Chinelo Okparanta and three other Nigerians Dominate 2013 Caine Prize Shortlist

Chinelo Okparanta, the author of the highly rated Happiness Like Water and three other Nigerian writers have made four of the five writers shortlisted for the 2013 Caine Prize for African fiction.
Chinelo's entry "America" from Granta, Issue 118 (London, 2012) is highly favoured to win the coveted Caine Prize.

The other Nigerians on the shortlist are Elnathan John for "Bayan Layi" from Per Contra, Issue 25 (USA, 2012), Tope Folarin for "Miracle" from Transition, Issue 109 (Bloomington, 2012) and Abubakar Adam Ibrahim for "The Whispering Trees" from "The Whispering Trees", published by Parrésia Publishers (Lagos, 2012).

The fifth writer is Pede Hollist from Sierra Leone for "Foreign Aid" from Journal of Progressive Human Services, Vol. 23.3 (Philadelphia, 2012).

The Chair of judges, art historian and broadcaster, Gus Casely-Hayford said:
“The shortlist was selected from 96 entries from 16 African countries. They are all outstanding African stories that were drawn from an extraordinary body of high quality submissions.”
Gus described the shortlist saying, “The five contrasting titles interrogate aspects of things that we might feel we know of Africa – violence, religion, corruption, family, community – but these are subjects that are deconstructed and beautifully remade. These are challenging, arresting, provocative stories of a continent and its descendants captured at a time of burgeoning change.”

Alongside Gus on the panel of judges this year are award-winning Nigerian-born artist, Sokari Douglas Camp; author, columnist and Lord Northcliffe Emeritus Professor at UCL, John Sutherland; Assistant Professor at Georgetown University, Nathan Hensley and the winner of the Caine Prize in its inaugural year, Leila Aboulela.

Once again, the winner of the £10,000 Caine Prize will be given the opportunity of taking up a month’s residence at Georgetown University, as a Writer-in-Residence at the Lannan Center for Poetics and Social Practice. The award will cover all travel and living expenses. The winner will also be invited to take part in the Open Book Festival in Cape Town in September 2013. Last year the Caine Prize was won by Nigerian writer Rotimi Babatunde. He has subsequently co- authored a play "Feast" for the Young Vic and the Royal Court Theatres in London.

The winner of the £10,000 prize is to be announced at a celebratory dinner at the Bodleian Library, Oxford, on Monday the 8th of July.

The first Nigerian to win the Caine Prize is the popular multiple awards winning novelist Helon Habila in 2001. Previous shortlisted Nigerian writers include the famous Nigerian authors Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie in 2002; Chika Unigwe in 2004, was also shortlisted in 2006 for the Dutch equivalent of the Orange Prize for her novel translated into Dutch, "de fenicks". She won the 2003 BBC Short Story Competition for her story "Borrowed Smile", a Commonwealth Short Story Award for "Weathered Smiles" and a Flemish literary prize for "De Smaak van Sneeuw". Her second novel, On Black Sisters’ Street, first published in Dutch, was published in Chika’s own English version by Jonathan Cape in 2009 and Random House in 2011 won the 2012 Nigeria Prize for Literature endowed by the Nigeria LNG Limited.. Her new novel is Night Dancer published in June 2012 by Jonathan Cape; Ike Okonta in 2005; Sefi Atta in 2006, is famous for her Everything Good Will Come and Swallow and the short story collection News From Home. Winner of the PEN International 2004/5 David T.K. Wong Prize, she also won the first Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature in Africa in 2006 for Everything Good Will Come, and the final NOMA Award for Publishing in Africa in 2009 for Lawless and other stories, now published as "News From Home". Her publishers include Interlink Books in the USA, AAA Press in Nigeria and Jacana Media in South Africa; Uwem Akpan in 2007 and his book Say You're One of Them (Oprah's Book Club) published by Little Brown won the Best First Book award in the Africa region of the Commonwealth Literature Prize and was critically acclaimed by Oprah Winfrey on Oprah’s Book Club in 2009 prompting it to reach the top of the New York Times bestseller list; Ada Udechukwu in 2007 and Uzor Maxim Uzoatu in 2008.

The previous winners include the following.

