Isa-Isawade

In the early hours of Sunday 7 March 2010, depraved marauders said to be nomadic Fulani  ‘Muslims’ simultaneously invaded the Christian-dominated villages of Dogo-Nahawa, Ratsat and  Kamang in Shen district of Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria, brutally killing over 500  Christians, mostly women, children and the aged! The attack was, allegedly, retributive  justice for the Sunday 17 January, 2010 attacks at Kuru-Karama and Kuru-Jemeta, in which  both the Christian indigenes and nomadic Fulani Muslims suffered casualties.

In the senseless vengeful attack, victims who attempted to run for dear life were struck  down by arrows and brutally macheted to death while houses were surrounded and set ablaze by  the rampaging killers. The loss of life and property was monumental because the able-bodied  men in the villages had earlier been tricked away by a misleading message deliberately  spread by the perpetrators that a far away village was about to be attacked and that all men  should go lend a helping hand. Eager to be their brother’s keeper, they trooped there, only  to return the following day to meet their wives, children and aged parents hacked to death  and their houses and other property burnt to ashes.

While the frightening tales and gory pictures of the massacre sent the nation into grief and  mourning, the bloodthirsty beasts were strangely unmoved. And to show how unrepentant they  are, the dastardly act is not only being replicated with impunity, but also in quick  succession. What skins of dried wood and hearts of stone!

Barely a week after the massacre, precisely on Wednesday 17 March, armed men in military  uniform launched another deadly attack on Dye village in Riyom Local Government Area of the  state, killing ten people and injuring several others. On Monday 5 April, a Christian was  killed by unidentified men in one of the villages. Again, on Thursday 15 April, burnt bodies  of a pastor, Ishaya Kadah and Selina his wife, who had been kidnapped by some Muslim  fanatics two days earlier in Bauchi were discovered. The incident would have escalated into  a bloody conflict between the two religious groups but for the prompt deployment of a heavy  detachment of policemen to the village.

The most recent of the series of attacks was on Mazah community in Jos North Local  Government Area, when nomadic Fulani, in the early hours of Saturday 17 July, 2010 killed  several people––again, mostly women and children––and destroyed property worth several  millions of naira. Vehicles and houses, including the Church of Christ in Nigeria, COCIN, in  the village were torched.

A pastor of COCIN, Nuhu Dauwat managed to escape into the bush through the back door of his  house. But by the time he returned, he met his wife, two children and a grandson hacked to  death. A councilor representing Mazah Ward, Hon. Kankani Jaja’s personal and family houses  were burnt and his parents and son killed. Another survivor, Gaya Suna said he escaped into  the bush but his daughter, who was deep asleep, was hacked to death by the assailants.

Another pastor, whose mother, wife and children were butchered, recounting the ordeal in an  interview with a magazine shortly after the incident, said: “On Saturday at about 1.30 am, I  heard my dog barking and I woke up, came outside the house and looked round. Suddenly, I  heard loud gunshots. The gunshots woke up my family members and they were confused and they  kept asking what was going on. When I realised that they [the marauders] had entered my  apartment, I quickly sneaked out and hid myself inside the maize farm. My family members  became confused and they were calling my name, ‘daddy, daddy’ and that was all. I was  helpless in the farm and could not attempt to do anything. I saw all things that the  attackers were doing to my family until they finished their operations. After they had  finished slaughtering my wife and our two children, they started burning everything in the  house, including food items. At that point, there was a little boy of about four years who  was not touched then. He was crying and calling my wife, ‘Mummy, mummy, mummy, come and  carry me, don’t allow them to beat me,’ not knowing they had killed my wife then. So he  became tired––I guess so because I could no longer hear his voice––and I thought, fire must  have consumed him then.”

All the scary tales told by survivors of the acts of lunacy––supported by terrifying  pictures of horror and human decapitation––reek of unfathomable insensitivity and luciferic  ingenuity of unimaginable proportion. What heartlessness!

Since the massacre of 7 March, it has been very difficult for me to take my mind off the  highly horrific pictures of innocent children and women clubbed, macheted and set ablaze by  the satanic beasts. The most horrific, which sends shivers down my spine whenever I think  about it, are the pictures of the charred remains of a little girl around the age of my  daughter––less than 4 years old––who had a deep machet cut on the back of her head and a  sharp iron rod thrust into her stomach, ripping out her intestines, before she was set  ablaze; and a woman who had two machete cuts on her hand and the back of her head but  managed to run to safety, from where she was rushed to a hospital by good Samaritans. She  was to later realise that as she was being macheted, her five-month-old baby strapped to her  back was also being struck. Though she survived, the baby’s head had been slashed into two  almost equal halves! What demonic inhumanity to a child! What bestiality! What barbarism!  What savagery! The children God loves most are what the blood-sucking monsters passionately  hate.

What offence have these children committed to deserve the violence cruelly visited on them?  None, beyond being innocently born into a particular tribe or religion. And certainly,  anyone who considers such circumstances of birth a crime is challenging God who created man  and decreed that he (man) should multiply into nations. Allah (S.W.T) reminded Prophet  Muhammed (S.A.W) about this in Qur’an chapter 11 verse 118 thus: If thy Lord had so willed,  He could have made mankind one people. But they will not cease to differ.

