SV: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Sexual Repression and Extremism in Northern Nigeria

Boko Haram's history of violence began well before the killing of Yusuf. It began with Boko Haram's murders of clerics in Northern Nigeria who disagreed with the group's views. The attacks on Police stations after the motor bike helmet incident occurred well after that - Oluwatoyin Adepoju.

The name of the sect when it was formed in 2002 was Jama'atu Ahl-Sunnah Lidda'Awati Wal-Jihad which translates to People Committed to the Propagation of the Prophet's Teaching and Jihad. How and when the name of the sect became 'Boko Haram' and translated to mean 'Western Education is Abomination or Forbidden' is unknown to me. We know that Haram means abomination but, is Western Education the correct translation of 'Boko' in Hausa or Arabic language?

If the history of Boko Haram's violence began before the killing of Yusuf in 2009, can you tell us the specific year their violence began and in which parts of the North they murdered clerics who disagreed with their views? If you cannot answer this question your assertion about 'Boko Haram's' violence before the 2009 killing of their leaders would amount to nothing but invented history. When 'Boko Haram' was formed in 2002, twelve of the nineteen States in the North had adopted Sharia Laws which plunged Nigeria into constitutional crisis during Obasanjo's first term Presidency. It was the adoption of the Sharia Laws in parts of the North that encouraged the emergence of the sect led by Muhammed Yusuf in the North East.

The description of the group as enjoying an unalloyed relationship with the Borno State government before the motor bike incident and the killing of Yusuf is also either questionable or not factual - Oluwatoyin Adepoju.

What is unquestionable and factual is that the Governor of Bornu State at the referenced time was Ali Modu Sheriff and he actually appointed a member of the Sect, Buji Foi, as Commissioner of Religious Affairs for Bornu State. The primary purpose of Governor Sheriff's incorporation of members of the sect into his government was to corrupt them into becoming egoistic and abandoning their pro-people socio economic ideology but he failed.

When discussing important matter about how Nigeria should be governed, it is intellectually unproductive to reduce who should govern the country to region, religion and ethnicity. Everybody comes from somewhere and born by someone. No individual chose his or her parents and place of birth. It is strange that Nigerian intellectuals always claim the right to official positions because of tribe and even claim the right to be incompetent in offices because of tribe. Which part of Nigeria should the President come from was made an issue when Yar'Adua was in coma in 2010 and the Senate was forced to adopt the doctrine of necessity to elevate the then Vice President, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, as Acting President. When Yar'Adua died May 5, 2010, Jonathan automatically became President and he appointed Namadi Sambo as his Vice President. In anticipation to the April 2011 Presidential election, voices were raised by PDP members from the North that Jonathan should not contest the election on the platform of PDP because according to the party presidential arrangement it was the turn of the North to produce the party Presidential candidate. Many Nigerians, both PDP and non-PDP members, North and South, protested strongly against subordinating the Nigerian constitution to the PDP constitution. Jonathan had the constitutional right to contest the Presidential election as the sitting President regardless of internal agreement of the PDP on periodical rotation of Presidency between North and South. It should not be forgotten that Atiku Abubakar left PDP in 2007 and contested the Presidential election that year on the platform of AC which he lost to Yar'Adua. When Atiku Abubakar sensed that Yar'Adua would die and thought that a PDP Northerner would contest the 2011 election, he re-joined the PDP and campaigned vigorously that the PDP agreement on periodic rotation of the Presidency between North and South should be respected. He contested for PDP Presidential nomination against Jonathan and lost. Whatever Atiku Abubakar might have said because he failed to be nominated as PDP Presidential candidate in 2011 is insignificant and of no effect. This is partly because members of PDP that elected the party Presidential nominee came from all parts of Nigeria and partly because Atiku Abubakar did not belong to any Muslim organisation that could unleash any violence in the country. In fact, his life-style which is comparable with most of the ruling elites in the North is disdained by the Muslim sects there. Goodluck Jonathan won the Presidential election in 2011 but he disappointed many Nigerians who had hoped that because of his academic background and life's history, he knew where the shoes were pinching Nigerians. On ascending power, Jonathan sermon to Nigerians was, ask and ye shall be denied, knock and ye shall be locked out, seek and ye shall not find. Consequently, Nigerians said that a man who could not be taken for his words or honour was not fit to rule and he was voted out of office in 2015.  

