Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - News Release: ADF Statement On The Recent Spate Of Massacres In Plateau State, Nigeria

*NO SINGLE TRIBE, SECT OR REGION WILL TRIUMPH AT THE EXPENSE OF THE OTHER.*

 Facts about the recent Plateau incident has been buried under emotive discourse.  I do not have problem with anyone politicizing the current insecurity problem. After all, the APC used similar partisan propaganda while in opposition. But I have a duty to expose fake news, exaggerations and incitements where I see one.

Most Nigerians do not want justice. What we want is for 'our own' to have the upper hand in every conflict, and when the reverse happens, we claim sole victimhood in a conflict where both sides have played a role in the ongoing bloodshed.

That's exactly what we are dealing with in this latest cycle of violence in Plateau State. On the Tuesday before the escalation, four Fulani cattle traders where stopped and killed in Plateau State. The news of their tragedy didn't make any headlines. By Saturday, Fulani retaliation left more than 100 people dead. In reaction, the natives, while still being victims, blocked highways and killed travelers suspected to be Muslims.

None of the two sides has justification for doing what it did. The first action of killing Fulani cattle traders was barbaric. The second action of Fulani retaliation was equally barbaric. And the third reaction of blocking and hacking innocent and unsuspecting travelers by Biting youth is equally and more  barbaric.

We should ask ourselves why people decide to take laws into their own hands instead of going to the law enforcement for justice? The answer to this is not far fetched. Nigerians have lost confidence in the system to protect them, or in the event of injury, to give them justice. People resort to defending themselves and getting their own version of justice through reprisals.

But one problem with ethnicised self-defense is that it can be easily turned into an offensive and oppressive tool against 'the other' in our areas of superiority. And one problem with reprisals is that they do not follow the eye-for-an-eye rule. No! The aggrieved party is always trying to exert maximum damage on the other party and in the process creating multiple layers of grievances that grow thicker with each round of violence.

Unfortunately, Nigerians are not interested in those realities, in those facts. We are only interested in our sentiments. If it is our own that is at the receiving end, we classify it as genocide of unprecedented proportion. We stage protests and delegetimize those who refuse to join us in our type of mourning. If it's the other that is at the receiving end, the first rule is to ignore it. If it's difficult to ignore, then we under-report it and present it in a way that our own appear blameless.

That's why communal conflicts continue to run amok under the helpless gaze of successive presidencies. More than 1000 people have been killed in a single violence under Obasanjo. Those who believe Obasanjo was the problem were made to eat their words after the killing continued under Yaradua. Those who believed Yaradua was the problem were proven wrong as the killings grew even worse under Jonathan, and those who believed Jonathan was the problem now appear clueless as the killings continued under Buhari.

The fact that we didn't learn anything from these realities means we are not ready for peace. We chose which tragedy to mourn, which victim to sympathize with and which perpetrator to condemn. It is heart-breaking to see supposedly educated people subscribing to this sentiment of free-floating ethnic and sectarian passions. Our own is not moral courage but moral hypocrisy, but if it takes some moral hypocrisy to wake those in power to their responsibilities and bring an end to this tragedy, then we need more of that hypocrisy.

Unfortunately, that will not work. What will work is when we regard any attack against any Nigerian as an attack against all Nigerians. What will work is when we realize that our communities are tied by a common destiny as Nigerians, that what we have in common is greater than the sum total of our differences and that it is either we progress together or we perish together because no single Nigerian tribe, sect or region will triumph at the expense of the other.

When we are ready for peace, we will sit down and look at the problems and proffer real solutions. For example, if cattle herding is the problem, we can find ways to phase it out through ranching and other modern nomadic practices that will eliminate conflict between farmers and herders. That's because the so called herder who is stuck in his this outmoded way of life is a victim of his own of ignorance and therefore needs to be liberated.

But if the problem as we have seen with people opposing long-term solutions like ranching is for the ethnic group they hate to completely disappear so they can carve out their own ethnic or sectarian Bantustans, then I'm afraid we are miles away from peace. Because in the world we live today, it is impossible for one single ethnic or sectarian group no matter how powerful to exterminate the other.

Therefore, while it is the primary responsibility of those in power to secure the country and arrest this tragedy, the ultimate choice lies with all of us, whether we want peace and justice for everyone or we want the type of peace and justice that only benefit our own. This is really sad time. 