I feel diminished as a human being by these unchecked debasement and destruction of fellow  human beings.

More than two months after the killings of 7 March, I had my sleep murdered every night by  the memory of pictures of mutilated bodies of children and vulnerable women. Every night I  remembered that was how those unsuspecting children and women laid to sleep to have their  deserved rest when suddenly the pleasure of their sleep was painfully cut short by the  unwarranted invasion of the demented beasts who murdered them and set their belongings  ablaze. Also, each time I woke up in the morning and sighted my daughter, I remembered that  disturbing picture of the charred body of her agemate who was gruesomely killed and set  ablaze by the animals called men.

When will these satanic attacks end? Only when the evil perpetrators and their sponsors are  brought to book to serve as deterrent. But what could be the motivation for the killings and  arson? I have heard people talk of ethnicity and religion as reasons for the dastardly acts.  To this, I want to state here categorically with no iota of ambiguity that, for either of  the aforestated reasons or any other reasons whatsoever, the acts are senseless, irrational,  unreasonable, untenable, ungodly, at variance with civilisation and inimical to the  development of any nation. Hence, it should not only be condemned by all, but also maximally  punished by the appropriate authorities.

If the motive is to carry out ethnic cleansing, the perpetrators of these ignoble acts are  big fools and demented minds. Those who know history should enlighten them that no ethnic  cleansing act has ever succeeded in wiping out an ethnic group anywhere in the world. It has  not only succeeded in temporarily wreaking havoc on the victims but invited eternal shame  and deadly repercussions on the perpetrators and their succeeding generations.

Remind them of the killing of Muslims in Mecca by the pagans just after Prophet Muhammed  (S.A.W) announced Islamic monotheism to the world. Today, the population of Muslims all over  the world is over a billion. Heal them of their ignorance or amnesia with the story of the  violence waged against Muslims in Bosnia. Lecture them with the story of the Israelis –  despite the victimisation and killings they suffered in the several continents they have  migrated to, they have not only continued to exist, they now have a country for themselves  and have become a power to reckon with in the world today.  This is why I would appeal to  Israel to immediately stop killing the Palestinians as the hostility will never lead any of  the warring parties to any good but continue to create perpetual unrest in Israel.

Tell the Jos killers about Zaire, now Democratic Republic of Congo. Tell them about Ethiopia  and Eritrea. Tell them about apartheid in South Africa.  Tell them about the many examples  around us. Tell them to stop the unfruitful and uncivilised act.

If the motive has to do with religion, I am using this opportunity to tell the killers that  their act is totally satanic, unpardonable by God (unless they repent) and totally against  the tenets of Islam. The Almighty Allah in Q.5:32 says: We ordained for the children of  Israel that if anyone slew a person – unless it be for murder or for spreading mischief in  the land – it would be as if he slew the whole people; and if anyone saved a life, it would  be as if he saved the life of the whole people.  Then although there came to them our  messengers with clear signs, yet, even after that, many of them continued to commit excesses  in the land.

Also, when the enemies of Islam realised that the continued persecution, killing and  destruction of followers of Prophet Muhammed (S.A.W) and their property could not deter the  Muslims from the practice of their religion, they (the enemies) raised an army of over 3,000  armed men and 300)fighter horses with the sole aim of exterminating the Muslims so as to  totally erase Islam on the surface of the earth. The Prophet (S.A.W) then told his followers  that even though the total number of Muslims at that time was not up to the number of enemy  soldiers who were up in arms against them, Allah would give the Muslims victory if they  prayed to the only God and followed the rules he was about to lay down for them in their  quest to defend their lives.  According to one of the most reliable and widely accepted  Hadiths (books of traditions) of the Holy Prophet (S.A.W), Hadith Al-Bukhari, the prophet  declared to his followers:

In the name of Allah and in the way of Allah, fight against those who blaspheme Him. Behold!  Commit no breach of promise, nor of trust, nor kill their children, women, old men on the  verge of death, nor the recluse in the hermitage, and do not cut down date trees, nor  demolish any building.

Those are the rules to be strictly observed in war situations as laid down by Allah (S.W.T)  and His Prophet (S.A.W). But to show how ungodly and anti-Islam the Jos killers were, they  violated all these rules. They killed children, women, and the aged. They burnt houses and  destroyed other property. They even tricked the men in the village away so as to freely kill  the children and women without hindrance! I swear by Allah, if those murderers were Muslims,  they ceased to be Muslims the moment they started killing children and women, and surely  hell fire is their final abode unless they repent now and atone for their sins.

They also allegedly claimed they perpetrated and continue to perpetrate the act for revenge!  Hear the Prophet’s verdict which was delivered during his last hajj sermon to all the people  across Arabia as contained in the Hadith: Behold! All practice of the days of ignorance are  now under my feet. Your blood, your property and your honour are as sacred as this day, this  month and this city. Abolished also is the practice of spilling blood for revenge. Verily  you will soon meet your Lord and you will be held answerable for your actions.

