i am pretty numb at this stage.
this is that phase you get you when you speed past shock, anger, frustration and helplessness...you just feel numb. not sure you actually can comprehend what is going on around you, and not sure if your understanding really makes sense. not sure if you should yell and call out the obvious, and not sure if you should be silent like others.
so, for days on end throughout december, i couldn't stop trying to get the christmas spirit going. i felt like it was a year that was worth celebrating the christmas holidays not only because we have survived incredible odds but because goodness alone knows if we will ever have the opportunity to celebrate christmas in the years ahead, going by the current economic trends. and i wasn't the only excited one. millions of nigerian children were already dropping hints for their parents and being extra nice in the bid to wrest a few minutes of attention from the ever busy adults towards securing a really festive occassion. all well and good...and then smack in the middle of the most celebrated day in the life of a christian, muslim fanatics slaughtered throngs of christian worshippers in the middle of their worship to the Almighty God. without provocation, muslim elements detonated bombs right in the midst of crowds singing halleluyah on a christmas day...and walked on by without batting an eyelid.
now, i'm sure you're thinking: thats not quite what you've been hearing in the news. yes, but we all know that the objective of money controlled media is to ensure that the 'right' version of the news is broadcast to diffuse tensions and manage reactions. in this vein, the sultan was put on a media run by the president (who couldn't stop smiling in the background) and made to go round every concievable television programme talking about how there is no religious war in nigeria and for Christians to essentially hold their peace/turn the other cheek/exercise restraint/avoid retaliation. excuse me for disagreeing.
what many non-muslims think is simple: muslims are bullies. all around the world, they carry on with a sense of entitlement and seek as often as they can to wrest control of any environment that they find themselves. they go to france and insist on praying by the roadsides to flaunt their faith and provoke public outrage so they can claim persecution, they go to the US and insist on wearing random headgear when it suits them (usually when they have a flight to catch) knowing the public sentiments post-911 and they come to nigeria and seek to dictate to the rest of us how to live our lives...the concept of secularism be damned. it is under the pretence of practicing this faith that countless educated people in the northern part of nigeria, intentionally keep their people ignorant and illiterate, in order to use them to commit nefarious activities and then stand aside and feign ignorance. all of the clashes in the north over the years have been targeted at christians but the government keeps giving it tribal colorations and feeding the public lies to manage the situation.
but this struggle for religious supremacy did not start today. in 2001, in a move that still baffles the most logical minded of us, the hosting of the Miss World pageant which had been won by Agbani Darego to international acclaim against the odds, was rejected at the last minute because of unveiled threats by the muslims warning the government and organizers that the safety of the visitors could not be guaranteed. and in a shocking show of shame, the general non-muslim public - including a secular government - bowed to the threat and embarassingly turned back the pageant...telling the world that we are a volatile country with secularism only existing as a misspelt word in our dictionary. it was not enough to shun the world, but the muslims would not be pacified if they did not smell blood. and of course, an article in ThisDay newspapers on the same pagaent that was said to denigrate their religious beliefs was the trigger needed to burn (you guessed it) churches all over the north. From unverified reports, christians have been killed for everything from a woman urinating by a mosque to completely unrelated matters like General Buhari losing the 2011 elections to Goodluck Jonathan. In a secular country.
the part that irks me the most is the collective silence by educated muslim folk in the face of the inexplicable brutality. not a single person i know has come out in his/her small circle of friends to dissociate from these wanton killings and to explain the islamic tenets to the rest of us and how it can be interpreted so extremely to accomodate these acts. the most that you ever hear, when (usually yoruba) muslims are cornerned with these facts is that it is a product of northern illiteracy, not the practice of the religion that they all commonly share. somehow, they appear to approve these actions by looking the other way, only condemning it in passing and only when they absolutely must - almost like a mother of a rotten child would feign embarassment when the child displays his usual antics at the airport terminal. the antics are not the source of the anger, the loss of face is...so they're cool that they are seen as the superior, dont-mess-with-us religion of choice in Nigeria, but they will give a tiny 'this is so un-islamic' speech if and when they cannot avoid the scrutiny of public concern.
Forgive me therefore, when i do not buy the balderdash being bandied around by the government that there is no religious war. simply asking His Royal Majesty the Sultan of Sokoto to go on the air and repeat this 20 times over is not enough. the question is, will the good Sultan let us know when there is indeed a religious war and when it is okay to retaliate? It is all well and good to ask that, in accordance with the holy Bible, we should turn the other cheek, but i daresay that I can only "turn my cheek" when i am alive. self preservation is primary and if the state cannot guarantee my security, i may need to guarantee myself and damn the social contract. The time to sit on the fence has gone, the time to be diplomatic and throw subtle shades is over...if we as christians and muslims must fight then show me your dagger in plain sight and give me a moment to grab mine. stop sending your illiterate step-brothers to kill my family and then ask me to exercise restraint.
