The Death of Osinachi Nwachukwu: A lesson to All Women

It’s better to be alive and single than to be dead, married.

Yemi Olakitan writes,

The death of Famous Nigerian Gospel musician Osinachi Nwachukwu shocked many Nigerians but it should be a lesson to all women, not only in Nigeria but all over the world. When you find yourself in a violent relationship or an abusive marriage, be kind to yourself enough to divorce the mad man or at least be separated from him. It is better to be alive, single than to be dead, married.

Before a woman died from a violent attack from her man, he must have been hitting her long before then. But, her failure to walk away will eventually kill her.

Osinachi has won the hearts of the Christian community in Nigeria with her sonorous Gospel music before her death. She shot into the limelight with the hit “Ekwueme“, which has been watched 72 million times on YouTube but she passed away in an Abuja hospital due to alleged domestic violence from her husband.

She was a lead singer at the Dunamis International Gospel Centre. She was featured in several popular gospel songs like “Nara Ekele” by Pastor Paul Enenche (Dunamis, Abuja) and “You no dey use me play” by Emma.

Close friends and associates have revealed to the media that her violent union led to her untimely death.  Her colleague, Frank Edwards, alleged that the late singer had an abusive husband, who regularly brutalized her before she died.

Frank Edwards said on several occasions, the late singer’s husband was in the habit of publicly insulting his wife, and he abused her on several occasions.

Recounting an encounter with the singer, he said, “One time in a studio, this man slapped her in the studio just because she wanted to record the song in Igbo against his will. She does not do anything on her own.”

“She would say, please beg my husband. She was at his mercy. I didn’t know the intensity of what she was going through; I didn’t know how somebody would be jealous of their wife or claim to love.

“There are a lot of stories where people told her this and that, but what I know was that the control was too much. The other time somebody wanted me to get her for an event, and I contacted her, but she said ‘beg my husband.”

The singer also alleged that the late singer’s husband was controlling and would take the money she made from events. He, however, said the singer was secretive about what she was going through in her marriage.

 

“She couldn’t even tell people what she was going through. I only got to know because Aunty Joy contacted me to promote her song. That was when I got a glimpse into what was happening,” he said.

“It’s crazy,” he lamented.

“People have tried to invite her for their programmes, but she will keep telling them that they must beg my husband first,” he said.

Further narrating his experiences about the late singer’s marital hurdle with her husband, he said a former Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, Joy Nunieh, once gifted the singer a studio in Abuja. Still, her husband never allowed her to use the studio simply because it was built without his permission.

Crying out for Justice, Edward said he would go all out on social media for the first time in his career until justice was served.

“I have never had any reason to have a court case with anyone because I am a child of God, but you see this case, it won’t just go like that because she was a blessing to the world.

“I usually don’t get involved in things like this, I keep my family and personal stuff off social media, but this one hurt me,” he said. He also said Mrs Nunieh, a lawyer, has promised to take up legal action against Mr Nwanchukwu. The gospel singer also advised women in abusive marriages to take a long walk. He said: “My advice is even if you are not a wife if you are being physically abused, go back to your parent’s house.”

Police Arrests Osinachi’s Husband, Peter Nwachukwu

Osinachi Nwachukwu’s husband, Peter Nwachukwu has been arrested in Abuja.

Peter Nwachukwu was arrested after the late Osinachi’s family formally filed a complaint of “culpable homicide against one Mr Peter Nwachukwu who is a husband to the deceased

“He is now in our custody. The younger brother of the deceased reported the matter and we have commenced an investigation,” Abuja police command spokeswoman Josephine Adeh said.

The deceased singer’s elder sister, Ms Favour Made, alleged in an interview with Vanguard that Osinachi was kicked in the chest by her husband Nwachukwu.

Ms Made said in the interview that her family had tried unsuccessfully to make her walk away from the marriage because of domestic violence.

“When the man kicked her on the chest, she fell down and he took her to the hospital but he did not even tell us,” Ms Made said, “It was her friend who lives in Ebonyi state that called her twin sister, because Osinachi has a twin sister, to ask, ‘did your sister tell you that Peter hit her on the chest? The sister then told her no.

“It was the hitting on the chest that killed her. My brother had to ask the doctor what killed her and the doctor said that there were clusters of blood on her chest.”

A few gospel singers who worked with Osinachi Nwachukwu also accused her husband of domestic violence.

Women must learn to walk away!

Russia/Ukraine Conflicts: Why The World Watch The Slaughter

Nuclear weapons are the most dangerous weapons on the planet. One can destroy a whole city, potentially killing millions, and jeopardizing the natural environment and lives of future generations through its long-term catastrophic effects.

Yet, there have been calls for the Biden administration to do more on the military front since Russian tanks and men poured into Ukraine, risking a nuclear war. Critics have called for a broader US involvement, including establishing a no-fly zone, providing fighter jets to Ukraine, and even preparing to deploy U.S. forces into battle. 

The reports of Russian crimes will put further pressure on the US to respond more forcefully. However, the case against US escalation is as strong as ever.

NATO's caution, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, is a major embarrassment. In a March rebuke to Germany's parliament, he referenced the Holocaust, saying, "Every year, politicians say, 'Never again.'" Now I know how useless these words are."

What's shocking is that, despite horrible visuals and heartbreaking anecdotes, Biden has refused to get more involved. The only thing worse than Vladimir Putin's indiscriminate savagery, he and most Washington leaders recognize, is the disastrous results of a nuclear assault. Biden's top job is to make sure that doesn't happen, and it should be.

It's simple to argue that the United States and its allies should have intervened when Adolf Hitler began his assault. Hitler, on the other hand, lacked apocalyptic weapons. Putin is one of them. "Thus far, the fundamental goal of our military system has been to win wars," observed military planner Bernard Brodie in 1946, a year after the United States dropped two atomic bombs on Japan. Its main goal from now on must be to keep them at bay."The United States and the Soviet Union became the worst of foes in the decades following World War II, plotting and struggling against one other in every corner of the globe. Both countries had sizable military forces. Both fought battles on the other side of the world. Their unrelenting rivalry, though, had obvious bounds.

In 1986, historian John Lewis Gaddis stated, "At no point during the long history of the Cold War have Soviet and American military troops engaged each other directly in continuous battles." What's to stop you? Because neither of them wanted to risk a conventional fight ending in Armageddon. Leaders start wars because they believe they will win. In a nuclear battle, however, there can be no winner.

The Soviet Union is no longer in existence. However, the regime that replaced it has shown everyone what it is capable of. Putin warned at the start of the invasion that any country that tried to stop him would face "consequences you have never seen in your whole history." He then stated that he had placed Russia's nuclear forces on high alert.