The following should be held responsible for this heinous crime against humanity. The  Federal Government of Nigeria, which alone controls all the security apparatus of the  country, and its principal officials; the two chambers of the National Assembly and all the  state Houses of Assembly who have irresponsibly abandoned Jos people to their fate; all  agencies and their principal agents charged with the duties of information, vigilance, law  enforcement and security of life and property but shirked such responsibility, are all as  guilty as the actual perpetrators and their despicable sponsors.

All Islamic scholars and civilised Muslims who ought to have been organising sensitisation  programmes and protests to condemn the anti-Islamic killings but instead chose to keep quiet  in the face of this show of madness that is giving Islam a bad image should know that they  will all be held answerable on the day of judgment. And all those who condemned the vicious  acts in public but thumbed-up the perpetrators behind closed doors are themselves despicable  and shall receive their rewards.

All civil groups, religious organisations, pressure groups, human rights organisations,  labour unions and non-governmental organisations which have not deemed it fit to stage  rallies and industrial action to demand justice for Jos people are not doing justice to  humanity. Cursed also is the whole country and her citizens who reprehensibly pretend as if  all is well with us and show no concern for the plight of the beleaguered Jos indigenes but  instead devote attention to less important engagements such as politicking, beauty and  fashion events, National (dis)honour awards and independence anniversary jamboree.

All the above mentioned persons and parties shall eternally remain guilty of the  cold-blooded murder of those innocent children and women unless and until all the culprits  and their sponsors are brought to book. The blood of the massacred is crying for justice and  unless justice is done the favour of God may elude this country.

– Mallam Isa Isawade is an indigene of Gbongan, Osun State and can be reached on  ajaodefunmi@yahoo.co.uk

Kanayo-Esinulo

Each time I listen to the Chief Spokesman of the Nigeria Police Force, Deputy Commissioner  Emmanuel Ojukwu, on radio or watch him on television defending or rationalising what his men  do at police checkpoints along our highways and other roads across the country, I feel  really sorry for him. This is because, this gentleman officer is either unaware of, or  possibly grossly misinformed about, what commuters go through daily in the hands of his men  at the uncountable checkpoints and at our police stations. These policemen often behave as  if their salaries have been deposited with drivers who must instalmentally pay them as they  get to checkpoints.

They fly all the time to escape the discomfort of riding on badly maintained federal  highways and, perhaps, to avoid the many risks associated with road journeys in Nigeria –  one of which is accidental discharge of bullets from the policeman’s gun at checkpoints.  Perhaps, one of the ways that police leadership can know what transpires at police  checkpoints, assuming they don’t know already, is to find time and patience to use our  roads, certainly not in their uniforms or in convoys but disguised as ordinary Nigerians,  and if they can withstand the heat should they take public transport. This way, police  authorities will get an inkling of what drivers are subjected to daily at police checkpoints  across the country. And I should add, even in passing, that elements of the Federal Road  Safety Corps have joined in this disturbing scandal.

I travel quite a bit by road within this country, both in a car driving and in public  transport. Those who use what has come to be known in Nigeria as ‘luxury buses’ may not see  or appreciate what we are talking about here. Luxury bus drivers enjoy immunity or exemption  from the daily harassment and extortion that ‘lesser drivers’ are subjected to by the police  and FRSC officers on our roads. We are told that the police are there to perform security  duties, but they do more than just that, unfortunately. Shouldn’t I also add that men posted  to these checkpoints seem to be specially selected – a case of the right men for the job. I  was stopped once at a checkpoint along the Ogun State stretch on our way to Benin City for a  conference. I had two Ghanaian journalists in the car who were here to cover the event.  “What are the policemen looking for precisely? I notice that you show them a heap of papers  at each stop,”one of them asked me. “Car documents and my driver’s licence,” I answered.  “And you have to show them these papers at every checkpoint? And why are they so many along  the same stretch of road?” The second one asked me. “We are still going to encounter more as  we drive along,” was my response. By the time we got to Benin City, their shock had changed  to sympathy for Nigerian road users. And it was difficult not to feel that way.

What my Ghanaian colleagues did not know, and I deliberately withheld that, was that while  the policemen would allow us proceed on our journey without demanding that we “drop  something for the boys for pure water” or insist that we “park well” if they want to be  difficult, commercial bus and taxi drivers are not as lucky. Their menace is substantially  reduced in their dealings with private cars, for obvious reasons. It was fascinating to me,  therefore, that someone like Olisa Agbokoba, an eminent lawyer and human rights advocate in  Nigeria, shared his own experiences with the public in a recent television interview.  Agbakoba said what we all know about these checkpoints: that with a N200 note, any criminal  could easily pass through them, even with dead bodies in the boot of his vehicle. And he was  not exaggerating. The lawyer said he counted so many police checkpoints between the  South-East and South-South. I wouldn’t know which route or axis Agbakoba took on his trip,  but on a journey recently from Enugu––whose airport is closed for repairs––to Port Harcourt  to catch a flight, I counted over 48 police and FRSC checkpoints along the route. The latter  had six beats, but its men did not seem to be carrying out any road safety duties.

