Abacha who had usurped the right to govern without the consent of Nigerians? (iii) Are you now implying that Bolaji Aluko's actions against a military dictator, Sanni Abacha, is the same as Kanu's actions against a democratically elected government of Muhammadu Buhari? (iv) Are you implying that Bolaji Aluko was criminal in actions against Abacha just as Kanu is now against Buhari?...
In your second response to Bolaji Aluko, you back-pedalled thus, "First I do not support Kanu's IPOB. In my book, it is very fascist movement, and I do not subscribe to fascism." (v) Is Fascism not criminal? (vi) If your answer is positive, why then are you accusing Bolaji Aluko of criminalizing fascist Kanu because he had posted videos that exposed and confirmed Kanu's fascism to which you do not subscribe?
Failure to answer the above questions will crown you Obi of Hypocrites and Mischief Makers.
S. Kadiri
From: rexma...@hotmail.com
To: usaafric...@googlegroups.com
CC: NaijaP...@yahoogroups.com; naijain...@googlegroups.com ; Omo...@yahoogroups.com; niger...@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re:The Igbo Question
Date: Fri, 4 Dec 2015 19:56:09 +0000
Dr. Aluko,
First, I actually do not support Kanu's IPOB. In my book, it is a very fascist movement, and In do not subscribe to fascism. Kanu's movement whips into dangerous frenzy old discontent in the East. The discontent is legitimate, and the protest legitimate. My only disagreement is the ideology and language of the IPOB. True, it now claims to use non-violent protest, but my fear is that this is mere coverage for a movement that might sooner descend into its own kind of tyranny. I have made my view public about this, and it is in part my view for my column coming this Sunday in the Vanguard.
My problem with your position is that it is - well I think the word "hypocritical radical" - suits you more. When you made those calls for the overthrow of Abacha's government by force, were you thinking that it would be with sticks and knives? You did call on the UK and the US to lead this, and that was the subject of all your statements in those days in those Congressional hearings. In any case, I should tell, I was on the streets in June 1993 on Ikorodu road protesting when the soldiers from the Ikeja garrison started firing life bullets on the peaceful protesters of June. Many of us chose not to go into "exile," but to push the argument from the ground floor. Kanu is doing exactly what you did in the 1990s, except that this time, your politics do not agree with his, and therefore you want him hanged. You are prescribing a different criteria or standard for struggles of which you have been part. But be careful, someday, somebody else might be driving the Black Maria with you riding in its back, and what you say today might haunt you. It is the right of all people to protest when the condition of their humanity is affronted. It is the duty of conscious intellectuals to make certain that power does not exceed its bound, and that justice is not double-faced. It is not clear to me that you subscribe to this, and it is only clear to me that your sense of justice is very selective: justice is just when it only wears Aso-oke. That to me is the meaning of hypocrisy.
Obi Nwakanma
From: usaafric...@googlegroups.com <usaafric...@googlegroups.com > on behalf of Mobolaji Aluko <alu...@gmail.com>
Sent: Friday, December 4, 2015 4:56 PM
To: usaafric...@googlegroups.com
Cc: NaijaPolitics e-Group; naijaintellects; OmoOdua; niger...@yahoogroups.com
Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re:The Igbo QuestionObi Nwakanma:
You are what for the first time, I call a hypocritical radical - and a dishonest one to boot - shouting at the wind with dreadlocks from far-away Michigan or near there, in a super-menschen, Pilate-an manner.
No, as a front-line June 12 PDMer-in-"exile" between 1993 and 1998 , I never for once called for "the armed invasion of Nigeria by a foreign power." In my several public and private appearances and documents before the U.S. Congress, Canada, UK and the Commonwealth, yes, I asked for the overthrow of the Abacha's coercive and murderous Nigerian Military by CIVILIAN ELECTORAL DEMOCRACY, and that is what we got in May 1999, and have remained with since. There will be no document or video, secret or public, that will have me or an association of mine advocating armed invasion or violence. I never advocated bombs, or know or have learnt how to make them. I have since being contributing my little bit to Nigeria's civilian democracy.
