The Socio-Political Christ

The natural tendency of people is to isolate Jesus Christ as a spiritual phenomenon. However he lived as a human being within a family and society, and in a polity in which there were rulers, governors, judges, the practice of politics and the exercise of political power. Given that Jesus Christ was offered to us as a complete and comprehensive example, there must be socio-political aspects of his life from which we can draw lessons and inspiration even for these contemporary times. Easter offers us an opportunity for reflection on this intricate issue in addition to our celebrations of the death and resurrection of the author of our faith. The first thing that strikes me in the context of this discussion is that the powerful people in his society always tried to destroy Jesus Christ-and this was right from his birth, even before he uttered his first words in ministry! When Herod heard from the three wise men about the birth of someone who was “born King of the Jews”, the Bible records that he was “troubled” and devised a scheme to kill the young messiah and indeed ended up massacring innocent babies in an attempt to truncate the life of Jesus. Why would a King be “troubled” about the birth of a child, except that he immediately understood that the Kingdom foretold would threaten his power base. This opposition from the “powers-that-be” dogged Christ all through his life and indeed led to his crucifixion. What that tells me is that because darkness and light, according to scriptures are irreconcilable, a true Church which is fulfilling its divine mission will always face opposition from the kingdoms of the world. The converse of that may be that any Church which persistently receives the approbation of corrupt kings and powers must ask itself whether it is fulfilling the mission of the father! Another obvious insight from Christ’s life and work was that the focus of his ministry was the “multitude”-or what you may describe in today’s language as the “masses”! He was not unduly focused on the rich and powerful, indeed asserting that it was easier for a camel to go through the eye of the needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God! He was driven by compassion for the poor, sick, broken-heated, weary, weak and vulnerable-that is why he fed the five thousand; healed the sick; raised the dead; delivered the afflicted; and restored hope to the distraught and helpless. His beatitudes is perhaps his most recognized “mission statement” and it reveals very clearly his “target audience”-“Blessed are the poor in spirit…Blessed are those who mourn…Blessed are the meek…Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness…Blessed are the merciful…Blessed are the pure in heart…Blessed are the peacemakers…Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake…” If Jesus Christ lived in Nigeria today, there is no doubt who his focus will be-the 60-70 percent of our people living in poverty; the 25 percent of our people who are unemployed; the millions who can’t afford a good education, decent healthcare and the simple pleasures of life. His friends were the under-privileged-fishermen, artisans, women (in that time, women were a marginalized group), children and young people (“let the little children come unto me; for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven”), despised people like tax collectors, sinners, those delivered of witchcraft (!), even the convicted thief obtained Christ’s friendship right on the crucifixion ground! Jesus famously declared that he came not to those who were upright and therefore not in need of salvation, but to the sick who needed healing. Of course the dominant theme of his life’s work was love, charity, fellowship…for him the great commandment of all was to love God with all our heart, soul and mind…and the second was to love our neighbours as ourselves! Jesus Christ would have been saddened by wars, terrorism, murders, ethnic and religious warfare and all other divisions that arise out of the absence or deficit of love. The parable of the Good Samaritan suggests that even though Christ did not necessarily seek to abolish nationalities and peoples, he envisaged the possibility of universal love and brotherhood and the prospect of peace and reconciliation between “Jews and Gentiles”! Yet as much as Jesus espoused peace and reconciliation, he was also a revolutionary and the powerful people in his time considered him a “troublemaker”! He himself declared, “Do not think I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword”! He drove out the traders and thieves from the temple; he railed against the Pharisees and other “principalities and powers” of his time; he had little patience for the hypocrisy and false piety of the religious people and was loud in his condemnation of the social, political and religious establishment. I have no doubt that if Jesus Christ suddenly emerged in Nigeria today, some of our religious elite will not recognize him and would promptly reach an alliance with the politicians to crucify him a second time! Jesus was a strong leader, though he was not a politician. People voluntarily submitted to him-John the Baptist who could have argued that he came earlier; the twelve disciples who had no apparent reason to follow an unknown carpenter; the 70; his followers; the large multitude; and through the ages to this day, the Church. The life of Jesus Christ illustrates the fact that true leadership is not based on power, wealth, or position, but influence. He taught his disciples that “whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant” establishing the principle of servant leadership. He also re-inforced the concept of rule of law (“I did not come to destroy the law, but to fulfil it”) and instituted the separation of Church and State-“Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s”.