What transpires at police stations across the country represents another sordid story. It is  unbelievable how complaints of a crime committed or about to be committed are turned into  money spinning business by desk officers at police stations. Within a short time and space,  the informant/complainant becomes the suspect and the accused. And if the complainant  insists on seeing a senior officer who could get these men to do their job properly and  promptly, you are told that “oga has closed for the day” or “he is attending a meeting with  the Commissioner, and I no sure if him go come back today”. What that means, in effect, is  that you are shut out of the reach of his superior and you are left with no other option but  to deal with a gang that has set a daily financial target for themselves. If the  litigant/complainant understands the name of the game and the body language of the men on  duty, things become a lot easier and smoother. The relevant complaint forms would begin to  appear from nowhere. If you have come to bail someone, there is a particular brand of music  that you are expected to dance to. It is never for free.

But before it begins to sound as if nothing good and dignifying can come out of our police  force, let me quickly add that there are also many decent and courteous police officers and  men who take honour and integrity to heart, and seriously. And I have been privileged to  meet and interact with some of these incredibly polished policemen. In fact, I met one  recently at the Ibafo Police Station in Ogun State, DPO Gbenga, who showed so much courtesy,  respect and understanding to my friend when we went to bail a houseboy who somehow got  trapped in a domestic quarrel within a household he worked for. Half way into our  explanations, Gbenga cut us short, ordered that the young man be brought out of cell,  cautioned and counselled him and, to our joy and amazement released him to us. I am sure  there are so many Gbengas in our police force.

Yes, as Deputy Commissioner Emmanuel Ojukwu does his job from Abuja, defending and  rationalising the conduct of his men – a tough job I must admit – he should find time and  take a trip, not by air, but on road to Lagos and then to Onitsha, Owerri and Port Harcourt,  preferably without his police uniform on. By the time he passes through Ogun State (there  are so many checkpoints there) and moves on to Edo and Delta states, and then into the  South-East and South-South, he would have seen enough that would make him feel really  disturbed. It will confirm our rampant complaints, often dismissed as bad belle by some  police chiefs. Emma would count no less than 117 police checkpoints along this route. If he  tries to visit Uyo from Port Harcourt via Ogoni and Ikot Abasi, he would be simply amazed.  He would then accept that the report as presented by Mr. Guttschss of the Human Rights Watch  was neither exaggerated nor harsh. Neither is this piece.

• Arugba on her way to the Osun groove to mark this year’s Osun-Osogbo festival.

As usual, visitors to the Osun-Osogbo festival in Osun State were gripped by the sheer  excitement of its cultural distinction. For two weeks, from 16 August, the tourists savoured  the panoply of traditional drama that Osun-Osogbo celebrates, in honour of the Osun goddess,  the Yoruba deity of fertility.

Some of the large number of African and white tourists, from the continent and the diaspora,  had been in Osogbo weeks before the festival; they had been attending the Conference of  Black Nationalities and a colloquium on Slavery, Slave Trade and Their Consequences, hosted  by the state government. Participants came from South America, Central America, the United  States of America and, of course, Africa. For many, the conference and the Osun-Osogbo  festival provided  an opportunity to connect with their places of origin.

The celebration of the festival by the people of Osogboland fulfils the pact of benevolent  association with the River Osun deity, which they believe has made the town remain peaceful  and progressive without any ravage of war or pestilence. This pact is celebrated with zeal  and merriment every August by thousands of the Osun-Osogbo faithful from all over the world,  so much so that the Osun Grove, a reverred tourist attraction at the festival, has been  listed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation as a World  Heritage site since July 2005.

This year’s edition of the Osun-Osogbo festival is the 641st edition; the first was held in  1370. No edition has been celebrated without the Ataoja, the Osogbo monarch, in attendance.  Until this year. Incidentally, the Ataoja, Oba Iyiola Oyewale Matanmi joined his ancestors  on 4 August, nearly two weeks before the festival was billed to begin. The king is  traditionally the custodian of the festival and performs the sacred rites for the Osun  goddess. Plans for this year’s festival had been concluded and some of the visitors were, in  fact, already in town before the king died. The organisers would not be deterred by the  tragedy. Rather, the king’s second-in-command, Chief Gabriel Oparanti, filled in the  custodian’s role. The festival was also used to bid a final farewell to the late Ataoja.

The festival kicked off with the iwopopo, which is the traditional cleaning of the town. It  was followed by the Olojuerindinlogun, the lighting of the 16-point lamp and later, the  Iboriade, which is the assemblage of all the crowns of past rulers. All these activities  attracted a large number of people, including the state governor, Prince Olagunsoye  Oyinlola; and the Minister of Culture, Tourism and National Orientation, who was represented  by an official of the ministry, Bamidele Sobajo.

The climax on 27 August was colourful. As early as 8 a.m. on 27 August, the Ataoja’s palace  was filled with hordes of people eager to witness the displays of the votary maid (arugba),  a virgin, the precedent to the various activities and rituals to her bearing of the calabash  (igba) from the palace to the temple of the grove. Frenzied drumming whipped people into  frantic dance steps as they awaited the arugba. As she emerged  from the palace, her  appearance sparked a rush of people who wanted to catch a glimpse of her. Worshippers of the  Osun deity and chiefs queued behind her as they all headed for the grove about two  kilometres from the palace where she was propitiated.

