I got this from a Catholic blog site.Please read carefully before you post your comment.
Anyone who's moved around in Catholic circles knows the kind of things visitors tend to be curious about: who the movers and shakers in the local church are, who's just taking up space or keeping seats warm, and so on.
Whenever I've visited Nigeria over the years, one name above all registered on the mover-and-shaker meter: Matthew Kukah, a priest and intellectual who holds a master's in public policy from the Kennedy School at Harvard and a doctorate from the University of London. Kukah's writings on civil society, democracy and Christian/Muslim relations are required reading across Africa. He's played a leading role on national commissions devoted to electoral reform and human rights violations, and chaired a federal commission devoted to reconciliation between Shell Oil and the indigenous Ogoni people in the Niger Delta. Just last week, Kukah joined the Nigerian senate on a retreat to ponder constitutional reform.
Kukah's résumé is so distinguished that, in years past, when I would ask Nigerian friends why he hadn't been elevated to the episcopacy, their wry answer often was: "He's too smart to be a bishop!"
As it turns out, they didn't have enough confidence in the system. Benedict XVI named Kukah as the bishop of Sokoto in northwestern Nigeria last June, which, among other things, makes him a point man for relations with Islam. The city is home to the "Sokoto Caliphate," and its sultan is considered the spiritual leader of Nigeria's roughly 85 million Muslims, accounting for half of the national population.
All this is by way of saying that when Kukah speaks on Nigeria's current wave of violence fueled by the radical Islamist Boko Haram movement, it's worth paying attention. Kukah's credentials don't automatically make him right, but they do guarantee he'll be taken seriously.
Founded in 2001, Boko Haram is allegedly responsible for about 10,000 deaths in the last decade, including an estimated 620 in the first six months of 2012. It's made a specialty of attacking Christian targets, including churches during Sunday services.
This week, Kukah gave an interview to Oasis, a project devoted to Christian/Muslim relations founded by Cardinal Angelo Scola of Milan. Kukah's views fly in the face of two bits of conventional wisdom: first, that what's happening in Nigeria is primarily about tensions between Muslims and Christians; and second, that what's needed is a robust military crackdown on the terrorist groups.
Kukah makes three key points:
There is no religious violence in Nigeria, but rather chaos bred by political corruption and mismanagement of the country's resources, especially oil.
Despite spectacular assaults on churches that generate headlines, the bulk of Boko Haram's victims are actually fellow Muslims.
Reliance on armed force to beat back Boko Haram risks turning the Nigerian military into "an army of occupation," as well as creating a "meal ticket" for security agencies that benefit from the chaos. Kukah said this year, Nigeria plans to spend more than $6 billion on security, roughly the same as the entire national budget two years ago.
Here's the heart of Kukah's argument.
"The problems of Nigeria, the terrible violence above all, has nothing to do with religion," he said. "The problems here arise from the mismanagement of the country's resources and from the inability of the government to control the situation. Every crisis in Nigeria is immediately linked to religions, but we have never had any crisis at all arising from either Christians or Muslims fighting over religious issues. The real reason behind the current crisis is political and economic."
According to Kukah, the bloodshed fomented by Boko Haram is simply an extension of the violence in the last 20-plus years in Nigeria's Delta region and in the southwest, all of which he traces to corruption and a lack of confidence in public administration of the country's wealth.
"You could stop this situation today and tomorrow it will appear in a different place," he said.
Kukah underscored that Christians aren't the only victims.
"The fact that they attack churches with extraordinary violence makes the media come to the conclusion that they are against Christians, but this is not true," he said. "They kill Christians, but they also kill Muslim women and children. They are criminals who attack churches, media houses, police stations, markets ... They have attacked Muslims leaders and institutions, and they have killed thousands of Muslims, indeed, a far greater number than the Christians."
Kukah concedes that Boko Haram invokes militant Islamic rhetoric, but insists that "the mere use of this language does not make their criminality religious in any sense."
In terms of an exit strategy, Kukah argues that civil society rather than the military is the key.
"The federal government should set a target for the withdrawal of the military from our streets," he said. "The political class must be encouraged to find a solution to what is clearly a political problem and not a religious one. Community leaders, not necessarily religious leaders, must be encouraged to take charge by embarking on initiatives that aim at bringing communities together."
Of course, it might be tough for many Nigerian Christians sorting through the rubble of their churches, destroyed by Muslim militants expressly vowing to wage holy war, to swallow that this isn't at some level a religious conflict. Still, Kukah's analysis is a reminder that situations are usually more complicated than they seem at a distance, and it's always worth taking seriously the perspectives of those who actually live in these neighborhoods.
Finally, Kukah said his diocese of Sokoto has so far been spared any violence.
"I have encouraged our people to remain alert, but we have decided not to change our lifestyle, that is, changing times for mass and prayers, due to fear," he said. "I have told my people that fear is not in the vocabulary of any true Christian."
[John L. Allen Jr. is NCR senior correspondent. His email address is jallen@ncronline.org.]
John L Allen Jr's blog
http://ncronline.org/blogs/all-things-catholic/vatican-and-lcwr-fired-archbishop-and-getting-boko-haram-right