Poverty and the Flow of Capital (2)

I have emphasized the critical role of capital as a factor of production, productivity, wealth creation and poverty reduction and stressed drawing on Hernando de Soto’s writings on “dead capital” in “The Mystery of Capital”, the negative implications of sub-optimal deployment and circulation of capital which is endemic in poor and under-developed economies. In particular in the case of Nigeria, I identified four “sectors” and one socio-cultural “force” which militate against the effective flow of capital within our economy and which in my view, are significant contributors to the phenomena of poverty, unemployment and inequality in our society. These “sectors” are government/politics-prevalent corrupt and rent-seeking nature of our polity ensures that public resources are diverted to whoever succeeds in “capturing” power thus marginalizing the poor and powerless; banks/financial system-receive deposits from rich, middle-class, average, and poor customers, but by-and-large lend only to large corporations and the (very) rich thus denying SMEs (not to mention micro enterprises) capital for building their businesses; crony capitalists/oligopolistic and monopolistic firms-charge higher prices than are economically justifiable, offer less-efficient products and services than would obtain in competitive markets and based on their alliance with or incorporation in the first group (government/politics-their initial and often sustaining profits are typically from economic rents transferred from the public sector) are beneficiaries of a prebendal, possibly fascist or even feudal political economy; and large religious organisations-receive voluntary or induced “taxes” from their members (and increasingly from government/politicians as well!) and not being established or structured to act in economically efficient manners, often spend huge resources in ways that erode the productivity of capital for instance by building inordinately large auditoria, buying fleets of expensive cars or acquiring private jets costing millions of dollars, while shirking the critical role they could play redressing social ills. The socio-cultural factor in my hypothesis are destructive aspects of culture and lifestyles that prevent capital accumulation-frittering away resources on marriages (introduction, engagement, “wine-carrying”, “alaga-ijoko”, wedding, reception, thanksgiving etc.!!!), funerals, child naming, chieftaincy, birthday and other celebrations; deploying scarce capital towards death rather than life and enterprise (a professor friend once wondered why in our society, if an unemployed young graduate asked family members to contribute N250,000 towards a business idea, he was unlikely to get any response, but double that amount would surface within days if the young man’s father were to drop dead!); investing huge resources in expensive cars and dormant houses while sometimes failing to pay children’s school fees or maintaining aged parents; our inclination to discourage local production in favour of everything foreign thus exporting not just capital, but jobs…!!! The list of our capital and (domestic) productivity destroying patterns of behavior may be in-exhaustible!!! You will notice that in all these, no one has necessarily set out to do anything sinister or evil to society-everyone is simply acting in their own selfish interest or according to “culture and tradition”. Politicians seek power and privilege; banks lend to the safest and most profitable segments of the market; businesses try to maximize profits; faith institutions seek as much donations as possible, the faithful try to live by the injunctions of their faith; and our people are caught in a culture more suited to traditional pre-metropolitan societies while living in 21st century internet age economies! What we lack are visionary leaders who can transform culture and society like Lee Kuan Yew did to Singaporean society substituting an ethos of excellence and productivity for old Confucian fatalism and docility; and institutions that can moderate behavior in manners defined by an enlightened sense of common good. I have already hinted at what I think the solutions should be. Government should define as its primary responsibility the protection of the poor and helpless rather than the rich and powerful, who in any event are well-placed to protect themselves. We need a fundamental paradigm shift in politics and government that places the welfare of ordinary people at the centre of policy. Economic success would in such a paradigm be measured in terms of human development, poverty reduction, life expectancy, quality of public education and not just growth in gross domestic product and our politics and government must become more egalitarian and less-prebendal! I would advocate a self-regulatory policy by banks and other financial institutions that undertakes to channel as a minimum whatever percentage of their deposits is sourced from MSMEs back into credits to such enterprises while eliminating prohibitive transaction charges against small or retail customers. As I mentioned in the earlier instalment, we need a robust competition and anti-trust law and policy regime to roll-back the emergence of oligopolies and monopolies across economic sectors and ensure that our markets are fair and competitive. Religious institutions will continue to receive funding from adherents. But those responsible for appropriating those resources must become socially sensitive and economically savvy, and this is consistent with their duty to God and man, as they are indeed trustees of societies’ “talents” and must manage them in a manner that makes economic sense and is socially responsible. I will like to see religious organisations setting up microfinance banks, venture capital and private equity funds, technical and skill acquisition centres, industrial parks, technology-incubation centres, universities of science and technology, polytechnics, schools and hospitals such that they become agents of social justice, economic productivity, equality, opportunity and egalitarianism rather than allies of a corrupt, uncaring and oppressive state.