The location of his red line is unclear. During our fights against the North Koreans and the North Vietnamese during the Cold War, the Soviets sent weaponry and other assistance to them. During the Russian occupation, we did the same for the Afghans. So far, our help to Ukraine has followed the rules of the road.

Setting up a no-fly zone, on the other hand, would not work because American planes would be shooting down Russian planes. Sending jet fighters to Zelenskyy would be a grey area, but it would risk pushing Putin too far.

Maybe he's joking when he says he'll use nukes. But it's possible he isn't. Believing him and then being proven wrong would be disastrous. The repercussions of not believing him and being wrong, on the other hand, would be catastrophic.

The damage wreaked by Russia in Ukraine may appear so horrific that doing nothing to halt it seems like a moral crime. However, post-World War II history has taught us that occasionally unfathomable moral outrages must be endured.

During the Cold War, the Soviet Union's communist rulers enslaved half of Europe, smashing democratic movements wherever they arose. They mistreated their own citizens, incarcerating 14 million in forced labour camps. Rather than strive to reverse these abominable barbarisms and risk extinction, the West has no choice but to accept them.

Finding a method to stop the war through a negotiated settlement is the main priority here. This will unavoidably require the rest of the world to ratify some unlawful Russian gains. However, there is no viable alternative. When it comes to foreign policy, the choice is frequently between a bad one and a worse one.

The photographs of civilians slaughtered by Russian troops and dumped in the streets or buried in mass graves are heartbreaking. But, before we respond in kind, let's take a close look at another group of images: those from Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Nigeria Must Find Innovative Solutions in the Face of Rising Insecurity

By Yemi Olakitan

Dr Chinelo Megafu, a 2015 award-winning UNIPORT Medical school graduate who recently resigned from her job was scheduled to travel to the United States, according to reports but her life was wasted in the train attack, carried out by terrorists. There is an outpouring of grief and anger by Nigerians on social media over the death of Dr Chinelo Megafu, who was aboard the ill-fated train. Ms Megafu had tweeted during the attack that she had been shot in one of the first messages from victims that conveyed the gravity of their situation.  “I’m on the train. I have been shot. Please pray for me,” she had tweeted.

Michael Ajidahun, her colleague and friend, gave an update hours later that she did not survive the attack.

“Just woke up to sad news. My friend who was shot at the Abuja Kaduna train incident by terrorists had passed. She tweeted yesterday that we should pray for her. Sadly she didn’t make it. She was a trained medical doctor. Nigeria, why? I’m heartbroken,” said Ajidahun better known as ‘The Bearded Doctor’ on Twitter.

This recent attack by bandits on a train is a classic example of the failure of the Federal Government of Nigeria to provide adequate security while building infrastructure all over the country. This particular incident has proven beyond reasonable doubt that no matter the extent of Federal Government investment in infrastructure development in Nigeria, without commensurate and improved security architecture, it’s all a sham, failure is guaranteed!

Massive investments in infrastructure without a considerable overhaul of our security systems are a total waste of our national resources. If we build trains in the heavens, bandits and terrorists will burn them down, waste lives and resources.

Notable Nigerians have cried out on numerous occasions that the current security system in Nigeria is inadequate to cater for the security threats we now face as a people. We must reject the unnecessary waste of human lives and potential. It could have been avoided if we just put on our thinking caps, not moving on with business as usual. Today, it is Dr Chinelu Megafu, tomorrow, it can be anyone!

The perpetual waste of lives without consequence and the refusal on the part of our leaders to see that our current security system is obsolete and can no longer meet the demands of present-day realities is appalling, to say the least. This is an emergency. Nigerians are dying in their numbers. These are the reasons tribal leaders give for secessionist agitations. 

The Federal Government should immediately call for a National Security Summit and let local and international security experts proffer solutions to this countrywide tragedy and disgrace. Many have called for the decentralization of our policing system in Nigeria in the past. This call has continually fallen on deaf ears.

They have argued that State Governors will abuse state police but is it not better to deal with State Governors than to continue to shed the blood of innocent Nigerians and waste the lives of our people?

No Governor can be stronger than the federal police or the Nigerian Army. Erring State governors can be dealt with, according to the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Therefore, Nigeria should allow states who can afford State policing to go ahead and do it and abandon lame arguments and excuses against state policing systems. Security must be decentralized and urgently too. Security is too important to be left in the hands of the Federal Government alone. States and local governments must work together with the Federal Government to protect lives and properties. In fact, all hands must be on deck. We must explore the options of state police, community policing, and regional police.

Many have argued in favour of regional police, whichever options we choose. Nigeria must learn from international security architectures implemented by developed nations.  We cannot reinvent the bicycle. There is no problem Nigeria is facing that older nations have not faced before and triumphed over them. It is obvious that our current system no longer works. Therefore, we must learn from others.

A concerned Nigerian, Olajumoke Awosika wrote on social media, recently, ‘‘this government is a massive failure on security on all fronts.  This young lady, lost her life on the train yesterday. These are people adding value and contributing to our nation. They are wasted by useless low life illiterate terrorists and nothing is being done to curb them. When they manage to arrest some of them or when some of them surrender. They are not punished, they are compensated in the name of amnesty!  Soon they will succeed in bringing down planes, international flights will be cancelled and we will be left to deal with it.’’

Banditry is just one of Nigeria’s many security headaches. There is the problem of ritual murders which have now become almost a daily occurrence. Young people, as young as 17 or 18 have been reportedly found carrying out ritual murders to make quick money. They either murder their girlfriends, their mothers, friends or total strangers.

The murder of Bamishe Ayanwole in a Lagos State Government Bus, BRT is a classic example. Bamise, a fashion designer, was found dead on a Monday morning, nine days after she was declared missing.  She boarded a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) vehicle in which she was raped, her private part was cut and then she was murdered. The Lagos State Government suspended the BRT operations as a precaution after intelligence revealed “planned attacks” by persons yet to be identified.

The Gani Fawehinmi Park, Ojota, Lagos, was heavily guarded by armed security men – officers of the Nigeria Police Force, the Nigerian Army, and the Department of State Services (DSS) – over a proposed protest to demand justice by Nigerians for slain Bamise Ayanwole. sympathisers in their numbers also besieged Bamise’s residence to condole with the family. They carried placards with inscriptions, “We want Justice for Bamise”, “Do not sweep under the carpet, we want Justice.”

This is just one of such stories that daily filled the media space in Nigeria. Nigerians have been murdered in hotel rooms, a church, a train, a bus, on the streets. It seems as though nowhere is safe.