Kukah is trying to sound peaceful.For a group to to wreck havoc in the name of a religion is a sign that such religion accomodates violence.Islam need a martin luther to save it from going the way of the old church.

I think d islamic sect has killed more xtians dan moslems.d fact dat they av killed many ppl in yobe gombe and maiduguri doesn't make d dead moslems. Dia r se many xtians of gombe. Yobe and bornu origin.for dem to tell d president to convert to islam simply shows dat its a religious war

Reyginus: Kukah is trying to sound peaceful.For a group to to wreck havoc in the name of a religion is a sign that such religion accomodates violence.Islam need a martin luther to save it from going the way of the old church.

Points of views such as Kukah's (a distinguished priest and academic) are not wanted on NL where the objective is to ensure that all muslims are demonized and grouped together with the criminal faction called Boko Haram. That explains why this thread will not go far and despite it's incisive and critical argument will not make it to the front page.

warripekin: I got this from a Catholic blog site.Please read carefully before you post your comment.
Anyone who's moved around in Catholic circles knows the kind of things visitors tend to be curious about: who the movers and shakers in the local church are, who's just taking up space or keeping seats warm, and so on.
Whenever I've visited Nigeria over the years, one name above all registered on the mover-and-shaker meter: Matthew Kukah, a priest and intellectual who holds a master's in public policy from the Kennedy School at Harvard and a doctorate from the University of London. Kukah's writings on civil society, democracy and Christian/Muslim relations are required reading across Africa. He's played a leading role on national commissions devoted to electoral reform and human rights violations, and chaired a federal commission devoted to reconciliation between Shell Oil and the indigenous Ogoni people in the Niger Delta. Just last week, Kukah joined the Nigerian senate on a retreat to ponder constitutional reform.
Kukah's résumé is so distinguished that, in years past, when I would ask Nigerian friends why he hadn't been elevated to the episcopacy, their wry answer often was: "He's too smart to be a bishop!"
As it turns out, they didn't have enough confidence in the system. Benedict XVI named Kukah as the bishop of Sokoto in northwestern Nigeria last June, which, among other things, makes him a point man for relations with Islam. The city is home to the "Sokoto Caliphate," and its sultan is considered the spiritual leader of Nigeria's roughly 85 million Muslims, accounting for half of the national population.
All this is by way of saying that when Kukah speaks on Nigeria's current wave of violence fueled by the radical Islamist Boko Haram movement, it's worth paying attention. Kukah's credentials don't automatically make him right, but they do guarantee he'll be taken seriously.
Founded in 2001, Boko Haram is allegedly responsible for about 10,000 deaths in the last decade, including an estimated 620 in the first six months of 2012. It's made a specialty of attacking Christian targets, including churches during Sunday services.
This week, Kukah gave an interview to Oasis, a project devoted to Christian/Muslim relations founded by Cardinal Angelo Scola of Milan. Kukah's views fly in the face of two bits of conventional wisdom: first, that what's happening in Nigeria is primarily about tensions between Muslims and Christians; and second, that what's needed is a robust military crackdown on the terrorist groups.
Kukah makes three key points:
There is no religious violence in Nigeria, but rather chaos bred by political corruption and mismanagement of the country's resources, especially oil.
Despite spectacular assaults on churches that generate headlines, the bulk of Boko Haram's victims are actually fellow Muslims.
Reliance on armed force to beat back Boko Haram risks turning the Nigerian military into "an army of occupation," as well as creating a "meal ticket" for security agencies that benefit from the chaos. Kukah said this year, Nigeria plans to spend more than $6 billion on security, roughly the same as the entire national budget two years ago.
Here's the heart of Kukah's argument.
"The problems of Nigeria, the terrible violence above all, has nothing to do with religion," he said. "The problems here arise from the mismanagement of the country's resources and from the inability of the government to control the situation. Every crisis in Nigeria is immediately linked to religions, but we have never had any crisis at all arising from either Christians or Muslims fighting over religious issues. The real reason behind the current crisis is political and economic."
According to Kukah, the bloodshed fomented by Boko Haram is simply an extension of the violence in the last 20-plus years in Nigeria's Delta region and in the southwest, all of which he traces to corruption and a lack of confidence in public administration of the country's wealth.
"You could stop this situation today and tomorrow it will appear in a different place," he said.
Kukah underscored that Christians aren't the only victims.
"The fact that they attack churches with extraordinary violence makes the media come to the conclusion that they are against Christians, but this is not true," he said. "They kill Christians, but they also kill Muslim women and children. They are criminals who attack churches, media houses, police stations, markets ... They have attacked Muslims leaders and institutions, and they have killed thousands of Muslims, indeed, a far greater number than the Christians."
Kukah concedes that Boko Haram invokes militant Islamic rhetoric, but insists that "the mere use of this language does not make their criminality religious in any sense."
In terms of an exit strategy, Kukah argues that civil society rather than the military is the key.
"The federal government should set a target for the withdrawal of the military from our streets," he said. "The political class must be encouraged to find a solution to what is clearly a political problem and not a religious one. Community leaders, not necessarily religious leaders, must be encouraged to take charge by embarking on initiatives that aim at bringing communities together."
Of course, it might be tough for many Nigerian Christians sorting through the rubble of their churches, destroyed by Muslim militants expressly vowing to wage holy war, to swallow that this isn't at some level a religious conflict. Still, Kukah's analysis is a reminder that situations are usually more complicated than they seem at a distance, and it's always worth taking seriously the perspectives of those who actually live in these neighborhoods.
Finally, Kukah said his diocese of Sokoto has so far been spared any violence.
"I have encouraged our people to remain alert, but we have decided not to change our lifestyle, that is, changing times for mass and prayers, due to fear," he said. "I have told my people that fear is not in the vocabulary of any true Christian."
[John L. Allen Jr. is NCR senior correspondent. His email address is jallen@ncronline.org.]
John L Allen Jr's blog
http://ncronline.org/blogs/all-things-catholic/vatican-and-lcwr-fired-archbishop-and-getting-boko-haram-right

