Troubling religion

I believe in a religion that believes in freedom. Any time I have to accept a religion that wont let me fight a battle for my people, I say to hell with that religion.

Malcom X

On a number of fronts, the endemic frictions between faith and Nigerian politics are becoming more intense. These skirmishes remind us that Nigerians have deep and widespread faith in God, but tend to use Him in manners that suggest that the Supreme is only a weapon in our arsenal to fight for advantages in pursuit of goals He will most likely frown upon. Often, we give the impression that we act in responses to His bidding, but when we fight, as we often do, you have to wonder which God we fight for, or if we have a license to interprete Him in any manner we choose.

It makes no sense to give any credence to the idea that our constitution provides for a harmonious co-existence between different faiths, or between fractions of the same faith. Beyond provisions that we should enjoy freedoms to practice our faith without let or hindrance, and that the state shall operate in such a manner that it favours no religion over others, or adopt a state religion, our positions as a nation have shifted between acknowledging the demand that governance must be deeply involved in faith matters; to attempts to distance the two;  to resolve major conflicts when religions clash, or when religion and state disagree over strategies and goals.

You can go all the way back into the early days of our history to validate the assertion that the Nigerian state has never successfully regulated faith, in spite of its awesome powers to deal with security matters, which is what religion had very often become. Failure or indifference by the state to establish and police boundaries between the practice of religion and related matters such as where and how this is done meant that the state yielded space to all manner of religious leaders and charlatans to decide how God should be worshipped. When those boundries were breached, the state came in with a heavy hand, boots, bullets and laws that bought us some relief, but froze the problem. When it is let out, the nation finds itself in the same, or worse situation. Knee-jerk reactions to provocations dealt with symptoms, and attempts made to look deeper into intra and inter-religions conflicts tended to scare off leaders by their sheer magnitude and complexities.

The nation is now dealing with a number of developments that remind it that faith will continue to be a key element in our endeavours to build a nation where citizens live safely and freely within the laws of the land, and practice their faith without the feeling that their basic rights are being abridged. The Shiite-military clash in Zaria being investigated by a Judicial Commission of Inquiring is being torpedoed by the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN)’s insistence that its participation is contingent on its lawyers having access to its leader, El-Zazzagi. There must be some very compelling reasons why this access has become a major stumbling block, and if it is not resolved, the Commission is likely to proceed without the participation of major party in a dispute with frightening dimensions.

The long-term implication of shutting out the IMN from an important process under powers of a Nigerian authority that it barely recognized a few months ago are very serious. The significance of having IMN submit to this process, whatever its motivation, is profound. This is why all steps that should both protect national security and accord the leader of the IMN and the Movement itself deserved rights and facilitation to participate in the preceedings of the Commission should be taken. Needless to say, the work of the Commission without the IMN will be at best an exercise in futility. The Commission’s work should be a critical stepping stone that should begin the process of re-inforcing leadership accountability and re-designing boundaries between religion and the state.

Just as the IMN-state issue is threatening to run away from control, the Kaduna State governor, Malam Nasir el-Rufai begins the process of legislating religious practices and conduct in a State where faith politics has taken more blood than any other. He is running into a storm for all sorts of reasons, principal among them being that people who have been well served by having an entirely unregulated environment do not want it changed. It will be difficult to fault the governor for attempting to curb hate speech clothed in religious preaching, assaults on basic rights of citizens by people who claim to be licensed by God to offend us and set us up against each other, and, on the whole, rid religion of appendages that it had accumulated over the years, owing to weaknesses of the state to draw the line between what is allowed in the name of God and what is not. It is necessary, however, to advise on the need for wider and deeper consultations, (and even engagement with the very people who constitute the problem) before legislation is made that will improve the environment. This will avoid making a mockery of law-making and providing entry points to mischievous characters who have made much in the name of God. There are obviously a number of areas that have been identified as problematic in terms of management of the law by people who mean well. The governor will be well-advised to look at these areas.