Boko Haram may have had their job made easier by poverty in the North, but what they share with Islamic terrorism across the world, from Al Shabbab in East Africa to the Taliban in Afghanistan to Al Qaeda globally and ISIS in the Middle East and globally is the determination to create an Islamic world - Oluwatoyin Adepoju. 

Boko Haram might have been committing atrocities but the weapons they having been using were not produced by them or any Islamic countries. Producers and exporters of weapons worldwide are known not to be Islamic countries. Al Shabbab originated from the present day Somalia. It arose after the defeat of Somalia in Ogadan which Somalia sought to annex militarily from Ethiopian under the rule of Haile Mariam Mengitshu. Siad Barre of Somalia had been encouraged by the US and Saudi Arabia to go into that war with the promise of making him the leader of Africa's Horn. When Siad Barre was defeated, he faced internal rebellion and he went into exile in Nigeria where he later died. Mengitshu was subsequently overthrown in a coup by American friendly troops which have also been used to prevent Al Shabbab from ascending power in Somalia till date. In Afghanistan, the Soviet Union supported regime was overthrown by US organised and supported Taliban cum Al Qaeda. After the ascension of power by the Taliban, Al Qaeda whose core was composed of Saudi Arabians turned against the US resulting in Wall Street Attack. The former Security Adviser to President Donald Trump and former Director of American Defence Intelligence Agency, Lieutenant General Michael Flyn, disclosed before he resigned under Trump that ISIS was created by the United States to unite the majority Sunni Muslims against al-Bashar. He also revealed that another terrorist group that triggered the Syrian war, the Jabba Al-Nusra was funded and trained by America. He said that the main training of ISIS was in Jordan in 2012. Moses Ochonu wrote that raids on the camps of Boko Haram have consistently turned up Viagra and other sexual enhancement drugs as well as condoms in large quantities. Who are the producers and exporters of those products to Boko Haram? 

S. Kadiri  

  

 

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Från: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com> för Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju <toyin.adepoju@gmail.com>
Skickat: den 19 april 2017 01:14
Till: usaafricadialogue
Ämne: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Sexual Repression and Extremism in Northern Nigeria

 

I would like to add something similar to views already presented here but using different examples in buttressing those perspectives as well as express some dissenting opinions.

Skewed Accounts of  Boko Haram History

The account of Boko Haram history  that eulogises the group  as a pro-people movement that was made violent by the government's  high handed attacks on the group and the unjustified killing of the group's founder, Muhammed Yusuf is a skewed presentation of the facts on this violently extremist group.

 Boko Haram's history of violence began well before the killing of Yusuf. It began with Boko Haram's murders of clerics in Northern Nigeria who disagreed with the group's views. The attacks on police stations after the motor bike helmet incident occurred well after that.

The description of the group as enjoying an unalloyed relationship with the Borno state government before the motor bike incident and the killing of Yusuf is also either questionable or not factual. The Borno state government is described as experiencing alarm at the groups drive in creating an alternative government within a framework of Islamic tenets which the govt saw as ultimately divisive and out of step with mainstream Islamic teaching, on account of which the government engaged clerics with views different from  that of Boko Haram to engage them in Islamic debate, a move that failed on account of the belligerence of the group, if I recall correctly.

Boko Haram's 2011 Resurgence in the Context of Northern Muslim Politics

To the best of my knowledge, nobody argues that Boko Haram was formed to destabilise the govt of Goodluck Jonathan because the antecedents of Boko Haram as predating that govt are well known. What observers do is point out relationships between the Boko Haram resurgence following the 2011 entry of Jonathan into the Nigerian Presidency,  the declarations of prominent Northern Nigerian Muslim politicians such as Atiku Abubakar who threatened Nigeria with violent change bcs the PDP, which then controlled the central govt, did not make a Northern [ Muslim]  Presidential candidate and practically certain Nigerian President, the wave of anger in the Muslim North that one of their own did not become President, the most graphic expression of this being the massacre of Southerners in the North in vengeance for Buhari's 2011 electoral loss, and the escalation in Boko Haram's access to sophisticated weaponry, strategic know how and insider intelligence within the security services,  the sympathy the group enjoyed with Northern Muslims at various social levels, from then PDP chairman Bamanga Tukur describing them as freedom fighters to even commentators on Northern Muslim centred listserves touting  the fact that the group did not attack mosques but focused on devastating churches and Christians, as the group positioned itself as a Muslim army fighting an infidel govt, at one point even declaring they would stop their rampage if the President became a Muslim, and giving a deadline for Christians to leave the North or face the consequences , correlations eventually given focus by then national Security Adviser Andrew Azazi describing the Boko Haram resurgence as a fall out of the power arrogating principle of a particular political  party, an allusion that could have been pointing only to the PDP's power rotation principle bw North and South which GEJ was seen as flouting in 2011 and 2015, the 2015 example being the last straw for various people who had hitherto supported him, the 'power must return to the North' mantra being a central motivator of the calculations of various interest groups in their support for Muhammadu Buhari in 2015.

