₦airaland Forum

Africa's most populous country, Nigeria, is home to over 250 ethnic groups that speak over 500 languages. These tribes and tongues also serve different deities through different traditional religious approaches.

However, only two religions are recognised nationally - Christianity and Islam. While Islam dominates up north, Christianity is the primary religion down south. The southwest region, the home of the Yoruba tribe, boasts the highest number of Muslims in the south. Interestingly, the conduct of Yoruba Muslims in their practice of Islam bears envying as it varies significantly from the ways of some Muslims in the north.

Yoruba Muslims are the most peaceful, tolerant, and accommodating.

In a typical Yoruba family, the man could be a Muslim, and his wife a Christian, with the children deciding on their own whether to be Muslim, Christian or even something else. Nobody tries to force anybody to join them in their religion.

This tolerance is extended to non-family members of different religions. So hardly one hears that there is a fight over religion among the Yorubas. The few times violence happened in the southwest over religion, it was caused by non-Yorubas from the north or other parts of the country.

Compared to Muslims up north, it remains taboo for a Muslim man, especially in the core northern states, to marry a Christian woman or for a Christian woman to marry a Muslim man. And northern Muslim parents hardly permit their children to choose their religion. In fact, there are numerous cases where northern Muslim parents disown their children for daring to choose a religion other than their parents'. In extreme cases, parents had sought to violently attack their children who chose the other religion.

This is why most religious violence in Nigeria happens in the north. From Kano to Sokoto to Kebbi to Borno to Kaduna to Plateau, over 5000 people have been killed during religious riots in those states in the last 20 years.

So why are Yoruba Muslims different?

The Yorubas are known for respect; they are so respectful that younger Yorubas prostrate to greet elders. But they are also arguably the most educated tribe in Nigeria - thanks to the foundation of education built by Obafemi Awolowo, the premier of the precolonial southwest region.
With most Yoruba youths educated (up to the university level), they tend to think deeply before acting on some instructions. So an educated Yoruba Muslim youth is consumed with thoughts of pursuing his career, climbing to the top and being useful to himself and society, as against getting radical and fighting with people of other religions.

He is also unlikely to be manipulated by his religious leaders to hate or attack a Christian with a weapon and with the intention to kill.
The high tolerance level of the Yorubas is why the southwest is the convergence point of people of different religions and tribes in Nigeria for business. Think why Lagos is the commercial centre of Nigeria and why it will always be.

Compared with the situation up north; there, most youths are uneducated, and northern political leaders, who had been ruling Nigeria since 1966, bear the blame for not fixing the educational gap in the north.

With the low level of education translating into high-level poverty, a northern Muslim youth is more likely to fall into the trap of politicians who often try to weaponise religion for political gains while handing little cash to unemployed youth for fighting.

An uneducated youth is also likely to be manipulated by a religious leader to pick a weapon, fight somebody of another faith, or even get radicalised.

This is not to say that every Muslim in the north is not peaceful. No! In fact, some northern Muslims are so peaceful that they protect strangers and people of other faiths from harm.

To solve the problem of religious intolerance in the north, the government must invest massively to educate northern youths and empower them economically because if educated and gainfully employed, they would be unlikely to be manipulated.

The government must also be serious in prosecuting people who instigate religious violence in Nigeria. In states like Kaduna and Plateau, violence continues because influential people in the government shield perpetrators and prevent justice.

And the time to act is NOW!!!

https://www./why-nigerias-yoruba-muslims-super-peaceful-innocent-eteng/

optionalY09:
I am sure you don’t know who you’re talking to. We are now investigating that incident.

optionalY09:
If any Igbo kill a Yoruba person and we get to know or hear about it. We will not leave it for the government to handle. There will be an instant revenge.

This is final

waynetee:
I hope igbos are ready for this, we can make you all leave SW today

waynetee:
I hope igbos are ready for this, we can make you all leave SW today

khalling2008:
I always say that Igbo Christians are terrorists, they will soon show the world that they are terrorists. If you don't believe me ask Ipob, their Bible, etc

jumper524:
Many might not see it, but then again, some entities are working overtime to plung the country into a civil war.

