[size=15pt]Nigeria: Christian churches, homes burned down[/size]

Catholic World News - April 20, 2011

Armed Muslim youths have burned down Christian churches and homes and looted Christian businesses in northern Nigeria following the recent presidential election. Goodluck Jonathan, the incumbent and a Christian, defeated two Muslim candidates--Muhammad Buhari and Nuhu Ribadu--in what international observers have described as a fair election. Some of Buhari’s supporters, however, have taken to the streets, alleging that the voting was unfair.

A Protestant leader, Bishop Musa Tula of Bauchi, told Christian Solidarity Worldwide that Christians there are “left in the arms of God with no other security.”

The rioters have also targeted Muslim supporters of Jonathan; the home of Vice President Namadi Sambo, a Muslim, has been burned down.

http://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=10049

[size=15pt]Jonathan Declared Winner of Nigeria's Presidential Election[/size]

April 17, 2011 8:00 PM

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has won a presidential election in a vote that has sparked rioting in the country's northern states that backed his leading opponent.

With results from all of Nigeria's 36 states, electoral commission president Attahiru Jega announced that President Jonathan is the clear winner.

"Goodluck E. Jonathan of PDP, having certified the requirements of the law and scored the highest number of votes is hereby declared the winner and his return elected," said Jega.

President Jonathan's nearly 22.5 million votes is almost twice the number of the second-place finisher, former military ruler Muhammadu Buhari, who won a little more than 12 million votes. President Jonathan avoids a runoff election by winning at least one-quarter of the vote in at least 24 states.

That provision is meant to ensure that a Nigerian president has some measure of national support and is not merely a regional candidate. But much of the vote appears to have broken down along regional lines, with President Jonathan winning the south and Mr. Buhari winning the north.

Early results showing Mr. Jonathan in the lead led to rioting in parts of the mainly Muslim north. In Kaduna state, Vice President Namadi Sambo's home was burned and a 24-hour curfew was imposed after a prison was raided and inmates set free.

In the capital of Kano state, security forces fired shots into the air as stone-throwing youths took to the streets and chanted support for Mr. Buhari. Human Rights Watch says at least 60 people have been killed in election-related violence since the first of the month.

In his acceptance speech, President Jonathan said his government is taking all necessary measures to guarantee the lives and property of all Nigerians.

"I enjoin our political and religious leaders in their usual sense of patriotism to call on their followers to eschew all acts of bitterness and violence," said President Jonathan. "As I have always stated, nobody's political ambition is worth the blood of any Nigerian."

Mr. Jonathan thanked God and Nigeria's voters for the opportunity to run the country.

"By this election, we have found our unity as one nation under God, have reiterated our faith in democracy and underscored our determination to fully join the free world where only the will of the people is the foundation of governance. We will not let you down." he said.

President Jonathan said there is no victor and no vanquished as Nigeria proved to the world that it is capable of holding free, fair and credible elections.

"This is a victory for the sustenance of our democracy, a victory which all Nigerians - irrespective of creed, ethnicity or state of origin - should celebrate," said jonathan. "It is a triumph for our common destiny as a people with shared ideals, shared dreams and shared hopes."

Mr. Jonathan congratulated the other candidates and said the country expects their continued leadership and commitment to nation-building. The president said Nigerians must move away from partisan battlegrounds and find a national common ground to build a prosperous nation.

http://www.voanews.com/content/jonathan-declared-winner-in-nigeria-riots-break-out-in-north-120098509/138211.html

[size=15pt]Support for Jonathan:Northern Governors get death threats[/size]

With about 56 days to the presidential election, some northern governors favorably disposed to President Goodluck Jonathan are being threatened with death threats.

According to reports, very vile text messages are being sent to governors and opinion leaders in the north, asking them to dump the idea of mobilizing for Jonathan.

More troubling is the fact that most of those opposed to Jonathan in the north, are in that group not because they see him as incompetent, but they convinced it is the turn of the north.

Vanguard reports that one of the northern elders, and top shot of the Northern Elders Forum, Ibrahim Coommasie, is insisting power must shift.

One of the governors said he and his colleagues have been getting death threats from high ranking northern legislators from Abuja in Hausa and English.

One of the governors said ” what is really worrying those of us who are perceived to be pro Jonathan governors or supporters, is the open threat messages being made directly to our phones.”

It was learnt that some radical northern leaders have also been sending threat messages to some of their governors and leaders believed to be working for Jonathan’s victory in the 2015 poll to stop the support or be dealt with.

The governor who spoke to Vanguard showed two of such messages written in Hausa and English to him, warning him not to betray the north as they claim he did in the last presidential election.

One of the mails, he said came from a high ranking federal northern legislator, while the other was allegedly from a man the governor described as his friend.

http://pointblanknews.com/pbn/exclusive/support-jonathannorthern-governors-get-death-threats/

History might probably just repeat it's self this time around

[size=15pt]Looking at the Tangled Roots of Violence in Northern Nigeria[/size]

A man prays in St. Theresa Catholic Church in Madalla. Image by Bénédicte Kurzen. Nigeria, 2011.



