http://www.theroot.com/views/nigeria-heading-toward-second-civil-war

[size=18pt]IS NIGERIA HEADED TOWARD A SECOND CIVIL WAR?[/size]

The signs are ominous, and strangely familiar: communal warfare raging in the politically volatile Muslim Northern regions, with supporters of the ruling party stabbed, hacked or shot; churches, mosques and homes burned; and hundreds believed dead and tens of thousands more displaced. That's the scene so far in parts of Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation, following its latest round of presidential elections.

Gubernatorial elections in at least three Northern states this week were postponed because of the violence.

The incumbent, President Goodluck Jonathan, of the ruling People's Democratic Party, has appealed for calm after being declared the winner April 18 with 57 percent of the vote -- thus avoiding an expected second round of balloting with his main rival, former Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, who received 31 percent. Buhari is a Fulani from the predominantly Muslim North; Jonathan is an Ijaw from the predominantly Christian South.

In his recent address, Jonathan harked back to the bloody events that set off the country's North vs. South civil war almost 45 years ago. "If anything at all, these acts of mayhem are sad reminders of the events which plunged our country into 30 months of an unfortunate civil war," said Jonathan.

Today as many as 40,000 people have been displaced, according to the Red Cross, with many of them seeking refuge at police and military barracks. Even the home of Nigeria's vice president, Namadi Sambo, in Zaria in Northern Nigeria, was torched, forcing him to flee. Many supporters of the PDP have met a similar fate.

The scenes are reminiscent of the events that began in January 1966. Back then, in the country's first unsuccessful military coup, mostly Ibo junior officers murdered Prime Minister Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa and much of the country's Northern civilian and military leadership. A July countercoup reinstalled Northern leadership, ushered in military government and eventually sparked pogroms in the North in May, July and September -- carried out in part by government troops -- that left as many as 40,000 people dead, many of them Christian Ibos.

Nearly 2 million people soon became refugees. The Ibo-led breakaway Republic of Biafra was declared a year later before a Northern-dominated federal government crushed the rebellion in January 1970. More than 1 million people died in the war. Can this country of an estimated 125 million people be brought back from the brink?

In evoking Nigeria's civil war, Jonathan may have done more than sound an alarm about the West African nation's political instability. He may unintentionally have made a bad situation worse.

"It's as incendiary a thing as he could say," says Jean Herskovits, a retired academic and a longtime Nigeria analyst. "To say this is about the same grievances as '66 is an insult."

Yes, Herskovits said, the present crisis has taken on ethnic, regional and religious dimensions, much like the Biafran War. But more important, she said, today's unrest is a reaction to the pervasive culture of corruption that has long gripped the country, "a rejection of 12 years of PDP" government malfeasance. According to Herskovits, young people in the North pinned their hopes on Buhari as an agent of change, a presidential candidate who could end corruption.

Instead, she says, "we are heading toward exactly what we don't want, which is civil war. People up North are already talking about it."

Already, the Nigerian Independent Electoral Commission has had to postpone balloting in three Northern states because of the tenuous security situation. Buhari has been barred from traveling to one of the states.

How much worse will things get?

A lot will depend on legal challenges to the election results. The United States and much of the international community declared the balloting free and fair. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in a speech congratulating President Jonathan, said, "this election represents a positive beginning for Nigeria." But pronouncements from outside have done little to calm the situation.

But almost from the beginning, many have been skeptical of the election results, even in a country where allegations of electioneering -- real or imagined -- are routine. Despite the widespread use of social media to monitor the balloting and track results, there is a general belief among many Nigerians that elections are won and lost not at the polling station but as the votes are tabulated -- a process that remains secretive

Before i go any further. Barack obama is a black man in america, he is not a kenyan. Many black americans are multi genarationally mixed. Thus we are much closer to barack obama than a native african is. Furthermore barack obamas success as president is only possible because of the  struggle of great black americans before him(mlk,marshall,X etc). lol so ya can stop with all that kenyan nonsense

my response in the bolded
[b]Africans dont know s.it about the success of black americans, which is exactly the problem. Africans allowed whites to take over there OWN countries and after fighting white supremacy, Africa is no better look at south africa. Your struggle with whites is nothing like ours. We were stolen and placed in a foriegn land and had to work with the hand  we were dealt. What we did was transform America(the leading nation of the world) from basically a nazi-germany like country, to the country that became tolerant of people of color. Which includes all you africans and other blacks that come here to prosper. I consider that to be a great success. Far greater than anything africans acheived with their plight against whites. Try bragging about african immigrants success in education in america circa 1941.

