“Senate President's attack on Yoruba governors By Lasisi Olagunju” and the comments in that thread plus the latest contentious posting “The Fulani Burden in Governor Bala Mohammed’s Discourse By Prof Zacharys Anger Gundu” makes for very sad reading. I say contentious, the first sentence of the long diatribe is itself contentious, invites controversy, denial, rejection as incorrect some of what is being said, the embattled Bauchi Governor being tarred and feathered as a First Class Fulani chauvinist/ internationalist/ Extremist, bigot :
“Governor Bala Mohammed is a ranking spokesperson for the Fulani of the whole world…He argued that the Fulani have no respect for land borders”
And by extension, following Mallam Bala Mohammed’s trajectory so crudely expressed, he would like us all to believe that he is speaking on behalf of all Fulani, when he says that the Fulani people, including the Fulani Herdsmen “have no respect” or regard for Nigerian Law or Islamic Sharia, no respect or regard for the legality of landmarks, fences, borders, marks of demarcation that are supposed to separate themselves and their cows from trespassing on other people’s private property, trampling, all over other people’s private property, dropping their dung on other people’s farms and eating up all their crops.
One could extend that train of thought to the privacy that is covered / bordered by the hijab and other private properties of female citizens that should not be violated. Of course, the good Muslim should expect that not even the Great Governor of Bauchi would go that far. ( Ah Malcolm, assassinated on 21st February1965, barely 39 years old, and this was one of his more Islamized statements: “There is nothing in our book, the Qur'an, that teaches us to suffer peacefully. Our religion teaches us to be intelligent. Be peaceful, be courteous, obey the law, respect everyone; but if someone lays a hand on you, send him to the cemetery.”
I know that “All is vanity”
but is there any truth
to this old Harold Smith story
the genesis of “Northern Hegemony”?
Genuine Historians, also have their unique biases, their well documented points of view about how happily or unhappily Lord Lugard welded everybody together in 1914, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, till death us do part etc., as per the Nigerian Constitution, and that up to this day, due to the religious dimension to the tensions, among the proponents of dissolution of the secular union there are those that are inveigling against the Federal arrangement, quoting Saint Paul: “Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers” while yet others bring up the cud with this well known preamble “When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them…”
No National Conference convened by the stakeholders can have as its agenda any discussion about the peaceful dissolution of Nigeria, although of late, the cautious, diplomatic euphemism is “restructuring” which has still not produced any clear or final vision or plan of what a restructured Nigeria would look like, not even under a Federal Umbrella. The lack of finality of vision or plan confirms that if it (restructuring) happens, it will be a process that will take time and not a one-time accomplishment.
Such a national conference could serve to devolve some of the mounting tensions and avert the momentum towards implosion that still has Maiduguri as the seat and epicentre of the insurgency...
First of all, I want to apologise because I said that Maiduguri is the seat and epicentre of the insurgency, when in fact “the eye of the insurgency” would be more accurate, since, as we can all see, on a daily basis the insurgency is being waged on many fronts simultaneously. in the general absence /collapse of law and order.
Secondly, we ought not overlook Professor John Edward Phillips' posting throws this significant light on the these discussions about the future of Fulani Herdsmen, that “Muhammad Bello’s policy of settling nomads, and his belief that nomadic herding was un-Islamic”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtvnlqcYM58
In the mode of a wannabe Buckingham Palace professor of modern journalism / eye witness testimony, I could have said that I received a phone call from a great oga at headquarters, telling me that I am ill-advised to meddle in Nigeria’s Fulani affairs, but I’m not going to reveal my sources (to give my vermin self that extra aura of importance) - however, I just happen to be another concerned humble Joe, another shuffering citizen y, writing in the poor man’s English, infinitely more anonymous than the suffering servant of Isaiah 53 who was was pierced for our iniquities, listening to that still quiet voice prompting me to offer (not proffer or profess) some regret for expressing misgivings about Fulani exceptionalism as proposed by the Governor of Bauchi State, about the nomadic Fulani being an exception to the rule about respecting borders, boundaries, fences, in the 21st century still living in the good old days as if times have not changed since the good old days of contiguous Islamic Empire and Brotherhood when the Faithful presumptive future inhabitants of Paradise did not need a visa to Mecca and could undulate on camelback from Futa Jallon through Timbuktu and by dhow, across the Red Sea to Islam’s holiest city...