Finally, the dust being raised by a group who title themselves Christian Elders, over the decision of President Buhari that Nigeria will join the anti-ISIS coalition will be mentioned even if only to demonstrate how much damage is done to our otherwise genuine commitment to our respective faiths by those who volunteer to police them on our behalf. In saner times, a decision to commit Nigeria to a patently religion-tinted military alliance will be condemned even at the level of contemplation. These, however, are not saner days. The anti-ISIS coalition being put together and led by Saudi Arabia represents a key component in our fight against the insurgency that has ravaged our nation, and claims linkages with similar insurgencies and terrorist groups that also claim to be inspired by Islam. No group of nations are better placed to de-mystify and destroy this coalition of evil that has firm roots in our country. The pretentions to inspirations from Islam has long been abandoned by Boko Haram, and the murderous tendencies which kill and rape Muslims and Christians alike ought to provide support for any initiative that cripples it. Lets be very clear about this: even if it stays firmly at a symbolic level, there is nothing wrong in Nigeria’s participation in any coalition that fights terror, a phenomenon that is miles ahead in establishing global linkages than those who are its victims. If there is a Christian coalition that seeks to fight allies of Boko Haram, we should support it as well. This is one of those occasions when elders are told, rather sadly, to go sit down.

Poor service, rich providers.

              'A bad habit that lasts more than a year may turn into a custom'. Igbo proverb.

There are brave people in Nigeria. They have just been joined by Adebayo Shittu, the Minister of Communications who is being reported have read the riot act to telecoms service providers. Nigerians will hope that the Minister is reading a different riot act from the one that was read to  these providers by virtually everyone in authority in the last few years. The old riot acts have worn thin through repetition and neglect, or have lost their efficacy or their way because they have been routed through the services of the providers. Now Nigerians will, in their characteristic manner, watch out for radical improvements in the quality of services, a sharp drop in the levels of outright swindles and dramatic improvements in the levels of transparency in the operations of these providers. If these are not observed very clearly and comprehensively, Alhaji Shittu's credibility as a leading Minister in an administration that is committed to changing things for the better, will be severely damaged. Nigerians will then resume cursing the providers while patronizing them with trillions, in spite of overwhelming evidence that these curses have little effect on the providers, and that we can do with less chatter.

Actually, the Minister's bark is likely to feel a bit more like a bite this time because its context has changed. The National Communications Commission(NCC) has a new CEO who went in with very high expectations, supported by strong political muscle to rescue and improve servises of a veritable cash cow that was being milked to its bare bones. Just when you thought that the telecoms sector provided better service and returns than the oil and gas sector  to pilferers, crooked regulators, politicians and service providers, the giant MTN ran into serious turbulence. Few people thought MTN will not shrug off this as routine and resume normal service to Nigerian subscribers and the government. After all it had enjoyed unlimited credit in the past. This brush with the Buhari administration, however, turned out to be a major problem when it was asked to pay a fine in trillions of Naira. Very few Nigerians outside its shareholders shed tears. Though three trillions was difficult to even imagine, it was easier to comprehend when equated to the scale of abuse and contempt with which providers served Nigerians.

The twists and turns which the MTN penalties saga has been taking must have left their toll on the psychology of providers who had competed to outdo each other  in the manner they scammed a garrulous nation that had lost its voice to complain. South African President Jacob Zuma's  recent visit may have interfered with the process of getting MTN to show remorse and pay up huge amounts to the Nigerian government, and the recent lifting of regulatory services on the provider may be evidence that politics may have gained it a little more breathing space.

What Minister Shittu is asking NCC to do is a lot more than police the registration of users. He wants wholesale improvements to arrest or eliminate practices that range from a few that will qualify as out rightly criminal, to shabby services that are tolerated only in Nigeria. There must be large numbers of staff who are employed by the providers for the sole purpose of inventing new and patently illegal or prohibited ways of making more money from subscribers, in addition to the trillions we pay for normal airtime and properly subscribed services. It is a waste of time listing even a few of these scams, but a popular way of alerting subscribers to one of the more popular scams is to ask them to listen to 'their' caller tune. Call their lines in their presence and put them on speaker phone while they hear what all their callers hear when they are called. If you do this, prepare for shocks and profound indignation, and then utter dejection when they find out that they cannot complain. Elders and religious leaders revered in the community have their callers listen to music or religious material that offends their dignity and image. They have no idea that this is what people hear on calling them. They have never requested for it, and they certainly resent having to pay for it. They become livid  when told that the service provider can change the caller tune at will, and once you are locked in, there is no getting out.