• 2011: Noviolet Bulawayo
• 2010: Olufemi Terry
• 2009: E C Osondu
• 2008: Henrietta Rose-Innes
• 2007: Monica Arac de Nyeko
• 2006: Mary Watson
• 2005: SA Afolabi
• 2004: Brian Chikwava
• 2003: Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor
• 2002: Binyavanga Wainaina
• 2001: Helon Habila
• 2000: Leila Aboulela

Chinelo Okparanta was born in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. She received her BS from Pennsylvania State University, her MA from Rutgers University and her MFA from Iowa Writers' Workshop. She teaches at the University of Iowa.


 

 Her novel "Happiness Like Water" made the exclusive list of Best Books Of 2013?: Our Picks For The Year's Biggest Reads by the highly esteemed Huffington Post. See the report on http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/20/best-books-2013-our-picks_n_2344874.html?ref=topbar#slide=1910286 and also the latest New Voice in a series on GRANTA. Read her interview on http://www.granta.com/New-Writing/Interview-Chinelo-Okparanta


"Chinelo Okparanta’s debut collection is astonishing. Her narrators render their stories with such strength and intimacy, such lucidity and composure, that in each and every case the truths of their lives detonate deep inside the reader’s heart, with the power and force of revelation."
 —Paul Harding, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Tinkers.

 "Okparanta's prose is tender, beautiful and evocative. These powerful stories of contemporary Nigeria are told with compassion and a certain sense of humour. What a remarkable new talent."
—Chika Unigwe, author of On Black Sisters Street, winner of the 2012 Nigeria Prize for Literature sponsored by the Nigeria LNG Limited.

"Intricate, graceful prose propels Okparanta’s profoundly moving and illuminating book. I devoured these stories and immediately wanted more. This is an arrival."
 —NoViolet Bulawayo, author of We Need New Names.

"A haunting and startlingly original collection of short stories about the lives of Nigerians both at home and in America. Okparanta’s characters are forced to make difficult, often impossible choices—a university student decides to go to work as an escort to pay for her mother’s medical bills, a high school teacher is asked to come home to care for her dying, abusive father—and yet they manage to prevail through quiet and sometimes surprising acts of defiance. Okparanta’s prose is elegant and precise, fueled by a strong undercurrent of rage that surfaces at unexpected moments. Happiness, Like Water is a deeply affecting literary debut, the work of a sure and gifted new writer." —Julie Otsuka, author of The Buddha in the Attic

 "Without bluster, Chinelo Okparanta writes stories that are brave and devastating."

 —Mohsin Hamid, author of The Reluctant Fundamentalist.

 
See more by Nigerian Writers  and click on any of the book covers to order for the bestselling Nigerian novels and short stories collections.

 

Tweet

   

 

NOLLYWOOD MIRROR® (Nollywood Reloaded): The Kindle Edition

Book Description

Publication Date: May 13, 2013

 

NOLLYWOOD MIRROR® is here to capture the big picture of the current affairs in Nollywood and share them with the rest of the world in print and digital formats.
The target audience are the over 59 million viewers of Nollywood movies on free TV, paid cable TV and on the internet in Africa, the UK, U.S., Canada and the Caribbean.
The maiden edition of NOLLYWOOD MIRROR® will be the first Nigerian magazine to be published in paperback, hard-cover and e-copy versions for both print and digital distribution in Nigeria, the U.S., UK and the rest of the world.

---

Product Details

• File Size: 4408 KB
• Publisher: International Digital Post Network Limited; 1 edition (May 13, 2013)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B00CSGYTQK
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Not Enabled
• Lending: Enabled

 Tweet

   

 

A Catalog Of Pastors Killed By Boko Haram In Nigeria

 
Boko Haram terrorists taking orders from their Islamic leader before attacking and killing Christian pastors in Nigeria.

The following is a catalog of pastors attacked and killed by the Boko Haram Islamist terrorist group in Nigeria compiled in 2011 and since then more pastors and Christians have been attacked and murdered by Boko Haram without government inquiries or emergency relief for their bereaved families.