You must admit that the Governor’s concept of Africa without borders is currently a futuristic dream, it is where the continuum of the present continuous that a few minutes ago we referred to as the past, meets the future, and God willing we will get there, sooner than later. The Pan-African visionary Julius Malema is a serious advocate for an Africa without borders - a borderless Africa “with one President and one Federal Government!” - as visionary as John Lennon’s Imagine
“Imagine
there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below
us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people living for
today
Imagine
there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or
die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people living
life in peace, you
You
may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope some
day you'll join us
And the world will be as one
Imagine
no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or
hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people sharing
all the world, you
You
may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope some
day you'll join us
And
the world will be as one “
Amended :
First of all, I want to apologise because I said that Maiduguri is the seat and epicentre of the insurgency, when in fact “the eye of the insurgency” would be more accurate, since, as we can all see, on a daily basis the insurgency is being waged on many fronts simultaneously. in the general absence /collapse of law and order.
Secondly, we ought not overlook Professor John Edward Phillips' posting which throws significant light on these discussions about the future of Fulani Herdsmen, concerning “Muhammad Bello’s policy of settling nomads, and his belief that nomadic herding was un-Islamic”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtvnlqcYM58
In the mode of a wannabe Buckingham Palace professor of modern journalism / eye witness testimony, I could have said that I received a phone call from a great oga at headquarters, telling me that I am ill-advised to meddle in Nigeria’s Fulani affairs, but I’m not going to reveal my sources (to give my vermin self that extra aura of importance) - however, I just happen to be another concerned humble Joe, another shuffering and crying citizen y, writing in the poor man’s English, infinitely more anonymous than the suffering servant of Isaiah 53 who was was pierced for our iniquities, listening to that still quiet voice prompting me to offer (not proffer or profess) some regret for expressing misgivings about Fulani exceptionalism as proposed by the Governor of Bauchi State, about the nomadic Fulani being an exception to the rule about respecting borders, boundaries, fences, in the 21st century still living in the good old days as if times have not changed since the good old days of contiguous Islamic Empire and Brotherhood, when the Faithful presumptive future inhabitants of Paradise did not need a visa to Mecca and could undulate on camelback from Futa Jallon through Timbuktu and by dhow, across the Red Sea to Islam’s holiest city...
--
Listserv moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfric...@googlegroups.com
To subscribe to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDial...@googlegroups.com
Current archives at http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
Early archives at http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "USA Africa Dialogue Series" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to usaafricadialo...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/usaafricadialogue/1754e42c-655d-4be8-8653-4f1d62ffd13cn%40googlegroups.com.
Oluwatoyin Vinccent Adepoju,
Do you recall that John Lennon once boasted that they (The Beatles) were “more popular than Jesus”?
It looks like your problem is that you can’t see any redeeming features in Governor Bala Mohammed. I for one believe that the Bauchi Governor is a better Muslim than John Lennon ever was.
So, by their nomadic mode of existence these past several hundred years, the way that Governor Mohammed puts it, you may feel that he is claiming some exclusive special privileges for the Fulani, no respecter of colonial borders etc. - they brought Islam to Sierra Leone for example, as Herdsmen and itinerant preachers, and as you know, I sincerely believe that Usman Dan Fodio of blessed memory, is the greatest Nigerian that ever lived.
Professor Zacharys Anger Gundu is reasonable, argues his case is forcefully. It’s difficult to follow Governor Balla Mohammed into “ justifying the Fulani substitution of the shepherd stick with the AK-47” less so his, in the meantime “also justifying the Fulani colonization of the Nigerian forest wherever it is found for grazing his animals.” - until the matter is settled – non-violently of course. I don’t think that anybody is going to Jannah after he finishes exterminating everybody with his AK-47.
Professor Zacharys Anger Gundu’s last paragraph is devastating. Our best bet is getting the besieged governor to wrestle with “Muhammad Bello’s policy of settling nomads, and his belief that nomadic herding was un-Islamic”
Assuming that the professor is reporting the Governor’s words accurately, it’s not clear, exactly what is meant here:“The Governor had also argued on the programme that whatever monies Nigeria would spend to ‘settle’ the Fulani in one place would have to cover those in Nigeria and those in other countries.”Charity surely begins at home. If such a policy were to be adopted/ implemented, I suppose your main objection would be that it could be putting an unwelcome strain on Nigeria’s cash-strapped economy, but I admire the way that the Governor wants to stand up for his people – his brothers keepers mentality - it is you who are not generous enough to want to extend your sense of responsibility / Brotherhood and love to the Fulani Brethren outside of Nigeria in the same way that I’m sure you would like the Nigerian Edo people's Diaspora to - to some extent be the responsibility of the Nigerian Government - especially in trying to reverse some of the brain drain by embarking on some kind of resettlement programmes for some of the lost sheep of Nigeria currently domiciled in the United States and Diaspora both those struggling to make ends meet and those who are succeeding beautifully in “making it “developing the overseas countries.
