Alhaji Kabir Sokoto's Escape: Is the Police Innocent?

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Article first published as Alhaji Kabir Sokoto's Escape: Are the Police Innocent? on Technorati.

The Nigerian state was Monday taken by surprise following the escape of a Boko Haran kingpin Alhaji Kabir Sokoto from police custody few hours after he was arrested at the Bornu Governor’s Lodge, Abuja.

According to The Vanguard Newspaper, Alhaji Kabir Sokoto who was the mastermind of the Christmas day bombing of the St. Theresa Catholic church in Madalla was arrested in his hide-out following a tip-off. After his arrest, he was said to have been handed over to Police Commissioner Zakari Biu for further investigation.



However, the suspect was said to have escaped after a group suspected to be Boko Haran members laid an ambush for the unsuspecting police team that was conveying the suspect to his operation base at Abaji for further investigation, and effected his release. While the nation was celebrating his arrest as a major milestone in solving the Boko Haran debacle, the news of his escape came as a rude shock, as it further portrayed the police as an incompetent security arm and also lent credence to the rumour making the rounds that the religious sect has infiltrated the Nigerian security outfits.

President Goodluck Jonathan has queried the Inspector General of Police (IG) Mr. Hafiz Ringim and has also ordered full scale investigation into circumstances that led to the escape of the Boko Haran kingpin. The IG has also been ordered to produce the suspect within 24 hours or face further sanction. The police commissioner, Zakari Biu, has since been placed on house arrest on the orders of the IG.

Now the questions that need to be answered include:
1. Was Alhaji Kabir Sokoto under Bornu state government protection? If not, why was he found and arrested at the Bornu state governor’s lodge?
2. Is the police truly infiltrated by Boko Haran? How did the members know that Kabir Sokoto was to be transferred to Abaji? And how did they know the exact time of his transfer?
3. Why did the police allow only four policemen to escort such a dangerous man?
4. While was no policeman hurt in the ambush since Boko Haran is known to be heartless in their attacks?

The way and manner the religious sect had coordinated attacks across the northern states of the country have actually given Nigerians cause to believe that the jobs were done by highly intelligent personnel. Besides, the inability of the security arms of government to prevent the dastardly acts or gather useful intelligence reports, or even arrest the key players have also made Nigerians to believe that both the police and the military may have been actually infiltrated by elements who were giving information to the hoodlums to carry out their criminal acts without being detected. This may have also been the reason investigations were not yielding any tangible fruits.


The police had remained helpless in the wake of the spate of bombing of churches, police posts, banks, UNO headquarters, etc. If the police has become so incompetent and cannot assure Nigerians of their safety then there is no need paying Hafiz Ringim fat salaries for doing nothing. He was there when even the car park of the Police headquarters Abuja was bombed; and several police posts have been destroyed in the northern part of the country and all he could do is to keep promising us that something would be done and that the culprits would be brought to book. There is no better time to reorganize the Nigerian security apparatuses than now.

The recent happenings in the country support the claim by Boko Haran that they were out to Islamize the country. The southerners never took them serious; but now their agenda is gradually being unveiled. Book Haran is no longer a sectarian issue but a tacit ploy by the North to Islamize the country. That they declared war on the Christians in the north and asked them to quit their region within 72 hours has invariably pitched the sect against the God of heaven, who would never keep quiet to see his children murdered in cold blood in the name of religious fanaticism.

The fact that Alhaji Kabir Sokoto was arrested at the Bornu governor’s Lodge also shows that there is more to it than meets the eyes. It is now a case of “Dog eats Dog”. The same government that has been pretending to be helpless and has been watching its citizenry murdered in their scores has also been hiding the mastermind of the massacres taking place under their nose. The truth is that mostly Christians have been victims of the attacks taking place in the north hence the financiers and sponsors of this barbaric sect have remained mute.

What is actually the offense of the southern Christians? The only offense they have committed is that they are Christians among overzealous, parochial, blood-thirsty people who have always advanced their religious course through blood shed and religious wars. The second offense they have committed is that the incumbent President is from their zone. The north has always believed that political power is their birth right and should never be ceded. Nigeria belongs to all Nigerians and everybody has the right to aspire to any political position without fear of intimidation.