A Catalog of Pastors Deaths by Boko Haram Militants


As anxiety is mounting over the activities of Boko Haram group, some Muslims are defusing the fear as misplaced. They see the group as only a new breed of young Muslim activists who have aggressively embraced a stricter version of Islam, rejecting anything Western and Christian. Boko Haram began life as a peaceful group focused on the study of the Koran, according to Abdulmumin Sa’ad, a Muslim scholar and professor of Sociology at the University of Maiduguri.

“The idea was that there is a lot of sin in the larger society and their parents had amassed a lot of ill-gotten wealth,” says Sa’ad, who taught some of the militants. “There is widespread immorality, and so the best thing to do is to remove themselves and camp elsewhere, where they can concentrate on their religion, mediate, reach out and begin to form a fellowship.” Sa’ad claims that group turned violent when authorities harassed it.

In retaliation, the group had killed about 16,000 policemen and was responsible for the death of pastors in Christian circle. Worried about the safety of Christians and pastors in Nigeria, the president of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, asked the federal government to curb the growing trend of terrorism in parts of the country. “We can no longer allow this group of disgruntled elements to get away with these acts of terrorism in Nigeria,” he said.

The catalogue of death of pastors by Boko Haram militants is raising alarm immediate change. Pastor David Usman, 45, and church secretary Hamman Andrew of the 'Church of Christ in Nigeria' in the troubled city of Maiduguri on the 7 June and Pastor Solomon Uzor of Trinity Chapel in Bauchi on the 10 May were among the latest casualties in what local Christians called "an upsurge of Islamic militancy" in these states.

Evangelical Christians said the two men were shot and killed by members of the Boko Haram sect near an area of Maiduguri, known as Railway Quarters, where their church is based. Hours earlier the gunmen also participated in blasts and attacks that left at least ten people dead, police said. A Catholic church, which was also targeted in the attacks, has been badly shattered, according to witnesses.

The same incident was reported in Lagos where Boko Haram members allegedly killed Pastor Daniel Okolu with two other people in November 2010. Pastor Michael Madugu, had just returned to his medicine store when his assailants pounced on him. Eyewitnesses said: “Two motorcyclists just stopped in front of the shop around 7.00pm and started shooting into the air to scare away people before they opened fire on Madugu. His assailants then moved immediately to the next medicine store where one Obinna and his brother were also shot to death. Unlucky James, another victim, who was about to enter Obinna’s store to buy medicine was also shot dead .

It was gathered that Michael Madugu, a district pastor in charge of Hausa church, was killed by a gang of four fundamentalists in his pharmaceutical shop while dispensing drugs to customers at about 7.05 p.m., leaving his wife and seven children to mourn him.

On December 24, armed men suspected to be members of the Boko Haram sect stormed some churches including the Victory Baptist Church at Dala-Alamderi and shot to death the resident pastor, Rev. Bulus Marwa (37), Christopher Balami, a lecturer in the state-owned polytechnic, Paul Mathew, Philip Luka and a tea hawker, Yohana Adamu. The rampaging gunmen also set the Church of Christ in Nigeria (COCIN) in Ruwan Safi ablaze. A Deeper Life pastor, 3 others were killed in Maiduguri by suspected members of Boko Haram Jan 20, 2011.

Danjuma Akawu, who survived the attack on the Baptist church, said “they hacked the two choir members using knives and petrol bomb before heading to the pastor’s residence, where he was killed.”

On 26 July, 2009 the girl identified by CSW only as Mary was in church with her pastor, his brother and an older Christian woman when a group of fifty militants broke in. She and her pastor hid as the group killed the pastor’s brother and dragged the older woman out of the room. On discovering their hiding place, the militants cut off her pastor’s hand to stop him holding on to her, then hacked him to death with machetes before setting him on fire.

The girl and the woman were dragged to Boko Haram's compound in Maiduguri's Railway district, and were placed in a room with around 100 other Christian women and girls. They were all asked to renounce their faith or face continued imprisonment, while Christian men were given the choice of renouncing their faith or dying.

Mary vividly describes how she was forced to wash the blood stained clothing of Boko Haram fighters. She was in the camp for four days, but managed to escape with a few others when military forces intensified their attack on the compound.