On Jun 30, 2018 22:11, "'chidi opara reports' via USA Africa Dialogue Series" <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com> wrote:

With deep sense of shock and indignation, the Alaigbo Development Foundation (ADF) hereby expresses her unreserved and unequivocal condemnation of the recent killings in villages in Barkin Ladi, Riyom, Mangu and Jos South Local Government Areas of Plateau State. These senseless attacks by Fulani herdsmen on innocent communities which occurred over the weekend of Saturday 22nd June 2018 are not only painful but a disgraceful indication and indictment of the lawless and stateless society that Nigeria is fast dangerously descending into........


Link: http://chidioparareports.blogspot.com/2018/06/news-release-adf-statement-on-recent.html?m=1


From chidi opara reports


chidi opara reports is published as a social service by PublicInformationProjects

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Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re: Yoruba Affairs - New Book:Historical Dictionary of Nigeria

Congratulations indeed. Second edition? When was the first edition? This should be a model for specialized dictionaries in Nigeria - geographical, sociological, medical, monolingual Yoruba, etc. E kú isé o!

Michael

On Saturday, June 30, 2018, 3:54:58 AM CDT, Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju <toyin.adepoju@gmail.com> wrote:

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great congrats.

others would gain greatly from learning from multiply prolific scholars how they do it.

toyin

On Sat, 30 Jun 2018 at 09:33, Toyin Falola <toyinfalola@austin.utexas.edu> wrote:

Falola, Genova, Heaton, Historical Dictionary of Nigeria, second edition,471 pp.

 

https://www.amazon.com/Historical-Dictionary-Nigeria-Dictionaries-Africa/dp/1538113139/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1530347190&sr=1-1&keywords=Toyin+Falola%2C+Ann+genova+and+Heaton&dpID=41SsDZ244JL&preST=_SY291_BO1,204,203,200_QL40_&dpSrc=srch

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Toyin Falola

Department of History

The University of Texas at Austin

104 Inner Campus Drive

Austin, TX 78712-0220

USA

512 475 7224

512 475 7222 (fax)

http://sites.utexas.edu/yoruba-studies-review/

http://www.toyinfalola.com 

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http://groups.google.com/group/yorubaaffairs 

http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue   

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Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Jos As A Metaphor

"That, unfortunately is the intersection at which this nation now stands in regard to the above incident. Thus Jos has become a metaphor. A metaphor for ignorance in the season of knowledge; a metaphor for the so-called educated elite who glory and bask in perfidious and heinous ethnic politics. Jos has become a metaphor for the failure of governance in the land; a metaphor for everything that has no basis in reason or revelation; a metaphor for the contest between the powerful outside power and the powerful inside power. This indeed is a season in which, in line with Shakespeare, what is fair is foul and what foul is fair."

Afis A. Oladosu

A case well made! How else could it be better said? I don't know, and won't even try to attempt it. Mr. Oladosu nailed the coffin of civil strives in Nigeria, if only we would read and heed. May the metaphor of Jos not become the historical trend of greater Nigeria.

Just thinking . . .

Michael O. Afolayan

===

On Saturday, June 30, 2018, 7:04:02 AM CDT, 'H O' via USA Africa Dialogue Series <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com> wrote:

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JOS AS A METAPHOR

AFIS .A. OLADOSU

Such is the fact of life- to love does not mean to be loved. This is the truth about hatred-sometimes we hate and abominate the other for reasons that are unknown to us. Like the beast in the wild, human beings are capable of descending to the deepest abyss of life, down there, beyond the 'wild's wildest 'imagination'. The man can, by choice, kill himself; unlike the animal. The woman is able, by choice, to kill the other. And she just did. She murdered her hubby. Yes.  A man is an enigma. So it appears. He can rise to the heaven.

 

She is equally capable of rising to the highest pedestals of nobility; in nature. She is the 'king" in creation. His heart could be a paradise. Of love. Of compassion. Of kindness.Her heart could become a house of hell. A bosom full of hate. Of fear.  Yes. Hate springs from fear. Particularly in people whose hearts have become like a fountain - a fountain of darkness; a fountain of violence. Of hatred. He who hates the other for being the other diminishes the Self. Behind every hateful crime and act of human brutality is an admission of fearfulness; of inferiority. Great men do not resort to violence for violence sake. They do not despoil the other nor destroy properties simply because violence pays.

 

All these readings would be pertinent for those who have not lost their sanity. However, out there, in parts of this country, some among my compatriots appear to have lost their innocence. They appear to have lost control of that subtle element that define our humanity. Some among my compatriots are at war with difference. They are at war with diversity. They are at war with the Almighty. Out there in parts of this country, we are witnessing gradual return to the season of ignorance, to the age of Jahiliyyah. It feels as if we are witnessing the enactment of the Basus war of the pre-Islamic period.

