Obama snubs Pakistan head over supply routes

247ureports
-
0

By ANNE GEARAN, AP National Security Writers

CHICAGO (AP) — In an unmistakable snub, President Barack Obama left Pakistan off a list of nations he thanked Monday for help getting war supplies into Afghanistan.

The omission speaks to the prolonged slump in U.S. relations with Pakistan that clouded a NATO summit where nations were eyeing the exits in Afghanistan.

Tensions that Obama readily acknowledged raise questions about whether Pakistan will help or hurt the goal of a stable Afghanistan. Continued mistrust between the United States and Pakistan also threaten cooperation to eliminate al-Qaida sanctuaries and could undermine U.S. confidence in the security of Pakistan’s growing nuclear arsenal.

“We need to work through some of the tensions that have inevitably arisen after 10 years of our military presence in that region,” Obama said later. “I don’t want to paper over real challenges there.”

Pakistan is not a NATO member but was invited to the summit Sunday and Monday because of its influence in next-door Afghanistan and its role until last year as the major supply route to landlocked NATO forces there. Pakistan closed those routes after a U.S. attack on the Pakistani side of the border killed 24 Pakistani soldiers in November.

The last-minute invitation from NATO to join the Chicago talks was a sign of hope that the rift had healed.

But it hasn’t. And Obama’s dealings with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari made that clear on Monday.

Zardari came to Obama’s home town expecting a separate meeting with the U.S. leader like the one accorded to Afghan President Hamid Karzai. But without a final deal to reopen the supply lines, no such meeting was to occur.

Obama, along with Karzai, did speak briefly with Zardari on the sidelines of a large group meeting Monday. Karzai dismissed the encounter in an interview with CNN as a “three-way photograph taking…just a photo opportunity.”

That was after Zardari had to sit by as Obama opened Monday’s session with public thanks only to the nations north of Afghanistan who allowed expanded supply shipments to transit their territory to compensate for the closed Pakistani border gates.

“I want to welcome the presence of President Karzai, as well as officials from central Asia and Russia — nations that have an important perspective and that continue to provide critical transit for ISAF supplies,” Obama said, referring to the International Security Assistance Force that is fighting the war.

Pakistani officials played down the snub.

“The supply route on Pakistan’s side has been suspended for the last six months,” Zardari’s spokesman Farhatullah Babar told reporters. “There was really no expectation from our side that the U.S. president would appreciate and admire the suspension of the NATO supply lines.”

The border crossing dispute is stuck over how much the U.S. will pay Pakistan to allow trucks to transit its territory. Before the airstrike, the U.S. paid about $250 per truck. Now, two U.S. officials said, Pakistan wants $5,000 a truck and an apology for the deaths in the airstrike. The Obama administration has said it was willing to pay as much as $500 per vehicle and has expressed condolences and regret, but no apology. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the negotiations were being conducted in private.

The prospects for reaching a deal were unclear, even as the stakes grow larger.

Babar said the government had asked negotiators to expedite an agreement, but that “no timeline can be given.”

Obama told reporters at the close of the summit that he knew beforehand that there would be no deal on the supply routes now.

“President Zardari shared with me his belief that these issues can get worked through,” Obama said. “We’re actually making diligent progress on it.”

Zardari also met with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Sunday and made a beeline across a meeting hall to grasp her hand again on Monday morning. The State Department said Clinton and Zardari “discussed the importance of reopening the NATO supply lines,” and of cooperating to fight terrorist threats.

The U.S. and Pakistan have a history of troubled relations that started well before the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The road has grown only rockier since then. Despite giving Pakistan billions of dollars in aid over the past decade, anti-Americanism is widespread in Pakistan. And after years of sometimes meaningful cooperation in hunting down al-Qaida figures, Pakistan is still seen by many U.S. officials as double-dealing and unreliable.

The transit route issue was a distraction and an embarrassment for the United States at the summit, and Obama’s cool arm’s length treatment of Zardari made it look even worse for the Pakistani president.

“Pakistan has to be part of the solution in Afghanistan, and it is in our national interests that to see a Pakistan that is democratic, that is prosperous and that is stable,” Obama said.

The quarrel over supply routes is intertwined with several other disputes, including Pakistan’s opposition to U.S. drone strikes against terrorist targets inside its borders.

In addition to closing the border crossings in response to the November attack, Pakistan ordered the U.S. to vacate Shamsi air base, which the U.S. was using to launch drone strikes at al-Qaida and Taliban militants.

The top allied commander in Afghanistan, Marine Gen. John Allen, has tried to cast the supply route problem in the best possible light, while acknowledging that he’d like to see the border crossings reopened as soon as possible. Allen said Sunday that by some measure, war stocks are higher now than when the crossings were closed.

That is thanks to an increased — and much more costly — use of alternative routes, including a network of northern routes that connect Baltic and Caspian Sea ports with Afghanistan through Russia and Central Asia and the Caucasus. And they combine sea, rail and truck transport and are more costly than crossing Pakistan by land.

U.S. officials have offered a range of estimates on how much the closing of the Pakistani land routes have added to the overall supply costs, but it apparently is at least two or three times more expensive to move supplies by air and via the northern route.

To underline the value of those alternative supply routes from the north, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta met Monday in Chicago with his counterparts from the central Asian nations of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. He expressed his “deep appreciation for their support” of the northern supply route, Pentagon press secretary George Little said.

At least as troublesome as being forced to use alternative supply routes into Afghanistan is the issue of how to get war materiel out of the country as Allen begins the withdrawal of thousands of U.S. troops this summer. That’s because the withdrawal includes shipment of vehicles and other equipment that would be costly and time consuming to remove by air.

The NATO alliance needs Pakistan’s cooperation to ensure Afghanistan’s long-term stability and security, NATO’s top officer told reporters. That was a mild way of saying that Pakistan can play the spoiler at will and holds cards the fighting force does not. Pakistan shares history, culture and language with Afghanistan’s restive southern swath, and maintains support for Taliban-led insurgents who cross the border to kill U.S. and NATO forces.

___

Burns reported from Washington.

Associated Press writer Desmond Butler contributed to this report.

Obama says very concerned by Al-Qaeda in Yemen

247ureports
-
0

By Stephen Collinson (AFP)

CHICAGO — US President Barack Obama said Monday the United States was very worried about the threat posed by an Al-Qaeda affiliate in Yemen after the group massacred almost 100 soldiers in a huge suicide blast.

Obama pledged to work with the Yemeni government to crack down on Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) which has been blamed for several Yemeni-based attempts to blow up US airliners and cargo planes.

“We are very concerned about Al-Qaeda and extremist activity in Yemen,” Obama told reporters at a NATO summit devoted to ensuring that Al-Qaeda is not allowed to regroup in another one-time terror haven, Afghanistan.

Obama said there was no doubt that Yemen’s poverty and instability attracted extremists, and added that Washington, which has used drones to take out leaders of AQAP, had a robust counter-terror operation there.

“We’re going to continue to work with the Yemeni government to try to identify AQAP leadership and operations and try to thwart them,” Obama said.