Don’t you have a Minister of Diaspora Affairs?
“Imagine all the people sharing all the world “
This is exactly where John Lennon and Julius Malema and Bala Mohammed meet, in their humanistic idealism
Balla et ses Balladins; Bambo
You received this message because you are subscribed to a topic in the Google Groups "USA Africa Dialogue Series" group.
To unsubscribe from this topic, visit https://groups.google.com/d/topic/usaafricadialogue/gMYbWn_N1aQ/unsubscribe.
To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to usaafricadialo...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/usaafricadialogue/CALUsqTRCdsUtrfiKjthbWMNV2g837GNu2PjgcwHQdg_KAfOctA%40mail.gmail.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/usaafricadialogue/CAFYPD-RbR0G%3DakYfOZM%3Dym7DShvMWsRBEpqN3ZSCa%2B%2B8M4ps8Q%40mail.gmail.com.
Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju,
“Change” in my “reasoning”? That happens all the time., but not like Mulla Nasrrudin ( His friend asked him How old are you Mulla Nasrrudin? He replied, " I'm fifty ( 50) years old !" But that's what you said five years ago! - Yes," asserted the Mulla, " You see, I'm consistent !!"
The way I see it, John Lennon and Bala Mohammed (in his capacity as Governor of Bauchi State, and as Prof Gundu so aptly describes him, “a ranking spokesperson for the Fulani of the whole world.”), that Lennon and our Bauchi State Governor are clearly two distinct and unique persons.
The CIA, the conservatives and conservationists really never felt threatened by the pacifist, “All you need is love”, pot-shmoking John Lennon’s song “Revolution” or the Beatles Album “Revolver”
Brother Bala Mohammed is on a completely different wavelength. I’m sure that you can’t imagine Bala Mohammed growing his hair long and singing any of these songs or any of the John and Yoko songs, or indeed any of the Beatles’ Paul McCartney/ George Harrison/ Ringo Star songs.
As I pointed out previously John Lennon, Julius Malema and Bala Mohammed have this one thing in common: A world without borders.
Prof Gundu writes rather glibly – and only in passing as it were, about The Bauchi State Governor “justifying the Fulani substitution of the shepherd stick with the AK-47” but does not delve into any details about the Governor’s reasoning and the reasons undergirding his justification. Independently, dear Adepoju, in the name of self-preservation / self-defence you and all the eminent logicians in this forum will readily agree that common sense alone from your point of view and certainly from mine too should justify “the Fulani substitution of shepherd stick with the AK-47”. Do we need to go into details? You that it’s not fun being a sitting duck for someone else’s lethal target practise, or being a Fulani Herdman armed with only a shepherd’s stick when facing Goliath or cattle rustlers. Especially now that Fulani Herdsmen have been demonised to the extent that local vigilantes are now on the lookout for Fulani Herdsmen, determined to murder them, In cold blood.
The alternative to the bloody mess would be for either the Federal of State Governments to provide military escorts for the Fulani Herdsmen during their long trek to the abattoirs and from there the Fulani cattle to the market place on the way to their penultimate destination to the Southern dinner tables of the hungry meat eaters and from there to the cemeteries that your vegetarian Brother George Bernard Shaw spoke of, and from there to you know where
You say that you are “not expressing an opinion on the issues.” - but your position on many of the issues arising, are well known and I don’t expect some “change in your reasoning “ - but one can never tell. I’m oddly reminded of these lines, which I don’t imagine apply to you at all:
“The
change in the day that makes them rant and rave
Black
Power! Black Power!
And
the change that comes over them at night, as they sigh and
moan:
White
thighs, ooh, white thighs”
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/usaafricadialogue/CALUsqTTmh8iYdsC--DWk8s39i%3D%2B0pBsTs1j21_upLFaNTsYuqw%40mail.gmail.com.
Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju,
“Change” in my “reasoning”? That happens all the time, but not like Mullah Nasrrudin (His friend asked him, “How old are you Mullah Nasrrudin?” He replied, " I'm fifty ( 50) years old !" But that's what you said five years ago! - “Yes," asserted the Mullah, " You see, I'm consistent !!”
The way I see it, John Lennon and Bala Mohammed (in his capacity as Governor of Bauchi State, and as Prof Gundu so aptly describes him, “a ranking spokesperson for the Fulani of the whole world.”), that Lennon and our Bauchi State Governor are clearly two distinct and unique persons.
The CIA, the conservatives and conservationists really never felt threatened by the pacifist, “All you need is love”, pot-shmoking John Lennon’s song “Revolution” or the Beatles Album “Revolver” ...
Brother Bala Mohammed is on a completely different wavelength. I’m sure that you can’t imagine Bala Mohammed growing his hair long and singing any of these songs or any of the John and Yoko songs, or indeed any of the Beatles’ Paul McCartney/ George Harrison/ Ringo Star songs.
As I pointed out previously John Lennon, Julius Malema and Bala Mohammed have this one thing in common: A world without borders.
Prof Gundu writes rather glibly – and only in passing as it were, about the Bauchi State Governor “justifying the Fulani substitution of the shepherd stick with the AK-47” but does not delve into any details about the Governor’s reasoning and the reasons undergirding his justification. Independently, dear Adepoju, in the name of self-preservation / self-defence, you and all the eminent logicians in this forum will readily agree that common sense alone from your point of view and certainly from mine too should justify “the Fulani substitution of shepherd stick with the AK-47”. Do we need to go into details? You should know that it’s not fun being a sitting duck for someone else’s lethal target practise, or being a Fulani Herdman armed with only a shepherd’s stick when facing Goliath or cattle rustlers. Especially now that Fulani Herdsmen have been demonised to the extent that local vigilantes are everywhere on the lookout for Fulani Herdsmen, determined to murder them, In cold blood.
The alternative to the bloody state of affairs would be for either the Federal of State Governments to provide military escorts for the Fulani Herdsmen during their long trek to the abattoirs and from there the Fulani cattle to the market place on the way to their penultimate destination, to the Southern dinner tables of the hungry meat-eaters and from there to the cemeteries that your vegetarian Brother George Bernard Shaw spoke of, and from there to you know where
You say that you are “not expressing an opinion on the issues.” - but your position on many of the issues arising, are well known and I don’t expect some “change in your reasoning “ - but one can never tell. I’m oddly reminded of these lines, which I don’t imagine apply to you at all:
“The
change in the day that makes them rant and rave
Black
Power! Black Power!
And
the change that comes over them at night, as they sigh and
moan:
White
thighs, ooh, white thighs”
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/usaafricadialogue/CALUsqTTmh8iYdsC--DWk8s39i%3D%2B0pBsTs1j21_upLFaNTsYuqw%40mail.gmail.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/usaafricadialogue/CAFYPD-T4acwqkBBtpXmTJGDZ1ALBt0qykLnWVbrLO4im4KK%3DLg%40mail.gmail.com.
Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju,
You
don’t understand? I suppose you understand Israel , the Palestinians and Iran , the way that you understand Nigeria and Boko Haram.
Whilst my Better Half does sophisticated crosswords as mental gymnastics, for balance, about two hours everyday, I play the guitar - it’s an extremely logical instrument – as JT says, “Never does grow impatient, for the changes I don't know - no”
If you are looking for coherence in madness, look hard enough and you will surely find it.
You will find it (coherence) – one thought after the other) in sublime Hebrew poetry, juxtaposed against your bio-computer.
You should also certainly find it here, where the Holy Quran peaks beyond John Lennon’s “ideal humanism”, requesting that we move beyond the hatred, the walls, cobwebs, borders, boundaries, fences, obstacles, and other obstructions in our own minds:
“O mankind! Lo! We have created you male and female, and have made you nations and tribes that ye may know one another. Lo! the noblest of you, in the sight of Allah, is the best in conduct. Lo! Allah is Knower, Aware.” (Surah Al-Hujurat, Ayat 13)
One of the things that I most admire about you is your usually civil and civilised tone when for example addressing some big or not so big ass professors, and so far, you have been consistent in your views. With no respect whatsoever, ad nauseam, not sparing Nigeria’s most important Muslim leaders, namely, His Eminence the Sultan of Sokoto and the erstwhile Emir of Kano , you have named by name the most eminent Fulani Leaders in Nigeria as the “enablers” and facilitators of what you call Fulani Herdsmen “terrorism”. You have also said repeatedly, that the patron saints of Fulani Herdsmen “terrorism” are the Fulani big shots in Miyetti Allah and that in your special book of angelology, the one you are writing, they are not saints but demons, all of them, only moved by self-interest, and acting in the name of your greatest fear/nightmare, what you refer to as “Northern Hegemony”
Re- “... oscillating between "Fulani herdsmen are terrorising Nigerians" and "Fulani herdsmen are an endangered species who are justified in carrying AK-47s across Nigeria".
