HARD VIEW (TO MOTHER ON THIS MOTHER’S DAY)

TO MOTHER ON THIS MOTHER’S DAY

 Motherhood is, without doubt, the most joyous and altering experience in my life and the life of almost all mothers. Of all the achievements and pleasures we enjoy in life, none makes a woman more proud than ...her role as a mother. It is the most wearing, thrilling and remarkable journey and as we approach Mother’s Day on the 12th of May, I would like to take the opportunity to exemplify the unique challenges and delights of motherhood, reveal its deep significance and in doing that wish all mothers a Happy Mother’s Day.

My daughter is the first person I speak to every morning when I wake up and the last person I speak to before I go to sleep at night and as I watch her grow into a very special, beautiful, bright, brilliant, pious and virtuous young lady together with all my other children, I realize that one of the greatest aspects of motherhood is the appreciation of my mother that I have learnt just by being a mother myself.

Children will always have a special place in their mother’s hearts and mothers will always have a unique place in their children’s lives. The connection between mother and child that begins when the woman is pregnant with her child and progresses through to adulthood will always be the most special and remarkable bond of life. The feature that sets mothers apart is her everlasting love for her children and that love transforms into a unique, emotional, unconditional and telepathic relationship because their understanding of the deep love they have for each other need never be spoken.

Mothers are amazing and apart from literally bearing their children, they are ready to bear adversity; liability and hope for their children but at the same time carry pleasure, adoration, compassion, understanding and ideals. A mother, with her out of control emotions, can exhibit the most bizarre display. She smiles instead of cries in front of her children so as not to alarm them, sings instead of screams so as not to scare them. When she is happy for her children she cries for joy instead of laughing. A mother is always ready to fight to the ends of the earth in order to stand up for her children. She is prepared to go without, so that her children can go with. A mother always shows strength for her children even when she realises that there is no strength left. She knows that a reassuring smile, a hug or a kiss can heal her children’s broken hearts.

The one common feature of every mother is her Olympic winning ability to worry profusely. For most of her life a mother worries. She worries that she has not done her best for her children; she worries about how the world will treat them. She is scared about what their past was and about the secrets the future holds for them. She is petrified about absolutely everything to do with her children and about absolutely nothing, as long as it has to do with them. When things don’t go right in her children’s lives, when the world seems against them, a mother always has the magic touch of making them feel better. A mother always puts the needs of her children before hers, no matter the price she has to pay. She is always ready to give the unconditional love her children need, even when they make a mess of their lives and no matter the amount of bad choices they make. At the times when her children fail to show their appreciation for all she means to them, or the times when their actions threaten the fabric of their lives, a mother’s love will always overshadow every possible wrong in her children’s lives. When her children are ill, even if she is ill herself, a mother is always ready to take care of her babies. A mother will always nurture her children throughout their lives, tolerate their attitude and misbehaviour, and will always be there to encourage them. A mother will do all this and more because, that is what mothers do.

Often, being a mother is an exacting job, one which exposes us to several moments of anguish before our children grow up and that anguish doesn’t disappear even when they are grown up. Mothering is a learning process and a mother is only human and as such very able to make mistakes. Even though most of us have a visual of our mothers as being perfect, especially during childhood, no woman is perfect and no mother can perform her job of mothering flawlessly. All mothers are capable of right and wrong, committing gaffs, missing the mark, but despite the mistakes she makes, we still must appreciate her because she is still our beloved mother.

Mothers are the most special people in this world and motherhood is the most special gift. For all of us whose mothers are living today, we should show her gratitude for all of our battles she has fought, we should make every day the most wonderful day of her life. Sometimes the demands of everyday take over and we may loose sight of the most imperative facet of life; the act of loving people around us, especially our mothers. Even when we speak and see our mothers regularly, we don't always get a chance or take the opportunity to tell them how much we love and appreciate all they are and have been in our lives. For all of us whose mothers are no longer with us, we should pray for them constantly, thank God for giving us the blessing of knowing them and using them to help us experience the wonderful love we had of being their children. We must continue to spread and teach the message of love that they taught us.

In the past two years, I had been very ill and spent the vast majority of that time in hospital. And through that challenge of pain and uncertainty, one face, one voice, one beacon of support stood head and shoulders above all others; that of my mother Hajia Ladi Musawa. From the start of my illness right to the point when I stood up and became healthy again, my mother never wavered in her support to the extent that the staff at the hospital used to make fun of her. She was always there at my bedside with an unfaltering determination, courage and, of course, a beautiful smile. She prayed for me, sang for me, bathed me and cradled me in the same way she probably did when I was a little girl.

During some of my very dark moments, at the time of my illness, I often doubted whether I could have pulled through had I not had her constant encouragement, her spiritual and physical support, and her undying love. And every time I lost hope, every time I felt drained, it only took a glance at the reassuring face of my mother and the whisper of her prayers for me to have the strength to fight on.

Anyone who knows my mother, Hajia Ladi Musawa, will be aware of what a difficult task it is for me to attempt to find the words to describe her. A role model to all who know and love her, my mother lives her life with great humility and her selflessness and kindness to others knows no bounds. She is a fantastic person who has been blessed with a sense of humour, a kind nature, and an unassuming ability to make all those around her feel special and loved.

My mother has affected me and her five other children for the rest of our lives. Her great character and her view on life have inspired us to try and be better people. She has always pushed us to look at people on the inside and not their appearance or identity. She never judges but always connects with people by their hearts and their values to see if they are good people, and that has always made us want to do so too. Because of my mother when I walk into a room I see people for who they are on the inside, and not the outside. She is my inspiration in life, and the one who I look at as a perfect person. She has impacted me in so many ways, and I will never really be able to thank her enough.

A mother is invariably where life itself begins and in her heart is where the magic of life lives. And on this Mother’s day and every other day, I thank God for my mother and all mothers. I give honour to every Nigerian woman who plays the role of a mother because as mothers, we are deserving of praise and so much more.

Written By Hannatu Musawa

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HARD VIEW (SUICIDE BOMBING: DYING TO KILL)

SUICIDE BOMBING: DYING TO KILL

 I've often wondered what motivates one person to murder another. It must be the ultimate act of inhumanity for one human to consciously and intentionally go out of their way to snuff the life out of another h...uman. Even though no murderer has the exact same motivation as another, I believe murderers are, for the most part, really intense individuals who strive for some kind of mental, physical or spiritual release. And even though not all murderers express validation for their actions, the more perplexing type of murderers are those who incorrectly justify the action of snatching another human’s fundamental right to life from them.

Which brings me to the concept of mass killings and suicide bombings. For over two years, Nigerians have fallen prey to the brutality of mass extermination in the form of suicide bombings. While those who are carrying out these suicide bombings justify it by saying that they are fighting for the course of Islam, the vast majority of Muslims recognize their actions as a perversion of Islam and which has nothing to do with Muslims.

As a Muslim sister, a mother; as a person who cares for her people, her country and cherishes Islam beyond everything else in this world, it really is shocking to see fellow Muslims and people from Islam all over the world resort to an action that is a complete contradiction to what Islam, a religion of peace, teaches us and stands for.

As a Muslim sister, a mother; as a person who cares for her people, her country and cherishes Islam beyond everything else in this world, if I had a chance to look into the faces and speak directly to those Muslims, especially those Nigerians who interpret and preach our scripture in a manner that lends itself to the extreme act of suicide bombings and mass killings, I would ask;
“Whether at some point during your journey; during your really quiet sober moments, there have been points when you have asked yourself if the suicide killings that you send your followers to carry out in the name of Jihad is truly what our religion asks of you; whether the thousands of dead bodies and blood that now seeps down your hands is the obligatory religious sacrifice of which our faith and ‘Iman’ is built on?