However, if, between 1993 and 1998, the Abacha government laid its hands on me, then I was wise enough to know that even my limited agitations had consequences, and yes, people of your ilk -who were aplenty in the U.S and elsewhere with ethnic chips on their shoulders, would cruelly testify and even manufacture documents that had my name on it concerning armed invasion and violence. So despite filial assurances, I carefully stayed away from the shores of Nigeria - actually I merely tactically extended my study leave - until the coast was clear.
With Kanu Nnamdi, I have some soft spot for him as a co-guerrilla-broadcaster, but there is no need for manufacturing. He is on video from UK to US to Malaysia to Ireland, raising money for guns and bullets against a democratically-elected government, and for mischaracterizing all non-Igbos in an allegedly zoological jungle called Nigger-area. He boasted that action would begin when he set foot on Nigerian soil.
And a number of you his supporters are asking for absolutely no consequences? It would be an irresponsible government.
I do not say that Nnamdi Kanu should not espouse what he wishes to, but he and his supporters must know that those actions have consequences, and that they are not the sole dereminants of those consequences. Besides, The name Biafra has the smell of death - millions of death between 1966 and 1970 - about it, and reactions to it by Nigerians at large will have a visceral reaction to it.
I love the Igbo cry "Ozoemene" - Never Again - borrowed from the Jewish Defence League. But remember always that every conflict has a double edge, double-entendre about it: there are always two sides, and there are unintended consequences. You may think you are well prepared, but be surprised by your opponents.
And there you have it.
Bolaji Aluko
On Friday, December 4, 2015, Rex Marinus <rexma...@hotmail.com> wrote:
Dr. Aluko, need I remind you again, that between 1994 and 1998, you were calling for the armed invasion of Nigeria by a foreign power, and the verthrow of the government of Nigeria. You had organized, in the same way that Kanu has, a means of making Nigeria "ungovernable." What justifies your actions and criminalizes Kanu's? The only difference as far as one can see is that while you were hauling bombs from outside, Kanu has chosen to fight from within, and stands boldly, publicly, for his convictions, rather than do so from "exile." It is the difference between conviction and conduction. I think you may be a candidate, sir, of selective amnesia, and selective criminalization.
Obi Nwakanma
From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com > on behalf of Mobolaji Aluko <alukome@gmail.com>
Sent: Friday, December 4, 2015 10:59 AM
To: USAAfrica Dialogue
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - The Igbo Question
Dr. Afolayan:
Thank you for taking up my little assignment on video-watching....
I don't know what else a responsible government should do when a Nigerian man is filmed claiming that he is a Biafran (and that Nigeria is a zoo of animals, apparently populated just by non-Igbos) leaves the UK to raise money for guns and bullets in the US (with at least one stopover in Los Angeles) and Malaysia (among other places), and boasts that when he arrives in Nigeria, he will start to make things "happen" - which indeed he has, in maybe un-expected ways to himself and his supporters. If he entered Nigeria with a Nigerian passport, then his allegiance and intentions need to be questioned. If he entered Nigeria as a British citizen, ditto, and even more questioning should be done: what purpose of visit did he declare in London before being granted a visa?
In any case, you observed, even some of his hearers in LA were shocked, and cautioned him....
By the way, anybody who says that Nigeria is not a country where everybody should be hollering must have his head examined....but secession and violence as weapons to assuage that hollering - as if there is some wild exceptionalism in your own particular condition - is a recipe for non-solution....
We shall see.....
Bolaji Aluko
On Thu, Dec 3, 2015 at 7:10 PM, 'Adeshina Afolayan' via USA Africa Dialogue Series <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com > wrote:
I watched the second compressed video, and was particularly delighted by the question of the last man. As far as i am concerned, he hit the nail on the head on several fronts. I actually offered the man a silent applause. There are some voices of sanity after after all, even in Indigbo.