The support Boko Haram enjoyed in the Muslim North made military action against the group difficult, particularly since they successfully achieved embedding within the populace from their 2011 resurgence to the success of the 2013 state of  emergency which pushed them to the outskirts of Borno and the infamous Sambisa forest. The embedding of the group within the Northern Muslim populace necessitated flushing them out through house to house searches and road blocks, a strategy that had limited success on account of the presence of informants in the security services who provided information that ensured anyone who provided information to the govt agst to the group was identified and killed by Boko Haram, while the Northern Muslim intelligentsia remained ambivalent about the group for years, recurrently presenting approaches to the group that stalled the fight agst them- no less a prominent Northern politician as Muhammadu Buhari urging amnesty for the group as was given to the very different  Niger Delta militants and, along with Adamawa state governor Murtala Nyako and other Northern Muslim figures  decrying the 2013 state of emergency agst Boko Haram  as genocide agst the North, and whenever the military initiative proceeded particularly forcefully,  recurrent complaints from the Borno elders about the conduct of the war and threatening to take Ihejerika the chief of army staff, if I recall correctly, to the International Criminal Court , disruption of continuity in the war by pressure from the  Northern Muslim elite to replace NSA Azazi with Dasuki after Azazi fingered some among them as being behind the Boko Haram resurgence, following which Azazi was killed in a helicopter crash, recurrent pressure on GEJ to negotiate with Boko Haram by members of the same elite, negotiation efforts which all failed.

It is not true that GEJ did not authorise military action agst Boko Haram early enough. I understand him as doing that right from 2011 but had to navigate the volatile political minefield of the Muslim North in the process, a good number of whom saw Boko Haram as their army, with no less an influential cleric as Sheikh Ahmed Gumi describing Boko Haram as inspired by injustice agst Muslims, urging the govt to withdraw the army from Borno  and leave Boko Haram alone amongst their fellow Muslims.

 Boko Haram is likely to have been crushed by the time they were pushed to the outskirts of Borno if not for the distraction represented by the enabling of the Chibok kidnap story by governor Kassim Shettima of Borno state leaving the Chibok school open agst the orders of the fed govt to close all schools in those outlying regions  for security reasons, a disaster built upon by the BBOG movement in creating infamy and international condemnation for GEJ and his govt, the final push in its electoral defeat.

Boko Haram in the Context of Islam in Nigeria and Global Islamic Extremism

In relation to the invocation of govt failure as a primary explanation for Boko Haram, one may ask why  Southwest Nigeria, which is dominated by both Muslims and Christians, has   never bred any extremist Islamic groups as the North has, from Maitasine to Boko Haram, why it has never witnessed any example of violent pro-Muslim action directed at groups or individuals, from the Northern killings of Christians/Southerners in retaliation for the Danish anti-Muhammed cartoons, to the Northern murders of Southerners over a beauty crusade incident, to the Northern massacres of Christians over the Reinhard Bonke crusade, to the recent beheading of a woman for preaching the gospel in Abuja to the murder of another woman who asked a Muslim praying in front of her shop in the North to allow space for her customers, examples among many others running from the 1950s to the present day, and including politically motivated massacres such as the 1966 anti-Igbo/Southerners pogrom and the 2011 pro-Buhari  massacre of Southerners?

The answer is to be found in the different kinds of Islam practised in the Southwest and the Muslim North, and  the deployment of this distinctive Islamic culture by Muslim clerics and politicians in the Muslim North. Southwest Islam is modified by Yoruba culture and the presence of Christianity. Northern Nigerian Islam is the product of the Fulani Jihad of Uthman dan Fodio, which, presenting itself as a reformist movement,  suppressed, through force of arms,  perspectives different from its own exclusivist brand of Islam, imposing a Fulani hegemony, an orientation built upon by the British in ruling the region, a power consolidation maintained by the Northern Muslim elite through a religio/ethnic orientation.  

