Symptoms Of Progress[1]

Symptoms of progress An analysis towards solving African problems Nigerian religious crises as the prism of sight By

Umaru Yusuf 2348065691504 [email protected] Anguwan Juma no 180 Zaria City, PO Box 271 Zaria – Nigeria.

28-07-2008 3:14 PM Nigerian Time Towards the end of July, 2009, there were reports from some part of Northern Nigeria (Bornu, Katsina and Kano) that militant group had arisen. The name people called this group was ‘’Boko Haramun’’ which literally means; ‘’Western Education is forbidden’’! The group employed the tactics of attacking Police Stations. In a reaction, the President on his way to Brazil ordered the Security Agencies to stop them at all cost. Some arrests were made and while some of the suspects claimed they were not part of the organisation, those that accept to be part of it gave the following impression:1. A woman member interviewed by British Broadcasting Corporations (BBC) Hausa Service on the 27th of July 2009 (8:309:00 PM) News Season, claimed she was tricked in to the group by a relative who ran away with her. She had no formal training in weapon handling.

2. Then a man who claimed to be ‘’fighting for Islam’’. Then this group arrested in Sokoto according to the reports of (BBC Hausa) of 28th July, 2009, 2:45 PM News Version; that they were holding a meeting to run away to the bush because they suspect they were being monitored because their sect was involved in confrontation with authorities in other parts of the country when they were arrested. They were caught with knifes but no guns! Two days earlier, I saw pictures of some crude homemade explosives displayed by the police which were purported to have been made by the group (‘’Sunday Trust’’ of 26th July, 2009), which the leader, Muhammad Yusuf in a telephone interview with a local Radio from Kaduna had denied ownership! Later in the week the leader, most of his followers, his in-laws and friends were arrested and summarily executed! No one will ever know the actual truth of the whole issue since they were not triad in any court! These are some pictures of recurring incidences of typical religious crises in Muslim Northern Nigeria. Sometimes, the crises are between Muslims and Christians. Coincidently, there was this newspaper report in ‘’Sunday Trust’’ of July 12, 2009/Rajab 19 1430 A.H. Vol.3 No 46. With front page caption as; AFTER COLLECTING N500M EACH: Senators Abba, Akume, Makarfi, Yarima, 39 others Sponsor no bills Why Northern Reps Didn’t’ Sponsor Many Bills –Ndume But we should not be interested in why, we should concerned here with the figures N500M (Five Hundred million naira)! And in Nigeria where the currency is not stable we have to emphases the year 2009 (very important). So let us take this as the income of the first Class and let me use my income (N250, 000 per annum) as the average income of the last Class. The disparity not withstanding does not create stratification, the type between the capitalist and the proletariat in 19th century Europe, because of the following reasons:a. There is no social relationship between the two classes because the last class is not directly working for the first class in most cases

b. Places of worship, or such gatherings as weddings and condolences that served as the only social common centres amongst the two materially un-equal classes, equates everyone. Because of the reasons above the relationship is said to blend. The blending notwithstanding, Ignorance and poverty, the later caused by the former, were two factors that could trig social upheavals. Thanks to God, not in most cases. For example:- Recently I visited a village (Rafin Yashin Maikara and the many other nearby clusters of villages) where till today (31st July 2008) there is no even Primary school in the area and that does not led to any disgruntled action by the people. If these clusters of villages were in average producing 100 surviving children in a year from the time the white man came to Zaria-Nigeria in (1903) over hundred years now, it means they had produced over 10,000 people that had they been all graduates could have contributed more to the society then they do now being all illiterates! These people are agrarian, but because of the subsistence nature of the agricultural level of Africa which still uses hoe as the basic implement, the productivity is below sufficient. The second factor after economic, is international Conspiracy to divide the Muslims as part of the British Intelligence effort the since the 17th century to place the Muslim world under Commonwealth of British Imperialism, a program still in progress (For reference, check a book titled ‘’Spies in Muslim world’’ published in Turkey), and this is because the Muslim world in addition to being the traditional enemies of the European world, from the beginning of the 7th century are also contenders to Jewish/European Alliance in the control of the World’s resources (Here however, I mean, the Arab Muslims). The African Muslims are always in the receiving end to all the forms of imperialism either by the Arabs or and especially by the Europeans. They knew and they take the advantage of our (non Arab Muslims) ignorance in the Arabic language, being the language of the Holy and Glorious Quran, to recruit among the few that knew (again among the Arabs of the vicinity of the Ka’aba) to create artificial divisions amongst us in order to divide so could controlled our economy. To hit the nail in the head I mean wahabism! We African Muslims have double disadvantage of being both blacks and Muslims at the same time since Africa had for over 400 years been stagnant due to the activities of slavers. The third factor being the unholy alliance between the political elites with international capitalism to perpetuates Africa as source of cheap raw materials and labour as well as a dumping ground for second-hand/ absolute goods.

The resultant consequences are;Much higher level of ignorance ratio relative to educated people due to incapacity of the larger number of citizen to sponsored the education of their children in the face of government lower priority to educating the people but above all means of living that far below average by worst European standard! Immorality (socially, economically and politically) that obscures focus and sense of direction. This also brings division among the Muslims with the dividing line as the attempt by some to initiate corrective actions which will generate reactionary intimidation. Polarising religious intolerance among different faith (Christian and Muslims) thus further blocking united front that will project Africa towards progressive development and economic emancipations at the detriment of Africa and according to dialectical materialism to the benefit of the exploiting capitalist. Socially generated hater, which serves the purpose of divide and control exploiters and their agents that further, antagonises and upset discontent and unpleasant reactions, frustrating African psyche as resultant outcome benefit ammunitions industries of the first word.

