Those Who Live By The Sword

The popular saying ‘Those who live by the sword will die by the sword’ is often repeated whenever someone of violent notoriety bites the dust through equally violent means. Many people, however, do not know the religious origins of this proverb.

In the Canonical Gospel of Matthew, it is recorded that Jesus admonished his disciple (reputed to be Peter) to put his sword back in its sheath. “Put your sword back in its place," Jesus said to him, "for all who draw the sword will die by the sword.” Peter had in a rash moment pulled out his sword and sliced off the ear of one of the high priest’s servants who had come to arrest Jesus. Probably in his bid to save the disciples from the angry response of the hostile gang, Jesus admonished his followers and also performed a miracle there and then – he returned the man’s ear to his head and it promptly attached itself to its original position as if nothing had happened.

However, not many commentators speak about what Jesus said after admonishing Peter to put away his sword. To quote Matthew, Jesus said “Don’t you realize that I could ask my Father for thousands of angels to protect us, and he would send them instantly? But if I did, how would the Scriptures be fulfilled that describe what must happen now?” I believe that the import of this statement is that we humans should leave God’s battles for him to fight, and that he is able to do this. In matters concerning faith and religion, men engage in wars and violence to their peril, with no effect whatsoever on the fate of the particular religious beliefs over which blood is shed.

The news that after over ten years of relentless search and pursuit, the world’s most notorious religious terrorist Osama Bin Laden was finally located and killed in a bloody attack by American soldiers confirm the prophecy about those who use the sword dying by it.

For those who may not be well informed about Osama Bin Laden’s bloody antecedents, let me provide a quick update.

Bin Laden was the founder and leader of Al-Qaeda organisation which believed in the supremacy of the Islamic Sharia system of government. Al-Qaeda was basically an organized Islamic faction whose main goal was to lift the word of Allah, to make his religion victorious. In essence, Bin Laden’s ambition was to fight Allah’s wars for him.

Bin Laden believed that civilians including women and children were legitimate targets for their world-wide Islamic jihadist movement. He masterminded several mass-casualty terrorist attacks against civilian and military targets. Let me name a few.

Bin Laden was responsible for the September 11 attacks on America in 2001 which led to the deaths of over 3,000 defenseless civilians as well as the 19 Al-Qaeda terrorists who hijacked the passenger planes used as weapons of mass destruction in the horrendous attack. But Bin Laden’s bloody jihad did not start with 9/11.

In December 1992, his terrorist agents bombed a hotel in Yemen in which two people were killed. In his twisted religious logic, the killing of anyone standing near an enemy was justified because such innocent bystanders would get their just rewards – good Muslims going to heaven and all others to hell.

Bin Laden provided financial and military assistance for the 1992/1993 Islamic uprising in Algeria which killed over 200,000 people.

Bin Laden sponsored the horrific September 1997 Luxor massacre in Egypt which killed 62 people. Six terrorists armed with automatic weapons and disguised as members of the security forces descended on the Temple of Hatshepsut. With tourists trapped inside the building, the killings went on for more than 45 minutes. Many bodies, including those of a 5-year old British child and four Japanese honeymooning couples were mutilated with machetes.

Bin Laden sent terrorists to help the Taliban kill nearly 6,000 Hazara residents in Afghanistan.

Africans were not left out of Bin Laden’s bloody harvest of souls for the devil. In a series of attacks on United States embassies in Tanzania and Kenya, several hundreds of people were killed. Luckily, the terrorist bomb for Uganda was detected and foiled before its arrival at the targeted embassy.

The list is endless. Literally hundreds of thousands of innocent people were murdered and sent to their early graves by this notorious terrorist. It was indeed a grim and bloody harvest by this man who many considered to be the devil himself on earth.

