A LETTER TO THE PRESIDENT, NIGERIAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION

Dear Dr Obembe,

In this season of open, leaked letters and counter bullets, I am a little hesitant to write to you using this medium. Yet, I am constrained to adopt this medium because I sought your personal e-mail address and could not get it. It was actually a surprise to me that I found it so difficult to get your email; I had expected that I could somewhat manage to get the email address of someone of your status without too much hassles. I was wrong.

Therefore, using the only means available to me, I write to you this day as a concerned Nigeria, and one with multiple interests in the ongoing strike action embarked upon by the Nigerian Medical Association - multiple because I am a recipient of your services on the one hand and on the other hand, I have about Eight friends and family members who are Medical Doctors. You can see that I would naturally be sympathetic to your demands.

However, I am pleading with you to call for a temporary suspension of this protracted strike on humanitarian grounds. I know this may not be popular with some of your colleagues. Nevertheless, you would agree with me that great leaderships are not built on sheer populism but on sound reason, empathy and courage. I therefore urge you to show empathetic leadership and prevail on your colleagues to call of the strike at this time for reasons including below:

1.  It would be redundant for me to presume to tell you that the strike action is taking a huge toll on innocent Nigerians, who are already unfortunate victims of an extremely harsh and inefficient health system. Prior to your strike, Nigerians already get one of the worst medical services obtainable anywhere in the world. Now, with the NMA strike, we have a double tragedy on our hands. Multitudes of people who cannot afford the exorbitant fees charged by private hospitals are dying daily, some painfully slowly.

2.  Furthermore, I know for certainty that you are following developments on the outbreak of Ebola in West Africa. We have so many other nationals volunteering and staking their lives to come to Africa and help out at this critical times – The Chinese, the Americans, the French (with Medecins Sans frontiere) etc. I feel it would be an honourable thing for NMA to call a temporary truce to help with the Ebola outbreak. After the outbreak is contained, NMA would be on a higher moral ground to push its demands and people will even be more sympathetic to their course.

3. Whereas the Ebola outbreak is an emergency, the issues leading to the strike are not; they can still be pursued even after dealing with the common enemy - the Ebola virus is as much a threat to Medical Doctors as it is to every other Nigerian. Dealing with the Virus now will help ensure that even Doctors are preserved to continue to pursue their demands.

4. The NMA can still continue to pursue their demands through the negotiation table even within the temporary truce while they continue to contribute to the battle against this deadly virus.

5.  Finally, you would agree with me that the response to this Ebola outbreak has been quite commendably decisive and the results remarkable. If this disease is comfortably contained as the possibilities show with NMA on strike, I fear that it would diminish the significance of NMA strikes in future.

With the foregoing and knowing you to be a kind, compassionate and consummate Medical Doctor, I urge to consider and suspend this strike temporarily in the public interest. Nigerians I know would be profusely appreciative of the gesture and you can count on their reasonable support in future.

This request is without any attempt to disregard or trivialize the effort you had made in the past to suspend the strike. However, I suggest you step down your feet and if your colleagues reject every entreaty to fight on the side of the Nigerian people in the face of this severe threat, the most honourable thing for you is to follow your conscience, resign for good and let whoever wants to preside over an association without a human face to take the saddle. It is difficult to justify the fact that people are coming from all over the world to help Africa contain this epidemic while our doctors continue on strike.

Thank you as I count on your positive response.

Yours Faithfully,

C.J. Asogwa

teamupafrica@gmail.com

Complicity in the Chibok Saga?

I am publishing this article here again. The reason is that it captures the questions I had asked, and many continue asking, much better I could put it. Nigerians have left the meat of the meeting convened by the First Lady and are instead pursuing crumbs. We need to sober up!

Following the piece “North: The Two Missing Freedoms”, which appeared in this column two weeks ago, there have been reactions and also revelations suggesting very disturbing thoughts and possibilities. If the truth must be told, the issue before us is not just a matter of lapses in security. Within the intervening period, the office of the first lady convened a stakeholder's meeting that threw up very alarming signs of negligence (and possibly complicity) on the part of those who have responsibility for managing the school and taking care of the children. At the said meeting in Abuja, the chairman of the area's local government explained that two out of the three routes into (and out of) Chibok were manned and blocked by the police. The other route was also manned and blocked, this time by the military.

So which route did the abductors take to get out of Chibok, when all the routes allegedly were blocked? That was one of Mrs Patience Jonathan’s recurring questions at the meeting. How long did it take the abductors to assemble the girls and board, before departing? How can anyone explain the fact that the children actually trekked for nearly two kilometres to where the vehicles of their abductors were packed, before boarding and leaving? Were there no villagers, officials or security men who saw all of this?

The talk today is how to rescue the abducted Chibok girls, and rightly so. But in the heat of it all, and especially following the media mauling of the federal government, many fundamental questions are not only in danger of not being asked at all, but of actually being dismissed as unnecessary.