Fulani herdsmen killing is no longer appealing to the ears of our guilibility as Buhari is no longer in power but then again, some entities must derail the country towards positive economic growth by destabilising the country's security challenges.

Prior to now, ipob terrorist have killed individuals across all tribes including their own brothers but then again, the agent of destruction needs to cause unrest by whatever means, they intentionally made it a Yoruba affairs, killing an Hausas/Fulani man might sound like a justified revenge and might still gather some sympathy but then again I'm certain it's still not off the books as they might still approach that stage when necessary.

I know a good numbers of igbos who are displeased by this news, but then a lot of ego inflated ones online won't have the balls to condemn such act, I don't really blame them, the igbos are not one who accept fault easily. It's a natural charisma in them. But then, I'm certain no matter how divided we are on social media, no igbo community would tolerate the attack of other settlers in the community because he's from a different tribe, this I can say for sure.
But then terrorist always use something to justify their act until they eat deep into the system and everyone becomes a victim.
Just like bokoharam started by making it a northern affairs, turned to religious affairs and now they've seperate into the real sect they are.

They'll always hide under the shield of a particular body who are slightly sphateyic to them until the supporters becomes their most easy victim.

Im not a Yoruba neither am I an igbo person but then again, I urge for calm amongst the average youbas and igbos, these evil acts are not one from the igbos nor yorubas but from a common enemy every sane mankind share.
(Terrorist and their sponsors)

I'm certain there would be likely more of this news in the future and I urge for preparation and stronger mentality amongst us.

The ipob terrorist aren't igbos but terrorist just like bokoharam not Muslims but terrorist.

In the remote town of Bodinga, in Nigeria’s Sokoto State, rows of cargo trucks can be seen stranded on both sides of the border. Many have been there since July 26, when the military junta in Niger overthrew President Mohamed Bazoum and trade between the poor, landlocked country and its West African neighbours was frozen.

“People will die! If they leave the border like this, people will die. There’s no work. From morning until night I have nothing to eat,” a desperate Nigerian truck driver tells FRANCE 24. He was on his way to a cement plant in Niger’s capital Niamey with a cargo of coal when the border closed and has spent the past two weeks sitting by his truck waiting.

Some tradesmen seem to get through, on foot, motorbikes and donkey carts. But their crossings are conditioned with bribes and black market trade has spiralled.

“Our only problem is the security personnel, we have to pay them bribes so they’ll let us pass,” says a man operating cargo drawn by donkeys. But the bulk of business is at a standstill.

To watch the full report, please click on the player above.

https://www.france24.com/en/africa/20230821-trade-hit-hard-as-nigeria-s-gateway-to-niger-is-cut-off-by-coup

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said he opposes a military intervention in Niger against coup leaders, warning that it could lead to instability in the region.

The foreign military action, which is being considered by the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas), would not be "right", Erdogan told journalists who travelled with him to Hungary on Sunday.

"Mali and Burkina Faso have also warned that such a military intervention would mean declaring war against them. Military intervention in Niger would mean the spread of instability to many African countries," he said.

The Turkish president added that he supports the return to "constitutional order and a democratic administration" as soon as possible.

"I believe that the people of Niger will stand up for democracy and go to elections as soon as possible," he said. "As Turkey, we will continue to stand by the friendly and brotherly people of Niger."

https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/niger-coup-turkey-erdogan-opposes-ecowas-intervention

kettykin:
I support you in rhis

successmatters:
Nigeria must show these people why we are giants of Africa, these Niger guys must be taught some political lessons

Burkina Faso and Mali have sent troops to Niger in readiness for a potential ECOWAS French attacks.

I confirm: The French soldiers must clear. The CFA franc must disappear. French as an official language should be deleted. Official development assistance must be prohibited. The… pic.twitter.com/7wJq2dnbDJ

— Expose Global Racist Against Africans (@Africarevolt) August 19, 2023

ivolt:
What do we expect an Iranian spy to say?