Will the police ever be able to clean up its own mess? Will they ever earn the trust of Nigerians again? Should the current IG be allowed to stay in office or he should be retired? Should the presidency keep watching helplessly or there should be as a matter of urgency, a reshuffling and reorganization of the security apparatuses in the country?

Major Hamza Al-Mustapha and Lateef Shofolahan to Die by Hanging

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Article first published as Major Hamza Al-Mustapha and Lateef Shofolahan to Die by Hanging on Technorati.
The long trial of Major Hamza Al-Mustapha, former Chief Security Officer to the Late Nigerian Military Head of State, Gen. Sani Abacha and Lateef Shofolahan finally came to an end yesterday at a Lagos High Court sitting at Igbosere where they were both sentenced to death by hanging, over the assassination of Alhaja Kudirat Abiola, the wife of Late M.K.O Abiola the acclaimed winner of the 1993 Nigerian Presidential election.

The trial Judge, Justice Mojisola Dada found the duo guilty of three-count charge of conspiracy and murder and ordered that they should die ‘by hanging until pronounced dead.’ It took 13 years for Al-Mustapha to be convicted in what is arguably the longest trial case in the nation’s history.

According to The Vanguard, In a nine-hour judgment, Justice Dada chronicled the genesis of the case, analyzing it with evidence produced before the court by both prosecution and defense before arriving at the conclusion that evidence against the defense ‘is too strong.’

The Judge also stated further that gunmen sent by Major Al Mustapha killed Kudirat on the street of Lagos on June 4, 1996, while he was the CSO to Abacha.

On the part of Shofolahan, the judge held that overwhelming evidence against him also proved that he provided surveillance assistance to the killer squad as they trailed the outspoken wife of Abiola until she was murdered.

The court further held that Shofolahan connived and gave vital information concerning the itinerary of late Kudirat Abiola to the hitman Sergeant Barnabas Jabila, popularly known as Sergeant Rogers, leading to the death of Kudirat in June 1996.

Lateef Shofolahan was also said to have conspired with the other accused persons by giving a magazine, which had the picture of the late Mrs. Abiola to Rogers who then traced the car of the deceased to Lagos-Ibadan Expressway where she was killed.

Major Hamza Al-Mustapha was instrumental to the 5 years of tyrannical rule unleashed on Nigerians by Late general Sani Abacha. He was in charge of the Abacha ‘Strike Squad’ which ensured that all oppositions to the then military despot were perpetually silenced.

Several oppositions were sent to their early graves; notable among those silenced by the regime included Elder Alfred Rewane, Alhaja Kudirat Abiola, etc. Others who miraculously survived their assassination attempts included Isaac Porbeni, Late Alex Ibru and Late Pa Abraham Adesanya the then leader of NADECO (National Democratic Coalition).

While al-Mustapha held sway and helped to consolidate the wicked Military leader in office, he forgot that there would be a day of judgment either here on earth or hereafter. Yesterday was the Day of Judgment which he never anticipated. The judgment delivered by the court elicited reactions from numerous Nigerians. Nigerians believed that though the trial took too long a time, at least the judgment was welcome and seen as a plus for the judiciary.

The lawyer to the convicts, Mr. Olalekan Ojo stated emphatically before the court that the defense team would to file an appeal against the judgment of the court the following day, praying that copies of the judgment be made ready to commence the appeal immediately.

This judgment should serve as a reminder to those in position of authority that evil will never rule for ever. Power is transient; after vacating from the seat of power one would always be faced with the day of accountability.

Nigeria Police Re-arrest Boko Haran Man With Voodoo

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Article first published as Nigeria Police Re-arrest Boko Haran Man With Voodoo on Technorati.

The fleeing mastermind of the Christmas Day bombing of the St. Theresa Catholic Church, Madalla, Alhaji Kabir Sokoto has been rearrested by the police at the Nigeria-Chad border. Kabir Sokoto was said to have escaped while being conveyed to Abaji by the Police for further investigations on Monday.

According to Pointblank News Alhaji Kabir Sokoto was rearrested with the help of a voodoo man, Alhaji Ali Quran, who according to the news, is an expert in apprehending criminals. Weird as this unconfirmed news may sound, I do not believe the Police would further soil its reputation by telling Nigerians that they relied on voodoo to apprehend a criminal suspect.