In the aforementioned article, this column held: “There used to be one northern Nigeria, with one voice. It had the profile of an impregnable monolith, with leaders who enjoyed untrammelled freedom ‘from’ fear and the freedom ‘to’ act and determine means and ends in the Nigerian state. The leaders, elders and titled men were all nearly deified. But the story is different today. As I write, emirs, prominent persons and other leaders are in the line of fire from an amorphous invasion with unclear intentions. There are some as yet unverified allegations to the effect that some prominent northerners are aiding the mayhem. If this is true, then the persons concerned obviously do not see their political and economic graves down the road they are treading at the moment. Freedom is on the run and they cannot see it.”

Is it not curious, as was revealed at the first lady’s meeting, that the ‘abducted’ students not only trekked for long minutes through the land before being finally taken away, but were taken away in such a well-choreographed manner as to suggest that there was more to the entire saga than exists in the public domain? There was no coherent response at the said meeting, when questions were raised regarding why the Borno State Government ignored the letters of the Minister of Education and WAEC calling for postponement of the examinations, the need to relocate the students to the state capital and/or provide serious security. Why was it only after the kidnapping of the students that the remaining students were moved to a safer place for their examinations?

Why, for instance, did the Borno State Ministry of Education and the school authorities provide only day security in a school that has arranged for the girls to sleep in the premises after the examinations? To recall the SS3 students to write their WAEC exams against extant warnings and directives and without providing security seems to be more than a mere administrative slip, if you ask me.

Why was it only the female students who were in the boarding facility without security, while their male counterparts could come and go during the day? Why were there no security/gate man, no house parents, and no light on the night of the incident? What provided the ambience for the students to believe that uniformed men who suddenly appeared in their school were there to protect and rescue them? What were they told that they were being rescued from, anyway? How come the local government chairman could not relay an early warning signal sent to him by an informant? How come he also did nothing after receiving information from the Director  of SSS on the same matter?

And now, the clincher: no security operative or apparatus could reach the location of the broken down vehicles carrying the abducted girls. So their abductors made a leisurely exit with their ‘booty’ unchallenged; out of a town with three well-guarded (and even blocked) exits. This entire saga, and especially with the details that came from the first lady’s meeting, sounds very much like fiction masquerading as an account of actual happenings. It is a beautifully scripted piece of insanity that will put the writers of Disneyland to shame.

But the public reaction to that meeting in Aso Rock has created what can best be described as an atmosphere of melodrama on a matter that does not call for frivolity. The good intentions behind the meeting, as well as the frightening revelations that emerged from it, may seem to be now overshadowed by the distortion of its actual intent. While everyone is griping about what the federal government is doing or not doing, the primary focal persons in Borno State to whom the nation actually handed over those children have maintained a degree of nonchalance that can best be described as incomprehensible. Before the meeting, neither the principal nor the governor’s wife had visited the school after the incident. The principal and state officials could also not explain why, knowing that Boko Haram killed some WAEC invigilators in Borno State last year, decided to go along with an examination they had been told to put off; and without making any security arrangements whatsoever?

The principal admitted that the SS3 students were asked to return to their hostel to write WAEC exams without power supply, house parents nor any security arrangement in spite of threats in the area. Then it also came out that the women that demonstrated in Abuja, were not parents of the children and mostly did not come from Chibok but reside in Abuja. A special case was made of Naomi Murlah, a Deputy Director in the National Directorate of Employment (NDE), in this regard.

There are simply too many other baffling twists, conflicting revelations and distortions of statements and other details. The principal, who claimed to be residing in the staff quarters, only going to Maiduguri fortnightly for diabetic treatment, was found not to be riding in the school premises. Stakeholders were aghast that her school could go ahead and register males and over aged candidates (60 years and above) as internal students for WAEC at GGSS in Chibok, despite the security threats. To register overaged males who are actually not known and regular students of the school as day students, and then have the bona fide females enrolled as borders without any form a security is quite incredible.

Those who attended the meeting in question included the wife of the deputy senate president, wives of governors and their representatives, female legislators at the federal and state levels, the minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, special advisers, leaders of women organisations, focal persons in the Chibok abduction saga, women opinion leaders and other stakeholders. What have they done after that?

Besides the Borno State commissioners for health and education, the state’s commissioner of police, director of SSS, the principal of Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, divisional police officer in charge of Chibok, the army commandant in charge of Chibok, the chairman of Chibok Local Government, the head of WAEC National Office and the WAEC zonal co-ordinators for North-east and North-central were also present at the meeting. Do any of these people have any public position in what is going on today?

Many are celebrating the advertised challenges the federal government seems to be facing at the moment. We forget that peace is disappearing everywhere. As was said here two weeks ago: “The north is disappearing as I write. The leadership can still wake up to a reality it seems to be reading wrongly. The problem is not the bombs, or the mutual recriminations among politicians. It is not the pretended indignation of an elite that does not see how it can claim the moral high ground by being seen to distance itself from partisanship in this moment of national crisis”.

Some may celebrate the negative global media focus on Nigeria, believing that they are ‘dealing with Jonathan and his peoiple’. Meanwhile it is all of ‘us’, as a people. Chibok is only symptomatic of a dimension of the malaise. Beneath it lies several brands of folly, all of which are predicated on the wrong assumption that somebody who perpetrates evil in order to make another look bad is thereby doing something good. Far from it!