Since the Federal Government collapsed the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS operations due to the widespread Endsars protests, insecurity and criminal activities among Nigerian youths have hit an all-time high. It is as though, there is now, no one to checkmate criminality in our nation. Perhaps it is better to revisit the SARS operations, albeit in a more civilized manner as it seems that Nigerians have moved from fry pan to fire. SARS was cancelled as a result of police brutality but what Nigerians are experiencing now is ten times worse than police brutality.

Unemployment is one of the major causes of insecurity in Nigeria. According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the total number of people classified as unemployed increased from 17.6 million to 20.9 million between 2017 to 2018 and keeps increasing due to the increase in Nigeria’s population.

An idle hand is the devil’s workshop. A nation with such a huge population of young energetic people like Nigeria should provide enough opportunities for employment, engagement and amusement for the teeming population of Nigerians so that they can engage in productive endeavours so much that they have no time for immoral and evil acts.

The Federal Government should maximize the opportunities in the sports, arts and entertainment sectors, modern agriculture and technology sectors. The government should develop football tournaments, tennis, boxing etc., develop local leagues, invest in art galleries, music festivals, theatre, literature, film studios, trades carnivals, boxing, wrestling tournaments, technology competitions etc. These are the ways to engage the youths.

There could also be opportunities in the area of mechanized agriculture. How can young men from Northern Nigerians be moving cows from place to place in this century?  When cow industries can be established in such a way that massive exports are created and wealth given to the people. Is it not possible to establish cow industries and export milk to other countries? Is it not possible to produce modern cow feed so much so that Fulani people have enough feed for their cows and don’t need to trek from Kano to Lagos in search of feed for cows.

Nigeria must develop its intelligence. Our poor intelligence systems have left many high profile murders unsolved. Kidnappers now have a filled day. Despite attempts by the Muhammadu Buhari administration to curb the rising criminalities and killings across the country, the nation’s security apparatus appears to be overwhelmed with criminals having a field day killing, maiming and extorting their victims. The police, poorly funded and motivated, and the military, which is fighting a decade-long insurgency in the northeast, appears to be at the end of their wits on how to curtail the downward spiral in security. Swathes of the North-west have, virtually, been taken over by rampaging bandits who kidnap for ransom and kill victims who cannot pay for their freedom.

The North-central is not free from the deadly assaults by these bandits, and kidnap gangs who now operate freely in parts of Niger, Kogi and Nasarawa and are making inroads into the Federal Capital Territory. The northeast is yet to experience peace as Boko Haram insurgents are in a deadly battle for supremacy.

We must strengthen our intelligence institutions. Kidnapping has become a thriving industry in Nigeria. Little kids are no longer safe on our streets. The National Assembly must make laws to solve all these problems. 

Our youths are too jobless, too idle. No wonder we have developed a reputation as the number one country for internet scams in the world. We must develop and reinvent our security architecture while engaging our large youth populations meaningfully. 

The Government can take advantage of the gains in the Nigerian film industry. We can promote international partnerships and the sharing of film technology between Hollywood and Nollywood so that our films can compete globally. We have enormous talents, and extraordinary human capital but the lack of enabling environment is causing a mass exodus of Nigerian brains to the developed world.

We may argue that the film industry is a private endeavour but let us remember that had it not been for former President Goodluck Jonathan who provided the film industry fund, with which some cinema entrepreneurs were able to build cinemas across the country, Nollywood would have continued to suffer in the hands of piracy.

 Had it not been for the advent of Netflix, our film distribution networks will continue to be Isale Eko, Alaba and Oshodi based. Now, our movies have found greater audiences all over the world. This has helped our reputation as creative and innovative people. Therefore, the FG must push for international partnerships in film technology and support local filmmakers.

The same can be said for the music industry. Afro beats have pushed the name of Nigeria into the hearts of millions all over the world through the efforts of young, brilliant Nigerians and without government support.

As we speak, there is no known grant or funding for the music industry in Nigeria, despite the numerous awards and breakthroughs that our musicians have gained for Nigeria. We must support our young artists who, through dint of hard work, determination and resourcefulness have made it all possible.

Nigeria has the potential to become a superpower in the continent of Africa because of our population and resources. Only Nigeria has the potential. However, unless our leaders rise to the occasion, our nation may continue to wobble in the dreamland of lethargy.

Between Gun Violence and Banditry: Is America Safer than Nigeria?

Yemi Olakitan

Yemi Olakitan

The Governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo on July 6 declared a state disaster emergency in 18 counties due to gun violence in New York. Reports say that gun violence poses a serious threat to the health and quality of life of all residents of the state of New York

In an executive order, the Governor said that gun violence is reaching crisis levels in the state.

According to him, gun violence is up 48% in New York City, 22% in Albany, 88% in Buffalo and 95% in Rochester; and other places since January 2021. At least 50% of homicides and 55% of nonfatal shootings involve people associated with gangs or more loosely affiliated “street groups.”

 Gun violence has been described as the leading cause of premature death in the United States.  Nearly 10,000 people have been killed this year alone through gun violence in the US. In a study of 24 major cities, homicides increased by 24% in the first quarter of 2021 compared to the same time period in 2020 and by 49% from that period in 2019.        Homicides are up by 22 per cent in Los Angeles and 13percent in Washington DC in 2021. In fact, the year 2021 has been described as the most deadly year of gun violence in the last two decades. The United States Gun Violence Archive says there have been 296 mass shootings in America in 2021.

A mass shooting is defined as a shooting that results in the killings of 4 or more people. There have been incidents of mass shootings in schools, parties and other gatherings in the United States. The situation has become worrisome to policymakers and political leaders in the US.

President Biden recently announced new strategies to combat gun violence. It includes a "zero tolerance" policy for gun dealers who break Federal laws, deploying strike teams to cities to crack down on illegal gun trafficking, and encouraging communities to use Federal pandemic relief funds for policing and crime prevention.

The violence in the United States and Nigeria has compelled analysts to ponder on which country is safer between Nigeria and the United States. One is plagued by Gun violence while the other is plagued by insurgency.

Different groups in Nigeria resort to violence. The militant Islamist movement Boko Haram is violently active in northern Nigeria. Conflicts among ethnic groups, farmers, and herdsmen sometimes acquire violent dimensions.

Secessionist groups in eastern Nigeria also resort to violence. Kidnappings of school children, traditional rulers, raping, and killings are regular reports in nearly all parts of Nigeria.

An estimated 27,000 people, including 37 aid workers have been killed since the onset of the Boko Haram conflict in 2009, according to the United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA).

 

China is among key international actors including the United Nations, United States and the United Kingdom providing support for the Nigerian government’s northeast counter-insurgency measures.

Boko Haram killed at least 405 children and abducted at least 105 during 2018 and the group continued lethal attacks on civilians including suicide bombings and abductions. The splinter faction of the group known as the Islamic West Africa Province (ISWAP) overran dozens of army bases, killing dozens of soldiers since January.