Poverty and the Flow of Capital

My recent three-part series, “Why Nigerians are Poor” was an attempt to distill my thoughts on poverty, unemployment and inequality over the past several years for the benefit of policy makers and the general public. I continue today with a focus on another aspect of Nigerian poverty-our sub-optimal deployment of capital and how it perpetuates endemic poverty in our society. Hernando de Soto in his seminal book, “The Mystery of Capital” emphasized the central role that capital plays in economic productivity and development noting that “great classical economists such as Adam Smith and Karl Marx believed that capital was the engine that powered the market economy…the principal part of the economic whole” quoting Smith to the effect that “capital was to be the magic that would enhance productivity and create surplus value”. He argued that “the lifeblood of capitalism is not the internet or fast-food franchises. It is capital. Only capital provides the means to support specialization and the production and exchange of assets in the expanded markets. It is capital that is the source of increasing productivity and therefore the wealth of nations”. De Soto worried about “dead capital”-“assets that cannot be used to their fullest” i.e. capital that is not optimally active and productive and estimated that about $9.3trillion (as at 2000) dead capital lay in real estate held but not backed by legal title owned by the poor in third world (Nigeria included) and former communist economies. Other manifestations of dead capital cited by him include agricultural crops not backed by deeds and businesses not supported by incorporation and limited liability. As I reflected on de Soto’s concerns over the years, I have recognized that Nigeria has a worse problem with capital than he conceived in his book! We have four socio-economic “sectors” which capture capital and prevent its optimum deployment to generate economic productivity, create wealth and alleviate poverty. These are government and politics; banks and the financial system; crony capitalists/monopolies and oligopolies; and religious institutions. There is a fifth “force” which destroys capital and that is our culture and lifestyle. I will examine each of these in turn. Government in Nigeria is not primarily a system of offering social services to the citizenry, especially the poor. It does not by-and-large provide security for the common man; and it fails to prevent breach of its laws, especially by the rich, strong and powerful. In short, Nigeria’s governments do not perform, at least not successfully, the critical functions for which governments and thus politics were established. Instead politics is essentially a vehicle for seeking capture of state resources which are obtained primarily from extractive resources. It is not a co-incidence that the richest Nigerians are present, past or “present-continuous” office holders and their friends, agents and associates. Nigeria’s corruption is offensive not just because it denies the public services and infrastructure, but because it subverts the flow of capital, putting enormous resources in the hands of a few, who then hide those resources in physical, monetary or other assets within or outside the country, turning resources which should have generated wealth for all into essentially “dead capital”!!! The Banks lend money of course and in theory circulate capital-the problem is who or what they lend to! They lend to government in form of treasury bills to fund government operations (recall what happens to government resources discussed above); and to big corporations, multi-millionaires and billionaires, shutting out small and medium enterprises from the asset side of the financial sector even though their deposits are a significant component of the liability side. With this cycle of exclusion, it is not at all a mystery that Nigeria has created billionaires in units and poverty in hundreds of millions!!! This defective structure of capital (mis)allocation is compounded by our practice of crony capitalism! Our most successful businesses are in reality an extension of the phenomenon of state capture earlier highlighted. Crony capitalism (which tends to result in the creation of monopolies and oligopolies) is not based on economic competitiveness, but transfers of economic rents from government to its cronies in the private sector. The poor then suffer a “double-whammy”-publicly-owned resources are cornered by a few entrenching their poverty; and the emerging uncompetitive market structures mean they pay more for goods and services! The solution is to enact a robust competition law and policy regime!!! Finally much as I am reluctant to say this, the economic reality is that big religious institutions secure huge financial and other assets (in effect taxes on their members) which are often deployed in ways that erode economic productivity and therefore entrench poverty and deprivation. I understand of course that people must fulfil the financial obligations of their faith, but it is important that religious leaders are socially sensitive in deploying such accumulated capital. What is wrong for instance if such groups request their chapters to set up universities, polytechnics, secondary and primary schools, hospitals, hospices, technical and skills acquisition schools etc. in large numbers such that the social value of their activities offsets the economic cost of sequestered capital! Then we have destructive aspects of culture that destroy capital formation-excessive amounts spent on weddings, funerals and other celebrations, even by the poor; the tendency to consume foreign-made items whether food, football clubs, holidays, clothes, education, medical treatment, furniture, wine and spirits, and shoes! A huge amount of capital would be released for wealth creation and economic productivity if we reform many aspects of our lifestyles!!!