 

The story happened long before the Islamic era in Arabia. The war was said to have started when a woman called Al-Basus, went to visit her niece, Jalila bint Murrah, along with her nephew, Jassas ibn Murrah. All of them belonged to the tribe of Bakr. Jalila was married to the leader of Taghleb tribe whose name was Kulayb. The latter had achieved renown for being protective of his property and land. The story says that Kulayb saw a strange camel in his territory, and shot it with an arrow not knowing that the said camel belonged to Al-Basus. The latter became angry. She told her nephew, Jassas, that what Kulayb did was an insult. The former thereafter went to the leader of Taghleb, his brother in-law, and killed him. This eventually triggered the war between the two tribes.

 

Just because a camel was killed, the Arabs of that era became locked in a war that lasted for forty years. They were engaged in war of retaliation. Whenever someone was killed, the other tribe would bid its time and wait for an auspicious moment in which it would kill another man in retaliation. Thus between 494 and 534 (CE), the two tribes knew no peace. Arabia was under a lock-down. Eventually, they learnt the lesson in a hard way- that retaliation never pays; that vengeance is a poison more for the perpetrator than for the victim.

 

Yes. The orgish 'dance' in Jos is said to have started not because of a camel but because of the rustling of three hundred cows. No. The story says it was not simply because cows were rustled. It was because four Fulani traders were killed by yet to be identified individuals.  Yet the other story says no. The truth is that Jos became the modern Basus simply because of the unending contest for land, for bread and water.  For over a decade now, Jos has become a slaughter slab, a theatre of the absurd.

 

But who are those being killed in Jos? It is the poor. The oppressed. The deprived. It is those who live on the margins of life. It is these compatriots of mine and yours whose life has been plucked violently from the tree of life. Who are those who lost their lives during the last weekend? They were Hausas. They were Fulanis. They were Beroms. They were Ibos. They were Yorubas. They were all Nigerians. Indeed death knows no tribes. Truly, violence has no religion. Innocent travelers who found themselves at the intersection of hell. They were made to depart this world by force. The young man whose future was looking up; the young child who had an appointment with destiny. They were killed in retaliation; out vengeance. They were killed by those whose souls have died.  

 

Where do they get the weapon of violence? From the rich. Those who can afford an A-K47 rifle. The latter costs between two hundred and a thousand dollars. I know that you know that an ordinary Nigerian cannot afford that. Thus whenever his cow is taken away from him, he feels the whole world has been taken away; whenever he loses his farm land to the herders, he wants to bring the heaven down on the earth. These two identities have nothing more other these prized possessions. Ironically however, they have both become unfortunate subjects in the contestations for power by the political elite. The cow has become the subject on whose body the struggle for power could be carried out. The land belonging to the Berom has become the space where identity politics, in its most heinous form, could be negotiated. Thus the elites may want war, but it is that war in which he would not be an active participant. The elites want war but it is that which would be fought on their behalf and on behalf of their children by pauperized Nigerians. They want violence. But not that in which they, nor their sons would lead the troop. They want the balkanization of this country in order that they may sit atop the carcasses that may remain of the wealth of this nation.They want war in Nigeria at a time they are located outside there,  far away from Nigeria, far away from the furnace.  Arm-chair analysts.  Netizen critics.  They want to incinerate the homeland.  My homeland.

 

Again who are the victims of "Jos"?. They are the innocent compatriots of yours and mine. The man who was killed simply because he looked like the "Hausa-Fulani". The woman who was murdered simply because she looked like a Berom. Who are the perpetrators? The Victims! Who are the victims? The perpetrators.

 

That, unfortunately is the intersection at which this nation now stands in regard to the above incident. Thus Jos has become a metaphor. A metaphor for ignorance in the season of knowledge; a metaphor for the so-called educated elite who glory and bask in perfidious and heinous ethnic politics. Jos has become a metaphor for the failure of governance in the land; a metaphor for everything that has no basis in reason or revelation; a metaphor for the contest between the powerful outside power and the powerful inside power. This indeed is a season in which, in line with Shakespeare, what is fair is foul and what foul is fair.

(The above essay originally appeared in The Guardian of yesterday)

 

Sent from Yahoo Mail on Android

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USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re: Fw: prof's column

http://punchng.com/mentoring-nigerias-next-generation-for-leadership/

On Thu, 14 Jun 2018, 17:13 , <ayo_olukotun@yahoo.com> wrote:

Sent from my BlackBerry 10 smartphone.

From: ayo_olukotun@yahoo.com Sent: Thursday, 14 June 2018 14:02 To: Joel Cc: ayo_olukotun@yahoo.com Subject: Fw: prof's column

Sent from my BlackBerry 10 smartphone.