Authorities continued to detain thousands of alleged Boko Haram members without trial in overcrowded military barracks in the northeast. A 2021 report from the Tony Blair Institute says the low level of education in North-Eastern Nigeria is responsible for the domination of Boko Haram in the region.

“Low literacy rates and education gaps served as tools and opportunities for recruitment. Boko Haram became adept at attracting and manipulating followers from low socioeconomic backgrounds, many of whom lacked a solid education,” the report revealed.

The Abuja Kaduna highway, a major route out of Abuja to the northwest of the country became notorious for bandits attacks and kidnappings. The Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu said in April that 1, 071 people were killed in criminal attacks and 685 kidnapped across the country in the first quarter of 2019 alone.

According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes, in the case of murders per a million people, The Federal Republic of Nigeria ranked 121.8, 3 times more than the United States of America. However, the United States ranked 88.8, 59 times more than Nigeria which ranked 127th in the case of Gun Crimes in both countries.

 In the case of homicidal crimes per 100,000 people, Nigeria ranked 31st, 3 times more than the United States which ranked 5.9.  In the matter of Drug use, Nigeria ranked 1st, 0.7 per cent, 23percent more than the United States which ranked 3rd, 0.57. The report also said that crime levels in Nigeria have increased 82.35 that is 47percent more than the United States which ranked 55.84.

In terms of residents who believe that crime rates have increased in the past 3 years, Nigeria ranked 27th, 11 per cent more than the United States which ranked 65.22 on 44th position.

  A look into the United Nations Report clearly shows that Nigeria is a more dangerous place to live than the United States despite the high levels of Gun violence there.

In a chat with Social crusader and blogger, Ayodele Ogunjobi, he opined that Nigeria security situation is different from that of the United States. According to him, Nigeria is in a state of war, particularly in the north.

Ogunjobi said it is unfair to compare the security situation in Nigeria with that of the US because Nigeria is at war and the US is not.  It is terrorism that makes Nigeria’s security situation looks so glooming.

Speaking, further, Ogunjobi said, Nigeria must embrace a decentralized police system. He said state governments and local governments must have the constitutional backing to operate their policing systems as long as they can afford it.  This will ensure police efficiency and ease of operations. This does not stop the Federal Police from operating. The parliament should work out the different jurisdictions of the various police so that there will be no conflicts between them. 

The United States, for example, operates both Federal and State police forces. The country has 75 federal law enforcement agencies such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI, which deal with interstate crime.  The FBI has some 20,000 plainclothes agents who usually concern themselves with major offences such as murder, kidnapping and robbery. It publishes a list of the ‘ten most wanted fugitives and provides state and local police forces with relevant information that can help them fight crimes in their domain.

According to reports, the FBI has had its role expanded to include ‘homeland security and there’s talk of merging or at least co-coordinating the activities of the FBI with those of the Central Intelligence Agency, CIA.

Each US state also has a reserve National Guard under the command of the State Government that can be called on to deal with civil unrest such as riots, as well as natural catastrophes, e.g. earthquakes, fires, floods and hurricanes. It appears that all these police forces have their jurisdiction and laws governing their operations in the United States.

A report by the United Nations recommends an approximate median of 300 police officers per 100,000 inhabitants. Put in another way, this is approximately 100 policemen to 30,000 inhabitants of any country. Nigeria’s 371,800.policemen to a population of about 200 million people have gone far below that recommendation; little wonder Nigeria has heavy casualties in the fight against terror and other criminal activities.

However, in another report by the center for Disease Control and Prevention, Gun violence statistics by states in the United States, in the year 2021 are alarming:

Alabama 22.2 1,076, Alaska 24.4, 179, Arizona, 15.1, 1,136, Arkansas, 19.3, 580, California, 7.2, 2,945, Colorado, 14.2, 846, Connecticut, 5.3, 190, Delaware, 9.9, 93, Florida, 12.7, 2,872, Georgia, 15.8, 1,695, Hawaii, 4.4, 62, Idaho, 14.2, 255, Illinois, 10.8, 1,367, Indiana, 14.1, 958, Iowa, 9.1, 294, Kansas, 13.7, 403, Kentucky, 14.9, 682, Louisiana, 22.1, 1,013, Maine, 11.5, 163, Maryland, 12.6, 757, Massachusetts, 3.4, 247, Michigan, 12.1, 1,220, Minnesota, 8.1, 465, Mississippi, 24.2, 710, Missouri, 20.6, 1,252, Montana, 19, 209, Nebraska,10.4, 205, Nevada, 15.3, 490, New Hampshire, 10.7, 156, New Jersey, 4.1, 368, New Mexico, 22.3, 471, New York, 3.9, 804, North Carolina, 13.1, 1,397, North Dakota, 12.4, 93, Ohio, 13.3, 1,578, Oklahoma, 18.6, 737, Oregon, 12.6, 566, Pennsylvania, 11.7, 1,541, Rhode Island, 4.6, 48, South Carolina, 19.91,012,South Dakota, 13.1, 113, Tennessee, 18.4, 1,270, Texas, 12.7, 3,683, Utah, 12.8, 394, Vermont, 9.3, 67, Virginia, 11.7, 1,025, Washington, 10.7, 842, West Virginia, 16.6, 300, Wisconsin, 10, 604, Wyoming, 22.3, 133.

There were 14,400 gun-related homicides in 2019. Killings involving a gun accounted for nearly three-quarters of all homicides in the US in that year.  That's a larger proportion of homicides than in Canada, Australia, England and Wales, and many other countries. Figures from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show there were a total of more than 38,300 deaths from guns in 2019 - of which more than 23,900 were suicides.

 

The National Rifle Association (NRA) campaigns against all forms of gun control in the US and argues that more guns make the country safer. It is among the most powerful special interest lobby groups in the US, with a substantial budget to influence members of Congress on gun policy.  These reports make it difficult to know which country is more dangerous or safer to live in, Nigeria or the United States.

HOW NEW MEDIA IS AFFECTING TRADITIONAL JOURNALISM IN NIGERIA

 

BY YEMI OLAKITAN

 Information technology is changing the face of media practice and journalism in the world today. Nigeria is not left behind. The increasing impacts of new media in the dissemination of information has given room to an increase in both professional and amateur journalism. Yemi Olakitan examines the pros and cons of this on Mass Communication practice.

Today, the media is not limited to the radio, television and print alone. The Internet has created whole new platforms for the dissemination of news and information within minutes. With the click of a button, news and information can be posted on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, a blog or a website and the world can become aware of this recent development instantaneously. This new media makes use of videos, audios, and pictures and can disseminate information faster than any newspaper or television house.

