{"id":446863,"date":"2011-06-24T08:03:13","date_gmt":"2011-06-24T08:03:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/2011\/06\/24\/nigeria-ignorance-is-the-problem\/"},"modified":"2011-06-24T08:03:13","modified_gmt":"2011-06-24T08:03:13","slug":"nigeria-ignorance-is-the-problem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/06\/24\/nigeria-ignorance-is-the-problem\/","title":{"rendered":"Nigeria: Ignorance is the Problem"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Leadership<\/a> (Abuja)<\/p>\n

Abba Mahmood<\/p>\n

16 June 2011<\/p>\n

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column<\/p>\n

I went to Lagos very late last week and checked into the hotel nearest to the local airport. It has turned out to be most expensive hotel I have ever used in Nigeria and the worst in terms of services too. The door locks were not properly in place and the beddings were just not fit for such outrageous cost. It is almost similar to the hotel nearest to Kano airport; it is also very poor in outlook, quality and service.<\/p>\n

Why are we putting our worst at such critical points of entry in the two commercial centres of our country? Whoever is in charge of hotels in Nigeria should quickly think of how to establish, upgrade and maintain the highest standards and best quality for our hospitality industry if we are really serious about tourism and good living.<\/p>\n

That week, the issue on the front burner was the election of Hon. Aminu Tambuwal and Hon. Emeka Ihedioha as speaker and deputy speaker of the House of Representatives respectively by the House members in defiance of their party’s directive. The PDP had zoned the speakership to the southwest. By sheer coincidence, the deputy Senate president, the Reps’ deputy speaker and the secretary to the government of the federation are all from the south-east now, just as the acting chief of staff to the president and the national security adviser are from the same state as President Jonathan. So much for zoning. It must be made categorically, unequivocally and abundantly clear to all that zoning has been effectively buried. If anyone is interested in any position, just convince the rest and get there. Period! No one can pray to go to heaven but refuse to die. You cannot discard zoning in the presidency and expect zoning at other levels. We only hope for good governance from those in charge.<\/p>\n

Many of my beloved readers have been asking me to write on Boko Haram and, today, I will touch on that. It must be made clear that there is no group called Boko Haram. It is a tendency and a fringe group that exists in certain parts of the northern states. The members despise any form of modernization which they equate with corrupt westernization, hence the media-coined name Boko Haram: Boko in Hausa means western education and Haram is what is unlawful Islamically. They abhor western influences and their main targets are fellow Muslims who are part of the alleged corrupt system. The police subsequently became their target due to the fact that they are the law enforcement agents used by the government to contain them.<\/p>\n

In virtually every society, the world over, there are fringe groups. Just last May 21 in New York, there were demonstrations by members of some group who were insisting that the world would come to an end that day. What is not acceptable is when any group becomes violent or attacks any fellow human being. The Nigerian constitution allows freedom of religion and association. But that right does not include attacking others or encroaching on the rights of others to also live the way they want to.<\/p>\n

We have had all these religions and ethnic groups in existence here, but they never caused any problems. We have co-existed in harmony for decades and even centuries without rancour except occasional human misunderstandings. Why are these social elements causing violence and deaths now? It must be some recent unfortunate developments. Long period of suppressed injustices and the deprivation experienced by many as well as total ignorance by many citizens are at the root of all these cases of violence.<\/p>\n

Where there is diversity and parasitic political elite, there will always be politically motivated violence masquerading as ethnic or religious but in reality political and economic. A combination of mass poverty, crass ignorance and pervasive corruption is a poisonous brew that can always be ignited by unpatriotic elements among us. The permanent solution lies in mass education and enlightenment; job creation as well as justice and fairness to all. There should be a sense of belonging together with respect and recognition for all segments of the society.<\/p>\n

There is so much ignorance even about religion and that is why such misguided unemployed youth can be incited to violence at the slightest opportunity. Due to the fact that Islam comes from Arab land, many people equate everything Arabic with Islam. That is not correct: when the Arabs were bandits before the advent of Islam, they had what was called “honour death” by which a person kills himself for honour and dignity. That must have been the historical antecedent of the suicide bombings going on in the Middle East. But in Islam, if you kill yourself you die an unbeliever. You can see that there is a difference between Arab culture and Islamic culture. Violence is alien to Islam and even most of the wars fought by the earliest Muslims were to defend themselves and their faith.<\/p>\n

The Christians and the Jews are known in the Holy Qur’an as the People of the Book. They are not unbelievers. In fact, when the first adherents of Islam were persecuted by the Mecca Arabs, it was to the Christian Kingdom of Abyssinia (Ethiopia now) that they migrated to for refuge. They were accorded protection, recognition and respect by the then Ethiopian emperor. Let us try to read and learn from history. One must hate or love something based on knowledge and not ignorance. No one should use any religious platform to express anger out of what is largely politico-economic frustration. That is against the teachings of our divine religions. Christianity and Islam were founded on peace and peaceful co-existence. We must never forget that. God save Nigeria.<\/p>\n

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\nNigeria: Ignorance is the Problem<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Leadership (Abuja) Abba Mahmood 16 June 2011 column I went to Lagos very late last week and checked into the hotel nearest to the local airport. It has turned out to be most expensive hotel I have ever used in Nigeria and the worst in terms of services too. The door locks were not properly in place and the beddings were just not fit for such outrageous cost<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":397948,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-446863","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-local-news"},"yoast_head":"\nNigeria: Ignorance is the Problem - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/06\/24\/nigeria-ignorance-is-the-problem\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Nigeria: Ignorance is the Problem - Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Leadership (Abuja) Abba Mahmood 16 June 2011 column I went to Lagos very late last week and checked into the hotel nearest to the local airport. 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