Suchergebnisse

Since July 2009, when the popular founder of Boko Haram, Mohammed Yusuf, was extrajudicially killed by the police, the group has become radicalised. Boko Haram started by terrorising the country, particularly the northeastern zone, which extends to Cameroon, Niger, and Lake Chad. Several works on the group, mostly by foreign commentators and scholars, have mainly attributed its rise to political and economic factors. Many of those works have not also recognised the metamorphosis from terrorism to insurgency, wherein the group is now replacing the secular status of Nigeria's configuration with a monolithic Islamic caliphal rule in the swathes of land that it has captured. Even though the Nigerian government has adopted the factors canvassed by those scholars and also denies the group an ideological anchorage, I argue that Boko Haram's ideological scaffolding is hinged on ultra-jihadi Salafism. Relying on qualitative sources, I employ a historical and interpretive framework in explicating the origin of Boko Haram and in content analysing President Muhammad Buhari's 2015 inaugural speech, which denies the group of any ideological leaning on Islam. I then contend that such a denial has made counter-insurgency measures of the government counter-productive, as efforts at meeting political and economic factors are difficult to achieve in the present circumstance. I, therefore, recommend counter-insurgency measures, which include, amongst others, Western education, Islamic de-radicalisation processes, and counter-insurgency narratives, as well as ideas to cut off the recruitment of youth into the group and military engagement, as both short- and long-term strategies.

The question, who is an African? in the context of understanding African identity has biological, historical, cultural, religious, political, racial, linguistic, social, philosophical, and even geographical colourations. Scholars as well as commentators have continued to grapple with it as it has assumed a syncretistic or intersectional characterisation. The same applies to, "what is Africa?" because of the defined Western construct of its geography. This foray of concepts appears to be captured in 'I am an African', a treatise that exudes the telos of African past, present and the unwavering hope that the future of Africans and Africa is great in spite of the cynicism and loss of faith that the present seems to have foisted on the minds of many an African. Through a critical analysis, it is argued that African religion has a value that is capable of resolving the contentious identity crisis of an African.

The debate on the status of the Nigerian state has been controversial, but it portends more towards a failing state, because it has low to very low levels of state capacity. Most state institutions do not have the capacity to inspire socio-economic confidence in the citizenry. Coupled with prevailing insecurity and the inability of the state to address it, many people find an alternative source of hope and confidence within Christianity, and particularly an African Pentecostal state-like formation that makes its leadership a multinational and cross-regional political leadership of a sort. While the political leadership of the failing state would be examined as the main cause for thriving Pentecostalism, there remains the question of accountability on both sides of the spectrum; especially as both concern the same citizenship, whom I will argue are cheated both ways, and yet somehow hold ambivalent attitudes towards accountability. Since there is little attention devoted to demand for accountability at both state and alternative state levels, this paper will do a contrastive analysis of both leaderships and show that the issue of accountability remains unresolved at both ends.

The unusual response of former President Olusegun Obasanjo (of Nigeria) to the adoption of shariah law in northern Nigeria that it "will soon fizzle out" was as intriguing and philosophical as the formal adoption of shariah law itself. This is against the backdrop of his antecedence in handling burning national matters. The critical issues bordered on whether the adoption of sharia was political or religious since it was through the parliament rather than the mosque. The paper examined the President's responses against the prevalent political factors and showed that its implications have continued to reverberate in the Nigerian polity. The paper argued that a definite secular or multi-religious status (not a religious state) of the country should be articulated through the gristmill of thorough-bred intellectual and constitutional engagement.

The Nigerian universe is a religious one; all phenomena and experiences are apparently explained in the supernatural. It is in this sense that religion and politics are inseparable, though ambidextrous. In this sense, the theoretical or constitutional separation thesis differs from the apodictic demonstrative reality. The latter form of this relationship attributes all events to acts of God, whether good or evil, but more evil than good. The act, will or grace of God (Insha'Allah) in the Nigerian political experience, in the assessment of Christian principles, calls for an evaluation of the political and politicians' recourse to God in the face of anti-God and anti-people display of political power. It is the argument of this paper that God is an alibi in Nigerian political development, thus making the political system to play God. Through the gristmill of critical analysis, it is argued that Christian eligible voters in a democracy bear crucial responsibility of not only correctly and critically, in a contextual manner, interpreting the scriptures, but also going beyond prayer for leadership, which source and ascendancy to power is questionable and illegitimate. The Christian responsibility must therefore be comprehensive, authentic and pragmatic.


Santrauka


Nigerijos pasaulis yra religinis: visi reiškiniai ir potyriai akivaizdžiai aiškinami antgamtiškumu. Šia prasme religija ir politika yra neatskiriamos, tačiau dviveidės. Tad teorinio ar konstitucinio atsidalijimo tezė skiriasi nuo apodiktinės akivaizdžios realybės. Pastaroji šio santykio forma visus įvykius priskiria Dievo veiklai, – tiek gėrį, tiek ir blogį, tačiau labiau blogį nei gėrį. Išanalizavus krikščionybės principus, Nigerijos politiniame gyvenime Dievo (Insha'Allah) veikla, valia ar malonė antdievo bei antžmoniu, demonstruojančių politinę galią, akivaizdoje kviečia įvertinti politikos ir politikų atsigręžima į Dievą. Šiame straipsnyje argumentuojama, kad Dievas yra Nigerijos politinės raidos alibi, verčiantis politinę sistemą vaidinti Dievą. Pasitelkiant griežtą kritinę analizę, įrodinėjama, kad tinkami rinkėjai demokratijos sąlygomis yra atsakingi ne tik korektiškai ir kritiškai, kontekstualiu būdu interpretuodami šventuosius raštus, bet taip pat ir dėl vadovavimo, kurio šaltinis ir įtaka valdžiai yra abejotini ir neteisėti. Todėl krikščioniškoji atsakomybė turi būti visapusė, autentiška ir pragmatiška.