From: orogun olanike <dam_nik@yahoo.com> Sent: Thursday, 14 June 2018 13:30 To: Joel Nwokeoma; betapikin30@yahoo.com; Ayo Olukotun Subject: prof's column

JUNE 12: A POSTSCRIPT

AYO OLUKOTUN

The recent decision of President Muhammadu Buhari to confer on Chief MKO Abiola, posthumously the highest national honour, as well as tender a public apology to the Abiola family, is arguably the most important action of the Buhari presidency. Though garbled and smacks of opportunism, it reached beyond the formalities and routines of politics to bring closure and healing to a vivid injury, a gash in the national psyche, that was never fully mollified by the 'award' of the presidency to Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, as compensation.

The Nigerian state has always thrived in grand and opaque isolation from its citizens. Predatory, unaccountable, sometimes irrational and unresponsive, the jostle for its control has elicited unexplained assassinations, monumental corruption and spectral massacres. Given this background, Buhari whose career as a military and civilian politician is bound up with the fogginess and dodgy character of the state, ironically moved that wily and hard to reform octopus towards redemption and humanisation. For once, in a golden interval, conversation can take place between citizens holding elective offices, and those who do not but are profitably engaged in the production of our collective wealth. None the less it is observable that this important decision took place almost as an afterthought, lacking the character of a well thought out, policy output. It took a stormy debate in the legislature, the day after the announcement was made, to reveal the jagged edges of the pronouncement. For example, there was a need to have amended or sought the amendment of the Public Holidays Act, which specifically mentions May 29^th as Democracy Day, as well as tinker with the National Honours Act which did not envisage the granting of National Honours to the dead, however deserving. Apart from that, would it not have been tidier to bring closure to the controversy of the contested June 12 election by a proclamation, through the electoral commission announcing the result of the annulled election? All of these may be matters of details and fine-tuning, but they show the underside of the policy making process in which popular and worthy decisions are made by ambush, haphazardly and without clear forethought.

It is time we do away with governance which takes the citizens by surprise, apparently a carryover of the military mentality of subterfuge and sleight of hand. A less dishevelled scenario of policy making would have been to look at all the sides, anticipate possible objections and loop holes, run it by a think tank including some legislators or senior lawyers, in order to come up with unassailable and unimpeachable decisions. This may seem like a fastidious quibble until you begin to factor that several decisions in our national life are made casually and without the benefit of profound and searching thoughtfulness. Till today, it is not entirely clear whether and to what extent policy making in some key areas is guided by the cross fertilization of ideas which think-tanks bring into governance. True, the Vice president, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, is surrounded by some policy wonks but it is hard to delineate which decisions originate from him and which ones are from Buhari. Not to stray off the point, the restitution and healing which were intended by the recent welcome decision fell short of the coherence and gravity which should have accompanied it because of the lax and laid back manner in which the decision was taken.

Some analysts have pointed out the contradiction in Buhari, who had been anything but an advocate or apostle of June12, suddenly veering to adopt the platform and even carry forward, in a memorable way some of its core agenda. There is of course precedence in our national life, for such crossing of the carpet, especially on the eve of elections. Former President Goodluck Jonathan consistently opposed the idea of a National Conference for many years before making a turn around to adopt and implement it, possibly for electoral gains. Politicians tend to be desperate on the eve of elections, especially when they are not sure that they have done so well in meeting the expectations of the people. However, that may be, it is important to state that the abiding lessons of June 12, the need to restrain presidential omnipotence and to respect the rights of the constituent nationalities of Nigeria, redesign an over centralised and lopsided federation, restore the integrity of the electoral process, getting the people to buy in, into democracy, have not been learnt. At this point however, the columnist digresses to accommodate a short take.

This writer spent a good chunk of Tuesday, June 12 at a seminar organised by the Ibadan School of Government and Public Policy, with the theme "Constitutional Foundations of Political Corruption in Nigeria and a Reform Strategy". The guest lecturer is a well-known scholar of Nigerian federalism, Prof. Rotimi Suberu, who currently teaches at Bennington College in the United States. In attendance were Professors Akin Mabojunje, Alaba Ogunsanwo, Ademola Oyejide, Abiola Oyejide, Olabode Lucas, Micheal Adeyeye, as well as younger scholars such as Drs. Tunji Olaopa, the convener, Tunde Oseni, Muyiwa Adigun, David Enweremadu, Dhikru Yagboyaju, Remi Ayede, Akeem Amadu and several others.

