Date Published: 01/28/10

INTERNAL RELIGIOUS TERRORISM IS HELPING IN RUBBISHING NIGERIA’S IMAGE IN THE INTERNATIONAL ARENA By Temple Chima Ubochi

Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent. (Isaac Asimov)

If you listen to the politicians, you might think we are all terrorists(Marleen Loesje)

Fanaticism consists of redoubling your effort when you have forgotten your aim. (George Santayana)

When men abandon reason, physical force becomes their only means of dealing with one another and of settling disagreements. (Ayn Rand)

At least two thirds of our miseries spring from human stupidity, human malice and those great motivators and justifiers of malice and stupidity, idealism, dogmatism and proselytizing zeal on behalf of religious or political idols. (Aldous Huxley)

This writer disagrees with those who think for the fact that the victims of religious riots are Nigerians and not Americans or other nationals, and also for the fact that religious terrorism going on Nigeria is only internal, that the United States has no right to blacklist Nigeria.  Consequent upon the fact that the perpetrators of religious terrorism in Nigeria have never been convicted for their heinous crimes and coupled with the fact that their paymasters have never been exposed and punished, religious crises tend to erupt every now and then in the northern part of Nigeria.

Human beings, by their nature, love to conquer new frontiers and when a person is given a “yard”, he/she would start craving for a “mile”. Perpetrators of religious terrorism in Nigeria go unpunished with even a pat on their back; this ends up energizing those criminals (hiding under the cloak of religion), they’re then bound to commit more of the crime. The point in the (this writer’s) last article was that, due the acquiescence of the northern political elites to religious intolerance, religious fundamentalism (killing of Christians, burning of churches and destruction of property) is seen by many northern Moslems as a way of life. At a point in time, they would graduate from internal to international terrorists. That’s was what happened to Farouk Abdulmutallab. He grew up with the notion that a religious fanatic in Nigeria can do anything and gets away with it, so he decided to take his own extremism/ religious hatred for others a step further to the international scene, thinking that it would be business as usual like in Nigeria.

Those blaming the United States for blacklisting Nigeria should ask themselves whether they are objective in their condemnation of the American decision. When many was killed and a number of houses were burnt in the religious crisis which erupted in Bauchi metropolis in the last week of December 2009, (even after the December 25 botched terror attempt), when an Islamic sect called Kala-Kato went on the rampage demanding for the release of their leader arrested by the authorities, which of the northern elites condemned it “genuinely”? When at the same time Fulani cattle rearers unleashed terror in Gusau Local Government area of Zamfara State, which of the northern elites said anything “genuinely” against that?

On Sunday Jan 17, 2010, a renewed violence erupted in Jos, Plateau State. It was ferocious that the security agencies deployed to quell it were overwhelmed. Many churches and mosques have been burnt down since this latest madness began in Jos, leaving countless homeless and scores of people turned into refugees. To be precise, despite the heavy human and material loses which are still not in the known (because they’re still being compiled); at least, about four churches have been torched and razed in the city. The Red Cross said that about 18,000 people fled the fighting and have taken refuge in military barracks, churches and mosques around the city. Who’s giving a “genuine” heck about the situation in the city? Nigeria has no president and the vice president cannot act, because, the “owners of Nigeria” do not want it that way. All that the vice president said, was that the ringleaders responsible for the violence would be brought to justice, and he “ordered” the army to take over security of the affected regions and sensitive neighbouring areas. The VP said in a broadcast last Thursday January 21, 2010 that “The Federal Government is determined to secure convictions of the perpetrators of this crime, no matter how highly placed”. We have heard such bogus words times without number and one wonders what a vice president who cannot even swear in a chief justice, cannot act in the absence of his boss etc, can do about the religious terrorism in Nigeria, when “the owners of Nigeria” are the unseen hands behind the crises rocking Nigeria since independence? Who do not know that Jos has been a hotbed of religious violence in Nigeria? Wasn’t it in that city that an estimated 200 people were killed in religious clashes in 2008? What did anybody (the government or the northern elites) do between then and now to stop the re-occurrence? Nothing!

 The Plateau State Christian Elders Consultative Forum even accused the Nigerian Army of taking side with Muslims and perpetuating genocide against Christians in the state. We even learnt that the streets of Jos, have remained deserted as citizens are afraid of ‘fake soldiers’ in military uniform, alleged hired from outside with sophisticated arms to wreck havoc on the citizens. Where are the northern religious, political, traditional and military leaders? Who’s “genuinely” condemning all these? Where are the Sultan and the other Emirs? Does it mean that they cannot put a stop to all these religious madness in that part of the country, if they really want to? Yes of course, they can, but, they do not want to, because, those crises serve their other interests.

The Nigeria Bar Association has said that unless urgent steps were taken to address the Jos crisis, Nigeria may as well be on the brinks of imminent collapse. Who’s taking the advice serious? The former governor of Plateau State, Chief Joshua Dariye (Sun the 22.01.2010), has warned that the fire raging in Plateau State was capable of engulfing the entire country if not properly handled by the authorities. He said the level of destruction of lives and property in the current sectarian crisis was alarming and no effort should be spared in not only containing the situation in the interest of the country and the people, but also fishing out those behind it. Who’s hearkening to his assertion?