Within such a context, Muslims can never be satisfied except they are living under Muslim leadership, to sum up briefly a view presented by a member of a Northern Muslim dominated Facebook group. Boko Haram may have had their job made easier by poverty in the North, but what they share with Islamic terrorism across the world, from Al Shabbab in East Africa to the Taliban in Afghanistan to Al Qaeda globally and ISIS in the Middle East and globally is the determination to create an Islamic world. All other relevant factors are contributory, not central. 

Islamic Terrorism and the Amorous Incentive

How does this history relate to Moses thesis on "access to sexual resources" as an incentive in Boko Haram recruitment?

The answer is clear  from the quotes he provides from Abdulbasit Kassim.  Boko Haram's mission has always been that of creating an alternative government through preaching their gospel and subjugating or killing those who dont share their views. Women and plunder have long been incentives in war and women as plunder have been theologised by the group as part of the spoils of war. Access to free sex, without having to navigate the complexities of preparatory interaction and in a context that helps manage the responsibilities that come after, would be a strong incentive in the guerrilla warfare being fought by Boko Haram, where domestic life is lived within the theatre of war, allowing for no visits home as with regular armies. 

As for the sweeping claim about the monopolisation of access to sexual resources by a class in Northern Nigeria, I wonder if that is not an exaggeration in an environment in which even very young people are able to marry, from what I have understood.  Perhaps a helpful focus could also  be on amorous repression outside marriage on account of the vigilant religious policing of the environment, thereby stifling the scope of opportunities for amorous  fulfilment outside marriage, marriage being an arrangement every amorously  motivated person might not be willing or able to enter into at particular points in time. I use 'amorous relations' instead of 'sex' bcs, as someone here has pointed out, limiting the sexual potential of relationships between men and women to sex in its basic sense is problematic. Perhaps  a more fruitful concept is an idea that embraces both the more expansive  relations beyond but including sex, and the scale of amorous  interactions of which sex is one expression.

thanks

toyin

On 18 April 2017 at 22:08, Salimonu Kadiri <ogunlakaiye@hotmail.com> wrote:

I agree with you, Elias Bongmba, that one cannot or should not blame Nigerians for the deserters of this listserve. However, the "we" as deployed by Okey Iheduru did not explicitly point to Nigerians as the culprits that drove out non-Africans and others from the forum. In the name of fairness and Justice, Okey Iheduru is obliged to tell members of this forum who are the "we" that drove out non-African and others away from this forum and what constituted the driving away mechanism. 

Christianity and Islam as religions originated from the Middle East. Thus, the same religious deity the Christians call Moses is called Musa by Islamists and the person called Isa by the Islamists is called Jesus by the Christians etc. Coincidentally, the Holy book of the Christians called Bible contained five alphabets just like the Holy book of the Islamists called Quran; and the Islamists place of worship called Mosque contained six alphabets just like the Christians place of worship called Church. Bible was originally written in Hebrew while Quran was written in Arabic. Nigerians are neither Hebrews nor Arabs, therefore, there is no valid reason for Nigerians to be at war with one another over the adopted alien religions in a secular Nigeria. Even though both Christianity and Islam cherished violence through Crusaders and Jihadists, respectively, in their Holy books, that was a long time ago. After the demise of Communism, religion, especially Islam, became exploitable for political ends. Exploiting Islamic religion, Muhammed Yusuf found and led Jama'atu Ahl-Sunnah Lidda'Awati Wal-Jihad in 2002, in the North East of Nigeria to tackle the abject poverty the people of that area, like all other parts of Nigeria, have been sentenced by both the Federal and State's governments. The murder of Muhammed and many of his members in 2009 radicalized the sect into militant warriors against the government that was against the emancipation of citizens from the claws of abject poverty. Sex was never a part of their primary objectives as it is now being touted by Christian crusaders.