...Credits - Okey Ndibe, Thisdaylive.com

Light from my Maker - A troubled Leadership, a troubled Nation

“After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”

When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him….

^… When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi…” Matthew 2: 1-3;16

Something happened and King Herod became troubled; he heard things that agitated him. He was the King of Israel. Yet, here were these ambassadors from another country talking about another King of Israel. Was he going to lose his Kingdom? Notice that when he became troubled, all Israel as symbolised by the capital – Jerusalem – became troubled. Who were all Israel that got troubled with him? Certainly, it could not have been all Israel in the literal sense. They were his deputies, counselors, advisers and other high officials – call them the leadership. Because the leadership was troubled, violence was visited on a people.

Does the foregoing not mirror what is happening all over Africa? You bet! The leadership is mostly troubled and as a result, virtually all African nations are mired in one conflict or the other. This is the root cause of the crises in Nigeria - whether you call it Boko Haram, Cattle rustling, Fulani herdsmen, oil bunkering etc. The scale of the troubles invariably determines the extent of societal impact. Please note: although the above quote was taken from the Christian bible, the principle holds true whether you are a christian or moslem, budhist or even atheist!

Now, let us drill down further. We can identify two clear categories - intra-leadership troubles and inter-leadership troubles. In the first category, such as happened in Israel more than two millenniums ago, the leadership is united against a common ‘enemy’, real or imagined. The scale of violence is usually limited and mostly they would be able to overcome. However, in inter-leadership troubled situations, leaders are pitted against each other. There is mistrust among the leadership which results in leaders undermining leaders and gloating in leaders’ failures. When inter-leadership troubles are allowed to fester, the scale of destruction is usually far more than possible in intra-leadership troubled situations.

What troubles our leaders in Africa? What troubles our leaders in Nigeria? Do you know? How do we restore peace to these troubled souls so that Africa can move forward? Is there any role for the citizens? I would like to hear from you.

Join the discussion in part 2 where we look at what troubles our leaders and the possible ways out…

It is possible to change Africa, but only by Africans!

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (CNN) -- As the old adage goes, "If you want it done right, do it yourself" -- and for social activist Rakesh Rajani, those words have become an ethos to live by.

Growing up in a low-income family in Tanzania, Rajani quickly learned first hand about the hardships faced by many living in East Africa. At just four years old, he started working in his parents' shop. Later, when he wanted to go to school, Rajani watched his mother fight tooth and nail to find the funds to send him.

These definitive childhood moments would set the young man on a path of social justice culminating with his movement, "Twaweza."

Meaning "we can make it happen" in Swahili, Rajani established the non-profit organization in 2009 with the goal of empowering people through information and building an "ecosystem of change" for themselves. Here he sits down with CNN's African Voices to reveal how he is trying to spark a social movement to make a difference for millions of people. Continue Reading...

Chibok Girls Abduction – An Affront to All

The outrage that has greeted the abduction of yet to be confirmed number of girls in Chibok is, indeed, very encouraging. It is remarkable in the sense that it cuts across racial, geographical, ethnic, religious, social and economic boundaries.  I am still hoping that by the recent overzealousness of the Boko Haram group, they may have actually scored an own goal and we might actually be witnessing the beginning of the end of Boko Haram.

Across the length and breadth of Nigeria and in many countries of the world men and women, young and old, rich and poor are rallying, sending strong, unmistakable message to Boko Haram that we are together in this trying time. A critical message of solidarity is being sent to both the abductors and the victims. I had earlier advocated that unity and love are the greatest weapons against terrorism and extremism. And it does appear that the Nyanya bomb blast and more recently the abduction of the school girls are precipitating the much needed unity. This is not to discount the enormous challenges we still face nor the lingering divisions in places that matter much to us. However, as it is said, a journey of a mile begins with a step. We will certainly get to that point where the forces for unity will overwhelm the divisive elements.

Let's be very clear on this. The abduction of innocent, defenseless children, for whatever reason, is totally unacceptable. Children deserve our protection, not harassment. These are people that have no say in national or state issues; some of them may even be in school against their own wish. They have no capacity to decide for themselves! 

Furthermore, this violation of minors should never be treated as a Northern problem or indeed a Nigerian problem. An injustice to one is an injustice to all. When it is happening anywhere in the world, people must never be silent nor feign unconcerned irrespective of where they may live. Today, it is in the North. But if not properly tackled, it could easily spread to the South. Today, Nigeria's mourns. But remember that terrorism has been happening in Somalia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, etc for decades. Also, extremists everywhere are watching. The outcome of the Nigerian question will reverberate across terrorist cells everywhere and could play a major role in shaping their next strategy.

That is why the world, and specifically in this instance Nigerians of all political, ethnic and religious persuasion, must act together and decisively now. Political calculations must be left out of this.

Personally, I believe it is time to begin to ask ourselves critical questions. What do these people really want? How do we engage them more positively? Is there any other solution apart from the guns? Boko Haram members are our brothers, fathers, mothers, sisters, children and neighbours, and a whole new conflict resolution strategy might yield the desired result.

Only unity and love will conquer extremism!

