₦airaland Forum

Withdrawal of assault rifles
By Sun News Publishing
Tuesday, May 15 , 2012

Editorial Index

The plan by the authorities of the Nigeria Police to introduce the use of rubber bullets to fight crime and quell riots, as against the use of regular assault rifles to which its personnel are accustomed, is a welcome initiative. This will likely give the Police a liberal face, or at least, a token of positive image among the populace. It is also in line with what is obtainable in civilized societies where rubber bullets are used by police to fight civil disobedience.

Acting Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr. Mohammed Abubakar, who dropped the hint recently during a meeting with representatives of Police commands in Calabar, Cross River State, explained that the plan was an integral part of the reform to reposition the police and make it people –friendly.

Besides, the police boss says that the measure is in conformity with world best practices. The plan, Abubakar disclosed, would take effect soon. Part of the plan, he stressed, would be to disarm potential criminals before they could carry out any criminal act.

He however stated that the measure would not mean the re-introduction of road blocks, noting that “road blocks are gone for good” in the country, while assuring that the police high command is interested in matters that will bring positive corporate image to the force. And the use of rubber bullets is one of such methods.

We applaud this plan. Indeed, the continued use of assault rifles, instead of rubber bullets, especially in cases of civil disorder and other non-criminal acts like street protests and demonstrations, has been an issue of public debate for a long time now.
Cases abound where policemen have turned assault weapons on innocent people, instead of criminals who they are supposed to apprehend.

For years, the police have been reportedly notorious for using assault rifles to extort money at checkpoints and for extra-judicial killings. This is in utter disregard for the rule of law and social justice.
Often times, these anomalies have defined the moments and actions of an average policeman in Nigeria. In some instances, these killings without trial, have been flimsily attributed to “accidental discharge.”

We want to believe that the introduction of rubber bullets will bring about a measure of sanity in the official conduct of the police personnel. The Nigeria Police is in dire need of decent men and women not a crop of trigger-happy cops that turn against defenceless citizens whom they are to protect. We, however, insist that the use of assault rifles against criminals such as terrorists and other militant groups that pose serious danger to society should continue.
This has become vital as our country is currently under serious threat by many insurgent groups such as Boko Haram. Therefore, the use of rubber bullets in such cases would amount to a grave error of judgment.

We suggest that as laudable as this plan might be, it should be subjected to thorough analysis before implementation to avoid a possible boomerang effect. The use of rubber bullets should not be one weapon for all battles. It will help a lot if a test – run of two different scenarios is carried out to determine the efficiency and effectiveness, or otherwise, of the use of rubber bullets in a crime situation. There is need for the police authorities to ensure that this new plan is not misused. Failure to adhere strictly to the aim of the use of rubber bullets would defeat the purpose.

Our constitution recognizes the right to life of every citizen and that right should not be deprived intentionally, save in execution of the sentence of a court in respect of a criminal offence of which the person has been found guilty by a competent court in the land.
The plan to introduce the use of rubber bullet to fight crime can go a long way to humanize the Police Force, temper the psyche of its rank and file and make them conform to basic civil temperament and norms in the discharge of their duties.

http://sunnewsonline.com/webpages/opinion/editorial/2012/may/15/editorial-15-05-2012-001.html

Is this a good decision in this times of Boko Haram?

feelamong: Buhari has said it all....Many at times we all want change but are not willing to make the necessary sacrifices for change......

Many of us have notin to loose if there is war..afterall he that is down needs fear no fall!! But let the truth be told.. the massive rigging and collection center votes manipulation will not be allowed come 2015..even if a northerner or Buhari is competing or not...RIG and DIE!!

WW2 made WW1 look like a child's play, a second Civil War in Nigeria will make the Biafran war a joke.

A leopard can never change its skin. A man who willingly pulled down a democratic institution in his country in the name of personal integrity with the help of his Military friends will not find it difficult to do it again with his Almajiri soldiers. It took Nigeria 16 bitter years to recover from his tactical blunder of 1983 as a General. This time he will readily turn back Nigeria's long walk to freedom again by 32yrs because his first mission will be to ostracise the entire South East for daring to give a whole General like him less than 10% of their votes in 2011 election. God Forbid bad thing!

