Nigeria: on the brink of an Islamist takeover?
Two Dutch MP’s, Martin Bosma and Geert Wilders (both of the PVV party), certainly believe so and warn Westerners that action is required:
Oil-rich Nigeria, population 140-million, now is very close to an all-out”Islamic takeover’, warn two Dutch MPs. And this would have a massive impact: from Nigeria, Africa’s islamisation would spread fast — resulting in hundreds of millions of refugees.
This would have a massive impact on the future of all of Africa and of the West, warn Dutch parliamentarians Geert Wilders and Martin Bosma of the Party for Freedom, writing in an editorial in the Dutch religious daily, the Reformatorisch Dagblad….
They said in their joint Dutch-language editorial that the international news media ‘often describes such warfare erroneously as isolated conflicts, without placing any importance on the wide-ranging effects these ‘isolated local conflicts’ will have on any other countries, but especially on the West.
“A conflict is far too often described as a ‘civil war’, and journalists will write of ‘religious tensions’ or ’sectarian violence’ – thus also constantly creating the immediate impression that these are mere dog versus cat fights which would not affect Western countries in the least. see video and also this video
“However, when one examines such ‘civil wars’ closely however, these often are imperialistic wars of conquest – in which Islam is always the engine which drives their stated end purpose of Islamic world dominance’.
Obviously that last paragraph is a simplification of what’s happening – that people call themselves Muslims etc. doesn’t mean that they are tremendous representatives for “Islam as a whole” – but that doesn’t diminish the fact that both men are right when it comes to the threat Islamists pose to Nigeria and to some other African countries. Another ‘but’ has to be pointed out: saying that Islamists may take over everywhere on this continent is, I believe, incorrect. Firstly, many African countries have a Christian majority, secondly not all majority-Muslims countries have the potential to be taken over by extremists.
But, losing Nigeria to Islamists – and possibly other countries in the region because Nigeria is an African powerhouse with much influence in the region – would be a tremendous blow to the West and, of course, to those Africans who are oppressed by the Jihadis. Lets not forget that Christians aren’t the only ones suffering from extremists’ rule, the average (African) Muslim suffers as well.
In any case, Nigeria was once quite a stable and wealthy (for African standards) country. The attempted takeover by extremists is reason for tremendous concern. Something has to be done.
Interestingly enough, however, Bosma and Wilders don’t seem to have any suggestions as to what the West and other African countries who oppose extremists should do. Should we send forces? Should we bomb them out of Nigeria? Should we talk to them? Should African countries deal with this themselves?
Wilders wants to withdraw forces from Afghanistan, while the situation in that country is comparable to what’s happening in Africa. Without Western forces in Afghanistan, however, the country will probably quickly be taken back by extremists who will once again turn the country into the safe haven it was before 9/11.
It’s clear where I stand: the West should, if absolutely necessary, send forces into Nigeria. When there, the West should do everything in its power to empower moderates, Christians, and others who want to live in peace and don’t dream of dominating everyone else. Of course, reaching out to some Jihadi groups may in the end be necessary (as we’ve done in Iraq and are even doing in Afghanistan right now). Not all of them are the same, not all adhere to the exact same ideology, they don’t necessarily share the exact same goals.
Unbelievable!!! I’m in Nigeria, and the response below is the response of a fellow Nigerian living in Nigeria, on the http://www.cybereagles.com Rant and Rave forum. I couldn’t have put it better, really. The writer’s handle on CE is BEEG EAGLE.
“One SIMPLY does not know what gives all these analysts, pundits and commentators and their patrons/sponsors the drive to go on…even when they seem to get it wrong all the time. From as long ago as 1993, they have predicted the disintegration of the country, civil war, refugee crisis, a violent revolution and all of that. All of that academic nonsense which they tend to bandy about scarcely stands the reality check when compared to the facts on the ground. As a matter of fact, they end up betraying crass ignorance.
First of all, by accident rather than by design, christians are far more numerous (arguably 60-65%) than muslims in the Nigerian Armed Forces. Even as each state presents a similar number of officer-cadets and recruits for military enlistment, the fact that the South and the Middle Belt are christian-dominated already confers an unnatural advantage to the said religious group. Within the states, there is no quota system and in many states of Northern Nigeria, youths from the non-Hausa/Fulani christian groups have traditionally looked to the military, paramilitary and police services as a means of finding gainful employment. The more empowered and overwhelmingly muslim Hausa/Fulani have always preferred careers in non-military/security vocations, working as technocrats, administrators, businessmen, corporate players and industrial production.
Even in the NorthEastern and NorthWestern Nigeria, you will surprisingly find that a huge chunk of the militarymen come from the the non-muslim, non-Hausa/Fulani areas – the southern parts of Kebbi, Kaduna, Gombe, Bauchi and Borno states and the predominantly christian Taraba and Adamawa states (ethnic Jukun, Kuteb, Bachama,Chamba, Mumuye etc). That adds up to the national total. It is a fact which any officer or soldier, serving or retired, can factually attest to. It happened by accident, not by design. The military has remained the guardian of the secularity of the Nigerian Federation and will STILL be the ramrod used in combating any armed religious uprising. That Army has proven time and again that it is FAR more than a most competent match for armed religious zealots anywhere across this federation. It has ALWAYS gained a swift and decisive upper hand in all violent interreligious conflicts, some of which spanned several towns and cities in the North and the South and were so violent that each episode ended with casualty figures numbered in the thousands and surpassing the casualty figures in many a civil war the world over. But we are still holding firm.
Very notable examples include, but are not limited to, the Maitatsine religious uprisings in the 1980s and the Taliban this decade, the 1980s IBB-era religious conflicts across the NorthWest which the FMG termed the ‘civilian equivalent of an attempted coup d’etat’, the Reinhard Bonnke in 1991, Zangon Kataf crisis in 1992, the Kaduna and Kano religious riots of the 2000-2002, the Yelwa-Shendam and Jos crises of the 2000s, the Numan religious conflict,the crosscountry Miss World-inspired riots and the Danish cartoons riots of the 2004). The reality indicates that the country has SINCE developed mechanisms for quickly containing these outbreaks of violence. but we are black men in here so they are bound not to realise that. Is it still an issue whether or not India will survive her own internal ethnoreligious and religious contradictions, for example?So what are the pundits again yapping about really?
If dem nuh sabi wetin dem dey yarn, mek dem bring money
mek we show dem how e go be. They have misled their citizens and governments with groundless gibberish for long enough as things stand, even as they surprisingly are still so well-patronised…panic-button pushers(such as these MPs), pundits and watchers alike.”