Chibok Abductions and the search for answers

As all eyes rivet on the multinational efforts to rescue the abducted girls from their captors, Igbo wisdom demands that we ‘Chase away the wolf first before coming back to ask the mother hen questions’.  How right! You could dwell on finding all the reasons only to realize in the end that you have gotten all the reasons but the chicks are gone! That is why in the matter of the Chibok abduction, I have always favoured going for the girls first. After all, nothing can be as important and urgent as having the girls back and unharmed. So many recriminations are currently flying around, but none has brought home one girl. So, why not just go for the girls for now?

Nevertheless, much as one would prefer to leave out these questions for now and focus attention on efforts to bring back our girls there is just something about these questions that almost appear to command attention. Like a shadow, the questions won’t just leave us alone. The more we try to shove them to the background, the more they multiply. Why are the questions so persistent? Why are they so nagging? Perhaps the reason the questions refuse to take the back seat is that answers to the questions may well prove critical to finding the girls. Besides, inability to provide answers to really very basic questions is an affront to our collective intelligence. These questions have been raised in one form or the other but we are yet to get answers. So, we keep probing.

To begin with, why did we gather so many students in this place without adequate security? You see, I lay no claim to being a security expert; in fact, I am not even a practitioner. However, common sense is enough to tell me that these children would be targets, especially in exam situations; there is an extremist group that hates Western education and has been going about blowing up schools. Hence, it is easy to see that these students (both boys and girls) need extra security measures.

Secondly, it is widely reported that WAEC had advised against having the exams in the school but was overruled by the state government. What was government’s reason for insisting on conducting the exams there? Did they carry the security agencies along in their decision? Was the government acting on any intelligence or simply gut feeling?

Does the school have an internal security arrangement? Most schools do have security guards. If this school has security officers, where were they at the time the girls were abducted? What happened to them? What do they know? Did they hear anything?

What time were the girls abducted? When did the school authorities know? When was the security agencies alerted? You see, one of the escapees mentioned that she got to know that something was fishy by the harshness of the abductors. This was still inside the school premises. If a child knew that something was wrong, so should the security officers too! In one interview, the school principal said she was away to Maiduguri the night the unfortunate incident happened. But she got to know that same night. Did she alert security immediately?

What did the military know about this abduction and when did they know what they know? Contrary to the impression that they came stealthily, pretending to be soldiers, a parent of one of the abducted girls said he knew about the abduction the same night it happened. In fact, he is reported that the insurgents started by attacking the town and when he learnt of the attack, he called his girl to know whether she is safe. He further told her to run for her life should she get any opportunity because the insurgents would come for them. Reports have it that the man actually chased the insurgents to a point where some of their vehicles were broken down but could do little against a heavily armed group. The insurgents, according to the report, were in Chibok vicinity until about 10:30am the following day. That is why it is important to understand what the military knew and when they got information about the abduction.

Related to the above, how many vehicles’ did they come with to cart away so many girls in a state under emergency rule without raising eyebrows? With the reports of so many road blocks, it is surprising that they arrived, packed the girls and disappeared without trace.

Furthermore, how were the abductors able to carry away so many children without hurting anyone of them? No single shot was fire? Did children see people they know among the abductors or did someone encourage them to follow?

Finally, how many girls were abducted? I am emotional about this one. This should not be a difficult question to answer ordinarily. Yet, we have seen so many figures bandied around that it is practically impossible to say with certainty how many girls were taken away. By now, we should have a definite number, with their faces. Because these children are registered for WAEC exam, it should not be difficult to get their data. Thank God for the multi-cultural, multi-religious, multi-racial protests across the globe that has helped to keep up pressure on governments to do something. Yet, people will connect more to actual names, faces, ages, aspirations etc. It helps make them more than numbers; it makes them more human.

As we all continue to pray and contribute in our small ways to efforts to bring back our girls, these questions will keep gnawing at us until satisfactory answers are proffered to them.

Sai su’n dawo, we will not rest. #BringBackOurGirls!

Who is Nyako Speaking For?

I am one person that believe that we can overcome the menace of extremism and violence only by uniting. Hence, I have been excited by the enormous show of solidarity among Nigerians following the Nyanya bomb blast and the Chibok abduction. Although some people, especially politicians, are still intent on placing their personal goals over and above national interest in these critical times, it remains a source of encouragement to hear a lot of voices of reason.

It is in the light of the above that I want to publish this article by Segun Adeniyi on the recent letter by Governor Nyako to his Northern colleagues. I found it worthy of reading. Enjoy!

"I have learnt enough over the years that when Nigerian politicians play the politics of either religion or ethnicity in defence of “their people”, it’s either they want to cut some personal deal or they seek to secure some political advantage. Many of us were witnesses to that during the aborted Third Republic in the early nineties when some prominent Yoruba politicians would “stand on June 12” by the day and yet be doing business with the military by night. Unfortunately, because they understand the gullibility of the Nigerian people, our politicians play this old trick all the time and they almost always get away with it.