All the people that you have sent to carry out what you have interpreted and preached as an essential Jihad have been just that; people. People who belong to others; who happen to be other people’s children, other people’s parents, other people’s siblings, other people’s friends, other people’s neighbour’s and other people’s dependants. Every time you send out our brothers to carry out your interpretation of what Jihad requires of them, someone suffers, someone dies, parents loose their children. You do not send out your children for what you say is the ultimate, pious sacrifice; you don’t send out your parents or your wives. You don’t even send yourself, but you let our young brothers, our young men carry out the ultimate sin in Islam to fulfil the fate that you have not given yourself up to.

Yes, the suicide bombings and mass killings that you have subjected our society to is an ultimate sin, because using an Islamic eye to look at the concept of suicide bombings in its very basic form, it is impossible to rationalize it with the beautiful and peaceful teachings of Islam. As a Muslim, if you look at the act of suicide, ask yourself if Islam endorses suicide in any capacity? Whether there is any circumstance where the commission of suicide is encouraged or permitted? Even with your extreme interpretation of Jihad, the first and short answer has got to be absolutely not ever.

During your religious studies, you would have come across several examples of this prohibition from Hadith where it is explained quite explicitly that whoever commits suicide with any weapon will be punished with that very same weapon in the Hell Fire. In Hadith (Bukhari 7:670) Narrated by Abu Huraira, The Prophet (SAW) said, ‘Whoever purposely throws himself from a mountain and kills himself, will be in the Hell Fire falling down into it and abiding therein perpetually forever; and whoever drinks poison and kills himself with it, he will be carrying his poison in his hand and drinking it in the Hell Fire wherein he will abide eternally forever; and whoever kills himself with an iron weapon, will be carrying that weapon in his hand and stabbing his abdomen with it in the Hell Fire wherein he will abide eternally forever.’

A further example from a battle in Hadith (Book #52, Hadith #297) Narrated by Abu Huraira tells of a situation in the company of Allah's Apostle in a Ghazwa where He remarked about a man who claimed to be a Muslim, saying, ‘This man is from the people of the Hell Fire.’ When asked why the Muslim man was from the people of Hell fire, he replied that, ‘When battle started, the Muslim man fought violently till he got wounded.’ Somebody said, ‘O Allah's Apostle! The man whom you described as being from the people of the Hell Fire fought violently today and died.’ The Prophet (SAW) again replied, ‘He will go to the Hell Fire.’ Some people were confused as to why a Muslim who had fought so gallantly for his religion would be described as being from the people of the Hell Fire. Suddenly someone explained that the man was still alive but severely wounded after the battle but when night fell, he lost patience and committed suicide and that was why he was described as a man that would serve eternity in Hell. Whilst none of the Hadith mentions suicide bombings in particular, it seems clear that suicide, even 'in the name of Allah' is forbidden and punished severely.

If suicide is forbidden then suicide bombing is strictly haram. Suicide bombing kills innocent people, and Allah says that whoever kills another, it is as if the whole of humanity is killed. You know as much as the next person that it is absolutely forbidden to kill people in Islam except in the case where it has been ordered by Allah, such as during war time. That circumstance does not exist in the present state that we are living in no matter what analysis you have given our situation. I’m sorry it just doesn’t! If you are well read in Islamic tenants, law and jurisprudence, you must know that, as Muslims, we are prohibited from taking the law into our own hands, even if we have been wronged. There is nowhere in the teachings of Islam to where any of us are permitted to make a judgement against another and take the law into our own hands. It is never permissible for you or anyone in the name of religion to suddenly decide to kill another or commit yourself to a bomb where you take your own life and kill innocent people without any right. It is a grave sin!

When you follow the example set by foreign Islamist groups like Al-Qaeda and other militant groups in Asia, the Caucuses and throughout the Middle East, when you take funding, logistics and other support from them, when you travel to receive training in their camps, you align yourself with their struggle. But the struggle of these groups is fundamentally a global jihad against the West; a movement against the United States and its policies, especially in regards to Israel and its occupation of Jerusalem and the persecution and murder of Muslims there. The foreign Islamist groups are waging their war because of that, because of the occupation of the lands of Islam by the United States in the holiest of places, the Arabian Peninsula, plundering its riches, dictating to its rulers, humiliating its people, terrorizing its neighbours, and turning its bases in the Peninsula into a spearhead through which to fight the neighbouring Muslim peoples. The Islamist groups are also fighting because of Americas' past aggression against the Iraqi and Afghan people. Is that what you are fighting for? Because if it is, then why are you targeting Nigerians who have no concept of the West and its foreign policy? Even for our foreign Muslim brothers who target civilian Westerners, you must ask yourself what they have achieved in their Jihad. It has not stopped Israeli occupation in Palestine, it has not stopped American foreign policies that offend and oppress our people. What it has done is gotten our fathers and children killed and locked up. What it has done are massacred Western civilians who have no knowledge or business with their countries’ foreign policy. What it has done is presented our peaceful religion as a religion of violence.

When you recruit a suicide bomber to kill and take the law into their own hands, it is not because Islam prescribed it; it is because you have fallen victim to an extreme way of thinking that is not a fair portrayal of Islam; a religion of peace, hope, harmony, goodwill and brotherhood; especially when you go to the level of killing other people; especially when you use the name of a peaceful religion to justify your unwarranted acts of violence.
The one thing that you continue to speak of is Jihad. You rely on the concept of Jihad to justify your actions. You must remember that the Holy Quran does not make Jihad, in context of an article of faith. The sayings and traditions of the Holy Prophet (SAW) render it into a formula for active struggle that invariably and incorrectly tended towards a militant expression. Your suicide bombings and mass killings of those of alternative and different faiths are contrary to the purview of the real spirit of the Islamic Jihad. Your presentation of Islam as a crude and barbaric religion which gives itself the right to cause unwarranted human and material suffering and destruction under the guise of Divine authority is not the kind of Islam many of us find in the Holy Quran read in its entirety and in the precepts of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (SAW).
When you get upset at non-Muslims who read the Quran out of context, does it not occur to you that you also read and interpret it in a context that does not reflect the peace, patience and understanding that Islam represents and the teachings and life of the Holy Prophet (SAW)?

Among the attributes of God, the Holy Quran mentions that ‘He is the Source of peace and the bestower of security’. The establishment of peace and maintenance of security must, therefore, be the constant objective of all Muslims and non-Muslims alike. Every pursuit and activity which disturbs peace is severely condemned in Islam and you will find this in specific injunctions in the Holy Quran: ‘…And create not disorder in the earth after it has been set in order...’ Mischief and wickedness are condemned in several other verses and Muslims are commanded to work wholly for peace.

When you speak about forced conversions to the extent of telling a President to convert to Islam before you lay down your arms, you make jest of your struggle and give the impression that you are not sincere in what you claim to be struggling for by making demands that even you know to be obviously unreasonable. By saying that, one wonders where you place the expression in the Quran which says, ‘there is no compulsion in religion.’