[quote author=Okija_juju]Did you just use the definition of an "assembly line" to talk all that crap?!!

Dude... The talk here remains that Innoson is not the original author of his vehicles, he simply imports and puts together.. What he runs here is an assembly point. Now wether its a line or not is left for others to talk about. Can innoson on his own alter the specs of the vehicle like say increase the brake horse power or dashboard design?! The answer is NO!! What he gets from China is what he assembles. Even Ford and GM which are american companies built most of their parts in Asia with/to American specifications...

Same goes for a plane. Companies like Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Airbus, makers of the 777 series, fighter jets and dreamliners are all Airplane companies, but the parts that come together to make-up the plane are made by different companies for them. E.g is the Airbus A-380 engines are made by 2 separate companies Rolls-Royce and Pratt & Whitney.. But the specs were designed by Airbus.. Understand!! Most manufacturing companies do not make all the components of their products, but they design the specs themselves and then outsource to a third party manufacturer.[/quote]its obvious that there are still questions about Innoson most of us can't confidently answer now based on the information available on the net which also underscores the fact that you can't confidently tell the world that all innoson does is to buy all the parts it needs and join them. Most of us don't know the full detail of how the likes of Kia and several other new generation car makers make their cars (its called business secrets) but since there is what is called "Global best practices", Innoson can not be the first to produce a car the way it does. If we don't care to know how those countries and companies make the cars we buy then enough of talking-down the man as if he does anything different from what is done globally.

If you have a contrary firsthand information about his company you tell us otherwise you should stop this your conspiracy theory.

[quote author=Okija_juju]I am all for encouraging locally "MANUFACTURED" products... emphasis on "MANUFACTURED"... Halleluyah!! .. BUT not at the expense of consumer choice... YES!! I said stay away.. If you have watched the programme "How it built" on Discovery, and seen the episode on vehicle manufacturing, you would see that most parts are put through a quality test to determine its factor of safety... Even the finished vehicles, some prototypes are driven at top speed into a concrete wall with a Test dummy/manequin at the wheel just so that the rating, performance under stress and others things are determined..

Innoson needs to be able to give the Public certain figures and facts about their vehicles first. How many star rating do those cars carry?! Are their vehicles allowed in the european, UAE and american markets?! What are the safety and quality control measures employed by the company. How many parts are "MANUFACTURED" locally, e.t.c..

Also.. why has nobody responded to the question;

WHY are we clamouring for the government to patronize innoson which is an assembly warehouse for unproven chinese vehicle owned by 1 man when we have two giant dying companies in Peugeot Automobile & Volkswagen of Nigeria that assemble internationally known, tested, trusted and proven brands, are listed on the Nigerian Stock exchange, are public Liability and have the capacity to sell their products even beyond the Nigerian market.?!

What makes innoson worth patronizing and PAN and VoN not?!

Why the bias toward Innoson?![/quote]Sir, misinformation atimes can be worse than ignorance, Why do some people talk about Assemblying a product as if its a wrong thing to do (even if thats what Innoson does). this is the difference between an Assemblying plant and a manufacturing plant according to wiki.answer.com
"In an assembly line, the product moves, so at one station, a worker adds the same part to every item. This is assembly line manufacturing (as pioneered by Henry Ford). This scheme affords a company the option of manufacturing many similar items efficiently.

An example of pure manufacture is the construction of an airplane, where different sections of the airplane are brought to a single spot and added to the ship. A worker may weld or fit in all the variable parts in several sections. This scheme affords a company the option of manufacturing a single item efficiently, especially one with multiple thousands of parts."


You can present a different defination if you have.

As far as am concerned, nobody is praying for the death of PAN and others afterall FG's official cars are majorly Peugeot. But am more interested in Innoson because it has a Nigerian Trademark, whoever hears of PAN knows that its a subsidiary of a French company samething as most other plants in the country. Lets give Innoson the opportunity to launch Nigeria's auto industry in global arena. The Toyotas and Tatas we are buying today were one man businesses where they started but were encouraged by their people.

[quote author=Okija_juju]Once more, Innoson is not made in Nigeria but assembled in Nigeria... They are no different from the Peugeot Automobile Nigeria (PAN), Volkswagen of Nigeria (Von)and Tata who all assemble vehicles here.