+8

to some extent

What Kukah's argument lacks here is credible analysis. Boko-haram has maintained a consistent rhetoric that they are waging a religious war, with the ultimate aim of establishing sharia in the land, so how does Kukah assume to re-interpret the message for Boko-Haram then? It would make more sense to label them as islamic terrorist group so we understand that it is a criminal organization who hold extreme or misguided islam views, that way we understand that there are in-fact peace loving moslems who are the majority and do not support BH, But to say it is not religious just insults the intelligence.

Since Kukah believes this is political, Then he should provide better information on what he means so we are better educated. It is not enough to just throw the word "political" at us, without explaining. What does he mean? Are there people in authority who are sponsoring BH? what are the methods of these sponsorships, what parties or individuals have been compromised and what do they stand to benefit from destabilizing the peace? Please kukah, do a better presentation.

nagoma:

Points of views such as Kukah's (a distinguished priest and academic) are not wanted on NL where the objective is to ensure that all muslims are demonized and grouped together with the criminal faction called Boko Haram. That explains why this thread will not go far and despite it's incisive and critical argument will not make it to the front page.

Lets blame the moderators.

okeyxyz: What Kukah's argument lacks here is credible analysis. Boko-haram has maintained a consistent rhetoric that they are waging a religious war, with the ultimate aim of establishing sharia in the land, so how does Kukah assume to re-interpret the message for Boko-Haram then? It would make more sense to label them as islamic terrorist group so we understand that it is a criminal organization who hold extreme or misguided islam views, that way we understand that there are in-fact peace loving moslems who are the majority and do not support BH, But to say it is not religious just insults the intelligence.

Boko Haram has grown to be a very serious security and polical quagmire in Nigeria . BH maintain that they want to islamize Nigeria and attack churches among other institutions. All politico- criminal gangs are in desperate need of noble intention to legitimize their terror. Unfortunately we have no intention of removing the cloak of Islam that BH draped themselves in order to expose them for what they are - criminals and murderers. As a point of fact Nigerians , primarily non Muslims insist on accepting BH as the spokesmen and the representatives of all Nigeria or at least all northern Muslims. This belief is not based on real conviction but based on political expediency and international political " correctness" for the criminalizing Islam and Muslims as a body. There are not many who can detach themselves and think out of the box of this often unjustifiable orchestration.