When you insist that Shari’a law must be applied in the whole of Nigeria, you know that it is not realistic for Nigeria as a country to be ruled under Shari’a law. It has now been fourteen years since some state governors politicised the issue of applying Shari’a law in their states. Fourteen years since those governors set off the domino that has culminated in what you have become today. Ask yourself whether those state governors have taken any responsibility for what they started fourteen years ago. Those state governors personally benefited from that policy back then while blood was spilt and are still benefiting because most of them are now in sitting cushy in the Nigerian senate while “you”, the pawn that was used by them, are today hunted as criminals, branded as terrorists, fallen as mass murderers. Ask yourself whether those states are earnestly practicing Shari’a today.

Thousands of people died in the sectarian and religious clashes that resulted from the fallout during that period. And for what? For the application of Shari’a which evidently, fourteen years on, was not a sincere application? If you believe that the application of Shari’a in those States has been successful and you desire to bring your family up in a Shari’a state, you have the option of moving to any of those states or migrating to an Islamic country such as Saudi Arabia instead of shedding the blood of people who are struggling to live day by day and struggling to do good by their families.

Nigeria is a country that is made up of not only Muslims. There are indigenous people of both the Islamic and Christian faith in all corners of the country. Each of those people has a right to practice a religion of their choosing. What right does any one section of the community have to decide the fate and religion of the rest?
You were born into this country in its secular state and you have grown up as a Nigerian in its secular state. Millions of devout Muslims (Uthman Dan Fodio, Aminu Kano, Ahmadu Bello, Shehu Yaradua, Sheikh Jaafar; and so on) have lived and died in a secular Nigeria, as Nigerians before you. What would make you think that you have the Devine right to make yourself responsible to decide a person’s faith for them above and beyond all those who came before you?

If the Holy Prophet (SAW) provided assurances to non-Muslim minorities living in Muslim majority countries and ordered Muslim minorities living in non-Muslim majority countries to abide by all laws and the rules of the country, there is no reason for any Nigerian Muslim not to abide by the laws of Nigeria. The belief that God is a just God that welcomes those who believe in Him, the last day and lead a righteous life, by whatever name they call themselves should be enough reason for us to co-exist peacefully. In the Quran, it is written that: ‘Surely, those who believe those who are Jewish, the converts, and the Christians; any of them who believe in GOD and believe in the Last Day, and lead a righteous life, have nothing to fear, nor will they grieve. [Quran 5:69].’

If you so desire to do a Jihad and draw people to Islam, why don’t you show them through example the pillar of peace and understanding that Islam preaches? Why don’t you tell them about the complete teachings of the Quran; about the pure way of life, about faith in God; all His angels, all His holy books, all His prophets, day of Judgment, and destiny? Why don’t you teach them about the virtuous existence and lifestyle of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (SAW)? Why don’t you talk about the need to perform good deeds for the benefit of community, nature, and mankind? The need to treat every single person equally like the way you treat yourself, the need for morality and the need for brotherhood, justice, equality, kindness, tolerance, love, sympathy, sacrifice and service to humanity? By doing that, you offer them a positive and attractive choice; by doing that you are more likely to succeed in your Jihad. Show them by positive examples, not by bombs, not by force, not by bloodshed and certainly not by death.

As true Muslims, who know and understand the teachings of Islam, it is not the fact that our religion is going through a period of scrutiny and slur that bothers us. After all, that is the challenge and lesson of faith. Such calamities are a test. They are like medicine; even though it is bitter, yet, in spite of its bitterness you still take it. The greatest reward comes with the greatest trial. As we have seen in all the Holy Books, the Quran, the Bible, the Torah, any religion must pass through hardships, scrutiny, persecution and ridicule in order to reach its ultimate goal. No matter what anyone says, many of us believe that is what Islam is experiencing now.
You must remember it is not what the people who know no better believe, think and say about Islam that matters, it is not the verses of the Quran and Hadith that are read out of context by non-Muslims to justify violence that is important, it is what we Muslims believe, think and say about what Islam stands for that is most important. And if you, as a Muslim, take verses in the Quran and Hadith out of context of the overlying message of peace that Islam preaches, then there is an incontrovertible cause for concern and you must acknowledge that you are part of the problem Islam is faced with. If you, as a Muslim, interpret Jihad to the extent that you can commit the ultimate sin of suicide to kill innocent women and children and blow up Churches and other people’s worshiping places, then, let’s face it…, we have a real problem on our hands of which you are perpetrators.

Why would you think it is alright, as Muslims, to intimidate and threaten people? You say that you are fighting a Jihad against the non-believers of Islam. But what about the believers of Islam? What about the innocent Muslim bodies that you leave in your wake? What about the Emirs and the Imams who have not bowed to your requests and have presented a dissimilar Islamic teaching to yours and as a result have been targeted by people who claim to represent you? There is nowhere in Islamic scripture where the murder of other Muslims who hold a diverse view to you is permitted.

Nigerian Muslim leaders are constantly being accused for not speaking out against you and your actions. But the truth is that everyone is afraid of your gung-ho aggression. Everyone is afraid of what you might do to them, their families and their communities should they speak since you seem not to have any boundaries. That is not just! That is not right! That is not Islamic! Our leaders are living and breathing people too, who have families who they strive to protect. Those same Muslim leaders that you and other Nigerians have vilified have gone out of their way to force a reluctant president to offer you an amnesty many believe you do not deserve. A gesture that you disregard. As long as those Nigerian Muslims who present a different view to you are not desecrating or defaming Islam, you should understand that they have a right to speak their minds on behalf of those who look up to them, just as you do every time you send out your messages on the internet.

You may consider yourselves to be Islamic scholars just because you have read and memorized the Quran and as scholars you and your followers believe that what you are preaching is gospel. But memorizing the Quran by no means makes you a scholar. It makes you a reciter (Qari) instead or a preserver (Hafiz), but it doesn't make you a knowledgeable person (Alim). There are so many people in this world who have memorized the Quran, but the fact that they have done so does not qualify them to assume the function of a scholar. Everywhere in Nigeria, hoards of Muslims memorize the Quran, yet they cannot repeat a Tafsir of a single Ayah, so that in itself doesn’t qualify you or any other Muslim as an Islamic scholar.

However, every single rational scholar and knowledgeable person in Islamic law, from Saudi Arabia, to Indonesia, to Bosnia and beyond have all said the exact same thing; that no Muslim has the right to take the law into their own hands and just suddenly declare a war against a perceived enemy.

It is all well and good that you probably truly believe you are doing Allah’s work and that a great reward awaits you in the hereafter when you sacrifice yourself in this way. I have no doubt that you do, because otherwise how could one explain your aspiration for such an extreme measure. But just take a moment to consider, ‘what if...’ What if the interpretation you are applying to the scripture is not one hundred per cent what Allah wills? What if you are making a grave mistake by committing the ultimate sin in Islam from your desire to commit the ultimate deed for Islam? What if? Just that one second contemplation and question you owe to yourself could be the difference between your destruction and your salvation in the afterlife. Would it not be better for you to explore other means of performing Allah’s work through a path of peace that does not harm you, your people or others? Would it not be better to find another route to Jihad, if that is your primary aim, where you have the guarantee of not putting your soul on the precipice of uncertainty? Where you can perform the good deeds Islam speaks about in the hope of ensuring your place in paradise (Al Jannah Firdaus) since that is your main motivation?