Mary's pastor was one of three Christian ministers targeted and killed by Boko Haram during that week's violence. "Local Christians have also expressed disappointment that some western media have disregarded the targeted nature of attacks on their community, and the brutal murders of Christian pastors. "Unless this aspect of the violence is recognised by all and dealt with effectively, people in Northern Nigeria will continue to suffer because of their religious beliefs.”

One of the victims of that week’s attack by the Yusufiya sect in Borno State has given a shocking account of how the Islamic extremists killed three pastors who were captured along with other victims on the second day of the insurgence 28 July 2009. The victim was among those held hostage in Yusuf’s enclave.

Speaking exclusively to Daily Sun in Maiduguri, the eye witness who preferred anonymity disclosed that the three pastors were beheaded on the instruction of the sect leader, Mohammed Yusuf shortly after bringing them out of his inner chamber.

“The pastors alongside one Ibo man were asked to change their faith to Islam like they did to other people taken as hostages. And there was an argument by one of the pastors which gave the others some level of confidence to also resist accepting Islam.

“The Yusufiya men who were armed on that Tuesday afternoon were not comfortable with the pastors and they took one of them to the sect leader in his inner chamber. They came out later to the courtyard within the compound and cut their heads one after the other and thereafter, shouted Allah akbar in wild celebration accompanied with several gun shots,” the eye witness disclosed.

Corroborating the account of the killing, a Senior pastor with Good News Church, Wulari Maiduguri Rev. Baba Gata Ibrahim told Daily Sun in an interview that a pastor in his church, Pastor George Orjih was beheaded on the instruction of the Boko Haram leader because the clergy man refused to accept Islam.

The late Pastor George Orjih was said to have arrived Maiduguri last week from Jos where he was doing his Masters programme in Theology. Described as a fearless, hardworking, and intellectually sound, his care for the welfare and well being of his family allegedly contributed to his capture and eventual death. “He was mindful of his family and their welfare. He was really out of the house but thought to go back again. That was how he was captured by the Boko Haram before he was killed,’’ the senior pastor added.


PLEASE, SEE THE COMPLETE REPORT ON http://nigeriantimes.blogspot.com/2011/06/catalog-of-pastors-deaths-by-boko-haram.html

Source: Chidi Ahmed, Blueprint Correspondent. First published on Nigerian Times at 3:41 AM on Wednesday, June 29, 2011.

Tweet

   

 

Ban Ki-moon Urges ‘Holistic Approach To Fight Boko Haram, Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb and other Terrorists

 
President Goodluck Jonathan and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

NEW YORK, 13 May 2013 / PRNewswire Africa / - From the Horn of Africa in the east and across the Sahel to the west, terrorism continues to pose a threat to the continent's peace, security and development, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today as he warned that Africa was facing a rise in the presence of extremist groups and terrorist entities.

In remarks delivered to the United Nations Security Council's open debate on combating terrorism in Africa, the Secretary-General said that success in the combat against groups such as the Nigeria-based Boko Haram, Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, and the Somalia-based Al Shabaab would require greater and more holistic efforts.

“Military advances, important as they are, will not by themselves bring an end to terrorism in Africa. This struggle must go forward on many fronts, including by addressing the conditions that are conducive to the spread of terrorism,” Mr. Ban stressed, while adding that the lack of development and the absence of the rule of law allow terrorist groups to recruit across communities and build their ranks.
“Opportunistic links between terrorist and transnational organized criminal groups ensure the constant flow of people, money, weapons and illicit goods across borders, allowing such groups to survive and proliferate,” he continued.

Turning to the continent's terrorist hotspots, Mr. Ban told the 15-Member Council that in Somalia, for example, there had already been “important progress towards stability” with the Islamist militant group, Al Shabaab uprooted from numerous strategic locations.
“But to secure these gains and prevent the group's resurgence, a lot more needs to be accomplished with respect to the rule of law, development and the country's political transformation,” he noted.
In particular, the UN chief underscored the role of the newly established UN Mission in Somalia in providing strategic policy guidance on security sector reform while also supporting the country's nascent Federal Government in strengthening their police, justice and corrections.

As for Mali and the wider Sahel region, the Secretary-General similarly pointed out the international community's successes in tackling a deteriorating situation with what he described as “welcome resolve.”
In December 2012, at the request of the Malian Government, the Security Council authorized the deployment of the African-led International Support Mission in Mali, known by its French acronym, AFISMA, in order to support national efforts to recover the country's north, which had been occupied by radical Islamists.