It is therefore within that context that I am not surprised that the Governor of Adamawa State, Admiral Murtala Nyako (rtd.) has suddenly become rather popular among some Northern politicians. It is not that he has been able to solve the myriad of problems afflicting his state or that he has become a better manager of their resources. All he did to earn his current “fame” is to have released to the public a badly written “memo” on behalf of his “Northern people” that is as dangerous to the health of our society as it is unbecoming of a man of his status. Yet, whatever may be our personal misgivings about President Goodluck Jonathan’s leadership, the most important issue at this point should be how to secure our country. What Nyako’s memo has done is to make that task much more difficult than it already is while laying bare our delicate fault-lines as a nation. Continue reading..."

Rwandans: Remembering their past with a view to forestalling a repeat

Rwandans had a terrible experience in the year 1994. It was one of the worst genocides in human history when nearly a million people were murdered in merely 3 months. However, their recovery has been quite impressive. They made the choice to understand why it happened and to never forget those dark days. Above all, they resolved to never let such horror occur again in their country, ever again.

On April 7, they commemorated the 20th anniversary of the genocide. Below are some of the most gripping pictures from the commemoration. The images are courtesy of boston.com.

Bizimana Emmanuel, who was born two years before the genocide, is consoled by an unidentified woman while attending the public ceremony at Amahoro stadium in Kigali, Rwanda, Monday, April 7, 2014. (Ben Curtis/AP)

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The sky threatens rain as tens of thousands of people gather to commemorate the 20th anniversary the 1994 genocide at Amahoro Stadium April 7, 2014 in Kigali, Rwanda. Rwandans joined with leaders from around the world at the stadium to remember the country's 1994 genocide. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) #

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An emotionally distraught woman is carried out of Amahoro Stadium during the 20th anniversary commemoration of the 1994 genocide on April 7, 2014 in Kigali, Rwanda. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) #

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Dignitaries prepare to lay memorial wreaths on stone-topped vaults containing the remains of around 250,000 victims of the genocide. (Ben Curtis/AP) #

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A wailing and distraught Rwandan woman, one of dozens overcome by grief at recalling the horror of the genocide, is carried away to receive help during a public ceremony to mark the 20th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide, at Amahoro stadium in Kigali, Rwanda, Monday, April 7, 2014. (Ben Curtis/AP) #

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Performers re-enact some of the events enter a public ceremony to mark the 20th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide, at Amahoro stadium in Kigali, Rwanda Monday, April 7, 2014. (Ben Curtis/AP) #

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Performers re-enact the events at a public ceremony to mark the 20th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide, at Amahoro stadium in Kigali, Rwanda Monday, April 7, 2014. (Ben Curtis/AP) #

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A woman is helped out of the Amahoro stadium, in Kigali, on April 7,2014. Rwandan President Paul Kagame took a thinly veiled swipe at France on April 7, saying it was impossible to "change the facts" about the genocide 20 years ago. Reminders of festering anger have marked the anniversary with a major diplomatic row breaking out over renewed allegations of French complicity in the genocide. Paris had cancelled a ministerial visit in response to renewed accusations by Kagame, and on April 7 the French ambassador was in turn barred from attending commemoration ceremonies. (Simon Maina/AFP/Getty Images) #

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Emmanuel Ndayisaba, left, and Alice Mukarurinda, recount their experiences of the Rwandan genocide at Alice's house in Nyamata, Rwanda Wednesday, March 26, 2014. She lost her baby daughter and her right hand to a manic killing spree. He wielded the machete that took both. Yet today, despite coming from opposite sides of an unspeakable shared past, Alice Mukarurinda and Emmanuel Ndayisaba are friends. She is the treasurer and he the vice president of a group that builds simple brick houses for genocide survivors. They live near each other and shop at the same market. Their story of ethnic violence, extreme guilt and, to some degree, reconciliation is the story of Rwanda today. The Rwandan government is still accused by human rights groups of holding an iron grip on power, stifling dissent and killing political opponents. But even critics give President Paul Kagame credit for leading the country toward a peace that seemed all but impossible two decades ago. (Ben Curtis/AP) #

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Mudahogora Ernestine, 34, poses for photographs outside her home in the suburbs of the Rwandan capital Kigali April 3, 2014. Ernestine is the sole survivor in her family of seven in the 1994 genocide that left her with visible injuries on her neck, hands and other parts of her body. The three-month killing spree in 1994 by Hutu extremists followed the fatal downing of a plane carrying Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana. (Noor Khamis/Reuters) #

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The clothes of victims killed during the Rwandan genocide are laid out on benches in the Nyamata Church in Nyamata, Rwanda. Nyamata and the surrounding area suffered some of the worst violence during the 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsi, with thousands of people killed in and around the church, which now stands as a memorial to the genocide. A survey showed that 26 percent of the Rwandan population suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, yet the country lacks the adequate mental health facilities needed to address this issue. (Phil Moore/AFP/Getty Images) #

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Mukarurinda Alise, 43, lost all her family members during mass killings in the 1994 genocide, but says she is now living with the man who hacked her wrist off. Alise forgave the man who she says went to the same school as her, after he came back and begged for forgiveness after serving time in jail for his crimes during a three-month killing spree in 1994 They are now married and living in Nyamata. (Noor Khamis/Reuters) #