The arugba walked elegantly as her people followed her with their drums and gongs, singing  her praises. “The elegant steps of the arugba to the grove is in keeping with tradition.  Those steps maintain an originality all of their own,” Ifagbenusola Atanda, the Aare Alasa  of Osogbo told TheNEWS. At the grove, many traditional chiefs, age groups and other  socio-cultural organisations, amid pomp, paid homage to the late Ataoja, who was  symbolically represented by his crown and staff of office, which were put on the throne  where the Oba ought to have sat at the grove. The 36 palace chiefs of Osogbo displayed  respect and love to the late monarch as each family donned its distinct regalia at the grand  finale.

The presence of the GSM market leader in Nigeria, MTN, is ubiquitous. The telecoms company  has been identifying with cultural festivals across the country with financial backing. In  Osogbo, the MTN has been collaborating with the Ataoja and the state government to finance  the Osun-Osogbo festival. Bamidele Adediwura, an Osogbo indigene, was not impressed by the  sponsorship. To him, “monetising the organisation of the programme has robbed it of absolute  as some state and palace officials would always be scheming on how to cream off part of the  sponsorship money rather than concentrate on sincere stewardship.”

Aare Atanda, secretary of the festival’s organising committee countered that the involvement  of corporate bodies endows Osun State with a rare opportunity to advance commerce in  Oshogbo. Gov. Oyinlola  expressed delight that the festival had increased Osogbo’s  popularity considerably, even beyond Yorubaland, Nigeria and Africa.

The popularity was, however, not matched with a hitch-free organisation. Crowd control was  poor and there was inadequacy of hotel rooms for visitors. Even those available were hardly  top-of-the-range. For a town that flaunts itself as an international tourist attraction,  these are major deficits.

—Alex Akinyele/Osogbo

• Kassim Afegbua.

The reported endorsement of the undeclared intention of President Jonathan by the South-West  PDP does not reflect the actual permutations on ground.

–Kassim Afegbua, spokesman of Babangida Campaign Organisation, condemning the Peoples  Democratic Party, PDP, South-West zone, for supporting Goodluck Jonathan’s 2011 presidential  bid.

People like Babangida, who presided over the affairs of the country, have nothing to show as  their contributions to the development of the North.

–Alhaji Hassan Sani Kontagora, challenging General Babangida to present his scorecard on the  development of the North.

It was a good ball-striking day. Well, it was backswing, downswing and follow through. It’s  exciting to hit the ball flush like this again. It’s something I’ve been missing all year.

–Tiger Woods, at the Barclays Open, two days after his divorce from Elin Nordegren was  finalised.

Rotimi-Akeredolu

It is indeed a jurisprudential novelty to have the inclusion of the avaricous fancies of our  legislators become law without the assent of the president. The law is clear on how this can  happen. Until the President refuses to give his assent, no assembly can foist their  preference on us.

–Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, former NBA president, on the controversy dogging the National  Assembly’s position that the presidential assent is not necessary for the amended 1999  Constitution to become operational.

You are really an impossible man! I told you that this issue is part of an existing  agreement. It is not that the North is greedy or not greedy. We have an existing agreement.  The agreement was done by Nigerians. Because the North is saying that the presidency should  remain in the North is a sign of greed? No.

—Elder statesman, Adamu Ciroma denying that the insistence on zoning by some northern  leaders suggests that the north is power hungry.

To manage the affairs of this country we certainly do not need people like IBB. He was there  for all of eight years and only succeeded in establishing the settlement culture and  plunging the country into darkness by annulling the June 12 election. Somebody should please  tell the desperate general the country needs younger and more dynamic people; men and women  who can make the difference in our political landscape. To continue to allow spent people,  be they retired generals or not, to keep rotating themselves as our president is a  ridiculous and shameful development. They should be told the country will be better off  without them.
Abdulmumini Jimoh,
Kano.

Nigeria is a free country, and that means anybody––including Babangida––is free to vie for  any post. It is now left for discerning voters to vote for whoever they want. Nonetheless,  it is a shame that after all he did, especially cancelling the 1993 Presidential elections,  Babangida does not see anything wrong in presenting himself to be voted for. Could it be he  has no shame, or that he sees his fellow Nigerians as fools?
Bimbo Olatunbosun,
Ibadan.

Former President Babangida is indeed an ‘evil genius’. He has already started manipulating  his way for recognition to be given to his bid to contest in the 2011 election. To this end,  he has started implanting himself into the hearts of media moguls. He knows that once he  buys the media half of his battle to be at the helms would have been won. But how is he  going to convince the average Nigerian from the South-West, who wants Goodluck Jonathan to  run as presidential flagbearer of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in particular, and  Nigerians in general, to vote for him, considering the way he anulled the 1993 general  elections.
Bisi Olatunji,
Akure.

What could be pushing Babangida to be seeking to rule this country again? Does he believe  Nigerians have a short memory? That we cannot remember how he pushed the country into  turmoil when he annulled the 1993 general elections? He is currently claiming that his  period as the number one citizen of this country was not as bad as those of his successors,  economically. Notwithstanding, his was notorious for blood letting, emergence of overnight  millionaires and then the sledge hammer, the annulment. Thus, considering the dangerous  roads he led this country through, he ought not to raise his voice in public not to talk of  wishing to rule the country again.
Ojo Ipinlaiye,
Ilorin.