Matthew Kukah makes important points here. However, it is dangerous for him to suggest confronting BH bombs with words. Such timidity is how GEJ allowed BH to fester in the first place.

For all who have ears, BH has a far grander agenda. So lets cut the chickenery.

If I were a muslim I would worry less about some, at best, street-level orchestration, and more about the real damage to the image of Islam from the murder of innocent lives in the hand of supposed muslims (including muslim lives).

It doesn't matter what area of life we are talking about a group, person or thing is generally defined by its most prominent feature. Understand that and u will understand why Islamic terrorists are the real problem for Islam today.

nagoma:
Boko Haram has grown to be a very serious security and polical quagmire in Nigeria . BH maintain that they want to islamize Nigeria and attack churches among other institutions. All politico- criminal gangs are in desperate need of noble intention to legitimize their terror. Unfortunately we have no intention of removing the cloak of Islam that BH draped themselves in order to expose them for what they are - criminals and murderers. As a point of fact Nigerians , primarily non Muslims insist on accepting BH as the spokesmen and the representatives of all Nigeria or at least all northern Muslims. This belief is not based on real conviction but based on political expediency and international political " correctness" for the criminalizing Islam and Muslims as a body. There are not many who can detach themselves and think out of the box of this often unjustifiable orchestration.

Kukah concedes that Boko Haram invokes militant Islamic rhetoric, but insists that "the mere use of this language does not make their criminality religious in any sense."
In terms of an exit strategy, Kukah argues that civil society rather than the military is the key.
"The federal government should set a target for the withdrawal of the military from our streets," he said. "The political class must be encouraged to find a solution to what is clearly a political problem and not a religious one. Community leaders, not necessarily religious leaders, must be encouraged to take charge by embarking on initiatives that aim at bringing communities together."

For me, I believe Kuka is right. From my experience in the north in the last two years, boko haram is a political as well as an economic problem that has hijacked islam as a megaphone to voice her opinion be it negative or violent. Their's a growing class of educated but yet unemployed young northerners who are aggrieved with the political class and northern elite for corruptly enriching themselves at the negligence of the hoi poloi.These set of persons are some of the initiators of boko haram. A business associate of mine, a kano prince once told me that the solution to boko haram is not military but the civil society,the political class in the north, the religious body in the north such as the council of Ulamas' can effectively bring about a peaceful resolution to the boko haram crisis. According to this associate of mine, they know some of the key men in boko haram and can easily negotiate with them to stop the violence. Same thing Bishop Mathew Kuka is saying,same thing Shehu Sani said last month in a press interview but from the forgoing, the political class in the north are cashing in on boko haram to position for 2015 instead of doing something to quell the situation.

You naive soul. Shehu Sanni is well-meaning but is way over his head here.

Imagine the danger into which OBJ put himself by believing such rhetoric. BH could have easily killed him, and they demonstrated so by killing his host right after he left that latter's residence.

Let everybody be clear about one thing. Once a group becomes willing to engage in suicide-bombing there is no reasoning with that group. It is as simple as that - they have exited the realm of reason. You only play into their hands by engaging yourself in this kind of talk. Withdraw soldiers from the streets of northern nigeria and watch the rest of BH pour into the streets.

The new NSA openly told us the same thing your so-called friend is whispering to you. According to him, he has the BH contacts and would be talking to them. Yet, BH just today proclaimed they are not going to talk to the Federal Government after a campaign of bombings over the last few days.

The agenda is far grander than you can imagine! There is a reason parents admonish their children not to give room to the devil. The original BH and all the other zealots have opened the way for a global terrorist network that is being badly manhandled in Afghanistan/Pakistan, and is looking for a home in Central/West Africa.

West African leaders need to come together and mark the boundaries of this evil group and then declare total war on it. It is like Jesus H. Christ said, the leaven may be tiny, but put it inside a bowl of flour and watch it take over the entire thing.

warripekin: Kukah concedes that Boko Haram invokes militant Islamic rhetoric, but insists that "the mere use of this language does not make their criminality religious in any sense."
In terms of an exit strategy, Kukah argues that civil society rather than the military is the key.
"The federal government should set a target for the withdrawal of the military from our streets," he said. "The political class must be encouraged to find a solution to what is clearly a political problem and not a religious one. Community leaders, not necessarily religious leaders, must be encouraged to take charge by embarking on initiatives that aim at bringing communities together."

