Boko Haram: Christian Association Of Nigeria Writes Hillary Clinton

Hilary Clinton and President Goodluck Jonathan in Abuja today

 

By Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor,

Dear Madam Secretary: Welcome to Nigeria and thank you for taking the time to visit our beleaguered country at a time when insecurity is at the highest levels it has been in recent memory. Just days before your visit, 17 worshippers were killed in a church service so we do indeed appreciate the effort and courage you displayed in coming.
Madam Secretary, I had wanted an audience with you to raise my concern over recent statements credited to the US Government, including at a congressional hearing in which I testified last month. These pronouncements from the State Department have distortions, omissions and in some cases clearly misrepresent facts on the ground in a manner that beclouds the crisis facing Nigeria and is ultimately deleterious to the quest for a peaceful and truthful resolution.

However, as I understand that your schedule is very tight, I will address here the latest such statement contained in your just released 2011 International Religious Freedom report.

Much to our dismay, the information contained in our memorandum to the presidential panel on Post-Election Violence was not included in the 2011 State Department International Religious Freedom Report. Our memo presented widespread incidents of violence targeting Christians in 12 northern states in April last year during the reporting period of the 2011 report. Unfortunately the destruction of over 700 churches and the systematic massacres of hundreds of Christians in 48 hours – the largest single attack on Christendom in contemporary world history anywhere on the planet - were not included in your report.

Even more surprising, the report failed to accurately describe the horrific Christmas Day multi-city church attacks. These coordinated attacks on three states, comprising Niger, Plateau and Yobe, claimed over 60 lives and, for a second consecutive year, stunned the world. The report merely mentions the Christmas Day church bombing of St. Theresa’s Catholic church in Madalla, then fails to communicate the scope and significance of the Christmas Day attacks.

The pernicious persecution, denigration and dehumanization of Christians in northern Nigeria especially has been a fact of life for over a quarter century. It is therefore disconcerting that the US report addresses it in a speculative tone that undermines the harsh reality of the masses of orphans and widows left behind.

The report while conceding that the Nigerian constitution forbids adoption of state religion does not plainly point out that the 12 northern states by adopting Sharia codes and creating religious police, ministries of religion and funding mosques are an affront to the constitution’s establishment clause as well as the doctrine of separation of faith and state.

Finally it is deeply troubling that your report makes an unsubstantiated claim that more Muslims than Christians died in the attacks of last year. This theory was predicated on an erroneous assumption that since the attacks were in “predominantly” Muslim areas, it “follows’ that Muslims would be hardest hit.

Even if such assumptions could be made without empirical data, the more credible and more plausible proposition is that given Boko Haram’s declared intent to obliterate Christianity in northern Nigeria and its systematic attacks which began almost a decade ago, the majority of the victims are Christians. Since Boko Haram has stated that it does not theologically or operationally target mosques and has so far not succeeded in attacking any, it is only logical that Muslims cannot be the majority victims.

This is borne out by quantitative data. Out of the 137 religious-motivated violent incidents we tracked, 88.3% were attacks on Christians, 2.9% were attacks on Muslims, attacks on security agents 4.4%, sectarian clashes 2.2% and extra-judicial killings were 2.1%. The US Terrorism report 2011 indicates a total of 136 terrorist attacks in Nigeria. It is inconceivable therefore that Muslims were the primary victims of a jihadist group whose intent is to Islamize Nigeria.

This year 2012 alone, there have been 49 security incidences of which 80% have targeted Christians.

There are numerous other points that we take issue with but that will have to wait till we have an appropriate forum to fully dialogue on this. However to assist you to be better informed, we are attaching several documents on the conditions of Christians in northern Nigeria:

The Memorandum of the Christian Association of Nigeria to the Presidential Panel of Post-Election Violence of 2011
A Compendium of the Marginalization and Persecution of Indigenous Christians and the Church in the Nineteen 19 Northern States of Nigeria conducted in 2010

In conclusion, we recognize that the State Department reports cannot cover every incident of religiously motivated violence in a country the size of Nigeria. However, the State Department has a statutory duty and moral obligation to give an accurate picture of events on the ground.  Although your report indicates that your embassy had “regular” meetings with religious leaders, it is somewhat odd that key data such as what we are now submitting was never asked for.

We also have no recollection of a visit by the ambassador-at-large for religious freedom in 2011 and also no record of the US embassy celebrating any religious holidays besides the Muslim holidays.