The way every manner of offer or service is dumped on Nigerians' phones, you will be forgiven for thinking that we have the most unregulated system in the world. As soon as you delete fifteen unsolicited offers and advertisements, another twenty are sent to you. The phone you purchased with your own money is bruised and filled with junk which you clear at your own cost. God alone knows how many marriages have been threatened by a  strange voice answering a call placed to a spouse. You will not know how poor the service in Nigeria is until you leave its shores. An entire nation lies to itself with the words, 'it is a network problem'. In our entire history, nothing has rendered us so completely hooked and so abjectly impotent as our cell phones.

Yet, it does not have to be this way. We are where we are today because Nigerians who should have enforced compliance  with standards and conduct have been totally compromised. How else could MTN have gotten away with refusing to register millions of lines at a time when blood flowed from atrocities of terrorists who took advantage of laxities in monitoring use of communications? You have to ask, now that MTN is being asked to pay for its contempt for our laws and national security, what happens to those public officers and politicians that failed to enforce directives to register all lines? Indeed, who is supervising the current registration(and the multiple re-registrations) of MTN subscribers to ensure compliance with regulations?

Telecommunication services, particularly cell phones provided by private operators have become a key feature in the lives of Nigerians. No basic infrastructure touches more lives than phones. Unlike other infrastructure such as roads, water, medical facilities, schools etc, this service is entirely un-subsidised. Trillions are being made by providers from a nation that  would rather pay to talk than feed. A lot more than what is legitimate is being made because our regulatory institutions have since defected to the enemy. Minister Shittu is taking on a vital area where quick wins are possible and necessary. This administration must make a major difference in the way citizens and telecoms service providers relate. If they cannot immediately improve the quality of their services, they should be made to stop the elaborate scams that further impoverish Nigerians.

The loudest person in the room

Donald Trump lost the Iowa Caucus. Trump blamed the media, bad weather and Iowa's three Muslims.

Conan O'Brien.

 

If you are one of many Nigerians who do not want to hear anything about the build-up to the election of the next US President, stop reading now. If you continue reading, you are not likely to be in a better position to know who the next president of the US will be. You will read a lot of assumptions and speculations and projections, all of which could be swept away by the unfolding dynamics of a political system even Americans stretch to understand, and the rest of world finds cumbersome, confusing, wasteful, expensive and chaotic. And, yes, inimitable.

 

If you have read to this stage, you are likely to have been grabbed by a curious phenomenon most of the world had thought America will not event sniff at: Donald Trump. In many ways, this election is all about Donald Trump, although many wish it is not. Mark Rubio, one of the Republican contestants running against Trump said recently, apparently in exasperation: “This election cant just be about electing the loudest person in the room.” Rubio is wrong. So wrong, that he and his fellow contestants are now ganging up to stay in the race just to reduce Trump’s outrageous and unrelenting onslaught. The two Democratic contestants are competing to convince delegates to vote them as the better antidote to the Trump affliction.

 

It is rather late in the day to find adjectives to describe, or insults to thow at Trump. The world has used them up, and it appears the man and his supporters just gobble them up. Uglier than sin with a toupee, this man has found a niche in the psyche of many Americans which is stimulated by marginally insane politics and a strong faith that it can be placed at the highest office in the land. There not a few people around the world who will be disappointed that Donald Trump has made it to his current position as leader of the Republican pack, but they may be guilty of poor judgment over what keeps American politics going. In this respect, they may be comforted by the establishment vigilante of both parties who are now scrambling to rid the political process of a blight they all thought was a joke. They may or may not succeed. If enough Republican delegates and voters insist that this joke should be the US President, he will cease to be a joke. He will be the world’s problem, the elephant that will destroy the china and the shop. Even if Trump is stopped from becoming US President, the world’s blood pressure would have been dangerously elevated by the mere thought that millions of Americans actually wanted him as President. Trump reminds us that democracy gives people choices, but the people do not always make the best decisions.