“That’s important for US safety, it’s also important for the stability of Yemen and for the region.”

In the attack, a soldier detonated explosives under his uniform in the middle of a battalion, killing 96 troops and wounding about 300, in a massive blast witnesses said echoed loudly across Sanaa, causing panic among residents.

AQAP claimed responsibility for the attack which it said targeted “the defense minister and other leaders of the US war on our people in Abyan” province in the south.

Obama said the United States had learned from its time in Afghanistan that it was vital to stay focused on counter terror operations and to work with local governments and not to over extend US forces.

“We’ve got similar problems in Somalia, what’s happening now in Mali and the Sahel,” Obama said, adding that terrorists would seek to infiltrate nations where the machinery of the state was “wobbly.”

Earlier, Obama’s counterterrorism chief John Brennan spoke to Yemeni President Abdo Rabu Mansour Hadi who “pledged not to let terrorist acts interfere with Yemen’s peaceful political transition,” a statement said.

State Department deputy spokesman Mark Toner reinforced the White House statement.

“This cowardly attack highlights the lengths to which Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula will go to wreak havoc in Yemen and beyond,” he said.

“The United States remains committed to a comprehensive strategy that emphasizes governance and economic development as well as counterterrorism efforts in Yemen,” Toner said in a statement.

Obama last week signed a decree allowing sanctions to be imposed on individuals or entities deemed a threat to Yemen’s stability which empowers the US Treasury to subject offending individuals and entities to asset freezes while prohibiting Americans from doing business with them.

The United States has carried out regular drone strikes against AQAP suspects in Yemen.

In May, several US drone strikes killed a number of Al-Qaeda militants including a top Al-Qaeda leader wanted following the disruption of a plot for a suicide bomber to wear a device sewn into custom fit underwear designed to bring down a passenger jet.

The plot mirrored another Yemen-based plot, on Christmas Day 2009, when a suicide bomber tried to bring down a US airliner over Detroit, but the device failed to properly explode.

British Council to Launch English Language Training Program on National Libyan Radio

247ureports
-
0

An agreement to create a bi-weekly English language educational radio show was signed between Abdulkader al-Tuhami, the general manager of the Libyan National Broadcasting Corporation, and Cherry Gough, the Director of the British Council in Libya on May 17th in Tripoli.

The agreement followed the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the Ministry of Higher Education and the British Council on partnership programs.

The project, to be known as Learn English Radio (LER) has been welcomed by many Libyans.

According to the Libya Herald, during the later years of Muammar Gaddafi’s regime, especially between 1985 and 1995 English language training was dropped from the national curriculum. The Libyan government purposefully worked to prevent Libyans from learning English although Gaddafi spoke some English himself.

According to several Libyans who spoke to Tunisia Live, for years, Gaddafi used illiteracy and the deprivation of adequate education as a tool to prop up his dictatorship and repress dissent.

“One of the tactics in Gaddafi’s playbook was to force us to sink into the abyss of ignorance. English is an international language, use of the English language could have been a tool for us to tell the world about Gaddafi’s repression, this is what he most feared,” Hafedh Ftiss a director of the Amazigh International Council told Tunisia Live.

In many official speeches, Gaddafi would declare that the main adversaries of Libya were English speaking nations. He used this political pretext to drop the learning of English in Libyan educational institutions.

Al Moghani Hassan Mohamed wrote about Gaddafi’s hostile attitude towards the English language in his Durham University doctoral dissertation entitled “Students’ Perceptions of Motivation in English Language Learning in Libya.” According to Mohamed, in one speech, Gaddafi allegedly said, “We are a natural and historical opposite of America as an imperialist power…one of America’s tasks, as an imperialist power hostile to freedom is to threaten the Jamahirya.”

In reality though the lack of English language training was a big masquerade that Gadaffi put on to fool the Libyan people according to Ftiss, “Gadaffi had good relationships with many English speaking countries including the ones he called his rivals. His war on the English language was a method to keep Libya isolated from the outside world, which was a policy only good for Gadaffi and no other Libyan,” argued Ftiss.

Ftiss said that Libyan history was another subject highly obscured by the former regime that the new government would have to work to revive. “We need to learn about the collective memory that unites us all. We need to know about the history of North Africa and Libya. History was totally ignored in Libyan education before the revolution.”

Facebook comments by Libyans appear to be mostly positive towards the new English language initiative on the Britih Council facebook page.

“Great news…when will the programs start? I want to tell my friends.” wrote Adel Gosaibat, a Facebook user.

Although the launch date of the English learning radio show has not yet been confirmed, Libyans can look forward to the day when they can learn English from listening to the radio.

Man Caught With Explosives At Radio House: Exclusive Details

247ureports
-
6
John Apovan from Nasarawa State

“I am from Nassarawa state and my brother who was a Mobile Police Corporal served in Bayelsa State. His name was Aliyu Clement and he died in November 2011.When he came to the village, he fell sick and died. We sent signal to Bayelsa but the signal was said to have stopped on the way.” – stated the arrested man under interrogation who gave his name as John Apovan. He stated that the suspected bombs and ammunition belonged to his late brother who was a corporal with the Police Mobile Force in Bayelsa. He added also that he had decided to bring the package to Abuja to the Federal Minister of Information and Communication because he was afraid to go to the police.

But more details made available to 247ureports.com through sources close to the dreaded Islamic group, the Boko Haram, indicates that man did not go to attack the top officials gathered at the Ministry of Information  – comprising of the ministers of Information, Labaran Maku; Aviation, Princess Stella Oduah and Youths, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi who were presenting  their achievements  at the Ministerial Platform in commemoration of  the forth-coming  Democracy Day and first anniversary of the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan.

The source revealed that the security operatives may have mistakenly and maybe unknowningly stumbled onto the modus operandi of the Boko Haram.

He explains that the arrested man, ‘John Apovan from Nasarawa State’, was not part of the attack soldiers. “He was not there to attack. His job was to smuggle the material into the premises“.

The gentle and responsible demeanor of the arrested man, ‘John Apovan from Nasarawa State’, as learnt, was the reason he was used to smuggle the weapons into the Radio House compound – and plant them somewhere for the would-be attackers on a later date.

As informed, the would-be attackers would pose a high security risk to have them carry the weapons on themselves. The weapons/exposives were to be planted carefully inside the compound – for the attackers to use -on the selected day of attack.

The source pointed to the attack at Bayero University Old Campus Kano as an example.

He reveals that the attack in Kano was staged in phases. “Women with children tied to their backs were used to smuggle attack materials into the campus” said the source who continued to explain that the security men stationed at the Gate were not concerned with searching such women thoroughly but “other means of smuggling were also used“. He explained that the discovery of unused explosives and ammunitions at the attack site at Bayero University Kano days later – were indicative that the weapons were planted there before the day of the attack – by other persons.

Interestingly, one of the persons used to smuggle materials into the campus has been fingered to be a man from Calabar, Mr. Effiong.

