Wednesday, January 20, 2010

The Seeds of Terror Part 2

In the face of overwhelming evidence that our politics is defined by violence, intimidation and coercion; that we have a history of intermittent religious conflicts in Northern Nigeria (which in fact is becoming more regular); and that our communities are riven with violence, it is simply astounding how we arrived at the unfounded consensus that terror is somehow incompatible with the Nigerian, illustrating that oftentimes popular opinion may be grounded not in facts and rational analysis, but in collective amnesia. Let’s again re-examine the evidence.
Our post-independence politics was very violent-“operation wetie” in Western Nigeria” (political opponents and perceived traitors were doused with inflammable liquids and set on fire); Tiv riots in the Middle-Belt; the January 15, 1966 military coup which appeared to have disproportionately targeted victims from Northern Nigeria, and in some cases needlessly killed even their spouses; revenge attacks of a genocidal nature launched across the North against Southerners, especially those from Eastern Nigeria; the counter-coup of July 1966 which sought to equalise the body count; and civil war which reportedly led to the death of over a million people. During the civil war, we know of the massacre of males carried out in Asaba and surrounding towns and villages by federal troops led by General Murtala Muhammed on October 7, 1967.
We have regular religious crisis in Northern Nigeria-Kano, Bauchi, Jos, Maiduguri, Kafanchan, Zaria etc in which thousands of Nigerians have lost their lives. Most states in Nigeria’s North, we would recall have officially adopted the Sharia legal system, a direct assault on Nigeria’s secular constitution. Our politics is by definition, terror! How do you describe what happened in Ekiti State in the name of elections some months ago? Election observers, civil society representatives and opposition party agents were battered, bruised and thrown into jail for their temerity to stand in the way of those with superior firepower. How about the kidnap of Governor Ngige and the violent raping of Awka during the Obasanjo regime? Or the late Adedibu’s reign of terror in Ibadan, Oyo State which both the then ruling party chairman (Ahmadu Ali) and the President of the nation justified? We have a long list of intra or inter-communal violence-Aguleri/Umuleri, Ife/Modakeke, Sagamu, Warri, Ago-Iwoye, Tiv/Jukun, Ogoni/Andoni, Zangon-kataf etc. The contemporary Niger-Delta militancy indeed also adopted terrorist methods in pursuing its objectives, even though the underlying complaints may have been legitimate.
And then let’s examine the behaviour of individuals and communities. What do you think will happen if a petty thief is caught picking three hundred Naira (two dollars) from a trader’s pocket in Oshodi, Onitsha, Wuse market in Abuja or Kano? Uniformly in all of these places, the outcome is likely to be similar-the trader shouts “Ole Ole” (Thief, Thief); a crowd set upon the petty thief; he is stripped naked, beaten and mobbed; tires are draped around his neck and petrol or kerosene is added and then (except the police arrive before the sequence is completed) he is set on fire! And what happens when the police themselves arrest some armed robbers in the course of an anti-crime operation? Well if Amnesty International is to be believed, they simply shoot them to death! How do our road transport workers select their leaders and conduct their affairs, whether in Lagos, Abeokuta, Ijebu-Ode, Aba or Calabar? Well they fight it out-with guns, cutlasses, axes, cudgels, amulets and charms and other implements of war.
And how do we resolve disputes over land and chieftaincy? Well ask the residents of Ajah, Lekki in Lagos about their experience during the urban warfare between the Olumegbon and his adversaries! And our university campuses? Campus cults of all varieties spread terror and fear among students and lecturers with frequent shoot-outs and many deaths. So for those who may have missed last week’s instalment, let us remind ourselves of the definition of terror. The Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary defines “terror” as “a feeling of extreme fear”, “terrorism” as “the use of violent action in order to achieve political aims or to force a government to act”, “terrorist” as “a person who takes part in terrorism and to “terrorize” is “to frighten and threaten people so that they will not oppose sth or will do as they are told”. Based on the evidence outlined above, is it debatable that our politics, social and communal affairs are regularly characterised by fear and violence? And in terms of religion, isn’t it clear that Northern Nigeria in particular has a problem with religious intolerance and recurrent violence?
As a Nigerian I do not support the US classification of Nigeria as a “country of interest” necessitating strict searches and airport clearance procedures for Nigerian travellers passing through international airports. I believe the preponderance of victims of such a policy indeed are unlikely to ever contemplate acts of terror on airplanes. But shouldn’t we address the fundamental issues? Frankly the trend of religious violence in Northern Nigeria is troubling. Additionally, in Somalia, Afghanistan, Yemen and Pakistan, there was first a weakening of government and a power vacuum which Islamist terror seized upon. Any one observing the on-going absence of governance in Nigeria will worry about where all this will lead.