Those are your words, not my words, so why do you attribute them to me and place them in inverted commas?
As
everybody who has even half a brain knows, the truth is that there
is no contradiction between those two perceptions – your on the
one hand, “Fulani herdsmen are terrorising Nigerians” - and the
absolute
truth of the matter, the corollary to that as provided by
overwhelming evidence is that the people you call “Nigerians” –
not
Boko Haramis,
are 100% guilty of terrorising Fulani Herdsmen - whether they
believe
that the are “merely” avenging
themselves on Fulani Herdsmen
as their scapegoat
and public enemy number one
and
that’s why in self defence - and only of late, they have been
forced to arm themselves, to defend themselves and their cattle –
like the cowboys of old Texas….
The victims – dead and alive of the ongoing conflict the warring factions are all Nigerians.
No. I do not believe that all the banditry and other crimes committed in Nigeria are committed by “Fulani Herdsmen!”
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/usaafricadialogue/CALUsqTTyFE0hNJ36rwiBEStr5fuqSrehB-rYzRbUp9O9%2BK6_CA%40mail.gmail.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/usaafricadialogue/CAFYPD-RYhBRZf0DKukfjD5NhjhVp1TgCM4dU1NGJkaPsTik4kg%40mail.gmail.com.
Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju,
As a poor student of Islam I waded through The Incoherence of the Incoherence (some really tough shit - and please excuse me if you think that “shit” is a bad word, I have only recently been inspired by our newly decorated Doctor of Letters’ recent expression of most memorable vintage, that “maggots cannot extricate themselves from excreta.”
At least not easily; it should probably take a miracle for them to fully extricate themselves and maybe a little extra longer for pigs to be able to fly. You know that you’re a real poet like Robert Burns, when your fans start memorising and quoting your lines and singing your songs. BTW, I’m waiting for the golden opportunity to throw it - this general all purpose expletive at my vermin friend, just this one word: excreta!
(I was at a Gambian forum where the moderator had an extra sensitive auto-delete censor that would have certainly not allowed excreta to get through. I know this because when I posted Bereshit ( I.e the Hebrew name for Genesis, the first book in the Bible – it, the tail end – the “shit” got truncated and only “Bere”, appeared in the posting. So, you see, we can’t trust these machines...
Seriously, my own humble request is that we stop bad-mouthing the Fulani people - the Great Fulani people. You know that if you said just one percent of similar evil things about e.g. the Jewish people you would be tried and guilty of hate speech (by some judges with jurisdiction) and I for one would consider you a good-for-nothing anti-Semite.
Therefore, I should like to bring this back to our attention:
Scapegoating the Fulani Dehumanises Us All, By Adewale Ajadi
I would also like to caution you dear Adepoju to be a little more circumspect about what you say. Thank God there’s freedom of speech in Nigeria but does that really give you the liberty to say this kind of thing, (your words):
“The Buhari govt and their terrorist network want one thing- the subjugation of Nigeria.”
You should thank your lucky stars that you’re not living in e.g. the late Saddam’s Iraq in which case by know you would have long been Kebab
The main transgression of the herders is their land encroachments, trespassing, their cows “chopping” other peoples crops
You still haven’t explained how two or three cattle herders doing their full-time job of guiding their roughly one hundred cows South to the abattoirs, should have time to be doing all the other things you say that they have been doing. Baba Kadiri has often asked you this question. Even the many armed Durga couldn’t do that.
Yes, the Fulani Herdsmen have wisely armed themselves against bandits and cattle rustlers. Jibrin Ibrahim has made that much clear. The media has identified many of the other bandits doing their havoc down south.
Some recent music news about the non-violent Sheku Kanneh-Mason
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/usaafricadialogue/CALUsqTTyFE0hNJ36rwiBEStr5fuqSrehB-rYzRbUp9O9%2BK6_CA%40mail.gmail.com.
Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju,
Sabr (patience) has a high value in Islam.
Many thanks for you patience and in this your last response, many thanks for your tact – that you avoid name-calling and mud-slinging (which is usually merely more unproductive letting off of some weak steam and spittle or mere avoidance therapy by the pompous vermin, afraid of a real exchange/showdown for fear of losing face, of – if need be - being out-gunned and outflanked on any verbal frequency, for all to see) and many thanks, I’m sure from the many long-suffering and oppressed on whose behalf you speak, that you are sticking to your guns and protesting loudly. On the Day of Judgement it shall not be said that Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju was only sitting on his hands or laying down patiently like a lame tiger or a pussy (cat), arms folded or only meekly on his knees praying for salvation and Divine intervention.
The question remains how can the Fulani who account for only 6% of the population dominate the whole nation, in the ways you are still crying about?
Before Brother Buhari won the election, Goodluck Jonathan had been put on notice that if he (Goodluck) won, the country would be made ungovernable. Now, with former military commander Buhari in the saddle, the country is more ungovernable than anyone could have imagined and only getting worse by the day. So who has let the genie out of the bottle and exactly what is fanning the flames? Is it the opposition party?
It’s
discernible that as
usually happens in Africa, when a member of a tribe/ ethnicity is
elected president the
members of
his ethnic nation
believe that they are in power. Maybe,
that’s how come the Herdsmen are now
defending
themselves with AK 47’s and there’s so many firearms in
circulation just as was the case in Iraq when anarchy became the
order of the day.
The
firearms in
in
circulation will
surely increase, or
how else will self-defence units such as Amotekun
protect
our otherwise vulnerable communities?
It’s not as if Nigeria, Nigerians, Africa & Diaspora are required to only exercise infinite patience. According to Islamic doctrine, the very least the oppressed can do is to protest against injustice: to fight, to speak up against it and at the very least, in their hearts to be strongly against injustice.
To avert being accused of Islamophobia, I would suggest that in appealing directly to President Buhari, the Islamic leaders, the Miyetti Allah, the Fulani Herdsmen, and all the Islamic powers that be in the land, that you remind all of of them of just one word / concept that is so precious in Islam: Justice
It’s the solution to the lawlessness and anarchy that’s now reported to be reigning supreme in Nigeria: Corruption still blooming like grass, Boko Haram, ransom kidnappings marauding ethnic supremacist militias, rape and pillage, arson of churches, gunning down of peaceful protesters, the latest great atrocity down in history as The Lekki Massacre, Omoyele Sowore in and out of trouble for not even rapping with the Last Poets, “Niggerians are scared of Revolution”
For some of the people who are trying to raise consciousness about Fulani Herdsmen being spotted everywhere, busy causing problems, Baba Kadiri has reserved the name “Goebbels “for them, to shut them down (or up), the theory being that “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it.”
When my dear Edo Brother and neighbour Emmanuel sounds like you it's 100% empathy from me and I can only give him a sympathetic ear.
Since proof does not consist in newspaper reports, your barrage of questions should be directed to Baba Kadiri who has already responded to those kinds of questions, beginning with the uncertainty of newspaper reports being usually prefaced with a “suspected Herdsmen”, not even “suspected FULANI Herdsmen.”
It’s good that this time around you have decoupled Fulani Herdsmen from Fulani Militias, since there’s a difference.
A good BBC African History series with Zeinab Badawi
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/usaafricadialogue/CALUsqTRS8CHz%3DbVxv43EBvq0TVS2ajw8teG37Q-ZFnjs_eNgFg%40mail.gmail.com.
Please be cautious: **External Email**
Please be cautious: **External Email**
On Feb 28, 2021, at 04:43, Emeagwali, Gloria (History) <emea...@ccsu.edu> wrote:
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/usaafricadialogue/BL0PR01MB45147364E752DC493F127C0CDE9B9%40BL0PR01MB4514.prod.exchangelabs.com.
kenneth harrow
professor emeritus
dept of english
michigan state university
Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju,
Just an aside. Social media must sometimes be social, sociable, here and there, a sense of humour, not that I crave your indulgence. I’m looking forward to our premier Nigerian political commentator Ayo Olukotun’s next weighing in on what’s going on in Nigeria.)