S.Kadiri
 

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Från: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com> för Elias Bongmba <ebongmba@gmail.com>
Skickat: den 17 april 2017 04:34
Till: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com

Ämne: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Sexual Repression and Extremism in Northern Nigeria

 

I am sorry one sentence in my post is wrong. What I mean is that we cannot and should not blame exit from the listservice on Nigerians. My apologies for this confusion

On Sun, Apr 16, 2017 at 6:34 PM, Elias Bongmba <ebongmba@gmail.com> wrote:

Dear Colleagues,

One of the things that has come up in this discussion is posititionality it is therefore important that I state that both Moses and Toyin are my friends. Abdulbassit is my student doing his phd under a leading scholar of Islam. I was very delighted to meet him at the airport ant welcome him to Houston. I read his forthcoming book and I know it will be appreciated by readers not because they may agree with the assessments of the authors, but because they make a critical intervention by demonstrating that if one were to listen to the sermons of the leaders, one might  appreciate the role of theology in shaping the movement. For many of us in African studies, this indicates that theology remains significant, in as much as our friends in other disciplines may want to denigrate it. (One could argue also that to a large extent, the fascination with Pentecostalism in Africa today ignores the basic fact that the ecclesial tradition from its inception formulated this confusing doctrine that God exists in three and the Holy Spirit is part of that community and shapes things today, but that is an aside).

Moses focused on a social and cultural practice that exists among certain elites. One could and should raise questions about his data, but we did not read the entire lecture. One could also argue that the community he wrote about reflects many communities around the world because we have not gotten gender, patriarchy, and power correct. Therefore one can understand why some scholars who have studied the region would come up with a different perspective. At the heart of this post  is the word provocation which according to Moses was intended to invite a debate. I know he does not mind the debate. I am glad that he has also pointed out that he was aware of the PhD dissertation in South Africa which I am aware of, but must say I have not read it closely.

What this reinforces is that we all operate from an archemidean point  and such a point may not give us all the vistas necessary to see broadly as we would want to, but given the nature of scholarship today, it does not restrict us from making certain claims. Those who object to those claims have a right to contest them and in the dialogue new knowledge is gained and the scholarly community learns new things.

Sexuality remains a contested issue in African studies because of the colonial, and current theological misinformation about the subject. Therefore anything that hints at practices that we object too raises strong opinions. In this case some scholars have not only complained about the premise of the argument or the claims themselves because it puts the region in bad light.  I think what is needed in this case is a careful analysis of the data to determine if a different account of sexuality from the region can be offered that moves beyond, or incorporates the account provided by Moses.

As I have given hint already the very focused account given by Moses can be replicated in different communities not only in Africa, but in many places around the world because of patriarchy. Therefore one would argue that what is needed is a focus on the ideas and issues raised in the post and other scholars who have studied the region should intervene so we have a broad perspective of the issues. The reason, I take a broad view is that the literature from the 30 years HIV AIDS has ravaged Africa demonstrates that the kind of lifestyle with Moses discussed can be found in many places. These practices are not a reflection of black or African Sexuality as Caldwell and Caldwell implied in a famous study several years ago; but reflect practices that have compromised humanity in a certain context and calling attention to those practices does not dismiss or reject the humanity of the people.

One may not know why people join listserves and leave them. USA Africa dialogue is influential, but some are going to find scholarly communities that will give them the space to focus on certain subject. Therefore it would be a mistake to focus on Nigeria and Nigerians. Nigeria is a huge country, and for Africa, it is my own personal view that it is an enormously important country for the future of Africa. Therefore, we have the right to hold that great nation accountable, but that does not mean we can ignore other countries. Nigeria with  its  great diversity and religiosity holds enormous potential for the future of Africa. But as the biblical expression has it, to whom much is given, much is required. Having said that, I do think we should blame the exit from a listserve on Nigerians.

Moses has called our attention to things ;all our African communities must address. It would be good for scholars and experts on those issues to do more research. 

Elias Bongmba

On Sun, Apr 16, 2017 at 5:06 PM, Salimonu Kadiri <ogunlakaiye@hotmail.com> wrote:

First, we drove away non-Africans from the USAfrica Dialogue forum. Next, Sierra Leoneans and Ghanaians took flight, followed by Nigerians who craved for more civility. Now more Nigerians are complaining that they are finding the Forum too toxic for active engagement, just as many who have remained "on the side lines" have long moved/ are moving on to newer and intellectually more refreshing/nourishing media. Would the Endowed Abusers-in-Residence at USAfrica Dialogue forum be putting out the lights? - Okey Iheduru