We urge you to work with us to achieve a truth-based peaceful resolution to the terrorism and extremism that threatens the very life of our nation. We look forward to future collaboration.
Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor,
National President, CAN

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What Clinton Discussed With Jonathan

 

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton meets with Nigeria’s President Goodluck Jonathan. By Jacquelyn Martin (AFP/POOL)

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged the president of Nigeria on Thursday to push ahead with reforms as it faces a deadly Boko Haram insurgency which has shaken Africa’s largest oil producer. Her visit to Nigeria came as President Goodluck Jonathan is under growing pressure to stop the violence in the northern and central regions of the country.
Clinton said after meeting Jonathan, key ministers and security chiefs on the latest stop of her African tour that “we really believe that the future for Nigeria is limitless.
“But the most important task that you face, as you have said, is making sure that there are better opportunities for all Nigerians — north, south, east, west,” she said.
US diplomats have repeatedly spoken of the deep poverty in Nigeria’s north that many say has fed the insurgency.
“We want to work with you and we will be by your side as you make the reforms and take the tough decisions that are necessary,” Clinton added.
She mentioned efforts to improve transparency and limit corruption in a country consistently ranked as one of the world’s most graft-ridden. She also spoke of US help in improving agriculture — a key concern for Nigeria’s north.
She said, “We appreciate that you know how committed United States and the Obama Administration is to our partnership with your country. We consider it absolutely vital to our bi National commission which as you have mentioned has helped us to expand and deepen our cooperation on full range of issues.
“We are working on economic matters, the improvement of productivity in agriculture, education and health, security, diversification of your economy and so much more. We intend to remain very supportive on your reform efforts.
“Thank you for mentioning the work we did together on the election. We were also very supportive of anti corruption reform efforts, more transparency in the work that you and your team are also championing because we really believe that the future for Nigeria is limitless but the most important task that you face, as you have said, is making sure that there are better opportunities for all Nigerians, South, East, West, every young boy and girl to have chance to fulfil his God given potential”.
Earlier, President Jonathan had thanked Clinton for raising the relationship between Nigeria and America to a very high level that had never been reached for quite some time before she became Secretary of State.
Noting that Clinton had been very very supportive by personally chairing the Bi-national commission in which various issues bordering on security and the economy were discussed, Jonathan said President Barack Obama’s administration had been quite passionate about Africa and Nigeria in particular.
He said, “He (Obama) has always been very supportive of us for the past five years. From the days I came in as Vice President, especially that period which as a nation we faced a lot of challenge when the late President was very ill and we passed through turbulence period.
And the support he gave us is one of the support that stabilised this country. And when we insisted we must conduct an election that is free and fair and that is the only way we can stabilise democracy, they were very supportive.
“They gave us moral support, technical support to INEC and assisted us to make sure that we conducted elections that national and international observers declared as quite free and fair.
So let me on behalf of government and good people of Nigeria really thank you and President Obama and the good people of America for this your help for Nigeria and Africa and all what you are doing to make sure that this part of the globe develops”.
Clinton held a meeting with all the security chiefs in the country who were at the presidential villa an hour before she arrived. She also held a meeting with some group of ministers led by Finance Minister and coordinating minister for the economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala before leaving for the Abuja airport at about 6:10pm to proceed to Ghana for Late President John Atta Mills’ burial.

Nigeria has been bedeviled with visionless leaders – Rochas Okorocha

The Governor of Imo State Rochas Okorocha has blamed the lingering security crises confronting the nation on “visionless leaders” that has ruled the nation in the past.
Speaking in Abuja on Thursday at a national dialogue on Effective Leadership and Good Governance as the twin pillar in human rights protection, Mr Okorocha stated that “Nigeria has been be-deviled by visionless leaders who lack the political will to take decisions.”
He noted that the leaders are never prepared to make personal sacrifice for the nation’s development.
On addressing the insurgency by Boko Haram, the Imo state governor advised the Federal Government to urgently address the widespread poverty and unemployment in order to arrest the current security challenges plaguing the nation.
Mr Okorocha also advocated the need for State Police and the decentralisation of powers from the Federal Government in order to strengthen the federating units and bring governance closer to the people.
Also speaking at the occasion, former Minister of Information, Professor Jerry Gana said respect for human rights remains the corner stone for building a civil and responsible society.
He added that Nigeria can witness true transformation if the people are transformed through visionary leadership that guarantees the security and welfare of the people.