Does self-determination automatically transform the governance or human development standard of Biafra? In the age of globalization and migration, self-determination has its many paradoxes.
Adeshina Afolayan, PhD
Department of Philosophy
University of Ibadan
+23480-3928-8429
On Thursday, December 3, 2015 4:05 PM, Mobolaji Aluko <alukome@gmail.com> wrote:
oa:
Please tell me: have you watched this video:
or if you don't have enough time, this condensation:
Was he just bluffing - or you don't know?
If you have time, also please watch:
Thank you very much.....
Bolaji Aluko
On Thu, Dec 3, 2015 at 3:20 PM, Anunoby, Ogugua <AnunobyO@lincolnu.edu> wrote:
You are right. I do not expect the Igbo or any other youth to listen to me I might add. They have no obligation to do so.
You say that Igbo youth "are following Kanu" Do you suggest he is their leader? Why are you sure however that it is not Kanu who resides abroad, that is following Igbo youth at home? I am just asking. Is it not possible that Kanu may be just vociferous a supporter of a goal he shares with some of them, but not a leader of Igbo youth?The Igbo youth protest to free Kanu is consistent with the ethnic and other groups' advocacy experience in Nigeria and other countries. It is not sufficient evidence to claim that Igbo youth are following Kanu and I am not saying that is your premise. Groups mostly do not forsake our own. Remember the Afenifere position on Bola Tinubu when Gani Fawenhimi went after him on the question of his fitness to be Governorof Lagos State. Remember the position of many in Kano on whether or not, Abacha looted the federal treasury? One could go on.You are right. One is better-off not ignoring "unfolding reality". I have a question though. Is the reality what it is claimed to be?oaFrom: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com [mailto:usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com ] On Behalf Of Jibrin Ibrahim
Sent: Thursday, December 03, 2015 12:53 AM
To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - The Igbo QuestionOguguaThe lumpen Igbo youth are not listening to you, they are following Kanu's call to arm and act. Its naive to close your eyes to unfolding reality.
Jibrin Ibrahim PhDSenior FellowCentre for Democracy and Development
16 A7 Street,
CITEC Mbora Estate,
Jabi/Airport Road By-pass,
P.O.Box14345, Wuse
Abuja, Nigeria
Tel - +234 8053913837
Twitter- @jibrinibrahim17
Facebook- jibrin.ibrahimOn Wed, Dec 2, 2015 at 4:35 PM, Anunoby, Ogugua <AnunobyO@lincolnu.edu> wrote:JII am surprised that Mr. Mr. Kanu's broadcasts seem to be the foremost basis of the serious allegation you made against Igbo Youth, in a widely read Nigerian newspaper and also in cyberspace. My expectation actually was that you were privy to information from government- intelligence and other national security agencies' sources.I am surprised too that you have decided to outsource to me, the burden of finding any other evidence that supports the serious allegation that you chose to make. My presumption is that you would like your readers take you seriously- including believe and trust you. I do not know that many of your attentive readers will, if your response to demand for credible evidence in support the claims you make, is that they should seek and find it. When did it cease to be the case that the burden of proof is no longer on he/she who chooses to claim or contend?You assert that "the circulation of arms in contemporary Nigeria, not just among the Igbo is massive". If Igbo Youth are "arming for secession" as you do assert, why are the many others arming themselves? My considered opinion is that incendiary information should be peddled with care except of course it is intended to misinform, misguide, and cause harm.oaFrom: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com [mailto:usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com ] On Behalf Of Jibrin Ibrahim
Sent: Wednesday, December 02, 2015 12:11 AM
To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - The Igbo QuestionOguguaOn arms and secession, Mr. Kanu has spoken a lot, do listen to what he is saying. The circulation of arms in contemporary Nigeria, not just among the Igbos is massive. You seek evidence, search and you shall find.That others too are marrying away from home, yes indeed. But there has been a significant change in this regard among the Igbos and there is a reason for it.Jibrin