 

Trump does more damage than keep awake all decent folks who want a more peaceful and secure world in which the US plays a responsible and accountable role. He shields a vital scrutiny of others who could become the next US President. The contestant closely chasing him for the nomination, Ted Cruz, is a conservative whose politics lacks the Nazi salute, the caging of journalists and the jocular clowning and obsession with body parts at Trump’s rallies, but he puts forward polices that are no less threatening to a world order that needs a middle ground to subsist. 

 

Trump’s larger-than-life brand on the current contest takes attention away from the two Democratic contestants, one of whom are very likely going to be the next US President. Bernie Saunders wears a college professor’s mien and runs with a populist rhetoric against the solid establishment structures of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. She, who could be the first female US President rides well ahead on the legacies of two former Presidents; one her husband and the other the incumbent. The assets they provide her will paper over a patchy record of personal integrity a drab personality and a stint as Secretary of State during which world peace was further endangered by US roles in Libya, Iraq and other parts of the world. If she wins the Democratic nomination, she could run against Trump or Cruz. Americans will then choose between a future involving massive turbulence in a world less disposed to shifting grounds for the US in trade and in conflicts; and one which is slightly more predictable, because it is unlikely to violently veer away from Obama’s path.

 

There are important reasons why this election is important for Nigeria and Africa. President Buhari recently told a foreign journalist that Nigeria will join the Islamic coalition against ISIS. That coalition has a major US influence behind it. The US recently said it is sending military advisers to Nigeria to assist the  fight against Boko Haram. There is a reported alliance between ISIS and Boko Haram. The rumoured links between these terrorist organizations provides a spur to take the fight to ISIS, as well as welcome American boots on Nigerian soil. Nigeria and the US are thus more intimately involved in each other’s conflicts and security.

 

Nigeria will be a very junior partner in any relationship with the US in the pursuit of global security. The US is a major player in many theaters of conflict, many at which it lit the fire. A US under a president who raises walls to trade and international development; compounds poverty and misery by shutting out the rest of the world through movement of labour; assaults sensitivities of nations and faiths already dangerously alienated; and fails to come to terms with the reality that the stage has been taken up by powerful competitors, rivals and hostile nations who are not cowed by the might of the U.S, is a threat to the world.

 

The manner the US is led is vital to Nigeria and Africa’s interests. A US leadership that engages constructively and respectfully in relationships that reduce our poverty and improves our security is an ideal to be cherished. On the other hand, a leadership that provokes greater hostility all around the global community in search of US interests will severely compound Africa’s problems. America has been more responsible in shaping the current global security situation than any other nation. The world has paid for some of its follies, and its citizens have learnt to live in a world that is substantially hostile.

 

Many people will say whoever emerges the US President will make little difference to us here in Nigeria. For any other election, including the previous two which were won by the son of an African student, this will be largely true. This forthcoming election, however, should make more difference. If it is won by anyone other than Trump, we can expect a US government that will operate largely within familiar boundaries. A Trump presidency, on the other hand will rob America of any claims to leadership and credibility. For a nation that is deepening its relations with the US, Nigeria could end up as a passenger on a journey to dangerous places in a vehicle it cannot control.

Ese Oruru

Angry cats get scratched skin.

Swedish Proverb

Any responsible parent of a girl of fourteen that disappears and is then reported to be with an unknown person hundreds of miles away from home will be beside themselves with worry. If they also hear that she has changed her religion and is planning to marry the person responsible for her disappearance, their concerns will deepen. They will do everything to trace the girl and utilize every available source of redress and relief to retrieve her and get justice. If they meet their daughter, and then encounter difficulties in retrieving her from any quarter, they will raise their voices to the high heavens in protest. Everyone who hears the side of the parent’s story will line up in their support.

This is what all Nigerians have done in support of the demand of the parents, relations and the community of 14 year old Ese Oruru for her return to her home in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State from a village in Kano State where she has been for the last few months. This universal support behind the return of Ese to her home is the only peg on which you could hang some sort of consensus. Ese’s reported ill-advised elopement with a young man from Kano is presented as abduction, forceful detention, and conversion to Islam in many versions. Sloppy handling and laxities in the operations of institutions with responsibilities to protect the weak and vulnerable are interpreted in other quarters as high level collusion to violate the fundamental and other rights of a Nigerian minor. A saga that has been active for months, with many stops and gos substantially outside public glare suddenly assumed the status of a national scandal with all the trappings and muck of our politics. A child everyone should look at with responsible sympathy suddenly became the source of the rediscovery of all that is wrong with our politics and other values as a nation. 