Imperious Bolt blazes to sprint double-double

Jamaican Usain Bolt etched his name further into Olympic folklore by completing an unprecedented and sensational sprint double-double with a smooth 200 metres victory in the joint fourth fastest time ever run on Thursday.
The world’s quickest man, whose imperious performances in London have blown away all doubts that he deserves the unofficial title of greatest ever sprinter, stopped the clock at 19.32 seconds for victory in his favourite event.
Bolt has now matched his stunning Beijing 100 and 200 crowns four years ago following his shorter-dash victory on Sunday.
Compatriot Yohan Blake, as he did in the 100 behind his friend and training partner, took silver in 19.44 and Warren Weir completed a Jamaican podium sweep with bronze in 19.84.
Showman Bolt crossed the line with his finger to his lips before doing a handful of press-ups on the track. Then, taking a photographer’s camera, he took snaps of the crowd and Blake who was posing as “The Beast”, the nickname Bolt afforded his younger rival.
The 25-year-old is the first man to win two 200 Olympic golds and, as he did in 2008, he will look to complete the treble in the 4×100 relay.
Bolt’s winning time matched that of American Michael Johnson who set a then world record of 19.32 to win Olympic gold in Atlanta in 1996.
Bolt lowered that to 19.30 in Beijing before clocking a remarkable 19.19 at the Berlin world championships in 2009.
On a warm and windless evening with the electric atmosphere inside an expectant Olympic stadium already raised by Kenyan David Rudisha’s 800m world record less than an hour earlier, Bolt, relaxed and smiling in the preliminaries, flew out of the blocks.
Drawn towards the outside in lane seven, Bolt glided around the bend and kicking powerfully down the home straight was always ahead of Blake.

Boko Haram: “The concomitant effect of corruption”- Dino Melaye

Former member of the House of Assembly, Mr Dino Melaye on the state of  the nation, claimed “the country is suffering from perilous times and it is a demonstration that we are not only sick but equally suffering from what I call a dreadful continental abnormality.”
Mr Melaye, who is the executive secretary, Anti-corruption Network, stated that the emergence of fundamentalist sect, Boko Haram is the concomitant effect of corruption by the ruling class that has emasculated Nigeria.
The former legislator made this known on our daily breakfast show, Sunrise Daily  discussing  the state of the nation and the recent massacre in his state, Kogi state which is one of the state that has suffered series of attacks from the sect.
On his beloved Kogi state, Melaye said “what is being seen in Kogi state is not different from what is being seen in Borno state and other parts of the north.”
“It’s unfortunate that there’s been very serious violence and attack in Kogi state, but the difference between ineptitude in leadership, maladministration and insecurity in Nigeria is the difference between six and a half and a dozen”He said.
According to him, “it is the negative concomitant effect of corruption that we are experiencing and that if the country starts to experience good governance then the insurgency will stop.”

Islamist Extremists Cut Off Thief’s Hand In Northern Mali

 

Jihadists occupying northern Mali on Thursday said they had cut off the hand of a thief in accordance with strict Islamic law which they have imposed on the population.
“Yes, I confirm it. We applied sharia in Ansongo yesterday (Wednesday). The hand of a thief was cut off. Sharia demands it,” a leader of the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa told AFP. Witnesses in the town confirmed the incident.
A local government official in the town south of Gao, one of the chief centres of the vast desert region in northern Mali, said he witnessed the public amputation.
“I am in Gao now, but yesterday I was in Ansongo. There was a lot of blood when the hand was cut. It was the hand of a thief who stole a motorbike,” he told AFP.
Abdine said the sentence was “the law of God”.
On Sunday scores of protesters swarmed the main square in Gao to prevent Islamists from cutting off the hand of a another thief, but Abdine said the sentence had only been put off.
“We will do the same thing in Gao soon. Last time we postponed because of the intervention of important people and not the population. The population can’t do anything,” he said.
In the small town of Aguelhok, another armed Islamist group, Ansar Dine (Defenders of Faith), publicly stoned an unmarried couple to death in late July. They have forced women to cover up and whipped smokers and drinkers.
In the ancient city of Timbuktu, Ansar Dine have destroyed World Heritage shrines dating back to the 15th century, denouncing them as idolatrous.
The Islamist groups, which security experts say are acting under the aegis of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), seized key northern cities in the chaos following a coup d’etat in Bamako on March 22.