The source also revealed that the recent attempt at peace dialogue with a faction of the Boko Haram based in Borno State – the Ali Jos faction – may have not settled well with the Shekau led Boko Haram. Already, the Shekau led Boko Haram had sent out signals to the Federal Government of the dangers of dialoguing with the Ali Jos group. It is suspected that the Shekau group may embark on an intensified mission to prove their dominance of the Ali Jos faction.

[Democracy Day will be a day to remain in prayers.]

Shehu Usman Dan Fodio And Islamization Of Hausas through Jihad

247ureports
-
0

–

by Amnah Khalid
 
Political Science researcher
 
International Islamic University,Malaysia

—–

Introduction

In contemporary time, jihad is often understood as the violent process of waging war againstnon-Muslims. Muslims themselves have promoted it as a form of cleasing of external influencesfrom the Islamic personality at an individual level. However, historically in West Africa, jihadwas used as a pattern of Islamization to eradicate paganism and African culture to homogenizesociety as a whole to become a part of the Islamic Ummah. Islamization as a process occurred inevery age and time through revivalist movements that challenged particular order. Knowledgeand Islamization in relation to society is understood as the transformation of the public sphere interms of mass distribution of Islamic symbols and the increase of political representation of Islam. In other words, it is the contention of purporting an Islamic worldview by introducingIslamic values and method into educational institutions, science and politics.
 
Advent of Islam in west Africa
 
Islam made inroad into West Africa by trade, intermarriage and pilgrimage. Following the Arabconquest of North Africa, the Berbers accepted Islam and carried it across the Sahara to thekingdom of Soninke. The transmitting of Islam through culture explains its peaceful process of conversion, but its success laid in the Africanization of Islam. It proved its rational basis,simplicity and adaptability and tradition of scholarship. It was common, like in Gao that peoplewere pagans and their king a Muslim and so the court customs remained Pre -Islamic. Likewise,in Ghana Muslims lived in separate quarters under the protection of a pagan king who seek their prayers in overcoming plots, wars, and drought. It was difficult to rule over a powerful minorityMuslim community who monopolized trade and had extensive foreign relations but also had to please the pagan majority. Ibn Battuta’s (1352-1353 A.D) accounts firmly placed Islam in thekingdom of Mali. He describes the political system as a struggle of influence between paganismand Islam especially when religion appealed differently to different social groups.Ritualism was prevalent and offering prayers was regarded the main tenet. There were no Kadi tosettle disputes and the community litigated before a preacher to settle through conciliation. The Quran was regarded as a source of blessing instead of a revelation of the divine law. The ulemawere also of two kinds; those close to the king that integrated into the socio-political system of the state who accepted the realities of compromise and presented Islam in dilute and mild forms.The other kind maintained high standard of scholarship well connected to other centers of learning and more interested in the application of Islamic Law. They presented a normativeIslam, different from the practiced and so were in a position to deal with kings in an independentcapacity. The radical break with the past could not be accomplished through evolution; an armedrevolution was necessary. Therefore if the kings cannot turn to be true Muslims then the onlyway was for the ulema to become chief to make an Islamic state. Therefore, a median positionwas adopted in political system and the change to Islam came between 1785-1898 through the jihad of , Usman Dan Fodiyo, Ahmad b. Muhammad, al-hajj Mahmud, al-hajj Umar al-Futiwhich spread the tijani message, al-hajj Muhammad al- Amin of Gambia, Samory Ture innorthern Ghana. It was these great Muslim leaders of the states of the Sudan that Edward Blydenspoke so highly of in a London suburb on the anniversary of Liberian independence in 1874.Blyden summoned up the great characteristics of the Muslims and the Islamic spirit of brotherhood in the following words:’They read constantly the same books, and from this they derive that community of ideas and thatunderstanding of each other which gives them the power of ready organization and effectiveaction. Without the aid or hindrance of the foreigners, then they are growing up gradually andnormally to take their place in the great family of nations, a distinct but integral part of the greathuman body, who will neither be spurious Europeans, bastard Americans, nor savage Africans, but men developed upon the basis of their own idiosyncracies and according to the exigencies of the climate and country.The result was the set up of centralized Islamic polities, although strictly speaking it did notresult in theocries rather the moving of Islam to the center as the source of state legitimacy. Itreduced paganism to the lowest rungs of society and thus forcing pagans to convert. This system remained intact until colonial occupation.
 
What were the customs and practises that led to Jihad and Islamization of the region?
 
From Ibn Battuta’s account of African native culture it can be deciphered that it was tribal.African polytheism involved human sacrifice and the use of human organs to make charms andamulets.Paganism dominated the supernatural forces that reigned on earth, sky, forest and water.They derive their genealogy from the the maternal uncle and neither does a man pass on hisinheritance to his sons but to the sons of his sister.The free mixing of genders in which men didnot experience jealousy and women continued to have friends and companions after marriage.Women were not veiled and not modest in the presence of men inspite of their perseverance in prayer and would not even in ramadan cover up. On marriage they could not travel with men andwhen they did ,only permitted within a set territorial boundary. They ate animals not rituallyslaughtered or permitted like dog, donkey.Many pagan tribes were cannibals and Ibn Battutarelates that once when a woman was offered as a hospitality by a king she was slaughtered andeaten .The pagan belief system, believed in a high god not actively connected with everyday lifeof men but connected to them through a chain of supernatural forces that controlled destiny .TheUbangiji was the high god and the supernatural forces were Iskoki that acted as the medium of agood relationship between god and men, through rituals which were often sacrifices or possession of being. It supported a class of priests skilled in the mysteries of Iskoki ,that were politically powerful since the king was made the center of public rituals.This is known as theBori-cult .The people were most humble before their king and little injustice was found among them. Thegood is that they are regular in prayer and particular even with their children, especially on theoccasion of Friday prayer even the poorest among them washes his clothes and wears white to goand pray. They learn Quran by heart and punish those who would not learn by chainingthem.They make fetters for their children when they appear on their part to be falling short intheir learning of Quran by heart, and they are not taken off from them until they do learn byheart. I went to visit him on id day and his children were tied up for this reason.
 
Early Islam in northern Nigeria
 
According to the, Kano Cronicles which is the earliest written historical record of the Hausas andtranslated from Arabic to English by Palmer,Islam first came to northern Nigeria in the reign of Yaji of Kano in fourteenth century. The wangarawa trading scholars like Abdur Rahman Zaiti,kebe, Mutuku,Yakasai, Shehu, Auwula and Imam of Madatai from Mali spread Islam in theregion by preaching and practical display of the beauty, elegance and excellence of Islam. It wasaround this period Muhammad Kurau of Katsina embraced Islam and became the first Muslimking however it was during the reign of Sarki Yakubu that books on fiqh and etymology began to be studied brought from Timbuktu.The Sankore university of Timbaktu is credited to be the firstMuslim university in West Africa with its ijazat fully equvelant to any great Islamic centers of learning beyond Sudan. Initially its scholars were influenced by North Africa but from sixteenthcentury onwards replaced by Egypt mainly because of its greater theological and legal pluralism.Unlike the north Africans ,the Egyptian permitted individual freedom to choose amongthe four madhab and were more tolerant to mixed Islam and had anticipated the ijtihadmovement of subsequent centuries.Under the reign of king Muhammad Rumfa of Kano Islamization began to influence the way of life for ordinary people.The great Muslim scholar Muhammad bin Ahmad al- Maghili fromSankore university came to advise king Rumfa on matter of running his government inaccordance with shariah. He was later appointed the qadi at Katsina who invited a number of Muslim emissaries from Medina to live and teach and it became a hub of traders and scholarsfrom Magrib,Tripoli, Egypt. Hausa traders and government took to writing Hausa language inArabic script using the kufi script and old scripts were abandoned and later destroyed in DanFodiyo’s jihad.Hausas worshipped their ancestors and revered them so much that out of respectthey did not even call out their name like in Dambatta.The sacred tree of ‘Madabi’ near Dala Hillwas cut down and a mosque was built in its place. This was the first mosque in Kano and knownas Madabi Mosque and it’s imams went to Makka on pilgrimage and returned with Islamic booksthat founded schools in which they were taught. However pagan practises and supersitioncontinued and were mixed with Islam and presented as acceptable and permitted in the religion.
 
