Date Published: 02/06/10

Does Northern Nigeria want to be an Arab State? By  WAHEED O.

 IS it my imagination or is it true that the northern part of Nigeria is acting and reflecting more like a gulf state or an Arab-wannabe state? Any Nigerian citizen old enough to have parenthesis on his or her face, and politically conscious of the goings on in Nigeria , can remember the days that the politics of the north is akin to that of internal insurrection. The northern Sheikdom of Nigeria postures and flexes disdainfully to the point of perfidy.

 EXHIBIT 1: Religious violence, bothering on ethnic cleansing and intolerance has been a staple of this region. There is not enough space to catalog the embarrassing spasm of violence that has emanated from our barren patch of soil-caked earth, but my point is clear.

 Over the years and most recently, innocent Christians have lost their lives by entrenched militant reactionaries, with routine impunity. As yet, no political crack down or condemnation of these acts has ever been recorded, reminiscent of Iraq , Iran , or Egypt .

 EXHIBIT 2: SHARI -A LAW
under the auspices of the sheiks, has been institutionalized in flagrant violation of Nigerian constitution, while Obasanjo looked the other way, and the families of the current president led the way. The erstwhile regime of Obasanjo, side-stepped the round condemnation of the entire world, as the judgment of stoning was being carried out for the intractable sin of out-of-wedlock pregnancy. The religion of Islam frowns upon, and condemns such; to discourage birth of “bastard children” hence morally endorsed polygamy. But, be that as it may, it happens that Nigeria is not a Muslim state, and will never be, and no part of the federation should be allowed to act as independent entity as done by our northern brethren.

 EXHIBIT 3: THE northern sheiks and their dogmatic followers are exhibiting ideological interplay to Osama Bin Laden, as they openly cheer and exalt his name, again reminiscent of extremists of Arab states. A display that has prompted the Western world to put Nigeria under watch as a potential soil in which Al-Qaeda can safely fertilize its virulent, and inimical   brand of Islamic ideology. This represents a bait and switch on the part of Bin Laden and his lieutenants, after all, his major excuse for his sworn destruction of the west, is the existence of American military on Arab soil. And by all definitions, Nigeria is not an Arab state and there is no evidence of American military presence in the country.

 My fellow Nigerians, where do we collectively go from here?

 WAHEED O.
 PORTLAND,OREGON.