The Nigerian universe is a religious one; all phenomena and experiences are apparently explained in the supernatural. It is in this sense that religion and politics are inseparable, though ambidextrous. In this sense, the theoretical or constitutional separation thesis differs from the apodictic demonstrative reality. The latter form of this relationship attributes all events to acts of God, whether good or evil, but more evil than good. The act, will or grace of God (Insha'Allah) in the Nigerian political experience, in the assessment of Christian principles, calls for an evaluation of the political and politicians' recourse to God in the face of anti-God and anti-people display of political power. It is the argument of this paper that God is an alibi in Nigerian political development, thus making the political system to play God. Through the gristmill of critical analysis, it is argued that Christian eligible voters in a democracy bear crucial responsibility of not only correctly and critically, in a contextual manner, interpreting the scriptures, but also going beyond prayer for leadership, which source and ascendancy to power is questionable and illegitimate. The Christian responsibility must therefore be comprehensive, authentic and pragmatic. Santrauka Nigerijos pasaulis yra religinis: visi reiškiniai ir potyriai akivaizdžiai aiškinami antgamtiškumu. Šia prasme religija ir politika yra neatskiriamos, tačiau dviveidės. Tad teorinio ar konstitucinio atsidalijimo tezė skiriasi nuo apodiktinės akivaizdžios realybės. Pastaroji šio santykio forma visus įvykius priskiria Dievo veiklai, – tiek gėrį, tiek ir blogį, tačiau labiau blogį nei gėrį. Išanalizavus krikščionybės principus, Nigerijos politiniame gyvenime Dievo (Insha'Allah) veikla, valia ar malonė antdievo bei antžmoniu, demonstruojančių politinę galią, akivaizdoje kviečia įvertinti politikos ir politikų atsigręžima į Dievą. Šiame straipsnyje argumentuojama, kad Dievas yra Nigerijos politinės raidos alibi, verčiantis politinę sistemą vaidinti Dievą. Pasitelkiant griežtą kritinę analizę, įrodinėjama, kad tinkami rinkėjai demokratijos sąlygomis yra atsakingi ne tik korektiškai ir kritiškai, kontekstualiu būdu interpretuodami šventuosius raštus, bet taip pat ir dėl vadovavimo, kurio šaltinis ir įtaka valdžiai yra abejotini ir neteisėti. Todėl krikščioniškoji atsakomybė turi būti visapusė, autentiška ir pragmatiška. Reikšminiai žodžiai:demokratija,krikščioniškoji atsakomybė,politika,galia,religija,Dievas,teologas First published online: 03 Jan 2014

The Nigerian universe is a religious one; all phenomena and experiences are apparently explained in the supernatural. It is in this sense that religion and politics are inseparable, though ambidextrous. In this sense, the theoretical or constitutional separation thesis differs from the apodictic demonstrative reality. The latter form of this relationship attributes all events to acts of God, whether good or evil, but more evil than good. The act, will or grace of God (Insha'Allah) in the Nigerian political experience, in the assessment of Christian principles, calls for an evaluation of the political and politicians' recourse to God in the face of anti-God and anti-people display of political power. It is the argument of this paper that God is an alibi in Nigerian political development, thus making the political system to play God. Through the gristmill of critical analysis, it is argued that Christian eligible voters in a democracy bear crucial responsibility of not only correctly and critically, in a contextual manner, interpreting the scriptures, but also going beyond prayer for leadership, which source and ascendancy to power is questionable and illegitimate. The Christian responsibility must therefore be comprehensive, authentic and pragmatic. Dievo vaidmuo Nigerijos politiniuose potyriuose: link krikščioniškosios atsakomybės Santrauka.Nigerijos pasaulis yra religinis: visi reiškiniai ir potyriai akivaizdžiai aiškinami antgamtiškumu. Šia prasme religija ir politika yra neatskiriamos, tačiau dviveidės. Tad teorinio ar konstitucinio atsidalijimo tezė skiriasi nuo apodiktinės akivaizdžios realybės. Pastaroji šio santykio forma visus įvykius priskiria Dievo veiklai, – tiek gėrį, tiek ir blogį, tačiau labiau blogį nei gėrį. Išanalizavus krikščionybės principus, Nigerijos politiniame gyvenime Dievo (Insha'Allah) veikla, valia ar malonė antdievo bei antžmoniu, demonstruojančių politinę galią, akivaizdoje kviečia įvertinti politikos ir politikų atsigręžima į Dievą. Šiame straipsnyje argumentuojama, kad Dievas yra ...

In recent times, the resurgence of critical security questions has gained prominence in global tabloid, consciousness and discourse. From Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Yemen to Syria; the Nigerian experiences of the Golden Jubilee Independence bombing, for which MEND claimed responsibility, the Boko Haram incendiary that has gravitated into suicide bombing, among others are extant. The causes of these 'security crises' can be traced squarely to fundamentalisms: religious fundamentalism or religious nationalism; hegemonic fundamentalism, capitalist fundamentalism, ethnic fundamentalism, existential fundamentalism, ethical fundamentalism, etc. These explain the deepening and proliferation of conflicts in countries around the globe. The response to this state of affairs has been 'sermon' on tolerance in the face of aggressive terror. Tolerance may not have been properly conceptualized. The thrust of this paper, therefore, is to stimulate interest in the conceptualization of these terms so that their understanding would pave the way for long lasting solutions. In so doing, the paper will employ historical and philosophical approaches to situate the arguments.