I implore you, as a Muslim sister, as a mother, as a person who cares for her people, her country and cherishes Islam beyond anything else, to stop this war you have waged against a perceived enemy because it affects every one of us, you included. Stop the violence, stop the aggression and stop the bloodshed.
There is no doubt that your people were wronged first by the Nigerian State and the Borno government under Senator Ali Modu Sheriff. Your leaders were murdered, your mosques were burnt, your children were slaughtered and your women were locked up. And those crimes against you must be acknowledged. Those who did you and your people wrong when you committed no crime against anyone should be brought to justice. I have written numerous times about this in my previous columns. But today if your leader, Mallam Mohammed Yusuf (Allah ya jikan shi, ya rihamshe shi; Amin) was alive, I am sure he would support your struggle for Islam but I doubt he would have supported the kind of unnecessary bloodshed that has become the staple of your struggle.

I have seen numerous of his sermons and must say Mallam Mohammed Yusuf was one of the most articulate Nigerian Imams of his time. He seemed to care very deeply for you and your people. He seemed devout, kind, generous and very endearing. It is easy to see how wounded you and your people would have been when he and Alhaji Buji Foi were extra judiciously murdered under the alleged orders of your state government at a time when your people were being hounded, persecuted and slaughtered. It has all been documented and some of the atrocities committed against your people when you did nothing more than practice your religion can be viewed on the following links.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5_DQY4Wfeo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDcYdF7lZOY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlpZr8IRUcY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABAsZakzepY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VN_7A3mNKg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePpUvfTXY7w

When Allah Subhaanahu wa Ta’ala, in His Infinite Wisdom, tested you and your people with the difficult situation you were confronted with back then, you should have had faith in His choice for you. No one if they are honest will say that your people have not been unfairly challenged but, as Muslims, you have to be forgiving and patient. Perhaps if you are more patient with the suffering and challenge that Allah decreed for your people, instead of reacting in the way you are, your reward and salvation may be better, for ‘He is All-Wise and All-Knowing.’

Practice the patience that Islam teaches us and stop visiting your suffering onto other people who are already suffering under the sweltering ineptitude of the Goodluck Jonathan government. Stop making extreme decisions for every single Nigerian Muslim based on your personal belief because you do not speak for them.
When you see stories of hundreds of innocent civilians being massacred in Baga town in Borno State and other similar tragedies, it must be heart breaking. Hundreds of people were killed and a whole community was leveled because the soldiers were hunting for you and your supporters. While you are not the ones who committed this particular crime, you must know that you also have to take some part of the responsibility for their death because those innocent people are the casualties of the unnecessary war that you are waging.

Be patient, even to the JTF troops who kill and persecute your people. Though the JTF are ruthlessly and extra-judiciously killing your people, you must remember that you are targeting them too and they are people with families, just like you.
You are all parents, children, siblings, neighbors or friends. You have people who care for you and rely on you, just like every other Nigerian. You have people you care for just like every other Nigerian. Combine your Islamic teaching of peace with humanity and cease the violence in Allah’s name. As Muslims, you must be patient, not just for you, but for the casualties of your war, for the mothers who cry daily at the loss of their children, for the future of all of our families and for the repose of your soul.

Allah tells us that He is the One who created us and makes it clear to us that it is only He who can take life. You and your people should give credence to this ultimate truth and stop the massacre. Stop the suicide bombings …Allah Subhaanahu wa Ta'ala, in His Infinite Wisdom, knows best…!”

As a Muslim sister, a mother; as a person who cares for her people, her country and cherishes Islam beyond everything else in this world, if I had a chance to look into the faces of and directly address those Muslims, especially the Nigerians, who interpret and preach our scripture in a manner that lends itself to the extreme act of suicide bombings and mass killings, that and just that is what I would say!

I've often wondered what motivates one person to murder another. But in the case of suicide bombings in Nigeria, it’s not so much about wondering but more about a frustration that the message of a beautiful, peaceful religion and way of life is being perverted by those who profess to love and live by it.
One can only pray that, instead of strapping on bombs, setting off explosives and murdering in mass, these people can give peace a chance. Because there must be a better option than killing to die… or dying to kill!

Written By Hannatu Musawa
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HARD VIEW (WHAT IS GOOD FOR THE GOOSE…)

WHAT IS GOOD FOR THE GOOSE…

Due to its implications and dangers, it would be difficult for anyone not to be concerned with the recent nuclear threats by the North Korean government and the tensions that have arisen between North Korea and ...America as a result. As one of the states once described by George Bush as the “axis of evil”, North Korea has for some time now insured its place as one of the biggest enemies to a super-power that has, in the past, enacted unilateral military action against its adversaries. But no matter how much one vilifies the actions of North Korea, looking at the situation from a third party view, America, itself, still doesn’t come out as the paragon of virtue in the whole kafuffle.

A well-known legal maxim which bars relief for anyone guilty of improper conduct in a matter urges one who comes to equity to come with clean hands. It operates to prevent any affirmative recovery for a party with unclean-hands, no matter how unfairly the party's adversary appears. Granted, North Korea has come across as the main aggressor in this particular round of hostilities, but the truth is, as a nation that used its military might to illegally invade a sovereign nation within the last several years, it is hardly the time for America to try and pass itself off as the arbitrageur of righteousness. And even though the prospect of Kim Jong Un’s threats of missile testing and development of more nuclear technology comes with ominous implications, the perceived double standards of America, a nuclear power itself, telling another sovereignty to give up its nuclear technology leaves a lot to be desired.

America's turgid jingoism, enormous exhibitions of patriotic vehemence and arrogance within the last decade very much exceeds the notion of moral equivalency and their call for North Korea to abide by International standards would be almost as hypocritical as Adolph Hitler calling for world peace. If the U.S ever represented the pursuance of freedom and protection of rights, then why did they ever keep secret prisons and torture cells, why do they, to this day, hold detainees without due process in Guantanamo Bay and why did they invade another sovereign country without a cogent, authentic reason other than on the impulse of a diplomatically spastic and a verbally dyslexic pea-brained former president? Had it been another country who had behaved in the manner America has in the last couple of years, America would have been the first and loudest to cry bloody murder. There is no doubt that America has somewhat redeemed itself in the eyes of the other 99% of the world since the exit of George. W. Bush from power and the election of an objective, fair minded Barack Obama, but the annoyance of America’s hypocrisy when it comes to their directive and bully tactics to other nations to give up nuclear weapons still soils its international image.

As the main nation to have used atomic weapons against an enemy during a war, America knows all too well the ease in which a nuclear power can destroy its enemy. But even though the world has been able to come to terms with the Hiroshima disaster, America must be aware that their most recent misadventures in Iraq and Afghanistan has set a sorry example and arguably become the very engine to propel the development of nuclear weapons. During his tenure, when President Bush disregarded the UN and went to war in Iraq, he effectively opened the door to other war loving, international law hating leaders. But for the hostility and threats of isolation displayed by the American government against its enemies, it is likely that governments such as that of North Korea may not have been so steadfast in acquiring nuclear might. Any country believing that it would be exposed to American aggression similar to the groundless one conducted in Iraq in the last Gulf war might probably be ready to withstand international condemnation in order to develop nuclear weapons, if only to protect themselves from America. With the situation as it is now, it is quite unlikely that anyone on the receiving end of American wrath will unilaterally disarm and abandon its nuclear weapons technology. Especially given the example set where, even though Col. Muammar Qaddafi gave up Libya's nuclear weapons development project, it didn’t stop him from being ousted from power and killed like a dog, with American help.

As a punishment for North Korean insolence, the United Nations are calling for sanctions. But as history shows, sanctions do not necessarily work on authoritarian regimes willing to allow massive human suffering. The consequence of sanctions affects the most vulnerable and helpless; it is highly unlikely that the threat of sanctions will deter the North Koreans from its nuclear path or achieve regime change.