My equally great concern over Bin Laden’s terrorist activities is related to his effect on our own nation. Nigeria as a multi-ethnic and multi-religious nation had, prior to Bin Laden’s nefarious and misguided jihad, managed to live together in relative peace. Many of us can recall with nostalgia the 60s and 70s when Muslims and Christians worshipped in nearby locations without any qualms. Muslims celebrated Christmas along with their Christian neighbours, and Christians enjoyed Sallah celebrations along with their Muslim neighbours. Now all of this has evaporated, due to the evil influence of Osama Bin Laden and his copy-cat followers in this country. Nigeria is now home to Islamic terrorism of the type Bin Laden founded and funded. It is believed that all the recent bomb attacks in Abuja, Jos, Minna, Kaduna, Bauchi, Maiduguri, Gombe and other towns can be traced directly to Osama Bin Laden’s Al-Qaeda.

Mark Twain was reputed to have said that he had never wished any man dead, but that there were some obituaries he would read with pleasure. I felt exactly the same way when I heard the news about Osama Bin Laden’s death. Too many people have been killed and maimed due to this man’s misguided mission to fight this senseless war. It was time for him to also die by the same violent means by which he had inflicted terror on innocent bystanders as well as his ill defined enemies of Islam.

My hope for us in Nigeria is that late Osama Bin Laden’s copy-cat followers will learn the futility of his actions from this news of his death. It is time for us to sheath our swords and learn to live with each other. Nigerian Christians can learn to respect Muslims and people of other faiths. Nigerian Muslims can also learn to respect Christians and people of other faiths. We can live together in harmony and build a nation where all peoples can live and practice their chosen faith without fear or favour. If we chose the path of the sword, we will also die by the sword. A word is enough for the wise.

Urgent Steps Needed To Save Our Educational System

The crisis in Nigeria’s educational sector has now assumed a very worrisome dimension. The governments that will be sworn into office this May must tackle the issue head-on to avoid the catastrophic consequences that may soon engulf the whole nation.
Writing on our lack of reading culture in this column early this year, I lamented that our students go through primary and secondary schools without learning to read books and magazines for pleasure and education. They eventually graduate from universities, having learnt only how to cram notes to pass exams. Without reading widely, poor written and spoken English has now become the order of the day. Many of our graduates have limited vision and horizon. The simple joys of reading and the great benefits derived from this pleasurable activity are lost to this generation of Nigerians.
The recent revelation by the National Examination Council (NECO) that 80 percent of all the secondary school students who sat for its examination failed in English Language confirms my worst fears. This means that only 20 percent of the 256,827 candidates who sat for the examination obtained credit passes in this core subject which qualifies them for admission into our tertiary institutions of learning. The figures for Mathematics reached crisis dimensions long before this. As a consequence, the credit pass requirement in Mathematics for admission to Universities which was the rule a few decades ago appears to have been quietly dropped. Many students with the dreaded F9 in Mathematics can be found on our campuses reading various courses at both undergraduate and post-graduate levels. The English Language credit pass requirement may soon follow this path. Students who are illiterate in both Mathematics and English will soon flood our universities and compound the problems bedeviling these institutions. Already, graduates from our Universities are no longer accepted for foreign jobs and postgraduate studies unless they pass through rigorous pre-screening and retraining designed to weed out the chaff we are churning out with worthless degrees and diplomas.
It is obvious that a state of emergency already exists in our primary and secondary institutions nationwide. Our political leaders who are currently canvassing for votes to enable them occupy key executive and legislative offices nationwide must recognize the emergency in this educational sector in order to face the issues with the seriousness and dedication required.