The Police cannot make this public except they want us to believe that this source has been there all the while yet criminals go undetected for several years after committing crimes in the country. If the police ever told us that, it also means they now have a breakthrough in arresting criminal elements in the country and that they are assuring Nigerians that each time a serious crime is committed in the country, it would no longer take the police several years to look for the perpetrators since they now have a sure shortcut to getting those involved apprehended.

But why is this kind of solution coming on the heels of the 24 hours ultimatum given to the IG (Hafiz Ringim) to get the fleeing criminal or lose his job? Why is it that each time a policeman in killed by criminals it takes few days for them to apprehend the culprits but takes several years to do so when civilians are involved? Nigerians now know better. The police have never been trusted because of the shoddy ways they have always handled crimes in this country.

Is the inefficiency of the Nigerian police due to the fact they are ill-equipped or it’s simply because they do not want to work? Could it also be that the criminals pay their dues and get police cover and get away untouched because they are never truly investigated? Why are they able to act effectively when a senior police office gets hurt or when there is an ultimatum issued to them? Your guess is as good as mine.

Until something radical is done the Nigeria Police would continue to take the masses for granted. For years the police have been deeply involved in corruption – collecting of #20 from drivers at checkpoints under coercion, giving backup to political thugs, demanding illegal bail money, framing up innocent citizens, false witnessing in courts, etc. and now it is a case of giving protection to members of Boko Haran and aiding their escape from custody.

Now that the image of the force is badly battered, the best thing to do is for President Goodluck Jonathan to get a man who can be trusted to clean up the entire system. He should at least boycott the normal protocol of appointing an IG by rank since almost all the senior ranking officers are already corrupt. He should get someone who would be willing to die for his fatherland to do the internal cleansing. Until this is done Nigerians may never have faith in the police anymore.

Alhaji Kabir Sokoto's Escape: Is the Police Innocent?

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Article first published as Alhaji Kabir Sokoto's Escape: Are the Police Innocent? on Technorati.

The Nigerian state was Monday taken by surprise following the escape of a Boko Haran kingpin Alhaji Kabir Sokoto from police custody few hours after he was arrested at the Bornu Governor’s Lodge, Abuja.

According to The Vanguard Newspaper, Alhaji Kabir Sokoto who was the mastermind of the Christmas day bombing of the St. Theresa Catholic church in Madalla was arrested in his hide-out following a tip-off. After his arrest, he was said to have been handed over to Police Commissioner Zakari Biu for further investigation.

However, the suspect was said to have escaped after a group suspected to be Boko Haran members laid an ambush for the unsuspecting police team that was conveying the suspect to his operation base at Abaji for further investigation, and effected his release. While the nation was celebrating his arrest as a major milestone in solving the Boko Haran debacle, the news of his escape came as a rude shock, as it further portrayed the police as an incompetent security arm and also lent credence to the rumour making the rounds that the religious sect has infiltrated the Nigerian security outfits.

President Goodluck Jonathan has queried the Inspector General of Police (IG) Mr. Hafiz Ringim and has also ordered full scale investigation into circumstances that led to the escape of the Boko Haran kingpin. The IG has also been ordered to produce the suspect within 24 hours or face further sanction. The police commissioner, Zakari Biu, has since been placed on house arrest on the orders of the IG.

Now the questions that need to be answered include:
1. Was Alhaji Kabir Sokoto under Bornu state government protection? If not, why was he found and arrested at the Bornu state governor’s lodge?
2. Is the police truly infiltrated by Boko Haran? How did the members know that Kabir Sokoto was to be transferred to Abaji? And how did they know the exact time of his transfer?
3. Why did the police allow only four policemen to escort such a dangerous man?
4. While was no policeman hurt in the ambush since Boko Haran is known to be heartless in their attacks?

The way and manner the religious sect had coordinated attacks across the northern states of the country have actually given Nigerians cause to believe that the jobs were done by highly intelligent personnel. Besides, the inability of the security arms of government to prevent the dastardly acts or gather useful intelligence reports, or even arrest the key players have also made Nigerians to believe that both the police and the military may have been actually infiltrated by elements who were giving information to the hoodlums to carry out their criminal acts without being detected. This may have also been the reason investigations were not yielding any tangible fruits.

