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Conversations About Nigeria by
It was on Saturday, the 27th of Jan. 2001. My 32nd birthday (Oh God please don’t remind me) was the previous day, the 26th that is. However, a few very close friends of mine had decided to whisk me out of town, to Canada, ostensibly to relieve me of the depression emanating from the realization that… I was now only eight years away from mid-life crisis. Wow! How time passes by but I must say I have never felt better and more ready to face the enormous challenges that lie ahead both personally and collectively. As we drove to Vancouver, British Columbia (Canada) from Seattle, we had some rather interesting and contentious discussions on several issues ranging from politics to my penchant for attracting women who seemed “perfect” (at least on the surface) but were seething underneath with a rather unsavory combination of psychosis and neurosis… talk about a deluge! Now to our conversations about politics, a rather opinionated but always on the ball friend of mine, Marty, was quite particular about the recent flogging of the young lady in the Islamic Republic of Zamfara (as I like to call it) and the Sharia issue in particular. Several discussions, and I must say rather heated ones, also centered on the Sharia issue and northern Nigeria as a whole. After all, they (the north) now have a cyber outlet that as far as they know is geared towards promoting the image and propagating the views of the north, from a northern perspective (whatever that means). What is however ironic about this is that the illiteracy level is so high in that region that most of the traffic to this particular cyber-medium would in fact be southerners, including the ngbati descendants of Oduduwa, whom they love to cast heinous aspersions on. Furthermore, with the level of poverty and despair in that region, I am convinced that Danladi (the potential goat thief) would be more interested in filling his stomach before contemplating the prospect of trying to figure out what a keyboard is, much less how to get on the information super-highway (I just love that buzz-word). Back to Marty; he looked at me and said with his head tilted to the left (that was the case whenever he felt strongly about an issue), “how the hell can your president just sit back and let them do what they did to that poor girl?” Then a friend of mine Tracy (who was part of the entourage), an unabashed protagonist of women’s rights then said in her usual confrontational but precisely directed style, “it’s an outrage. I cannot believe that in the 21st century, there is still a place on this earth where such barbarism and ignorance still exists!” There were on the whole six of us in the car and I soon found myself on the receiving end of an unending barrage of verbal vituperations. I beg O, I no be Ambassador of Zamfara to the United States ke! I however listened to what they all had to say and then fired back at Marty, “look, I am a southerner, and you all have met quite a few of my female relatives. Do they look like women who are being deprived of their inalienable rights to you?” Nicole, another member of the entourage then shot right back, “look Boye, it does not matter if the people or the women in the south are free, if it does not extend to the people and the women in your whole country, then you cannot talk about freedom. I mean Boye, freedom has to be absolute and total, there is no such thing as half-freedom!” “The south free!” I snapped back. “Believe me Nicole, the south is only in the process of getting its freedom now. We have essentially been under Afro-Arab occupation for over forty-years. So don’t talk to me about freedom in the south. I mean these bloody zealots have raped and pillaged the land from the southwest to the southeast, so pleeeeease, do not talk to me about freedom…. I never knew what it felt like, but now that I know, I say just like Patrick Henry, give me liberty or give me death.” She immediately realized she got me started with that one… and cowered right into her seat. That of course was not my intention, but men, did she strike a nerve! Daniella, (a French native who had been in the United States for about ten years) then jumped in, “Anyway, tell me something Boye, is it also true that this thing… “You mean Sharia I quipped in”, “yes Sharia”, she affirmed. She then continued, “Is it true that they also cut off peoples arms and legs and things like that if they are caught stealing and so forth?” I was rather hesitant to answer this question but I followed with a general statement to the effect that the institution of this law (Sharia) was in fact a violation of the Nigerian constitution where there is the provision for a clear separation of church/mosque and state. I also re-iterated the fact that the adoption of Sharia was strictly a political move by the directionless and predatory northern power structure to undermine democratic institutions and keep the poor masses in that region in a state of perpetual servitude and “darkness.” Daniella then asked a rather poignant question, “ Boye, now still talking about the issue of cutting off people’s hands and legs, won’t there ultimately come a time when this would in fact constitute an economic and social problem?” “What do you mean?” I shot back somewhat defensively. She then replied, “I mean when you start cutting off people’s arms and legs, eventually, you will run out of a labor pool of able-bodied workers you know. And then these people will become an economic and social burden on the society!” Then Tracy jumped in, “ worse still, anytime religion is thrown into the mix in a political setting, it becomes a fertile ground for the emergence of religious fanaticism and boy, have you then opened a can of worms!” I thought to myself how precise these two women were with their prognoses and assessments. I then responded, “you know what, you are both on the money with your assessments and candid observations. Actually, in northern Nigeria today, Islamic fundamentalism and fanaticism is on the upsurge. Worse, still that region is so steeped in Xenophobia to the extent that ethnocentrism, sexism and anti-Semitism are on the rise.” “Anti-Semitism!”, retorted Adam (a Jew who had been silent all along for the most part). “Yes, anti-Semitism!” I replied assertively. “Now they’ve gotten the poor illiterate and destitute masses in the north so bamboozled that they not only blame the Jews and the state of Israel for the plight of their Palestinian brethren, but also hold them liable for the sorry state of the north (northern Nigeria) both economically and socially!” Adam quipped back. “That’s rather interesting but not unexpected.” That to me seemed a rather interesting whip-back by Adam. I then pressed further, “what do you mean by that?” I asked. In his response, Adam stated the fact that one thing that was common with these Ayatollahs (whether in Nigeria or elsewhere) was their ability to incorporate several elements (however unrelated) into a singular cause or struggle. How profound, I thought to myself! In the final analysis, we all came to the agreement that it was usually the poor masses in the domain of these Ayatollahs that bore the brunt of their leaders’ lack of vision and pernicious agenda. Furthermore, let no one be under any illusions that the north will pay a very grave price for this obvious miscalculation by their leaders. Their descent, right back into the dark days of Europe will undoubtedly ensure that the region remains chronically backward for generations to come! Before I go, just a few parting shots: Wada Nas: Nazism in Yorubaland? Well, having served in Nigeria’s own version of the Third Reich, I guess it takes one to know one. Will someone please give Chief Sunny Okogwu a Urinalysis Test… please!! Finally, will someone please tell the ACF (Always Concocting Freeloaders) that their time, is up! The poor masses and determined youth in the north are slowly waking up and will soon join their southern brothers and sisters in singing the "African" spiritual, “free at last, free at last, thank God almighty we’re free at last!” Till next time folks! Soboyejo Alaba Awosika-Coker, CBS Switchboard, Seattle
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