The conflict uprooted hundreds of thousands of people and prompted the Malian Government to request assistance from France to stop the military advance of extremist groups.
As with Somalia, Mr. Ban suggested that the newly launched UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) would provide key support for the Malian authorities in extending state control and building “legitimate instruments of governance.”

In addition, he stated that in the Sahel, the UN was developing “an integrated strategy that aims to enhance governance; strengthen the capacity of national and regional security mechanisms; and integrate development and humanitarian activities in order to build resilience.”
“Without such a holistic approach, we risk simply pushing the threat from one area to another,” the Secretary-General concluded.

In a Presidential statement approved at the start of the meeting, members of the Security Council echoed Mr. Ban's remarks by voicing deep concern at the increasing violence perpetrated by armed groups across Africa's regions and sub-regions. They similarly called for an integrated response which would target development as much as it would security and include a wide variety of actors ranging from the international community to civil society groups.

“The Security Council recognizes that terrorism will not be defeated by military force or security forces, law enforcement measures, and intelligence operations alone,” the statement declared while underlining the need to address the conditions conducive to “strengthening efforts for the successful prevention and peaceful resolution of prolonged conflicts, and also promoting the rule of law, the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms, good governance, tolerance and inclusiveness.”

As a result, the Council called on the Secretary-General to provide “a comprehensive survey and assessment” of the UN's work in assisting Member States and sub-regional and regional entities across Africa in fighting the continent's terrorist threats.


“The United Nations is strongly committed to doing its part to combat terrorism in Africa,” Mr. Ban reminded the Council during his remarks. “Success is crucial for enabling Africans to meet their aspirations to live in dignity and peace.”


SOURCE : UN News Centre

Tweet

   

 

President Jonathan: Survival Benefit and Support System for Police Families

 
President Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria.

 President Jonathan, Execute a Survival Benefit and Support System for Police Families

Mr. President, as you and your administration face a Nigeria submerged in the  Boko Haram uproar in the North, kidnapping upheaval in the South, militancy  hullabaloo in the Niger Delta, and rampant violence,  vicious schemes, and institutional exploitation all over the country, the receiving hands from all of these disasters is that lone security agent or law enforcement officer.

Mr. President, as you deliberate what type of policy or order to give in regard to the security crisis, think about the mounting corpses of slain officers being recovered after falling victim to  the primitively arranged police operations in Nasarawa State and think about the murdered and burnt bodies of officers in Borno State and elsewhere.  These are husbands, fathers, and sons, as well as breadwinners to wives, children and to parents.  Notwithstanding the reality that they are part of a highly troubled, messy, and higgledy-piggledy police establishment, they made the ultimate sacrifice in their efforts to keep us safe.  Now they are gone!  As a consequence, their families, especially their wives and children, are left to grieve and to fend for themselves with no well-defined, legislative, survival benefit system.

                 Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar,

While there is nothing wrong with a state governor making it known that each of the families of the dead security agents involved in the Nasarawa operation would get N1 million, it is essential to note that these victims are federal officers as there is yet to be an established State police system.  Mr. President, the nation lacks a federal based system of life insurance policies for close family members and survivors.  There is no Police Health Plan with a package for trauma therapy for families of deceased officers.  The traumatically injured officer lacks a system-based insurance or long-term financial plan to cover their hospital bills and other basic needs in their respective place of abode.  While from time to time we hear of how a set of monies is presented to survivors, it is usually a one-time deal that is paid out, and at best such collected benefit generally comes late and only brings brief aid to the grieving family.

Mr. President, it will interest you to know that the nation currently has a Police Force with no specialized training in professional psychological services nor does it have a system for trauma therapy and grief counseling/psychological assistance for grieving families.  In many cases these families might be encountering emotional reactions such as flashbacks or nightmares and undergoing experiences of painful emotions marked with physical sensations of fear and body pain which could be long term.  The police force also lacks a system of death and grief studies and a “Family Orientation to Police Life” that could help make the experience of premature death less shocking to families.  Given the fact that premature police deaths are statistically higher overall compared to many professions, the federal ministry of police affairs should institute a therapeutic system for grieving families seeking comfort and closure.