Strong Delusion

“And for this cause, God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie”. There is a vast difference between faith and delusion, by literal or linguistic meaning and scriptural implication, even though the concepts may be scientifically proximate being both phenomenon that involve belief and occur in the minds and souls of men. My pocket Webster’s Dictionary defines faith as “belief without evidence, confidence; trust, belief in God, the Bible etc, a specific religion, anything given adherence or credence…allegiance; faithfulness” and delusion as “the act of deluding or the state of being deluded, a false, irrational and persistent belief” (to delude being “to mislead the mind or judgment of; deceive”). According to the Vine’s Concise Dictionary of the Bible, the basic meaning of faith or “pistis” is primarily “firm persuasion” in relation to “faith in the (invisible) God or Christ or things spiritual” as distinct from “faith” in man. The word implies trust, trustworthiness, fidelity and assurance, with its elements being firm conviction of truth; personal surrender; and conduct inspired by such surrender. On the other hand, delude or delusion is defined as “to reason amiss”, wrong opinion and/or error in religion or morals. The meeting point of faith and delusion may thus be that where faith is unfounded, erroneous, false or even contrived, it may be actually delusional! The other point as may be discernible from my initial quote is that God himself may “send them” delusions! When Paul (with Silas and Timothy) wrote the second epistle to the Thessalonians, they started with thanksgiving and prayer for the Thessalonians growing faith and love, and the suffering and persecution they were enduring for the faith. Paul declared that “God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you and give relief to you who are troubled” and then warned them against some false teachers who had come to deceive the Church with wrong theology concerning the coming of our Lord, Jesus Christ, before providing an explanation for the conduct of the deceiving preachers and those they were successfully deceiving-because they refused to love the truth, “God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie”!!! I suspect that many today live in delusion (and captivity and oppression) rather than faith! I may of course add the clarification that I refer only to faith in the invisible God rather than in men, mammon or religion!!! In Biblical times, when God’s children had serious reproach in their lives, they put on sackcloth and wailed in the temple before God, and he always answered them. Today many utter empty words-“it is well”, “God is good”, “I am blessed” even as it is evident that they are not confronting their real issues before the true God. A brother or sister may be afflicted with poverty and lack, but instead of asking God for a fundamental intervention in his condition and changing his behavior, he develops a theology of poverty (just as prosperity is not necessarily a sign of God’s blessings, poverty is not necessarily evidence of righteousness!) and engages in “holy” begging. A sister is unmarried and over 40-there is something wrong-spiritually and with her character and behavior, but instead of making required adjustments, she is the loudest in Church and an evangelist on social media. Many are denied the fruit of the womb and instead of following the examples of valiant and faithful women like Hannah, Elisabeth, Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel, etc whom God answered and removed their reproach, they invent an alternative theology and rationalize their oppression and denial. Many’s dreams are frustrated and they attend Churches wondering when their problems will be resolved, but instead their problems are multiplied, while their Pastors boast to them daily of the blessings of God in their own lives. And the sorrowful child of God waits and waits… Someone told me of a conversation that was a classic example of gross delusion, three “brothers” engaged in “holy” gossip about someone whose marriage they alleged was in trouble. Knowing the three, I wondered about their locus standi-one in his second marriage after divorce; another’s marriage was childless after over two decades, a medical case of confirmed impotence and depression; the third also in a second marriage, after widowhood, and in the habit of boasting how God took away his deceased first wife with his permission!!! The three regularly speak excellent “Christianese” and continue in their delusions! God’s truth is evident and clear in the scriptures-when people refuse to believe those simple, unchanging truths, God allows them to believe in lies! According to Prophet Isaiah, God says “Just as they have chosen their own ways …so will I choose their delusions, and bring their fears on them; Because, when I called, no one answered”. There are examples concerning idolatry and homosexuality-Paul wrote to the Romans disparaging those who refused to glorify God instead worshipping images of men, birds, animals and reptiles “Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness” and allowed them to worship and serve “the creature rather than the Creator”; and those who “God gave them up unto vile affections” whereupon men lusted after men, and women after women! For those of us who are neither idolaters nor homosexuals, we may of course note that down the passage, other categories of reprobation were mentioned-wickedness, evil, greed, depravity, envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice, gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless…may God have mercy on us all!!!