May God grant the bereaved the fortitude to bear their loss (a woman lost her husband and 4 children - in church service no less), and grant us a leader with the guts to re-establish the balance needed for us to return to the track of mutual co-existence...or at least break up this stupid arrangement and save the unborn christian generation to come. I am Nigerian...I do not have to be muslim.
this is that phase you get you when you speed past shock, anger, frustration and helplessness...you just feel numb. not sure you actually can comprehend what is going on around you, and not sure if your understanding really makes sense. not sure if you should yell and call out the obvious, and not sure if you should be silent like others.
so, for days on end throughout december, i couldn't stop trying to get the christmas spirit going. i felt like it was a year that was worth celebrating the christmas holidays not only because we have survived incredible odds but because goodness alone knows if we will ever have the opportunity to celebrate christmas in the years ahead, going by the current economic trends. and i wasn't the only excited one. millions of nigerian children were already dropping hints for their parents and being extra nice in the bid to wrest a few minutes of attention from the ever busy adults towards securing a really festive occassion. all well and good...and then smack in the middle of the most celebrated day in the life of a christian, muslim fanatics slaughtered throngs of christian worshippers in the middle of their worship to the Almighty God. without provocation, muslim elements detonated bombs right in the midst of crowds singing halleluyah on a christmas day...and walked on by without batting an eyelid.
now, i'm sure you're thinking: thats not quite what you've been hearing in the news. yes, but we all know that the objective of money controlled media is to ensure that the 'right' version of the news is broadcast to diffuse tensions and manage reactions. in this vein, the sultan was put on a media run by the president (who couldn't stop smiling in the background) and made to go round every concievable television programme talking about how there is no religious war in nigeria and for Christians to essentially hold their peace/turn the other cheek/exercise restraint/avoid retaliation. excuse me for disagreeing.
what many non-muslims think is simple: muslims are bullies. all around the world, they carry on with a sense of entitlement and seek as often as they can to wrest control of any environment that they find themselves. they go to france and insist on praying by the roadsides to flaunt their faith and provoke public outrage so they can claim persecution, they go to the US and insist on wearing random headgear when it suits them (usually when they have a flight to catch) knowing the public sentiments post-911 and they come to nigeria and seek to dictate to the rest of us how to live our lives...the concept of secularism be damned. it is under the pretence of practicing this faith that countless educated people in the northern part of nigeria, intentionally keep their people ignorant and illiterate, in order to use them to commit nefarious activities and then stand aside and feign ignorance. all of the clashes in the north over the years have been targeted at christians but the government keeps giving it tribal colorations and feeding the public lies to manage the situation.
but this struggle for religious supremacy did not start today. in 2001, in a move that still baffles the most logical minded of us, the hosting of the Miss World pageant which had been won by Agbani Darego to international acclaim against the odds, was rejected at the last minute because of unveiled threats by the muslims warning the government and organizers that the safety of the visitors could not be guaranteed. and in a shocking show of shame, the general non-muslim public - including a secular government - bowed to the threat and embarassingly turned back the pageant...telling the world that we are a volatile country with secularism only existing as a misspelt word in our dictionary. it was not enough to shun the world, but the muslims would not be pacified if they did not smell blood. and of course, an article in ThisDay newspapers on the same pagaent that was said to denigrate their religious beliefs was the trigger needed to burn (you guessed it) churches all over the north. From unverified reports, christians have been killed for everything from a woman urinating by a mosque to completely unrelated matters like General Buhari losing the 2011 elections to Goodluck Jonathan. In a secular country.
the part that irks me the most is the collective silence by educated muslim folk in the face of the inexplicable brutality. not a single person i know has come out in his/her small circle of friends to dissociate from these wanton killings and to explain the islamic tenets to the rest of us and how it can be interpreted so extremely to accomodate these acts. the most that you ever hear, when (usually yoruba) muslims are cornerned with these facts is that it is a product of northern illiteracy, not the practice of the religion that they all commonly share. somehow, they appear to approve these actions by looking the other way, only condemning it in passing and only when they absolutely must - almost like a mother of a rotten child would feign embarassment when the child displays his usual antics at the airport terminal. the antics are not the source of the anger, the loss of face is...so they're cool that they are seen as the superior, dont-mess-with-us religion of choice in Nigeria, but they will give a tiny 'this is so un-islamic' speech if and when they cannot avoid the scrutiny of public concern.
Forgive me therefore, when i do not buy the balderdash being bandied around by the government that there is no religious war. simply asking His Royal Majesty the Sultan of Sokoto to go on the air and repeat this 20 times over is not enough. the question is, will the good Sultan let us know when there is indeed a religious war and when it is okay to retaliate? It is all well and good to ask that, in accordance with the holy Bible, we should turn the other cheek, but i daresay that I can only "turn my cheek" when i am alive. self preservation is primary and if the state cannot guarantee my security, i may need to guarantee myself and damn the social contract. The time to sit on the fence has gone, the time to be diplomatic and throw subtle shades is over...if we as christians and muslims must fight then show me your dagger in plain sight and give me a moment to grab mine. stop sending your illiterate step-brothers to kill my family and then ask me to exercise restraint.
May God grant the bereaved the fortitude to bear their loss (a woman lost her husband and 4 children - in church service no less), and grant us a leader with the guts to re-establish the balance needed for us to return to the track of mutual co-existence...or at least break up this stupid arrangement and save the unborn christian generation to come. I am Nigerian...I do not have to be muslim.
Comments
I agree completely.
I've been trying to think of a word to describe what I feel about the whole situation and I just realised that's what it is: BULLYING
I agree that the time to sit on the fence is long gone. The question is this: what exactly are you and I going to do when we get off the fence? Something needs to be done, no doubt about that. But WHAT!?!?!
May God help us all.