the News

By Adebayo Ahmed

What is it that will change the giant of Africa into the super giant that she really is? What is it that will transform a developing country into an economic superpower? What is it that will modify the largest black nation into a colossus among nations? In the heart of the black continent lies a potentially great country Read the rest of this entry »

Towards a more perfect union

by Barack Obama

Being Senator Barack Obama’s speech delivered on race in Philadelphia, as provided by his presidential campaign.

“WE the people, in order to form a more perfect union.”

Two hundred and twenty one years ago, in a hall that still stands across the street, a group of men gathered and, with these simple words, launched America’s improbable experiment in democracy. Farmers and scholars; statesmen and patriots who had traveled across an ocean to escape tyranny and persecution finally made real their declaration of independence at a Philadelphia convention that lasted through the spring of 1787.

The document they produced was eventually signed but ultimately unfinished. It was stained by this nation’s original sin of slavery, a question that divided the colonies and brought the convention to a stalemate until the founders chose to allow the slave trade to continue for at least twenty more years, and to leave any final resolution to future generations.

Of course, the answer to the slavery question was already embedded within our Constitution Read the rest of this entry »

Sharia and Human Rights in Nigeria

By Leo Igwe

On October 9, a court in Kaduna-Northern Nigeria heard a case brought against Shehu Sani- a well-known human rights activist, social critic and author.
Mr. Sani-a practicing Muslim- was sued by a group called Concerned Sharia Forum over a play- Phantom Crescent- he wrote exposing the abuses and double standards by those implementing Sharia law in 12 states in Northern Nigeria.
Northern Nigeria is predominantly Muslim but has a sizeable Christian population including those from the South who reside there. The court has ordered Mr. Sani to cancel a planned performance of the play and to stop printing and distributing copies of the play. This court case has a lot of implications for human rights, democracy and civilization in Nigeria. It is the first time such a case is brought against a Muslim who is critical of this anachronistic legal system since sharia was imposed on Islamic majority States some years ago. This court case is coming up at a time Islamic fundamentalism is on the rise in Nigeria-and around the world -with Sharia as one of its most deadly and oppressive weapons.

Allegory of the Cave Replayed

Shehu Sani said he wants to use the play to enlighten the local population on how Sharia is being used to oppress them. And practically speaking, this is a tall order, which is likely get him into trouble with the Islamic theocrats and jihadists who do not tolerate any form of ‘enlightenment’ that is critical of Islam. Again educationally, the Islamic majority States are the most backward in Nigeria. This is because the only forms of education most people are expose to is Quranic recitation and indoctrination, which numbs and dumbs their minds making them impervious to critical thinking especially in matters concerning Islamic creeds and traditions. Quranic indoctrination has imprisoned and corrupted the minds and conscience of the local islamic population, making them easy tools for manipulation and exploitation by Islamic Jihadists and theocrats. Unfortunately most Muslims in Northern Nigeria are in the dark as to how Islam has been used to oppress, exploit and tyrannize over their lives. And a few of them who have realized the unjust nature of the system are too afraid to speak out against it.
Hence the task of enlightenment in Northern Nigeria is a dangerous undertaking because most Muslims cannot reason outside Quran and Islam. They take Islamic darkness as light, and violently oppose any form of enlightenment outside Islam, opposed to Islam or critical of Islam.
Muslims in Northern Nigeria are living in an Islamic Cave manned, managed and guarded by the armies and bigots of Allah. And as in Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, Shehu Sani in like one who was once in the cave, and who went outside, saw the light, and has come back to enlighten his people. And this case brought against him by Sharia proponents is like a resistance staged against him and his enlightenment agenda by lieutenants guarding the cave of Islamic ignorance, fanaticism and foolery in Northen Nigeria.
Read the rest of this entry »

by Marco Simons

A UNITED States (U.S.) District Court yesterday rejected Chevron Corporation’s final bid to avoid prosecution over alleged involvement in brutal attacks on Nigerian villagers.
Nine Nigerian plaintiffs are suing Chevron in a federal court in San Francisco for deaths and other abuses in two incidents in 1998 and 1999, in which the Nigerian military and Police, paid by Chevron and using Chevron helicopters and boats, shot and tortured protestors and destroyed two villages allegedly associated with opposition to Chevron’s oil activities in the desperately poor Niger Delta.
The plaintiffs assert claims ranging from torture to wrongful death.
The Judge, Susan Illston, found “evidence that CNL (Chevron Nigeria Limited) personnel were directly involved in the attacks; CNL transported the GSF (Nigerian government security forces), CNL paid the GSF; and CNL knew that GSF were prone to use excessive force,” concluding that the evidence would allow a jury to find not only that Chevron knew the attacks would happen and assisted in them, but also that it actually agreed to the military’s plan.
“We’re pleased that our clients will finally get justice for Chevron’s crimes,” said plaintiffs’ counsel, Theresa Traber, partner at Traber & Voorhees. Read the rest of this entry »