What did Babangida forget in Aso Rock that he wants to go and pick? Come to think of it, he  is not the only one. General Buhari and others are there. But why are these generals who  once ruled us by force now taking us for granted. Is it because they have so much money to  throw around? Or do they believe the country cannot survive without them? Somebody should  tell them that the country is bigger than them, that should they die today, the country will  continue to exist; even fare better. They should be told that the country is full of able  minds that have much to offer in terms of good leadership.
Pius Akpan,
Calabar.

I think the problem with Nigeria’s former military president, Gen. Babangida, which he  shares with most African leaders, is his inordinate ambition and lust for power. If not,  what does he want to prove again; after all, he was there for eight years? His move to take  part in the 2011 presidential election also shows he is a shameless person; after all he  cancelled the June 12 presidential election. Tell me, who would vote for someone who failed  to respect those who voted and those who were voted for in the 1993 general elections? I  definitely will not.
Umaru Mohammed,
Sokoto.

General Babangida has every right to contest in the 2011 presidential election. At least,  the Nigerian Constitution allows everyone that is qualified to, to contest. Yes, he erred  when he annulled the June 12 presidential election. And if he is wise he would not give  Nigerians the opportunity to pay him back in his own coin. But should he continue as I  believe he will, I advise Nigerians not to vote for him.
Emeka Okafor,
Enugu.

The move by General Babangida to once again occupy Nigeria’s Presidential Villa come 2011 is  unwelcomed. It is high time this evil genius realised he can no longer fool Nigerians. The  flourishing of corrupt practices, economic somersault and blood letting during his  eight-year rule is still very fresh on our minds, not to mention his annulment of the 1993  presidential elections.
Gbenga Omowaye,
Osogbo.

Going by the speed Babangida is putting all necessary things on ground to pursue his  presidential ambition in 2011, and how some prominent political leaders are singing his  praise, there is the possibility he might win the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, primaries.  Therefore, if Nigerians want to avoid another round of misrule, they should not vote for him  should he be presented by PDP or any other party.
Ben Johnson,
Abuja.

Looking at Gen. Babangida’s decision to run in the 2011 presidential election, one can see  that he is suffering from delusion, thus behaving like most African dictators who believe  governance is their birthright. To me, the only way we can avoid having him in Aso Rock  again is by making sure he does not get to a position where he is nominated to contest for  the presidential election, especially as voting does not count in the country. Therefore,  those at the helm of affairs in the country should endeavour to nip his move in the bud  before it becomes too late. That man desperately wants to rule Nigeria again and it is only  the resolve of those at the helms and Nigerians generally that can stop him.
Efe Omonode,
Benin-City.

I cannot stop wondering why General Babangida wants to return to Aso Rock again. To me, his  ambition is an insult to the intelligence of Nigerians, considering the atrocities he  committed while he was military president. Does he believe we have forgotten so quickly how  he annulled the June 12 1993 presidential election? He should go and bury his head in the  mud.
Nuhu Musa,
Kano.

Gen. Babangida and Atiku Abubakar are birds of a feather. They don’t want to accept the fact  that they are no longer relevant in the present political dispensation. Babangida had the  opportunity to govern this country and misused it, and Abubakar misbehaved while he was  vice-president to Obasanjo. I don’t think Nigerians will give them another opportunity.
Osaze Edobor,
Benin-City.

Gen. Babangida should be given another chance to govern this country. Not only does he have  wealth of experience, Nigeria was a better country to live in when he was military  president. I do not see any reason why anybody should be against his candidacy.
Farouk Musa,
Minna.

General Babangida is a joker. Why does he want to return as President of Nigeria after all  he did while he was military president? His even coming out to announce his intention to run  goes to show he has no regard for his fellow Nigerians. The best thing for him to do is sit  back and support a candidate he knows can do well. That should be the thinking of a great  leader.
Justin Adejare,
Ikeja, Lagos.

What is IBB up to? He is not the kind of person that should be talking about contesting as  president. Nigerians have not forgotten how he annulled the June 12 1993 presidential  election. Even if he spends billions of naira, he will never get there, as we will not vote  for him.
Adama Azikwu,
Aba.

I think Babangida deserves the opportunity to right all the wrongs he made while he was  military president. Contrary to what most people believe, he did not put Nigeria in any  sorry situation; he actually empowered many young entrepreneurs who later became movers and  shakers of the Nigerian economy. People like Mike Adenuga, Aliko Dangote and others  benefited from Babangida’s development programme.
Aliyu Mohamed,
Zaria.

Babangida could not have exhausted all the billions he looted while he was a military  dictator. What exactly is he still looking for in Aso Rock? Could it be that a certain force  is pushing him to bring out the money he stashed away, so that others can get a share of it?  I sure don’t mind getting some, especially as I know no matter how much I get, it will not  induce me into voting for him.
Adams Howard-Derex,
Port-Harcourt.

• The models on the runway.