Since Okey Iheduru addressed his post direct to Toyin Falola, I cannot help wondering if the "we" that "drove away non-Africans from the USAfrica Dialogue forum" contained only Okey and Toyin or if other people were contained in the "we." How were the non-Africans driven away from the forum? Did Sierra Leoneans, Ghanaians and Nigerians, who deserted the forum, complain to Okey Iheduru that the cause of their desertion was due to incivilities suffered from members? What constituted the incivilities? While awaiting answers to these questions, I feel very sorry to observe that pressures have been mounted on the 'Moderator' of this forum to censor out of publication some posts on this list serve because the language of communications were not pleasant enough to some people. Africans, and especially Nigerian intellectuals, always feel that it is incivility to openly prove in a public discourse that their ideas on any socio-political-economic subject are foolish or stupid. They feel belittled and demeaned and they get angry at any person they think is uncivil to them. That is the problem we now encounter on this subject captioned 'Sexual Repression and Extremism in Northern Nigeria,' which the author admitted to as being a deliberate  provocation. And when one provokes in normal clime, the provocateur must expect both rational and irrational responses from those who are provoked. Here the provocateur wants every responder to laugh and sanction the stigmatization of Northern Nigeria's men as sex addicts on the ground of 'Boko Haram and when that did not happen, he was enraged.

I once enquired on this forum if anyone with the knowledge of Hausa and English languages could confirm if the translation of Boko Haram into English is Western Education is Forbidden. I did not get any response. Jama'atu Ahl-Sunnah Lidda'Awati Wal-Jihad, meaning People Committed to the propagation of the Prophet's Teaching and Jihad, was formed in Bornu State in 2002 as a religious group. Between 2004 and 2009, they grew as a movement and started cooperative farm settlements, created jobs for their members, provided welfare for disabled members and trained people as artisans. They provided an alternative to the Government of the day in Bornu State with their programmes  and attracted more members. In 2007, the Governor of Bornu State, Ali Modu Sheriff, appointed a strong member of Jama'atu Ahl-Sunnah Lidda'Awati Wal-Jihad, Buji Foi, as Bornu State Commissioner of Religious Affairs. There was peace in Bornu State until when the government of Ali Modu Sheriff banned riding bikes without wearing helmets, in February 2009. Five months later in July 2009, a prominent member of the movement died, and a large number of the sect trouped out on bikes to bury him. They were stopped by the police for lack of helmets while riding. In the ensuing resistance, police shot and wounded many members of the sect on their way to the burial ground. The sect quickly mobilised and killed policemen in Bauchi, Bornu and Yobe States. In Maiduguri, they took over the town and controlled it for three days until the Army was drafted in to help. The Army regained control and arrested the sect's leader, Mohammed Yusuf and a lot of his members. Mohammed Yusuf was handed over to the Police who was extra judicially murdered as well as Buji Foi, the Commissioner of Religious affairs who was shot at the back by the Police as testified to by the online video film.

Although Yar'Adua was President of Nigeria when the leader of the sect, Mohammed Yusuf, was murdered by the Nigerian Police and the sect became militant, some intellectuals have posted on this list serve that the sect, later named Boko Haram by opponents, was formed to make Nigeria ungovernable for President Goodluck Jonathan. Religion might have been the rallying point for the sect but at the beginning their aim was to tackle poverty in their communities of which they succeeded, to some extent, from 2002 to July 2009. Sexual hunger was not the cause of the founding of 'Boko Haram' it was as a result of social and economic injustice not only in the Northeast but entire Nigeria. That was why the US refused to classify Boko Haram as a terrorist organisation when Hillary Clinton was Secretary of State. After addressing a town hall meeting on Tuesday, 26 January 2010 with US State Department employees to mark her one year anniversary as Secretary of State, she opened the floor for questions. One Tood Woodard asked, "Given the recent alleged attempted attack by the young Nigerian on a Christmas Day and also the purported audio message from Osama bin Laden heralding that attack and assuming responsibility for it, I'm curious to hear what your thoughts regarding the connection between Islamist's organisations and young Muslims in West Africa, specifically Nigeria. I'm curious to hear what your opinion is regarding the driving factors for the youth accepting and embracing the Islamist ideology?"