The first line of anti-war poet Wilfred Owen’s most famous poem “Anthem for Doomed Youth “ is
“What passing-bells for these who die as cattle? “
That question could also be asked about the victims of the crass, criminal mass slaughter that is happening around the country. The death toll is mounting. When the mass slaughter is actually targeted killings of a specific ethnicity, religious identity, region, we’re talking of genocide. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch are reporting. The ICC is waiting.
In this imbroglio about Fulani Herdsmen, it is man and beast that’s centre stage (perhaps a crude way of putting it when it’s really “flesh and blood breaking down”). Islam being the way of life of the people that you consider to be your main antagonists in Nigeria - not necessarily because of their religion or cosmology, I should like to bring it to your attention that after the short ritual opening, al-Fatiha, the longest chapter in The Glorious Quran is Surah al Baqarah - The Cow! The sixth surah/ chapter of the Glorious Quran is Al-An'am - Cattle!
Here is what the Glorious Quran says about man and beast in Surah An-Nahl ayats 4-11
“He hath created man from a drop of fluid, yet behold! he is an open opponent.
And the cattle hath He created, whence ye have warm clothing and uses, and whereof ye eat; And wherein is beauty for you, when ye bring them home, and when ye take them out to pasture. And they bear your loads for you unto a land ye could not reach save with great trouble to yourselves. Lo! your Lord is Full of Pity, Merciful. And horses and mules and asses (hath He created) that ye may ride them, and for ornament. And He createth that which ye know not. And Allah's is the direction of the way, and some (roads) go not straight. And had He willed He would have led you all aright. He it is Who sendeth down water from the sky, whence ye have drink, and whence are trees on which ye send your beasts to pasture. Therewith He causeth crops to grow for you, and the olive and the date-palm and grapes and all kinds of fruit. Lo! herein is indeed a portent for people who reflect.”
Although according to the your constitution, the Federal Republic of Nigeria is still a secular state, I think that when approaching your Muslim fellow citizens of Nigeria, higher than the Nigerian Constitution is the revealed word of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, so you could appeal to them through the ideas in the Glorious Quran, ideas that are the foundations of Islam, ideas with which they are in prior agreement.
The Glorious Quran exhorts the Believers to argue with courteous speech, not vileness, unwarranted arrogance and vituperation. Judaism espouses guidelines about lashon hara - and so you have never heard Oga Harrow cursing/cussing anyone, at least not in public – furthermore, it is forbidden to humiliate anyone and that’s why sometimes one has to exercise extreme self-restraint and retrospectively thanks to Oga Falola’s sensitivity filter “some things” have not been let through, because rudeness is something at which two can play, nothing to lose, the one exceeding the other in rudeness. For Christians, humility is of the essence. For all three (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) arrogance was the main quality of Lucifer/ Satan and that’s what brought him down.
So,you had better be careful about what you say. They could kidnap you and demand a ransom of $1 Trillion. Who do you think is going to pay?Just as the Almighty threatened the children of Israel , “ you will offer yourselves for sale to your enemies as male and female slaves, but no one will buy you.”
As to your vilification of our great hero, Shehu Usman Dan Fodio, I leave you to the tender mercies of the likes of Gloria in Excelsis etc., some vindictive Fulani militias, maybe also Boko Haram, suffice it to say that I was indoctrinated into the great Shehu back in 1970 -71 at Legon, by Jeff Holden a British senior lecturer in African History and this was at a time when I knew absolutely nothing about Islam. It was also at a time when I was most impressionable. I wish that you had been there then, you would have idolised Abiola Irele even more. The indoctrination mostly took place not at the seminar room but at the Student Cafeteria, the senior staff common room and other venues where we could enjoy a few bottles of beer and even stronger alcoholic beverages of which Dan Fodio would have strongly disapproved. Sadly, Jeff was deported from Ghana, was given 24 hours to leave the country, because of a statement that he had made, that I’m sure Shehu Usman dan Fodio would have approved of. Jeff had said kalabule - either on the radio or on TV that “the money of the workers and peasants of Ghana was not being used in their best interests!“So the Oyibo was given a go back to your UK, quit notice. If Eboe Hutchful had said such a thing, Kofi Busia would have had to put up with it. Hutchful had once told me that Busia had “left his brains in Oxford” - maybe, Kofi should have been deported back to Oxford and that would not have been a treasonable offence? We can’t start talking about our leaders like that, the president of x has left his brains at y, double-barrelled rhetorical questions at the press conference, questions such as “Mr. President, where did you forget your brains?”