The year’s edition of Nigeria Television Fashion Show lived up to its promise of celebrating  the creativity of Nigerian designers. The show, which was organised by Galaxy Television,  featured several fashion designers who churned out collections of outfits, worn by both male  and female models, who strutted the runway to the delight of the audience. NTFS Reloaded is  one of the numerous programmes on the platform of Nollywood Worldwide Entertainment, an  indigenous programmes production and distribution company.

The fashion show made its debut in 2005 at the Lagos Airport Hotel, Ikeja, with 18 designers  and 65 models. This year’s edition took place at the External Ball Room of the Federal  Palace Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos. The show was aimed at not just exposing and  celebrating the creativity of Nigerian designers through the use of local fabrics, but in  projecting the beauty that is embedded in Nigerian culture. The fashion show also sought to  reshape the perception of those who love to patronise foreign designers and persuade them to  go for Nigerian indigenous designers. According to the organisers of NTFS Reloaded, the show  has been repackaged to be a quarterly affair instead of monthly as it used to be. This is to  allow the designers who participate to be well prepared and come out in their best.

Some of the designers who participated in the show included De Image Creation, J3, Kemka,  Bim Beads, Kijipa and Bella Rouche. Each of them displayed brilliance and creativity in  their collection. Their collections reflected the Nigerian cultural heritage, embodying  symbols of historic relevance to create nostalgic messages in the beautifully embroidered  and embellished outfits. The designers made use of fabrics like chiffon, aso-oke, linen, raw  silk, chatung lace, adire and damask.  However, the Ankara fabric, which is turning out to  be the most preferred choice of Nigerian designers, dominated the runway. All the designers  made good use of the fabric in making patched work skirts, Gypsy skirts, shirts, dresses,  bustiers and skirt and blouse. Some of the collections also featured the use of accessories,  which were used to jazz up the outfits. The use of sequins, trimmings and stones was very  much visible in the evening wears, showcased by some of the designers.

However, NTFS Reloaded was not all about fashion. The evening was spiced with musical  performances by Fragrance, Ashley and Muma Gee.  At the end of the show, not a few of the  guests were convinced that the show was a well-packaged one. They also left with an  impression that Nigerian designers, through their brilliance and creativity, have all it  takes to compete with their foreign counterparts.

—Kemi Akinyemi

Congo Democratic Republic, formerly Zaire, is seen as the rape capital of the world.  This  is because, the war-torn central African nation has a shocking reputation for sexual  violence. More than 9,000 women were raped during fighting in 2009, the United Nations, UN,  says.

•Rape victims in Congo..

The number of rapes carried out by civilians in eastern Congo has increased by 17-fold in  the last few years, according to a study that says sexual assaults long perpetrated by armed  groups are spreading across the population. The study, commissioned by the British aid group  Oxfam, was carried out by experts from Harvard University and examined more than 4,000 cases  from 2004 to 2008 at the Panzi Hospital in the eastern Congo city of Bukavu.

Mass rape began in the mineral-rich country with the civil war in 1996. The conflict quickly  sucked in all of Congo’s neighbours, and killed an estimated five million people. The  aftermath of the war caused a lot of unrest which made rape most prevalent. At a Catholic  parish office, the cramped and crowded ledger pages where they list rape victims show that  at least half of the names appear more than once: women who have been victims of sexual  enslavement or public gang-rape by rebel groups or the Congolese Army.

Research shows that the youngest victim on the list is six while the oldest is 74 and a  total of 400 cases are recorded everyday. Most of the victims require surgery due to  bleeding or wounds inflicted through torture by their attackers. Armed groups, including the  army and Congolese and Rwandan militias, have raped tens of thousands of women in the  war-ravaged nation, and are still feared by the population. But recent research shows that  38 per cent of rapes are committed by civilians nowadays.

“This study confirms what has only been reported anecdotally until now: Sexual violence has  become more normal in civilian life,” said Susan Bartels, chief researcher from the Harvard  Humanitarian Initiative. “The scale of rape over Congo’s years of war has made this crime  seem more acceptable.”

“Rape of this scale and brutality is scandalous,” said Krista Riddley, who directs  humanitarian policy for Oxfam. “This is a wake-up call at a time when plans are being  discussed for U.N. peacekeepers to leave the country. The situation is not secure if a woman  can’t even sleep safely in her own bed at night.” The report said few places were safe for  victims. About 56 per cent of sexual assaults surveyed were carried out by armed men in what  should have been the safety of home — in the presence of the victim’s families, including  their children. Around 16 per cent were reported in fields, and 15 per cent in forests.

Incidents of sexual slavery also were reported by 12 per cent of women surveyed, with some  women being held captive for years. The report said the number of rapes spiked during  military activities, as the government and its Rwandan military allies carried out  operations against Rwandan militia groups still operating on Congolese soil.

More than than half of the assaults took place in the victims’ homes, the report said, and  an increasing number of attacks were being carried out by civilians.

Two weeks ago, the United Nations began investigating claims that rebel fighters raped more  than 150 women and baby boys in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The attacks happened over  four days within miles of a UN base, a US aid worker and a Congolese doctor said.UN  Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon is sending two top aides to the country to help investigate  the alleged assaults in the country’s volatile eastern region. Mr Ban also urged the  Congolese government to investigate the attacks. Aid workers and UN representatives knew  that rebels had occupied Luvungi town and surrounding villages in eastern DR Congo the day  after the attack began on 30 July, the International Medical Corps, IMC, said last Tuesday.  They could not get into the town until the rebels left, said the IMC’s Will Cragin.