Divine Healing

I have usually written on faith and spirituality around Christmas and Easter (and other times) but the last two Wednesdays of 2013 fell on Christmas and New Year days, public holidays on which this newspaper does not publish. This piece was deferred from then. From the earliest of times, God had proclaimed himself as healer-“…for I am the LORD that healeth thee”; David sang in in the Psalms of a God “Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases”; and Prophet Isaiah wrote “Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the LORD bindeth up the breach of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound”. When Jehovah sent Isaiah to inform Hezekiah to set his house in order in preparation for death, when he prayed and wept before the Lord, God healed him and added 15 years to his life. God closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech, because of Sarah Abraham’s wife, but when Abraham prayed, God healed Abimelech, and his wife, and his maidservants; and they bare children. Jeremiah the Old Testament Prophet acknowledged God’s healing power when he wrote “Heal me, Oh Lord, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved; for thou art my praise” One of the earliest descriptions of Jesus Christ’s ministry was one of teaching, preaching and healing-“And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people. And his fame went throughout all Syria: and they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatic, and those that had the palsy; and he healed them.” At this time, Jesus had only called four out of the twelve disciples. He then called another four and resumed his healing mission-“And he went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and preaching the good news (Gospel) of the kingdom, and healing every disease and every weakness and infirmity among the people” So he healed the leper; the Centurion’s servant; Peter’s mother-in-law; the man with palsy (paralytic); the ruler’s daughter, the sick multitude; the woman with the issue of blood; the daughter of the Canaanite woman; the two blind men; and many others recorded and unrecorded. Why was healing so important to the Trinity? Because “Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth” for while evil (which Jesus characterized as thieves) come to steal, kill and destroy, he seeks to restore and heal-“The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly”. The New Webster’s Dictionary of the English Language defines “life” as “the state of an organism characterized by certain processes or abilities that include metabolism, growth, reproduction and response”-the implication being that where these processes and abilities are lacking or constrained as tends to happen in a state of ill-health, life is circumscribed! The same dictionary links “abundance” with “richness, plenty” and “abundant” with “plentiful, copious”-evidently it is not likely that someone in poor health can have abundant life in the sense in which God and Jesus Christ intends that we should. And so when Jesus saw people suffering ill-health and therefore lacking the abundant life God wishes for his children, he had compassion on them and healed them. It was that compassion that drove Christ’s healing ministry. The scriptures confirm in numerous instances how Jesus Christ’s healing was motivated by compassion-“And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick…” (Mathew 14:14); Jesus himself proclaimed “…I have compassion on the multitude” (Mathew 15: 32); and when he encountered two blind men in Mathew 20: 29-34, the Bible records that “So Jesus had compassion on them, and touched their eyes: and immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed him…” Apart from the compassion which Jesus had for the sick and vulnerable (today’s Church seems to have stronger compassion for the rich, strong and powerful!), there was usually another element often present anytime Jesus healed, this time in the recipient of healing-faith. So the leper declared “Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean”; the Centurion asked Jesus to “speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed”; in relation to the healing of the paralytic, “…and Jesus seeing their faith, said unto the sick of the palsy; son be of good cheer”; the ruler who sought healing for his daughter declared “my daughter is even now dead: but come and lay thy hand upon her, and she shall live”; the woman with the issue of blood said, “If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole”; and speaking to the Canaanite woman, Jesus himself proclaimed “…O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour” Compassion seems often lacking in conventional Nigerian healthcare-when doctors proceed seemingly whimsically on strike; when hospitals refuse treatment to accident or gunshot victims without police reports; or when the sick (and dying) are turned away, for lack of money.

