I’ve been following the news events about Nigeria’s supposedly Islamist terrorist group Boko Haram. However, something doesn’t sit right with me in the way the whole situation is being reported. Of course, western media as usual simplifies all conflicts into 2 opposing sides… in this case Muslims vs. Christians… with these Muslim extremists confirming all we are told to believe and expect from Islam.
The vast majority of us in North America, particularly of African descent, just shrug our shoulders, don’t seriously concern ourselves with African issues and just believe what they are told: “Africans are savages, ungovernable and tribal.” They don’t dig any deeper, to at least try to understand what is really going on in our Motherland. For example, the Obama administration’s policy of increased militarization in Africa via AFRICOM … especially in oil rich areas… in an effort to counter the increasing Chinese colonization of the continent.
According to the CIA World Factbook, Nigeria is the largest producer of oil in Africa, as well as the 7th largest in the world (see here). What better reason ruse than to fight Islamic terrorism, can be used (by the so-called “Christian” West) as a justification for not only increasing security funding to the pro-American Nigerian government of Goodluck Jonathan, but to also send in US military advisors and special forces.
Here are 3 articles that dig a little deeper and provide a fuller perspective into the issues surrounding the recent sectarian violence in Nigeria:
- Boko Haram: The answer to terror lies in providing more meaningful human security
- In Nigeria, Boko Haram Is Not the Problem
- Nigeria: The Next Front for AFRICOM
Please share any other articles you come across that will provide further insight into this topic.
The truth is out there.
I know my viewpoint may appear to some, to come from getting my information from the mainstream news (as I have been accused of this before when it comes to Africa. And I am not saying I am being accused of this now.) However, I can most assuredly confirm that I do no receive my information from the MSM. I have no cable, nor dish of any kind. I never read news papers, simply because they are the biggest liars of all. My angle comes primarily from, talking with people I personally know from Nigeria, the Ivory Coast and a friend who is from Zimbabwe and lives in Ethiopia. I gain a lot of information from 89.3 FM a community radio station here in the Atlanta area. Democracy Now, Al Jazeera, Crossed Crocodiles, and of course this blog.
I also want to point out that what I will state here are also drives similar questions I have for impoverised black neighborhoods in the U.S., Canada, South America and our sister islands.
From African Arguments…”It is equally clear that under all of these manifestations lie the same root cause – a persistent trajectory of underdevelopment and misgovernance in that corner of Nigeria…”
From New Times Op/Ed piece…” It was clear in 2009, as it is now, that the root cause of violence in the north and south of Nigeria is endemic poverty and hopelessness.” ” Likewise, the American ambassador, Terence P. McCulley, has emphasized, both privately and publicly, that the government must address socio-economic deprivation, which is most severe in the north. No one seems to be listening.
From Land Destroyer…”While Lagos has one of Africa’s highest concentration of billionaires, the vast majority of the population struggle daily on less than $2.00 USD…”
The above outlines the root cause of things in Nigeria and I am sure there is not much difference in other countries. So, at this juncture, are we, black people of the westen hemisphere, truly obligated to step in and do for Africa what it appears that many Africans won’t do for Africa? Are we to assume the Africans are less informed than we? They somehow do not know and understand that they are being dupped, handled and used by the IMF, AFRicom and the world bank and their minions?
Assalaamu Alaikum!
THANK YOU FOR YOUR REPORTAGE! This is the type of information that we need to have at our disposal to know and understand the fact of what’s happening in Africa and not blindly accept the USA and (most African) news outlet reports and one-sided views!
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