Usman Dan Fodio Ideas on issues of his times
 
Uthman b.Muhammad b.Uthman b. Salih was born in Maratta in Gobir, a Hausa state on 15th December . His father was a prominent renowned scholar Muhammad Fodiyo decendent of Torankawa Fulani who had emigrated from present day Senegal in fifteenth century under their leader Musa Jakolo. In childhood he moved to Dengel where he gained his early education in thetraditional Islamic tradition.This has been described by El-Masri,’as having atained a basic knowledge of the religion, reading and writing in boyhood, the aspirantscholar would then travel about to learned men and stay with them till he had perfected with eachthe particular science in which he had gained his fame; having completed his studies to thesatisfaction of a master he would then be given a licence(ijaza) to teach the subject he had beentaught, on the authority of the master. In this way the talib would go around to collect ijaza andthus establish fame as a recognised scholar. This process would not normally cease at a certainstage or age for whenever a scholar was to be found who excelled himself in a branch of knowledge no matter whether a local man or a foreigner others would go to study under him.Thisis why Dan Fodio continued going to study while he himself was teaching and preaching.This is confirmed by his brother Abdullah who records that Shehu had too many teachers to berecorded since he never spared an opportunity to add to his knowledge. He was influenced andtaught by Jibril b. Umar, a severe critic of state affairs and who carried out an unsuccessful jihadhimself. Others were Shaikh Abdal al-Rahman b. Hammada taught him syntax and science of grammar, Jibril b. Umar was a Tuareg scholar of great scholarship and revolutionary zeal whowas greatly respected by him.He learnt Sahih of al- Bukhari and tafsir from Haj Muhammad b.Raji and Ahmad b. Muhammad while Hashim al- Zamfari also taught him tafsir. He wassurrounded by intellectuals like his uncles, Uthman Binduri, Muhammad Sambo, his brother Abdullah and later son Ahmad Bello. Hence it is concluded that his intellectualism was from acurriculum of a large variety of subjects like grammar, syntax,elymology, prosody of Arabiclanguage, Tafsir, Sahih al- Bukhari, Sirat, Fiqh, Ibadat, Astrology which studied the stars and planets and Sufism.By 1774-5 he was qualified to teach and preach and began to do so in Degel, although he saw hisrole more of a reformer with a clear mission as stated in his book Ifham al- Munkirin,’ God the exalted, has ordained to send forth to the umma at the end of every century a scholar (Alim) who would revive her religion for her.Such a scholar or mujaddid, would take upon himself the duty of enjoying the good and forbidding the evil. He would call for the regulation of the affairs of the people and the establishment of justice amongst them. He would support thetruth against falsehood, revive the sunnah, suppress innovation, and denounce bad customs. As aresult of his activities his conditions will be different from those of the ulama of his age and hewill find himself a stranger………The main issues that caught his attention was the rigidity and venality of the ummah, theuncertainty in belief and the continuation of pagan customs but above all the general ignoranceof people about Islam.Therefore, he set out to rectify these issues by travelling to different townsof Gobir to teach and preach ,firstly to Birnin Kebbi to the West and Zoma in the east. Largenumbers of people responded to his call and began visiting and following him. He was aknowledgeable , charismatic, sincere an committed preacher who feared none. Shehu faced muchopposition from all direction that feared him and wish to maintain the status quo while Shehuwas committed to change.He was accused of hypocrisy, sedition, hearsay and misleading thecommon man which gradually grew into unwarranted attacks and even persecution.His opposition came from the ulema who wished to maintain the state of affairs to retain power and the charlatans who posed as sufi saints but were very ignorant and depended on mysticalexperience of transcendental knowledge.Shehu had criticized these ulema for justifying politicalcorruption, immorality, promotion of evil through local customs and culture and especially promoting slavery among muslims.These highlighted the issues of those times such as, the ulema’s strict adherence to Maliki schooland making fanatical interpretation and muddling of the very defination of who is a Muslim? Thequestion of belief and non belief was central to determining the rights and obligations of theindividual in society and directly related to the institution of slavery which was widespread. AMuslim could not be enslaved by a fellow Muslim and by not defining clearly change wasimpossible. The ulema of Gobir adhered to the view of Al- Maghili who branded all who prayedin the direction of Kaba as Muslim and gave three criteia as, professing of belief and acceptingthe prophecy, distinguishing between the beliver and non through an act of unbelief like idolworship etc and to say something known would not emanate except from one who does not knowGod even if the one who says it asserts that he does not know God. This room for specific practices of unbelief was unacceptable to Shehu.Another group of ulema following Ulama al-Kalam defined a Muslim if he could explain the unity of allah (s.w.a) and prophethood of Muhammad(s.a.w). Instead he argued that if a sinner recognized his sin, he proves that heaccepts shariah although if a sin is either intentionally or persistently continued through personalattitude means the denial of law and involves the question of intention which God alone knowsand so a judgment be left for the final day of judgment. In his book Ihya al- Sunna, he defines hismoderate position,’ Whosoever affirms the ‘confession of faith’ should be treated in accordancewith the Islamic legal rules, he may intermarry with the Muslims, he may lead the prayer, themeat of animals slaughtered by him is lawful, the Muslims may inherit his property and he mayinherit their own, and when he dies he should be buried in the Muslim grave yard’. This firmlyliberated people from exploitation and injustice and Shehu was seen as the long awaited mahdiwho would rescue his people.Secondly the issue as to what extent Muslims could follow their local custom was decided. Theulema had cordoned all customs and traditions on the grounds of being ada and so part of sunna, but this was claimed false by Shehu.His stand was moderate where he argued that such customsshould be permitted and their persistence made people sinners and unbelivers.Thirdly, the mostextensively discussed was on mass ignorance about Islam among his people.His commitmentwas basically to eradicate it and to teach the basics of ibadah of Islam correctly. In this regardtoo he was critical of ulema who teach a few students and ignore women and slaves.He belivedwomen education was important since they form the backbone of the family and thus thesociety.His daughter Asmau was highly educated and serves to remind that what he preached iswhat he practised. His son Muhammad Bello is credited to have written seventy eight bookswhile Usman Dan fodio with as many as hundred and fifteen. Some were,Talimal Ikhwan which was on the philosophy of law and jurisprudence.Kitab Faraq on the question of leadership and dealing with problems of illegal taxation, arbitaryconfiscation of property, corruption of judges,perversion of legal process etc.Hidayat Tullab related to Islamic law and Muslim society.Umdatal Ubbad a guidline for voluntary acts of devotion like prayer,ibadat and focus of spiritualtraining.Kitab al- Adab discussed 15 issue like obligation of husband & wife, ethics of visit to sick, social behaviour.
 