The Nigerian market needs to be open and devoid of undue influence from the government. Innosson has to earn the right to be patronized. They should employ all the marketing strategies in the book to market their product. Advertise aggressively. I will not buy a bus I have barely heard of just because "Its assembled in Nigeria" where I already know that the Nigerian system is crap and only God knows the quality control measures they have in place.

I will never key into this innosson crap based on ethnicity or sentiments.. The fact is like I said, Innosson does not make nor design cars, they simply import in bits and assemble here. They are no different from PAN and VON, They dont advertise or try to marlet their products..

The government should stay away from Innoson motors until they prove their worth, we wouldnt want to spend our money on a liability and also put the lives of Nigerians at risk. If those vehicles have a factory defect, I dont believe Innosson motors would have the grace to do a recall like most european car makers would.[/quote]I completely disagree with you on the above bolded statement, What do you mean by the govt should stay away, if they do who will patronise them? If govt stay away from the Aba made shoes because they are not as strong as the Italian shoes how will they grow? The chinese Economy picked up by copying Japanese products and as at that time their products were nowhere close to the Japan's, if their govt had stayed away from them then where will the likes of CCECC that has taken over the major construction works of Lagos state govt today. Our industries no matter how infant they are should be encouraged and given all the leverage they need to survive. You don't expect Innoson to overtake Toyota over night, they must start somewhere and we must encourage them not Ghanians. When Zinox computers started people like you complained the way you are doing today yet they were responsible for our election Voting Machine, did they disappoint you? Why didn't you tell INEC then to patronise the European makers of HP and Dell afterall their products can be recalled if they developed faults?

For your information, the products you assume to be substandard have been on Enugu road as its BRT for over a year, its aready plying the Lagos roads, so if its substandard, Lagosians should be able to tell not you who may have seen only its pictures online.

gmolen: Nice post Phipex my man. The 3 weeks orientatn camp is now making our youths worse off rather than be reformed. Many guys spend mst of their time drinkng at mami, while odas hunt 4 girls 2 sleep wit. During my time in camp, pple were caught in d sex act, maried ladies inclusive. There is an urgent need 2 make the youth camp an orientatn camp indeed.

Where has thou been? 9c to meet you here

Maxymilliano: @ Poster, endeavoqv to this send this to myviews@Punchng.com or views@thenationonlineng.net. It will get published in the aforementioned dailies but include your name and address

I would have loved to do that but NYSC byelaw forbids Corpers from talking to the press

fleps: Sharrap there! U dan serve at all? If u dan serve, u dan finish? If u neva finish, you b batch A, 2012 wia just enta 4 March? Therefore sharap x10!

Mehhhn, dis guy dey vex o,see analysis

Alumnus: Thats a true talk but will they listen? Very soon our Lawmakers will set up a probe panel to probe NYSC officials cos thats their new style Great opportunities being wasted for lack of vision. The camps are called orientation camps but the youths now go there to have fun.

texazzpete: 2face Idibia?!

My mind tell me say this name go bring wahala but I no listen, abeg pardon me

I pray this gets to the front page but if it doesn't am sure someone will read this. Ordinarily, this should be in the Education section but I believe its better here(politics section) since I consider it a policy oriented issue. This is not a call for the abolition of NYSC but a call to optimise the inherent opportunities it affords. I have been to the NYSC orientation camp and I can say that beyond the fun in it which most of us had, the programme is a failure in term of what I and some other people thought it should be.

The NYSC to the best of my understanding is the largest gathering of the Nigerian youths under a single umbrella (over 50,000 youths)every 4 months of the year for about 21days. Even though the programme itself is meant to be a time to serve ones Fatherland but am curious as to why such a golden opportunity of having young men and women who will take control of the nation's leadership in the nearest future be wasted in term of creating a new culture and orientation in them. For those who have seen the program of event, the only aspect that is novel to the youths is usually the Military drills and parade, the rest are thesame things we the young graduates have come across in our days as an undergraduate. But for the presence of the militarymen around, most youth corpers prefer to loiter while in camp because there is nothing new in the program. The consequences are usually the urgly stories that come out of the camps because most corpers are either bored or prefer to exert their energy elsewhere.