Adventures in the Spirit

“Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and against his anointed, saying let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us, He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision…” I once received a public scolding from an “intellectual” for making allusions to God, faith and spirituality in this column. In that fellow’s thinking, such “anti-intellectualism” was infradig given my stature as an analyst and commentator. I ignored the guy of course!!! “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.” This column is named “Economy, Polity, Society” for good reason-man is the object and subject of society, and even though he is concerned with economics and politics, as well as social forces confronting society, he is in his essence, also a spiritual being. It is difficult for non-spiritual persons (notice I didn’t say non-religious!) to understand how vivid and tangible God’s communications with His children can be-clearer and infinitely more precise than any earthly medium or alternative altar could be, informing those who rely on Him of the thoughts and plans of men, and of matters seen and unseen! I am a fan of Malcolm Gladwell and I have been reading his newest offering “David and Goliath” in which he examines in multiple contexts how apparently weaker entities defeat their “stronger” and “bigger” rivals and how initial “disadvantages” can turn out to be beneficial. Gladwell of course finds many “intellectual” reasons why David prevailed in that epic encounter with the Philistine giant, but for me it was a much more simple matter-“Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the LORD of Hosts, the God of the armies of Israel…”. As with David, so Esther and Mordecai; Daniel; and the three Hebrew children! Of course the fate that befell Goliath was shared by Haman and the powerful people-princes, governors, captains and counselors, who conspired to throw Daniel into the lion’s den. As well as Pharaoh and his armies! Secular writers on power and politics often caution potential revolutionaries to beware not only of the kings they seek to overthrow, but often also the potential beneficiaries of their mission. I see a hint of this phenomenon in the case of Moses-“And it came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown, that he went out unto his brethren, and looked on their burdens: and he spied an Egyptian smiting an Hebrew, one of his brethren. And he looked that way and that way, and when he saw that there was no man, he slew the Egyptian, and hid him in the sand. And when he went out the second day, behold, two men of the Hebrews strove together: and he said to him that did the wrong, Wherefore smitest thou thy fellow? And he said, Who made thee a prince and a judge over us? Intendest thou to kill me, as thou killedst the Egyptian? And Moses feared, and said, Surely this thing is known. Now when Pharaoh heard this thing, he sought to slay Moses.” May God save us from evil and spiteful brethren! Yet in spite of its obvious dangers, it is the duty, indeed the destiny of persons of integrity to speak truth to power and to seek to change society for better! That is what Jesus Christ, the prophets before him; and the saints and martyrs afterwards did!!! Even a little teenage girl, who probably never read the Bible, Malala, spoke against the Pakistani Taliban! However do not expect everyone to be like Christ, Elijah or Stephen! The Pharisees, Sadducees, Scribes, Council and “religious” people never confront power-political, economic or religious!!! From the time of Christ, their “ministry” as outlined in Chapter 23 of the Book of Mathew has not changed! The real altars at which these categories worship are those of Caesar and Mammon! Many have become disillusioned and concluded that God has no role in saving Nigeria; that our easy resort to faith has become part of the problem, rather than solution; and our people instead of acting to confront societal ills, indulge in escapism of asking God to intervene. I agree. Yet I remain convinced that Nigeria’s problems are at least partly spiritual. Can you build a successful nation upon the blood of innocent people? Can a nation whose leaders indulge in unspeakable evil prosper? Can any good come out of evil covenants and spiritual bondage? Can a system founded on diabolical practices endure? Will God not look at many and say “These are the men that devise mischief, and give wicked counsel in this city”? Yet I believe Nigeria will become that which it could and should be, even though this may not happen in its current form. I deeply believe Nigeria will have to re-examine its structure and purpose. I speak both of our constitutional and federal structure and our spiritual essence. For those who continue to stand against Nigeria’s potential for their selfish interest, I have a retort-“This city shall not be your caldron, neither shall ye be the flesh in the midst thereof: but I will judge you in the border…”