The burden of Suberu's exciting presentation was the need to reform and reinvent the Nigerian State by building barriers against the abuse of presidential power, the lack of transparency in key Nigerian institutions for example in the oil sector, the anti-graft agencies and so on. Using the reform of the electoral institution and processes as a template, Suberu argues that Nigeria is reformable, provided the right blend of leadership, agenda setting, values and polices are in place. Interestingly, he argues that for the current anti-corruption policy to succeed there is a need to push through and deepen the ongoing constitutional review process, and the restructuring of the current system of unconditional federal revenue distribution. The harvest of proposals      from both the lecturer and the audience should find their way, hopefully, into the policy making arena.

To revert to the original topic, it should be mentioned that the revisiting of June 12 by Buhari is a salutary gesture, which should be perfected by introducing the appropriate legal instrument, in order to grant it the solidity it deserves. Beyond this, the recent course of action should encourage Buhari to ponder his place in history. Will he like to confine his intervention to healing gestures or is he willing to undertake a transformation of the Nigerian state and polity? If he opts for transformation, he can no longer fight shy of the much demanded and overdue National Conference in one form or another. Considering that the election is fast approaching, will he want to look at the possibility of simply implementing some of the extant recommendations by earlier conferences?

In the same vein, immortalising the spirit of June 12 should be about toning up the tempo of governance by paying particular attention to the welfare benefits that can give content to the concept of Nigerian citizenship.

Finally, the escalating insecurity in the country and the growing feeling that the people of the middle belt are second class citizens should be reversed immediately. If this happens Buhari would have paid lasting tribute to the spirit of June 12.

 

 

Olukotun is the Oba (Dr.) Sikiru Kayode Adetona, professorial Chair of Governance at the Dept. of Political Science, Olabisi Onabanjo, University, Ago-Iwoye.

 

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USA Africa Dialogue Series - Mentoring Nigeria’s Next Generation for Leadership, By Tunji Olaopa – Premium Times Opinion

https://opinion.premiumtimesng.com/2018/06/30/mentoring-nigerias-next-generation-for-leadership-by-tunji-olaopa/

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USA Africa Dialogue Series - News Release: ADF Statement On The Recent Spate Of Massacres In Plateau State, Nigeria

With deep sense of shock and indignation, the Alaigbo Development Foundation (ADF) hereby expresses her unreserved and unequivocal condemnation of the recent killings in villages in Barkin Ladi, Riyom, Mangu and Jos South Local Government Areas of Plateau State. These senseless attacks by Fulani herdsmen on innocent communities which occurred over the weekend of Saturday 22nd June 2018 are not only painful but a disgraceful indication and indictment of the lawless and stateless society that Nigeria is fast dangerously descending into........


Link: http://chidioparareports.blogspot.com/2018/06/news-release-adf-statement-on-recent.html?m=1


From chidi opara reports


chidi opara reports is published as a social service by PublicInformationProjects

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USA Africa Dialogue Series - UK PARLIAMENT ON KILLINGS IN NIGERIA

turbing, must stop

UK Parliament: Killings in Nigeria disturbing, must stop

Saheed Salawu Top News

THE United Kingdom Parliament has described recent killings by Fulani herdsmen and other violent acts in the North Central states of Nigeria as deeply disturbing urging President Muhammadu Buhari to take urgent steps to stop the carnage.

Lord Alton of Liverpool raised the Nigerian security issue at the House of Lords on Thursday drawing support from members across party lines.

The verbatim report of the debate of the Nigerian security challenges by the UK House of Lords are contained in the Parliament's records website: hansard.parliament.uk.

A cross section of the UK lawmakers who spoke on the killings in Nigeria described the scale and the frequency of the attacks as disturbing and alarming.

Lord Alton who raised the issue, spoke on "the more than 200 people, mostly women and children, who were killed in sustained attacks on 50 villages by armed Fulani militia just this past weekend" adding that "People are dying daily.

"This alone should serve as a wake-up call. Are we to watch one of Africa's greatest countries go the way of Sudan? Will we be indifferent as radical forces sweep across the Sahel seeking to replace diversity and difference with a monochrome ideology that will be imposed with violence on those who refuse to comply? We must not wait for a genocide to happen, as it did in Rwanda. Ominously, history could easily be repeated," Alton warned.

Another parliamentarian, Lord Suri said: "The situation has been exacerbated by inadequate government action which has enabled attacks to continue unabated. Beyond intermittent words of condemnation, the Government has failed to formulate effective strategies to address this violence. This has entrenched impunity and emboldened perpetrators even further, leading to a growth in vigilantism and periodic retaliatory violence, as communities conclude they can no longer rely on government for protection or justice. However, this retaliatory violence is by no means symmetrical—the first quarter of the year saw 106 attacks by the herder militia in central Nigeria, while seven attacks within that timeframe on Fulani herders or communities claimed 61 lives.