          A meeting of needy families.

Certainly, there will be police officers killed in the line of duty and as such the use of psychological resources to attain stability and a support system to help the family cope becomes vital.  A line-of-duty psychological treatment for grieving families, peers, and colleagues is more meaningful when the kind of benefits collected by a spouse or family is highly sustaining as these post-duty death benefits affect the length and intensity of the whole grieving period.

It is time that the Nigeria Police have individual and group counseling and other related services, which should be provided at various commands or locations by trained grief response teams across homes and schools.  There is a need to begin a telephone program where families and peers of the dead leave information in regard to counseling assistance or other needs.

Mr. President, hopefully, as you set out to issue an executive order to help families of police officers as well as other security agents killed in the line of duty, you will exert pressure on the National Assembly to enact legislation that will provide lifetime worker compensation benefits to survivor families that should also include counseling and other technical supports for the families to help them rebuild their lives.


~ By John Egbeazien Oshodi, Ph.D.
President,
Dr. John Egbeazien Oshodi Foundation Center for the Study and Advancement of Nigerian Psychological Health.

 Tweet

   

 

ITU appoints First Lady of Nigeria as its Child Online Protection Champion

 
Dame Patience Jonathan.  

GENEVA, 10 May 2013 / PRNewswire Africa / - The Secretary-General of International

Telecommunication Union (ITU) Dr Hamadoun I. Touré today appointed the First Lady of Nigeria and President of the African First Ladies Peace Mission, Her Excellency Dame (Dr) Patience Goodluck Jonathan, as ITU's Child Online Protection (COP) Champion.


The First Lady received her letter of appointment from the Director of ITU's Telecommunication Development Bureau, Brahima Sanou, who met with her today to discuss issues related to cyberthreats and cybersecurity in the Africa region.
 
Mr Sanou was accompanied by Datuk Mohd Noor Amin, Chairman of the International Multilateral Partnership Against Cyber Threats (IMPACT), ITU's executing arm for cybersecurity, and Andrew Rugege, ITU Regional Director for Africa.

“It is a great honour for ITU to have the support of Nigeria's First Lady,” said Dr Touré. “Her commitment is further confirmation of the key role that ITU is playing as a global catalyst and facilitator in international dialogue and cooperation in the area of cybersecurity.”

Mr Sanou added that the “COP framework has become a crucial means of creating a safe environment for our children while they are on the net. Both ITU and IMPACT have faith in Her Excellency's ability to spread this message and push for reforms not only in the Africa region but across the globe.”
 Datuk Mohd Noor Amin said Dame Jonathan, who has won numerous accolades for her charitable work involving women and children, will be the perfect advocate for ITU's Child Online Protection initiative.
“Her Excellency is both a progressive leader and renowned humanitarian, and is the ideal candidate to help ITU-IMPACT in its mission to push for COP awareness and the need for national online protection frameworks to protect and support the younger generations online.”

In addition to the COP initiative, ITU and IMPACT are looking at the possibility of setting up a Cybersecurity Regional Centre in Nigeria which would play an essential role in supporting the expansion of ITU-IMPACT's network globally, by localizing cybersecurity services to meet the unique needs of the region. Nigeria has indicated its interest in hosting a new Regional Centre under the ITU-IMPACT framework.

The proposed Regional Centre would become a vital hub of expertise and constitute an important component of the multi-stakeholder network that must be built to support government, industry and citizens, so that the full benefits of information and communications technology can be assured for all citizens.
“While acting as a catalyst for greater regional collaboration to address escalating cyber threats, this centre would also help promote Nigeria as an advanced cybersecurity hub for the region,” said Mr Sanou.
SOURCE : International Telecommunication Union (ITU)

Top Reports 

02:27	AUC to Live Stream 21st Summit and 50th Anniversary of the OAU / AU
02:22	AfDB Gender Forum Stresses Women's Empowerment in Tunis
02:20	ITU appoints First Lady of Nigeria as its Child Online Protection Champion
02:15	CAR: UN AGENCY ‘CONDEMNS IN STRONGEST POSSIBLE TERMS' KILLING OF TEEN LINKED TO REBELS
02:14	AUC/FAO/COMESA REGIONAL TRAINING WORKSHOP ON CAADP ENGAGEMENT IN POST- HARVEST LOSS REDUCTION

Tweet

   

 

Nigerian Soldiers Killed By Boko Haram Because They Did Not Have Enough Bullets

 

“Our comrades died because they did not have any bullets. We took bullets to them!”