The Politics of Boko Haram

I have previously written a two-part serial, “The Evolution of Boko Haram” on February 1 and 8, 2012 that chronicled the various phases and people in the emergence of that fundamentalist terrorist organization. My conclusion based on all the facts and analysis was that contrary to the contrived and pointless hair-splitting over whether it was religious, political or economic, “Boko Haram” like all human and social phenomena was multi-dimensional. There was religion of course at the core-an extremist religious ideology of a specie of political Islam which opposes secular or western education, advocates hatred and murder of Christians and Jews (and even opposing Islamic clerics), tolerates and even endorses suicide killings on promised reward of paradise (plus seven heavenly virgins!) and seeks to overthrow the secular constitution in favour of an Islamic Caliphate. How can anyone deny that these are religious motivations? There are social factors which predispose adherents to such mindless extremism-illiteracy, ignorance and social exclusion; and excision of young boys at very young ages from the family system through the Almajirai system of half-baked religious education, begging and occasional deployment by politicians, clerics and traditional institutions for violence in pursuit of political objectives; there are critical economic dimensions-poverty, unemployment, a complete absence in millions of young people, especially male, of any skills or competences and therefore their divorce from modern economic systems, and of course corruption which denies society the resources required to chart a different course for its citizens and leaves them without opportunity or hope. There are even aspects of a Kanuri “Liberation Movement” in the mix! Finally there are political factors-the early origins of “Boko Haram” in a clear political alliance with mainly All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) governors in the North-East Region of Nigeria and Kano; its ostracism and attempted destruction by its estranged sponsors and appropriation by new mentors and financiers; its transmutation from a locally-focused to a national political agenda as federal power slipped into Goodluck Jonathan’s hands; and its deployment as an instrument of undermining the credibility of the Jonathan presidency, both at home and in foreign embassies and capitals. This article focuses on these political aspects of “Boko Haram” and how the “amnesty” discussion fits into the overall picture. There is no doubt that in its early days, Muhammed Yusuf’s “Boko Haram” (BH) enjoyed a close relationship with the Borno State Government under Senator Ali Modu Sherrif and that Yusuf actually nominated a member of Sherrif’s cabinet. There is also no doubt that the group played a political purpose as enforcers to ensure ANPP’s defense against the federal PDP. The broader point in fact is that ANPP as a political strategy adopted Islamic intimidation as a bulwark against the rampaging PDP. While Modu Sherrif deployed BH, his Zamfara counterpart, Sani Yerima launched “political Sharia” and virtually all ANPP governors followed suit. While Modu Sherrif’s romance with BH is well documented, the group probably played a role in other ANPP states-plausibly assisting in the party’s take-over in Kano in 2003; Bauchi in 2007; and its successful retention of Yobe-Senator Bukar Abba Ibrahim is an open and unapologetic supporter of Boko Haram’s agenda! There is evidence that some ANPP states made regular payments to BH. In the heydays of BH’s alliance with ANPP, its presidential candidate, both in 2003 and 2007 was General Muhammadu Buhari who is inextricably linked through his public comments before he became a politician, with the agitation for Sharia! There is no doubt that the underpinning of Buhari’s popularity in Northern Nigeria is the fact that the Islamic base trusts him. Soon however Modu Sherrif would fall apart with Yusuf and the group and would seek to destroy the Frankenstein he had nurtured! A second governor would have similar incentives (and this is little discussed)-Isa Yuguda of Bauchi who was on his way back to the PDP having married then President Yar’adua’s daughter. The attempt to destroy BH did not wholly succeed and the group would re-surface in 2010 as a pure terrorist organization! It also changed sides in Borno, apparently (as the matters of Senators Ali Ndume and Zannah, and late Ambassador Pindah suggest!) to the PDP!!! At the same time, national politics was changing and a Christian Southerner was defying Northern intimidation and opting to contest the 2011 polls. Soon BH’s agenda would transcend local and state politics! In spite of its military successes against the terror group, it is evident that the Jonathan Presidency lacks the local insight and support required to completely eliminate BH, and that having resolved to ensure Jonathan’s 2015 re-election plan is thwarted, the region has no incentive to help him solve the BH problem. As it is, Jonathan has two distinct but inter-related problems-the challenge of very difficult re-election prospects and a widening and intractable security challenge that undermines his governing credibility. “Amnesty” is being proposed to Jonathan as a magic wand to solve the two headaches, but I suspect it will solve neither! Amnesty will be meaningless to the core, religious BH and the spinoff Ansarul, for in their minds, they do the work of God and have reinforcing links to AQIM and Al Shabab. But a political/security BH will emerge to accept the amnesty and receive the funds appropriated for that purpose. This other BH will merely be an instrument for extracting political and economic concessions for the Northern elite from Jonathan.