Hear your own voices
Following my column on electoral violence, “Threat of hate, hope of Love,” published April 23, Zahra Umar wrote, saying “I just wanted to say that your article in today’s Weekly Trust echoed the thoughts in my mind exactly (no pun intended).” Sada Suleiman, Head (Corporate Affairs) Sokoto Cement wrote, “That was a wonderful piece, precise […]
Following my column on electoral violence, “Threat of hate, hope of Love,” published April 23, Zahra Umar wrote, saying “I just wanted to say that your article in today’s Weekly Trust echoed the thoughts in my mind exactly (no pun intended).” Sada Suleiman, Head (Corporate Affairs) Sokoto Cement wrote, “That was a wonderful piece, precise and factual. It beats my imagination how people allow their sense of reasoning to be clouded by ill-politically motivated hatred. So long as the economic question and youth unemployment in the north is not tackled, we may not see an end to this problem. One love, people together/Nigeria.” Rabiu Musa of Kano disagreed, writing, “What you wrote is nothing but misunderstanding of issues and mispresentation of truth and reality.”
In response to “The Danger of a Single Story and the Good Samaritans of Arewa” published 30 April 2011, Abdullahi Abubakar Fana of Fagge, Kano wrote, “It’s not good for our people to kill our youth corps. They are our tomorrow’s leaders. I’m sending my condolence to you and all relatives of NYSC youth members.” Lawan Bukar wrote, “Thank you, for this revealing article. I had a similar experience during the sectarian crises in Kaduna in 2001 when my largely Christian neighbors protected my house against a rampaging horde from a neighboring community. Even though a Muslim, my neighbors prevailed on the mob and saved my property.”
Ibrahim Balogun wrote: “I read your article and the words were ‘my thoughts exactly’! Thank you for raising your pen in protest of the rather coordinated painting of all northern Muslims with a brush of stereotype and a paint of bigotry, hate and tribalism. I am not a northerner, I have lived in Abuja for only 6 years and nowhere else up north before then, but I happen to enjoy studying people. Far from being murderous zealots trying to stamp out the ‘pagans’ the majority are warm, friendly but deeply attached to their customs and faith; the same as other tribes and peoples. Thank you for the piece, I wrote on my Facebook page about it: For every bigot on either side, fanning the embers of hatred along the lines of tribe and faith, please read […this article]. The Reuben Abatis and Soyinkas who see nothing good in the northerner and/or Islam and the maniacs who kill the innocent and see no good in the non-Muslim and or Southerner should read it.”
Samdi Lazarus Musa, who was born and raised in Jos, but currently works in Maiduguri at the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research, wrote “I enjoyed and learnt a lot from your article. I agree with you that there are heroes on both Christian and Muslim sides. However there salient things you may not know. 1. Nigerians themselves know that we are basically a highly materialistic people NOT a religious people at all. 2.The real reason for all the crisis is ultimately to gain one advantage or the other. 3. Organisers of this painful venture in Northern Nigeria are a highly politically sophisticated people who project far into the future. But unfortunately for them life is a web more like a food chain. We are all complementary and if you eliminate diversity because it looks all too strange to you, you lose your competitive edge whether now or in the future. Do you know Jos North? If you do, you will observe the attempt by one ethnic group to clear the area of people of another ethnic group under the guise of religion and how this move which has cost many lives has politically exposed their flanks in a power play. Right now a Governor can comfortably be produced in Plateau State without any concern for loss of JOS North’s votes. Thank you for telling us about these rescuers.”
In response to last week’s article “Osama bin Laden, the Matrix and the fight for Reality” published 7 May 2011, Murtala Muhammad wrote “Ever since you started your articles in the Weekly Trust newspaper, I’ve been a regular reader of you write-ups. I want to inform you that I love your articles.” Then Samdi Lazarus Musa of Maiduguri wrote again, “Thank you for deploying such deep reflective insight on the issue of Osama’s death and its implication. As for America, how else can one exercise and manage power when one is so domineering? There is always a price to pay for power of such magnitude. The dragon, China, holds the key to the next phase of civilization. But as Christians and Muslims in Northern Nigeria are concerned, the fight is how to keep out the world outside and reflect a while on our common destiny. Whether it will be mutually assured destruction or mutually assured survival. A lot is lost already. We are on a tight rope.”