In an ideal world, the United States should have the capability to prevent the kind of conflict we are witnessing between North Korea and the western world. America controls the whole planet through trade, aid, military capacity and with its vast influence; it should also have the ability to guide the world to peace. But the super power has a reputation for pursuing its interest in a manner that disregards anyone it perceives to be an international threat to U.S. geopolitical and economic interest. Had it chosen to approach the issue of nuclear possession from an even platform where the terms of possession is equal for all countries, then their argument would have been more convincing. But as it is now, what incentive does North Korea have in joining talks to give up its nuclear weapons when their perceived enemies possess nuclear weapons? What is good for the goose should be good for the gander and until the entire world became weapons-free, no country has the moral right to point an accusing finger at another, especially if they possess nuclear weapons themselves.

It’s all well and good for the international community to denounce North Korea’s recent nuclear ambitions, but as long as there is a general support for the kind of American weapons development and testing we have witnessed within the last 100 years, then this is double-standards. Let’s not forget this isn’t year zero; many nations, including America, Britain, France, India and Pakistan amongst others have had huge piles of nerve gas and other chemical weapons for years. Until the whole world calls for the destruction of all nuclear weapons in every country and speaks up against the type of injustice we have witnessed America unleash on other countries, then none of these nations have a right to tell North Korea what it should and should not do. This effort to limit nuclear weapons technology to the current nuclear powers can only influence the kind of confrontation we are witnessing. If America or any of the western nations are interested in fostering peace and forming an understanding with countries like North Korea, one of their main prerogatives should be to de-arm the nuclear weapons they themselves have then try to develop some kind of dialogue.

The possession of nuclear arms by any country threatens everyone on the planet and the only defence against them is a realistic worldwide non-nuclear strategy that would involve a progressive disarming of all nuclear powers. The world needs cooperation, discourse and arbitration in order to destroy all nuclear weapons. But as long as select nations are allowed to keep their stockpiles of nuclear weapons, then this recent hue and cry against North Korea is akin to stopping the gander from acquiring what it sees the goose has. And although Kim Jong Un may be suffering from a twisted form of youthful exuberance, he will unlikely be willing to abandon his nuclear ambitions just because America and the western community said so.

Written By Hannatu Musawa
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HARD VIEW (FOOTPRINTS OF A BARONESS)

FOOTPRINTS OF A BARONESS

 Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Of those people, some we may personally know and some we may just see on our television screens, read about in books, or hear about them through tales. Of those peopl...e, some will leave footprints on our hearts and minds which may change us and we are never, ever the same.

Along with Mallam Aminu Kano, Chief Sunday Awoniyi, General T.Y Danjuma, Sheikh Ahmed Deedat, Pope John Paul II, Nelson Mandela, Sheikh Abubakar Mahmood Gumi, Queen Elizabeth II, Wangari Maathai, Oprah Winfrey, Gambo Sawaba, Moshoud Abiola, Jerry Rawlings, Gani Fawehinmi, Mamman Shatta, Bishop Mathew Kukah, Michael Jackson, Emeka Anyaoku, Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Obi Ezekwesili, Mother Teressa, and Mohammed Ali, Margaret Thatcher was one of the public figures in my lifetime who have left, and continue to leave footprints on my heart and mind and whose teachings, character and example has had a big impact in my life. With the news of her passing Monday evening (8th April, 2013), I and millions of people across the world who admired her lost a great role model. She had fought a long battle with dementia and a series of strokes and eventually succumbed to a massive stroke. She will be greatly missed although it’s somewhat a relief knowing that she no longer suffers. Additionally, I have an immense amount of positive lessons that I was able to learn, that will continue to serve me through the balance of my life from this profound figure I watched at the time I was growing up.

Though I was very young when I went to Britain in 1979, Margaret Thatcher, as the first British female prime minister, was very much present in my everyday life. Coming from a society and country where women did not traditionally assume the kind of leadership role that Margaret Thatcher did, I immediately became fascinated with her. Growing into my consciousness through the 1980’s I observed with intrigue how she commanded her position with such direction and conviction.

I remember as a small girl seeing her on television and wondering how she had the guts to speak so convincingly and decisively in a room filled with males. Even to my young and inexperienced eyes and ears, I understood that she was a very passionate lady who was changing the world and the role of women. I found her enthusiasm very infectious and a lot of the time she got me interested enough to ask questions about governance.

Although I always knew that I admired and looked up to Margaret Thatcher, it was only very much later in my life that I realized the significance and magnitude of the impact she had on me. Being the Chancellor of The University of Buckingham at the time I was a student there, I had the good fortune of meeting her on two occasions. As I stood face to face with the woman that I had looked up to and admired for so long, I was certainly not disappointed but I was most definitely star-struck.

Baroness Thatcher was a legend in her own life time. There are very few people of whom this can be said. One of the most intriguing and wonderful things about this woman was her dedication to her principle and conviction. Never was there a leader who was so prepared to stand by their convictions for good or bad like Margaret Thatcher. She always stayed true to her core values and her unyielding stance never to compromise them stood as her greatest strength and, at the same time, probably her greatest weakness.

Apart from her just ‘being’, there were many other aspects of Margaret Thatcher and many things she had done that have combined to make the many footprints on my heart and mind. She was a great example of the importance of dedicating oneself to hard work and a commitment to excellence. She was not a woman to suffer fools gladly and she had a healthy understanding of how to give as good as she got and absorb disapproval; as long as she believed in what she stood for and her principles, she really couldn’t care less about criticisms or distractions. A key lesson I learned from her. Her confidence and security in being different has always inspired me not to be afraid to be different, independent and to make my own decisions. She cared for her people and her country almost to a fault and she believed in the purpose of everything she did for Great Britain. As one of the most influential political figures of the 20th Century, she defined her country and had a profound effect on the politics of Britain and the world.

She was feisty, determined, focussed and brilliant. She was a remarkable, courageous and special woman. And it wasn’t solely because she was a woman who achieved what she did at the time she did, it is because only a handful of politicians ever in history have exercised such dominance during their term in office and attracted such strength of feeling, both for and against. Agree with her policies or not, there is no doubt that an era ended with her passing.

Her legacy has had a deep effect upon the policies of all her successors even though her radical and sometimes confrontational approach defined her 11-year period as prime minister. It was an innate stubbornness she had which led to her refusal to engage in consensus politics that made her a divisive figure. That, together with an opposition to her policies and her style of government led eventually to rebellion inside her party. Whilst not everyone will have agreed with her more controversial actions and policies such as the response to the Argentine invasion of the Falkland Islands and introduction of the poll tax, the integrity and determination with which she pursued them was truly intriguing. She had many faults as a leader, but the positive impact she had on her country far, far outweighed the negative.

The people who knew her best speak of her very dissimilar persona when she was in her personal capacity than the towering public figure that the world was presented with. As a public figure, Margaret Thatcher was viewed as an uncompromising and overbearing iron lady with an obdurate allegiance to her country at the detriment of others. As a private person, she was said to have had a great sense of humour, been kind natured and had an unassuming ability to make all those around her feel special and loved.

In the last decade, as I watched Margaret Thatcher negotiate the last stage of her life, the quality that first endeared me to her was what continued to strike me most about her; that characteristic of a person with strong convictions, who never gave up her dreams and never lost her zeal to speak up for what she believed in. She took advantage of the blessings life gave her and she aged with a grace that one would hope to emulate.