Things are no longer the same for traditional forms of media in the world and Nigeria since global attention is now on Internet reportage of news and events. All over the world, people want to see or read the news on the Internet. The Internet has consolidated itself as a very powerful platform that has changed the way the world communicates. No other communication medium has given a “Globalized” dimension to the world like the Internet.

It is the Universal source of information for millions of people, at home, at school, and work, and it is the most democratic of all the mass media. With a very low investment, anyone can have a web page on the Internet; almost anybody can reach a very large audience directly, fast and economically, no matter the size or location.

The upsurge in the use of the Internet has also given rise to new media platforms, which have become increasingly popular. Leading global news networks such as BBC and CNN now replay clips of a non-professional eyewitness account of events taken from either YouTube or Twitter. Today, a media organization without an online presence is a huge local champion.

The popularity of social networking sites among Nigerians, both young and old has made it necessary for media organizations to make their presence felt on the Internet or they may soon be wiped out by competing brands. It is not surprising that nearly all the major media houses in Nigeria have created flamboyant websites with social networking sites to complement them. Smarter media organizations are also making use of blogs, YouTube and many other tools to make their presence more pronounced. Today, it is possible to read an entire Nigerian newspaper online.

In some cases, Internet advertising revenue is competing favourably with traditional adverts placements. US Facebook guru, Joe Trippi, said there are two million Nigerians on Facebook and that number is increasing and this is out of the 400 million worldwide.

The Internet has given room to a new form of media freedom in information dissemination that has not been seen some few years ago. Nigerians can post information faster than an average journalist could send an article for production. The recent mass protests of the oil subsidy removal had many users of twitters sharing pictures of dead or dying protesters. Many Nigerians entered into meaningful discussions on the subjects of corruption, police brutality, comparing figures and statistics on Facebook and posting comments. The impacts of the new media have never been felt like this before.

News coverage of the demonstrations by traditional media has also been criticized. Many Nigerians covered the protests themselves through social media tools. Nigerians no longer rely on government-owned media such as the National Television Authority, NTA which often broadcasts content that favour the sitting government. Today, Nigerians post their videos on YouTube and inform friends on Facebook, Twitter or Skype. When armed robbers attacked a luxury bus about a year ago and passengers were made to lie on the highway and trucks ran over them. The police denied the incident. Days later, pictures of the horror were posted on YouTube for all to see.

Even, President Goodluck Jonathan has not speared the use of Facebook. A book, “My Friends and I,’’ chronicling numerous discussions on national issues, which the president had with Nigerians on Facebook, was published in 2011. The President was reported to have confessed that such discussions have often influenced some of the decisions he has taken on various national issues. Far from being a tool for mere social networking, Facebook and Twitter are increasingly competing with traditional media in the dissemination of news and information.

Although some Nigerian journalists still regard social networking sites as a place to make friends and meet people, many are using such sites for professional networking in the practice of journalism. In many countries of the world where press freedom is lacking new media has come to the rescue since it often cannot be silenced by draconian government decrees. Journalists have embraced blogging, preferring to upload their stories and pictures online.

Many have become their editor and sub-editor, creating a robust online presence that often attracts readers and advertisers alike. The need for deploying these tools for instantaneous news coverage has never been more urgent in Nigeria. Nigerians reporting corruption, insecurity, police brutality, and journalists can operate without fear using New Media. Global news reporting has been made easier with the use of new media tools since journalists network faster than ever before from one part of the world to another. It is easier for journalists to get information, quotes and interviews through Twitter, Facebook or Skype.  Although some journalists still acquire camera and digital voice recorders, mobile phones are been used for professional news reporting and coverage.

However, social media can spread false information about the government and individuals as well. False Messages can circulate; often feeding a rumour that can be completely untrue. Hackers have been reported to hack government websites, including the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. (EFCC) Social media will continue to play a major role in news and discussions, despite low incomes, as Nigeria has the continent’s top mobile phone market and the largest online audience in Africa.

Why Prostitution Should Be Decriminalised in Nigeria

 

Yemi Olakitan

Prostitution is common practice in Nigeria, especially in the major cities. A naïve young man can easily be lured by these women of easy virtues who stand on the red zones of Lagos looking for clients to patronize them. This is not to say that prostitutes target young men alone. Older, married men also patronize prostitutes in Nigeria. There is no age or status barrier. Clients come from the poor, the low, the high and the mighty.

Investigations by this journalist revealed that the practice of sex work is so commonplace in Nigeria that nearly every community has a brothel, particularly in Lagos and Abuja. Hundreds of beautiful young women can be found in the clubs and brothels selling sex.

This is an irony because nearly everybody condemns prostitution in Nigeria. The imams, the pastors, the lecturers, the doctors, the lawyers, all condemn sex workers, yet there is a high population of prostitutes in the country.

We live in a very religious country. Nigeria has some of the largest churches in the world, the synagogue Church of all Nations, Living Faith Church, and The Redeemed Christian Church of God, with populations hitting five million in one church alone. The Muslims may not have very large mosques but their population is closely following the Christian population as well.

 If Nigeria has a very large population of religious people, the question to ask is: who are the people patronizing the prostitutes? If Nigeria has very religious people who lay claim to high moral standards, who are the clients of the equally large population of sex workers?

In the words of Ayo Ogunjobi, social commentator and blogger, Nigeria must stop the hypocrisy. The government must recognize that some things are with us and deal with them accordingly so that our brothels will not be a haven for much more heinous crimes. It is an irony that a country that has anti-prostitution laws should have such high numbers of sex workers.

In Nigeria, Prostitution began to boom in the early 1980s when street prostitution become a common sight on Allen Avenue, Ikeja, Oshodi and later Kuramo Beach in Lagos. It started slowly after Nigeria's independence in 1960.

The common description of prostitution as the oldest profession in the world is really an understatement in the most populous black nation in the world.

Tina, who claimed to be a member of the Association of Nigerian sex workers says the association has about, 1,000,000 members working in different parts of the country but not all prostitutes working in Nigeria are registered. 

Another question is why? Why do young, beautiful and promising Nigerian women go into prostitution? The first answer is poverty. There is no social welfare program in the country.  The result is that poor women struggle to provide for themselves. Many women, without an education or any other means of livelihood except their bodies, strive on the streets of Lagos to survive.

We can also find an answer to this question in peer pressure and extreme poverty. ''My friends are all doing it why shouldn't I? ‘In a chat with Aisha from Benin on why she is practising prostitution, she explained,

 ‘’ I have no one to take care of me except my mother who is living in the village. Since my father died, we have been alone. If I don't do that who will take care of me?''

Aisha said she has a daughter and she pays her school fee from the proceeds of prostitution. According to her, she plans to set up a small business once she makes enough money from sex work.