I recognise that the NYSC leadership has just introduced skill acquisition opportunities in the program this year but that is not enough, it is also not enough to call professional bodies for us to join. The Nation is currently in crisis and most of the actors are youths some of them went through these orientation camps, will it not be proper to fashion out a more educative and change of behaviour oriented programs that will ensure that when these youths leave camp after 21days, they will become morally oriented to help confront the society challenges?
1. Will it be out of place to invite successful men and captains of industries in the country to the Youth camps to help inspire the youths to aspire to greater heights?

2.What will it look like to see the likes of Wale Soyinkas, Chimamandas, 2face and very many other "idols" get closer to the young graduates and help in correcting our mentality of getting rich quick at any cost or taking to violence at the slightest provocation?

3.Is it impossible to make the NYSC orientation camps look like a mini national confab where intellectual youths could offer their opinions and ideas for the progress of the country?

4.Where is the place of the National Orientation Agency in NYSC?

Our leaders past have all squandered the opportunity to use our enormous material resources for Nigeria's good, if the present complement them by wasting this great opportunities to change the mindset of the youths being the country's human resources then by the long awaited 20'2020, when we would have taken control of the leadership of the country, Nigeria could be a pariah in the world. This is because, there may never be another opportunity to gather the youths together again in the manner of NYSC till they become leaders of the country.

I hope whoever knows the people responsible for planning the NYSC program of event will do something about this. Opinions are also solicited here to help the Corpers get better.

You can't compare the two cos they serve different purposes. I only know about 3 persons who are Nairalanders in person while I know 95% of my friends on facebook in person. In term of education, I am more educated on NL than FB.

inene: WE MUST LEARN TO RESPECT THE VIEWS OF PEOPLE. THIS IS SOMEONE'S DEFINITION OF MR RIGHT. SHE DIDNT SAY EVERYBODY MUST DEFINE MR RIGHT IN HER TERMS. EVRYBODY HAS AN INALIENABLE RIGHT TO CHOOSE HIS MR RIGHT ACCORDING TO HER BELIEF. THIS IS HER VIEW AND SHE IS ENTITLED TO IT. ITS USELESS SAYING THAT SHE WILL NEVER MARRY BECAUSE OF THE CHOICE SHE HAS MADE BECAUSE ITS HER RIGHT. WHETHER SHE REMAINS SINGLE AS A RESULT OF HER CHOICE IS HER BUSINESS. SOMEONE MAY DEFINE HER MR RIGHT AS A MAN WHO MUST HAVE A COMPANY OF HIS OWN, HAVE TWENTY CARS ETC ETC. WHAT IS IMPORTANT IS THAT EVERYONE MAKES A CHOICE AND LIVES WITH THE CHOICE.

I agree that its her choice but let her also remember that it was her choice when she clocks 40 and still in search of Mr Right. I checked the list and didn't find a place for love so whoever agrees with her also believes that all they need to get married is to meet a moneybag; its now LOVE FOR SALE. Its her choice but let her remember not to start disturbing our pastors for prayers or start accusing one old woman in her village of being responsible for being a life-spinster at 50.

Dede1: Is this thread considered news? According to my record, NRC has been hauling fuel and crude oil to northern region since 1960s. It appears most Nigerians are disappointedly behind the curve.

Guy where did your own report come from?

PHIPEX: Fuel haulage is not new to NRC. It was part of its operations until the 1980s when its track became too weak and the wagons became obsolete with many of its locomotives and other rolling stock grounded.

A statement by the Public Relations Officer, NRC, Mr. Segun Esan, said the new pressurised light tank wagons were superior to the previous wagons in the fleet of the corporation, adding that “they are of low cost in maintenance and operation.”

eledalo: blah blah blah.
Tell me when they have started it.

Its better to give them the benefit of doubt until July.

Am surprised that this topic is not on the front page yet.

I can't wait to see the port become operational.

I believe this news should be a relief to road users.


Indication emerged on Wednesday that the Nigerian Railway Corporation would commence fuel haulage to the North and some parts of the South East in July.

The Managing Director of the corporation, Mr. Adeseyi Sijuwade, gave the hint in a telephone interview with our correspondent.

The move is expected to improve fuel distribution across the country and reduce the rate of accidents on the roads caused by tanker drivers.