Quite a few in the West see Russia's war in Ukraine as just one episode in a series of events that began years ago, whereby the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, is trying to reshuffle geostrategic balances and recreate new spheres of dependency at the expense of Western influence, especially that Western countries have been complacently triumphant but ineffectively engaged in geostrategic thinking and review of their dominance of world affairs after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the collapse of the USSR and the end of the Cold War. Thus, besides setting up a buffer belt of direct influence, made up of Central Asian republics in addition to Armenia, Serbia and Belarus, Russia has created scattered loyalties in small regions and republics in Transnistria (eastern Moldova), Abkhazia and South Ossetia in Georgia, Crimea and the Lugansk and Donetsk provinces in eastern and south-eastern Ukraine, not to mention the Suwałki Gap, the sparsely populated strip that cuts across the border between Lithuania and Poland and forms a corridor between Belarus and the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad oblast on the Baltic Sea. This vast belt is seen by Russia as a vital sphere that serves as a bulwark against NATO encroachments, while it restores an image (albeit “imperfect”) of the glories of Tsarist Russia and the Soviet Union.

Russia is not alone in this geostrategic design. China has been cultivating the same ambition: under President Xi Jinping it has expressed sweeping claims of sovereignty over the South China Sea and reinforced its presence therein. Its Belt and Road Initiative is a global infrastructure development strategy adopted by the Chinese government in 2013 to invest in more than 150 countries and international organizations, an initiative that makes of it an indomitable international development player and a future hotbed of global trade exchanges. Its most recent Global Civilization Initiative (GCI) (March 2023) ventures into the realm of values and culture and advocates for “the respect for the diversity of civilizations, the common values of humanity, the importance of inheritance and innovation of civilizations, and robust international people-to-people exchanges and cooperation” (Embassy of China to Samoa, “Initiatives Proposed by China, Fruitful Outcomes Shared by World”, May 5, 2023). China's aim in all these initiatives is to combine economic, financial, cultural, and military power and influence to reinforce its presence on world stage and confirm its presence as an inevitable player in today's and tomorrow's world affairs and exchanges.

Emergent Independent Actors

Add to this the growing role of Turkey as a new economic and political actor that does not primarily serve Western interests, and the ambition of countries with regional and international weight (such as Brazil, India , South Africa, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar etc.) to adopt a posture that is not necessarily in consonance with Western views, and we find a new map of “new alliances and priorities” at the international level that will have a fairly negative impact on the military, political and economic dominance of Western countries in the world.


The New Frontier of Africa

But the new stage of this growing challenge to the Western “domination” of the world is Africa. France is losing its grip on its ex-colonies and is no longer a key player in Central and West Africa; it has been forced to disengage militarily from important countries such as Central Africa, Mali and Burkina Faso, and is being criticised by many young people in Chad and Niger, who see in the French presence a reproduction of France's colonial role, nothing less.


But the situation goes beyond a renewed rejection of French neo-colonialism: it is a change with geo-strategic proportions, with repercussions in Sudan, Mali, Burkina Faso and, more recently, Niger. The common denominator governing this transformation is the “popularity of military coups” and rule as an alternative to pro-western and allegedly inept civilian governments, as well as the entry of foreign non-state military actors like the Russian paramilitary group, Wagner, into the equation. It is surprising to see the continued rejection of any Western intervention, in exchange for welcoming the growing roles of other non-Western countries such as China, Russia, Iran, Turkey and Arab countries like Morocco, Qatar, UAE and Saudi Arabia.

The Mali Coup and the Growing Reliance on Wagner

In Mali, there was a coup in the summer of 2020 against the regime of Ibrahim Boubacar Keita (democratically elected since 2013 and hailed then domestically and on the world stage only to later disappoint everyone by his inefficacy and ineptitude in tackling economic challenges and the growing threat of Jihadist groups and organized crime) followed by another coup in the spring of 2021, in which Colonel Assimi Goita took office as president after the dismissal of Ba N'Daou, who had succeeded Keita as president.