The fact remains that prostitutes are very poor in Nigeria. Many are led into the profession as a result of extreme poverty. The money many of them make does not really deliver them from the chains of lack. They work, they earn, and they spend it. Most of it is on riotous living because of bad company. Alcohol and marijuana are easy to come by on the streets. 

 However, it has also been argued that there are those who choose to practice prostitution, not because they are poor but because they love the profession but this is rare.

 Investigations have confirmed that many of these young women are in the sex trade because of poverty and circumstances beyond their control.  It is very difficult to find a financially comfortable young woman who still wants to sell her body. 

Most of them are from very poor backgrounds, largely uneducated women or half-educated; who could not continue their education due to a lack of support from the government or known relatives. 

There are also those who are shrewd enough, not to spend their earnings from sex work on frivolous things but on things of value such as education, or a small business.

A young woman named, precious will fall into this category, she agreed that economic factors pushed her into sex work. According to her, she later discovered that she loves sex and enjoyed satisfying her clients especially when good money is involved. The question was posed whether she will abandon the profession if offered a better job. She said, she would. 

Precious is a classic example of the flawed argument that some women willingly go into sex work not necessarily because of poverty as she clearly stated that if given a lucrative job she will take the job. 

Comfort, a full-time prostitute from the Igbo tribe in Eastern Nigeria, used the proceeds from sex work to get an education. Now, she holds a Bachelor's degree in Communications Studies. However, Comfort continues to work in the sex industry. When asked why? She said, she has not got another job yet but as soon as she has an alternative job, she will abandon the sex work.

As we can see from the scenario of Comfort, she wanted an education but she does not have the money to pay for tuition, so she became a sex worker.

 Patience from Edo state worked as a full-time sex worker in Lagos for many years. She set up a hairdressing salon from her savings. In an interview with the writer, she said, she had trained as a hairdresser in Benin but did not have the money to set herself up in business. She decided to come to Lagos to do prostitution in order to save up for her dream business.

Today, she has opened a shop and runs a successful hairdressing salon. When asked if she still wants to do sex work. She said, no. According to her, she wanted to get married and have children.

Another young woman, named Amara who spoke to the writer on the subject said she went into prostitution when her marriage ended. She said, her husband used to abandon her with three children.

 ‘’ He used to lodge in a hotel behind our home with an older woman for months. He will not care for me and our children. Things became so bad and I did not want to steal. I turned to the only option available to me which is prostitution.  I have many clients including a Chinese man. This Chinese is a gentleman, he took me to the hospital for various tests; HIV, COVID 19, Genotype, etc. He has been taking care of me and I give him sexual services. We are both happy. He told me he has a family in China. He just wanted a woman in Nigeria to make him happy.’’

In 1987, the Women's Center in Nigeria wrote a press release about the harassment, assault and rape of prostitutes by law enforcement members. Here is another problem Prostitutes face in Nigeria. Law enforcement officers regularly harass them for sex and money. These policemen take advantage of the law.  

Prostitution is illegal in Nigeria.  In all Northern States that practice the Islamic penal code, it is illegal. 

In Southern Nigeria, the activities of pimps or madams, underage prostitution and the operation or ownership of brothels are penalized under sections 223, 224, and 225 of the Nigerian Criminal Code. 

However, this is only in the books not in practice. Prostitution is widely practised in both northern and southern Nigeria. Brothels can be found in nearly all communities in Nigeria. Prostitution seems to have become an accepted practice in our country. As a result, policemen regularly exploit sex workers, arrest them, and then demand a bribe. Most of the time, these bribes may be in cash or in kind.

The illegality of prostitution is really a problem in the sense that, unscrupulous people take advantage of it. The Federal Government should rather legalize prostitution if it cannot enforce its laws. In any case, it is difficult to eradicate prostitution. Who could stop two consenting adults who have decided to have sex? Lock them up in a dungeon, they will do it. What is the point of law in the books that have no teeth in practice?

Prostitution should be legalized, monitored and regulated. It is nearly impossible to eradicate prostitution. Those who want to have sex with a sex worker will always find a way and the sex worker will always find the clients. We should be concerned about the hidden crimes beyond prostitution. 

This is the reason why it is called the oldest profession in the world. The government should rather regulate it in order to eradicate the more severe crimes of child prostitution, human trafficking, rape and extortion by law enforcement officers, organ harvesting, armed robbery and so on.

A sex worker who is robbed by a client cannot report the offence. Why should she report when she can be arrested and exploited by policemen? When a drug lord hides in a brothel, who will report to the police? 

These things are all hidden in prostitution. It will be easier for them to tackle these things when prostitution is legalized so that prostitutes can cooperate with the government in order to expose the criminals hidden among them.

Human trafficking and other offences hidden in prostitution will easily be reported by the sex workers if they are free to work with the police without fear of harassment.

Another big problem is transnational commercial sex work which started during British colonial West Africa. It began to grow into a transcontinental business in the 1980s. Starting in the mid-1980s, the trafficking of Nigerian women to European countries such as Italy began to gain attraction, according to reports.

Young women are usually lured into transnational sex workers by very wealthy individuals who operate variously criminal activities including organ harvesting. The illegality and criminalisation of prostitutes who are usually victims of circumstances only make matters worst. 

Prostitutes actually need help from the law enforcement agents and the Federal Government and not to be hounded. 

In many of the cases, there were examples of coercion.  For example, a trafficked person is asked to swear an oath to a juju priest. Some personal items such as bodily fluids are taken by the priests for keeping or used to administer the oath and seal the agreement. This keeps the victim in extreme phobia and mental bondage. In addition to the fact that prostitution is illegal in Nigeria.

 When the women reach the foreign country of the destination they are immediately indebted to the trafficker for transport and lodging fees and will have to be paid off before they are freed, if ever. The US Department of State Office dedicated to Monitoring and Combating Trafficking in Persons ranks Nigeria as a 'Tier 2 Watch List country.

The illegal status of prostitution only sweeps the activities of the sex industry under the carpet as we have seen in Nigeria. The way forward is that government must show interest in sex work in Nigeria and protect its citizens.

They should show an active interest in the sex workers so as to be able to cooperate with them to fish out human traffickers, drug traffickers, armed robbers, ritual killers and paedophiles etc. This is because brothels are the hidden places of various criminals since prostitutes cannot report them for fear of harassment. 

The government can also provide counselling resources and rehabilitation programs for those who are in the sex business by circumstances and not by choice.

There are many young women in the trade who want to get out of the profession but are trapped by circumstances beyond their control. Government can offer scholarships to those who want to go to school but do not have the means. They can provide access to health care, thereby preventing the spread of infectious diseases.

Only by decriminalizing prostitution can government do all these and many more. They can also encourage social workers to operate among prostitutes. The Nigerian government must realize that prostitutes are human beings, they are not from the moon.