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Skulls and bones of victims killed during the Rwandan genocide are laid out in the Nyamata Church in Nyamata, Rwanda. (Phil Moore/AFP/Getty Images) #

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People worship during a Sunday service at the Chapel Mbyo on the eve of the anniversary of the 1994 genocide April 6, 2014 in Mybo, Rwanda. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) #

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Men line up before marching to commemorate the genocide of 1994 at the Kicukiro College of Technology football pitch April 5, 2014 in Kigali, Rwanda. On April 11, 1994, Belgian paratroopers, who were part of the UNAMIR mission, were ordered to leave the school grounds, abandoning the people to the national police and Interahamwe militia, who lead their victims to a garbage dump and slaughtered them. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) #

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Rwandan children listen and pray during a Sunday morning service at the Saint-Famille Catholic church, the scene of many killings during the 1994 genocide, in the capital Kigali, Rwanda Sunday, April 6, 2014. (Ben Curtis/AP) #

Nyanya Bomb Blast - The Sunny Side of it II

I did mention earlier on that I saw a glimmer of hope in the immediate aftermath of the Nyanya bomb blast. We will come to that shortly. 

Meanwhile, on getting the news of the bomb blast, I had panicked, like thousands of other Nigerians, and immediately began working my phone, trying to reach out to friends and loved ones that reside in the FCT. As I reached out, I could not help pondering what could prompt someone to drop a bomb in a public space, with the sole intention of just killing anything around!

Though unjustifiable, I could relate with the possibility that someone is unhappy that a church or mosque was built here and bombed it; a school was built here and you did not want it and so you bombed it; a security formation threatens you and so you attack them; there is a defined target. But, when you drop a bomb in a market or bus station, you kill men, women, children and babies, people of all ethnic, religious and political persuasions including chicken, goat, just everything around; people that go to church and those that don’t; people that go to mosque and those that hate mosques; those that go to school and those that don’t. You make a victim out of people that are already victims of social injustice!

As the nation shuddered at the horrific destruction that fateful morning, I braced up for the mudslinging which I was certain was coming. The script has been fairly unchanged in the past 3-5 years; only the ferocity has increased until it has come to a dizzying height. I could hear, in my mind, the APC spokesman, Alhaji Lai Mohamed, “The PDP government has once again demonstrated it gross incompetence in providing leadership to the country… allowing innocent citizens to be murdered in their numbers. The PDP and President Goodluck are to be blamed…”

But if I anticipated the bickering, I was actually jolted by what I got. The PDP publicity secretary, apparently to preempt his APC counterpart, decided to take the bull by the horn. Without any investigation, he announced to the whole world that APC was behind the bomb blast! That was big! Didn’t anybody tell him that as the party in government, he does not have the luxury of fighting as dirty as the opposition?

Notwithstanding this turn of events though, relief would soon come my way and those of other well meaning Nigerians and that may prove to be the sunny side of the bomb blast. For instance, on a visit to the victims by the APC governors, their Chairman, Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State while commiserating with the victims and condemning the violence said among other things:

“We notice that the increased blood shedding in our nation is becoming worrisome and as leaders we believe that this is not a time to say what is wrong or who is wrong. This is a time that we must all close hands to ensure the safety of lives and properties. This is not a time to talk about politics with people’s lives. While we urged all Nigerians to remain calm and prayerful, we pray that we should unite at this moment to fight this evil. We shall also join force with other democrats to ensure that this bad story ends as quickly as possible.”

Also speaking on the occasion, Gov. Tanko Al-makura of Nasarawa, advised Nigerians to be vigilant and observe any unusual movement that was not in line with what they see daily.

“My advice to Nigerians is that we should be observant and vigilant. We should not in any way leave the issue of security in the hands of security agencies alone. Security should be everybody’s business; we should be more meticulous and observant of any suspicious movement and report to security operatives to complete their efforts of combating crimes,” he said.

Several others, like Wole Soyinka, Muhammadu Buhari, etc joined forces in condemning the violence, not fellow Nigerians, and calling for concerted efforts to defeat extremism. The Security Council meeting that was earlier aborted subsequently held with the APC cancelling their congresses to enable their governors attend the meeting.

Could it be that this tragedy would be the catalyst that unites us in a collective resistance against terrorism and violent extremism? May be it might just occur that these innocent souls lost become the ones to rouse us into positive action against those that would want to curtail our freedoms and subject us to perpetual bondage to fear. Can we sustain and build on this unity? If that were to happen, then the blood of the innocent departed would not have been in vain. Besides, Boko Haram may have unintentionally scored an own goal.

I can picture the storm over, being replaced by sunshine!

Teamup Africa!

Nyanya Bomb Blast - The Sunny Side of it I

“Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand.”

That was a very profound statement made by Jesus Christ of Nazareth thousands years ago and remains eternally indisputable.

