When extremism is unjustifiable
It started as a loosely coordinated group under one, Mallam Mohammed Yusuf, a fiery scholar resident in Maiduguri, the largest city of Bono state in North-eastern Nigeria. The first open challenge to government authority in this area was by a tiny group of people who withdrew from the urban landscape of Maiduguri to rural Kanama in the Yunusari local government area of Yobe State in north-eastern Nigeria in December 2003. They referred to themselves as the “Nigerian Taleban”.
Their choice of rural Kanama as camp was made with an eye for military details. This site was carefully chosen for its remoteness and defensibility. The Kanama camp was forested and ensconced between two bodies of water near the Nigeria–Niger border. Trenches were dug and camouflaged across the only two access roads from Kanama and the exit road to Niger Republic, and sandbags were used to reinforce the defences. The militants then launched attacks on police stations and government buildings and generally wreaked havoc on the Yunusari, Tarmuwa, Borsari, Geidam, and Damaturu local government areas of Yobe State between 21 December 2003 and 1 January 2004.This marked the beginning of this group terrorist activity which later became known as Boko Harram.
The name Boko Haram is Hausa translation which means Western education forbidden, when it started as a small group, even the Nigerian government never envisaged that this small group was going to transform into one of the most notorious, detested and feared terrorist groups today.
There is no argument as to the threat posed by Boko Harram and today it remains a prickle to African governments who continue to govern in fear of the unknown. Neighbouring Cameroon considered too sympathetic to Boko Haram, has not done much to close down the operations of Boko Harram which operates freely without going through strict security measures and interceptions. Actually Boko Harram moves freely between the Nigerian and Cameroonian boarder, undisturbed.
This terrorist group has actually surpassed the vision of its founder Yusuf, who according to many would never had justified Boko Harram recent terrorist activities. Rather as a way of venting its discontent, it has caused mayhem, the most extreme being the kidnapping of Chibok girls which caused world outcry as government officials wailed and pleaded on national television for the immediate release of the girls.
Whatever their cause, terrorism remains an evil way of settling matters. Taking matters into their own hands as a way of fighting such a war cannot be justified. The news that Nigeria has surpassed South Africa as the biggest economy is no cause for celebration as the new Nigerian government led by President Buhari has more pressing problems at home rather than celebrate statistics that are under constant threat by the risk caused by terrorism. What remains true is that Nigeria has potential and has gone through serious corruption episodes that continue to threaten its status as having the biggest economies in Africa. According to recent data from the World Bank, the Nigerian economy grew from $453 billion to $264 billion.
Of multipartism and madness
The recent weeks have been full of drama full swing on the Zimbabwean political landscape. Against a failing memory, the new political entrants have been paraded before an unsuspecting electorate which by way of hindsight, the media underestimates its ability to discern points of deception. Of course the media must be credited for its quest to vamp up its diminishing sales and take advantage of time past to carve heroism out of the most mundane of deeds. While the new constitution provides for political rights where every citizen can exercise their democratic right to form a political party, what is misleading is that whoever proposed having multiple political parties as a means to dislodge ZANU PF might have prescribed wrong medicine.
While manifestos have been speedily written under the cover of darkness so as to “appear” alive and busy, our eyes have read them in order to BUILD our understanding and have HOPE for tomorrow. The propensity to revel in past glory (if any) poses a bigger threat to society especially when the parties involved never govern come election time. The very weakness of these political parties is lack of organic support and come election time in 2018, this advantage would have come uninvited for ZANU PF.
While some people have even publicly declare their affiliations to parties that are yet to see the light of day, the furore that the multiplicity of the parties has generated is very misleading. Others have even gone to dangerous levels of calling Mujuru a game changer within the political matrix. What lacks in some of these misleading debates is the ability to discern points of weakness. What even surprises me is that the parties involved barely have power or influence at all.
The controversy that surrounds some of these so-called leaders of these parties leaves a lot of “buts” rather than “why’s” on our restless lips. You eat for 35 years, seamless, restless non-stop until one day grief and disaster visits you. You recant the self-described misdeeds all those years, then mobilise a tear or two to show remorse. Unbeknown to these people, in politics, just like AIDS, the curer for regret is hard to come by and it still to be discovered and developed. Saying sorry will not make the electorate change their perception about you. Ask Makoni and Dabengwa.
It’s cold out there!
During the President’s wrong speech in Parliament, ZANU PF parliamentarians ululated and celebrated as their leader read the wrong speech. A lot of questions emerge over such display of madness. Why full grown man would celebrate a stale speech just reveals that Parliament has just been reduced to a place of zombies, who lack reasoning and judgement.
When you have legislators such as Chinotimba with their misplaced and blacked out judgement of the wrong speech, then it just proves the sorry state of our politics. The attitude that was displayed by the ZANU PF legislators clearly reveal that to them, Zimbabwean politics is no longer about making sense but endorsing and supporting even what seems irrational .Our politics is now also about appearing foolish so that when you plunder and “eat” it becomes justifiable.ZANU PF will ensure at all costs that even if we go to elections with the economy having breathed its last, victory has to come at all costs. What they are more concerned about is winning at all costs and that they are already guaranteed in the form of a very loyal ZEC which has proved in the past that it’s the real game changer and not some powerless individuals that the media is affording acres of space in their publications.
Bon Voyage 2018!
While the excitement and fever of having new political entrants who, many believe will pose a challenge to ZANU PF grips many, what remains true is that the chances of a single minority party dislodging ZANU PF are slim, if any.
That is the biggest tale with so long a shadow possibly one casting itself far afield into year 2018, the year of decision.