The police had remained helpless in the wake of the spate of bombing of churches, police posts, banks, UNO headquarters, etc. If the police has become so incompetent and cannot assure Nigerians of their safety then there is no need paying Hafiz Ringim fat salaries for doing nothing. He was there when even the car park of the Police headquarters Abuja was bombed; and several police posts have been destroyed in the northern part of the country and all he could do is to keep promising us that something would be done and that the culprits would be brought to book. There is no better time to reorganize the Nigerian security apparatuses than now.

The recent happenings in the country support the claim by Boko Haran that they were out to Islamize the country. The southerners never took them serious; but now their agenda is gradually being unveiled. Book Haran is no longer a sectarian issue but a tacit ploy by the North to Islamize the country. That they declared war on the Christians in the north and asked them to quit their region within 72 hours has invariably pitched the sect against the God of heaven, who would never keep quiet to see his children murdered in cold blood in the name of religious fanaticism.

The fact that Alhaji Kabir Sokoto was arrested at the Bornu governor’s Lodge also shows that there is more to it than meets the eyes. It is now a case of “Dog eats Dog”. The same government that has been pretending to be helpless and has been watching its citizenry murdered in their scores has also been hiding the mastermind of the massacres taking place under their nose. The truth is that mostly Christians have been victims of the attacks taking place in the north hence the financiers and sponsors of this barbaric sect have remained mute.

What is actually the offense of the southern Christians? The only offense they have committed is that they are Christians among overzealous, parochial, blood-thirsty people who have always advanced their religious course through blood shed and religious wars. The second offense they have committed is that the incumbent President is from their zone. The north has always believed that political power is their birth right and should never be ceded. Nigeria belongs to all Nigerians and everybody has the right to aspire to any political position without fear of intimidation.

Will the police ever be able to clean up its own mess? Will they ever earn the trust of Nigerians again? Should the current IG be allowed to stay in office or he should be retired? Should the presidency keep watching helplessly or there should be as a matter of urgency, a reshuffling and reorganization of the security apparatuses in the country?

Bomb Kills 25 at INEC Office In Suleija - Where Do We Go From Here?

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Article first published as Bomb Kills 25 at INEC Office in Suleija – Where Do We Go from Here? on Technorati.

The office of the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC in Suleija Niger state was said to have been rocked by a bomb Friday evening, with just few hours to the National Assemblies’ elections.

According to Saturday Tribune, no fewer than 25 persons were killed with about 30 injured in the blast. 17 members of the National Youth Service Corps were said to have been killed in the incidence.

President Goodluck Jonathan has already condemned this heinous act and has also called on the country’s security apparatus to beef up security to enable people come out massively to exercise their franchise.

It is not understandable why any sane person should focus his/her anger towards poor youth corpers who are serving their fatherland and terminate their lives, making their parents not to enjoy the fruit of their labours.

There are always civilized ways of expressing one’s grievances; but the use of anger or terrorism is not one of them. Killing innocent souls who have got much to contribute to the future growth of the nation does not in any way make sense.

Nigeria’s democratic process is still emerging and requires everyone’s understanding and co-operation to make it get to the desired destination. Everyone should contribute his/her quota positively to make the nation an enviable one

Politicians must desist from the act of trying to secure a public position at all cost. Everybody must learn to be a good loser; you cannot kill people in order to get into an office. Anyone who kills in order to succeed should remember that death would be waiting at the door of his success.

Though it is not wise to make any definite statement while investigations are ongoing; it is wise to say that anyone linked to this barbaric act should learn to adopt the modern approach to conflict resolution and stop taking this country ages backward.

Every Nigerian has the right to move about freely without fear of victimization or intimidation. It has come to the point in our national history when we must understand that Nigeria is our collective responsibility which must be protected and respected.

People must learn to put the nation first before individuals’ personal selfish interests. It is only when we have come to realize we have no other country than Nigeria that everyone would treat his neighbour with love and seek to protect his/her interest before self.

Nevertheless, those in power should understand the need to have in place a workable mechanism for resolving conflicts within the country and never to treat important issues with levity. Security apparatuses in the country must wake up to their responsibility and provide adequate protection for the citizenry who cannot afford to hire private security to take care of them.