For me, I believe Kuka is right. From my experience in the north in the last two years, boko haram is a political as well as an economic problem that has hijacked islam as a megaphone to voice her opinion be it negative or violent. Their's a growing class of educated but yet unemployed young northerners who are aggrieved with the political class and northern elite for corruptly enriching themselves at the negligence of the hoi poloi.These set of persons are some of the initiators of boko haram. A business associate of mine, a kano prince once told me that the solution to boko haram is not military but the civil society,the political class in the north, the religious body in the north such as the council of Ulamas' can effectively bring about a peaceful resolution to the boko haram crisis. According to this associate of mine, they know some of the key men in boko haram and can easily negotiate with them to stop the violence. Same thing Bishop Mathew Kuka is saying,same thing Shehu Sani said last month in a press interview but from the forgoing, the political class in the north are cashing in on boko haram to position for 2015 instead of doing something to quell the situation.

So far, an interesting thread. Informative, decent and people actually arguing intelligently.

Will be following this thread. Hope more knowledgeable people on this thread will come forth.

If you are an empty barrel, just keep your peace and learn. It's not by force to show stupidity.

lanre_front: So far, an interesting thread. Informative, decent and people actually arguing intelligently.

Will be following this thread. Hope more knowledgeable people on this thread will come forth.

If you are an empty barrel, just keep your peace and learn. It's not by force to show stupidity.

Front page?

nagoma:
As a point of fact Nigerians , primarily non Muslims insist on accepting BH as the spokesmen and the representatives of all Nigeria or at least all northern Muslims. This belief is not based on real conviction but based on political expediency and international political " correctness" for the criminalizing Islam and Muslims as a body. There are not many who can detach themselves and think out of the box of this often unjustifiable orchestration.

Why do you think that is? A lot of (or possibly a few) Northern Muslims think that BH stands apart and does not represent Islam. They see the violence that BH targets at Non-Muslims as something of recent onset. The truth is that it is not so. The rest of us see it as a continuum, a natural progression of violence meted out to Non-Muslims and Non-Hausa/Fulani/Kanuri in the past. We remember the hate and the riots and the killings in Kaduna, Kano, Jos etc.

It is easy for the elite educated Northern Muslims like yourself in their comfort zones to discount this view, but for those of us who have had to flee or hide while a mob chanting "Allahu Akbar" kills our loved ones and destroys and loots our property, BH is not new. . .it is the latest incarnation of a culture that has been prevalent for generations up north. It is personal as in the case of a taxi driver who swore to me never to have anything to do with the Hausa/Fulani; his reason: right before his eyes, his elder brother was killed in the Miss World Kaduna riots, and he only barely escaped with his life and a scar on his neck from the attempted beheading. For ones such as these, it is a self-serving argument to claim that "More Muslims have been killed by BH". BH could only have arisen because the culture of the North provided fertile ground. There is abject poverty all over the country, but why didn't BH arise in Kogi state or Ekiti state?

I recall some while back telling some of my Northern educated Muslim colleagues like yourself that their failure to provide leadership in their communities, their failure to condemn violence targeting non-Muslim and non-Hausa/Fulani/Kanuri would one day come back to haunt them. I distinctly remember reminding them of Martin Niemoller's quote to buttress my warning.

Today what do we see: BH who are most definitely Muslims targets those Muslims in positions of authority who should have spoken out in the past and had the leverage to change that culture of violence.

koruji: Once a group becomes willing to engage in suicide-bombing there is no reasoning with that group. It is as simple as that - they have exited the realm of reason.

Kukah glosses over this very very important fact. Suicide bombing shows that this group have an ideology and doctrine and a singular world-view that they are willing to die for.

The attack on UN headquarters rubbishes the ideology of this Kuka. There are political undertone, but the demands are simply religious. MEND, OPC, MASSOB, AREWA all have a demand, and demands are regional-political-economic and not religious. Boko Haram has religious-political agenda. Just like Al-Qaeda, Boko Haram says, Western Education is a Sin. That Nigeria must become Islamic state, under the rule of the Islamic North. Kaku, please relocate down side. We dont wanna lose you.

aletheia:

Why do you think that is? A lot of (or possibly a few) Northern Muslims think that BH stands apart and does not represent Islam. They see the violence that BH targets at Non-Muslims as something of recent onset. The truth is that it is not so. The rest of us see it as a continuum, a natural progression of violence meted out to Non-Muslims and Non-Hausa/Fulani/Kanuri in the past. We remember the hate and the riots and the killings in Kaduna, Kano, Jos etc.