A young boy sitting in the emergency room after being attacked during post-election fighting in Kaduna. Image by Bénédicte Kurzen. Nigeria, 2011.


A poster of President Goodluck Jonathan, in a street in Kabala West, Kaduna, where a small bomb exploded on the night of the presidential elections, April 16, 2011. Image by Bénédicte Kurzen. Nigeria, 2011.







With a victor named Goodluck and the appearance of fair and decisive voting in Nigeria, last year’s presidential elections seemed to bring about a bit of hope. But things quickly unraveled.

Within days, there were chants and curses, killings and chaos. The voting, and the ensuing violence, cleaved to ethnic and religious lines. Goodluck Jonathan, a Christian from the economically advantaged south, defeated Muhammadu Buhari, a Muslim and former major general from the north, and when Mr. Buhari failed to concede, his supporters broke into a rhythm of riots and disorder.

http://pulitzercenter.org/reporting/nigeria-political-religious-violence-benedicte-kurzen

edegbemario:
History might probably just repeat it's self this time around

with the volume of threats that Buhari supporters are sending to people and openly preaching in the street, it will be FAR worst.

I made this thread because I have realized the north doesn't have the resources, numbers or popularity to actually win a fair and free election. So they have to resort to scaring people into giving them power by force. In the past they can just do coup after coup and I don't doubt that coups have been attempted in GEJ's administration (remember the upheaval in Abuja by troops this summer?).

This is all they have left. Telling people that if you down concede to them you will die. If you come out to vote you will die. If you don't enforce Sharia, you will die. Everything is a death threat. The blood of the dogs and the baboons, killing and butchering. This is all they have left and it's the mark of a desperate people.

All they have done is make voting in the north for christian and muslims a suicidal exercise.

Sorry the following post will be graphic but I feel it's necessary due to our horrible national memory and inability to take action against real evil when we see it.

I keep wondering if these northerners has blood flowing in their veins. Maybe we aren't meant to be together in the first place. Our mentality and mindset are far apart.

Whoever is caught inciting violence must be dealt with, ruthlessly. I hope all the security agencies will be on red alert from now till the aftermath of the elections.

OP, do you know what emboldened these people to continue their threats this election again? The President refused to prosecute and punish those responsible! The corpers that died and thousands of other lives that were cut short by almajiris, went unpunished by the man they voted into office to protect them. That was my point of departure with GEJ presidency.

I campaigned vigorously and voted for GEJ in 2011. He has done well and better than past leaders. I like him as a person, but I don't like him as my President. Why? He lacks the balls to be one. Though he is going to win a re-election, he needs to become Presidential and learn to be 'forceful' cos the attendant violence that will greet his re-election in 2015 will be worse than what we witnessed in 2011.

Are you asking me how I know? Our instigator- in - chief of violence, General Buhari is at it again! This time around, he has attracted worse wolves than himself, in the persons of Amaechi, Aregbesola, Saraki, El rufai etc etc. These men are Machiavellians whose end always justify the means. They either win it or toss. They have palaces abroad where they can run to, and stoke the fire from, when the country goes up in flames. It is the bodies of long-suffering masses that chant APC and PDP that will litter the streets; charred beyond recognition. No member of their family will be found in such despicable story!

Nigerians ronu!

CFCfan:
Whoever is caught inciting violence must be dealt with, ruthlessly. I hope all the security agencies will be on red alert from now till the aftermath of the elections.

. . . even Tompolo, Ateke, Asari, etc?

GEJ will win next year's election clean and clear. If Buhari or Obasanjo tries anything, we will them arrested and locked up.

OrlandoOwoh:

. . . even Tompolo, Ateke, Asari, etc?

Including those idiots too. I don't know why the SSS is somewhat docile

anyone has the freedom to say things sadly, it's actions that are punishable by law so all we can do is wait and watch. Arresting one or two of them will make on difference, but standing strong in the face of intimidation and terror and not bending to their will is going to break them because it takes away the last weapon they have left and forces them to play the game the lawful and just way like the rest of us

That is where GEJ really annoys me. So legislators in Abuja have been sending death threats to Governors in the north. Why haven't they been arrested and charged, I can only support a president so much abeg. He should stop giving ppl an excuse to call him a weak leader

Dereformer:
GEJ will win next year's election clean and clear. If Buhari or Obasanjo tries anything, we will them arrested and locked up.

It's good to engage in fantasies once in a while!

We all must condemn post-election violence. But to prevent it, we need to live above boards and not only be fair but also be seen to be fair in handling of the elections.


The umpire, INEC must be transparent and fair in all respects. The president must caution his men who make provocative statements including threatening that if Jonathan is not re-elected, Nigeria will burn. Edwin Clark is on record to have threaten other nationalities that if anything happens to Jonathan, the country will burn and the president looks on. Common! That's not how to lead a country let alone a diverse nation as ours.