According to reports, the rebels gang-raped nearly 200 women and some baby boys over four  days before leaving. The region lies approximately 10 miles (16km) from a UN peacekeepers’  base. “The secretary-general is outraged by the rape and assault. This is another grave  example of both the level of sexual violence and the insecurity that continue to plague  Congo,” he told the Associated Press.

Meanwhile, UN peacekeepers have been accused by some of the victims. UN has a large baseof   peacekeeping mission in Kaniola, Congo – known by its French acronym MONUC – the largest in  the world with 17,000 peacekeepers. But none of them respond to the persistent rape  activity. In fact, the UN mission in Congo has a Chapter 7 mandate from the Security Council  that authorises it to use any means necessary to protect civilians.

US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton has vowed to make the prevention of sexual violence a  priority in Congo, where the United States pays about a quarter of the cost of U.N.  peacekeeping efforts.

—Seun Bisuga with Agency Reports

•Alia Sabur.

With an unlimited future ahead of her, Alia directed her first career choice to teaching.  She was three days short of her 19th birthday in February when she was hired to become a  professor at Konkuk University in Seoul, Korea. This distinction made her the youngest  college professor in history, according to the Guinness Book of World Records, beating the  previous record held by Colin Maclaurin, a student of physicist Isaac Newton, in 1717.

Explaining why she chose teaching, Alia said: “I really feel I can help a lot of people.” At  Konkuk University, Ali said she will take part in classroom instruction, but will also focus  on research into developing nanotubes for use as cellular probes that could help aid in  cures for diseases.

Before taking up the appointment, however, Alia has taken up teaching math and physics  courses at Southern University in New Orleans, which is still struggling from the  devastation left in Hurricane Katrina’s wake in 2005. Funny enough, though she is old enough  to teach in New Orleans, she cannot join her fellow professors in a bar after work. In  Korea, where the drinking age is 20, she might have more luck. In traditional Korean  culture, children are considered to be 1 year old when they are born, and add a year to  their age every New Year instead of their actual birthday, so in Korea Sabur is considered  20.

•Mene Joi Nunieh Okunnu.

Why did you dump All Nigeria Peoples Party, ANPP, for the relatively new Congress of  Progressive Change, CPC?
I have been in politics since 1994. Remember the PPP time when we tried to register our  party then, but that didn’t take off. With the return of democracy, I joined All Peoples  Party, APP, which later became ANPP. On why I declared for CPC, well, everybody in Nigeria  seems to know what happened in ANPP––people not being straightforward, and all the things we  criticised in Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, we found them doing it in ANPP. And as they  say, the fish gets rotten from the head and since the head wasn’t good enough, I thought I  was in a wrong place. But still, I didn’t want to join PDP.

But CPC seems to be coming so late in the day with just a few months to the general  elections. Do you sincerely believe the party can make an impact in the 2011 polls?
I believe so. I believe that Nigerians are just waiting for the clarion call for change.  They are sick and tired of PDP. They just want somebody to bring solution to the problems of  Nigeria. So, if they see that CPC can present a good candidate that is trustworthy and  reliable, they will support the party. And right now, the CPC is associated with General  Muhammad Buhari (retd) who is a person Nigerians can trust. For me, I believe that wise men  who refuse to do anything suffer the rule of idiots, like Edmund Burke said. So, I think  it’s time for us to get our acts together. It’s never too late. A day in politics is a long  time.

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• Barrister Jimoh Ibrahim.

How is the Virgin Nigeria acquisition working, in contrast with your unsavoury acquisition  experience of EAS in 2006?
The situations are different. We did not own enough shares in the first case, so, we could  not implement many decisions at the board level as we were not in control. I believe an  airline should own, at least, 50 per cent of its planes and the remaining 50 per cent should  be on lease. That this belief was not met in the first board does not mean I cannot continue  to push forward. In Air Nigeria, an off-shoot of Virgin Nigria, we have enough shares to  create policies that will make the commitment rewarding. So far, we are encouraged by the  results we are getting concerning the workability of the airline.
My main motivation for acquiring Virgin Nigeria was, and still is that I deem it sad, very  sad that a country as big as ours, with about 150 million people, has no airline to its  name. I believed I could correct that. So, our venture into Air Nigeria was conceived based  on national interest. Imagine how you will feel as a Nigerian when you are in any country in  the world and you see Air Nigeria landing or taking off. You will feel elated, won’t you?  One experience still makes me proud. There was a day I was in Ghana. I was at their airport  with their president who was walking towards his plane on his way out of the country, when  Air Nigeria, in bright green and white colours, was landing. The Ghanaian president stared  at it, looked at me with a smile and nodded his approval. That was a sign of acceptance. The  green and white colours made me proud. What I am saying is that I could have renamed Virgin  Nigeria Jimoh Airline or Igbotako Airline or anything. Nobody would have asked me any  question. I am a nationalist and I believe in this country.

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