It is easy for the elite educated Northern Muslims like yourself in their comfort zones to discount this view, but for those of us who have had to flee or hide while a mob chanting "Allahu Akbar" kills our loved ones and destroys and loots our property, BH is not new. . .it is the latest incarnation of a culture that has been prevalent for generations up north. It is personal as in the case of a taxi driver who swore to me never to have anything to do with the Hausa/Fulani; his reason: right before his eyes, his elder brother was killed in the Miss World Kaduna riots, and he only barely escaped with his life and a scar on his neck from the attempted beheading. For ones such as these, it is a self-serving argument to claim that "More Muslims have been killed by BH". BH could only have arisen because the culture of the North provided fertile ground. There is abject poverty all over the country, but why didn't BH arise in Kogi state or Ekiti state?

I recall some while back telling some of my Northern educated Muslim colleagues like yourself that their failure to provide leadership in their communities, their failure to condemn violence targeting non-Muslim and non-Hausa/Fulani/Kanuri would one day come back to haunt them. I distinctly remember reminding them of Martin Niemoller's quote to buttress my warning.

Today what do we see: BH who are most definitely Muslims targets those Muslims in positions of authority who should have spoken out in the past and had the leverage to change that culture of violence.


Kukah glosses over this very very important fact. Suicide bombing shows that this group have an ideology and doctrine and a singular world-view that they are willing to die for.

I for one have always laughed when muslims all over the world reacts to acts of terrorism by their fellow muslims with slogans like "they are not real muslims", "Islam is a religion of peace".

Okay alright, let us concede they are not real muslims, that they are fake muslims.

Now they are so many religions all over the world, and within the adherents of this religions (christianity, Buddihism, Freemansory, Satanism, Vodoo; Sango, Ogun, Osun, Amedioha worshippers) we will also have ther fake adherents.

The critical question now is, why aren't the fake or not-real/unreal adherents of this religions committing acts of terrorism all over the place. Why is that that it's only fake muslims who are killing people and engaging in suecide-bombings. Why are not the fake christians, satanists, enkankar, guru-maraji, Buddhists, rosacrucians engaing in all this practices.

Muslims and Northerners should stop deceiving themselves. There is something seriously wrong in region that the leaders need to face head-on.

Then secondly, speaking more specifically about Northern Nigeria, it is said in the Bible: "he who sows the wind will reap the wild wind". Islamic extremist for several decades have been killing christians and non-hausa/fulani while the leaders, the elites and the general populace just look on. Now the monster they have reared for decades feels offended by them and has turned on them. The monster is completely out of control; it cannot be tamed, persuaded and has refused any appeasement form its masters.

Maybe it's true Bokoharam are killing many muslims on the streets; but thoise targets are not selective. They are general. The fact that more muslims die in this bomb-attacks is a function of the fact that the Northern population is predominantly muslim, not that muslims are selectively sought out and attacked.

So, though muslims maybe dieing on the streets because of Bokoharam attacks, that caanot obscure the fact that Bokoharam spend a lot of efforts on bombing churches. Why are they not bombing mosques.

Father Kukah does have a point, but it's not true to say Bokoharam is completely political and religion is not involved.

I think Rev Kukah is being tongue tight. As a well respected Rev, i hv to b careful. With due respect Rev, i disagree with ur views.
Boko haram hv killed more christains dan muslims. BH are both religious and political

Anybody who has the courage to say that not all Muslims support BH terrorism and some Muslims also victims of this terror, is immediately attacked and lynched by the NL warriors and is described as Boko Haram. I am pleased that under panful restraints the warriors are not outrightly labeling Bishop Mathew Kukah as Boko Haram.

nagoma: Anybody who has the courage to say that not all Muslims support BH terrorism and some Muslims also victims of this terror, is immediately attacked and lynched by the NL warriors and is described as Boko Haram. I am pleased that under panful restraints the warriors are not outrightly labeling Bishop Mathew Kukah as Boko Haram.

Your response is typical of the self-serving rhetoric of the educated northern Hausa/Fulani elite like El-Rufai who avoid the glaring issue viz:

aletheia:
. . .the violence that BH targets at Non-Muslims [is] a continuum, a natural progression of violence meted out to Non-Muslims and Non-Hausa/Fulani/Kanuri in the past.

Who has attacked and lynched you for saying that "not all Muslims support BH terrorism and some Muslims are also victims of this terror". No body has denied that: what we are saying is the fact that Muslims have also been killed does not prove that BH does not have a religious agenda. After all Muslims have been killing themselves right from the get go (Shi'a vs Sunni etc).