Any violence by northerners after GEJ is declared re-elected would be meant with violence. Northerners should not be allowed to monopolise violence. Every decade theirs one or two violent movements in the north, from the maitatsine riot of the eighties till now.
Enough is enough

He is very annoying with how much he tolerates; I say this as a supporter

ShineuEye:
Any violence by northerners after GEJ is declared re-elected would be meant with violence. Northerners should not be allowed to monopolise violence. Every decade theirs one or two violent movements in the north, from the maitatsine riot of the eighties till now.
Enough is enough

You would have made more sense if you said "any violence by anyone after the election" rather than that impossible outcome of GEJ winning.

Ikengawo:
He is very annoying with how much he tolerates; I say this as a supporter

Including how much he tolerates corruption and endorses it.

Goodluck Jonathan victory is sure in 2015. I'm already seeing beyond 2015. We should be more concern of 2019 of who to succeed President Goodluck Jonathan. One with God is majority. God will fight our battles and we shall know peace. We're covered with the Blood of Jesus Christ.

PassingShot:


Including how much he tolerates corruption and endorses it.

all criticism are valid, what I like about Jonathan's supporters is they can speak about him realistically. He never tries to make him appear perfect or like a 'messiah', just a man that became president and is trying his best as we can see from the results.

I don't think he tolerates corruption at all. Obasanjo and others made us believe fighting corruption was a matter of arresting each and every person 'that steals', though in reality they were just lynching their enemies.

Jonathan's approach is figuring out what is causing them to steal and nipping it at the bud. This is a more pragmatic and effective approach. For example people were stealing because there was no accountability in government. Jonathan
1. Passed a freedom of information bill that left all accounts open for the public to example
2. Passed a cashless economy policy so the era of sneaking money through Ghana must Go's with no paper trail is over
3. Eliminated the fuel subsidy that was used to loot that nation
4. Eliminated over 60,000 ghost workers who's names were used to loot as well




This is how you stop 1 million thieves before they steal instead of catching 10 after they steal which was the primative Obasanjo approach (in theory, in reality he was just extorting foes)

.

hmnmnn

Muslims and Christains
PDP and APC
GEJ and GMB
This country Nigeria is just like a complex puzzle too difficult to tackle.

I just pray that the post election events wouldnt be terrible

But as for me this time, na APC I go vote for. for PDP not anymore

Diaris God in everything we do!

Ikengawo:


all criticism are valid, what I like about Jonathan's supporters is they can speak about him realistically. He never tries to make him appear perfect or like a 'messiah', just a man that became president and is trying his best as we can see from the results.

I don't think he tolerates corruption at all. Obasanjo and others made us believe fighting corruption was a matter of arresting each and every person 'that steals', though in reality they were just lynching their enemies.

Jonathan's approach is figuring out what is causing them to steal and nipping it at the bud. This is a more pragmatic and effective approach. For example people were stealing because there was no accountability in government. Jonathan
1. Passed a freedom of information bill that left all accounts open for the public to example
2. Passed a cashless economy policy so the era of sneaking money through Ghana must Go's with no paper trail is over
3. Eliminated the fuel subsidy that was used to loot that nation
4. Eliminated over 60,000 ghost workers who's names were used to loot as well




This is how you stop 1 million thieves before they steal instead of catching 10 after they steal which was the primative Obasanjo approach (in theory, in reality he was just extorting foes)

I will assume that you're not a Jonathanian and therefore attempt to debate with you. However, you'll do well to be sincere in your submissions.

For you to say you don't think Jonathan supports corruption says a lot about what you know of the administration or perhaps you're trying to gloss over it. I even prefer Obasanjo's effort in fighting corruption even though we all know he used the war against more enemies than those in his camp. But at the end of the day, those enemies were actually found corrupt! You cannot compare that with a government that has failed to prosecute a single known corruption case successfully in its six years of existence. That story cannot sell anywhere in Nigeria.

And for all the paper efforts you've listed here, what have they achieved? What has happened to the oil subsidy? Where are the promised palliatives? What of Farouk Lawan's case? And that of Etteh and Stella Odua? What happens with the corruption charges against Muhammed Abacha? Please don't insult our sensibility here with your pretence!

On Buhari, we his supporters agree that he is not the most competent Nigeria that could possibly lead this country but given the situation we find ourselves and coupled with the fact that Jonathan is hopelessly incompetent to even pretend to fight corruption and put an end to the insurgency in the North, we have pitched our tent with him. The fact remains that if that insurgency is not stopped now, it will have spread to many other parts of Nigeria within the next one year.

It is all down to we the masses. I have said this before and my thoughts remain on this:

These politicians will not descend themselves to burn houses and maim people just to get power - they make use of people.

These politicians do not elect themselves into power - they are elected by the people

These politicians will not give themselves a cup of rice while campaigning - they give it to the people in exchange for destinies

CHANGE can only take place when PEOPLE refuse to be deceived, refuse to be ignorant, refuse to be used for devilish purposes, refuse to be cajoled and refuse to be intimidated.

CHANGE comes when PEOPLE demand for good governance in one voice regardless of tribal and religious affinity, where corruption is met with capital punishment at ALL levels, where an individual is voted based on his pedigree and what he outlines as his plans for the nation.

This and only this is the solution to political violence and intimidation

Sai GEJ till Buhari becomes Christian

.

Feb almost here. Oh ye men of wisdom, cast ur votes wisely. Sai Buhari tho