My Beauty Best Teacher

Political assassination is new neither in Nigeria nor in the history of Islam (nor indeed in Christian histories). But, in the large northern-Nigerian metropolis of Maiduguri, Boko Haram’s current campaign of assassination, both to intimidate systematically all opposition to it and to revenge itself on the authorities who sought to destroy it in 2009, is indeed new. I refer to the group as “Boko Haram” (or BH) because “Boko Haram”, though that is just its Hausa nickname, has now come to signify more than just a set of unconventional religious ideas. It is important to view the current campaign as both political and religious; though there is a religious dimension, it would be wrong to write off BH as religious ‘cranks’. Theirs is also an insurgency against the local Nigerian state which, in the eyes of BH, is secular (or at least not properly Muslim)...[continue reading]

Nigeria has experienced one of its worst days of violence in two years. Churches, mosques, banks and police stations were attacked as multiple bomb blasts rocked the city of Damaturu, killing at least 69 people, with some reports putting the number as high as 150. There were also separate bombings in the town of Maiduguri, where at least four people were killed.

And Nigeria's Islamist Boko Haram group, which claimed responsibility for the attacks, has warned that more are planned.

These attacks have fuelled an already steep sectarian divide in Africa's most populous country, but who are Boko Haram and what motivates their violence? How big a threat do they pose to the country's stability and why have they decided to escalate their violence now?...[continue reading]

Image of Temi Giwa

...it is not religious in a way that suggests that Boko Haram targets Christians and other religions and excludes Muslims from their terrorism. This war is meant to determine the future of Islam in the Nigerian context. All religions must go through this phase of reformation and self-determination, and Islam, while young, is no different. This struggle traditionally kills more faithfuls of the particular religion than outsiders. While Boko Haram and their terror campaign are irrevocably religious, we cannot ignore the fact that the group has killed more Muslim than Christians so far.

Amid increasing evidence that the Nigerian government’s heavy-handed strategy for containing a radical Islamist sect has failed, some Western officials are urging a new and less militarized approach...The suicide bombing of the United Nations headquarters here on Friday, which killed 23 people, has added urgency to their appeal, demonstrating that the sect, Boko Haram, has expanded its scope well beyond domestic targets. Far from being crushed by Nigerian firepower, Boko Haram, which claimed responsibility for the attack, appears to be confirming the worst fears of Western analysts and diplomats — that repression is hastening its transformation into a menacing transnational force, with possible links to Al Qaeda’s North African affiliates...[continue reading]

Consider the danger of infinite silence.

They come to us in the name of God, for evil has taken the guise of virtue. They say they are speaking a collective language, premised on restating the religious utopia created by their prophet. Their prophet. Clearly, their God and their prophet are imagined. Evil has taken the guise of virtue.

I realize that, in the final analysis, what Boko Haram wants is to silence our freedom. They want to introduce a regime of creative stagnation. I understand that creativity begins at the threshold of freedom. Let me explain....[more]

A few years ago, former Central Bank Governor ‘Comical' Chukwuma Soludo reeled out the results of studies which clearly indicated that the north east geopolitical region of Nigeria was the poorest and least developed. Is there any coincidence with the fact that the same region has now become the haven of extremist groups posing serious security threats to the entire country? Why are we seeing almost daily attacks and loss of lives and property from Bauchi, Gombe to Maiduguri?
That Nigeria as a country is facing unprecedented political, social and economic crises is not in doubt. While each state has specific challenges, the north east region faces the risk of disintegration from the activities of extremist groups that seek to bring about violent change. The role of the region's political elite and fraudulent governors who have systematically narrowed the economic and political space to the exclusion of the majority, who wallow in poverty, unemployment, insecurity, cannot be discounted. Taking advantage of youth unemployment, the Gombe State government supported the ‘kallare' group; Bauchi State gave tacit support to the ‘sara suka', while the Borno government openly related with the ‘ecomog' group which directly or indirectly metamorphosed into the ‘boko haram'.

From protests over fuel subsidies to attacks by Boko Haram, the most populous African nation is facing a crisis.

Oh yes, the Nigerian Senate who have so much time on their hands, decided to pass a bill stating that gays shall not be allowed to get married and if they dare do, they shall get fourteen years in jail. Let us face the truth. There are no gay couples applying for marriage certificates in that country. How would they do that? There are no provisions for such a marriage in our system, therefore, this bill is totally redundant. It is like telling me that I am banned from eating eba in my kitchen when I had none in the first place. If eba was available and waiting for me in my kitchen, then that’s another story. But I don’t even have garri or hot water. In fact, I don’t even have a bowl to make the eba in, so what exactly would be the point of such a ban? It’s as simple as that. I can’t be the only one that sees how unnecessary this bill is. A total waste of time and resources. But hey, in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.

I am surprised about the excitement this bill has caused in our people. People are almost foaming at the mouths because of this useless bill. I wish our Senate could be equally engaged in other serious matters. For example, Boko Haram. Every month, a new bomb and yet, our senators are laughing over homosexual jokes on TV. I would have expected some kind of crack down by now. Or is it only in the Niger Delta that the military enjoys operating? And what do they plan to do about the religious violence in the north? Or is this show of solidarity against homosexuals going to stop the burning of churches over there? Will this be the very act that will unite Christianity and Islam in the north? And if that is so, will it not be strange that it is only in our hatred we can unite and not in love?

...I believe the majority of the country is behind not just the strikes but the Occupy Nigeria movement which seeks to seriously challenge the status quo and once and for all end the rule by kleptocracy. However there are other small but extremely powerful interest groups working for and against the government: Boko Haram and whoever is behind them; Jonathan and possibly some of the ex-Niger Delta militants; Senators and Governors who fear loss of their power and wealth; the trade union movement particularly the oil workers - how trustworthy are they? – the independent oil marketers or cabal. And of course there is the religious factor, the cozy relationship between an all-powerful state and a powerful highly influential set of religious institutions. Nigeria is about oil and nothing but oil...

image courtesy of iReports

The trio of Nigrian literary icons; Wole Soyinka, Chinua Achebe and J.P. Clark have called for a stop to the spread of violence across the country, warning that the country cannot afford another civil war at this time in history.A statement jointly signed by the trio and entitled “LET NOT THIS FIRE SPREAD!!! An Appeal to the Nigerian Nation Community”, reads in full:“The fears we have all secretly nursed are coming to realisation. The nightmare we have hugged to our individual breasts, voicing them only in family privacy, or within trusted caucuses of friends and colleagues – lest they become instances of materialising evil thoughts – has finally burst through into our social, physical environment. Rumblings and veiled threats have given way to eruption, and the first cracks in the wall of patience and forbearance can no longer be wished away. BOKO HARAM is very likely celebrating its first tactical victory: provoking retaliation in some parts of the nation...[continue reading]

Image courtesy of Inpec

The state of Nigeria is facing its largest crisis in over a decade. As the ferocity and popularity of the Islamist terrorist group Boko Haram rises, the very unity of the state is being challenged. This collection of photos assesses the reasons why the group is becoming increasingly attractive to the disaffected population in the north despite their gruesome tactics.