At the tertiary level of education in Nigeria, the situation is equally disturbing. Standards have fallen badly. Many of our graduates are nothing better than licensed illiterates in their chosen disciplines. Their knowledge base is grossly inadequate. Their ability to communicate and apply their years of educational training to their jobs is also highly limited. If you read a sample of what our university students write in their examinations, you will weep for Nigeria.
The National Universities Commission (NUC) which was established in 1962 as an advisory agency in the Cabinet Office is now a full-fledged parastatal under the Federal Ministry of Education. In nearly 50 years of its existence, the NUC successfully transformed from a small office in the cabinet office to an important arm of government in the area of development and management of university education in Nigeria. Why is it now failing to address the serious challenges facing university education in Nigeria?
It is time to look candidly at the NUC in order to critically review its role. The Commission is charged with four main functions. These include (i) granting approval for the establishment of all higher educational institutions offering degree programmes; (ii) granting approval for all academic programmes run in Nigerian universities; (iii) ensuring quality assurance of all academic programmes offered in Nigerian universities; (iv) handling all external support to the Nigerian universities. However, only two out of NUC’s eight departments appear to have been set up to specifically tackle the first three critical functions of the commission. This may mean that the NUC is not committing sufficient of its human and financial resources towards fulfilling its key function. New universities are being licensed which may not have the requisite manpower, infrastructural and financial strength to run degree courses. At the same time, approved academic programmes are not being adequately monitored for proper accreditation.
My candid view is that only strict monitoring and accreditation of courses using internationally accepted standards will force our numerous universities to work towards improving the quality standards of our graduates. All over Nigeria, it is the normal experience that proprietors of Universities and other tertiary institutions release grants for infrastructural development and recruitment in these institutions only when accreditation visits are imminent. Halls are hurriedly refurbished, temporary libraries and laboratories are quickly set up and qualified lecturers are ‘recruited’ or ‘drafted’ on board in a frenzied bid to ensure accreditation. As soon as the exercise is over, things promptly revert to status quo ante and these institutions coast along for another three to four years before the next round of accreditation wakes them up.
I believe that a reformed NUC with more stringent and far-reaching accreditation focus will ensure that these universities remain consistently awake to their responsibilities related to maintaining high academic standards. If necessary, a separate body should be set up to handle accreditation and quality standards in higher education. For greater effectiveness, the modus operandi of this new agency must differ from the current practice whereby selected university professors are the ones that are called upon by NUC to visit and accredit courses in institutions other than where they are employed. Those who are closest to the problem may lack the capacity to truly gauge its enormity. There is also a certain amount of myopia that will work to prevent university professors working in isolation to accredit their own or their colleagues’ courses effectively. Employers of labour in the private and public sectors as well as professional associations must be adequately represented when accreditation panels are set up. In addition, on-the-spot theoretical and practical skills evaluation of both students and lecturers must be incorporated into accreditation exercises to make them meaningful. If students are found wanting, their programmes should be denied accreditation immediately and their departments closed. Lecturers found wanting should be given ultimatum to update their knowledge and skills base within a time frame or quit the job.
The message should be made clear. The kind of reform needed in the educational sector is not the type which concerns itself with whether Nigeria should stick to the 6-3-3-4 system or revert to the previous 7-5-2-3 of old. Rather, we must focus attention on really substantial reforms that will ensure a return to the reading and teaching culture that will ensure that pupils are adequately prepared and armed with the English language and mathematical skills required to face the challenges of a truly demanding tertiary level education curriculum. There is really nothing wrong with the current 6-3-3-4 system. What we need are substantive changes that will make the system work.