Are you somewhat cocooned off that you fail to realize why the rest of the country sees BH as Muslim. Was it BH that beheaded Gideon Akakula? Was it BH that murdered that Mrs Christianah Oluwatoyin Oluwasesin?

Christianah Oluwatoyin Oluwasesin (first name also given as Christiana, last name also as Oluwaseesin, Oluseesin or Olusesan), (Ekiti State, 1977 – Gandu, Gombe State, 21 March 2007), was a Christian Nigerian teacher who was lynched by Muslim pupils for allegedly desecrating the Qur'an at a secondary school in Gandu, Gombe State, Nigeria, on March 21, 2007.
Oluwasesin, a mother of two, was assigned to supervise an Islamic Religious Knowledge exam. When one of the students wanted to enter the exam hall with his books, Oluwasesin collected them and threw them outside. The students claimed that one of the books was a copy of the Qur'an, started to chant "Allahu Akbar" (Allah is Great) and chased her to the school principal's office. They dragged her out of the office, stripped her naked and stabbed her to death. They then burnt her corpse in a car, beat up the school principal, a Muslim, for offering refuge to her, and burned down three classroom blocks, the school clinic, the administrative block and the library. [size=16pt]The marauding students were only 12 – 14 years old[/size] and supposedly joined by members of a gang called Yan Kalare.

What sort of people and culture indoctrinates children to kill? That of the Hausa/Fulani Muslim.

You the educated Muslim northerners did not condemn neither did you re-educate your people on this evil acts. . .because you felt those murdered were getting their just desserts. Your scriptures say "he who saves a life, it were as if he had saved the whole of mankind", but did you teach your children this? Or did you teach them to hate others? Why should you now be befuddled that your dogs have turned on you.

There is a hatred and rage that burns in the hearts of a lot of northern Muslims who pour that hate into their children:

A source in the family told the Nigerian Tribune that, “we are Christians and their children have been telling our wards that some day, they are going to slaughter all of us. We never took them seriously because we never thought they could be so mean as to perpetrate such evil.

Source

Note that these are "ordinary" folks. . .and you wonder why the rest of us are not deceived by your attempts to spin BH as not Muslim.

BH are Muslims. Their violence is not different from the one your people have been meting out to other Nigerians like the late Mrs Oluwasesin and Gideon Akaluka for years now.

Memorable among other brutal accounts targeting Christians is the 1995 case of the beheading of Gideon Akaluka, an Igbo trader, in Kano. Akaluka was accused of desecrating the Holy Koran in 1995 and subsequently held in jailed detention. While, there militant Islamic fanatics stormed the prison, seized and killed him. Impaling his severed head on a stick they matched triumphantly in festive celebration around Kano City. What a death, and what a civilization of bestiality!

The only difference now is that BH is out of control and attacks some other Muslims as well. No doubt if BH restricted all their attacks to Churches, you would have no problem with them. You question their Islamic credentials because some Muslims are killed as well.

@aletheia

There have been all manners of repulsive crimes in history and i know you can bring the vivid gruesome account of them , committed by Muslim criminals or some other criminals , punished by law or not punished. What I can never accept is the collective guilt assigned to me because I am a Muslim . I am proudly law abiding Nigerian and a person respecting every bodies rights and because criminals and murderers happen to be Muslims or claimed Islam ,then i should share in the guilt and punishment? Nonsense, when I commit a crime as a citizen I Carry my own cross, so to speak. Find the criminals and treat them according to the law, that is what works for everybody Muslim or non Muslim and I support that. Shouting Islam , Islam generates more heat than light and so far has not solved any problems. Get the actors, Convict a few dozen people and hang them publically. That will send a message. I am sick and tired of being nagged because some criminal said he is a Muslim.

nagoma: @aletheia

There have been all manners of repulsive crimes in history and i know you can bring the vivid gruesome account of them , committed by Muslim criminals or some other criminals , punished by law or not punished. What I can never accept is the collective guilt assigned to me because I am a Muslim . I am proudly law abiding Nigerian and a person respecting every bodies rights and because criminals and murderers happen to be Muslims or claimed Islam ,then i should share in the guilt and punishment? Nonsense, when I commit a crime as a citizen I Carry my own cross, so to speak. Find the criminals and treat them according to the law, that is what works for everybody Muslim or non Muslim and I support that. Shouting Islam , Islam generates more heat than light and so far has not solved any problems. Get the actors, Convict a few dozen people and hang them publically. That will send a message. I am sick and tired of being nagged because some criminal said he is a Muslim.