Hillary Clinton answered, "In Nigeria, which is, as you know, evenly divided between Muslims and Christians, about 75 million of each - Christians predominantly in the South, Muslims predominantly in the North - there has been accommodation that has enabled Nigeria to survive politically. But the failure of the Nigerian leadership over many years to respond to the legitimate needs of their own young people, to have a government that promoted meritocracy, that really understood that democracy can't just be given lip service, it has to be delivering services to the people, has meant that there is a lot of alienation in that country and others. ...//... And the information we have on the Christmas Day bomber so far seems to suggest that he was disturbed by his father's wealth and the kind of living conditions that he views as not being Islamic enough and just the kinds of attitudes young people often portray toward their families as they go through their maturing. But in this case, and in so many others, such young people are targets for recruiters to extremism. So I do think that Nigeria faces a threat from increasing radicalisation that needs to be addressed, and not just by military means. There has to be recognition that in the last ten years, a lot of indicators about quality of life in Nigeria have gone the wrong direction. The rate of illiteracy is growing, not falling, in a country that used to have a very high rate of literacy in Africa. The health statistics are going the wrong direction. The corruption is unbelievable. And that is an opening for extremism that offers an alternative world view. You want to live in peace and safety and feel good about yourself and be part of the community that you can be proud of, then turn away from your society and your family and come with us. And that can be a powerful message, whether it's a gang in America or an extremist organisation in Nigeria."

In order to back up what Hillary Clinton said about the fertilizer of Islamic extremism in Nigeria let us look at the total income that accrued to all the 19 States in the North between 1999 and 2010. During the 11 years, the sum of N 8.3 trillion was received by the 19 States in the North from Federation Account. The breakdown is as follows : Kano State got N333.1 billion for its 44 local governments and N428.4 billion for the state government. Total allocation of funds was N761.7 billion. Katsina State got N253.8billion for its 34 local governments and N310.2 billion for the State govern. totalling N564 billion; Kaduna State got a total of N530.1 billion; Bornu State got N 503 billion; Niger State got a total of N487.2 billion; Benue State got a total of N465.3 billion; Bauchi State got a total of N463.3 billion; Jigawa State got N475 billion; Adamawa State got N410.3 billion; Sokoto State got N432.3 billion; Yobe State got N364.9 billion; Gombe State got N299.1 billion; Zamfara State got N359.8 billion; Taraba State got N370.2 billion; Kogi State got N413 billion; Kebi State got N403.1 billion; Kwara State got N345.3 billion; Nasarawa State got N301.6 billion and Plateau State got N377.9 billion. The exchange rate of Naira to a dollar between 1999 and 2010 fluctuated between 90 and 140 naira. So the big question is what did the 19 States in the North do with all the allocations from the Federation Account that they received between 1999 and 2010? Nearly all the 19 Governors have been  standing trials for treasury lootings since 2007 till date. Instead of highlighting treasury looters whose loots cause more deaths per day than what Boko Haram can accomplish in a year, our intellectuals see extreme sex appetites as the cause of Islamic extremists in Nigeria. I beg to disagree because people normally do die of lack of food to eat, potable water to drink and pure air to breath and not of sex starvation.

S.Kadiri

 

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Från: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com> för Okey Iheduru <okeyiheduru@gmail.com>
Skickat: den 14 april 2017 23:21
Till: USAAfrica Dialogue
Ämne: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Sexual Repression and Extremism in Northern Nigeria

 

Dear Prof. Falola:

First, we drove away non-Africans from the USAfrica Dialogue forum. Next, Sierra Leoneans and Ghanaians took flight, followed by Nigerians who crave for more civility. Now, more Nigerians are complaining that they are finding the Forum too toxic for active engagement, just as many who have remained "on the sidelines" have long moved/are moving on to newer and intellectually more refreshing/nourishing media. Would the Endowed Abusers-in-Residence at USAfrica Dialogue forum be putting out the lights?

I believe it was Ernest Hemingway who said that only fools write for for free. If folks will voluntarily forego food on their tables to engage with this forum, the least we can all do is to insist on illuminating civil discourse, and not condone incivility or cut anyone slack for their past accomplishments when they contribute little and/or even relish in squelching the conversation.

It would be worth reflecting on these historical snippets: Years ago, IBM was mass-producing "Selectric Brother Type-Writers" while Apple and Microsoft were making PCs. Look at where and what we are today! USAfrica Dialogue forum (outliving its usefulness?) vs. new social media? And, as a historian, you remember Elder Dempster Lines as the preferred passenger service vehicle on the River Niger? 

Listen to the humming bird; it might be saying something interesting :).

Regards,

Okey

Peace as always!