 

 

Full Text of Bishop Mathew Kukah's Christmas Message

Being the 2020 Christmas Message to Nigerians by the Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto, Matthew Hassan Kukah.

1: Another Christmas with Dark Clouds of Death:

Let me paraphrase the holy prophet Isaiah who said: “For Jerusalem (Nigeria’s sake), I will not be silent until her vindication shines forth like the dawn…..No more shall people call you forsaken, or your land desolate, but you shall be called my delight and your land espoused.” (Is. 62:1,4).

Against the backdrop of our endless woes, ours has become a nation wrapped in desolation. The prospects of a failed state stare us in the face: endless bloodletting, a collapsing economy, social anomie, domestic and community violence, kidnappings, armed robberies etc. Ours has become a house of horror with fear stalking our homes, highways, cities, hamlets and entire communities. The middle grounds of optimism have continued to shift and many genuinely ask, what have we done to the gods? Does Nigeria have a future? Where can we find hope? Like the Psalmist, we ask; from where shall come to our help? (Ps.121:1).

Whatever temptations to despair, we cannot give up. When the Psalmist asked where help shall come from, he answered that it will come from the Lord. Therefore, like Zachariah, the father of John the Baptist, we Priests must stand before the mercy seat of God and plead the cause of our great country (Lk. 1:8). Like Abraham, we must plead for the Lord to save our nation because we have more than ten righteous men (Gen. 18: 16ff). Like Moses, we believe that as long as our hands are held up in prayer, the Lord will be on our side ( Ex. 17:11). These are trying but life-changing moments in the history of our nation. Politics and Economics alone will not resolve our problems. There are enough hate and bitterness to go around. We need to pause, reflect, pray, be honest and courageous in facing tomorrow.

Yes, our dreams have been aborted. Yes, our commonwealth has been stolen. Yes, our cancer of corruption has metastasized. Yes, we have been guilty of patricide, fratricide and attempted even suicide. Yes, we are hungry, angry, thirsty and starving. Yet, we stand firmly with the unshaken belief that no matter the temptations, the world has known worst times. These may be the worst of times, but for men and women of faith, they could be the best of times. We must stand firm and resolute because of our redeemer liveth (Job 19:25).

2: Annus Mirabilis or Annus Horribilis?

The roads to the graveyards are busier than those to the farms. Amidst the wails and laments, I hear the congregants saying; the world is coming to an end, it has never been so bad. Yes, people are dying, but they are not dying more now than they did in recent years. It is the social media and its connectivity that has given us a sense of greater urgency and added to our seeming despair with the way things are. Social media is value-neutral. It depends on what we make of it. Its instantaneous impact is oftentimes dizzyingly traumatic, but the other benefits more than compensate. In a way, the choices we make will help us decide whether this year is our annus mirabilis or annus horribilis.

When Isaac Newton, at the age of 23, made the spectacular discoveries in the areas of Calculus, Motion, Optics, and Gravitation, the year of those discoveries, 1666, was referred to as, annus mirabilis, the year of joy. On the other hand, in 1992, when the marriages of three of her children collapsed, Queen Elizabeth in her Christmas address referred to that year as her annus horribilis, the year of horror. As such, notwithstanding all the earth-shaking impact of the Covid-19, our own individual, communal and national tragedies, it is not just a choice between annus mirabilis an annus horribilis. At various levels, there have been grey areas of hope, flickers of light, achievement and so on. It to these flickers of hope that we must cling tenaciously. For our son, Anthony Joshua, the loss of his title to Andy Ruis on June 1, 2019, after 25 fights without a loss, that year was his annus horribilis. When he pummeled Kubrat Pulev, this year became his annus mirabilis. Things change and, joy or sorrow, we must know that nothing lasts forever. What matters is how we handle failure.

3: Another Christmas in Cloud of Doom:

Not unexpectedly, this Christmas is again coming against a backdrop of so much pain, sorrow and uncertainty in our land. We all seem to have become sedated and inured to pain. Tragedy has been standing as our gatekeeper. For over ten years now, at almost each Christmas, a dark pall of horror, sorrow and death has consistently hung in our horizon threatening to eclipse the promises of the joy of Christmas. Recall the bombing of St. Theresa’s Catholic Church, Madalla on Christmas day in 2011. In the wake of the Christmas day bombing, I issued a statement titled, An Appeal to Nigerians. In the statement which enjoyed a wide circulation, I stated: All of this should cause us to pause and ponder about the nature of the force of evil that is in our midst and appreciate the fact that contrary to popular thinking, we are not faced with a crisis or conflict between Christians and Muslims. Rather, like the friends of Job, we need to humbly appreciate the limits of our human understanding. Terror is a product of hate, but while hate tries to divide us, terror and death should pull us together.

4: Is Government in Suspended Animation?:

As our country drifts almost rudderless, we seem like people travelling without maps, without destination and with neither Captain nor Crew. Citizens have nowhere to turn to. After he assumed power, a delegation of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference had an audience with President Buhari. In the course of our discussion, the President shared with us his frustration over the state of decay and rut that he had met. In frustration, I vividly recalled him saying that, from the decay and neglect, it seemed as if preceding governments had been doing nothing but just eating and going to the toilet! Looking back, one might conclude that those were happy times because at least there was food to eat and people could go to the toilet. Now, a journey to the toilet is considered by the poor an extra luxury. Our country’s inability to feed itself is one of the most dangerous signs of state failure and a trigger to violence.

5: Breaking the Ice: From Chibok through Dapchi to Kankara:

The sleepy town of Kankara, just 130 kilometres outside Katsina, like Chibok and Dapchi before it, has leapt into prominence not because they now have potable water, electricity or any dramatic improvement in the quality of their lives. Rather, it is because of large footprints of the evil men who have passed through their terrain. As always, we were unsure of how many children were missing: 80, 820, 800, 500, 520, 333, 320, no one knew. The numbers kept changing between the government and Boko Haram. The story of Chibok and Dapchi was for some time, a metaphor that exposed the vulnerability of the girl child. Kankara has added to the mix and now we have to face the mortal dangers of the Nigerian child in northern Nigeria. The Almajiri is the poster child of the horrible and inhuman conditions of the northern child. It is a best-kept secret that the region refuses to confront but it has now exposed its underbelly. Now, what next for the children of the north? In another ten or twenty years, these children will be leaders in their communities. What will they remember and how will they remember? Their fate and future are a dream deferred, a nightmare that will be ignited by the fire next time.

