The working title of this write-up is, “Islam and its Proximity to Violence: Reactions to the Sahara Reporters Article Entitled ‘Muslim Students Paralyse University of Ibadan’.” In a sense, the title is intended to sensationalize—at least insofar as my goal is to react directly to the Sahara Reporters article rather than to expound upon the purported proximity of Islam to Violence. I leave the later matter to another day.
I preface my substantive reactions to the Sahara Reporters article by noting that I assume that the reporting is truthful and accurate. Absent that assumption, this entire discussion becomes moot—and raises an entirely different set of questions.
The text of the original Sahara Reporters article is reproduced in quotes to provide context, and are interspersed with my reactions, which are produced in regular text.
Please permit a quick definition of terms: (1) Gulag: some country on the Dark Continent, eons behind its potential. (2) Gulagan: a person from Gulag; the adjectival form of Gulag—i.e., of or belonging to Gulag.
These notes take the Gulagan to task for, on the one hand, accepting the ridiculous living standard imposed on him by The Grand Kleptocracy (my coinage), and on the other, for acting in ways that encourage, reinforce, and propagate the set of circumstances that place him in his grim situation to begin with—a vicious cycle, if you like. The tone is deliberately unforgiving; the hope, that it might jar a Gulagan or two into considering the Gulagan situation in new light.
I must preemptively acknowledge and immediately address the risk I take in using the generalization, “the Gulagan,” in that it might be construed by the uninitiated to be the literal equivalent of “all Gulagans.” Suffice it to say that I use the expression as a mere rhetorical device that, expanded, might be taken to mean, “the Gulagan in his most banal form.”
Enough, then, of the preamble; let’s get on to the substantive matter. CEO.
Sahara Reporters – Bayo Ohu was working on the certificate forgery story of CGS Abdullahi Dikko before his murder-CPJ i
The killers of Nigerian Editor Bayo Ohu are still a mystery, three weeks after his murder. Now the family of the former Guardian newspaper journalist lives in fear. Ohu was shot dead early on Sunday morning, September 20, by a gang of five armed men and a woman in his apartment in Egbeda, a Lagos suburb in Nigeria. His killers made away with his laptop and cell phone, raising speculation that he was killed for his work as a journalist. Nigerian Police Commissioner Marvel Akpoyido told CPJ that investigations are ongoing.
One thing I shall say for those who passed through these portals – that is, Kings College past and present – they do not lack for courage. It takes real guts, inviting an alumnus of a historic rival, a universally acknowledged superior sister institution, the Government College, Ibadan, to come and address them on their hundredth anniversary. That courage, I suppose, may come of the fact that in that idle, so-called gentlemanly game of monumental boredom, known as cricket, this very presumptuous King’s College Lagos used to defeat us, not merely defeat but wipe out our team with a sickening regularity.
Written by Dayo Coker (Sahara Reporters)
Wednesday, 09 September 2009 08:45
The Soludo Era: After the banking consolidation exercise reduced the number of Nigerian banks to 25, Professor Charles Soludo became a national hero. He was hailed as a practical genius who translated abstruse economic phenomena into reality, a man who easily vanquished the stodgy and connected grey eminences that had tried to resist his reformist agenda.
As the masses sang his praises, the canny bank chiefs who had succeeded in saving their institutions knew they had to embrace him in order to protect their empires. To seduce him, they levied themselves 2 million naira each and hosted him a superlative 50 million naira “dinner”. He was initiated into the luxury life.
It is with great sadness that I received the somber news of the passing away of Chief Abdul Ganiyu Fawehinmi (SAN), one of the greatest Nigerians that ever lived. He was a dear friend, father-like figure, mentor and extraordinary patriot; Chief Fawehinmi was a truly revered individual in every corner of Nigeria and abroad. His untimely death is a tragic loss to Nigeria particularly at this moment in our history, but we must take consolation in, and celebrate, the fact that his life and principled example made him one of the few fathers of modern day democracy in Nigeria. Gani was a selfless man who fought the both the military and civilian dictators.
The commercial for the new Sony Playstation 3 Slim contains a reference to the transnational advanced fee fraud, and (this part being the motivator for this entry) besmirches Nigeria and Nigerians in one singular, odious remark:
You can’t believe everything you read on the Internet; otherwise I’d be a Nigerian millionaire by now.
With all the news coverage given to the Nigerian banking sector, the Central Bank of Nigeria invited stakeholders to a presentation by the Governor to address recent developments in the macroeconomy.
Following a report by Sahara Reports that the CBN has sacked a number of Nigerian bank CEOs, a lot of discussion arose about whether this was part of the “Northern Agenda” to witch-hunt southerners and to generally re-colonize the south. There was also a lot of general applause for CBN governor on this action…
BUT: Nigerians are incredibly apt to ask the wrong questions. The appropriate question to ask is this: Does the CBN have any statutory authority to intrude into the private sector in this manner? Unless the banks are owned by the government, how can the CBN legitimately “sack” private sector bank CEOs?
In The Know panelists discuss whether we should spare Africa’s feelings by not telling them about the global economy. More coverage at: http://onion.com.
The killers of Nigerian Editor Bayo Ohu are still a mystery, three weeks after his murder. Now the family of the former Guardian newspaper journalist lives in fear. Ohu was shot dead early on Sunday morning, September 20, by a gang of five armed men and a woman in his apartment in Egbeda, a Lagos suburb in Nigeria. His killers made away with his laptop and cell phone, raising speculation that he was killed for his work as a journalist. Nigerian Police Commissioner Marvel Akpoyido told 
One thing I shall say for those who passed through these portals – that is, Kings College past and present – they do not lack for courage. It takes real guts, inviting an alumnus of a historic rival, a universally acknowledged superior sister institution, the Government College, Ibadan, to come and address them on their hundredth anniversary. That courage, I suppose, may come of the fact that in that idle, so-called gentlemanly game of monumental boredom, known as cricket, this very presumptuous King’s College Lagos used to defeat us, not merely defeat but wipe out our team with a sickening regularity.
It is with great sadness that I received the somber news of the passing away of Chief Abdul Ganiyu Fawehinmi (