When the prelate of the Methodist Church in Nigeria, calls for the Federal Government to deal decisively with the increasing wave of religious extremism in the northern part of the country, did any Moslem leader support him?  The cleric made interesting points when he said that “the level of intolerance and religious bigotry on the part of some Muslim extremists, which over the years and, especially in the last few months, has given way to repeated crisis in Bauchi State, the mayhem unleashed by the Boko Haram in Borno State, the shame brought on the country by the young Muslim boy, Umar Abdulmutallab, who attempted to blow an American aircraft headed for Detroit, and the current crisis in Jos, which is a repeat of what took place sometime last year, is unacceptable”. Urging the Federal Government to wake up to its responsibility and save innocent lives from dying!

Is anybody listening when the Anglican Bishop of Enugu, Bishop Emmanuel Chukwuma, condemned the ongoing sectarian violence in Jos, saying that the crisis is “symptomatic of the imminent failure of Nigeria as a state”? Is the Anglican cleric not absolutely right when noted that with the crisis coming at a time the nation is still trying to convince the United States of America to remove her name from the security watch-list, it had further confirmed Nigeria as a terrorist state. Calling the crisis an act of internal terrorism, the cleric said that the situation in Jos is condemnable, animalistic, unfortunate and clearly threatening the unity of Nigeria. An excerpt from Guardian (Jan. -24, 2010) states:

“The Anglican Bishop of Enugu Diocese, Rt. Revd Emmanuel Chukwuma condemned the ongoing sectarian violence in Jos, Plateau state, stressing that it was a clear indication of an internal terrorism orchestrated by lawlessness. He stated that the leadership had failed the country, insisting that it was unfortunate that human lives had become so worthless that it could be snuffed out at any given time by fellow citizens. Yet, Chukwuma said that, nothing had been done by the past or present leadership to check the incursions, explaining that, it was bound to continue. Chukwuma said that with the recurring crisis especially in northern parts of the country, it was obvious that those listing the country as terrorist state were not mistaken, stressing that no country had survived with the level of destruction and killings that had occurred in recent. At 50 years, why must we continue with this religious bigotry and reckless destruction of lives and properties? Are we going forward or backward, he added, while urging the nation's political and religious leaders to proffer lasting solution to the situation in Jos”.

We also learnt that pressures, capable of leading to an all out religious/sectarian violence, are building up in Sokoto and Kaduna States. On Sunday January 24, 2010, we were told that sectarian violence erupted in Sokoto, that some lives were lost in it and that the timely intervention of military personnel led to the nipping of the violence in its bud (for how long?). While in Kaduna, we’re told that Christian and Moslem leaders in the state has alerted their followers about inciting SMS messages circulating, which can lead to altercation between adherents of the two religions.

 What are the national legislators doing to contain the religious/sectarian violence engulfing Nigeria? Nothing! All that Senator Ike Ekweremadu can do recently was to move a motion to give a national honour to a father of a terrorist that put Nigeria/Nigerians in a precarious situation abroad. Senator Ekweremadu does not know why he’s in the senate, he’s supposed to be recalled by his constituency. This is a man who’s the chairman of the constitution review committee and for more than two years and counting in office, he cannot get his committee to review the constitution written with military (zombie) mindset, rather the committee is only bickering over the amount allocated and the number of jeeps bought for it. The “honourable” senator from Enugu State wants Nigeria to honour a father for not bringing up his child uprightly. What a country? Nigeria just donated $1 million cash to the Haiti quake victims, without sending personnel to dispense what that money can buy. If every country donates only money, who would attend to the victims who need helps? Money is not everything and human beings are, in many cases, worthier than money. Instead of senator Ekweremadu moving a motion for Nigeria to do more for the victims of the Haiti quake through the sending of personnel, food, medicine and the money over there, he’s in the senate playing to the gallery. Look, Rivers State government (a state in Nigeria) has donated five million syringes valued at N45 million, plus $1 million cash to the victims of Haiti earthquake through the Clinton and Bush Foundation in support of the relief efforts in that country, but, Nigeria as a country donated only the same amount donated by Rivers State.

To sign off: Rather than dwelling on whether United States was right or wrong in blacklisting Nigeria, we should be working to get Nigeria delisted by doing those things the United States government said we must do. A Nigerian-born New Hampshire State legislator, Richard Komi, offered Nigeria clues here, when he said that for this problem to be resolved, Nigeria will not only condemn all acts of terrorism but should also pledge to work with any government, both the United States and other western countries in their fight against terrorism. In his words; “Nigeria must reassure the Americans and other western countries that it abhors terrorism and will take punitive actions against anyone caught in the act. And this will be to work with other governments to combat terror, condemning all acts of terrorism, rooting out suspected terrorists from Nigeria”. For now, this writer sees no hope in the horizon that those in authority positions and the “owners of Nigeria” are interested in working to get the name of Nigeria expunged from the terror list. So we should get ourselves prepared for a long haul here because the “special treatment” of Nigerians (as potential terrorists) at the airports of the world, is here to stay as long as the northern elites continue to acquiesce to religious intolerance and bigotry.

THE THANXS IS ALL YOURS!!!

Temple Chima Ubochi writes from Bonn, Germany through ubochit@yahoo.com