Mali's new rulers took office against a backdrop of widespread grievances in the ranks of Mali's armed forces regarding lack of equipment and non-payment of salaries, and in the context of the failure of the French operation "Barkhane" to curb the rise of terrorist attacks and its replacement by the international special security force known as "Takuba". Successive attacks by armed groups have created a consensus on the futility of the presence of French and international forces, which were later replaced, in the wake of the military coup, by “more effective” and “rapid” intervention forces, namely the Russian Wagner group. Wagner, which was logistically aided by Algeria to settle in Mali and other countries, had gained a “reputation” on the ground in Libya and Central Africa, (a reputation that is, from a Western point of view, no more than a notoriety in the excessive use of force and the scant respect for human rights).

Burkina Faso and the departure of Saber

In Central Africa, the Wagner group fights alongside regular troops against rebels and invests in media, minerals, and politics. In Burkina Faso, photographs of Wagner elements circulated on social media, but the military government denies any presence of the Russian paramilitary group and the same denial came from Moscow (Le Monde, 23 February 2023). But the new military leaders of Burkina Faso who took power after the military coup of September 2022, demanded the departure of the French Special Forces (called "Saber", which has been interpreted by observers as a sign that the country may look for new (non-Western?) "military partners" to protect it from attacks by armed groups.

Niger…the Straw that broke France’s (and the West’s) Back

To make matters worse, the coup d'état that took place in Niger on July 26, 2023, caused the countries of the ECOWAS--Economic Community of West African States (especially Nigeria, Senegal and Ivory Coast) to align themselves with what they call "democratic legitimacy", a position supported by France and Western countries (with noted muted reserve from the US). ECOWAS countries are threatening to mount a concerted military intervention in Niger to restore the civilian President Mohamed Bazoum to power. Algeria (Russia’s military ally and facilitator in the Sahel) and Tchad oppose any military intervention, while Mali and Burkina Faso have issued threats to intervene on the side of the military in Niger to “protect” the coup. Burkina Faso's position in support of the coup led France to suspend its assistance to the poor Sahelian country. The implication would be that the Burkinabe military will be forced to rely on the military and non-military assistance of non-Western partners such as Russia and China and others.

Sudan…the geostrategic ramifications of the new “civil war”

In Sudan, while the conflict between the army led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) led by General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo ("Hemedti”) remains an internal power struggle, the regional and international dimensions of the conflict are not imperceptible for well-informed observers. What is striking is the supply of surface-to-air missiles by the Russian Wagner group to Hemedti's RSF command through bases in eastern Libya, which are under the control of Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar (Nima Elbagir, Gianluca Mezzofiore, Tamara Qiblawi and Barbara Arvanitidis, “Evidence Emerges of Russia’s Wagner Arming Militia Leader Battling Sudan’s Army”, CNN, April 21, 2023). Perhaps thanks to this support, the RSF militias seem difficult to crush by the Sudanese Army and have become part of a broader equation in which major non-Western countries (including Egypt, UAE, and Saudi Arabia) are seeking gains and influence in sensitive areas of Africa, close to the Horn of Africa and the Red Sea.

Chinese funding of Africa

Add to this the growing number of African countries that depend on Chinese funding and investment, most of which comes in the form of concessional loans, BOT contracts, and international development grants, which are transforming the investment landscape in Africa. Overreliance on Chinese loans has been in the talks for years now but the continued complexity of access to Western loans and funding has only spiked African governments’ appetite for Chinese funds and it does not seem to end soon. Chinese lending, investment and aid come without political or other strings attached to them and are therefore coveted by both sides, despite promises to curb the overdependence of Africa on Chinese loans. Africa is witnessing profound transformations at the investment and financial levels that will radically change the decades-long “system” of “allegiances” to the West.