Thorn Engineering of China recently delivered to the corporation 20 pressurised tank wagons to facilitate the movement of petroleum products.

The tank wagons were handed over to the Minister of Transport, Senator Idris Umar, at a brief ceremony at the Apapa Port, Lagos.

Sijuwade said a major hindrance to fuel haulage was the poor state of Akere Bridge in Niger State, which had prevented train movement to the North.

He, however, said that the reconstruction of the bridge would be completed next month to pave the way for fuel haulage and resumption of the Lagos-Kano train operation.

Some tank farm operators in Lagos may have also shown interest in fuel haulage by train as the NRC plans to rehabilitate railway sidings to a number of the companies at Apapa.

“We plan to complete Akere next month and rehabilitate railway sidings to some tank farms, after which fuel haulage can begin,” Sijuwade said.

The corporation had last year commenced a weekly haulage of cement for Lafarge Wapco Cement Company from its Ewekoro, Ogun State plant to Ilorin, Kwara State, following the completion of rail track rehabilitation from Lagos to Jebba.

Fuel haulage is not new to NRC. It was part of its operations until the 1980s when its track became too weak and the wagons became obsolete with many of its locomotives and other rolling stock grounded.

A statement by the Public Relations Officer, NRC, Mr. Segun Esan, said the new pressurised light tank wagons were superior to the previous wagons in the fleet of the corporation, adding that “they are of low cost in maintenance and operation.”

The statement added, “Oil marketers and other domestic users will like to take advantage of these benefits in both operation and business dealings. Once the goods have been loaded correctly at the origin, they can go to sleep and expect their goods at the destination in good time.”


http://www.punchng.com/business/business-economy/nrc-to-commence-fuel-haulage-in-july/


What is your take?

I have personally forgiven Gowon but if he wants the forgiveness of the Igbo nation, he should stop making these conditional appologies. It's annoying whenever I read this statement that was credited to his war General yet he did nothing about it and here he is blaming Ojukwu.

“I want see no Red Cross, no Caritas, no World Council of Churches, no pope, no missionary, and no United Nations Delegation. I want to prevent even one Igbo from having even one piece to eat before their capitulation. We shoot at everything that moves and when our troops march into the center of Igbo territory, we shoot at everything even a things that don’t move”—Benjamin Adekunle

In comparism, here is a letter from Abraham Lincoln to General Rosecrans, commander of the Army of the Southwest,concerned the proposed execution of a confederate officer; "I have examined personally all the papers in the Lyons case, and I see that it is a matter for executive interference. So I turn it over to you with full confidence that you will do what is just and right; only begging you, my dear General, to do nothing in reprisal for the past- only what is necessary to ensure security for the future and remind you that we are not fighting against a foreign foe, but our brothers, and that our aim is not to break their spirit but only to bring back their old allegiance. Conquer by kindness- let that be our policy. Very truely yours, Abraham Lincoln."

We can now see why Gowon can never be a hero even though he won the war.

I'v learnt not to be too quick to condemn another man's servant except if I have enough evidence against him. As it stands now, I don't think any of us have any tangible evidence to criticise TB Joshua except the fact that his mode of operation is different from the traditional Orthodox and Pentecostal style. As Paul said in Phillipians 1:18, whether TB Joshua is preaching wt an evil motive or not one thing certain is that Christ is being preached. Until I find something incriminating against him, I'v not really listened to him preach so I leave God to be the judge.

Nairaland and sensational news, go to the sections and see reasonable topics begging for homepage appearance and most of them die a natural death. But one sensational topic will make front page appearance with just 5 comments.

If the guy is guilty, let him face his crime I don't care if he is a pastor or a native doctor otherwise he is an attorney so he should know how to defend himself.