How are black americans ashamed of being black. We were the freaking ones that basically coined the phrase in the first place. If anything you have many africans and caribbeans trying hard to say that their not black-lol

And africans kiss the white mans @ss way more than black americans. If theres anybody pro black or pro pan-africanism, its black americans. Ever heard of malcolm X? Virtually every black amerian leader-big or small, is on some back to africa bulls.it We are much more PRO black than africans give me a break[/b]



Your an . Nobody has challenged white america like black americans have. Black people have fought,died for and protested white racism. Did we challenge white america? lol  look at civil rights. When aparthied was going down in south africa, black americans brought attention to that struggle even though we had struggles of our own in america. What have africans done to fight racism against blacks in america?

And MASSA as you put it, didnt give black people ish, the talents and struggles of black americans got us where we are today. Successful black americans are successful because are talents could not be denied. Why would an enemy hellbent on destrying us "Give" us anything. The samething you say about ba's and Massa can be applied to africans aswell if anything
Ever heard of rosa parks or Martin luther king lol. I guess they sold out black america aswell. I guess all the political leaders,civil rights activist(who changed america),lawyers,doctors,etc had to sell out their people to be successful lol. Give me a break


No because your giving isolated cases of people supposedly selling out. When black success is much more than that

No im quite successful. I graduated college and I have a good family and job. Try againNo its merely silly for africans to think they're doing better than black americans in education because of what you just said.

And guess what? We dont hear you bragging about them because in the grand scheme of things nigerians are irrelevant. There are much more world reknown black americans in all those fields, than their are nigerians or africans period. Nigerians in america and out of america have no influence or importance. Black americans have invented more things and have been generally more innovative than the whole continent of africa, let alone Nigeria. Black americans have contributed much more to modern global pop culture than any group of africans

Africans get both positive images of blacks as well as negatives in the media. The fact that africans love to dwell on the negative is beside the point. Your problems do WAY more to embarrass the Diaspora than ours. Our positives are shown around the world just like our negatives. But with africa its mainly only negative. What exactly does africans bring to the table to be proud of? Again you people have your OWN COUNTRIES your own cities,industries etc Yet the burden of anything positive with blacks are still in black american hands. Say what you want about BET, but what is africa bringing to the table?

It doesnt matter what we black americans have to worry about. Whatever we have to worry about is nothing compared to the state of africa. Black americans  live in a country thats ground zero for white racism. Yet black americans are more successful than africans(not just nigerians) Everything you said BA'S face, africans face on a daily basis in their OWN COUNTRIES. Why do ya face discrimination, why do ya face poverty, why do ya face hunger




Also to add on to what i already wrote. You say blacks need to build bridges to africa? LOL Black americans have done much much more to connect to africa, than africans to black americans. Show me a time when africans gave a fck about black americans. The only thing that comes to mind is ghana,but thats it. Why should we try to build a bridge with africa

Also to add on. This is a little something a black american women wrote about west indians. And shes absolutely right

Exchange "west indian" for "African" in this comment. As it really applies to both


NIKKIISTHEONE-

That is a very nice essay, however, I can’t help but notice how you are typically positive with regard to your description of West Indians vis-a-vis negative views about black Americans, which causes me to think that you are, in fact, West Indian. I am glad that you have had a positive experience with West Indians. I however, have not. And neither have many of my colleagues and friends. In my experience, West Indians go out of their way to disrespect and discredit African Americans, especially in the presence of whites. It is not uncommon for black Americans to engage in conversation and a random West Indian will join in with the typical negative, dismissive attitude about whatever the subject matter, but particularly if it involves Black Americans. Also, while you might have had a positive experience with West Indians, please know that many[b] Black Americans have experienced West Indians that routinely go out of their way to distinguish themselves from Black Americans when convenient, but then gripe and complain about not receiving the resources of Black Americans (as is the cultures are conflated–which they are not). In short, it’s “identify as Black American when one can get benefits from it, and denigrate them when West Indians cannot. ” Also, much like in your own writing, my experience has been that West Indians seem to think they are somehow inherently superior to Black Americans, or at least that’s what they want Black Americans (and whites) to think[/b]. I am also confused about the “what’s yours in ours” mentality of West Indians, since they” do not relate to us” and do not have the history that Black Americans do, but seem to think that Malcolm X and Marcus Garvey have somehow entitled them to Black American resources. Black Americans had a culture and experience prior to West Indians immigrating here, but it appears that West Indians co-opt the Black American experience when convenient. Selective migration has indeed added to the PERCEPTION that West Indians are all hard working, studious, super-serious, well-behaved beings, and they have certainly enjoyed this positive stereotype at the expense of Black Americans, (the cause of much distrust and resentment) however, how do they explain their crime statistics, educational performance, work ethic, etc. in places where there are no Black Americans to dump on or hide behind such as Canada and the UK? Hmmmmm…. Again, I am glad that YOU have had a positive experience with West Indians, but they are not all great, and have the same flaws and vices as any other group.