One last little thing about the Great Shehu: I don’t know enough about this, but I’m thinking about a more expansionist vision, which must be a challenge to the successors to his great legacy which must be carried forward: In time the borderless Africa from North to South in one great Islamic embrace but before that that, step by step, the Sokoto Caliphate could have been expanded to include all of the Republic of Niger and down West, the Yoruba kingdom joining forces with the Brethren in the Republic of Benin, to the North-east, all of the Lake Chad region. You get the drift.
Blue Note Records 75th Anniversary ( with Lionel Loueke
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/usaafricadialogue/CALUsqTRS8CHz%3DbVxv43EBvq0TVS2ajw8teG37Q-ZFnjs_eNgFg%40mail.gmail.com.
Who are you?
Beware of denigrating the founder of the Sokoto Caliphate.
If your dissatisfaction and critique of Sheikh Usman Dan Fodio is based on insufficient knowledge then it needs to be revised;. He cannot be reduced to Mark Antony’s question over the moribund body of Julius Caesar,
“O mighty Caesar! Dost thou lie so low?
Are all thy conquests, glories, triumphs, spoils,
Shrunk to this little measure?”
Islamic historians and other literati have pointed out that the Prophetic career of Islam’s seal of the prophets lasted 23 years (610 – 633 C.E.) and that period can be divided into the Meccan period of the Quranic revelation which on the whole contains the “lofty” parts of the Quran, and less lofty the Medina period when the Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wa salaam was bogged down with more mundane matters concerning statecraft, the Charter of Medina, and establishing the first Islamic state in world history, with he himself as the executive head , as Prophet-President so to speak – prophet-president, not prophet- King – as was the case with God’s Chosen people beginning with when they said that they wanted to have a king/ kings like other nations – hence Saul, the first king of Israel although truly speaking it is the Almighty that is the King of Kings – of Israel. At the rime of Rasulullah sallallahu alaihi wa salaam, there were no Kings in Islam - at least kingship / monarchy was not an Islamic system of Government.
Shaykh Uthman dan Fodio’s life shares some remarkable parallels with that of Rasulullah, sallallahu alaihi wa salaam and you must understand that the Shaykh also had to attend to establishing sound government of his caliphate and therefore less time available to his still phenomenal output as an Islamic scholar, to get a little taste of which I recommend his Al-Kitab Usul ad-Deen ( The Roots of the Life-Transaction ) and his Al-Kitab Ulum al-Mu’amala (The Sciences of Behaviour) translated and published as “ Handbook on Islam Imam Ihsan” which is a succinct guide to the Maliki Madhab which school of Islamic jurisprudence is widely followed in West Africa and Morocco.
Just as, to a considerable extent, the Prophet of Islam, sallallahu alaihi wa salaam, reformed the society into which he was born, so too Sheikh Usman Dan Fodio has left his indelible fingerprints and footprints on the history of Islam in his part Africa.
You ask with some disdain, why there was no flowering of Islamic science and philosophy, architecture, medicine, as was the case in what’s known as The Golden age of Islam in Spain
Well, as you know, Rome wasn’t built in a day, and whilst you continue with your rhetorical disdain of illiteracy, know that the first word of Quranic revelations was Iqra – read - and today many who previously could not read are now masters of the Arabic letters - and Arabic is a very eloquent language! Moreover, in questioning Sheikh Usman Dan Fodio’s legacy, what do you have to say about Ahmadu Bello University ?
The only problem that I have had with Islam is the legalists’ restrictions on music, especially stringed instruments; no restrictions on poetry, but that an Angel does not enter the abode of anyone who has stringed instrument at home.
In Freetown, I used to go to a club “ Yellow Diamond” off Krootown Road - I met Rogie/ S.E. Rogers there once and shred a table with him, several bands used to play there in the afternoons but the best music played at that joint was Fullah music and dancing, there was nothing to beat the Fula flute, I mean the Fula flute players, , so plaintive,,,,
Just last week I was pleasantly surprised at the answer to the second question after this lecture “What Can Jews Learn from Muslims about Jewish Law? “- David Zvi Kalman
Dear Adepoju this lecture should give you some useful insight; Patience is the watchword, remember?
ADDRESS TO THE INTERNATIONAL ISLAMIC YOUTH CONFERENCE 2006 - Shakyh Dr. Abdalqadir as-Sufi
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/usaafricadialogue/CALUsqTRS8CHz%3DbVxv43EBvq0TVS2ajw8teG37Q-ZFnjs_eNgFg%40mail.gmail.com.