Though she had to curtail her activities as a result of deteriorating health, she continued to appear in public and lend her voice to support the courses she stood for, whenever she felt the need to. The tragic loss of her best-friend and husband, Dennis, whom she had described as her "rock" in 2003, and her good friend and political partner, Ronald Reagan only a year later, may have been big blows to her but it failed to completely take the wind from her sail.

The life and works of other people often influence us to be great in what we do. For so many of the achievements she accomplished, for so much of what she represented, Margaret Thatcher was truly what role models are made of. And her life and work will no doubt serve to influence generations yet to come. From the manner in which she operated as a leader, to her steadfast nature, to her commitment for her course, I doubt that anyone can ever write the history of world politics without mentioning Margaret Thatcher, who is much more than a footnote in the example of patriotism, conviction and determination.

Margaret Hilda Thatcher came a long way from the town of Grantham, Lincolnshire where she was born on the 13th October 1925. Being the daughter of a local councillor must have had an enormous impact on the direction of her life, her love for governance and the political policies she would eventually adopt. Becoming only the third female president of the Oxford University Conservative Association at the time she studied Chemistry at Somerville College, Oxford and latter qualifying as a Barrister, more than qualified her for the role that would come to define a historical way of governance.

Margaret Thatcher was a lady and a heroine. She was ‘my’ heroine, someone who taught, encouraged and helped this Nigerian woman on a journey without ever knowing she did. There are so many things I learned as a professional and a strong, independent woman from the example that Margaret Thatcher so unapologetically set. Excellence, integrity, personal sacrifice, virtues, resilience, patriotism, a deeper understanding of my greatest potential as a lawyer, a politician, a woman, a wife and a mother are just some of the teachings I strive to pick from her. I will value her example for the rest of my life.

Like so many others, I will never forget Margaret Thatcher and I feel privileged to have lived through a period that saw her strength of leadership and even more privileged to have had the good fortune of meeting a woman that I will forever look up to. I grieve at her passing and send my prayers and condolences to her children, Mark and Carole.

“Rest well Baroness, you will be sorely missed. While your footprints remain in the hearts and minds of millions of us, your legacy will never, ever be forgotten….”


Written By Hannatu Musawa
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HARD VIEW (SACRIFICING PEACE OR JUSTICE)

SACRIFICING PEACE OR JUSTICE

 Justice or peace? Basically that’s what it boils down to. Since the beginning of the offensive by Boko Haram, there has been widespread debate about how to bring the bloody onslaught to an end. With so many di...vergent voices lending themselves to the debate of whether the particular strategy developed along the lines of amnesty is appropriate, given the surrounding circumstance; it’s anyone’s guess as to which side of the pendulum president Jonathan will ultimately land on the matter.

There is no doubt, the section of Boko Haram and other extremists that ignite this debate are a mob of ignorant, depraved, erroneous, wicked and misguided zealots who have committed the most vile, heinous, evil and immoral crimes against innocent people; women and children whom have done absolutely nothing to them. And for that, under any structure or belief system, there has to be retribution. In any country of the world, criminal prosecution of those accused of committing crimes is a fundamental aspect of a victim’s right to justice. However, sometimes the notion of remedial justice for victims often has to be balanced against the need to deal effectively and progressively with the atrocities and not provoke or maintain further violence. In such a circumstance, a restorative justice approach incorporating amnesty, focusing on the normative rather than the punitive objectives of criminal law, may be the more appropriate model. And that is how the issue of amnesty for Boko Haram comes into the fray, since the current situation we are in could be said to lend itself to such an event.

From time immemorial, amnesty has been employed as a means of promoting settlement and advancing reconciliation in societies that have emerged from repression. But even though, it is a tool that was historically often utilized in conflict resolution, it was never entirely viewed as the best option; only a necessary one. When atrocities are committed with such impunity, as is the case with Boko Haram, and are merely dealt with by forgiveness and restorative justice, for the concept of human rights to have real legitimacy, they must connect up with retributive conceptions of justice. And a carte-blanche amnesty for Boko Haram, despite the atrocious mass murders and butchering they have subjected innocent Nigerians to, does not meet up with that standard.

Putting the issue of human rights aside, whether amnesty is the wisest course for the government to pursue with Boko Haram really remains a matter of debate and perception. Instead of examining the pros and cons of amnesty for Boko Haram on a large scale; instead of making arguments about setting bad precedents, previous amnesty agreements with Niger Delta militants and not negotiating with ghosts, I opt to examine what the adoption or rejection of amnesty really means; what it would represent. Perhaps, if we remove all our emotional and sentimental blinkers, and break down the implications of any amnesty deal to their very basic indices, we might have a better understanding of what the adoption or rejection of amnesty for Boko Haram really represents.

Fundamentally, in its simplest form, the adoption of amnesty for Boko Haram entails a choice between peace and justice. Peace and justice; two resolutions that inspire and give way to each other, would normally go together and complement each other. Ideally, any strategy adopted in this matter should incorporate both concepts. But when we are dealing with the kind of amnesty we are discussing within the backdrop of the atrocities that have been committed, the amnesty may only offer the best prospect for peace, not justice. Within this our particular impasse, unless Boko Haram surrender and offer them-selves up for trial and prosecution today, the two concepts certainly cannot be applied in a manner where they co-exist together. There is just no getting away from it, peace verses Justice must be brought to a direct point when we talk about amnesty for Boko Haram. And if there is a dichotomy between the two, as suggested in this case, and a single choice has to be made, what ought we to prefer?

I have my own personal views on the issue and find that, for me, it is a battle of conscience for the past against the present. The past, because for the victims and for the crimes that have already been committed, justice should be served. The present, because the innocent people existing within the eye of the storm deserve some reprieve, deserve peace. But a third facet of this reasoning, the most important one, is the future. Given a singular choice between the concept of peace and justice, which option has the ability to actually change the status quo and provide the most stable and secure future for Nigerians?

History shows that in countries which have emerged from repressive regimes and trials where crimes against humanity were committed, the peace deals that sacrifice justice often fail to produce the expected peace in the long run. Whereas justice creates a structural change in society that fundamentally alters the conditions allowing for conflict, peace deals simply return societies to a state of non-war; particularly one that allowed for the widespread crisis in the first place. One would be hard pressed to find a case where a system that prefers justice ever leads to a return to that conflict. Therefore in that sense, peace should never be preferred to justice, only to allow it to inspire justice.

On the other hand, while international and national criminal trials promote justice, the quest for justice can be a long winding road and can exacerbate divisions and may even hinder the achievement of peace. Usually, those who face the potential for prosecution may be reluctant to lay down arms, giving way for the violence to continue. Instead, amnesties for perpetrators are often thought to promote peace and reconciliation, though it is sought at the expense of retributive justice.

It is essential for the government upon pondering their decision on whether to give amnesty to Boko Haram to gauge the views of the population most affected by the violence rather than instigating plans based on the views of politicians and dogmatists. The communities, the families, the businesses residing in the red zones, those that have been targeted, hounded and slaughtered should have the first-refusal to make an input into the decision government makes about amnesty. It is their views that should count first and foremost. Unless the government and security agencies have concrete plans to ensure the security of every family living in the target communities, it is their cries, their anguish and not those of the naysayers not directly affected by the violence or those politicizing and tribalizing the issue, which the government should take into account, in addition to providing full reparation to all the victims and their relatives.