More from this black american women. Again exchange west indian for African

I’m sorry, but that last comment is a lie. West Indians see African American progress all the time. ALL THE TIME. In fact, in America, everything black is African American–not West Indian, and not African. And that is the real problem, here. Unlike in Canada and the UK,
African American culture is celebrated in the US, and West Indian and African culture are not. I have witnessed West Indians get very resentful of this, which starts the I went to Bleep school and got Bleep degree. And?? Of course, if our families were here since slavery, we have deeper roots here in the US[b]. And just like WIs, we have our own culture as well. I don;t have to tell you that most black stars, athletes, intellectuals, superstars, commentators in the U.S. are Black American. [/b]So, I don’t think AAs remind you that we have deeper roots in the US, its the truth. In my expereince, West Indians are bothered very much by AAs like me. I am educated, with a PhD, homeowner, well spoken, very attractive. But the minute a WI finds out I’m African American, they go out of their way to bring up stereotypes of AAs or make any biting comment to knock me down a peg. I believe it is because an essential part of West Indian identity in America is denouncing and denigrating AAs. This feeds their feeling of superiority. But when an AA in high achieving they feel quite uncomfortable because it forces them to reevaluate the bottom of the hierarchy.

Also I believe many WIs feel that since they believe they are superior to AAs, then we feel they are as well, which is not true by any means. The accomplishments of AAs are known around the world, but if you choose to act like you don’t know, then that’s your problem. There is nothing any WI could ever say or do to make me feel that they are superior to me or anyone else. NOTHING. The same way that they are proud of their culture, I am proud of mine. The only difference is I don;t have to couch my cultural pride with denigrating any other group, but then again, I am not looking for whites to pat me on the head, either.
I have never met a WEst Indian that did not have something negative to say about an AA, but they seem to have an acute case of amnesia ( or ignorance) when it comes to any negative behavior of any members of their own group.

AAs also dont appreciate the fact that WIs go out of their way to distinguish themselves,especially in front of whites, but will be quick to “pass” as AAs as soon as we have any resources for anything and then will smile up in our faces while taking as if they are entitled to anything we have. This leads AA to view WIs as backstabbers, opportunists, and duplicitous.[/b]

Please note that[b] AAs have no problem not being around WIs; we do not go out of our way to be with them. It is they who come in our cultural spaces; we do not go to theirs—there’s no need to. We have an infrastructure that started before they started immigrating to the US we generally don’t need them. [b]Also, please be know that AAs are aware of many WI managers, directors, and others who undercover hire only WIs, no matter how lazy or mediocre, and don’t do the same for AAs, but will them come to AAs for employment (such as at HBCUs) acting as if we are required to hire them–[/b]something they would never do. Most AAs I know don’t have a problem with WIs, just the phony superiority complex that I definitely don’t get after having visited the Caribbean on several occasions. It’s all good, though. *Shrugs*




This woman,NIKKIISTHEONE, is absolutely right

Nice post kony.

And that real.

Just because Africans come to Amerikkka and become a WAGE SLAVE they swear they got it going on. When in reality they are just common people living everyday ordinary lives.

Yet for some reason THEY THINK they are the bee's knees.

When none of them REACH higher than the naturally born American Black man.

Scientists have known for decades that a large part of our temperament is genetically pre-determined; by studying the personalities of identical twins they've found that about 50 percent of our happiness -- or unhappiness -- can be traced to our genes. Adding the 40 percent that we can control with our daily thoughts and actions still leaves about 10 percent unaccounted for. This remaining 10 percent is related to our life circumstances, such as where we live, how much money we have, our marital status, and how we look.

This is probably the most filthy thread I have ever read in Nairaland. Considering the antecedents of the thread's principal dramatis personae on this forum as people who take conspiracy theories to absurd heights and hardly ever make any sense, there should be no surprises. But even by their own standards, this is a new low.

But this scandalous thread somehow reminds me of the issue raised in this thread.

Whatever nigga.

We don't have YOUR problem. That is an African Problem you linked too.

this is a DEPORTATION issue.

MyJoe:

This is probably the most filthy thread I have ever read in Nairaland. Considering the antecedents of the thread's principal dramatis personae on this forum as people who take conspiracy theories to absurd heights and hardly ever make any sense, there should be no surprises. But even by their own standards, this is a new low.

But this scandalous thread somehow reminds me of the issue raised in this thread.

Filth thread from a filth akata boy. AA, take them out of the ghetto but you cant take the ghetto out of them.

Filth thread from a filth akata boy. AA, take them out of the ghetto but you cant take the ghetto out of them.

An American Ghetto TRUMPS an african slum anyday.