 ~ Nigerian Army. 

Earlier sources had described to NewsRescue that soldiers had to “bribe” the armory to get working guns and adequate bullets. The troops who died had a ration of only 30 rounds, as against the minimum 120 rounds for such duty.

Read more: http://newsrescue.com/nigeria-top-level-sabotage-behind-military-and-civilian-casualties-in-boko-haram-war-military-sources/#ixzz2T9zd6PrO

Tweet

   

 

Genocidal Thinking

Genocidal Thinking

“..let not the hatred of others to you make you swerve to wrong and depart from justice. Be just: that is next to piety: and fear God”

Have you ever killed someone?
Have you ever gotten someone killed?
Do you think you will ever kill an innocent person or get them killed?
If 500 people come from a village and beat your family up, will you encourage a retaliatory attack on that village?

These rather giving questions are the necessary questions to ask in recognizing “Genocidal thinking.”

So what is genocidal thinking?

Genocidal thinking is an individual to collective mentality that directly or indirectly results in the death of a person or group of people.

Most of us, hopefully, immediately reject such association. We will never kill an innocent being. We are not killers. We do not get people killed, we quickly say, and reside in comfort zones within our minds, insulated from being genocidal thinkers. But how true is this?

Like you, probably, I used to reject being labelled a genocidal thinker. A great individual I respect, though I can’t claim I always agree with, Dr. Rotmi Adigun, used to tell me that my many statements were genocidal thinking. I strongly and vehemently rejected such ‘preposterous’ accusation.

“They do it to us.” “I am only giving them back a piece of their own medicine,” I used to say of my pronouncements against certain groups or societies.

“They,” is the underlining feature of genocidal thinking. It all starts with the “they,” “that group,” “those people.” The minute we as human beings separate ourselves from others, castigating “others,” as a different “they,” we have entered the realm of genocidal thinking.

The Latin expression, Ei incumbit probatio qui dicit, non qui negat which means: the burden of proof lies with who declares, not who denies. And is the foundation of the global legal, “presumption of innocence,” principle, which is crucial to appreciating how we get into genocidal thought by easily throwing in that “they.”

Can we with one hundred percent confidence, substantiate our accusation that all of them do so? That all of them would do such to us. Every last person? How we love to judge!

But we are ready to have them all punished for what, let’s say, just one of them crusades against, and what in most occasions, only few of them do. How do we feel that we led to the death of that single innocent person- who begged them at risk of his life – not to go out and ravage our community? “Guilty beyond reasonable doubt,” and “innocent until proven guilty,” is the standard in law and the standard we should apply. Do we ever?

As genocidal thinkers, we have decided, without much thought, to sacrifice that one innocent person in our fulfillment of our anger towards the supposed majority.

But what of when we are “that innocent person,” in our community who tried our best to stop the majority from going out in ravage? How would it be for us when the “other people,” come over and possibly find “me,” alone, unfortunately, walking alone, and kill me for what I denied and discouraged?

None of us really wants the blood of innocent people on our hands. This is not what we wish to live the rest of our lives remembering. But unless we seriously train and condition ourselves to reject genocidal thinking, these things happen so fast – and we can be among the rioters who rush out to “revenge,” and in our chaos and commotion, get innocent people killed.

A Genocide of One

A verse preached by Muslims from the Quran goes: “whoever kills an innocent person, it is as though he has killed the entire human race.” This is very correct. Because for that one person, the world has ended. Armageddon has occurred. And while we go on with our business, and while the global community counts him as just one, or a few victims – not yet a genocide; for him, he is everyone. For his family, things will never be the same again. Biblical “thou shalt not kill,” is explicit.

Now, I know many of us are still feeling we are not partakers in Genocidal thinking, but have we really considered the impact of our utterances? Have we weighed the implication of the thoughts we spread? Dr. Rotimi cautioned me, “these things you say about them, do you realize that it reinforces the confidence of those who kill them?”