We thank God that the children have been returned safely. This is the easy part. The challenge now is how to deal with the scars inflicted by a derelict nation which is still unable or unwilling to protect its citizens. Yes, we commend the federal and state governments for the rescue operation. The larger issues now are whether the federal government understands the evil web of intrigues into which Boko Haram has tied it. Will the federal government continue to reward and fund Boko Haram by playing its game? How long can this circle of deceit last forgiven that every kidnap merely strengthens their arsenal? The men of darkness have shown a far greater capacity to shock and awe a forlorn nation by constantly blindsiding us all. When will it all end?

6: A Nation in Search of Vindication:

This government owes the nation an explanation as to where it is headed as we seem to journey into darkness. The spilling of this blood must be related to a more sinister plot that is beyond our comprehension. Are we going to remain hogtied by these evil men or are they gradually becoming part of a larger plot to seal the fate of our country?

President Buhari deliberately sacrificed the dreams of those who voted for him to what seemed like a programme to stratify and institutionalise northern hegemony by reducing others in public life to second class status. He has pursued this self-defeating and alienating policy at the expense of greater national cohesion. Every honest Nigerian knows that there is no way any non-Northern Muslim President could have done a fraction of what President Buhari has done by his nepotism and gotten away with it. There would have been a military coup a long time ago or we would have been at war. The President may have concluded that Christians will do nothing and will live with these actions. He may be right and we Christians cannot feel sorry that we have no pool of violence to draw from or threaten our country. However, God does not sleep. We can see from the inexplicable dilemma of his North.

7: Nepotism and the Worship of False Gods:

Curiously, President Buhari’s partisanship and commitment to reinforcing the foundations of northern hegemony have had the opposite consequences. For a long time, beyond the pall of politics, very prominent northerners with a conscience have raised the red flag, pointing out the consequences of President Buhari’s nepotism on national cohesion and trust. With time, as hunger, poverty, insecurity engulfed the north, the President’s own supporters began to despair and lament about the state of their collective degradation. Was this not supposed to be their song? The north that the President sought to privilege has become a cauldron of pain and a valley of dry bones. Today, the north itself is crying the most and why not? No one has suffered as much as they have and continue to. The helplessness is palpable and the logic is incomprehensible.

One Northern Imam after the other has posted videos of lamentation on the social media asking why, with all the cards of power in the hands of northern Muslims, everything is bursting in the seams. How come our region has become a cesspool of blood and death? Why did President Buhari hand over a majority of the plum jobs to Northern Muslims? Was it for efficacy and efficiency? What was the logic? President Buhari must pause and turn around because his policy of nepotism has been rejected by the gods.

During the Endsars Protests, the north pretended that it was ensconced from the pain that was driving the protests and that they had nothing to complain about. The northern elites claimed that the protests were part of a plot by Christians to overthrow a northern, Muslim government. Their sentiments false, but understandable. However, it turned out to be the lull before the storm. The dam soon broke as the bandits tightened their grip on the region as the spiral of kidnappings, abductions and killings of innocent citizens intensified.

The North spurn into denouement: the idea of a united north seems to have ended. The Northern Governors’ Forum has split into the three zones. With the killings, kidnappings and abductions of Emirs and other traditional rulers in the north, the signals have gone out that no one is safe and nothing is sacred. In the wake of the Endsars protests, the traditional rulers across the country assembled to express solidarity with the President. Then it all changed. The Emir of Katsina, the President’s home state, only recently said; We cannot continue to live like animals. I have not seen this type of country. His Eminence, the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar said that the north has now become the worst part of the entire country. The Senate whose leadership is almost totally dominated by Northern Muslims has raised alarm. The Northern Elders’ Forum has called on the President to resign. Has the politics of nepotism run its course? Perhaps, the spirit of Christmas should offer us an answer.

8: A People that Walked in Darkness has Seen a Great Light.

The rut and decay in our country today is evidence of a people who have not yet seen the light. The experience of northern Nigeria is evidence that nepotism is a counterfeit currency. The nation must therefore now pull together. It is not enough to blame the military. After all, they neither run the economy or the bureaucracy. It is not enough to blame even the political class or even the President alone. We found our way here by the choices we have made as a nation over time.

Indeed, the colonialists claimed that they were bringing light to a dark continent. In a way, despite the cost, we could see ingredients of their light; good education, running water, relatively good roads, security, among others. We finally accepted Democracy as the platform for actualizing these. However, today, there is evidence that we have literally returned to the cave, those times when life was brutish, nasty and short. Each and every one of us has contributed to the darkness of our nation. The light of Christ which we all received at baptism calls on us to act in the mind of Christ. To be a follower of Christ is to be in his footsteps. This moment calls on us as Christians to celebrate the simplicity of Christ represented in Christmas. Joy to the world, the Lord has come, the song says. Jesus has offered us a roadmap. We are challenged to bring light into the darkness of our society.

Darkness has its own logic. St Paul reminds us without Chris, our lives are characterised by; immorality, filthy and indecent actions, worship of idols and witchcraft. People become enemies and they fight, they become jealous, angry, and ambitious. They separate into parties and groups, they are envious, get drunk and have orgies (Gal. 5: 19-21). When it is dark, we cannot see our way and we stumble. Nigeria has stumbled so much. It is time for us to turn on the light of the torch. Each of us can make a change.

9: Wailers and Redeemers:

Finally, today, amidst the pains and the trials, we can say with the Psalmist: Our tears have become our bread (Ps. 43:2). We have no reason to doubt that at the fulfilment of time, in His own time, the Lord will dispense justice to our nation. It will come as day follows light.

Our brother Femi Adesina, a Pastor of the Four Square Gospel Church was right when he referred to those who were calling attention to our situation as Wailers. The wailing started quite early in the day. To the herdsmen across Nigeria whose cattle have been lost to rustlers, bandits, or lightening, the Prophet Zechariah said: There is a sound of a shepherd’s wail for their glory has been ruined (Zech 11:3). To the thousands of widows left to mourn their husbands or children across our country, the Prophet Jeremiah is saying; Send for the wailing women, that they may come! Let them make haste and take up a wailing for us, that our eyes may shed tears And our eyelids flow with water (Jer. 9: 17). For our hapless nation overrun by bandits? Prophet Jeremiah still says; A voice is heard in Ramah, mourning and great weeping, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted because they are no more (Jer. 31:15).

So, Pastor Adesina was right. On the sad situation in Nigeria, the United Nations has wailed. The Pope has wailed. Cardinals, Archbishops, Bishops, Priests, Pastors have wailed. Emirs have wailed. Politicians have wailed. The Sultan has wailed. Surely, it is time for the Lord to hear the wailer as they have sung their redemption songs. With St. Paul, I say: The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over the day is almost here, so let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armour of light. (Rom. 13:11-12). Let us unite and seek the Lord in sincerity because the Lord will vindicate the righteous.

Happy Christmas to you all.