THE REALITIES There are two distinct classes in Africa which for African socioeconomic and political uniqueness described earlier (paragraph nine) is sometimes blended. The state of development therefore, is similar to feudalist state but of nature that the serfs and the feudal lords were not strictly dependant on each other with the exception of the attachment between some land holders that live in town and the villagers that farmed their lands and the very few manufacturers and petty business tycoons the likes of the Dangotes and their proletariats, otherwise ours is that of looter lords that siphoned government treasury ( in some cases if not most dumping the money in Europe and other places), some few skilled/semi skilled professionals and the government proletariats that works for very little pay together with their teeming dependents in one hand and in another a vanguard of subsistent farming peasants, trail by error repairers of imported finished products, unskilled workers, petty traders, baggers, praise singers, petty thieves and prostitutes. Loans collected from such organisations like the International monetary fund’s (IMF) that attract compound interest but which were not put in any profit oriented ventures, thus ties to the extractive resources of Africa since there is no any other means of repayment. Here I foresee the possibility of taxation or outright re-enslavement of Africans in future if the extractive resources were exhausted before repayment as the compound interest is mounting faster and higher than our productive increase! Our few manufacturing industries like textiles are closing because they could not withstand IMF conditions like liberalization of trade that neutralised

their monopoly because imported goods of better quality had flooded our markets at cheaper rates, again for another internal factor; namely power supply which had defied all corrupt attempts to make it remain constant! This in turn increases our dependence on foreign exploitative onslaughts at the same time ever reducing our possible progress towards reliance on our selves. This contradictory situation further increase the negative multiplier effects of our underdevelopment translated as increased unemployment, poverty and ratio of ignorance!

ANALISED SOLUTION Globalisation which requires each nation to produce what it could produce best so that the whole world being a single market could benefit from the specialisation of each through exchange of what one specialises with his need from those who specialises in it! But even in agriculture and exploitation of raw materials which we specialises in, the first world do better than us, so how can we fit? The resultant consequences is that; our slim economy is drained through the activities of multinational cooperates and the IMF that had been exploiting our recourses in collaboration with our neo-colonist lords who loots away what is left in the treasury after the debt services and the little that is done, while the teaming populace were left to live below the required standard for any saving capacity even in the form of ability to train the younger generations, since the government in line with the neo-colonial pursuance of keeping Africa perpetually a source of raw material, is not interested in serious educational programs, keep Africa far trailing behind the industrialised nations who in line with what I called the parable of dialectical material contradiction of the two sides of the same ‘’crescent shaped coin’’ with Africa being the concave side (representing the emptiness) and the industrialised world being the convex side (representing fullness), one causing the other from centuries of slavery, colonial exploitation, neocolonialism and deceptive globalisation! The image of situation does not require microscope to view! Raged, ignorant, sometime confused and puberty redden humans rooming about to survive but only sometimes to be hit by the bullets of the security agent who was brain washed to believed they are ‘’terrorist’’ or whatever name they were tagged! Ever since the end of the Soviet era, being the centre of communist economic experimentations, the next agenda of the capitalist world had been to crushed what they perceived as Islam’s reawakening, especially with the inception of the revolutionary Islamic democracy in Iran with its associated economic system and progressive dynamism, coupled with the western perception of a treat to Israel’s expansionist arrogance, the bogus thus in the international arena is now war against the so-called ‘’terrorism’’ and ‘’New World Order’’, which in reality is a war against Islamic economic system and

spiritualism which is devoid of usury, exploitation and immorality in all its camouflage Postures. The non exploitative system is a system that utilise materials both human and natural for collective good, a system that put back surplus in the system for the use of all. To economise words, war against Islam is a lost war, because victory is always from God who sends Muhammad (Peace and the blessing of God be with him) with the last message to Men and Goblins. Islam is not an ideology but a religion which no matter how its enemy tried, it will never succeed in vanquishing it, so my advice the non Islamic (and their agents amongst us) reactionaries is to find a means of living in peace with their Muslim neighbours whom with tolerance they could benefit from its unique spiritual insights and deep scientific knowledge now that we are in the age of expansions into the higher horizons. Strictly materialist minds might be lost here, because we are talking of spiritual things, yet, is worth trying. To the Muslims, we should pick the culture of renaissance, democracy and moral purifications, as the days of the jihad against others are over! It is now the age of jihad against self! Pursuance of knowledge and its practice, remembering the first word spoken to the Prophet of God was ‘’Read’’! The following thus should be solution to our collective African problems. African leaders should be realistic by awaking from the slumber of underdevelopment to educate its people in all practical skills of solving human problems with all seriousness so as to join the scientific community and march with it to the new horizons of progress (politically economically and culturally) in order to liberate African economy and dignity from the cloches of exploiters it had been since dawn of time! While doing so, Africa should join camp with God and deviate as far as possible from all satanic tendencies that would only veiled its vision and further flung it in to the abyss of decadence and confusion if not another round of slavery and dehumanisation! God forbids. In doing so however, we must realise Africa and Nigeria in particular is a multi religious state which some form of understanding of various faith must be tolerated to have the type of atmosphere needed for the competition in doing good such coexistence require for genuine progress. All the rest will follow automatically! God of creation be with us. Amen!