Any initiative that the government eventually applies in regards to amnesty for terrorists should ideally balance the demand for justice against the need for peace and reconciliation. And while the lack of amnesty for Boko Haram can provide accountability and amnesty can provide stability, it is clear that the attainment of both is almost impossible. A choice has to be made on the resolution the government will adopt.

So as we continue to unravel this morbid, dark drama that Boko Haram has visited upon us, we can be certain that the choice is not about which group of criminals deserve amnesty and which don’t, it’s not about a perverse allegiance to ethnicity or religion, it’s about what we are willing to sacrifice; Justice for the cause of peace or peace for the cause of justice?

Over to you President Jonathan Sir… So what will it be...; peace or justice?


Written By Hannatu Musawa
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HARD VIEW (WHATSOEVER A MAN SOWETH, THAT SHALL HE ALSO REAP)

WHATSOEVER A MAN SOWETH, THAT SHALL HE ALSO REAP

 It is an important teaching in Christianity that God is not mocked; whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. We cannot escape the consequence of our actions; everything that we do a...s participants in this interconnecting community has repercussions and one way or another it comes back to us. Much like this principle and the law of Karma, in nearly every religion and culture there is a fervent belief that the total result of a person's deeds and actions during the successive phases of the person's existence determines the feedback fate issues that person within their life time or in the hereafter. It is further taught, ‘if we sow a thought we reap an act, if we sow an act, we reap a habit, if we sow a habit, we reap a character and if we sow a character, we reap a consequence.’

At this point in time, nowhere should this message be reiterated than on our very own doorsteps where few people in the corridors of power are determined to garner us towards a most debauched consequence. Despite the outcry that continues to follow our recent irrational and derisible presidential pardon of criminals and kleptomaniacs, notwithstanding the embarrassment of the exposure of inept government representatives who have to clarify the simplest questions from ‘their oga on the top’, in spite of the plethora of blunders by this administration, reports have been made of secret plans by a select few in the corridors of power who are devising a very dangerous scheme to remain in power by using the tool of terrorism.

Recently, reports were made of an alleged plot to unleash a terror attack in Lagos. The ink had barely dried on that report when it was revealed that nine suspected terrorists were arrested in a building in Lagos which belongs to a state government. Although the state government has dissociated itself from the suspected terrorists arrested in its building, the arrest of the alleged terrorists in that particular building has fueled the conspiracy theory that Boko Haram has become a franchise under which government fifth columnists are operating to further disrupt Nigeria and prompt a national crisis likely to break up the country or force Nigerians to elongate the tenure of this administration come 2015. If these reports are true, despite the brink of disaster from which Nigeria has often come from, then the consequence Nigeria finds itself in is truly pathetic and indeed sad; very sad.
Although our country is situated on top of a smouldering volcano that is ready and rearing to erupt at any given moment, some of these signs point to definite elements within government and around the president that are determined to unscrupulously elongate their inhabitancy of power while damming the consequence of their actions. The more they use their calling to lord over the next cause of action to divert Nigeria away from a future; the more they plot and plan on how to fragment the country using the tool of terrorism, the closer they advance us toward the trigger that might commence the great explosion. While this great explosion may just be the end result they scheme for, do they not care about what will happen to the almost 160 million Nigerians already existing under pressure? No; because they have completely become victims to a world where the intense lust for power and money fully possesses its pray, so much so they no longer bother to camouflage their voracity, guile, and self-serving actions. And to be able to satisfy the worldly desires of a few, Nigeria and her helpless children are again being short-changed by the intrigues of those who swore to protect them. The amount of spin few in the corridors of power are running in order to achieve its alleged aim moves faster than that of a tumble dryer. Anyone who doesn’t comply is chewed out like a discarded piece of bubble gum and anyone who speaks against it is threatened, stalked and victimized like a sub-human entity.
In the past, government officials who tried to double deal this country by either illegally elongating their tenure in power through trickery, misusing their power or milking the coffers for what it is worth have received their comeuppance in the most unfortunate of ways. But despite the numerous failed administrations serving as an example, we are again being besieged from within by tyranny, graft and disloyalty by a select few who carry out secret meetings and come to secret agreements that they earnestly, “Between them and God”, know is not in the best interest of the majority of people of this country.

The power hungry packs who are advocating desecrating the fragment of the liberty we gained in the past are the true enemies of the people of this nation. By turning Nigeria into a business venture and a power podium they have betrayed the dreams of our past and the hopes of our future. By planning to disregard common sense and behaving as if the millions of us who have a stake in this country don’t exist, they create and contribute to the disaster we find ourselves in. By steering our country for purely personal ambitions, members of those few in the corridors of power stand before us guilty as people who acted to disorganise Nigeria. If in the coming months those who are in power succeed in bringing forth anymore anti Constitution presidential pardons, more anti-people and anti-Nigerian policies or terrorism conspiracies to further divide the country, history forever will judge them reproachfully as those who were willing to pawn the future of their children, grandchildren and great-great grandchildren.

With decades of power mismanagement in this country, one is compelled to wonder whether we are fated thusly. Is the giant of Africa perpetually condemned to an eternity of a greedy gaggle of few government officials who mortgage our nation, disdain the interest of the population and bleed Nigeria dry? This would appear to be our reality.

If those we had previously relied upon to take us to the Promised Land continue to short-change and fail us, then maybe the masses of Nigeria as a collective need to take the requisite action into their own hands. Our hindrance is that we are a nation divided and in denial, we suffer from grave memory loss and are incredibly easy to manipulate. People still look at freedom fighting with suspicion along ethnic and religious lines. Igbo, Hausa, Yoruba, Gwari, Shekiri, Irogbo, Nupe, Eleme, Birom, Langtang, Ijaw, Auchi, Fulani, Calabari, Tiv, Ogoni, Igbirra, and all the other 234 tribes of Nigeria; our struggles as humans are one and the same and unless we realise and embrace this, then our torture will continue.

We tend to also fantasize that a messiah will emerge and the seas will part open into two in order for Nigeria to be saved. Maybe the solution lies not within the direction of a messiah but within the strength of the masses of a nation that claims one in every five Africans. If we consider the effect of the Ukrainian, Tunisian, Libyan, Egyptian and Georgian peoples past resolve when the insult of their governments became unbearable, we begin to realise the power of a people when they stand together as one. Tyranny begets uprisings, when the government’s tyranny reaches its zenith any more than it has now and the majority population realise they are constantly staring at empty food bowls, empty government coffers, rigged elections, alleged government induced insecurity, wicked governmental intrigue, the situation may spew and the next mass action may really become mass.

For those determined to flog this country off so that you can remain in power or spill the blood of innocent Nigerians in order to split the nation up, lest you forget your actions all have consequences. Make no mistake you cannot get away with the bad choices you make for your nation, because history is recording everything you do. If you sow badly in this season, you will reap worse in another, no matter how long it takes. Even some of the greatest forces in Africa; Idi Amin, Mobutu Seseseko, Haile Salasi, once bred the radiant rule of Monarchs. And for some time their might nurtured their supremacy and reign over their countries but in the end, they faced karma and all three ended up victims of the consequences of their actions. None was even allowed to die in the nation he once commanded.

Therefore, next time the ‘freemasons’ in the government corridors secretly meet to allegedly fuel terrorism and sow the seed of ruin for Nigeria, they should be mindful not to be deceived; “God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap… For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting."

May God expose those who scheme to destroy the future of 160 million people!