I am not assigning collective guilt to you. I recognize that there are a few Muslims who have tried their best to counter the violence. Even the excerpt I posted above shows that:

They beat up the school principal, a Muslim, for offering refuge to her

But it 's like you miss the point: BH has been made possible by the cultural milieu of Northern Nigeria, a milieu where 12 - 14 year olds murdered a woman in the name of religion, a milieu where tens of millions of children are on the streets in the name of religion, bereft of natural human affection and family nurturing which would have socialized them to respect life. A milieu encouraged and preserved by the Northern educated elite for selfish reasons. Why is it that the prominent social critics have been from the south. Where was the denunciation of the ills of Northern society by Northern Intelligentsia hitherto. Who has arisen to fill Mallam Aminu Kano's shoes? Northern Nigeria on the cusp of independence was a land full history and of potential. Where is that potential today?
BH is the culmination of years of failing to heed Ahmadu Bello's warning.

aletheia:

I am not assigning collective guilt to you. I recognize that there are a few Muslims who have tried their best to counter the violence. Even the excerpt I posted above shows that:
But it 's like you miss the point: BH has been made possible by the cultural milieu of Northern Nigeria, a milieu where 12 - 14 year olds murdered a woman in the name of religion, a milieu where tens of millions of children are on the streets in the name of religion, bereft of natural human affection and family nurturing which would have socialized them to respect life. A milieu encouraged and preserved by the Northern educated elite for selfish reasons. Why is it that the prominent social critics have been from the south. Where was the denunciation of the ills of Northern society by Northern Intelligentsia hitherto. Who has arisen to fill Mallam Aminu Kano's shoes? Northern Nigeria on the cusp of independence was a land full history and of potential. Where is that potential today?
BH is the culmination of years of failing to heed Ahmadu Bello's warning.

I have, in my modest ways with other colleagues lamented and voiced in the way accessible to me the dire social situation in the north, especially in relation to child care and education but I cannot pretend that I am the new Aminu kano. ( certainly not at this moment in ones life) . It's unfotunate that the conspiracy against development is given support nationally as well. I will Say it without mincing words that progressives in the north have been trampled and utterly destroyed in a do or die situation by the ruling PDP and individual greed exploited to the maximum. I will give you an example with bauchi state where PDP was unanimously voted out in 2007 by collective decision of the people in an election similar to the recent Edo election that returned Oshimole. PDP did everything clandestine to woe the unpatriotic greedy person who hypocritically presented himself as the champion of the people only to decamp to PDP with all the accompanying impunity and tyranny unleashed against the people of the state. Bauchi people wanted to repeat the feat of removing PDP government in 2011 but was met with extreme state manipulation using the security forces, the treasury, the media and religious sentiments. NYSC members who were mainly SOUTHERNERS were infiltrated and brainwashed into being the champions to the return of PDP in Bauchi. The venoms against north, Muslims and other parties which they share with each other will make the worst critisms on NL " a most friendly tete a tete". It was most unfortunate the desperation between the youth wanting a change in the state and the Youth corpers desperate to reinstall PDP resulted in the tragic loss of those young lives. That of course ended the case for bauchi citezens, the media ( mainly southern) took over. No one can take side with " murderers" , every ing from then on was a drama with compensation paid to selected relatives by the president. And the rest of the election easily rigged by PDP. There is no hope whatsoever by any radical who wants positive change in that state. It is just despair despondency and hopelessness.the state is now the last in terms of any people oriented activities out of the 19 northern states. It is not too surprising that people became even more violent and evert ing is conveniently heaped on Islam with no detailed Thais on the sociology- political assessment of the situation.

Kukah or Oritsejaffer, who do i believe?
One is a respected cleric who is quite objective, the other says how high when his ethnic masters say ''jump''
I go with Kukah!
But i suspect the ethnic folks will be quick to point out how wrong he is. . .waiting. . .

lanetrips: I think d islamic sect has killed more xtians dan moslems.d fact dat they av killed many ppl in yobe gombe and maiduguri doesn't make d dead moslems. Dia r se many xtians of gombe. Yobe and bornu origin.for dem to tell d president to convert to islam simply shows dat its a religious war

So you seem knew more than a Bishop based in the north about the head count of victims?
Sometimes its better just to listen only. Conspiracy theory doesn't solve anything.

Well