Tariqal al- Ganna on moral ideals.The mood of his preaching and the tone of his writing reflectthe intellectual and political development of his society, hence initially his writings were milduntil 1790s and when jihad was emminent he was uncompromising and after the establishment of Sokoto Sultanate again mild. His strategy was to disperse as many students as possible so Islamis promolgated, discussed and ignorance of the people reduced. His committment to masseducation set the course of his books that were hand copied and circulated. His moderate positionon important issues conform to the Islamic principle of middle course and the intrinsic simplicityof Islam became the reasons for his mass following among his people and intellectuals. This wasfeared by the kings of the region who felt threatened by this new phenomena of conversions andmass following. In 1789 Shehu was invited by Bawa the king of Gobir to celebrate Id al Kabir atMagami. It was planned that he would be killed but when Shehu was accompanied by a thousandfollowers, the king quickly changed his mind and instead tried to win them over by offeringgifts.On accepting the gifts of which the greatest was of 500 mithaqls to him, Shehu made fivedemands from the king,1. Allow him to preach the word of Allah (s.w.a) in Gobir.2. Allow people to convert if they wish.3. Give respect to turbaned men (his followers).4. Free all prisoners that were taken from Zamfara ( a hostile state but had more converts).5. Not to burden the people with more taxes.These were accepted by the king since he realised how influential Shehu had become.The firsttwo demands indicate the alarming proportion of followers that the king wished to contain. Thethird was on the discrimination his followers must have faced in their practices and attair whichmust be visually having an impact.The demand for freeing of prisoner shows the powerful position Shehu was in and reduction of tax especially on cattle must be liberating for the people.
Usman Dan Fodio’s Hijrah
By 1795, the power was the rulers was eroding with the consolidation of Shehu’s Jama’a wasonly increased their persecution.It was around this period that Shehu wrote a poem in praise of Sheikh Abdul Kadir Jilani in which he urged his jamaa to acqiure arms to establish Islamic rulein Hausa land. To quell his insecurity the King promulgated new laws, 1.No one was allowed to preach except Usman Dan Fodio.2.Conversions were not allowed and those who were not born Muslims should revert back totheir old religion.3.No man was allowed to wear the turban and no women a veil.This attempt to control the masses failed and provoked Muslims to become militant and amassarms. The failure of the policy forced desperate King Nafata forced to take Shehu’s familyhostage and coerce him to discontinue his activities but this too failed and the king died in 1802.Yunfa took over the throne when Shehu wrote on the theme of Hijra and Jihad in Al-Masa’il al-Mu-himma, and again an attempt on his life was made and it again failed.By 1803 the situationwas explosive and when Yumfa attacked Gimbana in Kebbie, Muslim property was robbed andMuslims were taken captive with many dead and villages destroyed.When the captives passedDegel they were freed by other Muslims without Shehu’s permission but this made Yunfa toorder him to leave his jamaa and go into exile.Shehu refused to leave his Jamaa and instead leaveGobir for Gudu. Yunfa sensing mass exedous ordered him to stay back but the descion was madeand the whole process was organised by his brother Abdullah, Aliyu Jedo, Abdusalam andMuhammad Bello his son. It was at this time that the famous, pamplet, Wathiqat ahl al-Sudanwa-ila man Sha’Allah min al-Ikhwan fi al- buldan was written as the manifesto of jihad. It waswidely circulated and a kind of declaration of Jihad.It made it clear that the status of a state isthe ruler and if Muslims have to fight the unbelievers so be it. Thus Shehu and his party of Jamaamoved from Degel to Gudu marking it as the Hijrah in 1804. It was the climax of a social and political crisis the Hausa states were facing and the final break from the pagan kings of theJamaa.
His Jihad
At Gudu the Jamaa began to swell and an imam was elected like the set up of the Islamic state atMedina. Shehu was elected the leader and called Amir al-Mu’minin or Sarkin Muslimin and thecall for jihad against pagans and half Muslims was made. Twelve flag bearers were initially sentto act his commander to Zaria and Katsina with the most difficult battle against Gobir that waseventually won. Kano and Zazzau remained hesitant but were won over and the rest of the stateswere sent letters to invite and join the cause of truth against falsehood.The Jihad ended in 1808 and Shehu appointed his son Muhammad Bello to be the first Sultan to a united states of SokotoSultanate and retire himself to preaching, teaching and writing books. He died in 1817 andcontinue to influence Islamization process in Nigeria.Examining the Jihad in the light of established principles of Islam, the primary purpose of government is rendering possible of ibadah.The moral purpose of of the state becomes manifest in the obligation to command thegood and prohibit the bad as the foremost civic religious duty. Al Ghazali calls this duty thegreatest pole in the religion and al- Mawardi a specific duty.The purpose of Muslim governmentis derived from the above political theory and according to al Ashari, its execution may be done by tongue, hand, or sword- which ever way is able.The Muslim community is to be safeguardedagainst schism and heresy and in the case of a breach, jihad is to be proclaimed since the country becomes Dar al Kufr and not Dar al- Islam. In 1808 Bello his son decided to build a capital onneutral ground and Sokoto was founded, and the Sokoto Caliphate was established that coveredtwo third of present Nigeria.The impact of the jihad was felt as far as the Carribeans in Jamicawhen in 1820s a document called Wathiqah surfaced among black slaves, it was the sameWithiqah ahl- Sudan that Shehu wrote as his call for jihad . It is believed some of these men were jihadi or traders carrying Arabic manuscripts that on the way caught and enslaved. It became thesource of strength and unity among them against the white slave masters and resulted in the slaveriots of Manchaster Jamica in 1832. It was secretly circulated among them under the leadershipof Muhammad Kaba (Robert Peart) who hailed from eastern Timbaktu and a well knownscholar. Likewise, is the story of Abdullah another well known scholar from Messina Empire inMali (where revolutionary ideas of Shehu were carried out through Seku Amadu’s jihad) todaywho got freed and returned . Hence Usman Dan fodio’s jihad can been seen as the establishmentof Islamic order in Northern Nigeria. In assessing the jihad critically, the cattle tax that was preached against was restored and overallindirect taxes in the ninteenth century increased.The Hausa could no longer participate ingovernment directly although socially there was no animosity between the two. Hausa statesexperienced good justice system with the kadi an independent authority.The most importantchanged remained political and religious but Barth strongly suggest the conflict between Hausaand fulani seriously crippled the emirate’s economy and development.
 