The average Nigerian must be security conscious and report any suspicious movement around their neghbourhood to ensure their lives and properties are not unduly exposed to danger. When security threats are reported, there should be prompt response by the security agencies to avert these kinds of national embarrassments.

James Ibori As A case Study

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The British police have finally secured a victory in their quest to extradite the former governor of Delta state, Chief James Onanefe Ibori to Britain to answer to charges bordering on corruption. The police were given the nod by the Dubai appeal court which ruled in their favour that the former governor has a case to answer in Britain and could be extradited.

This development has brought an end to the drama that has been unfolding since the former Delta state number one citizen was first charged to court in Nigeria on grounds of corruption. The case was manipulated to the consternation of the average Nigerian citizen who watched as the case was politically influenced and eventually the governor was let off the hook since there were no conclusive evidences to nail him.

The new case of corruption against him came up after he finished his tenure as the governor of the state. He was declared wanted by the EFCC and the police to come and answer to charges of corruption levelled against him. He escaped through the back door as he was said to have used to services of some militants to prevent the EFCC from arresting him. He eventually escaped to Dubai where he has been taking solace.

He was said to have stolen several Billions of naira as the first citizen of Delta state; he was also alleged to have converted several millions of shares the state owned in Oceanic bank to his personal use. His wife Nkoyo Ibori was also alleged to have acted as a medium for him to use the stolen money to buy houses outside the shores of Nigeria. She has already been sentenced to a 5-year jail term by the British court.

When Ibori’s case first came up in Nigeria, Nigerians expected him to be easily nailed by the anti-graft agency; but as the days went by it became clear that he had used his political influence to his advantage. First a man surfaced from nowhere to declare that he was James Onanefe Ibori and that he was the person who committed the crime for which Ibori was being tried. The coincidence of names was too much for any right thinking person to accept – same first, middle and last name.

Secondly, his files could not be properly traced; his name was either entered into the log book of the court but missing from the judgment book or present in the log book but missing from the judgment book in the various courts he was formerly tried.

Besides, all the people who handled his case were said to have died and so there was no way to put the records straight. He thought he had played a smart one Nigerian who believed that one day justice would come from God.

The world is watching again to see if his files would be mysteriously missing this time around or if the principal witnesses would be all dead by the time his trial in the British court comes up after he might have been extradited. Bob Marley once said that “You can fool some people some of the times, but you can’t fool all the people all the time”.

Ibori’s case should serve as a warning to those in power who are feeding fat on public funds that they will give an account to the people one day. This should also make politicians realize that they can’t enjoy parliamentary immunity for ever.

Kudos to the British government for taking the bulls by the horns to help curb the excesses of Nigerian politicians who feel they could loot public treasuries without being questioned. Since the Nigerian government has refused to make elected leaders answerable to the electorates, the foreign countries are beginning to teach them how to do so.

Nigeria is blessed with crude oil and several solid mineral resources; but after over 50 years of oil exploration the country still ranks among the poorest in the world in terms of infrastructural development. The leaders have plundered the wealth of the country, leaving the majority of the people struggling to take care of their three square meals daily.

Nigeria Deleted From The Major Drug List

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The United States of America has finally deleted Nigeria from the list of major drug countries for the first time since 1991. President Barack Obama announced that the reason for removing the country’s name from the list was because she no longer met the criteria for the list according to the US law.

Nigeria was hitherto considered a major transit (though not a producer of opium or other related drugs) point for narcotic drugs coming from The Latin America into the United States of America. Placing the country on the major drug list actually dented her image for a very long time. The government of this country did all that was humanly possible to reverse the ugly trend and improve the image of the country that was already battered by corruption.

However, countries like Afghanistan, The Bahamas, Bolivia, Burma, Columbia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, India, Jamaica, Laos, Mexico, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Panama, Peru and Venezuela are on the list this year.

The Nigerian government tackled this problem with all seriousness it deserved, using a pragmatic approach; to ensure that the country did not only get deleted from the black book of the American government, but also regained her respect in the committee of nations.