On Fri, Apr 14, 2017 at 1:26 PM, Moses Ebe Ochonu <meochonu@gmail.com> wrote:

Professor Falola, where is the contribution to this discussion by Jibrin that I missed? Am I missing something. I was responding to Abdul and Ibrahim, the two artful dodgers and anti-intellectual debate killers, not to Jibrin, who has not joined this discussion.

On Fri, Apr 14, 2017 at 3:18 PM, Toyin Falola <toyinfalola@austin.utexas.edu> wrote:

I said Jibrin and Ibrahim 

Not Abdul 

Jibrin is one of the continent's most formidable scholars and he deserves our respect. 

Sent from my iPhone

On Apr 14, 2017, at 3:12 PM, Moses Ebe Ochonu <meochonu@gmail.com> wrote:

With all due respect, Professor Falola, your moderator note fails the basic test of fairness and balance. First of all you should not be basing your moderation on who is formidable and who is not. Everyone should be treated the same. Leave members to decide who is formidable and who is not. It is all in the reader's eye. Secondly, Ibrahim and Abdul attacked me, saying that I have a minority agenda, that I am masking the truth, that I am driven by ethnicity, etc. Did you read my post? Did you see anything that remotely resembles a mention of ethnicity or the promotion of an ethnic agenda or a minority agenda in it? I responded to the suggestion that war and sex have always been interlinked--an obvious point--and pointed out Boko Haram and other Salafi-Jihadi groups are peculiar precisely because they have developed an elaborate theological rationale for justifying and promoting the sexual enslavement of the female members of their enemy societies (infidels), an ideological infrastructure of sexual entitlement that you don't find in secular warfare, a theological justification of sexual enslavement in jihad that the "weaponization of sex" argument does not explain or capture. They left that point alone and continued to call me names and make silly ad hominem insinuations about my motive and "where you're coming from."  Even Bolaji had to intervene to redirect the conversation back to the issues I raised by restating the main questions. They continued to make all insinuations and to impute imaginary motives to me. You stood aside watching this anti-intellectual attitude of their unfold only to now weigh in to exonerate them of anti-intellectualism and to pretend as though I had not responded to the reductive, pedestrian, and commonsensical point about the weaponization of sex. This is not moderation. 

On Fri, Apr 14, 2017 at 2:24 PM, Toyin Falola <toyinfalola@austin.utexas.edu> wrote:

Moderator's note: 

Only that both Jibrin and Ibrahim are too formidable to dismiss and they don't make anti intellectual arguments.

War and sex have been interlocked for centuries; so the point for you is to insist on what is peculiar about Boko Haram and you leave out their asides.

TF

Sent from my iPhone

On Apr 14, 2017, at 2:04 PM, Moses Ebe Ochonu <meochonu@gmail.com> wrote:

Chidi,

I'm not bordered by critique; I savor it. That is how I refine my thinking. In fact, I posted this provocation here in the hope of getting critique and of sparking a rich conversation around the issues raised. There is critique that is grounded in substance and faithful to the issues at stake and one that is grounded in emotive bluster and in unfounded preconceptions and assumptions. I welcome, appreciate, and engage critique. You've known me for a long time, so you should know that I am game for debate and that in fact I enjoy it. But the debate and critique have to be substantive. Nowadays, I have no time for conversations that will not challenge me to think or add intellectual value to me; I'm too busy. What you have here is an anti-intellectual hostility to debate and discussion on controversial and sensitive topics, as well as a tendency to instinctively lash out at people who broach such subjects in the hope of silencing them. That is the problem I have with some of the responses and attitudes here. Of course such juvenile antics will not work with me.

You're my friend on Facebook and you may have seen the conversation on the same post over there. The reception of my provocative hypothesis there is not unanimously positive. Some agree with me, others disagree. Some agree partially and others disagree partially. But everyone is focusing on the issue I raised and making their points as passionately as they want to without the personal obsessions, insinuations, and escapist tactics you see on display here. No one there is questioning my motive or insinuating a phantom ethnic agenda. Folks there are discussing the post in the spirit of intellectual debate and inquiry that I offered it. I have learned a lot from the exchanges there.

Which is why it is disappointing to see those who call themselves intellectuals and academics display such unscholarly revulsion to controversial, unfamiliar, and disagreeable opinions.

On Fri, Apr 14, 2017 at 9:05 AM, Chidi Anthony Opara <chidi.opara@gmail.com> wrote:

Toyin, Moses,
The facebook crowd are not as critical as the persons you would find here.

CAO.

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