Winners and Losers in Nigeria's April 2011 Elections

The Nigerian 2011 general elections may have come and gone, but its effects will remain with us for a long time. Many winners have emerged and will be sworn into office on May 29 to oversee the affairs of this nation for the next four years. Losers also emerged, and some will definitely be heading to the tribunals and courts in their bid to turn their electoral losses into victories. But I am more concerned today with those who apparently won but actually lost, and those who lost but in reality won. The effects of their losses and victories will remain with us for much longer.

Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) – In my view, INEC’s Professor Attahiru Muhammadu Jega is by far the biggest winner in this election. I must confess that my initial skepticism over INEC’s preparedness for these elections was based on a complete misreading of the Chairman’s dogged determination to conduct as free and fair an election as was possible in this country. In my first write up on Jega’s INEC, I seriously lampooned the commission over the voters registration exercise. I was particularly miffed by his stubborn insistence on using those Direct Data Capturing Machines which proved so frustrating to many Nigerians at the beginning of the exercise. In my second write up on INEC, I literally crucified Jega for the cancellation and postponement of the National Assembly elections after voting had already started in some states. I was not the only livid commentator who called for Jega’s head in response to his bungling of the logistic arrangements for the elections.

Thank God, Jega’s tenacity and single-mindedness finally paid off for all of us. My heart has warmed up to this man who resolutely insisted on his modified open ballot system, as well as the open and transparent counting, collation and announcement of results which gave us the first really free and fair election in our checkered history. There are many powerful Nigerians who lost at the polls because Jega refused to compromise INECs integrity as used to be the case in the past. Both external and internal observers were full of commendations for INEC’s handling of the electoral process. I was particularly impressed by Jega’s refusal to bend in spite of the intimidation of CPCs Muhammadu Buhari, his fellow northerner. Watching this patriot announce and pronounce Goodluck Jonathan as the president-elect of Nigeria in spite of the then on-going mayhem unleashed by Buhari’s supporters in some northern states was to me the greatest testimony that Nigeria’s continued unity is indeed a reality. Believe me, one equivocation at that point in our history by INEC would have plunged us into a bloody civil war – and that was what Buhari’s rag-tag army of supporters wanted to achieve.

Professor Attahiru Jega must be given a national honour in recognition of his performance. You will notice that I did not say he should be given the highest national honour – I am reserving that for 2015. He must be convinced to stay on to fine-tune INEC strategies for the next elections.

Rtd. General Obasanjo – Yes, the former President is my candidate for the biggest loser in this election. If this retired general is not yet tired of meddling, this election must be a clear signal to him that we are all tired of him. He tried his worst to foist his daughter on his people despite her disreputable record in the Senate. The voters gave their verdict. His party received the worst trouncing in the South West, losing completely to the ACN at all the elections held. General, please, go and rest. Nigeria can manage itself without your meddling.

President Goodluck Jonathan – The biggest political office winner in this election was President Goodluck Jonathan. It is quite usual in a democratic system for those who come into the highest office in the land due to the demise of their predecessors rather than through the ballot box to feel inadequate and unsure of the legacies they will leave behind. The odds were firmly against a Jonathan bid for the presidency, especially in view of the PDP’s zoning formula and the formidable opposition from the core northern part of the country. I salute the man’s courage to stand and fight for his dreams. It was not the PDP that won the elections for him, Nigerians voted for the man because he stood for what was right. The south stood by him, in spite of the fact that he was not from the two largest ethnic groups. The middle belt states of the north stood by him because of their long suffering and frustration with the core north’s selfish ethnic politics which they always thinly veiled under Islamist pretensions. Some core northern politicians stood by him because they could see that to deny the presidency to a son of the oil-producing area of Nigeria would be pure economic suicide for the north. In the end, Jonathan won big. But he must never forget those who stood by him. Those of us in the middle belt who formed the bulk of support for his presidential bid must not be left out of the equation when it comes to sharing political offices. Mr. President, sir, those who vehemently fought against your bid to be elected president are the same ones that will swamp you with demands for juicy ministerial appointments. Do not forget those who stood by you.

Professor Dora Akunyili – A big loser, not just in her senatorial bid. One wonders why a woman who built a solid international reputation as the no-nonsense Director-General of NAFDAC who brought sanity into food and drug administration in Nigeria, and who was in the process of building another sound reputation as the nation’s Minister of Information and Communication, should listen to the voice of unreason. She vacated her office and joined an opposition party just to be able to seek election to the Senate. To make matters worse for her, when she lost the first election amidst accusations of corruption and inducement of electoral officers, she refused to concede victory, forcing the first re-run in the 2011 elections. Of course, she lost the re-run again to the indefatigable Dr Chris Ngige.

Honourable Oladimeji Bankole – The Speaker of the House Representatives lost his re-election bid to return to the house. He was, indeed a controversial speaker – proud in his mien, youthfully cocky in his speech, and probably guilty of the corruption some of his colleagues in the house dared to accuse him of – they were thoroughly beaten and barred from the house for a while for their efforts. But in his electoral loss, Bankole has emerged a winner of sorts. His prompt admission of defeat at the polls as well as congratulatory message to the winner warmed my heart to him. There must be some good in this young man, after all! I know we will hear from him again. My hope is that the true statesman in him will come to the surface when a more mature Bankole emerges again on the national political firmament.

Finally, my own Governor, Danbaba Danfulani Suntai. You are a winner, through and through. Without much fuss, you quietly and steadfastly went about your campaign. Many of us believed in you and said so, in spite of pressures from your detractors. Thank God for granting you victory. You must now remain focused and continue to work relentlessly for the progress of Taraba State.