 
 —-
 
 
References:
Sir Ahamadu Bello,’My Life’, Cambridge. Cambridge University Press. 1962.Said Hamdun & Noel King,’ Ibn Battuta in Black Africa’.London.Rex Colling Ltd.1975.Abdur Rahman Doi, Islam inMeryn Hiskett, The Course of Islam in Africa. Edinbrough.Edin brough UniversityPress.1994( Islamic Surveys).Great Lives Book One Ministry of Education Sokoto State.Ibadan.University Press.1981.Usman Muhammad Bugaje,’ The Contents, methods and impact of Shehu Usman Dan Fodio’sTeaching (1774-1804), Masters Dissertation, Institute of African & Asian Studies, University of Khartoum. 1979.Usman Muhammad Bugaje, The Jihad of Shaykh Usman Dan Fodio and its impact beyond theSokoto caliphate.’ Paper presented at Symposium in honour of Usman Dan Fodio. University of Khartum.9-21st November 1995.Usman Muhammad Bugaje,The Tradition of Tajdeed in West Africa’ Paper presentedInternational Seminar on the Intellectual Tradition in Sokoto Caliphate.Organized by Center of Islamic Studies.University of Sokoto from 20-23 June 1987.
 
—
Source : Amnah Khalid
 
Political Science researcher
 
International Islamic University,Malaysia
 

NYSC Yet To Receive April 2012 Allowance, Ministry of Youth Development Fingered

247ureports
-
1
Minister Of Youth Development Alhaji Bolaji Abdullahi

Information available to 247ureports.com indicates that the Federal Ministry of Youth Development under the leadership of Alhaji Bolaji Abdullahi may have begun exhibiting symptoms of mismanagement of financial resources available to the Ministry. This is as the Ministry charged with the responsibility of disbursement of NYSC allowances to corpers across the nation failed to make available the said monies to the youth corpers for the month of April 2012.

As gathered through independent inquiry, the youth corpers staged in Kaduna, Zamfara, Oyo, Lagos confirmed to our correspondent that they have yet to receive their April 2012 allowance as of May 22, 2012. The corpers who have become agitated and visibly angry indicated that they find themselves helpless to the situation – as the representatives of the Ministry of Youth Development had warned the corpers not to talk to the media – or table their grieviance to any channel other than the Ministry of Youth Development.

The delayed allowance, it is feared may be symptomatic of a larger problem within the Ministry of Youth Development. It remains uncertain. When our correspondent attempted to the the media aides to the Minister – they did not answer their calls or text messages.

Stay tuned.

 

Is Iran really a threat?

247ureports
-
0

One can clearly observe several contradictions in the political scenario and attitude displayed by Kuwait. Kuwaitis can trace their roots and background either to Saudi Arabia or Iran. Some obtained citizenship after residing here for several years (like some well-known Palestinians families) or through marriage. A few may have been naturalized because of different reasons — a matter of speculation and suspicion in the National Assembly! Today, I am more interested in examining if Iran is actually a threat to us when compared to the population, beliefs and country status. This topic will be examined in two parts.

Kuwait covers an area of 17,820 square kilometers with a population of about 3.5 million including expatriates. Census statistics show that about seventy percent of Kuwaitis are Sunnis while the rest 30 percent are Shiites. A small number of Kuwaiti Christians exist too. The bedoons issue is a hot topic now. According to Human Rights Watch report, the number of bedoons in Kuwait total to 120,000. Since 2011, hundreds of bedoons from Jahra have taken to the streets demanding citizenship. They have clashed with security forces several times, but their problems remain unresolved.

In 2012, fresh protests were organized in Jahra and Sulaibiya where most bedoon reside. Many Kuwaiti political leaders believe that the bedoon are holders of foreign passports that choose to simply hide it. So, the saga of the stateless in Kuwait continues. Personally, I think that their situation could escalate if no prompt measures are taken. Kuwait’s citizens have the freedom to express their opinion through social networking platforms like Twitter, private TV channels. These are easily accessible at all times!

News about Bahrain planning to join with Saudi Arabia(proposed Gulf Union) provoked many of its Shia citizens to protest asserting that Bahrain was not for sale and that this plan would give Saudi Arabia an upper hand in Bahrain’s political affairs and future. This was clearly not welcomed by many Iranian officials and some people in other GCC countries, including Kuwait. Some feel that the so-called Gulf Union will benefit Saudi Arabia more than other countries, bearing in mind that not everyone agrees upon internal policies! I think I agree and understand that point and share concerns about the future. Will this unity have an impact on many of the historic privileges we enjoyed for a long time? What will happen to our Constitution , its articles and the many benefits that citizens enjoy in terms of individual freedom and freedom of expression.

I understand the concerns shared by Gulf countries if they were to become united under the leadership of Saudi Arabia. Does that mean that we will have to obey Saudi Arabia’s rules or Kuwait’s regulations? What about countries’ identities and the civil rights of all Shiites and Sunni, male and female? I think these are serious issues that need to be kept in mind if Kuwait decides to join this yet-to-be formed union. Think about European Union. The union was not formed because the countries were riding high on emotions and fears of being attacked by neighbors.

Forming a union is worthwhile only if each country commits to improve its economy, civil and human rights practices. So, the standards set should not be mere geographic proximity but on other interests and respect. No country should dominate the other! The problem with Gulf countries is that the existing Council did not serve as a role model of unity that benefits citizens and residents. This topic has brought in more differences between the Kuwaitis; some favored it while others like me are more skeptical. Now, if this move is motivated by perceiving Iran as a threat, then it is time to examine the Shiites say in this.

By Muna Al-Fuzai, Staff Columnist

muna@kuwaittimes.net

Obama’s same-sex marriage announcement hasn’t moved the polls

247ureports
-
0
By David LauterMay 21, 2012, 11:39 a.m.
WASHINGTON — Almost two weeks after President Obama announced his support for same-sex marriage, polls provide some measure of the impact – zero.
Gallup’s tracking poll average for May 1-7 – the period that ended with Vice President Joe Biden’s statement that he supported same-sex marriage — showed Mitt Romney ahead of Obama by three points – 47%-44%. And the tracking poll average over the past seven days? Romney ahead of Obama by three points – 47%-44%. In between, neither candidate’s standing in the poll changed in any significant way. (Some Democrats believe Gallup’s poll underestimates the size of the minority vote, but whatever may be the poll’s flaws, they wouldn’t change the before and after comparison.)
Some caveats are in order. It’s possible that a national poll might miss subtle shifts in individual states. For example, if Obama lost ground in conservative Southern states and gained ground in more liberal coastal states and if the changes in those two sets of states precisely canceled each other out, the national numbers would remain unchanged. A very small shift in one or two swing states could make an important difference in the election outcome but still not register on a national tracking poll. Unfortunately, there aren’t very many recent public polls of swing states, so a “before” and “after” comparison isn’t possible so far.
A tracking poll also doesn’t measure voter enthusiasm. So perhaps some younger voters who favor same-sex marriage rights might have become more motivated to go out and work for Obama, for example, or maybe some conservative voters who already had planned to vote for Romney might have become even more firm in their convictions.
Still, the flat line on the poll average should be a good reminder that events that loom large in the day’s headlines often don’t have much impact on election results. The reason for that isn’t complex: In elections with an incumbent president, most voters lock into position pretty early while those who remain persuadable one way or the other generally focus on issues that directly affect their lives. In this election, that mostly means the state of the economy.
How about the other way around: Did Obama’s announcement shift voters’ views of same-sex marriage? There, too, the impact seems very small at best. UCLA political scientist Lynn Vavreck and Ryan D. Enos, an assistant professor of government at Harvard, looked at data from the weekly YouGov poll and wrote in a blog post that “very little of interest has happened to public opinion as a consequence of Obama’s revelation. The week before his announcement, 49% of Americans in the YouGov poll supported gay marriage. The week after — 48%, a change far too small to take seriously.  Essentially – opinion in general did not move at all after Obama’s interview.”
The YouGov data, they noted, did provide some indication that among the small group of people who had shifted their view in the week after Obama’s announcement, blacks were more likely to move toward a pro-gay-marriage stand. If that trend solidifies and continues, it could be important for referendums on marriage in states that have large black populations, including Maryland, which is expected to vote on the issue in November.
david.lauter@latimes.com