Thursday, January 14, 2010

The Seeds of Terror

The apparent consensus based on all we’ve seen so far in the media is that terrorism is alien to Nigeria. Nigerians are not and can never be terrorists. Our people love life so much that they can’t be suicide bombers. Umar Farouk AbdulMuttalab is an exception, a one-off incident. In fact, that his father took action to report his concerns about his son’s radicalization to the US embassy and Nigerian security agencies confirms our people’s abhorrence for terror. As usual, these arguments lack rigour. First of all, which nation of the world has terrorism or suicide bombing as an integral part of its culture? Was there a history of terrorism in Iraq before Saddam Hussein? In Palestine before 1967? In Iran, Syria, Yemen, Pakistan etc before the 1970s? Why then do we make the redundant argument that terrorism is not in our character?
The Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary defines “ terror” as “a feeling of extreme fear”, “ terrorism” as “the use of violent action in order to achieve political aims or to force a government to act”, “terrorist” as “a person who takes part in terrorism and to “terrorize” is “to frighten and threaten people so that they will not oppose sth or will do as they are told” By these definitions, our entire political class with few exceptions can be described as terrorists! Elections in Nigeria are an act of terror!!! In order to win an election, what you need are thugs, security agencies, police men, local government officials and electoral officers. What they do is snatch ballot boxes at gun point, beat their opponents to submission, deploy hemp smoking thugs who intimidate voters and opposing party agents and similar acts of terror. Virtually all the elections we have held recently in Nigeria are by definition acts of terror.
But then let’s go to the context in which Umar Farouk Abdul Muttalab carried out his own acts of terror-religion. Is our religious life devoid of fear, extreme fear, violence, threats and intimidation? The answer is obvious, No! Nigeria in fact must have one of the highest recurrences of religious violence all over the world. It is amazing that because we continue to fool ourselves into ignoring this regular bloodletting we think the rest of the world can be persuaded to accept them as normal. Less than three weeks ago, we had religious violence in Bauchi in which over thirty people died. The Boko Haram crisis led to the slaughter of over one thousand people. In Jos a few years ago, hundreds or perhaps more were killed. In Kaduna where Mutallab grew up, religious violence is intermittent. Why do we ignore these occurrences? If we do fool ourselves, why do we expect the rest of the civilized world to acquiesce in our self-deceit?
In my view, there are three elements required for acts of terror to happen. One, you must feel hatred or at least some extreme prejudice against the victim or his group. This prejudice may be founded in ethnic, religious, sectarian, communal, or other differences, or even social, political or historical grudges. Two, there must be a willingness to deploy violence to achieve your objectives relative to the group against which the hatred or prejudice is held. Finally the perpetrator of terror must be able to rationalize or justify the fate he inflicts or intends to inflict on the victim based on some notions of retribution or vengeance, or derived from some religious doctrine or nationalist, ethnic, communal or sectarian sentiment. All these elements are abundant in Nigerian public life. This explains our regular bouts of violence between cattle rearers and villagers, between neighboring communities (Ogoni/Andoni; Ife/Modakeke; Tiv/Jukun); that is why the killers of Gideon Akaluka and Grace Ushang felt justified; that is why Isioma Daniel has fled Nigeria never to return; that is why many Southern families have fled Northern Nigeria; that is why we have frequent cases of communities erupting in violence and burning their traditional rulers palaces, police stations or other symbols associated with the “ enemies”. In short, Nigerians frequently deploy violence to settle otherwise normal social, political, religious and even economic disputes.
The argument that Nigerians intrinsically love life and will never embrace suicide bombing also lacks rigour. How many “almajiris” have died in religious violence in Northern Nigeria over the past 30 years? When these children confront the army and police and die in their hundreds, does that indicate a group of people who love their lives? Did the Boko Haram, Maitatsine and recent Kala Kato religious warriors love their lives? The only difference in this case is that the perpetrator needed a US visa and therefore could not be one of the usual almajiris, but a son of privilege. Which brings me to the senior Muttalab. In my view, his actions are consistent with those of a father who simply did not want his son to die. How did the senior Muttalab feel when ever there was religious violence in Northern Nigeria and hundreds of bodies of almajiris and their usual Southern victims littered the streets? Did he worry about this senseless carnage? Whenever he heard about a suicide bombing in the Arab world carried out in the name of Islam, did he feel compelled to protest? When Nigerians Muslims rejoiced on the streets of Kano on September 11, 2001, did Alhaji Muttalab complain?