How did Nigeria get deleted?
1. Massive anti-drug campaign: The government embarked on a massive anti-drug campaign using both the print and electronic media to ensure that her citizenry knew the consequences of drug peddling and drug use. This helped to reduce the number of people seeing the illicit trade in drugs as a quick way to prosperity.
2. Punitive measures: The government also enacted laws that made the use of or selling of narcotics a punishable offense. Culprits were prosecuted through the due process of law and when found guilty, were sentenced to several years jail term to make the trade unattractive. Besides, properties proved to have been acquired through this illicit business were also confiscated by the government.
3. Security measures: The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) had several security measures in place to detect those smuggling out the drugs through our borders. The use of sniff dogs and body scanners were part of the measures put in place to ensure that those carrying narcotics in their luggage or hidden in their bodies were easily fished out at the airports.
4. Internal measures: The NDLEA was also able to reduce the cultivation of hard drugs like the Cannabis Sativa within the country by going from state to state, destroying the drug farms and burning them up. This helped to minimize the number of youth going into farming on hard drugs. The essence of destroying the Cannabis farms was to send a strong message to the farmers that any kind of psychotropic drugs would not be tolerated in the country.

Now that the name of the country has been deleted from the bad list there is need to consolidate on our achievements and not to rest on our oars as this could be dangerous should we fail to realize that there is the possibility of the drug barons regrouping to continue the trade if the security measures are relaxed.

To avert any kind of relapse, there should be proper monitoring of our national borders to be sure that no hard drug finds its way into our shores anymore. Imported goods (especially the ones coming from Latin America) should be thoroughly searched at our borders before they are allowed into the country.

There should be alternative businesses for those who have been prosecuted and rehabilitated so they won’t think of going back into peddling in narcotics anymore. They should also be given a new reorientation to make them realize there is pride in getting wealth through the legitimate way.

This development should be seen as a major step in the right direction for the Barack Obama’s government to regain her popularity especially in Nigeria and Africa in general. The war against trading in narcotics or psychotropic drugs should be seen as a collective one. Therefore, everyone should join in the fight to rid the world of ill-gotten wealth, drug-induced psychoses and violent crimes. The world would be a better place to live in if the war is won in the long run.

Terrorism; Is The World Losing The War?

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The war against terrorism seems not be achieving its objective and it also seems as if the terrorists are gaining more grounds and unleashing more terror on the world. Different tactics are employed by the people involved, even as the various nations are also trying their hands on different tools of curbing this act of violence and intimidation.

Several countries have suffered one form of terrorist attack or the other. The Lockerbie attack of 1988 is still fresh in our memories; the Saudi attack, the American embassy attack in Nairobi, the Indian attack by Pakistani terrorists, the attack on Egypt, the Madrid attack, the London attack, the Ugandan attack, and the September 11 attack on the United States of America, etc all indicate that the end to these acts does not seem to be near at sight.

The attackers seem to be shifting their well coordinated activities from one continent to the other. And when everyone is about to heave a sigh of relief, a new act of terror is unleashed. The developed countries of the world have employed their sophisticated technology to try to curb this trend but to no avail. They have even made some mistakes in the process of diagnosing the existence of terrorism in certain parts of the world.

Recent revelations that Iraq did not pose any threat before 2003 are instructive; it therefore means that adequate investigations should be conducted before raising an alarm as to the existence of terrorism. Wrong diagnosis is bound to worsen the situation rather than bringing it under control, since some of the people involved have always complained of oppression, intimidation and marginalization. There is therefore need to apply caution in handling this menace that is threatening the corporate existence of the world.

Since the use of force has not helped in bringing the situation under control, there is therefore the need to try other methods such as:

