Nigeria 2013-2017

[ganulv]

US is a settler nation (like Australia) that resulted from the elimination of indigenous cultures and the imposition of a dominant settler culture.

Managing diversity in the US is about tinkering around the edges of the dominant settler culture to make allowances for new entrants. In Nigeria (& most of Africa) there is no dominant culture - so US style diversity WILL NOT work here.

That’s an interesting take, and it might be the way things work out. There has certainly been a growing backlash against it post-Obama, though.

This may seem flippant, but a friend of mine was trying to figure out what was going on with the costumes of the Miss Universe contestants this past weekend. Several of the Western nations seemed to be using the event to demonstrate their commitment to their variation on diversity. (Some of the get-ups, including that of Miss USA, do just look kind of silly.) How does Miss Nigeria read to Nigerians?

[KingJaja]

Bill Moore,

We have been dealing with this issue from the beginning and continue to do so today. Many Europeans are surprised at the level of influence religion has on our society. In general these are not violent contests, but arguments contested in court. What seems to be changing is the strength of the far left and their political correctness movement which is similar to Mao's Reformation minus the millions killed, who are attempting to dictate through law what people can say, read, and think. In turn this is spawning a revival of the far right, and unfortunately the middle is disappearing. This seems to be happening throughout much of the West, so we're seeing a growing divide between the far left and right now that could result in considerable violence if we lose touch with our core accepted values that define us. Again we're not Nigeria, but we're not immune to these problems.

Let me explain the Nigerian situation to you in a bit more detail.

A large part of Northern Nigeria is a remnant from the Kanem-Bornu Empire & the Sokoto Caliphate - two of the most prominent Islamic kingdoms in The Sudan.

The British made no attempt to separate religion from governance (although some aspects of Shari'a like amputation were forbidden). But try as they might, nobody could prevent the spread of (Evangelical) Christianity to those parts of Nigeria.

So in Northern Nigeria, you have a situation where there is state government funded religious police (Hisbah), the state discourages the construction of Churches & discourages the spread of Christianity - but promotes the spread of Islam; by building Mosques.

This is a recipe for a DISASTER - and this has no parallel in the United States or the Modern Western World.

Imagine the problems Britain is facing with its growing Islamic Minority (and calls for Shari'a law) - now imagine if Britain had to deal with Evangelical Christianity in addition to Fundamentalist Islam - & poverty & illiteracy?

[KingJaja]

ganulv,

Nigeria's Muslim community dislikes beauty contest. In fact, the bloodiest riot in response to a beauty contest happened in Nigeria in 2002.

About 200 people were killed during those riots. (Many Christians)

So even among the Christian population, beauty contests might leave a bitter taste.

Quite simply, very few people in Nigeria bother about beauty contests.

[KingJaja]

So Boko Haram has finally been designated as a "foreign terrorist organization" (after all the politics has been played in DC and Obama can no long sit on the fence on this issue).

But please, what does this mean in practice?

[KingJaja]

Interesting read - not the usual Western analyst's understanding of this issue:

A decade ago I visited a Nigerian community devastated by flooding. The US and
Nigerian governments built 400 free houses for them. When I went to the houses, I saw northern children wearing Osama bin Laden hats. What was shocking to me is that US diplomats are aware of the intense anti-American sentiments in northern Nigeria but somehow the US misrepresents this as being “local”.

http://docs.house.gov/meetings/FA/FA...E-20131113.pdf

[Bill Moore]

So Boko Haram has finally been designated as a "foreign terrorist organization" (after all the politics has been played in DC and Obama can no long sit on the fence on this issue).

But please, what does this mean in practice?

It depends on the group, I recall working in another country where Department of State was considering designating a group a FTO, and that particular FTO lobbied hard with State and Congressional members to avoid the designation because it hurt their substantial fund raising activities in the U.S.. Department of State finally designated them, and I have to assume it degraded that particular group. Will the world turn upside down for Boko Haram? Hardly, but like you said at least we are now mandated by law to take some action again them.

http://www.state.gov/j/ct/rls/other/des/123085.htm

Legal Ramifications of Designation

1. It is unlawful for a person in the United States or subject to the jurisdiction of the United States to knowingly provide "material support or resources" to a designated FTO. (The term "material support or resources" is defined in 18 U.S.C. § 2339A(b)(1) as " any property, tangible or intangible, or service, including currency or monetary instruments or financial securities, financial services, lodging, training, expert advice or assistance, safehouses, false documentation or identification, communications equipment, facilities, weapons, lethal substances, explosives, personnel (1 or more individuals who maybe or include oneself), and transportation, except medicine or religious materials.” 18 U.S.C. § 2339A(b)(2) provides that for these purposes “the term ‘training’ means instruction or teaching designed to impart a specific skill, as opposed to general knowledge.” 18 U.S.C. § 2339A(b)(3) further provides that for these purposes the term ‘expert advice or assistance’ means advice or assistance derived from scientific, technical or other specialized knowledge.’’

2. Representatives and members of a designated FTO, if they are aliens, are inadmissible to and, in certain circumstances, removable from the United States (see 8 U.S.C. §§ 1182 (a)(3)(B)(i)(IV)-(V), 1227 (a)(1)(A)).

3. Any U.S. financial institution that becomes aware that it has possession of or control over funds in which a designated FTO or its agent has an interest must retain possession of or control over the funds and report the funds to the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

[KingJaja]

Read this - now imagine the impact on Christian/Muslim relations.

(Reuters) - In the gloom of a hilltop cave in Nigeria where she was held captive, Hajja had a knife pressed to her throat by a man who gave her a choice - convert to Islam or die.

Two gunmen from Boko Haram had seized the Christian teenager in July as she picked corn near her village in the Gwoza hills, a remote part of northeastern Nigeria where a six-month-old government offensive is struggling to contain an insurgency by the al Qaeda-linked Islamist group.

In a new development, Boko Haram is abducting Christian women whom it converts to Islam on pain of death and then forces into "marriage" with fighters - a tactic that recalls Joseph Kony's Lord's Resistance Army in the jungles of Uganda.

The three months Hajja spent as the slave of a 14-strong guerrilla unit, cooking and cleaning for them before she escaped, give a rare glimpse into how the Islamists have changed tack in the face of Nigerian military pressure.

"I can't sleep when I think of being there," the 19-year-old told Reuters, recounting forced mountain marches, rebel intelligence gathering - and watching her captors slit the throats of prisoners Hajja had helped lure into a trap.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/...9AG04120131117

[KingJaja]

This is serious:

Suspected Boko Haram terrorists, Monday morning, attacked the Composite Group Air force Base and other places in Maiduguri, the Borno state capital.
The siege which started at about 3am shook the town as sporadic gunshots and other Rocket Propelled Grenade Launchers fire were heard, with ensuing airstrikes in Maiduguri and Jere metropolis till 8 am.
Sources said during the attacks on the Air force Base and other targets, including the Maiduguri International Airport, several people were killed as the terrorists, numbering over 300 planted explosives in targeted areas in the state capital.

- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/12/s....u5MU2HKG.dpuf