Rawlings Magede writes in his own capacity. He can be contacted on vamagede@gmail.com
It started as a loosely coordinated group under one, Mallam Mohammed Yusuf, a fiery scholar resident in Maiduguri, the largest city of Bono state in North-eastern Nigeria. The first open challenge to government authority in this area was by a tiny group of people who withdrew from the urban landscape of Maiduguri to rural Kanama in the Yunusari local government area of Yobe State in north-eastern Nigeria in December 2003. They referred to themselves as the “Nigerian Taleban”.
Their choice of rural Kanama as camp was made with an eye for military details. This site was carefully chosen for its remoteness and defensibility. The Kanama camp was forested and ensconced between two bodies of water near the Nigeria–Niger border. Trenches were dug and camouflaged across the only two access roads from Kanama and the exit road to Niger Republic, and sandbags were used to reinforce the defences. The militants then launched attacks on police stations and government buildings and generally wreaked havoc on the Yunusari, Tarmuwa, Borsari, Geidam, and Damaturu local government areas of Yobe State between 21 December 2003 and 1 January 2004.This marked the beginning of this group terrorist activity which later became known as Boko Harram.
The name Boko Haram is Hausa translation which means Western education forbidden, when it started as a small group, even the Nigerian government never envisaged that this small group was going to transform into one of the most notorious, detested and feared terrorist groups today.
There is no argument as to the threat posed by Boko Harram and today it remains a prickle to African governments who continue to govern in fear of the unknown. Neighbouring Cameroon considered too sympathetic to Boko Haram, has not done much to close down the operations of Boko Harram which operates freely without going through strict security measures and interceptions. Actually Boko Harram moves freely between the Nigerian and Cameroonian boarder, undisturbed.
This terrorist group has actually surpassed the vision of its founder Yusuf, who according to many would never had justified Boko Harram recent terrorist activities. Rather as a way of venting its discontent, it has caused mayhem, the most extreme being the kidnapping of Chibok girls which caused world outcry as government officials wailed and pleaded on national television for the immediate release of the girls.
Whatever their cause, terrorism remains an evil way of settling matters. Taking matters into their own hands as a way of fighting such a war cannot be justified. The news that Nigeria has surpassed South Africa as the biggest economy is no cause for celebration as the new Nigerian government led by President Buhari has more pressing problems at home rather than celebrate statistics that are under constant threat by the risk caused by terrorism. What remains true is that Nigeria has potential and has gone through serious corruption episodes that continue to threaten its status as having the biggest economies in Africa. According to recent data from the World Bank, the Nigerian economy grew from $453 billion to $264 billion.
Of multipartism and madness
The recent weeks have been full of drama full swing on the Zimbabwean political landscape. Against a failing memory, the new political entrants have been paraded before an unsuspecting electorate which by way of hindsight, the media underestimates its ability to discern points of deception. Of course the media must be credited for its quest to vamp up its diminishing sales and take advantage of time past to carve heroism out of the most mundane of deeds. While the new constitution provides for political rights where every citizen can exercise their democratic right to form a political party, what is misleading is that whoever proposed having multiple political parties as a means to dislodge ZANU PF might have prescribed wrong medicine.
While manifestos have been speedily written under the cover of darkness so as to “appear” alive and busy, our eyes have read them in order to BUILD our understanding and have HOPE for tomorrow. The propensity to revel in past glory (if any) poses a bigger threat to society especially when the parties involved never govern come election time. The very weakness of these political parties is lack of organic support and come election time in 2018, this advantage would have come uninvited for ZANU PF.
While some people have even publicly declare their affiliations to parties that are yet to see the light of day, the furore that the multiplicity of the parties has generated is very misleading. Others have even gone to dangerous levels of calling Mujuru a game changer within the political matrix. What lacks in some of these misleading debates is the ability to discern points of weakness. What even surprises me is that the parties involved barely have power or influence at all.
The controversy that surrounds some of these so-called leaders of these parties leaves a lot of “buts” rather than “why’s” on our restless lips. You eat for 35 years, seamless, restless non-stop until one day grief and disaster visits you. You recant the self-described misdeeds all those years, then mobilise a tear or two to show remorse. Unbeknown to these people, in politics, just like AIDS, the curer for regret is hard to come by and it still to be discovered and developed. Saying sorry will not make the electorate change their perception about you. Ask Makoni and Dabengwa.
It’s cold out there!
During the President’s wrong speech in Parliament, ZANU PF parliamentarians ululated and celebrated as their leader read the wrong speech. A lot of questions emerge over such display of madness. Why full grown man would celebrate a stale speech just reveals that Parliament has just been reduced to a place of zombies, who lack reasoning and judgement.
When you have legislators such as Chinotimba with their misplaced and blacked out judgement of the wrong speech, then it just proves the sorry state of our politics. The attitude that was displayed by the ZANU PF legislators clearly reveal that to them, Zimbabwean politics is no longer about making sense but endorsing and supporting even what seems irrational .Our politics is now also about appearing foolish so that when you plunder and “eat” it becomes justifiable.ZANU PF will ensure at all costs that even if we go to elections with the economy having breathed its last, victory has to come at all costs. What they are more concerned about is winning at all costs and that they are already guaranteed in the form of a very loyal ZEC which has proved in the past that it’s the real game changer and not some powerless individuals that the media is affording acres of space in their publications.
Bon Voyage 2018!
While the excitement and fever of having new political entrants who, many believe will pose a challenge to ZANU PF grips many, what remains true is that the chances of a single minority party dislodging ZANU PF are slim, if any.
That is the biggest tale with so long a shadow possibly one casting itself far afield into year 2018, the year of decision.
Rawlings Magede writes in his own capacity. He can be contacted on vamagede@gmail.com
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