[quote author=free_soul]someone says he is not a thief, but everytime he passed by, something disappears!
why is it only fulani involved in all these troubles all over nigeria?
fulani vs hausa
fulani vs berom
fulani vs yoruba
fulani vs tiv

why only fulani? [/quote]Am speechless, but all these seem so normal to me these days. My psychology is gradually being twisted by violent reports, Lord help me.

supremebeing09: I'm glad you found that insightful. The question is not who leads the Nigerian Muslims but WHO is actually leading Nigeria? We have no leadership. Leadership is not just about having a "leader" or someone who "leads by example". Leadership means the ability to utilise one's authority for the benefit of the people. Once the people benefit from good leadership, they may be able to emulate that aspect of leadership portrayed by the role model. Do we have leaders we can call role models today? They are puppets ("ANIMAL DEY WEAR AGBADA - FELA KUTI). That says it all. There is no charisma or an aura of authority portrayed by our leaders. Even so, many people have failed to benefit from the sociological and psychological benefits of effective leadership. Thus, the issue of leadership remains an issue in Nigeria.

Whether Muslims or Christians or even pagans, we need a central hub of leadership. ONE leader and one style of leadership. Alternatively, we could benefit from different levels of leadership, either traditional, religious or government/legislative leadership. But the benefits of the latter have a big impact on the other two forms of leadership. Unless the government steps up and portrays a sense of leadership, there will be no one other leaders can look up to. Not that they cannot lead their people without the government's portrayal of leadership. Instead, due to a lack of motivation, there will be inefficiencies in the leadership style(s) exhibited by local, traditional and religious leaders. After all, people strive to follow standards set by their leaders. Without this, leadership does not necessarily translate to effective leadership. There is a big difference between the two.

It is an open secret that Nigeria's problem is that of Leadership but it will be very ambiguous if we end it at that, we need to be specific. The implication of that popular statement is that every Nigerian who is in one leadership position or the other is guilty. The failures of the Leaders of the Niger-Deltans for instance to use the oil wealth for the benefit of their own people can not be blamed on the Leaders from the North. It also implies that the inability of the Moslem Clerics and other Northern Leaders to call their Sheep to order can not be blamed completely on the inability of the FG to use its security apparatus to quell this terrorists. Every leader should be answerable for the actions and the inactions of his followers. If we know that our leaders have failed us it will do us much good not to allow our immediate leaders go scot-free while we point an accusing finger at the Leader far away. I believe that regardless of the breakdown in the Caliphate institution, the Northern Moslems will give a much more listening ear to their Moslem leaders than they will to the President especially a President who they see as an infidel. The best the FG can do is to use force and Military might but we know that these leaders have the previlege of dialoguing with their people.

supremebeing09: Well said. Gone are the days of the Caliphate having an influence on the Northern people in general. Let's not forget how old these Caliphates are and their history. They have always maintained peace and order, or at least tried to. They always had responsibilities. But with the military interventions and the relocation of the nation's vast resources to other parts of the country (the Crude Oil Caliphate indeed), coupled with what we call "dem-all-crazy" in Nigeria today, the Caliphates' responsibilities have continued to diminish by the day since time. The marginalisation of the North from the nation's wealth does not make issues any better either. So everything feels like a food chain at the moment. It's a "man vs. man" world we live in today.

The issue of power and influence continues to destabilize Nigeria. Sometimes I listen to Fela Kuti and his political messages and he couldn't have been any more precise - except things are happening from a different direction but with striking similarities.

I sometimes feel very restricted talking on Nairaland. I know a few who would pick on my references when I mention places. I just thought I should mention I studied in Zaria for 6 years and even then the Caliphates (The Emirs and the traditional rulers) had a massive influence on the Northern citizens. Even, there were elements of corporation between the military rulers and the Caliphates because of their shared norms and values and also the concentration of power in the North. Christians were also well-respected, having lived in the North as a Christian. The local economies were doing very well, Zaria being a city of local entreprenuers and traders (both Ibos and Hausas). I must say Zaria/Kaduna was beautiful then. Bring on 10 years later and everything is a mess. Scary how things change in so little time, considering how young Nigeria still is since gaining independence.

The demise of the Caliphates lies in the mismanagement of both governance and the economy. I believe the move from military dictatorship to democracy happened in such a way we Nigerians could not have anticipated the aftermath of seeking democracy. Not that I'm anti-democratic. All I'm saying is the transition phase may have happened too fast without much analysis given to the consequences ahead. We just wanted DEMOCRACY! It's a shame the notion of democracy continues to divide the country even further. This in turn has led to conflicts of interest and I'm sure the Caliphates were not above that. Therefore, the Caliphates' responsibilities as a body are things of the past. Unless we seek to address the issues in the North, the Caliphates will continue to fade into the background.