The Need For Action: Something Is Wrong With Nigeria

247ureports
-
0

 

Speaking in Enugu at the funeral service of late Nneoma Chime, mother of Governor Chime of Enugu state, President Jonathan was said to have stated that it was high time a change was made to correct the ills of successive past regimes.

According to the Nigerian Tribune of May 19, 2012, President Jonathan was quoted as having said :

  “Something must have gone wrong along the line from 1914 when the Southern and Northern Protectorates were amalgamated till date. When you look at the 1914 amalgamation of the Southern and Northern protectorates, and between the period Nigeria got independence in 1960 and the time I was sworn in as President, you will agree with me that I am not the problem of Nigeria….What we must do is to make a change for the development of Nigeria. We cannot check out like that of the television man ….”

One must thank Mr. President for acknowledging that Nigeria has been sick and wobbly since its amalgamation/creation in 1914. Something was definitely wrong and ill-conceived with that process that only benefited its creator and amalgamating power, Britain, which even at that time, acknowledged that the process was only for its administrative convenience! 

Britain supposedly left in 1960. Why have ‘Nigerians’ not taken the necessary step and action to REPAIR the damage done to them by Britain ?

Why the hypocrisy that all is well, when we all know that everything is wrong and deadly ? Since the so-called political independence in 1960, Nigeria has lost over 6.5 million of its peoples to internal strife, including a genocidal civil war, a recurring cycle of religious and ethnic massacres, more than 30 years of ethnically-induced military dictatorship which has impoverished the regions that lay the golden eggs for the country, massive corruption at the highest levels, lowest levels of economic development and growth inspite of being richly endowed with huge natural resources, insecurity of lives and property, and now Boko Haram. The ills of Nigeria go on and on !!

Every leader of Nigeria before the military incursion in 1966 agreed that Nigeria was a big fraud. Its founding fathers were agreed on that fact. Chief Obafemi Awolowo, the then leader of the Yoruba nation and first Premier of Western Nigeria called Nigeria, ” a mere geographical expression “. Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Sarduana of Sokoto, and first Premier of Northern Nigeria, saw Nigeria “as an estate from our great grandfather, Othman Dan Fodio ” in which “we must ruthlessly prevent a change of power. We must use the minorities in the North as willing tools, and the South as conquered territories and never allow them to have control of their future…” Characteristically, this thinking of Ahmadu Bello has been the philosophy of the Hausa-Fulani oligarchy since 1960, and the cause of all the frustrations at nation-building in Nigeria.

But these were the sincere views of the founding fathers of Nigeria. However, under intense pressure, and in their eagerness to impress their British colonial masters, these founding fathers agreed to live together in a political structure that would allow for separate development of the different regions at their respective rates. This was the essence of the federal structure adopted at independence…..for the tolerance of one another. The bubble, however, burst in January 1966.

General Ironsi’s attempt to forge a united Nigeria with his Unification Decree No.34, ended in complete disaster, and triggered the chain reactions that led to the genocide of  1966-1970. Since August, 1966, when Lt. Colonel Gowon came on board, till now, its been hypocrisy in leadership. Convinced that the basis for unity did not exist in Nigeria, Gowon, the leader of the ARABA Northern military group which overthrew Ironsi on July 29, 1966, announced to Nigerians on August 1, 1966 : “….Suffice it to say that putting all considerations to test–political, economic, as well as social–the basis for unity is not there.” This matter-of-fact statement was to be a prelude to the North declaring its independence from the rest of Nigeria in August, 1966. Britain again intervened. Gowon was reminded that power was again in the hands of another Northerner, and that there was no need to take a piece of the pie, when the entire pie was in the control of the North. Gowon told his fellow mutineers this much, and in his second broadcast convinced them to go for ONE NIGERIA. So, their putsch turned from ‘Araba’ to ‘One Nigeria’ when power returned to Ahmadu Bello’s North. This has been the story of Nigeria since 1960. It is the story of the nature of co-existence that featured among the various nationalities that make up Nigeria…the ‘born-to-rule’ and ‘the ruled’ syndrome. The born-to-rule must be in power for there to be peace in the country !General Azazi is nobody’s fool !!

President Jonathan must recognize and appreciate this terrible condition for peace in Nigeria if appropriate steps must be taken to correct the anomaly. Past Nigerian leaders and regimes have not been sincere in acknowledging this terrible truth in dealing with the Nigerian dilemma. All other problems of Nigeria have everything to do with it. Political spaces must,therefore, be created where different peoples of the entity called Nigeria can exist, and maybe, co-exist, in peace and harmony, without fear of persecution and molestation by some over-zealous groups and nationalities wanting to impose their antagonistic agendas. The problems of Nigeria, therefore, have everything to do with the basic structure of the country and the rules of co-habitation.

Why do we all pretend all is well. Nigeria needs to be re-structured,and rules of co-existence streamlined, for people to develop to their full potentials. There is so much acrimony, envy, jealousy, bigotry, and selfishness among the various nationalities, particularly along the north/south divide, that the various peoples live in fear of one another.For example, parents and guardians of young university graduates from the south now resist the posting of their children and wards to the North for national service, for fear of losing them in the hands of “fellow Nigerians”. No country makes progress under such conditions ! This is the reality President Jonathan and the entire Nigerian leadership must come to terms with, and do what is necessary.

The President must get away from the hypocrisy and pretensions of past leaders and chart a new course, so that peoples that inhabit Nigeria can develop into the pride of the black race. ‘Nigerians’ and their children in America and Europe are performing wonders, and contributing immensely to the growth and development of technologies and advancements in their new homes. Most of this people are willing to come home to contribute their expertise and knowledge. But the enabling environment must be created, the political space conducive and un-inhabiting, and their nationalistic fervor challenged ! Ojukwu provided such leadership, and Biafra, the political space some 45 years ago ! The miracles of Biafra in a peaceful and non-war environment can be re-created all over the present Nigerian space for the benefit of all the peoples. Nigerians must be given the opportunity to create and sustain their well-being and welfare in accordance with their wishes in their fatherland. This is the beauty of democracy and the freedom of choice. President Jonathan and the National Assembly should have the patriotic guts to move the nation forward! They must provide the political environment for people to flourish. This is the function of any responsible government anywhere in the world.Otherwise, the Andrews will continue to check out to greener pastures where their talents are appreciated !