Written By Hannatu Musawa
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HARD VIEW (BUOYED HOPE AGAINST HIV)

BUOYED HOPE AGAINST HIV

 Reports from Mississippi of a child who contracted HIV from her mother at birth but who is now free of it must be the best news we’ve heard in a while. Apparently, scientists and Doctors on a quest to cure HIV may h...ave stumbled on a breakthrough in the fight against the disease. While this latest advance does not mean that the cure for AIDS has been discovered, it is progress that will no doubt open up new avenues at the very least for scientists to
explore and help improve the treatment of babies infected at birth.

The baby in question was born with the disease because her mother had not been tested in early pregnancy, thus had not been put on antiretroviral drugs. By the time doctors had realised that the mother was HIV positive, it was too late to implement the prevention package that would have prevented transmission of HIV from mother to child. Shortly after her birth, she was given a strong cocktail of antiretroviral drugs. The drugs are thought to have hit the virus so hard and so early that the disease all but disappeared. Although tests show that the baby no longer has HIV, scientists are careful not to label it a complete-cure but instead call it a functional-cure since traces of the virus, though inactive, still remain in the baby.

This is brilliant news for everybody across the globe but especially good news for our continent, which has been brought down to its knees by HIV and AIDS. While we often hear folk tales about people being cured of HIV and AIDS with traditional concoctions, there is no cure for HIV and AIDS and the only fully cured patient recognized worldwide is the Berlin-patient, Timothy Brown. He was considered cured of HIV and leukaemia five years after receiving bone marrow transplant to treat his leukaemia from a rare donor naturally resistant to HIV.

From the time HIV and AIDS descended on our world, it has devastated generations and decimated our continent especially. The grim reaper of all afflictions, HIV and AIDS has never discriminated against its victims as it overwhelms each with fevers, night sweats, swollen glands, chills, weakness, gross weight loss, chronic diarrhoea, constant colds, headaches, sore muscles, sore joints, stomach aches or skin rashes. Scientists have long maintained that there is a small group of individuals who have a genetic resistance to HIV, develop AIDS very slowly or never at all. These unique individuals seem to possess a genetic difference which prevents the virus from attacking certain immune receptors. In all our bodies, the group of cells and organs known as the immune system are meant to protect us by fighting viruses and infections. What makes HIV so vicious is that it attacks the immune system itself and has the additional ability to rapidly mutate in order to evade additional defences. This effectively leaves the body vulnerable to HIV and other infections.
For many of us in these parts of the world, the horror of HIV and AIDS has become all too real. Almost every household knows someone who has died or is suffering from the disease. In Nigeria, the spread of the disease that first appeared in 1986 is so fast that Health Organisations have rated us the 3rd most Aids vulnerable country. And it’s no wonder because over the last three decades Nigeria's healthcare system has deteriorated so badly due to political instability, corruption and a mismanaged economy. The entire country lacks basic healthcare provisions and trained medics robbing Nigerians of access to basic prevention, care or treatment services.

The 1996 HIV and Aids Emergency Action Plan (HEAP) programme established, was ab-initio lacking due to low spending on the plan and due to the government not consolidating its efforts. For example when over 600,000 people required antiretroviral treatment, only 17,000 received it. If the government was at any time focused in its efforts to curb the spread of the disease, it should have tackled the numerous fonts that facilitate the spread of HIV. This would include organising coordinated national blood supply systems, regulating the licentious activities of long-distance truck and commercial drivers, sanctioning harmful traditional practices, introducing safety regulations in barbers/salons and clamping down hard on commercial sex workers. Although the world’s oldest profession is illegal in Nigeria there are millions of active commercial sex workers, with a high percentage being HIV positive. Since the vast majority of them do not use any form of protection, our legislature needs to implement stringent laws to curb this practice and the enforcement agencies need to enforce the laws vigorously.
Attitudes are shaped by knowledge and experience, therefore those with knowledge about HIV and AIDS must try to reach out about sexual health, abstinence, HIV and other means of contracting the disease. It won’t be easy because culturally and religiously our private society makes discussion on certain topics taboo and since the society generally regards immoral behaviour as being the main cause of the epidemic, stigma may prevent people living with the virus to willingly participate in discussions.
Our government can articulate its policy on HIV and AIDS more effectively by supporting NGOs, matching words with sustained action and commitment, sensitizing the society using the media, the religious communities and the performing arts. If we consider Uganda’s example, the success-story of the African fight against HIV, it’s clear that the epidemic is beatable. The success in Uganda was the result of a broad-based national effort backed up by involvement of religious and traditional leaders, NGOs and a firm political commitment that introduced same-day results for HIV tests, support for victims, distribution of protection tools, self-treatment kits for infections and sex education programmes all across schools and rural areas.

Undoubtedly Africa has borne the brunt of this disease. The West brands Africa as the original habitat of the virus. Though many are sceptical of this theory, the question of where HIV comes from still remains. One of the numerous theories regarding its origin is the hunter-theory, where HIV was thought to have passed to humans through the consumption of monkeys and bush-meat in Central Africa. The big anomaly with the Out-of-Africa theory is why was the first identified case of HIV in the West and not in Africa? While AIDS was identified to have killed a patient in the US in 1980, it did not appear in Africa until 1982. It is pure logic that with the population, polygamy and procreation present in Africa, had the disease first come to Africa before going to the West, it would have ravaged the continent long ago. When one considers the trend of its spread in Africa, one will notice that HIV and AIDS made its preliminary impact on the African continent in the countries which have a higher percentage of western tourism, suggesting that it was brought into Africa by Westerners already infected.

Another theory states that in the early 70s when the hepatitis B vaccine was developed in chimpanzees, it was tested on thousands of homosexual men who signed up as guinea pigs in the US. Even though scientists have downplayed any connection with HIV and the vaccine, over 20% of the men who volunteered for the experiments were discovered to be HIV-positive. Further theories suggest that three of the earliest known instances of HIV infection were much earlier than thought. The first was thought to be a plasma sample taken in 1959 from an adult male living in Central Africa, the second was found in tissue samples from an American teenager who died in St. Louis in 1969 and the third was found in tissue samples from a Norwegian sailor who died around 1976. A 1998 analysis of the plasma sample from 1959 has suggested that HIV was introduced into humans around the 1940s or the early 1950s. The problem with this theory is the unanswered question of why it did not spread then and if it didn’t spread, how did it appear a decade later in an individual situated on the opposite part of the world? The spread of HIV and AIDS could quite conceivably have been induced by a combination of many different events. The origin of HIV has puzzled everyone ever since the illness first came into light but most would probably agree it is important to understand the actual source of the virus in order to fight it. In the early days of the epidemic, disease control scientists were alleged to have traced the AIDS trail to Patient-O, a promiscuous Bi-Sexual Canadian flight attendant named Gaetan Dugas who was thought to have given HIV to multiple male and female partners globally, who then in turn transmitted it to others and rapidly spread the virus to locations all over the world.

It is likely that we will never know how, when and where HIV actually originated from but what we do know is that it is a ruthless killer that humanity and each and every one of us must strive to contain.

The case of the baby girl has buoyed hopes for millions and if scientists can better understand and replicate what happened in her treatment, it could allow them to establish a cure for new-born babies infected with the disease. Real excitement is justified by this discovery, but in spite of the feat, we must keep in mind that there is still no cure for HIV and AIDS and any practical applications as far as the latest discovery are most likely a long way further down the line.

Written By Hannatu Musawa
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