"The number of attacks and casualties is staggering, and our Government must recognise the considerable escalation in the regularity, scale and intensity of the attacks by Fulani militia on these communities in central Nigeria. We must commit to doing more to encourage and support the federal and state governments to provide protection to those who live in constant threat of attack by a force that constitutes a major threat to national security. As a matter of urgency, we must encourage the formulation of a comprehensive and holistic security strategy that adequately resources the security forces to address this and other sources of violence. Can the Minister provide assurances of action? Will the UK Government do all they can to work with the Government of Nigeria, encouraging them to be more proactive in ending this appalling violence and to protect these vulnerable communities living in constant fear for their lives?"

ALSO READ: Ondo workers threaten showdown with Akeredolu over allegation of N10m bribe from Fayose

Other lawmakers spoke along the same line with Baroness Goldie summing up the debate and asking the Buhari government to halt the "deeply troubling situation."

She said "It goes without saying that the Government regard the situation in Nigeria as both challenging and deeply disturbing. There are a number of issues at play which are having serious humanitarian consequences. The first are the actions of Boko Haram, of which many noble Lords will sadly be aware. Boko Haram claims to represent Islam, but its interpretation could not be further from the spirit of that peaceful religion. It attacks Nigerians of all faiths who do not subscribe to its extremist views. Its activity—the abduction of schoolgirls and the killings in which it has engaged—is appalling. Its actions have caused immense suffering in Nigeria and neighbouring countries in both Christian and Muslim communities. We assess that the majority of its victims are Muslim. Nearly 2.5 million people have been forced to flee their homes. Boko Haram and its splinter faction, Islamic State West Africa, remain a threat to regional security. Achieving a long-term solution requires non-military measures to improve security and enable economic growth.

"The other worrying issue to which many noble Lords referred and the noble Lord, Lord Alton, particularly covered in his speech, is the violence between farmers and herdsmen in various areas across Nigeria, and in the Middle Belt in particular, where attacks are carried out by herders on farmers, and vice versa. The noble Lord, Lord Alton, raised the question: does the description "farmer-herdsmen" suffice? This was a point also raised by the noble Lord, Lord Chidgey, and the noble Baroness, Lady Cox. The description "farmer-herdsmen" is broadly correct, but it does not fully represent the complexity of the situation. Violence has escalated over the past year—the reasons for this are many—but we are not aware of evidence to support the view that religion is driving this conflict.

"The other worrying issue is the extent of recent attacks. In an attack by farmers on herder settlements in Mambilla Plateau in June 2017, over 800 people were killed—the majority of them women and children. We are concerned by the increasing violence in recent months. Just last weekend reprisal attacks by herdsmen on farming settlements resulted in at least 86 fatalities—it may be more than that. My noble friend Lord Suri and the noble Baroness, Lady Cox, very poignantly described the horrific nature of this violence.

--
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USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re: GROOMING FUTURE NIGERIAN LEADERS.

Edited:

Indeed, just as Chief Anthony Akinola observed, "children in some societies tend to achieve maturity much earlier on than in others"and that's why we ( in Sweden and I'm sure the world over) were pleasantly surprised to see nineteen year old Francis Odinaka Uzoho appointed minister of defence between Nigeria's goalposts

Still making comparisons, off-head, the following urchins spring to mind :

Sierra Leone's world record holder Valentine Strasser, in 1992  " he became the world's youngest Head of State when he seized power three days after his 25th birthday."

Austria's Sebastian Kurz ,"the 31-year-old head of the right-leaning People's Party and outgoing foreign minister, who became the world's youngest leader after his party declared victory in the October 17^th 2017, general election"

Re- " and that marijuana that you may have smoked at a relatively innocent age could, surprisingly, be an electoral issue that comes to haunt you in later life." Chief Akinola did indeed make this qualified observation a little earlier, that some of the would-be future leaders "imbibe the culture of rigorous debating during their apprenticeship." This is of course mostly true and that's why it's no wonder that Bill Clinton famously known as "slick Willy" could say that he did smoke some Marijuana once, but "did not inhale" whereas Brother Obama, president of the Harvard Law Review and a law professor in Chicago said that he "inhaled frequently – that was the point !"

Baba Kadiri, if Ogun or the Yoruba god of thunder and lightning still cared "about deadly lies human beings commit everyday here on earth" and was "still as active" as the volcanic action prayed for by his devotee, then Ogun could have obliterated old Bill and exonerated Brother Obama...