1.Dialogue: Dialogue remains the best way to solve a problem, especially the one that is hydra-headed. It is obvious that when a man realizes he is being forced to do a thing, he hardens his mind to do exactly what he feels pleases him and not what should please the next person. But when all come to the dialogue table, what could not be achieved on the battle front could be achieved. Think of how long America has been in Afghanistan and Iraq: the use of sophisticated weaponry has not stopped the stubbornness of the Afghan or Iraqi people.
2.Racism: Racism has also been one of the issues raised by the people involved in these offensives. There is need to stop racial discrimination or at least reduce it to the barest minimum in order to make those who have hitherto complained of racism to feel wanted by the world. Nobody should be made to exist in isolation on account of regional backwardness, poverty, illiteracy or colour difference.
3.Religious re-orientation: All major religions preach tolerance and the sanctity of the human life. However, some of the religious leaders have twisted the interpretation of their holy books to suit their personal selfish motives. They have brain-washed their followers to believe that there is gain in violence, killing, maiming, religious intolerance, religious wars, arson and suicide bombings. There is need therefore for Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Judaism, Hinduism, etc to re-orientate their followers to adhere to the provisions of their holy books and stop wasting their lives and that of other people. They should realize no one goes to heaven by killing another person (in whatever guise) or by committing suicide.
4.Change in curriculum: Government should also play a major role by adding religious tolerance into the curriculum of both primary and post primary schools so that every student should know right from elementary level that God does not in any way support violence. They should be made to respect the religious views of others without coercing anyone into accepting their own views. They should also be made to understand that Christians and Moslems are from the same grand parent – Abraham; as such there would be need to tolerate one another.
5.Cultural exchange: There should be cultural exchange between countries so they could understand the core values of one another, and ensure that the various cultures are respected. Cultural exchanges would foster unity amongst nations and reduce their level of hostility and intolerance toward one another.

The world would be a better place to live in, if we learn to tolerate one another and respect each other’s cultural and religious differences. We would no longer live in fears or sleep with our eyes open; the lives of future leaders, teachers, professors, engineers, nurses, doctors, accountants, pilots, pastors, imams, industrialists, etc would no longer be wasted. When human lives are no longer wasted, the world would develop at a faster pace, and everyone would be happier living together.

Nigeria: A Terrorist or Peace-loving State?

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The recent branding of Nigeria as a terrorist state by the Obama’s administration is no doubt eliciting reactions from people over the globe, especially from those who have known Nigeria to be a very peaceful, accommodating, receptive, religious and hospitable state.
President Obama, by my calculation, was too hasty to have made that pronouncement without recourse to proper investigation and a fair, open trial of the person involved to be sure whether or not he had the backing of his country. Nigeria no doubt has an enviable record in terms of world peace and has played a pivotal role in the pursuance of peaceful co-habitation by countries who share boundaries. The way and manner she handled the boundary problem she had with Cameroon testifies to the fact that she respects the right of other countries even when she had the power to subdue Cameroon as a weaker country. She could have as well refused to obey the decision of the International court of Justice (after all there are countries who have refused to respect their rulings).
Nigeria has been the highest supplier of man power to the United Nations peace-keeping operations world-wide (only second to Pakistan). She played a key role in restoring peace to Kosovo. She has been the mainstay of ECOMOG, supplying more than 50% of personnel and equipment needed to keep ECOMOG going, participating in restoring peace to Liberia, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, etc. Nigeria was also instrumental to the abolition of Apartheid in South Africa.
It is a known fact that Nigerians are a peace-loving and hospitable people. The country has hosted several international programmes without any record of anybody having been molested or terrorized while in the country. She hosted the African Soccer Nations Tournaments in 1980 and 2000, FIFA U-21 world youth championship in 1999, FIFA U-16 world cup 2009, All African Games in 2003, Common Wealth Heads of Government meeting, just to mention a few and no one went back home with stories of having been maltreated.
Recently the internal problems we had in the country-the Niger Delta crises (which has nothing to do with terrorism or international affairs anyway) were handled in such a matured manner by the Nigeria government that the world had to salute her for the declaration of amnesty which ensured that nobody was unduly victimized after the crisis.
Nigerians are every where in the world (including America) and are contributing their quotas to help develop those countries. Notable among Nigerians who have contributed immensely to the progress of America are Dr Philip Emeagwali the father of the Internet (the only man who has single-handedly won the Gordon Bell’s award), Dr Talabi who restructured the American 911 response system after the September 11 attack, and others too numerous to mention. I am sure the American government is aware of these facts and if so why have they not branded Nigeria a ‘Technology state’? If using a single person out of about 150 million persons is a good yardstick to brand a nation it therefore would mean that all countries are terrorist states, America inclusive; because in every country there is definitely somebody who is bad no matter how good the country is.
In as much as I do not support the attempt by Abdul Farouk Abdulmutallab to bomb an America-bound aircraft, I wish to say that tagging Nigeria a terrorist country is a calculated attempt to give a dog a bad name in order to hang it. Everyone should be fair to Nigeria just as she is fair to everyone.