Sent from my iPad
On Dec 1, 2015, at 7:50 PM, Farooq A. Kperogi <farooqkperogi@gmail.com> wrote:The Hausa/Fulani are generally Muslims. The Igbo are mostly Christians and will not convert to Islam as many Yoruba have done." ---OguguaOgugua,Islam has been in Yorubaland since at least the 15th century. Some authorities, in fact, make the case that Islam has been in Yorubaland since the 11th century. You betray a disappointing ignorance of Nigerian history when you suggest that Islam is natural to the "Hausa/Fulani" but not to the Yoruba--or that Yoruba people converted to Islam to please or adapt to "Hausa/Fulani" Muslims. On the contrary, what has happened over the last century has been the massive conversion of historically Yoruba Muslim families to Christianity--not the other way. It is, of course, true that religious identity is fluid, even mercurial, in Yorubaland, but it's NOT because of what you suggest.It might interest you to know that Islam didn't come to Yorubaland via the so-called Hausa/Fulani; it came mostly, but not entirely, from itinerant preachers from Mali, a reason Islam is called "Imale" in the Yoruba language. (I am aware of the etymology that suggests that "imale" is derived from the Yoruba notion of Islam as a "difficult" religion, but this has been dismissed as folk etymology by many careful and distinguished scholars of Islam in Yorubaland).As many historians have observed, Islam had already been well-established in Yorubaland at a time Usman Danfodio's ancestors either didn't know Islam existed or didn't think it was worth converting to. This is true not just of Yorubaland, but of many places in Nigeria, including my part of Nigeria in Borgu.So Islam in Yorubaland and Islam in Nigeria's extreme north have different historical trajectories, and none is a direct consequence of the other, although there are interesting historical overlaps, which I neither have the time nor the inclination to explore here.It's clear, however, that your narrative about the religious complexion of Nigeria is shaped by the vulgar, nescient, and historically impoverished notions that have taken roots in (Nigerian) media circles: the idea that the north, which is often constructed as invariably "Hausa-Fulani," is Muslim and that the south, which is dominated by the Yoruba and the Igbo, is entirely Christian; any southerner, mostly Yoruba, who is a Muslim must have converted to Islam in order to gain the acceptance of "Hausa-Fulani" Muslims who have controlled the levers of power for much of the life of post-independent Nigeria. This is wrong, wrong, wrong.A scholar has a responsibility to dig deeper than the surface and rise superior to rampant ignorance.Farooq
Farooq A. Kperogi, Ph.D.Journalism & Emerging Media
School of Communication & Media
Kennesaw State University
402 Bartow Avenue, MD 2207Social Science Building 22 Room 5092Kennesaw, Georgia, USA 30144
Cell: (+1) 404-573-9697
Personal website: www.farooqkperogi.comTwitter: @farooqkperogAuthor of Glocal English: The Changing Face and Forms of Nigerian English in a Global World
"The nice thing about pessimism is that you are constantly being either proven right or pleasantly surprised." G. F. WillOn Tue, Dec 1, 2015 at 11:52 AM, Anunoby, Ogugua <AnunobyO@lincolnu.edu> wrote:Thank you JI.You say that Igbo youth are mobilizing and arming for secession? What is your evidence? How credible is your source? Who are their leaders? Your claim seems to me be to both preposterous and presumptuous.My view is that an unfounded claim such as yours does great disservice to the wholeness of the Nigeria. Her constitution does not require that citizens' disaffection be justified and warranted for the disaffection to be felt/shown, and be responsibly addressed by government. A disaffection is a feeling- a serious bad feeling. It may or may not be justified. It does not m
Listserv moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
To subscribe to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue+subscribe@googlegroups.com
Current archives at http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
Early archives at http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "USA Africa Dialogue Series" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to usaafricadialogue+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
No comments:
Post a Comment