The main issue will continue to be Boko Haram. If the Caliphates were in a position to dialogue with Boko Haram, I'm sure they would have done so. But BH does not recognise any sort of authority and even do no recognise some, if not most, of the caliphates. God knows what they think of the President! I believe some sort of dialogue is necessary. It does not matter how is it brought about. But then, what do we REALLY know about BH? Surely, this is more complicated than a man trying to replicate his mum's Sunday recipe! TOUGH! With the mismanagement of government, we will continue to wait and see what will be unveiled to the nation. Perhaps they may just make the North an entirely different nation. But even so, there still will be a massive power struggle - That depends on BH laying down their arms. If not, there could be CHAOS!!! The fact that we allowed the Shari'a law in some state gives BH the scope they could impose Islamic laws on the nation. In order words, we are paying for perhaps some of the inappropriate decisions ever made in Nigeria (my opinion). Furthermore, the marginalisation of the North presents more problems because of the economic consequences we have inherited. I guess you could relate this to the Oil Caliphate!

The Caliphates have been failed by the nation. They still continue to fail each other, thus failing the nation. But the issue will always lie with the mismanagement of the country. Sometimes I wish I could turn back the hands of time... Boy! We would have been able to see a lot! But better late than never, they say. So it's never too late to fix the issues we face in Nigeria. The Presidents should put politicking aside and restore the integrity of the nation. The sooner the better.

Waw, this ur article is very insightful, I'v learnt a lot. Another ancient institution and tradition has collapsed. The question then is who leads Nigerian Moslems? Am sure there must be a leader somewhere whose voice is respected by all this is because a religion without a leader is worse than a time bomb. The blame for inactivity should not be that of GEJ alone but also of whoever Leads the Moslem community in this country who has failed to exercise his moral responsibility to the nation in times like this.

eGuerrilla: @PIPEX,
Your question prompted a review of the 'West African Senior School Certification Examination History Syllabus' (http://toscanyacademy.com/download-center.php?page=15) and here is what I found.



Is the Caliphate still as relevant as it once was? The short answer is 'no'.
Successive military regimes left their imprint on every institution in Nigeria, and the Sokoto Caliphate got emasculated along the way like so many others.

Does it make my conjectures right? Because if it does then it means that the Caliphate institution has become a mere figurehead.

Most of us may find this topic sensitive but I hold the opinion that BH may remain with us as long as this institution remains silent

While in Secondary school, we were taught that the Sokoto Caliphate is the highest spiritual head of Moslems in Nigeria. This Boko haram terrorism has however made me to question the relevance of this institution. I want to know why the Sultan of Sokoto who is also the President-General, Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs has not been able to call his subjects to order. How come the Imams that teach these deadly doctrines of Jihad have not been contained by the Caliphate? Has the Caliphate lost its relevance to the point where fellow moslems (Boko Haram) will even threaten to bomb it?

I can't imagine a situation where a radical Rev Father will threaten to bomb the Vatican city in an attempt to protect the Catholic Faith or a situation where Pastor Adeboye or Chris will become handicapped in calling their congregations to order. All we keep hearing from such a supposed authority is a reactionary statements such as "We condemn this act of violence and pray God to give the victims' families the fortitude to bear this great loss".

I ask again, has the Sokoto Caliphate lost the control over Nigerian Moslems?

Am tempted to say that Nigeria has the kind of leaders it deserves. Go through the posts so far and u'll wonder if the DNA of an average Nigerian has been altered to think of nothing but material theft. There are several Nigerians who live a peaceful life even if they are poor while many so called "smart" criminals die violent deaths with no plausible explanations. Imagine if the owner of that wallet travelled to Nigeria hoping on the content of that missing wallet?

Whatever anyman sows he'll surely reap, u can't mock God.

I wonder if the court will exonerate him simply because he said someone in his department wrote the speech for him afterall, he didn't inform the people he was speaking to that the speech he was reading was not his'. Whenever the president comes out to read a speech to us we don't care who wrote it for him, all we know is that " the President said". I wonder if people defending SLS would'v done same if Jonathan was the one involved. He takes the glory for his speeches so I don't care if somebody else wrote this one for him afterall he wouldn't have told us if this was to be a compliment.