BY FELIX ABUGU

For 20 years, she lived in America, 10 of them as a single parent who was abandoned with her three kids. Last month, she decided to visit home with her daughter and two sons, who were all coming to their fatherland for the first time in their lives. Barely 24 hours later, she was murdered in her father’s house, in rather very troubling circumstances. Was it a case of premeditated murder or armed robbery?
“MY mom is dead. My hard working, loving and caring mother has died. I don’t want this to be true but it is…She suffered a horrible death; she didn’t deserve to die that way.
“My mom hadn’t been back to her country in over 19 years. She was finally able to go, and took my brothers and I with her (it was our first time ever being here).
“Every day, she would talk about Nigeria; she would always tell us about Nigeria. She just wanted to visit her family that she hadn’t seen in so long and show us her country. She bought so many gifts for her family and had been preparing for this trip for a while.
“We arrived at our family’s home (our grand parents’ home in Ihiala, Anambra State ) at almost 12 midnight. On June 3, 2007, just the next day of our arrival, this terrible thing happened…” Read the rest of this entry »

Leo Igwe

Recently President Musa Yar ‘Adua said he would give serious consideration to adopting compulsory religious education in schools. He stated this when a delegation of the Nigerian Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs led by the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar 111 including the Shehu of Borno, Alhaji Mohammed El Kanemi and representatives of the Emirs of Kano, Katsina, Zaria and the Secretary General of the Council Lateef Adegbite paid him a courtesy visit at the state house. The idea of making religious education compulsory was actually proposed by the Sultan who said it would facilitate “moral regeneration’ in the country and enhance the fight against corruption.
In this piece, I will state why I think this proposal is unhealthy and potentially dangerous for Nigeria . I will also outline briefly what I think is the way out in terms of tackling the moral decay in the society.

Personally, I see no reason why religious instruction should be made mandatory Read the rest of this entry »

Leo Igwe

Any one who says that Islam stands for peace should take a critical look at the recent killing of a schoolteacher by Muslim pupils in Northern Nigeria
On March 21 Mrs. Oluwatoyin Oluwaseesin was attacked and murdered in cold blood by students of Government Day Secondary School Gandu in Gombe State for allegedly desecrating the Koran.
On this fateful day, Mrs Oluwaseesin was assigned to invigilate students writing an examination on Islamic Religious Studies. But in the course of that, she noticed that one of the students came into the Hall with her school bag. She took it from her and put it away. Some reports said she dumped the bag on the floor. Whatever the case, the teacher’s action was followed by chanting of Allah Akbar-God is Great-by the students who said the bag contained a Koran. They accused her of desecrating it.
First of all they set her car ablaze. And later they seized her, stripped her naked, stabbed her to death and burnt her corpse. They later dumped the remains at the back of her burning car.
The students went on to raze down three classes, the school’s administrative block, library, and the clinic. They also attacked and injured the school principal who tried to shield the woman during the rampage. As often the case whenever there is a religious uprising in Northern Nigeria, the state government has set up a panel of inquiry to look into the matter. And Mrs. Oluwaseesin has since been buried in her hometown- Abeokuta……… Read the rest of this entry »

Leo Igwe

The Osu caste system is an obnoxious practice among the Igbos -in Nigeria-which has refused to go away despite the impact of Christianity, modern education and civilization, and the human rights culture. In this piece, I will argue that the Osu discrimination is an outdated tradition with no basis for its continued practice and observance in the contemporary Igbo society.
Traditionally, there are two classes of people in Igboland – the Nwadiala and the Osu. The Nwadiala literally meaning ‘sons of the soil’ are the freeborn. They are the masters. While the Osu are the slaves, the strangers, the outcasts and the untouchables…….. Read the rest of this entry »

By Leo Igwe
THE Enlightenment stands for the intellectual trends in 18th Century Europe that espoused the use of reason and science as a universal method for obtaining knowledge and solving human problems. The Enlightenment writers argued that the light of reason and science could free humanity from the darkness of ignorance, the burden of false beliefs, and the destructive influence of prejudices and superstition. They believed in liberty, equality, secular society, democracy and in the potential of education, science and technology transforming the human condition - reducing poverty, misery and diseases………. Read the rest of this entry »

Some memories never fade. And one that always leaves a bitter taste in my mouth is an encounter at the hands of my own people. I don’t know why it stuck, I had promised myself I would forget, but then I guess there are certain memories that simply wont go away.
It was the day my sisters’ wedding was called off. Not because of any shortcomings on her part, God knows she would make any man proud, rather that was the day her suitors told us that she or rather we were a little less human than they could bear. That we were not fit to be addressed or treated with respect and dignity that even the most primitive tribes affords its people. It was the day we were branded Osu- outcastes.
Such a despicable word I still cringe and the mere sound of it or of what the word connotes.
But then again I am amazed at my people. At the hypocrites who all the while associated us with such a barbaric custom but still besieged our house in the States to ask dad for one favour or the other. Or does this culture only exist at home?
I am amazed that people so blessed and who have fought so hard to exist can be their own greatest enemies. People who had produced great minds like the Azikiwe’s, Achebe’s? Is it not a folly that while they were fighting abroad for a united Nigeria, they failed to achieve the basics- A United Ibo Nation?
Anyway I guess that is a feat for another time and another generation as apparently ours has failed again to arrest this culture, a culture that breeds hate. One thing is certain though, when I do find my Mr. Right, he can be anything but Ibo!!!!!!!!!! Read the rest of this entry »