Conclusion: Wagner’s Role after the Coup in Russia

Yevgeny Prigozhin, Wagner group leader’s coup against Russian troops on June 23, 2023, will definitely have an impact on the way Russia intervenes in Africa, but Russia, like China (and Turkey and the Arab countries), will remain a key player on the African continent. Yes, the situation will depend on how countries like France and the US will react to the recent events in the Sahel, but it does not look like the discreet American diplomatic effort, or the French economic and military threats are having an impact on the tilt of Sahelian countries towards military rule and towards non-Western players. Public opinion in many African countries does not seem to be very enthusiastic about reproducing the same hegemonic relations with the West. Unless Western countries review radically the way they view and approach their relations with African countries, Africa will be forever lost to them.

https://www.atalayar.com/en/opinion/lahcen-haddad/the-new-wars-against-the-west-in-africa/20230818121442189700.html

Mindlog:
The likes of FreeStuffsNG would have nothing to say about this crime but is fixated on a particular region.

Rostikol:
This is a strategic war for protection of interests, including (surprise surprise) African interests. The US, EU and Nigeria share the same interest in this (probable) war - Nigeria's 15 billion dollar tran-Sahara gas pipeline connecting Nigerian gas to the EU, which passes through Niger and Algeria into Europe, is under construction. It could triple Nigeria's annual income when completed. Russia has an opposing interest, and the military junta in Niger are Russian allies. After the recent bombing of the Russian pipeline supplying the EU with gas, a major hit on Russia's economy, it is pretty clear a Kremlin - backed junta in Niger will not let the Trans-Sahara gas pipeline to Europe happen. The EU want the pipeline to reduce dependence on Russian supplies. The other ECOWAS nations have an interest, as they wish to deter military intervention in their own countries. The 'coup contagion' as they call it. So this whole thing is far more complex than the simple popular narrative of 'ECOWAS fighting for imperialist interests'.

ACCRA, Aug 18 (Reuters) - West Africa's main regional bloc on Friday said it had agreed an undisclosed " D- Day " for a possible military intervention to restore democracy in Niger if diplomatic efforts fail, stressing that it would not hold endless dialogue with the defiant junta.

The comments came at the end of a two-day meeting of West African army chiefs in Ghana's capital Accra, where they have been hashing out the logistics and strategy for a possible use of force in Niger. ECOWAS has said such action would be a last resort.

"We are ready to go anytime the order is given," ECOWAS Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security Abdel-Fatau Musah said during the closing ceremony. "The D-Day is also decided, which we are not going to disclose."

He said a peaceful resolution remained the bloc's preferred option.

"As we speak we are still readying (a) mediation mission into the country, so we have not shut any door... (but) we are not going to engage in endless dialogue."

There was no immediate response from the junta.

Military officers deposed Nigerien President Mohamed Bazoum on July 26 and have defied calls from the United Nations, ECOWAS and others to reinstate him, prompting the bloc to order a standby force to be assembled.

"We've already agreed and fine-tuned what will be required for the intervention," Musah said, declining to share how many troops would be deployed and other strategic details.

Most of its 15 member states are prepared to contribute to the joint force excepting those also under military rule - Mali, Burkina Faso and Guinea - and Cape Verde, according to the bloc.

ECOWAS has taken a harder stance on the Niger coup, the wider region's seventh in three years, than it did on previous ones. The credibility of the bloc is at stake because it had said it would tolerate no further such overthrows.

"The decision is that the coup in Niger is one coup too many for the region, and we are putting a stop to it at this time, we are drawing the line in the sand," Musah said.

Any intervention would spell further turmoil for West Africa's impoverished Sahel region, which is already battling a decade-old Islamist insurgency and a deepening hunger crisis.

Niger also has strategic importance beyond West Africa because of its uranium and oil reserves and role as a hub for foreign troops involved in the fight against the insurgents linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State.

Racoon:
Why evacuating your families dear coupists? So the lives of the citizens your regime wants to rule over does not matter? What the Bleep is that?

Atarakpa:
Another way of wasting the little resource of the country you claim to love and cherish.
The Big problem now is who will evacuate the children of the poor and their supporters.

Ayoola171:
There are strong indications that members of the Niger junta have begun to evacuate their families

And left the Nigeriens to their fate.
Man inhumane to man.

Prigozhin:
Nigeriens who are applauding the juntas can now see for themselves