Also several centuries later, on June 16 1868, Abraham Lincoln borrowed from the same statement in one of his acclaimed top three speeches, delivered at the Republican Party’s state convention in Illinois, as he addressed one of the most contentious issues in the United States of America at the time – the slave trade. Hear him:

"A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure, permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved -- I do not expect the house to fall -- but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing or all the other. Either the opponents of slavery, will arrest the further spread of it, and place it where the public mind shall rest in the belief that it is in the course of ultimate extinction; or its advocates will push it forward, till it shall become alike lawful in all the States, old as well as new -- North as well as South.”

Lincoln lost the election into the United States senate that year to the Democratic candidate – Stephen A. Douglas. Why? He had spoken the truth, but the statement was not politically correct. Yes he lost, but the urgency of the situation was not lost on him, and he would rather lose than not stand for the truth at the time. Consequently, discussing the speech with his law partner, William Herndon, before delivering the speech, he had argued:

"The proposition is indisputably true ... and I will deliver it as written. I want to use some universally known figure, expressed in simple language as universally known, that it may strike home to the minds of men in order to rouse them to the peril of the times."

Does Nigeria need this kind of rousing at this time!

In times of critical national emergencies such as being witnessed in Nigeria and several parts of Africa, what is required is personal and collective sacrifice on the part of the citizenry. The political class especially needs to subordinate political expediency or correctness to national interest. Largeness of heart is required of the ruling class who are undoubtedly the greatest beneficiaries of the state. Unity and love of country is required to engage and contain the forces of darkness who thrive in their dark machinations.

Unfortunately, this sacrifice of personal interest and political correctness; this unity and love of one another and of the state have been conspicuously wanting in Nigeria. Consequently, the problem of insurgency has become intractable in Nigeria and is likely to remain so for as long as this house remains divided against itself. Now, this is not a prophecy like a religious prophecy. It is rather a statement of fact, corroborated by hard facts. Check out all the countries where insurgencies thrive – Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Egypt, Syria, Central African Republic, Bosnia, Somalia, Sudan etc. I am pretty sure you can see a common narrative! On the other hand, take a look at all the countries that have relative peace – America, Britain, France, Germany, Russia, South Africa etc. The difference is clear. America, hated by so many, is one of the places the insurgents would want to destroy the most. But since love conquers all (I love my bible – it gives me answers to all questions of life, and you are quite free to disagree with me), they are not finding it easy to inflict as much damage to the country as they would want.

Nigeria is clearly in need of a couple of Lincolns, who would rather lose elections but rouse people to positive action than say only the politically correct things and damn the consequences.

Thank God recently, I saw a glimmer of hope, and that glimmer came at, and courtesy of some the most dastardly acts of the insurgents. It was shortly after the Nyanya bomb blast. Most people may not have noticed it. But the keen observers surely will not miss it.

To be continued…

Nigerian women: From Rwanda with love (2)

Continue this amazing story with this concerned Rwandan woman here:

I passed out soon after the shoot-out only to be awakened some hours afterwards by my little brother crying for me to wake up. He was pulling my arm, crying and saying “Please wake up! Wake up! Wake up! Please don’t leave me alone! Please wake up!”

I managed to drag myself out of the laundry basket. What I saw was appalling, awful and unbearable. My mum and my sisters were all dead. After raping them, they slit their throats and mutilated their bodies. They didn’t spare their breasts and vaginas. It was a horrible sight to behold! There was blood all over the carpet.There was blood on the bed.  There was blood on the walls. There was blood everywhere in that master bedroom. It was shocking and repulsive! I couldn’t even cry!My brother whimpered and was shell shocked! He too couldn’t cry. We tried not to look again as we quickly stepped over their half-naked mutilated bodies and ran to the corridor... Continue reading

Nigerian women: From Rwanda with love (1)

I couldn't put this better than this concerned Rwandan woman who had been in the centre of hell and missed death by the skin of her teeth. What I would only like to say is that everyone - men, women and youths should get involved in efforts to forestall this impending catastrophe in Nigeria. A stitch in time they say, saves nine. 

Read yourself and get involved. God bless Nigeria!

Dear Nigerian women,

I would like to start this letter by saying congratulations to the people of Nigeria on the country’s recent celebration of its 100th anniversary as a nation.

In Rwanda, we are also planning and holding many activities for the 20th anniversary of the genocide of almost a million Rwandans. The Rwandan genocide was 100 days plus of killings of fellow citizens. It started in April 1994 and did not end until sometime in July 1994. I am actively involved in the activities of the 20th anniversary of the massacres. And I guess that is why I got up in the early hours of this morning in cold sweat! I woke up sweating, panting and breathless. My heart was beating so fast! My pillow was soaked with sweat. I quickly turned on the lights and was relieved to find myself in my bedroom and not outside on a street full of dead bodies. I had had yet another nightmare which has become a frequent occurrence in my life! Continue reading...

The burden of conscience 3

Part three of this foundational series – The Burden of Conscience – takes a look at violence in Africa as a factor for retrogression and economic subjugation in the continent and one of the key factors that should jar one into action – a weight on one’s conscience as an African, one that I am unable to contain.

