Nigeria What an ELECTION!

It is election, not WAR! Bombs, paramilitary, police, security agents on the prowl!!!

The Independent Electoral Commission, INEC has postponed the National Assembly elections across the country  till Monday, April 4th, 2011.

Before the postponement was announced, the elections  had started, Saturday morning with hitches caused by poor logistics, as materials arrived in many polling stations late and could not even get to other areas in the country.

 Voters were lining up in Kano on Saturday.

The resheduled election is for 109 seats in the Senate and 360 seats for the House of Representatives.

 A total of 73.5 million people across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, were registered by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to vote in the 120,000 polling booths designated for the purpose.

Presidential comes up on April 9, and the Governorship/State Assembly is scheduled for April 16.

The elections are the most expensive in Nigeria's history with INEC requesting N87.7 billion.

Is Nigeria ready for Fair and Clean Elections?

Amnesty International has urged the Nigerian authorities to act to stem a rising tide of political, ethnic and religious violence.

Nigerian authorities have decided to postpone Saturday's parliamentary elections to Monday. There are not able to organize themselves even though they have spent hundreds of millions of dollars in public money trying to hold this election which is already running at least three or four months late.

"The federal government has directed that all land borders be closed from 12pm (1100 GMT) on Friday, 1 April, 2011 to 6am (0500 GMT) on Sunday, 3 April, 2011," Emmanuel Ihenacho, the minister of interior, said in a statement.

Goodluck Jonathan, from the country's south, is expected to win the presidential poll. His main challenger, Muhammadu Buhari,running on the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) platform, has major support in the country's mostly from the North. 

I hope that Nigeria can break with a history of vote fraud and violence. Nigerians have a strong desire for change. They have been outbursts of violence, including bomb blasts and attacks on political rallies.

No voting equipment, no election officials, and no security. How do we expect people to go and vote!! Nigeria must organize elections for 150 million people across its 36 states.

Africa's most populous nation is facing its most unpredictable polls!

Ethnic Factor and Development in Nigeria

No Mr. Qaddafi! Nigeria should not split along ethnic lines! Mr. President, you have always claimed that you are the "King of African Kings" and that you are a champion of African Unity!! You have only succeeded in drawing Nigeria's anger.

But if only the people of Nigeria can transcend beyond the problems of ethnicity and ethnicism, I am sure that the rural communities will experience a positive devolopment.

Nigeria is a beautiful country endowed with a great deal of resources. Nigeria is blessed with unlimited arable lands, half of which remain fallow, leading agricultural products such as cocoa, rubber, groundnuts, cotton, beniseeds, cashew, mangoes, oranges, etc... with mineral sources such as oil, bitumen, mineral stones, raw gold and many other more.

According to the 2006 population census, the population stands around one hundred and forty million people! It is the largest African country but more than half of the population are still rural dwellers. 

The country is not properly managed so Nigeria remains one of the poorest countries in the world with very low per capital income, poor infrastructure development, neglected agricultural sectors, and a high rate of inflation. Because of the mismanagement of the abundant resources, Nigeria has a high level of poverty. High level of official corruption, bad governance, and prolonged military dictatorship have had a negative effect in the development of the country. Yes Mr. Qaddafi! not because of ethnic or religious problems! Ethnicity and ethnicism are not the factors that hinder rural development in Nigeria.

I believe that Nigerians can develop their countries and improve the quality of all Nigerian lives. The Hausa, the Igbo, the Ijaw, the Itsekiri, the Yorubas, the Fulani, and the Odua'a Peoples Congress can all live together and develop the country. There must be a strong commitment on the part of the Nigerian elites who should accept modest sacrifices for a common good.

A bon entendeur Salut!

Arabic Literary Tradition of Nigeria

The history of writing in Arabic exists in Nigeria for a period close to 800 years. Today, scholars in Nigeria are still using Arabic as the language for doctrinal polemics, Islamic teaching manuals, and poetry in the Sufi tradition.

The first center of Arabic teaching emerged in Gazargamu, the capital of the mais of Bornu in 1480, Katsina, and Kano. 

Both Kano and Katsina attracted scholars from North Africa and from older Islamic centers such as Walata and Timbuktu in the late 15th century and early 16th century. 

The Tijani literature in Nigeria is concerned with defending the doctrines of the tariqa. The founder of the Tijani Sufi Way is Shaykh Ahmed el-Tijani. He had to face accusations of unorthodoxy. These accusations were made by the austere Wahhabis.

Most of Nigeria's Arabic writings are about devotional literature. First, the Arabic literature emphasizes on proper Islamic commands and prohibitions such as, "the commanding of good and the prohibiting of evil" (al-amr bi'l-ma'ruf wa'l-nahy 'an al-mankur). This moral conduct meant no lying, backbiting, hypocrisy, jealousy. Instead the person has to develop these following virtues: generosity, forbearance, humility, ascetism, ...

Al-Tahir b. Ibrahim al-Fallati of Bornu wrote secular writing in Arabic about cognitive sciences, logic, and history. This famous scholar also wrote on a medical problem called the treatment of hemorrhoids. Muhammad Bello wrote on the treatment of intestinal worms and in the use of senna as a purgative. 

In addition to these religious and secular works written by Nigerian scholars a special word must be said about poetry. Muhammad Fodiye, Muhammad Bello, and Ibrahim of Zaria have written poems about victories, to satirize enemies; to criticize their societies, to talk about joy and sorrow, pleasure and pain.