Man of the Year 2009

Readers will be familiar with this column’s tradition of naming a “person of the year” at the end of every year. Indeed this ritual preceded this column, as I had made citations on the pages of The Guardian (2003 and 2004) before this column commenced in January 2006. From inception, only two individual awards have been made-Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala for 2005 and Gani Fawehinmi (RIP) for 2008. I remain exceedingly proud of those two nominees and their examples, achievements and impact. Other winners have been teams or institutions-the Economic Team for 2003 and 2004, and the Judiciary, and the Supreme Court respectively for 2006 and 2007. In my view, these nominations have also been validated and vindicated.
I usually start with a shortlist of ten individuals, groups or institutions who in my view have made the most positive, tangible, verifiable and enduring contribution to the Nigerian nation. The nominees must also reflect positive values consistent with this column’s worldview regarding Nigeria’s economic, political and social development, and is not merely a popularity or populist rating. Last year, it was impossible to find ten nominees meeting the column’s benchmarks (reflecting the slowed pace of governance, policy and development of the Yar’adua era) and I was constrained to reduce the shortlist to only five names- Adams Oshiomole, Nuhu Ribadu, Rotimi Amaechi, Babatunde Raji Fashola and Chief Gani Fawehinmi with Gani being the eventual winner.
This year after careful reflection, my short-list comprises Super Eagles Coach Amodu Shuaibu,Presidential Adviser on Niger-Delta Timi Alaibe, Defence Minister Godwin Abbe, President Umaru Yar’adua, Pastor Tunde Bakare, Governor Danjuma Goje of Gombe State, former Green Eagles Star Adokiye Amiesimaka, Governor Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi of Rivers State, Central Bank Governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi and Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN) of Lagos State.
Whatever I think of him, Amodu Shuaibu must be considered for qualifying Nigeria for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. I personally do not consider him of sufficient quality to coach the Nigerian national team. But then the objective outcome is that he did not lose any game in the qualifying series, and is one of only five African coaches and indeed a small global coaching elite whose teams have qualified for the football mundial. However by his own admission, he owes the qualification not to competence, football techniques or strategies, but to the spiritual intervention of Pastor Joshua (!), and I may add perhaps Governor Amaechi’s Presidential Task Force. Timi Alaibe, Godwin Abbe and Umaru Yar’adua’s joint (and sole) basis for making the list is due to the apparently successful amnesty deal in the Niger-Delta.
The amnesty programme whatever sceptics (and I was one of those) thinks, appears to have recorded short term successes in terms of reducing violence and insecurity in the Niger-Delta region and provides a basis for negotiating a comprehensive strategy for peace and development in the region. Unfortunately it does not address the fundamental causes of the instability in the region (flawed federal structure; revenue allocation and resource control and management; environmental and social consequences of oil exploration; poverty and unemployment; corruption and mis-governance; unaccountable local, state and federal institutions etc) and therefore cannot be a sufficient basis, on its own, for resolving the problems of the region. In the President’s case, of course his remit goes beyond the Niger-Delta and his overall performance (or lack thereof) effectively cancels out whatever limited successes were recorded in the Niger-Delta.
Pastor Tunde Bakare remains one of the very few voices from the religious establishment speaking out for truth and integrity in Nigeria’s public life. Many of the others sadly appear to have become embedded within the country’s corrupt and self-serving system and have therefore kept resolutely quiet even as the Church’s credibility is compromised. Occasionally he may sound more like a politician than a clergy man, but then Jesus Christ will probably have chosen to speak out on behalf of the people rather than keep quiet in the face of oppression, corruption, and social injustice by an increasingly illegitimate and unaccountable government.
Governor Goje in spite of running a fairly sinecure state in North Eastern Nigeria caught my attention for his broad-mindedness and ability to foster ethnic, communal and religious unity, for which he was publicly acclaimed by his state branch of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN). Perhaps if other politicians, elected officials, traditional and religious leaders in Northern Nigeria imbibed similar ethos, the embarrassment of Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab may have been spared our nation. Adokiye Amiesimaka sparked controversy when he revealed that our “under-17” football team captain is probably over 25 years old. Unlike the corrupt sports administrators who think lying and age cheating is “one of those things”, this column recognises his high patriotism and integrity, values which our nation must re-build or else our national drift will continue and accelerate.
My top three nominees are Rotimi Amaechi, Lamido Sanusi and Babatunde Fashola. I am happy and proud to note that all three are members of my generation! Perhaps there is hope yet for Nigeria!!! Amaechi has been in office for slightly over two years. In that period, he has invested massively in education (building exceptional educational infrastructure and facilities), health, roads, power and has conceived an ambitious Greater Port Harcourt City. He attempts to articulate some social ideology and should have distinguished himself by the end of his term. Lamido Sanusi has courageously taken on the task of cleaning up Nigeria’s banking sector, and restoring ethics and professionalism to the industry. If he had not taken action, Nigeria may have experienced a massive industry collapse a few years down the line, even though he ought to have averted his mind more closely to the systemic implications of his actions and proactively considered options for minimising economic downsides.
But my man of the year 2009 is without doubt, Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN), the Governor we are proud to have in Lagos State. BRF has proved in just two and a half years that effective, focused and committed governance is possible in Nigeria. His performance is a vindication of his predecessor, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and he has built on his preparation as Chief of Staff during Tinubu’s regime. BRF has defined a clear mission of making Lagos Africa’s model megacity and is working tangibly to achieve that goal. Given his achievements in less than three years, Lagos will be blessed and privileged to have him for eight years (and I suspect that the voters in Lagos will insist on that). His investments in roads, environment, mass transit, security, education, health and other sectors and the tangible results in such a short period are simply outstanding. He speaks to Lagosians truthfully, sensibly and passionately and is a new and admirable model for the Nigerian public servant. Yet he remains humble and committed to transforming Lagos rather than self-aggrandisement. My man of the year 2009 is Babatunde Raji Fashola.