Even in Sierra Leone, the former "Athens of West Africa" we have had our regular problems about the lack of transparency and accountability and the tendency to Machiavellian rule which is only possible in an enabling environment; it's taken up in this short discussion on "The Prince on Governance"

Thankfully, prospects are looking brighter now that we have "The African Leadership University" and no doubt , in the near future we should also have several United Nations schools for training future African leaders which hopefully will groom and equip such future leaders to be able to work and cope within the very challenging environments within which they will exercise effective leadership....

On Saturday, 30 June 2018 16:28:03 UTC+2, anthony.a.akinola wrote:

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Anthony Akinola <anthony....@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, Jun 30, 2018 at 2:52 PM
Subject: GROOMING FUTURE NIGERIAN LEADERS.
To: Anthony Akinola <anthony....@gmail.com>

GROOMING FUTURE NIGERIAN LEADERS

By Anthony Akinola.

When we make comparisons between different societies, it is important that we do not take things at face value. It is attractive for anyone who argues for a generational change in political leadership-(not-too-young-to-run)-in Nigeria, for instance, to point at Great Britain where David Cameron became Prime Minister at the age of 43,or the United States of America where Barack Obama was President at 46. A more critical evaluation of leadership in Britain and America should focus on the grooming of the individual for the role he or she would later play in life.

Not least because of factors not unconnected with their stage of educational, political and economic development, children in some societies tend to achieve maturity much earlier on than in others. In Great Britain, for example, the age of consent is 16. When a child has attained the legal age of consent, he or she becomes responsible for their omissions and commissions. At 18, a child is assumed to have become 'independent' of parents. By 21, it would be in exceptional or curious circumstances that one would still want to live under the same roof as one's parents. Parents in Britain do demand and collect rent from children of working age who choose to live at home.Of course, it must be admitted that Nigerians of means do take care of their parents in their old ages.

The British society is so structured that when a child tells you of his or her age it would be more than mere guesswork to know exactly what stage of education he or she has attained. It is an age group thing; those who have chosen to go to university would have started their degree programmes at the age of 18 and finished by 21. Those of them who, for instance, want to go into politics choose relevant subjects for that call. At Oxford and Cambridge, for instance, future politicians are most likely to be studying Politics, Philosophy and Economics (PPE) or Law. Most identify with political parties based on viewpoints and they do voluntary or paid work in their local constituencies particularly at election time. They imbibe the culture of rigorous debating during their apprenticeship. Your degree in biology or zoology, even when at the doctoral level, may not have prepared you adequately for a career in politics!

The point one is trying to make here is that the David Camerons and Barack Obamas of this world made their choices quite early in life. Even though they might have become leaders at relatively young ages, their experiences in politics could have been that of about 20 or more years. The suitability or otherwise of a candidate for a leadership position becomes important from records of past behaviour. The type of company you keep at school, and that marijuana that you may have smoked at a relatively innocent age could, surprisingly, be an electoral issue that comes to haunt you in later life. Those who engage in cultism and other forms of criminality should be made to know that they have written themselves off from important leadership positions in society. So, there is an element of parental grooming in all of this!

President Barack Obama knew very early in life what he was aiming at. Even at a very early age he told one of his teachers that he wanted to be the president of the United States. Prior to becoming state senator at Illinois and first-term senator in Congress, he had engaged himself in various community activities. His books spoke clearly for his future intentions. One is still looking around for that book in which any of our presidential aspirants may have told us about his or her background and their vision of society.

The general poverty in the grooming of our political leaders suggests we lack a capacity to engage counterparts elsewhere in coherent articulation of economic and political issues.We are deficient in the understanding of the history of our nation, as well as in the cultures of our diverse peoples. Future political leaders must be brought up to understand the different cultures and religions and evolve a new society where prejudices no longer predominate our ways of life. Our politics exists only at the elementary stage and this can change if future leaders are deliberately and properly groomed to assume important roles in our society.

--
Listserv moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
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USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re: GROOMING FUTURE NIGERIAN LEADERS.

Indeed, just as Chief Anthony Akinola observed, "children in some societies tend to achieve maturity much earlier on than in others" and that's why we ( in Sweden and I'm sure the world over) were pleasantly surprised to see nineteen year old Francis Odinaka Uzoho appointed minister of defence between Nigeria's goalposts

Still making comparisons, off-head, the following urchins spring to mind :

Sierra Leone's world record holder Valentine Strasser, in 1992 when " he became the world's youngest Head of State when he seized power three days after his 25th birthday."