Responsible Nigerians have been shouting themselves hoarse over the call for a Peoples’ National Conference where Nigerians would seat down, look one another hard in the eyes, and speak the truth on the way forward. Why is it taking forever to resonate with the Presidency and members of the National Assembly that this is the only way forward for Nigeria ? Maybe, it is true what they say that people in government at those two levels are more concerned with their present fleecing of the resources of ailing Nigeria than bringing the sick amorphous giant back to life. I wonder what patriotism means to them.

To our President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, I humbly wish to say : “Sir, at your level now…..if I were in your position, I would be more concerned with the judgment of History than with my personal assets and possessions. You have a golden opportunity to write and etch your name and administration in gold in the hearts and memories of all well-meaning Nigerians, now and for generations to come, if you right the wrongs ignored by past regimes in Nigeria. You can transform yourself into a statesman, the Mandela of Nigeria by taking the bull by the horn! Nigerians are clamoring for leadership, and a positive change in their lives. They want to talk at a Peoples’ Convention or Conference. That wrong of 1914 must be corrected now…..in your time !”

Provide Nigerians that opportunity to discuss their future well-being.

I hope President Jonathan is listening !!

 

Nnamdi J.O.Ijeaku

 

Trouble in Bauchi: Yuguda’s Men Attacked As State Polytenic Shuts

247ureports
-
1
Secretary to the State Government, Bauchi State

New trouble brews in the metropolitan city of Bauchi State following the State Governor of Bauchi State’s announcement that the Abukakar Tartari Ali Polytechnic located along Rand Road will be shut down to make way for a teaching hospital. Information available to 247ureports.com through sources within the Bauchi State governor’s office indicate that the Governor’s move to house the teaching hospital at the school may have unravelled the peace long enjoyed by the residents of Bauchi State.

The Government of Bauchi State under the leadership of the Yuguda administration had received federal grants to erect a teaching hospital within the metropolitan city of Bauchi to serve the area and to complement the other medical facilities that may tap into the facilities that comes along with a properly equipped teaching hospital nearby. The agreement between the State government of Bauchi and the Federal government of Nigeria states that he federal government will repay the state government of its expenses once the state government completes the erection of the teaching hospital. The State government is to erect the teaching hospital.

The Yuguda led administration, in its attempt to search for a site to erect the teaching hospital, decided on one of the three campuses of the State owned Abubakar Tatari Ali Polytechnic – as the location to house the teaching hospital. The decision, as expected, did not settle easy with the students and staffs of the said institution. And as a result, the effort by the Yuguda administration meet protests by the students. In April 2012, the students’ spokesman led a students; protest charging the government to get its acts together.

The students of the Abukakar Tartari Ali campus were reported to have been asked to relocate to the main campus located along Jos Road in Wuntin Dada – and make room for the contractors to begin work at the school. But the main campus have not been expanded to accommodate the new students. In the meantime, the occupants of the male hostel has been forcefully evacuated and asked to move to a temporally site – while the occupants of the female hostel have been asked to move over to the male hostel – the female hostel could be demolished – to give way to a new building. Eyewitness reports indicate that the students response to the forced evacuation was to physically attack the contractor and some of the official of the Bauchi State government. Bte the leader of the students, Saliu Sulaiman, denies that the students acted violently but insists that the State government must “provide amenities at the site where we are being transferred to“.   Specifically, he demanded “exam halls to fit 800 students, 20 classrooms and library with capacity for 1500 students“.

The lectures and non academic staff of the said institution have been ordered to evacuate their residences to another venue. As gathered through the governor’s chief press secretary, a temporary residence have been secured by the State government for the workers – and the rent for the new temporal site have been paid for by the State government for two years. But the workers were said to turn the offer down – requesting instead a more permanent arrangement. Usman Mohammed Isuh, the leader of the Joint Action Committee comprising the workers of the three campuses of Abubakar Tartar Ali Polytechnic was quick to joint issues with the unfolding quagmire. He adds that “the government should have considered sites in the capital” while also adding that “the manner the relocation exercise is being handled is not good“.

Recent comments by the State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Sani Malami may have unravelled some within the opposition and keen observers of the Bauchi state polity. The Commissioner had made it clear that the contract for the teaching hospital is behind schedule – and must be pushed forward. He stated that 70% of the contract value had been paid to the contractor by the state government. The contract is valued at N2.6biilion – and N1.81billion of it has been paid out as mobilization fee. “90% of the present structure at Abubakar Tatari Ali are not habitable for human beings. They will be demolished“, added the Health Commissioner who continued to explain that the selected site was the most appropriate site for the teaching hospital.

But keen observers and some within the opposition view the rush by the government and the contract sum with skepticism. They point to the large sum paid out as mobilization fee as highly suspect. One source attached to the governor’s office who aligns himself with the opposition told 247ureports.com that the in-house technical evaluation of the project pegged the project value at a lower value. The project sum was valued at N1.1billion. The source continues that the high mobilization fee paid to the contractor reflected the underlined criminality involved in the proposed scheme. He reveals that the project contractor, Babangida Zango, to be a front for the Secretary to the State Government [SSG]. He states that N800million out of the N1.81billion released as mobilization were shared among top officials of the government who facilitated contract. In particular, some of the money was shared among the following persons:

  1. Secretary to the State Government – N180million
  2. Bashir Bugaji – N100million
  3. Alhaji Adamu Alkali – N50million
  4. Dr. Sani Malami – N50million
  5. Ali Jibril – N50million
  6. Commissioner for Special Duties -N30million
  7. Director SSS, Mr Ajayi – N20million
  8. Commissioner of Police – N20million [the Commissioner, Uchechukwu Aduba was recently transfered but N20million was reserved for the CP]
  9. Director, Due Process – N8million
  10. Director, Engineering – N8million
  11. Director, Finance – N6million

But the chief press secretary denies the allegations of sharing money as fictitious and callous on the part of the opposition who have joined the students to cause unnecessary havoc in the state. He charged the opposition to provide proof of the money sharing or of the in-house evaluation that pegged the value of the project at N1.1billion. He revealed that the Islamic foundation which is located nearby the school campus has pledged to donate a cardiac center to the teaching hospital – upon completion. He added also that a school of midwifery located nearby campus makes the selected site a wonderful site.

In a related development, the state governor has announced the shutting down of the two other campuses of the Abubakar Tatari Ali Polythenic – the College of Education at Azare and the A. D. Rufai College for legal and Islamic at Misau. The decision as gathered was taken by the governor to avert solidarity demonstration by the other two campuses. Last year in June 2011, the Rand road campus degenerated into a bloody riot following the death of a second year accounting student [Sabo Mohammed].

1...5,7685,7695,770...5,895Page 5,769 of 5,895