Ese was, a few months ago, one among millions of Nigerian children from whom you will buy pure water or snacks without a second look. Today, she is at the center of an almighty row about faith, cultures and damaging politics. Long after this dust is settled, this child will deal with the effects of our quarrels over her. Whether she is a victim of childish impetuousness or adult abuse and cynical manipulation is not likely to matter. Collectively, we would have further injured a child that ought to have been in school learning to be a responsible adult, with the support of her parents and community.

There are quite possibly many angles to this sad story that would have been permanently drowned by indignation and outrage from just about everyone who has scores to settle, or a cause to advance. A range of persons and interests from the Emir of Kano to all Muslims and many Northerners are likely to feel hard done by because their status and faith are being portrayed in very bad light. They will attempt to distance their faith from abduction, forceful conversion or marriage without consent of parents, to no avail. Palace officials, police and community leaders will roll out all manner of evidence that they played their parts. No one will care, after the devastating conclusions of social media warriors has reached many ears, galvanizing opinions in support of a child who desperately needs to be freed from abduction and forced conversion and impending marriage.

Ese’s sojourn has attracted to the poor child an entire army of sympathizers, many of whom she does not need, and they do not deserve mention. Minister of Women Affairs says Ese is a wake up call to improve the protection of women and child rights. Harshtags in support of Ese’s return have been gaining support in social media. Traditional and stereotype insults against people, regions and religions are being unearthed, with reminders of child marriages by prominent northerners, the Chilbok girls, sponsored pregnancies, commercial baby factories and entire communities living off remittances from prostituting daughters in Europe filling all social media spaces. 

In this bedlam which says more about how we treat each other as adults than how we relate to our young, there are a few islands of sanity. The governor of Bayelsa State went out of his way to engage Governor of Kano State and the Emir of Kano, and publicly commended both for the roles they played in reuniting Ese with her parents. The Kano Emirate Council released a measured statement distancing the Emir and the Emirate Council from accusations that they colluded in keeping Ese in Kano State, away from her parents. 

On the other hand, the legion of shrill joiners piling on sensation and crude opportunism reminds us all that we are stuck in some deep gutters as far as inter-community relations go. The Nation newspaper screamed an editorial that should lose it a substantial amount of respect. It said: “The story which was, at press time still developing, has all the evil trappings of molestations, child abuse, sexual deviance, abduction, religious coercion, constitutional violation, a network of shadowy big mean manipulating the law…” This comment will force all people with a hint of civilized humanity to grit their teeth and read the trademark drivel rolled out routinely by Femi Fani-Kayode because it appears that he shares the same space with this newspaper on this matter. Forgive me for giving this man who clearly needs help a few minutes of your time, but this is part of Fani-Kayode’s contribution on this matter: “The truth is that this is not a love story about two inseparable young people: it is rather a sad and tragic tale about pedophilia, child abduction, kidnapping, human trafficking, slavery, rape, impunity, wickedness, religious bigotry and ritual sex. Worse still it is an unfolding drama at the end of which Emir Sanusi Lamido (sic) may well have a case to answer. The truth is that the little girl would have been raped over and over again and she may well have Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDs), Vesicovaginal Fistula (VVF) or some other strange sexual disease by now”. 

There must be people who enjoy this type of delusion in print, because newspapers give it space. But Ese does not need it. What she needs is a quiet and productive reunification with her family, and a lot of time to sort out deeply personal issues. What we need as a nation is to move on and find other grounds for a quarrel. Everyone involved in this sensitive issue should examine their roles, or have them examined by those who police accountability. Where amends or restitutions need to be made, they must be made. Ese will develop into an adult and decide what she wants to do with her life. The best way we can help her reach that stage without further damage is to create appropriate distance between her life and our many preferences and prejudices.