Austria's Sebastian Kurz ,"the 31-year-old head of the right-leaning People's Party and outgoing foreign minister, who became become the world's youngest leader after his party declared victory in the October 17^th 2017, general election"

Re- " and that marijuana that you may have smoked at a relatively innocent age could, surprisingly, be an electoral issue that comes to haunt you in later life." Chief Akinola did indeed make this qualified observation a little earlier, that some of the would be future leaders "imbibe the culture of rigorous debating during their apprenticeship." this is of course mostly true and that's why it's no wonder that Bill Clinton commonly known as "slick Willy " could say that he did smoke some Marijuana once, but "did not inhale" whereas Brother Obama, president of the Harvard Law Review and a law professor in Chicago said that he  "inhaled frequently – that was the point !"

Baba Kadiri's Ogun, the Yoruba god of thunder and lightning still cared "about deadly lies human beings commit everyday here on earth" and was "still as active" as the volcanic action prayed for by his devotees, then Ogun could have obliterated old Bill and exonerated Brother Obama...

Even in Sierra Leone, the former "Athens of West Africa" we have had our regular problems about the lack of transparency and accountability and the tendency to Machiavellian rule which is only possible in an enabling environment such as taken up in this short discussion on "ThePrince on Governance"

Thankfully, prospects are looking brighter now that we have "The African Leadership University" and no doubt , in the near future we should also have several United Nations schools for training future African leaders which hopefully will groom and equip such future leaders to be able to work and cope within the very challenging environments within which they will exercise effective leadership. 

On Saturday, 30 June 2018 16:28:03 UTC+2, anthony.a.akinola wrote:

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Anthony Akinola <anthony....@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, Jun 30, 2018 at 2:52 PM
Subject: GROOMING FUTURE NIGERIAN LEADERS.
To: Anthony Akinola <anthony....@gmail.com>

GROOMING FUTURE NIGERIAN LEADERS

By Anthony Akinola.

When we make comparisons between different societies, it is important that we do not take things at face value. It is attractive for anyone who argues for a generational change in political leadership-(not-too-young-to-run)-in Nigeria, for instance, to point at Great Britain where David Cameron became Prime Minister at the age of 43,or the United States of America where Barack Obama was President at 46. A more critical evaluation of leadership in Britain and America should focus on the grooming of the individual for the role he or she would later play in life.

Not least because of factors not unconnected with their stage of educational, political and economic development, children in some societies tend to achieve maturity much earlier on than in others. In Great Britain, for example, the age of consent is 16. When a child has attained the legal age of consent, he or she becomes responsible for their omissions and commissions. At 18, a child is assumed to have become 'independent' of parents. By 21, it would be in exceptional or curious circumstances that one would still want to live under the same roof as one's parents. Parents in Britain do demand and collect rent from children of working age who choose to live at home.Of course, it must be admitted that Nigerians of means do take care of their parents in their old ages.

The British society is so structured that when a child tells you of his or her age it would be more than mere guesswork to know exactly what stage of education he or she has attained. It is an age group thing; those who have chosen to go to university would have started their degree programmes at the age of 18 and finished by 21. Those of them who, for instance, want to go into politics choose relevant subjects for that call. At Oxford and Cambridge, for instance, future politicians are most likely to be studying Politics, Philosophy and Economics (PPE) or Law. Most identify with political parties based on viewpoints and they do voluntary or paid work in their local constituencies particularly at election time. They imbibe the culture of rigorous debating during their apprenticeship. Your degree in biology or zoology, even when at the doctoral level, may not have prepared you adequately for a career in politics!

The point one is trying to make here is that the David Camerons and Barack Obamas of this world made their choices quite early in life. Even though they might have become leaders at relatively young ages, their experiences in politics could have been that of about 20 or more years. The suitability or otherwise of a candidate for a leadership position becomes important from records of past behaviour. The type of company you keep at school, and that marijuana that you may have smoked at a relatively innocent age could, surprisingly, be an electoral issue that comes to haunt you in later life. Those who engage in cultism and other forms of criminality should be made to know that they have written themselves off from important leadership positions in society. So, there is an element of parental grooming in all of this!

President Barack Obama knew very early in life what he was aiming at. Even at a very early age he told one of his teachers that he wanted to be the president of the United States. Prior to becoming state senator at Illinois and first-term senator in Congress, he had engaged himself in various community activities. His books spoke clearly for his future intentions. One is still looking around for that book in which any of our presidential aspirants may have told us about his or her background and their vision of society.

The general poverty in the grooming of our political leaders suggests we lack a capacity to engage counterparts elsewhere in coherent articulation of economic and political issues.We are deficient in the understanding of the history of our nation, as well as in the cultures of our diverse peoples. Future political leaders must be brought up to understand the different cultures and religions and evolve a new society where prejudices no longer predominate our ways of life. Our politics exists only at the elementary stage and this can change if future leaders are deliberately and properly groomed to assume important roles in our society.

--
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.
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