Thoughts Kill

I am still in the process of purifying myself of genocidal thinking. It has been a year since I got sensitized to my genocidal thinking and I can not yet boast of being non-genocidal in thought. But I am happy with my progress. I see beauty in it and recognize how important it is to sanitize ourselves of genocidal thought. Now, I refrain from promoting hatred based on grouping, ethnic categorization, religious affiliation. It is not until you promote murder directly that you are guilty; there is a build-up of negative thoughts towards a particular group, that reinforces the genocidal enactors to commit their atrocities. A Hermatic principle states that a stone thrown into a pond, generates a ripple that goes on -sets a vibration- to affect and change the entire galaxy. Meteorologists explain that hurricanes in the United States are set off by a mere kicking up of sand, by a girl playing at a beach in far off Africa. This is how interconnected our world is. Our words here, reinforce the reality somewhere else.

Every individual is ultimately responsible for his actions, but how do we feel knowing that we contributed to the death of a person or people?

Legendary Bob Marley made the following song of late Emperor Halie Selassie’s words:

Until the philosophy which hold one race superior
And another
Inferior
Is finally
And permanently
Discredited
And abandoned -
Everywhere is war -
Me say war.

You Are the Prophet

This message is for you. Even though you may believe you will never be responsible for genocidal violence. What of your friends? Every genocide occurred and occurs in communities like ours. Yesterday two bombs exploded in Turkey, killing over 40 people. The Turks picked up sticks and went to beat Syrian refugees in Turkey. A day before, had you asked the Turks if they would participate in genocidal thinking, they probably would have said, never. Genocidal thinking happens all over the world, in Nigeria, China, even in the United States, where police are oft called “pigs.”

It takes much desensitizing to learn not to accidentally kill or punish innocent people in moments of anger. And if we have the spiritual development and the training to resist genocidal thinking, what of when tomorrow night one of your friends whispers to you in the quiet of the night that, “he just killed someone,” during a riot. Could you have prevented this? Did you discuss genocidal thinking with him and encourage him to aspire for all the levels of restraint not to have had that possibly innocent blood on his shoulders? The headline quote, hopefully many Muslims would know of, is from Quran 5 verse 8. Unfortunately so many act in direct contradiction of such standards. We get pushed by the perceived hate of others towards us to get unjust. And the cycle self-perpetuates.

Wise words: God put us together of different races on earth to “get to know each other,” and our being “better” “is only by our good actions.” Let our only reference to group, ethnicity, religion, culture or country, be for good and never brought up in bad things. These groups we belong to, even religion, are only meant to be institutions of good, for our benefit and the benefit of humanity. But too often we drag them into the bad within us and the bad thoughts we harbor for others. It is better to not have these groups than ever use them for bad.

It is you that must take the message of genocidal thinking to all the people in your life. This is why God put us together on this planet, and not a person -per-world. We are the prophets in our communities. The world is at a time more than ever where we need to aggressively look for the good within us and gather good together to be stronger to challenge the unfortunate evil. This is what ENDS.ng promotes, this is what I am doing and so also many others.

Shall we put an end to genocidal thinking?

God bless

~  Dr. Peregrino Brimah
www.ENDS.ng

Tweet

Follow Nollywood Mirror On Twitter

https://twitter.com/Nollywoodmirror

NOLLYWOOD MIRROR® is here to capture the big picture of the current affairs in Nollywood and share them with the rest of the world in print and digital formats. The target audience are the over 59 million viewers of Nollywood movies on free TV, paid cable TV and on the internet in Africa, the UK, U.S., Canada and the Caribbean. The maiden edition of NOLLYWOOD MIRROR® will be the first Nigerian magazine to be published in paperback, hard-cover and e-copy versions for both print and digital distribution in Nigeria, the U.S., UK and the rest of the world.

 Chika Ike in Mirror of Beauty




 In the year 2008, the sexy actress Chika Ike was ca st in a role of as an African princess in a move called mirror of beauty which was shot on 35mm to the international scene and was shown in seven Cinemas in London (Odeon and Cineworld) where it was premiered.

 Tweet