One is dazed at the shear extent of violence ravaging Africa; it is just mind boggling to put it very mildly. As I grew up, the most salient things I started hearing about African countries were mostly in relation to wars and conflicts – Burundi, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Congo, Eritrea, Sudan, Liberia, etc. Even now, the conflicts and violence show no sign of abating. The preponderance of African nations is battling one form of violence or another. Critically needed resources are being channeled towards waging wars and containing violence. The God-given resources are being exchanged for weapons that are used freely on fellow brethren with reckless abandon. In the midst of it all, the west gains while Africa grows poorer!

In Nigeria, the number of violent deaths being recorded on a daily basis is surpassing that of Syria that is mired in a civil war! Whether it is Boko Haram, Fulani Herdsmen, Ombatse cult, ritualists, kidnappers, militants or whatever name you call them, the killings, maiming and destruction of lives and property is being carried to terrifying heights! The human and economic toll on the nation is simply humongous! The trend of killings and counter killings portends grave existential danger to the nation. But the long term consequences of breeding children under these debilitating conditions, with access to education – a vital means of personal and economic freedom - denied might be even more catastrophic, having had their consciences seared with hot iron! Unless something is urgently done, Nigeria will cease to exist sooner or later.

But the situation is not peculiar to Nigeria. From Mali to Egypt; from Sudan to Central African Republic; from Somalia to Egypt the violence is rife. Africa is undoubtedly among the greatest patrons of the west, and more recently some Asian and Middle East countries in terms of light and medium weapons! While diseases, infrastructure decay, poverty and unemployment are escalating by the day, available resources are being exchanged for weapons! Consequently, African countries rank among the poorest and hungry nations of the world. Internal displacement of her citizens is equally among the highest in the world!

Looking at the specter of violence, I ask myself, ‘Are we going to continue this way?’ Whose responsibility is it to stop these mindless destructions? How do we go about resolving these conflicts and building a promising continent where our children and children’s children will like to live?

I conclude that everyone must get involved; I must get involved. The task cannot be left to government alone. Individually and collectively, we need to learn and preach the principles of non-violence as popularized and successfully applied by Mahatma Ghandi. We need to understand that as he says, ‘An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind.’ It is time to explore alternative means of dispute resolution!

Let us waive the olive branch to our aggrieved brothers so that we can stop the violence and turn to prosperity. As God showed to mankind, it is a mark of true greatness to initiate reconciliation even when one has been wronged.

It’s time to Teamup!

The Burden of conscience 2

My friend, a very good friend, with his family resides in the United Kingdom. He graduated at the top of his class in an Engineering department in a Nigerian University. After a short stint in Nigeria, working in a bank, he secured a PTDF scholarship to study in the United Kingdom. He has not come back since. His wife graduated from the same department, same university, and same class and in the second position; they were not yet married then anyway.  She had secured her own PTDF scholarship for further study in the UK earlier. They are gone, never to come back, at least there is no intention of coming home for now. Two of our best brains, gone! The investment the country has made on them is being reaped by another country! Do I blame my friend? Certainly not! There is a cause.

Hundreds of Africans have met their Waterloo in waters off the Italian island of Lampedusa. Annually, thousands of Africans launch the desperate bid to escape debilitating conditions at home to a more promising land in Europe. Often, they sail in overcrowded boats from Libya, Tunisia etc attempting to get to Italy through this island. On October 3 2013 alone, over 300 migrants perished in these waters when their boat caught fire and capsized!

Bags containing the bodies of the drowned African migrants

   

But the Lampedusa route is only one of the many perilous routes that our brothers travel in search of succor from the perils back home. Thousands of others from Nigeria, Ghana, Niger etc make their own desperate bids from Agadez in Niger Republic through Algeria, (and walking several hundreds of kilometers in a desert) to Libya. From there, they hope make a last ditch effort to get into Europe through the Mediterranean Sea. Of course tales of woe abound, for those who are lucky to survive to tell the tale. Freddy Kasseri, a Ghanaian migrant narrated his ordeal in the hands of bandits. He was traveling with his group from Agadez en route to Libya when an armed truck intercepted them, ‘They made us undress and took everything of value. I prepared well before leaving [Ghana], but I have lost everything en route and am not sure how I will eat tonight.’  He said the bandits equally took 5 Nigerian women and 5 Ghanaian women away into the desert! Oh my! What will become of those women?

A truck smuggling migrants from Agadez, across the desert to Libya

Freddy was lucky to be alive to tell his story. Many simply drop dead in the desert, out of tiredness or sickness. Some lose their way in the desert and wander till they just start dying a very slow but surely agonising death! It is so pathetic.

All over Europe, Asia, America, and he Middle East, thousands of Africans languish in prison – so many thousands in actual prisons and yet another thousands in the prison of penury. We have our people, willing and able to work but unable to find one in Africa. They are compelled to migrate to where they are not wanted, suffer untold indignities and are consequently traumatized beyond measure. Some live in hiding until to return to their maker.

These things cause my heart to bleed greatly - when critically needed resources are compelled to emigrate with even more critically needed skills; massive human wastage in most shameful ways. It is a moral burden  for me and for all Africans to rise up to the challenge of building Africa. The potential is there. It is time to turn this potential into kinetic energy. It is a grave moral burden for everyone leaving in this generation. We need to do this for us and generations following. We must not fail in this responsibility.

Let us Teamup now!